232 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



a chapel to be built and dedicated to our Lady of Grace. Here 

 the worthy Calancha breaks forth in a pious ejaculation ; " Oh! 

 providence of God I to inflict disease upon this virtuous lady, 

 while yet young, that she might, when growing old, succor 

 the poor — and when a poor maiden, to incline her to devotion, 

 that she might protect the religious when rich She gave 

 him a home, a situation, silver, gold, and a maintenance ; she 

 raised up the first Augustin altar in Peru, and placed thereon 

 the image of the blessed Virgin, our Lady of Grace. It is now 

 in a chapel of the convent, and was then in the house of that 

 noble cavalier, Don Ernan Gonzalez de la Torre, one square 

 from the parish of San Marcelo. There the Fray Augustin 

 lived two years, under the protection of his benefactors, await- 

 ing the arrival of the eleven Augustin Friars, required to com- 

 plete the legion and foundation of their order. ' " 



The royal edict for the founding of the convent, bears date 

 Valladolid, March 23, 1550, and provides that the Indians 

 shall assist in its erection, which is to be at the expense of the 

 emperor. The twelve evangelic fathers left Salamanca in the 

 same month, and, embarking at Cadiz, crossed the Isthmus, 

 and after a passage of seven months, reached Lima. The con- 

 vent was begun almost immediately afterwards, and from that 

 period rejoices in the number of pious laborers in the great 

 work of converting the Indians. 



La Incarnacion, a convent of nuns of the order of San Au- 

 gustin, was founded in 1554. In 1631, it contained two hun- 

 dred and thirty-three nuns of the black, and thirty-seven of 

 the white veil, together with eighteen novices, who, with se- 

 culars, servants, and slaves, increased the number of females 

 in the convent to eight hundred ; at present, scarcely one-six- 

 teenth can be found. When they removed from their first 

 dwelling, to the present convent, the streets were hung with 

 silks, and the way strewed with mint and flowers, and the vice- 

 roy, the bishop, and the prelates of the church, accompanied 

 them. -I..' r-:/' " - ^ 



The nuns of La Incarnacion profess three vows ; poverty, 

 obedience, and chastity ; though the cloister is not enjoined, 

 they observe it religiously. Their several officers are elected 



