Another convent is the Recoleta de San Diego. During Lent, and especially in Passion Week, many men retire to this place to prepare themselves by mortification and prayer for confession and participation in the Holy Sacrament.
The convent of Santo Domingo is very rich. It enjoys a yearly revenue of from seventy to seventy-five thousand dollars, for the most part accruing from the ground-rents of houses in the city. The steeple of Santo Domingo is the loftiest in all Lima. It is 188 feet high, and is visible at the distance of three leagues. It is built of wood, and inclines so considerably in its upper part, that there is little probability of its surviving another earthquake like that of 1746. The interior of the church is splendid. The grand altar almost vies with that of the cathedral.
San Pedro must, doubtless, at a former period, have been the principal convent in Lima. It belonged to the Jesuits, and was their Colegio maximo. This establishment possessed enormous revenues, for all the finest plantations and best houses in Lima were the property of the order. In 1773, the king of Spain, instigated by the celebrated Bull of the 21st of June of that year (Dominus ac redemptor noster), dispatched an order to the viceroys of the provinces of South America, directing them to arrest the Jesuits all in one night, to ship them off to Spain, and to confiscate their wealth. Of course the utmost secresy was observed, and it is a well-authenticated fact, that in Peru, with the exception of the viceroy, and those of his agents whose assistance was indispensable, no one knew anything of the affair. But the same ship which conveyed the king's commands to the viceroy, had on board the necessary instructions to the vicar-general in Lima, from the superior of the Jesuits in Madrid, who was fully acquainted with the king's design. The preparatory arrangements were made under the seal of perfect secresy, and at ten o'clock at night the viceroy assembled his council, and communicated to them the royal commands. It was determined that no one should be permitted to leave the council-chamber until the blow was struck. At midnight some confidential officers, with the requisite assistance, were despatched to arrest the Jesuits, an accurate list of whose names lay on the table before the viceroy. The patrols knocked at the gate of San Pedro, which was immediately opened. The commanding officer desired to see the vicar-general, and the porter ushered him into the great hall of the convent, where all the members of the order were assembled, evidently expecting his visit. The holy brethren were prepared for immediate departure, each being provided with a bag or trunk containing such articles as were requisite on a sea voyage. Similar preparations had been made in all the other convents belonging to the Jesuits. The surprise and disappointment of the viceroy on receiving this information may be easier conceived than described. Without delay he ordered the whole brotherhood to be conducted under a strong escort to Callao, where they embarked. In the course of a few days inventories were made of the effects in the convents. At San Pedro it was expected that vast treasures in specie would be found; but how great was the dismay, when, instead of the millions which it was well known the order possessed, only a few thousand dollars could be collected. All the keys, even that of the treasury, were politely laid out in the chamber of the superior. This was a cruel mockery! The Jesuits could not have taken a more ample revenge on the treachery that had been practised on them.
It was suspected that the treasures were concealed partly in the convent of San Pedro, and partly in the plantations. According to the evidence of an old negro, at that time in the service of the convent, he, together with some of his comrades, was employed during several nights in carrying heavy bags of money into the vaults of the convent. Their eyes were bandaged, and they were conducted by two of the brethren, who helped them to raise and set down the bags. The negro, moreover, declared his conviction that there was a subterraneous spring near the spot where the treasure was deposited. The searches hitherto made have been very superficial, and it seems not impossible that by dint of more active exertions this concealed wealth may yet be brought to light.
At present San Pedro is occupied by about a dozen lay priests. They perform the spiritual service of the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. They live on the revenues derived from the rents of the few plantations which have not been confiscated or sold. The chapel is prettily fitted up in the interior, and the midnight mass at Christmas is performed there with great solemnity. The external walls of both the chapel and the convent are painted a reddish-brown color, which has a very sombre and ugly effect.
The convents of Nuestra Señora de la Marced and San Agustin are situated at the back of San Pedro. The former is spacious, but not largely endowed; the latter is a poor-looking edifice, but it possesses rich revenues. To San Agustin is attached the once eminent but now very inferior college of San Ildefonso.
Besides the monastic establishments above named, Lima contains several smaller convents for friars, and sixteen nunneries. Of the latter the largest is the Monasterio de la Concepcion. It is very rich, and has an annual revenue of upwards of 100,000 dollars; in other respects it is remarkable for nothing except the not very pious habits of its inmates. Santa Clara and the Encarnacion are also large establishments, and well endowed. The nuns who observe the most rigorous conventual rules are the Capuchinas de Jesus Maria, the Nazarenas and the Trinitarias descalzas. For extremely pious women, who wish to lead a cloistered life without taking the veil, there are three establishments called Beaterios, which may be entered and quitted at pleasure:[7] these are the Beaterio de Patrocinio, the Beaterio de Santa Rosa de Viterbo, and the Beaterio de Copacabana. This last was originally established exclusively for Indian females. The Refugio de San Jose is a place for the reception of married women who wish to withdraw from the ill treatment of bad husbands. On the other hand husbands who are of opinion that their wives may be improved by a little temporary seclusion and quiet meditation, can, with the permission of the archbishop, send them for a while to the Refugio. The Recojidas is another institution of the same kind, but destined for females of the poorer class.
Lima possesses a great many hospitals, but all are lamentably defective in internal arrangement, and above all in judicious medical attendance. The largest of the hospitals, San Andres, was founded in the year 1552 by the Licentiate Francisco de Molina. Three years afterwards, the Viceroy Don Andres Hurtado de Mendoza, first Marquis de Cañete, placed it under the direction of the Government. Down to the year 1826 this hospital was exclusively destined for the reception of sick Spaniards. San Andres contains five large and four smaller wards, with 387 beds. One part of the establishment is set apart for incurable patients. The annual outlay of the hospital amounts to between 45,000 and 50,000 dollars. In the hospital of San Andres insane patients are received, and their number is always considerable. On the 30th of November (St. Andrew's Day) this hospital is opened for the admittance of the public, and one of the favorite amusements of the inhabitants of Lima is to go to San Andres to see the lunatics. It is melancholy to observe these unfortunate beings, thus made the objects of public exhibition, and irritated by the idle throng who go to stare at them. The collection of alms from the numerous visitors is, doubtless, the motive for keeping up this custom, which, nevertheless, is exceedingly reprehensible.
The hospital Santa Ana was founded in the year 1549, by Don Fray Geronimo de Loyza, first Archbishop of Lima, and was destined for Indians of both sexes. The benevolent founder, with the most earnest self-devotion, attended the patients, and with true Christian charity performed the humblest duties of a sick-nurse. He died in 1575 in the hospital, to which he bequeathed a yearly revenue of 16,000 dollars. The building contains five large wards, and 336 beds. Since the declaration of independence no Indian has been received into it. This hospital, alternately with those of San Andres and San Bartolome, was used as a military lazaretto; but since 1841 it has been allotted exclusively to female patients of all classes; for it was found necessary to abandon the former female hospital of La Caridad, on account of its damp situation.
San Bartolome was an hospital founded in the year 1661, for negro patients; but it has lately been closed. It contains eleven wards and 217 beds.