El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-07-18

4
| IT ISBON. Portugal. July 1s.-Portu-
gal was once the leading maritime
nation of the world Today it is
a toy republic in swaddling clothes
| and as fretful as babies usually are
| Whether or not it will get through the
! periis of its second summer and be-
gin a healthy growth is a question of
more interest to Christendom than i'm
| portance to Europe While consider
ing Portugal as it now is, it is inter-
esting to glance at it's past.
! Ancient Lusitania.
| EthnologicaIly the section of the
Iberian Peninsula that is now Portugal,
and was once the greater part of Lus-
| itania, Is very ancient. The student
/ of European races finds that the abo-
/ rigirSal cave jewellers Portugal were
| flo4ishing when the first Aryans
| overran Europe. But politically the
| history of Portugal spans but a brief
nine centuries.
| Portugal was subjugated by the Ro-
! mans in the time of Augustus, and in
| yaded by the Alans and Visigoths IN
| the fifth century. when the Roman SUI
| premacy was overthrown. Three cen
| turtles later it was overrun by Arabs
| and Berbers, who held it for 400 years
| before the Christian Kingdoms of Spain
L
| to their former stamping ground in
| North Africa. But during these stir
| ring times Portugal had no national
| entity. It was not until the last decade
\ of the 18th century, when Alfonso VI
| Of Castle gave Henry Of Burgundy
| the hand of his daughter and rulership
| over such territory beyond the Tagus
as he could capture from the Moors.
that Portugal assumed Importance
| separate from Spain.
Beginning of Independence.
1t began its career as an independent
country when Alfonso. son Of the Bur-
gundian prince and Theresa of CASTLE.
arranged a tournament, in 1143, be-
tween Portuguese knights and Span
iards TO settle the question of his right
to rule as king in his own right
The Burgundian house showed its met
tie by holding the crown Of Portugal
for more than four centuries and de-
veloping the country as a military
power and maritime nation
After a century of war with Mos
lems and brawls between the clergy
and the mobiles when there was no bat
tie with Moors TO be fought. Portugal
found itself on the highroad to wealth
and prosperity. Diniz. son Of Alfonso
III. was the first statesmanlike ruler
of Portugal, His predecessors had
been warriors Diniz encouraged agri-
culture commerce. industry. the arts
and education He founded univer-
sity at Lisbon. and became known as
the Father OF His Country" He was
also affectionately called Farmer
Diniz, a distinction unique among, the
titles of European kings. RE Lavra-
dor,-The Laborer-was also a popular
title for him. He earned it by various
activities He avoided foreign wars.
laid the foundations for prosperity. and
set an example as a home builder oy
marrying Donna Isabel. an Aragonese
princess, canonized in later years for
the purity and unselfishness or ner
life
Farmer King Beloved.
Agricultural schools were numerous
in the reign of Farmer Dlnls. Mooei
farms were titled and farmers were
made members of the nobility because
OF their diligence as agrfculturis-s-
This monarch was a conServauehlst
He reclaimed arid lands and planted
a great pine forest He built ana Dedu-
titled cities reformed the courts. wrote
pastoraI poems and surrounded hihseil
with writers who Transformed 4 .uuo
dialect into flexible literary
guage. c-aa+ !
Iobn III and Emanuel, covering lOo |
wears. beginning in the last quarter ..
The fourteenth century. Portugal nfoVeu
forward toward position or prom
nance among European nations Inc
treaty of windsor, the genesis OF wnlcn
might be traced to the teacnlnss %
Farmer Diniz. who advocated am
ance with England, declared tne Ae
dom Of Portugal and the 1siano emu
hound by the closest bonds P0Itusese
nevigators in cockleshen boats. feie
their way down the west coast OF AIT
"a to find their way to conquests IN
Tnd,a and Ceylon, and the estaolisn-
n,ent Of q. Chinese station at Macao,
onnozite the island of Hong Kong
Peace with England and non-lhieilei
ence with Spain became the poilcy u
the nation The capture OF Ceuta.
north African stronghold or the Mools'
in 1415 was the beginning OF the FOR
tueese conauests beyond the seas
few years later king Edward OF FOR
tugal died Of a broken heart because
of the failure of an expedition thdI
set out to take Tangiers-
Henry's Sea Enterprises.
Prince Henry the Navigator collected
about him all Of the daring seamep
and brilliant scientists he could find
and spent 40 years trying to solve the
problem OF sailing from Lisbon to the
Indian ports to make an all-sea route
for trade then coming TO Europe by
land. through the Levant. or North
Africa. He died without achieving his
object but vasco da Cana. who found
this all-water route, was infbued with
his ideas.
King John the Perfect was an ardent
explorer who made the mistake OF
iismissing Christopher Columbus as a
visionary because of his advocacy OF
sailing across the Atlantic instead or
around Africa to find India by water.
But IL ne erred in his estimate OF Col
umbus, he did nothing more than the
majority of the nayigators, and while
be turned down the greatest explorer
he surrounded himself with many 9TH
ars who were to become famous. Among
them was Alfonso d. Albuquerque, who
became the viceroy Of the indies. Al
,uouerque landed on the Malabar coast,
conquered Goa and founded seat OF
Portuguese government on the Indian
peninsula Ceylon, the land Of Ophir,
from which Hiram. king OF Tyre,
brought ivory. apes and peacocks' TO
Solomon, and which Is believed by
some investigators to have been the