intenance
of these 3223 persons, is annually $20,000,000, besides the very large
sums expended in the repairs and ornaments of an enormous number of
churches, and in gifts at the shrines of the different images, which
can not be appropriated to the maintenance of the clergy. This sum of
$20,000,000, if fairly divided among them, would yield an abundant
support, though not an extravagant living; but, unfortunately, the
greatest portion of this immense sum is absorbed by the bishops, while
the priests of the villages contrive to exist by the contributions they
wring out of the _peons_. At the time of the census, 1793, the twelve
bishops had $539,000[66] appropriated to their support; but now their
revenues are so mixed up with the revenues of the Church, that it is
impossible to say how much these twelve successors of the apostles
appropriate to their own support.

MONEY-POWER OF THE CHURCH.

In place of the Inquisition which the reformed Spanish government took
away from the Church of Mexico, the Church now wields the power of
wealth, almost fabulous in amount, which is practically in the hands of
a close corporation-sole. The influence of the Archbishop, as the
substantial owner of half the property in the city of Mexico, gives him
a power over his tenants unknown under our system of laws. Besides
this, a large portion of the Church property is in money, and the
Archbishop is the great loan and trust company of Mexico. Nor is this
power by any means an insignificant one. A bankrupt government is
overawed by it. Men of intellect are crushed into silence; and no
opposition can successfully stand against the influence of this Church
lord, who carries in his hands the treasures of heaven, and in his
money-bags the material that moves the world. To understand the full
force of his power of money, it must be borne in mind that Mexico is a
country proverbial for recklessness in all conditions of life; for
extravagant living and extravagant equipages; a country where a man's
position in society is determined by the state he maintains; a country,
the basis of whose wealth is the mines of precious metal; where
princely fortunes are quickly acquired and suddenly lost, and where
hired labor has hardly a cash value. In such a country, the power and
influence of money has a meaning beyond any idea that we can form. Look
at a prominent man making an ostentatious display of his devotion: his
example is of advantage to the Church, a