he Lancastrian system, and when they have
obtained a sufficient age are put out to the various trades and
professions for which they are deemed most suited, the tallest and finest
of the lads being drafted into the army. One of the boys of his own
accord became my guide and introduced me to the various classes, where I
found the children clean and neat and actively employed upon their tasks.
I asked him if the Holy Scripture (_Santa Escritura_) was placed in the
hands of the scholars. He answered in the affirmative; but I much doubt
the correctness of his answer, for upon my requesting him to show me a
copy of the Holy Scripture, he did not appear to know what I meant by it.
When he said that the scholars read the Holy Scripture he probably meant
the vile papistical book called 'Christian Doctrine,' in which the office
of the mass is expounded, which indeed I saw in the hands of the junior
boys, and which, from what I have since seen, I believe to be a standard
school-book in Portugal. I spent nearly two hours in examining the
various parts of this institution, and it is my intention to revisit it
in a short time, when I hope to obtain far better information as to the
moral and religious education of its inmates.

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 judge