d 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_, _nem alguma 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 I should 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 the