/ 
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50 
“idle. A furious gale fpread the confiagra- 
tion; and the-fea, rifh nz above its natural 
elevation, dafhed the veffels in the port 
againit e each cther and the fhore. The lots 
of life = ae ng from this complication 
of curfes, would, however, have been far 
Jefs than 2 was, had the people of Lifbon 
ee to the fentiments of fome an- 
t fect, or philofop' a) who thor ugat the 
reydn”t the temple mof worthy, of the 
deity, and prayed in the open aire spurt: 
fear and devotion dreve them to the 
churches, the folid ftruéture of which, for 
a a reafted the earthqual ke, and then 
tellin and crufhed thoufands into one un- 
diftinguifhable mafs. The furvivors, wh 
fied to the mountains, were not lefs con- 
founded. Fugitives, from barracks and 
convents — foldiers, nuns, and friars, 
herded tosether during the firft two Bias; 
and though abhorrent in habit its, cuftoms, 
and raétices, mixed readily in the com- 
qniffion of the moft {candalous exceffes, and 
even of crimes. 
In the firft moment of this dreadful 
misfortnne, the prime minifter made his 
way undifmayed through flames and fall- 






ine houfes, to every quarter oi the city, 
car x with him fuccour and confela- 
ti * fear, and repreffing the 
ts) and diforder. ~ By his 
Jas yn Hoee 
orcs 
bodies were thrown 
es of lime; by his care, 
re brought trom the neareft 
: tis by his fortitude and 
se, the people were prevented from 
ing a city, which offered n othing 
‘t heaps of ruins, and i images 
Their ttay, bene ficial to them- 
ves, wil probably preduce the deftruc- 
m of a future race, fince the experience 
% ages juftifies a belief that the 
fite of Lifbon fs doomed to the fame 
veaalfal difurbance once, and once only, 
in a century. 
During the two firft days after this ca- 
lamity, the minifier took no repofe bat in 
his carriage; no- fuftenance but a little 
foup; and in the courfe of the fir week 
two humdred and thirty ordinances iffued 
from his fertile brain. One of them en- 
joined the haneine without trial or délay, 
of every man found in poffeffion of gold or 
filver bearing the ma rks of fire. This ex- 
eeilive and indifcriminating feverity to 
which many guiltlefs vi itimis were immo- 
Inted, may be applauded by the ftates- 
man who fe eM but feels not; with 
whom human life is nothing—ftate expe- 
diency ever y ti hing; but it will beimarked 
with the ju# t reprob ation of ie philofo- 
pher, who knows that one of the greatelt 
eT 

> 
5 

Sena Sth cof a ert 6 
ryt eh mt 
ty 
many 

Memsirs of the Marquis de Pombal. 
fjan. 
incitements to virtue—one of the greateft - 
coor we derive from fociety, is the 
onviction that we are fecure, as long as 
we are innocent. The conduét of Gall 
valho was neverthelefs crowned with 
neral app ovarian: From the people - 
obtained him the appellation ot the saviour 
of bis country; and from the king the fuc- 
ceffive titles of Count @Oyras and of 
Marquis de Pombal. 
But as the royal favour incrcafed, fo 
did his enemies; their number being daily 
augmented by the unrelenting attacks he 
made upon the abufes in every department 
of the ftate. He was only beginning to 
enjoy the fruits ef his reforms, when hig 
attention was diverted from them by an- 
other remarkable event. A confpiracy 
was formed againft the life of the king, 
The Duke d Aveiro, the Marquis of 
Tavora and his two fons, withthe Counts 
of Aztonguia, Almeidas, and Poriza, 
were the heads of it. An amorous in- 
trigue of the monarch with the Marchio- 
nels of Tavera, was their principal 
grievance, or rather their principal pretext; 
for the Taworas were in fa& rather 
fpurred on by ambition, than by indicna-_ 
tion at this affront offered to’ their he- 
nour. Enraged, as well as the ret of - 
the nobility, at the king’s blind and un- 
limited confidence in the Marquis de Pom- 
bal, they thought that as he had abdicated 
his power, he ought to be hurled from 
the throne, and determined to feat in it 
the eldeft of their own family. 
' When Jofeph was about to pay his 
cuftomar y evening vilit to his miftrefs, 
two hundred and fifty confpirators placed 
themfelves in fmall bands upon his read ; 
and retained their fre till he was in the 
midft of them. Mufket-fhots then flew 
from all quarters, and wounded him in 
three places. The Duke d’ Aveiro him- 
felf aimed at the driver, but his carbine 
“miffed fire. It was the fortune of the king 
te have attendants equally intrepid and i in. 
elligent. His ne de chambre faved him 
ae further injury by laying him down 
in tae bottcm of wie cayrings 5 ; while the 
poriricn with no lefs prefence of mind 
fuddenly turned the heads of his horfes, 
and drove back to the palace at full peed, 
but by another road. . . 
Cavalho had fhewn, at the time that 
Lifson lay in ruins, all the courage and 
al] the refources of 4 great mind: he now 
aioe ed all the dexterity of a ftateiman, 
and all the refined ex unning of a.courtier. 
Ever firm and compofed in the moft eriti- 
cal conjunctures, he began .by enjoining. 
fect ey tg the valet de chambre, and pol- 
ais tillio 
eas 
Fr i® 
