Not
A Word Proceeded From Their Lips, And When I Addressed Them In
Their Native Language, They Returned No Other Answer Than A Kind Of
Growl.
They looked as dirty and rusty as the iron in which they
trafficked; their four miserable donkeys were in the stable in the
rear.
The woman of the house and her daughter were exceedingly civil to
me, and coming near crouched down, asking various questions about
England. A man dressed somewhat like an English sailor, who sat on
the other side of the hearth confronting me, said, "I hate the
English, for they are not baptized, and have not the law," meaning
the law of God. I laughed, and told him that according to the law
of England, no one who was unbaptized could be buried in
consecrated ground; whereupon he said, "Then you are stricter than
we." He then said, "What is meant by the lion and the unicorn
which I saw the other day on the coat of arms over the door of the
English consul at St. Ubes?" I said they were the arms of England!
"Yes," he replied, "but what do they represent?" I said I did not
know. "Then," said he, "you do not know the secrets of your own
house." I said, "Suppose I were to tell you that they represent
the Lion of Bethlehem, and the horned monster of the flaming pit in
combat, as to which should obtain the mastery in England, what
would you say?" He replied, "I should say that you gave a fair
answer." This man and myself became great friends; he came from
Palmella, not far from St. Ubes; he had several mules and horses
with him, and dealt in corn and barley. I again walked out and
roamed in the environs of the town.
About half a mile from the southern wall is a stone fountain, where
the muleteers and other people who visit the town are accustomed to
water their horses. I sat down by it, and there I remained about
two hours, entering into conversation with every one who halted at
the fountain; and I will here observe, that during the time of my
sojourn at Evora, I repeated my visit every day, and remained there
the same time; and by following this plan, I believe that I spoke
to at least two hundred of the children of Portugal upon matters
relating to their eternal welfare. I found that very few of those
whom I addressed had received any species of literary education,
none of them had seen the Bible, and not more than half a dozen had
the slightest inkling of what the holy book consisted. I found
that most of them were bigoted Papists and Miguelites at heart. I
therefore, when they told me they were Christians, denied the
possibility of their being so, as they were ignorant of Christ and
His commandments, and placed their hope of salvation on outward
forms and superstitious observances, which were the invention of
Satan, who wished to keep them in darkness that at last they might
stumble into the pit which he had dug for them.
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