the most westerly kingdom of Europe, bounded on the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the east and north by Spain; extending about 310 miles in length, and 150 in breadth.

By modern writers, we find this country constantly styled in Latin Lusitania; and it is certain, that anciently a country of Spain went by that name; but it does not by any means appear that the country called by the ancients Lusitania had the same boundaries with the modern kingdom of Portugal. Before Augustus Caesar, Lusitania seems to have been bounded on the north by the ocean, and on the south by the river Tagus; by which means it comprehended all Galicia, and excluded two of the six provinces of Portugal. But in the more strict and restrained sense of the word, it was bounded on the north by the Duero, now the Douro, and on the south by the river Anas, now the Guadiana; in which sense it was not quite so long as modern Portugal, but considerably broader.

The commonly received opinion with regard to the etymology of the word Portugal, is, that a great number of Gauls landed at Porto, or Oporto, whence it received the name of Portus Gallorum, or the Port of the Gauls; and in process of time that name gradually extended over the whole country, being softened, or rather shortened, into Portugal. But the time when this event happened, the reason why these Gauls came thither, and what became of them afterwards, are all particulars which lie buried in oblivion. It is alleged, however, that, upon an eminence which overlooks the mouth of the river Douro, there stood an ancient town called Gale, strong and well peopled, but ill seated for trade; and this occasioned the construction of a lower town or hamlet, which was called Portus Gale, that is, the haven of Gale; and, in process of time, Portucalia. At length, becoming so considerable as to merit an episcopal chair, the bishops subscribed themselves, as the records of ancient councils testify, Portucalenses, and the name of the city was transferred to the diocese. It is true, that these bishops afterwards changed their title, and subscribed themselves Portuenses, that is, bishops of Porto. But the facts just mentioned are actually recorded in authentic histories; and as the diocese of Portucalia contained in a great measure that little country in which the sovereignty originally began, the name extended itself, together with the acquisitions of the sovereigns, and has remained to the kingdom, though the diocese itself has changed its name, and possibly on that very account.

Portugal, though even yet but a small kingdom, was originally much smaller. The Spanish and Portuguese historians agree, that Don Alonso, king of Leon and Castile, and son to Don Ferdinand the Great, bestowed his daughter Donna Theresa in marriage upon an illustrious stranger, Don Henry, and gave him with her the frontier province which he had conquered from the Moors, small indeed in extent, but excellently situated, and so pleasant and fertile, that it has sometimes been styled Medulla Hispanica, or the marrow of Spain. To this territory was added the title of Count; but authors are much divided about the time that this stranger came into Spain, and who he was. However, the authors of the Universal History make it pretty evident, that he was a grandson of Robert the first duke of Burgundy. The manner in which which he obtained the principality above-mentioned is related as follows:

The king, Don Alonzo, apprehensive that his success in taking the city of Toledo would bring upon him the whole force of the Moors, sent to demand assistance from Philip I. of France, and the duke of Burgundy, whose daughter he had married. His request was granted by both princes; and a numerous body of troops was speedily collected for his service, at whose head went Raymond count of Burgundy, Henry younger brother of Hugh duke of Burgundy, Raymond count of Thoulouse, and many others. They arrived at the court of Don Alonzo in the year 1187, where they were received and treated with all possible marks of esteem; and having in the course of two or three years given great proofs of their courage and conduct, the king resolved to bestow his only daughter named Urraca, then a mere child, being at most in her ninth year, upon Raymond count of Burgundy, and assigned them the province of Galicia for the support of their dignity. About four years after, Don Alonzo being very desirous to express his gratitude to Henry of Burgundy, gave him in marriage a natural daughter of his, born while he remained in exile at Toledo, whose name was Donna Theresa; and upon this marriage, he gave up in full property the country which has been already mentioned.

The new sovereign, with his consort, fixed their residence in the town of Guimarães, pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Ave. The remains of an ancient palace belonging to their successors are still to be seen; and on account of its having been anciently the capital, the king, Don Denis, granted the inhabitants an immunity from taxes, which they still enjoy.

The Portuguese, now finding themselves independent, immediately began, like other nations, to attempt the subjection of their neighbours. Henry is said to have performed great exploits against the Moors; but the accounts of them are so indistinct, that they cannot be taken notice of here. He died in 1113; and was succeeded by his son Don Alonzo, then an infant in the third year of his age. In his minority, the kingdom was governed by his mother Donna Theresa, assisted by two able ministers. During the first nine years of their administration, nothing remarkable happened; but after that period, some differences took place between the queen regent (for she had assumed the title of queen after her father's death) and Urraca queen of Castile. Theresa insisted, that some part of Galicia belonged to her in virtue of her father's will; and therefore seized on Tuy, an episcopal town, and a place of some consequence. Urraca, having assembled a numerous army, went in person into Galicia; upon which Theresa was obliged to abandon Tuy, and take shelter in one of her own fortresses. The consequences, in all probability, would have been fatal to the new kingdom, had not the archbishop of Compostella, without whose affiance Urraca could do nothing, demanded leave to retire with his vassals. This offended the queen to such a degree, that she threw him into prison; which act of violence excited such a commotion among her own subjects, that the Portuguese were soon delivered from their apprehensions. Queen Theresa fell immediately after into a similar error, by throwing into prison the archbishop of Braga, who had not espoused her cause so warmly as she had expected. The bishop, however, was quickly delivered by a bull from the pope, who also threatened the kingdom with an interdict; and this was the first remarkable offence which Theresa gave her subjects.

Soon after this, Queen Urraca died, and all differences were amicably settled at an interview between Theresa and Don Alonzo Raymond, who succeeded to the kingdom of Castile. But, in 1126, the king of Castile being obliged to march with the whole strength of his dominions against his father-in-law the king of Navarre and Arragon, Theresa took the opportunity of again seizing upon Tuy; but the king soon returning with a superior army, she was again obliged to abandon her conquest. But the greatest misfortune which befell this princess, was a quarrel with her own son Don Alonzo Enriquez. It does not appear indeed that Theresa had given him any just cause of offence; but it is certain that a civil war ensued, in which the queen's forces were totally defeated, and she herself made prisoner, in which situation she continued during the remainder of her life.

Enriquez having thus attained to the free and full possession of his dominions, made several attempts upon king's wars some places in Galicia, but without success; so that he with the was at last constrained to make peace with Alonzo king king of of Castile and Leon, who had assumed the title of Em-Castile,peror of the Spain; the more especially as his dominions happened to be at that time invaded by the Moors.—The number of infidels was so great, that the count of Portugal had little hopes of subduing them; but a plague breaking out in the Moorish army, they were obliged to retreat; after which he reduced several places belonging to that nation. But, in the mean time, the emperor Don Alonzo, breaking into the Portuguese territories, destroyed every thing with fire and sword. The king of Portugal surprized and cut off a considerable part of his army; which, however, did not hinder the emperor from marching directly towards him.—But, at the intercession of the pope's legate, all differences were accommodated, and a peace concluded; all places and prisoners taken on both sides being delivered up.

In the mean time, the progress of the Christian arms in Spain being reported to Abu-Ali Texefien, the miramolin or chief monarch of the Moors in Barbary, he directed Ishmael, his lieutenant in Spain, to assemble all the forces in the southern provinces, and drive the Christians beyond the Douro. Ishmael immediately began to prepare for putting these orders in execution; and having added a considerable body of troops brought from Barbary to those whom he had raised in Spain, the whole army was very numerous. He was met by Don Alonzo of Portugal, in the plains of Ourique, on the banks of the river Tayo; and Ishmael took all possible means to prevent the Christians from Ourique, passing that river, because his own cavalry, in which the strength of his army chiefly consisted, had thus more room to act. The Portuguese forces were very inconsiderable in comparison of the Moors; but Ishmael, being too confident of victory, divided his army into 12 bodies, and disposed them in such a manner as might best prevent the flight, not sustain the attack, of the Christians. The consequence was, that his army was overthrown with incredible slaughter, and a vast number of prisoners taken, among whom were 1000 Christians, of the sect styled Mozarabians, whom, at the request of Theotonus, prior of the Holy Cross, Don Alonzo set at liberty with their wives and children, and procured them settlements in his own dominions.

After this signal victory, gained in the year 1139, Don Alonzo was proclaimed king by his soldiers, and ever after retained that title, renouncing all kind of subjection to the crown of Spain. Being very desirous, however, of bringing down the power of the emperor, he entered into a league with Raymond count of Barcelona and regent of the kingdom of Arragon against that prince. In consequence of this treaty, he entered Galicia with a considerable force on one side, while Don Raymond did the same on the other. Neither of these enterprises, however, succeeded. The Portuguese monarch met with a severe check in his expedition into Galicia, where he received a dangerous wound, and had some of the nobility who attended him taken prisoners. At the same time he received intelligence that the Moors had invaded his dominions, so that he was obliged to retire; which, however, was not done in sufficient time to prevent the strong fortress of Leyria from falling into their hands. This fortress they demolished, and put all the garrison to the sword; but the king caused it to be rebuilt stronger than before, and put a more numerous garrison into it; however, he undertook nothing farther this campaign. The war continued with various success till the year 1145, when the king projected an enterprise against Santarem, a strong city about 12 miles from Lisbon. In this he luckily succeeded; and by that means gained a considerable track of country, and a strong barrier to his dominions.

After this success Don Alonzo caused himself with much ceremony to be chosen and crowned king of Portugal before an assembly of the states, where he also solemnly renounced all dependence on the crown of Spain, declaring, that if any of his successors should succeed to pay tribute or to do homage to that crown, he was unworthy of enjoying the kingdom of Portugal. The next year the king undertook the recovery of Lisbon out of the hands of the Moors; and concerning this expedition there are such numbers of fables, that it is almost impossible to come at the truth. What can be gathered from these accounts is, that he undertook the siege with a small army, and was able to make but little progress in it, partly from the strength of the place, and partly from the numerous garrison by which it was defended. At length, fortunately for Don Alonzo, a fleet of adventurers, French, English, Germans, and Flemings, that were going to the Holy Land, anchored at the mouth of the river Tagus, whose assistance he demanded, as not altogether foreign to their design of making war on the infidels. His request was readily granted; and, with their assistance, Lisbon was speedily reduced; which conquest so much raised the reputation of this monarch, and brought such numbers to recruit his army, that before the end of the year 1147 he had reduced 12 other considerable cities.

For many years after this, Don Alonzo was successful in all his undertakings. He settled the internal government of his kingdom, procured a bull from pope Alexander III., confirming his regal dignity, undertook many successful expeditions against the Moors, and became master of four of the five provinces which compose the present kingdom of Portugal. In all his undertakings he was assisted by the counsels of his Queen Matilda, who was a woman of great capacity, and sufficient for the government of the kingdom in her husband's absence. By her he had a numerous offspring, particularly three daughters; the eldest of whom, Dona Mafalda or Mathilda, was married to the king of Arragon; the second, Urraca, to Don Ferdinand king of Leon; and the third, Theresa, to Philip earl of Flanders. In 1166, however, the king thought proper, from what provocation we know not, to invade the dominions of his son-in-law Don Ferdinand; and, possessed himself of Limmia and Turon, two cities of Galicia, in which he put strong garrisons. The next year, elated with his success, he marched with a numerous army towards Badajoz, which he invested; on the news of which, Don Ferdinand, who had assembled a large army at Ciudad Rodrigo, marched to its relief. Yet before he could come within sight of it, it had surrendered to the king of Portugal; upon which Don Ferdinand came to a resolution of besieging his antagonist in his newly conquered city; which Don Alonzo perceiving, endeavoured to draw out his forces into the field. Though he was at that time upwards of 70 years of age, he was himself on horseback, and pushing forwards at the head of his horse to get out at the gate, he struck his leg against one of the bolts with such violence that the bone was shattered to pieces. This accident occasioned such confusion, that the Portuguese troops were easily beaten, and Don Alonzo was taken prisoner. He was exceedingly mortified by this disgrace, especially as he had no great reason to expect very kind treatment from his son-in-law. However, the king of Leon behaved towards him with the greatest respect and affection. He desired him to lay aside all thoughts of buffets, and attend to his cure; but finding him restless and impatient, he assured him that he expected nothing more than to have things put into the same condition as before the war, and that they might live in peace and friendship for the future: to which the king of Portugal most readily assented; but returned to his dominions before his cure was perfected, which was the cause of his being lame all the rest of his life. However, this did not abate his military ardour; for, notwithstanding this inconvenience, his courage transported him into the field whenever he was called by the interest of his subjects. Towards the end of his reign, an opportunity seemed to present itself of obtaining once for all an entire release from the disagreeable pretensions of the king of Leon, who, it seems, had insisted on the king of Portugal's doing homage for his kingdom. The opportunity which now presented itself was a quarrel between the king of Leon and his nephew Don Alonzo king of Castile. The latter asked assistance from the king of Portugal, which was readily granted. But Don Ferdinand, having received intelligence that the infant Don Sancho (the king's eldest son) was advancing towards Ciudad Rodrigo, assembled his troops on that frontier with such diligence, that he was enabled to attack him unexpectedly, and entirely defeated him. Understanding, however, that Don Sancho was recruiting his forces with great diligence, he Portugal. he let him know that they might be much better employed against the infidels, who remained careless and unprepared, expecting the issue of the war. Don Sancho made a proper use of this advice; and, after making some motions to amuse the enemy, made a sudden irruption into Andalusia, penetrating as far as Triana, one of the suburbs of Seville. The Moors assembled their forces in order to attack him on his retreat; but Don Sancho having first fatigued them by the celerity of his march, at length chose a strong camp, and, having given his troops time to repose, drew them out and offered the enemy battle. The Moors accepted the challenge, but were entirely defeated; and Don Sancho returned into Portugal with spoils to an immense amount. For some years after the war was continued without any remarkable event; but, in 1184, Joseph king of Morocco, having already transported multitudes of men from Barbary, at length followed in person with a prodigious army, and carried all before him as far as the Tagus. He appeared before the city of Santarem; but having wearied and reduced his army by unsuccessful assaults on that place, he was attacked by the Portuguese forces assisted by Ferdinand of Leon, entirely defeated, and himself killed. By this victory, the Portuguese were left at liberty to improve the interior part of their country, and fortify their frontiers; and during this interval, the king died in the 76th year of his age, in the year 1185.

Don Alfonso was succeeded by his son Don Sancho I. Of this prince it is remarkable, that, before he ascended the throne, he was of a restless and warlike disposition; but no sooner did he come to the possession of the kingdom, than he became a lover of peace, and began with great affluence to repair the cities that had suffered most by the war, and to repeople the country around them. By his steady attention to this, he in a very short time quite altered the appearance of his territories, and procured to himself the glorious title of the restorer of cities, and father of his country. In the year 1189, a fleet, composed for the most part of English vessels, but having on board a great number of adventurers of other nations bound to the Holy Land, entered the river of Lisbon. They were very kindly received, and supplied with all kinds of refreshments by Don Sancho, who took this opportunity of soliciting them to assist him in a design he had formed of attacking the city of Silves in Algarve; to which they readily yielded. Having joined a squadron of his own galleys, and marched a body of troops by land, the place was reduced, and the English, according to agreement, rewarded with the plunder. But, in a short time, the Moors from Africa having again invaded Portugal, the town was several times taken and retaken, till at last Don Sancho, being sensible of the difficulties that would attend the keeping of it, caused it to be demolished. His last enterprise was the reduction of Elvas; soon after which he died with the reputation of the best economist that ever sat on the throne of Portugal. With the character of being rather liberal than avaricious, he had amassed a treasure of more than 700,000 crowns in ready money, besides 140 marks of silver and 100 of gold plate, which he disposed of some time before his death. He was interred by his own command with much less pomp than his father, in the cathedral of Coimbra; and when his body was taken up 400 years after by order of the king Don Emanuel that it might be laid in a new tomb, it was found uncorrupted.

The history of Portugal affords scarce any event of importance till the year 1289; when, in the reign of Don Denis, a difference commenced with Castile, which subsisted for a long time. Frequent reconciliation took place; but these were either of very short duration, or never sincere. An length, in the reign of John I. Don Juan of Castile, who had also pretensions to the crown of Portugal, invaded that kingdom at the head of the whole force of his dominions, and with the flower of the Castilian nobility entered the province of Alentejo. According to the Portuguese historians, he besieged the city of Elvas without effect; which disappointment enraged him to such a degree, that he determined next year to invade Portugal a second time, and ruin all the country before him. Accordingly, having collected an army of 50,000 men, he invaded Portugal, took and ruined several places, while King John lay inactive, with a small army, waiting for some English succours which he expected. At last he ventured an engagement with the forces which he had; and, notwithstanding the great superiority of the enemy, obliquely defeated, obtained a complete victory; after which he made an irruption into Castile, and had the good fortune to gain another battle, which fixed him firmly on the throne of Portugal. The Castilians were obliged to consent to a truce of three years, which was soon after improved into a lasting peace.

In 1414, King John undertook an expedition against the Moors in Barbary, where he commanded in person; but before he set out, his queen (Philippa the daughter of John duke of Lancaster) died of grief at the thoughts of his absence. The expedition, however, proved successful, and the city of Ceuta was taken from the Moors almost at the first assault; but fear had the king left that country, when the princes of Barbary formed a league for the recovery of it; and though they were defeated by the young princes of Portugal, whom John again sent into Barbary, yet the trouble of keeping it was so great, that some of the king's council were of opinion that the town should be demolished. But John, having considered the arguments on both sides, determined to keep the city; and therefore enlarged and strengthened the fortifications, augmenting his forces there to 6000 foot and 2500 horse, which he hoped would be sufficient for keeping off the attacks of the Moors.

King John died in 1428, and was succeeded by his eldest son Edward. He undertook an expedition against Tangier in Barbary; but the event proved very unfortunate; the Portuguese being foiled up by the Moors, that they were obliged to offer Ceuta back again, in order to obtain leave to return to Portugal. The king's son, Don Ferdinand, was left as a hostage for the delivery of Ceuta; but was, with the utmost cruelty and injustice, left in the hands of the infidels, by the king and council of Portugal, who constantly refused to deliver up the place. Many preparations indeed were made for recovering the prince by force; but before anything could be accomplished the king died in 1430, which put an end to all these designs. See Pedro (Don).

The war with Barbary continued at intervals, but with little success on the part of the Portuguese; and lies discarded. Portugal till the year 1497, there is no event of any consequence recorded in the history of Portugal. This year was remarkable for the discovery of the passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. The enterprising spirit of the Portuguese had prompted them to undertake voyages along the coast of Africa for a considerable time before; but when they undertook their first voyage of discovery, it is probable that they had nothing farther in view than to explore those parts of the coast of Africa which lay nearest to their own country. But a spirit of enterprise, when roused and put in motion, is always progressive; and that of the Portuguese, though slow and timid in its first operations, gradually acquired vigour, and prompted them to advance along the western shore of the African continent, far beyond the utmost boundary of ancient navigation in that direction. Encouraged by success, it became more adventurous, despised dangers which formerly appalled it, and surmounted difficulties which it once deemed insuperable. When the Portuguese found in the torrid zone, which the ancients had pronounced to be uninhabitable, fertile countries, occupied by numerous nations; and perceived that the continent of Africa, instead of extending in breadth towards the west, according to the opinion of Ptolemy, appeared to contract itself, and to bend eastwards, more extensive prospects opened to their view, and inspired them with hopes of reaching India, by continuing to hold the same course which they had so long pursued.

After several unsuccessful attempts to accomplish what they had in view, a final squadron sailed from the Tagus, under the command of Vasco de Gama, an officer of rank, whose abilities and courage fitted him to conduct the most difficult and arduous enterprises. From acquaintance, however, with the proper season and route of navigation in that vast ocean through which he had to steer his course, his voyage was long and dangerous. At length he doubled that promontory, which, for several years, had been the object of terror and of hope to his countrymen. From that, after a prosperous navigation along the south-east of Africa, he arrived at the city of Melinda, and had the satisfaction of discovering there, as well as at other places where he touched, people of a race very different from the rude inhabitants of the western shore of that continent, which alone the Portuguese had hitherto visited. These he found to be so far advanced in civilization and acquaintance with the various arts of life, that they carried on an active commerce, not only with the nations on their own coast, but with remote countries of Asia. Conducted by their pilots, who held a course with which experience had rendered them well acquainted, he sailed across the Indian ocean, and landed at Calicut, on the coast of Malabar, on the 22nd of May 1498, ten months and two days after his departure from the port of Lisbon.

The sovereign or monarch of the country, astonished at this unexpected visit of an unknown people, whose aspect, and arms, and manners, bore no resemblance to any of the nations accustomed to frequent his harbours, and who arrived in his dominions by a route hitherto deemed impracticable, received them at first with that fond admiration which is often excited by novelty; but in a short time, from whatever motives, he formed various schemes to cut off Gama and his followers. The Portuguese admiral, however, was not to be over-reached by such politics as his. From every danger to which he was exposed, either by open attacks or secret machinations of the Indians, he extricated himself with singular prudence and dexterity, and at last sailed from Calicut with his ships, loaded not only with the commodities peculiar to that coast, but with many rich productions of the eastern parts of India. He returned to Portugal in two years after his sailing from the Tagus, but with a great loss of men; for out of 150 persons whom he took out with him, only 55 returned. The king received him with all possible testimonies of respect and kindness; created him count of Videqueira; and not only declared him admiral of the Indies, but made that office hereditary in his family.

On the first intelligence of Gama's successful voyage, the Venetians, with the quick-felted discernment of merchants, foresaw the immediate consequence of it to be the ruin of that lucrative branch of commerce which had contributed so greatly to enrich and aggrandize their country; and they observed this with more poignant concern, as they were apprehensive that they did not possess any effectual means of preventing, or even retarding, its operation.

The hopes and fears of both were well-founded. The Account of the Portuguese entered upon the new career opened to them with activity and ardour, and made exertions, both commercial and military, far beyond what could have been expected from a kingdom of such inconsiderable extent. All these were directed by an intelligent monarch, capable of forming plans of the greatest magnitude with calm systematic wisdom, and of prosecuting them with unremitting perseverance. The prudence and vigour of his measures, however, would have availed little without proper instruments to carry them into execution. Happily for Portugal, the discerning eye of Emanuel selected a succession of officers to take the supreme command in India, who, by their enterprising valour, military skill, and political sagacity, accompanied with disinterested integrity, public spirit, and love of their country, have a title to be ranked with the persons most eminent for virtue and abilities in any age or nation. Greater things perhaps were achieved by them than were ever accomplished in so short a time. Within 24 years only after the voyage of Gama, the Portuguese had rendered themselves masters of the city of Malacca, in which the great staple of trade carried among the inhabitants of all those regions in Asia, which Europeans have distinguished by the general name of the East Indies, was then established. This conquest secured to them great influence over the interior commerce of India, while, at the same time, by their settlements at Goa and Diu, they were enabled to engraft the trade of the Malabar coast, and to obstruct greatly the long-established intercourse of Egypt with India by the Red Sea. In every part of the east they were received with respect; in many they had acquired the absolute command. They carried on trade there without rival or control; they preferred to the natives the terms of their mutual intercourse; they often set what price they pleased on the goods which they purchased; and were thus enabled to import from Hindustan and the regions beyond it, whatever is useful, rare, or agreeable, in greater abundance, and of more various kinds, than had been known formerly in Europe. Not satisfied with this ascendant which they had acquired in India, the Portuguese early formed a scheme no less bold than interested, of excluding all other nations from participating of the advantages of commerce with the east; and they accomplished one half of what their ambition had planned.

In consequence of this, the Venetians soon began to feel that decrease of their own Indian trade which they had foreseen and dreaded. In order to prevent the farther progress of this evil, they incited the Sultans of the Mameluks to fit out a fleet in the Red Sea, and to attack those unexpected invaders of a gainful monopoly, of which he and his predecessors had long enjoyed undisturbed possession. The Portuguese, however, encountered his formidable squadron with undaunted courage, entirely defeated it, and remained masters of the Indian ocean. They continued their progress in the east almost without obstruction, until they established there a commercial empire; to which, whether we consider its extent, its opulence, the slender power by which it was formed, or the splendor with which the government of it was conducted, there had hitherto been nothing comparable in the history of nations. Emanuel, who laid the foundation of this stupendous fabric, had the satisfaction to see it almost completed. Every part of Europe was supplied by the Portuguese with the productions of the east; and if we except some inconsiderable quantity of them, which the Venetians still continued to receive by the ancient channels of conveyance, our quarter of the globe had no longer any commercial intercourse with India, and the regions of Asia beyond it, but by the Cape of Good Hope.

In September 1522, King Emanuel died of an epidemic fever, and was succeeded by his son John III. The most remarkable transaction of this prince's reign was the introduction of the inquisition into his dominions. This happened in the year 1525, or, as some say, in 1535. A famine happening to cease in a short time after it was introduced, the priests persuaded the ignorant multitude that it was a blessing from heaven on account of the erecting such an holy tribunal. However, it was not long before the bulk of the nation perceived what kind of a blessing the inquisition was; but their discernment came too late; for by that time the inquisitors had acquired such power, that it became equally dangerous and ineffectual to attempt disobeying any of their mysteries.

In the mean time Solyman the Magnificent, the most enlightened monarch of the Ottoman race, observing the power and the opulence of the Portuguese rising, and attributing it to its proper cause, and eager to supplant them, sent orders to the bashaw of Egypt to employ his whole strength against the Christians in the East Indies. The bashaw, in obedience to these orders, sailed out from the Red Sea with a greater naval force than ever the Mohammedans had employed before; having 4000 Janizaries, and 16,000 other land troops on board. Yet, by the courage and conduct of the Portuguese officers and soldiers, all this mighty armament was defeated, and their East India possessions saved from the danger which threatened them. In Africa likewise the king of Fez was baffled before the town of Safi, and fresh quarrels breaking out among the princes gave great relief to the Christians, who had long been obliged to carry on a defensive war, and had more than once been on the very brink of ruin. For a long time indeed their safety had been derived only from the quarrels of the Moors among themselves; for such was the envy and jealousy which reigned among the Portuguese, that they could never unite heartily in opposing the common enemy; and therefore, had their enemies united against them, they must certainly have been cut off. But whenever the sheriffs quarrelled with each other, one party was sure to have recourse to the Portuguese; who, by feeding them a small supply, secured quiet to themselves, and had the pleasure of seeing their enemies destroy one another. Yet in the end even this had bad consequences; for, on one hand, it kept up a martial spirit among the Moors, and on the other it made them acquainted with the Portuguese discipline; so that after every short interval of repose they not only found them as much enemies as before, but much more formidable than ever. The consequence of all this was, that King John began to apprehend that the conquest of Barbary was impossible, and therefore to limit his desires to the keeping of those few fortresses which he had already; which, though a necessary and prudent measure, displeased the generality of his subjects.

King John exerted himself much in the settlement of Brazil in South America, which he brought into a very good state, caused several strong towns to be erected there, and took all possible methods to encourage the conversion of the natives to Christianity. He also made many regulations for the welfare and happiness of his subjects. The disputes of the nobility about precedence were frequently attended with very disagreeable consequences, which made the king resolve once for all to settle them by established rules; and the rules established by him on this occasion have subsisted ever since, and in a great measure prevent these altercations. He had other great designs in his mind, particularly with regard to the reformation, which he had pushed very far with respect to religious persons of both sexes; but, on a close examination of his affairs, he found his subjects in general to have been so much injured by his leaving their concerns to the inspection of his council, that he was thrown by the grief of it into a kind of apoplexy, from which he never recovered. His death happened in June 1557; and he was succeeded by his son Don Sebastian III., an infant of three years of age.

After the death of King John, the administration remained in the hands of the queen, grandmother to Sebastian, who behaved with great prudence and circumspection. The Moors, however, supposing that under a minority they might be able to dispossess the Christians of such places as they held in Barbary, laid close siege to Mafagnan. But the queen-regent sent such speedy succours, and promised such rewards to those who distinguished themselves, that the Moors, though they brought 80,000 men into the field, were obliged to abandon the enterprise. This was at first magnified as a high instance of the queen's capacity and wisdom; but in a short time the natural aversion which the Portuguese had to the government of women, together with the prejudice they had against her country, as being a Caltilian, appeared so plainly, and gave her so much uneasiness, that of her own accord she resigned her authority into the hands of cardinal Don Henry. the king's brother. By him Don Alexius de Meneses was appointed the king's governor, and Gonçalves de Gomera with two other priests his preceptors. By means of these instructors the king's education was totally marred. His governor filially inculcated upon him that the chief virtue of a king was courage; that danger was never to be avoided, but always mounted, let the occasion be what it would. His other tutors, instead of instructing him in the true religion, only inspired him with an abhorrence of professed infidels: the consequence of all which was, that he became rash, inconsiderate, and obstinate; all which qualities conspired to draw upon him the catastrophe which ruined both him and the kingdom.

After the king was grown up to man's estate, his desire was to distinguish himself against the infidels. He himself chose an expedition to the East Indies; but the prime minister Alcogovia, who did not choose to end his monarch to such a distance, substituted Africa in its stead. This expedition the king entered into in the most inconsiderate and absurd manner. He first sent over Don Antonio prior of Crato, with some hundreds of soldiers; carried his principal courtiers over with him from a hunting match, and without equipages; he then sent for the duke of Aveyro, with such troops as he could collect on the short warning he had got; and when all these were assembled, the king spent his time in hunting, and slight excursions against the enemy, without doing anything of consequence, except exposing his person upon all occasions. At length he returned to Portugal in such tempestuous weather, that his subjects had given him up for lost; when they were agreeably surprised by his unexpected arrival in the river of Lisbon, which they celebrated with the greatest rejoicings.

The little success which attended the king in this expedition served only to inflame him more with desire for another; so that from the time he returned, he seemed to think on nothing else. He was highly delighted also with an accident which at this time furnished him with a pretence for war, though of that he stood in no great need. Muley Hamet, king of Fez and Morocco, had been dispossessed of his dominions by his uncle Muley Moloch. At the beginning of this war Don Sebastian had offered him his troops in Africa, which offer was rejected with contempt; but now being a fugitive, and having in vain applied for assistance to Philip of Spain, Muley Hamet applied to the king of Portugal; and, that he might the more easily succeed, caused the fortress of Arzila, which his father had recovered, to be restored to the Portuguese. The king was in rapture at this event, and fancied that his glory would exceed that of all his predecessors. He was advised against this expedition, however, by all his friends. King Philip of Spain having done everything to dissuade him from it in a personal conference, sent Francisco Aldana, an old and experienced officer, to Morocco; and at his return ordered him to attend Don Sebastian, in order to give him an account of the state of affairs in that country. This he performed with the greatest fidelity, but without any effect. The queen dowager and cardinal united in their endeavours to divert him from this unfortunate enterprise; but he treated them both with so little respect, that his grandmother broke her heart; and the cardinal, to show his

taste to the measure, retired to Evora without coming either to court or council; which example was followed by many of the nobles. Many of these, however, sent very free remonstrances to the king on the impropriety of his conduct; and King Philip sent to him the duke de Medina Celi, once more to lay before him the reasons why he thought his scheme impracticable, and to put him in mind that he had no hand in pushing him upon his destruction, or of concealing from him the dangers into which he seemed determined to plunge himself and his subjects. Lastly, he received a letter on the subject from Muley Moloch himself, wherein that prince explained to him his own right to the crown of Fez, and showed that he had only dispossessed a tyrant and a murderer, who had therefore no right to his friendship or alliance. He next assured him that he had no reason to fear either the power or neighbourhood of the Portuguese; as a proof of which, and as a mark of his esteem, he was content to make him a present of ten miles of arable ground round each of the fortresses he possessed in Africa, and which indeed were no more than four, viz. Tangier, Ceuta, Malaga, and Arzila. At the same time he addressed himself to King Philip of Spain, with whom he was on good terms, desiring him to interpose with his nephew Sebastian, that things might be yet adjusted without the effusion of human blood. But the king of Portugal was deaf to all salutary advice; and therefore paid no regard to this letter, nor to the remonstrances of his uncle. On the 24th of June 1577, therefore, he set sail from the bar of Lisbon with a fleet of 50 ships and five galleys, twelve pieces of cannon, and transports and tenders, making up near 1000 sail. His troops consisted of 9000 Portuguese foot; 3000 Germans; 700 Italians commanded by Sir Thomas Stukeley, an English exile, but remarkably brave; 2000 Castilians and 300 volunteers, commanded by Don Christopher de Tuvara master of the horse, a man of courage, but without either conduct or experience. He touched first at Lagos bay in the kingdom of Algarve, where he remained for four days; thence he proceeded to Cadiz; where he was magnificently feasted for a week by the duke de Medina Sidonia, who took the opportunity once more, by order of Philip, of dissuading him from proceeding further in person. But this exhortation proved as fruitless as the rest; and the king having failed with a strong detachment for Tangier, ordered Don Diego de Souza, his commander in chief, to follow with the remaining part of the army.

The troops landed on the coast of Africa without any bad accident, and joined at Arzila. Here the king was met by the sheriff Muley Hamet, on whose account he had undertaken the war, who delivered him his son Muley, a boy of 12 years of age, as a hostage, and brought a reinforcement of 300 Moors. The boy was sent to Malaga under a strong guard; but the father remained in the Portuguese camp. Here it was resolved in a council of war to reduce the town of Larache, but it was disputed whether the troops should proceed thither by land or sea. Don Sebastian, who espoused the former opinion, finding himself opposed by Muley Hamet, gave him such a rude answer, that he left his presence in discontent; after which the king's opinion prevailed, and the army began its march on the 29th of July. As they proceeded, the king received a letter from the duke of Alba, requesting him to attempt nothing beyond the taking of the town of La- rache. Along with the letter was sent an helmet which had been worn by Charles V.

On the other hand Muley Moloch, having intelligence of this formidable invasion, took the field, though at that time so ill of a fever that he could not sit on horseback, with 40,000 foot and 60,000 horse. He conducted every thing, notwithstanding his distressed situation, with the greatest prudence. Finding some reason to suspect that part of his army were delirious of going over to his rival, he proclaimed that such as inclined to join their old master were at liberty to do it. This at once put a stop to the defection, and only a very few made use of the liberty which was granted them. Standing in doubt likewise of the fidelity of a body of 3000 horse, he sent them to reconnoitre the enemy, by which act of confidence he secured them. Still, however, he feared that his officers might be corrupted by the Portuguese gold; for which reason he changed the disposition of his army entirely, so that none of his officers commanded the corps to which they had been accustomed; and therefore, having new men to deal with, had none whom they could trust.

Having taken these precautions, he advanced against the Portuguese army with such celerity, that he came in sight of them on the 3rd of August. On this Don Sebastian called a council of war; in which many who out of complaisance had given their opinions for this march, were now for returning. They were separated from the enemy by a river, and the Moors were masters of the ford, so that it was impossible to force them immediately in their pows; neither was it practicable for them to wait for a more favourable opportunity, because they had no provisions. The foreign officers, on the contrary, were of opinion that fighting was now become necessary, and a retreat dangerous. This, however, was violently opposed by the sheriff, who saw plainly that they ran a great risk of being defeated and of losing all, while at the same time they were not certain of gaining anything of consequence though they should be victorious; whereas, if they drew down towards the sea, they might entrench themselves till they were relieved by their fleet; during which interval if Muley Moloch should die, he looked upon it as certain that a great part of the army would desert to him, which would render him master not only of the kingdom, but of the fate of the Christians also. When he found that the king was bent on fighting, he only requested that the engagement might be delayed till 4 o'clock in the afternoon, that, in case of a defeat, they might have some chance of escaping; but even in this he could not prevail; for the king having disposed of every thing for a battle the next day, was impatient to begin the onset as soon as it was light.

In the mean time Muley Moloch was so sensible of the advantages of his situation, that he was inclined to take the whole Portuguese army prisoners; but finding his disease increase, so that he had no hopes of recovery, he came to the resolution to fight, that his agonist might not avail himself of his death. The disposition of the Christian army was very regular and correct, through the care of some old officers in Don Sebastian's service: the infantry were disposed in three lines; the battalion of volunteers made the vanguard; the Germans commanded by colonel Amberg, and the Portuguese, Italians by Sir Thomas Stuckeley, were on the right; the Castilian battalions on the left; the Portuguese in the centre and rear; the cavalry, consisting of about 1500 men, partly on the right under the command of the duke d'Avegro, to whom the sheriff joined himself with his horse: on the left was the royal standard, with the rest of the cavalry, under the command of the duke of Barcelos eldest son to the duke of Braganza, Don Antonio prior of Crato, and several other persons of great rank. The king took post at first with the volunteers. Muley Moloch disposed also his troops in three lines: the first consisted of the Andalusian Moors, commanded by three officers who had distinguished themselves in the wars of Granada; the second of renegades; and the third of the natives of Africa. They moved in a half moon, with 10,000 horse on each wing, and the rest in the rear, with orders to extend themselves in such a manner as to encompass the Christian army. Muley Moloch, though extremely weak, was taken out of his litter, and set on horseback, that he might see how his commands had been obeyed; and being perfectly satisfied with the situation of his troops, he directed the signal of battle to be given. The Christians advanced with the greatest resolution; broke the first line of the Moorish infantry, and disorderly the second. On this Muley Moloch drew his sword, and would have advanced to encourage his troops, but that his guards prevented him; on which his emotion of mind was so great, that he fell from his horse. One of his guards caught him in his arms, and conveyed him to his litter; where he immediately expired, having only time to lay his finger on his lips by way of enjoining them to conceal his death. But by this time the Moorish cavalry had wheeled quite round, and attacked the Christian army in the rear: upon which the cavalry in the left wing made a vigorous effort, that they broke the Portuguese on the right; and at this time the sheriff, in passing a rivulet, was drowned. In this emergency, the Germans, Italians, and Castilians, did wonders; but the Portuguese, according to their own historians, behaved indifferently. Attacked on all sides, however, they were unable to resist; and the whole army, except about 50 men, were killed or taken prisoners. The fate of the king is variously related. According to some, he had two horses killed under him, and then mounted a third. His bravest officers were killed in his defence; after which the Moors surrounding him, seized his person, stripped him of his sword and arms, and secured him. They immediately began to quarrel about whose prisoner he was; upon which one of the generals rode in among them, crying, "What, you dogs, when God has given you so glorious a victory, would you cut one another's throats about a prisoner?" at the same time discharging a blow at Sebastian, he brought him to the ground, when the rest of the Moors soon dispatched him. Others affirm, that one Lewis de Brito meeting the king with his standard wrapped round him, Sebastian cried out, "Hold it fast, let us die upon it!" upon which charging the Moors, he was seized, rescued by Brito, who was himself taken with the standard, and carried to Fez. He affirmed, that after he was taken, he saw the king at a distance, and unpursued. Don Lewis de Lima met him afterwards making making towards the river; and this is the last account we have of his being seen alive.

Muley Hamet, the brother of Muley Moloch, was proclaimed king by the Moors immediately after the battle. Next day, having ordered all the prisoners to be brought before him, the new sovereign gave orders to search for the body of Don Sebastian. The king's valet-de-chambre brought back a body, which he said was that of his master, but so disfigured with wounds, that it could not well be known; so that notwithstanding the most diligent search, this monarch's death could never be properly authenticated. This body, however, was preserved by Muley Hamet, who delivered it up as the body of Don Sebastian to King Philip of Spain. By him it was sent to Ceuta, from whence it was transported to Portugal, and buried among his ancestors in the monastery at Belem, with all possible solemnity.

By this terrible disaster, the kingdom of Portugal, from being the most eminent, sunk at once into the lowest rank of the European states. All the young nobility were cut off, or carried into slavery: the kingdom was exhausted of men, money, and reputation; so that Don Henry, who assumed the government after the death of his brother Don Sebastian, found himself in a very disagreeable situation. The transactions of his reign were quite trifling and unimportant; but after his death a great revolution took place. The crown of Portugal was claimed by three different competitors; viz. the prince of Parma, the duchess of Braganza, and Philip of Spain. Whatever might have been the merits of their respective claims, the power of Philip quickly decided the contest in his favour. He found his schemes facilitated by the treachery of the regents, who took the most scandalous methods of putting the kingdom into his hands. Under pretence of inspecting the magazines, they took out some of the powder, and mixed the rest with sand: they appointed an agent to go to France for succours, from whence they knew that they could not arrive in time; they dissuaded the states as soon as they discovered that they were bent on maintaining the freedom of the nation; and, under a show of confidence, sent off to distant places such of the nobility as they suspected.

King Philip, finding everything in his favour, commanded the duke of Alva to invade Portugal, at the head of 20,000 men. The people, perceiving that they were betrayed, exclaimed against the governors, and placed on the throne Don Antonio prior of Crato. But his forces being inexperienced, and he himself behaving in a very improper manner, he was quickly defeated by the duke of Alva, and forced to fly out of the kingdom, which he effected with great difficulty. On his flight the whole kingdom submitted, together with the garrisons in Barbary, the settlements on the western coast of Africa, of Brazil, and in the East Indies. All the Madeiras, however, except the isle of St Michael, held out for Don Antonio until they were reduced, and the French navy, who came to their assistance, entirely defeated and destroyed.

Philip made his entry into Lisbon as soon as the kingdom was totally reduced, and endeavoured to conciliate the affections of the people by confirming the terms which he had before offered to the states. These terms were, that he would take a solemn oath to maintain the privileges and liberties of the people; that the states should be assembled within the realm, and nothing proposed in any other states that related to Portugal; that the viceroy or chief governor should be a native, unless the king should give that charge to one of the royal family; that the household should be kept on the same footing; that the post of first president, and of all offices, civil, military, and judicial, should be filled with Portuguese; all dignities in the church and in the orders of knighthood confined to the same; the commerce of Ethiopia, Africa, and the Indies, reserved also to them, and to be carried on only by their merchants and vessels; that he would remit all imposts on ecclesiastical revenues; that he would make no grant of any city, town, or jurisdiction royal, to any but Portuguese; that estates forfeiting from forfeitures should not be united to the domain, but go to the relations of the last possessor, or be given to other Portuguese for recompense of services; that when the king came to Portugal, where he should reside as much as possible, he should not take the houses of private persons for his officers lodging, but keep to the custom of Portugal; that wherever his majesty resided, he should have an ecclesiastic, a treasurer, a chancellor, two masters of requests, with under officers, all of them Portuguese, who should dispatch every thing relating to the kingdom; that Portugal should ever continue a distinct kingdom, and its revenue be consumed within itself; that all matters of justice should be decided within the realm; that the Portuguese should be admitted to charges in the households of the king and queen of Spain; that all duties on the frontiers should be taken away; and, lastly, that Philip should give 300,000 ducats to redeem prisoners, repair cities, and relieve the miseries which the plague and other calamities had brought upon the people.

All these conditions, formerly offered and rejected by the Portuguese, the king now confirmed; but whereas the duke of Ossuna, by way of security for these conditions, had promised them a law, that if the king did not adhere to them, the states should be freed from their obedience, and might defend their right by the sword, without incurring the reproach of perjury, or the guilt of treason; this he absolutely refused to ratify.

All these concessions, however, did not answer the Carmona purpose; nay, though Philip was to the last degree solicitous of honours and employments, the Portuguese were still dissatisfied. This had also an effect which was not foreseen: it weakened the power, and absorbed the revenues, of the crown; and, by putting it out of the power of any of his successors to be liberal in the same proportion, it raised only a short-lived gratitude in a few, and left a number of malecontents, to which time was continually adding.

Thus Philip, with all his policy, and endeavours to please, found his new subjects still more and more dissatisfied with his government, especially when they found their king treating with the utmost severity all those who had supported Don Antonio. The exiled prince, however, still styled himself king of Portugal. At first disturbed, he retired to France, and there demanded succours for the recovery of his dominions. Here he found so much countenance, that with a fleet of near 60 sail, and a good body of troops on board, he made an attempt upon the Terceiras, where his fleet was beat by the Spaniards; and a great number of prisoners being ta- Ken, all the officers and gentlemen were beheaded, and a great number of meaner people hanged. Don Antonio, notwithstanding, kept possession of some places, coined money, and performed many other acts of regal power; but was at length constrained to retire, and it was with some difficulty that he did so, and returned into France. He passed from thence into England, where he was well received; and many fitted out privateers to cruise against the Spaniards under his commission. But after king Philip had ruined the naval power of Portugal as well as Spain, by equipping the armada, Queen Elizabeth made no difficulty of owning and afflicting Don Antonio, and even of sending Sir John Norris and Sir Francis Drake with a strong fleet and a great army to restore him. Upon this occasion Don Antonio sent his son Don Christopher a hostage to Muley Hamet king of Fez and Morocco, who was to lend him 200,000 ducats. But king Philip prevented this by surrendering Arzila; and this disappointment, the unseasonable enterprise upon Corunna, and the disputes that arose between Norris and Drake, rendered that expedition abortive; so that, except carrying the plague into England, it was attended with no consequences worthy of notice. He remained some time after in England; but finding himself little regarded, he withdrew once more into France, where he fell into great poverty and distress; and at length dying in the 64th year of his age, his body was buried in the church of the nuns of Ave Maria, with an inscription on his tomb, in which he is styled king. He left several children behind him, who, on account of his being a knight of Malta, and having made a vow of virginity at his entrance into the order, were looked upon as illegitimate. He preserved, even to the day of his death, a great interest in Portugal; and had drawn from thence, in the course of his life, immense sums of money; which had been squandered in many fruitless negotiations and attempts to disturb the possessions of king Philip in almost all parts of his dominions, and particularly in the Indies, where the Portuguese were rather more adverse to the Castilian yoke, or at least testified their aversion more openly, than in Europe.

But Don Antonio was not the only pretender to the crown of Portugal: for the people, partly through the love of their prince, and partly from their hatred to the Castilians, were continually feeding themselves with the hopes that Don Sebastian would appear and deliver them; and in this respect such a spirit of credulity reigned, that it was said proverbially, they would have taken a negro for Don Sebastian. This humour put the son of a tiler at Alcobaza, who had led a profligate life, and at length turned hermit, to give himself out for that prince; and having with him two companions, one of them styled himself Don Christopher de Tavora, and the other the bishop of Guarda, they began to collect money, and were in a fair way of creating much disturbance, if the cardinal arch-duke had not caused him to be apprehended; and after leading him ignominiously through the streets of Lisbon, he who took the name of Sebastian was sent to the galleys for life, and the pretended bishop was hanged. Not long after, Gonçalo Alvarez, the son of a malon, gave himself out for the same king; and having promised marriage to the daughter of Pedro Alonso, a rich yeoman, whom he created earl of Torres Novas, he assembled a body of about 800 men, and some blood was spilt before he was apprehended; at length, being clearly proved to be an impostor, himself and his intended father-in-law were publicly hanged and quartered at Lisbon; which, instead of extinguishing this humour, farther increased it.

There was, however, a person who appeared, about 20 years after the fatal defeat of Sebastian, at Venice, who created much more trouble. He assumed the name of Don Sebastian, and gave a very distinct account of the manner in which he had passed his time from that defeat. He affirmed, that he had preserved his life and liberty by hiding himself amongst the slain: that, after wandering in disguise for some time in Africa, he returned with two of his friends into the kingdom of Algarve: that he gave notice of this to the king Don Henry: that finding his life fought, and being unwilling to disturb the peace of the kingdom, he returned again among the Moors, and passed freely from one place to another in Barbary, in the habit of a penitent: that after this he became a hermit in Sicily; but at length resolved to go to Rome, and discover himself to the pope. On the road he was robbed by his domestics, and came almost naked to Venice, where he was known, and acknowledged by some Portuguese. Complaint being made to the senate, he was obliged to retire to Padua. But the governor of that city ordering him also to depart, he, not knowing what to do, returned again to Venice; where, at the request of the Spanish ambassador, who charged him not only with being an impostor, but also with many black and atrocious crimes, he was seized, and thrown into prison. He underwent 28 examinations before a committee of noble and impartial persons; in which he not only acquitted himself clearly of all the crimes that had been laid to his charge, but entered also into so minute a detail of the transactions that had passed between himself and the republic, that the commissioners were perfectly astonished, and showed no disposition to declare him an impostor; moved more especially by the firmness of his behaviour, his singular modesty, the sobriety of his life, his exemplary piety, and his admirable patience under his afflictions. The noise of this was diffused throughout Europe, and the enemies of Spain endeavoured everywhere to give it credit.

The state, however, refused to discuss the great point, whether he was or was not an impostor, unless they were requested so to do by some prince or state in alliance with them. Upon this the prince of Orange sent Don Christopher, the son of the late Don Antonio, to make that demand; and at his request an examination was made with great solemnity: but no decision followed; only the senate set him at liberty, and ordered him to depart their dominions in three days. He went therefore, by the advice of his friends, to Padua, but in the disguise of a monk, and from thence to Florence; where he was arrested by the command of the grand duke, who delivered him to the viceroy of Naples. The count de Lemos, then in possession of that dignity, died soon after, before whom he was first brought; this man asserted, he must know him to be Don Sebastian, since he had been twice sent to him from the king of Spain. He remained prisoner several years in the castle Del Ovo, where he endured incredible hardships. At length he was brought out, led with infamy through the streets of the city, and declared to be an impostor, who assumed the name of Sebastian: at which words, when proclaim- ed before him, he said gravely, And so I am. In the same proclamation it was affirmed, that he was in truth a Calabrian; which as soon as he heard, he said, It is false. He was next shipped on board a galley as a slave; then carried to St Lucar, where he was some time con- fined; from thence he was transferred to a castle in the heart of Castile, and never heard of more. Some per- sons were executed at Lisbon for their endeavours to raise an insurrection on his behalf: but it was thought strange policy, or rather a strange want of policy, in the Spaniards, to make this affair so public without proofs; and the attempt to silence this objection, by af- firming him to be a magician, was justly looked upon as ridiculous.

The administration of affairs in Portugal, during the reign of Philip, was certainly detrimental to the nation; and yet it does not appear that this flowed so much from any ill intention in that monarch, as from errors in judgment. His prodigious preparations for the in- vasion of England impoverished all his European domi- nions; but it absolutely exhausted Portugal. The pre- tensions of Don Antonio, and the hopes of depopulating their Indian fleets, exposed the Portuguese to the re- sentment of the English; from which the king having granted away all his domains, wanted power to defend them. Their clamours were not at all the less loud for their being in some measure without cause. The king, to pacify them, borrowed money from the nobility upon the customs, which were the only sure remedy he had still left; and this was attended with fatal consequences. The branches, thus mortgaged, became, and continue to this hour, fixed and hereditary; so that the merchant was oppressed, and the king received nothing. This expedient failing, a tax of three per cent. was imposed, in the nature of ship-money, for the defence of the coasts and the commerce, which for some years was pro- perly applied; but it then became a part of the ordinary revenue, and went into the king's exchequer without account. This made way for diverting other appropri- ated branches; so for instance, that for the repair of for- tifications, the money being strictly levied, and the works suffered to decay and tumble down; and for the maintenance of the conquests in Africa, by which the garrisons mouldered away, and the places were lost. Upon the whole, in the space of 18 years, the nation was visibly impoverished: and yet the government of Philip was incomparably better than that of his succes- sors; so that his death was justly regretted; and the Portuguese were taught by experience to confess, that of bad matters he was the best.

His son Philip, the second of Portugal and the third of Spain, sat 20 years upon the throne before he made a visit to Portugal, where the people put themselves to a most enormous expense to receive him; for which they received little more than the compliment, that be- fore his entry into Lisbon, he knew not how great a king he was. He held an assembly of the states, in which his son was sworn successor. Having done all that he wanted for himself, he acquired a false idea of the riches of the nation from an immoderate and foolish display of them during his short stay at Lisbon; and having shown himself little, and done less, he returned into Spain; where he acted the part of a good king upon his deathbed, in deploring bitterly that he never thought of acting it before. The reign of Philip III. and IV. was a series of worse measures, and worse for- tune: all his dominions suffered greatly; Portugal most in Asia and of all. The loss of Ormus in the East, of Brazil in the America, West Indies, together with the shipwreck of a fleet sent to escort that from Goa, brought the nation incredi- bly low, and encouraged the conde duke to hope they might be entirely crushed. These are the heads only of the transactions for 40 years: to enter in any degree into the particulars, is, in other words, to point out the breaches made by the Spanish ministers on the condi- tions granted by king Philip; which, with respect to them, was the original contract, and unalterable consti- tution of Portugal while subject to the monarchs of Castile; and which, notwithstanding, they so often and so flagrantly violated, that one would have imagined they had studied to provoke the wrath of heaven, and inflict the patience of men, instead of availing them- selves, as they might have done, of the riches, power, and martial spirit of the Portuguese people.

It was the very basis and foundation of their privi- leges, that the kingdom should remain separate and in- dependent, and consequently that Lisbon should conti- nue as much its capital as ever, the several supreme councils and courts residing; so that the natives of this realm might not be obliged to travel in search of justice. So little, or at least so short a time, was this observed, that neither promotion nor justice was to be obtained without journeys, and Madrid was not more the capital of Castile than of Portugal. The general assembly of estates was to be held frequently, and they were held thrice in the space of 60 years; and of these twice within the first three. The king was to reside in this realm, as often and as long as possible; in compliance with which, Philip I. was there but once, Philip II. but four months, and Philip III. was never there at all. The household establishment was suppressed through all their reigns. The viceroy was to be a native of Portu- gal, or a prince or princess of the blood; yet when any of the royal family bore the title, the power was in rea- lity in the hands of a Spaniard. Thus, when the prin- cess of Mantua was vice-queen, the marquis de la Puebla was to assist in council, and in all dispatches; and she was to do nothing without his advice. The council of Portugal, which was to be composed entirely of natives, was filled with Castilians, as the garrisons also were, though the contrary had been promised. The prefi- dents of provinces, or corregidors, were to be natives; but by keeping those offices in his own hands, the king eluded this article. No city, town, or district, were to be given but to Portuguese; yet the duke of Lerma had Be- ja, Serpa, and other parts of the demesnes of the crown, which were formerly appendages of the princes of the blood. None but natives were capable of offices of justice, in the revenue, in the fleet, or of any post civil or military; yet these were given promiscuously to for- eigners, or sold to the highest bidder; not excepting the governments of castles, cities, and provinces. The natives were so far from having an equal chance in such cases, that no posts in the prebendaries were ever given to them, and scarce any in garrisons; and whenever it happened, in the case of a person of extraordinary mer- it, whose pretensions could not be rejected, he was ei- ther removed, or not allowed to exercise his charge;

Vol. XV. Part II. as fell out to the marquis of Marialva and others. The forms of proceeding, the jurisdiction, the ministers, the secretaries, were all changed, in the council of Portugal; being reduced from five to three, then two, and at last to a single person.

By reason of these and many other grievances too tedious to be mentioned here, the detestation of the Spanish government became universal; and in 1640 a revolution took place, in which John duke of Braganza was declared king, by the title of John IV. This revolution, as being determined by the almost unanimous voice of the nation, was attended with very little effusion of blood; neither were all the efforts of the king of Spain able to regain his authority. Several attempts indeed were made for this purpose. The first battle was fought in the year 1644, between a Portuguese army of 6000 foot and 1100 horse, and a Spanish army of nearly the same number. The latter were entirely defeated; which contributed greatly to establish the affairs of Portugal on a firm basis. The king carried on a defensive war during the remainder of his life; but after his death, which happened in 1655, the war was renewed with great vigour.

This was what the Spaniards did not expect; for they expressed a very indecent kind of joy at his death, hoping that it would be followed by a dissolution of the government. It is not indeed easy to conceive a kingdom left in more perilous circumstances than Portugal was at this time:—The king Don Alonzo Enríquez, a child not more than 13 years of age, reputed of no very sound constitution either in body or mind; the regency in a woman, and that woman a Castilian; the nation involved in a war, and this respecting the title to the crown; the nobility, some of them secretly disaffected to the reigning family, and almost all of them embarked in feuds and contentions with each other; so that the queen scarce knew who to trust or how she should be obeyed. She acted, however, with great vigour and prudence. By marrying her only daughter the princess Catharine to Charles II. King of Great Britain, she procured to Portugal the protection of the English fleets, with reinforcements of some thousands of horse and foot; and at last, in 1665, terminated the war by the glorious victory of Montesclaros. This decisive action broke the power of the Spaniards, and fixed the fate of the kingdom, though not of the king of Portugal. Alonzo was a prince whose education had been neglected in his youth, who was devoted to vulgar amusements and mean company, and whom the queen for these reasons wished to deprive of the crown, that she might place it on the head of his younger brother Don Pedro. To accomplish this purpose, she attempted every method of stern authority and secret artifice; but she attempted them all in vain. The Portuguese would not consent to set aside the rights of primogeniture, and involve the kingdom in all the miseries attending a disputed succession. After the death, however, of the queen-mother, the infant entered into cabals against the king of a much more dangerous nature than any that she had carried on. Alonzo had married the princess of Nemours; but being, as was said, impotent, and likewise less handsome than his brother, that lady transferred her affection to Don Pedro, to whom she lent her assistance to hurl the king from the throne. Alonzo was compelled to sign a resignation of the kingdom; and his brother, after governing Portugal a few months without any legal authority, was in a meeting of the states unanimously proclaimed regent, and vested with all the powers of royalty. Soon after this revolution, for such it may be called, the marriage of the king and queen was declared null by the chapter of Lisbon; and the regent, by a papal dispensation, and with the consent of the states, immediately espoused the lady who had been wife to his brother. He governed, under the appellation of regent, 15 years, when, upon the death of the king, he mounted the throne by the title of Don Pedro II. and after a long reign, during which he conducted the affairs of the kingdom with great prudence and vigour, he died on the 9th of December 1706.

Don John V. succeeded his father; and though he was then little more than 17 years of age, he acted with such wisdom and resolution, adhered so steadily to the grand alliance formed against France and Spain, and showed such resources in his own mind, that though he suffered great losses during the war, he obtained such terms of peace at Utrecht, that Portugal was in all respects a gainer by the treaty. The two crowns of Spain and Portugal were not, however, reconciled thoroughly till the year 1737; and from this period they became every day more united, which gave much satisfaction to some courts, and no umbrage to any. In this situation of things, a treaty was made in 1750 with the court of Madrid, by which Nova Colonia, on the river of Plata, was yielded to his Catholic majesty, to the great regret of the Portuguese, as well on account of the value of that settlement, as because they apprehended their possession of the Brazils would by this action be rendered precarious. On the last of July the same year, this monarch, worn out by infirmities, deceased, in the 61st year of his age, and in the 44th of his reign.

Don Joseph, prince of Brazil, succeeded him, to the universal satisfaction of his subjects, and with as great expectations as ever any monarch that mounted the throne. It was generally believed that he would make considerable alterations, in which he did not disappoint the hopes of the public; and yet they were done so slowly, with such moderation, and with so many circumstances of prudence, as hindered all grounds of complaint. Amongst other new regulations, the power of the inquisition suffered some restriction; the king directing, that none of their sentences should be put in execution till reviewed and approved by his privy-council. But as in the reign of his father he had consented to the treaty with Spain, he ratified it after his accession, and since carried it into execution upon this noble principle, that no considerations of interest ought ever to induce a monarch to break his word.

However, within the space of the few years of this king's reign, the calamities of Portugal in general, and those of the city of Lisbon in particular, cannot, in a great degree, be paralleled in all history. An earthquake, a fire, a famine, an assassination-plot against their prince, executions upon executions, the scaffolds and wheels for torture reeking with the noblest blood; imprisonment after imprisonment of the greatest and most distinguished personages; the expulsion of a chief order of ecclesiastics; the invasion of their kingdom by a powerful, stronger, and exasperated nation; the nume- Portugal was troops of the enemy laying waste their territory, bringing fire and sword with them, and rolling like distant thunder towards the gates of their capital; their prince ready almost to save himself by flight! The Spanish ministry had already decreed the doom of Portugal, and nothing was to be heard at the Escorial but Delenda est Carthago. Carthaginian, perhaps, or Jewish story, may possibly afford a scene something like this, but for the shortness of the period not so big with events, though in their final destruction superior. From that indeed, under the hand of Providence, the national humanity and generosity of Great Britain has preserved the Portuguese; and it remains now to be seen, in future treaties, how that people will express their gratitude (see Britain, n° 450). Those who are able to search deeper into human affairs, may assign the causes of such a wonderful chain of events; but no wise man will ascribe all this to so singular a cause as that which a Spaniard has done, in a famous pamphlet, printed in the year 1762 at Madrid. It is intitled, A Spanish Prophecy; and endeavours to show, that all these calamities have befallen the Portuguese, solely on account of their connection with the heretic English. The great Ruler and Governor of the world undoubtedly acts by universal laws, regarding the whole system, and cannot, without blasphemy, be considered in the light of a partisan. The rest of the pamphlet tends to show, that his Catholic majesty carried his arms into Portugal, solely to give them liberty, and set them free from English tyranny.

Joseph dying without male issue, the succession devolved to Mary, his daughter, now queen of Portugal. She was married some time before he died, with the pope's dispensation, to his brother Don Pedro.

The air of Portugal, in the southern provinces, would be excessively hot, if it were not refreshed by the sea breezes; but in the northern, it is much cooler, and the weather more subject to rains. The spring is extremely delightful here; and the air, in general, more temperate than in Spain. Lisbon has been much referred to of late by valetudinarians and consumptive persons from Great Britain, on account of its air.

The soil is very fruitful in wine, oil, lemons, oranges, pomegranates, figs, raisins, almonds, chestnuts, and other fine fruits; but there is a want of corn, owing, it is said, to a great measure to the neglect of agriculture. There is plenty of excellent honey here; and also of sea and river fish, and sea-salt. The horses in Portugal are brisk lively animals, as they are in Spain, but of a slight make; but mules being fitter-footed, are more used for carriage and draught. By reason of the scarcity of pasture, there are not many herds of cattle or flocks of sheep; and what they have are small and lean, though the flesh is tolerably good; their best meat is said to be that of hogs and kids. The country in many parts is mountainous; but the mountains contain all kinds of ores; particularly of silver, copper, tin, and iron, with a variety of gems, beautifully variegated marble, millstones, and many curious fossils. Not far from Lisbon is a mine of saltpetre; but none of the metal mines are here worked, the inhabitants being supplied with metals of all kinds from their foreign settlements. The principal rivers are the Minho, in Latin Minius; the Limia, anciently the famed Lethe; the Cavado; the Douro; the Guadiana, anciently Anas; and the Tajo, or Tagus, which is the largest river in the kingdom, Portugal, carrying some gold in its sands, and falling into the sea a little below Lisbon. There are several mineral springs in the kingdom, both hot and cold, which are much frequented.

The only religion tolerated in Portugal is that of the church of Rome; yet there are many concealed Jews, and those too even among the nobility, bishops, prebends, monks, and nuns, and the very inquisitors themselves. If a Jew pretends to be a Christian and a Roman Catholic, while he is really a Jew, by going to mass, confession, &c., or if after being converted, or pretending to be converted and pardoned, he relapses into Judaism and is discovered, the inquisition lays hold of him. In the first case, if he renounce Judaism, he is only condemned to some corporal punishment or public shame, and then ordered to be instructed in the Christian religion. In the second, he is condemned to the flames without mercy. Besides Jews and heretics, who broach or maintain any doctrines contrary to the religion of the country, the inquisition punishes all sodomites, pretenders to forgery and the black art, apostates, blasphemers, perjured persons, impostors, and hypocrites. The burning of those condemned by the inquisition, is called an auto da fé, or "act of faith." There are several tribunals of the inquisition, one of which is at Goa in the East Indies; but there are none in Brazil. The number of convents in Portugal is said to be 900. The order of Jesuits hath been suppressed in this country, as they have been in others. Here is a patriarch, several archbishops and bishops; the patriarch is always a cardinal, and of the royal family. The archbishops rank with marquises, and the bishops with counts. The Portuguese have archbishops and bishops in the other quarters of the world as well as in Europe. The sums raised by the popes here, by virtue of their prerogatives, are thought to exceed the revenues of the crown, and the nuncios never fail of acquiring vast fortunes in a short time. Though there are two universities and several academies, yet while the papal power, and that of the ecclesiastics, continues at such a height, true learning is like to make but a small progress. The language of the Portuguese does not differ much from that of Spain: Latin is the groundwork of both; but the former is more remote from it, and harsher to the ear, than the latter. The Portuguese tongue is spoken on all the coast of Africa and Asia as far as China, but mixed with the languages of the several nations in those distant regions.

With regard to manufactures, there are very few in Portugal, and those chiefly coarse silks, woollen cloths, tares, and some linen; but their foreign trade is very considerable, especially with England, which takes a great deal of their wine, salt, foreign commodities, and fruits, in return for its woollen manufactures, with which the Portuguese furnish their colonies and subjects in Asia, Africa, and America. Their plantations in Brazil are very valuable, yielding gold, diamonds, indigo, copper, tobacco, sugar, ginger, cotton, hides, gums, drugs, dyeing woods, &c. From their plantations in Africa, they bring gold and ivory, and slaves to cultivate their sugar and tobacco plantations in Brazil. They have still several settlements in the East Indies, but far less considerable than formerly. The Azores or Western Isles, Madeira, and the Cape de Verde islands, also belong to them. them; but a great part of the riches and merchandize brought from these distant countries becomes the property of foreigners, for the goods they furnish the Portuguese with to carry thither. The king's fifth of the gold brought from Brazil amounts commonly to about 300,000l. Sterling; so that the whole annual produce of gold in Brazil may be estimated at near 2,000,000 Sterling. Lisbon is the greatest port in Europe next to London and Amsterdam.

As to the constitution of Portugal, it is an absolute hereditary monarchy. Both here and in Spain there were anciently cortes, estates, or parliaments; but they have long since entirely lost their share in the legislature. For the administration of the civil government, there is a council of state, and several secretaries; for military affairs, a council of war; for the finances, a treasury-court; and for the distribution of justice several high tribunals, with others subordinate to them, in the several districts into which the kingdom is divided. The cities have their particular magistracy. The proceedings of the courts are regulated by the Roman law, the royal edicts, the canon law, and the pope's mandates. Like the Spaniards, they transact most of their business in the mornings and evenings, and sleep at noon. The nobility are very numerous, and many of them are descended from natural sons of the royal family. They are divided into high and low. The high consists of the dukes, marquises, counts, viceroys, and barons, who are also grandees, but of different classes, being supposed to be covered in the king's presence, and having the title of Don, with a pension from the royal treasury, to enable them the better to support their dignity: the king styles them Illustrious in his letters, and treats them as princes. A duke's sons are also grandees, and his daughters rank as marchionesses. The inferior nobility or gentry are termed Hidalgos, i.e., gentlemen: they cannot assume the title of Don without the king's licence.

The revenues of the crown, since the discovery of the Brazil mines, are very considerable; but the real amount can only be guessed at. Some have said that it amounts, clear of all salaries and pensions, to upwards of 3,000,000 Sterling; others make it a great deal less. Thus much is certain, that the customs and other taxes run excessively high. Besides the royal demesnes, the hereditary estates of the house of Braganza, the monopoly of Brazil sugar, the coinage, the money arising from the sale of indulgences granted by the pope, the fifth of the gold brought from Brazil, the farm of the Brazil diamonds, the masterships of the orders of knighthood, and other sources, yield very large sums. The forces, notwithstanding, of this nation, both by sea and land, are very inconsiderable; their land-forces being the worst militia in Europe, and their navy of little importance. They would be an easy conquest to the Spaniards if they were not under the protection of Britain.

There are several orders of knighthood here, viz., the order of Christ, the badge of which is a red cross within a white one, and the number of the commanderies 454. 2. The order of St James, the badge of which is a red sword in the shape of a cross. A great number of towns and commanderies belong to this order. 3. The order of Aviz, whose badge is a green cross in form of a lily, and the number of its commanderies 49.

Though these three orders are religious, yet the knights are at liberty to marry. 4. The order of St John, which has also several commanderies.

The king's titles are, King of Portugal and the Algarves, on this side and the other side the sea of Africa; Lord of Guinea, and of the navigation, conquests, and commerce, in Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, India, &c. The king's eldest son is styled Prince of Brazil. In the year 1749, pope Benedict XIV. dignified the king with the title of His most faithful majesty.

The Portuguese are represented as inferior to the Spaniards both in person and genius: as extremely haughty, treacherous, and crafty in their dealings; much given to avarice and usury; and vindictive, malicious, and cruel. The meaner sort are said to be extremely addicted to thieving; notwithstanding, it must be owned, that they have shown themselves on many occasions a brave and warlike people. They are justly famed for their skill in navigation; and for the many discoveries they have made, both in the East and West Indies. The women here, and in other countries of the same degree of heat, are not so prolific as in the colder climates; but they are said to be very beautiful whilst young, though their complexion is somewhat upon the olive. Their eyes are very black and sparkling, and retain their brilliancy after all their other charms are gone. It is the fashion here, at present, as in most other countries, for the ladies to spoil and disfigure their skins and complexions with paints and wafers; but, though lively and witty, they are said to have a nice sense of female honour. Both men and women make great use of spectacles; often not so much to aid their sight, as to denote their wisdom and gravity. Their dress, like that of the Spaniards, never used to vary, especially among the men; but of late years, both men and women have given much into the French modes. The women, when they go abroad on foot, are wont to use long veils, which cover their heads, but leave their faces bare.