This great poet, the ornament of his country and of Europe, died in an hospital at Lisbon in 1579, in the 62d year of his age. Gil. Vicente, a Portuguese dramatic poet, preceded Lope de Vega and Calderona in Spain. Amongst the poets of the 18th and 19th centuries, are Franc. Xav. de Meneses, count of Ericeyra, Jose Basilio da Gama, Claude Manuel, and Manuel Maria de Barbosa du Bocage, who, like Camoens, died in an hospital at Lisbon in 1805. Among the living poets we distinguish Jose Monteiro da Rocha and Mozinho d'Albuquerque. There are some distinguished Improvisatori among the Portuguese. As for prose, theology is of course entirely bound down in this country to simple obedience and faith in the Church's decrees. Except prayer-books and casuistical treatises, nothing new ever appears in this science; and though there are systems and compendiums of theology in the language, they are full of the darkness of the middle ages. However, a translation of the Bible in 23 volumes has been written by Antonio Pereira de Figueredo; and the Portuguese Jesuit Ant. Vieira, has been called the Bourdaloue of Portugal. In medicine, the Portuguese are mostly followers of the British physicians, of whose writings many have been translated. Pombal banished moral philosophy from the Portuguese academies; and at Coimbra not even the chairs of logic and metaphysics were allowed to remain. Since his time, indeed, the philosophical faculty has been re-established, but no distinguished professor or author has yet appeared in this science. Philological science is in a sad state; the Latin of the monks is unintelligible to any other European nation, and Greek was not taught at all till very lately. Mathematics were entirely neglected till the middle of the 18th century. For geography the Portuguese have done much by their discoveries; in national geography, Lima, Nipho, Cornide, and Barros are distinguished; but it is to foreigners that we are indebted for the best geographical notices of this country, and there is not even a good map of Portugal drawn by a native. Several valuable works have been written in natural history and botany. Loureiros' Flora Cochinginensis is a very distinguished work. In history the works of Joao de Barros, Jer. Osorio, Fernando Lopez de Castanhedo, Bern. de Brito, and Telles de Silva, are the most deserving of notice. Architecture, sculpture, and painting have never prospered on Portuguese soil. Their music has a peculiar character, which is particularly prominent in their Medinhas or songs. Literary periodicals do not exist in this country; new works are announced in the Gazeta de Lisbon, the only political newspaper which is allowed to appear in Portugal. It is said that among the three millions of inhabitants of this country there are perhaps not above 500 readers of scientific works. Balbi estimates that from 1801 to 1809, only 1800 works were printed in this country. All the best foreign works are prohibited; and the smallest line of print is submitted to a censorship. The Inquisition has 14 censors; the Patriarch employs 12; and here there are 17 censores librorum regii. The astronomical and nautical ephemerides, an accurate royal almanack, and a weekly journal called Almocreve de Petas, form the only periodical works.

Education.] Education may easily be supposed to be extremely defective in this country. It is, for the most part, in the hands of monks, who themselves ignorant and bigotted, cannot be supposed to make their scholars intelligent or liberal. The only university now existing is at Coimbra. It was founded in 1291, by Denis, one of the first kings of Portugal who cncouraged literature. There is a small college at Evora founded in 1533.

At Lisbon, as has been already mentioned, there is a college consecrated solely to the education of the nobility. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Lisbon was founded in 1779. This academy is divided into three classes; one devoted to the sciences, the other two to subjects of economy and elegant literature. There are about 800 elementary schools in this kingdom.

Religion.] The religion of Portugal is the Roman Catholic in its strictest form. An attention to trivial ceremonies is very common among both sexes: for ignorance generally mistakes ceremony for religion. The clergy are almost universally ignorant and vicious, and by their example tend much to corrupt the manners of their flocks. The Portuguese have à patriarch who is considered as acting in a subordinate capacity to the pope, except when his countrymen have quarrelled with the Roman pontiff. He is generally a cardinal and a person of high birth; but his powers are not great. Besides the patriarch there are 2 archbishops and 10 bishops; but if the foreign settlements be taken into account, the number of bishops is 22. The number of parishes appears to be 4,262. The number of convents amounts to 418, and the nunneries are about 150. There are 22,000 secular clergy, 14,000 monks, and 10,000 nuns in the kingdom.

CHAP. IV.-GOVERNMENT-REVENUE-MARINE AND MILITARY

FORCE-COMMERCE.

ALTHOUGH, since the phantom of the Three Estates in this kingdom traitorously declared the crown of Portugal to belong to Miguel, the charter itself has become a sort of umbrella to the usurper, as that of France was to Louis XVIII., it is almost unnecessary to say that its provisions are a mere dead letter. This constitutional charter, in 145 articles, arranged under 8 titles, attempted to draw the line between the executive and legislative power, and to define specifically the rights of the people. To the king were reserved the prerogatives of making peace and war, with the exception that any treaty which might exchange or cede any part of the territory or possessions of the crown should be ratified by the Cortes; to bestow honours and grant pensions, the latter, when given at the public charge, being dependent on the approbation of the Cortes; to nominate to all ecclesiastical dignities, and to all civil and military offices; to convoke the Cortes, either at the stated time of assembling, or, if circumstances should require it, in an extraordinary meeting; to prorogue and dissolve them when he should think proper; and to give the force of laws to their decrees, by adhibiting his consent. In imitation of the constitution given to the jealous Brazilians, this charter provided that, if the king should quit the kingdom without the consent of the Cortes, he should be held to have abdicated the crown.

To the Cortes, as the legislative body, was declared to belong the right to appoint, in case of the minority of the heir, a regency, and define its powers, and to acknowledge the prince royal to be heir of the throne in the first session which should be held after his birth-a provision which seemed superfluous, if hereditary succession was to be a fundamental principle of the constitution, and implied a power in the Cortes of changing the dynasty, or at least, the order of the dynasty, at every new accession. To them, likewise, it belonged on the death of the king, or in the event of the

throne being vacant, to establish a Council of Administration;-to inquire into and reform abuses which might have been introduced;-to make laws, and to interpret, suspend, or revoke them ;-to watch over the constitution, and provide for the general good of the nation;-to fix annually the public expenses, and apportion the direct taxes; to grant or refuse entrance to foreign forces, by land or by sea, into the interior of the kingdom, or into its ports;-to fix annually and according to the report of government, the land and sea-forces, ordinary and extraordinary ;-to authorize the government to contract loans;-to establish proper resources for the payment of the public debt;-to regulate the administration of the national domains, and decree their alienation;-to create or suppress public offices, and to fix their emoluments;-to determine the weight, value, inscription, and denomination of monies, as well as the standard of weights and measures.

The Cortes, by whom these powers were to be exercised, was to consist of two chambers, a chamber of Peers, and a chamber of deputies, the approbation of both being necessary to the making of laws. The peers were deprived of their right of exemption from taxation, and were declared to be the only judges in impeachments of public servants. The number of representatives to be elected to the chamber of deputies, and the mode of their election, were not provided for by the charter, but it laid down the general qualifications to be required in a voter, and provided, after the example of America, and the revolutionary Cortes of Spain, and of Portugal in 1822, that the deputies should be re-imbursed for their expenses in travelling to and from Lisbon, and receive a daily sum for their attendance. In the judicial department, trial by jury was introduced; it was declared that the judges should not be removeable at the will of the crown; and torture, the use of the lash, and branding with hot iron, were formally abolished. The Roman Catholic religion was declared to be the religion of the State; the exercise of all others was indeed allowed, but only on the condition of not being performed in any building distinguishable as a church. The general rights and liberties of the people were embodied in declarations that all were equal in the eye of the law, bound equally to defend the state by military service, and to contribute to its revenue; that every man's house was inviolable; that no citizen should be obliged to do, or be hindered from doing, any thing whatever, unless by virtue of a law; that no law should have a retrospective effect; that every one might communicate his thoughts, whether verbally or by writing, and publish them in print, being responsible for any abuses which he might commit in the exercise of this right, according to the forms determined by the law; that no person should be persecuted for the sake of religion, as long as he respected that of the State, and did not offend public morality; that every man might remain in the kingdom, or depart from it, and carry with him all his property, conforming, nevertheless, to police regulations.

Laws.] The laws of Portugal are not distinguished by many peculiarities. They are founded upon the Roman law, the canon law, the edicts of the king, and the mandates of the pope. Theft may be four times repeated before it become a capital crime. Adultery in a woman is punishable by death; but this law is never put into execution.

Orders of Knighthood.] The Portuguese orders of knighthood are five: viz. the order of Christ founded in 1319, of which the badge is a red cross within one that is white; the order of St James, originally instituted in 1030, of which the badge is a red sword, in the form of a cross; the order of Avis founded in 1147, which has for a badge a green cross

in the form of a lily; the order of St John founded in 1157; and the order of the Tower and Sword founded in 1459. These orders have numerous commanderies.

Church Government.] The Inquisition was formerly established in this kingdom with the same rigour as in Spain; but, as in that kingdom, government has assumed the power into its own hands and uses it chiefly for its own purposes. There are 3 tribunals of inquisition at Lisbon, Coimbra, and Evora. The censorship is committed to the officers of the Inquisition. The Portuguese have a patriarch, who is considered as acting in a subordinate capacity to the pope. He is generally a cardinal, and a person of high birth; but his powers are not great. The clergy are divided into high and low; to the former belong the patriarch and the archbishops and bishops, who are all named by the king, the pope only confirming them. The king draws also a quarter of the revenue of the archbishops and bishops, which sum is usually applied to the support of the patriarchate. The lower clergy are divided into secular and regular; the former, as in almost all catholic States, are very poor, and enjoy neither the consideration nor the influence of the regular clergy, who here form 7 spiritual corporations, including 30 convents and 3 colleges, and 35 different orders, possessing not less than 418 monasteries, and 150 nunneries, many of them richly endowed, and holding extensive landed property. However, the orders of mendicants are the most numerous. The number of convents has recently increased, and the whole number of persons belonging to the clergy is said to be about 200,000, almost every 15th person belonging to the priesthood!

Revenue.] The revenue of Portugal is more considerable than might be expected from the feeble state of the kingdom: writers, however, are not unanimous in their calculations of the amount, some making it upwards of £3,000,000; others, only £2,000,000. The latter calculation is certainly below the truth, since the sources from which the revenue is derived are numerous, and all the duties are extremely high. Balbi's estimate of £2,231,000, seems pretty near the truth. The chief sources of the royal income, are the lands belonging to the Braganza family, the royal demesnes, the coinage, the profits of indulgencies granted by the Pope, the masterships of the orders of knighthood, and very heavy duties imposed on almost every article of commerce. These taxes are in general farmed or let to the highest bidders,-a mode of collecting taxes of all others the most oppressive and unjust. The expenses of the government are not great. Balbi estimates the national debt at £6,598,000, of which above £1,500,000 consists of government paper, which is always at a discount of from 14 to 20 per cent. The late Cortes established a national bank at Lisbon, but the infant establishment issued its paper so profusely as to impair its credit, and to cause it to stop payment in a very short time.

Marine and Military Force.] The following account of the Portuguese army and navy is given by Balbi. The numerous militia which Portugal possesses is formed of the land-owners and farmers, and their sons, between the ages of 18 and 40. All persons in the civil service of the crown, students, public teachers, physicians, and surgeons, and a certain number of apprentices in particular manufactories, are exempted from this service. The militia receive no pay unless they are out on active service; they are generally called together about once a month, for the purpose of exercising them in military manoeuvring. The militia officers are

chosen from among the richest inhabitants, with the exception of the major and adjutant of each regiment, and they are always officers of the regular army. A major-general is the inspector of all the militia of the kingdom. Besides him there are two other inspectors—one for Minho and the town of Oporto, and the other for Beira and Tras-os-Montes. The whole of the militia is divided into 48 regiments, which are of equal strength with the regiments of the troops of the line: and besides these, there are six corps of militia for the city of Lisbon, which were established in the year 1808, and are called the milicias novas. All the inhabitants of the kingdom who do not serve in the militia, nor in the regular army, nor belong to the order of burghers, and who are between the ages of 18 and 40, are compelled to serve in the ordenanças,—or levee en masse. The army in the year 1822 was almost double in number what it was in the year 1796, and consisted of 26 regiments of infantry, each in two battalions; 12 battalions of jägers, 12 regiments of cavalry, each in four squadrons; four regiments of artillery; one battalion of engineers; and one corps of baggage-soldiers, and a veteran corps. The north, the central, and the south divisions of the kingdom have equal number of troops, with equal numbers of arms; but the southern division, in consequence of the great number of strong places, has a greater number of pieces of artillery than the others. Each division is under a field-marshal or lieutenant-general. The artillery is always in parks, and is divided among the fortresses and corps. Each species of arms is under the care of a superintendant. At the abolition of the ordenanças by the Cortes, the army procured its recruits by lot from these classes of the people. The requisite age is from 18 to 30 years. Since 1812 the militia also takes its recruits from the ordenanças, from the age of 18 to 35; the men are discharged from the militia at the age of 45. The Portuguese army in the year 1811 amounted to not less than 335,439 men in the ranks; in the year 1812, to 108,429. At the peace of 1814, 69,268; in 1816, independent of 3,028 veterans, 59,325; in 1821 only 21,816. At present, the whole of the Portuguese army does not amount to above 26,000 soldiers. The fleet consists of four sail of the line, seven frigates, and eighteen smaller vessels.

Commerce.] The situation of Portugal with regard to commerce is not less favourable than that of Spain. It might maintain an intercourse with every quarter of the world more easily than almost any other country in Europe. The industry and commerce of the Portuguese were formerly in some degree equal to the advantages of their situation; but they have long ceased to be considerable. The same causes which produced or accelerated the ruin of Spain have operated in a similar manner in Portugal. The sudden accumulation of wealth from their foreign possessions, acquired without the tedious process of industry, tended to destroy that spirit without which a nation cannot be permanently powerful. The foolish policy of prohibiting, or at least heavily taxing the exportation of the precious metals, depreciated their value; and gave the other manufacturing nations an advantage with which neither Spain nor Portugal could contend. The capricious and impolitic impositions on the sale of commodities, and their carriage from one part of the country to another, still farther depressed internal industry; and that depravity of government which induces it to favour the great at the expense of the humble tradesman, almost completely annihilated that spirit of enterprise which is necessary to the healthy existence of trade.

The manufactures of Portugal are not extensive. They consist chiefly