SECTION III.
The great influence exercised by the Roman Catholic Clergy in every country where their creed prevails, and the power which they possess, of converting that influence into a most formidable political engine, renders an enquiry into the state of the Mexican Church essential to a right understanding of the progress and prospects of the country.
The religion introduced by the Spaniards into New Spain, and propagated amongst the Natives, more by the arms of the first Conquerors, than by the arguments of the Friars who accompanied them, was, of course, that of the Church of Rome; which has been preserved, during the last three centuries, in all the purity of doctrine, but with all the intolerance of spirit, for which the Mother country is so remarkable. In some respects, however, the situation of Mexico differed essentially from that of Spain: no direct intercourse with Rome ever took place; no Papal Legate or Nuntio was admitted; and no Bull, Rescript, or Indulgence, was allowed to circulate, until it had received the Regium Exequatur or Placet, from the Council of the Indies.
The causes of this extreme circumspection, on the part of Spain, I have explained in the Section which treats of her Colonial Policy, (Book I. Section IV.) It gave a peculiar character to the whole religious system of America, and prepared the way for that spirit of Independence which has been displayed by most of the New States in their intercourse with the See of Rome, since their assumption of a political existence.
But this was not the only effect produced by the application of the ordinary principles of the Colonial System of Spain to the Ecclesiastical institutions of the Colonies. In Mexico, at least, it may be regarded as one of the principal causes of the Revolution. The Secular, or Parochial Clergy, shared ia all the disadvantages under which their Creole countrymen were condemned to labour, by the jealous policy of the Mother country.
They were excluded from all the higher degrees of Church preferment, and left to fulfil the laborious duties of parish priests, while the Bishoprics, the Deaneries, and the Chapters of the different Cathedrals, were filled by old Spaniards, many of whom never saw the country, in which they were destined to hold so conspicuous a station, until they were sent out to enter at once upon its richest benefices.
It is true that some of these new Dignitaries displayed a spirit truly apostolical; while others have left monuments of their munificence, which prove, that they regarded their revenues, not as a patrimony, but as held in trust for the benefit of their adopted country.[1] Still they were strangers,—they were a privileged Caste, they held, what they did hold, to the prejudice, and exclusion of the Natives; and these were offences which no virtues could redeem. They sufficiently account for the fact of so many of the first leaders of the Revolution having been Clergymen: Hidalgo, Morelos, Matamoros, and numberless others, who perished during the war, were all Curas, or Parish priests; and the facility with which they induced the lower classes to follow their standards, at a time, when, out of twenty of their adherents, nineteen knew nothing of the rights of the cause in which they were engaged, is no mean proof of the advantages which the Crown might have derived from their support, had it been secured by a timely participation in the honours of their profession.
As it was, they were compelled, like the rest of the Creoles, to seek in the Independence of their country the enjoyment of those rights, of which they had been so long deprived; and although the attempt failed in 1810, and the first Insurrection, (which may be termed the insurrection of the Clergy) was almost suppressed, still, without it, that of the Army in 1821 would never have taken place, and Mexico might have been, to this day, a Province of Spain.
The fatal influence of the Clergy is frequently insisted upon, both in Calleja's letter to the King, and in the representation of the Audiencia to the Cortes, to which I have so often had occasion to allude, (Vide Appendix;) and there is no doubt that the fact of so many Curas being engaged on the Independent side, could alone have destroyed the efficacy of those spiritual weapons, of which the Viceregal Government endeavoured to avail itself at the commencement of the contest. Excommunications fell harmless when directed against persons, whose sacred character acted as a shield against them; and Hidalgo was not less respected, or less implicitly obeyed, by his followers, because declared, both by the Inquisition and by the Bishop of Valladolid, to be no longer within the pale of the Church, although such a denunciation, if directed against a layman, might have been attended with the most serious consequences.
The Court of Madrid saw its error when too late, and the elevation of Don Antonio Perez (a Creole,) to the Bishopric of La Puebla, in 1815, proves how willingly it would have retraced its steps. But it was no longer time for conciliation: notwithstanding their privileges, as servants of the altar, a number of priests had sealed, with their blood, their new political creed; others were noted as wavering; others as notoriously disaffected; the passions of all were excited, and it was soon evident that a good understanding between the Crown and the Parochial Clergy was impossible.
The Old System was therefore pursued, and, up to 1820, all benefices were conferred upon Gachupines; a circumstance which not a little facilitated the changes which the following year was destined to produce.
It is a singular fact, that, after taking so prominent a part in the struggle which preceded the Revolution, the Mexican Clergy should be almost the only class of Creoles that has derived, as yet, no advantage from the event. In the Army, the Congress, the Government-offices, and the Law, Natives were substituted at once for the Spaniards, whom the Viceregal Government had employed; but the different tenure by which Ecclesiastical preferments are held, prevented this change from extending to the Church. Nor was this the only difficulty to be surmounted: the separation from Spain had broken the link, by which Mexico was connected with the See of Rome; and the establishment of a direct intercourse, at a moment, when the possession of an independent existence by New Spain was not admitted by any European Power, and was loudly denied by the Mother country, was found to be by no means an easy task.
To trench too suddenly upon the privileges of the Holy See, and to attempt to exercise, at once, the right of Patronage formerly vested in the King, without the possibility of obtaining the confirmation of the Pope, was thought too dangerous an experiment in a country, where a compliance with the popular prejudices of the day rendered it necessary to insert, as the third article of a Constitution, (liberal enough in every other respect,) a declaration that the exercise of no religion but that of the Church of Rome should be tolerated within the territories of the Republic.
Under these trying circumstances, great prudence was necessary, and great moderation has been shown. The clergy, in every instance, have preferred the interests of the order in general, to any prospects of individual advancement.
Far from insisting upon hasty, or premature changes, the old Spanish Dignitaries have not only been allowed to retain undisturbed possession of their preferments, but even vacancies have not been filled up, in the hope that the speedy conclusion of a Concordat with the See of Rome would give the Government a right of Patronage, to which not even the most zealous Catholics could object.
Of the probability of such an arrangement there is not, at present, any appearance; the Pope not having yet consented to receive a Mexican Minister in his public capacity. But the six years which have elapsed since the declaration of Independence, have rendered the concurrence of His Holiness no longer of such vital importance. The country has been prepared, gradually, for a change, which cannot now be much longer deferred; and should there be any farther delay on the part of the Court of Rome, the situation of the Mexican Church is such, that the Government, in assuming the right of presentation to all vacancies, will not only be supported by the Clergy, but will set the stamp of law upon the general wish of the nation.
A short view of the present state of the Ecclesiastical establishments of New Spain will place this point in a clearer light.
The Republic is divided into one Archbishopric, (that of Mexico,) and the nine Bishoprics of La Pūēblă, Guădălajāră, Văllădŏlīd, Dŭrāngŏ, Mŏntĕrĕy, Ŏăxācă, Yŭcătān, Chĭāpă, and Sŏnōră.
All these, with the exception of Sŏnōră, have Cathedral Churches and Chapters, (Cabildos Ecclesiasticos), which, with the Collegiate Chapter of Guadelupe,[2] contain one hundred and eighty-five Prebendaries and Canonries, formerly in the gift of the King.
Church of Nuestra Senora de Guadaloupe.
Seven of the Bishoprics, and Seventy-nine of the benefices attached to the Cathedrals, are now vacant. Some of the Chapters are reduced to two or three individuals; many of whom are old, and unable to execute the duties of their situations. Of the three remaining Bishops, (those of La Pūēblă, Yŭcătān, and Ŏăxācă) One (the Bishop of Yucatan), is absolutely in his dotage; and the other two, from their position in the Southern part of the Republic, are unable to ordain those who wish to enter into orders in the North, without compelling them to undertake a journey of three or four hundred leagues, in order to undergo the necessary examinations. The Primate, Don Pedro Fonte, Archbishop of Mexico, has, from political causes, forsaken the country, and is now residing in Spain, as are the proprietors of a number of other inferior benefices, the annual income of which, (amounting to 371,148 dollars) has been sequestered by the Government. The Parochial Clergy distributed amongst the 1194 parishes, into which the country is divided, are those who suffer most severely from the present disorganization of the Church. They are not only deprived by it of the preferment to which their services entitle them, but many, who accepted in 1821, livings in Tierra Caliente, or other unhealthy districts, upon an understanding that they were to be held, (as before the Revolution) for a short term of years, are compelled still to retain their situations, until the exercise of the right of Patronage enables the Government to relieve them.
Under these circumstances, it is not extraordinary that the inconveniences of a dependent existence should be so strongly felt, as to create a very general desire for emancipation; and should the Pope neglect the present opportunity, or insist upon onerous conditions in the Concordat, which the Government is still desirous to frame, he will find, when too late, that he has no longer any hold upon the country, and that the Colonial Policy of Rome will not be more patiently endured, than the Colonial Policy of the Court of Madrid.
The total inefficacy of Spiritual arms in the New World has been very recently proved by the reception given to the Circular Bull or Enciclica, addressed by the Court of Rome to the Archbishops, Bishops, and Clergy in general of the Americas, on the 24th of September, 1824, exhorting them, "to be silent no longer; but to unite in leading back their flocks to the path of the commandments of that Lord, who places Kings upon their thrones, and connects, by indissoluble ties, the preservation of their rights and authority, with the welfare of His Holy Church."[3]
The Government of Mexico, convinced that, in a discussion of this nature, reason and common sense were in its favour, was not deterred from entering upon it by any fears of the intrigues of the Old Spaniards, the prejudices of the people, or the supposed infallibility of the Pope. The Bull was communicated to the nation at large, as soon as received, in the Government Gazette; and there was certainly nothing that savoured either of bigotry, or superstition, in the notes by which it was accompanied. They contained no affectation of humility, no expressions of an eager desire to be reconciled to the Holy See, but entered boldly into the question of the Pope's Spiritual and Temporal Sovereignty; declared the two to be incompatible; and even hinted, very distinctly, that any farther attempt, on the part of his Holiness, to exercise authority in the affairs of this world, would not only prove unsuccessful, but must lead to the loss of his Spiritual jurisdiction likewise. This manly stand, on the part of the Government, against the encroachments of the Holy See, was received with universal approbation. The Legislatures of the States, the Bishops, and the Cathedral Chapters, all expressed their concurrence in the doctrines laid down in the Circular of the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs: Pastorals were addressed by them, upon the subject, to their respective flocks; and as the influence of the Government and the Church were thus thrown into the same scale, the Enciclica not only failed in creating the desired impression, but produced an effect diametrically opposite to that which was intended.
Not the slightest difference of opinion appeared amongst the natives; and as the President, (who was then armed with extraordinary powers) took advantage of the most critical moment to banish to California two old Spaniards, (the Editors of the Filantropo newspaper at Tampico,) who had endeavoured to circulate, surreptitiously, copies of the Bull amongst the inhabitants of New Leon and San Luis, the other Spanish residents were effectually deterred, by this rigorous measure, from making any attempt to excite the lower classes, in the name of Religion, to rebellion against the constituted authorities.
The work of Baron Humboldt, and the admirable reports presented to Congress in 1826, and 1827, by the Mexican Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs, Don Miguel Ramos Arizpe, enable me to institute a comparison, founded upon the most authentic data, between the condition of the Mexican Church before the Revolution and at the present day.
In 1802, the number of Ecclesiastics, Secular and Regular, in New Spain, was estimated at ten thousand, or at thirteen thousand, including the lay-brothers of convents, and other subordinate hangers-on of the Church. The Secular Clergy was composed of about five thousand Priests (Clerigos); the Regulars, wearing the habits of different Orders, of nearly an equal number, of whom two thousand five hundred (including lay-brothers) resided in the convents of the Capital alone. There were only nine bishops, including the Primate, the See of Chiapa not being then considered as annexed to Mexico. Their revenues were supposed to be:—
| Dollars | |
| Those of the Archbishop of Mexico | 130,000 |
| Of the Bishop of La Puebla | 110,000 |
| Valladolid | 100,000 |
| Guadalajara | 90,000 |
| Durango | 35,000 |
| Monterey | 30,000 |
| Yucatan | 20,000 |
| Oaxaca | 18,000 |
| Sonora | 6,000 |
| ———— | |
| Total | 439,000 |
This income was produced, principally, by that portion of the tithes, which was destined for the subsistence of the Clergy. The annual average amount of these, (upon a term of ten years given by Humboldt) appears to have been, in the year 1790:—
| In | Dollars | Reals. |
| Mexico | 708,287 | 7 |
| La Puebla | 350,888 | 3 |
| Valladolid | 323,940 | |
| Oaxaca | 86,323 | 5 |
| Guadalajara | 257,910 | 6 |
| Durango | 108,031 | 3 |
| ————— | —— | |
| Total | 1,835,382 |
| Dollars | |
| México | 9,000,000 |
| La Puebla | 6,500,000 |
| Valladolid | 4,500,000 |
| Guadalajara | 3,000,000 |
| Durango, Monterey, and Sonora | 1,000,000 |
| Oaxaca and Merida | 2,000,000 |
| Obras Pias, belonging to the Regular Clergy | 2,500,000 |
| Funds of dotations of churches, convents, and nunneries | 16,000,000 |
| ————— | |
| Total | 44,000,000 |
| —————— |
The landed property of the Church (bienes raices) bore no proportion to its Capital in specie. Its whole value was not supposed to exceed two and a half, or three millions of dollars; and this advantage will be duly appreciated by those who have seen the effects of territorial influence on the part of the Clergy, combined with that of religion, exemplified in the Peninsula.
In 1826, the number of the Secular Clergy was estimated at 3473, and in 1827, at 3677. The number of those who took orders during each of these years is not supposed to have amounted to one-fourth of those who were ordained in 1808.
The Regular Clergy is divided into fourteen Provinces, possessing 150 Convents, which contained, in all, 1918 Friars; so that the whole of the Secular and Regular Clergy of the present day does not much exceed one-half of the number known to exist in 1803 (100,005,595).
The capitals of the Church have diminished nearly in an equal proportion. Of the forty-four millions, which they originally possessed, a part was seized by the Spanish Government in 1805, and 1806, under the administration of the Prince of the Peace, in order to form a Sinking-fund for the redemption of Royal Vales; a part was embarged by the Authorities in order to meet the exigencies of the moment during the Revolution; and another part swallowed up by those charged with the administration of the funds, (los Directores de Obras Pias, &c.,) amidst the general disorder and confusion that ensued. In 1826, Mr. Ramos Arizpe valued the whole remaining capital at twenty millions of dollars; nor is there any reason to suppose that it at all exceeds this amount.
In the present state of the country, the Clergy derive but little additional income from this capital; for the estates upon which it is secured have not yet sufficiently recovered from the effects of the Revolution to pay the interest upon capitals formerly advanced to their proprietors. Many have required, on the contrary, additional advances in order to resume their labours at all; and all have refused to admit the claim of the Bishoprics to the arrears due during the Civil war.
Upon this point the Clergy have, in most parts of the country, come to a sort of compromise with the proprietors; but in others, where, (as in La Puebla,) they have insisted upon the full extent of their dues, a great deal of bad feeling has arisen. The landowners have refused to attempt to bring land again into cultivation, from which they could expect to derive no benefit; and the Clergy have been compelled, at last, to yield, by a threat of interference on the part of the Legislature.
Of the Tithes, nothing certain is yet known: they vary, of course, every year, as the agriculture of the country revives; but they do not yet produce any thing like their former amount; nor is it probable that they will. In the Bishoprics, upon the Western coast, (Durango, Guadalajara, and Valladolid,) I found a general falling off in the amount of the Tithes complained of; and this not proceeding from the ruin of the great Haciendas alone, but from the dissemination of ideas unfavourable to the rights of the Church. In the extensive Diocese of Michoacan, (Valladolid,) the tithes, during the two last years, have not exceeded 200,000 dollars, in lieu of 500,000 dollars, which they averaged before 1808. This may be partly owing to the administration of the Church revenues having been long in the hands of the Cathedral Chapter, which can never possess an influence over the common people, equal to that exercised by a resident Bishop, supported by all the pomp, with which the great dignitaries of the church are surrounded: but it cannot be denied that there is a spirit abroad in Mexico, which will render it difficult for the higher Clergy to retain that affluence which they formerly enjoyed.
A more equal distribution, at least, of the wealth now engrossed by a few, will be one of the first consequences of the interference of the Congress in Ecclesiastical affairs; and it is highly to be desired that, in this respect, some reform should take place; for in many Dioceses, where the revenues of the Bishop amounted to 100,000 or 120,000 dollars, there were Curas (Parish priests) who vegetated upon a pittance of 100, or 120 dollars in the year.
The sources from which the incomes of the Parish priests are derived likewise require investigation, and reform.
No provision being made for them by the State, their subsistence depends upon the contributions of their parishioners; which, in general, are regulated by custom, and not by law: they consist of marriage and baptismal fees and other dues payable on burials, masses, and other church ceremonies, most of which are very exorbitant, and produce a most demoralizing effect amongst the Indian population. For instance, in States, where the daily wages of the labourer do not exceed two reals, and where a cottage can be built for four dollars, its unfortunate inhabitants are forced to pay twenty two dollars for their marriage fees; a sum which exceeds half their yearly earnings, in a country where Feast and Fast days reduce the number of dias utiles (on which labour is permitted) to about one hundred and seventy-five. The consequence is, that the Indian either cohabits with his future wife until she becomes pregnant, (when the priest is compelled to marry them with, or without fees,) or, if more religiously disposed, contracts debts, and even commits thefts, rather than not satisfy the demands of the ministers of that Religion, the spirit of which appears to be so little understood.
Throughout the Bishopric of Valladolid the marriage fees vary from seventeen, to twenty-two dollars: in La Puebla, Durango, and Mexico, they are from fourteen to eighteen dollars, according to the supposed means of the parties; and these enormous sums are extorted from the meanest parishioners.
The fees on baptisms, and burials, are likewise very high. In the Mining districts, each miner pays weekly to the Church, half a real (a medio), in order to provide for the expenses of his funeral; and on the day of the Raya (the weekly payment), an agent of the Cura is always present to receive it. Thus twenty-six reals, or three dollars and two reals (thirteen shillings English money), are paid annually, by each mining labourer, in full health and employment, in order to secure the privilege of a mass being read over his body upon his decease. An Indian, who lives ten years under such a system, would pay six pounds ten shillings for the honour of a funeral; and yet would not be exempt from continuing his contributions, although the amount paid in one year, ought more than to cover any fees that could reasonably be claimed by the Church.
I do not fear being accused of an uncharitable spirit in these remarks, for I have heard many of the most enlightened of the Mexican Clergy deplore the existence of such a state of things, and admit, that the want of a moral feeling amongst the lower classes, is the natural fruit of a system, under which such abuses have been suffered to prevail.
One of the most distinguished members of a Cathedral Chapter, while lamenting, in a conversation with me, the debased state of the people of his diocese, used this remarkable phrase: "Son mui buenos Catolicos, pero mui malos Christianos;" (They are very good Catholics, but very bad Christians;) meaning, (as he afterwards stated,) that it had been but too much the interest of the lower orders of the Clergy, to direct the attention of their flocks, rather to a scrupulous observance of the forms of the Catholic Church, than to its moral or spirit, from which their revenues derived but little advantage.
The Table No. I., annexed to this Section, presents a general view of the number of the Secular Clergy in the different Bishopricks in the year 1827.
No. II. contains a curious comparison, between the clergy of Old and New Spain, which Mr. Ramos Arizpe, from his long residence in the Peninsula, was well qualified to draw up; and by which it will be seen, that the number of Prebends alone in Spain, exceeds, by Nine hundred and ninety-six, the total amount of the whole Mexican Secular Clergy of every degree. Spain has Sixty-three Cathedrals, and One hundred and seventeen Collegiate Chapters: Mexico, Ten Cathedrals and One Collegiate Chapter: and the Church of Saragossa alone, in Spain, contains Thirty-three more Canons and Prebends than there are at present in the whole Mexican Republic.
The Table No. III., presents a statement of the number of Convents in Mexico: the Orders and Provinces to which they belong; the number of individuals contained in each; distinguishing those who have professed, during the last five years;—the Parishes, and Missions, under their charge, and the amount of their property both in lands and in capitals, lent upon mortgage.
No. IV. gives a similar view of the Six Colleges, de propagandâ fide, established in Mexico, Qŭerētărŏ, Păchūcă, Ŏrĭzāvă, Zăcătēcăs, and Zăpŏpān, with an account of the Indian Missions in the north, in which the Members of these Colleges are employed.
From the two last of these Tables, some very important inferences may be drawn.
In the first place, it appears that in the One hundred and fifty-six Convents and Colleges of Mexico, only two hundred and ninety-four individuals have professed, or taken the vows, during the last five years, out of five hundred and twenty-seven who assumed the habit, probably with an intention of professing; and that, at the present day, only ninety-two in all are serving their noviciate.
This may be regarded as no mean proof of the diminution of that mistaken spirit of religion, by which so many, who might have become useful members of society, were induced to shut themselves up in communities, many of which subsist entirely upon the contributions of the ignorant, or the religiously disposed, amongst their countrymen. It serves, likewise, to indicate that the charity of the former supporters of these Orders is cooling fast. The total amount of the alms received, by all the different Convents, in the year 1826, does not exceed 204,601 dollars; a sum, which, I am assured, the receipts of the Convent of St. Francisco in Mexico alone, frequently equalled in former times. The métier is therefore becoming a bad one; and the number of noviciates will, of course, decrease in the same ratio as the inducements to enter upon a Monastic life.
It appears, farther, that the total amount of the capital possessed by the Regular Clergy of New Spain, computing the value of their lands, (fincas urbanas y rusticas) and of their capitals, by the annual produce as given by the table, (428,764 dollars)[4] at five per cent interest, and adding the value of their consolidated fund, (649,735 dollars), does not exceed 9,225,015 dollars; a very moderate sum when compared with the immense wealth of the Monastic Orders in some parts of Europe, and particularly in Old Spain.
For this advantage, Mexico, according to Mr. Ramos Arizpe, is indebted to the circumstance of never having received into her territory the Orders of the Basilians, and the Carthusians, or the Monks of St. Bernard, and St. Geronimo, who are all great proprietors in the Peninsula, and hold there, with immense estates, all the privileges of temporal jurisdiction. The only Orders established in New Spain are the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Augustins, the Unshod Carmelites, and the Mercedarians, all of whom are prevented by the rules of their institutions from holding lordships with seigneurial rights, or acquiring property to any great extent; and consequently are much better calculated to become useful members of a Christian community. (Vide Ecclesiastical Report of 1826.)
Having taken a general view, in the preceding pages, of the situation of the Church of Mexico in 1827, it only remains for me to point out, a little more in detail, the effects produced by the Revolution.
The Constitution has vested in the President the right of conceding, or refusing, the Pase, or Placet, which may be considered as equivalent to the Regium Exequatur, without which no Bull, or even Indulgence, was allowed to circulate in the Spanish possessions of Ultramar. This right has been freely exercised; twenty-four only, of thirty-three Briefs and Rescripts transmitted from Rome, having obtained the Constitutional Pase in the year 1826. Of the remainder, four were referred to the Senate, and five rejected altogether.
One of these is the Bull of the 24th December, 1825, for the extension of the Jubilee, which has not been allowed to circulate, "Because it contains doctrines contrary to that of the sovereignty of the people, and in favour of the absolute power of Kings, identifying their cause with that of the Church." The other four are all Bulls in favour of the parochial Church of Jalapa, which have been rejected in consequence of their being countersigned by the agent of the King of Spain at Rome. (Vide Report.)
In the Mandatory letters from Generals of the Monastic Orders, an entire change has also taken place. The Orders existing in Mexico were all, in their origin, branches of similar Orders established in the Peninsula, and dependant upon Generals residing there. On the declaration of the Independence, the Government, as a necessary precaution, prohibited all intercourse with the Generals, and this injunction has been hitherto complied with.
It is now the wish of the Executive, that the Mexican Provinces of Regulars should elect Generals, to reside in the territories of the Federation; but upon this point, nothing has been yet determined.
With regard to the interior discipline of the Convents, difficulties have occurred only in one instance. The Franciscans of Queretaro, were bound by the rules of their Order to observe what is termed la Tripartita in the choice of their Priors, who are elected every three years. By this rule, the election fell, for the first term of three years, upon a Spanish Monk, who had taken orders in the Peninsula; for the second, likewise upon a Spaniard, but one who had professed in Mexico; and for the third only, upon a Mexican born.
The Government naturally wished to do away with a distinction so unfavourable to Natives; but the Convent declared any change to be impossible, as the regulation in question originated in a Bull of the Pope's, and was included in the fundamental rules of the Order. A reference to Rome direct was allowed them, in order to quiet their scruples; but the Pope, instead of returning a direct answer, referred the question to the Bishop of New Orleans (a Frenchman by birth), who, in a Pastoral addressed to the Monks, recommended the strict observance of the Tripartita.
This Pastoral was clandestinely introduced, but the Government having received information of the fact, ordered it to be delivered up, and the bearer (a Monk of the Order) to be severely reprimanded for having taken charge of it. The Tripartita has been since abolished, without any measures of rigour being resorted to.
I have stated in the first part of this Section, that serious inconvenience has arisen, both to the Clergy and the country at large, from the non-existence of a right of Patronage during the last five years. The Congress has, indeed, reserved to itself, by the 50th Article of the Federal Act, the privilege "of regulating this right throughout the Federation;" but, up to the present time, it has neither authorized the Executive to appoint Bishops, nor to concur in the appointments made by other bodies.
I am inclined to attribute this apparent timidity on the part of the Congress, to a prudent desire to allow the disadvantages of a dependence upon a Transatlantic Power to be brought home to the Clergy of all classes before any step is taken to relieve them from its effects. This object is now attained: a feeling in favour of an independent National Church, has become very general; and, in the beginning of this year, motions were made in the Legislatures of Zacatecas and Durango, urging the Congress to assume the right of Patronage, without waiting for a Concordat with the See of Rome. I have little doubt that due attention will be paid to this recommendation in the sessions of 1828, if, indeed, it be not acted upon before the close of the present year.
The long interregnum which has taken place in many of the Bishoprics, has facilitated the introduction of some very useful reforms; but it has encouraged, at the same time, a spirit of innovation, on the part of some of the States, which, but for the intervention of the General Congress, would have been carried very far. In Guadalajara, for instance, the State Legislature decreed the confiscation of the whole of the Church property in that State, pledging itself to make a suitable provision for the Ministers of Religion at the public expense. This project was even sanctioned as an Article of the Constitution of the State (the 7th); but the Clergy, having refused to take the oath upon such terms, and resisted, by a threat of excommunication, an attempt on the part of the Civil Authorities to oblige them to submit, the question was referred to the General Congress, which, on the 22d of December 1824, issued a Decree "prohibiting the States from taking any measures calculated to diminish the revenues of the Church, without the full concurrence of the Ecclesiastical Authorities, until the time should arrive, at which the General Congress should think it expedient to enact a law for the regulation of the right of Patronage throughout the Republic."
This measure, although it has been much criticised, was undoubtedly productive of the very best effects, as it put a stop to encroachments on the part of the States, for which the country was by no means prepared, and yet left the door open for all necessary reforms, wherever there was an attempt to exercise Spiritual jurisdiction, in such a manner as to affect the rights and privileges of any other class of citizens. For, it is to be observed, that the Decree, while it prohibits any attempt to trench upon the revenues of the Church, does not prohibit the interference of the States with regard to the mode in which these revenues are collected.
Advantage has been taken of this opening, in almost every part of the Federation, in order to abolish the Tribunal de Haceduria, or Court of Tithes, before which all cases connected with the collection of tithes were brought and decided, in dernier resort, by the Canons, who were thus both parties and judges in their own cause. The mode of abolition has varied in the different States. In Durango, the right of decision is vested in the Supreme Tribunal of Justice: in Valladolid, San Luis Pŏtŏsī, Guanajuato, and Jalisco, Mixed Courts have been established, the shades of difference between which it would be unnecessary to point out: but in all, the spirit is the same; and the determination to allow of no extension of Spiritual jurisdiction to civil cases has been equally asserted.
This step has not been taken without much resistance on the part of the Chapters; and, in Guadalajara, the Canons have gone so far as to declare, "that they will give up their claim to any portion of the Tithes, and subsist entirely upon the alms of the faithful, rather than allow one of their number to become a member of the Mixed Court." But as the Congress, up to the period of my departure, had refused to interfere in the question, and has not, I believe, done so since, the measure will be gradually carried into execution in all the States, and will, I doubt not, be in full effect in most, before the end of the present year.
The sums left at the disposal of the Cathedrals for Obras Pias, or charitable institutions, have furnished another source of contention in many parts of the Republic. These sums constitute, as we have seen, a part of the general funds of the Clergy, and many of them have, undoubtedly, not been employed according to the intentions of the testator.
In Durango, copies of the original wills of two individuals, who bequeathed to the Church, funds for the express purpose of endowing schools, having been procured, the State Congress has demanded the restitution of a capital, which has been allowed to remain thirty years unemployed, or, at least, unappropriated in the manner prescribed. The Chapter refused at first to listen to this demand; but finding no very great disposition on the part of the General Congress to interfere, it has avoided bringing matters to an extremity by advancing the money required by the Government, for projects of public utility, as a loan.
In Guadalajara, the Canons, to avoid being called to a similar account, have commenced very extensive repairs in the Cathedral, all of which the fund of Obras Pias is destined to defray. In other States various other precautions have been taken; and the necessity for these, on the part of the Church, has led to a great deal of jealousy, and bad feeling, between the Ecclesiastical and Civil Authorities, which has been not a little increased by the circumstance of so many of the Canons being old Spaniards, against whom, individually and collectively, a decided spirit of hostility prevails.
What I have said of the growing interference of the States in the affairs of the Bishoprics, is equally applicable to the Monastic Orders. There is no national act, that vests, either in the Chambers, or in the Executive, or in the State Congresses, any legal right of control over them, nor is any such control exercised at the present moment, except in those general regulations, which I have already pointed out: but there are evident indications of an intention, on the part of the Congress, to take measures for restricting Novitiates under a certain age, and thus gradually to reduce the number of Convents, by fixing, for each, a minimum of resident monks.
Abolition by any sweeping act, such as that which produced such fatal effects in Spain, is not, I think, to be apprehended;[5] but the present state of the Convents affords great facilities for moderate reforms, only forty-seven Convents, out of a hundred and fifty, containing more than Twelve friars, and thirty-nine being already reduced to less than Five.
It is much to be desired that the Congress may persevere in the prudent course, which it has hitherto pursued; for, in the States, unfortunately, the cause of reform has fallen into the hands of men, who, irritated at the abuses which have been committed under the cloak of religion, are inclined to attribute to the creed the faults of those who professed to teach it, and wish to fly, at once, from superstition to atheism. Throughout the Bishoprics on the Western Coast this feeling is very prevalent, and in Jalisco especially, it is a favourite axiom of the liberal party, that, until the present Church system be radically changed, the new institutions can never take a firm root.
Nothing can be more mistaken, in my opinion, than this idea, or less suited to the habits, and feelings of the people. It is by pruning, and weeding, and not by destroying both root and branch, that salutary reforms may be effected. For these, as I have already stated, there is ample room; but, if the changes proposed, do not exceed the establishment of a necessary degree of independence in the Mexican Church,—the equalization (or more equal distribution) of its revenues, and the diminution of those excessive Church, or Surplice fees, now exacted by the Parochical Clergy;—Mexican clergymen may be found, (and these, men of the highest respectability,) not only capable of directing, but desirous to introduce them, even at the expense of individual sacrifices, the necessity of which they acknowledge.
The vacancy of the principal Bishoprics affords an opening, which will probably be taken advantage of; and should the overgrown revenues of some of the Dioceses be cut down, and appropriated to the support of the poorer Parochial Clergy, I am inclined to think that the measure, in lieu of being opposed, would meet with very general approbation. At all events, a general coalition against it, (which might be dangerous) is not to be apprehended.
The Clergy are divided amongst themselves: besides the great leading distinction of Old Spaniards and Natives, the interests of the Parochial Clergy are at variance, not only with those of the Convents, but also with those of the Cathedral Chapters; and this circumstance is particularly favourable to moderate reform. Beyond this point, I sincerely hope that no innovations will be attempted; for a National Church ought to be respectably supported; and if this be done, the Clergy will gain, in real and beneficial influence, all that they lose in an unnatural political importance, which they ought not to wish to retain.
I shall close this Section with a few observations upon the important subject of religious Toleration, which, in theory, at least, cannot be said to exist at present in Mexico. No sects of religion differing from the dominant religion, are tolerated; nor is the private, or public exercise of any other allowed. To be a Mexican Citizen, an outward conformity, at least, with the practices of the Roman Catholic faith, is required; although the facility with which letters of Naturalization have been conceded to American settlers, in the North, proves, that no very strict enquiry upon the subject is instituted. But there are no rights, or privileges, either civil or military, to which any Mexican subject, publicly professing any but the Catholic religion, could legally be entitled.
With regard to Foreigners, residing as such in the Mexican territory, but few concessions have yet been made; nor has it been found possible to establish, as a right, the public or private exercise of the Protestant religion; although the wishes of his Majesty's Government upon this subject were complied with by Buenos Ayres, and, under certain limitations, by Columbia likewise.
In Mexico, the third article of the Federal Act rendered a similar compliance impossible. It becomes, therefore, interesting to enquire by what means New Spain has been thrown so far behind the Sister States of the South in point of rational toleration.
It is to the history of the Revolution that we must look for the causes of the difference, which now prevails; for, in 1810, it may fairly be assumed that superstition and intolerance were pretty equally disseminated throughout the Spanish Colonies in the New World. But, in Buenos Ayres, since the first declaration of the independence (May 1810), not a single Spanish soldier has entered the territory of the Republic: the intercourse with Foreigners has been constantly open, and constantly kept up; and it would have been hard indeed, if, in thirteen years, the minds of the people had not been prepared, by the gradual amalgamation of interests which has taken place, to entertain a more indulgent view of the religion of those Foreigners, than that which their former masters had laboured to inculcate.
In Columbia, the case has been different in some respects, although in others nearly the same. A general freedom of intercourse with Europe was not, indeed, immediately established, but a numerous corps of Foreign Auxiliaries joined, at a very early period, the Independent standard, and fought the battles of the Republic against the armies of Murillo. It was after more than one victory, in which this corps had taken a brilliant share, that the Congress of Truxillo, assembled under the auspices of Bolivar, framed the present Constitution. Gratitude to the army forbade, at such a moment, the insertion of an Article prohibiting the exercise of a religion, which a very important part of that army professed; and, at the same time, the certainty of its support, if required, encouraged the Columbian Legislators to avoid the insertion of a provision in the National Act, the disadvantages of which, at no distant period, it was easy to foresee.
In Mexico, none of these favourable circumstances occurred. The war of Independence, instead of enfranchising the people from the dominion of that blind system of superstition, which it had been the interest of the Spaniards, during three centuries, to keep up, had rather a contrary tendency. It was by appealing to the religious feelings of the people, and by inviting them to defend the rights of their Church against the pollution, with which they were menaced by a French invasion, that the leaders of the first Insurrection, in 1810, induced the lower classes to join the standard of revolt. The Virgin of Guadalupe, was declared the Patroness of all the Insurgents: her images were worn, and her name invoked by them, on entering into battle. Their first leaders, too, were all priests; and although, as the struggle became more general, a more rational idea of the great object of the contest with Spain was introduced, it was still found necessary to keep up the fanaticism of the lower orders, as the strongest hold which their leaders could possess over their minds.
Foreigners kept almost entirely aloof from the contest. The struggle was decidedly amongst the Mexicans themselves; and, unfortunately, by that very portion of the community, which, instead of sharing in the feelings of hostility, entertained by the rest of their countrymen towards Spain, was induced by the recollection of the privileges which it had enjoyed under the Viceregal government, to set up the laws and institutions of Old Spain, as the best model for imitation. Purity of religion, was one of the Three Guarantees proclaimed by Iturbide and the army at Iguala; Union with Spain was another. The first rendered it impossible to omit, afterwards, in framing a constitution, a proviso which might not have been thought necessary, had it been omitted at first; and the second, by pledging the nation to adopt all such old Spaniards, as chose to remain in its territory, established a corps of observation in the very heart of the country, which examined most narrowly every act of the government, and lost no opportunity of exciting the prejudices of the people against it. If to these really difficult circumstances be added the total exclusion of foreigners from the Mexican territory, until the year 1822, it must be admitted that it was not easy for the Mexican Congress, in 1824, to avoid the adoption in the Federal Act of the Religious article of the Spanish Constitution, of which the third article of that of Mexico, is, in fact, a transcript. The necessity of such a concession to the popular prejudices of the day, was, and is, bitterly lamented by the more enlightened Mexicans; and it is to time, and to the generalization of this feeling, that we must look for the removal of its cause. Much has been done towards it during the last three years. Foreigners have penetrated into every part of the Republic; and, as they have been the means of giving a new existence to the mining and agricultural interests, the prejudices formerly entertained against them, have subsided with wonderful rapidity.
In many of the States, (each of which frames a constitution in miniature, for its own special use;) the prohibitory clause in the religious article of the Federal Act, has been omitted. The right of sepulture, according to the forms of the Protestant church, which is secured to His Majesty's subjects by treaty, has not only been universally conceded, but burying grounds have been voluntarily assigned for the purpose by the local Authorities, wherever a resident foreign Consul is established. In many instances, the funerals of the more respectable individuals who have died, have been attended by a number of the natives, personal friends or acquaintances of the deceased; and, although cases have certainly occurred, in which the repose of the tomb has been violated, I am inclined to attribute them less to fanaticism, than to cupidity, and to a mistaken belief that money was contained in the coffins, the use of which was little known amongst the Mexicans themselves.
With regard to marriages, considerable difficulties have arisen since the late influx of foreigners; nor can a Protestant yet contract marriage with a Mexican, otherwise than by professing his conversion to the Catholic faith. Between two foreigners, both of the reformed church, the marriage rite is allowed to be celebrated in the house of the Mission of the country to which they belong, and is registered as valid by the Mexican Ecclesiastical Authorities, on the transmission of a proper certificate. Such, at least, is the course which has been pursued in His Majesty's mission, and which may be regarded as a precedent for the subjects of any other power, similarly situated.
It would be an injustice to the Mexican government not to add, that in this, and every other question connected with religion, the Executive has shown the greatest attention to the complaints of foreigners, and has given them every protection, and every facility that it was possible, under present circumstances, to allow of I know not one, but many instances, in which the personal influence, both of the President and of the Ministers, has been exerted with the most beneficial effects; and I cannot but think that this example, seconded, as it is, by the wishes of all the better-informed Mexicans, both in the Capital, and in the States, will, very speedily, produce such a change in the feelings of the community at large, upon this subject, as will enable the Legislature by a national Act, to dispense with restrictions, which are completely at variance with the spirit of all the other institutions of the country.
No. I.
| General Table of the Secular Clergy in the different Bishoprics of Mexico in the year 1827. | ||
| BISHOPRICS. | Number of Secular Clergy. |
Number of Parishes. |
| Mexico | 482 | 245 |
| Guadalaxara | 611 | 135 |
| Puebla | 907 | 241 |
| Oaxaca | 364 | 124 |
| Valladolid | 500 | 122 |
| Yucaten | 357 | 99 |
| Monterrey | 145 | 57 |
| Durango | 184 | 64 |
| Sonora | 54 | 65 |
| Chiapa | 73 | 42 |
| Total | 3,677 | 1,194 |
No. II.
| Spain. | Churches. | Canons, &c. | Mexico. | Churches. | Canons,&c. | |||
| Cathedral | 63 | 2709 | Cathedral | 10 | 168 | |||
| Collegiate | 117 | 1750 | Collegiate | 1 | 17 | |||
| Total | 180 | 4459 | 11 | 185 | ||||
| The whole secular | The Church of Sa- | |||||||
| Clergy of Mexico, in- | ragossa in Spain has | |||||||
| cluding Canons and | Canons, &c. | 149 | 253 | |||||
| Prebends | 3463 | That of Toledo | 104 | |||||
| —— | Mexican Canons, | |||||||
| Excess of Canons | &c. in all | 185 | ||||||
| and Prebends alone in | —— | |||||||
| Spain | 996 | Excess of two | ||||||
| Churches alone in | ||||||||
| Spain | 68 | |||||||
TABLE No. III.
No. IV.
- ↑ I allude more particularly to the establishment of hospitals, which seems to have been general in all the Bishoprics, and to the construction of the magnificent Aqueduct of Valladolid, which was the work of one of the Bishops of that See.
- ↑ A drawing of the Church of Guadelupe, about a league from the Capital, is annexed.
- ↑ Vide Enciclica, as published in the Madrid Gazette of the 10th February, 1825, and in that of Mexico, July 6, of the same year.
- ↑
Produce of houses in towns 216,002 dollars. Of property in the country 129,723 Interest of capitals 83,039 ———— Total 428,764 - ↑ No one who has followed the course of events in the Peninsula during the years 1820, 1821, and 1822, will deny that the feeling of hostility towards the Constitution, which always existed, increased, in a tenfold ratio, from the day that the Cortes turned forty thousand monks and friars loose upon the country, on a badly-paid pension, to propagate their opinions amongst the lower classes, as the only means of avoiding starvation.