The remnant of the Aztecs and other Indian tribes owed every thing to the judicious treatment of the first Roman Catholic priests. The wise teachings of these men, as we have seen, changed, without violence, a barbarous superstition into a gentle belief in the truths, and especially the miracles, of the Catholic religion; which through the epoch of Spanish domination retained its good effect. But as time went on, the Church became so powerful and so rich, that the suppression of the religious orders became a necessity; and finally Juarez, although under much resistance, was able to institute this radical reform. The final extinction of these orders, the suppression of monasteries and nunneries, was not achieved until 1874; since when many of these deserted buildings have been appropriated to other uses. Others remain standing, sad monuments of a picturesque past; but many of them, interesting on account of their historic associations, have disappeared, torn to the ground, to make way for modern improvements.
But the suppression of the orders was not accompanied, except in the case of the Jesuits in 1856, by the expulsion of their members from the country. On the other hand, these were still permitted to remain as individuals; and to the present time, the priests ministering to the churches formerly connected with convents, are usually members of those orders by which such churches were founded.
In any one of the smaller cities and towns the parish priest, almost without exception, is a worthy and faithful cura, of devout and godly reputation, leading among his flock a simple life, wholly occupied in ministering to his charge according to the best of his abilities. Since the enactment of the laws of the reform there is nothing to tempt men to adopt their calling but their love of God and genuine interest in the welfare of their parish, often composed, for the most part, of ignorant Indians. These men are entitled to honor and reverence; their ample reward is the unwavering devotion of their congregations, and the satisfaction they may receive from observing the development of their simple minds.
In the year 1770, the Bishop of Puebla published there his form of the Mozarabic liturgy, the most ancient religious service of the Church of Spain, which flourished there until the eleventh century, when it was supplanted by the Roman liturgy. Even at the present time a chapel exists in the cathedral at Toledo, in Spain, where this service is habitually used, although in presence of but few if any worshippers.
The revival of Mozarabic rites in Mexico met with little attention; but its introduction alone shows a tendency towards independence of thought, very manifest later in the action of Juarez in the sequestration of Church property. Since 1868 a movement in favor of the Protestant Episcopal Church has increased to one of importance. Other Protestant denominations maintain missions in various parts of the country,—the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist missions.
There is still a wide field open in Mexico for teaching the impressionable native of Anahuac the simple tenets of the religion of Christ. Purity, honesty, charity, the love of his neighbor, duty to himself, the knowledge of God,—these sure foundations of life are only needed by him as his first foothold in upward progress. As for the government, its present action, its promises for the future, are for the good of the native races. All persons born in the Republic are free; and freedom of education, freedom to exercise the liberal professions, freedom of thought, and the freedom of the press are guaranteed. That this government should prove itself able to carry out its intentions, and thus encourage in the vast area under its control the presence of order-loving immigrants from other countries, who, instead of creating and promoting disorder, as is often the case, shall set the example of industry and domestic living, is the result desired by all true friends of Mexico. Although among the many Germans, English, and Americans who have settled in the different cities and states of Mexico, there are many who have done so in the intention of earning honest livelihoods, without interfering with their neighbors, and even with the higher motive of improving the condition of those around them, it is not yet possible to say that the example of the foreigners settling in Mexico has been an advantage to its natives. Many of the acts of violence ascribed to Mexicans might be traced to men of other blood, who have sought that territory because they were not tolerated elsewhere. The general testimony of such observers as civil engineers, telegraph men, and others who in the development of the resources of the country have penetrated remote parts of it, is that the native Mexican is peaceful and quiet in disposition, leading a domestic life with his faithful wife, fond of his children, and diligently toiling to support his family. Of course there are exceptions to this, especially when the pulque habit has brutalized its victims; but it is asserted that the drunken quarrels in obscure places, often reported in newspapers, resulting in pistol-shot or dagger stroke, frequently arise less through the fault of the native than of the adventurers from other lands.
Testimony to the good intentions of the government of Mexico is in the improved condition of education there. The system of public instruction is by no means perfect, but it is certainly growing better and better. Free schools, sustained by city or state, are found in most towns and villages, even the smallest. Moreover, private schools are numerous in all the large towns and cities, and colleges and professional schools are found. All of the Mexican states (for such matters are left to the jurisdiction of each separately) compel free primary instruction, and appropriate annual sums to support it.
While these institutions promise much for the future, Mexico is not without her living writers who, in spite of the unfavorable atmosphere of disturbed politics, have found time to devote themselves to literature. Guillermo Prieto has a well deserved fame in his own country, and outside of it wherever he is known. He was born in 1810, and has passed his life in devotion to the liberal cause, which owes much of its success, to his personal bravery, the boldness of his writings, and his sagacious management of affairs. He has served in the higher offices of government, and written upon political economy and finance, but it is as a poet that he is honored and beloved. Prieto is not alone as a writer of prominence, but of others there is not room to speak. It would be a mistake to suppose that Mexico was lacking in the possession of fine minds, cultivated intellects, and eloquent pens.
It will, of course, have been perceived by this time that the Mexicans from whom so much is expected in the future are the descendants of the Aztec and other native tribes. These form a large part of the population of the country,—the portion which their remote origin, and the vicissitudes of their stay upon Anahuac, make the most interesting to the romantic lover of picturesque history.
The country is occupied also by those descendants of Spanish families who avoided the decree of exile issued in the early days of independence. Inter-marriages with Indian blood have crossed this stock, so that many good families in Mexico have Indian ancestors among their Spanish ones, and it would probably be rare to find a family wholly unmixed with this strain. What effect this grafting of Castilian character has had upon the native stock, is a subject interesting to students of national characteristics. Cruelty upon cruelty, superstition upon bigotry, might be pronounced a dangerous repetition likely to result from the mixture of the two races which established the Inquisition and revelled in the custom of human sacrifice. On the other hand, the lofty pride of the traditional Spaniard might find its match in the inherited love of splendor of the descendant of the Aztecs. However these things might be, the Mexican-Spaniard has not attained a high reputation among other nations for honesty, generosity, or elevation of character. Whatever may be the fairness of the prejudices against him, partly due to the disadvantages he has been under by being judged always by enemies who have invaded his country for his destruction and their own profit, it is less to this race than to that of the pure Indian blood of the country, that Mexico looks for the regeneration of her future history.