bestowed profuse donatives on churches and monasteries;* and have conceived such a high opinion of monastic sanctity, that religious houses have multiplied to an amazing degree in the Spanish colonies. It was observed in the year 1620 that the number of convents in Lima covered more ground than all the rest of the city. The secular priests in the new world are less distinguished than their brethren in Spain for literary accomplishments of any species. But the highest ecclesiastical honours are often in the hands of the monastic orders; and it is chiefly to them that the Americans are indebted for any portion of science which is cultivated among them.t The Spaniards form such an idea of the incapacity of the Indians, that a council, held at Lima, decreed that they ought to be excluded from the sacrament of the eucharist. And though Paul the third, by his famous bull, issued in the year 1537, declared them to be rational creatures, entitled to all the privileges of christians; yet, after the lapse of two centu ries, during which they have been members of the church, very few are deemed worthy of being admitted to the holy communion. From the idea which was entertained of the incapacity of the Indians, when Philip the second established the inquisition in America, in the year 1570, they were exempted from the jurisdiction of that tribunal, and still continue under the inspection of their diocesans. Though some of them have been taught the learned languages, and have gone through the ordinary course of academic education with applause, their frailty is still so much suspected, that no Indian is either ordained a priest, or received into any religious order.§ CHILI. The mountainous part of this country is still possessed by tribes of its original inhabitants. That part of Chili which may properly be deemed a Spanish province, is a narrow district, extending along the coast, from the desart of Atacamas to the island of Chiloe, above nine hundred miles. The Roman Catholic inha * Robertson's History of South America, vol. ii. p. 365. + Ibid, p. 381. In 1569 a law opened to the inquisition a door to this part of the world; and ever since the year 1571, it has had three tribunals; one at Lima, another at Mexico, and a third at Carthagena. § Robertson's History of South America, vol. ii. p. 386. || Ibid, p. 333. ррр bitants have established divers seminaries in this place for the conversion of the natives, who, it is said, paid religious worship to the devil.* TERRA FIRMA. The Roman Catholic is the established religion of this place, as well as of the other Spanish settlements in South America. PARAGUAY. The jesuits entered this country in the year 1586. They began by gathering together about fifty wandering families, whom they persuaded to settle; and they united them in a little township. When they had made this beginning, they laboured with such indefatigable pains, and with such masterly policy, that they prevailed upon thousands of various dispersed tribes to embrace their religion; and these soon induced others to follow their example, magnifying the peace and tranquility they enjoyed under the direction of the fathers. It is said that above three hundred and forty thousand families, several years ago, were subject to the jesuits, living in obedience, and an awe bordering on adoration, yet procured without any violence or constraint.† greens Nothing, it is said, can com pare with the procession of the blessed sacrament inParaguay. Without any display of riches and magnificence, it yields in nothing to the richest and most magnificent procession in any other part of the world. A Spanish gentleman describes it in the following manner :"It is attended with very fine dancing, and the dancers are all neatly dressed. Over the and flowers which compose the triumphal arches, under which the blessed sacrament passes, there appear flocks of birds of every colour, tied by the legs to strings of such a length, that a stranger would imagine they enjoyed their full liberty, and were come of their own accord, to mix their warblings with the voices of the musicians and the rest of the people, and bless, in their own way, HIM whose providence carefully supplies all their wants. All the streets are hung with carpets, very well wrought, and separated by garlands, festoons, and compartments of verdure, disposed with the most beautiful symmetry. From distance to distance there appear lions and tigers very well chained, that they may not disturb the solemnity, instead of adorning Broughton's Historical Library, vol, ii. p. 334. it; and even very fine fishes sporting and playing in large basons of water. In a word, every species of living creatures assist at the solemnity, as it were by their deputies, to do homage to the incarnate Word, in his august sacrament; and acknowledge the sovereign dominion his Father has given him over all living. Wherever the procession passes, the ground is covered with mats, and strewed with flowers and odoriferous herbs. All, even the smallest children, have a hand in these decorations, amongst which are likewise to be seen the flesh of the animals newly killed for food, every thing the Indians regale themselves with at their greatest rejoicings, and the first fruits of their labours; all in order to make an offering of them to the Lord, the grain particularly they intend to sow, that he may give it a blessing. The warbling of the birds, the roaring of the lions and tigers, the voices of the musicians, the plain chaunt of the choir, all intermix without confusion, and conspire to form a concert not to be equalled in any other part of the world. The great royal standard is carried behind the blessed sacrament. The Cacique, the Corregidor, the Regidors, and the Alcades, support the canopy. The militia, both horse and foot, with their colours and standards flying, assist likewise at the procession, in good order. But however striking this spectacle may be, the greatest beauty of it consists in the piety, the modesty, and respect, and even the air of holiness visible in every countenance, As soon as the blessed sacrament is returned to the church the Indians present the missionaries all the several kinds of eatables which have been exposed in the procession; and the fathers, after sending the best of every thing to the sick, distribute what remains among the rest of the inhabitants. The evening concludes with the most curious fireworks." In 1767 the jesuits were sent out of America by royal authority, and their subjects were put upon the same footing with the rest of the inhabitants of this country.† * Charlevoix's History of Paraguay, vol, i. pp. 286–288. ↑ Guthrie, p. 776. The natives of this country have a vast variety of idols, whom they consider as subordinate to one supreme Being; but of that being they have very confused notions. They stand in great awe of their priests, and hold them in the utmost veneration. They have a particular house, or rather hut, for the celebration of their ceremonies, and this is to them what others call a church or a temple. Here their priests address themselves to their gods, and receive answers from their oracles. When they go to war they apply to their priests for assistance against their enemies, and the first thing the priests do is to curse them. Upon their going out to war they hoist at the prow of their * Robertson's History of South America, vol. i. p. 381. t Ibid, p. 488, Kaims, vol. i. p. 150. canoes that idol, under whose auspices they look for victory; but they never pray to their gods, except in cases of difficulty, when they feel their need of divine assistance. AMERICAN ISLANDS. NEWFOUNDLAND. are quite transported to think The natives of this island, their slavery is near an end, when first discovered, had that they shall revisit their some knowledge of a supreme native shores, and see their Being, and believed that men old friends and acquaintance. and women were originally When a negro is about to excreated from a certain number pire his fellow-slaves kiss him, of arrows stuck fast in the wish him a good journey, and ground. They generally be- send their hearty good wishes lieve the immortality of the to their relations in Guinea. soul, and that the dead go They make no lamentations; into a far country, there to but with a great deal of joy make merry with their friends.* * inter his body, believing he is The present religion of this gone home, and happy.t place is similar with that of Nova Scotia. JAMAICA, BARBADOES, AND BERMUDAS. The number of the original inhabitants of the WestIndia islands is now greatly reduced. The Wesleyan Methodists. have within these few years attempted a mission to the Caribs, who are natives of the West-India islands, and have laboured with success among the negro slaves in these islands. The religion of these islands is universally of the church of England. The negroes on these and the other West-India islands believe that they shall return to their native country after death. This thought is so agreeable, that it cheers the poor creatures, and renders the burden of life easy, which otherwise, to many of them, would be quite intolerable. They look upon death as a blessing, and some of them meet it with surprising courage and intrepidity. They This denomination begun a The Moravians have for many years been preaching the gospel in the West-India islands, and with such success, that in the island of Antigua alone there are about two thousand christian negroes. * Broughton's Historical Library, vol. ii. p. 335. |