MAFRA. Drawn by D. Roberts, from a Sketch by C. Landseer. "Yet Mafra shall one moment claim delay, A dome, where flaunts she in such glorious sheen, That men forget the blood that she hath spilt, And bow the knee to pomp that loves to varnish guilt.” Childe Harold, canto i. st. 29. "ABOUT ten miles to the right of Cintra," says Lord Byron, in a letter to his mother, " is the palace of Mafra, the boast of Portugal, as it might be of any country, in point of magnificence, without elegance. There is a convent annexed: the monks, who possess large revenues, are courteous enough, and understand Latin; so that we had a long conversation. They have a large library, and asked me if the English had any books in their country." The palace of Mafra is one of those numerous examples of magnificent structures raised in consequence of vows made during the sufferings or embarrassments of those who had the power to perform them; John V. (the fourth monarch of the house of Braganza) having, during a dangerous illness, vowed to erect, upon his recovery, a convent for the use of the poorest friary in the kingdom; and finding upon inquiry that this was at Mafra, where twelve Franciscans lived together in a hut, he redeemed his vow, by erecting there, in 1717, the present gorgeous palace. a "Mafra! At this place is an amazing structure palace and convent founded by the late king, in consequence of a vow made by him to Saint Anthony; emulating, through vanity and a desire of religious fame, the ostentation of Philip II., who built the Escurial. It is a most stupendous work, but bears not so noble an appearance as the Escurial, though it is much more decorated, and richer in marble. The vestry, consistory, and rectory, are handsome. In the church the altars are costly; and there are many very fine marble columns, each of one block. The convent was originally intended for the Franciscans. "In the palace are prodigious suites of apartments, as its extent is the external square, the convent and church forming the internal. The room intended for the library is very spacious and handsome. Here centre pride and poverty, folly and arrogance;-a stately palace with bare walls, a sumptuous convent MAFRA. for supercilious priests!"-Major Dalrymple's Travels in Spain and Portugal, p. 135. Kinsey, in his "Portugal Illustrated," p. 452, says, "The dome and towers of the palace presented themselves a long time to our view before we reached the town, which we at length effected by a steep ascent, under an almost interminable line of high wall, by which the royal park (the Tapada de Mafra) attached to the building, is surrounded. "The extent of this noble structure is prodigious; it contains at once a palace, a convent, and a church of imposing magnitude; and it is proudly termed the Escurial of Portugal. Mafra is about twenty miles north of Lisbon, and is surrounded by a bleak and solitary country within view of the sea. It was considered a place of great strength in the time of the Moors, who built a fortress here, of which, however, no vestiges are discoverable at the present day. On this spot, John V., who surrendered himself to a corrupt nobility, an intriguing and artful priesthood, and women of bad character, not contented with the vain display of having elevated the church of Lisbon into a patriarchate, to vie with that of St. Peter's at Rome, employed his troops in the erection of an edifice that was to eclipse, by its splendour and magnificence, the glories of the Spanish Escurial. The construction was confided to a foreign architect; its embellishments were H completed by Dutch, French, and Italian artists; and the splendid vestments in silk for the service of the priests were manufactured at Lyons. The marbles, which resemble wood with work inlaid, are principally the productions of the mountain overlooking Cintra, and of the celebrated quarry of Pero-Pinheiro. The six colossal columns in red marble, of one single block, which decorate the three chief altars of the church, and the large panels of marble, perfectly black, which adorn the lower part of the side walls, justly challenge the admiration of travellers. The six organs in the chapel are extremely handsome, and their tones perfectly correspond with the richness of their external ornaments. This sumptuous building might be supposed to commemorate the triumph of folly, bigotry, and the inquisition. The Marquis of Pombal converted it into some useful purposes during the reign of Joseph, and dismissed the monks; but on the death of that monarch they were restored, by an imbecile and superstitious queen, to the full enjoyment of all their privileges of penance, fast, mass, and image-worship, within the palace. "The greater portion of the windows have no glass in them, and are closed with shutters painted red, which give the whole building a most shabby appearance." Murphy, in his "Travels in Portugal," writes thus of |