Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1874-08-14
The Lisbon Earthquake.


J since midnight the thermometer ha,
risen one degree, and stood at o'clocl
J at IA above freezing Reaumer. As i
was the feast of All Saints, the churche
} were thronged from an early hour, ant
} ali their affairs brilliantly illuminate,
with thousands of tapers and decorated
with garlands of various tints.
AT quarter of 10 o'clock the frs
shock was felt. 1t was so slight tha
many persons believed it to be the pas
sage of heavy wagons, and even mer,
fancy. Three minutes afterwards a sec
ond shock occurred, SO violent that i
seemed as if the heavens and earth wer,
passing away. This agitation lasted ful
ly ten minutes, and ere it diminished th,
greater portion of the city was in ruins
The dust raised obscured the sun ar
Egyptian darkness prevailed, and to add
to the universal horror the fearful
screams of the living and the groans oi
the dying filled the air.
In twenty minutes all beca me cal m
again, and people began to look around
them, and consider the best means of es-
cape. Some were for going to the hills,
but were soon discouraged from so doing
by the rumors that those who had al
ready gone there were suffocating from
the effects of the dense fog of dust which
still rose from the falling buildings.
Then they rushed toward the quays
which line part of the Tagus, but only
to learn the horrible news that these had
sunk into the earth, with all the people
and edifices upon them. Those who
thought to put to sea were told to look
at the river, and 10 in its center they
beheld whirlpool which was sucking
in all the vessels and boats in its vicini-
ty, not fragment of them ever being
seen again.
The royal palace had been entirely
swallowed up, and over its site is now
the vast square of the Baco or Black
horse, one of the largest public places in
Europe. The great library of Holy
Ghost was in flames, and its invaluable
Moorish and Hebrew manuscripts were
fast becoming ashes. The grand opera
house had fallen in; the Inquisition was
no more. and the great church of San
Domingo was heap of stones, beneath
which lay crushed to atoms the entire
congregation. The Irish church of st.
Paul was the death place of thousand
persons, and the palace of Bomposta,
where Catherine of Braganza, widow of
Charles III, lived and died, had fallen
over from the heights on which it was
built, and entirely destroyed the poor
but populous part of the town which lay
beneath it. In word, where but an
hour since was Lisbon was now nothing
but desolation. As to the people, who
can describe their condition? At least
10000 persons had persisted, and the
majority of the survivors were cruelty
wounded and in agony of mind and
body. Some went mad with fright, some
lost forever the power of speech, sinners
went about confessing their secret crimes.
and fanatics, believing the last day had
come, cried out to the horror stricken
multitude to repent, for that Christ
was coming to judge the quick and the
dead"
As the day waxed on the wretched
Lisboners grew calmer, and it was uni.
yersally declared that the safest places.
now that the dust was diminishing. were
The heights overlooking the city, and
,hither the majority fed. Here they
'ound the Court assembled, for the royal
amily were fortunately at Belem, where.
strange to say, the earthquake was
felt at all, and had hastened at
'nce to the hills. The Cardinal Patri-
arch was here also, and so was Pombal
md these two men, with surprising pres
'nce of mind and by their admirable
courage, were enabled before night to in
pire some feeling or order in the excited
multitude.
The King and Queen behaved nobly.
md the young Duke of Lafoens deserves
o be immortalized for his splendid con-
uct. He organized a band of noble.
nen who went about aiding the wounded,
escuing the children and even burying
he dead. 1t was strange and awful ,
ight to see this multitude gather togeth-
r on the summit of the hills which once
their magnificent capital, and
Ihich now looked down upon mere {
lass of dense and smouldering ruins.
As day declined and night came on
'e Cardinal issued a proclamation or {
ering all to kneel in prayer and entreat i
he mercy of God upon them, and then t
ose on the air the wailing tone of that $
addest of psalms, the Miserere. I
When the shades of night had fnllv q