Oh!
There Are Strange And Wonderful Objects At Cintra, And Strange And
Wonderful Recollections Attached To Them.
The ruin on that lofty
peak, and which covers part of the side of that precipitous steep,
was once
The principal stronghold of the Lusitanian Moors, and
thither, long after they had disappeared, at a particular moon of
every year, were wont to repair wild santons of Maugrabie, to pray
at the tomb of a famous Sidi, who slumbers amongst the rocks. That
grey palace witnessed the assemblage of the last cortes held by the
boy king Sebastian, ere he departed on his romantic expedition
against the Moors, who so well avenged their insulted faith and
country at Alcazarquibir, and in that low shady quinta, embowered
amongst those tall alcornoques, once dwelt John de Castro, the
strange old viceroy of Goa, who pawned the hairs of his dead son's
beard to raise money to repair the ruined wall of a fortress
threatened by the heathen of Ind; those crumbling stones which
stand before the portal, deeply graven, not with "runes," but
things equally dark, Sanscrit rhymes from the Vedas, were brought
by him from Goa, the most brilliant scene of his glory, before
Portugal had become a base kingdom; and down that dingle, on an
abrupt rocky promontory, stand the ruined halls of the English
Millionaire, who there nursed the wayward fancies of a mind as
wild, rich, and variegated as the scenes around. Yes, wonderful
are the objects which meet the eye at Cintra, and wonderful are the
recollections attached to them.
The town of Cintra contains about eight hundred inhabitants. The
morning subsequent to my arrival, as I was about to ascend the
mountain for the purpose of examining the Moorish ruins, I observed
a person advancing towards me whom I judged by his dress to be an
ecclesiastic; he was in fact one of the three priests of the place.
I instantly accosted him, and had no reason to regret doing so; I
found him affable and communicative.
After praising the beauty of the surrounding scenery, I made some
inquiry as to the state of education amongst the people under his
care. He answered, that he was sorry to say that they were in a
state of great ignorance, very few of the common people being able
either to read or write; that with respect to schools, there was
but one in the place, where four or five children were taught the
alphabet, but that even this was at present closed; he informed me,
however, that there was a school at Colhares, about a league
distant. Amongst other things, he said that nothing more surprised
him than to see Englishmen, the most learned and intelligent people
in the world, visiting a place like Cintra, where there was no
literature, science, nor anything of utility (coisa que presta). I
suspect that there was some covert satire in the last speech of the
worthy priest; I was, however, Jesuit enough to appear to receive
it as a high compliment, and, taking off my hat, departed with an
infinity of bows.
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