Thereupon Doctor Bronson read the following from "Mexico To-day," by Thomas U. Brocklehurst:
"'The Church of Mexico has been all-powerful since its commencement; it may be said to be the Government, the magistracy, the army, and the master of the homes. Everything in Mexico has been subservient to its dictatura. The priesthood has been entirely free from the national courts of law, they have had courts of their own, and the fueros, or privileges of the ecclesiastics, placed them entirely beyond the reach of secular power. They levied taxes and tithes of everybody and everything they had a mind to. The extent to which the clergy accumulated wealth is almost incredible; they are said to have possessed three-fourths of the whole property of the country, consisting of lands and other real estate, rents, mortgages, conventual buildings, and church ornaments. Moreover, there were no bankers in Mexico except the clergy, so they had complete power over the estates as well as the souls of the people.
"'In 1850 Señor Lerdo de Tejara, Minister of Public Works, published a statistical account of the revenues and endowments of the Church, with the numbers of the clergy, monks, nuns, and servants connected with the religious establishments. The details he gives, like the evidence of the existing churches, and the remains of the disused ones all over the country, quite support his statement that the Church was possessed of three-fourths of the property of the State.'
"Another writer," continued Doctor Bronson, "says that the property of the Church included about 900 rural estates and 25,000 blocks of city property. When this property was confiscated and sold, the Church authorities warned all good Catholics not to invest in it. The result was that it went at very low prices, and fell into the hands of those who cared nothing for the religion of the former owners. The Church people probably see by this time that they made a mistake. Had they allowed Catholics to buy the confiscated property, they could have got it back again into their own hands with very little trouble, and at a small valuation. Dwelling-houses, shops, and all sorts of ordinary buildings, along with the rural estates and the convents, have been sold for secular purposes, but the church edifices proper are permitted to remain in the hands of their former authorities, and services go on there without interruption. The Laws of the Reform allow freedom of religious worship, and a Catholic has the same protection as the adherent of any other faith."
"Were there any Protestant churches in Mexico before the Laws of the Reform were proclaimed?" Fred asked.
"No," was the reply; "the Catholic Church did not permit them to exist any more than the Puritans allowed a Quaker in their midst in the early days of the Plymouth Colony. Human nature is the same all the world over, and any religious body that has supreme control of a country is pretty certain to exercise its power. You know the old explanation of the difference between religion and superstition?"
"What is that?"
"Religion is what we believe; superstition is what others believe."
The boys laughed, and said they had heard the definition before. Then the Doctor continued:
