THE CHURCH AND ITS CEBEMONIE8. 161 



more limn one in wlin-,- brkiir \\omlei lul miracles wen- performed. The order have obtained 

 u library ui' works, principally ecclesiastical, nearly as extensive as the Dominican, and there are 

 one or tw.i who avail t hcm-.-l v- of its antiquated treasures; but the majority are ignorant, and 

 their dress ami habits, umler their vows, render their pej>.mal appearance far from inviting. 

 They have al-o a crucifix which is carried in procession on the i:;th of May, the anniversary of the 

 earth.|iiaki! of 1(547, its crown of thorns having fallen, during the convulsion, from th; 

 brow to the neck of the image of the Saviour, from which position it has since been impossible 

 to replace it. Many believe that the earth trembles at every renewed attempt to do so. 



Six priests of the order of Our Lady of Mercy came with Valdivia in 1541. These continued 

 with the army in all the campaigns against the Indians, contenting themselves with a small 

 chapel and a house for succor at the capital, until they found that the other two orders were 

 greatly superior in numbers and power to themselves. One of their number was then despatched 

 to Peru for recruits; and returning in 1566, a monastery was founded for their use. In addition 

 to die living and breathing laborers for their cause, the reverend father also brought with him 

 a precious image of Mary of Mercy, which was placed over the great altar ; and that benign 

 lady has rendered to her faithful devotees " extraordinary prodigies and indubitable miracles." 

 The dress of the order is entirely white, whence they are sometimes called tbe White Friars. 



Under their own and legitimate name, the Jesuits established a portion of their society at 

 Santiago in 1594. In a little while they became the oracles of society, and absolute masters of 

 every conscience and heart among the laity in Chile, as their brethren had done in Spain. 

 Nor did this condition of things arouse less jealousy here among their natural enemies, the 

 Dominicans, than the power of the greater order had done among the same foundation in the 

 mother country. Under the royal edict banishing them from all Spanish dominions, those of 

 Chile were driven out in August, 1767 ; at which time more than four hundred, exclusive of the 

 sick, were embarked from Valparaiso and Talcahuano, of whom sixty perished with one of the 

 vessels. When the order for their dismissal arrived, they possessed thirteen schools in operation, 

 six other houses for residence and schools commenced, a convent for novices, two boarding- 

 schools, a seminary for instruction to the Indians at Chilian, six houses for penance, and fifteen 

 missionary stations. The number of their possessions throughout the country was almost incre- 

 dible ; and money alone would have given them colossal power, even had they not obtained the 

 moral influence stated above. Under the ban, their property of every kind was seized by the 

 Crown, each individual being allowed only his wardrobe and breviary.* One by one, mem- 

 bers have subsequently wandered along the west coast of South America, and already the 

 order has again a foothold in Chile. 



After the Jesuits, the Franciscan hermits came in 1595, the Recoleto Franciscans in 1663, 

 Recoleto Dominicans in 1751, and the order of the Sacred Heart in 1838. The Recoletos live 

 more secluded than other members of the same family ; but there is no hour of the day or night 

 when one may not encounter friars in the streets. As there are occasional opportunities to 

 mention them in the body of the narrative, no other allusion will be made here ; and it is also 

 far more agreeable for me to exhibit the probable influences of the church on the progress and 

 morals of society by brief accounts of a portion of its public ceremonies. 



ASH WEDNESDAY. The streets are nearly deserted this morning, unusual numbers of the 

 better classes attending at mass, and the rabble still sleeping under the effects of indulgence per- 

 mitted on the last day of the carnival. To-day commences the forty days' fast, and the season 

 of self-mortification which the church imposes. As an initiatory act, each person suffers a cross 

 to be marked on the forehead by the priest, with the warning, "dust thou art, and unto dust 

 shalt thou return," as he traces the sacred emblem with ashes and water. Three fourths of 

 those met in the street in the morning were females retiming from church, bearing to their 

 homes this evidence of their humility. Most of them wer of the poorer class ; but among them 



"All Chile mourned their loss." Iftttoria Eduiastiea, politico, y literaria tie Chile, por Jose J. V. Eyzagnitre, Pretbitcro: 

 Valparaiso, 1850. 



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