have their weight with the higher classes, and those able to reason on the line of politics preferable to be adopted.

It has been advanced, as a proof of their partiality to the French, that when they entered the country, no resistance was made to such a measure, or steps taken to prevent it. Circumstanced as Portugal then was, at war with Spain, and without an auxiliary army, resistance would have been fruitless. Besides the Povo had not as yet tasted the sweet blessings of that liberty invariably held out by the invader to the ignorant, and so preeminently enjoyed by the rest of the continent!

Portugal, as well as the neighbouring kingdom, is not without its traitors; these having neither estates, honour, nor credit to lose, assailed at the same time by the proffered bribes of riches and titles, or what is frequently the cause of treason, disappointment in their expectations, are comparatively small to what has been stated.* Desperate characters exist.

* Notwithstanding the avidity with which some of our Gallo-Anglica newspapers seized upon and magnified a report of a dangerous conspiracy having been discovered in

in every kingdom; our own is not entirely free from them; we daily witness the machinations. of men of this cast, who either through ignorance or design, aim at nothing short of the subversion of our glorious constitution, the envy of surrounding nations, and the pride of every true Briton.*

There is likewise in Portugal another class of men, who, seeing the defects of their government in the overgrown authority of the ecclesiastics, and the despotic power of their sovereign, (for the Regency act in his name,) are zealous for a reform, but not at the hands

Lisbon, and the finding of thousands of concealed arms, &c. it appears by a proclamation of the Portuguese government, that this occurrence was nothing more in fact,` than the arresting of some of the principals of a party sus pected of being inimical to the present state of affairs, and inclined to favour the French interest; and that these persons had been suffered to remain unmolested in the capital, agreeable to an article in the convention of Cintra, until the near approach of the enemy made their removal a matter of policy.

* Under this loyal appellation, I do not wish to be understood as including the mushroom patriots of the day; those grumbling animalculæ, who feed on the exuberance. of the plant, whilst they are undermining the root.-Qui capit ille facit.

of the Gallic invader. Retired to their estates,

they wait with anxiety the return of peace to bring about the desired object; and voluntarily contributing their quota to the prosecution of the present contest, they do not take an active part in the measures of the state, nor express their sentiments with that freedom, which might be dangerous to them under existing circumstances.

The French writers labour with some degree of assiduity, to persuade the Portuguese that all the evils of their government, and the miserable state of their country, with respect to the arts, sciences, manufactures, and agriculture, is to be attributed to the subjection in which they are held by the English, whom they consider as the real sovereign of the kingdom. With due deference to these worthy gentlemen, I shall beg leave to ask in what manner their assertions have been proved, and whether that power, who for centuries has protected and encouraged their commerce, is a greater enemy, than the one who with such a sympathising disposition, has invaded the country, pillaged the inhabitants, and usurped the government under the mask

of the purest friendship and disinterestedness? such a question needs no answer. I shall therefore conclude this chapter with these observations, That the Portuguese nation taken collectively, are firmly attached to the reigning family, and are far from wishing to see an upstart of the Corsican dynasty on the throne. That the Regency are not so popular as they might be, nevertheless their popularity of late has increased; and that numbers of the higher classes are of opinion that the temporary government of the country, would be better executed, were it vested in the hands of a single person; their wishes in this respect seeming to point to Dom Rodrigo, the late minister of state, now resident in the Brazils, as a proper person to hold the viceregal dignity, during the absence of the Prince Regent.

CHAPTER XVI.

Of the Coins, Rate of Exchange, and Weights and Measures.

ALL payments are made, and accounts kept in Portugal in reas, an imaginary coin, one thousand of which are denominated a mil-rea, and denoted by a mark thus, #, which separates the mil-reas from the reas. For example, 321 437, is three hundred and twentyone mil, four hundred and thirty-seven reas; or three hundred and twenty one-thousand, four hundred and thirty-seven reas.

To reduce reas to Spanish dollars, divide by 800. To reduce them to testoons, divide by 100, and to vintins, divide by 20.

The calculation of comparative value in English money, in the following table, is taken at 4s. 6d. the Spanish dollar, 5s. 7 d. the mil

rea.