A law or decree, issued in 1772, imposes equally on both parents the duty of maintaining their children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, where they have the means of doing so; and the parentage in the latter case, if the father can be ascertained or is acknowledged. Brothers and sisters are equally bound to assist each other.
But in cases where the parents either have not the means or want inclination to support their illegitimate child, a ready resource is offered by the “Casas dos Expostos” which exist in most towns. These establishments for foundlings are provided with rodas, or revolving boxes, into which the infant is placed, and is received without inquiry. The practice of thus abandoning infants to be reared by public charity, prevails, I am assured, to a painful extent in Portugal.
Cripples, Deaf and Dumb, and Blind.
At Lisbon there is, I understand, an establishment for the reception of the deaf and dumb.
Idiots and Lunatics.
At Lisbon there is an establishment for lunatics, called the Hospital of St. Joseph, where lunatics and idiots are received and supported gratuitously, if without means. Better treatment and greater comforts may be obtained for patients ably to pay for the same. This institution is partly supported by the Government, and partly by voluntary contributions, in the same manner as the misericordias in provincial towns.
It may be observed generally, that in Catholic countries, the care of administering to the wants, both physical and moral, of the poor, being left in a great degree to the clergy and religious establishments, the action of the civil government, as well as of private benevolence in their favour, is much less visible, and far more confined than in Protestant states.
Oporto, April 24, 1834.