The Roman Catholic Church, removed from competition with Protestantism, is a wisely constructed machine for extorting money out of the fears and superstitions of an ignorant people. Baptism, confession, blessings, anointing, burials, and mass must all be paid for at a round price. The weeping friends bring the corpse of the loved one and set down the bier before the closed gates of the church. Then money is laid upon the corpse. Again and again has a priest been known to look out, and if he judged that the money was not as much as the friends could afford to pay, refuse to open the gate, and nothing is left for the friends but to continue adding money to the sum previously collected until the rapacity of the priest is satisfied. An ordinary funeral in a churchyard will cost one hundred dollars, if the family has that much. To be buried in some of the churches costs from five hundred dollars to five thousand dollars, according to position. The corpse is carried on a board or bier (they do not generally use coffins), to the place of burial. If the priest goes to the house, he walks in front of the funeral procession. He has on a scarlet dress with a white over-skirt. At his side is a small boy similarly dressed, tinkling a bell. A few yards in the rear is a second priest, dressed in scarlet and white, swinging a burning censer. Around him is grouped a motley crowd of men, women, and children, carrying lighted candles, the men and boys with uncovered heads, and behind all are men firing muskets into the air to frighten away the devil, who is supposed to be hovering around, waiting a chance to seize the spirit of the departed one. If the corpse is that of a child, it is covered with flowers (the corpse of such is called an angel). From two to four children walk with the bearers. Behind these are other children, who are considered more holy than the rabble that follow. These are followed by four children carrying a richly dressed saint under a canopy. If the family are able to pay for it, the priest comes out to meet the procession, and sprinkles holy water over the corpse, then into the grave. After this the corpse is slid off the board into the grave with but little ceremony, and some dirt thrown upon it. Men then get into the grave with a heavy maul and pack the dirt down solid; then more dirt is thrown in and packed down. This is continued until the grave is filled up level with the rest of the floor of the church. The corpses are placed three or four deep in the same spot, and oftentimes the bones of previous burials are thrown up to make room for the new comer. In one instance that came to light, the spade clave in two the head of a child and threw it out. Nearly all the old churches I have visited smell like a charnel house. A few years ago the legislature of New Mexico forbid further burials in the churches.