NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



127 



reply, he was told that there was not a Friar in the house, and that all 

 of the fraternity, who had been there, had that morning returned to the 

 city, by order of their Superior. The intruder, not a very young man, 

 thought that he perceived in this company a cast of character which he 

 had not, until that day, noticed in Brazil. He partook of the refresh- 

 ment usually offered in such places, fruit and water. They were handed 

 to him by a person who, though he appeared hi the common habit of a 

 labourer, had the peculiar air which is acquired only in a Convent, and 

 an eye which seemed to speak to the ladies, who, in consequence, became 

 more reserved. That he might not betray his suspicions, the visitor 

 spent half an hour in this company, and then took his leave, evidently 

 to the disembarrassment of all. The adventure utterly destroyed his 

 confidence in the Friar, and, combined with circumstances of a more 

 general nature, convinced him that this class of men, though it may be, 

 not absolutely vicious, have a strong disposition for social enjoyments. 



The different branches of refinement, it has often been observed, 

 usually advance together. In Brazil, education and mental improve- 

 ment have even come short, defective as tliey are, of domestic accom- 

 modation. It has been incidently mentioned that, formerly, there were 

 no schools in the colony ; this, strange as it may appear, is literally true ; 

 there were none of the ordinary establishments for the early education 

 of children. By far the greater part grew up and entered life without 

 the least acquaintance with the first rudiments of learning ; what 

 they knew was chiefly picked up from the father's clerks, in general 

 young men from Portugal, who had emigrated to make the most of 

 their talents. 



A great number of persons of this description were thrown into 

 Brazil when their country was occupied by the French. Some of these 

 turned their adroitness to account by gambling, others employed them- 

 selves more honourably as schoolmasters. Their means of accommodation 

 were small, and their modes of teaching imperfect ; yet valuable effects 

 were produced. The children were crowded into close and stifling 

 rooms, where they all read aloud, at the same time, to the great annoy- 



