On my arrival at Lisbon I was disappointed in my expectation of finding Mr.Wilby,who was in the country and was not expected for a week.I therefore had at first no person to whom I could apply for counsel as to the best means of proceeding;but unwilling to remain idle till the period of his arrival,I at once commenced operations at Lisbon as I have narrated.At the end of four or five days I started for Cintra,distant about four leagues from Lisbon,situate on a ledge of the northern declivity of a wild and picturesque mountain.Cintra contains about eight hundred inhabitants,and in its environs are many magnificent QUINTAS or country seats of some of the first families in Portugal;it is likewise a royal residence,for at its north-eastern side stands an ancient palace,which though unfurnished is preserved in [good repair],and which was the favourite residence of the ancient kings.On one of the ridges of [this]mountain are seen the ruins of an immense castle,which for centuries was the stronghold of the Moors in this part of the Peninsula.The morning after my arrival I was about to ascend the mountain to examine it,when I observed a person,advanced in years,whom,by his dress,I judged to be an ecclesiastic;upon enquiry I found in effect that he was one of the three priests of the place.I instantly accosted him,and had no reason to repent for so doing,for I found him affable and communicative.After praising the beauty of the scenery,I made some enquiry as to the state of education amongst the people beneath his care.He told me that he was sorry to [say that]they were in a state of great ignorance,that very few of them could either write or [read],that there was no school in the place but one at which a few children were taught the alphabet,but which was not then open,that there was a school at Colhares,about a league [distant].He said that nothing so surprised him as to see English,the most learned and intelligent people in the world,visiting a place like Cintra,where there was no literature and nothing of utility (AONDE NO HA NEM LEITURA,NEM SCIENCIA,NEMALGUMA COUSA QUE PRESTA).You may easily guess that I was in no slight degree surprised to hear a priest of Portugal lament the ignorance of the populace,and began to entertain hopes that Ishould not find the priests in general so indisposed to the mental improvement of the people as I at first imagined.
That same day I visited Colhares,a romantic village lower down the mountain to the west,near the sea.Seeing some peasants collected round the smithy I enquired about the school,and one instantly offered to be my guide thither.I went upstairs into a small apartment where I found the master with about a dozen pupils standing in a row,for there was but one chair,or rather stool,to which,after having embraced me,he conducted me with great civility.After some discourse he shewed me the books which he used for the instruction of his pupils;they were spelling-books like those used in our village schools and the before-mentioned 'Christian Doctrine.'Upon my enquiring whether it was his custom to use the Scripture in his school,he told me that long before the children had acquired sufficient intelligence to understand the Scriptures their parents took them from school in order that they might assist them in the labours of the field,and that in general they were by no means solicitous that their children should learn anything,as they considered the time occupied in acquiring learning as squandered away.He added that all the village schools in Portugal were supported by the Government,but that many of them had lately been discontinued,as the schoolmasters experienced the greatest difficulty in obtaining their salaries;but that he had heard that it was the intention of the Government to establish schools in all parts of the country on the Lancastrian system -which since my return to Lisbon I have discovered to be a fact.He told me that he had a copy of the New Testament in his possession,which I desired to see;but on examining it I discovered that it was only the Epistles (from Pereira's version)with long Popish notes.I asked him whether he considered that there was any harm in reading the Scripture without notes;he said that there was certainly no harm in it,but that simple people without the assistance of notes could derive but little benefit therefrom,as the greatest part that they read would be unintelligible to them.
Whereupon I shook hands with him,and on departing said that there was no part of Scripture so difficult to understand as those very notes which were intended to elucidate it,and that the Almighty would never have inspired His saints with a desire to write what was unintelligible to the great mass of mankind.
For some days after this I traversed the country in all directions,riding into the fields where I saw the peasants at work,and entering into discourse with them;and notwithstanding many of my questions must have appeared to them very singular,I never experienced any incivility,though they frequently answered me with smiles and laughter.(I have now communicated about half of what Ihave to say;the remainder next week.G.BORROW.)
