Let Travellers Devote One Entire
Morning To Inspecting The Arcos And The Mai Das Agoas, After Which
They May Repair
To the English church and cemetery, Pere-la-chaise
in miniature, where, if they be of England, they may well
Be
excused if they kiss the cold tomb, as I did, of the author of
Amelia, the most singular genius which their island ever produced,
whose works it has long been the fashion to abuse in public and to
read in secret. In the same cemetery rest the mortal remains of
Doddridge, another English author of a different stamp, but justly
admired and esteemed. I had not intended, on disembarking, to
remain long in Lisbon, nor indeed in Portugal; my destination was
Spain, whither I shortly proposed to direct my steps, it being the
intention of the Bible Society to attempt to commence operations in
that country, the object of which should be the distribution of the
Word of God, for Spain had hitherto been a region barred against
the admission of the Bible; not so Portugal, where, since the
revolution, the Bible had been permitted both to be introduced and
circulated. Little, however, had been accomplished; therefore,
finding myself in the country, I determined, if possible, to effect
something in the way of distribution, but first of all to make
myself acquainted as to how far the people were disposed to receive
the Bible, and whether the state of education in general would
permit them to turn it to much account. I had plenty of Bibles and
Testaments at my disposal, but could the people read them, or would
they? A friend of the Society to whom I was recommended was absent
from Lisbon at the period of my arrival; this I regretted, as he
could have afforded me several useful hints. In order, however,
that no time might be lost, I determined not to wait for his
arrival, but at once proceed to gather the best information I could
upon those points to which I have already alluded. I determined to
commence my researches at some slight distance from Lisbon, being
well aware of the erroneous ideas that I must form of the
Portuguese in general, should I judge of their character and
opinions from what I saw and heard in a city so much subjected to
foreign intercourse.
My first excursion was to Cintra. If there be any place in the
world entitled to the appellation of an enchanted region, it is
surely Cintra; Tivoli is a beautiful and picturesque place, but it
quickly fades from the mind of those who have seen the Portuguese
Paradise. When speaking of Cintra, it must not for a moment be
supposed that nothing more is meant than the little town or city;
by Cintra must be understood the entire region, town, palace,
quintas, forests, crags, Moorish ruin, which suddenly burst on the
view on rounding the side of a bleak, savage, and sterile-looking
mountain. Nothing is more sullen and uninviting than the south-
western aspect of the stony wall which, on the side of Lisbon,
seems to shield Cintra from the eye of the world, but the other
side is a mingled scene of fairy beauty, artificial elegance,
savage grandeur, domes, turrets, enormous trees, flowers and
waterfalls, such as is met with nowhere else beneath the sun.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 9 of 424
Words from 4265 to 4822
of 222596
