PUBLIC DIVERSIONS. 



213 



9 



was peculiar to the assemblies and social parties ; but, con- 

 sidered as a domestic refreshment, it has at length lost all its 

 credit. 



In the above-cited year a coffee-house was opened in the 

 street of Santo Domingo, and was considered as a singular no- 

 velty. It was followed, at the commencement of 1772, by 

 .another establishment of a similar nature. They were fully 

 approved by the viceroy, who was persuaded that they would 

 have a dire£l tendency to benefit society. It is certain, at least, 

 that assemblies in coffee-houses, conducted with the modera- 

 tion, decency, and propriety, which mark the disposition of 

 the. Peruvians, serve to unite man to man, to produce a uni- 

 formity of chara6fer, to augment the circulation and resources 

 of subsistence, to contribute to the convenience of those who 

 dwell in the vicinity, and to afford them an innocent recrea- 

 tion. The city did not, however, witness without repug- 

 nance the introdu6tion of this custom. Another coffee-house 

 was, notwithstanding, opened by the original projedtor in 

 1775; and was so successful that, on the following year, he 

 ventured on a new speculation of the same kind, and made 

 choice of a more commodious and centrical situation. This 

 last establishment is at the present time the most flourish- 

 ing. 



By degrees the above coffee-houses became so much fre- 

 quented, at the same time that the gains of the keepers were 

 supposed to be very considerable, as to suggest the idea of two 

 others, one of which was opened in 1782, and the other in 

 1788. In each coffee-house there is a billiard-table, a species 

 of amusement which would be less censurable, if admittance 

 were to be denied to young men of family, and to youths who 



are 



) 



