The times., 1899-11-26

with its swinging cradle in the rear wall, |
in which unwedded mothers may deposit |
their offspring, under the friendly cover
OF darkness, sure that the poor little Jet
sam OF sin viii be received and cared for
by the good sisters inside, and that no
embarrassing questions as to the pater-
nal responsibility will ever be made.
When the cradle in the wall swings
around with its living burden 1t rings a
bell, which summons the nun whose busi-
ness it is 10 be always within hearing,
and the little one is at once conveyed to
the nursery. All the tiny castaways of
Portugal, having no names of their own
are given that Of the Bishop at their
christening, together with the name of the
| Saint on whose day they were brought to
the asylum. Thus the reverend celibate
| is the foster father of several thousands
| and his august name becomes more COM
mon than Smith or Jones in the United
/ States. A similar arrangement prevails in
/ all Latin countries; and whether it is a
| wicked encouragement of vice or vastly
| better than the Anglo Saxon manner of
/ leaving unwelcome infants on door-steps
| and in byways, is yet a mooted question
| which each mind may solve for itself.
| Oporto's well-appOinted museum con-
| tains, among many other interesting arti-
| cles, a more complete collection of Brazi-
| lian curiosities, especially the wonders of
| the upper Amazon, than even the great
/ museum of Rio de Janeiro; also a full
representation from the Azores Islands, the
| Canaries, and other Portuguese possessions.
| Most valuable and interesting of all be-
| cause unique in its way, is an old gallery
OF portraits of the royal family and other
| persOnages, spelled with a big P, who have
| figured in Portuguese history Their
| counterfeit presentiments" are all there
male and female-the six Kings John. the
4 fun 80
! Ines de Castro, down to Pedro Segundos'
/ little granddaughter who died in Brazil
just before his enforced retirement from
| the throne
Vasco da Cana, Albuquerque. and other
| historic characters far more interesting TO
| the world at large than those who were
| merely born to the purple, occupy obscure
| corners in the badly-lighted room, and in
| their quaint black costumes call to mind
| those mythical but sometimes potent gen
tIemen, the Jack of Clubs and the Jack of
| Spades. number of these long-dead
scions of royalty DO not sleep in Portugal
| but their restless spirits wander-if ghosts
10 walk at all-about the scene of their
greatest splendor and subsequent disaster
far across the sea
REGISTERING Dom Joao VI who when
sober was all that could be expected of a
Latin king, but when drunk allowed his
| soldiers to divert themselves by tossing
squealing pigs and Portuguese babies on
their spears-was buried in the Ajuda con
vent of Rio, as was also the late Emper-
or's mother and sister and the young
daughter of Princess Isabella.
The English Colony.
The large English colony of Oporto has
a church and cemetery Of its own-the for
mer, OF course, Episcopalian. These ex-
lied sons Of Briton, who are the leading
merchants and importers OF the place, man
age TO make life enjoyable here, in spite
of the plague and the unpleasant climate
finding something very like that OF the
, right little. tight little island" in the
nasty fOgs that every day come stealing up
the Douro at the turn OF the tide, shutting
off the landscape as with thick veil within
an inch or two of ones nose.
The few Englishmen who have families
here live on the breezy heights above the
unhealthful heart of the city, while the
bachelor contingent inhabits the Fac
tory'-a singular name, by the way, for Sc
| magnificent a club. There the male stranger