Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/734

714 They again took charge of San Juan Iztaquimaxtitlan, however, as a mark of respect to the viceroy, and offered to do the same with any other he might desire.

From the poverty at all times displayed by the Franciscans grew the practice of giving them alms. With such gifts and the personal service of the natives were built, and provided with all necessaries, parish churches, convents, and numerous chapels. To give some idea of the contributions I may mention the church of Santiago, erected at the cost of 90,000 pesos. The stone-cutters and masons as well as the common laborers, though receiving no pay, worked as heartily as for their full wages in money. A man, Juan Nieto, who had the contract for supplying the city of Mexico with beef, during thirty or thirty-five years, furnished the large convent, with its eighty or a hundred friars, all the meat required, free of charge. Nieto afterward met with disaster, lost his fortune, and ended his days in the convent of San Francisco, receiving for his sustenance one of the many rations that in his prosperity he had contributed to others. The Franciscans for forty years refused to receive the royal allowance to the religious orders engaged in the conversion of the Indians. But as the time came when voluntary contributions diminished, they were obliged to solicit the king's aid.

The following rules were observed by the order in the reception of new members. Each novice prior to profession had to make a solemn declaration setting forth the names of his parents and his age; and that