# The Present State of Peru/5a

PART V.
THE PERUVIAN CAPITAL,
HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE POPULATION OF LIMA.
THERE is not any object which has a greater tendency to excite the curiosity of man, than a knowledge of the degree of relation in which he stands with those of his species, subject to the same legislation, and united to the same social body. This principle, when confined to the art of governing a state, is more particularly interesting, because it is the basis of all the calculations which refer to the universal felicity of nations. The Roman republic, the honour of which, acquired by arms, was sustained by the sagacity of its political combinations, was fully sensible of this truth, as is demonstrated by the frequent recensions of the population, made, not only in the capital, but in every part of its extensive domains. The general recension ordered by Augustus is the most remarkable in the records of Christianity, because the Blessed Redeemer was born at the time of its verification. The writers who were acquainted with all the importance of this subject, introduced into the plan of their productions a variety of reflections, having for their aim a computation of the total number of all living human beings. As it has been impossible, however, to found the conjectures on any fixed data, inasmuch as there cannot have been any other ​fundamental helps, beside the faith to be reposed in books, and the uncertain testimony of opinion, we observe a great contrariety in the results of all these calculators. The enumerations of Father Riccioli are almost invariably framed on round and exaggerated numbers. The thousand millions of inhabitants he imagines the earth to contain, are reduced to the one half by Isaac Vossius, in his work entitled "Opus variorum Observationum" Jacob Usher, or Usserius, takes the mean of this difference; and the Marquis of St. Aubin modifies it, and shows it to be doubtful. These discrepances and uncertainties are not, in reality, attended by any consequences prejudicial to the practical system of society; but it is not the same when a particular reference is made, to a determinate country, to a city, the necessities of which are constantly in proportion to its inhabitants. The positive knowledge of their number, classes, and conditions, has a direct and immediate influence on their good government, and on the welfare of all. For this reason, one of the earliest objects of the solicitude of every zealous administrator, has constantly been to obtain a precise knowledge of the number and circumstances of those residing within the boundaries of his government. Lima, which reckons, in the series of its viceroys, many who were enlightened in an extraordinary degree, has had repeated occasions to witness the enrolment of those who reside within its precincts. That which has been recently ordered by his excellency the present viceroy, will form an epoch in the annals of Peru. This undertaking, the monument of his wisdom and profound meditations, will prove to posterity the love which that country has constantly merited from the chief magistrates by whom it has been governed, ​and will serve as a guide to the calculations of future politicians.
The first enumeration made in this capital, according to the documents which have been handed down to the present times, was in the year 1600, when the Marquis of Salinas was viceroy of Peru. The total number of the inhabitants amounted to fourteen thousand two hundred and sixty-two. An original note in manuscript, which refers to this subject, and which is in our possession, states that doubts were thrown on the accuracy of the above number, by suspicions of concealment on the part of the inhabitants, who were constantly disposed to apprehend that the registers of the population; were framed with a view to the levying of a new tribute. These doubts were in some measure justified in the progress of time.
In the year 1614, under the viceroyalty of the Marquis of Montes-Claros, an enumeration was made of the inhabitants, of Lima, within the limits of which twenty-five thousand four hundred and fifty-four persons were found. The augmentation of eleven thousand one hundred and ninety-two souls, in the lapse of fourteen years, which results, without the concurrence of any extraordinary causes, is so very rapid and: considerable, as to justify the opinion that there was an incorrectness in the preceding enumeration. Provided this was not the case, it is at least certain, that there never has been since, in the capital of Peru, so great an augmentation in a similar space of time.
His excellency Count Monclova, who was removed from the government of New Spain to that of Lima in the year 1689, being desirous to obtain a precise knowledge of the ​number of persons, capable of bearing arms, to be found in Lima, ordered a new enrolment of the population to be drawn up in 1700. It afforded a product of thirty-seven thousand two hundred and fifty-nine inhabitants, including the religious votaries of both sexes, Indians, slaves, &c. We were somewhat surprized to find, in the manuscript work above referred to, in which all the details of this enumeration are given, that either through the inexactitude or insincerity of many individuals, there was the same concealment as in 1600. We shall now proceed to a short comparison between this statement and the one we are about to publish.
Lima has, since that time, been augmented in its extent, its population, and its resources ; with the exception, however, that in certain classes there has been a diminution. For instance, no less than three thousand eight hundred and sixty nuns, and their attendants, were then immured in cloisters. The Monastery of the Incarnation alone contained eight hundred and twenty-seven souls, including four hundred and thirty- four domestics. That of Santa Clara reckoned six hundred and thirty, in which number one hundred and seventy-two nuns of the black veil were comprehended. In the convent of La Concepcion there were one thousand and forty-one inmates, the female attendants alone amounting to five hundred and sixty-one. When these sums are compared ​with those contained in the demonstrative plan annexed to the present reflections, the losses which celibacy occasioned, in this particular way, will be seen. The misfortune is, that the marriages have not been augmented, in proportion to the decrease of the numbers of the female votaries of religion.
Those of the monks have likewise undergone a similar diminution. In the above statement the total amount of them was two thousand one hundred and fifty-five, including lay brothers, slaves, &c. The Dominicans were the most numerous, the four houses belonging to that institution having contained four hundred and twenty-eight souls. The Franciscans were in number three hundred and ninety-three; the Augustins, three hundred and twenty-one; and the Mercedarios, two hundred and forty-one. In each of these statements the domestics are constantly included. The charitable institutions stiled Beaterios have received an augmentation of eighty-four persons: formerly the number did not exceed two hundred and six; but it amounts at present to three hundred and ten. The apartments destined to contain all this population were heretofore one hundred and fifteen: they are now one hundred and seventy-nine, besides the thirty to be found in the quarter stiled El Cercado.
In the year 1746, at which time Count Superunda was viceroy of these realms, by a calculation drawn from the registers of the friars confessors, the population, including that of the adjacent territory, was rated at sixty thousand souls. ​The devastations occasioned in the capital, by the terrible earthquake which happened in the night of the twenty-eighth of October of the above year, and the epidemical diseases by which that calamitous event was immediately followed, occasioned a decrease of the population, of from six to eight thousand souls. The enumeration having been accordingly repeated, by the same mode of framing the estimate, that is, by the books of the confessors, in the year 1757, about fifty-four thousand inhabitants were found. As there is, however, reason to suppose that the population of the plains surrounding the capital was included on this occasion also, it does not appear that the result can be employed in a direct way, in making a positive comparison between that state and the present.
This observation applies to another gross computation made in 1781, and in the years immediately following, by which the population of this capital was regulated at sixty thousand eight hundred souls, and the authors of which expressed their persuasion that it might be extended to seventy thousand. It would seem, however, that an error crept into the elementary data of this account; since, by consulting the testimony of the ​sight, that of the consumption of corn, the lists of deaths, births, &c. an excess in the determined quantity may be made apparent.
The present demonstrative plan, which establishes the total amount of the inhabitants of Lima at fifty-two thousand six hundred and twenty-seven, has in its favour all the presumptions which can lead to a belief, that it is the most exact, and the one approaching the nearest to the truth. We are aware that several individuals, either accidentally, or through a false conception of the aim of the enrolment, have baffled the zeal of the commissaries, by the subtraction of a portion of the population, more especially in the class of slaves; but those who have been thus concealed cannot exceed two thousand.
When the provinces which now constitute the viceroyalty of Buenos-Ayres were separated from that of Lima, many gloomy politicians, and false reasoners, predicted the speedy annihilation of this city; at the same time that ignorance expatiated on the necessity of the commerce being again established on the footing of the galleons. Practical experience has demonstrated the falsehood of these conceptions. The free trade, a benefit which has not experienced a meet return of grateful acknowledgment, has filled up the void which the above political partition may have made in the interests and population of the capital of Peru. In reality, since the epoch when every advantage was first taken of this freedom of intercourse, Lima has increased in size about one-fifth, as the buildings which have been recently constructed sufficiently testify. Don Manuel De Leon, perpetual regidor of police, has built over a great extent of ground, which before lay waste, extending from the Piti garden to the ancient erections ​without the town. He has covered with buildings two orchards, having an extent of a hundred and twenty toises each, and has nearly completed a third range of edifices. These new structures comprehend a convent, two hundred and seven doors fronting the street, and four lanes containing fifty-three dwellings. The Pampa-de-Lara, the buildings surrounding the orange groves, those on the road leading to the promenade of the bare-footed friars, part of the Venturosa, &c. are all of modern structure.
Lima, in its present state, contains two hundred and nine quadras, or squares of buildings, which comprise eight thousand two hundred and twenty-two doors of dwelling-houses and shops, and branch out into three hundred and fifty-five streets. For the convenience of the police, and for the maintenance of good order among the inhabitants, the city is divided into four quarters, which are again subdivided into thirty-five districts, in each of which there is an alcaid, chosen from among the individuals of the most distinguished rank.
The houses are three thousand nine hundred and forty-one in number. Of these, nine hundred and sixty-nine are holden in mortmain; and in this number the one hundred and fifty-seven belonging to the religious communities are comprehended. On this head it has been observed by a celebrated national writer, Don Joseph Borda, that "the laws of South America strictly prohibit the alienation of the funds in mort-main; but, in consequence of this prohibition, the greater part of these funds are ecclesiastical: insomuch, that it is a rare occurrence to find a house or tenement, which, if it do not belong entirely to the church, is not burthened with a fine, or seignoral rent."
​With the free trade, this capital has gained much in the resources which contribute to its maintenance, and to the conveniences of life. Until the present time, coffee-houses, and banking-houses, were unknown to the inhabitants of Lima. The magazines of different descriptions were fewer by at least a third. Notwithstanding this, many persons are to be found, more especially among the abettors of the ancient system, who delight in expatiating on the poverty of Lima, and who regret the times and customs that are past. To form a just estimate of this opinion, it is necessary to come to an agreement as to the acceptation of what they name poverty. If they make it refer to those overgrown capitals which were to be found, at the commencement, and even in the middle of the eighteenth century, in the hands of a few persons, sometimes unjust, or, at the least, the sole masters of the prices, and which capitals do not exist at the present time; if they mean to say, that the country is poor, because the gains in each enterprize are small, in proportion as they are divided among many; in that very suspicious point of view they are right. But if their proposition be considered as it relates to the common felicity, then are they manifestly wrong. To be satisfied of this truth, let the present free and rapid circulation of specie be considered, and the greater degree of prosperity which results from the mediocrity of condition of the citizens, all of whom, from the merchant down to the petty trader and the artisan, are easy in their circumstances. The direct navigation, the erection of a custom-house, the enlargement of the public warehouses for tobacco, and the augmentation of the troops, have multiplied the sources of circulation. The game of chances ​alone, which was formerly poor and limited, but which is now become a substitute to the great lotteries of Europe, causes from two to three thousand piastres to circulate weekly. The ornaments, of the houses, the dresses of the inhabitants, the carriages, &c. are neater, more commodious, and even more brilliant, than they were twenty years ago. Of what importance is it that they are not intrinsically so rich?
By a comparison between the demonstrative plan, and the present state of Madrid, it will be found that Lima, in proportion to its inhabitants, has the advantage in the number of its hospitals, as well as in that of its students. In the last recension of the population of the city and court of Madrid, one hundred and fifty-six thousand six hundred and seventy-two individuals were comprized; and, notwithstanding, there are eight hospitals only which have their beds occupied, those of the other six being vacant; and seven hundred and twenty-seven students. Such a comparison will justify the praises we bestowed on our beloved country, when we observed, that "throughout Peru, knowledge is general, as well on account of the innate quickness and penetration of its native inhabitants, as through their fondness for study." It will also evince, that among us humanity has constantly triumphed.
Series of the recensions made at Lima, with the increase or diminution of the population since the year 1600.
| | Years. | Recensions. | Increase. | Diminution. |
| In | 1600 | 14.262 | — | — |
| | 1614 | 25.455 | 11.192 | — |
| | 1700 | 37.259 | 11.805 | — |
| | 1746 | 60.000 | 22.741 | — |
| | 1755 | 54.000 | — | 6.000 |
| | 1781 | 60.000 | 6.000 | — |
| | 1790 | 52.627 | — | 7.373 |
DEMONSTRATIVE PLAN OF THE POPULATION OF THE CITY OF LIMA.
No. I. RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES.
| MONKS. | Houses. | Hospitals. | Votaries. | Noviciates. | Seculars. | Lay Brothers. | Choristers. | Domestics. | Slaves. | Total. |
| Benedictins | — | 1 | 2 | — | — | 1 | — | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| Geronims | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | 3 |
| MENDICANTS. |
| Dominicans | 4 | — | 161 | 7 | 36 | 29 | 1 | 11 | 27 | 272 |
| Franciscans | 2 | — | 139 | 6 | 36 | 47 | — | 1 | 13 | 242 |
| Barefooted Friars | 1 | — | 20 | 3 | 10 | 16 | — | 1 | 10 | 60 |
| Missionaries of Ocopa | — | 1 | 2 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | 4 |
| Augustins | 3 | — | 135 | 8 | 25 | 9 | — | 24 | 26 | 227 |
| Fathers of Mercy | 3 | — | 146 | 12 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 22 | 228 |
| Minims | 1 | — | 32 | 5 | 5 | 9 | — | 13 | — | 64 |
| Friars of St. Juan de Dios | 1 | — | 7 | 6 | 30 | 3 | — | 3 | 4 | 53 |
| Bethlemites | 2 | — | 3 | 5 | 22 | 12 | — | — | 3 | 45 |
| REGULAR CLERGY. |
| Agonizantes | 2 | — | 36 | — | 22 | 13 | — | 1 | 16 | 88 |
| CONGREGATION. |
| Of St. Philip Neri | 1 | — | 27 | — | 14 | 7 | — | 22 | 24 | 94 |
| Totals | 20 | 3 | 711 | 52 | 228 | 152 | 6 | 94 | 149 | 1392 |
| NUNS. | Houses belonging to the Orders. | Votaries. | Noviciates. | Lay Sisters. | Secular Ladies. | Ditto, of casts. | Female Domestics. | Female Slaves. | Lay Brothers. | Male Domestics. | Total. |
| Bernardians | 1 | 26 | 3 | 9 | 34 | 39 | 28 | 17 | — | 1 | 157 |
| Dominicans | 2 | 61 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 48 | 43 | 33 | — | — | 225 |
| Franciscans | 1 | 38 | 7 | 24 | 30 | 60 | 50 | 34 | — | 1 | 244 |
| Capuchins | 1 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 2 | 39 |
| Concebidas | 1 | 59 | 1 | 38 | 21 | 90 | — | 51 | — | — | 260 |
| Ditto, barefooted | 1 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 21 | 30 | 20 | 45 | — | — | 155 |
| Augustins | 2 | 69 | 7 | 21 | 31 | 63 | 46 | 30 | — | 1 | 268 |
| Barefooted Carmelites | 2 | 41 | — | — | — | — | 36 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 88 |
| Barefooted— — — Nazarenes | 1 | 31 | — | — | — | — | 16 | — | 1 | 1 | 53 |
| Barefooted— — — Trinitarians | 1 | 29 | 2 | — | — | — | 20 | — | 1 | 1 | 53 |
| Barefooted— — — Nuns of the Order of Mercy | 1 | 22 | 2 | — | 2 | — | 17 | 4 | — | 2 | 49 |
| Totals | 14 | 434 | 33 | 105 | 170 | 330 | 276 | 215 | 9 | 13 | 1585 |
| CONVENTUALS. | Houses. | Votaries. | Secular Ladies. | Ditto, of casts. | Boarders. | Female Domestics. | Female Slaves. | Lay Brothers. | Total. |
| Dominicans | 1 | 16 | 16 | — | — | 19 | 2 | — | 53 |
| Franciscans | 1 | 24 | 16 | — | — | 17 | 5 | 1 | 63 |
| Ditto, Indian Ladies | 1 | 18 | 2 | 21 | — | 5 | — | 1 | 47 |
| Recluses | 1 | 26 | 55 | 40 | 24 | — | 2 | — | 147 |
| Totals | 4 | 84 | 89 | 61 | 24 | 41 | 9 | 2 | 310 |
No. II. SECULAR ESTABLISHMENT.
| | In a Single State. | In a Single State. | In a Married State. | In a Married State. |
| QUALITIES. | Males. | Females. | Males. | Females. | Widowers. | Widows. | Total. |
| Spaniards | 5225 | 4835 | 2740 | 2603 | 370 | 1442 | 17,215 |
| Indians | 1426 | 929 | 684 | 631 | 80 | 162 | 3912 |
| Mestizos | 1357 | 1362 | 737 | 767 | 74 | 334 | 4631 |
| Negroes | 3138 | 2737 | 1200 | 1250 | 153 | 482 | 8960 |
| Mulattoes | 1831 | 2148 | 775 | 735 | 78 | 405 | 5972 |
| Quarterons | 728 | 815 | 345 | 290 | 43 | 162 | 2383 |
| Quinterons | 76 | 91 | 17 | 16 | 6 | 13 | 219 |
| Zambos | 1139 | 1308 | 312 | 349 | 102 | 174 | 3384 |
| Chinos | 385 | 414 | 135 | 117 | 26 | 43 | 1120 |
| Totals | 15,305 | 14,639 | 6945 | 6758 | 932 | 3217 | 47,796 |
CONDITIONS AND AVOCATIONS.
| Rectors | 10 |
| Holding livings | 19 |
| Clergy | 229 |
| Dignitaries | 16 |
| Sacristans | 34 |
| Notaries | 13 |
| Dependants on the Inquisition | 15 |
| Ditto on the Crusades | 6 |
| Students | 366 |
| Demandants | 52 |
| Titularies | 49 |
| Rich proprietors | 90 |
| Lawyers | 91 |
| Scriveners | 58 |
| Merchants | 393 |
| Manufacturers | 60 |
| Artisans | 1027 |
| Labourers | 308 |
| Day-labourers | 363 |
| White servants | 474 |
| Receiving royal pay | 426 |
| Attached to the military | 27 |
| Holding particular offices | 64 |
| Syndics of religion | 10 |
| Physicians | 21 |
| Surgeons | 56 |
| Bankers | 48 |
| Receivers belonging to the religious communities | 47 |
| Purveyors | 287 |
SERVANTS OF THE FREE CASTS.
| Males | 1284 | 2903 |
| Females | 1619 | 2903 |
SLAVES.
| Males | 5063 | 9229 |
| Females | 4166 | 9229 |
GENERAL RECAPITULATION.
| Belonging to all the classes of the secular establishment | Males | 23,182 | 47,796 |
| Belonging to all the classes of the secular establishment | Females | 24,614 | 47,796 |
| Total of all the religious votaries | Males | 991 | 1647 |
| Total of all the religious votaries | Females | 656 | 1647 |
| Living in communities without having made the vows | Males | 1564 | 3184 |
| Living in communities without having made the vows | Females | 1620 | 3184 |
| Total of the populations of the capital of Lima | Males | 25,737 | Grand Total. |
| Total of the populations of the capital of Lima | Females | 26,809 | 52,627 |
No. III. CIVIL COMMUNITIES.
| COLLEGES. | Rectors. | Masters. | Students. | Ditto on the foundation. | Domestics. | Slaves. | Total. |
| Royal college of St. Charles | 1 | 15 | 55 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 109 |
| College of Santo Toribio | 1 | 19 | 23 | 29 | 9 | 4 | 85 |
| College— — — of the Prince of the Caciques | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | — | 17 |
| Totals | 3 | 36 | 83 | 51 | 24 | 14 | 211 |
| DITTO FOR FEMALES. | Rectoresses. | Mistresses. | Girls on the foundation. | Boarders. | Female Domestics. | Total. |
| College of la Caridad | 1 | — | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 37 |
| College— — — of Santa Cruz, for female orphans | 1 | 2 | 24 | — | 2 | — | 29 |
| Totals | 2 | 2 | 42 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 66 |
| | | Attendants. | Attendants. | | Servants. | Servants. | Sick. | Sick. | Insane. | Insane. |
| HOSPITALS. | Chaplains. | Males. | Females. | Medical Men. | Males. | Females. | Males. | Females. | Males. | Females. | Slaves. | Total. |
| St. Pedro, for the clergy | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | — | 11 | — | 5 | — | — | 19 |
| St. Andrew, for Spaniards | 4 | 7 | — | 8 | 24 | — | 166 | — | 49 | — | 6 | 264 |
| Espiritu Santo, for seamen | 2 | 3 | — | 4 | 7 | — | 35 | — | — | — | 2 | 53 |
| St. Juan de Dios, for convalescents | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — | 2 | 7 |
| Bethlemites, for ditto | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 20 | 3 | — | — | 3 | 27 |
| Incurables | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 9 | 7 | — | — | — | 17 |
| St. Lazarus | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 9 | — | — | — | 29 |
| Spanish charity | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 14 | — | 74 | — | 6 | 16 | 123 |
| Camilas | — | — | 10 | — | — | 5 | — | 5 | — | — | 4 | 24 |
| St. Ann, for Indians | 4 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 7 | 108 | 29 | — | — | 15 | 200 |
| St. Bartholomew, for merchants | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 86 | 68 | — | 5 | 5 | 184 |
| Totals | 18 | 32 | 19 | 26 | 55 | 28 | 456 | 195 | 54 | 11 | 53 | 947 |
| ALMS-HOUSES. | Attendants. | Servants. | Male Foundlings. | Female ditto. | Males. | Females. | Total. |
| Inclusa for foundlings | 4 | 3 | 27 | 20 | — | — | 54 |
| Spittal | 1 | — | — | — | 29 | 1 | 31 |
| Retreat for poor women | 1 | — | — | — | — | 53 | 54 |
| Totals | 6 | 3 | 27 | 20 | 29 | 54 | 139 |
| | Spaniards. | Spaniards. | Of Casts. | Of Casts. |
| JAILS. | Males. | Females. | Males. | Females. | Attendants. | Total. |
| Of the court | 29 | — | 70 | 4 | 3 | 106 |
| Of the city | 9 | — | 57 | 5 | 3 | 74 |
| Of the inquisition | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 38 | — | 127 | 9 | 7 | 181 |
* ↑ However this concealment may have tended to diminish the designated amount of the population, there can be no doubt of an exaggeration on the part of Doctor Montalbo, when, in his work entitled El Sol del Neuvo Mundo (the Sun of the New World), written in 1683, he assigned to Lima a population of upwards of eighty-thousand souls.
* ↑ As, in the year 1700, the enumeration amounted to thirty-seven thousand two hundred and fifty-nine persons only, insomuch that there is, in the above estimate, an excess of twenty-two thousand seven hundred and forty-one individuals, in the lapse of forty-six years, during which there was not any new cause to be assigned for an increase of population, there is every reason to suppose that the fact was exaggerated by Bravo De Casiilla, from whose document this statement is drawn, with the truly politic idea, that on its coming to the knowledge of foreign nations, they would be deterred from fitting out expeditions for the South Seas, which might be attended by losses and disasters to the Spanish colonies, similar to those that accompanied the expeditions undertaken during the preceding century, and at the commencement of the eighteenth.
* ↑ This game appears to be similar to that of our raffles.
* ↑ The persons belonging to them are comprehended in the preceding Tables of Population.