IL BANCOLO. 423 
science. I will only add that I parted from the numerous acquaint- 
ances I then formed with feelings of mixed pleasure and regret :— 
pleasurable reminiscences of a most agreeable week, and regret that 
a long time might elapse before I again met so united and friendly 
a party. 
Dr; Leche 
IL BANCOLO. 
By Amép£E pDE Bast. 
On the 15th of March, in the year 1735, the greater part of the 
inhabitants of Marseilles assembled on the Quay to witness a so- 
lemn and affecting ceremony. The monks of the order of the 
Mathurins* had conveyed from Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco, a 
number of-Christian slaves, whom they had ransomed. The vessel 
bearing the poor captives and the monks who had redeemed them 
had entered the port on the preceding evening, and its arrival be- 
coming known throughout the city, infused a vivid emotion of joy 
into the bosoms of a multitude of families, who hoped to find rela- 
tions and friends among the captives whose chains a magnanimous 
charity had broken. 
A procession, consisting of the clergy of the different parishes, 
preceded by the various societies of the citizens bearing their ban- 
ners, the magistrates, the superintendent of the province, and the 
governor and his staff, proceeded to the port which had been occu- 
pied since break of day by an immense concourse of spectators. 
The vessels in the harbour raised their national flags as a sign of 
rejoicing ; the cannon were fired at short intervals from all the 
forts of the city, and mingled their thunder with the sound of the 
bells of the different churches. 
* The Mathurins, also called Fathers of Mercy (Péres de la Merci), de- 
voted themselves exclusively to the ransoming of slaves. They travelled in 
every country faithful to the Holy See, collected alms, and each year nego- 
ciated with African princes for the ransom of many hundreds of captives. 
Monks of the order would frequently remain as hostages, either for the pur- 
pose of redeeming a greater number of slaves, or as security for the payment 
of debts which they could not immediately discharge. 
