The Prime Minister
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friendGoncalo Christovao had, on this occasion, taken no open part in themovement, so that he escaped the punishment which fell on so manyothers; but he was not the less indignant at the atrocities committed inhis native city, and he was, at the time we speak of, on his way toLisbon, to complain in person to his sovereign, hoping to gain someredress, or, at all events, a mitigation of the grievances under whichthe people suffered.
We scarcely dare mention the fate of the lovely Donna Clara. For a longperiod her father had resisted all the persuasions of his confessor tocompel her to assume the veil, though she was now almost indifferent onthe subject; but he had at length yielded, and she was now performingher year of noviciate at the convent of her patron saint at Oporto,which was considered nearly equal in point of the rank of its inmates tothat of Santa Clara at Lisbon. Indeed, since the destruction of thelatter, many of the nuns, who were all of noble family, had beenconveyed thither. It was a sad _cortege_ which had arrived from theruined city, carefully concealed from the prying eye of curiosity, inclosely covered litters, surrounded with a guard of soldiers, who wereordered strictly to keep their eyes turned away from the holysisterhood. Whether they obeyed the order is a matter of doubt, andwhether a delicate hand might not now and then have drawn aside thecurtains to admit a breath of fresh air, we cannot aver. This only weknow, that the Minister himself had issued an order for their safeconduct; and, as the religious houses on the road were not sufficientlynear to admit of their reaching one each day, he commanded that the innsshould be prepared for their reception, and that no other travellersshould be admitted, which latter order, we suspect, was no slightdisappointment to the younger ladies;--but we are growing profane.
To return to the revolt at Oporto. The Jesuits were accused of beingthe instigators even of this transaction; but we, although no friends oftheirs, as may have been guessed, acquit them completely of having hadany share in the affair. By an unsuccessful rebellion they could havegained nothing, and must have been aware that such would only strengthenthe power of the Minister. We feel assured, therefore, that they wereinnocent of this charge; nor was it at all in accordance with theirusual mode of proceeding: they would have acted far more cautiously andsensibly, so that nothing might be attempted without an almost certainconfidence of success. However, the old proverb, "Give a dog a badname," was fully exemplified in their case, and every disturbance in thecountry was imputed to them. We think that, in many respects, they werevery hardly used; and we might as well suppose that the followers of thenew Bible (which a foreigner told us we English heretics had latelypublished, called the Oxford Tracts,) were guilty of the riots in Wales,as that they would have excited people to open rebellion. The past had,and the present have, a very different aim in view: they seek not tooverthrow dynasties, but to establish their power on the weakness andfolly of their fellow-men; they wish to hide the gold, that their ownbase alloy may be taken as genuine ore. While pretending to point outthe narrow path to heaven, they, like the cunning fowler, lead theirfascinated admirers into their own well-constructed decoys;--more narrowand narrow grows the way, with many a twist and turn, till at lengththey cast their nets, from whose meshes there is no escape.
Now, it is very far from our wish to speak disrespectfully of the Churchof Rome, or in any way to decry it. On the contrary, we cannot conceivean establishment more admirably adapted for every purpose ofuntrammelled government. It at once puts a stop to all doubts ordiscussions, pointing out so exactly what people ought to believe, thatthey have no further trouble on the subject. As when men have learnt tosubmit in one way, they generally do so in another, were we a sovereigndesirous of absolute power, we should prefer it as the religion of thestate, and then, keeping its ministers our friends, we should, if wepleased, be able to govern with the most despotic rule.
We esteem many of the ministers of that Church, and if they attempt toconvert us to their opinions, we feel that they are but performing theirduty: we do not blame them, because they exercise the power which hasbeen confided to them by their superiors; nor do we blame its followersthat they practise what they have been taught; but we are called on toexhibit in their true colours those who, urged on by the lust of power,strive to revive a long-disused engine of authority; disused not throughforgetfulness of its existence, but from a general conviction of itspernicious effects, from all men being persuaded that it defeated thepurposes of true religion.
We, while residing in Portugal, where the Order of Jesus is no longertolerated, often hear the opinion of those who see clearly what is goingforward in our own country. "Ah!" they exclaim, "you will soon becomeas good Romanists as we are. You have some clever Jesuits among youalready,--both open and concealed ones too."
These observations may, perhaps, make some men look into their ownhearts, and examine their motives; for the thought of power is verycaptivating. We would fain save a few birds from the fowlers, and wemay trust that some who read this work will be warned in time to avoidthose snares, the very first consequence of which is the abject slaveryof the mind,--an imprisonment (so cunningly devised, and so strong arethe meshes formed) which few are able to break through,--whose captivesare ever debarred from the enjoyment of thought, and the light of truth.
From what we have said, we doubt not we shall be accused by one class towhich we allude, of being sneerers and revilers at religion; such alwaysis the fate of those who would exhibit existing abuses in their truecolours, and who would endeavour to draw out and expose the falsehoodfrom among the truth, in which it may have been shrouded. Let them hurltheir anathemas on our heads; they will fall innoxious on our helmet ofrectitude. We revere religion, but we detest tyranny and superstition,nor shall we ever cease to strive against both one and the other. Butwe must not allow ourselves to be carried away by a subject, in which weare so deeply interested, though one scarcely suited to a work of thenature of a romance; we may, however, trust, that while the eye wandersover these pages, in search of amusement, a warning lesson may bereceived, to beware of concealed Jesuits, who, filling our ears withtheir sophistries, would persuade us to submit to their power.
We must now return to the current of our story, from which we have sowidely wandered. For some time previous to the anniversary of thedreadful catastrophe we have described, various people appeared in andabout the neighbourhood of Lisbon, assuming the characters of prophets,and foretelling the final destruction of the city on that day. One ofthe first who uttered these predictions was the holy Father Malagrida.He probably placed full confidence in them himself; they either beingthe work of his own distempered brain, or having been put into his headby others for their own purposes.
Whoever was the originator of the deceit, he was the chief promulgatorof it, while many others, perfectly aware of its want of foundation,repeated it, in the hopes of driving the frightened citizens from theirhabitations, while they would be enabled to plunder, withoutapprehension of any interruption to their proceedings. Such we find thecase in the present day: a madman leads fools, and knaves follow, toprey on their folly.
Malagrida had chosen for the scene of his oratory the ruins of a churchoutside Lisbon, where he had collected a large assemblage of people,women and children predominating, and idle ragamuffins, who were glad ofany excuse to escape from toil: there were others also, of all classesof citizens, who were listening to the insane ravings of blasphemyproceeding from his lips.
"Fly from the city of destruction, all ye who would be saved!" heexclaimed. "Escape, ere the crimes of your impious rulers be visited onyour heads. Once have ye been warned, and ye would not listen to thewarning;--this is the last time that I will speak to ye,--this is thelast time that ye shall hear my voice; for the wicked have risen upagainst the prophets of heaven, their hearts have been hardened, andthey have sworn deadly enmity to the true ministers of the Church. Fly,then, from among the despisers of the faith, leave them to the vengeancewhich shall overtake those whom the Lord has marked for destruction. Hewho, in self-confidence, vaunts so proudly
of his power, shall bebrought low; for fire shall rain down on the haughty head of thepersecutor of the faithful."
The prophet had for some time run on in this strain, when suddenly abody of guards appeared among the crowd. Two of them advanced, and,placing themselves on each side of him, informed him that his presencewas required elsewhere.
"Begone! ye myrmidons of the man of sin, and answer that I come not athis call," he exclaimed in a loud voice. "Begone! I fear ye not."
The men, however, paid no attention to his orders; but, seizing hisarms, attempted to drag him forward. Their efforts, however, were vain;for, shaking them off with a powerful exertion, he continued hisdiscourse regardless of their presence. Again they seized him, when acry arose among the people, who seemed inclined to hasten to his rescue;but the customary obedience to which the Minister had subjected them,checked them, and the remainder of the soldiers advancing,