Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/731

Rh Father Álvarez not only gave to the hospital all he possessed, but declared it the heir of his share of the estate left by his parents, with the only condition that his brother and two sisters in Spain should enjoy its income during their lives.

The order of Carmelites, represented by eleven of its members with their prelate, arrived in the city of Mexico on the 17th of October, 1585, and were given by the viceroy, January 18, 1586, the charge of the hermita de San Sebastian, which till then the Franciscans had held. On the 25th in a solemn procession and with the attendance of the archbishop the host was conveyed thence from the Franciscan convent. This was the first foundation of the order that became in later times so highly honored by the people of Mexico. Without loss of time the new-comers devoted themselves to their duties of instructing, consoling, and improving the natives.

Their province was constituted in 1588 under the