The establishment of the Portuguese Repablic was a brisk piece of work, and no one can quarrel with the Repablica on account of their expansion of the religious Orders since they conceive themselves to have been very badly treated by those Orders and especially by the Jesuits. The somewhat stupid rejoicings that have since taken place cannot also be blamed. The same enthusiasm is manifested by every people under similar circumstances, by Turks, Persians and Japanese, as well s by The Portoguese Government seems to have made a mistake, however, and have done very serious harm to ite own cause by its ill-treatment of the Nuns and by allowing its soldiers and sailors to pillage several churches, monasteries snd convents. Before describing these mistakes in detail I must first say, however, that no peopl in the world is entitled to reproach the Porta; in these matters. The Cromwellians aod the French revolntionists soted with far more violence, though, also, with far more manliness and greatness, and, considering evorything, the Portaguese revelationists exhibited extraordinary self-restraint when they got the upper hand, Two wrong, however, do not make as right, and undoubtedly the treatment of the Nans was disgraceful, angentlemanly, barbarous, and almost anprecedoated, Granting that they bad no right to exist s oommanities, the Government should have notified them of the fact and given them ample time to make preparations for going to their homes or for embracing some other "Bat," said a marine officer to me, "we had got to protect these Nuns from the mob, therefore we brought them as soon as possible to the arsenal."
Now there was not the faintest dis position on the part of the mob to attack the convents. Most of the attacking was done by the soldiers and Dblaejackete. The Irish convent of Bom Succeaso at Belem, the Dominican convent at Vmfca, the Irish Dominican monastery of Corpo Santa and others are still protected by fow soldiers. All the other convents could have been protected in like manner. I say nothing of the monasteries and especially of the Jesuit establishments. I confine myself to the case of the Nans, and I think that case was hard.
From Thureday to Sanday the None were brought through the streets in open motor-oars and carriages. These vehicles were filled with armed men, some of them displaying naked swords. The shouts of the crowd and the jeers of the sol-diary frightened those unfortunate Indien nearly to death. Some of them wore their religious babite, most of them wore the nal mantilla, probably many of them had never been outside the convent since they were little girls.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.