Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/284

244 MEXICO. declared the two to be incompatible ; and even hinted, very distinctly, that any farther attempt, on the part of his Holi- ness, 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 Legis- latures of the States, the Bishops, and the Cathedral Chap- ters, all expressed their concurrence in the doctrines laid down in the Circular of the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs : Pas- torals were addressed by them, upon the subject, to their re- spective flocks ; and, as the influence of the Government and the Church were thus thrown into the same scale, the Enci- clica 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 the President, (who was then armed with extraordinary powers,) having taken 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 vi- gorous measure, from making any attempt to excite the lower classes, in the name of religion, to rebellion against the con- stituted authorities. The work of Baron Humboldt, and the admirable reports presented to Congress in 1826 and 1827, by the Mexican Mi- nister 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, ift New Spain, was estimated at ten thousand, or at thirteen