Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/245

Rh was peculiar to the assemblies and social parties; but, considered as a domestic refreshment, it has at length lost all its credit.

In the above-cited year a coffee-house was opened in the street, of Santo Domingo, and was considered as a singular novelty. It was followed, at the commencement of 1772, by another establishment of a similar nature. They were fully approved by the viceroy, who was persuaded that they would have a direct tendency to benefit society. It is certain, at least, that assemblies in coffee-houses, conducted with the moderation, decency, and propriety, which mark the disposition of the Peruvians, serve to unite man to man, to produce a uniformity of character, to augment the circulation and resources of subsistence, to contribute to the convenience of those who dwell in the vicinity, and to afford them an innocent recreation. The city did not, however, witness without repugnance the introduction of this custom. Another coffee-house was, notwithstanding, opened by the original projector in 1775; and was so successful that, on the following year, he ventured on a new speculation of the same kind, and made choice of a more commodious and centrical situation. This last establishment is at the present time the most flourishing.

By degrees the above coffee-houses became so much frequented, at the same time that the gains of the keepers were supposed to be very considerable, as to suggest the idea of two others, one of which was opened in 1782, and the other in 1788. In each coffee-house there is a billiard-table, a species of amusement which would be less censurable, if admittance were to be denied to young men of family, and to youths who are