Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1859-01-07

York from Portugal, confirms the follow
ing graphic description Of an earthquake:
LISBON, Nov. II, 1858.
My DEAR --- 1t is of Gods great
mercy that this steamer does not carry
you the sudden destruction of all YOU
hold dear Oh this side the Atlantic. At
ten minutes past seven this morning, a
fearful earthquake shook Lisbon to its
centre 1t lasted minute aud some Sc
conds/ and was vertical. i. and | were
asleep; we awokc, Of course, and sat
quite motionless, holding each other by
the hand, feeling the house shaking yio-
lently, and expecting instant death by
the giving away of everything. The
sound that accompanied it was very aw-
fl.l. I tells me that said softly, God
have mercy upon US, but was not con-
scious Of speaking. He says that the
most fearful part of it al to him was the
increasing violence Of sound and motion
the rapid crescendo. Each instant we
expected the roof and wall to fall in upon
us; then the sound diminished sensibly
and again increased in violence 4 mi
nute seems short time, but il was a
lifetime then.
T says he never before felt himself in
the immediate presence of destruction,
and his thought vas, death is immedi-
ate and inevitable; now shall learn the
great mystery" When it was over, he
said, * that was very awful"
jumped up and ran to NJ; 4. fol-
lowed we found her calm, but filled
with solemn awe-.-one fitted SO directly
from the hand of God that tears and la
mcntatons could find no place. We
knew that we were on the brink of the
grave II few seconds only between us
and a sudden death. The partition walls
of NJ S dressing rooms, bed room, her
maids chamber, the two spare rooms,
aud the dining-room; in fact. all that
support the walls Of that side of the
house are cracked from top to bottom
with rents in which you may lay your
hand \ few seconds more, and the
whole would have come down with
mighty crash To understand the might
ness Of the shock, one must remember
that the walls of the Lisbon houses are
solid masses Of masonry, some three or
four feet thick After breakfast | went
10 the Niscountess As, to see how she
had Jared and if any accident had hap
pcned in her house Part of Mile. de
81 room bad fallen in, and is now quite
uninhabitable, but nobody was injured
People were flying to and fro thinking
and talking of nothing else. Many per-
sons were killed by the falling of walls
many houses have been shaken down en-
tirely. One of the columns of the beau
tiful Estrela Church has fallen, as well
as several Of the saints from their inches
within, Two columns of the theatre
have also toppled down, and it is said
that the whole building is SO injured that
It must be rebuilt
1t is believed that if the earthquake
had lasted few seconds longer it would
aave been as fatal as that Of November
/, 1859 Ats4 there was another shock,
much sIightcr, and yet far beyond any
thing you have ever experienced in Port
ugal. When one met friends to-day it
was with much emotion, a grasp of the
hand and ''thank God, we are still alive"
The shock was felt very distinctly in the
feet On the Coigny the commander
rushed on deck, believing that another
vessel had dashed into him and carried
away part of the ship.
NOVEMBER 12.-We can still talk of
nothing but the fearful earthquake. The
damage done to this rambling old house
is greater than We knew at first. The
whole northern wall is torn away from
its fastenings, and I s dressng-room has
huge rent, four inches wide; in the
corner Of my room, also, the wall is
cracked from tap to bottom. In the
Kitchen the walls are badly broken. and
great mass Of brick and mortar fell
from the top of the chimney, crushing
in the range; had the cook been there
he would have been killed on the spot.
As for the breakage of crockery and the
tumbling Of things from the otagcres,
that is not to be considered.
The night before, being sleepless
heard the scntinel's ''alerta y and the
distant answer, 'aierta c - and the tex /
came into my mind, Except the Lord
keep the city tie watchman looketh but
in vain. How few hours brought il
home The day previous Dir. Pe2ado,
chief of the observatory of the polytech
mic school, had announced thai it was
almost certain that an earthquake would
take place within twenty four hours; he
judged from the vibrations of the mag
netic needle. lie timed il, and found its
duration one minute and four seconds
At Villa Franca many houses fell, and
some persons were killed
The news from Oporto is very sad
Tue shock was felt there most severely
several public buildings were destroyed
and sixty persons killed. | cannot vet
speak of terra 6raja, my confidence in
its stability has been shaken. 7. and
arc discussing very seriously whether we
shall remove TO another house Its one
thing not to be over-timid, and another
not to be foolhardy There is no real
courage in Drawing an earthquake. My
nerves are considerably shaken, even
dcmordiiced, as the French would say.
and the rattle Of door or window sounds
TO my ear like the precursor of another
fearful visitor, and makes my heart beat
with quicker pulse
re Lord Lyons, it seems, is to be