Cartas sobre a educação da mocidade

These letters open a window onto the intellectual ferment of mid‑eighteenth‑century Portugal. Written by a learned physician and reformer, they are addressed to Monsignor Pedro da Costa de Almeida Salema, who had just received the royal decree abolishing the Jesuit colleges. Sanches uses the correspondence to voice his urgent concerns for the nation’s youth, outlining how a new curriculum and teacher training might replace the old system and nurture enlightened citizens.

The writer’s tone mixes scholarly enthusiasm with personal strain; he mentions a lingering illness that slows his work, yet his ideas remain vivid and practical. He sketches proposals for Latin grammar instruction, moral formation, and the organization of state‑run schools, all framed as a service to the kingdom’s future. Listeners will hear the blend of idealism and the realities of bureaucratic reform that shaped the early steps of Portugal’s educational overhaul.