Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/398

378 was promoted to the archbishopric of Mexico, of which he took possession on the 22d of August, receiving on the 8 th of September the pallium from the bishop of Puebla,

Lorenzana s government of the archdiocese, though a brief one, was marked by acts that justly entitled him to a high place among the most distinguished members of the Mexican episcopacy. His first act was to establish a foundling asylum. Soon after his arrival he noticed the absence of such a shelter for the care of infants forsaken by their parents either to conceal a fault or to elude the fulfilment of their duties. He purchased out of his income a suitable building on the 11th of January, 1767, founding and organizing in it the casa de niños expósitos, commonly known as La Cuna, which he supported till he left the country. He was governing in harmony with the civil power, and much valued for his learning, virtue, and philanthropy, when he received promotion to the archbishopric of Toledo, and was made primate of Spain, to which place he had been nominated on the 27th of January, 1771. In his new position he had a still wider field of usefulness. On the 30th of March, 1789, Pius VI. made him a cardinal.

When the Frepch revolution broke out and a large number of ecclesiastics from that nation sought a refuge in Spain, Lorenzana, foremost among the Spanish prelates, afforded them great protection and assistance. In 1797 he was sent by Cárlos IV. to Rome to afford aid and comfort to Pius VI., and remained at the pontiff's side, accompanying him to Florence and thence to Parma. The object of his company was to furnish pecuniary resources to Pius. At last the