Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 1.djvu/147

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PRIESTLY MONEY-MAKING.
121

enrich themselves and their church, deserve enumeration.

They make money by the sale of lottery tickets which they dispose of on various pretexts, for the benefit of the convents and religious houses;—by the remission of the pains of purgatory to those who are concerned for the souls of deceased relatives: this is a prolific source of emolument;—by the sale of indulgences for different periods and various sins: these are greedily accepted by the people;—by payments from all who pray before the images at the corners of streets, and on the outsides of churches;—by selling relics and consecrated trinkets, as well as real estates; and not unfrequently by transactions which it is impossible to mention;—by retailing wax-candles and other church furniture to little chapels in remote parts of the republic;—by birthday presents, which they receive from their admirers and dependants;—by usury; for they are in the constant habit of lending out their surplus capital (often very great), at an enormous interest, to land-owners;—by the rental of houses and estates which have been bequeathed to them from time to time in various parts of the country.