Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol. 2 of 2: A Historical, Geographical, Political, Statistical and Social Account of that Country from the Period of the Invasion by the Spaniards to the Present Time.Mayer, Brantz
History
Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol. 2 of 2: A Historical, Geographical, Political, Statistical and Social Account of that Country from the Period of the Invasion by the Spaniards to the Present Time.
"After a few days, no doubt these promising pupils were christened, and
admitted to all the benefits and privileges of Christians and _gente de
razon_. Indeed, I believe that the act of making the cross and kneeling
at proper times, and other such like mechanical rites, constitute no
small part of the religion of these poor people. The rapidity of the
conversion is, however, frequently stimulated by practices much in
accordance with the primary kidnapping of the subjects. If, as not
unfrequently happens, any of the captured Indians show a repugnance to
conversion, it is the practice to imprison them for a few days, and then
allow them to breathe a little fresh air in a walk round the mission, to
observe the happy mode of life of their converted countrymen; after
which they are again shut up, and thus continue incarcerated until they
declare their readiness to renounce the religion of their forefathers.'
As might be believed, the ceremonial exercises of the Roman Catholic
religion, occupy a considerable share of the time of these people. Mass
is performed twice daily, besides high-days and holydays, when the
ceremonies are much grander and of longer duration; and at all the
performances every Indian is obliged to attend under the penalty of a
whipping; and the same method of enforcing proper discipline as in
kneeling at proper times, keeping silence, &c., is not excluded from the
church service itself. In the aisles and passages of the church, zealous
beadles of the converted race are stationed, armed with sundry weapons
of potent influence in effecting silence and attention, and which are
not sparingly used on the refractory or inattentive. These consist of
sticks and whips, long goads, &c., and they are not idle in the hands of
the officials that sway them. * * *
"The unmarried of both sexes, as well adults as children, are carefully
locked up at night in separate houses, the keys being left in the
keeping of the Fathers; and when any breach of this rule is detected,
the culprits of both sexes are severely punished by whipping,--the men
in public, the women privately.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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