Page:Lisbon and Cintra, Inchbold, 1907.djvu/95

Rh Mother of Water. To one side climbs a flight of steps conducting to a narrow passage which looks down on the rockery, then leads to more steps that emerge on the roof. Here Lisbon is spread out to view from a new aspect, more beautiful in many ways than any other.

To the right within near distance of the Rato is seen the Church of St Isabel which overlooks the beautiful treed area of the Estrella Gardens. The dark spires of many cypress trees cluster in the north-west division of the gardens showing the locality of the English church and cemetery which was once the only open-air burial ground in Lisbon. It was formerly the usage to inter in vaults within the churches, lime being placed in the coffins to promote speedy dissolution. The Government assigned this place of burial to the English under an article of the Treaty of Alliance in the time of Oliver Cromwell, according to Murphy. The year 1717 is named by other authorities as the date of its foundation. The Dutch obtained a plot of land for the same purpose in 1724; a few years later both were united and subsequently enlarged. "Impensis Britanorum et Batavorum" is inscribed above the little chapel to the right of the gateway. A beautiful garden with straight walks intersecting one another, lined with tall cypress trees, Judas, lilac, rose and acacia trees is this God's Acre of the English colony in Lisbon, and many are the tombs which fill it. Names famihar in military records catch the eye; dates varying from the eighteenth century up to the present time witness to the long establishment of English blood in the land.

One name stands out from the rest with startling distinction, that of Henry Fielding, England's greatest novelist, who came out to Lisbon in the late summer of 1754 in search of health. He had delayed too long and died within two months of being carried on shore. The grave 69