Page:Lisbon and Cintra, Inchbold, 1907.djvu/31

Rh subject of transferring the seat of Government to Coimbra, Carvalho made vigorous opposition, and happily for Lisbon his will prevailed.

Famine was the next foe to resist. The barns were all opened, provisions brought in from the provinces, and all was distributed equally by the State. Stalls and sheds were erected in the Praça do Commercio, whence the famishing people fetched their food. Duty was exempt on all articles necessary to life; ships were all unladen of their provisions.

The English Parliament voted unanimously no less a sum than £40,000 for the relief of her old ally. This generosity is a pleasing incident to recall in contrast to the attitude of the Parliament of to-day in the matter of Kingston's great catastrophe.

When the earthquake shocks, which repeated themselves at intervals for six months, had ceased, the Minister occupied himself with clearing the streets and then with rebuilding a city more beautiful than the one which had vanished. Building was encouraged by a crowd of new measures, privileges and special guarantees for loans made to that end. A perusal of the letters of the Marquis de Pombal—the title given later to Carvalho, by which he is ordinarily known—shows the exactitude and method with which he took infinite pains in every detail connected with the reconstruction of Lisbon.

Plans were made from his own draughts for the regulation and alignment of the streets. The new houses were to be uniform in symmetry and height, on a scale which he considered advantageous for the safety and pleasing aspect of the town. He demonstrated how the declivity of a thoroughfare like the Chiado could be lessened by utilizing the debris for levelling purposes. To resist the effects of future earthquake a method of construction was 11