monasteries, convents, and hospitals; in the early period after the Conquest their work and influence, as we have seen, were most favorable to the establishment of the colony. To the Franciscans, in great part, belongs the honor of establishing the power of Spain on a firm basis in the new country. Their wise course with the Indians, establishing a cordial and even affectionate intercourse with them, engrafting gently the tenets of the new religion upon whatever was good and healthy of the old stock, gave them a strong hold upon their converts, and thus confirmed by love and reason the position won in the first place by arms and superior force. The several orders of Hospitallers established all over the country houses of shelter for the sick, admirably appointed and administered conscientiously with the greatest zeal.
The Jesuits encouraged learning in Mexico, founded colleges and schools, and inspired even the lowest class with the possibility of raising themselves by developing their mental faculties. The Dominicans, by their furious zeal for the Inquisition, doubtless hastened the end of the Spanish rule, for the soil of the New World has never been favorable for the taking root of this institution.
"Broadly speaking," Mr. Janvier says, in his admirable "Mexican Guide," "the influence of the religious orders upon the colony was beneficial during its first century, neutral during its second, harmful during its third." It must always be remembered that Cortés, with all his personal ambition and greed of gold, was deeply religious, and that he never lost
