h, sir, we escaped by the mercy of God; only by the mercy of
God!" The governor of Algarve, even when the danger was known and
acknowledged, would not venture to prohibit the communication with Spain
till he received orders from Lisbon; and then the prohibition was so
enforced as to be useless. The crew of a boat from the infected province
were seized and marched through the country to Tavira: they were then
sent to perform quarantine upon a little insulated ground, and the guards
who were set over them, lived with them, and were regularly relieved.
When such were the precautionary measures, well indeed might it be said,
that Portugal escaped only by the mercy of God! I have often reflected
upon the little effect which this imminent danger appeared to produce
upon those persons with whom I associated. The young, with that hilarity
which belongs to thoughtless youth, used to converse about the places
whither they should retire, and the course of life and expedients to
which they should be driven in case it were necessary for them to fly
from Lisbon. A few elder and more considerate persons said little upon
the subject, but that little denoted a deep sense of the danger, and more
anxiety than they thought proper to express. The great majority seemed
to be altogether unconcerned; neither their business nor their amusements
were interrupted; they feasted, they danced, they met at the card-table
as usual; and the plague (for so it was called at that time, before its
nature was clearly understood) was as regular a topic of conversation as
the news brought by the last packet.

_Sir Thomas More_.--And what was your own state of mind?

_Montesinos_.--Very much what it has long been with regard to the moral
pestilence of this unhappy age, and the condition of this country more
especially. I saw the danger in its whole extent and relied on the mercy
of God.

_Sir Thomas More_.--In all cases that is the surest reliance: but when
human means are available, it becomes a Mahommedan rather than a
Christian to rely upon Providence or fate alone, and make no effort for
its own preservation. Individuals never fall into this error among you,
drink as deeply as they may of fatalism; that narcotic will sometimes
paralyse the moral sense, but it leaves the faculty of worldly prudence
unimpaired. Far otherwise is it with your government: for such are the
notions of liberty in England, that evils of every kind--physical, moral,
and p