northern states and frontier suffered from Indian raids; and much indignation was aroused in those parts by the withdrawal in 1874 of the subsidies made by the federal government to those states to assist them in their defence against these inroads.[1]
One of the effects of the reform laws was the influx into Mexico of protestant missionaries of various denominations. It could not be expected that the introducers of the new doctrines preached would meet with the tolerance which the constitution prescribed, and they encountered no little persecution. In January 1874 protestants were assaulted in Toluca; and on May 2d John Stephens, an American protestant minister, was killed at Ahualulco, Jalisco, by a crowd of fanatics, who raised the cry of Viva el cura![2] In June of the following year a protestant church in Guerrero was attacked during service, and some lives were lost. Nevertheless the foreign sects made considerable progress; and I find that in November 1875 there were no fewer than 125 protestant congregations in the republic, with eleven churches and ninety-nine meeting halls where service was held.[3] Among others, he Mormons made an attempt at proselytism. In 1875 select portions of the book of Mormon were published at Salt Lake City in a duodecimo pamphlet of 96 pages, for circulation in Spanish-speaking countries. Copies of this work were distributed in Mexico.[4] In 1876 their missionaries were in Chihuahua.
The tranquillity in which the government was left
- ↑ Consult Discursos pronunciados ante el Congreso de la Union en las Sesiones del 16, 18, y 19 de Mayo de 1874, Mexico, 1874, 8, pp. 113; which is a collection of speeches delivered before congress members for Chihuahua, Sonora, and Durango, protesting against the measure.
- ↑ Full particulars in Mex., Mem. Ofic. Mayor Gob., 1874, 39-41, and Doc., 7-8; Méx., Mem. Relac., 1875, 30 4; El Federalista, May 8, 1874.
- ↑ There were also 28 free protestant schools, and 22 of a higher class. The protestants possessed two printing-presses and published six periodicals. Their church property was worth $139,000 and their annual expenses amounted to $100,000. Diario Oficial, Nov. 15, 1875.
- ↑ See Mormon, Trozos Selectos, in Pap. Var., vol. 219, No. 7; also Hist. Utah, this series.
