Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/733

Rh of aggrandizement, and whenever a mission was deemed of sufficient importance thither was sent a secular priest, and the friars were relieved of their charge and sent about their business. Their successors, however, were not men of like spirit with themselves. Their devotion was generally lukewarm, and they showed little real solicitude in watching over the moral and material well-being of the Indians. Thus many missions, which under the conduct of the friars had thrived, were soon abandoned, the buildings fell to ruins, and the natives relapsed into idolatry.

Yet the stipends allowed by the crown to even successful friars was a mere pittance, and paid grudgingly or not at all. Nevertheless the routine of duties was punctually performed at the permanently established missions. Daily at sunrise the bells summoned the Indians both male and female to church, where the padre, after prayer, explained the chief mysteries of the faith. Then the little children from five years old and upwards were instructed in the first rudiments, while the catechumens and those more advanced listened morning and afternoon to explanations of the grace whereby they should be saved.