The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-04-11

moral ailments of heretics we're dag.
nOsed aud their mode of torture and
death pronounced on, WAS converted
INTO the national school of medicine.
The auto de fe of the Inqulsition,
where from 1871 until 1920, the mortal
remains of unbelievers were reduced
to ashes, is now part of the Alameda,
the exquisitely beautiful park of the
city.
While the laws of reform, as inaugu.
rated by Juarez and completed by
DiaZ, bore hard on many innocent
people and despoiled the nation Of a
wealth OF beautiful architecture and
scattered and destroyed many valuable
arr treasures. the devastation was only
partial, and Mexico yet has beautiful
churches and to spare for all practical
| purposes of worship
1t would take a tourist mary days
to visit all The interesting churches in
the capital alone, and in its suburban
villages.
| TO adequately describe the gre at
cathedral, that is precious even to the
reform party, one she uld be cOnnois-
seur in art and architecture. | have
never found it closed. 1t is one pa
latial home that welcomes rich and
poor alike. Wandering about in its
vast and beautiful roominess, l lose
the present and go back to the age
when religion was clothed in the mar
velous, when, under the stimulus of
music. incense and flowers, even the
bronze images seemed to glow with
celestial life, and martyrdom appeared
an easy offering to give or exact in It's
name.
|
lists to Mexico are the three churches
of Guadalupe and the old, old church
and monastery of La Pledad.
| In both are still recounted the mir
acles that led to their erection, and in
Guadalupe are to be seen a solid sill
yer altar rail weighing twenty tons, q
crown of rare jewels and picture OF
the Virgin painted by celestial hands.
1t is not particularly complimentary
to Americans that the value of this
altar rail was hidden by a coat of
black paint during the war ofs1S47.
1t is a natural mistake to infer that
the downfall of the church power in
Mexico was accomplished by infiieI
or hereto hands. 1t was struggle
among Catholics for the control of the
government. 1t has been estimated
|
country was in the hands of the cler-
gy. Her cathedrals and houses for re-
cluses were numerous and large
enough to have housed the entire pop
ulation of the republic. These repre-
sented the money and labor of the
people in building, and heavy bur-
den IN maintaining The government
virtually EXISTED by the suffrance of
the church, having no sure power over
the people, nor credit abroad. With
both wealth and power in the hands
of the church, schools were almost I'm
known outside the metropolis, the peo-
pie were ignorant, superstitlous and
| far from honest or moral.
The national treasury was bankrupt
and burdened with heavy foreign
debt; civil war was ever in the air and
|
could no longer have two masters.
A disunlon of church and state be-
came necessary, with the state in con-
troll. The liberal party that sppro-
priated the wealth of the church for
the benefit of the people, and the only
means of making Mexico free and
prosperous nation.
| Experience has taught that union
of church and state has ever been a
! menace to free government and det-
riment to religion. Priests, or Minis
ters of any church are only human,
and prove no exception to the rule
that absolute power leads to despot-
ism.
In our country, where despotism
of wealth is looming large on the hor-
I