As the various religious orders came over to New Spain from the old country they built churches, 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. [Illustration: GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT.] "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 sight of his highest aim in conquering New Spain, which was in all sincerity to plant the cross upon its soil. The impulse given by his determination lasted a long time, but in another century this had lost its force, while with the decline of the power of the Church at home, the ambassadors from Spain had less religious fervor. In the last century all institutions of the Church had deteriorated to a degree fatal to her interests, as well as to those of the country. By this time so much of the wealth of Mexico had come into the possession of the Church that this locking up of capital really blocked the channels of trade. Money accepted, or extorted, by the priests stopped circulating, and was lost in the coffers of churches, or converted into superb ornaments for altars. The practical thought of the time, in the stress for money required to pursue the war, turned to the scheme of converting all this splendor into funds for the equipment of armies. The clergy became alarmed at the first sound of such proposals, and used all their powerful influence against them. For this course they were accused by the government journals of want of patriotism, of aiding and abetting the monarchists, and fomenting the discords which were daily becoming more dangerous.