Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/158

Rh In 1844, when the last accurate summary of the Mexican church, within our reach, was made, the following was the condition:

In this year the possessions in conventual establishments of the Regular Orders, was estimated as follows:

The actual property of this establishment has been variously estimated since the earliest period in which Mexican institutions have been described by European writers. The church in Mexico is known to be immensely rich, and that its real and personal property has been carefully managed by the large body of intelligent men who control its affairs. They prudently make no public or statistical expositions of their interests.

In 1807, Abad y Quiepo, in a communication to Don Manuel Sexto Espinosa, estimated the wealth of the church as follows:

In 1831, Don José Maria Mora, a Mexican writer, estimated the property of the church at a valuation of at least $75,000,000