Monsieur Dellon, a physician, was imprisoned in the dungeon of the inquisition at Goa for two years, and witnessed an Auto da Fè, when some heretics were burned; at which he walked barefoot. After his release he wrote the history of his confinement. His descriptions are in general very accurate. ----- ‘At two o’clock we went out to view the churches, which were now open for the afternoon service; for there are regular daily masses; and the bells began to assail the ear in every quarter. ‘The magnificence of the churches of Goa, far exceeded any idea I had formed from the previous description. Goa is properly a city of churches; and the wealth of provinces seems to have been expended in their erection. The ancient specimens of architecture at this place far excel any thing that has been attempted in modern times in any other part of the East, both in grandeur and in taste. The chapel of the palace is built after the plan of St. Peter’s at Rome, and is said to be an accurate model of that paragon of architecture. The church of St. Dominic, the founder of the inquisition, is decorated with paintings of Italian masters. St. Francis Xavier lies enshrined in a monument of exquisite art, and his coffin is enchased with silver and precious stones. The cathedral of Goa is worthy of one of the principal cities of Europe; and the church and convent of the Augustinians (in which I now reside) is a noble pile of building, situated on an eminence, and has a magnificent appearance from afar. ‘But what a contrast to all this grandeur of the churches is the worship offered in them! I have been present at the service in one or other of the chapels every day since I arrived; and I seldom see a single worshipper, but the ecclesiastics. Two rows of native priests, kneeling in order before the altar, clothed in coarse black garments, of sickly appearance, and vacant countenance, perform here, from day to day, their laborious masses, seemingly unconscious of any other duty or obligation of life.