PROFESSION OF A FRIAR. 



31 



visitors ; this man placed us under the especial 

 care of' Frei Luiz, who took us to his cell. 

 Supper was served up, upon which the Guardian 

 came in, helped us once round to wine, and made 

 many apologies for the badness of his cook, and 

 also excuses for the want of ingredients at this 

 distance from Recife. The convents of St. 

 Francis are all built exactly upon the same 

 plan ; in the form of a quadrangle, one side of 

 which is appropriated to the church, and the re- 

 maining three to cells and to other purposes ; the 

 former are above, and to be entered from a gal- 

 lery, which runs round the whole building. The 

 beds with which the friars supplied us were hard, 

 but very acceptable after our ride. 



The ceremony to be performed on the ensuing 

 morning collected great numbers of persons from 

 all quarters, as it is now very rare. Formerly, 

 of every family at least one member was a friar, 

 but now this is not the custom ; children are 

 brought up to trade, to the army, to any thing 

 rather than to a monastic life, which is fast 

 losing its reputation. None of the convents are 

 full, and some of them are nearly without inha- 

 bitants. * 



* A Portuguese gentleman once observed to me, that in 

 France and other countries many clever men had written 

 and spoken strongly, and for a considerable length of time 

 against this way of life, and that they at last even effected 

 their purpose with much difficulty : but, he added, in Per- 



