269 



As respects the ecclesiastical government, Chili 

 is divided into the two large dioceses of St. 

 Jago and Conception, which cities are the resi- 

 dence of the bishops, who are suffragans to the 

 archbishop of Lima. The first diocese extends 

 from the confines of Peru to the river Maule, com- 

 prehending the province of Cujo upon the other 

 side of the Andes. The second comprises all the 

 rest of Chili with the islands, although the greater 

 part of this extent is inhabited by pagans. The 

 cathedrals are supplied with a proper number of 

 canons, whose revenues depend upon the tythes, as 

 do those of the bishops. The court of inquisition 

 at Lima, has at St. Jago a commissioner with seve- 

 ral subaltern officers. 



Pedro Valdivia, on his first entering Chili, brought 

 with him the monks of the order of Mercy, and 

 about the year 1553 introduced the Dominicans and 

 strict Franciscans. The Augustins established 

 themselves there in 1595, and the Hospitallers of St. 

 John of God about the year 1615. These religious 

 orders have all a number of convents, and the three 

 first form distinct jurisdictions. The brothers of 

 St. John of God have the charge of the hospitals, un- 

 der a commissary, who is dependant upon the pro- 

 vincial of Peru. These are the only religious fra- 

 ternities now in Chili. The Jesuits, who came into 

 Chili in 1593 with the nephew of their founder, Don 

 Martin de Loyola, formed likewise a separate pro- 

 vince. Others have several times attempted, but 

 without success, to form establishments, the Chilians 

 having always opposed the admission of new order» 



