power of the people, perverted into the
instrument of their own oppression--were the elements of evil with
which the minister had to deal; and he dealt with them vigorously,
sincerely, and successfully.

The most horrible tribunal of irresponsible power, combined with the
most remorseless priestcraft, was the Inquisition; for it not merely
punished men for obeying their own consciences, but tried them in
defiance of every principle of enquiry. It not only made a law
contradictory of every other law, but it established a tribunal
subversive of every mode by which the innocent could be defended. It
was a murderer on principle. Pombal's first act was a bold and noble
effort to reduce this tribunal within the limits of national safety.
By a decree of 1751, it was ordered that thenceforth no judicial
burnings should take place without the consent and approval of the
government, taking to itself the right of enquiry and examination,
and confirming or reversing the sentence according to its own
judgment. This measure decided at once the originality and the
boldness of the minister: for it was the first effort of the kind in
a Popish kingdom; and it was made against the whole power of Rome,
the restless intrigues of the Jesuits, and the inveterate
superstition of the people.

Having achieved this great work of humanity, the minister's next
attention was directed to the defences of the kingdom. He found all
the fortresses in a state of decay, he appropriated an annual revenue
of L.7000 for their reparation; he established a national manufactory
of gunpowder, it having been previously supplied by contract, and
being of course supplied of the worst quality at the highest rate. He
established regulations for the fisheries, he broke up iniquitous
contracts, he attempted to establish a sugar refinery, and directed
the attention of the people largely to the cultivation of silk. His
next reformation was that of the police. The disorders of the late
reign had covered the highways with robbers. Pombal instituted a
police so effective, and proceeded with such determined justice
against all disturbers of the peace, that the roads grew suddenly
safe, and the streets of Lisbon became proverbial for security, at a
time when every capital of Europe was infested with robbers and
assassins, and when even the state of London was so hazardous, as to
be mentioned in the king's speech in 1753 as a scandal to the
country. The next reform was in t