SOUTH AMERICA. 95 



enjoying the elegance and splendour within doors SEC ND 

 in this great city. 



Close by the river-side stands what is called the Palace of 

 palace of the Captain-General of Pernambuco. General. 

 Its form and appearance altogether, strike the 

 traveller that it was never intended for the use it 

 is at present put to. . 



Reader, throw a veil over thy recollection for 

 a little while, and forget the cruel, unjust, and 

 unmerited censures thou hast heard against an 

 unoffending order. This palace was once the 

 Jesuits' college, and originally built by those cha- 

 ritable fathers. Ask the aged and respectable 

 inhabitants of Pernambuco, and they will tell thee 

 that the destruction of the Society of Jesus was Destruction 

 a terrible disaster to the public, and its conse- detyV 

 quences severely felt to the present day. 



When Pombal took the reins of power into his 

 own hands, virtue and learning beamed bright 

 within the college walls. Public catechism to the 

 children, and religious instruction to all, flowed 

 daily from the mouths of its venerable priests. 



They were loved, revered, and respected 

 throughout the whole town. The illuminating 

 philosophers of the day had sworn to exterminate 

 Christian knowledge, and the college of Pernam- 

 buco was doomed to founder in the general storm. 

 To the long-lasting sorrow and disgrace of Por- 

 tugal, the philosophers blinded her king, and 

 flattered her prime minister. Pombal was exactly 



