Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-09

Atahualpa's court at Cajamarca, and
whose zeal in behalf of his religion was not
surpassed by the ayarice of the soldiers
for plumber. In fact, Nalverde was about
as active any of the party, and when
anything was going on in the way OF either
secular or spiritual interest he was right
behind his chief When the city Of Lima
was laid out he asked for land for a mon
astery. and Pizarro told him he could have
much as he could pace off in single
night along the banks of the river Rimac
northeast of the locations that had been
selected for the plaza, the palace and the
cathedral
Father Valverde was hustler. as 1 have
said, and he never worked harder than he
did that night. Starting from the bank Of
the river he went eastward, carrying raw
hide thongs to mark his trail, and when the
sun rose he had inclosed several acres OF
the most valuable city lots. The monas-
terry was erected on the corner nearest the
palace. From the officers and soldiers OF
the expedition he obtained large sums OF
money, in addition to the plumber he had
already secured, and the institution was
originally laid out upon magnitude TN
surpassed by any of the monasteres OF
Europe, and enlarged from time TO tine,
Much of the material was sent from Spain,
and among other things a quantity Of beau
tiful tiles. with which the cloisters are dec
GRATED. When they came there was nobody
in the colony to set them. One OF the sol
diers who had been condemned to death
for the murder of a cornrade ma1e Il
known TO the monks that he was able 10
do that sort of masonry, ana ne kept up
the job as long as he could, thereby post
poning his execution Indefinitely. The work
was very badly done. but the beauty of the
tiles has added to the fame of the institu-
ton
One of the legends is that after the first
building was finished and a colony of
monks had come over from the old world
to occupy it. PiZarro was invited down 20
make an inspection. When he had been
shown through the cloisters and cCns and
the chapel and had admired everything he
reminded Friar Valyerde in a jocular way
that the monks had no title to the prop
erty, and could not get one until they were
able TO offer him some compensation. The
monk was a diplomat, ard, handing Pizarro
cup of chocolate, remarked:
Here is the price The Savior himself
said that whoever offers cup of cod
water in His name to the least of His Great
ures offers it to Him. and have given you
a cup of chocolate.
The walls of the monastery are nine feet
thick, made of adobe. and have success
fully withstood all the many earthquakes
that have visited Lima. The ceilings of
the corridors, the cloisters and the chapels
were once covered with most exquisite
carved oak. and mahogany wood, but no
care has been taken of it, and it has been
gradually falling to pieces for the last 100
years. In fact, the whole institution is in
a state of advanced decay and dilapidation.
The walls of the first cloister were covered
with paintings of more or less merit which
We're brought from Europe in the early
days and presented by devotees OF the
Franciscan order from time to time. Until
lately no care was taken of them but
twenty-five or thirty years ago one of the
friars made falling screens of canvas. which
afforded them some protection, but it was
too late to save them,
Some years ago when / was down here
found in the attic of the tower of the mon
astery a pile of the most remarkable old
Tnissals. There is nothing in the British
Museum of the Bibloteca of Paris or the
Ambrosian Library of Milan to compare
with them, although those three instftu-
tons have the best collections of iIluminat-
of work on parchment. The age of the
missals is unknown. but 1t is certain that
they were made by monks in Spain before
the discovery of America, because the dec