138 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACiriC 



Amongst the guests was a Chileno, who had been in the 

 United States as Charg6 d'affaires. Speaking of our country, 

 and those things which struck him as curious, he told the gen- 

 tlemen that our prisons are secure without military guards, 

 and that he had seen no soldiers in the country except the vo- 

 lunteer corps on holy-days contrasted with the countries of 

 South America, where even the municipal police consists of 

 soldiers, this circumstance is striking. This gentleman re- 

 marked further, that previous to the revolution of 1829, 

 Chile had advanced in slow, sure steps ; but since that period 

 society had split into political parties, and the social intercourse 

 created and cherished by the Sociedad Filarmonica had al- 

 most ceased." 



The Philharmonic Society was instituted in 1827, for im- 

 proving and fostering the native taste for music, and creating 

 a more generally social intercourse. The entertainments were 

 given weekly, and consisted of music, both instrumental and 

 vocal, by ladies and gentlemen — conversation and dancing — 

 the native fandangos were proscribed. The beneficial effects 

 of this society upon the general taste for music is very mani- 

 fest. Before its institution, nothing was heard but a few 

 waltzes, contradances, and marches, on the piano, or simple 

 native songs, accompanied by the guitar; and ten years ago, 

 pianos were rare in the country, (an instrument styled the 

 clave being a substitute), but now they are found in almost 

 every house. At that time music was taught by imitation, or 

 parrot-like, without principles, or written or printed music. 

 As late as 1828, 1 saw young ladies following the fingers of the 

 master, learning a few bars at a time, and by practice fixing 

 them in the memory. Now, on the contrary, the compositions 

 of the first German and Italian masters, Mozart, Von Weber, 

 Rossini, Paccini, &c., are performed by the young ladies with 

 great taste and execution. This love of music has led to the 

 study of the Italian, French, and English languages ; and it 

 is by no means uncommon to meet with young ladies, who 

 read and speak one or more of these tongues with tolerable 

 propriety. 



Education and the diffusion of knowledge appear to occupy 



