Some Of Our Officers Who Made An Excursion
To It Confirmed The Account Amply.
It should seem that the power of the Church, which has been so long
on the decline in Europe, is at length beginning to be shaken in the colonies
of the Catholic powers:
Some recent instances which have taken place
at Teneriffe, evince it very fully. Were not a stranger, however,
to be apprized of this, he would hardly draw the conclusion from his own
observations. The Bishop of these islands, which conjunctively form a See,
resides on the Grand Canary. He is represented as a man in years,
and of a character as amiable as exalted, extremely beloved both by foreigners
and those of his own church. The bishopric is valued at ten thousand pounds
per annum; the government at somewhat less than two.
In spite of every precaution, while we lay at anchor in the road, a convict
had the address, one night, to secrete himself on the deck, when the rest
were turned below; and after remaining quiet for some hours, let himself down
over the bow of the ship, and floated to a boat that lay astern, into which
he got, and cutting her adrift, suffered himself to be carried away
by the current, until at a sufficient distance to be out of hearing,
when he rowed off. This elopement was not discovered till some hours after,
when a search being made, and boats sent to the different parts of the island,
he was discovered in a small cove, to which he had fled for refuge.
On being questioned, it appeared he had endeavoured to get himself received
on board a Dutch East Indiaman in the road; but being rejected there,
he resolved on crossing over to the Grand Canary, which is at the distance
of ten leagues, and when detected, was recruiting his strength in order to make
the attempt.
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