[ by Maximilian (Dec. 27, 1864), and it was provided that they should receive salaries from the state : but the bishops refused to accept this arrangement. Monks and mms were verj' numerous in Mexico during the Spanish rule. In 1810 the Franciscans had 6 provinces, the Dominicans 3, the Augustinians 2, the Carmelites and Mercedarians 1 each. There were in all 1931 monks in 149 monasteries. The female orders in the same year had 57 convents with 1962 nuns. The property of the monasteries amounted to about 10.000,000 pesos, exclu- sive of the large amount of alms. The female orders had, in 1845, 50 convents, with real estate yielding a net annual income of 500,000 piastres; and had besides a capital of 4,500,000 piastres. The republic abolished the obligatory character of the monastic vows, and suppressed several convents ; yet the number of convents did not begin to show any marked decrease until about 1860. when the Franciscans had 30 houses, the Dominicans 25, the Au- gustinians 10, the Carmelites 10, the Jesuits 1. the Ora- torians 3, the Benedictines 1, bhe Brothers of Charity 2. The female orders were all suppressed by a decree is- sued in 1863, except the Sisters of Charity. The pub- lic educational institutions are under the exclusive con- trol of the state authorities. They embrace one uni- versity in the city of Mexico, founded in 1551, 2 hceums in Potosi and Guanajuato, and colleges in most of the large cities. Elementary- instruction has severely suffered from the constant civil wars ; but, according to
I recent accounts (Annual American Cyclopadia, 1872),
j "in most of the states each municipality has jirimary schools for lx>th sexes, the teachers being paid out of municipal funds. The Lancasterian Society of the city of Mexico furnishes examined teachers for the elemen- tary branches of those schools, and by its untiring ef- forts for the advancement of the cause of education
' generally, is establishing a firm basis for the future wel- fare of the country." There is, however, also a large
: number of schofils established by the Church, and under her exclusive control, and their numljer has of late
I considerably increased. Besides the religious societies found in all Catholic countries, Mexico has some pecul- iar confradias and hcrmandados, the members of which engage to pay monthly contributions for defraying the extraordinary pomp at the festivals of the patron saints of the churches. Some of these confraternities are verj' wealthy. One of these secular brotherhoods is called the " Brotherhood of the Coachmen of our Lord." It was founded in 1758, and the members engage to act as coachmen for the priests who can^,- the Eucharist to sick persons. The confiscation of the immense Church property was begun by the Spanish government soon after the expulsion of the Jesuits. During the AVar of Independence, the government of Mexico drew large-
I ly upon the possessions of the Church in order to get
MEXICO
205
MEXICO
the money needed for carrying on the war. The vahie of the tithe, which in 1810 yielded about 2,000,000 pe- sos, had decreased in 1826 to about one half, and de- creased still more when the Mexican Congress in 1833 abolished the co-operation of the secular arm in the col- lection of the tithe, leaving the payment of it wholly to the individual piety of the citizens. President Common- fort, in 1855, confiscated all the property of the Church of Puebla. Under president Juarez, in 1859, the entire possessions of the clergy were declared to be a nation- al domain, and their sale ordered. The income from this property was estimated at about 20,000,000 pesos. The regency wliich was appointed after the Frencli in- vasion did not dare to stop the progress of the sale, and v/as therefore excommunicated by the bishops. After the establishment of the empire, the clerical party de- manded the restoration of all the property that had be- longed to the Church, and which was estimated at one third of the entire real estate of the republic. As a considerable portion of the sold property had already changed liands, the emperor found it impossible to con- cede the demand, and by decree of Dec. 27, 1864, or- dered the secularization of the Church property to be proceeded with. Commissioners were subsequently sent to Rome, to come, if possible, to an understanding with the pope ; but they were unsuccessfid. Four provincial synods were held by the Mexican bishops — the first three in 1555, 1565, 1585; the fourth by archbishop Lo- renzana (1766-1771).
IV. Protestant Missions. — The history of the Protes- tant missions in Mexico began in 1860, when the gov- "ernment proclaimed religious freedom. Until then, Prot- estant Christianity in any form had been prohibited. But previously to that year Miss Rankin had (in 1852) opened at Brownsville, in Texas, just opposite the Mex- ican town of Matamoras, a school for the children of the large Mexican population. She sent a considerable number of Spanish Bibles, which were supplied by the American Bible Society, into Mexico, and in 1854 estab- lished a Protestant seminary for Mexican girls likewise at Brownsville. In 1856 the American Foreign and Christian Union took charge of the Mexican mission. After all obstructions to the establishment of Protes- tant worship had been removed in 1860, the Rev. Mr. Thompson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, went (in November, 1860) as agent of the American Bi- ble Society into JMexico as far as Jlonterey. He was cordially received, tlie authorities giving him leave to plant Protestant missions and to circulate the Bible; but when the outbreak of the civil war in the United States interrupted the communication with New York, he had to suspend his labors, and to return to Texas. Wlien the communication witli New York had been re-estab- lished by the opening of a port on the ^Mexican side of the Rio Grande, the Rev. Mr. Hickey, a colportor of the American Bible Society, who, being a Union man, had to flee the South, went to ^Matamoras, and accepted in 1863 an agency of the Bible Society for Mexico. He subsequently went to jMontere}', collected a congrega- tion, and after a little time administered baptism to a dozen Jlexicans. When his duties compelled him to leave Jlonterey, he selected a suitable man from the converts to continue religious services. In 1865 Miss Rankin went to Monterey, where she erected a mission- house, suited for chapel, school, and residence of the missionary. The building was completed in 1868, and several of the converts were sent out as colportors and Bible-readers. Two of these men went to the state of Zacatecas, in company with two of the Bible Society's agents. Their labors resulted in the conversion of thirty persons, among whom were two highly educated men, who took up the work after the departure of the colportors, and carried it forward with great success. An evangelical paper, the Antorcha Kcangelical, was published, which proved a very efficient aiil to Protes- tant preaching. In 1871 the number of converts amount- ed to more than one hundred. In 1872 the mission of