24 
ALASSIO AND ITS FLORA 
sians were still very flourishing' in com- 
merc3 and navigation, and before 1780 more 
than seventy brigantines made voyages for 
the trade of their country. But at the 
outbreak of the French Revolution trade 
and navigation diminished gradually until 
they were completely destroyed by the 
English. The breath t)f liberty, and a new 
order of things made themselves felt in 
Liguria, and with the enthusiasm produced 
thereby, Alassio and Albenga made peace in 
the name of the universal brotherhood, but 
it was of short duration. — In the mean- 
time the ancient confraternity of Santa 
Caterina was obliged to give up to the 
invading French doctrines its penal and 
civil jurisdiction over its members, but 
notwithstanding the new current of ideas 
the Alassians remained faithful to Ca- 
tholic principles, and built the church of 
SaiifAnna in Barusso, and enlarged the 
church of the Capuchins, as well as the 
old Hospital, annexed to the church of 
La Caritd and Vittorio Durante gave his 
inheritance for the benefit of the schools 
(a. 1796). It was at last owing to the French 
