I attended the celebration of the festival of the Holy Cross, in the chapel of the convent of the Carmelites. There was a very large, well-dressed congregation, and the church was redolent of the fragrance of sweet-scented herbs, strewn upon the floor. There were no good pictures in the church, but the candlesticks and other ornaments of the altar were very massive and rich. In the insurrection of the Cabanos the church property was spared; but I am told that, though they have preserved their ornaments, the priests have managed their property injudiciously, and are not now so rich in slaves and real estate as formerly.
I imagine that the priesthood in Brazil, though quite as intelligent and able as their brethren of Peru, have not so great an influence in society here as there. This is seen in an anecdote told me of a rigid Chefe de Policia, who forbid the clergy from burying one of their dignitaries in the body of the church during the prevalence of the yellow fever; but compelled them, much against their will, to deposit the body in the public cemetery, and accompanied the funeral procession on horseback to see that his orders were obeyed. It is also seen in the fact that the provincial assembly holds its sessions in a wing of the Carmelite convent, and that a part of the church of the Merced is turned into a custom-house and a barracks.
There are forty-one public primary schools in the province, educating one thousand and eighty-seven pupils. This gives a proportion of one for every one hundred and six free persons in the province. Each pupil costs the State about seven and a half dollars.
In the four schools of Latin, one person is educated in every five hundred and sixty-four, at a cost of twenty-six dollars.
In the College of Pará, called "Lyceo da Capital," the proportion educated is one to two hundred and eleven, at a cost of sixty-two dollars.
There are two capital institutions of instruction in Pará—one for the education of poor boys as mechanics, who are compelled to pay for their education in labor for the State; and the other for the instruction in the practical business in life of orphan and destitute girls. I think that this education is compulsory, and that the State seizes upon vagabond boys and destitute girls for these institutions. There is also another school of educandos for the army.
The province also maintains three young men for the purpose of complete education in some of the colleges of Europe.
There are several hospitals and charitable institutions in the city, among which is a very singular one. This is a place for the reception of foundlings maintained by the city. A cylinder, with a receptacle in it sufficiently large for the reception of a baby, turns upon an axis in a window; any one may come under cover of night, deposit a child in the cylinder, turn the mouth of the receptacle in, and walk away without being seen. Nurses are provided to take charge of the foundling.
Though I pumped all my acquaintances, I could get no statistics concerning this institution, or whether it was thought to be beneficial or not. I judge, however, that for this country it is. Public opinion here does not condemn, or at least treats very leniently, the sins of fornication and adultery. This institution, therefore, while it would tend to lessen the crime of infanticide, would not encourage the above mentioned sins by concealment; for where there is no shame there is no necessity for concealment. In speaking thus, I do not at all allude to the higher classes of Brazil.
The executive and legislative government of the province is in a president and four vice presidents, appointed by the Crown, and in a legislative assembly.