PUEBLO AT TAOS, NEW MEXICO.
"Was he ever imprisoned or banished, like the most of the leading men of Mexico?" Frank asked.
"Yes," was the reply. "He was a native of the State of Oajaca, where he was educated in a seminary and studied law; he graduated with high honors at the college, and for some years held the chair of natural philosophy in that institution. In 1836, when he was thirty years old, he was imprisoned by the Conservatives on account of his Liberal principles. After his release he became Chief-judge of the Republic, and held several other offices until 1853, when he was imprisoned and banished by General Santa Anna, and lived two years in the United States, suffering severe privations. Events brought him into Mexico again, and from that time he did not leave the country until his death. He was imprisoned a third time, in 1857, by Comonfort, but only for a short while."
"We have mentioned the Laws of the Reform, which were proclaimed by President Juarez and caused the appropriation of the property of the Church by the Government. Did the Church have much property besides the convents, cathedrals, and Church buildings generally?"
GARDEN OF A MEXICAN CONVENT.
"A great deal more than those," the Doctor answered. "The Church owned real estate in vast extent both in the cities and the rural districts, and some people say more than half the dwelling-houses in the city of Mexico belonged to it. It had the reputation of being a very generous landlord, as it rented its houses at a lower rate than similar property could be had from private owners. On this subject I will quote from an English writer who spent some time in Mexico a few years ago."