It is said, that when Castel-forte was Viceroy in Lima, he was summoned by the inquisition, and attended accordingly. Taking with him to the door his body-guard, a company of infantry, and two pieces of artillery, he entered, and laying his watch on the table, told the inquisitors, that if their business were not despatched in one hour, the house would be battered down about their ears, for such were the orders he had left with the commanding officer at the gate. This was quite sufficient; the inquisitors rose, and accompanied him to the door, too happy when they beheld the backs of his excellency and his escort.
During my residence in Lima, I saw two men publicly disgraced by the inquisition; the one for having celebrated mass without having been ordained, and the other for soothsaying and witchcraft. They were placed in the chapel of the tribunal at an early hour in the morning, each dressed in a sambenito, a short loose tunic, covered with ridiculous paintings of snakes, bats, toads, flames, &c. The pseudo priest had a mitre of feathers placed on his head, the other a crown of the same. They stood in the centre of the chapel, each holding a green taper in his hand. At nine o'clock one of the secretaries ascended the pulpit, and read the cause for which they were punished. The poor mass-sayer appeared very penitent, but the old fortune-teller, when some of his tricks were related, burst into a loud laugh, in which he was joined by most of the people present. Two mules were brought to the door, and the two culprits were tied on their backs, having their faces towards the tails. The procession then began to move: first several alguazils, with the Count de Montes de Oro at their head; next the mules, led by the common hangman; while the inquisitors, in their state coaches, brought up the rear. Two friars of the order of St. Dominick carried on each side the coaches large branches of palm. In this order they marched to St. Dominick's church, and were received at the door by the provincial prelate and community: the culprits were placed in the centre of the church, and the same papers read from the pulpit, after which the men were sentenced to serve in the hospitals during the will of the inquisitors.
To those who visit Lima, it may perhaps be interesting to know, that the stake at which the unfortunate victims of inquisitorial tyranny were burnt was near the ground on which the plasa de toros, bull circus, now stands; and that at the foot of the bridge, at the door of the church, de los desamparados, of the abandoned, they were delivered to the ordinary ministers of justice for execution.
It is well known, that many exaggerated accounts have been given of the inquisition, tending more to create doubts, than to establish the truth of the inhuman proceedings of that tribunal. I have stated this fact elsewhere, not with the view of palliating the proceedings, but to put readers on their guard, neither to believe nor disbelieve all that is written. That enough may be said to make humanity shudder, and still more remain untold, is proved by what I saw in the Pandemonium of Lima. But the inquisitors knew too well, that those who had undergone the pains and torments which they inflicted would be apt to divulge them, so that it was their interest either to be sparing of torture, or to prevent a discovery by sacrificing the victim.
When the beloved Ferdinand abolished the Cortes and the constitution in 1812 he restored the inquisition, and often in Madrid personally presided at its sessions. This was not however sufficient to encourage its ministers to proceed with that rigour they had been wont to exercise; they had been once dethroned, and were not certain of their own stability. In Lima the monsters were tame, nay harmless; but this proceeded from fear. No doubt Ferdinand, like his predecessor, Pedro, and the inquisitors, like their founder, St. Dominick, wished for the arrival of a time when they could repeat, "nothing rejoices my soul so much as to hear the bones of heretics crackling at the stake." To the credit of the new governments in South America, the inquisition has been every where abolished, and all spiritual jurisdiction re-invested in the bishops.
The casa de los huerfanos, foundling hospital, is an establishment that does honour to its founder, who was an apothecary. All white children are received by tapping at a small revolving window, and placing the child on it when it turns. They are brought up and educated, the males to the age of fourteen, when they are apprenticed to some trade, and according to the rules of the college of medicine, two are received there every two years. The females have a dowry of one thousand dollars each on their marriage, and if they become nuns, there is another charitable institution, founded by the same individual, to which they apply, and the annual dowries, being five of one thousand dollars each, are decided by chance, the names of the solicitors being put into a vase, and drawn in a manner similar to a lottery. Charles IV. declared all foundlings to be noble, for the purpose of their being eligible to any situation. Before the establishment of the foundling hospital, many children were laid at the doors of the wealthy inhabitants, and they were always taken care of. In small towns this practice still occurs, but they are more frequently exposed near the huts of the indians, or slaves; and as the exposed are generally, or I may say always white, they are received, and their foster-parents often treat them with greater kindness than their own children, shewing a kind of predilection for the foundlings. Civilized whites may vaunt of their pious establishments, but let them turn their eyes to the rude hut of an indian, robbed of his country and of his native privileges; or to that of a negro, deprived of the blessings of liberty by the overwhelming power of white men, and behold a female mingling her tears with those of a white child, because she is unable to provide for it what by whites she herself has lost—food, clothing and education! But human nature, not civilized humanity, is the temple of piety.
The weekly lottery in Lima is an excellent establishment; the tickets cost one real one-eighth of a dollar each; the prizes are, one of a thousand dollars, two of five hundred, and the remainder is divided into smaller sums. There are but few individuals, however poor they may be, who cannot purchase one or two tickets weekly, and many slaves have procured their manumission by means of this lottery. I was passing the fountain belonging to the convent of San Juan de Dios, when two negroes were disagreeing about the water; an old friar persuaded them to be quiet and friendly; a seller of lottery tickets happened to pass at the time, and the two negroes joined in buying a ticket, which an hour afterwards was drawn a prize of a thousand dollars. In the afternoon the negroes were free, having purchased their liberty; for which piece of good fortune the old friar put in his claim, as being the principal mover.
According to the Spanish laws, a master is obliged to sign the deed of manumission, if the slave can emancipate himself at a fair valuation; and if the master refuse, the slave may deposit the sum in the public treasury, and the receipt is a sufficient voucher for his liberty.
The Mint was established in Lima in 1565; in 1570 it was removed to Potosi, but re-established in Lima in 1603. It is a large building, containing all the necessary offices. The machinery was formerly worked by mules, eighty being daily employed, till the year 1817, when Don Pedro Abadia being the contractor for the coinage, Mr. Trevethick directed the erection of a water wheel, which caused a great saving of expense. The assaying, melting, rolling, cutting, weighing, stamping and milling, are all carried on in different apartments by black men, principally slaves; but the different offices of superintendance are filled by white men. The whole is under the direction of an intendant, and subaltern officers. The coinage is contracted for, and sold to the highest bidder, who is allowed a per centage on all the gold and silver that is coined, which in the year 1805 was as follows:—
| Gold | 501,287 | value | in dollars. |
| Silver | 8,047,623 | do. |
do.
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