Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1859-01-05

the inspiration from the sighing winds and
sweet echoes of its waterfalls2 Portugal's
mongrel race have yet got to produce a Moz-
art or a Beethoven When the song of lib
erty is heard amidst the mountains of Es-
trella. then may its notes be caught up by
the people of the "Blest Isle," and they too
become inspired with the true spirit Of song.
do not mean to say that there is no song in
the land, for there is much of it; but none
which is their o,on, such as their majestic |
mountains should echo. How grand the |
Switzers' Song of Liberty, compared to the |
soft love song and sanity madrigal of the
Madeira's hills are, or have been, vine-clad |
The production Of its famous wines has COM
paratively ceased for the past four or FIVE
which has, year after year, destroyed its
products, that have heretofore been the main
support of its people-its great source of
wealth, that which made the island SO valu-
able to poor, impoverished Portugal. The
produce of the vine failing suddenly, the in
habitants of this, one of the inest-if not the
most so-islands 10 the world were reduced
to famine. II was robbed of its chief glory
it no longer produced the luscious vintages as
famous for delicacy and genial qualities, as
the place that produced them was celebrated
for its beauty. 1t is my opinion that the
hills will soon be vine-clad as Of yo-e, and
that is the hope and opinion of the people of
Madeira, who are as tenacious and jealous
of the wine-producing qualities of their island
as people can well be Be it the case or
not, We need not expect to see or hear of
such absolute want of the necessaries of life
as the people of this prolific isle have been
subjected to. The cultivation of the real
neccssaries of life have replaced, for the pre-
sent, that of the luxurious grape. There is
enough and to spare, yet, of delicious wine on
the island-l mean, to spare to actual visi-
tors, and not for expectation; for the veal
thy inhabitants. who own all the wine on the
island, know full well what a tire asure they
possess, and will rarely part with it. The
welcomed visitor will not wan. for taste of
the pure juice of the grape-very little like
the wretched stuff labelled and sold as Pure
Madeira" Except in rare cases, that article
can only be had on the island, where, as
have said it is only to be found in the cellars
of the wealthy residents. 1t was the writer S
good fortune to fall into the hands of rotund
and excellent old gentleman (peace to his
memory and that of his cellar. y who had an
| abundance of various kinds of excellent
! juices, IN a capacious cellar, and in the
|
of showing bis hospitality to stranger from
a strange land, he would Uery frequently
insist upon entering the sanctuary of his Gel
lar and to-as Ie expressed it in broken
English. takes shist a little vines" [ was
not so lost to self respect as to refuse be-
sides, politeness, if not a love for the pure
juice. prompted me aL,cdys to accept the old
mans invitation l mention this to show a
great characteristic of the people of the better
class-their hospitality. But [ shall not
speak of the people, only so far as to illus.
trate the place; when we dealing with
nature, it is best to leave man out, if pos
siJle
Strangers visiting the island usually max,
it a point to visit 1.-The Church of Our Lady,
situated high up on the mountain, on tht
declivity of which portion of the city o
Funchal is built. From walled terrace il
front of this sacred edifce-sacred it is from
the fact Of its containing an image of th'
tutelary divinity of the island, "Our Lady o
the Mount"-'tis said that the finest view il
the world is to be had, fact verify believe
after having seen some of tAe chosen spots o
the earth. Here all the glories of Madeir
landscape burst npon the vision, and one il
almost bewildered by what he sees.
Leaving the town of Funchal, nounte
: Z
them on the eisland-accompan by groor
l took my way over narrow, paved road
winding along amidst wilderness of trees
shrubbery, and sweet scented flowers, catch
f ing at each turn of the road the most delight
full views, passing on my way many beautify
sequestered mansions of a people that coul
but believe were happy in their seclusion
f their lines had fallen in plea SAINT places, fo
| tbo ,n,ptJa Of Notura'c 1ovelipeSs wal Spraa
, over their homes like a garment of man
colors AS mounted higher aud higher,
, realized more and more of the deliciousne
and purity of the air; felt it was luxnr
, to live, to breath. Pure and braeing, redo
5 lent with the perfume of orange. rose,, an
/ gcranium, the atmosphere seemed at th
time exhilerating oven to lntoxication. :
This, by the way, in one of the great charm
: of Madeira life-i. e. the great purity of /
air-a fact which causes it to be great r
! sort for invalids, especially consum ptives.
e Many persons are now there. foreigners. wi
o have been for many years on the island
e the enjoyment of good health, who, we
: they to leave, would 60 to that bourne when
/ no traveller returns.
. A ride Of an hour through such scenes
It l have described brought me to the churc
| was forcibly reminded of the fact that,
e this poor earth, it seems as il it were deere
It that nothing should be perfect; Gods glo
Y Gus works were marred by man. and
q mans folly those scenes of grandeur
e beauty were marred (to my mind) by W
a Messing disgusting scenes in which man pla
# ed part.
e The terrace, I stood between two mou
It tains, sections of which rose far above, on ,
v right, as l faced the sea. the mountains
It ing distant several miles. The rocks on
n left we're near at hand, reared up precipito'
a ly hundreds of feet above. Behind th
a gradually ascended until lost N tho clouds