Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1849-11-22
The Por,u.ucse Exiles.

A portion of these interesting people
are expected here tomorrow. Their his
tory as given by Mr. Sawtell, in his ad-
dress on Friday evening in the I'd Pres
byterian church Of this city, embraces the
following particulars.
In 1888, DR. Gala, physician, and al
so preacher Of the Scotch Presbyterian
Church, took up his abode in the Island
Of Madeira, with the view Of improving
the health Of his wife, which was in de-
Ginning state. The delightful climate of
the island proving highly beneficial to the
health Of mis- wife, DR. G. determined TO
take up his permanent residence there !;
and having an ample fortune and being
prompted by spirit Of bencvolence, TO
benefit the condition Of the people around
him, the mass Of whom were ignorant, he
established school at his own expense,
and in short time SEQ adult persons, out
Of a population Of from ll2, 1000 to l2O,-
600, had sought their advantages. 81 the
same time, DR. c. gave medical advice to
the people gratuitously, and otherwise
ministersd 10 their spiritual as we'll as
temporal necessities. The whole popula-
ton were Catholic, and the only thing the
Doctor did to shake their ancient faith was
TO distribute through his school copies of
the bible in Portuguese: which, printed
some century or SO before, had received
the sanction Of the highest ecclesiastical
authority in the kingdom. For time all
went on we'll; aud SO sensible were the
authorities Of the good results Of Dr. C.'s
labors, that they made public expression
Of gratitude TO him. But soon, by reading
the bible, people began 10 think for them
selves--began 10 doubt the soundness Of
their ancient faith--absented themselves
from the Catholic church and confession,
and attached themselves to Scotch Church
that had for many years existed there I'M
der the protection Of treaty stipulations
with the British government. Thi. arou-
sed the Catholic priests, who headed arm
ed mobs against the heri,ics, and in some
instances respectable persons, refusing TO
kneel to and kiss the crucifx, were bru-
tally beaten in other cases their dwellings
forced open, and their goods thrown into
the street, and destroyed. Large num-
bers were arrested and imprisoned on The
charge Of heresy, blasphemy, ETC., where
they remained for above twenty months
in the midst Of the vilest criminals-sub-
jccted to gross insult from them some
times forced 10 hear mass at the point of
the bayonet--and dependent altogether
upon charity or their own resources for
food. One woman, among the refugees
there,--was condemned to death for deny
ing the doctrine OF transnbstantiation. An
appeal was taken to the higher court at
Lisbon, by which the decree was con-
firmed, but the sentence committed 10 i'm
prisonment for term of three months,
making three years in all. One Of the
company who have arrived here, was an
officer under government, the largest land
holder on the Island, and a man oflarge in
huence. His property was confiscated,
and he compelled to flee with the rest.
The result Of these prosecutions was,
that DR. Gala was compelled to abandon
the island, with the loss of most Of his
property, and about 1900 Of his adherents
took refuge in Trinidid and other parts of
the West Indies. About 600 went to
Trinidid under the spiritual charge Of one
of their number. Not being satisfied with
that place, they determined on emigrating
10 the United States, and $50 have arrived
in Illinois-some 200 are yet in New
York, and about $50 are still in Trinidad,
all Of whom will join their brethren in this
State--those in New York, perhaps in
the course of q few weeks Journal.