114 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



virtue wanted. He had the naked sword of power 

 in his own hand, and his heart was as hard as 

 flint. He struck a mortal hlow, and the Society 

 of Jesus, throughout the Portuguese dominions, 

 was no more. 



One morning all the fathers of the college in 

 Pemambuco, some of them very old and feeble, 

 were suddenly ordered into the refectory. They 

 had notice beforehand of the fatal storm, in pity 

 from the governor, but not one of them aban- 

 doned his charge. They had done their duty, and 

 had nothing to fear. They bowed with resigna- 

 tion to the will of Heaven. As soon as they had 

 all reached the refectory, they were there locked 

 up, and never more did they see their rooms, their 

 friends, their scholars, or acquaintance. In the 

 dead of the following night, a strong guard of 

 soldiers literally drove them through the streets 

 to the water's edge. They were then conveyed 

 in boats aboard a ship, and steered for Bahia. 

 Those who survived the barbarous treatment they 

 experienced from Pombal's creatures were at 

 last ordered to Lisbon. The college of Pernam- 

 buco was plundered, and some time after an ele- 

 phant was kept there. 



Thus the arbitrary hand of power, in one night, 

 smote and swept away the sciences ; to which suc- 

 ceeded the low, vulgar buffoonery of a showman. 

 Virgil and Cicero made way for a wild beast from 

 Angola! and now a guard is on duty at the very 

 gate where, in times long past, the poor were 

 daily fed! ! ! 



Trust not, kind reader, to the envious remarks 

 which their enemies have scattered far and near; 



