Note 24 — Chapter I · OUTWARD BOUND.—LIVERPOOL TO LISBON.

The mention of the English burial-ground, in Lisbon, induces us to correct an error into which the recent religious persecutions in Italy have betrayed some of our countrymen at home, as to the supposed existence of such practices in Portugal. Such a mistake is perfectly natural, but it is wholly unfounded; for, though the religion of the state is strictly Roman Catholic, of the most unmitigated character, still, like Brazil, though unlike Spain, there is toleration for all religions, and no impediment thrown in the way of their being observed. A Portuguese resident in London, writing to a leading journal on the point raised in consequence of the iniquitous treatment of the Madiai and others by the Duke of Tuscany, says:—‘The liberality and toleration of the Portuguese government towards Protestants, either resident or travelling, in Portugal, has existed for ages past. That line of conduct has never been altered, and for the truth of this assertion I appeal to the British Legation at Lisbon, and to the very numerous and respectable British commercial body connected with that country. A British subject has as much civil and religious liberty in Portugal as he can possibly enjoy in his own country. Christianity and civilization were first carried to Asia, Africa, and America, by that nation which his Lordship so much depreciates, and the door of that vast empire which Great Britain possesses in India was opened by the inhabitants of that soil.’ The imputation on the religious liberality of Portugal excites some indignation in that country, and a letter from Lisbon, in one of the papers, at the beginning of the year, says:—Not only since the establishment of the constitution, but even during the absolute regime, a large measure of toleration was always allowed to all other religions. The English and German Protestants have long had churches and cemeteries of their own, and, unlike their brethren in Spain, are allowed to bury their dead with as much ‘pomp and publicity’ as they please. The only restriction imposed upon people of other persuasions is, that they shall not, by word of mouth, or in writing, revile and insult the established religion of the country. This restriction, which was formerly operative, has now, however, become a dead letter, the real religion of the liberal party generally being materialism, against which nobody here seems disposed to declaim. At the beginning of the present year, (1854), a statement, signed by many of the principal British residents in Oporto, appeared in the London journals, setting forth that the most unreserved liberty for the performance of Protestant Service, with any degree of publicity, was allowed in that city, and had been for a great number of years.