Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/230

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202
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

college of Ocopa, for which Lima is indebted to the munificence of the sovereigns of Spain; of the two jails built by the city; of the chapel of the Inquisition, constructed by the noblemen who compose that tribunal; of that of the university, erected at the expence of its illustrious chapter; and of the spittal of the Escurial, the work of the present enlightened and zealous administrator of its rents: all the other edifices are glorious monuments of the piety and benevolence of native Peruvians. This is the more deserving of consideration, because these edifices having been repeatedly damaged or destroyed, by the frequent earthquakes that have occurred; and their funds, embarked in real properties, either deteriorated, or entirely lost, by the violence of the earthquakes themselves, or by other accidental causes; they have all of them been reedified, repaired, and improved by public alms, arising not only from the large donations of the rich, but from the contributions of the half reals of the poor. Without prejudice to these immense largesses, incredible sums of money are collected; for the purpose of redeeming christian captives; for the ransom of the places where our own redemption was wrought; for the shrouds and interment of those who die; for religious communities; for criminals under sentence of death; and for the support of indigent and decayed families.

We cannot conclude better than by citing the expressions of count De La Granja, in the preamble to his heroical poem on the life of Santa Rosa. "In this territory (Peru), not less favoured by Apollo and Minerva, than by Ceres and Pomona, there happily prevails among the inhabitants a gentle temperament which renders them connatural with humanity and liberality. All are compassionate; all generous;—not only those

who