Page:Mexico as it was and as it is.djvu/383

 selfish natures of the superior classes, who wield the physical and intellectual forces of the nation, have forced the masses to become little more than the slaves of those whose wit gives them the talent of control.

In addition to this, you will observe how little has been done hitherto for the cause of learning by the Government, when you examine a table of the expenses of the nation, by which it will be seen, that in the year 1840, while $180,000 were spent for hospitals, fortresses, and prisions and $8,000,000 for the army, (without a foreign war) only $110,000 were given to all the institutions of learning in Mexico.

I learn, however, with pleasure, that under the new scheme of national regeneration which has recently been put in action, the subject of Education has engaged the especial attention of the existing powers, and that they design to foster it by every means in their power.

In every one of the parishes into which the city is divided, there is established a school for boys, and another for girls, supported by the Ayuntamiento or Town Council. In these establishments the pupils are taught, without charge, to read, write, and calculate, and are besides instructed in religious and political catechisms. In the schools for girls, in addition to these branches, they learn sewing and other occupations suitable for their sex. Books and stationery are furnished gratis.

There is another establishment called the Normal School, supported by the Government, and devoted to the instruction of the soldiers of the army in the rudiments of learning. Advancement and improvement in this school are suitably rewarded by ranks in the army. Besides this, there is, also, a, which, commencing its labors in the Capital, is spreading its branches all over the country. It is devoted to primary instruction, and is protected by all the citizens of the Republic who are remarkable either for their wealth, education, or social position. The contribution is a dollar monthly. I am glad to learn that, since I left Mexico, the usefulness of this Company has been so apparent to the people, that schools upon its plan have not only been established in the principal cities and towns, but that they are now being founded in almost every village of importance, and even upon extensive haciendas or plantations, where the laboring population is numerous and ignorant.

In the city of Mexico, this Company has formed a large number of schools for children of both sexes, upon the same footing as those established by the Ayuntamiento; that is to say, the pupils are taught without