Carta de Elmano da Cunha em resposta a outra Bom-senso e Bom-gosto, dirigida por Anthero do Quental ao excellentissimo senhor Antonio Feliciano de Castilho, o incomparavel traductor dos fastos de Ovidio, obra em que se faz o confronto de Romulo e Jesus-Christo, offericida ao incomparavel duque de Saldanha

Written in the early hours of a November night in 1865, this fiery epistle opens as a direct reply to a previous treatise on “good sense and good taste.” Addressed to the celebrated translator Antonio Feliciano de Castilho, the author Elmano da Cunha launches a vigorous defense of literary independence while lampooning the complacency of Coimbra’s academic circles. The letter quickly establishes a tone that mixes satire, reverence for classical tradition, and a bold challenge to prevailing cultural authorities.

Within its dense paragraphs, the writer juxtaposes mythic figures—Romulus and Christ—with contemporary scholars, using the clash to explore deeper questions of moral responsibility, the perils of vanity, and the true purpose of intellectual work. He denounces the mercantile trade of ideas, warns against the erosion of public virtue, and calls for a renewed commitment to personal conscience and honest scholarship.

The prose is richly rhetorical, echoing the fervor of mid‑nineteenth‑century Portuguese debates. Listeners will be drawn into a vivid portrait of a society wrestling with the tensions between tradition, freedom, and the emerging modern conscience, all delivered in a passionate, polemical voice that still resonates today.