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NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



man who has thus displayed his skill is a native of the country, and 

 has never seen an oil painting except those which the Churches of St. 

 John contain : his works, therefore, ought not to be examined with the 

 severity of criticism : his outline and expression are good, his penciling 

 coarse, and the figures want relief; their attributes, as might be expected, 

 are often incorrect, and display a want of judgment, taste, and science. 

 Like most men of genius he is poor, paints for trifling sums, and, should 

 he continue here, must ever remain a miserable dependant. *f 



The Church, which surpasses all the others in external appearance, 

 although not in rank, is that of St. Francisco, which stands in a mode- 

 rately sized square in the best part of the town, but, like several others 

 of the sacred edifices, it is unfinished ; yet we attended divine worship 

 there, among scaffolding and cranes, and beheld a congregation far 

 more serious and attentive, both to prayers and sermon, than I had ever 

 observed in any other Catholic country, or place of Roman Catholic 

 devotion. 



This Church, when finished, will make a handsome appearance; 

 it is built of granite, and will display a front ornamented with two 

 towers, and a sculptured representation of St. Francisco's sufferings. 

 The other, which has been described, at present is furnished with only 

 one tower, which stands detached from it, but preparations are making 

 to rebuild the front with two steeples, which, according to the plan 

 exhibited, will be tall and well proportioned. A third of these edifices, 

 yet unconsecrated, is likewise in a state of forwardness, constructed of 

 sand-stone, which contains a quantity of iron, but is not yet ready for 

 public service, and the work seems to proceed heavily. In a fourth, 

 which owing to some oversight or delay, I did not enter, there are said 

 to be many splendid ornaments, and an interior entirely covered with 

 gold. In some of the steeples are hung bells of considerable weight, a 

 circumstance which greatly surprised me, because each of them must 

 have been conveyed from the coast and up the mountains, supported 

 between mules in the manner of a bier. In the cause of Religion, how- 

 ever, the early Brazilians have overcome great difficulties, and rendered 



