Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/812

804 Since 1896 the Portuguese population in Macao has decreased, whilst the Chinese population has increased. The Portuguese in the Far Eastern ports must have increased, but without a regular census no reliable data are available.

The most important educational establishment in Macao is the Diocesan Seminary of St. Joseph, which dates back to the middle of the eighteenth century. The teachers are of the eminent religious order of Jesuits. The curriculum of this institution embraces primary instruction, secondary instruction, and a theological course. The chief aim of the seminary is to train clergy and missionaries for work in the diocese, but its schoolrooms are open to all classes of students. According to the statistics published in the official returns of April 10, 1907, the seminary was attended in 1906 by 352 students, of whom 187 were boarders, and 183 day scholars. This institution is supported chiefly from the funds of the missions under the patronage of the King of Portugal, and partly by the Government.

The other important school for secondary instruction is the national Lyceum of Macao. It has only 20 students, but is supported by the Government and the municipality. The Central School of primary instruction for boys has 167 students. That for girls has 49 students. These schools are supported by the municipality. There is a college for female education, embracing primary and secondary instruction, under the direction of the Franciscan Sisters of Charity, all European. It is known as the Collegio de Santa Roza de Lima, and it is established in the old monastery of Santa Clara. Amongst the sisters, there are two English ladies and one French, who teach their native languages. This college had, in 1906, 92 pupils. The institution is supported by its own funds, given as a donation by the Portuguese Government out of the funds of the old monastery of Santa Clara, and of a former college for women. There is an English school conducted by a graduate of Dublin University. It has 40 students, and is supported by a private association. There is also a school to teach Portuguese to Chinese boys, with 31 students, supported by the municipality.

The Bishop of Macao exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction not only over the peninsula of Macao and its dependencies, but also over the islands of Heungshan, and Hainan in China, over the Portuguese possession of Timor in Oceania, and over the Portuguese Catholic Mission of Singapore and Malacca. He is assisted by a chapter of twelve canons and two chaplains. There are three parish churches, each with one vicar—the Cathedral, the Church of San Lourenço, and the Church of Sto. Antonio. The Church of St. Lazaro is considered the parish church of the Chinese Catholics, whose number is growing every day. There are four other churches—St. Joseph's, attached to the seminary, the San Domingos and St. Agostinho's Churches attached to old convents of the Dominican and Agostinian Friars, now demolished; and St. Clara, transformed as already mentioned into a college for girls.

The protestant missionaries have some preaching houses for churches. There is a protestant chapel for Europeans, next door to Camoens Gardens, but no regular service is held in it. There are three large Buddhistic temples, besides many shrines.

The "Holy House of Mercy" (Santa Casa da Misericordia) is the most important institution of charity in Macao. It was Donna Leonora, consort of King John II of Portugal, who founded in Lisbon, in 1498, a brotherhood of mercy, known by the appellation of Confraria de Nossa Senhora da Misericordia. That brotherhood was extended to all the Portuguese colonial possessions. In Macao, the Holy House of Mercy was founded in 1569, by Don Belchior Carneiro, Bishop of Macao, who assumed