Il l
du£t the water was received into ftone fountains, conArùéled with capacious balms,
whither the inhabitants fent their linen,! to have the dirt rather beaten than
Waihed out of it, by flaves. One of thefe fountains of a modem ebnAruiSlion
was finifhed-with great tafteand neatnefs of execution.
We alfo obferved feveral large and rich convents in the town. The chief o f
thefe were, the Benediâine and the Carmelite; one dedicated to Sb Anthony,
another to Our Lady of Affiftance, and another to S'“ Thereia. The two laft
Werè for the reception of nuns ; and o f the two, that of S'* Therefa Was reported
the fevereA in its religious duties, and the AriSeA in its1 reAraints and regulations.
The convent D. Ajuda, or of Affiftance’, received às penfioners, or
boarders, the widows o f officers, and young ladies having loft their parents, who
were allowed to remain, conforming to the rules óf the convent, until married,
or otherwife provided for by their friends. There were -many inferior convents
and churches, and the whole were Under the fpiritual 'direction Of a bifhop',
whofe palace was in the town, a Ihort diftance from one o f the principal
convents. '
Near the carioca, or aqueduft, flood the feminary of St. Jofeph, where the
Tervants of the church received their education, adopting on their entrance thé
clerical habit and tonfure. The chapel to the feminary was neat, and we were
conducted by a fenfible well-informed father c f the Benediftine Order to a fmall
library belonging to it.
To a Arranger nothing could appear mote remarkable than the innumerable
religious proceffions which were to be feen at all hours in this "town. A t the
clofe o f every day an image of the Virgin was borne in proceffiofr through the
principal Areets, the attendants arrayed in white furplices, and bearing in their
hands lighted tapers ; chanting at the fame time praifes to her in Latin. To this,
as well as to all other religious proceffions, the guards turned out, grounded
their arms, kneeled, and lhewed the moA fubmiffive marks ofrefpefl; and the
bells o f each church or convent in the vicinity of their progrefs founded a peal
while they were paffing.
Every church, chapel, or convent, being under the aufpicfes of fome tutelary
faint, particular days were fet apart as the feflival of each, which were opened
with public prayers, and concluded with proceffions, mufic, and fireworks. The
church and altars of the particular faint whofe proteflion was to be folicited
were decorated with all the fplendor o f fuperAition *, and illuminated both
within and without. During feveral hours after dark, on thefe folemn feAivals,
the inhabitants might be feen walking to ançl from the church, dreffed in their
* We were informed that they never permitted any bafemetals near their altars, all their vdTels,
ike. being of the pureft gold dr fdver.
beA
beA habiliments, accompanied by their children, and attended by their flaves and
their carriages.
An inAance was related to us, of the delay that was thrown in the way of labour
by this extravagant parade of public worlhip, and the Ariel obfervance of faints*
days, which, though calculated, no doubt, by the glare which furrounds the
ffirine, and decorates the veAure of its prieAs, to iraprefs and keep in awe the.
minds of the lower fort of people, Indians and flaves, had neverthelels been
found to be not without its evil effeQs:
A fliip from LiAton, laden chiefly with bale goods, was burnt to the water’s
■ edge1, with her whole cargo* and much private property, the fourth day after
her anchoring in the harbour, owing to -the intervention of a fabbath and two
faints’ days which unfortunately endued that o f her arrival. All that could be
done Was, to tow the veflel on ffiore near the Hand of Cobres, clear of the Hupping
in the bay, where grounding, Are was- totally confirmed. -One of the paflen-
gers, whofe whole property was deAroyed with her, came out to fill an high
judicial employment, and had with all his family removed from Liibon for that
purpofe, bringing with him whatever he had valuable in Europe.
A t a corner of almoA every Areet in the town we obferved a fmall altar, dedicated
generally to the Virgin, and decorated with curtains and lamps. Before
thefe altars, at the clofe of every evening,- the negroes aflembled to chant their
velpers, kneeling together in long rows in the Areet., The policy o f thus keeping
the minds o f fo large a body, as that of the black people in this town, not
only in conAant employment, but in awe and fubjeftion, by the almoA perpetual
ekereife of religious worfhip, was too obvious to need a-comment. In a colony
Where the fervants were more'numerous than the maAdrs,-a military, however
excellent, ought not to be the only control; to keep the mind in fubjeclion
muit be as neceffary as to provide a check on the perfonkl conduit.
The trades-people; of the town have adopted a regulation, which mu A prove of
Infinite convenience to Arangers,- as well as to' the inhabitants. We found the
people of one profeffion or trade dwelling together in one, two, or as many
ftteits as were neceflary for their numbers to occupy. Thus, for inAance, the
apothecaries refided in the principal Areet, or Rua Direita, as' it Was named ; one
.or more Areets were affigned to the jewellers ; and a whole diArict appeared to
be occupied by the mercers. By this regulation the labour o f traverfing from
one Areet to another, in fearch Of any article which the purchafer might wifh to
have a choice of, was avoided *. MoA of the articles were from Europe, and
were'fold -at-a high price. - •
, * The fome ufeful regulationis obferved at Aleppo.