Montgomery County sentinel., 1874-08-07
Selstted Mistellauu.
The Destruction Of Lisbon.

The morning of November | lI55,
dawned serene, but the he yeas we're
hazy. Since midnight the theruometer
had risen one degree, and stool At .
o'clock at fourteen above freezing Reau-
mur. As it was the feast Of All SNpts
the churches We're all thronged froB an
early hour. and all their affairs brillAnt-
ly Illuminated with thousands Of tapers
and decorated with garlanas Of varidas-
tinted muslins and thin silks. Atsa
quarter of 10 O'Clock the first shock was
felt. 1t was so slight that nuv pefeofs
attributed it to the passqge 81 heavy W.
gons in the street, ana evn t9 tnese
fancy. Three minutes d, aras sty
cond shock occurred 50 saleat lal8
seemed as if tile heaychs and earth we're
passing away.
The agitation lasted fully ten minutes,
and ere it diminished the greater portion
of the city was in ruins. The dust rais-
ed obscurcd the sun; an Egyptian dark
ness prevailed, and to add to the uniyer-
sal horror, the fearful screams Of the
living and the groans Of the dying rose
through the air. In twenty minutes all
became calm again, and the people began
to look around them and consider The
best means Of their escape Some were
for going to the hills, but we're soon dis
couraged from SO doing by the rumors
that those who had already gone tIithcr
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 a 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 opt to sea were
told to look at the river, and 10 in its
centre they beheld whirlpool which was
sucking in all the vessels and boats in
its vicinity, not fragment Of ANY Of
them being ever seen again. The royal
palace had been entirely swallowed up.
and over its site is now the vast square
of the Paco, or Black Horse, one of the
largest public places in Europe. The
great library Of the Holy Ghost was in
flames, and its priceless Moorish and
Hebrew manuscripts were fast becoming
ashes. The opera house had fallen in
tue Inquisition was no more, and the
great Church of San Domingo was but
heap Of stone, beneath which lay crushed
to atoms the entire congregation.
The Irish Church Of St Paul was the
dcath-placc Of one thousand persons. and
the palace of Bemposta, where Catharine
Of Braganza, widow Of Charles H., lived
and died, had fallen oyer from the heights
on which it was built, and utterly des-
troyed 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 rher condition 2
At least seventy thousand persons had
perished, and the majority Of the suryiv-
ors were cruelty wounded. and in agony
Of mind aud body. Some went mad with
fright. some lost forever the power of
speech, sinners went about confesslng
their secret crimes, and fanatics, believ-
ing the last day had come, cried out TO
the horror-stricken multitude 'torepent,
for Christ was coming to judge the quick
and the dead"
AS the day waxed on the wretched
Lisbonese grew calmer, and it was uni
versally declared that the safest places,
now that the dust was diminishing. were
the heights overlooking the city, and
thither the majority fed. Here they
found their court assembled. for the roy
al family was fortunately at Belem, where,
strange to say, the earthquake was hard
ly felt at all, and had fastened at once
to the hills. The cardinal patriarch was
here also; and so was PombaL and these
two men. with surprising presence OF
mind. by their admirable courage, were
enabled before night to inspire some feel
ing of order in the excited throng. The
King and Queen behaved nobly, and the
young Duke of Lafoens deserves to be
immortalized for his splendid conduct
lie organized band Of noblcmen, who