PORTUGAL. 



645 



13 Traveling. The traveler in Portugal is obliged, on many of the routes, to carry all his 

 accommodations with him, even beds, on sumpter mules, if he should be fastidious in point of 

 lodging. The facilities for traveling are less than in Spain, though there is less danger from robbers. 



14. Character, Manners, &c. With some resemblance to the Spanish people, the PortiS- 

 guese have yet a great antipathy to them. Tlie different ranks of society are as distinct as in 

 Spain ; and the influence of the clergy is as great, and may be traced in the ignorance and 

 bigotry of the people. The Portuguese are not particularly social ; but they are gentle, do- 

 mestic, and fond of retirement. Their character and customs are not liable to change ; trav- 

 elers are few, and there is little intercommimication between different parts of the country. In 

 the absence of improvement, the Portuguese are greatly bound to ancient ceremony and usage. 

 No person, who regards his own dignity, would walk to make a call of ceremony on another ; 

 and it would be an insult upon those he visits, to a|)pear without a sword and chapeau, or with- 

 out spurs to his boots. The peasants are civil, and salute everybody, by taking ofl' their hats 

 and saying, " the Lord preserve you many years." The common people have some peculiar 

 traits of pride. They will draw, but not carry a burden. The Gallegos, however, are the 

 common porters, and have no such scru|)lcs. The country is overrun witli beggars, who are 

 to the last degree im[)ortunate, and solicit as if demanding a right. The females are more se- 

 cluded than in Spain, and seldom breathe the fresh air but in going to church. When married, 

 they retain their own names. All people are addressed by their Christian names. The useful 

 arts are in a low state, and labor everywhere supplies the want of skill. All the implements 

 of agriculture denote an unenlightened state of society. 



15. Jlmusemenls. Bull-fights, billiards, cards, and dice, are common amusements, and the 

 guitar and fandango are general among the peasantry. The bull-fights are similar to those of 

 Spain, except in a more adventurous practice of one of the players, whose part it is, when the 

 animal plunges at him, to seize him by the horns, and to be thus carried round by the bull till 

 his comrades relieve him. 



16. Education. Education is in the lowest state . The task of teaching is imposed upon the 

 monks, who are themselves grievously ignorant, and whose interest it is to keep others so. There 

 is but one university, which is at Coimbra, and has a library of 60,000 volumes, and a good 

 botanical garden. There is a small college at Evora ; also, at Lisbon, a college for the no- 

 bility ; and there are in the kingdom 800 elementary schools. 



17. J]rts, Sciences, and Literature. The arts have hardly an existence in Portugal, and 

 science and literature are much circumscribed. The literature consists chiefly in poetry, and 

 excludes all philosophy. The very Latin partakes of the state of knowledge. The Latin of 

 monks is unintelligible to the learned. Little has been done in Portugal for the mathematics, 

 though something has been effected for geography, natural history, and botany. The music is 

 simple and sweet, and it is chiefly confined to songs. Alljhe best foreign works are prohib- 

 ited, and everything published is subjected to a strict censorship. 



The principal dramatic writer was Gil Vicente, who preceded Lope de Vega and Calde- 

 ron. But the great poet of Portugal is Camoens, whose Lusiad is well known beyond the 

 limits of the Portuguese language. Yet so little regard is paid to the memory of this great man, 

 the brightest ornament of his country, that he has not a monumental inscription In the kingdom 

 to remind the Portuguese of their former glory. His tomb was demolished a few years since, 

 in repairing a church, and the spot where he lies is unknown ! 



IS. Religion. Ths strictest Roman Catholic religion is established in Portugal. The 

 clergy are neither enlightened nor pure in life, and the force of their evil example is as perni- 

 cious as that of the priests In Spain. There is a patriarch, subordinate to the Pope. There are 



archbishops and 15 bishops, and 4,262 parishes. Previous to IS34, when the religious houses 

 were suppressed, and their property seized by the government, there were 360 convents and 140 

 nunneries The number of the secular clergy is 22,000 ; tliHt of monks was .5,800 ; of nuns, 

 6,000. There was an order of friars " of Divine Providence," who trusted to Providence, and 

 never went forth to beg. When in want of provisions, thev sounded the alarm upon the con- 

 vent bell, and supplies were poured in by the faithful. The mendicant orders were the most 

 numerous, though much land was held by different convents. 



19. Government. The government, until 1838, was in effect an absolute monarchy, for 

 the constitutional charter of 1820 was but a dead letter, though the nominal provisions of it 

 were liberal. In 1828, a new constitution was adopted ; but it seems doubtful whether it will 

 prove a reality. The state of the country has been so unsettled during the last 15 year-, thaf 



