Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/609

Rh The end of the empire, and of ecclesiastical efforts to hold sway in Mexico, has been fully treated of in other chapters. Freedom of religion has been secured in a manner that renders all opposition to it out of the question. The law of December 4, 1860, made it so, and subsequent decrees in following years further strengthened it. The government made its measures practical, ceding to protestant congregations buildings in Mexico, Puebla, and elsewhere. From this time several protestant sects established missions in the country, and though beset with difficulties — from the opposition of the catholic clergy, and from old-standing beliefs and prejudices not easily eradicated — made considerable progress. Even the Mormons established colonies in Mexican territory, and an association of free-thinkers was formed in Mexico in 1870. The government maintains friendly relations with the ecclesiastical authorities, there being now an understanding that church and state are separate, independent of each other, and free to exercise their functions within their legitimate orbit.

The popular dislike of monastic institutions began in the reign of Cárlos III., and increased with the development of thought among the masses. The bishops seem to have encouraged this dislike, and audiencias and magistrates exercised unstintedly the patronato, carrying out the royal instructions to crush the power of the clergy, more particularly that of the