cannot speak Spanish at all-only Aztec, and need instruction and the evangelizing power of the Gospel as much as when Cortez invaded the country. In some places they have not even changed the name of the old Mexican idol to the Christian saint. A single example is sufficient. In one region there is a church which for half of the year is dedicated to a Romish saint-for the other half to an Aztec god. Intelligent Spanish gentlemen in Mexico feel the need of true Christian instruction for this class of people. When we were in Mexico, an influential owner of an estate, an officer in the army, who, as he stated to us, had hundreds of Aztecs on his plantation, came to us and begged us to send a minister with him, who could reside on his estate, and whom he would support, to preach to these original inhabitants of Mexico. But alas! we had no one to send. It is a singular and suggestive fact that two Protestant churches are occupying the building of the first and greatest convent in Mexico, the convent which once had hardly a We parallel for size and beauty in any part of the world. translate some descriptions of it, as it was before its confiscation by the government, from a Spanish work, entitled, "Los Conventos Suprimidos," page 335, etc. It was This immense edifice, which, in a religious aspect, has not an equal in the country, has always enjoyed a well-merited celebrity for the beauty of its church and chapels, for the amplitude of its cloisters, and their adjoining apartments, and for the magnificent ornaments and artistic riches which it contains. the admiration of natives and strangers in our day, and the church, in particular, was always considered a resort for the most distinguished of our society, who there celebrated the divine offices with surprising splendor and pomp. It contains three hundred cells or sleeping rooms, besides the sleeping rooms in the altos. It has two cloisters, [that is, one above and one below, both of which are included in the property of the Methodist Episcopal Church,] the lower one of which is adorned with large pictures from the famous pencil of Baltasar de Chavez, in which is recorded all the life of San Francisco. At the tables in the refectory more than five hundred friars can be seated at one time. In the church there is a thorn of the crown of Christ, with a piece of the wood of the cross and relics of the twelve apostles. The historian, no doubt, thought these relics were genuine.] Here, also is a picture of Hernando Cortez, and at the foot of the picture is a small trunk containing his bones and those of his son, the Marquis D. Martin Cortez. It is known by tradition that the convent is built on the very spot which was occupied by the garden of Montezuma-a garden which adjoined his palace, and which contained his plants, wild beasts, birds, and fishes. It formed the first parish on the American continent, and in it was held the first auto of the Inquisition and the first confirmations. We have given only brief extracts from the descriptions of this wonderful edifice. We might weary the reader with an account of its valuable and numerous paintings, its statues, its riches in gold; but we have said enough to convey an idea of what the convent once was. We come to the hour at which it was confiscated by the government. On the night of the 14th of September, 1856, a Mexican lady came to the palace of the President of Mexico and begged that he would grant her an audience. Some days before this there had been rumors that a secret revolution was in contemplation against the government, and that various meetings were held in the convent of San Francisco to promote it, that arms and ammunition were stored there, and that several of the monks were taking part in it. The Mexican lady, on being introduced to the President, said: "Your Excellency will allow me to speak freely?" "Speak, señora." "There is a revolu tion against the government." "The monks of San Francisco." "Their organization is perfect. arms, which your Excellency will is not a moment to be lost." time?" "The day after to-morrow they intend to strike the blow which will make them masters of Mexico." "Who is concerned in it?" "Have they an organization?" The convent is stored with find on visiting it, and there "Have they fixed upon any The President was prompt in his action, for on the morning of the 15th the city was surprised as they beheld what had taken place at San Francisco. The doors of the convent were shut, the friars were prisoners, double guards of soldiers stood around the building, and a multitude of people gathered to learn what had taken place. On the following day a decree was passed by the government containing two clauses: First, a street, to be called Calle Independencia, was to be opened within fifteen days through the center of the convent; second, the buildings which were in the way, and which formed part of the convent, were to be demolished. The next day, September 17, 1856, another decree was passed in the following words: "The convent of San Francisco in the city of Mexico is suppressed, and its buildings confiscated, their product, when sold, to be divided between the orphanage, lunatic asylum, hospital, secondary college of education for children, and the school of arts and sciences, in the city of Mexico." There was an admirable promptness on the part of the gov ernment; the decrees were not only passed, but carried into immediate effect. The street called " Independencia" was cut through a part of the convent at some distance both from the cloister and the audience-room. Chambers could be seen, even at the time we were in Mexico, divided in two, gaping on the street, and the thick stone walls of partitions cut away, just as the work of demolition had left them. Even the figures on the cells as they had been numbered when the monks inhabited them, were visible from the street. After the suppression of the convent, the buildings were sold according to the decree of the government, and an eterprising gentleman purchased the cloisters, put a roof upon the quadrangular space within the arches, on columns, in the form of a dome, with windows in it above for light and ventilation, and opened a grand circus, called in the city of Mexico "The Circus de Chiarini." The center space recently roofed, where now the Gospel is proclaimed, formed the ring in which the equestrians performed, the horses raced, and the clowns joked. The space behind the pillars, the long and wide galleries, were occupied by the spectators. From the Church to the circus was a singular transformation, but still another change awaited the spot ere it became vocal with the sounds of prayer and hymns of religious and joyful praise. It was again sold, and the new purchaser opened a theater called the "Variety Theater," part of the space recently roofed over forming the pit, the rest of the stage and beyond, on one side, where the pillars had now been taken away, the recitation and green rooms. The reader will bear in mind, however, that the pillars had been taken away from one side only; they still remain on the other three sides. It was when it was occupied as a theater that the late Bishop Gilbert Haven purchased the property. The day that posses sion was obtained we visited the spot. It seemed as if a play might have been enacted the very night before. There were the side-curtains and back-scenes, and ropes to move them, reaching to the top of the building, and pulleys apparently so high up when we mounted to them that it seemed like looking down from some high steeple. There were the foot-lights at the front of the stage, and the seats of the orchestra beyond, and outside of the pit the galleries or arches were filled with seats, rising one above the other, except a space near the stage, where private boxes were partitioned off. It was a work of some months to prepare it for our Church services. Dr. Butler superintended the work, and labored at it night and day with great energy. The galleries were partitioned off, leaving the pillars in sight, and the part which the owner of the circus had covered with a roof or dome became our Church. The galleries are used for lecture-room, school-rooms, printing-offices, etc. Besides all this space connected with the cloisters proper, two dwellings were erected in front over the large hall or vestibule, one on the second, the other on the third story, the custom in Mexico being for each family to occupy a flat, the third story often being preferred to the second. Thus, where the monks walked, meditated, and we hope prayed, Methodist prayers and Methodist hymns are now offered and sung, and the convent which for centuries was the pride and boast of Romanism has become the center of evangelical and missionary work. ART. VIII.- SYNOPSIS OF THE QUARTERLIES AND OTHERS OF THE HIGHER PERIODICALS. American Reviews. AMERICAN CATHOLIC QUARTERLY REVIEW, April, 1882. (Philadelphia.)-1. The Religious Rights of Catholics in Public Institutions; by John Gilmary Shea, LL.D. 2. Modern Spiritism versus Christianity; by Rev. J. F. X. Hæeffer, S.J. 3. The Existence of God Demonstrated. On What Grounds Does the Atheist Deny the Existence of God?-Conclusion; by Rev. J. Ming, S.J. 4. "The New French Minister of Public Instruction." Reply to the "Harpers' " Latest Calumny; by Rev. Aug. J. Theband, S. J. 5. An Irish Government for Ireland; by John Boyle O'Reilly. 6. The Practice of Shaving in the Latin Church; by Most Rev. Charles J. Seghers, D.D. 7. The Papacy and the European Powers. 1870-1882. By John MacCarthy. 8. The Monks of Old; by Rev. Edward F. X. McSweeny, D.D. 9. Eugland's Return to the Faith; by John Charles Earle, B.A., Oxon. 10. The Cincinnati Pastoral and its Critics. BAPTIST QUARTERLY REVIEW, April, May, June, 1882. (Cincinnati.)-1. John CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN QUARTERLY REVIEW, April, 1882. (Lebanon, Tenn.)— NEW ENGLANDER, May, 1882, (New Haven.)-1. Spiritism (so-called) a Scientific Question; by H. Ulrici. Translated by Rev. J. B. Chase. 2. The Progress of Humane Action in Christendom; by Rev. E. Woodward Brown. 3. The Charter of Yale College. The Import and Reach of its Several Changes; by William Bliss, Esq. 4. Historic Stages of the Theory of the Atonement; by Rev. James B. Gregg. 5. The Principles of Church Polity; by Rev. Wm. H. Fenn. 6. The Folk Songs of the Färöe Islands; by William Howard Carpenter. PRESBYTERIAN REVIEW, April, 1882. (New York.)-1. The Messianic Kingdom; by Rev. Chas. Elliott, D.D. 2. The Homiletical Value of Wordsworth's Poetry; by Rev. John De Witt, D.D. 3. John Mitchell Mason; by Rev. C. Van SantVoord, D.D. 4. The Majesty of God as Revealed by Modern Stellar Astronomy; by Prof. Jermain G. Porter, A.M. 5. Is Total Abstinence True Temperance? by Prof. Willis J. Beecher, D.D. 6. The Greek Testament of Westcott and Hort; by Prof. Benjamin B. Warfield, D.D. 7. The Critical Theories of Julius Wellhausen; by Prof. Henry P. Smith. QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH, April, 1882. (Nashville, Tenn.)-1. Halieutics. 2. Dr. Adam Clarke and His Biographers. 3. The Ecumenical Conference. 4. The Late Bishop Wightman. 5. The Approaching General Conference. 6. John Wesley Neither an Autocrat nor a Bigot. 7. The First Duty of the Church. 8. The New Revision Reviewed. UNIVERSALIST QUARTERLY, April, 1882. (Boston.)-1. The Attitude of the Universalist Church Toward Skepticism; by I. M. Atwood, D.D. 2. Mrs. Judith Murry; by Rev. Richard Eddy. 3. Origin an Indication of Destiny; by Rev. R. P. Ambler. 4. Classical Studies; by Prof. Wm. D. Shipman. 5. Ireland; by G. H. Emerson, D.D. 6. Use of the Greek Verb Me22w by the Sacred Writers; by Rev. O. D. Miller. 7. The Catacombs of Rome; Their History and Uses; by Rev. A. B. Grosh. FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XXXIV.-35 |