l6o SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



446. This Wilderness and new Mount Carmel lies i league from 

 the village of Santa Fe, where the sainted Gregorio Lopez, a native 

 of Madrid, paid most severe penance in the period about 1596; by 

 the example of his sanctity he left many disciples of his virtue and 

 teaching in that kingdom, such as D. Fernando de Cordoba y Boca- 

 negra, elder brother of the Marques de Villamayor, Commander of 

 Nueva Galicia and Knight of the Order of Santiago ; following the 

 saint as his model he left his estates on earth for those in Heaven ; 

 and after having paid most severe penance and lived in most holy 

 fashion, he left this transitory life to enjoy the rewards of the other. 

 He was likewise imitated by Padre Francisco de Loza, a virtuous 

 and sainted priest, and many others. Such flowers cultivated in the 

 New World and its early church by Divine Providence have been of 

 great import to its new and tender Christians. 



447. There is in this splendid city a famous convent of Our Lady 

 of Mercy with over 100 friars; here they teach Arts and Theology 

 and have remarkable men. The church and convent rank high in the 

 city and have a large attendance of the faithful. This convent was 

 an ofifshoot of the Province of Guatemala; in the year 1621 that 

 province was divided in half, and it became head of the new Province 

 of Mexico which was then created. 



Chapter XXI 



Continuing the Preceding Subject, of the Convents and Nunneries 

 To Be Found in Mexico City, and of the Hospitals. 



448. Of the Order of the Company of Jesus there are four houses ; 

 the chief house, in the size of its church and dormitories and in its 

 wealth, is one of the largest and finest in all the Indies, and has 

 men remarkable for their virtue and education, in which this sainted 

 order greatly excels. There is another fine college of the same order, 

 in which they give lectures and instruction both in Latin and in the 

 Mexican language, and in Arts and Theology. San Ildefonso is a 

 Royal College of the same order ; it is a kind of boarding school, in 

 which there are three classes of students. The first is of students in 

 Theology, limited to 12, all duly qualified, of good family, and poor; 

 for their support His Majesty as patron has assigned an income. 

 Their gowns are dark gray with green sashes having at their tips or 

 points a sort of circular badge or crown. 



449. There are in this same college other students, with purple 

 sashes, who follow courses in Arts and Theology ; their parents bear 

 the expense of their instruction and education. The third class of 



