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 \j \j \j u i_ i u/ i\ ; v i\
 
 POKTUGAL AND GALICIA, 
 
 WITH A REVIEW OF 
 
 THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STATE 
 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 
 
 BY THE EARL OF CARNARVON. 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 1848.
 
 London : Printed by WILLIAM CLOWIS and SONS, Stamford Street.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 SEVERAL years have now elapsed since the narrative of my 
 Journey through Portugal and Galicia appeared in print ; still 
 more have passed away since it was written. This narrative was 
 originally meant to have been appended to a political treatise 
 upon Portugal, published at a still later period ; in that treatise I 
 endeavoured to give my readers some insight into the laws of 
 Portugal, the municipal and judicial system of that country, the 
 tenures of property, the actual state of her trade, and the relative 
 strength and position of the political parties which then divided 
 the kingdom. That work referred exclusively to those deeper 
 and drier considerations which, however fraught with interest to 
 the politician, are comparatively little congenial to the taste of 
 the general reader ; but this narrative of my Journey through 
 Portugal is of a lighter cast, containing some sketches of society, 
 mixed up with personal adventures, and occasionally alluding to 
 those peculiar habits, superstitions, and opinions upon which the 
 political changes of the last few years can have as yet produced 
 no sensible impression. 
 
 There was One indeed who had consented to receive this tribute 
 of filial affection. To that beloved Parent I should have offered 
 this little work, with a full consciousness of its many imperfec- 
 tions, but with an earnest hope that it might shed a transient 
 gleam of pleasure over some of those weary hours that marked 
 the progress of declining strength. Circumstances however pre- 
 vented its appearance at that time, and I subsequently dropped 
 the intention of publishing it at all : indeed the narrative of my 
 Journey through Portugal and Galicia lay in a dusty drawer for 
 more than nine years ; and there it would probably have remained 
 had not events in the North of Spain inspired me with the 
 deepest interest and induced me to resume my pen. I then de- 
 termined to combine my observations on passing occurrences in 
 the Peninsula with my old Portuguese manuscript. Stirring 
 events indeed occurred in 1835 ; a struggle arose in the Basque 
 Provinces, paralleled only by the contests of the heroic ages. A
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 handful of men, among the mountains of Northern Spain, resisted 
 for years the combined efforts of three great monarchies, and 
 Biscay became the scene of chivalrous loyalty, the refuge, as 
 formerly the cradle, of Spanish liberty, and the centre and focus 
 of universal interest. The eyes of Europe were rivetted on that 
 comparatively unimportant spot of earth, and on its never-yield- 
 ing population. In my mind the tidings of that life-and-death 
 struggle awoke an interest I can hardly describe ; personal 
 sympathies and political prepossessions were alike enlisted in 
 favour of the Basques. I had lived in their land, I had broken 
 their bread, I had haunted their thresholds ; I had learnt too to 
 admire their character and to appreciate their institutions. I con- 
 fess that my heart beat high as week after week intelligence 
 reached our shores of the unremitting efforts made by those 
 gallant but outnumbered men against the iron oppression of their 
 central government. I rejoiced with them during their brief day 
 of triumph ; I mourned with them over their long inherited but 
 at length expiring rights ; and with the accounts of my slaugh- 
 tered friends the impassioned feelings of my earlier days revived. 
 In the Senate I expressed the indignation I felt when the woes 
 and wrongs of Biscay were the theme of discussion ; in my closet 
 I eagerly took up my pen to give my English countrymen some 
 insight into the real causes of the momentous struggle which was 
 distracting parties I had personally known and mixed with, and 
 desolating a country I had dearly loved. 
 
 But those days are past ; that excitement has subsided ; my 
 feelings, though not really altered, have yet become tempered by 
 the lapse of years. Indeed, without any precise change of view, 
 the feelings entertained by considerate men of all parties in this 
 country have, I think, undergone a material alteration with re- 
 ference to the great points then at issue in the Spanish quar- 
 rel. I do not mean to say that persons who, at the time of 
 the great Biscayan struggle, entertained a distinct and reasoned 
 opinion that Isabella was the sovereign, not only de facto but de 
 jure, of Spain, are likely to have altered that opinion in conse- 
 quence of any subsequent event ; but I say that, with reference 
 to the practical bearings of the Spanish question, two circumstances 
 have recently occurred which must exercise considerable influence 
 on the view which any reflecting Englishman would take of 
 Spanish politics, as affecting the interests of this country : in the
 
 PR FACE. v 
 
 first place, in consequence of the alliance lately, concluded be- 
 tween the reigning houses of France and Spain, any internal 
 revolution that might place the illustrious son of Don Carlos on 
 the throne of his ancestors could hardly be considered, even by 
 those who were once most hostile to his cause, as an event preju- 
 dicial to British interests ; on the contrary, as far as human 
 foresight can speculate on political results, such an occurrence 
 would tend to check any preponderating influence which may 
 have been acquired by France over the councils of Madrid, and 
 to set right the balance disturbed, or supposed to be disturbed, 
 by that event. 
 
 The next circumstance, which must in some degree modify the 
 views of an English statesman with reference to the Spanish 
 question, is to be found in the renunciation by Don Carlos of his 
 royal rights, and their transference to his son. At the period of 
 the Biscayan struggle, Don Carlos was the claimant, I think the 
 legitimate claimant, of the Spanish crown. His title was, however, 
 unhappily identified in the eyes of Europe generally, and most 
 especially in the opinions of the people of this country, with the 
 maintenance of absolute power. Those, indeed, who had ob- 
 served the course of action pursued through life by this prince, 
 with a more discriminating eye, were aware that his conduct was 
 uniformly influenced by an unbending adherence to that which 
 he considered right, and not by any abstract love of despotic 
 principles. As his conceptions of right were, however, formed to 
 a great extent on that which had been long established, he was 
 erroneously considered an uncompromising enemy to freedom and 
 improvement in every shape, because he was generally opposed 
 to change, and especially to violent changes, foolishly proposed. 
 That, however, which was the great cause of his unbounded 
 popularity in the Biscayan provinces, his intrepid defence of their 
 free and almost republican privileges against the encroachments 
 of the Crown, clearly shows that the tendency of his mind was to 
 support long-established institutions, without reference to their 
 effect on the royal prerogative ; for it must be remembered that 
 the court was at that time in the plenitude of its authority, and 
 in the part which he then took he could be actuated by no per- 
 sonal or selfish motive. The popular opinion of Europe, how- 
 ever, unquestionably identified the cause of despotism and the 
 interests of Don Carlos.
 
 PKEFACE. 
 
 No such imputations can, however, attach to the illustrious 
 Prince who has succeeded to his claims. His political tendencies are 
 as yet unknown to the world generally ; his career has yet to be 
 run ; but the peculiar circumstances of his early life, his early 
 freedom from royal trammels, his adventurous escape from 
 France, accomplished with so much courage, yet so much discre- 
 tion, are facts which inspire a well-grounded hope that his future 
 course in life will be practical and vigorous. Circumstances such 
 as these not only show the mettle of the man, but develop all 
 the latent resources of the mind, and cast it in a very different 
 mould from that in which the Princes of the earth were formed 
 in the comparatively untroubled days of the old regime. Nor in 
 his case has the school of adversity been wanting in its bitter 
 but salutary fruits : those fruits are perceptible in the singular 
 discretion which has distinguished his conduct since his arrival in 
 this country, in the moderation of his opinions, and in the libe- 
 rality of his sentiments. To these general dispositions is added 
 a manly desire of inspecting whatever is practically useful in this 
 country. These qualifications, combined with the known cha- 
 racter of the friends by whom he -is surrounded, combined too 
 with his own increasing acquaintance with the most enlightened 
 principles, as entertained in this country, on all matters connected 
 with the science of administration, give sanguine hopes that, if 
 ever this Prince should be called upon to wield the sceptre of 
 Spain, he will fulfil his arduous duties with more credit to him- 
 self, with more advantage to his subjects, and with a deeper sense 
 of his high responsibilities, than any Sovereign who has yet held 
 sway in Madrid. 
 
 In consequence of feelings, if not very generally altered, at least 
 greatly modified, by the altered circumstances of the time, I 
 have omitted whole chapters which were originally inserted 
 in this work ; not that I am disposed to retract a single opi- 
 nion I formerly held on the subject of Spain, but I feel that 
 lengthened comments on the policy of her Majesty's Ministers in 
 past years, on the decrees of the Spanish legislature, and on the 
 successive Governments which distracted Spain at that period, 
 have lost their interest from the lapse of time, and can only tend 
 to renew an irritation which in the present aspect of Spanish affairs 
 it is most undesirable to excite. 
 
 I still, however, retain the brief account which I then pub-
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 lished of the social and political state of Biscay. An account of 
 the history, laws, and habits of this remarkable people be- 
 longs to no particular period or particular conflict, and is indeed 
 a positive desideratum in European literature. I am quite aware 
 that in my very short sketch I have most imperfectly and inade- 
 quately supplied the deficiency ; still, however brief, I have 
 endeavoured to draw up a connected statement of their gradually 
 improving laws and liberties, and have referred my reader for 
 every fact of moment to the chroniclers and historians of the 
 time. The Basques, whose records are fraught with interest, 
 and, politically speaking, I may almost say with wonder to every 
 reflecting mind, although extremely influential from their vici- 
 nity to the frontier and their almost impregnable country, 
 occupy but an inconsiderable portion of the Spanish territory. 
 From this cause, perhaps, no constitutional history exists of this 
 most interesting people ; and the growth of their privileges, from 
 the establishment of some elementary principles of liberty in the 
 twilight of the middle ages, to the system of well-regulated but 
 unbounded freedom which they have since enjoyed, is only to be 
 traced through many documents, and in notices, copious enough it is 
 true, but scattered through the works of many historians. In those 
 occasional notices of ancient manners and opinions, visible in the 
 record of old transactions, the antiquarian may perhaps find 
 matter of amusement. 
 
 With respect to Portugal, I have dwelt but slightly on the 
 cities, the churches, and the palaces, objects which generally and 
 justly occupy so large a space in a work of this nature ; because 
 I felt that every building of importance, and almost every cir- 
 cumstance of note, in the great towns of Portugal, has been 
 accurately described by preceding authors within the last few 
 years. I have chosen an humbler path, and have endeavoured to 
 lead my reader over ground not wholly void of interest, though 
 comparatively unexplored, to make him acquainted with the 
 fairy fields of the Minho, with the gloomy superstitions of the 
 wild districts of Alentejo, with the feudal state of society still 
 lingering in the Traz os Montes, and to give him some insight 
 into the peculiar habits of the virtuous but almost unknown Gali- 
 cians. This little work will not assist the traveller through Por- 
 tugal and Galicia as a guide, and has no pretensions to that cha- 
 racter. As a guide, though a guide of no ordinary character, a
 
 via PREFACE. 
 
 work of the highest merit has lately appeared. Profoundly versed 
 in the ancient and modern histories of Spain, rich in an intimate 
 knowledge of her literature and schools of art, her people and her 
 politics, the author carries us along, impressed, at one time, with 
 the grandeur of her Christian and Gothic temples, and at another 
 fascinated by the beauty of her oriental halls ; but, more than all, 
 he is imbued with that genio loci, that spirit of the land, which 
 no man can successfully evoke unless his mind be fitted by some- 
 thing of a kindred nature to receive the spell. He has trans- 
 ferred to his own glowing but accurate pages that vivid apprecia- 
 tion which he so singularly possesses of all that is characteristic 
 in Spain. Spain lives in his book, clad in her own peculiar and 
 inimitable colouring. Those who wish to be acquainted with 
 Spain in detail, with Spain in all her varied bearings, must consult 
 this work of Mr. Ford, our great literary master on these points. 
 
 This work is not a detailed description of remarkable places, 
 but rather a record of events that befel the author during his 
 journey through the country at a very critical period, and of ob- 
 servations growing out of that peculiar state of things. My mode 
 of travelling was calculated to secure the kind of information I 
 wished to obtain. From Corunna to Cape St. Vincent my journeys 
 were invariably performed on horseback ; and I was thus enabled 
 to deviate at pleasure from the high road, and penetrate into the 
 most secluded districts, encountering at times great hardships, and 
 even considerable peril, mixing with all classes, and often joining 
 the peasantry as they collected around their evening fires. 
 
 These habits, combined with the distracted state of the times 
 in which my expeditions were generally undertaken, occasionally 
 involved me in suspicion, and led me into situations of consider- 
 able embarrassment ; but perhaps enabled me to obtain some 
 knowledge of the popular feeling, a knowledge which, in mo- 
 ments of political disturbance, can seldom be acquired, except by 
 personal and somewhat severe experience. 
 
 I must also admit that I may have been involved in adventures 
 not strictly defensible on the score of prudence ; but it will be 
 remembered, I trust, that many years have elapsed since their 
 occurrence, and I was then at a time of life when difficulties to 
 be surmounted and dangers to be braved are rather a source of 
 pleasurable excitement than of wise and careful avoidance. 
 Highdere, Jan. 26, 1848.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 Voyage to Lisbon Steam Packet Lisbon View over the Tagus Cintra 
 Bay of Colares Marialva Palace Mr. Beckford's Villa Irish Mater- 
 nityPortuguese Games Page 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Road to Mafra Convent of Mafra Convent of Alcobacja Monastic Sys- 
 tem considered The ill-fated Loves of Don Pedro and Inez de Castro 
 Politics of the Monks Their Social Habits Gloomy Magnificence of 
 the Convent of Alcobacja Convent of Batalha Society at Coimbra 
 System pursued at the University The Garden of Tears Melancholy 
 Convent of the Carmelites Spanish Anomalies History of the beautiful 
 Bride of Oporto Arrival at Oporto 15 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Count and Countess of Villa Flor Portuguese Society Effect of the recent 
 Changes on the Portuguese Character Author leaves Oporto Tremen- 
 dous Storm Fall of Locusts Description of the Traz os Montes The 
 Valentoines Feudal Manners of the Nobles Dinner at the Capitan Mor 
 Character and Mansion of the venerable Senhor Joaquim Lamego 
 Hospitality of Senhor Ferreira Superstition of the Enchanted Mooress 
 Return to Oporto ......... 42 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Author leaves Oporto a second time Portuguese Authorities alarmed 
 Exquisite Beauty of the Eiitre Minho Joyous Manners of the People 
 Dramatic Dances Author loses his way in the Forest Terrible Super- 
 stition of the Bruchas A Valentoine Caminha Author enters Spain 
 Antiquated Landlady of Caldas Old-fashioned Inn at Santiago Shrine 
 of St. Jago de Compostella Field of Corunna Influence of the Monks 
 Passionate Patriotism of the Galicians Ferrol ... 66 
 
 b
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Carious Costume of the Maragattos Don Felippe Moreda The Author 
 arrested State of Parties in Spain Anecdote of King Ferdinand 
 Journey to Santiago with the Royalist Volunteers Ruinous Building 
 Robber Tales of the Spaniard Superstitions of the Portuguese The 
 Escolar, or Wolf-impeller A truly loyal Dame Superstition of the Negro 
 Ludicrous Discomfiture of an Alcalde Author released . Page 92 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Author arrested again Description of Eguia, then Captain-General, 
 the famous Carlist Chief commanding in Biscay Eguia's Tribunal 
 Author examined Remains in Santiago on Parole State of Public 
 Feeling Immense Power of the Clergy Spanish Notions of Religious 
 Freedom Love and Devotion in Spain Vigilance of the Police 
 Senor Atocha Eguia's Tribunal Author restored to Liberty Re-enters 
 Portugal . . . .n ' . '' 132 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Author becomes six years younger than he was in the last Chapter 
 Distracted State of Spain in 1822 Slaughter of the Royalists at Cervera 
 Leaves Barcelona Ascends the Mountain of Montserrat Visits the 
 famous Convent The fated Town of Vila destroyed that very day Wild 
 Charge of a Guerilla Band Author made Prisoner Roar of the distant 
 Fight Precarious Situation of the Author Fidelity of his young Guide 
 Desolate Venta Author liberated Guerilla Band and Chief described 
 The ludicrous Shock . . . . ..*. . . 155 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 First Impressions confirmed Surpassing Beauty of the Entre Minho 
 Superstition of the Beuto Convent of Thibaim Guimaraens Inhabit- 
 ants of the Minho and Mountaineers of the Trazos compared Break- 
 fast in the Convent Parlour Monkish Waggery Return to Lisbon 180 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Opening of the Cortes The Chambers Dom Miguel's arrival in the Tagus 
 Swears to maintain the Charter Tumults Melancholy Party at Bem- 
 fica Progress of the Revolution Policy of the Court Emigration of the 
 Imperialists Interview with Count Villa Flor on board the Frigate 
 Visit to Costa A Nighf s Adventure 192
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Assassination of the Professors of Coimbra Costa Midnight Adventure 
 Visconde Sa da Bandeira Departure of the English Army Sir William 
 Clinton Dom Miguel Page 213 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Author leaves Lisbon Moita Luxuriant Vegetation Setuval Wild 
 Scene of Midnight Revolution Arrabida Convent Melides Simplicity 
 of the People-^Santiago The Capitan Mor Want of Communication 
 Villa Nova Sierra de Monchique Beauty of a Portuguese Heath Senhor 
 Joaquim, Corregidor of Lagos His Kindness and Hospitality . 224 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Visit to Sagres Don Henry Castle of Sagres Cape St. Vincent Portu- 
 guese Ceremonial Courtesies of Society St. Vincent's Chair Villa 
 dbisbo Ludicrous Mistake Return to Lagos Juan the Borderer 
 Women of Silves Marquis of Pombal The Prazo Faro Tavira 
 Villa Real Barbarity to Animals Atrocities of Majendie Alcoutin 
 Revolt at Mertola The Lobishomens Beja The Alentejo Religious 
 Enthusiasm ... ... . 246 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Revolt in the Provinces Evora Author arrested Fury of the Populace 
 The Guard-room The Prison Andalusian Banditti The Corregidor 
 Confinement Tumult and Defeat of the Troops Author released The 
 Borderer Andalusian Smugglers Leaves Evora Leaves Lisbon 
 Montemor Superstition of the Beggars Pegoines African Adventure 
 detailed Arrives at Lisbon Dom Miguel declared King Quits Lisbon 
 Reflections on past Events Returns to England . . .273 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Review of the Social and Political State of the Basque Provinces . 316 
 
 NOTES .........'' 353
 
 PORTUGAL AND GALICIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Voyage to Lisbon Steam Packet Lisbon View over the Tagus Cintra 
 Bay of Colares Marialva Palace Mr. Beckford's Villa Irish Maternity 
 Portuguese Games. 
 
 I EMBAKKED on board the Duke of York steam-packet on the 
 evening of the 28th of July, 1827, and quitted the harbour of 
 Portsmouth at six o'clock. We glided rapidly along the coast 
 of Hampshire ; the wind fell, the night was fine, and there was 
 little motion on the water. I paced the deck till a late hour, 
 and was joined by a gentleman, whose conversation, replete with 
 Eastern lore, attracted my attention. I afterwards heard him 
 announced as Mr. Wolff, the celebrated missionary, then pro* 
 ceeding with his wife, Lady Georgiana, to the Holy Land. I 
 was introduced to her in the evening, and could not but admire 
 the unhesitating devotion with which she renounced her native 
 country and her natural connexions to follow her husband's for- 
 tunes, and promote her religious faith in a distant and barbarous 
 land. 
 
 We had passed the coasts of Hampshire and Dorsetshire 
 during the night, and now saw, a few miles distant, but full in 
 view, the dark-red shores of Devonshire. Immediately before 
 us the Exe poured its noble stream into the Channel : we skirted 
 the picturesque coves of Dawlish, but an unfriendly mist con- 
 cealed them from our sight ; we glided by Berryhead ; we passed 
 the furze-covered heights of Asherne ; and Start Point, stretch- 
 ing boldly into the ocean, was the last British headland that 
 greeted us over the deep. We then bore straight towards 
 Ushant in a south-westerly direction, passed that island during
 
 2 VOYAGE TO PORTUGAL. [CHAP. i. 
 
 the following night, and entered the Bay of Biscay. The ideas 
 of storm and dread, which the old song and nursery associations 
 have so long connected with this famous bay, were not, upon 
 this occasion, weakened by any unusual calm ; we were only im- 
 pelled, it is true, by a light and favourable breeze, but the waters 
 were sufficiently ruffled to contrast advantageously, in point of 
 grandeur and size of wave, with the Channel which we had just 
 left. A windy day was succeeded by a fine starlight night. 
 
 The following morning was calm, and the sea had a fine blue 
 tinge. I finished, with regret, that delightful picture of Eastern 
 manners, the ' Epicurean,' one of the most fascinating works of 
 an author who never fails to transport his readers into the scenes 
 and climates he describes, as much by the justness as by the 
 beauty of his imagery. 
 
 On the 1st of August we were skirting the bold and moun- 
 tainous coast of Gallicia ; we saw the lighthouse of Corunna in 
 the distance ; we passed the picturesque island of Cisargas ; and 
 the high hills in the background mingled well with occasional 
 glimpses of the intervening sea ; we were borne rapidly along by 
 Monte Boa Villana, and Cape Finisterre celebrated as the limit 
 of the renowned Bay of Biscay. The hills are barren, and have 
 that sandy appearance so characteristic of Spanish scenery. The 
 villages are few ; and there is little wood on the coast, which we 
 sometimes approached so nearly that we saw and heard the waves 
 breaking upon its granite rocks. On the evening of the fol- 
 lowing day we saw the large and little Berlines, two groups of 
 bold and peaked crags, standing far out in the sea. Soon after- 
 wards we hailed a ship proceeding to Gibraltar, and in a few 
 minutes left her far behind. It is difficult to describe the effect 
 produced on the mind by the rapidity of steam navigation in the 
 neighbourhood of striking and varied scenery : objects fatiguing 
 to the sight, if dwelt upon too long, appear enchanting when 
 they pass before the eye in rapid succession, like shifting scenes 
 on the stage. We were now in latitude 39\ and its influence 
 was perceptible. We enjoyed the heavenly stillness of a southern 
 evening, yet were not retarded by the universal calm. The 
 setting sun shed a fine glow on the waters, illuminated the dis- 
 tant sails of the ship we had lately hailed, and shed its last glories 
 on the Berline crags, which presented themselves in many dif-
 
 CHAP, i.] LISBON. 3 
 
 ferent but always in picturesque points of view, and at length 
 sank beneath the horizon. 
 
 Early on the following morning I saw immediately ahead the 
 rock of Lisbon: the hills of Cintra rose finely in the background, 
 arid the neighbouring coast was studded with villas intermingled 
 with olive and orange groves. The entrance of the Tagus is 
 fine : on one side the shore is crowded with palaces ; on the other, 
 the hills, though neither very bold or varied, possess sufficient 
 elevation to give character to the scene. The fort of Belem is 
 curious, picturesque, and irregular, but without architectural 
 beauty. We passed by the house of the British Admiral, Lord 
 Amelius Beauclerk, and the palace of the Cardinal, a spacious 
 edifice, with many turrets, but a very unpleasing display of slate 
 roof. As we sailed up the river, the beauty of the view in- 
 creased. The noble but unfinished palace of the Ajuda crowned 
 the summit of a neighbouring steep ; and then the whole city of 
 Lisbon, built on its seven sloping hills, and overhanging the 
 Tagus, gradually revealed itself; and as its palaces and convents, 
 interspersed with gardens, were seen rising above each other, it 
 certainly formed a most imposing object from the water. En- 
 tering one of the numerous boats by which we were besieged, 
 and rowing across the Tagus, I landed at Pampoullia, and 
 ascended a steep hill that leads to Reeves's Hotel. Our voyage 
 had only lasted six days, and was considered prosperous. The 
 party on board exhibited a curious assemblage of persons, enter- 
 taining very dissimilar ideas, and distinguished by very different 
 manners an assemblage that could hardly, under any other cir- 
 cumstances, have been brought together ; and this discrepancy of 
 tastes, habits, and opinions, sometimes gave rise to amusing and 
 not altogether uninstructive scenes. Besides Lady Georgiana 
 and Mr. Wolff, Mrs. Burgoyne was also a passenger, a lady of 
 great taste and accomplishments, then sailing to Lisbon to join 
 her husband, Lieutenant-Colonel Burgoyne, whose acquaintance I 
 had afterwards the pleasure of making in that city, and am in- 
 deed indebted to their society for many delightful hours. There 
 was also a niece of Romero Alpuente's, who was said to be 
 dying, and two other ladies, one simplicity itself, and the other 
 more remarkable for her beauty than for that youthful quality. 
 I secured rooms at Reeves's, and remained stationary till the 
 
 B 2
 
 4 LISBON. [CHAP. i. 
 
 evening, when I was joined by my friend Sir Arthur Capel de 
 Brooke, a young man of ancient family, and at that time well 
 known in the literary world by his published travels ; since that 
 period he has largely added to his reputation by his ' Journey 
 into Morocco,' a work exhibiting an unusual talent for observa- 
 tion, with a quick appreciation of the beautiful, and great general 
 powers. 
 
 The view from my windows extended over Lisbon, over the 
 river, with its numerous shipping, and a thousand latine sails 
 glittering on its surface, and now lighted up by the last rays of 
 the setting sun : few objects strike the beholder with greater ad- 
 miration than these peculiar sails, which are exquisitely beautiful 
 when seen in profile ; and when beheld in front resemble a but- 
 terfly perched on a dark ground, with wings expanded. Soon 
 afterwards the moon rose, and we rambled through the city by a 
 light peculiarly favourable to every natural or artificial object 
 that is grand in its proportions but defective in detail. 
 
 On the 9th of August I went with Mr. Forbes, to whose kind- 
 ness I was indebted on a thousand occasions, to see the Aqueduct, 
 which is perhaps unequalled in boldness and grandeur of effect 
 by any similar monument of art. It supplies Lisbon with water ; 
 it traverses a deep valley near the beautiful village of Alcantara ; 
 and as I stood beneath the centre arch, and gazed upwards, it 
 appeared absolutely stupendous: unfortunately, the arches are 
 not uniform ; some are in the Gothic and pointed style, while 
 others are semicircular, a discrepancy which mars the general 
 effect, but less than might be supposed. Although this aqueduct 
 stretches across the country for many miles uninterruptedly, no 
 great extent of unbroken range can be seen from any particular 
 position, on account of the extreme inequality of the ground. 
 
 That evening dining with our Ambassador Sir William A'Court, 
 I found myself seated next to the Count da Puente, who was 
 just nominated Secretary for the War Department, upon the 
 retirement of Count Saldanha. He possessed great conversa- 
 tional powers and considerable talent for debate, and at that 
 time acted with the moderate and well-judging body of the Con- 
 stitutionalists : and here, for the first time, I met Count Villa 
 Flor, the representative of an ancient house, a man of high 
 integrity, and universally looked up to by the stanch adherents
 
 CHAP, i.] COUNT VILLA FLOR CINTRA. 5 
 
 of the Charter. In the beginning' of the year he had com- 
 manded the Constitutional forces against the Miguelites, and the 
 most distinguished success had attended his military exertions. 
 On the following day I again met him at Sir William Clinton's, 
 where a large party was assembled to celebrate the birthday of 
 King George the Fourth, at which entertainment our host ju- 
 diciously contrived that the band should play Portuguese airs 
 during dinner. The ' Bridge of Creus,' a piece of music so called, 
 after the action gained by Count Villa Flor, and composed almost 
 on the field of battle, evidently excited some emotion among the 
 chiefs who were then present and had fought on that day. 
 
 Late in the evening I wandered over the General's garden, 
 laid out in the old taste of straight walks, parterres, fountains, 
 and statues : fragrant shrubs abounded ; creepers hung over the 
 trellises in profusion ; the scene was peaceful, and lit up by a 
 splendid moon. I returned home, and retired to rest ; but the 
 incessant assaults of the mosquitos banished sleep. These 
 vampires found me, unfortunately easy of access, as the heat of 
 the weather had induced me to keep every door and window 
 open : had they only devoured me, I might have patiently en- 
 dured the infliction ; but they kept up a perpetual war-song in 
 my ears, an insulting accompaniment to their human repast. 
 After some restless hours I rose and paced my room. The view 
 from my window was lovely. I looked upon the Tagus, with 
 all its shipping, from the frigate to the little latine sail ; the op- 
 posite hills, softened, yet distinctly shown, by the full moon ; and 
 the great city itself buried in deep repose. 
 
 On the 13th of August I quitted Lisbon, and took the road to 
 Cintra, with Colonel Lambert, of the Guards, a friend long 
 known and much esteemed. In consequence of sundry ingenious 
 delays on the part of my domestic, we did not start till five 
 o'clock in the morning, too late by an hour at least to com- 
 mence, at that sultry time of year, a journey in Portugal. The 
 Tagus gleamed through the mists which overhung its surface, 
 and exhibited that freshness of appearance which water some- 
 times assumes, in southern latitudes, at a very early hour in the 
 morning, as if it had just started from the hand of the Creator, 
 and were flowing, for the first time, at his mandate. As we pro- 
 ceeded, the country had little interest ; but loose stones scattered
 
 6 CINTRA. [CHAP. i. 
 
 in all directions, gave it a wild and craggy appearance. At 
 length we reached Bemfica, a place greatly resorted to by the 
 Portuguese nobles, and surrounded with orange-groves and cork- 
 woods ; and well indeed their deep-green colour contrasted with 
 the dazzling whiteness of the villas or quintas which adorn this 
 beautiful valley. We passed the palace of Queluz, a graceless 
 edifice, situated in an ugly country, but famous at that time as 
 the head-quarters of the disaffected party ; for there the Queen 
 Mother resided in sullen state, holding no communication with 
 her royal daughter, and offering up ceaseless prayers for the re- 
 turn of her banished son, and for the restoration of the ancient 
 rule. 
 
 The scenery improved as we approached Cintra, the vegeta- 
 tion became more flourishing, long avenues of the silver poplar 
 lined the road, the bay and the willow attained an immense size, 
 and the oak and elm interspersed with box overhung the road 
 and formed a delightful shade. At length we entered Cintra, 
 placed at the foot of a hill of rather a singular character, for its 
 summit, crowned with loose crags and sharp pinnacles, offered a 
 striking variety to the woods that covered its base ; then passing 
 the palace, a fantastic and irregular edifice, we stopped at the 
 Irish inn, where I found a host of military friends and some 
 English newspapers, which informed me that I had left Eng- 
 land. After breakfast we walked through the gardens of the 
 Marquis de Pombal, truly delightful from their ample shade and 
 luxuriant vegetation ; but in Portugal little care is bestowed on 
 plants when beauty is their sole recommendation, and no atten- 
 tion is paid to distinctions of species. The climate is the only 
 agent there, man lends no assistance in producing graceful com- 
 binations ; but at Gibraltar, where both unite, a barren rock is 
 converted into an Elysium. Walks are, however, cut through 
 the gardens of Cintra, and rustic seats are placed under the shade 
 of ancient chestnuts and by the side of murmuring fountains, 
 while the borders are filled with oranges, lemons, and fruit-trees 
 of every description : the sight and sound of water is inex- 
 pressibly grateful, and the general verdure most refreshing to an 
 eye fatiorued by the glare of Lisbon, and by the parched appear- 
 ance of its hills. At every opening in the wood, the Moorish 
 castle and convent of " Our Lady of the Rock " were seen in
 
 CHAP, i.] CINTRA HIGHWAY ROBBERY. 7 
 
 varied points of view frowning from their airy heights upon the 
 valley below, which lay glittering in the suri, sprinkled with 
 numberless quintas, some fully revealed, others half buried in 
 the shade of their orange- groves. The system of irrigation 
 practised in those parts of Spain which have been occupied till a 
 late period by the Moors prevails here also ; the borders are in- 
 tersected and watered by little canals, and the earth is heaped 
 round the orange-trees, so as to form a sort of cistern, by which 
 means the roots are always kept plentifully moistened. 
 
 We returned to our inn and dined with a party of military 
 men, amongst whom was a young officer who had been seized a 
 few days before by some mounted highwaymen, robbed, stripped, 
 and left with his hands tied behind him : from this dilemma he 
 extricated himself with some difficulty, and returned in very 
 doleful plight to Lisbon, where some old women who saw him 
 pacing the streets in this pitiable deficiency of attire remarked, 
 " Este Fidalgo faz penitencia."* In the evening we wandered 
 through the Pena Verde gardens to the spot where the heart of 
 John de Castro is interred. The periwinkle and wild strawberry 
 covered the ground ; and the cork-tree clothed with ivy, and the 
 gigantic stone pine, formed a dense canopy overhead. A delight- 
 ful mixture of northern and southern vegetation is found in 
 many parts of Portugal, and especially at Cintra, where plants 
 peculiar to the south of Europe, and even some that have been 
 transported from the Madeiras, grow luxuriantly under the shade 
 of the British oak. Cintra resembles a beautiful picture set in a 
 worthless frame : whenever the eye rests on the town and its im- 
 mediate neighbourhood the scenery is unrivalled, but the distant 
 landscape is generally flat and uninteresting. The day was de- 
 clining ; and, as'the heat had been intense, I expected to see the 
 sun sink " in one unclouded blaze of living light," but its part- 
 ing splendours were concealed by a dense mist rising from the 
 ocean. There is a peculiar beauty of sunset, probably unknown 
 to countries bordering upon the Atlantic, and perhaps confined 
 to the shores of the blue Mediterranean ; I mean that exquisite 
 gradation of colouring, where the saffron mingles imperceptibly 
 with the rose, and the rose tint melts into the purple, all ex- 
 
 * This Fidalgo is doing penance.
 
 8 THE CORK CONVENT. [CHAP. i. 
 
 tremely bright, yet so delicate as to seem almost transparent. 
 From the Pena Verde gardens we went to the Marialva palace. 
 
 In the course of the day the Infanta Regent and her sisters 
 were continually riding out of the town and again returning to 
 the palace, mounted on donkeys, and unattended by any lady, 
 but escorted by a body of ancient gentlemen on horseback. A 
 peal general from all the bells of Cintra regularly announced 
 their departure from the town and their re-entry, and collected a 
 never-failing crowd to 'witness their progress. I felt consider- 
 able interest in the fate of these young Princesses, which was 
 then wrapped in doubt and gloom. 
 
 On the 14th of August I rode with my friend Lambert for 
 some miles across hills clothed with heath and dwarf oak, and at 
 length arrived at the Cork convent, a building ill constructed, 
 but well placed at the foot of a richly-wooded hill ; a paved 
 walk overhung with fine cork-trees leads to the entrance, which 
 is curiously ornamented with shell-work. Here Lambert rang a 
 peal both loud and long ; the bell-rope, which, like Gloster's 
 arm, was shrivelled and contracted to half its original length, 
 performed its duty sluggishly, and for some time no response 
 was voted necessary to his vigorous exertions. At length a boy 
 appeared, and led us through a court full of hydrangeas and 
 fuchsias into a wretched apartment called the refectory ; benches, 
 doors, and roofs, were all constructed of cork, and sometimes the 
 crag in its native state formed part of the wall. Here, while we 
 feasted on bread and wine, young Hopeful told us that, afraid of 
 being enlisted for the army, he had taken refuge in the convent, 
 and wofully he complained of the non-existence of breakfasts and 
 the scanty supply of dried fish at dinner. The rosemary grows 
 luxuriantly in the gardens above, where we enjoyed a fine view 
 of Colares embosomed in wood, and then descended into the mi- 
 serable cave, where 
 
 " Honorius long did dwell, 
 And hoped to merit heaven by making earth a hell." 
 
 The vineyards near Colares are small, and so much divided by 
 stone walls, that the country resembles a large garden split into 
 an infinite number of parterres. As we approached the rock of 
 Lisbon, half the population of a neighbouring village poured out 
 to meet us, anxious to perform the far-famed feat of descending
 
 CHAP, i.] BAY OF COLAKES. 
 
 the steep. When we had nearly reached the point, the roar of 
 the Atlantic, heard from an immense depth below, suddenly 
 broke upon us. The rock, a striking landmark to ships at sea, 
 is about two hundred feet in height, and slants to the water's 
 edge in a great uniform sheet of dark-coloured stone, down which 
 our heroes descended, carefully balancing themselves with their 
 hands ; a feat which early and long-continued habit can alone 
 enable them to perform successfully ; a frightful sight, as the 
 least slip would have inevitably proved fatal ; yet the descent 
 cannot be very difficult, as numbers accomplished it, nor can it 
 be attended with much personal risk, as no accident had then 
 occurred for some years. These feats having terminated without 
 the fracture of any adventurous skull, there rose a clamour great 
 of men and boys, contending for the spoil which we distributed 
 with laudable impartiality. 
 
 We then descended the hill and followed a path leading to the 
 small bay of Colares, a picturesque spot little known to the 
 world, from which it is effectually shut out by huge black ba- 
 saltic rocks of the boldest character. Here we found the At- 
 lantic, ever restless on this coast, breaking on a fine bed of sand, 
 and dashing its foam over large masses of disjointed crag. This 
 was a scene peculiarly suited to my own taste, and was indeed 
 calculated to impress any beholder, from the contrast it pre- 
 sented to the surrounding scenery. Here all was dark, bleak, 
 and savage ; while on the road to Colares nature seemed to ex- 
 haust herself in the endless variety and extreme beauty of the 
 vegetation: there the olive, the wild olive, the arbutus im- 
 mensely high, the tulip, the plane, and the gigantic stone-pine 
 environed us : we passed the cork-tree everywhere bending over 
 the road in the most fantastic shapes, with fern growing on its 
 huge trunks, and mistletoe hanging profusely from its branches ; 
 jasmines, sparkling with their snowy blossoms, loaded the air 
 with their perfume ; and various kinds of creepers overran the 
 trees, oppressed them with their rank luxuriance, and sometimes 
 covered and entirely concealed their foliage. We found the oak 
 in abundance ; orange and lemon groves were mixed with Indian 
 corn and water-melon ; fruit-trees of every description lined the 
 road ; and the vine, not topped and trained as in France, but 
 hung over trellis-work, appeared no longer a formal but a grace-
 
 10 MARIALVA PALACE. [CHAP. i. 
 
 ful plant. We now dismissed our guide, a lad apparently fifteen 
 years of age, \vhom we had found by chance on the hills. The 
 general expression of his countenance was sinister, his com- 
 plexion almost of the Mulatto colour, his eyes were black as jet, 
 and flashed with intelligence. Among these mountains the people 
 are invariably dark ; and I sometimes observed a negro cast of 
 feature, which indicated their former intercourse with Brazil. 
 Frequently we met the real negro. 
 
 On the 15th of August I went with Lambert to the Marialva 
 palace, where the famous convention is generally, though incor- 
 rectly, supposed to have been signed. It now belongs to the 
 Duke de la Foens. The garden is beautiful, arid there is a pro- 
 fusion of water. On the staircase we met the little daughter of 
 the Duke, a pretty child about eight or ten years of age, with 
 dark but soft and expressive eyes. She showed us a paper which 
 contained some written sentences in English, and read them 
 fluently. We afterwards entered an apartment where some 
 priests were breakfasting with other persons attired in black, 
 probably dependents of the Duke ; for in Portugal, as in Spain, 
 when individuals have once become connected with the great, 
 they, and sometimes their descendants, continue to reside under 
 their patron's roof from generation to generation. This extreme 
 liberality towards old domestics and dependent friends occasion- 
 ally involves the nobles in great pecuniary embarrassments. 
 However adverse to the maxims of political economy, this prac- 
 tice reflects the highest honour on their moral feelings, and 
 could only exist among a generous people. Before we left the 
 palace a curious scene took place. One of the sable gentlemen 
 whom we had previously seen, addressing us in the flowing style 
 which distinguishes the Portuguese of all classes, proffered us 
 every civility. The Majordomo unfortunately named him as 
 the writing-master ; a designation which jarred hugely on the 
 scholastic ears, and produced a wrathful ebullition of offended 
 dignity. " Moi maitre d'ecriture !" he exclaimed, in a voice 
 and with an eye that would have annihilated any person of in- 
 ferior consideration to a Majordomo in a ducal palace ; " be- 
 cause I know more than himself, and sometimes study with the 
 Duke, this man of narrow intellect calls me a writing-master !" 
 We of course assumed countenances incredulous of the heinous
 
 CHAP, i.] MR. BECKFORD'S VILLA. 11 
 
 assertion, and made our exit with bows of a superlatively re- 
 spectful length. On our return to the inn we saw a curious 
 specimen of the mode of travelling sometimes adopted by the 
 Portuguese gentry. A pair of oxen were attached to a lumber- 
 ing vehicle destined to convey the illustrious Dona and her 
 
 progeny to the capital, while the coachman, attired in a short 
 jacket and wearing the broad Castilian hat, marched humbly by 
 their side. 
 
 We rode on to Montserrat, the remains of a villa built by 
 Mr. Beckford many years ago. The ruinous state of that fairy 
 dwelling was noticed by Lord Byron in 1809, and since that 
 time it has become still more desolate. The roof, then entire, 
 has since very much fallen in, and the walls are in many parts a 
 heap of ruins. The entrance opens into an octagonal hall, ter- 
 minated by a circular apartment, which looks over a lengthened 
 flat to the distant breakers. There is also the shell remaining 
 of a fine apartment, perhaps the library, which commands as rich 
 a view of forest scenery as can well be conceived. The general 
 effect of the exterior is good, except the high slanting roofs, 
 which, though in correct taste, are somewhat unpleasing. Fur- 
 ther on we saw the ruins of a rambling house, to which a 
 dark story is attached ; for a young man is there said to have 
 murdered his elder brother under circumstances of peculiar 
 horror. 
 
 On our return to Cintra we dined at the house of the Swedish 
 Minister, Monsieur de Kantzau. In the evening a tumult of 
 bells announced the approach of the Infanta Regent ; and as we 
 were walking on the garden terrace she recognised Madame de 
 Kantzau with a sweetness of expression that well supplied the 
 place of positive beauty. Her Royal Highness and Dona Anna 
 rode by in complete uniform : a funny costume methought for 
 regal dames, but such is the etiquette prescribed on certain days. 
 Dona Maria was not of the party, and some of the lightly dis- 
 posed attributed her Royal Highness's absence to a facetious 
 dispute supposed to have agitated the court circle. In this dis- 
 cussion the Princess Maria is said to have maintained that so 
 much military pomp was little suited to the humble donkey on 
 which it was destined to be exhibited ; however, less ingenious, 
 but perhaps more veracious chroniclers, record that her Royal
 
 12 IRISHWOMAN. [CHAP. i. 
 
 Highness's absence was solely attributable to want of punctuality 
 on the part of the court tailor. 
 
 Having returned to the inn, I waited some time for a friend 
 who had promised to introduce me to Madame Borril, and was 
 quietly betaking myself to rest when the defaulter arrived. The 
 cause of his delay was comical enough. The Portuguese fre- 
 quently adopt the children of other persons, educate them, and 
 sometimes promote their future fortunes. The Infanta Eegent, 
 possessing the national taste, applied to an Irishwoman, who forth- 
 with accommodated her Royal Highness with her own daughter, 
 a thriving young girl two years of age. The agreement was 
 deliberately made, and the article in question sold and delivered. 
 The mother, however, whose notions concerning the transfer of 
 property were not peculiarly clear, returned after a short time, 
 and wished to enter again into possession : to this the Infanta 
 naturally demurred, and probably no such tumult of Irish 
 ejaculation had ever before assailed the ears of any royal per- 
 sonage. In this emergency my friend was requested to march 
 his military person to the palace, where he found our heroine of 
 the Emerald Isle fiercely expostulating amid a host of huge 
 black Brazilian women, who were screaming in chorus around 
 her. Yet nothing daunted was the dame. "By Jasus, no one 
 shall part me and my child," was still the burden of her song. 
 A golden argument at length induced her to mitigate such 
 unreasonable claims, and a satisfactory treaty of peace was con- 
 cluded. She was allowed to retain her child during that night, 
 and was provided with good lodgings, a good supper, and a 
 sentinel at her door, to prevent either warlike or fugitive pro- 
 ceedings. I accompanied my friend in the evening to her room : 
 she was then in the highest good-humour, and greatly flattered 
 by the notice taken of her blue-eyed child. On the following 
 morning he conducted the little girl to the palace, according to 
 agreement, while the mother was deposited on a donkey and 
 peaceably removed. 
 
 On the following morning I went to the palace ; but as it was 
 still occupied by the Court, I could only see the exterior, which 
 is irregular, and evidently the work of different periods, but part 
 of the \valls and some of the windows are decidedly Moorish. 
 Joined by Lambert, I afterwards ascended the hill leading to
 
 CHAP, i.] OUR LADY OF WOE BLIND-MAN'S BUFF. 13 
 
 the house of " Our Lady of Woe," as Lord Byron, rather poetic- 
 ally, as he himself admits, than justly, designates the house of 
 " Our Lady of the Rock," which occupies a striking position on 
 the summit of the mountain, and is surrounded by wild shattered 
 crags, and insulated masses, very remarkable in a natural point 
 of view, 
 
 " Such as might seem confusedly hurl'd, 
 The fragments of an earlier world." 
 
 The convent has no beauty, but is curious and evidently 
 ancient, and the galleries encircling the inner court are in 
 Moorish taste. The howling of the wind is heard without inter- 
 mission round the convent walls ; that mournful and unvarying 
 sound alone disturbs the silence of a habitation raised high 
 above the busy haunts of men, and apparently beyond the reach 
 of human care. From hence we scrambled up a rugged path 
 to the Moorish castle, and. again descending, mounted our mules 
 and regained the inn. 
 
 In the evening I accompanied a friend to a party at the house 
 of a Portuguese lady : she had two daughters, the eldest a pretty 
 person with pleasing manners and extremely well informed, the 
 youngest a very decided beauty. The party were playing at 
 blind-man's buff when I entered ; a game in which, as it is 
 played in Portugal, success depends upon the rapid recognition 
 of different persons by their voices. Being immediately required 
 to take a part, I was blindfolded and placed in the centre of the 
 ring. I first, however, pleaded ignorance of every individual 
 present ; upon which the lively beauty led me round the circle, 
 hastily naming every person, an ingenious operation which did 
 not much assist me, as I could not bear in mind a volley of 
 names which I had never heard before : however, trusting to 
 chance, I began my career, and soon touched a lady with the 
 wand. I asked the regular question, and was answered in the 
 feigned voice as regularly assumed. " Whom have you found ?" 
 was the general cry. I paused. "Well, but mention some one ; 
 the game is at a stand-still :" but I could specify no one. I 
 looked stupid, and my new friends probably thought me pro- 
 foundly so : at length by a prodigious exertion I was delivered 
 of a name, but it did not enlighten the party ; and I afterwards 
 discovered that the name I had given was a compound of two or
 
 14 RETURN TO LISBON. [CHAP. i. 
 
 three others, which had become most egregriously mixed up in 
 my puzzled brain. This attempt having proved unsuccessful, I 
 exclaimed, " La dame qui est habille'e en noir." '' Mais nous 
 sommes toutes habillees en noir," was the perplexing reply. At 
 length I named the eldest demoiselle of the house. " No, it is 
 not ; it is C ," said the young beauty, naming herself in a 
 lively tone of mock reproach, perhaps a little displeased that so 
 soft a voice once heard should not be immediately recognised. 
 We played several other games. Every lady was required to 
 sigh for a particular gentleman, who in turn was called upon to 
 sigh for a lady, and generally felt bound in gratitude to mourn 
 for her who had mourned for him. This reciprocal grief was 
 very diverting. As might naturally be expected, a sigh is rarely 
 bestowed on the real object of the mourner's affection. So 
 closed an evening of uninterrupted good humour. The genuine 
 politeness of Portuguese society prevents the occurrence of those 
 little inadvertencies which are so apt in other countries to jar 
 upon the feelings of individuals, and break in upon the harmony 
 of such amusements. On the following day I separated from 
 my friend Lambert with regret, and returned to Lisbon.
 
 CHAP, ii.] ROAD TO MAFRA. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Road to Mafra Convent of Mafra Convent of Alcobaca Monastic System 
 considered The ill-fated loves of Don Pedro and Inez de Castro Poli- 
 tics of the Monks Their social habits Gloomy magnificence of the 
 Convent of Alcobaga Convent of Batalha Society at Coimbra System 
 pursued at the University The Garden of Tears Melancholy Convent 
 of the Carmelites Spanish anomalies History of the beautiful Bride of 
 Oporto Arrival at Oporto. 
 
 I QUITTED Lisbon on the 24th of August, and took the road to 
 Oporto, but did not commence my journey till late in the evening, 
 as my servant Antonio was disinclined to rapid movements, and 
 my muleteer voted punctuality an unnecessary virtue. The 
 owner of the mules escorted us as far as the walls of the city, 
 according to the usual etiquette. He had accommodated me 
 with an animal which stumbled so gallantly to the right arid to 
 the left, that, feeling my neck in decided jeopardy, I determined 
 to send her back on my arrival at Velez. The country was dull, 
 and abounded in windmills and olives. The premature effect of 
 the heat on the deciduous trees was strongly marked. The 
 poplars had suffered greatly ; some were altogether stripped of 
 their leaves, and the foliage was everywhere changing its colour. 
 Even at Cintra, where the air is comparatively cool, the autumnal 
 tints were stealing over the woods, and the paths, strewed with sear 
 and yellow leaves, exhibited the bright but mournful beauty of an 
 English October. The inn at Velez was comfortless enough : 
 cats, dogs, and pigeons wandered about the supper-table, in 
 hungry competition for the good things that were not ; pigs, 
 grunting at the door, threatened to join the alliance ; and the 
 only article of promise, some salt fish, was pounced upon by an 
 intrepid puss. Entomology might have been studied to per- 
 fection in this apartment ; and as its minute varieties banished 
 sleep, I continued to gaze on sundry pictures of hell and flaming 
 sinners, evidently intended to appal the souls of wakeful heretics.
 
 16 CONVENT OF MAFRA. [CHAP. XL 
 
 On the 25th of August I rode through a bleak but not un- 
 pleasant country to Mafra. The convent and palace united con- 
 stitute an immense pile of building, which excites admiration 
 rather from its vast extent than from any architectural merits. 
 It is built on the model of the Escurial, and forms a quadrangle, 
 measuring 760 feet from east to west, and 670 feet from north 
 to south. The church is situated in the centre, and three 
 hundred cells are placed behind the choir ; the palace, in which 
 Sir Edward Blakeney had apartments, and where he received 
 me with the utmost hospitality, might perhaps contain, without 
 inconvenience, all the courts of Europe. The thermometer had 
 risen to more than 90, and it was indeed no common luxury 
 to exchange such intolerable heat for the refreshing temperature 
 of the convent galleries, which are built of stone, and are high, 
 wide, dark, and apparently interminable. Within those massive 
 walls the fluctuations of the external atmosphere are never felt ; 
 and rarely indeed do any external sounds pierce through those 
 mighty barriers. At a casement which overlooked a pretty but 
 neglected garden, the holy fathers kept up a cordon of obser- 
 vation when first our troops arrived, and were greatly discom- 
 posed at the occurrence of any petty delinquencies. The 
 occasional ejectment of an old shoe from an opposite window 
 appeared to constitute the maximum of British aggression, and 
 ludicrous appeals were made to the General upon these occasions. 
 Sir Edward restrained such dangerous infringements of conventual 
 rights, and by his judicious attention to their feelings completely 
 won the hearts of the reverend plaintiffs ; indeed it was grati- 
 fying to hear the praises everywhere lavished on our troops, 
 even by persons the most opposed to the principles which brought 
 them to the country. The monks showed us the refectory, a 
 spacious apartment, and the library, well stored \vith books. 
 Having spent some time agreeably with my old schoolfellows, 
 Henry Upton and Augustus Ellis, I took leave of Sir Edward 
 Blakeney. Lord William Paulett kindly gave me letters for 
 Coimbra, where he had spent some time, and, mounting his steed, 
 a beautiful English mare, showed me the shortest way to Torres 
 Vedras, across a wild heath tract. 
 
 As I rode along the side of a pine-covered hill, a gentleman 
 passed me, attended by two servants, one of whom carried a baton
 
 CHAP, ii.] TORRES VEDRAS. 17 
 
 at his side, a proof that his master was a person of distinction. 
 The peasants in this part of the counlry universally carry a long 
 pole, considerably higher than their heads, and sometimes tipped 
 with lead, which renders it a formidable instrument of attack : 
 assisted by these weapons only, a knot of peasants is said to have 
 dismounted a large party of French cavalry during the Penin- 
 sular war ; but they seldom molest travellers, and indeed high- 
 way robberies are by no means frequent in Portugal, except in 
 Alentejo. The inn at Torres Vedras was a great improvement 
 on our last resting-place. The muleteer had not arrived at a 
 late hour on the following morning ; a degree of negligence which 
 surprised me, as the natives consider any exposure to the sun, 
 during the summer months, imprudent after the early hour of 
 nine. I began to suspect that my friend had been waylaid, 
 or, prompted by an ardent thirst for knowledge, had himself 
 inspected my portmanteau, in which case I was well aware that 
 any tasteful appropriations would have been followed by a se- 
 cession to the mountains : so forth I issued, in no placable 
 mood, taking the road to Mafra, and spying anxiously around to 
 discover some remnants of a trunk or a muleteer. I had, how- 
 ever, made little progress before I met the deserter, who assured 
 me that he had unaccountably lost his way, but, influenced by a 
 prodigious zeal in my service, had been toiling all night to 
 regain it. His account was true in the main, but he prudently 
 abstained from any allusion to certain libations, the real cause of 
 his circuitous proceedings. 
 
 Torres Vedras is a celebrated point on that strong line of 
 natural defence which was so ably maintained by the Duke of 
 Wellington. Standing on these heights I was enabled to form 
 some conception of the system pursued, but could by no means 
 command the entire range of military positions. I continued mv 
 journey through a succession of pine-forests, varied occasionally 
 by open spaces covered with heath. In the neighbourhood of 
 Lisbon the hills consist principally of limestone, near Mafra of 
 basalt covered with limestone ; but we now entered on a sandv 
 region. In consequence, the character of the vegetation changed : 
 the Arbutus unedo, the Phillyrea, and the Myrica faya, or gale 
 of Madeira, so abundant near Cintra, were exchanged for fig- 
 trees of an immense growth, and a large species of cane, a 
 
 c
 
 18 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. n. 
 
 plant which has a thick stem, resembling the sugar-cane, and is 
 used in supporting the vines. The black ant swarmed among the 
 fir-woods, yellow butterflies fluttered over the plain in gay pro- 
 fusion, and dogs of exquisite taste prowled around the vineyards, 
 and gazed with hopeless eyes on that forbidden paradise. They 
 are passionately fond of grapes, and sticks purposely attached to 
 their collars prevent their entrance into the vineyards. This 
 Bacchanalian propensity is, in a great measure, the cause of that 
 amazing influx of dogs into Lisbon during the summer months ; 
 for, when the grape begins to ripen, the proprietors of the vine- 
 yards on the opposite coast lay violent hands on the canine 
 species, and ship them off to the capital. There, prowling about 
 in hungry groups, they become of real use in cleansing the 
 streets of that detestable filth which would otherwise accumulate 
 to an intolerable extent, and might breed a pestilence. In this 
 respect the strong northerly gales are also valuable auxiliaries. 
 
 I baited my horse at a small and picturesque inn : the ceilings 
 were peaked, and the floor abounded in'cracks, judiciously cal- 
 culated to admit a cheering view of the culinary processes below. 
 The peasantry nowhere manifested any unfriendly feeling towards 
 me: as I passed the villages the women made some slight saluta- 
 tion, and the men invariably rose and bowed. I saw some fine 
 old towers, and a quinta of great extent ; the family arms, carved 
 in .stone high above the door, showed that the proprietor was of 
 noble birth. I deviated from my road to see Ovidos, a pic- 
 turesque town of immense antiquity, still retaining, in a great 
 degree, its Moorish character. A fine evening sun lit up the 
 walls of an old Saracenic castle, upon which a boy was standing, 
 and playing most sweetly on the flageolet. The sandstone had 
 now disappeared ; the hills over which we passed were composed 
 of limestone, and were in consequence covered with a richer and 
 more varied vegetation. 
 
 I reached Caldas at five o'clock, an uninteresting town, latterly 
 the resort of the Court, on account of its mineral baths; and in 
 the evening was visited by a gentleman who was lively and com- 
 municative, and animated with a furious zeal for liberty. 
 
 I renewed my journey over hills of mingled heath and oak on 
 the morning of the 27th. Travelling at this burning time of the 
 year is only agreeable during the first and last hours of light.
 
 CHAP, ii.] CONVENT OF ALCOBA^A. 19 
 
 The sun had scarcely risen when I mounted my horse ; the dis- 
 tant sound of the convent bells came pleasantly on the breeze ; 
 the birds were singing, and all nature seemed to rejoice : but at 
 noon man and beast were equally subdued by the intolerable 
 fierceness of the heat ; the peasants were compelled to suspend 
 their labours ; the cattle took refuge in the shady thicket ; not a 
 bird flapped its weary wing ; not an insect crept along the 
 ground, but an unbroken and universal silence pervaded the 
 fields, which had so lately teemed with every variety of active 
 life. Here, as in other parts of the country, the heath and 
 juniper had been designedly burnt to produce young fodder for 
 cattle. The Serratula arvensis, and the Lychnis Flos cuculi, are 
 scattered over this district with other plants of a northern 
 parentage, rarely found in the rest of Portugal. 
 
 Soon after ten I arrived at the small village of Alcobaca, and 
 stopped at an inn better furnished with wasps than provisions : a 
 pretty young lady babbled much to me concerning England and 
 English manners, which, I suppose, meant that some young 
 British officer was lord of the ascendant. I went to the convent, 
 
 and sent in a letter of introduction. Senhor A , a young 
 
 monk, of quiet and pleasing manners, received me courteously, 
 and led me round the lofty cloisters which encircle an inner 
 court filled with orange-trees. The convent of Alcobaca is con- 
 structed upon a scale of feudal magnificence, which affords a 
 striking proof of the great wealth and immense consideration 
 form erlj| attached to the monastic orders. The kitchen is nearly 
 a hundred feet long, and sixty-three feet high from the floor to 
 the intrados of the vault. The fireplace is twenty-eight feet 
 long by eleven broad, and stands in the centre of the apartment, 
 through which a stream of water flows, it must be confessed, 
 a magnificent appanage to a kitchen. The refectory is ninety- 
 two feet long by sixty -eight broad. As we approached the 
 clock struck eleven ; the brotherhood poured in ; the organ 
 sounded ; and the chant of thanksgiving arose as we sat down to 
 dinner. 
 
 It was evident, even on my first introduction to these monks, 
 that they were very superior to most of their order, an impres- 
 sion fully confirmed by further acquaintance; for they possessed 
 that courtesy and distinction of manner which birth, or long and. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. n. 
 
 early acquaintance with good society can alone confer. I after- 
 wards learned that they were Bernardine monks, whose choice in 
 the election of novices is very much restricted to persons of con- 
 dition ; a limitation which has kept up the respectability of their 
 order, amid the comparative degradation of part of the profession. 
 The Franciscan convents, on the contrary, from their poverty, 
 and from other causes, have fallen into the hands of persons 
 selected from the lower classes, who, as might naturally be ex- 
 pected, sometimes disgrace the brotherhood by their excesses. 
 The monks of the higher orders are generally restrained by con- 
 siderations of policy and self-respect, are often swayed by higher 
 motives, and almost always throw a decent veil over any viola- 
 tions of the convent rules. Writers are too apt to involve the 
 monastic orders in one general denunciation, without reference 
 to the different systems pursued by the various orders, and the 
 different results necessarily produced ; but no statement can be 
 fair and correct, unless it be grounded on a strict and unpreju- 
 diced examination of facts. And I must say that the highly 
 coloured statements, so often put forth by travellers against the 
 monks and the monastic establishments, come with a singularly 
 bad grace from men who, journeying in a wild country, and de- 
 prived of the usual comforts of life, partake with freedom of their 
 generous hospitality, and then repay the benefit by assertions 
 which truth and justice do not warrant, and which gratitude and 
 good feeling should restrain. 
 
 Whatever may be the remote effects of the suppression of the 
 wealthier convents in Spain and Portugal, still, in the neglected 
 state of agriculture prevailing throughout so large a portion of 
 the Peninsula, their existence was a blessing, and their abolition 
 is, I conceive, a positive evil to the state. The monks were often 
 the only resident proprietors ; and their beneficial influence was 
 visible in the improvement of their estates, and in the increased 
 comforts of the surrounding population ; for they brought to the 
 management of their properties great capital and great intelli- 
 gence, and largely employed and liberally rewarded the industry 
 of the labourer : their estates were, in consequence, not unfre- 
 quently the best cultivated in the kingdom, and the sudden and 
 ill-judged abolition of the convents will probably, for many 
 years to come, check, instead of promoting, the interests of agri-
 
 CHAP, ii.] MONASTIC SYSTEM. 21 
 
 culture. Every man who has passed through Spain before the 
 abolition of the convents must have observed the difference that 
 existed between the practical administration of estates held by 
 religious corporations and other lands. The traveller cannot 
 have failed to observe that the roads were kept in better order 
 on the estates of the clergy, the bridges repaired with more care, 
 and greater attention paid to the improvement of their proper- 
 ties than to other parts of the country ; he will have perceived 
 that many of the monasteries were situated in the neighbourhood 
 of badly-managed and frequently uncultivated estates, from which 
 it may justly be inferred that, in the absence of such establish- 
 ments, the land attached to them would have shared the fate of 
 the surrounding properties, would have been equally ill managed, 
 or remained altogether without cultivation. These ecclesiastical 
 corporations should have been preserved, and would have been 
 invaluable if altered and improved so as to extend their sphere 
 of action, to comprise other and important duties, and perhaps 
 resemble, in some degree, our college institutions.* 
 
 The convents in Spain frequently supplied the place of local 
 banks, and, in a country singularly destitute of such institutions, 
 were often productive of extensive benefit, by advancing money 
 for agricultural and local improvements upon the most reason- 
 able terms, and receiving rent-charges and mortgages as security. 
 As active and intelligent proprietors, stimulating industry and 
 facilitating transactions, the monks were often useful ; as spi- 
 ritual, and temporal advisers of the people, benefiting them by 
 their advice, arbitrating between their differences, softening their 
 manners, and exercising an almost unbounded influence over 
 their minds, they supplied the place of a gentry which had long 
 ceased to reside in the provinces, and whose desertion of their 
 native districts would otherwise have been more extensively felt. 
 To the government, while it treated them with kindness and 
 consideration, their services were invaluable in the rural districts 
 of Spain, where influence and habit have always superseded the 
 
 * Mr. Beckford, in his splendid account of this convent, alludes most 
 justly to the prosperous condition of the tenants holding under the monks 
 at the time of his visit to Alcoba9a ; and I can say, with some confidence, 
 that thirty years afterwards their real prosperity had not diminished, 
 although the most unceasing efforts were making to prejudice them against 
 their ecclesiastical superiors.
 
 22 SUPPRESSION OF CONVENTS. [CHAP. 11. 
 
 more direct operation of law, and where law will be compara- 
 tively ineffective for many years to come. Taxes, which might 
 have been evaded with facility, were often paid through their 
 agency ; local disturbances, through their assistance, were quickly 
 appeased, and a- general spirit of loyalty preserved ; in periods of 
 national difficulty and distress the wealthier convents have not 
 unfrequently conferred still more substantial benefits upon the 
 state, and, in a spirit of disinterested attachment, not often found 
 in great public bodies, have sometimes relieved, by large and 
 spontaneous contributions, the necessities of the Crown. When 
 the estates of the monasteries were confiscated in 1820, a stipend 
 was assigned to the monks, inadequate when compared to their 
 former revenues, and most irregularly paid. At length in many 
 instances the stipulated payment was withheld, and those un- 
 happy men were left to starve. But the measure, as it passed 
 the Cortes, was in itself unjust and impolitic ; unjust, because 
 ample compensation was not made to individuals for the loss of 
 those vested rights which public opinion held sacred, and which 
 were guaranteed to them by the existing law, when they became 
 members of such communities, and, as such, partakers of all their 
 benefits and privileges. Their best years had been spent in that 
 routine of education and those habits which were essential to 
 their vocation, but which totally disqualified them from resorting 
 to occupations of a more active nature. They had suffered di- 
 rectly and indirectly by the change of system. Their expecta- 
 tions of preferment were blighted, their influence was lessened, 
 and must have continued to decrease ; surely they were entitled 
 to a full compensation in a pecuniary point of view. After the 
 counter-revolution in 1823 the convents were restored, but have 
 been finally suppressed under the Christino government. The 
 cruelties exercised on the unhappy monks upon this occasion are 
 horrible to think of.* To abolish the convents as they did was I 
 think most unwise ; the conduct pursued in effecting this object 
 was positively wicked. In a former publication I dwelt on the 
 specific acts of the government in this respect : these are now 
 omitted, as running into greater length than the design of this work 
 will permit. I will only say here, that the circumstances which 
 attended the suppression of the convents under Queen Christina's 
 * Vide note at the end of the book.
 
 CHAP, ii.] CONVENT OF ALCOBACJA. 23 
 
 government were but an aggravated repetition of the cruelties 
 exercised upon the monks under the regime of 1820. The 
 Spanish Liberal is the most stationary of all human beings, the 
 most incapable of deriving benefit from the hard lessons of prac- 
 tical experience ; always aiming at speculative advantages, always 
 liberal on paper, never in practice, time rolls over his head in 
 vain. The world generally has become not only older but wiser 
 since the French Revolution ; but the Spanish democrats have 
 shown themselves, with reference to their convents, with refer- 
 ence to their notions of dividing the country into departmental 
 divisions, in short, with reference to every practical arrange- 
 ment, the theorists, the hopeless theorists of 1789. I believe 
 that the convents, under an improved system, might have been 
 made highly serviceable in diffusing over the country, and 
 maintaining, a system of popular education, combining useful 
 knowledge with that wholesome spirit of religion, deprived of 
 which the success or failure of any" institutions for the educa- 
 tion of youth is a matter of little moment. But I have tres- 
 passed too long upon this subject. 
 
 After dinner Senhor A led me to a cool and refreshing 
 
 cell, and, leaving me to repose, retired also to indulge in the 
 accustomed siesta. I slept for some time, and was at length 
 awakened by a slight noise. I turned, and saw a monk, looking 
 almost like an unearthly being, as he stood motionless at the foot 
 of the bed, shrouded by his cowl, and attired in the white and 
 flowing robe of his order. It proved to be my friend the monk 
 Antonio, who had arrived to conduct me to the library and the 
 church, but, finding me asleep, was unwilling to disturb me. 
 The library is a noble apartment, tastefully decorated, well pro- 
 portioned, and abounding in works of useful knowledge. The 
 monks showed me a fine edition of the Iliad, presented to them 
 by Mr. Canning, and a splendid copy of the Lusiad, a gift of 
 Lady Bute. The church is a fine Gothic building, and contains, 
 within two marble sepulchres, the remains of Dom Pedro the 
 First, and the far-famed but unfortunate Inez de Castro. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to relate the story of Dom Pedro's 
 attachment, so celebrated by all the poetry of Portugal. That 
 Prince, the son and heir of Alphonso the Fourth, was passion- 
 ately attached to Inez de Castro, a lady of extraordinary beauty,
 
 24 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. IT. 
 
 whom he secretly married. As I have heard the story told in 
 the country, he chose a lovely and sequestered spot in the valley 
 of the Mondego, as the residence of his young bride, and, retir- 
 ing from the turmoils of a brilliant Court, spent in that seclusion 
 the happiest, and perhaps the most virtuous hours of his life. 
 But the secret transpired, and his royal father, enraged at the 
 discovery, proceeded to their little bovver of love, and, arriving 
 at a time when the Prince was on a hunting excursion, imme- 
 diately authorized the murder of the ill-fated Inez. The Prince, 
 on his return, gave way to the wildest fury and despair, aban- 
 doned his home for a long time, and, when he eventually suc- 
 ceeded to the throne, inflicted the severest punishment on the 
 worthless ministers who had instigated the deed, and on many 
 of their relatives. But the sorrows of this Prince and of the 
 lady he loved so well have been long at rest ; and their sculp- 
 tured figures are placed in a recumbent attitude upon their 
 respective monuments, the sides of which are worked, in relief, 
 with an inimitable beauty and richness of detail : they have 
 suffered, however, in common with other parts of the convent, 
 from the rapacity of the French; for those enlightened bar- 
 barians not only set fire to the building, but destroyed some of 
 the finest sepulchral carving, in a sacrilegious attempt to bring 
 the imagined treasures of the tomb to light. They dragged the 
 bodies of the royal pair from the vault where they had so long 
 reposed. Dom Pedro, stern even in death, is said to have re- 
 tained the severe expression which never forsook his countenance 
 after the perpetration of that dreadful deed which rendered him 
 homeless and houseless ; and Dona Inez, that object of his boy- 
 ish passion, the cause of all his grief and of half his crimes, was 
 still lovely after the lapse of centuries : her hair retained its 
 auburn colour, and, unharmed by time was only injured by the 
 remorseless hand that did not scruple to invade the dwellings of 
 the dead. After the departure of the French, the much-calum- 
 niated but far more civilized monks carefully collected her 
 scattered hair, and still religiously preserve the cherished relic. 
 
 As I was bending over the monument, the monk gradually 
 led the conversation to the existing state of public affairs. He 
 had evidently been an accurate observer of recent events ; and 
 now concealed, under a well-feigned air of indifference, an anxi-
 
 CHAP, ii.] ALCOBA^A CONVENT GARDEN. 25 
 
 ous desire to obtain the latest political intelligence. The obser- 
 vations which he addressed to; me were pointed, and calculated 
 to elicit the greatest portion of information by the smallest 
 possible number of direct queries, while the correct knowledge 
 which his questions indicated of British parties and of their 
 relative position excited my surprise. He once caught an 
 expression of this kind upon my countenance ; and though it was 
 but slight, and instantly checked, he was manifestly discomposed. 
 He afterwards spoke in guarded terms, but upon one occasion 
 betrayed, in a remarkable manner, the intensity of his interest 
 in the subject of our conversation. I happened to state my con- 
 viction, from recent occurrences, that Dom Miguel would soon 
 return to Portugal and assume the government ; he repeated my 
 words slowly, but in a voice which clearly showed that powerful 
 emotion was struggling with habitual self-command. During our 
 conversation, he had so judiciously placed himself, that, standing 
 with his back to the light, and shrouded by his cowl, he was 
 very much enabled to conceal the expression of his own counte- 
 nance, while he could distinctly trace the slightest change on 
 mine. My eyes were bent on the monument when he repeated 
 my words ; but, attracted by the deep and altered tone of his 
 voice, I involuntarily looked up, and the triumphant joy that 
 sparkled in his dark eyes, which even the position he had assumed 
 could not altogether conceal, at once disclosed his secret bias : 
 he, however, instantly recovered himself; and when I looked at 
 him again, the subdued manner of the monk had replaced the 
 eager feeling of the partisan. 
 
 We adjourned to the garden, which was kept in the highest 
 order, and has that ne plus ultra of luxuries in a southern clime, 
 a fine running stream, overhung with romantic willows. The 
 evening was calm, and the monks were passing to and fro among 
 their dependants, superintending their improvements ; happy 
 themselves, they appeared to be communicating happiness to all 
 around them, and exhibited a pleasing and, I think, not wholly 
 a delusive picture of monastic life. 
 
 In the evening I had a round of visits from the holy brothers, 
 who kept dropping in, staying a few minutes with me, and then 
 taking their departure, but their genuine politeness did not 
 allow them to leave me a moment alone. At length the bell
 
 26 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. 11. 
 
 sounded, and we descended to supper, which varies in no respect 
 from dinner, as the same regular courses are served up, and wine 
 and dessert are afterwards laid upon the table. The number of 
 hours which had elapsed since dinner explains the facility with 
 which we attacked a second time such a substantial repast. 
 
 There are few circumstances which so much impress an 
 Englishman, accustomed to the late hours of his native country, 
 as the difference of habits prevalent in this respect throughout 
 the Portuguese provinces. The breakfast so extremely early, 
 the dinner at eleven, the succeeding siesta, and the late supper 
 which concludes the day, are habits so alien to his own, that his 
 ideas of time are at first sadly confused ; at least they produced 
 this perplexing effect upon mine : however, I soon accommodated 
 myself to customs in all respects well suited to the country. 
 The first hours of the morning are so delightful in that luxuri- 
 ous climate, the brief repose during the burning noon so grate- 
 ful, and the last and loveliest portion of the day, spent among 
 their gardens and in the society of their dark -eyed women, is not 
 less agreeable. Unlike our English habits, the morning is 
 broken by too many interruptions to admit of serious occupation, 
 the evening ushers in still lighter scenes, and thus in Portugal 
 the bark of life is wafted indolently down the sunny and un- 
 ruffled stream. 
 
 But to return to my Bernardine friends. Supper seemed 
 their most jovial repast ; we sat long ; old convent tales went 
 round, legends of interposing angels were told, and anec- 
 dotes of friars long dead and gone excited peals of merri- 
 ment. When our party broke up I took leave of my kind 
 hosts, and desired the muleteer to be ready at three o'clock in 
 the morning. As I retired to my cell through the never- 
 ending galleries that echoed to my steps, and beneath the lamps 
 that hung at great intervals and dimly lit up these high and 
 gloomy corridors, the whole scene appeared to realize Mrs. Rad- 
 cliffe's descriptions, and impressed me with an awful sense of 
 monastic grandeur. Those mighty monuments of ancestral 
 piety stood then in their primaeval might, as great as glorious to 
 the vulgar eye ; but the bolt, though still enveloped in the silent 
 cloud, was rife for their destruction : like the tropical day that 
 ends in sudden might, their day, still bright, still proud, was
 
 CHAP, ii.] CONVENT OF ALCOBA9A BATALHA. 27 
 
 almost spent ; but, unlike the darkness of the tropical world, 
 the night that wraps them in its gloom is a night that knows no 
 morrow. Those heaven-devoted structures that rose so haughtily 
 above the humbler works of man were already marked by the 
 spoiler. Even then I felt their hours were numbered, and that 
 the coming age would know them not. The church in Portugal 
 may be likened to a warrior clad in a costly suit of arms ; his 
 lance has been given him by some grateful sovereign, his sword 
 by another, his coat of mail by a third. Surrounded by a host 
 of assailants, he still maintains the unequal fight, he still refuses 
 to yield an inch for life or death, and falls at length with all his 
 high prerogatives of honour undiminished, with all his royal 
 gifts entire ; and, oh ! that gorgeous panoply, those fatal gifts, 
 the cause of his destruction, become the spoil of his destroyers. 
 Even so the church in Portugal, rich in its regal endowments, 
 firm in its faith, and bold in the assertion of its lawful rights, 
 maintained them to the last, conceding, yielding, compromising 
 nothing ; yet such has been the final struggle, and such the 
 overwhelming fall. The recent desecration of the convent of 
 Alcobaqa, one of the most magnificent monuments of the king- 
 dom, was at once an insult to the religious feelings of the people, 
 and disgraceful to the taste of the modern Portuguese. 
 
 On leaving Alcobaca, I was assailed by a hurricane of wind 
 and sand, through which I rode to the village of Batalha, and, 
 as there was no inn, repaired to the monastery. The Prior was 
 absent, but the Sacristan conducted me to the church, which is 
 built in the purest style of Gothic architecture ; and, indeed, 
 the just proportions and noble simplicity of the roof, of the 
 clustered columns and pointed arches, can nowhere be sur- 
 passed. In an unfinished chapel, however, the arabesque and 
 the Norman style are strangely blended ; still the ornaments 
 are so graceful, the sculpture so rich, and the general workman- 
 ship so exquisitely beautiful, that the eye is not revolted by 
 such an incongruous mixture. Returning from the church, I 
 found a monk in my cell, and a dinner on my table served up 
 by one of those cross-grained yet faithful menials who generally 
 make their appearance in monasteries and novels. 
 
 I left Batalha early on the following morning and breakfasted 
 at the ancient town of Leyria, distinguished only by its fine old
 
 28 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. n. 
 
 Moorish castle. Between Leyria and Pombal, the birthplace 
 of the celebrated Marquis of that name, the Indian corn looked 
 beautifully gay and green, and the country, covered in parts 
 with cork and chestnut, was extremely pleasing : not so the 
 hornets, who buzzed abundantly in my ears, pitched upon my 
 shoulders, and greatly molested me and my horse. I have 
 rather an affection for wasps, " that light militia of the lower 
 sky," rapid in their attacks, but equally rapid in their retreat ; 
 but the hornet thinks twice before he commits himself, and, 
 when once he settles, is invested with an awful character of 
 permanency, and, like the ' British power in India, keeps pos- 
 session of the seat which he has once usurped. 
 
 The sun was setting in great glory as I entered Condexa. At 
 the first inn where I stopped the landlord was dying, so I re- 
 paired to a house kept by a pretty landlady on the other side of 
 the street. I drew near the kitchen fire, and underwent a long 
 examination from the youthful beauty and some laughing girls, 
 who disbelieved my English origin, and said they knew me to be 
 of southern though not of Portuguese extraction. The maidens 
 of Condexa have long been celebrated for their personal attrac- 
 tions, and these merry damsels were certainly above the general 
 standard of the national beauty. A young woman of superior 
 manners entered the room, but sat apart, apparently absorbed in 
 thought. She sighed deeply at intervals, and at length asked 
 me whether I could give her any intelligence of Silveira and his 
 adherents ; from which I inferred that her fortunes were con- 
 nected with those of the insurgents. 
 
 On the following day I rode through a country covered with 
 olives to Coimbra, built on the slope of a hill, and most im- 
 posing when seen at a distance. We passed the bridge, which at 
 that time extended over a large bed of shingles, but in the wintry 
 and autumnal months crosses a wide and rapid torrent ; but then, 
 in consequence of the continued heat, the Mondego had shrunk 
 within very narrow limits. We entered the town and descended 
 into Hell, for so the inn is called ; and the subterranean passage 
 which conducts to it justifies the name. 
 
 Having left my letters of introduction at various houses, I 
 plunged into the Mondego, and afterwards roamed along its 
 banks, where I met a labourer, who had witnessed my arrival at
 
 CHAP, ii.] COIMBRA. 29 
 
 the inn, and was then accidentally passing by. He greeted me 
 with a heartfelt " Vivan los Ingleses," the first and last tribute 
 of popular enthusiasm towards my country that met my ear in 
 Portugal ; but it seems the British troops had been long sta- 
 tioned in this neighbourhood, and their excellent conduct had 
 won the esteem and conciliated the affections of the simple- 
 minded peasantry. On the last day of August I explored the 
 botanical garden, which is by no means, rich in rare and curious 
 plants, but contains some beautiful specimens of the mimosa, and 
 has a fine palm and a banyan-tree. 
 
 I afterwards rode with some Portuguese gentlemen to Portella, 
 a picturesque spot among the mountains, and in the evening ad- 
 journed to the house of Senhor , who received me courte- 
 ously. There were several ladies, and some professors of the 
 university, whose influence on society was perceptible in the im- 
 proved and intellectual nature of the conversation. Some gen- 
 tlemen of the party dwelt with interest on the character and 
 policy of the late Mr. Canning, but were fully possessed by the 
 belief that his death was solely attributable to poison, adminis- 
 tered to him by his political opponents. I endeavoured to dispel 
 this delusion, but without success. 
 
 The vacation extends through the summer months, and the 
 students were in consequence dispersed over the country ; a few 
 were, however, still remaining in the university, preparing for 
 their degree. They are generally eager politicians ; but the 
 only student with whom I became acquainted discussed the cri- 
 tical questions of the time with an utter and almost ludicrous 
 indifference to their final result : he was evidently overflowing 
 with happiness, and refused, perhaps wisely, to anticipate the 
 angry passions and vexatious disappointments of later life. 
 
 On the 1st of September, accompanied by the Juiz de Fora 
 and some Portuguese gentlemen connected with the university, I 
 went over that pile of building, and passed through several apart- 
 ments devoted to the instruction of youth. The collection of 
 subjects for the study of natural history is tolerably good, the 
 observatory complete, and the instruments in perfect order : of 
 these the greater number were manufactured in London, a few 
 only in Paris. The school where degrees are conferred is old- 
 fashioned and picturesque : the ceiling is curiously painted, and
 
 30 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. n. 
 
 the walls are hung round with portraits of the kings. There are 
 six departments of instruction in this university ; they comprise 
 the canon law, the civil law, medicine, natural philosophy, and 
 mathematics ; different degrees are taken in the respective facul- 
 ties, the student generally applying himself to the particular 
 branch of study intended to form the basis of his professional 
 exertions in after-life. This is perhaps an improvement upon 
 our system of college education, where the same degree is taken 
 by all, without any reference to the different nature of their 
 future operations. The Greek and Latin tongues are also 
 taught at Coimbra, and moral philosophy, history, and the belles 
 lettres are made subsidiary studies to the higher lectures. The 
 prevailing system of education was introduced by the Marquis 
 of Pombal, who spoke with pride and pleasure of the reform 
 effected in the university during the period of his administration, 
 and even undertook a voyage from Lisbon to Coimbra, for the 
 sole purpose of opening and sanctioning with his presence the 
 new course of studies. 
 
 In a former work upon Portugal, of a graver character, I 
 have commended the policy of the Portuguese government in 
 attaching the most influential persons in the university to their 
 interest* : by frequent promotion and honourable treatment 
 some commanderies of the Order of Christ are annexed to the 
 office of senior lecturer of mathematics and natural philosophy, 
 while every cathedral throughout the kingdom is obliged by a 
 papal bull to attach a certain number of its prebendal stalls to 
 the different faculties of the university, restricting them, how- 
 ever, to gentlemen belonging to the clerical profession. The 
 most able law instructors in the university are often promoted 
 to the highest tribunals of the kingdom, the most eminent 
 teachers of divinity and canon law to the bishoprics, and the 
 most skilful professors of medicine become physicians in ordinary 
 to the King, an office which confers immediate distinction and 
 ensures ultimate advancement. The service of the university is 
 therefore considered honourable, and even the provincial nobles 
 are sometimes competitors for a vacant lectureship. The ex- 
 penses of tuition are defrayed by the revenues of the university, 
 and the students only pay a small sum for their board and 
 lodging, and a few trifling fees.
 
 CHAP, ii.] GARDEN OF INEZ DE CASTRO. 31 
 
 In the evening I visited the convent of Santa Cruz, and wan- 
 dered for some time among its shady walks and fountains, its 
 luxuriant hedges of cypress, and its ample reservoirs of water. 
 The monks belonging to the order of St. Augustin, men for 
 the most part of noble descent and of distinguished manners, 
 are forbidden by the regulations of the monastery to appear on 
 foot beyond the convent walls, and are often seen mounted on 
 fine horses splendidly caparisoned. I spent my third and last 
 evening at the house of Senhor ; the Senhora was sur- 
 rounded by her little children, a pretty dark-eyed race that had 
 just begun to make my acquaintance. 
 
 The olive abounds in the neighbourhood of Coimbra, and its 
 oil is considered peculiarly good, and decidedly superior to that 
 of Spain ; the tree is, however, subject to a severe disease ; 
 under the influence of the ferragem, or rust complaint, the 
 leaves shrivel, the tree sickens, and bears little fruit. I have 
 sometimes seen a whole wood afflicted with this disorder, for 
 which no satisfactory remedy has been devised. Maize is culti- 
 vated in this district to a great extent, and is made into a yellow 
 bread which the peasants eat in large quantities: it is also given 
 as fodder to cattle. 
 
 Before I left Coimbra I rode to the Ponte das Lagrimas, and 
 passed through a blooming garden, misnamed ' the garden of 
 tears," to the spot where the young and beautiful Inez de Castro 
 was slain. A stream of the purest water gushes from the cliff, 
 and glides along its deep-red channel ; and this singular tint 
 upon the stone has led to the popular belief that murder has 
 there left its indelible stain. There sat the guiltless unsus- 
 pecting Inez awaiting her princely husband ; there she received 
 the fatal wound ; and over yon rude and ancient basin did the 
 fair and the chivalrous resort in olden time to unite their tears 
 over her early grave. The dark cypresses * waving over the 
 
 * The cypress that grows in this " garden of tears " is the Cupressus 
 Lusitanica, a tree of extreme beauty, and closely rembling in growth the 
 cedar of Lebanon, though deeper in colour. It is so very unlike the com- 
 mon cypress, that I had at first no suspicion that it belonged to that class of 
 trees. It was originally brought from Goa to Busaco, but is now onjy 
 found in perfection in the midland parts of Portugal : for it has dwindled 
 in the neighbourhood of Lisbon, and is no longer to be seen in the 
 Algarve.
 
 32 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. n. 
 
 fountain, the weeping willows that surround it, and the stream 
 murmuring along its rocky bed, are admirably suited to the 
 mournful tale. Some of those cypresses are of great antiquity, 
 and probably witnessed her secluded happiness and her tragical 
 fate. I quitted with regret a scene over which romance and 
 poetry and old tradition have thrown their sweetest spell. 
 
 Leaving the highway I rode towards Busaco, to see the 
 memorable field of battle, through mountain passes, finely crested 
 with pines and abounding in every variety of the orchis tribe. 
 I lost my way among the defiles, and did not easily regain it, 
 being unaccompanied by my muleteer, who had started at an 
 earlier hour ; but after wandering for some time, exposed to an 
 intolerable sun, I reached the monastery of Busaco. I knocked 
 long at the gate of the convent lodge before it was opened, 
 and my first reception was ungracious enough, as the porter ob- 
 served that arrivals were inconvenient at that hour. I was so 
 much exhausted by the heat that I could hardly keep my seat 
 on horseback, and was not therefore disposed to be easily re- 
 buffed ; so, compelling the reluctant menial to inform the Prior 
 of my arrival, and slowly following him through a fine wood of 
 oak and pine, I reached the convent, a straggling edifice, com- 
 pletely embosomed in the forest. The Prior received me courte- 
 ously, and placed some wine and salt fish before me, regretting 
 he could not offer me better fare, as meat was strictly forbidden 
 by the convent regulations. He afterwards led me to my cell, 
 where I threw myself on the bed, too happy to enjoy an interval 
 of repose. These monkish dormitories are most welcome to 
 the wearied traveller, from their coolness, their perfect cleanli- 
 ness, and the total absence of the winged and creeping cannibals 
 that infest the inns. I slept for some time, and awoke even 
 more fatigued than when I first lay down. I frequently ob- 
 served that, during the intense heats, the midday siesta was 
 followed by a sense of increased exhaustion, nor were its invigo- 
 rating effects fully experienced till after sunset. 
 
 I now joined the friar ; and as he led me round the convent 
 I was surprised at the unbroken silence that pervaded the place ; 
 a silence which seemed rather to indicate a mansion of the dead 
 than the social dwelling of a numerous brotherhood. This pro- 
 found stillness was only interrupted by the echo of our footsteps,
 
 CHAP, ii.] CONVENT OF BUSACO. 33 
 
 and the low tones of my conductor's voice. The long galleries 
 were partially hung with black cloth, and the shadows of evening, 
 fast stealing over them, gave birth to mingled feelings of melan- 
 choly and awe. The Prior afterwards explained to me the 
 cause of this strange silence. The monks who inhabited the 
 convent were Carmelites, and their system was, to a great 
 extent, modelled on that of La Trappe, for, like the friars of 
 that order, they are enjoined to observe perpetual silence, with 
 the exception of the Prior and of an assistant brother who acted 
 as porter. 
 
 I discovered from subsequent accounts, what indeed I then 
 suspected, that the inmates of this convent had generally entered 
 their cheerless abode from feelings of blighted affection or mor- 
 tified ambition, the most prolific sources of human discontent. 
 The system operated differently on different temperaments : a 
 few had become reconciled to their altered mode of existence, 
 others had sunk into a state of mental lethargy, and many, after 
 the lapse of a few years, were vainly anxious to quit their living 
 tomb. Some had entered the order from an exalted spirit of 
 religion : these had not drooped ; upheld by a powerful and 
 absorbing principle, their minds resisted the pressure of ex- 
 ternal circumstances; the business of this life was exchanged 
 for visions of the next, and the want of active occupation was 
 supplied by the internal fire which supported while it consumed 
 them. 
 
 The Prior accompanied me to the entrance door, and kindly 
 pressed me to pass the night at the convent ; but I was anxious 
 to proceed. " This spot is indeed delightful," I observed, as i 
 wished him farewell. " It is, my son," he replied, with the 
 cold and melancholy smile of one who felt the truth of my re- 
 mark, but had ceased to derive enjoyment from the objects of my 
 admiration. As I mounted my horse, the last beams of the sun 
 were setting, and the forest-trees cast their lengthened shadows 
 along the ground. A cross, the emblem of peace, was placed on 
 a pedestal before the door. The beauty and seclusion of the 
 spot appeared to have marked it out as peculiarly fitted for the 
 enjoyment of tranquil happiness, but the misjudging piety of man 
 had robbed him of those temperate pleasures which nature had 
 so lavishly prepared for his gratification. The oak and fern re-
 
 34 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. n. 
 
 minded me of the deep glades of England ; and the majestic 
 cypress of Portugal,* with its waving branches, impressed the 
 scene with a character of Oriental grace : yet, even on such a 
 calm and heavenly evening, the monks were not allowed to walk 
 beneath the shade of their forest-trees ; so active and ingenious 
 were the founders of this convent in devising methods to heighten 
 the privations of its inmates, as if the common course of human 
 passions and anxieties did not render the cup which all must 
 drink sufficiently bitter, without perverting the plainest dictates 
 of common sense to render it still more unpalatable. Yet these 
 were men whose motives were entitled to respect pure and 
 single-minded men, who, while on earth, were most solicitous to 
 do what they believed to be their heavenly Master's will. 
 
 Having left the convent, I spent some time in examining the 
 positions occupied by the armies. Busaco tells its own tale ; for 
 the bold and peculiar character of the ground enables the tra- 
 veller to follow, without difficulty, the history of that eventful 
 day. I arrived late in the evening at Meleahada. 
 
 On the 3rd of September I hired a guide at Meleahada, to lead 
 us through a pine-forest of great extent, and so intricate that 
 even the natives are sometimes bewildered by the multitude of 
 tracks. Our guide attacked the friars with unusual vehemence, 
 and then broke forth in favour of Dom Pedro, expressing great 
 hostility to the Infant, whose expected appearance on the frontiers 
 at that time kept the nation in suspense. 
 
 I observed that the peasantry were more friendly to the Con- 
 stitution in this district than in any other part of Portugal, pro- 
 bably from its vicinity to Coimbra. My guide said that the 
 wood abounded in wolves, and desired me to observe the stump 
 of a tree recently felled, telling me that a young man, assailed 
 by three of those ferocious animals, had taken refuge in its 
 branches, and had afterwards cut it down, as a memorial of his 
 escape, and in testimony of his gratitude. I thought this an odd 
 mode of returning thanks, and tacitly determined never to en- 
 danger my safety for an inhabitant of Meleahada. Different 
 nations have certainly different modes of expressing their sense of 
 services conferred : a Portuguese fells a tree for the same reason 
 that an Englishman would effectually protect it. 
 
 * The Cupressus Lusitanica, to which I have already alluded.
 
 CHAP, ii.] DRESS OF THE PEASANTRY. 36 
 
 I do not think that the inhabitants of southern countries have 
 generally much taste for picturesque beauty. I remember seeing 
 a house, not far from Cintra, overhung by one of the most mag- 
 nificent cork-trees I ever beheld. I was standing opposite the 
 windows, admiring the fantastic beauty and amazing luxuriance 
 of the tree, when an old woman, attracted by my earnest gaze, 
 sallied forth, observing that I was perhaps desirous of taking the 
 house, and adding, that, if the tree were an object of dislike, it 
 could be felled immediately. Any old woman may be guilty of 
 bad taste ; but if the tree had been an object of general admira- 
 tion in the neighbourhood, she would not have so utterly mis- 
 understood my feeling. 
 
 There is, generally speaking, far less beauty and distinction oi 
 costume in Portugal than in Spain, but the dress of the peasantry 
 is unusually rich in this part of the country. The strange wild 
 figures that meet the eye in some of the sequestered parts of 
 Spain, and recall the memory of another age, are not here to be 
 seen : here indeed we do not see the pilgrim in his partycoloured 
 garment, the courier with his breast of fur, bare neck, and waist 
 encircled by a belt crowded with quaint devices rudely traced, 
 as if to guard the wearer against a host of Gouls and Afrits. 
 These uncouth figures do not in this part of the country startle 
 yet delight the eye by their grotesque appearance ; still there is 
 much beauty of costume: the men were attired in satin waist- 
 coats, richly figured, and of a crimson colour ; some had hand- 
 kerchiefs tied round their heads, after the Oriental fashion, but 
 not in the graceful folds of the turban, as I have seen them worn 
 in that paradise of the Christian world, the vale of Murcia : many 
 of the boys, and some of the men, were dressed in a loose gar- 
 ment, resembling in form, but not in beauty, the Highland kilt ; 
 and a broad-brimmed hat, a red scarf, and a blue jacket, not 
 worn but thrown over the shoulder, complete the provincial 
 dress. They also carry the pao or long pole, as in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Lisbon. I met a young peasant bearing a pannier 
 of grapes, upon which I made a vigorous attack, but no per- 
 suasion would induce him to receive any recompence ; a total 
 absence of mercenary feeling very frequent among the Portu- 
 guese labourers. 
 
 Leaving Aveiro, we rode through a pretty country : the oak 
 
 ' D 2
 
 36 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. 11. 
 
 and olive abounded ; the vine climbed up the trees and hung 
 down in rich festoons ; sometimes a regular trellis- work was con- 
 structed overhead, and an early night produced by the dense 
 foliage. But night itself was now closing in, and we soon lost 
 our way amid a variety of tracks. In this part of the country 
 the natives involve a stranger in frequent mistakes by their 
 strange mode of directing him, which is invariably by reference 
 to one of the four points of the compass. Now south-east or 
 north-west may be a very poetical, but is a very puzzling mode 
 of direction to a man travelling by night through a country with 
 which he is totally unacquainted. Besides, the points of the 
 compass are in some degree conventional with these honest folks ; 
 for they talked of our north and our west, which certainly was 
 not my north or my west, as I found to" .my cost, after sundry 
 wanderings on that luckless night. 
 
 At length we stumbled on a cottage, and prevailed on a 
 peasant to show us the way to Ovar. He was lively, intelligent, 
 and dark as a mulatto : he had served under Dom Miguel when 
 he commanded the army, and evidently regarded that Prince 
 with very partial feelings. He observed that he did not trouble 
 himself with the subtle points growing out of the question of the 
 succession, but thought Dom Miguel ought in justice to ascend 
 the throne, because he had kil-led some bulls in a masterly 
 manner, and had generously presented their bodies to the sol- 
 diery ; a novel argument in the Infant's favour, which has pro- 
 bably never yet suggested itself to any of his Royal Highness's 
 legal advisers. He also entered into some curious details respect- 
 ing the customs of this part of the country. The priest requires 
 annually a bushel of wheat from every married pair : and be it 
 further observed, the relative piety of the different parishioners 
 is determined by the relative amount of the plums and good 
 things stuffed into these pascal offerings: he said that many of 
 the clergy led dissolute lives ; but he was manifestly an un- 
 measured talker, and had no love for the Church. By one of 
 the church regulations, no priest is allowed to keep in his house, 
 as a domestic, any woman under a certain age ; but I heard of 
 an ingenious ecclesiastic who cheated his conscience by retaining 
 under his roof two beautiful women, whose united years 
 amounted to the age prescribed for one : so that the sum total
 
 * CHAP, ii.] OVAR. 37 
 
 were correct, he thought it mattered little how the amount were 
 distributed ; like this manuscript, which contains the same number 
 of words, whether Mr. Murray swell it into two small volumes 
 or compress it into one. This story is, however, probably more 
 amusing than authentic. 
 
 Late in the evening we entered Ovar, a long straggling town, 
 in which I naturally concluded that some house of accommoda- 
 tion must exist; but literally there was none. The Peninsula 
 generally, although it may be said more of Spain than Portugal, 
 abounds in these strange inconsistencies. I once stopped at a 
 venta in Andalusia, which not only possessed the necessaries, but 
 many of the comforts of life. Meat and fowls, with tea, coffee, 
 and chocolate, formed a sumptuous bill of fare for a Spanish 
 country inn : forks abounded, but when I called for a knife I 
 was told that no such implement was kept in the house, on a 
 principle of self-preservation. The reason given was eminently 
 Spanish ; but in fact the road was chiefly frequented by smugglers, 
 who live well, but always carry their own knives ; and this was 
 the real cause of the deficiency. 
 
 The same curious contradictions are occasionally found in the 
 higher ranks. I remember sleeping at the house of a decayed 
 noble, who received me with the utmost hospitality. My sleep- 
 ing apartment was, however, destitute of the most common 
 conveniences of life ; my bed had no curtains, there was not a 
 looking-glass, there was not a chair in the room. Such being 
 the case, I was surprised, and somewhat amused, at seeing a 
 menial, attired in a faded livery of green and gold, enter my 
 apartment with much state, bearing a basin of massive silver, 
 which he was himself compelled to hold, because there was no 
 table on which he could place that ponderous relic of the 
 departed splendour of the house. 
 
 A quarter of a league from Ovar we reached the ne plus 
 ultra of abominable inns. I had divided my journey badly, and 
 often fell in with worse accommodation than I should have 
 found if I had adhered to the regular post ; and, in this instance, 
 I believe I was the first person above the rank of a muleteer 
 whom my friend the innkeeper had ever entertained. As I 
 arrived late, stale bread was my only supper, and straw my only 
 bed. Growling dogs and famished cats contested the crumbs
 
 38 JOURNEY TO OPORTO. [CHAP. n. ' 
 
 that fell from my board, and vermin sported around me in lively 
 profusion. My servant Antonio lost the keys of my trunk, and 
 the muleteer his way. So closed the night. 
 
 On the following day the road was sandy, and my progress 
 slow. Soon after I left Ovar I overtook a young woman, of 
 great personal attractions, journeying to Oporto, attended by 
 three servants. I greeted her, according to the custom of the 
 country ; and as we were travelling on the same road, we 
 naturally fell into a conversation, which she kept up with live- 
 liness and spirit. Her servants were barefooted : they wore a 
 red sash, a laced jacket with rich silver buttons, a large hat, 
 and earrings of solid gold. The curious mixture of familiar 
 dialogue and goodnatured authority which characterised her 
 intercourse with them revived classical associations, illustrated 
 the simple manners of an earlier age, and seemed to realise the 
 description of the Grecian dames amid their handmaids : other 
 circumstances contributed to keep up the illusion. Her regular 
 and noble features reminded me of those beautiful models of 
 ancient art with which no modern sculpture can bear competi- 
 tion. Her costume might, in some degree, be considered 
 classical, and was admirably adapted to set forth the faultless 
 outline of her face. She stopped at a friend's house near Oporto, 
 and we separated ; but we afterwards renewed our acquaintance, 
 and I heard from her own lips the story of her life a simple 
 but romantic tale. It is but short, for she was still very young. 
 
 She became acquainted, at the early age of sixteen, with a 
 young man, only a few years her senior, but greatly her superior 
 in rank. Acquaintance gave birth to attachment, and the 
 difficulties which prevented their union heightened that feeling 
 into the most ardent love. Her lover's family contemplated 
 the possibility of such an event with dread ; but her father 
 encouraged their intercourse, and the plighted couple met, 
 every evening, under the shade of the garden fig-tree, and 
 exchanged vows of eternal fidelity. The impetuous but reso- 
 lute attachment of her young admirer at length appeared to 
 overcome the opposition of his family ; and he arrived one even- 
 ing at the trysting-place in high spirits, and entertaining sanguine 
 hopes. They spent a few delightful hours in the full enjoyment 
 of reciprocal confidence, and separated with the belief that they
 
 CHAP, ii.] THE BRIDE OF OPORTO. 39 
 
 would speedily be united, to part no more ; but from that hour 
 they never met again, either in sorrow or in joy. Her lover's 
 father, anxious to avert from his family the disgrace of an 
 unequal alliance, had appeared to relent, for the purpose of 
 executing his designs with greater facility. He had already 
 conferred with the civil authorities, and that very night his son 
 was arrested, and conveyed to a place of strict confinement, 
 where he was seized with an infectious fever, of which he died 
 in a few days, in spite of every exertion to save him. 
 
 She married two years afterwards, and confessed to me that 
 she was perfectly happy. A prior attachment sometimes con- 
 tinues to exist in a woman's mind long after marriage ; but, 
 except in a person of very deeply-rooted affections, rarely sur- 
 vives the birth of a child : from that hour the current of her 
 thoughts becomes changed ; new duties, new feelings, new hopes 
 arise, to banish former regrets, and 
 
 " She who lately loved the best, 
 Forgets she loved at all." 
 
 I observed in my pretty heroine a striking instance of those 
 sudden bursts of quick and sensitive feeling which seem inherent 
 in the southern temperament. Although she spoke of her first 
 ill-fated lover with calmness, almost with indifference, and con- 
 fessed that she had long ceased to regret the difficulties which 
 prevented their union, yet once, as she dwelt upon past scenes 
 and recalled a thousand instances of his boyish devotion, her 
 voice changed, her dark eyes filled with tears, and her whole 
 soul seemed to revert, with undiminished affection, to the object 
 of her early love. Her emotion was but transient ; yet I am 
 convinced that, while it lasted, she would have renounced every 
 earthly lie to be restored to him who had been the first to win 
 her affections, and was then mouldering in the grave. 
 
 As I approached Oporto the liveliness of the national character 
 became very perceptible : the women delighted in jest and re- 
 partee, and sometimes carried their facetious humour to a very 
 inconvenient extent, by misdirecting me on my road. Good- 
 nature, however, ultimately prevailed, and they always apprized 
 me of the mistake into which they had led me after I had pro- 
 ceeded a few steps in the wrong direction : but this kind of rail-
 
 to ARRIVAL AT OPORTO. [CHAP. 11. 
 
 lery, tolerably diverting in the fair sex, was positively offensive 
 when practised by the men. As I passed through a little 
 village, I saw a woman standing in the street, wringing her 
 hands, and pouring forth the wildest lamentations. I inquired 
 into the cause of her grief, and heard that thieves had broken 
 into her house during her absence. The poor woman suspected 
 that she had been robbed of all her little treasure, but had not 
 courage to ascertain the extent of her loss. As no saving- 
 banks, or institutions of that kind, exist in Portugal, the peasants 
 either hoard their earnings in strong boxes, or lay them out in 
 purchasing golden trinkets, of which they are passionately fond : 
 so that a successful attack upon their cottages may deprive them 
 of the little store which they have accumulated by years of 
 industrious exertion. The handsome earrings and chains of 
 solid gold, worn by women among the lower classes, excited my 
 surprise, till I discovered that they regularly invest their money 
 in the acquisition of these ornaments : so that, by an unusual 
 combination, the increase of the family wealth, and the gratifica- 
 tion of their taste for personal decoration, go hand-in-hand ; and 
 as these trinkets are generally of solid gold, and made with little 
 regard to fashion, their value is easily ascertained, and they are 
 converted into cash without difficulty. 
 
 At length I reached Oporto, an ancient and very picturesque 
 town : the streets, with a few noble exceptions, are narrow, and 
 the houses high and ornamented with handsome balconies. That 
 part of the city which overhangs the Douro is strikingly beauti- 
 ful ; the river itself is fine and clear, and the banks bold and 
 partially wooded. The concourse of people was so great at 
 Oporto when I arrived, that I passed from inn to inn, and from 
 one extremity of the city to the other, without being able to 
 procure an apartment. The absence of any furnished lodgings 
 shows the little progress which this great city has made in some 
 of the most essential comforts of life, while in other respects it 
 has rapidly advanced in the career of civilization. At length I 
 obtained a bed-room, though not a sitting-room, at the house of 
 a mulatto, where, as I entered, a large party, of a mixed cha- 
 racter, was collecting round the table d'hote. There were two 
 Germans : one seemed well informed, and so, I suspect, was the 
 other ; but as he abused me in the Portuguese language, with
 
 CHAP, ii.] ARRIVAL AT OPORTO. 41 
 
 which he supposed me thoroughly unacquainted, I will not dilate 
 upon his merits. 
 
 I chanced to sit next a mild and intelligent Englishman, Mr. 
 Waterhouse, who had resided many years in Portugal. The 
 conversation turned on recent events. The retirement of Count 
 Saldanha, the disturbances which followed his resignation, the 
 measures adopted in consequence by Sir Thomas Stubbs, and 
 his recall from the government of Oporto, were circumstances 
 which excited the public mind at that time in a very high 
 degree, and were discussed with unusual warmth.
 
 42 COUNT AND COUNTESS VILLA FLOR. [CHAP. in. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Count and Countess of Villa Flor Portuguese Society Effect of the recent 
 Changes on the Portuguese Character Author leaves Oporto Tremen- 
 dous Storm Fall of Locusts Description of the Traz os Montes The 
 Valentoines Feudal Manners of the Nobles Dinner at the Capitan Mor 
 Character and Mansion of the venerable Senhor Joaquim Lamego 
 Hospitality of Senhor Ferreira Superstition of the Enchanted Mooress 
 Return to Oporto. 
 
 COUNT VILLA FLOR, since that time become Duke of Terceira, 
 had assumed the government of Oporto a few days before I 
 reached that city, and, on my arrival, kindly offered me apart- 
 ments in his house, and the use of his -stud, a hospitality cha- 
 racteristic of the Portuguese, but particularly distinguishing this 
 generous noble, whose liberality was proverbial both at Lisbon 
 and Oporto. I declined his offer ; but, establishing myself at 
 the neighbouring inn of Batalha, became almost an inmate of 
 his house during my long residence at Oporto. His staff con- 
 sisted of Don Carlos, brother of the Marquis of Fronteira ; Major 
 Bernardo Sa, now Viscount Sa da Bandeira ; his brother Narcisso ; 
 and Major Mendez. He introduced me to the Countess Villa 
 Flor, a daughter of the ancient house of Louie*, and descended 
 from the far-famed and illustrious line of the Mendozas. 
 
 The Louie family were originally of British origin, and are 
 said to have sprung from an English knight of the name of 
 Rollim, who led his vassals to the siege of Lisbon, distinguished 
 himself in the service of Alphonso the Fir.*.t, and was rewarded 
 by a grant of land, after the capture of that city. The Countess 
 was only in her nineteenth year, and in the first bloom of that 
 uncommon beauty which drew down the applause of every 
 Portuguese, and afterwards excited the admiration of English 
 society. But although the Countess was still so young, she had 
 experienced both hardship and danger amid the turbulent dissen- 
 sions of her native country. During the last few years the great 
 had been peculiarly exposed to severe vicissitudes ; yet these she
 
 CHAP, in.] PORTUGUESE SOCIETY. 43 
 
 had encountered with a firmness extraordinary in one so young-, 
 so delicate, and so little calculated, by birth or station, to mix in 
 revolutionary scenes. Her childhood had been clouded by the 
 ruthless assassination of her noble father ; she had afterwards 
 accompanied her husband to a desolate prison ; she now filled the 
 brilliant position which she was born to occupy, and was so well 
 fitted to grace ; but before a year had revolved, the star of her 
 destiny had declined, and she was again an exile from her native 
 land. 
 
 The military government of Oporto, always an important trust, 
 was of vital consequence in the actual state of Portugal. Two 
 powerful factions at that time disputed the political arena, viewed 
 each other with hatred and suspicion, and threatened to disturb 
 the tranquillity of the city. By strict impartiality in the dis- 
 charge of hfe public duties, and by an equal and well judged 
 hospitality to men of all parties, Count Villa Flor secured the 
 affection of the inhabitants, and mitigated those feuds which lay 
 too deep to be eradicated. The mere circumstance of official 
 rank confers great consideration in Portugal ; but in the person 
 of Count Villa Flor it was united to high birth and previous 
 reputation ; and although some individuals kept aloof from party 
 feelings, the elite of Oporto crowded to his house and to his box 
 at the Opera. In the morning the Count and Countess rode out, 
 accompanied by their staff; and I frequently joined them in their 
 excursions to the beautiful environs of Oporto. In the evening 
 1 generally found several persons assembled at their house ; or if, 
 by chance, there was no addition to the family circle, I was not 
 less cordially welcomed, and the hours passed away in lively con- 
 versation. 
 
 That I may not hereafter interrupt the thread of my narrative, 
 when it becomes more eventful, I will now insert a few remarks 
 on the Portuguese character, and on the nature of Portuguese 
 society ; premising only that they are somewhat premature 
 in this part of my work, as I had not formed such conclusions 
 till after a long residence at Lisbon and Oporto. 
 
 If I could divest myself of every national partiality, and sup- 
 pose myself an inhabitant of the other hemisphere, travelling 
 solely for my amusement, noting men and manners, and were 
 asked in what country society had attained its most polished
 
 44 OPORTO. [CHAP. in. 
 
 form, I should say in Portugal : this perfection of manner is per- 
 haps most appreciated by an Englishman when seen in that 
 portion of the aristocratic class which lias adopted in minor points 
 the refinements of the first European society, and has retained 
 the spirit, while it has in some degree dropped the exaggerated 
 ceremonial, of the old Portuguese courtesy. Portuguese polite- 
 ness is delightful, because it is by no means purely artificial, 
 but flows in a great measure from a natural kindliness of feeling. 
 
 A Portuguese has a real repugnance to wound the fee^ngs 
 of the humblest individual, and sedulously avoids any expres- 
 sion which can possibly have that effect ; not only because it is 
 ill-bred, but because the act of inflicting pain on another is 
 disagreeable to himself. A Portuguese, possessed of strong sar- 
 castic talent, will seldom direct it, however veiled, against any 
 individual present, and will use the utmost circumlocution in 
 conveying an unpleasant truth. Even if lie be aware that the 
 person with whom he is actually conversing is in the act of 
 deceiving him, he often disguises his knowledge of the fact from 
 his apprehension of wounding the feelings of the deceiver, or, 
 if such a man be too worthless for consideration, from the fear 
 of grieving his kindred : to such an extent is their politeness 
 carried. It may occasionally exceed the proper bounds ; but 
 still the general influence of these delicate and considerate feel- 
 ings is highly beneficial to society, which in Portugal resembles 
 a vessel impelled by a favouring breeze over a calm sea, undis- 
 turbed by any displeasing inequality of motion. 
 
 The restless feeling so often perceptible in English society 
 hardly exists in Portugal : there are no ardent aspirations after 
 fashion ; there is little prepared wit in Portuguese society, and 
 no one talks for the mere purpose of producing an effect, but 
 simply because his natural taste leads him to take an active part 
 in conversation. In spite of manners apparently artificial, society 
 is more unaffected in Portugal than superficial observers would 
 at first suppose. Dandyism is unknown among their men, and 
 coquetry, so common among Spanish women, is little in vogue 
 among the fair Portuguese. They do not possess, to the same 
 extent, the heady passions and romantic feelings of their beautiful 
 neighbours, but they are softer, more tractable, and equally affec- 
 tionate. Even when they err, the aberrations of a married
 
 CHAF. in.] PORTUGUESE SOCIETY. 45 
 
 Portuguese never spring from fashion or caprice, seldom from 
 vanity, and, however culpable, are always the result of real 
 preference. 
 
 Certainly, with some exceptions, the women are not highly 
 educated ; they feel little interest on general subjects, and con- 
 sequently have little general conversation. A stranger may at 
 first draw an unfavourable inference as to their natural powers, 
 because he has few subjects in common with them ; but when 
 once received into their circle, acquainted with their friends, and 
 initiated in the little intrigues that are constantly playing along 
 the surface of society, he becomes delighted with their liveliness, 
 wit, and ready perception of character. The best society in 
 England is perhaps the best in the world, because it combines 
 civilization of manner with cultivation of mind ; but, without 
 reference to intellectual culture, the last finish of polished breed- 
 ing distinguishes, perhaps in a still greater degree, the higher 
 orders of Portugal. I speak only of the higher orders, for their 
 superiority of manner over the middling classes is more strongly 
 marked than even in England. There is little perceptible dif- 
 ference of manner between the different grades of society in 
 Paris ; but though tliis uniformity prevails in revolutionized, it 
 was, I suspect, unknown to refined and aristocratic France. 
 
 This characteristic politeness of the Portuguese does not 
 
 only play 
 
 Through life's more cultured paths, and charm the way," 
 
 but the kindliness of heart from which it flows extends to all 
 classes and affects all relations : it appears in the intercourse of 
 the higher with the middling and lower orders, and softens the 
 natural jealousy arising from the distinctions of rank. An 
 English gentleman, unprovided at the moment with money, sends 
 a beggar to the devil : the Sovereign of Portugal calls him his 
 brother, and regrets that he has nothing to offer him. Such de- 
 tails may appear trivial, but are really important ; because these 
 gentle and considerate manners have promoted a kindly feeling 
 in the people towards their superiors, and have greatly contri- 
 buted to mitigate the bitter sense of actual privation. The pride 
 of the Portuguese Fidalgos is chiefly directed against each 
 other, and usually relates to their family alliances. A Puritano,
 
 46 OPORTO. [CHAP. in. 
 
 that is a Fidalgo who traces a purely noble descent from the 
 earliest times, is supposed to form an unequal alliance when he 
 unites himself to the scion of any house, however illustrious, if 
 not also a Puritano by descent. The higher will not ally them- 
 selves to the inferior nobles, and these again will form no con- 
 nexion with the commonalty ; but precedency of rank is occa- 
 sionally superseded in public opinion by ancient birth ; and some 
 untitled families have constantly refused to marry into the houses 
 of particular Grandees, because their own descent is unquestion- 
 ably more ancient, and therefore considered more illustrious. 
 
 If the nobles are kindly disposed, the people are, generally 
 speaking, extremely loyal, little inclined to violence, easily led, 
 susceptible of kindness, and patient under many privations : their 
 virtues flow from their native goodness of disposition, their vices 
 are, in some degree, attributable to the system under which they 
 have lived. The overwhelming extent of the regal prerogative, 
 which could deprive the highest noble of his birthright by an 
 exertion of power; and the corrupt administration of justice, 
 which could impoverish its victim by an act of law, are abuses 
 which, in the towns at least, gave rise to habits of refined dis- 
 simulation as the only safeguard against powerful oppression. 
 In England, during the reign of Henry the Eighth, when the 
 dispensation of justice was venal, and the power of the executive 
 practically uncontrolled, the degradation of the national character 
 was strongly manifested in the corruption of our juries and the 
 servility of our parliaments. In those prostituted assemblies 
 neither unoffending innocence nor undoubted integrity were of 
 any avail against the royal pleasure ; and the popular forms, 
 which should have guarded the popular liberties, became only an 
 additional engine of tyranny in the hands of an oppressive 
 sovereign. Even in Sir Robert Walpole's time, when the sci- 
 ence of government had undergone a total change, when influence 
 had superseded prerogative, the political honesty of public men 
 was at a low ebb indeed : a century of good laws and settled 
 government have gradually raised the British character to its 
 present standard : it only improved with the improvement of our 
 institutions ; and I know not why the Portuguese, who naturally 
 possess so many excellent qualities, should not attain the same 
 moral elevation under an ameliorated government.
 
 CHAP, in.] DOM PEDRO'S POLICY. 47 
 
 But I am far from thinking that the policy pursued after Dom 
 Pedro's triumphant return to Lisbon, in 1834, was calculated to 
 effect an improvement in the character of the people. A govern- 
 ment that owes its existence to the popular principle must not 
 trench upon the popular prejudices of the nation ; a government 
 that professes to raise the standard of the national morality, and 
 to inculcate better and higher principles of action, must itself be 
 strictly just ; but neither justice nor policy were consulted when 
 the privileges of the peers were invaded, when the convents were 
 desecrated, and when those sacred stipulations were violated 
 which pretended to secure to the dispossessed monks a pension for 
 life. The cruel treatment of the priesthood has exercised a most 
 unfavourable influence on the character of the peasantry : that 
 unsophisticated peasantry, which possessed many of the noble 
 qualities without the sanguinary spirit of the Spaniard, and were, 
 till recently, a loyal and contented race, have become generally 
 disaffected to the government ; and, outraged by the injuries in- 
 flicted upon a Church they love and revere, are, even now, in 
 some parts of the country, armed against the crown ; are living 
 by a system of rapine, from which they would have lately shrunk 
 with horror; and, contrary to all their previous habits, are feed- 
 ing upon the life-blood of their country. * 
 
 Before I pass on to other scenes, I must take this opportunity 
 of returning my best thanks to Mr. Crispin, the British Con- 
 sul at Oporto, who hospitably offered me apartments at his 
 house, and showed me every attention during my residence in 
 that city ; to my banker, Mr. Kingston ;f and to the gentlemen 
 of the Factory, of whose civilities I am highly sensible : to my 
 friend Mr. Whitely, the chaplain of Oporto, a gentleman of great 
 and varied talent, I am peculiarly indebted, not only for the plea- 
 sant hours which I spent in his society, but for many valuable 
 facts connected with the state of Portugal which he communi- 
 cated to me during our frequent rambles in the neighbourhood. 
 
 On the 12th of October, the anniversary of Dom Pedro's 
 birth, Count Villa Flor reviewed the troops, who were well 
 equipped, went through their evolutions admirably, and received 
 
 * This was -written some'years ago soon after the suppression of the convents. 
 
 f A son of this gentleman has since become very justly distinguished iu 
 
 the world of letters by his ' Lusitanian Sketches,' and by other productions.
 
 48 ANNIVERSARY OF DOM PEDRO'S BIRTH. [CHAP. in. 
 
 the announcement of the charter with loud " Vivas !" I put on 
 my uniform of the Somersetshire yeomanry, and accompanied 
 him to the field, where I observed to one of the officers, " These 
 regiments are well affected to the Emperor." " Yes," he re- 
 plied, " but will they send forth these loyal shouts when another 
 year brings round another 12th of October ?" At that moment 
 the standard happened to fall. " This omen is not propitious to 
 your cause," I replied, laughingly. Before a year had elapsed, 
 the officers then present were dispersed, their gallant chief 
 exiled, and the constitution had ceased to exist. In the evening- 
 Count Villa Flor gave a grand dinner to the officers,-the colonels 
 of militia, the judges, and the deputies. He proposed Dom Pe- 
 dro's health, and afterwards that of the King of Great Britain 
 and Ireland ; a toast drunk with applause, and for which I re- 
 turned thanks. 
 
 The Opera-box was crowded to excess on that night, although 
 many of the leading Miguelites, or Corcundas, as they were then 
 called, were absent. When Count Villa Flor again proposed 
 Dom Pedro, the audience stood up, and a scene of stormy enthu- 
 siasm ensued ; the shouts were repeated again and again by the 
 men, and the fair sex leant over the boxes, waving their white 
 handkerchiefs in token of their zealous adherence to the cause of 
 their imperial master. 
 
 I was rather amused at hearing, on my return to the inn, that 
 I had been the subject of several bets during the day. As my 
 uniform was of a different colour from the Portuguese, and hap- 
 pened to be very conspicuous, my appearance on the field excited 
 surprise. I was not a native, it was clear ; the country of my 
 birth, in consequence, became a matter of debate among some 
 idlers, and several bets were made on the subject. Spain was 
 taken against the field by many, who called at the inn where I 
 resided to ascertain the point, and. returned to their respective 
 homes very wrathful with the guiltless object of their unsuccess- 
 ful wager. 
 
 The vintage was now commencing, and, as I had long intended 
 to explore the wine district, which appears to its greatest advan- 
 tage during this season, I quitted Oporto. Count Villa Flor 
 gave me letters to the governor of the district, and to the prin- 
 cipal persons in the northern provinces, and my friend Major
 
 CHAP, in.] WINE DISTRICT PENAFIEL. 49 
 
 Bernardo Sa accompanied me a little way on my journey. This 
 young officer, who has since risen to high distinction, was even 
 then remarkable for the extent of his information and the decision 
 of his character ; the most useful quality a man can possess in 
 unsettled times. Distinguished for his gallant exertions in the 
 civil war which had desolated the Traz os Monies, his conduct in 
 the following year proved that the same high spirit had not for- 
 saken him under adverse circumstances. Our friendship was 
 formed at Oporto, and confirmed at Lisbon ; and I shall here- 
 after allude to a curious and somewhat romantic adventure which 
 occurred at a later period, an adventure in which we were both 
 engaged. 
 
 On leaving Oporto, I rode on through a valley, abounding in 
 corn and wild grapes, to Penafiel, a town of some consideration, 
 which gives its name to the Count of Penafiel, a Peer of the 
 realm. The commanderies enjoyed by this noble were annexed 
 in perpetuity to his house, an unusual deviation from the general 
 practice. On the following morning I observed several blocks 
 of granite on one of the heights above the road ; and from their 
 situation, and from the regularity of their position, I conceive 
 them to be the remains of some ancient structure resembling our 
 Druidical temples. 
 
 Passing a large block of stone, upon which a mitre was rudely 
 carved to mark the boundary cf some convent lands, I struck 
 across a wild mountain-track. There I beheld a natural exhibi- 
 tion of the most awful kind. The extreme and long-continued 
 heat that prevailed in Portugal during the summer of 1827 was, 
 I believe, almost unparalleled : the vines were everywhere in- 
 jured, in some places destroyed, and the agriculture had univer- 
 sally suffered ; but during the last two days an evident change 
 had taken place, the weather was becoming more temperate, and 
 clouds of a leaden hue were gradually collecting from all points 
 of the horizon. They must have concentrated their strength 
 during the night of the 26th, for on the following morning the 
 sky resembled a great sea of ink ; deep black masses overhung- 
 our heads, gradually sinking lower and lower, and a faint moan- 
 ing wind alone interrupted the heavy repose that had settled 
 upon the face of the earth. At length the storm burst, not 
 ushered in by any light showers, not even by any warning-
 
 50 TREMENDOUS STORM. [CHAP. in. 
 
 drops, but descending at once, and vertically, in sheets of water, 
 as if hurled by an offended God against a world which he had 
 resolved to submerge airain. 
 
 I had never seen so fierce a conflict of the elements. Those 
 hills, a few minutes before so destitute of water, that I should 
 have hailed with pleasure the most trifling rill, now resounded 
 with the roar of a thousand torrents rushing impetuously into 
 the valley ; and my path, which led along a natural channel be- 
 tween two rocks, at once became the main artery that received 
 these tributary streams. As the water was rising fast, and every 
 moment assumed more the character of a raging torrent, I en- 
 deavoured to escape from its vortex by turning my mule and 
 retracing my steps ; but the strength of the current, and the 
 terror of the animal when required to stem it, rendered this 
 manoeuvre impracticable, and I was therefore obliged to continue 
 my amphibious journey till I found an outlet. 
 
 Having extricated myself from this master-flood, T became 
 involved with the lesser streams, that, dashing around me, 
 tumbling from crag to crag, and crossing each other in all 
 directions, presented a magnificent scene of uproar and confusion. 
 I called to the muleteer and Antonio, who had lingered in the 
 rear, to warn them from the main channel, which might have 
 been dangerous to them, and would probably have been fatal to 
 the loaded mules, but my shouts were drowned in the voice of 
 many waters. Some of our luggage was carried off, and, had the 
 inundation continued, we must have lost the whole ; but fortu- 
 nately the sky relented, in mercy to a country which had so long 
 withered under its burning eye, and was now visited by a still 
 more tremendous infliction. 
 
 I entered the inn at Amarante in a doleful plight, and, creep- 
 ing into a corner by the kitchen fire, fell fast asleep : in little 
 more than an hour the muleteer made his appearance. After a 
 reasonable interval I wished to renew my journey, but the out- 
 cry was so great that I gave way to public opinion, which assailed 
 me in the shape of soaked and mutinous domestics. 
 
 Speaking of natural exhibitions, a fall of locusts is, beyond all 
 comparison, the most awful I have ever seen ; and I may perhaps 
 be excused for digressing from the immediate thread of my nar- 
 rative to give my readers some account of that dreadful scourge,
 
 CHAP, in.] FALL OF LOCUSTS. 51 
 
 which is considered in eastern and southern countries the most 
 unfailing manifestation of the wrath of God. Travelling along 
 the western coast of Africa, I once beheld this terrible infliction. 
 These creatures fell in thousands and ten thousands around us 
 and upon us, on the sands along which we were riding, and on 
 the sea that was beating at our feet : yet we were removed from 
 their most oppressive influence ; for a few hundred yards to our 
 right, darkening the air, the great innumerable host came on 
 slowly and steadily, advancing in a direct line, and in a mighty 
 moving column. The fall of locusts from this central column 
 was so great, that when a cow, directly under the line of flight, 
 attempting ineffectually to graze in the field, approached her 
 mouth to the grass, there rose immediately so dense a swarm 
 that her head was for the moment almost concealed from sight ; 
 and as she moved along, bewildered by this worse than Egyptian 
 plague, clouds of locusts rose up under her feet, visible even at 
 a distance, as clouds of dust when set in motion by the wind on 
 a stormy day. At the extremity of the field I saw the husband- 
 men bending over their staffs, and gazing with hopeless eyes 
 upon that host of death, which swept like a destroying angel over 
 the land, and consigned to ruin all the prospects of the year ; 
 for wherever that column winged its flight, beneath its wither- 
 ing influence the golden glories of the harvest perished, and the 
 leafy honours of the forest disappeared. There stood those 
 ruined men, silent and motionless, overwhelmed with the magni- 
 tude of their calamity, yet conscious of their utter inability to 
 control it ; while, farther on, where some woodland lay in the 
 immediate line of the advancing column, heath set on fire, and 
 trees kindling into a blaze, testified the general horror of a visit- 
 ation which the ill-fated inhabitants endeavoured to avert by 
 such a frightful remedy. They believed that the smoke arising 
 from the burning forest, and ascending into the air, would im- 
 pede the direct march of the column, throw it into confusion, 
 drive the locusts out to sea, and thus deliver the country from 
 their desolating presence. 
 
 It was an awful and indeed a painful scene, and I shall never 
 forget it. Yet, perhaps, there was not one of those whose 
 blighted fortunes I then commiserated who would not have con- 
 sidered my assassination well pleasing to their God, and few, 
 
 E 2
 
 52 AMARANTE ASCENT OF THE MARON. [CHAP. in. 
 
 perhaps, who would have scrupled to attack me, as a Christian 
 dog, if I had been unarmed and unattended by a trusty band. 
 
 I was now detained for the rest of the day at Arnarante, a 
 town so called from the Hower of that name, after the poetical 
 fashion of the land. To beguile the time I visited an officer for 
 whom I had letters, and found him playing at cards in a mise- 
 rable apartment ; he offered to show me the " lions," and we 
 ascended together a neighbouring hill. In the valley below 
 there had been some hard fighting between the Imperialists under 
 Count Villa Flor, and the Miguelites commanded by Don An- 
 tonio Silveira, who were finally routed and driven back to the 
 western wilds of the Traz os Montes. Traces of the conflict were 
 still visible on the surrounding buildings and in the broken windows 
 of an adjoining convent, where I visited the monks, who showed 
 me the interior of the edifice. Their gardens, striking only 
 from some fine light-coloured cedar-trees, were neglected, and 
 many parts of the building were in a miserably dilapidated state ; 
 but the friars pleaded in excuse their diminished revenues, and 
 said they had in consequence greatly reduced their numbers. 
 From the windows of a monk's cell we enjoyed a magnificent 
 view of the mountains, covered with wood, sloping down to the 
 Tamega, a noble stream. In the evening we adjourned to the 
 house of Dom Tavera. He was a fine old noble, and had two 
 daughters, both agreeable, and one very pretty : the youngest 
 sang some of her native melodies with taste and feeling. She 
 observed archly that she could not speak French ; but I suspect 
 she only feigned ignorance for the purpose of hearing my Portu- 
 guese, which was a ludicrous mixture of the two Peninsular 
 languages. She was lively and amusing, and asked me many 
 questions about English society. 
 
 On the 28th I began the ascent of the Maron, accompanied 
 by the Colonel, my friend of the previous day, and an escort, a 
 necessary precaution against the last insurgent Guerilla still lin- 
 gering amongst the recesses of that savage pass. At the end of 
 the first stage, a soldier gave the Colonel a list of the rebels, by 
 which it appeared that a priest commanded the troop, with a 
 surgeon for his lieutenant, who officiated in a double capacity, 
 and dispensed his blows and his medicines with equal success. 
 When we had reached a considerable height the Colonel's horse
 
 CHAP, in.] TRAZ OS MONTES. 53 
 
 became suddenly averse to any further prolongation of the jour- 
 ney, and, after some unequivocal symptoms of dissatisfaction, 
 turned round and trotted back with his master. 
 
 I was now entering the Traz os Monies, a province inhabited 
 by a very peculiar people, restless, intrepid, and aspiring, the only 
 part of the Portuguese population which has retained its original 
 character unaffected by the lapse of centuries ; a fine manly 
 race, possessing the savage virtues in perfection, the first to act, 
 and the last to submit, they are the Catalans of Portugal. The 
 spirit of the age has respected their mountain barriers ; no mo- 
 dern refinements have enfeebled their native hardihood, and 
 they still differ in manners, feeling, and even in external appear- 
 ance, from their countrymen and from the rest of the European 
 community. The great insurrection, then recently appeased, 
 had originated partly in a real affection for the ancient system, 
 and partly in a spirit of exaggerated attachment to the Silveira 
 family : so deep was their devotion to that ill-fated house, that 
 even those priests who were opposed to the revolt could not 
 restrain their excited parishioners, over whose minds their 
 slightest word had generally the force of law. Yet the Marquis 
 de Chaves, the chief of the Silveiras, was not a man of very vi- 
 gorous intellect ; but his father had been eminently loved and 
 respected throughout the province, and he succeeded to the here- 
 ditary influence. The people had been undoubtedly impelled by 
 the most genuine enthusiasm, and they fought under the banner 
 of that chivalrous house with a gallantry which claimed the 
 praise, and obtained the respect, of every candid opponent. The 
 prevailing spirit was still decidedly hostile to the constitution, 
 and they were writhing under a sense of recent defeat and actual 
 humiliation ; but these feelings had been greatly mitigated by 
 the wise and humane policy of the conquerors. 
 
 During the Catalan Revolution in 1822, the laurels of the 
 Spanish Constitutionalists were soiled with blood ; not with the 
 blood of men fairly slain on the field of battle, but massacred 
 coldly and deliberately afrer the victory had been obtained ; mas- 
 sacred because they had fought in defence of that monarchy which 
 from their earliest years they had been taught to revere, because 
 they had struggled to maintain privileges inherited from their 
 ancestors, and abrogated with an insolent disregard to the feelings
 
 54 THE VALENTOINES. [CHAP. ra. 
 
 of a whole population ; but, more than all, because, as sons of 
 Catalonia, they would not tamely permit the extinction of her 
 cherished name, which the Spanish Cortes, those foes to every 
 great and ancient recollection, would have blotted out of the 
 map of Spain. But in Portugal the Constitutional leaders of 
 1827 remembered, even in the hour of triumph, that their de- 
 feated opponents were fellow-countrymen and brothers. 
 
 I had now almost ascended the Maroh : the surrounding 
 heights were bold and bleak, and partially seen through the mists 
 that were rapidly hurrying over them. These mountains are 
 composed of granite, and their summits wholly destitute of trees : 
 the vegetation, at all times scanty, had been so completely burnt 
 by a recent fire, that the ground was black for many miles, a 
 circumstance which increased the natural gloom of the scene, 
 and invested the mountain with an awful and almost funereal 
 character. The Trazos Montesis still the favourite land of the 
 Valentoines, a race of men that have much declined in numbers. 
 These Valentoines are bravos inhabiting the wildest parts of the 
 country, known to each other by certain signs, and to the neigh- 
 bourhood by their fearful reputation : they style themselves re- 
 dressers of wrongs, and some indeed are honourable though 
 misguided spirits, acting in defiance of law, yet true to an erro- 
 neous system of imagined right. But the majority have degenerated 
 into common ruffians, whose pride is to perform any feat, how- 
 ever hazardous, and execute any crime, however heinous, with 
 greater spirit and address than other men. In parts of the Traz os 
 Montes they form almost a separate class, and defeat the ends of 
 justice by terrifying witnesses and intimidating or corrupting the 
 local authorities. Fidelity to their employers is perhaps their 
 only redeeming virtue. These bravos were formerly dependent 
 on certain nobles, whose mandates they fulfilled with a devotion 
 bordering upon heroism, and in return enjoyed their countenance 
 and support. The extent to which a noble could protect them 
 was long considered a fair criterion of his personal influence ; 
 and the number attached to the service of his house was a point 
 of honour jealously observed. This system prevailed in the 
 Trazos Montes and in parts of the Entre Minho ; and although 
 the altered manners of the age and the improved character of 
 the provincial nobles have dissolved that systematic connexion.
 
 CHAP, in.] MANNERS OF THE NOBLES. 55 
 
 there still exists a strong feeling of protection on one hand, and 
 attachment on the other. 
 
 In these wild districts the stately manners which characterized 
 the nobility of the feudal world are still sometimes retained 
 among the families of the great. I have said that a strong feel- 
 ing of vassalage exists in their dependants ; a haughty sense of 
 superior birth divides these nobles from the rest of society : even 
 in the bosom of their own families, and where their nearest affec- 
 tions are engaged, a solemn and somewhat unbending spirit marks 
 their social habits ; indeed, where the old ancestral forms are 
 kept up in their ancient rigour, the children of the hou.se inhabit 
 separate apartments in the distant wings of the old rambling 
 mansion, and, long after the period of adolescence has elapsed, 
 receive on bended knees the blessings of their parents : they are 
 not permitted to take their meals at the same board with their 
 parents, and must not remain covered in their presence, or even 
 sit down without express permission. But although the familiar 
 habits of modern life have not invaded those ancient and patri- 
 archal halls, still, where these forms, the legacy of a primitive 
 and wholly different age, are thus inflexibly maintained, it may 
 be observed that the essence of the old Portuguese honour is, 
 generally speaking, preserved equally inviolate, and the slightest 
 falsehood or deceit is held in generous disdain. 
 
 But however strict the forms occasionally maintained in these 
 antiquated establishments, between parent and child, a graduated 
 subordination of respect appears to pervade the household ; a 
 similar homage is exacted by the children from those beneath 
 them, and a similar state observed. In many great families, the 
 young lady of the house, even when she merely goes out to take 
 the air, is preceded by the Escudeiro, or shieldbearer of the* 
 family ; though he now no longer carries the shield, but only 
 walks a few paces in advance of his charge, with a solemn and 
 measured step, bareheaded, and holding his hat humbly in his 
 hand. These shieldbearers, attached to noble families, were 
 formerly, like our ancient esquires, gentlemen by birth, though 
 for the most part greatly reduced in circumstances. 
 
 From the highest point of the Maron I looked over successive 
 ranges of hills, divided by rich intervening valleys,which, in conse- 
 quence of their great elevation, retained a verdure truly refreshing
 
 56 PROCESS OF WINE-MAKING. [CHAP. in. 
 
 to eyes fatigued by gazing on parched and withered scenery. 
 I entered Villa Real towards evening, and was hospitably re- 
 ceived by the Governor. After a sumptuous breakfast at his 
 palace on the following morning, I took leave, and accompanied 
 the Juiz de Fora to his house, where he showed me a blood- 
 stained dagger, just taken from a peasant ; and said that four 
 assassinations had been committed during the last month within 
 the narrow limits of his jurisdiction. 
 
 Murders are of frequent occurrence throughout the Traz os 
 Monies, and particularly in the neighbourhood of Lamego ; but 
 there they result, in a great measure, from circumstances uncon- 
 nected with the lawless habits of the native population. Swarms 
 of labourers repair from the different provinces to the banks of 
 the Douro during the summer, induced by the immense demand 
 for labour which exists during that season in the wine-district ; 
 and amongst them many individuals proscribed by the law find 
 safety, and, residing chiefly in scattered huts, are seldom in- 
 spected by the local managers. 
 
 I continued my journey accompanied by the Juiz : we stopped 
 at the house of a substantial farmer, who offered us grapes, wine, 
 and all kinds of refreshment. The daughter cast many affec- 
 tionate glances on the young magistrate, and her parents were 
 evidently elated by the distinction which his visit was supposed 
 to confer on the family. I saw here, for the first time, the 
 laborious process that takes place before the juice of the grape 
 is converted into the rich beverage it afterwards becomes : the 
 grapes are first trodden underfoot, and then pressed by a large 
 beam tightened by a screw, till the fruit is completely crushed ; 
 after which the wine is poured into great casks, where it is left 
 to ferment, and two or three months subsequently the necessary 
 quantity of brandy is infused. Meanwhile the lees of the grape 
 are collected and steeped in water, and, being again subjected to 
 the pressure of the beam, give out a light feeble wine, generally 
 sold to the lower orders. The lees themselves are given to pigs, 
 or applied as manure to the fields. 
 
 The grapes were lying in heaps within an enclosed space near 
 the farmer's house, and several Galicians were carefully treading 
 them down : from six in the morning till twelve at night these 
 poor men continue immersed up to the knees in the cold jnice,
 
 CHAP, in.] GALICIAN LABOURERS. 57 
 
 and receive a very low remuneration when their comfortless task 
 is accomplished ; yet they submit without a murmur to their 
 cheerless lot, are grateful for any mark of kindness, and beguile 
 the tedious hours by singing in concert a low, plaintive, and 
 affecting hymn. Galicians are always employed in this stage 
 of the process, for the lively Portuguese cannot endure such 
 painful and continued exertion ; indeed they consider the patience 
 of their humbler neighbours allied to stupidity, regard them 
 with contempt, and confidently assert that God Almighty first 
 made men and then Galicians. Dr. Buckland would have told 
 them that, if they could substantiate this assertion, every ana- 
 logical and geological inference would tend to prove that the 
 Galicians, contemned of man indeed, are not the most despised 
 of God. 
 
 Here the Juiz took leave, but desired a guard to escort me, as, 
 he said, the peasants were exasperated against the English. The 
 prosperity of the peasantry of these districts is so much con- 
 nected with that of the Wine Company of Oporto that I was not 
 surprised at the existence of a very hostile feeling towards the 
 charter, and consequently towards the country which had sent 
 troops to support it. I mixed, however, very generally with the 
 peasants, but never perceived the slightest disposition to molest 
 me. As I approached Regoa I deviated from the highway and 
 rode across a narrow mule-track. The scene was lively, the sun 
 was setting over fields purple with the vine, and groups of 
 vintagers, gaily dressed, were gathering the grapes, and singing 
 the vintage-song. 
 
 On the following morning I visited the great warehouse of the 
 Company, then filled with casks of brandy, and was told that 
 seven pipes of wine are often distilled to produce a single pipe 
 of that spirit. At two o'clock I dined with the Capitan Mor. 
 Besides his family circle, consisting of a wife, a sister, a pretty 
 daughter about seventeen years of age, and several younger 
 children, Senhor Macarao, an intelligent young man, was present, 
 accompanied by a gentleman who had published some humorous 
 poetry, and was very religious, very entertaining, very flighty, 
 and very peculiar. During dinner I had twice partaken of a 
 dish of rice, and afterwards found, with some surprise, that an 
 act so trivial, and so wholly unpremeditated, had given me a
 
 58 LAMEGO. [CHAP. in. 
 
 singular degree of popularity among this amiable and simple 
 party : it was considered a mark of deference to Portuguese 
 tastes and an adoption of Portuguese habits ; and this notion 
 was peculiarly gratifying to their national feeling, and calculated 
 to conciliate their affections. 
 
 In the evening I a'djourned to the house of Senhor Ferreira, 
 a gentleman of large fortune, who received me with the utmost 
 hospitality. He had, in many respects, adopted English customs ; 
 much of his furniture was English, and the china in his house 
 was of British manufacture, and most costly. I slept there, and 
 on the following day rode to Lamego, accompanied by Senhor 
 Antonino, his son, a quick and lively boy, and Mr. Carey, his 
 tutor, a gentleman of the Catholic persuasion. We crossed the 
 Douro, and, leaving the Traz os Monies, entered Beira, where we 
 found the road good but hilly, and the mountains on each side 
 covered with vines in the highest state of cultivation. We 
 stopped at the house of a young noble, who informed us of King 
 Ferdinand's departure for Catalonia. He had a clever, and the 
 world said a pretty sister, but, as she would not indulge my 
 curiosity by appearing, we rode on with little delay through a 
 heavy shower to Lamego, and alighted at the house of Senhor 
 Joaquim de Castro da Fonseca e Sousa, a noble of ancient family, 
 and father of Senhor Macarao, the young man whom I dined 
 with on the preceding day. 
 
 We were shown into a well-furnished apartment, where I 
 found, with equal joy and surprise, a comfortable fireplace, and 
 that greatest of earthly blessings in a fireless land, a fire. From 
 an open window I looked out upon a little garden, divided into 
 numberless parterres and gaily decorated with flowers. I saw a 
 fine mimosa growing in the open air, some specimens of the 
 large-leaved catalpa, and of the dark-coloured medronheiro, 
 from the fruit of which a weak kind of brandy is extracted. 
 
 Senhor Joaquim was absent when we first arrived, but soon 
 afterwards appeared. He had passed the meridian of life, but 
 evident traces of manly beauty were still discernible. He was 
 a man who at once enlisted every prepossession in his favour, 
 and whose countenance might be considered an index to his cha- 
 racter, for it was impossible to observe the expression of his mild 
 intelligent eye without being convinced that it could only
 
 CHAP, in.] OLD MANOR-HOUSE. 59 
 
 emanate from a candid and honourable mind ; nor could I hear 
 him speak without feeling at once that he had lived in the best 
 society. 
 
 We were joined by the family priest at dinner, about four 
 o'clock, for, in consequence of the connexion which has so long 
 existed between the British and the Portuguese inhabitants of 
 the wine-district, the dinner is often here served up at a later 
 hour than in other parts of the kingdom. On re-entering the 
 drawing-room I saw a blazing fire, a handsome Newfoundland 
 dog, and a pug, somnolent upon the hearth. This complication 
 of delights transported me to England, and I would hardly 
 have exchanged pug, fire, and my arm-chair for the ruins of 
 Palmyra. 
 
 We retired early to rest. My room was spacious, and had a 
 fireplace, which, generally speaking, is in Portugal a proof of 
 great antiquity, as fireplaces, since disused, were common among 
 the Portuguese in the early days of the monarchy. I did not 
 sleep immediately, but lay for a long time surveying my apart- 
 ment by the light of the lamp. Every object spoke of ancient 
 descent, and revived that train of association so dear to an 
 Englishman, and so early impressed on his mind. The walls 
 were hung round with portraits of the old chiefs of the house : 
 the bed, formerly reserved for state occasions, was lofty, hung 
 with crimson silk, and constructed after the solid fashion of other 
 times ; even the fireplace bore the impress of a convivial age, 
 and might have accommodated a large circle around its ample 
 hearth. 
 
 After breakfast on the following day we walked round Senhor 
 Joaquim's grounds, and then explored the town of Lamego, 
 which is very ancient, full of picturesque beauties and old 
 remains of art. Fragments of capitals are half buried in walls 
 comparatively modern ; and arches now lead into the dwellings 
 of the poor, which once formed a noble entrance to houses be- 
 longing to Christians or Moors of distinction ; for the Christians 
 at one period imitated the Oriental architecture so closely, that 
 it is often difficult to discriminate between their respective 
 buildings. The balconies and wooden frame-work around the 
 windows are beautifully carved in Moorish taste, the balustrades 
 twisted, and the lattices richly ornamented. The houses are
 
 60 TOWN OF LAMEGO REGOA. [CHAP. in. 
 
 high and overhanging, and the streets narrow ; but this very 
 want of breadth heightens the picturesque effect. 
 
 His Excellency led me to an ancient church, where the Por- 
 tuguese Estates, the memorable Cortes of Lamego, are said to 
 have met for the first time. Near the door is an iron cross, cut 
 in the form generally used by the Templars, and this has induced 
 a belief that the building was once attached to that order. The 
 exterior has been whitewashed, and the effect in consequence 
 greatly injured. The interior derives interest solely from its 
 antiquity and its great historical recollections ; it is so confined 
 that the number of persons assembled in Cortes must have been 
 extremely limited. 
 
 Senhor Joaquim then led us to the site of an old church, under 
 the belief that it still existed ; but the proprietor, to his eternal 
 disgrace be it said, had recently erased every vestige of the old 
 fabric : it was, however, grateful to see the patriotic sorrow which 
 this venerable noble displayed when he discovered that one of the 
 most curious and most ancient monuments of the kingdom had 
 been destroyed. 
 
 The old walls of the town are partially preserved : there is a 
 fine Saracenic tower, and a magnificent reservoir of water. 
 
 Senhor Antonino and Mr. Carey were becoming anxious to 
 return to Regoa, as we were engaged to dine with Senhor Fer- 
 reira; and Senhor Joaquim offering to accompany us, we now 
 retraced our steps. As we passed through the town I was much 
 impressed by the respect and affection with which all classes 
 seemed to regard this popular noble, for he was greeted univer- 
 sally, and individuals seemed gratified whenever he addressed 
 them ; and this was evidently not that homage which the " poor 
 heart would fain deny but dare net," but the genuine expression 
 of sincere attachment. The people are often fond of their resi- 
 dent Fidalgos, and especially of those whose names have been 
 handed down from father to son for many generations. The 
 jealousy with which they are sometimes viewed prevails chiefly 
 among the middling classes. 
 
 Senhor Joaquim took leave of us at Regoa, and we repaired to 
 the house of Senhor Ferreira, where we dined. My entertaining 
 friend the poet was one of the party, and expatiated freely on 
 general subjects, but retreated with a ludicrous degree of circum-
 
 CHAP, in.] REGOA. 61 
 
 spection from any topics which bore, however distantly, on public 
 affairs. His conversation was peculiar, and characteristic of a 
 state of society in which a general earnestness and community of 
 feeling prevails on religious subjects, and where, in consequence, 
 religion not unfrequently gives a strong colouring to the conver- 
 sation of the hour. His wit was mingled with a devotion border- 
 ing upon melancholy ; gay and sparkling in conversation, even to 
 excess, his most brilliant sallies were generally concluded by some 
 quaint and saddening allusion to the instability of human life. I 
 will relate one out of many instances of this peculiar habit of mind. 
 A guest observed to him, " This English Fidalgo will soon return 
 to Lisbon, and may perhaps have an opportunity of expressing 
 your wishes on a certain subject to the government." He laughed, 
 and made some rather jocular reply ; then, suddenly checking him- 
 self, said, with the strongest emphasis, and the most fervent ex- 
 pression of countenance, " Ah, if he could put in a word for me 
 with the Government of Heaven !" This observation, which, in 
 many polished circles of the world, would have given birth to the 
 fastidious sneer, did not produce a smile, or even an expression of 
 surprise, in any individual of the party. 
 
 The dinner was excellent ; the goblets were Bohemian, large, 
 deep, tipped with gold, and well calculated for the copious 
 draughts of the old baronial feasts. That day was consecrated to 
 the Guardian Angels, and we drank some religious toasts that had 
 reference to their all-powerful protection. Afterwards the healths 
 of individuals went round, and the Esperanza de Casa,* which I 
 proposed in honour of young Antonino, was the last drunk and 
 the most applauded. During dinner the conversation was flowing 
 and sustained, gliding easily from subject to subject, but always 
 retaining a character peculiar to the time and country. The 
 persons assembled around the hospitable board of our Highland 
 host furnished ample matter for curious observation. Inhabitants 
 of the Traz os Montes, and intimately connected by the strong ties 
 of kindred and constant intercourse with the wild people and wild 
 chieftains of that half- civilized but most interesting country, yet 
 brought into direct communication with the commerce of England 
 and Oporto, they were singularly placed between the old world 
 
 * A hope early blighted ; this young Portuguese died in the flower of 
 manhood. My kind host, Senhor Ferreira, is also no more.
 
 62 REGOA. [CHAP. in. 
 
 and the new ; between the merchants of that flourishing city, 
 imbued with all the notions of the present day, and the clans of 
 the Traz os Montes, adhering with rigid fidelity to the habits and 
 traditions of the past. These circumstances naturally influenced 
 the conversation ; and thus the savage and long-descended feuds 
 of their mountain neighbours, their hereditary attachments to 
 particular families, and the remarkable and often romantic events 
 to which their social state had given rise in former times, and in 
 the civil conflict just suppressed, came blended in their conversa- 
 tion, strangely enough, with^the general politics of Europe and 
 the general interests of the day. The state of society I describe 
 is essentially a transition state, and will probably be unknown to 
 the next generation, when the existing manners of the Traz os 
 Montes shall have passed away ; but under the aspect society 
 then assumed, I thought it peculiarly favourable to the develop- 
 ment of the best principles of our nature. The progress of civiliz- 
 ation had subdued, in my amiable friends, all that was harsh and 
 barbarous in that almost feudal state of society which still prevails 
 in the Traz os Montes, but had not acquired sufficient strength to 
 break down that exalted spirit which makes religion an avowed 
 and influencing consideration in the most common transactions of 
 life, or to impair materially the chivalrous attachments of a former 
 age. These high-wrought feelings were shown, not only in the 
 occasional elevation of their sentiments, and in the energy and 
 utter absence of reserve which marked the delivery of their opi- 
 nions, but also in that somewhat poetical form of expression which 
 often characterizes the habitual language of a people during the 
 romantic and feudal period of their history. That unrestrained 
 expression of feeling upon particular points, which in a more ad- 
 vanced stage of society would be too often regarded as the enthu- 
 siasm of the boy, or the insincere profession of the designing man 
 of the world, was neither smiled at nor suspected, because the 
 sentiment found more or less an echo in every bosom, and was in 
 accordance with the prevailing sympathies of the public mind. 
 
 After a pleasant visit at Senhor Ferreira's, during which he 
 had paid me every attention that the most delicate kindness could 
 suggest, and Mr. Carey and Antonino had shown me every scene 
 that possessed interest in the neighbourhood, I quitted their family 
 with regret.
 
 CHAP, in.] DESCENT OF THE DOURO. 63 
 
 The morning was delightful ; there was not a cloud on the sky, 
 and the water was of a deep green colour, as I entered the boat 
 which was to waft me down the stream to Oporto. I had desired 
 my servant to engage a boat, with the necessary complement, of 
 men ; but when I reached the shore, I found, to my surprise, and 
 with some embarrassment, that Senhor Ferreira had provided me 
 his boat and his own boatmen, having arranged that they should 
 convey me to Oporto, a two days' expedition from his country 
 house. I remonstrated with him in vain ; he insisted on my com- 
 pliance, with all the warmth of Highland hospitality ; and when 
 I arrived at Oporto the men absolutely refused to receive any re- 
 muneration at my hands, stating that they had received the most 
 positive instructions to that effect. 
 
 The banks were hilly, and the windings of the river exhibited 
 a succession of pleasing landscapes ; terrace rose above terrace, 
 and the vines, beginning to assume the bright autumnal tint, 
 formed a lively contrast to the grey olive and dark cork that stood 
 in the background ; but after we had left the Company's district 
 the soil was either less fertile or less improved, and woods of fir 
 and chestnut were substituted for the vine. Towards the middle 
 of the day we went down one of the rapids, and entered a fine 
 pass, where the river, deep and dark, creeps slowly through its 
 narrow channel, hemmed in on both sides by black and inacces- 
 sible rocks of granite, iron, and basalt. 
 
 The entrance into this striking ravine was formerly guarded by 
 a Moorish fort, which still frowns over the water. There is a 
 superstition connected with this castle, common to many of the 
 old Moorish towers ; that of the Moira Encantada, or enchanted 
 Mooress, a superstition well known and widely credited in parts 
 of Portugal. The peasantry believe that, although the Moorish 
 race is extinct, the Moorish power has not altogether ceased ; for 
 that here, and in almost every tower where the Saracens once 
 ruled with feudal sway, an enchanted Mooress still haunts the 
 spot, and hovers round the undiscovered treasures of the castle. 
 Last relic and representative of a departed people, and, since the 
 dreary day of their expulsion, sole guardian of their buried wealth, 
 she stands a link between the living and the dead; and, superior 
 to mortal destiny, defies alike the lapse of ages and the stroke of
 
 64 MOIRA ENCANTADA ENTRE RIOS. [CIIAP. in. 
 
 death. Though bound by some mysterious tie to a heathen and 
 once hostile race, there is no fierceness in her mood of mind ; 
 there is no terror in her look ; for when, at the earliest dawn of 
 day, the light dew spangles the mountain and the rock, and again 
 when the setting sun sheds its last melancholy glories on the Moors' 
 untenanted abode, she is seen clad in the flowing garments of her 
 race, leaning against some broken arch, some ruined monument of 
 national glory, as one who mourns but seeks not to avenge. She 
 shuns the glare of day, but does not fly from those who court her : 
 sometimes she weaves her spells around a favoured individual and 
 shields him from mischance, and yields him a portion of her buried 
 gold. It is no sin to seek a Moira ; and in return for her ima- 
 gined kindness and protecting care, and as if in sorrow for their 
 fathers' cruel injuries against her Moorish ancestors, the peasantry 
 atone for past misdeeds by present love. The wild beauty of the 
 ruin was perhaps enhanced by this sad but pleasing legend. And 
 now emerging from the defile, the river again expanded, and we 
 passed through a succession of gentler scenes, their natural beauty 
 heightened by the tints of the setting sun, and, still later, by the 
 soft full light of the moon. 
 
 We arrived late in the evening at a collection of miserable 
 huts, situated at the confluence of two rivers, and called Entre 
 Rios, where, disembarking, we made our way with some diffi- 
 culty to the inn, which was already full ; but on our arrival a 
 new division of the territory was voted expedient. In the mean 
 time we entered a central room, into which all the other apart- 
 ments opened. In the first a mendicant friar reposed, rich in the 
 acquisition of a pampered goose, but his saintly slumbers were at 
 once declared inviolable : in the next a pedler snored ; but, most 
 unscrupulously disturbed by our landlord, and alarmed for the 
 safety of a barrel of ink deposited in the central room, he made 
 a sudden inroad upon us, and carried off his sable goods with an 
 air of defiance. From the third paced forth a creature whose 
 long shaggy hair fell over his face and effectually concealed his 
 features ; a bulky nondescript, surely not a man, though much 
 approaching to the mortal shape. After these monsters had 
 been successively exhibited, I paid a visit to the kitchen fire, 
 where I found the women scarcely more human than the men ;
 
 CHAP, in.] RETURN TO OPORTO. 65 
 
 upon which I retired to rest dismayed, arid became the property 
 of mosquitos, fleas, and that little black vermin " inter politas 
 non nominandum." 
 
 We left Entre Rios the following day ; but here, as Mrs. Rad- 
 cliffe would say, my manuscript fails : it is not, however, blotted 
 with tears, but only illegible ; so the remainder of this expedi- 
 tion must be a blank, and my readers shall have a half-holiday. 
 
 The approach to Oporto was striking ; we arrived at night, 
 and the lights, seen first in the distance, increased in brilliancy as 
 we drew near, and were reflected in long lines across the water. 
 As we passed the Customs I saw an instance of that sarcastic 
 humour so characteristic of the lower classes of the district. 
 The officer asked the boatmen whether they carried any goods. 
 " No," they replied, " but a Fidalgo," the man bowed, " and 
 a clever one," they continued, " for he speaks English." The 
 man made a more profound obeisance. " So much the more 
 respect is due," he replied ; and, supposing me a Portuguese, 
 departed much impressed with the unusual extent of my attain- 
 ments. So terminated my excursion into the Traz os Montes. 
 
 Throughout this tour I experienced the most unbounded hos- 
 pitality from the natives, who overwhelmed me with kind invita- 
 tions, and were only anxious to prolong my stay at their houses, 
 and enliven it by all the means in their power. The local autho- 
 rities not only facilitated my progress through the country in 
 various modes, but often entertained me sumptuously, and gene- 
 rally, on my departure, accompanied me some miles on my 
 journey. I experienced the same kindness and attention from 
 individuals and from official men in every part of the kingdom, 
 till the great revulsion of feeling against the English which took 
 place during the revolution that elevated Dom Miguel to the 
 throne.
 
 66 JOURNEY TO GALICIA. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Author leaves Oporto a second time Portuguese Authorities alarmed 
 Exquisite Beauty of the Entre Minho Joyous Manners of the People 
 Dramatic Dances Author loses his way in the Forest Terrible Super- 
 stition of the Bruchas A Valentoine Caminha Author enters Spain 
 Antiquated Landlady of Caldas Old-fashioned Inn at Santiago Shrine 
 of St. Jago de Compostella Field of Corunna Influence of the Monks 
 Passionate Patriotism of the Galicians Ferrol. 
 
 HAVING long intended to visit Galicia, to re-enter Portugal by 
 its north-western frontier, and return to Oporto through the 
 heart of the Traz os Montes, I again quitted that city after a 
 short delay, and rode through a pretty country to Villa de Conde, 
 on the 14th of November. From the bridge at the entrance of 
 the town I saw a magnificent convent, inhabited by nuns of the 
 Benedictine order ; and soon afterwards arriving at the inn, I 
 placed myself under the guidance of a rapacious young rascal, 
 and hastened to pay my tribute of respect to the great Atlantic ; 
 for, however fatigued, I never could resist the spell which drew 
 me to the sea. The harbour was small, but not without symp- 
 toms of activity : two brigs were under repair, and several 
 women were carrying panniers of salt, coarse, and apparently 
 fresh from the operation which had brought it into its actual 
 state. 
 
 In the evening I strayed into an old fort, where I found my 
 servant Antonio conversing with the guard, making various 
 inquiries about the stores, and expatiating with more energy 
 than discretion on the utter impossibility of defending it against 
 any hostile attack. I broke up the conference, and rode back to 
 the inn, but in the course of an hour received a summons from 
 the Governor ; and I then discovered that some questions I had 
 asked respecting the elevation of the tides had been converted 
 into a request for an exact description of the harbour, while the 
 imaginative theories of poor Antonio were supposed to portend
 
 CHAP, iv.] FONTE BOA BARCELOS. 67 
 
 an approaching assault. His Excellency asked me what punish- 
 ment the head of the British Administration would inflict on 
 any unhappy Portuguese who presumed to invade an English 
 fort, impelled by such an audacious spirit of investigation. I 
 explained the nature of my inquiries, endeavoured to convince 
 him that I contemplated no outrage against the fort or the go- 
 vernment, and assured him that Lord Goderich, the Premier of 
 that day, would not regard with a very unrelenting eye a similar 
 delinquency on the part of his countrymen. Then was the 
 worthy man appeased ; compliments passed between us, accord- 
 ing to the fashion of the country, and I was suffered to depart in 
 peace. 
 
 A soldier accompanied me to the inn, and told me that the 
 inhabitants were almost universally opposed to the charter; 
 adding, that they still maintained communications with the exiled 
 adherents of the Silveiras, and that, in consequence of their vici- 
 nity to the Spanish frontier, the garrison lived in constant dread 
 of a descent upon the coast. On reaching the inn I offered him 
 a piece of money, which he rejected with unequivocal symptoms 
 of alarm ; for, to ; his apprehensive imagination, the rebel evi- 
 dently stood confessed before him ; but when he discovered that 
 the surrender of his loyalty was not implied by his acceptance of 
 the coin, he received it with overflowing gratitude. 
 
 On the following day I rode on to Fonte Boa, and breakfasted 
 with the rector. His house was convenient, the rooms were 
 comfortably furnished, the walls tastefully decorated with 
 sketches and engravings, and his window looked out upon a little 
 garden kept in the highest order, while the surrounding country 
 exhibited a beautiful mixture of rich cultivation and picturesque 
 woodland. After breakfast we wandered among fields where 
 Indian corn had been lately cut. The church was of a dazzling 
 whiteness, the cottages were neat and comfortable, the cottagers 
 seemed happy and attached to their pastor, and the whole scene 
 excited unmingled sensations of pleasure. 
 
 I rode on to Barcelos, delightfully situated on that noble stream 
 the Cavado, and continued my journey over a wild tract of heath, 
 which was still partially in bloom, and gave a fine blue tinge to 
 the prospect. Groups of oak and chestnut adorned the neigh- 
 
 F 2
 
 68 JOURNEY TO GALICIA. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 bouring hills, and presented all the beautiful combinations of 
 park scenery ; while the villages through which we passed were 
 thickly peopled, had every appearance of comfort, and were ge- 
 nerally embosomed in a grove of trees. Beneath their shade this 
 happy population is accustomed to collect at eve, and spend the 
 last hours of the day in dancing, and in singing old traditional 
 ballads to the sound of their favourite guitar ; for tales of love 
 and chivalry, forgotten in other parts of the kingdom, are still 
 cherished in this loyal land. All in the Minho seems redolent of 
 joy, the country pleasing, the climate fine ; and a perpetual sun- 
 shine on the face of man shows that oppression has no entrance 
 here. Their religion, cheerful as it is sincere, is quite divested 
 of the fanatic spirit that obscures it in the southern provinces, 
 and in the neighbouring Traz os Monies. Devotional expeditions 
 to their chapels, placed, like landmarks, on the highest hills, are 
 generally combined with feasts and merrymakings ; many vows, 
 besides those addressed to their saints, are there offered up ; and 
 many a maiden looks forward to the day when she will accom- 
 pany her family to some favourite shrine, with a throbbing heart, 
 and thoughts with full as much of earth in them as heaven. 
 
 Towards the close of day, even in the autumn months, the 
 ladies sit in their ornamented balconies, listening to the never- 
 ceasing sound of song issuing from the streets below, or gazing 
 upon those dramatic dances in which the imaginative character 
 of this interesting people is so peculiarly developed. In this kind 
 of dance a story, with its regular sequence of events, is repre- 
 sented in dumb show. For instance, a swain approaches the maid 
 of his choice ; he first hints the secret of his heart, but gradually 
 grows bolder as she appears to turn no inattentive ear to his 
 pleading ; he urges her too strongly ; he offends ; she waves him 
 from her; he retreats despairs grows haughty love, how- 
 ever, prevails over pride he implores forgiveness he is for- 
 given, and pride, anger, and distrust give way before the returning 
 beams of true affection, as icicles beneath the morning sun. 
 
 During this delineation of varying passions and events not a 
 word is spoken, but every change of situation, every fluctuation 
 of feeling, is represented by the looks and gestures of the dancers. 
 When I remembered that the actors in the scene were but
 
 CHAP, iv.] THE ENTRE MINHO. 69 
 
 the peasants of the soil, I scarcely knew which to marvel at the 
 most, the refined nature of the sentiments described, or the extra- 
 ordinary power possessed by persons in their rank of life of 
 giving correct expression to those feelings. As certain features 
 of the face are said to accompany certain qualities of the mind, 
 so, in this favoured land, there is a grace of manner almost inva- 
 riably associated with a grace of mind, not the result of art or 
 education, but sometimes as apparent in the lowest hind as in the 
 highest noble of the land. 
 
 Unquestionably a stranger may sometimes experience incivility 
 in the Minho, nor can he travel at all hours, and under all cir- 
 cumstances, with that sense of perfect security which he justly 
 entertains in the greater part of the Biscayan provinces ; but any 
 rudeness or danger to which he may be casually exposed arises 
 less from the common peasantry, who are generally kind and 
 well disposed, than from that fearful race, the Valentoines, who, 
 in the neighbouring Traz os Montes, grew into a numerous and 
 almost banded body of men, in consequence of the feudal state of 
 manners which prevailed in that district. Passing the limits of 
 the Traz os Montes, sometimes singly, sometimes in considerable 
 numbers, when deprived of a powerful protector, or pursued by 
 the vengeance of a rival house, they infected the worst part of 
 the population of the Minho with their marauding tastes; and, as 
 the dense woods and deep ravines of that beautiful country fur- 
 nish haunts too well adapted to the habits of an outlaw, the Valen- 
 toines, though neither very numerous nor much to be dreaded 
 there, at least during the hours of light, are yet not wholly un- 
 known in those Elysian fields. 
 
 The Minho is immensely peopled in proportion to its extent ; 
 much wealth is distributed over its surface, and it yields a large 
 revenue to the government. Many of the nobles reside on their 
 estates, which are generally small, and often held as prazos, and 
 therefore are not divided upon the death of the existing proprie- 
 tor, but descend entire to his heir-at-law. 
 
 There was a great fair in the neighbourhood of Ponte de 
 Lima, and the road was enlivened by successive groups of 
 peasants, returning to their homes, gaily attired, and in over- 
 flowing spirits. At length, to my regret, the sun went down,
 
 70 JOURNEY TO VALENCA. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 and the shadows of evening closed over a prospect every moment 
 increasing in beauty ; but though we could no longer distinguish 
 accurately the details of the country through which we were 
 passing, it was evidently mountainous and most picturesque. 
 
 Soon afterwards we lost our way, and entered a pass, which 
 was so narrow that two horsemen could not ride abreast : the 
 rocks rose so high on each side, and the branches overhead formed 
 so dense a canopy, that the mouth of this pass resembled the 
 entrance of a subterranean cavern ; and as I proceeded the dark- 
 ness was not partial, but absolute. The beautiful fictions of the 
 poets recurred to my mind, and I almost fancied myself descend- 
 ing into the infernal regions. Our progress was unsafe, as the 
 ground was covered with huge stones, and pools of water every- 
 where abounded. When we at length emerged from this gloomy 
 defile, and found ourselves again in the midst of the deep forest, 
 all indications of a track had vanished, and I was preparing to 
 take my night's repose on the heath, when Antonio was attracted 
 by a distant light. He accompanied me to the spot whence it 
 appeared to proceed with some reluctance ; for I should here ob- 
 serve that a light seen at a late hour in the dark wood, or on the 
 lonely moor, is regarded with superstitious fear by the inha- 
 bitants of these wild districts, as it is supposed to be kindled by 
 weird women, known familiarly by the name of Bruchas, hags 
 who maintain a direct intercourse with the great author of evil, 
 and hold conference with him at midnight on some dreary spot. 
 As their dwellings are often distant from the scene of these 
 impious assemblies, they acquire the power of transporting them- 
 selves to the accursed place of meeting by the most dreadful 
 means, anointing themselves with a preparation strongly impreg- 
 nated with the blood of children, and pronouncing the following 
 potent spell " Par cima de rallado por baixo de telhado over 
 the eaves and under the roofs let us go to our fate." It is be- 
 lieved that any mistake in the exact formula of words is a source 
 of the greatest danger. A man who, in ignorance of her fearful 
 nature, had married a Brucha, is said to have seen her leave the 
 bridal bed at midnight, and, supposing him to be asleep, perform 
 her mystic rites, and then, pronouncing the fatal words, fly up 
 the chimney. Prompted by some strange impulse, he endea-
 
 CHAP, iv.] MYSTIC RITES A VALENTOINE. 71 
 
 voured to follow her example, but, transposing the magic words, 
 was dashed against the roofs of houses, and found on the follow- 
 ing morning mutilated and in a dying state. 
 
 When the sisterhood are assembled, the devil appears in the 
 shape of an enormous goat, and receives the most degrading acts 
 of homage ; after which these women, whose personal appearance 
 is described as very revolting, become transformed into beautiful 
 girls, of whom the Prince of Darkness selects the fairest. A 
 scene of frantic revelry ensues ; and then the real business of the 
 night begins, the arch-fiend enjoining them to tempt certain in- 
 dividuals, and instructing them in the mode best calculated to 
 destroy their victims, body and soul. The meeting disperses 
 before the break of day, but woe to the traveller who chances to 
 meet the dreadful Bruchas returning to their dwellings ; for by 
 kindling false lights they allure him from his path into imminent 
 peril, then leave him in total darkness, and appal him by their 
 loud and fiendish laugh. 
 
 In spite of Antonio's apprehensions we kept the light steadily 
 in view, and at length reached a solitary cottage. We called 
 beneath the casement, upon which two men appeared, one of 
 whom engaged to show us the way to Ponte de Lima ; but his 
 manner was by no means satisfactory ; he required payment before 
 he performed his task : there was much consultation between 
 him and his companion, and hurried whispers were exchanged. 
 Unarmed, and thinking our situation insecure, I desired him to 
 re-enter his cottage, or lead the way immediately. He then went 
 on ; but his conduct on the road only confirmed my suspicions, 
 for at one time he wished to leave us, and requested me to remain 
 stationary till he returned ; a modest proposition on so cold a 
 night. By his peculiar manner, and by his conversation, which 
 was a tissue of personal boasts, I recognised the Valentoine. 
 
 At length we reached the inn, where he indulged the landlady 
 with a series of extravagant gasconades, and made a great parade 
 of his services : according to his own modest statement, he had 
 led us through paths undistinguishable by any other eye ; he had 
 preserved us from the marauders ; he had saved us from the un- 
 earthly terrors of the wood ; terrors which, acting upon the foreign 
 and consequently feeble mind, must have terminated, if not in 
 sudden and appalling dissolution, at least in howling madness. In
 
 72 WILDS OF CAMINHA. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 short, we were indebted to him for security of purse and person, 
 and for any gleams of intellect we were still permitted to retain. 
 
 I supped with an officer who had just marched into the town 
 to suppress an insurrection which had broken out in favour of 
 Dom Miguel ; for the public mind was at that time excited by the 
 recent intelligence of his nomination to the Regency. The in- 
 habitants of this town, and of all the surrounding district, were 
 notoriously hostile to the Constitution. 
 
 The environs of Ponte de Lima are truly delightful. The 
 horizon is bounded by a fine range of mountains, and the inter- 
 vening plains are richly wooded, while vines, trained over trellis- 
 work, hanging down in festoons, and covering a great extent of 
 country, looked like an endless succession of luxuriant arbours. 
 I rode into Vianna by the beautiful Rio Cavado, through mea- 
 dows possessing all the verdure of England, and through a 
 country supposed by the Portuguese to have been the Elysium of 
 the ancients ; and indeed it well deserves its high reputation. 
 
 Leaving Vianna, I took the road to Caminha. The sun had 
 set behind a bank of clouds, and a drizzling rain had commenced. 
 As the night closed in the character of the scenery changed : we 
 rode across a wild tract of heath, over which huge crags were 
 scattered in all directions, and passed beneath the high towers 
 and massive walls of a large fort, which, standing insulated in so 
 wild a country, and seen by so dim a light, looked like the gigan- 
 tic residence of some enchanter of the olden time. The sea was 
 raging furiously among the rocks ; beneath, the foam of the 
 breakers was visible through the gloom, and their loud roar was 
 rendered still more awful by the absence of every other sound. 
 "We soon afterwards entered a royal forest, and procured a guide, 
 who showed us the way to Caminha. 
 
 The inn was completely full ; our horses were exhausted, and 
 it was nearly midnight. I was therefore compelled to send my 
 servant with a letter to the Juiz de Fora. It was ludicrous to 
 perceive the altered manner of my host when he discovered that 
 I was likely to become the guest of such an influential person : 
 his regret at being unable to accommodate my estimable self 
 knew no bounds ; his solicitude for my comfort was paternal ; he 
 would receive no remuneration for his trouble ; his roof had 
 been sufficiently honoured by my presence. He added, however,
 
 CHAP, iv.] CAMINHA GALICIA. 73 
 
 in a whisper, that a few words spoken in his praise to the Juiz 
 de Fora, who, it seems, had only just arrived at Caminha, would 
 reflect the highest credit on my natural benevolence. I pro- 
 mised to declare him a paragon of innkeepers, and rode to the 
 house of the Juiz de Fora, a young man of mild and prepossess- 
 ing manners. 
 
 I was so fatigued that I retired to rest as soon as I could effect 
 a retreat with any propriety ; but about two o'clock I was awak- 
 ened, and found a sumptuous repast laid on my table close to my 
 bed. Its sudden appearance reminded me of those incidents so 
 common in fairy tales, where a table, covered with every deli- 
 cacy, unexpectedly presents itself to the weary traveller. Shaking 
 off the drowsy fiend, I did justice to the supper; for I was in 
 reality half famished. When I had concluded my repast the 
 table vanished, the lights were extinguished with the rapidity of 
 magic, and I sank again into a profound sleep. I spent the fol- 
 lowing day with my kind host and a numerous party of his 
 friends, and afterwards, continuing my journey, rode to Valenca, 
 one of the most strongly fortified towns in Portugal. I was im- 
 mediately led by a soldier to the Governor, who received me 
 courteously, and requested me to take up my abode at his house. 
 In the evening his sister had a large assembly. 
 
 On the following day I crossed the Minho, and entered Spain, 
 with an agent of the British Consul, who accompanied me for the 
 purpose of smoothing the difficulties which an Englishman then 
 experienced in passing into Galicia. The civil war had raged 
 so lately and so fiercely along this boundary, the Portuguese 
 insurgents had been so warmly supported by the Spanish autho- 
 rities, and so many acts of mutual hostility had recently taken 
 place, that the irritation between the frontier provinces was 
 extreme. On my arrival at Tuy, my passport was narrowly 
 examined, and my letters of introduction broken open and 
 attentively read by the police. Being, however, declared 
 inocuous to the great monarchy, they received the signature of 
 the office, and were restored to my possession. After infinite dis- 
 cussion I continued my journey to Vigo : the night closed in, 
 the rain came down in torrents, and we stumbled on in miserable 
 plight to the inn of San Francisco. The Galicians seemed to 
 me inferior in personal appearance to the Spaniards of the other
 
 74 ARRIVAL AT VIGO. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 provinces. I was now obliged to resign my travelling cap, be- 
 cause it was white, and was supposed to have a constitutional look. 
 
 I was now again in Spain, that land of romance, in which I 
 had so long resided during the stormy period of her last revolu- 
 tion. How many changes had occurred in her eventful annals 
 since that time ! how many in my own ! and how completely had 
 her fair prospects been blighted by the folly and oppression of 
 that assembly to whose collective wisdom their ill-fated country 
 had vainly looked for her political regeneration ! 
 
 The port of Vigo is one of the finest in Spain, and rather re- 
 sembles a great lake, surrounded by high hills, than an inlet of 
 the sea ; for its entrance is guarded by rocky islands, which break 
 the force of the waves, and effectually protect the largest ships 
 from the violence of any wind. The Ramsgate diving-bell was 
 transported to this harbour during the previous year, for the 
 purpose of recovering the money sunk in the Spanish galleons.* 
 The project failed, for the treasure was probably buried deep in 
 the sand ; and the unsuccessful speculator sustained a heavy loss. 
 The view was fine, the sea sparkling, and the little boats, bring- 
 ing in their loads of sardines, gave life to the scene. These fish 
 are so much esteemed, that they are exported in great quantities 
 to Gibraltar, Barcelona, and many towns in Italy. 
 
 I explored the environs with Don Louis Menendez, and a 
 noble individual who had been one of the few reasonable mem- 
 bers of the Cortes of 1820. He spoke with deep feeling of the 
 actual state of his country, and justly attributed the failure of 
 the Constitutionalists to their own intemperate conduct. The 
 arbitrary suppression of the convents, the unqualified abolition 
 of entails, and the decree by which certain properties became 
 subject to forfeiture when the title-deeds could not be produced, 
 were acts for which they deserved the execration of every honest 
 man, and which might have shaken a far more legitimate govern- 
 ment. I inquired after several persons with whom I had been 
 acquainted in the early days of the revolution : a few were dead, 
 many in exile, and society appeared to have undergone a total 
 change. 
 
 * Lord Mahon has given a very striking account of the loss of the 
 Spanish galleons in his truly valuable work, the ' History of the War of 
 Succession in Spain.'
 
 CHAP, iv.] PONTEVEDRA INN AT CALDAS. 75 
 
 Leaving Vigo, I rode through a pleasant and enclosed country 
 to Pontevedra. I had deviated from my road to make some 
 visits, and therefore reached that town late in the day. My 
 clothes were drenched \vith rain, every fire in the inn was ex- 
 tinct," and no food could for a long time be procured ; but the 
 landlord's daughter was pretty, and not disinclined to a little 
 flirtation ; the landlady was a native of Barcelona ; she had 
 decked her little son in the red bonnet peculiar to Catalonia, and 
 frequently called him a Catalan, dwelling upon the word with 
 evident pride and pleasure. 
 
 From Pontevedra we pursued our journey through a heavy 
 rain to Caldas, and, as the best inn was full, took refuge in an- 
 other : here, ascending a dark and narrow staircase, I entered a 
 large apartment, and discovered a strange assemblage of persons. 
 The careless muleteer, with his broad-brimmed hat, red scarf, 
 and velvet jacket ; the gloomy Franciscan friar, half shrouded in 
 his cowl ; and a pilgrim, bedecked with shells, formed a curious 
 group, that sat apart from a crowd of peasants attired in the 
 sombre dress of their country. The landlady, an ancient dame, 
 combining the garrulity of her years with the activity of nine- 
 teen, received me as I entered, called me her dear son, and, 
 throwing her arms around my neck, folded me in a warm em- 
 brace. As mine honoured hostess was enveloped in an atmos- 
 phere of garlic, I recoiled, with some abruptness, from her 
 fragrant arms. She attributed my reluctance to pride ; and an 
 expression of mortification, slightly mingled with displeasure, 
 was for a moment visible on her good-humoured face, as she 
 loudly exclaimed " Che discon/ianza !" But unlike the gene- 
 rality of " ancient ladies when refused a kiss," she was speedily 
 pacified ; she brought me some sardines for supper, arranged my 
 bed in a little wooden recess, insisted on putting on my night- 
 cap, and left me to slumber in peace under the protection of the 
 Virgin. 
 
 On the following day I again made a slight deviation from the 
 high road, and then proceeded to the famous Santiago de Com- 
 postella, where we arrived in a woeful state, for the rain had 
 fallen for many hours without intermission, and the roads were 
 full of mud. For a long time we roamed from inn to inn, with- 
 out being able to procure accommodations ; but at length alighted
 
 76 ANTIQUATED MANNERS SANTIAGO. [CHAP. TV. 
 
 at the Viuda San Valentina, by no means the best hotel, but the 
 only one which could then receive us. Here we literally found 
 only walls to shelter us : we sat drenched with rain, yet without 
 the power of changing our dress, as the muleteer with the lug- 
 gage was many miles in our rear ; nor could we for a long time 
 procure a fire or provisions. 
 
 Our hostess was a perfect specimen of the old Spanish land- 
 lady, for her dress and manners were equally antiquated, and her 
 language was strongly tinged with the devotional character of 
 the place. When I urged her to be more expeditious, she said, 
 " My son, we live in times very different from those when God 
 walked upon the earth :" she was perfectly insensible to any 
 reflections on the utter deficiency of comfort that pervaded every 
 part of her establishment, but extremely proud of its antiquity. 
 She enumerated the guests who had at various times reposed 
 within her sacred threshold : the Silveiras in recent days, and 
 in times long past many holy men, heaven rest their souls ! 
 many champions of the faith, and even royal pilgrims. I heard 
 with gravity this long recapitulation of worthies, in which exist- 
 ing grandees were curiously mixed up with ancient and sometimes 
 legendary characters ; but was utterly discomposed when she 
 named, as one of the earliest and most constant visitors of her 
 inn, the Apostle St. James himself, the great patron saint of 
 Spain. I turned hastily aside to conceal the laughing impulse 
 which irresistibly overcame me : I might have abused my worthy 
 hostess, I might have calumniated her family, or her larder, and 
 have possibly retained her good graces ; but a single doubt cast 
 on this important point of sacred history would have been irre- 
 trievably fatal to our mutual intelligence. 
 
 The next day I explored this curious city : the houses are old- 
 fashioned as the manners of their inhabitants ; and the streets, 
 narrow, dark, and gloomy, were well suited to my previous con- 
 ceptions of a place that bears the famous name of Jago de Com- 
 postella, and is still the stronghold of the ancient fanaticism. The 
 cathedral is a huge, ungraceful pile of building. The faade is 
 striking only from its extent and crowded decoration ; and the 
 memorable recollections associated with the interior of this edifice 
 invest it with a charm it would not otherwise possess. 
 
 The shrine of St. James is profusely adorned with gold and
 
 CHAP, iv.] SHRINE OF ST. JAMES. 77 
 
 silver, and is surmounted by a figure of the saint on horseback, 
 still regarded with the deepest devotion by the enthusiastic Span- 
 iards. He is the tutelar saint of Spain, and the firm reliance 
 once placed on his protection contributed greatly to the success 
 of the Christian forces in their early wars with the Moors. 
 Whole armies, deluded by their ardent imaginations, beheld him 
 mounted on a white steed, bearing the Cross, and leading them 
 on to certain victory. And still some dreamers indulge a fond 
 belief, that although, offended by the disloyalty of the times, the 
 Saint now veils himself from the vulgar eye, he will appear once 
 more among his faithful followers, and, mounted on his heavenly 
 charger, restore the national glory. 
 
 To this Mecca of the Christian world persons of every age, and 
 sex, and rank, came formerly in crowds ; even princes, bare- 
 footed and with uncovered heads, prostrated themselves before 
 the shrine, in the vain hope of lightening, by their profound hu- 
 mility, the weight of some enormous guilt ; and as they gazed 
 upon that object of a kingdom's veneration, tears flowed down 
 the cheeks of men whose ears had been deaf to the cry for 
 mercy, whose hearts had been inaccessible to remorse, and whose 
 hands perhaps, even in that hour of supplication, were red with 
 murder. Many pilgrims resorted annually to the cathedral be- 
 fore the revolution of 1820, but their numbers decreased in con- 
 sequence of the provincial disturbances which followed that 
 event ; yet I saw many persons kneeling around the shrine, 
 absorbed in prayer, and fully impressed with the belief that the 
 mortal remains of the saint rested beneath their feet, and that 
 his guardian spirit was hovering around them. I observed one 
 man particularly, who was bending forward in the attitude of 
 prayer ; his eyes were fixed upon the shrine, his hands clasped, 
 and he had such an expression of intense devotion on his pallid 
 features, that I believe scarcely any external sound or sight 
 could have distracted his attention. There are many relics in 
 the cathedral, and some costly plate, which the Constitution- 
 alists of 1820, with their usual wisdom, were on the point of 
 appropriating, regardless of the popular prejudices, when the 
 counter-revolution took place. 
 
 Senor Eiva, to whom I had a letter of introduction, accom- 
 panied me to the university, which is said to contain a thousand
 
 78 SANTIAGO CORUNNA. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 scholars ; but the shortness of my visit did not enable me to gain 
 much insight into the nature of the studies pursued, the mode of 
 tuition, and the general character of the establishment ; yet I 
 heard one class examined, and it appeared to me that many of 
 the scholars had made considerable proficiency in the Latin 
 tongue. The scholars formed, perhaps, the only party in Sant- 
 iago that entertained any feelings of affection for the memory of 
 the popular government. Those were golden days, indeed, when 
 little urchins mounted guard at the door of the patriotic clubs, 
 and when corporal punishment in schools was abolished by law 
 as incompatible with the dignity of schoolboys : a ridiculous in- 
 stance of that minute legislation which characterised the Cortes, 
 and degraded them in the eyes of Europe. We afterwards went 
 to the convent of San Martin, which is rich, and on an enormous 
 scale. One of the brotherhood had just died, and two monks 
 were keeping watch by the bier, upon which he lay extended 
 with a placid smile on his countenance, as if the spirit had not 
 yet deserted its mortal tenement, but was only sunk in tempo- 
 rary repose. I returned with Senor Riva to his house, and 
 joined the family circle as chocolate was served up. 
 
 The land in the vicinity of Santiago is well cultivated ; the 
 potato is becoming an object of agricultural attention in this 
 part of Spain, and may possibly in some years supersede the 
 chestnut as an article of food among the lower classes. 
 
 Leaving Santiago, I rode through a hilly district to Elves. 
 Little towns and villas studded the country, and the first sight of 
 Corunna, the bay, and the mountains, was extremely beautiful. 
 Entering the principal street, I alighted at the Hotel de Com- 
 merce, where we found a civilized landlord, and excellent rooms, 
 commanding a fine view of the harbour. On the arrival of the 
 muleteer my luggage was conveyed to the Customs, and my 
 papers re-examined. I had been making some extracts from old 
 Spanish chronicles respecting Don Pedro the Cruel, and this 
 name at once excited the alarm of some subordinate officers. To 
 calm their apprehensions I informed them that the hero of my 
 extracts had no reference to his Imperial Majesty, but to a King 
 of Castile. They simultaneously exclaimed that Ferdinand 
 was the only King of Castile. I assured them that I was the 
 very last man in the world to raise any doubts upon the validity
 
 CHAP. IT.] BATTLE OF CORUNNA. 79 
 
 of his Majesty's claim to the throne, and that my Don Pedro 
 had died some centuries before the birth of their actual sovereign, 
 so that these two royal personages could not by any possibility 
 be brought into collision. They could not controvert my state- 
 ment, but sullenly answered that I had no right to introduce 
 into the kingdom papers that treated of any Pedros, living or 
 defunct. At that moment the head of the department appeared. 
 He was a well-bred and intelligent man ; he glanced rapidly at 
 the papers, rescued them from the grasp of the enemy, and per- 
 mitted Don Pedro and me to leave the office without further 
 molestation. 
 
 On the following day Mr. Bartlett, the British Consul, accom- 
 panied me to the spot where the memorable battle of Corunna 
 was fought. An Englishman surveys that scene with very differ- 
 ent feelings from those which affect him as he looks upon the 
 plains of Vittoria and Waterloo. The general failure of the ex- 
 pedition is hardly compensated by the transient lustre of success, 
 and exultation at the prowess of our arms is checked by sorrow 
 for the slain. 
 
 The gallantry, the high feeling of the British General, and the 
 noble death he died, combined with the almost unprecedented 
 disasters of the previous retreat, are circumstances which shed a 
 melancholy interest over this well-disputed field. The French 
 attacked the British lines on that day with their usual impe- 
 tuosity, were received with British firmness, and driven into the 
 valley with considerable loss. Major Stanhope distinguished 
 himself in the pursuit, and Major Napier gave shining proofs of 
 that chivalrous valour which is so remarkable in all the mem- 
 bers of his warlike family.* Hurried on by the ardour of his 
 feelings,,- he led the advance, but was severely wounded, and fell 
 into the hands of the enemy, from whom he received the most 
 generous treatment: but he was long supposed to have fallen; 
 the news of his death was circulated in England ; and his friends 
 
 * Who that is acquainted with my valued friend Colonel George Napier, 
 brother of the gallant officer to whom I have been just alluding, will not 
 acknowledge 
 
 " that knight 
 
 Was never dubb'd more bold in fight, 
 Nor, when from war and armour free, 
 More famed for gentle courtesy ?"
 
 80 SPANISH REASONING. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 mourned over him as over one whom they should never see 
 again. 
 
 We inquired of a peasant who happened to be passing by if 
 he could show us the exact spot where Sir John Moore was 
 killed. " Indeed I can," replied the man, " for I saw him fall, 
 and assisted in carrying him off the field ;" and then, pointing out 
 the place, he passed on. We were not however satisfied, and 
 put the same question to another countryfnan. " I ought to 
 know," our second friend began, " as the General died in my 
 arms:" saying which, he led us to a knoll of ground precisely 
 opposite to that indicated by our late informant. This double 
 statement was too egregious ; but, entertaining I suppose large 
 notions of English credulity, a group of peasants collected 
 around us, and none would resign the honour of having re- 
 ceived the fallen General; though no two individuals could 
 agree upon the exact spot where their zealous aid had been ad- 
 ministered. 
 
 These delusive statements arose from a spirit of exaggeration 
 inherent in the Spanish character, and in any other country but 
 Spain might have been received, and perhaps not unjustly, as 
 indications of a frivolous and insincere disposition ; but there 
 they were only the expression of a foible which played on the 
 surface, but had taken no root in the mind ; for the same men, 
 on an occasion of moment, would have been found honest, disin- 
 terested, and sincere. Great difficulty however arose among 
 themselves in reconciling their conflicting statements. One man 
 asserted that his account of the battle must be correct, because 
 he still possessed a cannon-ball which had been discharged on 
 that eventful day ; an admirable specimen of Spanish reasoning, 
 admitted to be conclusive by his companions : another displayed 
 his knowledge of military matters by arguing that the same 
 piece of artillery could at the same time be levelled against two 
 objects in different directions, and was equally destructive in 
 front and rear ; but all possessed high notions of British courage. 
 When we observed that Sir John was not likely to have occu- 
 pied a station which they assigned him, as such a position would 
 have been unnecessarily perilous, they answered he was brave 
 enough to have placed himself anywhere, " Quite brave enough, 
 Senor, to have been a fool."
 
 CHAP, iv.] SPANISH REASONING. 81 
 
 I remember a curious instance of the general vagueness of the 
 Spanish mind, and of the facility with which it receives the most 
 inconsistent impressions. I was walking one evening in the year 
 1821 in the streets of Madrid, at a time when the revolutionary 
 mania was at its zenith. Seeing a mob collected under the 
 windows of a particular house and evidently in a state of con- 
 siderable excitement, I inquired into the cause of this assemblage. 
 " Sir," replied the man to whom I had addressed myself, and 
 who manifestly participated in the feelings of those who sur- 
 rounded him, " the Duke of Wellington has arrived incognito 
 to put down the Constitution, and is at the present moment in 
 that house." Amused by so wild a statement, and wishing to 
 ascertain the exact nature of the impression on his mind, 1 ob- 
 served, " Do you mean that the Duke has arrived to place 
 himself at the head of the Royalists, or at least exert his influence 
 against the Constitution?" " No, Senor, not his influence, nor 
 has he anything to do with any Spaniards, but he is come him- 
 self to put down the Constituiion by force of arms, and we are 
 not safe for a single night." I ventured to suggest that the 
 arrival of his Grace incognito, without internal aid or any ex- 
 ternal force to effect his project, might place some difficulty in 
 the way of such a summary proceeding. "Ah, who can tell?" 
 replied my friend, with a truly Spanish shrug ; " he is very power- 
 ful." And this " Ah !" and ' ; Who can tell ?'* was repeated by the 
 bystanders, and, when coupled with that much-meaning shrug, 
 was evidently considered as a conclusive reply to the obvious 
 discrepancy which I pointed out between the surreptitious 
 arrival of his Grace and his supposed intentions to put down the 
 Constitution by force of arms that very night. I afterwards 
 remarked to a Spanish liberal, who was a little nettled by the 
 observation, that, although till then I had supposed that the 
 heroic age had passed away when the physical prowess of any man 
 could drive myriads like sheep before his single arm, I was yet 
 gratified to find that such a chivalrous belief survived in Spain, 
 and that the godlike attribute was ascribed to my illustrious 
 countryman alone. 
 
 We concluded our expedition by entering the cottage of a 
 peasant, where we ate some yellow bread, made of Indian corn, 
 and drank some bad wine. The poor people seemed highly
 
 82 SPANISH PEASANTRY. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 gratified by our visit : the Spanish peasants are peculiarly te- 
 nacious of considerate treatment from their superiors ; their 
 native independence breaks forth in their language, and is 
 strongly marked in their general deportment, but is unmixed 
 with any taint of republican rudeness, and is therefore by no 
 means offensive. In Spain, that land of extraordinary con- 
 trasts, the peasantry have retained the high feelings which have 
 long ceased to influence the labouring classes of countries far 
 more wisely governed, according to the received notions of 
 good government. Experience and theory are, however, some- 
 times strangely at variance ; a peasantry full of independent 
 feeling, devoted to their country, proud of their position as 
 Spanish peasants, and not aspiring to a higher condition in 
 the social scale than that which is allotted them fearing God 
 and honouring the King a peasantry imbued with such in- 
 valuable qualities has grown up under that priestly government 
 which is so continually denounced as certain to extinguish every 
 high and manly energy. 
 
 The influence of the monks is least perceptible in the cities, 
 but it is not in the cities of Spain that Spanish virtue is princi- 
 pally to be found. The influence of the monks is chiefly exer- 
 cised upon the labouring classes ; and no finer race of men 
 exists, in any part of the world, than the agricultural classes of 
 Spain and Portugal. If this position be true, and I cannot 
 think it will be denied by any man who has travelled much in 
 those countries, how can it be maintained that the influence of 
 the convents has been, upon the whole, injurious to the well- 
 being of the people ? The Protestant prejudices of the religious 
 public of Great Britain, naturally indisposed to monastic esta- 
 blishments, have formed a strange alliance upon this point with 
 the infidel portion of the Catholic world, which is unanimously 
 hostile to their continuance, and have thus led the English mind 
 into a great though general error. 
 
 When accidentally detained by a Royalist guerilla, a few 
 years before the period to which I am now alluding, some obser- 
 vations which I then made confirmed me in the opinion just 
 expressed. They were hemmed in by the revolutionary army, 
 they were involved in the greatest peril, and, if not actual spec- 
 tators of the massacre of their wives and children in the plain
 
 CHAP, iv.] GALICIAN PATRIOTISM. 83 
 
 below, were yet conscious of the events in progress, and within 
 hearing 1 of the exterminating musketry. Although they were 
 wound up to frenzy by every circumstance that could exasperate 
 the mind of man, and gave way to the most passionate language, 
 not an oath or irreligious expression at any moment escaped 
 their lips ; and a delicacy of moral feeling was perceptible on 
 some points, perfectly astonishing in men accustomed to the 
 rude and lawless habits of guerilla warfare, and in the daily 
 practice of exercising the most, unsparing revenge upon their 
 prisoners ; cruelties which they regarded with comparative in- 
 difference, as the necessary result of the system adopted by their 
 enemies, and consequently as the only means of meeting their 
 opponents on equal terms, and effectively maintaining a cause 
 identified in their eyes with all that is great arid holy. That 
 regulation of mind which enabled them to control their lan- 
 guage at such a moment of excitement was unquestionably the 
 result of monkish influence, and was striking indeed when com- 
 pared with the ribaldry and frequent oaths of the Constitutional 
 soldiers, men for the most part taken from the towns, and com- 
 paratively free from religious scruples. That regulation of 
 mind must also have been Habitual to have produced such results 
 under such circumstances, and, therefore, I have considerable dif- 
 ficulty in believing that the Spanish convents have exercised an 
 unfavourable effect on the formation or in the development of 
 the national character. 
 
 During the Peninsular war the Galicians are said to have 
 destroyed many thousands of their enemies : they remained 
 apparently engaged in their usual occupations as the great French 
 detachments marched through their villages ; but no sooner had 
 they passed than the spade was exchanged for the musket, and 
 the peaceful peasant became an armed and formidable oppo- 
 nent. They rapidly formed into bands, and as quickly dissolved : 
 seen rarely, but heard of everywhere, they cut off convoys, and 
 put to death the stragglers that followed the invading army. 
 In one instance they seduced a large party into their cottages, 
 regaled them with their best cheer, and laid before them their 
 choicest wines. The soldiers fell into the snare, became intoxi- 
 cated, and finally unconscious ; upon which the villagers secured 
 the doors and barred up the windows, and then, forgetting 
 
 02
 
 84 SPANISH PATRIOTISM. [CHAP. rv. 
 
 every personal consideration in a deep sense of the national 
 wrongs, they set fire to their own dwellings, and, retreating to 
 a neighbouring eminence, beheld, with stern delight, the pro- 
 gress of the flames, which carried desolation into the bosom of 
 their families, but inflicted a most dreadful retaliation on the 
 oppressors of Spain. They saw in silence their dwellings 
 sinking successively a prey to the devouring element : their 
 women, their very children disdained to breathe a complaint ; 
 every softer feeling was lost in an overwhelming desire for ven- 
 geance. Not a word was spoken till the last roof had fallen in ; 
 not a sound was heard until it was evident that none of their 
 devoted guests would ever quit their burning tomb ; but they 
 then gave vent to their suppressed passion in a fierce and ex- 
 ulting shout: there was more eloquence, there was more deep 
 disinterestedness, there was more genuine patriotism in that wild 
 burst of natural feeling than in all the studied declamations of 
 the Cortes. 
 
 This concentration of purpose, this moral hardihood, this ener- 
 getic and almost iron temperament, is very much confined to 
 the population of the districts north of Madrid. After Ferdi- 
 nand's death the banner of Don Carlos a prince then, in the al- 
 most unanimous opinion of Northern Spain, the sovereign de jure 
 of the realm was upheld by his devoted subjects of Navarre with 
 the same unbending constancy. I knew a mother who, in that 
 most sanguinary of even Spanish contests, replaced in the ranks 
 of the Royal army her fallen husband by her son, and that son 
 by his youngest and last surviving brother; and when he too 
 had shared the fate of his kinsmen, she was heard, even in that 
 hour of utter desolation, to express both pride and gratitude that 
 her children, the last and the only gifts she could offer to her coun- 
 try, had died successfully contending with the King's enemies ; 
 ami yet she loved those children passionately, but she loved still 
 more her Sovereign and her faith. Nor was this a solitary in- 
 stance of Navarrese enthusiasm ; with such a feeling arrayed 
 against them, the Christino government found it no easy matter 
 to achieve the conquest of the free states. Army after army, 
 supported by all the resources of the central government, ex- 
 hausted slowly the never-yielding population of a country where 
 enlistment was not avoided as an unwelcome summons to danger
 
 CHAP, iv.] CORUNNA SIR JOHN MOORE. 85 
 
 and fatigue, but was courted as the only road to honour and in- 
 dependence ; where the most ardent aspiration of the stripling 
 was to join his father in the ranks of war ; and where even in the 
 maternal bosom the love of the child was lost in the love of the 
 cause. 
 
 But to revert to my tale. We returned to Corunna through 
 a pleasant and enclosed country. The excellent position of the 
 town, the beauty of its environs, and the extreme cheapness of 
 provisions might render it, in tranquil times, a desirable abode 
 for English families residing abroad from motives of economy. 
 The Spanish possess many advantages over the Portuguese towns, 
 for, although often situated amid delightful scenery, they are 
 generally placed on level ground. Lisbon, Oporto, and Coimbra 
 are, on the contrary, built on the summits and along the slopes 
 of steep hills, a circumstance naturally productive of great 
 inconvenience to a resident. There is also far more beauty in 
 the appearance of a Spanish, particularly of an Andalusian 
 town, and the perfect cleanliness of the streets is delightful to an 
 Englishman. 
 
 The fortifications of Corunna are now in tolerable repair, and, 
 had they been less dilapidated in 1809, Sir John Moore might 
 possibly have defended the town till the French had been com- 
 pelled to retire from the scarcity of provisions. I was shown 
 the house where that gallant officer expired, and heard some 
 particulars connected with his dying injunctions that increased 
 the interest I naturally felt, as an EnglL-hman, in his fate. 
 The circumstances attending his interment must have been wild 
 and hurried indeed, for the French were already in possession of 
 the suburbs, and the British army was rapidly embaiking, when 
 a few faithful officers consigned their revered commander to the 
 tomb. He was buried on the lonely rampart, by the side of the 
 roaring sea, beneath the dim light of a clouded moon, and his 
 funeral obsequies were graced by the heavy sound of the hostile 
 cannon, then playing with fearful effect on the departing troops. 
 Since that time a monument has been erected over the place of 
 his bmial, and an inscription has been affixed by the British 
 Consul, recording the circumstances of his death in simple and 
 manly language. 
 
 I visited the little bay of Orcun, where so many fine English
 
 86 GALICIA. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 horses were slaughtered ; and saw some curious specimens of 
 petrified wood scattered along the coast. On the following day 
 I heard that a steamboat, fitted out for the assistance of the 
 Greeks, and actually proceeding to Greece, had arrived in the 
 harbour. The military men under whose command it was called 
 upon the Consul. They had suffered from a heavy gale ; and, in 
 an attempt to gain the port, had struck upon some rocks at the 
 entrance : an accident solely occasioned by the incapacity of the 
 pilot, as the navigation of the harbour is most easy, the rocks 
 visible, and the water between them deep. 
 
 The next morning I was awakened by cries of " La barca a 
 vapore!" and heard from Antonio that another steam- vessel had 
 arrived, which proved to be my old friend the " Duke of York." 
 I visited it in company with the Consul and the officers of health. 
 As we approached the ship, I recognised with pleasure and sur- 
 prise my friend Lord Clements, and also saw Captain Boyce, 
 who had shown me many kind attentions during my voyage to 
 Lisbon. 
 
 On the preceding day, the Spaniards, who had never before 
 seen a steam-vessel, had expressed the greatest anxiety to go on 
 board the Greek steamer, and examine her internal economy, and 
 many applications had been made to the Captain, who had fixed 
 upon a particular hour for the reception of the numerous appli- 
 cants ; but in the mean time a far greater potentate, his Royal 
 Highness of York, arrived, and his appearance was as fatal to the 
 splendour of the Greek assembly as a party given by her Grace 
 of Gordon would have been destructive of any other entertain- 
 ment audaciously given on the same night. I spent the evening 
 with Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett, to whose kindness I was much in- 
 debted during my short stay at Corunna, and agreed to sail with 
 Clements on the following day to Ferrol. 
 
 In consequence of the neighbouring dockyards, Corunna gra- 
 dually rose into importance during the last century ; and being 
 one of the nearest points of communication with England, its 
 name became familiar to the British public even before the me- 
 morable battle fought in its vicinity. As the inhabitants of 
 Corunna were notoriously attached to the Constitutional cause, 
 the seat of the provincial government had been lately removed 
 from that town to Santiago, which was originally the capital of
 
 CHAP, iv.] SPANISH CONSTITUTIONALISTS. 87 
 
 Galicia ; a measure just in itself, but calculated to increase the 
 discontent already created at Corunna by some injudicious regu- 
 lations. Almost 'every article of consumption brought in from 
 the country to the town was subjected to a tax, highly inconve- 
 nient in its operation, as the peasants would no longer supply the 
 market with poultry, &c., without specific orders: heavy duties 
 imposed on salt had depressed the sardine trade, another grievance 
 sensibly felt by the poor, who subsist principally upon these fish. 
 I heard that silver was gradually becoming scarce throughout the 
 country, and have no doubt that such was the fact. 
 
 I met several officers who had served in the Constitutional 
 army, and were actually in a state cf great destitution. One of 
 those unfortunate men assured me that his pay was reduced from 
 fifty dollars a-month to twelve ; and even this diminished allow- 
 ance was then four months in arrear. His lot appeared to have 
 been severe : according to his own account he had served with 
 distinction throughout the Peninsular war, and had taken no part 
 in the insurrection of 1820, or in the subsequent excesses of the 
 Revolution ; but was now superseded by young and inexperienced 
 officers, and condemned to pass the evening of his days in penury 
 and disgrace. He said, with bitterness, that some of the Consti- 
 tutional officers had died of hunger, and that the old soldiers had 
 lost more than twenty years of life by the events of 1820. His 
 language, upon the whole, was temperate : he condemned the 
 arbitrary proceedings of the Cortes, and spoke of Martinez de 
 la Rosa in terms of commendation. 
 
 But thus it ever is with the Spanish Constitutionalists : I have 
 seen them on the pinnacle of prosperity ; I have seen them in the 
 depths of misfortune. When compelled to eat the bitter bread of 
 sorrow and distress, their views are temperate, their charity uni- 
 versal : they then acknowledge the value of an endowed church ; 
 they are impressed with the immense advantages resulting from a 
 second chamber ; and, in a truly Christian frame of mind, only 
 wish for the establishment of some elementary principles of repre- 
 sentative government which may secure liberty of person and un- 
 disturbed enjoyment of property : yet when the cloud has passed 
 away, and the revolutionary fortunes have become triumphant, 
 the moderation of adversity, and the repentance of humiliation, 
 are equally forgotten ; and perhaps no party in modern times
 
 88 G ALICIA. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 has entertained more impracticable views, or waded through a 
 deeper sea of guilt, than the truly misnamed Liberal party of 
 Spain. 
 
 " I never indulged in the hope," he said, " that your govern- 
 ment would interfere to prevent the French invasion ; it is not 
 consonant with British interests that Spain should possess an 
 energetic government." How far the establishment of a vigorous 
 government in Spain would be favourable to the general interests 
 of Great Britain is a matter not briefly argued ; but never was 
 a sounder policy adopted by any administration than that which 
 practically directed the counsels of this country in J823 with 
 reference to the invasion of Spain by the French armies. Happy 
 it was indeed for the welfare of the British people, and for the 
 universal interests of Europe, that the Ministers of the crown 
 were not goa ed by the exaggerations of the press, and by the 
 clamour of an ill-judging portion of the country, into a war with 
 France for the sake of a system execrated by a great majority of 
 the Spanish people, and incompatible with the tranquil existence 
 of any European monarchy. 
 
 On the following day I embarked with Clements in an open 
 boat, and was rowed across the water to Ferrol. We entered a 
 narrow arm of the sea, and on landing delivered our letters to 
 the Consul, who introduced us to the Governor, an infirm old 
 man. He received us courteously, and asked me many questions 
 respecting the actual state of Lisbon, the number and disposition 
 of the troops, and the intentions of the British government, with 
 which I was wholly unacquainted. My answers were fortunately 
 guarded, for, in fact, they were carefully recorded, and any indis- 
 creet expression would certainly have been afterwards brought up 
 in judgment against me. When I praised the fine, pure climate 
 of Spain, he answered briefly, but those few words implied a 
 mournful consciousness of her powerless state. Although he 
 pressed me to spend the day in his house, I have every reason to 
 believe that he suspected my intentions in visiting Ferrol, and 
 recommended the arbitrary measures which were afterwards 
 adopted against me. 
 
 Absolute ignorance is, as we all know, prolific of the most ab- 
 surd mistakes. Information derived from books and theory alone, 
 and uncorrected by practical experience, occasionally leads to
 
 CHAP, iv.] THE DOCKS AT FERROL. 89 
 
 misconceptions equally ludicrous. When we were introduced to 
 the Governor, a young German, who had also arrived in Spain by 
 the Duke of York steamboat, was sitting in the apartment with 
 him. In the course of conversation the Governor observed, ad- 
 dressing Clements and me, that we were both dark, although, if 
 his recollection were correct, the English soldiers whom he had 
 seen in the days of the great Peninsular war, were generally 
 fair. Before we could reply, the young German solved the dif- 
 ficulty by informing his Excellency that the nobles of England, 
 being of Norman extraction, were invariably dark, but that the 
 commonalty as invariably inherited the blue eyes and fair com- 
 plexion of their Saxon ancestry. 
 
 In the evening we explored the arsenal and the dockyards. 
 The rooms were excellent in which the masts and cables were 
 made ; the apartments devoted to the carpenters, smiths, and 
 various workmen employed in the construction of ships were also 
 admirably adapted to their respective purposes. But all are now 
 deserted ; and <>n the spot where forty years a g O several thousand 
 workmen v\ ere actively engaged, none are at present regularly, 
 and but few occasionally, employed. Two frigates were lying 
 unfinished, from the want of funds to complete them. I saw 
 the blocks and cables intended for their use, and, considering the 
 little practice of the workmen, was surprised to find them so well 
 made. My guide assured me that he remembered forty men-of- 
 war, which averaged eighty guns, lying in the deep and spacious 
 basin ; but when I visited the harbour, there was not even a so- 
 litary frigate, if we except the two that were unfinished. 
 
 What singular reflections do these facts suggest ! How forcibly 
 does Ferrol, in its present state, impress the mind with the com- 
 plete decay of Spanish resources ! In what striking colours does 
 it show the virtual extinction of that power within the limits ol 
 whose empire the sun never set ! That deserted basin, those 
 gigantic but untenanted apartments, erected at an enormous ex- 
 pense, but now crumbling into ruin, not only prove the inability 
 of the government to conduct operations on their former scale, 
 but even to keep the mighty structure in repair. 
 
 I quitted Clements* with regret ; he returned to Corunna, in- 
 
 * Lord Clements is no more ; loved and respected by all who knew him, 
 he died in the prime of manhood.
 
 90 GALICIA. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 tending to continue his voyage to Lisbon by the Duke of York. 
 Here I finally renounced all intention of visiting Gijon, a sea- 
 port on the coast of Asturias, and set off for Lugo. 
 
 The inquiries which I then made about Gijon contributed to 
 strengthen the suspicions which, it afterwards appeared, were at 
 this time entertained by the Spanish authorities respecting the 
 objects of my journey. To them I could not offer any explana- 
 tion of my motive in desiring to deviate so far from my general 
 line of route to visit an unimportant seaport ; and 1 reluctantly 
 inform the reader of the real cause, as otherwise he would hardly 
 comprehend the sequel, and might impute to me an overwhelm- 
 ing love of useless enterprise. The fact is, tliat Gijon was pain- 
 fully associated with my earliest impressions. 
 
 When I was quite a child, my uncle, Captain H . sailed 
 
 for Spain, not in his naval capacity, but as an individual anxious 
 to behold that great display of patriotic feeling which was then 
 fixing the attention of Europe on the Peninsula. He quitted 
 England, but never returned again. His voyage was prosperous, 
 and he reached the Spanish coast in safety, but was unexpectedly 
 lost at the entrance of the port of Gijon, in the sight of nume- 
 rous spectators, and while their shouts of welcome were ringing 
 in his ears. The overwhelming intelligence of this event was 
 brought to us in the West of England on a beautiful summer 
 evening; and though more than twenty years have elapsed, I 
 still retain a vivid recollection of all the circumstances of that 
 eventful day. 
 
 I was sitting by the sick couch of one 
 
 " All angel now, though little less than all 
 While yet a pilgrim in this world below," 
 
 reading the captivating tale of Robin Hood and his merry men 
 in the green forest, and occasionally looking out on the deer stalk- 
 ing amid the high fern, the waving woods, and the shadows 
 lengthening as the sun sank lower in the west. I recollect this 
 
 O O 
 
 childish occupation being abruptly interrupted by my dear Father's 
 sudden entrance. The deep despair which his countenance ex- 
 pressed in the first moment of poignant affliction for the loss of a 
 brother whom he had loved in no ordinary degree is still im- 
 printed on my mind. His emotion only filled me with terror
 
 CHAP, iv.j GIJON. 91 
 
 and surprise, for I was then too young to comprehend immedi- 
 ately the cause and extent of his grief. 
 
 It so chanced that about this time the sky, till then unusually 
 serene, became suddenly overcast, the wind arose, and a pitiless 
 storm beat against the windows as if the heavens were changing 
 in sympathy with our altered feelings. 
 
 The nature of the coast of Gijon, its perilous bar, and the wild 
 sea that dashed over it on the unfortunate day on which my uncle 
 perished, were for several months a subject of earnest conversa- 
 tion. These circumstances were calculated to leave an indelible 
 impression on the young mind ; time has not effaced them from 
 my memory, and probably never will. As a child I was anxi- 
 ous to behold the scene of the catastrophe, and even in manhood 
 a similar feeling, growing out of early associations, and stronger 
 than I like even now to confess, made me wish to undertake a 
 voyage, rather hazardous at that time of the year, in a little 
 trading vessel to Gijon. I was, however, prevented from exe- 
 cuting my purpose by a continuance of adverse winds ; but my 
 intention, though never carried into effect, produced singular and 
 unexpected results.
 
 92 GALTCIA. [CHAP. v. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Curious Costume of the Maragattos Don Felippe Moreda The Author 
 arrested State of Parties in Spain Anecdote of King Ferdinand 
 Journey to Santiago with the Royalist Volunteers Ruinous Building 
 Robber Tales of the Spaniard Superstitions of the Portuguese The 
 Kscolar, or Wolf-impeller A truly loyal Dame Superstition of the 
 Negro Ludicrous discomfiture of an Alcalde. 
 
 LEAVING Ferrol I continued my journey to the south, and, tra- 
 velling through a country wild, bleak, and only partially culti- 
 vated, arrived at Lugo in the beginning of November. Finding 
 that I had reached the town at too late an hour in the day to 
 obtain provisions, I went to a neighbouring tavern, and was sup- 
 plied with food rather resembling than tasting like meat. The 
 tavern was small, smoky, and crowded with peasants ; among 
 whom I saw many muleteers, from a particular district in the 
 neighbourhood of Astoiga, called maragattos from their very 
 remarkable dress. They wore the scarf and large-brimmed hat 
 of chivalrous Castile, while their full long drawers seemed to 
 bespeak a Moorish extraction ; but some believe them to be 
 descended from a Roman colony, and this part of their attire to 
 be rather Roman than Mahometan. The dark but glistening 
 leather, which covered their broad chests like a protecting breast- 
 plate, resembled armour partially stained with rust, and combined 
 with their hard and weather-beaten visages to give them the ap- 
 pearance of old feudal retainers. 
 
 I afterwards called on Don Felippe Moreda, the Commandant 
 of the town, and, during his temporary absence on official busi- 
 ness, conversed with his daughter, a pleasing and intelligent 
 person. Though young, she had seen much of the world, and 
 had evidently profited by her observations. Near her was seated 
 a la<ly, apparently a relative, whose countenance beamed with 
 good humour, but she gave no indications of that cultivated un- 
 derstanding which distinguished her companion. They were 
 both anxious to ascertain whether I had met certain Spanish
 
 CHAP, v.] THE AUTHOR ARRESTED. 93 
 
 refugees in the course of my wanderings, and if I knew any par- 
 ticulars of their fate. The young 1 lady, who had probably some 
 tender motive for inquiry, repeatedly led the conversation to the 
 same point, but so gradually, and with so much grace and tact, 
 that 1 did not immediately suspect that her questions were dic- 
 tated by any stronger feeling than curiosity. While she displayed 
 considerable knowledge of foreign countries, I was often amused 
 by the crude opinions which the elder lady expressed upon gene- 
 ral subjects, and her exclamations of wonder on the statement of 
 very ordinary facts. She exhibited a ludicrous degree of amaze- 
 ment when I alluded incidentally to the British Constitution, as 
 she had never heard of its existence ; a manifestation of igno- 
 rance evidently annoying to my fair young friend, who checked 
 her, but in so light and delicate a manner, that her reproof was 
 neither painful to the person who received, nor to the bystander 
 who heard it. 
 
 We were joined at dinner by her brother, a fine young officer, 
 and afterwards by Muscoso, who was Minister of the Interior 
 during the revolution of 1820. In the evening we walked round 
 the walls of the town : the foundations are ancient, but the su- 
 perstructure was hastily raised by Quiroga in 1823, when the 
 French troops were advancing upon Lugo. 
 
 I returned to the inn at a late hour, and retired to rest. In 
 the middle of the night I was awakened by my servant, who told 
 me that some officers of the police were waiting below to accom- 
 pany me to the Town-hall, where my presence was required. 
 Tired and sleepy, and greatly disinclined to comply with this 
 ill-timed invitation, I speedily dismissed Antonio, but his dis- 
 missal was as quickly followed by a satellite of office in propria 
 persona. He entered the room descanting hugely on the gross 
 indecorum of my conduct in presuming to sleep when the King's 
 authorities were themselves deprived of sleep on my account, and 
 urged me to rise as I valued my reputation for loyalty. 
 
 Sundry guarantees for my appearance on the next day having 
 been tendered and rejected, I had no alternative ; so, following 
 my garrulous disturber, I went to the Town-hall, where I found 
 the authorities assembled. I begged to know their reason for 
 summoning me at such an unusual hour, but could not obtain a 
 direct answer ; and although their language indicated a strong
 
 94 GALICIA. [CHAP. v. 
 
 suspicion of some part of my conduct, I was unable to discover 
 the circumstances upon which it was founded, or the point to 
 which it tended. It was, however, evident from their questions, 
 that they viewed my journey into that part of the country with 
 uneasiness, an'd were peculiarly jealous of my communications 
 with Muscoso and Moreda. For some time they pretended to 
 find fault with my passport ; but when they were fairly driven 
 from a position wholly untenable, they pretended to be in pos- 
 session of facts which they refused to reveal, but which, according 
 to their statements, fully authorized their proceedings. 
 
 After much vexatious discussion, I returned to the inn, accom- 
 panied by a young officer, who requested me to breakfast with 
 him on the following morning, and urged his invitation so warmly 
 that I could not decline it. He was a native of Andalusia, and 
 from my knowledge of the Andalusian character, from the light 
 and boastful manner in which he spoke of the numerous friends 
 he would invite to meet me, and from his evident connexion 
 with the authorities, I have no doubt he was perfectly aware that 
 circumstances would effectually prevent me from putting his 
 hospitality to the test. 
 
 On the following morning I found myself placed under arrest, 
 and unable to leave the inn, a guard being stationed at the door. 
 In this dilemma I wrote to my friend the Commandant, request- 
 ing him to obtain my release, or, at all events, to acquaint me 
 with the nature of the charges preferred against me. He im- 
 mediately came to the inn, and informed me that I had been 
 arrested on political grounds, expressing at the same time great 
 indignation at the conduct of the civil authorities, with whom he 
 was evidently at variance ; for, indeed, he intimated that my com- 
 munications with Muscoso and himself had precipitated my arrest. 
 
 To such a curious state of disorganization was the Spanish 
 government reduced in 1827, that the component members of the 
 local administrations were engaged in watching and counteract- 
 ing each other at a time of great general apprehension, and when 
 the calm co-operation of the civil authorities was peculiarly re- 
 quisite. It must be remembered that a civil war was then raging 
 in Catalonia, and had increased to so great an extent, that the 
 King had actually left Madrid, and, in the hope of checking its 
 progress, had proceeded to Tarragona.
 
 CHAP, v.] CATALAN INSURRECTIONS. 95 
 
 It so happened that, when I quitted Spain in 1822, the Cata- 
 lans were carrying on a deadly warfare with their government ; 
 and now, when I re-entered the kingdom, after a lapse of five 
 years, I found that martial people engaged in another desperate 
 conflict. The mode in which the insurgents conducted their 
 operations was similar in both these arduous struggles ; but the 
 principle upon which their opposition to the government was 
 founded had materially changed. In 1822 they enjoyed the sym- 
 pathy of every generous mind, for the motives which impelled 
 them to arms were great and generous : they fought for all that 
 is dear to the freeman, for landmarks cherished from boyhood, 
 for privileges hallowed by time, for rights inherited from their 
 ancestors : their passions were kindled by the sight of the revered 
 teachers of their faith driven from their altars, homeless and 
 houseless ; their arms were raised in defence of one who had 
 erred, perhaps, but who was still the representative of the ancient 
 monarchy ; the legitimate master of that mighty pile under whose 
 protecting roof they had grown and strengthened, under which 
 their greatest spirits had been reared, to which their fondest 
 recollections attached, and which the spoiler sought not to 
 reform, not to repair, but utterly and remorselessly to destroy. 
 
 In that great northern struggle of 1822 Catalonia went forth 
 lion-hearted against the oppressor. Navarre, and Aragon, and 
 Biscay followed in her wake, and their appeal against the misgo- 
 vernment of the Cortes found an echo in every loyal heart, and 
 in every corner of the kingdom. But in 1827 the Catalan insur- 
 gents were leagued together for very different purposes. Their 
 leaders were impelled by two motives : the first was to increase 
 the ascendancy of the Church, as the only effectual barrier against 
 any future assumption of power by the Constitutionalists ; and 
 this object many of them proposed to effect by re-establishing the 
 Inquisition, and by arming it with all the powers it possessed in 
 the most dismal period of Spanish history. Their policy was in 
 this respect mistaken ; for had they succeeded in restoring and 
 rendering that tribunal an oppressive engine of government, such 
 a measure would have created great discontent in the towns, and 
 have precipitated the fall of the existing institutions : the restora- 
 tion of the Inquisition, altered and improved, so as to meet the 
 improved spirit and the more humane policy of the present day,
 
 96 GALICIA. [CHAP. T. 
 
 might have been a proceeding neither unwise nor unpopular ;* but 
 the inquisition, the whole Inquisition, and nothing but the Inquisi- 
 tion, restored in its ancient spirit, and with its ancient rigour, 
 could only have been maintained by a system of vigilant per- 
 secution, which would have ultimately recoiled on their own 
 heads. 
 
 To this desire of increasing the ascendancy of the Church was 
 added an ungovernable thirst of vengeance, produced by the 
 tyranny of the Cortes during their day of power ; and, considered 
 in this light, the second Catalan insurrection may be truly said 
 to have resulted from the first. That dreadful commotion, the 
 great northern revolt of 1822, in which eighty thousand persons 
 are said to have perished in the field and on the scaffold, had left 
 inextinguishable feuds, and injuries that could only be appeased 
 by blood. During that struggle deeds had been done which could 
 not be forgotten, crimes had been committed by the Constitu- 
 tionalists which could not be forgiven. Prisoners had been 
 slaughtered after the fight was over ; and peaceful civilians, 
 dragged from their homes, had been butchered without a form of 
 trial, for no specific offence, but solely because they entertained 
 opinions hostile to the ruling party ! They fell ; but falling they 
 bequeathed to their kinsmen a legacy of hatred and revenge, not 
 likely to be neglected by the fiery Catalan. 
 
 These motives influenced the leaders of the insurrection of 
 1827, while the misjudging crowd that rallied round their stand- 
 ard believed King Ferdinand to be still a prisoner in the hands 
 of their former enemies, that Constitutional faction, so noto- 
 riously hostile to the Monarchy and the Church. To the sur- 
 prise of his mutinous subjects he appeared among them he 
 spoke, " et dicto citius tumida cequoraplacat." His presence re- 
 stored a deluded people to their lost allegiance ; and that insur- 
 rection, which had baffled all the efforts of the government, which 
 had been gradually extending, and at length threatened to con- 
 vulse the whole kingdom, was at once and completely dissipated : 
 the astonished peasants, discovering that they had acted in oppo- 
 sition to their Sovereign's will, forsook their leaders, abandoned 
 even their priests, and came in crowds to the presence, confessing 
 their error, aud imploring the royal clemency. 
 * Vide note at the end of the book.
 
 CHAP, v.] CATALAN INSURRECTIONS. 97 
 
 When I was arrested at Lugo in 1827, this, the second insur- 
 rection, was at its height, and the issue still doubtful. But 
 though the civil war was confined to the eastern provinces, a 
 secret struggle was at that period carried on. throughout Spain 
 between the partisans of the actual ministry and those who strove 
 to establish a more rigorous and intolerant system. The insur- 
 gents were called Carlists, because they professed the principles 
 attributed, I believe unjustly, to Don Carlos, the King's brother, 
 whose elevation to the throne, however irregular the mode by 
 which it must then have been effected, was still desired by the 
 ultra-Royalist faction, as the readiest means of obtaining a go- 
 vernment more congenial to their views. . 
 
 But there were many persons belonging to the provincial ad- 
 ministrations who disclaimed any connexion with the insurgents, 
 yet were clamorous for the adoption of coercive measures against 
 all persons suspected of any Constitutional tendency. They ad- 
 vocated this policy, because they thought the eventual success of 
 the Carlists probable, and still more because they detested their 
 temperate colleagues, whom they looked upon as the remnants of 
 the Constitutional party, and were consequently anxious to exclude 
 from any share in the government. Such was the state of feeling 
 which then prevailed among the authorities of Lugo, and such a 
 struggle, unseen but violent, secretly divided official men over 
 all those parts of the kingdom which were not convulsed by open 
 war. The Commandant of Lugo, Don Felippe Moreda, was a 
 man of high honour, sincerely attached to his royal master, but 
 averse to intemperate measures, while the civil authorities were 
 secretly favourable to the ultra- Royalist party^ and therefore 
 regarded him with jealousy and dislike. 
 
 It was curious to observe how completely the Constitution- 
 alists appeared to be forgotten in the struggle then\ maintained 
 between the different Royalist factions. To me, who had seen, 
 five years before, the democratic principle triumphant through- 
 out Spain, the Crown shorn of its privileges and existing only 
 by sufferance, the gigantic power of the Church subverted, and 
 the landmarks of ages swept away, it seemed indeed extraordi- 
 nary that such a torrent should have so completely subsided, and 
 have left no traces of its desolating course. The distinctive 
 appellations of the various parties, which served as watchwords 
 
 H
 
 98 GALICIA. [CHAP. v. 
 
 in the excited days of the revolutionary rule, had not only lost 
 the powerful spell which they once exercised over the minds of 
 their adherents, but were almost obliterated. 
 
 On my return to Spain I had a new vocabulary to learn, and 
 to become acquainted with interests that a few years before had 
 not an existence. The Factiosos, the Serviles, the Communeros, 
 and the Descamisados, names once fraught with hope and terror 
 to their respective friends and enemies, were now swallowed up 
 in the all-absorbing distinctions of Fernandistas and Carlistas. 
 But although the public attention was riveted on the com- 
 batants who then filled the arena, the actors in the late tragedy 
 were not quiescent ; for the Constitutionalists still maintained 
 communications with their exiled friends in Portugal, who were 
 watching the tide of events, and only waiting for a favourable 
 opportunity to descend on the coast of Galicia ; nor were the 
 authorities regardless of their machinations, for they kept a 
 steady eye upon their slightest movements. 
 
 The Spanish Constitutionalists spoke of their actual situation 
 in the most desponding terms. A man of rank assured me that 
 arrests had been lately of such frequent occurrence, that he 
 breathed his native air in fear and trembling. " We now pray," 
 he said, "that Galicia may become incorporated with Portu- 
 gal." The violence of party animosity must have been great, 
 indeed, which could have excited, in the mind of a Spaniard, 
 sentiments so little congenial to Spanish pride. The Constitu- 
 tionalists were prepared to renounce every long-cherished feel- 
 ing of national antipathy, were willing to be separated from a 
 great and ancient monarchy, to lose a great and glorious name, 
 and become subject to a minor and comparatively insigni- 
 ficant state, solely, as he said, to participate in the advantages 
 resulting from a Constitution eminently aristocratic in its ele- 
 ments. Yet these are the men who, in 1823, rushed upon 
 a war that terminated their political existence, because they 
 would not submit to the tyranny of a second Chamber : these 
 are the men who, in utter disregard of the popular feeling, 
 abolished the distinctive and cherished privileges of the pro- 
 vinces, and erased their very names out of the map of Spain ; 
 those ancient names which they should have carefully, even osten- 
 tatiously, preserved names and usages and limits dear to the
 
 CHAP, v.] CONSTITUTIONAL INNOVATIONS. 99 
 
 peasant, associated with the traditions of his fathers, con- 
 nected with the memorials of his childhood, and inseparably 
 blended with the haughtiest recollections of Spanish glory and 
 independence. In Madrid and some of the great towns the 
 measure which subdivided Spain into departments was regarded 
 with comparative indifference ; but throughout the country the 
 intelligence was received with sorrow and indignation. The 
 reasons alleged for the subdivision of the provinces were grounded 
 on the inconvenience arising from their unequal distribution of 
 territory ; but probably the secret motive of that determination 
 arose from a belief that, by confounding ancient limits, and 
 breaking down former attachments, they would more rapidly 
 obliterate the memory of the old regime, and create new interests 
 more immediately connected with the representative system. 
 The names of the principal squares or streets of every town or 
 village throughout Spain underwent alterations, and constitu- 
 tional titles were affixed in the place of their patron saints. These 
 proceedings, apparently immaterial, acting upon a very religious 
 peasantry, produced serious irritation: in these changes they beheld 
 the constitution not only opposed but preferred to their religion : 
 the clergy themselves partook of this feeling, and did not dis- 
 guise their sentiments ; and the feelings of the peasantry became 
 more embittered, and their hatred to the new institutions more 
 intense, from causes so trivial and absurd. Unfortunately, in 
 the prosecution of these, as of other measures, the Cortes fol- 
 lowed the example of republican France, without perceiving 
 that the different state of society in that country, and the dis- 
 similarity of national character, required a different policy : 
 among the French there existed little attachment to old institu- 
 tions ; in Spain it was the ruling passion of the people. Paris 
 was the mainspring that regulated the movements of the French 
 Revolution, and gave the impulse to the remotest corners of the 
 kingdom. The strength of the Spanish Revolution resided in 
 Madrid ; but its population was more divided in opinion, and 
 the moral influence of the capital scarcely extended beyond its 
 gates. Among the peasantry in France, except in a few pro- 
 vinces, little resistance was offered to the Republicans ; in Spain, 
 the rustic population was for the most part animated with the 
 same passions and attachments as the people of La Vendee ; and 
 
 H 2
 
 100 GALICIA. [CHAP. v. 
 
 the memory of that eventful struggle should have shown the 
 Cortes the danger of offending local feeling, or of interfer- 
 ing with names and limits endeared to the people by past 
 recollections. They proceeded on a mistaken principle : they 
 should have firmly but cautiously directed the progress of free 
 institutions ; they should not have continually reminded the pea- 
 sant of a revolution whose merits he could not appreciate, and 
 which his previous habits and mode of thinking would naturally 
 induce him to regard with dislike : he should have discovered 
 that he was a freeman in the midst of a free population, by the 
 improvement of his own condition and of all who were connected 
 with him. They should have written the Constitution not on 
 the squares of the city, but in the hearts of the citizens : they 
 should have cherished these local attachments as the guardian 
 spirit of Spain ; attachments that were pure in their origin, and 
 noble in their results. During the great Spanish war of inde- 
 pendence, the French had no greater difficulty to contend with 
 than this provincial spirit. The panic that attends upon victory 
 frequently stupifies a whole country, and subjects it to the con- 
 queror ; but, in Spain, the ideal limits that separated their 
 provinces presented a real and efficient barrier : the submission 
 of one province formed no precedent for its neighbour, but sti- 
 mulated it to acts of greater heroism, to prove its decided supe- 
 riority. In a country where this jealous and independent spirit 
 in some degree compensates for the deficiency of good discipline, 
 great victories became comparatively useless, and the enemy 
 were compelled to vanquish town after town, and district after 
 district, before they could gain the mastery of public opinion, 
 or triumph over the obstinate emulation of the rival provinces. 
 The elevation of the old Spanish character is still to be found 
 in the peasant ; without the enjoyment of civil freedom, he has 
 retained an upright independence that fits him for its reception. 
 It was not easy or desirable to eradicate feelings which had been 
 the growth of centuries : the Cortes could not remodel the 
 Spanish character by an ideal standard of French perfection ; 
 they had the richest materials to work upon, and a just view of 
 mankind would have led them to adapt their measures to the tem- 
 per of the people ; they might lead, they could riot force, society 
 to the level of their institutions : they should have combined the
 
 CHAP, v.j KING FERDINAND. 101 
 
 principles of liberty with the ancient forms of the monarchy, and 
 they would have wound themselves into the hearts of the people, 
 and have given character and permanency to the new institutions. 
 
 But to return to my narrative in 1821. The Constitution- 
 alists did not at that time attribute to the King, personally, 
 any acts of individual oppression, but to a party at one time 
 stronger than the throne itself. Perhaps the wisest man could 
 not have steered through the sea of troubles upon which Ferdi- 
 nand was then embarked, without incurring much censure, 
 and falling into many apparent errors. For, while the Con- 
 stitutionalists were ready to avail themselves of any incidents 
 favourable to their cause, a powerful faction, in the country 
 and in the government, were extremely irritated by his reluc- 
 tance to adopt the views of the ultra-Royalist party. He 
 refused to remove from offices of trust many moderate men in 
 whose personal attachment he had reason to confide, and even 
 retained some individuals who had not been indisposed to the 
 Constitution. At that perilous crisis, the period during which 
 my Galician expedition was undertaken, he showed a degree of 
 moral courage which his previous actions would not have led me 
 to expect, and terminated the insurrection by proceeding in 
 person into the heart of the disturbed districts ; but it must be 
 admitted that frequent and unnecessarily cruel executions suc- 
 ceeded and disgraced his triumphs, arid that many victims of an 
 honourable though mistaken loyalty, who might well have been 
 spared, were doomed to expiate with their lives the penalty of 
 their delusion. As I am speaking of King Ferdinand I will 
 allude to the very peculiar circumstances under which I first saw 
 him, some years before the period to which I am now adverting. 
 
 Travelling, in the autumn of 1821, with my friend, and now 
 
 my brother in-law, Mr. P , we arrived at the inn adjoining 
 
 the Escurial. My readers may perhaps recollect that the 
 Spanish Revolution occurred in 1820, and that during the years 
 1821, 1822, and indeed until the occupation of the territory by 
 the French armies in 1823, the country was distracted by civil 
 dissensions. At the period of our arrival at the Escurial, the 
 popular party was completely triumphant ; the Cortes, imbued 
 with a very democratic spirit, was hurried into the worst ex- 
 cesses by a party still more unscrupulous ; the nobility were
 
 102 THE ESCURIAL. [CHAP. v. 
 
 degraded and their property plundered ; the priesthood were per- 
 secuted ; the power of the Crown was not curtailed, but anni- 
 hilated, and the person of the King insulted. The great northern 
 revolt in favour of the Crown had not yet broken out, but the 
 exasperation of feeling throughout the disaffected provinces was 
 extreme ; the Royalists were everywhere in a state of active 
 though secret preparation for the approaching contest, and were 
 only waiting for the countenance of foreign powers to commence 
 the struggle. The French troops were at that time ranged along 
 the Pyrenean frontier, ostensibly to protect the French provinces 
 from the yellow fever, then ravaging Barcelona, but really to 
 control the progress of a revolution which had become altogether 
 incompatible with the safety, or even the existence, of the Bour- 
 bon dynasty. At that critical moment every heart in the court 
 circle indulged the hope of French assistance, and every loyal 
 eye was turned to France. 
 
 Soon after our arrival at the Escurial we hastened to see the 
 palace, which was shown us by a valet, and, as \ve were after- 
 wards informed, the most confidential servant of the King. As 
 we were leaving the palace, he asked us if we wished to be pre- 
 sented to his Majesty. We said, in answer, we hoped to have 
 that honour at Madrid, where the British Minister was then 
 residing, and where we intended to remain some time. He re- 
 plied that, if we desired to see the King, his Majesty would 
 dispense with the established etiquette, and he would call at the 
 inn at ten o'clock in the evening, and conduct us to the palace. 
 We were naturally surprised, but, as he seemed sure of his 
 ground, we no longer declined a proposition so little in accord- 
 ance with the forms that generally surround a court, and which 
 were, moreover, peculiarly strict at the Spanish palace. In the 
 evening he called at the inn. at the hour agreed on, and told us 
 that two of the ministers had arrived from Madrid, bringing his 
 Majesty the very alarming intelligence of a revolt just broken 
 out at Seville and Cadiz, at the instigation of the republican 
 party ; the King was consequently engaged, and our presentation 
 must be postponed till the following morning. Accordingly he 
 appeared the next day, and accompanied us to the palace: hav- 
 ing conducted us into a large apartment, he departed, saying that 
 he would inform the King of our arrival.
 
 CHAP, v.] INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 103 
 
 The King was in an inner room communicating with the 
 apartment in which we were left, and through which the nobles 
 and gentlemen of the court were continually passing and repass- 
 ing. As far as we could judge, the confusion produced in the 
 palace by the intelligence just received was extreme, and an ex- 
 pression of thought and anxiety overcast every face. Yet, not- 
 withstanding the general uneasiness, several persons, perceiving 
 we were strangers, paused for a moment as they passed through 
 the room, and addressed us, obviously from a sense of politeness. 
 At length two gentlemen entering the apartment drew near us, 
 and the tallest made some general observations. I remember 
 replying, civilly, no doubt, but perhaps a little carelessly, and 
 asking some question in return, when I observed an expression 
 of surprise pass over the face of the individual whom I addressed, 
 such as might be perceptible on the countenance of a well-bred 
 man, at the infraction of some established conventional form. 
 This attracted my attention. 1 looked more steadfastly at him, and, 
 remembering a picture which I had been contemplating only the 
 day before in one of the apartments of the palace, I recognised the 
 King : the features were the same, the expression was the same I 
 had no doubt. I instantly bent the knee according to the Spanish 
 fashion ; the King perceived my previous mistake, good-humour- 
 edly continued the conversation for some minutes, and then 
 departed with the Marquis de , the majordomo of the palace. 
 
 Thus ended this singular interview. I cannot but suppose 
 that, in consequence of our arrival at the Escurial direct from 
 Paris, and before we had visited Madrid, a suspicion was excited 
 in the mind of the King's valet that we were secret but accre- 
 dited organs of that French party with which the Spanish Roy- 
 alists and the King himself were then in active and constant 
 communication. Perhaps, also, some expressions of our sym- 
 pathy with the royal embarrassments may have strengthened 
 this notion. Motives, too, were quickly imputed; for at that 
 disturbed period few persons, if any, travelled for their amuse- 
 ment, and during the time we then passed in Spain I do not 
 remember having met a single person journeying through the 
 country uninfluenced by private or political business. 
 
 Nor was this supposition, if really entertained, improbable, as 
 the course we undesignedly pursued would have been unques-
 
 104 THE ESCURIAL. [CHAP. v. 
 
 tionably adopted by any Royalist agent, for the Escurial was at 
 that time the very centre and focus of Royalist intrigue ; and to 
 its friendly shades the court retired from the dangerous observa- 
 tion of Madrid, to receive its secret communications, and pursue 
 its schemes of liberation from the tyrannous bondage of the 
 Cortes, undiscovered and uninterrupted. We were afterwards 
 saluted more than once by signs of an expressive nature, to 
 which a hidden signification was attached, and which were then 
 currently interchanged among the adherents of the Royal cause. 
 
 On the day before we left the Escurial we attended the con- 
 vent church, and heard the funeral service magnificently per- 
 formed over one of the royal infants just deceased. The evening 
 was fast closing as we left the assembled crowds and passed into 
 the sacristy : there, while we stood opposite the Perla, giving a 
 last lingering look at that exquisite production of Italian art, 
 two gentlemen approached us, one of whom, separating from his 
 companion, passed close to us, and said, in a low but clear voice, 
 " Vive le Roi." He paused for a moment, apparently in ex- 
 pectation of the answering watchword, but, as we remained silent, 
 he rapidly withdrew. 
 
 The magnificence rather than the beauty of the Escurial 
 palace, the splendour of the Escurial convent, the cruel uncer- 
 tainty of the King's position, our own singular recognition of 
 that monarch, the mystery which hung over the court, and the 
 mysterious communications which seemed to be carrying on in 
 those dark cloisters and long corridors, so fitted for the purpose 
 of intrigue, made a deep impression on my mind, and I long 
 remembered with interest our visit to the Escurial. 
 
 A short time afterwards I was presented in a more formal 
 manner to the King and Queen. The Queen was just of age, 
 having on that very day accomplished her eighteenth year, on 
 which account it was kept with great state at court : it was then, 
 however, no time for pomp ; events were critical, the repub- 
 lican insurrections of Cadiz and Seville were unsubdued ; the 
 Queen was reviled, and the King denounced in the public 
 journals as a traitor to the state : in short, the democrats were 
 faithfully following the march of the French revolution, and 
 the least apprehensive began to anticipate <a similar consumma- 
 tion of the royal griefs.
 
 CHAP, v.] THE QUEEN. 105 
 
 That anniversary of her birth, a day which, in the palaces of 
 kings, is generally ushered in with every demonstration of 
 popular joy, was productive of no pleasure to the youthful 
 Queen : upon that occasion no gratulating songs were presented 
 to her, according to the fashion of the land, but the fierce Tra- 
 gala, breathing a deadly hate to royalty in every line, was sung 
 by hostile voices almost under the palace windows ; she was 
 evidently much alarmed at the lowering aspect of affairs, and 
 could scarcely restrain her tears in the presence of the assembled 
 court. 
 
 I was struck by the alteration which had taken place in her 
 appearance ; but three weeks before I had seen her in the garden 
 of the Escurial feeding some gold-fish in a little pond, and 
 afterwards ascending a tower and counting the steps with the 
 lighthearted playfulness of a girl. She was rather pretty, and 
 very interesting; extremely devout, and much beloved by those 
 around her : taken from her Saxon home, to which she was 
 passionately attached, the destined bride of the King of Spain, 
 instead of the peaceful pomp and universal homage which she 
 had been led to expect in a land once renowned for the loyalty 
 of its citizens and the gallantry of its nobles, she found on her 
 arrival at Madrid the storms of civil war darkening around a 
 throne endangered by the progressive usurpations of the Cortes, 
 and exposed to the insults of a demoralized populace. 
 
 During those days of revolutionary agitation, she is said to 
 have spent many weary hours, bewailing the departed pleasures 
 of her Grerman youth, and anticipating with a heavy heart the 
 terrors of the time to come ; but her afflictions, though great, 
 were brief, and she is now, and has long been, in that peaceful 
 region " where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary 
 are at rest." Had the life of this interesting Queen been pro- 
 longed, Spain would probably have been spared a host of calami- 
 ties ; but events of infinitely less real importance appear to have 
 exercised a wondrous effect on the permanent destinies of this 
 great monarchy. Humanly speaking, it is far from improbable 
 that the succession to the Spanish throne was changed, and a de- 
 solating war produced, by one of those tracasseries which occa- 
 sionally, in the highest circles, inflame the female mind ; 
 misunderstandings, often solely ridiculous from the trivial nature
 
 106 THE ESCURIAL. [CHAP. v. 
 
 of the matter in dispute, and the intensity of feeling with which 
 the feud is prosecuted ; but sometimes awful in their results, 
 from the influence exercised in quarters of importance. I have 
 heard, from persons connected with the Spanish court of the day, 
 and intimately acquainted with its secret history, that the pre- 
 sent disastrous state of Spain may be in a great measure attri- 
 buted to one of these unfortunate tracasseries. After the 
 successful invasion of Spain by the Due d'Angouleme in 1823, 
 and while he was yet the hero of the day, the two Portuguese 
 Princesses at the Spanish court, one of whom was the late wife of 
 Don Carlos, determined to receive the French Prince, on some 
 grand occasion, in dresses dotted over with fleurs-de-lis. This 
 delicate and well-timed compliment was received with rapture 
 by the French officers, and was extremely pleasing to the Duke. 
 The Princesses had, however, unfortunately concealed their in- 
 tention from their sister-in-law. Queen Christina. Mortified at 
 what she conceived to be an intentional exclusion, her resent- 
 ment knew no bounds ; and from that hour she is said to have 
 entertained a deadly hatred against her sister-in-law, and to have 
 vowed eternal vengeance against that branch of the Royal family. 
 The figures on a lady's dress may therefore have been, hu- 
 manly speaking, the primum mobile of half the woes and suffer- 
 ings that have afflicted ill-fated Spain ; a striking instance that 
 persons placed in delicate situations cannot safely commit the 
 least indiscretion, even in those lighter fields of action where 
 female caprice may be supposed at liberty to indulge itself at 
 will, and which seem the most remote from the great scenes of 
 political action. Other motives are indeed amply sufficient to 
 account for Christina's conduct : but it certainly is not incon- 
 sistent with our experience of human, and especially female 
 nature, to believe that vanity deeply wounded may have been a 
 motive more influential with the Queen in her efforts to supplant 
 Don Carlos than even the natural wish she may have enter- 
 tained to place her daughter on the throne, and the desire to 
 secure her own influence as Regent. Great results are often 
 produced by causes apparently the most trivial when feelings are 
 concerned. The consequences of this disagreement were not how- 
 ever developed at the time when I was passing through Galicia. 
 The political heaven was heavy indeed with the disasters of the
 
 CHAP, v.j DEPARTURE FOR SANTIAGO. 107 
 
 day, but the Christine war had not yet begun, the Christine 
 policy had not yet developed itself, the very designation of 
 Christine was then unknown. At that time I felt only, though 
 I felt deeply, the many changes which had occurred since the 
 day of my memorable presentation to the King at the Escurial. 
 
 King Ferdinand and his youthful consort were no more ; 
 the brother, who then graced the court, was now an exile 
 struggling for his throne ; the chivalrous Eroles, the life 
 and soul and leader of the Royal cause, was numbered with 
 the dead ; the brave O'Donnel had been butchered in cold 
 blood, and his body horribly mutilated by the unpunished ad- 
 herents of Mina and the present Queen ; Riego, then the idol 
 of the Spanish populace, at whose approach the incessant shout 
 was raised, and over whose triumphant march the choicest 
 flowers of the year were strewed, had died upon a Spanish scaf- 
 fold ; the Empecinado, who shared his crimes or glories, which 
 you will, had shared his fate; Torrijos had met the bloody 
 death he so relentlessly administered ; and Mina, a murderer 
 upon system, though still alive, was sinking to the grave 
 oppressed with disease and infamy. 
 
 I remained a prisoner in my apartment at the inn at Lugo till 
 three o'clock in the afternoon, when I received an intimation 
 from the authorities that they intended to send me to Santiago, 
 the capital of Galicia, and expected me to commence my journey 
 to that city within an hour. Accordingly, at four o'clock, six 
 Royalist Volunteers, consisting of four foot-soldiers, and a ser- 
 geant and corporal mounted, arrived at the inn. After a warm 
 and ineffectual paper- war with the authorities, I turned my 
 horse's head to Santiago, and left Lugo under the escort of this 
 trusty band. Besides the indignation naturally excited in my 
 mind by this extraordinary proceeding, the personal inconve- 
 nience was extremely great, as I had intended to visit Orense, 
 and, re entering Portugal by the north-eastern frontier, explore 
 those parts of the Traz os Montes which I had not yet seen. 
 
 Santiago lay in a direction precisely opposite to Orense, and, 
 as I had already spent some days in that city, it had not the 
 recommendation of novelty to counterbalance the great annoy- 
 ance arising from this compulsory change of route. The soldiers 
 were attired in the li;ht-blue uniform which then distinguished
 
 108 JOURNEY TO SANTIAGO. [CHAP. v. 
 
 the adherents of the Crown ; and white tassels, considered the 
 unfailing badge of a bianco, or white man, hung from their 
 caps. " We are called blancos, an epithet used to designate the 
 children of pure faith and loyalty," said a high-spirited young 
 soldier, one of the most ardent Royalists of the band. Divers 
 men and mules followed in our train ; thus encumbered, our 
 progress was of necessity extremely slow, and was, moreover, 
 interrupted by frequent orders from the sergeant to halt. Two 
 soldiers, who had evidently received injunctions to keep up with 
 my horse, walked constantly by my side. Our route lay across 
 a wild heath-tract, then lighted up by the last splendours of a 
 setting sun. 
 
 We arrived, at a late hour, on the confines of a small village, 
 and stopped at the door of a ruinous building, formerly belong- 
 ing to the government, but now used as a resting-place by the 
 few travellers who wandered over those unfrequented wilds. 
 We were received by its only tenant, an old woman, whom the 
 superstitious terrors of an earlier age would have invested with 
 the character of a sorceress ; for her arms were bare and withered, 
 her visage wrinkled, and she was surrounded by an awful and 
 appropriate number of cats ; indeed, she was actually regarded 
 with a strange mixture of veneration and abhorrence by the 
 neighbouring peasants. The night was dark and bitter, but 
 we dispelled the darkness and the cold by heaping ample supplies 
 of heath upon the fire, which blazed high, and, sending a thou- 
 sand coruscations over the huge rafters, lit up the gloomy 
 recesses of the old building. There were benches, but not a 
 single chair or table in the apartment ; candles we had none, for 
 the " Lady Sorceress" declared that she rose at the break of 
 day, and retired to rest when the sun went down, and moreover 
 expected her guests to adopt her primitive habits, for this, she 
 said, was what God intended. "Or the devil?" muttered one 
 of the soldiers, aware of the imputations that attached to our 
 antiquated hostess. Provisions we appeared for a long time to 
 have little prospect of obtaining, but at length, after several 
 foraging expeditions, some black broth, " horresco referens" 
 was brought in a wooden bowl, garnished with bread of the same 
 Tartarean hue. The soldiers, with the delicacy and good-feeling 
 eminently characteristic of the lower orders in Spain, offered me
 
 CHAP, v.] IRKSOME SURVEILLANCE. 109 
 
 all the scanty provision they could procure ; nor did they appear 
 to desire that any part should be reserved for themselves, although 
 they must have greatly stood in need of refreshment, as they had 
 been marching from four till eleven o'clock at night over a 
 rugged country. Of course I divided equally our little store, 
 and it was pleasant to see the grateful feeling excited by this 
 trifling mark of consideration. But the candidates for a share of 
 the supply were very disproportioned to the amount in posses- 
 sion, so that the process of distribution became ludicrous, and 
 only furnished a practical proof of the infinite divisibility of 
 matter. 
 
 Though indignant enough with the potentates of Lugo, I could 
 not entertain any hostile feeling against my travelling com- 
 panions, who were free from any participation in the foolish acts 
 of their superiors, and were merely their unwilling instruments. 
 They evidently believed that I was guiltless of any serious 
 offence; but in spite of this general impression, I perceived that 
 strong though short-lived suspicions occasionally passed through 
 their minds. While these feelings prevailed, though still re- 
 spectful in manner, their countenances were serious and even 
 clouded, and they seemed absorbed in thought ; for these men 
 were sincerely attached to tiie Royal cause, and would have 
 looked with horror upon any agent of the Constitutionalists. 
 
 Throughout the journey they tried to soften all that was dis- 
 agreeable in the peculiar state of our mutual relations, and 
 invariably treated me with respect. Had their conduct been dif- 
 ferent my situation would have been most disagreeable ; for, hav- 
 ing, received positive injunctions never to lose sight of me, I was 
 not occasionally, but constantly, in their society. It is true, they 
 placed the least possible restraint upon my actions, and were 
 ever ready to sacrifice their inclinations to mine ; still they were 
 scrupulously exact in the execution of their orders. If I wished 
 to inspect any objects of curiosity near the places where we 
 halted, they were always willing to. accompany me, however 
 fatigued they might be r when I retired to my apartment, if the 
 subdivisions of the miserable hovels at which we stopped deserve 
 the name, I was regularly attended by a guard : indeed, on 
 horseback or on foot, asleep or awake, a watchful eye was ever 
 fixed upon me. No man, who has not been the object of such
 
 110 THE ESCORT. [CHAP. v. 
 
 unremitting vigilance for some days together, can at all con- 
 ceive the nervous sense of moral oppression which it at length 
 induces. It depresses the spirits to an extent not justified by the 
 cause, it weighs like a nightmare on the mind, and tortures it, as 
 water does the human frame, when drop falls after drop upon 
 the same part, producing irritation solely by its continuous 
 action. When at length released from this vexatious thraldom, 
 I can hardly express the pleasure of finding myself restored to 
 the enjoyment of my solitary chamber. 
 
 But I am digressing. The soldiers and muleteers were ranged 
 on the benches in our ruinous abode, and I had made a seat of 
 heather for myself within the fireplace under the huge chimney. 
 Manuel, my Portuguese muleteer, was becoming reconciled to 
 the loss of his supper by the opportunity it afforded him of 
 exulting in the superior comforts of his own country ; and he 
 loudly declared that he had never seen aland so utterly degraded 
 as Galicia, or so evidently branded with the Divine displeasure. 
 I began to fear his national antipathies would light up the 
 torch of discord among our Spanish allies ; but although his 
 language was strong, he was probably aware of the lengths to 
 which he could safely proceed, as I observed that he averted, 
 more than once, their rising indignation, by a well-timed and 
 humorous sally. My friend who had declared himself a bianco 
 was a high-spirited young soldier, eager in his manner, and un- 
 measured in his expressions ; but the corporal possessed the most 
 varied humour of the party. He was an admirable mimic, and 
 amused us by a series of lively observations and practical jokes. 
 Seizing one of our landlady's cats, he convulsed the circle by 
 making poor puss respond to his questions by a whine that was 
 mournful in its tone, or eager, or indifferent, according to the 
 nature of his interrogatory ; a feat which he contrived by 
 pressing the side of the animal unperceived, upon which it na- 
 turally cried out, and the peculiar intonation of that cry varied 
 according to the suddenness and degree of the pressure applied. 
 The trick was cleverly managed : it was not cruel, as the crea- 
 ture did not appear to suffer, and almost seemed to enter into 
 the humour of the jest, and the effect was inconceivably ludi- 
 crous. Yet, beneath this wild buffoonery, a mine of deep piety 
 and enthusiastic feeling lay concealed ; a disposition less appa-
 
 CHAP, v.] PENINSULAR LEGENDS. 1 1 1 
 
 rent in his conversation than in the fervour of his manner, and 
 the prostration of spirit with which he approached any holy relics. 
 In passing through the convent of San Martin, he spoke rather in 
 pad and serious than in bitter language of the Constitutionalists 
 who had violated the shrine. The sergeant, and leader of the 
 troop, a native of Castile, was imbued with all the gravity of 
 his country ; he was cold and cautious, and said little ; but 
 although he appeared to observe minutely all that took place, 
 it was not easy to discover, in the hard lines of his immoveable 
 countenance, either the general character of the man, or the 
 impression produced on his mind by passing occurrences. 
 
 As the night wore on, the party closed round the roaring fire, 
 and the conversation became general. Banditti, a subject of un- 
 failing interest among the lower classes in Spain, were first dis- 
 cussed. They dwelt upon the plaided Catalan, who, couched 
 behind some jutting rock, springs like a tiger on the thoughtless 
 traveller, bids him give up his gold, and never bids him twice ! 
 Nor did they forget the Andalusian bandit, mounted on the steed 
 he calls by some high-sounding name and loves with the love 
 that other men yield only to the ladies of their hearts an out- 
 lawed race, the genuine heirs of old romance, whose courteous 
 bearing still lends refinement to their guilty trade, and invests 
 their lawless acts with the chivalry of times long past. Many a 
 tale of those robber chiefs was told many a feat was recorded of 
 the Bold James of Valentia, an extraordinary man, the mingled 
 terror and admiration of his native district when I passed through 
 it in 1822. 
 
 The soldiers now related his exploits with a kind of gloomy 
 pride: they detailed his hairbreadth, and, according to their 
 account, miraculous escapes, with manifest satisfaction ; and 
 contrasted his deeds of horrible cruelty to the great, with his 
 unbounded generosity to the poor. In those statements there 
 was much truth mixed up with much romance. When I was in 
 Valentia, this powerful adventurer paid the taxes of at least five 
 villages, or small towns, lying within the limits of the mountain 
 territory, over which for years together he held an almost undis 
 puted sway ; the local authorities feared and feasted him, and 
 the poor loved and obeyed him as their lawful lord. But the 
 Spaniards were not allowed to engross the conversation : our
 
 112 PENINSULAR LEGENDS. [CHAP. v. 
 
 Portuguese friends became jealous of the exclusive attention ex- 
 cited by these Spanish tales ; and as they could not match the 
 famous James with any native bandit of equal prowess, they 
 touched a deeper cord, and engaged the sympathy of their 
 hearers by tales of wild and fearful superstition. 
 
 They spoke of the distant Beira, and shuddered as they named 
 the Escolares, the dreadful wolf-impellers, the lonely wanderers 
 of the mountain, the servants of the Prince of Darkness ! As- 
 suming mortal shape, and seated on some lofty pinnacle, they 
 hail, with fiendish joy, the snow-storm gathering at their feet 
 they see it whiten all the land, and know their hour of strength 
 is come ! Subject to them, but terrible to all beside, the wolves 
 assemble at their viewless bidding, and obey the sign that sends 
 them headlong on their desperate course. Woe to the hapless 
 peasant who has waked the vengeance of the Escolar, for, lo ! the 
 hell-commissioned wolf comes down upon his fold. His trusty 
 dog, that never shrank from mortal encounter, copes not with 
 such unhallowed strength, and quails beneath the supernatural 
 eye ! In vain his master points the unerring rifle ; the bullet 
 will not strike, or bounds innocuous from the charmed skin. 
 Flight is the shepherd's only refuge : destruction waits upon his 
 flock, and desolation sits upon his hearth f 
 
 But even in deeds like these, surpassing human power, the 
 Spaniard would not yield the palm of merit to the rival Portu- 
 guese, for straight an Andalusia n, jealous for his country's honour, 
 told how the robber-children of Ecija, in weal or woe, conquering 
 or conquered, still retained by magic spells their fated number of 
 thirteen. Conquered ! when were those children of the forest 
 conquered ? for victory over them was not success, defeat was 
 not to them reverse of fortune. They hurried to the midnight 
 encounter, thirteen in number, stout men and true as ever 
 wielded robber's blade : half died the death of men yet, counted 
 when the fray was over, the band was found in undiminished 
 strength, and thirteen manly voices answered to their chieftain's 
 call ! What, then, to them was triumph, or repulse, or govern- 
 ment, or law? Strong in the guardianship of powers unseen, 
 they mocked at mortal might ! 
 
 Amongst our party all had heard of, none had beheld, the 
 infernal warriors of the wood ; but *ome had seen the invulner-
 
 CHAP, v.] ROBBER TALES. 113 
 
 able Trappist * rushing to war mounted upon his coal-black 
 steed, high bearing in one hand the sacred crucifix, and with 
 the other slaying at every stroke a rebel to the Church and Crown, 
 while heavenly troops unseen averted every danger from his head, 
 and Heaven itself directed every blow he struck. They, too, had 
 felt the earth quake like an aspen-leaf beneath the iron tread of 
 that unequalled steed ; whose charge no son of man had ever yet 
 withstood ; whose flight was swifter than the swiftest arrow ; 
 whose step ne'er faltered down the steepest precipice ; Avhose 
 eye sent forth at night unnatural beams to guide his master 
 through the deepest gloom, yet lure his rash pursuers to their 
 fate ! Hunger and thirst were to that famous horse unknown ; 
 sleep never sealed his watchful lids ; and oft the sullen death- 
 beat of his hoofs, distinctly heard for twenty miles around, pal- 
 sied the hostile sentinel upon his midnight watch ; for sure he 
 was those dull dead echoes were the certain harbingers of ruin to 
 the camp, and well he knew the first of that predestined host 
 who hears the strange unearthly sound survives not the approach- 
 ing fight. It is difficult to describe the effect produced by these 
 wild tales, narrated at the dead of night in a ruined building, by 
 the doubtful gleams of a flickering fire, and addressed with all 
 the energy of perfect faith to an audience as implicitly cre- 
 dulous. 
 
 As the real history of the famous James, or Jaime, is a curious 
 illustration of the state of society and manners prevalent in one 
 of the wildest and most remote districts of Spain, I will again for 
 a moment digress, to inform my readers of the singular kind of 
 government which he established, and for a long time maintained, 
 in the district subject to his authority. When I was in Jaime's 
 territory, poor Jaime was, for the moment, in a situation of great 
 difficulty and distress. He had just declared for the Royal cause, 
 and the government of the Cortes had in consequence despatched 
 a considerable force against him, had driven him into a moun- 
 tain, and hemmed him in by a cordon of troops. The deepest 
 anxiety prevailed in the villages which practically acknowledged 
 his supremacy, and which for many years had considered their 
 
 * A guerilla leader, renowned for his extraordinary exploits in the great 
 northern insurrection of 1822. 
 
 I
 
 114 KING JAIME. [CHAP. v. 
 
 allegiance to the King of Spain as secondary to that which was 
 owing to King Jaime. 
 
 In one respect, however, he stood in a very different position 
 from that in which moriarchs are generally placed with reference 
 to their subjects. He paid their taxes for them, and they repaid 
 him by secret co-operation, an arrangement which by no means 
 diminished their zeal in his cause. On arriving at a posada in 
 one of these villages, I asked a young lad, who acted as waiter, 
 whether Jaime was altogether as bad as he was represented to be. 
 " Senor," said the boy, suddenly turning round with the greatest 
 excitement, " Jaime is a man of spotless faith and honour." 
 " Kay, Jose," said his father, a cautious man, and naturally 
 alarmed lest his son's unguarded zeal should have betrayed his 
 real prepossessions to an enemy, " you speak warmly, as you are 
 wont to do on subjects wholly indifferent to you. The sefior 
 observes justly that Jaime is not so bad as he is said to be." 
 
 We were then in the month of May, and the night had all that 
 heavenly calmness which is so bewitching in a southern clime. 
 As I lay awake, the sound of musketry, produced by shots occa- 
 sionally exchanged between the partisans of Jaime and the go- 
 vernment troops, mingled, strangely enough, with a serenade of 
 peculiar sweetness which rose under the windows of some fair 
 Spaniard in the same street. At Orihuela I saw a player on the 
 guitar, and spoke to him about Jaime. He at first showed great 
 unwillingness to enter upon the subject ; but, at length dismissing 
 his fears, gave way to his feelings, and spoke of his robber-chief 
 with the same enthusiastic feelings which a Highland piper might 
 be supposed to entertain for the head of his clan : for Jaime, 
 though wild and lawless in his habits, was fond of minstrelsy and 
 generous to the bard. He had also ballads recounting Jaime's 
 heroic deeds, that at the moment in question it would have been 
 death to recite, which gold could not extort, but which might 
 have been won from the easy minstrel by expressions of sympathy 
 for his endangered chief. 
 
 Jaime escaped the perils which then environed him, and flou- 
 rished for some time longer, the pride and terror of the district ; 
 but was finally taken and executed after a prosperous reign of 
 nearly twenty years. He appears to have been a very mixed
 
 CHAP, v.] KING JAIME. 115 
 
 character, possessing in a great measure the virtues and vices of 
 a chieftain of the middle ages. He was liberal to his followers, 
 and cruel to his enemies ; but even towards them he showed upon 
 occasions a magnanimity worthy of the heroic age. He had a 
 peculiar pride in protecting that portion of the population which 
 adhered enthusiastically to his cause : he would enrich with his 
 spoils the most devoted of his subjects ; and it was said that in 
 some instances, where an attached couple, belonging to families 
 friendly to his partisans, had been prevented from marrying by 
 the want of a certain sum of money, he would remove that diffi- 
 culty, bestow on the fair damsel a sufficient dowry, and, suddenly 
 appearing in his robber's dress on the evening of the marriage 
 festival, would assist in the dance, lead down the blushing bride, 
 imprint upon .her cheek a salutation which, under the circum- 
 stances of the case, conjugal jealousy might well forgive, then 
 resign her to the bridegroom, and disappear amid the loud ap- 
 plause of the delighted peasants. 
 
 These dazzling acts, partly the sallies of a naturally generous 
 though ill-regulated mind, were perhaps, in a still greater de- 
 gree, the result of calculating policy. By occasional acts of 
 this kind, and by permanently, though not ostensibly, charging 
 himself with the taxation of the neighbourhood, he established 
 himself in the affections of the people, and became invested with 
 a real power and security, which no mere superiority of his 
 marauding force, either in numbers or discipline, could have 
 long ensured. When danger drew near, he had the earliest in- 
 timation of its approach ; and when it at length enveloped him 
 in its toils, no means were left untried by his faithful subjects to 
 facilitate his escape. He was several times hemmed in by the 
 government troops, who, despairing to secure their prey by any 
 other means, formed, as they imagined, an uninterrupted circle 
 around the place of his retreat, and determined to compel him 
 to surrender by the slow but sure effects of famine. But even 
 in these perilous circumstances he was always wonderfully as- 
 sisted by the affection of his adherents, till at length, availing 
 himself of some local and momentary negligence of the block- 
 ading troops, he broke through the line, and to the rage and 
 surprise of the soldiers gave signs of unabated activity by a 
 sudden descent at the head of his men in another part of the 
 
 I 2
 
 116 
 
 KING JAIME. [CHAP. v. 
 
 district ; seizing, perhaps, some obnoxious and amazed Alcalde, 
 carrying him off to the mountains, and only restoring him to 
 liberty upon the receipt of an enormous ransom. 
 
 These frequent escapes, when all hopes of eluding the pursuit 
 of the troops seemed desperate, combined with his almost simul- 
 taneous appearance in a distant part of the district, gave rise at 
 length to a belief that no material obstacles could impede his pro- 
 gress, and that he was gifted with a double presence of an inex- 
 plicable and fearful character : any poor Alcalde who, intimidated 
 or bought over by the government troops, had swerved from his 
 allegiance, was not reassured by circumstances that would have 
 given confidence to a stranger ; but, as the accounts of Jaime's 
 situation became more hopeless, so, in proportion, he felt an in- 
 creasing fear that the door of his dwelling might be suddenly 
 forced, and the ubiquitous chief appear at the head of his armed 
 men. 
 
 During the struggle against the Cortes in favour of the king, 
 he sometimes, when severely pressed by the government troops, 
 entirely dissolved his band, advised each man to take a separate 
 path, and commanded all to meet again on a stated day and hour, 
 at a stated place. The appointment was generally well ob- 
 served ; and that guerilla force, which a few days before was 
 almost crushed by the advancing troops of the government, 
 was perhaps hovering on their rear, cutting off their supplies, 
 and thinning their numbers by a constant war of detail. 
 
 This marauding chief was as remarkable for the reasoning 
 vigour of his mind, as for his personal courage and dexterity. 
 He was aware, even in the early days of his career, that to 
 ensure his power he must temper his pursuit of plunder with a 
 forbearance seldom exercised by men of his profession ; he felt 
 that a system of immoderate rapine would either divert the 
 passage of the southern and eastern provinces of Spain from his 
 district into other channels of communication, so as entirely to 
 elude his grasp, or would, from the extent of the evil, produce a 
 determination on the part of the government to suppress his 
 power at any cost. 
 
 Under this impression, while on the one hand he sedulously 
 courted the good will of his neighbourhood, on the other, he 
 seldom robbed the trader to any great extent, but rather levied
 
 CHAP, v.] KING JAIMfc. 117 
 
 a tribute upon his goods, which, considering the lawlessness of 
 the act, did not bear a very unreasonable proportion to the 
 whole. As some compensation for this attack upon his purse, 
 the traveller had no reason to fear any further molestation from 
 the gentlemen of the highway, not only in Jaime's territory, but 
 for some distance beyond the limits of his recognised domain. 
 He conversed freely and good-humouredly with the plundered 
 merchants during the examination of their goods by his par- 
 tisans, offered them cigars to smoke, and wine from his em- 
 broidered goat's-skin to drink; and although the tribute or 
 blackmail was very much levied by rule and proportion, he cour- 
 teously attended to any particular wish expressed, and affected a 
 generous contempt for petty profits. 
 
 By this judicious self-restraint, and by his local popularity, 
 which he kept alive by pandering to every interested and to 
 every grateful feeling, he maintained his throne for so long a 
 time. He was a man of extraordinary resource, designed by 
 nature to act a better part ; under other circumstances he might 
 have been the saviour, instead of the scourge, of his country. 
 He was, however, in personal address and mental energy, a mag- 
 nificent specimen of the robber chief; yet there were some 
 dreadful passages in his history. A firm observer of his word 
 once plighted, he punished treachery with a ferocity suited only 
 to a savage state of society ; and is said, on one occasion, to have 
 buried alive the unfortunate victims of his suspicion. 
 
 But to resume my narrative. The night was far advanced 
 when a loud knocking was heard at the door ; two servants, being 
 admitted, announced the approach of their mistress, the most 
 influential person in the immediate neighbourhood. Directly 
 afterwards she appeared, followed by a train of domestics, and 
 evidently decorated to the utmost advantage. Her dress was 
 extremely antiquated, but had been gorgeous in days of yore ; 
 it was, I have little doubt, an heir-loom in the family, and had 
 probably been worn by herself, and by her maternal ancestors 
 for some generations past, on every solemn occasion. The sol- 
 diers received her with every demonstration of formal respect. 
 The stately dame began by saying she had only just been in- 
 formed that a party of troops engaged in the Royal service were 
 quartered in a miserable building near her house. She expressed
 
 118 A LOYAL DAME. [CHAP. v. 
 
 her hopes that no circumstances displeasing to his Majesty's 
 government had given rise to such an unusual occurrence ; she 
 trusted her devout aspirations on this head would be confirmed, 
 but at all events esteemed it the bounden duty of a loyal subject 
 to congratulate the troops on their safe arrival, and to assure the 
 individual intrusted with the command that the loyalty which 
 had ever distinguished her family had suffered no diminution in 
 the person of their actual representative. She concluded by 
 declaring that her house, her grounds, and all her goods were at 
 the entire disposal of the King's troops as long as they remained 
 in the neighbourhood. The Sergeant answered in a strain as 
 formal and polite, and in language far above his station : he 
 thanked her for the affection which she bore the Royal cause, and 
 for this mark of attention to his Majesty's servants. He spoke 
 in gratifying terms of the proverbial loyalty of her house, and 
 wished that his Majesty possessed more supporters, true-hearted 
 as herself, in these degenerate times, when, in too many in- 
 stances, the son had fallen away from his father's faith. He 
 touched lightly, and with address, upon the object of the expe- 
 dition, and concluded by declining her offer of accommodation, 
 as the night was far spent, and his troops were obliged to renew 
 their march at break of day. A profusion of parting compli- 
 ments were then exchanged, which, time and place considered, 
 were rather entertaining. The door was then opened 
 
 " Wide and high, 
 To let the Queen and her train go by." 
 
 Two menials went forth in advance to clear the way, and after 
 them paced forth the pompous dame; then all her attendants fol- 
 lowed ; but it must be confessed, their ragged attire spoke ill for 
 the fortunes of the loyal and illustrious line. She was, no doubt, 
 a worthy soul, though not to me " her lips imperial ever spake ;" 
 indeed, she scarcely deigned to look on a suspected traitor. 
 After her departure we retired to rest. I slept upon some heath 
 in a shed that opened into the hall : the soldiers collected around 
 the only point of egress to prevent the possibility of my escape, 
 scattered some straw on the floor, and, placing their arms beside 
 them, lay down to enjoy a few hours of uninterrupted repose. 
 The following morning was intensely cold. We quitted the
 
 CHAP, v.] SUPERSTITION OF THE NEGRO. 119 
 
 old building soon after sunrise, and travelled for some hours 
 over a country generally wild and barren, but varied by occa- 
 sional patches of cultivation. In the middle of the day we halted 
 at a small village, where some cold fish and bad wine were 
 brought me by an old woman, whose face was furrowed with 
 wrinkles, but animated by an expression of the most active bene- 
 volence, and by eyes of the lightest blue. She whispered in my 
 ear, unperceived by the soldiers, " My son, the King is as good 
 as he is great, but many oppressions are committed in his name." 
 The extreme sensation produced by our arrival at every village 
 or town through which we passed was the most disagreeable cir- 
 cumstance resulting from my peculiar position. Upon those 
 occasions the houses were deserted by their inmates, who flocked 
 around our mules, eager to see us, and to ascertain the motives 
 of our journey. The resentment of a mob is unpleasant ; their 
 commiseration is still less supportable. The people were always, 
 at first, inclined to espouse my cause, and sometimes expressed 
 their disapprobation of my arrest in audible murmurs ; but it was 
 curious to observe their instantaneous revulsion of feeling when 
 acquainted with the general nature of the charges preferred 
 against me. That word negro, that single, fatal, damning word, 
 sufficed to convert the general sympathy into abhorrence ; and 
 as it crept from mouth to mouth, the peasants shrank from all 
 intercourse with a man weighed down by such a heavy accusa- 
 tion. In the great towns a negro simply means a Constitution- 
 alist, but among the uninstructed peasantry of these secluded 
 districts it is understood in its literal sense, and a dark and mys- 
 terious signification is attached to the word. Here too it is 
 applied to the Constitutionalists, but is also associated in the 
 popular mind with undefined ideas of an infernal traffic, of secret 
 clubs of Freemasons holding an accursed intercourse with the 
 great author of evil, and entering with him into positive com- 
 pacts against the Holy Church, and against the King, God's 
 delegate upon earth. Such an imputation creates a degree of 
 horror among the simple Galicians which can scarcely be con- 
 ceived in the enlightened state of British society, and can only 
 be compared to the harrowing sensation formerly excited in our 
 own country by a charge of sorcery. It severs at once the firmest 
 friendships, and cancels the nearest ties. Under the influence of
 
 120 REVERENCE FOR THE MONARCHY. ' [CHAP. v. 
 
 this gloomy belief the young bride has denounced the husband 
 of her love : the child has fled from the polluted couch of his 
 guilty but expiring sire ; and the parent has driven from his pro- 
 tecting roof the son who knew not where to screen his head from 
 the fury of the elements or the more pitiless pursuit of man. As 
 any accordance with the views of the Constitutionalists, any in- 
 tercourse carried on with them, or any assistance rendered to an 
 individual of that party, is an unfailing sign of a negro, this 
 superstition is naturally encouraged by the priesthood of these 
 lonely districts : indeed it becomes, under their direction, a most 
 formidable engine ; it confers upon them a kind of omniscience, 
 by making them acquainted with the most secret undertakings of 
 their political enemies, and invests them with a species of omni- 
 potence, by the power with which it arms them of enlisting every 
 moral and religious feeling against their opponents. 
 
 I said that the people were, at first, disposed to espouse my 
 cause ; a circumstance that surprised me, as any expression of 
 public feeling is unusual in countries subjected to a despotic 
 government, particularly in the presence of troops. But the 
 people, especially in the remote parts of Spain, have been always 
 kept in subjection rather by the force of habit, and by their re- 
 gard for ancient usages, than by the operation of any regular 
 police. Their obedience has been the result of attachment : the 
 Church retained its ascendancy because it was venerated and 
 beloved by the people ; the King was enabled to preserve entire 
 the despotic forms of the old monarchy, because, however de- 
 fective in theory, they were still in unison with the national 
 feeling. For the same reason the old government maintained its 
 authority over the whole kingdom, while the decrees of the actual 
 administration are disputed within thirty miles of the capital. 
 The political conspirator under the old order of things could rarely 
 escape from the interior of the country, though he travelled by 
 night and hid himself in caverns by day. On the contrary, the 
 bandit and the smuggler not unfrequently mixed freely in society, 
 and roamed undisturbed over the scene of their outrages, because 
 they were, comparatively, but little obnoxious to the public feeling. 
 
 The character of the old French police was deservedly high ; 
 and with reference to the detection of ordinary crimes, no com- 
 parison could be fairly instituted between the police of the two
 
 CHAP, v.] SPANISH POLICE. 121 
 
 kingdoms : at the same time, I believe that, under the old system, 
 at least in the provinces, the Spanish police would have detected 
 a conspirator against the Crown with greater certainty. They 
 worked by means perhaps unsuited to the discovery of common 
 offences, but peculiarly favourable to the detection of crimes of 
 a treasonable nature. On these occasions an almost omniscient 
 priesthood supplied them with the most accurate information, and 
 every peasant, from loyal and religious motives, became a police- 
 man in the King's cause. But they found it impossible to excite 
 a similar feeling against offences which were not peculiarly 
 abhorrent to the popular mind ; and, where the same feeling did 
 not exist, of course the same zealous co-operation could not be 
 secured. The Spanish police was therefore compelled, in the 
 pursuit of ordinary criminals, to fall back upon their own re- 
 sources, which, for general purposes of investigation, were feeble 
 and imperfect when compared with those of the old French 
 police. So that in Spain, by a great apparent contradiction, the 
 common offender frequently evaded the pursuit of justice for 
 years, while crimes aimed directly against the throne, however 
 adroitly concealed, were often detected and punished with a 
 rapidity which, in the eyes of the people, resembled the instant 
 judgment of an offended God ; that speedy vengeance was how- 
 ever but the natural though unperceived effect of their own de- 
 votion to the crown. It may however be observed that, in those 
 parts of the country which have latterly become a frequent scene 
 of conspiracy and disturbance, the general perceptions of the 
 Spanish police have become wonderfully improved. 
 
 The Spaniard of the old school identifies his own honour, 
 purely and entirely, with that of his Sovereign. When, on a 
 certain occasion, King Ferdinand arrested some individuals of 
 name and weight, without assigning any reasons for the proceed- 
 ing, the arrest naturally became a prominent subject of con- 
 versation at the market-place of a neighbouring city. Such an 
 exertion of the regal authority would probably, in England, have 
 at any time excited a resentful feeling among the people ; but m 
 proportion as the act was startling, and arbitrary, and unex- 
 plained, did the Spaniards think it right worthy of their 
 Sovereign, and strutted about rejoicing in the fulness of his 
 power, saying, with pride and pleasure, " Es mucho Rey" he is,
 
 122 THE ALCALDE. [CHAP. v. 
 
 a King every inch of him. And yet to such a people our liberal 
 politicians would recommend laws and institutions fitted only for 
 a nation of republicans. 
 
 Before we continued our journey we went to a neighbouring 
 convent to see the real, or supposed, skeleton of a saint, for I felt 
 by no means certain that Dr. Buckland would have declared it a 
 remnant of the " human form divine." I did not however betray 
 a suspicion which would have scandalized my royalist friends, 
 who were greatly moved at the sight of this relique. and indig- 
 nantly pointed out some injuries inflicted on it by the Consti- 
 tutionalists. " Mala ft, mala fe," said the corporal, slowly and 
 gravely shaking his head. " Spain shall be governed by her 
 King alone ! " added his more impetuous companion. 
 
 While I was consuming my fish and wine a friar approached 
 me, apparently fatigued, and said he had been travelling bare- 
 footed towards Madrid to solicit an interview with the King, but 
 had not been allowed by the authorities to reach the capital, and 
 was now returning to his convent. I requested him to partake 
 of my humble fare, which he declined, saying exultingly, " Be- 
 hold, my son. the advantages attached to my holy profession ;" 
 and as he spoke he drew from his pocket a badge of his order, 
 which admitted him into any monastery, and entitled him to a 
 cell for the night and to a share of the best provisions. As the 
 soldiers were on regular duty, the Sergeant had instructions to 
 levy horses in the name of the government, and consequently 
 applied to the Alcalde of the district to assist him in the execu- 
 tion of his orders. 
 
 The appearance of this worthy officer of the Crown was be- 
 yond description ludicrous : his dress was literally in tatters ; he 
 wore no coat, but carried on one arm the remnants of what had 
 been a jacket in his youthful days, then past some forty years ; 
 his waistcoat was of a faded crimson ; his shirt-sleeves, from 
 continual wear and little washing, had assumed a most sombre 
 hue ; his smallclothes, buttoned high on the sides, were full of 
 gaping holes ; so were his stockings ; the long flaps of his 
 pockets resembled asses' ears ; the ends of his shoes turned up 
 in front with a most extravagant flourish, while the heels were 
 absolutely obliterated. On his head he proudly carried a peaked 
 cap, to which was affixed the badge of office, but out of all
 
 CHAP, v.] THE ALCALDE. 123 
 
 modest proportion, so huge it was. In addition, the cloth of 
 his cap was twisted into a sort of horn, which projected far 
 in front, and was intended to invest the official pigmy with 
 a greater awe and dignity, but unluckily it had the most 
 burlesque effect imaginable. He scarcely attained five feet in 
 height, but had elevated himself to the standard of common men 
 by perching judiciously on a neighbouring hillock. So sta- 
 tioned, he drew up his diminutive figure, and glanced his little 
 eagle eyes around with an expression of conscious importance, as 
 he declared he would forthwith promulgate his orders for the 
 fresh supply of horses, which the Sergeant demanded in the name 
 of his government. The friar, who was waggishly inclined, 
 and disposed to abate an excess of magnificence which completely 
 overshadowed his own ecclesiastical consequence, approached the 
 little potentate bareheaded, and with an air of deep humility. 
 He said that some trifling errors might have crept into his pass- 
 port, some necessary signatures might have been omitted ; in 
 short, in the disturbed state of the country, lie was most anxious 
 to obtain his Excellency's opinion of a document so essential to 
 his safety. 
 
 The Alcalde commended him for the readiness with which he 
 had voluntarily submitted his case to the civil authorities, re- 
 ceived his passport, and, glancing over it, assured him that his 
 apprehensions were well founded. He observed that, by the 
 last regulation, travellers were required to obtain the signature 
 of every Alcalde through whose district they might happen to 
 pass ; but in the passport then under his inspection some im- 
 portant signatures were wanting. This omission would entail 
 upon the monk the payment of a fine, which he, the Alcalde, 
 would receive, and apply to the uses of the state. After this 
 exposition of the law, he trusted that the monk would not en- 
 croach upon his valuable time by any unnecessary delay, but 
 would forthwith pay the penalty. The monk said, in reply, he 
 should, of course, submit to his Excellency's decision with the 
 deference that became a poor friar transacting business with a 
 person of his exalted station ; but, feeling anxious to avoid any 
 future irregularities, he implored his Excellency to guard against 
 the possibility of their recurrence, by specifying the particular 
 signatures omitted in his passport.
 
 124 THE ALCALDE [CHAP. v. 
 
 The man of pomp seemed much annoyed by this audacious 
 spirit of inquiry. At first I only supposed that his dignity would 
 not stoop to debate, but his increasing confusion led me to sus- 
 pect a deeper cause. Absurd and original as the creature was, 
 the solution of his embarrassment really surprised me ; for, like 
 the great men of yore, he proved to be totally unacquainted with 
 the art of letters. Believing, however, from the friar's apparent 
 doubts, and from his allusion to certain supposed omissions, that 
 some informality of that nature existed in his passport, he had 
 determined to take advantage of this belief, and exact a fine, 
 which would certainly never have been transmitted to his Ma- 
 jesty's exchequer. The Sergeant, joining us at that moment, 
 looked over the passport, and declared that the only signature 
 deficient was that of the illustrious Alcalde himself, a deficiency 
 explained by his inability to write, and yet reluctance to expose 
 his ignorance by putting the mark required under such circum- 
 stances. The Sergeant then observed that the friar was legally 
 entitled to exact a fine from the Alcalde for having omitted to 
 place his mark upon a passport regularly forwarded to him. This 
 announcement was received with delight by the crafty monk, 
 who had deliberately led the Alcalde into this ridiculous scrape. 
 " Solvuntur tabulce;" the little man abdicated his hillock, and 
 sneaked off praying for mercy amid the shouts of the soldiers, 
 " quantum mutatus ab illo" who lately stood magnificent, and 
 said " he would promulgate his orders throughout the land." 
 
 We continued, for many hours, to pursue our journey through 
 the heart of Galicia; the country was wild and unfrequented, 
 and the manners of the people truly primitive, for they have 
 little communication with the world, from which they are sepa- 
 rated by their mountains. A fine wintry sunset was followed by 
 a bright frosty night : at a late hour we reached a venta, or 
 solitary house ; it was prettily placed behind a clump of trees, 
 but rarely perhaps in the record of any traveller has such an ab- 
 solute hovel been dignified by the name of an inn. The princi- 
 pal apartment was picturesque enough. The walls were blackened 
 with soot, and neither floor nor pavement covered the bare earth. 
 As there was no chimney, the room was filled with murky clouds, 
 through which I distinguished an old woman, fantastically 
 dressed, looking like a witch, and stirring up the caldron des-
 
 CHAP, v.] THE MULETEER'S GALLANTRY. 125 
 
 tined to relieve our physical wants. Till I became in some 
 degree accustomed to that intolerable atmosphere, T fluctuated 
 between the arctic and the tropic regions ; the clouds of smoke, 
 inflaming my throat and eyes, repeatedly drove me from the 
 hovel, and the rigour of the external air as frequently forced 
 me back to my Tartarean cavern. As the soldiers thought them- 
 selves bound to follow these rapid transitions, the inmates of the 
 venta must have supposed us engaged in a game of hide and 
 seek ; and, at length, the effect became so ludicrous that I was 
 obliged to renounce the ambulatory system, and sat, as the hap- 
 less infidel is described to sit, in the emphatic diction of the 
 Koran, under a column of smoke neither cool nor agreeable. 
 
 In the mean time Manuel, my Portuguese muleteer, was 
 making desperate love to a ponderous damsel, whose appearance 
 was by no means favourable to the tender passion. I overheard 
 him tell her that he fully expected to accompany me to England 
 in the capacity of head muleteer ; and should his hopes in that 
 respect be realised, he was anxious to convey her with him as 
 his bride. He then attacked a less youthful dame, and asked 
 her whether the monks represented their absent husbands with 
 satisfaction to the fair sex, and with credit to themselves ? To 
 which she answered, with perfect coolness, " Vastly well in- 
 deed." " This young woman," said Manuel, addressing me, " is 
 the daughter of a friar." I asked her whether his statement were 
 correct ; and she answered, without hesitation, in the affirmative. 
 She may or may not have spoken truly ; but she was manifestly a 
 dashing and rather unscrupulous damsel, and it would be unfair 
 to infer from that conversation that such infringements of the 
 conventual vow are frequent among the friars in that country. 
 
 A portion of the Galician peasantry abandon their homes for 
 many months in the year, and seek employment in other parts of 
 the kingdom. These poor men are proverbially industrious, but 
 seldom realise much by their expeditions. 
 
 I now retired to rest : my sleeping apartment had neither door 
 nor windows, and its naked walls were left in the primitive gran- 
 deur of brick and mortar. The soldiers collected round the en- 
 trance that led into this strange recess, and became quickly 
 engaged in a game of cards, but spoke in whispers, apparently 
 unwilling to disturb me. I was, however, soon aroused by an 
 altercation, and heard the soldiers evidently resisting some pro-
 
 126 SUPERSTITION. [CHAP. Y. 
 
 posal, urged in a shrill and tremulous tone by a person whose 
 voice I did not recognise : the cause of this excitement was 
 whimsical enough, and characteristic of the place and time. 
 The wife of a neighbouring peasant had been apprised of the cir- 
 cumstances under which I had arrived at the venta, and was 
 extremely urgent to see me. She declared that she had often 
 heard of these horrid riegros, but had never chanced to behold one 
 of that impious sect. She would not endanger her soul by tarry- 
 ing in his company, but confessed that her disappointment would 
 be deep indeed if she were compelled to depart without seeing a 
 sight she might never have an opportunity of witnessing again. 
 
 The soldiers, who, much as they hated a Constitutionalist, 
 were not under the influence of the negro superstition, which was 
 chiefly, if not entirely, confined to the peasantry, were half dis- 
 pleased and half amused by this absurd interruption. They 
 turned, however, a deaf ear to her remonstrances, which became 
 so pathetic that my heart was touched, and I begged the soldiers 
 to gratify her curiosity. She approached me slowly, crossing 
 herself, and muttering an Ave Maria to shield her, body and 
 soul, during the perilous progress she was making towards that 
 incarnate devil which she believed me to be. After gazing for 
 some time, at a cautious distance, on the object of her suspicion, 
 she retreated, voting me in all probability a poor specimen of the 
 hellish brood, and disappointed at perceiving neither horns, nor 
 cloven foot, nor nostrils of fire, nor any unequivocal symptom 
 of the fiend. 
 
 The night wind was so cold and piercing, that I had little incli- 
 nation to remain long on my couch of rest, though much fatigued 
 by the day's journey. Early on the following morning I re- 
 sumed my place in the hovel, and was again half suffocated by 
 smoke. The soldiers guarded the entrance ; and, as I was bending 
 over the fire in fancied solitude, tracing figures with my stick 
 in the dying embers, and engrossed by the recollection of other 
 times and fairer scenes, I was suddenly brought to a full sense of 
 my actual locality by a shrill cry of "Alms! alms!" which 
 seemed to proceed from the very spot where I was seated. The 
 petitioner was at first invisible; but after much inspection I dis- 
 covered a woman in the murkiest corner of the hut. She and 
 her four children were almost buried beneath a mingled heap of 
 straw and rags. This strange applicant for charity proved to be
 
 CHAP, v.] A WAGER. 127 
 
 the landlady's sister ; her habitation was in filth and darkness, 
 the atmosphere she breathed was the densest smoke, her face, 
 begrimed with soot, seemed hardly human, and her cry was 
 like a wail from the infernal regions. Such is a faitliful picture 
 of a Galician inn in the most uncivilised part of the province; 
 such the degraded state of its inmates. 
 
 The rest of the party gradually assembled, and Manuel, my 
 Portuguese muleteer, and a Galician peasant, were soon engaged 
 in a warm discussion respecting the Lord's Prayer. The Gali- 
 cian repeated it in a solemn voice, with uplifted hands, and a 
 countenance expressive of the most fervent devotion ; while Ma- 
 nuel, who was a native of Oporto, and affected an utter contempt 
 for all religious rites, declared that he had long forgotten the 
 Lord's Prayer ; an avowal which excited the utmost indignation 
 in the Galician, who reproached him in such bitter and unmea- 
 sured language, that Manuel retracted the confession he had 
 just made ; for, like many of the Constitutionalists among the 
 lower classes, he entertained a strong though secret belief in 
 the doctrines of the Church which he pretended to revile. The 
 Galician treated his recantation with such evident incredulity 
 and scorn, that Manuel, stung to the quick, offered to bet that 
 he could repeat the Lord's Prayer correctly. The honest pea- 
 sant accepted his wager, but observed, fairly enough, that a man 
 who had made two contradictory statements in the same breath 
 might possibly refuse to pay his just debts if declared a loser. 
 He therefore required, as a preliminary, that, before the trial, 
 both parties should deposit their respective shares in the hands of 
 a third person. Manuel acceded to this arrangement, and the 
 money was placed, at his own request, in the hands of the young 
 woman with whom he had flirted so gallantly on the preceding 
 evening. 
 
 Manuel repeated the Lord's Prayer, and would certainly have 
 been adjudged triumphant, though the Galician disputed the 
 correctness of a single word ; but while this skirmishing was 
 carried on at the outposts, the citadel was betrayed. The young 
 woman said, addressing those around her, that Manuel had evi- 
 dently won the bet, and that, under such circumstances, she con- 
 sidered her claim to the money superior even to his. He had 
 made her two promises on the previous night, to make her mis-
 
 123 A WAGER. [CHAP. v. 
 
 tress of all his goods, and to take her with him to England. 
 These he had clearly no intention of carrying into effect. The 
 last, indeed, she could not oblige him to fulfil; but she would 
 take good care that he performed the first, at least in part. 
 Saying this, she departed, unperceived by the eager disputants, 
 who were only apprised of the failure of the bank by a general 
 roar of laughter. TheGalician was thunderstruck, but Manuel's 
 emotion was of a more lively character. He declared that no 
 earthly power should induce him to quit the hovel till he had 
 recovered the money, of which he had been basely defrauded by 
 an infamous woman. The Sergeant, however, informed him 
 briefly that the time fixed for the renewal of the march had ar- 
 rived, and that he must mount his mule without delay. A ludi- 
 crous scene of protestation, entreaty, and impotent anger ensued. 
 The inmates of the hovel refused to assist him in finding the 
 young woman ; the Sergeant, whose muscles had not undergone 
 the slightest change, evidently thought it beneath his dignity to 
 interfere, and calmly, but sternly, insisted on his instant com- 
 pliance with the orders to march ; while the soldiers assured him 
 that he had fairly won the bet, and if he had lost his money he 
 had saved his honour ; a species of consolation which stimulated 
 his rage. Meanwhile his worthy but somewhat stupid opponent, 
 only just recovering from his amazement, looked on in silence, 
 half displeased at a manoeuvre which he justly considered disho- 
 nest, and half gratified by the signal overthrow of his impious 
 adversary ; for he clearly saw that the affair concerned him not, 
 as the money would have been unanimously awarded to Manuel. 
 The enraged Lothario was finally marched off ; but ever and anon 
 he cast doleful glances on the Galician hut, where, severed from 
 his side, the cherished coppersof his affection were snugly deposited. 
 It may be said that I have dwelt too much upon trifling occur- 
 rences and facts leading to no results ; but as the traveller can 
 only become well acquainted with the feelings and opinions of a 
 people by observing their peculiar modes of thought and noticing 
 their casual remarks, so he can only hope to convey a faithful 
 picture of that people by communicating to his readers those 
 facts, however trivial they may be, which have contributed to 
 form his general estimate of the national character ; and this ob- 
 servation is perhaps applicable to a far higher species of compo-
 
 CHAP, v.] APPROACH TO SANTIAGO. 129 
 
 sition. The most useful part of history is often the most 
 neglected ; the reader is fatigued with military operations and 
 treaties in endless detail ; while that which is fraught with a far 
 deeper interest to a comprehensive mind, the progress of society, 
 the opinions entertained at various epochs by the people, not 
 only on political matters, but on subjects connected with ordi- 
 nary life, and the relative degrees of civilization in different 
 periods, are slightly alluded to, or passed over in silence. These 
 considerations are deprived of their due weight, mainly, I be- 
 lieve, because they are best illustrated by details which the 
 author too often rejects as trivial, and beneath the dignity of 
 historical composition.* But I am plunging into a discussion 
 which I have no business to inflict on the reader of a Spanish 
 tour. I will therefore conclude this little digression by relieving 
 him from the fear of any further details connected with my Gali- 
 cian expedition. 
 
 As we approached Santiago the character of the country 
 changed. The ground was beautifully undulated, the verdure 
 delightful, and streams of the clearest water abounded. Man 
 was also evidently higher in the scale of creation ; the alcaldes 
 of districts could always read, and sometimes write : their alarm- 
 ing horns were modified, and the holes in their attire became less 
 huge and numerous. As we drew near Santiago I became ex- 
 tremely anxious about some papers in my possession. A traveller 
 sustains an irreparable injury in the loss of his journal when it is 
 a summary of facts and observations, and a daily record of events ; 
 I then remembered with uneasiness the destruction of my notes 
 during the Catalan Revolution in 1822 ; notes compiled with 
 care during a long residence in the country ; written, too, at a 
 time when Spain, revolutionary and struggling, but still romantic 
 
 * From this charge I must exempt that invaluable writer Miss Strickland. 
 To this lady we are indebted for publications that will last as long as the 
 language in which they are written. Miss Strickland, and Miss Strickland 
 alone, has shown society as it existed in England during successive cen- 
 turies. She has redeemed characters of great historical interest ; she has 
 redeemed history itself, and that which is of most importance to an English- 
 man, the history of his country, from the cloud of misrepresentation which 
 has so long obscured it. How can merit such as hers hope to escape calumny ? 
 She can, however, well afford to despise it. Her works can never die ; hence- 
 forth they must form a regular part of education, and be studied by every 
 well-educated person. 
 
 K
 
 130 BARRIER AT SANTIAGO. [CHAP. v. 
 
 Spain, had in ray eyes all the charms of novelty ; when my own 
 feelings were comparatively fresh ; when my mind was still 
 under the influence of recent and vivid impressions, and during a 
 period of unequalled political interest. 
 
 I had a small mattress, the only luxury I carried with me from 
 Oporto, though it had become so torn and dirty that I had lat- 
 terly but seldom applied it to the purpose for which it was ori- 
 ginally intended. When first placed under arrest at Lugo, I 
 foresaw that a rigid examination of my papers would eventually 
 be instituted, and I felt that the frequent allusions to the govern- 
 ment and to the state of the country would confirm the suspicion 
 entertained as to the motives of my journey, and would probably 
 render their seizure certain. Under this conviction I made a slit 
 in the mattress, inserted my papers into the opening, and had the 
 separated parts sewed up by my servant. This device might 
 succeed with the rustic police of Lugo ; but I thought that the 
 more practised agents of the central government would explore 
 every nook of my ragged bedding. It was not, however, at this 
 time easy to remove the papers secretly, as the soldiers watched 
 my movements with unrelaxed vigilance ; nor could even my 
 servants absent themselves from the party for many minutes 
 together without exciting suspicion. Indeed, I found it difficult 
 to communicate with Antonio, as any appearance of consultation 
 would have increased their watchfulness, and defeated my inten- 
 tion. In this dilemma I resorted unwillingly to a disagreeable 
 artifice. After our mid-day halt, and just before we remounted, 
 I desired Antonio to arrange the luggage on the mule so as to 
 embarrass, without absolutely impeding, the progress of the 
 animal, or rendering the assistance of a third person necessary. 
 He took the hint ; and when we had proceeded a little way I 
 pretended to perceive, for the first time, the confused state of the 
 luggage. I waxed wrathful, and, approaching Antonio, told him 
 in English to disregard the feigned irritation of my manner, and 
 to pay the strictest attention to every word, as I should have no 
 future opportunity of repeating my instructions. I then told 
 him how to remove my papers from the mattress, to put Manuel 
 partially in our confidence, and, with his assistance, conceal them 
 in the hay with which he fed his mules, immediately after our 
 arrival at Santiago.
 
 CHAP, v.] SANTIAGO. 131 
 
 Our conference was short, yet did not escape the observation 
 of the soldiers; but they suspected no collusion, as they saw my 
 attention exclusively and angrily directed towards the disordered 
 state of the baggage. My fears were, however, revived at the 
 barrier of Santiago, where we were delayed by the customhouse 
 officers, who insisted on searching my effects. The pride of 
 authority rescued my papers from this fresh hazard ; for the Ser- 
 geant declared that I was wholly under the military arm ; that 
 he was bound to consign me to the Captain-General of the pro- 
 vince ; that, in my actual position, I was not amenable to any 
 civil power, and he would not tolerate the interference of any 
 civil officer. After a warm discussion we proceeded through 
 the city to the residence of the Captain-General. He was taking 
 his siesta, and I was detained rather longer than I approved of 
 in an apartment opening into the audience -room. He was at 
 length declared too unwell to transact business that evening ; and 
 soon afterwards the Secretary of Police came to me, examined 
 my passport, declared that it was perfectly correct, and expressed 
 his astonishment at the conduct of the authorities of Lugo, whom 
 he denominated madmen. He said he should represent their folly 
 and insolence in the strongest colours to the Captain-General, 
 begged me to accept a thousand apologies, and restored me at 
 once to perfect liberty. This decision was received with great 
 applause by my Royalist companions, who, now no longer my 
 guards, insisted upon accompanying me as friends to the Estrella 
 inn. I was happy to see them in that capacity, mid glad to be 
 released from their perpetual vigilance. The inn was kept by a 
 Frenchman, and was far superior in comfort and cleanliness to 
 my last abode in this city, the Viuda San Valentina, though no 
 familiar visits from the great patron saint of Spain were recorded 
 In its annals.
 
 132 ARRESTED AGAIN. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Author arrested again Description of Eguia, then Captain-General, 
 the famous Carlist Chief commanding in Biscay Eguia's Tribunal 
 Author examined Remains in Santiago on Parole State of Public 
 Feeling Immense Power of the Clergy Spanish Notions of Religious 
 Freedom Love and Devotion in Spain Vigilance of the Police Senor 
 Atocha Eguia's Tribunal Author restored to Liberty Re-enters Por- 
 tugal. 
 
 I WAS now free ; but when I reflected upon the arbitrary mea- 
 sures pursued by the authorities, in summoning me to their 
 conclave in the middle of the night, and compelling me to under- 
 take a long and difficult expedition during an inclement season 
 when I remembered also the strict injunctions to prevent my 
 escape, my sudden and unconditional release appeared even more 
 astonishing than my previous arrest. I could not divine the 
 reasons which had induced those worthies to send me so jea- 
 lously guarded to the capital of Galicia, and then let me loose 
 in the street* and bid me go about my business. But while I was 
 musing on the strange conduct of men who seemed to be rather 
 guided by canrice than by any consistent motive, another vicissi- 
 tude of fortune was at hand. Early on the following morning I was 
 again placed under arrest. At twelve o'clock the Secretary of 
 Police called on me, and requested me to accompany him to the 
 audience room, where the Captain-General awaited my arrival. 
 
 I found Eguia, the Captain-General of Galicia, in a lofty 
 room, looking like an inquisitor of old, a black cap on his 
 head, and indeed entirely habited in black, sitting in a chair of 
 state before a long table covered with green baize, and sur- 
 rounded by officers and persons connected with the police. We 
 exchanged salutations coldly, and I sat down in a chair imme- 
 diately opposite to his. He broke silence by expressing his 
 regret at finding himself under the necessity of proceeding with 
 an inquiry rendered indispensable by my conduct; but, in the 
 first place, he thought it right to urge me in the most solemn
 
 CHAP, vi.] EGUIA. 133 
 
 manner to make a full confession of every particular. I said, 
 in answer, that no words could express the astonishment pro- 
 duced in my mind by the extraordinary conduct that had been 
 adopted towards me ; I had been forcibly conveyed across the 
 mountains to Santiago without having received the most distant 
 intimation of the reasons which had induced the, authorities to 
 resort to such a measure ; I had been, however, last night re- 
 leased, and assured by the Secretary that the central govern- 
 ment of the province was both astonished at and displeased by 
 the proceedings of the police of Lugo. I was therefore much 
 surprised at his Excellency's address. 
 
 He answered that the Secretary was not then aware of the 
 secret correspondence that had taken place respecting me, or that 
 the authorities of Lugo were acting in concert with the govern- 
 ment of Santiago. The Secretary had merely looked at my 
 passport, and, finding it correct, had censured their proceedings 
 under the mistaken impression that my arrest had been founded 
 on some supposed informality in that document. He concluded 
 by urging me again most solemnly to confess, as any evasion 
 would be useless ; for he assured me that every act I had com- 
 mitted, every opinion I had expressed, and almost every word I 
 had uttered since my entrance into Spain, were known to the tribu- 
 nal of the police. From the emphatic tone in which he made this 
 assertion, and from the deep attention with which it was received, 
 a stranger might have supposed that he arrogated to himself the 
 power of seeing into all hearts, and that his claim to such a 
 divine attribute was acquiesced in by his retainers. But, in fact, 
 this manner is assumed to surprise the unguarded conspirator 
 into a full confession of his crimes, by persuading him that he is 
 surrounded by an invisible but overwhelming and omniscient 
 agency, from whose toils there is no escape. I replied with 
 warmth that I had no confession to make, that I had not offended 
 wittingly against any law of Spain, that I could not have ex- 
 pressed any disloyal opinions because I entertained none ; and, 
 finally, I called upon him to state the names of my accusers, 
 and the nature of the charges preferred against me. He said 
 the charges were of the gravest kind, and the accusers persons 
 in whom the government had the firmest reliance ; but added, 
 that it was not customary to satisfy the accused on these points.
 
 134 EGUIA'S TRIBUNAL. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 An examination then took place, extremely curious, as it 
 illustrates in the most striking manner the general accuracy and 
 extent of information which the Spanish police are, or rather 
 were under the old system, enabled to command on certain 
 subjects ; it also impressed me with the occasional fallacy of 
 strong circumstantial evidence, as, in this case, a multitude of 
 trivial circumstances apparently led to one positive conclusion ; 
 the immediate inferences drawn from the separate facts were 
 often correct, while the deduction from the aggregate was com- 
 pletely false. 
 
 They evidently believed that I was a Spaniard that, acting 
 in concert with the Spanish Constitutional refugees in Portugal, 
 I had entered Galicia to establish communications with the 
 malcontents, and ascertain the state of the forts and the general 
 disposition of the people previous to an invasion. I was sur- 
 prised at the degree to which my movements had been observed, 
 and questions which I had asked in different parts of the country 
 noted down and compared : in this way a string of facts had 
 been collected together; these were combined with so much 
 ingenuity as to establish against me a strong presumptive case 
 of suspicion. 
 
 To give my readers some conception of the nature of this 
 singular investigation I will insert some of the questions and 
 replies, nearly as they were asked and answered, at least as they 
 were committed to paper immediately after the examination, 
 when they were still fresh in my recollection. 
 
 Eguia, Captain-General. " Are you aware that you have 
 disturbed the tranquillity of the whole province of Galicia?" 
 " Certainly not. I thought that I had passed through the pro- 
 vince without attracting attention, or giving offence to the 
 authorities by word or deed." 
 
 Capt.-General. " You have assigned different motives for 
 your expedition into Spain, and have entered the kingdom upon 
 false pretences." " I have not ; nor can you make good your 
 assertion." 
 
 The Cap tain -General turned slowly round to one of the 
 officers standing near him, and whispered in his ear. The 
 officer disappeared for a moment, and then returned with a heap 
 of papers. Eguia selected a few from the file, and resumed.
 
 CHAP, vi.] AUTHOR EXAMINED. 135 
 
 " Did not you bring a letter of introduction to Don ?" 
 
 "I did." 
 
 Capt.-General. " And to Don ?" " I did." 
 
 Capt.-General. " To Don also, and to Don ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Capt.-General. " Did not you deviate from the high road, 
 
 and cross some miles of difficult country, to see Don ?" 
 
 " I certainly did." 
 
 Capt.-General. " Do you acknowledge yourself to have been 
 the bearer of a letter to this effect ?" He then read extracts 
 from a letter addressed by a gentleman in England to a 
 Spaniard, stating that I was proceeding to the Peninsula to 
 recruit my health in its genial climate, and requesting him 
 to show me every attention. " I certainly brought a letter to 
 that effect, though I cannot charge my memory with the precise 
 words." 
 
 He then read another, written by an English merchant at Oporto. 
 It stated that I was on the point of leaving that city to explore 
 the natural beauties of Galicia, and concluded nearly in these 
 words : " He intends to ride through the wildest part of your 
 province. I wish he would defer his expedition till the summer, 
 as he is much too late in the year for your mountains, and must 
 expect bad weather and much hardship ; but he is fond of enter- 
 prise, and seems callous to these considerations." 
 
 " Do you acknowledge this letter?" I assented. 
 
 Capt.-General. " Perhaps you will also agree with me that 
 the motives assigned for your journey in these two letters are 
 not very consistent ?" " This circumstance admits of expla- 
 nation." 
 
 The Captain-General bowed, with that peculiar inclination 
 of the head which indicates what, if expressed in words, would 
 be, " I do not contradict you, but allow me to draw my own 
 inference." And then, as if determined to overwhelm me by 
 the number of my own confessions, and by a mass of contra- 
 dictory statements on the part of my friends, he produced a 
 third letter, which declared that my chief motive in visiting 
 Galicia was the desire of becoming acquainted with the remains 
 of art scattered over the province ; that I was fond of Spanish 
 lore, and should be gratified by the sight of any records which
 
 136 AUTHOR EXAMINED. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 threw light upon the ancient usages of the people. A fourth, 
 and last, was then summoned " from the vasty deep," which 
 stated, without any circumlocution, that my inquiries were 
 chiefly, if not exclusively, directed to the actual state of the 
 country. 
 
 " So that, according to the deposition of your friends," the 
 Captain-General observed, " it appears, that ill health, which has 
 forced you from your own country ; a thirst for enterprise, which 
 has driven you into our mountains ; the Galicians as they were, 
 and the Galicians as they are, have been each successively de- 
 clared the principal objects of your expedition into Spain." 
 
 It must be confessed that such conflicting statements may well 
 have appeared extremely suspicious to persons so utterly unac- 
 quainted with English habits as the Spaniards. The fact is, the 
 greater part of these letters were given me by the merchants of 
 Oporto, just before I commenced my Galician tour ; and as it is 
 customary in the Peninsula to assign some reason for travelling 
 in letters of introduction, all alleged some motive, and probably 
 no two persons fixed upon the same ; each writing what had oc- 
 curred to him at the moment, or what he thought most adapted 
 to the taste and habits of his correspondent. Englishmen, accus- 
 tomed to roam over every quarter of the globe, attach little im- 
 portance to the reasons which induce a man to undertake any 
 expedition, however distant or foreign to the ordinary route of 
 travellers ; but the Spaniard, who never enters on a journey 
 without having a specific and personal object in view, becomes 
 very suspicious of hidden and ulterior projects if there be any 
 inconsistency in the ostensible motives of the expedition. 
 
 The Captain -General continued. " You have chosen an ex- 
 traordinary time of the year to ramble through our mountain- 
 districts." "I had no option with respect to time, as I must 
 shortly return to Lisbon." 
 
 Captain-General. " Yet while you travelled through days of 
 continued rain to visit obscure places that could possess no inte- 
 rest in your eyes; except in a political point of view, you neg- 
 lected objects highly interesting to an antiquarian, or to a man 
 of taste. For instance, you did not visit this very apartment." 
 
 Now that audience-room was certainly fine and well-propor- 
 tioned, but had no particular attractions to a man who had wan-
 
 CHAP. vi.J AUTHOR EXAMINED. 137 
 
 dered among the palaces of Europe till he was tired of their very 
 names, and had seen apartments immeasurably grander than the 
 one in question. However, I should not have advanced my inte- 
 rests by mortifying Spanish pride ; so policy kept me silent, and 
 I gave no utterance to the thought which naturally arose in my 
 mind. 
 
 But although his allusion to that particular room was founded 
 on that little vanity which so often induces men to overrate ob- 
 jects in any way connected with themselves, there was both truth 
 and shrewdness in the general observation. The desire of becom- 
 ing acquainted with the actual state of the country induced me to 
 undertake the expedition, and I constantly deviated from the high 
 road to communicate with persons for whom I had letters, and to 
 obtain the desired information. As the English at Oporto were 
 principally connected with the Liberal party in Spain, my letters 
 were often addressed to individuals, as I afterwards found, noto- 
 riously disaffected to the Government a circumstance which did 
 not prejudice my inquiries, as I made allowance for the natural 
 bias of my informants, and became acquainted, through their 
 means, with persons of different opinions ; but it was eminently 
 calculated to excite the jealousy of the police. They soon disco- 
 vered that my inquiries were generally directed to political mat- 
 ters ; and it appeared, in their eyes, highly improbable that I 
 should encounter so much trouble for the sole purpose of becom- 
 ing minutely acquainted with the actual state of political feeling 
 in Spain. They accordingly solved the difficulty by concluding 
 that I was one of the many emissaries who had lately traversed 
 Galiciawith secret instructions from the exiled Constitutionalists. 
 Having once decided upon my vocation, they soon fitted me with 
 an identity, as will appear in the sequel. But to resume the ex- 
 amination : 
 
 Capt. -General. " Your inquiries were everywhere of a poli- 
 tical nature. Did you not pay great attention to the dockyards 
 at Ferrol?" " I certainly beheld that great national work with 
 considerable interest. In the eyes of a Spaniard such an admis- 
 sion can, I think, be prejudicial to no man." 
 
 Capt.-General. "Did you not examine minutely the fortifica- 
 tions of Lugo?" " At Lugo I certainly walked round the ram- 
 parts and examined some ancient masonry, but was accompanied
 
 138 AUTHOR EXAMINED. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 by the Governor of the town. The presence of an officer filling 
 so high a post under the Crown ought surely to have protected 
 me from any injurious suspicions." 
 
 Eguia looked annoyed at this remark, but let it pass. After 
 a momentary pause he continued. " Were you not joined at 
 Corunna by a dark man who accompanied you to the dockyard, 
 and departed after a secret consultation with you? Did he not 
 also call himself an English fidalgo? Some years have elapsed 
 since any foreign noble has been in Galicia. Is it probable that 
 two should meet accidentally at the same time, at the same place, 
 and proceed together to examine one of our strongholds ?" " I 
 cannot say whether such an event be probable, but thus it actually 
 
 occurred. My friend Lord C was driven into Corunna by 
 
 stress of weather, during my stay in that town ; being desirous 
 of seeing Ferrol, we joined parties and proceeded to that port. I 
 remember no secret consultation. We certainly dined together 
 after our visit to the arsenal, but every word that passed between 
 us might have been reported to the government with my entire 
 consent." 
 
 Capt.- General. " Were you not urged by some friends on 
 board the steamboat to proceed to Lisbon by that conveyance ; 
 and did you not answer, that you should like it well, as you were 
 tired of travelling in bad weather but that you must positively 
 see Gijon, an obscure place at a great distance from Corunna, 
 difficult of access, and possessing no interest or consideration, 
 except in a particular point of view ; or, to speak more clearly, 
 except as a place of descent on the coast?" 
 
 I have explained to the reader my reason for wishing to see 
 Gijon ; to the Cap tain- General I made no reply. 
 
 Capt.-General. " Did not you engage a passage in a small 
 vessel bound to Gijon, in spite of the earnest remonstrances of 
 your friends? When the British Consul came down to the inn 
 and attempted to dissuade you from so rash an undertaking, did 
 you not reply that you were bent on seeing Gijon ; and were you 
 not solely frustrated by a continuance of adverse and tempestuous 
 winds? Can you assign any reason for this extraordinary 
 conduct ? 
 
 I was rather at a loss for a reply ; at length I said, " I wished 
 to see Asturias ; it is the only Spanish province I have not seen."
 
 CHAP, vi.] AUTHOR EXAMINED. 139 
 
 Capt.-General. "Pardon me, Senor; you have stated in 
 former conversations that you have never been in Estremadura." 
 
 I was really astonished at this instance of the Captain-General's 
 minute information. " Your Excellency is right," I replied, 
 " and seems to possess a more distinct recollection of my move- 
 ments than I do myself. I believe I have never been in Estre- 
 madura." 
 
 Capt.-General.' " You admit that you were in Spain some 
 time ago. Pray name the period." "During the years 1821 
 and 1822." 
 
 The Captain-General observed that their suspicions were now 
 confirmed, and acquainted me, for the first time, with the exact 
 nature of the charges upon which I had been arrested. It ap- 
 peared that a gentleman of the name of G had taken an 
 
 active part in the excesses committed by the Constitutionalists 
 during those years, and, after the fall of the Constitution in 1823, 
 had placed himself at the head of a band of partisans and had 
 carried on a desperate struggle in the mountains, whence he had 
 ultimately effected his escape. He was about my own age, and 
 some real or fancied resemblance in my person to that chief had 
 given rise to the belief that G had re-entered Spain, pre- 
 tending to be an Englishman. 
 
 The idea was communicated to the police, who already viewed 
 my movements with suspicion. They consequently made some 
 peasants, who had seen the chief in question, enter an inn where 
 1 was sitting over the kitchen-fire, address me, and observe my 
 features narrowly. These men returned to their employers under 
 the full belief that I was the identical man. Their depositions 
 were transmitted to the government at Santiago, which imme- 
 diately forwarded instructions to the authorities at Lugo to 
 arrest me on my arrival at that town, and send me to the capital 
 of the province. 
 
 The Captain-General then read letters from several indi- 
 viduals, whose names he would not disclose, but who all con- 
 curred in suspecting the motives of my journey, and strongly 
 advised my arrest. I discovered some of the writers from par- 
 ticular circumstances to which they alluded ; and perceived with 
 regret that in some instances they were persons from whom I 
 had received great attention.
 
 140 AUTHOR EXAMINED. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 Eguia dwelt much on my resemblance to the Spaniards ; the 
 colour of my hair and eyes, the darkness of my complexion, my 
 general manners, and even- my habits, he said, were purely 
 Spanish. I pleaded in opposition my foreign accent and im- 
 perfect knowledge of the Spanish language. He admitted my 
 plea, but observed that these were positively the only circum- 
 stances which favoured my claim to an English origin, and, being 
 easily feigned, but slightly militated against the mass of evidence 
 accumulated on the other side. He then declared his concur- 
 rence in the general belief, and strengthened his final arguments 
 by specific allusions to the Spanish length, and breadth, and ' 
 blackness of my whiskers. Hearing myself described as totally 
 unlike my countrymen, and rather nettled at the remark, I said, 
 perhaps idly, that I had only one observation to make. The 
 General did not hear me ; but the police, in the true spirit of 
 exaggeration, immediately informed him that I had something to 
 reveal, and he, with an equal readiness of apprehension, supposed 
 that I was on the eve of making a full avowal of my crimes. He 
 waved his hand to the persons surrounding the table to retire ; a 
 signal which they most reluctantly obeyed, only falling back as 
 far as the door, where they stood eager to catch every syllable 
 of the forthcoming confession. The Captain-General, well 
 pleased that his oratory had at length prevailed, and fully expect- 
 ing some mighty divulgement, bent forward with a most en- 
 couraging air, saying that he would listen patiently to every 
 particular ; the police fixed their eyes intently upon me ; the 
 notaries resumed their pens ; and a breathless silence prevailed. 
 But when I was compelled to repeat the trifling observation 
 which had given birth to such high-raised expectations, and 
 which in fact was only that Englishmen had lon<?, black, and 
 broad whiskers in common with the rest of mankind, the amuse- 
 ment of the spectators, and the displeasure and disappointment of 
 the authorities, were truly ludicrous. A titter, repressed only 
 by the awe in which the Captain-General and the police were 
 held, ran round the apartment, while Eguia drew himself up 
 with a most indignant growl, vastly annoyed at the pompous dis- 
 missal of the spectators and at all the solemn proceedings which 
 had ushered in such a ridiculous declaration. This circumstance 
 at once put an end to the examination, which had lasted two hours.
 
 CHAP, vi.] ON PAROLE. 141 
 
 I returned to the inn, where I remained under surveillance, 
 and was visited in the evening by the Intendant of the Police, 
 who communicated to me Eguia's final decision. He had deter- 
 mined to send an express to Mr. Bartlett, the British Consul at 
 Corunna, desiring him to state whether he could positively assure 
 the government that I was a native of Great Britain, and the 
 person whom I professed myself to be ; and whether he would 
 guarantee the legitimacy of the objects 1 had in view in visiting 
 Spain. The Intendant added, that, in consideration of the rank 
 I might possibly be found to possess, Eguia would, in the mean 
 time, only require my parole of honour, and the public appear- 
 ance of some friend as Fiador, who would be held responsible 
 for my presence in the city. 
 
 During my examination the Captain-General had requested 
 me to name the persons resident at Santiago to whom I had de- 
 livered letters of introduction. I was embarrassed by the ques- 
 tion, because I felt that, in the equivocal position in which I then 
 stood, I could hardly name an individual without involving him 
 in the suspicion that attached to myself. A moment's reflection, 
 however, convinced me that the question was only asked to 
 ascertain whether I should attempt to practise any deception. 
 The police had kept so vigilant an eye on all my movements, 
 that they could not fail of knowing the persons with whom I 
 had associated, and would certainly have imputed criminal 
 motives to my friends from any attempt on my part to conceal 
 their names. I therefore mentioned some, and among others 
 Don Louis R . 
 
 When the Secretary had communicated to me the Captain- 
 General's decision he requested me to accompany him to Don 
 Louis's house, where a great, and, apparently, a very disagreeable 
 sensation was produced by the appearance of the Secretary of the 
 Police. The servant who opened the door, instead of showing 
 us to the apartment where her master was sitting, retreated in 
 most admired disorder, leaving us in a dark passage to make the 
 best of our way into the parlour. 
 
 Don Louis, who was transacting business, dropped some 
 papers from his hand in the alarm and surprise excited by the 
 abrupt entrance of the dreaded functionary, and the strangers 
 who were with him glided hastily out of the room. His appre-
 
 142 STATE OF PUBLIC FEELING. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 hensions were not diminished by a peremptory order to give up 
 his papers, and particularly to produce the letter he had received 
 from me. Don Louis placed this valuable document in the 
 hands of the Secretary, who examined it carefully, and, becoming 
 in some degree reassured by the harmless nature of its contents, 
 informed him of the circumstances under which I had been 
 arrested ; and asked him whether he would become my Fiador, 
 and pledge himself for my appearance at any moment that the 
 Captain-General might require my presence. He said that, in 
 default of such an arrangement, it would be necessary to keep 
 me in strict confinement. The old man consented, and my situa- 
 tion became more tolerable. It is true that a police-officer was 
 always stationed at the door of the inn, and regularly gave notice 
 to some of his brethren whenever I left the house. They fol- 
 lowed me through all my wanderings, keeping their eyes con- 
 stantly upon me, but without any active interference, and re- 
 maining so far aloof, that I became at length almost indifferent 
 to such a mitigated surveillance. 
 
 During the remainder of the time I spent at Santiago I was 
 treated with the utmost kindness by Don Louis and his son, and 
 passed many pleasant hours in their family circle. During my 
 previous visit to that city the incessant rain had left upon my 
 mind a very unfavourable impression of the surrounding scenery ; 
 but my opinion was completely changed when I saw it under the 
 magical influence of a cloudless sky. Like the countenance of a 
 
 c 
 
 pretty child, that country should be seen, not in tears, but in its 
 laughing hours. It cannot boast of those striking features which 
 retain their grandeur under every fluctuation of the atmosphere, 
 but has all those softer charms which rivet the eye when clad in 
 sunshine, though totally lost in the mists of a stormy day. The 
 foreround is varied and beautifully undulated, and the view is 
 terminated by a range of blue mountains rising boldly in the dis- 
 tance. I wandered almost every morning to a picturesque 
 quarry, where I sat enjoying the prospect, till I perceived that 
 my occupations were minutely observed, upon which I deserted 
 my favourite spot, recollecting that even inanimate rocks must 
 not be too much inspected in troubled times ; ; ' etiam saxa lo- 
 quuntur" 
 
 The dominion of the priests was then absolute at Santiago,
 
 CHAP, vi.] POWER OF THE CLERGY. 143 
 
 and I was told that the outward indications of religious feeling 
 had latterly increased. Before the revolution of 1820 faction 
 was asleep ; the Church and her partisans were not aware that 
 the ground upon which they stood was undermined, and that the 
 ancient institutions of the land were actually nodding- to their 
 fall. 
 
 The events of the following years opened their eyes; the faci- 
 lity with which the old government was overthrown, and the 
 evident intention of the Constitutionalists, during their day of 
 power, not to reform, but to exterminate the priesthood, awak- 
 ened their inmost fears, and roused an implacable spirit of ven- 
 geance. They naturally supposed that their existence as a body, 
 possessing rights defined and recognised by the state, could only 
 be secured by rooting out every vestige of principles espoused 
 by a party whose hostility to their interests was so deadly and 
 uncompromising. Even the moderate partisans of the Church, 
 distrusting her actual strength, and conscious of the great though 
 latent danger, entered warmly into the measures adopted for her 
 defence ; while her more heated and enterprising adherents fell 
 into the errors of an age gone by, revived the exploded doctrine 
 that men should be proscribed, not merely for their actions, but 
 for their opinions, and loudly called for the re-establishment of 
 the Inquisition, as the only engine which could enable them to 
 carry their giant schemes into complete operation. And yet, 
 however exaggerated the views entertained by some of the priest- 
 hood, they were, as a body, engaged in a war of self-preservation, 
 not of aggression. 
 
 The progress of constitutional principles, and the imminent 
 danger in which the Church was placed during the revolution of 
 1823, had the same effect upon their clergy which the growth of 
 the dissenting interest at one time in some degree produced on 
 ours. Their exertions to obtain influence over the people 
 were never so great and sustained as since they felt the danger 
 of losing it entirely ; and in many parts of the country their 
 labours were at that time rewarded by a proportionable increase 
 of zealous feeling. 
 
 In Santiago itself the rites of public worship had never been 
 so solemnly performed, the processions so frequent and inter- 
 minable, or the voice of prayer so continual in the streets, as
 
 144 NOTIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 within the two years previous to my arrival. And effectively, 
 although the High Church party failed in the struggle, then car- 
 rying on, to gain a complete ascendancy over the Crown, their 
 power was then inordinately great in the provinces, and some- 
 times completely overshadowed the civil authority. 
 
 This peculiar state of things may be well illustrated by a little 
 circumstance. I was walking one morning in the immediate 
 environs of Santiago with an intelligent young Spaniard ; he had 
 been discussing political questions with great freedom, he had 
 alluded with regret to the fall of the Constitution, he had re- 
 probated in terms of unbounded censure the actual system of 
 government, and had even spoken with contumely of the for- 
 midable Eguia. I happened, in the course of conversation, to 
 ask him whether he did not think that some unfortunate results 
 might not be ultimately referred to the celibacy of the clergy. 
 We were walking at tiie moment, but he stopped abruptly when 
 I put this question, his face became Hushed, and he actually 
 trembled ; but, quickly recovering himself, he answered, " If the 
 Captain-General and the police knew that I had assented to such 
 a proposition, the lowest and darkest dungeon in the city would 
 not be low or dark enough for me." Yet this man, who treated 
 the general system of civil government, and even the actual au- 
 thorities, with open contempt, trembled at the idea of being sup- 
 posed to cast the slightest doubt, even in the most indirect manner, 
 upon any part of the practice of the Church. 
 
 But if the Spanish clergy, writhing under a bitter sense of 
 unprovoked and recent persecution, were struggling to retain 
 their empire over the minds of men by means not altogether 
 suited to the tolerant spirit of the age, Spain's liberal politicians 
 among the lower, and often among the middling classes, were far 
 less advanced in the career of Christian charity than the calum- 
 niated members of the Church, and frequently entertained no- 
 tions of religious toleration well suited to the days of the second 
 Philip. 
 
 Democratic opinions are nowhere more extreme than among 
 the Spanish liberals ; but in no country is the philosophy of free- 
 dom, civil or religious, less understood. 1 remember talking to 
 a liberal in Valentia about the Inquisition, against which he de- 
 claimed with a truly patriotic energy. That institution was most
 
 CHAP, vi.] THE CONFESSIONAL. 145 
 
 annoying 1 , he said, from its interference with the freedom of pri- 
 vate life. " I hate oppression in any shape," he continued : " I 
 am a friend to the human race. If, indeed, there be a Jew among 
 us, burn him, I say, burn him alive; but interference with honest 
 men like you and me on account of our opinions is beyond en- 
 durance." 
 
 Such barbarous and grotesque discrepancies between the most 
 intolerant practice and a profession of the most liberal opinions 
 are, of course, among the higher order of Spanish democrats, 
 corrected by greater information and greater knowledge of the 
 world ; but the same utter misconception of the real principles 
 of toleration actuates their conduct. The law, in their opinion, 
 should in theory be equally applicable to all parties ; but to act 
 on the principle of administering the same measure of justice to 
 the opponent as to the friend of the prevailing policy, to the 
 Carlist as to the Queenite, would be reprobated as an indication 
 of positive weakness, or, more probably, resented as a proof of 
 covert treason. The notion of impartial dealing between man 
 and man, without reference to the political opinions he may en- 
 tertain, is in their eyes a practical mistake, attributable only to 
 incapacity or collusion. 
 
 But I was speaking of the effects and extent of the clerical influ- 
 ence, of which, even in my own examination before the Captain- 
 General, I perceived some traces. I was reminded of some 
 questions which I had certainly asked, but remembered distinctly 
 having only put them to one individual, who, I have every reason 
 to believe, communicated them to the priest, by whom they were 
 transmitted to the police. I do not accuse the Spanish clergy of 
 violating the sacred trust reposed in them at the confessional 
 of this I am sure they are incapable ; but I do think they often 
 persuade their penitents to make, or at least to sanction, any re- 
 velations the Church may deem expedient ; and this course is, I 
 think, pursued still more where women are concerned. When 
 the devotional feeling is strongly impressed on the mind of a fair 
 Spaniard, it supersedes every other, even the deep-rooted passion 
 of love ; but this excess of zeal is chiefly found in the remote 
 provinces. 
 
 Under the influence of this engrossing passion the character of 
 the Spanish woman becomes altogether changed. If once per-
 
 146 LOVE AND DEVOTION. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 suaded that the man she loves is conspiring against the Church, 
 every avenue to her heart, that well of deep and inexhaustible 
 feeling, is closed at once against him ; an unworthy system of 
 deception, the offspring of a false but not of a debased principle, 
 is substituted for her former sincerity ; she believes that her own, 
 that his salvation, that the immortal weal of thousands whom his 
 machinations may endanger, imperiously require her to sacrifice 
 every personal feeling, to dive into his inmost thoughts for the 
 purpose of betraying them, and to treasure up, and afterwards 
 reveal, every careless word breathed in the hours of dalliance, or 
 dropped in the unguarded moment of powerful emotion. 
 
 During the civil war there were instances of women, misled 
 by their frenzied attachment to the Church, who actually received 
 their unwary admirers in the warm embrace of love, and even in 
 that hour of reciprocal passion dealt the fatal blow with a tirm 
 hand but an agonized heart. These remarks only apply to those 
 volcanic dispositions, still, though but occasionally, found in 
 parts of Spain over which religion exercises her most fanatic 
 sway, and to those particular cases in which the safety of the 
 Church is considered by the impassioned votaress as imperiously 
 opposed to the dictates of the heart. Generally speaking, love 
 and religion are twin sisters in Spain, and accord extremely well : 
 in England, a man of pleasure endeavouring to engage the affec- 
 tions of a married woman systematically undermines every sacred 
 impression, and keeps out of sight all that can possibly promote 
 religious zeal. In Spain, he seeks his object by a different 
 course ; religion is too often made subservient to his views ; he 
 frequents the holy festivals which she attends ; the deep devotion 
 of her spirit lives upon his lips ; and if he cannot kneel by her 
 side in the long aisle, at least she knows too well that his eye is 
 upon her. Yet this can hardly be attributed to the religion of 
 the country, but rather to many concurring causes that have 
 operated upon society for centuries. Spanish devotion is often 
 attired in gloomy colours. I have seen the antiquated dames of 
 Murcia solemnly pacing the public walks of their city, with 
 little scourges attached to their dress, and knotted for the pur- 
 pose of self-torture. But their faith is sometimes clad in a light 
 and brilliant livery ; " la religion, Vamour, le parfum, et les 
 Jleurs" all mingling in one flowery path.
 
 CHAP, vi.] VIGILANCE OF THE POLICE. 147 
 
 Before I relieve my readers from any further mention of my 
 Galician adventure, I must notice an incident, unimportant in 
 itself, but curious as illustrating the vigilance of the Spanish 
 police, and the intense acuteness of their observations in disturbed 
 times. As the Indian discovers the recent footsteps of an enemy 
 on wastes that appear absolutely trackless to less gifted eyes, so 
 the Spanish police follow their prey by indications so faint and 
 infrequent as wholly to escape the perception of less practised 
 minds. I have already said that on my first arrival at Lugo I 
 took some refreshment in a small tavern at the entrance of the 
 town ; the bill being very moderate, and having no small change, 
 I gave the waiter as much for himself as the dinner bad cost. 
 The man casually adverted to the circumstance before an agent 
 of the police, whose curiosity was excited by a statement that 
 would have attracted no attention from any other individual. He 
 shrewdly remarked, that the act, trifling as it might appear, was 
 rather the act of a gentleman than that of the little traders who 
 travelled along that road and put up at the inn. He knew that 
 they were well acquainted with the exact proportion which should 
 subsist between the amount of the bill and the payment of the 
 waiter, and would not have been induced, by any accidental cir- 
 cumstances, to have given a fraction beyond the necessary sum. 
 Under this impression he entered the tavern, seated himself op- 
 posite to me, scrutinized my movements, observed my general 
 manner, and soon became convinced that I was the individual 
 whose appearance had been described to the police, and whom 
 they had been long expecting. He immediately communicated 
 to his superiors the result of his observations, and I was in con- 
 sequence arrested during the ensuing night. 
 
 I remember seeing a similar instance of extreme subtlety 
 in the police during a still more distracted period ; at such 
 times every faculty is quickened to a wonderful extent by an 
 active and perpetual sense of impending danger. During the 
 great northern insurrection in 1822 I walked from Irun to Font- 
 arabia ; entering the town, 1 explored it, and, being as usual 
 mistaken for a Spaniard, was unmolested by any questions. I 
 might then have retraced my steps unsuspected, but, wishing to 
 obtain a fuller view of the glorious prospect before me, I endea- 
 voured to approach the edge of the cliff, which was separated 
 
 L 2
 
 148 SENOR ATOCHA. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 from me by a low wall. Being extremely shortsighted, I did 
 not immediately perceive a breach through which it was perfectly 
 easy to pass, but went to the head of the wall, and skirted it, 
 downwards till I reached the aperture. This circuitous process 
 was observed by an officer of the police, who instantly concluded 
 that I was unacquainted with the place, consequently a stranger, 
 and, therefore, a suspicious character. He joined me, entered 
 into conversation, and finally gave me up to the authorities, by 
 whom I was examined, and sent back to Irun under an escort. 
 
 But to return to my narrative. While I remained at Santiago 
 in this state of partial bondage, I was one day visited by a Span- 
 iard, dressed in a naval uniform, apparently a professional man. 
 He said that, happening to lodge in the same house, and having 
 heard that an Englishman of rank was detained under vexatious 
 circumstances, he had thought himself bound in courtesy to call 
 upon me, and make me a free tender of his services. We con- 
 versed for some time on general subjects : his appearance was 
 highly prepossessing ; his manners had the courtesy and distinc- 
 tion of high birth ; he was eminently handsome ; his fine dark 
 eyes often kindled with enthusiasm, and a strong tinge of romance 
 pervaded all he said, and seemed inherent in his character. He 
 showed me some verses to a lady verses full of fire and feeling, 
 which he had apparently just composed, for the ink was scarcely 
 dry. He dwelt, with an emphasis that was irresistibly comical, 
 upon every epithet sacred to the Dulcinea of his strain, for whom 
 he seemed to feel a chivalrous devotion, the true love of the 
 middle ages, which could not tolerate any competition with the 
 object of its idolatry. He was a genuine child of romance, for, 
 engrossed by the idea of his absent mistress, and hurried on by 
 his poetic ardour, he never once reflected on the singular appear- 
 ance which such unusual frankness of communication from a 
 perfect stranger must have had in my eyes. Such was the ap- 
 parent character of the man ; but I will not conceal from my 
 readers that a shade of suspicion respecting the real object of 
 his visit occasionally crossed my mind. I knew that the police 
 made use of various means to extract information from suspected 
 persons, and frequently employed agents to elicit facts, and ob- 
 tain admissions, under the mask of friendship, which could not 
 be extorted by any legal process. Now, certainly the apparent
 
 CHAP, vi.] EGUIA'S TRIBUNAL. 149 
 
 openness and generosity of Atocha's character, and the unre- 
 served nature of his conversation, were highly calculated to call 
 forth some degree of reciprocal confidence from a stranger, 
 friendless and unacquainted with the subtle intrigues of the 
 Spanish police, and the circuitous paths by which they often obtain 
 their information. Other circumstances in some degree strength- 
 ened this disagreeable impression. My sitting-room was only 
 separated from an adjoining apartment by a door which was kept 
 constantly locked, and I heard, upon two different occasions, 
 when engaged in conversation, a rustling near the keyhole, as if 
 some persons on the other side were in the act of listening. 
 
 Upon inquiry I learnt that the apartment was occupied by 
 Senor Atocha ; but he was frequently out of the house, and it is 
 possible that others may have taken advantage of his absence. 
 In his interview with me he certainly led the conversation more 
 than once to the cause of my arrest, but it is probable that cu- 
 riosity alone dictated his inquiries. I was unwilling to attribute 
 unworthy motives to a man upon whose open brow honour and 
 truth seemed written in characters too legible to be mistaken; but 
 experience had taught me to distrust actions which, under happier 
 circumstances, could have borne no invidious construction ; for 
 at that time friend suspected friend, and the father could hardly 
 place reliance on the son : in such a state of society, suspicion 
 becomes not an occasional inmate, but a prevailing habit of the 
 mind ; nor is this the least evil resulting from long-continued 
 civil dissensions. 
 
 A day or two after this visit the Secretary of the Police called 
 at the inn, and requested me to accompany him to the audience- 
 room, where I found the Captain-General enthroned. Eguia 
 informed me that he had just received a despatch from Mr. Bart- 
 lett, the British Consul at Corunna, declaring that I was an 
 Englishman, and the person whom I professed myself to be, 
 guaranteeing the legitimacy of the objects I had in view, and, 
 in short, confirming all my statements. He was therefore 
 pleased to tell me, that, after such an explicit declaration from 
 the British Consul, he could no longer entertain a doubt upon 
 the subject, as he was a gentleman for whom he entertained the 
 highest sentiments of respect. My manner and appearance 
 were however so decidedly Spanish, that even now he was
 
 150 EGUIA'S TRIBUNAL. [CHAP. vr. 
 
 unable to convince the police and others of a fact which the 
 Consul's positive assurance alone induced him to credit. He 
 said that the disasters into which I had fallen had been, to a 
 great extent, the result of my own imprudent conduct ; that the 
 persons with whom I had associated, the political inquiries I had 
 made, my frequent deviations from the high road, and my wild 
 and rambling excursions among the fastnesses at such an unusual 
 time of the year, had all confirmed the impression which my 
 striking resemblance to the outlawed chief had originally created. 
 He concluded by saying, that, as the government had resolved 
 to liberate me, I should probably be disposed to leave Santiago 
 on the following day. I assured the Captain-General that I was 
 fully prepared to meet his wishes in that respect, and was anxious 
 to have my passport made out for Orense that very evening. 
 The allusion to Orense threatened to produce a fresh commotion: 
 looks of horror and suspicion were renewed among the agents 
 of the police ; and the Captain-General declared that the safety 
 of the people intrusted to his charge rendered it absolutely 
 necessary that I should quit Spain, with all imaginable rapidity, 
 by the road to Tuy, the most direct to the frontier. I replied, 
 that of course no reason which I could allege would have any 
 weight with his Excellency, if it were once established that my 
 journey to Orense would disturb the tranquillity of Spain, but, 
 as I had actually made arrangements to re-enter the Traz os Monies 
 by the north-eastern frontier, such a complete deviation from 
 the route I had prescribed to myself would be attended with 
 great personal inconvenience. Eguia had, however, determined 
 that I should leave Spain by the Tuy road, from which he re- 
 quested me on no pretext to wander ; and, to prevent me from 
 holding communications with my supposed adherents, he speci- 
 fied certain towns and villages in which alone I might pass the 
 night. If found in Spain after the expiration of three days, I 
 was again liable to be arrested. He then expressed great anxiety 
 for my safety, and recommended me to accept his offer of an 
 escort, which should accompany me to the frontier and effectu- 
 ally protect me from any popular ebullition. I perceived his 
 real motive, and, knowing well that these friends and protectors 
 would speedily become my masters, I thanked him for the interest 
 he took in my safety, but expressed the utmost disinclination to
 
 CHAP, vi.] RESTORED TO LIBERTY. 151 
 
 deprive his Majesty of any defenders at a time when their pre- 
 sence was so much required at home. 
 
 Matters were then adjusted ; I was conditionally restored to 
 freedom ; formal salutations were coldly exchanged between us, 
 and we separated. Eguia was an admirable specimen of the old 
 fanatic Royalist ; yet all the zeal and ability which he displayed 
 in detecting the most hidden conspiracies, and bringing to justice 
 the most wary conspirators, could not preserve him from a fearful 
 disaster, for he was dreadfully wounded in 1829 by the explosion 
 of some fulminating powder, artfully placed under the seal of a 
 letter ; a base and malignant act, probably emanating from some 
 exasperated victim of his severity. His manners were distin- 
 guished, and during our long communications he was never 
 betrayed into an expression or a gesture inconsistent with the 
 highest sense of gentlemanly feeling. Though greatly dreaded, 
 he was much respected ; he was then in the zenith of his power ; 
 since that period he has fallen upon evil times; but in adversity, 
 as in his prosperous days, he retains the same unblemished repu- 
 tation for high honour and devoted loyalty. I am told that he 
 is much altered in personal appearance since I knew him at 
 Santiago : the form, then proud and erect, is now bent by the 
 infirmity of ill health ; the locks, upon which not a speck of snow 
 could then be seen, are now silvered by time ; but still, in spite 
 of declining strength and increasing years, he is in Biscay, 
 devoting, in the land of his birth, the last energies of his life to 
 that which he believes to be at once the cause of his sovereign 
 and his country.* Our acquaintance was not formed under very 
 agreeable circumstances, but I believe him to be an honest and 
 an honourable man, and I trust that the sunshine of prosperity 
 may yet illume the evening of his days. 
 
 Having taken leave of my kind friends the Rivas, I mounted 
 my horse. My guardian angel, in the shape of a police-officer, 
 remained to the last moment at his post near the inn. News 
 from Catalonia arrived immediately previous to my departure 
 from Santiago ; the insurrection still continued to gain ground, 
 the Queen had been insulted in her passage through Valencia, 
 and the expected re-establishment of the Inquisition excited in 
 the highest degree the hopes and fears of the conflicting parties. 
 * This was written during the Biscayan war.
 
 152 JOURNEY TO THE FRONTIER. [CHAP. vr. 
 
 And now, having given a faithful account of the singular 
 events which befel me in consequence of a misconception of my 
 motives, I should be acting an uncandid and ungenerous part if 
 I did not state, that, calmly reflecting upon events now long 
 elapsed, I cannot impute much, if any, blame to the Spanish 
 authorities. The civil war then raging in the kingdom, the 
 plots that were multiplying on all sides, and the spies who had 
 lately inundated Galicia, and were communicating with the 
 Spanish democrats in Portugal, were circumstances pregnant 
 with danger to the established Government. At the time I 
 was naturally annoyed at such an attack upon my liberty, but I 
 can easily conceive that the local authorities may have con- 
 sidered it their bounden duty, in the critical situation of public 
 affairs, to arrest a stranger coming from a most suspected 
 country, whose journey too was performed at a very unusual 
 time of the year, and was accompanied by circumstances in 
 some degree calculated to throw doubt upon his intentions. I 
 think I might have experienced the same interruption under 
 any government so circumstanced ; and of this I am sure, that, 
 had I been arrested by my Spanish liberal friends, under sus- 
 picion of Royalist intrigues, my thraldom would have been more 
 protracted, and my treatment not quite so tolerable. 
 
 The evening was rainy, but the country through which I 
 rode to Padron lively and diversified. There I was refreshed 
 by some tea, and fatigued by a host of insatiable women, who 
 overwhelmed me with queries touching England. As a plain 
 unvarnished statement of facts did not appease their appetite 
 for the marvellous, I gratified their taste by assuring them that 
 Englishmen were guaranteed by law in the undisturbed pos- 
 session of four contemporary wives. They remarked that better 
 conduct could hardly be expected fr6m Jews, and the English 
 were avowedly of the Jewish persuasion ; but in return for my 
 communications, they tried to convert me to the Catholic faith, 
 and assured me that, with such a pious object in view, they 
 would raise no injudicious objections to a little well-timed gal- 
 lantry, although such gentle lapses were considered by their 
 Church as mortal sins. 
 
 On the following day I continued my journey to the frontier, 
 through a delightful country. I met some Spaniards at Re-
 
 CHAP, vi.] REFLECTIONS. 153 
 
 clondela, who asked me more questions than I thought right to 
 answer at such a doubtful time. Near Tuy I saw a curious 
 instance of that inaptitude to accommodate established habits 
 to actual circumstances, so peculiar to the Spanish character and 
 sometimes so truly ludicrous in its results. A superior kind of 
 countryman, driving a vehicle containing parcels and goods 
 (his own, moreover), had been so unfortunate as to overturn it, 
 not far from the gates of the town. The horse was lying under 
 the shafts, the vehicle was in the ditch, the goods were scattered 
 along the road, and, although of a perishable nature, were 
 lying, for the most part, immersed in mud. Under these cir- 
 cumstances any man but a Spaniard would have immediately 
 assisted his horse to rise, would have examined his vehicle to 
 ascertain that it had suffered no injury, and would have carefully 
 replaced his goods : not so our friend the Spaniard ; the hour 
 had arrived at which he was accustomed to commence his mid- 
 day repast, and that repast was not to be postponed by any freak 
 of malignant fortune ; so, perched on one side of the subverted 
 vehicle, he sat calm and conspicuous, knife in hand, leisurely 
 apportioning his cheese to his bread, and eyeing with indifference 
 horse, vehicle, and soaking goods ; nor till the inward man was 
 thoroughly appeased did he begin in sober earnest to inspect and 
 repair the evil. He was a Catalan, and not a Galician, and 
 this slight incident is an apt and faithful illustration of the 
 phlegmatic disposition of his countrymen, and of their dogged 
 adhesion to ordinary habits under every contingency. 
 
 We sometimes hear in France and England of a spirit of 
 encroachment, and a spirit of concession ; in Spain a spirit of 
 mal-a-propos, if it may be so termed, unquestionably tinges the 
 national character. I have heard, that in the agony of the 
 Cortes, and when the French were actually entering Cadiz, a 
 glowing orator was arguing, with energy, on the exact decree 
 of precedence which should hereafter be accorded to a Rear- 
 Admiral of Constitutional Spain. There surely is, however 
 remote, a family resemblance between our feasting farmer arid 
 the orator, for, under their respective circumstances, the feast 
 and the argument were equally appropriate. 
 
 At Tuy I met my old ally, the Consul's agent, who despatched 
 my business with great expedition. Here a member of the
 
 154 RE-ENTER PORTUGAL. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 police assured me that a detailed account of my arrest, and of 
 the proceedings instituted against me, had been forwarded to 
 their office, and added that my movements had been narrowly 
 observed during my first visit to Santiago. While I was standing 
 on the bank expecting the boat destined to convey me across the 
 Minho, a noble stream which here divides the rival kingdoms, 
 two Capuchin friars approached me, and, entering into conver- 
 sation, endeavoured, by many subtle questions, to discover the 
 real object of my Galician expedition. At length we embarked, 
 and I bade a final farewell to Spain, renowned, romantic Spain 
 a country which I had found always fraught with stirring ad- 
 ventures, and always enveloped in the storms of civil dissension. 
 I landed on the Portuguese shore, and breathed freely.
 
 CHAP, vii.] SPAIN IN 1822. 155 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Author becomes six years younger than he was in the last Chapter 
 "Distracted state of Spain in 1822 Slaughter of the Royalists at Cervera 
 Leaves Barcelona Ascends the Mountain of Montserrat Visits the 
 famous Convent The fated town of Vilia destroyed that very day 
 Wild Charge of a Guerilla Band Author made Prisoner Roar of the 
 distant Fight Precarious situation of the Author Fidelity of his young 
 Guide Desolate Venta Author liberated Guerilla Band and Chief 
 described The ludicrous Shock. 
 
 AND now before I quit the magic realm of Spain, as connected 
 with my tale, and pass on to Portuguese scenes and Portuguese 
 adventures, my readers will perhaps forgive me for departing 
 from the strict order of narration, and reverting to that earlier 
 period when, in the first ardour of youth, I trod for the first 
 time the shores of Spain. I make this slight digression, not so 
 much from any wish to relate the strange and wild adventure 
 which forms the subject of the present chapter, as to acquaint my 
 readers with the unyielding spirit and devoted loyalty of the 
 mountain guerillas, and with their habits and peculiar feelings, 
 as exhibited at a moment when caution and reserve were banished 
 by an imminent and pressing clanger a kind of information by 
 no means unimportant at a moment when Spain is again overrun 
 by these intrepid bands, and when Catalonia, the scene of the 
 adventure recorded in this chapter, again sends forth her " ter- 
 rible guerillas" to influence and perhaps decide the war. In 
 estimating the strength of the conflicting parties, the guerillas 
 must always form a main element of any sober calculation. 
 
 I arrived one evening in the month of May, 1822, on the 
 southern bank of the Ebro. I had then been in Spain a con- 
 siderable time. I had lingered long at Madrid, spent the last 
 winter at Cadiz, and had travelled with a relative through 
 almost every province of the Spanish peninsula ; a journey per- 
 formed at a period when society was strangely disjointed when 
 some districts had emancipated themselves from the yoke of the
 
 156 CATALAN INSURRECTION. [CHAP. vir. 
 
 central government when the country generally was distracted 
 by the conflicting watchwords of the King and the Cortes when 
 the Cortes, great in tyranny, were in point of actual power only 
 less feeble than the Sovereign whom they oppressed when indi- 
 viduals rose to distinction upon the ruins of the common authority 
 and town arrayed against town recalled in some degree the 
 history of the feudal world. From a recital of times and circum- 
 stances so fertile in strange events the reader has been spared, 
 perhaps happily for himself, by that destruction of my journal 
 which took place during the tumultuous scene I shall now 
 describe, only twelve days before I quitted Spain. I was 
 unwilling to publish facts depending only on the accuracy of 
 my recollections ; and I felt that the minor incidents which give 
 life and circumstance to the picture, and enrich it with a varied 
 foreground, lose all their warmth and colouring, when the re- 
 cord, formed under the strong impression of the moment, 110 
 longer exists. 
 
 My readers are probably aware that the great Catalan contest 
 of 1822 was carried on between the Constitutionalists or the 
 armies of the Cortes on the one hand, and the Royalists on the 
 other, who were endeavouring to release King Ferdinand from 
 the thraldom in which he was held. 
 
 As we crossed the Ebro in a ferry-boat, we heard from a goat- 
 herd, for the first time, of the insurrection in Catalonia, which 
 afterwards became so famous, and for seventeen months continued 
 to desolate the country. Our accounts during the next day were 
 very imperfect, but before we reached Barcelona we had entered 
 the revolted districts. Vendrell, where we paused for a few hours, 
 had been occupied, and again evacuated, by the Royalists, three 
 days previous to our arrival. Tarragona was menaced by armed 
 parties, and the authorities had in consequence left the town. 
 We were required to produce our passports at every village 
 through which we passed, and on my arrival at Barcelona I was 
 placed under arrest, on account of some informality in the signa- 
 tures, occasioned by the absence of the Governor of Tarragona. 
 I was detained in the Hotel de Ville till the arrival of the poli- 
 tical chief, who, if I remember rightly, was Rotten, whose name 
 became so generally known at a later period of the revolution. 
 He listened attentively to my explanation, perceived the' nature
 
 CHAF. vii.] CARNAGE OF ROYALISTS. 157 
 
 of the mistake, and, in spite of the remonstrances of his secre- 
 tary, suffered me to depart without delay. At Barcelona, where 
 we were compelled to remain some days, as the roads were on all 
 sides occupied by the Royalists, \\e received more correct inform- 
 ation respecting the state of the country. For the last two 
 months, large bodies of the insurgents had appeared, and harassed 
 the soldiers ; but during the fortnight that preceded our arrival 
 the entire peasantry had taken up arms against the government 
 in many parts of the country, and the insurrection had assumed 
 an alarming character. The Royalists, commanded by Mi?as 
 and the famous Trappist, had established their head-quarters at 
 Cervera, a large town on the high road between Barcelona and 
 Madrid, and intercepted all official communications. "While we 
 delayed at Barcelona until some change in the state of affairs 
 should again permit us to renew our journey, despatches arrived 
 from" the commander of the Constitutional forces, announcing 
 the defeat of the Royalists and the fall of Cervera ; but adding 
 that victory had been accompanied by a dreadful carnage (horro- 
 rosa clade). In this encounter the Royalists sustained one of the 
 severest reverses which they experienced during the whole course 
 of the civil war : they fought for fourteen hours with undaunted 
 courage, but were completely routed at the close of the day.* As 
 
 * We arrived at Cervera a few days after its recapture. I found the 
 same difficulty in procuring information -which I everywhere experienced 
 on the scenes where such events had recently taken place. Indeed I was 
 tempted to believe that much exaggeration had prevailed in the statement 
 of the killed and wounded, till I saw the official returns, and afterwards 
 heard a detailed account of the assault from an officer connected with the 
 regiments engaged. The following relation of the fall of Cervera, extracted 
 from the ' Annuaire Fran^ais,' a work generally free from political bias, 
 may not be uninteresting to my readers, as it was one of the most import- 
 ant events of the civil war ; it dispersed a large undisciplined force, and 
 inundated eastern Catalonia with the broken and retreating bands of the 
 Royalists, who spread the flame of insurrection over the remotest parts of 
 the country: 
 
 " A la nouvelle des succes de Misas, qui avait pris Campredon (17 Avril), 
 et levait des homines et des contributions dans tout le pays, le General 
 Lloberas, commandant a Barcelone, s'e'tait mis a la tete de quelqnes troupes 
 regulieres et de inilices, pour arreter ses progres, et il en joignit quelques 
 bandes qui furent battues et dispersees. En merne temps, le General Don 
 Joseph Bellido, commandant a Lerida, avait e"te detache centre le Trapiste : 
 cette colonne sortie de Lerida le 17 Mai, se composait de trois bataillons 
 d'infanterie, regiment de Ferdinand VII. des Asturies et de Tarragone, et 
 de cinquante chevaux du regiment d'Espagne. Des le lecdemain (18) elle
 
 158 ESPARRAGUERRA. [CHAP. vn. 
 
 the road was again open into Aragon, we left Barcelona on the 
 22nd of May, and arrived in the evening at Esparraguerra, where 
 we had been preceded by a regiment of the Constitutional troops, 
 who were singing the Tragala in the streets. Before I retired 
 to rest I left the posada. Montserrat rose gloomily before me ; 
 the streets were deserted, and beyond the town I perceived there 
 were no lights in any of the neighbouring hamlets. These were 
 dreary signs of the times. I returned to the inn, threw myself 
 on my bed, and slept till morning. I then understood that an 
 order had been issued forbidding any individual to leave his 
 house after dark, and requiring every peasant who dwelt beyond 
 the walls of Esparraguerra to quit his hamlet and enter the town 
 before dusk. This measure was intended to prevent any com- 
 munication between the Royalist guerillas and the peasantry, 
 who were rapidly enlisting in their bands. It was known that 
 the parties of the insurgents descended the mountains at night, 
 foraged the country for provisions, and were well received by the 
 inhabitants, who were in those districts universally favourable to 
 the Royal cause. 
 
 Early on the following day we left Esparraguerra, and, passing 
 a fine regiment that was marching upon Vila, or Vilia, arrived 
 in less than two hours at Colbato, a small village at the foot of 
 
 trouva un corps d'insurges retrenches sur une hauteur qui domine Tarrega ; 
 elle les culbuta dans la ville, oil Bellido entra avec eux, et les poursuivit 
 jusqu'a Cervera, oft etait le quartier-ge'ne'ral des insurge's et une espece de 
 Junte Apostolique. Tous les habitans avaient pris parti pour la cause de la 
 Foi ; ils se mirent en e'tat de de'fense : repousses dans la ville, ils se retran- 
 cherent dans les maisons crenelees, d'ou ils faisaient un feu meutrier ; le 
 General Bellido ne vit pas d'autre moyen de les reduire, que de faire mettre 
 le feu aux quatre coins de la ville ; et au milieu du de'sordre occasionne par 
 cette mesure il ordonna une attaque gene'rale a la baionuette ; elle fut quelque 
 temps incertaine, car les insurge's renferme's dans les maisons, malgre' le 
 progres de 1'incendie, faisaient pleuvoir sur les soldats uiie grele de balles, 
 de tuiles, de morceaux de bois et de pierre. Enfin, apres une vigoureuse 
 resistance, la ville fut rendue a dix heures et demie du soir, et subit toute 
 la nuit les suites horribles d'une prise d'assaut. Elle etait presque de'truite 
 et ses habitaus en partie extermine's, mais elle avail coute cher aux vain- 
 queurs ils avaient perdu le commandant des Asturies, et au moins deux 
 cent cinquante hommes. Suivant le rapport du geue'ral Constitutiounel, la 
 perte totale des insurge's dans ces deux affaires avail ete' de plus de douze 
 cent hommes. entre lesquels cent cinquante i cent soixante tonsures avaient 
 e'te trouve's sur le champ de bataille ou dans la ville; ceux qui furent 
 echappe's a ce dcsastre se disperserent dans les moiitagnes, oQ le Trapiste 
 les rallia."
 
 CIIAF. vii.] ASCENT OF MONTSERRAT. 159 
 
 the mountain of Montserrat, whose singular assemblage of cones 
 rising one above another, on a high range of crags, had long 
 formed the most prominent object in the landscape. We deter- 
 mined to visit the convent; and, giving instructions to our ser- 
 vants to join us with the carriage at a particular spot on the 
 opposite side of the mountain, wo commenced the ascent, accom- 
 panied by a young Catalan, who led the way. "Soon afterwards I 
 remembered that we had left our passports in the carriage an 
 omission which, at that period of alarm, might have been produc- 
 tive of serious inconvenience. The boy, who was accustomed to 
 the patois spoken by the peasantry of Catalonia, hardly seemed 
 to comprehend my meaning when I requested him to return and 
 fetch it, nor when I asked him some questions relative to the 
 day's expedition. He fixed his eyes on the ground with such an 
 expression of phlegmatic indifference, that for a moment I thought 
 it would be advisable to procure a more hopeful guide ; but 
 when he at length understood me, he volunteered his services 
 with the most good-humoured readiness. Our companion im- 
 proved upon acquaintance : he possessed a quick perception of 
 the ludicrous ; and, though young, his remarks upon persons and 
 events that fell under his immediate observation were shrewd and 
 caustic. "We had toiled up the hill to a considerable height by a 
 narrow and regular zigzag, when we suddenly heard the roar of 
 the cannon from the valley below : it was twice repeated, and all 
 was again silent. I shall never forget the change that was visible 
 in his countenance, as he turned round and said to me, pale 
 rather with awe than with apprehension, " El canon ! " I had 
 been informed that a large body of the Royalists were stationed 
 at Vila, had resolved to defend it to the last extremity, and that 
 an engagement was expected to take place about this very time 
 in the valley below. We did not, however, hear the sound re- 
 peated for some hours ; and I afterwards learned that these two 
 discharges were unconnected with the great attack that followed. 
 A small party of the Royalists, who had been separated from 
 the main force to which they belonged, and were surrounded by 
 the Constitutional troops, had found their last refuge in a house 
 which they had fortified. Here these unfortunate men defended 
 themselves with a gallantry that deserved a better fate : when 
 the two discharges of cannon, which we heard on the mountain,
 
 160 ABBOT OF MONTSEKRAT. [CHAP. vii. 
 
 had effected a breach in the wall, they still refused to surrender, 
 set fire to the house, and died on the bayonets of the eneiny, 
 shouting, " Viva el Hey !" Three alone survived the assault, 
 were made prisoners, and shot, a few hours afterwards, by mar- 
 tial law. 
 
 "We reached the convent of Monts-errat early in the day, and 
 were glad to escape for a short time from the intolerable glare of 
 the sun. This pile of building, irregular, and apparently con- 
 structed at different periods, is still venerable and imposing, and 
 retains evident traces of former magnificence. Here formerly 
 existed one of the most splendid establishments of the Catholic 
 world, but its fortnnes had undergone a melancholy change. 
 The pile was falling into decay ; the chapel, a perfect specimen 
 of architectural beauty before it experienced the ravages of war, 
 was then a ruin. Three monks and their old abbot alone re- 
 mained, stripped of those domains which had given wealth and 
 consideration to a numerous fraternity. The abbot came to 
 receive us with grace and dignity ; his welcome was friendly, 
 his manners calm and distinguished, and in his countenance was 
 an expression of melancholy mingled with resignation. He had 
 been reduced to extreme poverty by the revolution ; during the 
 French invasion lie had raised the peasantry, and armed a 
 guerilla ; he had shared the perils and hardships of that 
 species of warfare with the rudest peasant, for the inde- 
 pendence of Spain. The memory of past services should have 
 ensured to him better treatment in his declining years. He led 
 us to the terrace, where we enjoyed a magnificent view of the 
 country : fine masses of wood lay around us and beneath our 
 feet, while tall grey pinnacles of rock overhung the monastery. 
 From this eminence, which is estimated at nearly three thousand 
 feet above the sea, the country beneath rather resembled a plain 
 varied by slight inequalities of surface, than what it really was 
 a district intersected by ranges of high hills. Here they 
 pointed out to us Vila, and the houses in its vicinity, where the 
 Royalists were encamped ; they informed us that the people of 
 that town and the neighbouring districts had taken up arms in 
 their cause ; that bodies of the Constitutionalists had been march- 
 ing in that direction during the morning and the whole of the 
 preceding day ; that the attack would take place immediately,
 
 CHAP, vii.] DESTRUCTION OF VILA. 161 
 
 and be opposed with the utmost determination. Their anticipa- 
 tions were just : those walls, then glittering in the bright beams 
 of the morning, were a heap of blood and ashes when the sun 
 went down. The resistance was desperate beyond what had been 
 expected ; the priests carried the cross before the Royalist force, 
 and exhorted them rather to die than submit to the oppressors 
 of Catalonia, the enemies of their God and their King ; men, 
 women, and even children, rose at the sound of the tocsin, and 
 fought in the ranks of the Royalists ; the town was almost de- 
 stroyed before the troops could effect an entrance, and, when it 
 was taken, no quarter was given, and a scene of indiscriminate 
 massacre ensued. 
 
 As we took leave of the Abbot and the monks, they pressed 
 us to dine and spend the day at the convent with so much 
 earnestness that we afterwards suspected they were not unac- 
 quainted with the dangers we were likely to incur by^ pursuing 
 our journey. I have never heard any certain account of the 
 fate of this interesting old man and the monks who were with 
 him. More than a year afterwards, when the French were 
 entering Spain, I saw in one of the journals at Paris that the 
 monks of the convent of Montserrat had become implicated 
 with the Royalist guerillas, had been detected by the Revolu- 
 tionists, conveyed to prison, and were immediately to undergo 
 the sentence of the law. 
 
 As we proceeded on our journey the scenery became bolder, 
 the road bordered the precipice, and the mountain formed itself 
 into a series of recesses or inland bays, terminated by projecting 
 heights. As we turned one of these headlands we saw three or four 
 men advance beyond the point which bounded the opposite side 
 of the road, pause, retreat, re-appear, and suddenly fall back as if 
 startled, and doubtful what course to pursue. This hesitation 
 did not long endure. A party of peasants broke from the 
 shelter of the rock ; shouting loudly, they desired us to halt, 
 and, keeping their eyes steadily fixed upon us, that their aim 
 might be unerring if we attempted to escape, came with their 
 muskets to their breasts and their hand to the trigger, rushing 
 towards us with the utmost speed. At first the extraordinary 
 position of their bodies, half bent to the earth from the diffi- 
 culty of holding their muskets presented in a course so rapid, 
 
 M
 
 162 GUERILLA BAND. [CHAP. vii. 
 
 the wildness of their dress, the frantic yells which they uttered, 
 the irritation stamped on their countenances, and increased by 
 the violence with which they came, rather resembled an irrup- 
 tion of savages than the charge of an organized guerilla ; but 
 when the first tumultuous onset was over they recovered all 
 their native dignity. Their hair was unconfined, their trousers 
 blue, their plaid dark red, and the scarlet bonnet of Catalonia 
 fell far down their shoulders. When first they reached us they 
 held their muskets to our breasts, saying, " You are traitors ! 
 you are enemies of the King and the Holy Faith ! you shall 
 die ! you shall die !" They required us to give up our money ; 
 and in the first transport of rage dashed it upon the ground, say- 
 ing it was the gold of traitors ! But when we assured them that 
 we were strangers totally unconnected with the troubles of the 
 times, that we belonged to that distant country whose sons had 
 fought side by side with them for the rights of King Ferdinand 
 and for Spain, against the people who dwelt beyond those 
 Pyrenees that were then in sight and to which we pointed as we 
 spoke, they shook hands with us enthusiastically, and gave an un- 
 conditional promise that our lives should be respected. By this 
 time the Captain, and a man who was apparently second in au- 
 thority, whom we afterwards distinguished by the name of Lieu- 
 tenant, had arrived. They were superior in language, manners, 
 and education to the surrounding group ; they were not subject 
 to the same fluctuations of opinion ; they were less convinced of 
 our innocence at one moment, of our guilt at another. They 
 possessed more judgment, more reflection, and that modera- 
 tion which generally arises from matured knowledge of man- 
 kind ; they examined us with method and minuteness, seemed 
 anxious to ascertain the exact number of the Constitutional 
 troops that we had left in the valley, and the precise direc- 
 tion they had taken : we answered their questions with fidelity. 
 At times, and particularly when we alluded to Vila, they seemed 
 startled by our replies. As they now appeared to regard our 
 conduct with less suspicion, we trusted that they would not 
 detain us when we had frankly communicated the little inform- 
 ation we possessed respecting the views and movements of the 
 enemy ; but an incident occurred that entirely changed their 
 feelings, and would have proved fatal to us, had not the Captain
 
 CHAP, vii.] THE AUTHOR TAKEN PRISONER. 163 
 
 and the Lieutenant interfered in our favour. When they had 
 sufficiently examined us, they desired to see all that we had 
 brought with us to the mountain. In consequence of this re- 
 quest, P was obliged to produce three pistol-balls that were 
 
 by chance in his pocket at the moment. These balls effected an in- 
 stantaneous and astonishing revulsion of feeling : they were looked 
 upon as proofs conclusive of our connexion with the revolutionary 
 army, and of the hostile motives that had led us to the mountain ; 
 they became as violent as before ; some cocked their muskets, and 
 were only prevented by the Captain and the Lieutenant from car- 
 rying their threats into execution. We explained with some 
 difficulty amid the tumult that these balls belonged to pistols 
 which we carried for safety on the high roads. They appeared 
 in some degree reassured by this probable statement, but not 
 convinced. They were evidently disposed to believe that we 
 had come to the mountain for the purpose of reconnoitring, and 
 were acting in concert with the Constitutionalists in the plain ; 
 nor could we assign any satisfactory reason for deviating from 
 the road and visiting the mountain at a moment when, in their 
 own emphatic language, every man from Lerida to Montserrat 
 stood with his musket at his breast (todo da Lerida a Mont- 
 serrat sta con escopeta al pecho). We said, however, we had 
 been informed that the mountain was for the moment in a tran- 
 quil state, and assured them that our visit was solely occasioned 
 by motives of curiosity. Unaccustomed to travellers, they had 
 probably never heard such reasons assigned before, and received 
 them with justifiable suspicion. After some discussion, the Cap- 
 tain turned to us and said we had informed him that our servants 
 had instructions to join us with the carriage at a particular spot 
 on the opposite side of the mountain ; that he would ascertain 
 the fact, and that we should be judged by our own words. If 
 our story proved consistent, and the result of his inquiries satis- 
 factory, we should depart in peace ; but that if the first proved 
 inconsistent, and the latter unsatisfactory, he had no alternative 
 left in the critical state of their affairs, as no quarter was given 
 to prisoners by either party. 
 
 These words were spoken frankly, but not uncourteously, nor 
 was there any appearance of insult in his manner. This species 
 of dictation was not agreeable from any individual ; still I felt at 
 
 M2
 
 164 THE GUERILLA.' [CHAP. vu. 
 
 that time what my poor Catalan expressed in simple language 
 some hours afterwards when we stood on the moor !< Senor, 
 your lot has been unfortunate to-day ; but such are the chances 
 of men who range over the world." We now continued our 
 journey, guarded by the band. A wild original, whom we after- 
 wards distinguished by the name of Shocky, from his shock head 
 of hair, attached himself to me, and kept near my horse's head ; 
 though such a precaution was quite unnecessary, as any attempt 
 to escape would have been impracticable. He was on terms of 
 familiarity with the Captain, though he seemed to have little 
 authority in the troop, and was certainly more calculated to fur- 
 ther an enterprise by his courage and exertions than to plan and 
 direct its execution. He differed totally in manners and cha- 
 racter from the rest of the guerilla, and was the only individual 
 who uttered any offensive expressions ; and these, I have little 
 doubt, originated more in a thoughtlessness and natural vehe- 
 mence of temper than in any malignant feeling. For some time 
 we proceeded tranquilly along the road ; the guerilla looked upon 
 us with less displeasure, and Shocky 's repeated assurances that 
 we should die began to abate. Although little regularity \va& 
 observed in their march, they paid implicit obedience to their 
 chief, who omitted no point of necessary caution. Before we 
 turned any of the projecting rocks that concealed the view of the 
 road beyond he regularly sent forward a vidette, consisting of 
 three or four men, who, advancing carefully, reconnoitred the 
 pass ; and, when they were satisfied that no danger was at hand, 
 made signals to their companions. By these means they effec- 
 tually guarded against any sudden surprise. This calm, how- 
 ever, did not endure ; and indeed their temper was destined to 
 undergo a severe trial. We had travelled with them for a short 
 distance when we heard a rolling discharge of musketry from 
 the valley below ; the guerilla turned, and listened attentively ; 
 it was again and again repeated. They knew by those sounds, 
 and I knew also, the long-expected engagement had commenced. 
 I was aware that these discharges would probably continue, and 
 could not fail to exercise a most unfavourable influence on our 
 destiny an anticipation quickly realized in their increasing irri- 
 tation and change of conduct. Their countenances became sul- 
 len, and almost ferocious ; many scowling glances were bent
 
 CHAP, vii.] ' ROAR OF THE COMBAT. 165 
 
 upon us, many threats were uttered, and they spoke of our guilt 
 as certain. At length we heard the tremendous roar of the can- 
 non : it was awfully reverberated among the rocks, and produced 
 a strong sensation upon the mind of every man. For some mi- 
 nutes I had closely observed the Captain, who was walking near 
 me with the young Catalan along the edge of the precipice. For 
 a long time he neither paused nor turned his head towards the 
 quarter whence those blasts proceeded. In spite of the exaspe- 
 ration of his men, and the indignant observations that were indi- 
 rectly addressed to him, he fixed his eyes on the ground, and 
 made no reply ; his consciousness of those sounds was alone ma- 
 nifested by the determined slowness of his step and the increasing 
 gloom of his countenance. This peculiarity of manner was not 
 the effect of indifference or inattention, but arose from a feeling 
 of deep-rooted pride. Hemmed in these fastnesses by the Con- 
 stitutional troops, who surrounded the mountain on all sides, 
 separated from his companions in arms, unable to lend them any 
 assistance in the hour of their greatest emergency, compelled 
 to hear inactively the sound of that musketry which was level- 
 ling their ranks, and would soon be directed against his own, he 
 would not express an impotent desire of vengeance before two 
 strangers, whom he regarded as secret enemies of his cause, 
 though, in default of real evidence, he had not yielded to the 
 clamour of his band, and signed our death-warrant. That such 
 were his reflections I have little doubt, from his manner, his 
 subsequent conduct, and from casual expressions. At all events 
 he preserved silence while the musketry continued ; but when 
 the loud roar of the cannon suddenly broke upon us his counte- 
 nance changed, and the passion that had long been gathering in 
 his breast seemed at once to master his better judgment, as he 
 turned to the young Catalan, and said that the Constitutionalists 
 were at that moment exterminating his companions ; that no 
 mercy had been shown to the Royalists who were taken in arms 
 near Tarragona, and that the circumstances under which we 
 were captured justified the retaliation which he would no lono-er 
 delay. In answer to his last speech, I turned and said to him 
 that we could feel no apprehension ; that he had pledged his 
 word the word of a Catalan that our lives should be respected ; 
 that such a pledge, so given, could not be disregarded in my
 
 166 CATALAN FIDELITY. [CHAP. vn. 
 
 country, nor, in his, would be violated by any man of honour. 
 In spite of the irritation under which he was labouring, he lis- 
 tened to me with attention, but made no reply, and, I think, was 
 embarrassed by the recollection of a promise he no longer 
 intended to preserve, and which he now conceived had been 
 obtained by falsehood, and given under a false impression. At 
 this crisis, when our situation seemed desperate, we were saved 
 by an honourable feeling of fidelity in our guide. During the 
 first part of the day's expedition I had been annoyed by the in- 
 difference which the young Catalan had shown on occasions that 
 in some degree required activity. I was afterwards amused by 
 the caustic humour of his remarks ; but was totally unprepared 
 for the vigour of mind which he now displayed in defence of 
 men who, till that morning, had been entire strangers to him and 
 his. He said, in a firm tone, he would pledge his existence that 
 we were foreigners, unconnected with party : we had visited the 
 mountain, relying on the hospitable feelings of the people, and 
 under his peculiar guidance. He called upon the Captain to 
 pause for further proof, and not commit an act that would cast 
 an indelible stain on their honour. The Captain replied with 
 warmth ; but these remonstrances had certainly the eifect of 
 preventing the hasty measures he would otherwise have adopted 
 in the irritation of the moment. I was surprised at the intimacy 
 which seemed to exist between the chief and the young Catalan ; 
 but I afterwards learned from our muleteer that the Captain was 
 a native of Monistrol, a town not far from Colbato ; that they 
 had been previously acquainted ; and that a brother of our guide 
 had fought with the Royalists. This account explained the in- 
 fluence which he possessed over the Captain's mind. 
 
 About this time the guerilla paused near a fountain formed 
 by a mountain-torrent that came down a ravine in the rock. It 
 is not easy to describe the sublimity of the scene that presented 
 itself; it was a scene that Salvator Rosa should have sketched, 
 and Walter Scott described. We stood amid one of the grandest 
 landscapes of savage nature : above our heads the mountain was 
 clothed to a considerable height with pine-forests, surmounted 
 by a range of tall gray crags ; beneath our feet, stretching as far 
 as the Pyrenees that bounded the distance, lay Catalonia, the 
 theatre of the civil war. The fountain was overhung by a rock
 
 CHAP, vii.] SCENE BY THE FOUNTAIN. 167 
 
 covered with wood, that overshadowed the road with its branches. 
 Beneath this cliff the guerilla had collected to enjoy a moment's 
 rest in the shade ; still the beams of the sun broke at intervals 
 through the foliage, and flashed upon their arms, their dark-red 
 plaids, and scarlet bonnets. The individuals who composed the 
 guerilla seemed chosen men, in the vigour of youth, and pos- 
 sessed all the characteristic dignity of Spanish manners. Their 
 dress was picturesque, and suited to the scene ; their figures were 
 staiely ; their countenances, for the most part handsome, were 
 now lighted up by the various feelings of anxiety, deep thought, 
 and gloomy resentment. These passions prevailed, but were 
 differently expressed as they were more or less felt, according to 
 the temper of each man ; but on every countenance I read the 
 same character of high determination. Some were kneeling by 
 the fountain and drinking with avidity, others reclined along the 
 ground, and a few were leaning on their muskets. One man 
 advanced to the edge of the precipice, and when he heard the 
 heavy sound of the cannon he clenched his fist and shook it, 
 lookiig with an expression of determined hatred towards the posi- 
 tion that he conceived to be occupied by the Constitutional troops. 
 Perhaps there was no circumstance so striking as the courtesy 
 with which we were treated at a moment when their passions 
 were exasperated and our doom almost decided. While the 
 guerilla were reposing under the rock, the Captain asked me 
 whether I were not fatigued, and would not like also to rest ; 
 and Shocky, who was my guard, when he paused to drink from 
 the numerous streams that intersected the road, always invited 
 me to follow his example. While a few words passed between 
 the Captain and me, the young Catalan, who omitted no oppor- 
 tunity of interceding in our favour, again renewed his advice 
 against intemperate measures ; but the Captain turned aside, 
 adding, " No hay remedio " (There is no alternative). These 
 words, combined with the calm determination of his manner, 
 convinced me that his courtesy arose more from the delicacy 
 natural to a high-minded man than from any favourable change 
 in his intentions, and in this light it was evidently regarded by 
 his followers, who said, then and afterwards, in the Catalan 
 patois, " Estan perdut, estan perdut " (They are lost men, they 
 are lost men). After we had left the fountain some private
 
 168 THE GUERILLA CHIEF. [CHAP. vn. 
 
 conversation passed between the Captain and his Lieutenant. 
 When this was concluded, the latter selected two men from the 
 band, and led the way to a narrow path that wound through the 
 wood to the crags above. He ascended the hill a step, turned, 
 drew himself up with dignity, waved his hand, and, addressing 1 
 the guerilla, said that he should mount the heights to learn if 
 the Spaniards were approaching, for by this appellation they 
 invariably designated the revolutionary forces, in opposition to 
 the native Catalans. He added, that if he perceived them he 
 should fire as a signal, and then dos tiros a los Seuores (two 
 volleys upon the Signers). This injunction was not particu- 
 larly enlivening, as the mountain was on all sides surrounded 
 by the adverse forces. Soon afterwards I- heard a musket fired, 
 which I thought for a moment was the appointed signal, but 
 was quickly undeceived by the manners of the guerilla, who 
 paid no attention to the discharge, and probably knew by the 
 sound that it was unconnected with their companions. As we 
 continued our journey slowly, the Captain seemed engaged in 
 deep and more amicable conversation with the young Catalan : 
 it seemed desponding, by the low tones of his voice, and by a 
 few broken sentences which I heard from time to time; the 
 indignant feelings that had flushed his cheek were gone, and 
 the fever of his eye was replaced by an expression of subdued 
 melancholy. He said that the mountain was encompassed on all 
 sides by an overwhelming force ; he was aware that his com- 
 panions in the fortified house must have already perished ; " I 
 know," he added, " that, so surrounded, we too must die (se 
 bien que hemos de morir), but we will shed our dearest blood 
 for the King and the Holy Faith." His former animation re- 
 turned for a moment when he alluded to a proclamation issued 
 on the preceding day, offering mercy to all who would lay 
 down their arms within four-and-twenty hours. He kindled 
 with indignation as he mentioned some Royalists of a different 
 guerilla, who, he said, had compromised their principles and 
 sued for pardon (que han pedido pardon). " The time limited 
 by act," he added, " is expiring ; our situation is hopeless, but 
 not a man will submit." I say it was impossible to hear such 
 sentiments expressed at such a time without a strong feeling of 
 respect for the individual, and of contempt for the incapacity of
 
 CHAP, vii.] DESOLATE VENTA. 169 
 
 a government that had enlisted such a spirit against the cause 
 of freedom. There was no period of the civil war more dis- 
 astrous to the Royalists than these days which immediately fol- 
 lowed the fall of Cervera. The Provisional Government of 
 Urgel was not yet in existence. There was no rally ing-point 
 there was no union among the chiefs of the insurrection there 
 was no safety left for the Royalists, except in the sympathy of 
 the people. Chieftains everywhere sprang up, acted independ- 
 ently of each other, and increased the general confusion. Little 
 guerillas, formed from the wreck of their army, renewed a des- 
 perate war in the mountains, and were taken or cut to pieces in 
 detail. During these successive reverses acts of devoted heroism 
 were performed such as were never surpassed in La Vendee ; 
 but they occurred in a remote corner of Europe, they had no 
 historian, and are unknown. 
 
 The cannon had ceased for some time before we reached a 
 solitary house, that had probably flourished a bad venta in its 
 best days, but was now in a ruinous condition. Here, the 
 Captain said, he expected to receive the requisite information 
 respecting ourselves ; and, addressing a lad who came to assure 
 him that no immediate danger was at hand, entered the house. 
 We were led into the court to await the result of their con- 
 ference : the outer walls had experienced the ravages of war, 
 and were falling into decay. A woman, bearing a child in her 
 arms, was seated on a plank that lay at the extremity of the 
 court. She was evidently accustomed to the guerilla, as she 
 scarcely seemed to observe their arrival, and paid no attention 
 to the scene that was passing around her. In a few minutes the 
 Captain re-appeared, and, quitting the road that wound along 
 the defile, led across an open moor. In answer to a question 
 
 asked him by my friend P , he answered, " If you are men 
 
 of honour, you are betrayed ; but, if so, you have nothing to 
 fear " (Si stan hombres de bien stan vendidos). Here a scene 
 of a ludicrous nature occurred. We met a young peasant, whom 
 some of the guerilla seized, and, suspecting that he intended to 
 join the militia, compelled to follow in their train. As I was 
 mounted on horseback, and rode in advance, the lad imagined 
 that I was Captain of the band, and implored my interference 
 with a most ungainly mixture of sobs and supplications. In
 
 170 A PITEOUS PRISONER. [CHAP. vn. 
 
 spite of my assurances to the contrary, he continued these piteous 
 vociferations for mercy till he was informed by the Captain 
 that my predicament was not more hopeful, or my authority 
 more extensive, than his own. He then bewailed his fate in 
 a strain of unmanly lamentation that first provoked the contempt, 
 and finally the anger, of these high-spirited mountaineers. For 
 the honour of Spain, I must add that I never saw a similar cha- 
 racter among- her peasantry, and indeed, from his subsequent 
 manner, I believe the poor lad was half-witted. 
 
 The scenery had now materially changed : we saw some 
 peasants ranged upon low hills that rose on each side crowned 
 with pinaster. The Lieutenant and his two followers, who had 
 quitted us near the fountain, stood on a neighbouring height, 
 their wild and martial figures resting against the sky. As we 
 drew near they came rushing down to meet us, their dress and 
 arms beautifully gilded by the setting sun. 
 
 At length the Captain desired the band to halt, and I per- 
 ceived that we had reached one of the heights that overlook the 
 main road from Barcelona to Madrid. "We had toiled for many 
 hours under a burning sun, and, completely fatigued, threw our- 
 selves on the moor. With that courtesy which had distinguished 
 his conduct during the day, the Captain offered me part of his 
 plaid as we lay on the ground ; but Shocky was still indefatigable 
 in his suspicions. He renewed his scrutiny, and particularly 
 examined my glass, which he evidently thought of highly anti- 
 royalist construction, and framed expressly for the purpose of 
 reconnoitering their positions. Ten minutes had not elapsed 
 before we saw two of the band, who had been posted on the 
 heights, descending the hill with muskets presented. We all 
 started from the ground, and I saw with pleasure our carriage 
 in the road below, as we should have been effectually compro- 
 mised if our servants had omitted to join us at the appointed 
 spot. At this sight the guerilla could no longer restrain their 
 impatience, but rushed down the steep, and for the first time I 
 was delivered from my persecutor Shocky. The Captain de- 
 layed an instant ; then, hastily leaving us in the charge of one 
 of his men, joined his party, as they had begun to plunder the 
 carriage. We stood alone on the moor with our Catalan guide, 
 and the guard, who could scarcely have attained the age of
 
 CHAP, vii.] CARRIAGE PLUNDERED. 171 
 
 seventeen. Our situation was still precarious : we had a copy 
 of the Spanish Constitution in the carriage, that, if found, would 
 have been a grievous offence. I remembered also that I had 
 deposited in a drawer of my desk a tricolor, which had been 
 presented to me during the first days of the revolution that 
 agitated Piedmont in the preceding year, on which the words 
 Liberty and Constitution were worked in large characters. 
 Such would have been naturally applied to Spanish politics ; 
 nor indeed could a stronger point of circumstantial evidence have 
 been adduced in confirmation of their suspicions. This danger 
 was, however, imaginary, as my dearest Sister had removed it 
 from my desk, without my knowledge, before I left England. 
 Lastly, they suspected that I was an officer in the Constitutional 
 militias ; and the discovery of my regimental uniform would 
 have confirmed that belief. Our best policy was to join the 
 band, and direct the search that we could not prevent. Escap- 
 ing from our guard, we reached the carriage as Shocky, who 
 had probably never beheld a vehicle of this kind before, was 
 climbing, like a wild cat, over its sides and effecting an entrance. 
 The work of plunder and investigation proceeded gloriously 
 under such congenial auspices ; some gold seals, &c., were quickly 
 disposed of; he seized a gold and platina chain, placed it round 
 his neck, and expressed his intention to wear it always, saying 
 it would be a fine distinctive decoration. I now experienced a 
 severe loss in the destruction of the notes which I had made on 
 the North of Africa and on Spain, and which had been kept with 
 great minuteness from the moment of our passing the Pyrenees 
 to the day that we left Barcelona. As Shocky explored my 
 desk as he removed each paper, that nothing might escape his 
 observation I expected every moment that the fatal tricolor 
 would appear ; nor could I account for its non-appearance till 
 my return to England. Still the discovery of my uniform 
 seemed almost inevitable ; the desk was disposed of, for Shocky 
 had invaded the trunk that contained it, and, seizing part of my 
 wearing apparel, resolved on instant appropriation, saying it 
 would remain in excellent hands. At this critical moment 
 further search was prevented by the natural pride of the Spanish 
 character. The Captain, for the first time, expressed his con- 
 viction that we were men of honour and good faith (hombres
 
 172 THE AUTHOR LIBERATED. [CHAP. vn. 
 
 de bien y de palabra), and, perceiving the extent of Shocky's 
 depredations, said that not an article of our dress should be 
 taken by men who were not robbers, but defenders of the faith. 
 The Captain now consented to release us, and gave us part of 
 his cockade in token of friendship. We shook hands with him, 
 and in return requested his acceptance of some presents of slight 
 value that had escaped my friend Shocky's rapacity. During 
 the spring of the preceding year a revolutionist, who was dancing 
 round the tricolor standard on the day that the constitution was 
 proclaimed at Nice, gave me his tricolor cockade, desiring me 
 to keep it as a memorial of liberty ; and now, by a singular 
 chance, I was given the badge of Royalist principles by a chief 
 in arms for the Royal cause. A few of the guerilla came up 
 and shook hands with us as we departed. The sun was now 
 actually sinking below the horizon, and the scene around us was 
 bathed in a rich flood of crimson ; by this light we saw them, 
 till they were concealed from our view by the turning of the 
 road, glittering on the height, and waving their bonnets to us. 
 
 So terminated an adventure fraught with peril, which gave 
 me a deeper insight into the feelings and opinions of the pea- 
 santry than could have been obtained by years of investigation 
 in calmer times. On the whole, we had no ground for com- 
 plaint : they would have proceeded against us somewhat hastily : 
 but at a period when the Constitutional troops had orders to 
 give no quarter, and the Royalists in consequence took no 
 prisoners, it could not be expected that evidence would be 
 weighed with the dispassionate consideration that is brought 
 into a court of justice. "We had just left Barcelona, the focus 
 of Constitutional principles, and, misled by false information, 
 had invaded their hold at a moment when the mountain was 
 surrounded by an overwhelming force : the want of good intel- 
 ligence seemed improbable ; that our visit should be occasioned 
 by motives of mere curiosity appeared still more extraordinary. 
 There existed grounds for suspicion ; policy might have justified 
 the adoption of extreme measures, and few men would have con- 
 ducted themselves with greater moderation under the aggravated 
 circumstances in which they were placed. They considered the 
 sums of which they deprived us as a tax fairly levied in the 
 King's service on men who had incurred a much severer penalty,
 
 CHAP, vii.] CHARACTER OF THE GUERILLA. 173 
 
 by coming to their fastnesses from the very camp of their ene- 
 mies, provided with Constitutional passports. Upon this prin- 
 ciple, the Captain authorized the detention of our pistols, but 
 would not allow the seizure of a single article of our wearino- 
 apparel ; and when we had quitted the band, a guerilla-man, 
 influenced by the same irregular principle of honesty, hastened 
 to restore our drinking bota, which was handsome, and would 
 have been esteemed a prize by any Spaniard of his class. Shocky, 
 it must be admitted, made no refined distinctions, and by no 
 means thought the restitution of goods a necessary ceremonial 
 to be observed on our liberation. The guerilla were joined, at 
 the close of the day, by two labourers, who drew their muskets 
 from some bushes where they were concealed ; including these 
 men, their numbers, I believe, amounted to twenty-five. They 
 were only armed with carabines ; a few, I think, had short 
 knives, which could seldom be available in the field. Their 
 manners were frank, manly, and above their station ; they were 
 sincere in the opinions which they had embraced, and were cer- 
 tainly not, at that time, influenced by foreign agency. It was 
 melancholy to see the attachment which they devoted to a cause 
 whose failure, almost certain for the moment, would inevitably 
 involve their own destruction, and impossible to refuse a tribute 
 of admiration to principle unshaken by the extremity of danger, 
 and energies so generously though ineffectually exerted. The 
 few opinions which they casually expressed respecting their 
 church were certainly bigoted and exaggerated by the heat of 
 party ; still I believe that such originated rather in a generous 
 sympathy with the priesthood, and in an attachment to their old 
 institutions, which they associated with the cause of God, than 
 in any genuine intolerance. In this opinion I was confirmed by 
 a few words that passed between two guerilla-men, whose mode- 
 ration, as applied to ourselves, formed a striking contrast to the 
 religious horror with which they regarded the Constitutionalists. 
 " Some maintain," said the first to his companion, " that they 
 resemble the Moors ; others deny it ; I am ignorant how the 
 matter stands, but we are all brothers." ( Unos dicen que son 
 c.omo los Moros, otros no, io no se, pero somos todos hermanos.} 
 This native generosity breaking through the cloud of prejudice 
 and party these sentiments uttered by an uneducated soldier of
 
 174 TRAITS OF GUERILLA CHARACTER. [CHAP. vn. 
 
 the Faith surprised and pleased me greatly. I must notice one 
 peculiarity, infrequent among the Spaniards, and in a great degree, 
 I think, attributable to the religious character which the war had 
 assumed : in their utmost exasperation I never heard a single 
 man give vent to his anger in an oath, or in any irreligious ex- 
 pression. With respect to ourselves, a courtesy and a delicacy 
 pervaded their conduct, astonishing, when we consider that, with 
 the exception of the Captain and the Lieutenant, the men who 
 composed the guerilla were only peasants. They observed my 
 dress with attention, but not with rudeness ; they examined a 
 severe blow which I had received over my eye many years 
 before, which they thought a sabre-cut, and an additional proof 
 of my connexion with the army ; but although they questioned 
 me freely on other points, they abstained from any remark which 
 they conceived might be personally offensive. In answer to 
 some plan proposed by the eternal Shocky, which had for its 
 object the discovery of our intention in visiting the mountain, 
 though we never understood its nature, his companion answered, 
 " Seria muy poco delicado " (It would be little delicate). And 
 in this, as in many other instances, a delicacy of feeling was 
 shown that would have reflected honour on refined society. 
 When we were taken, after the first discussion the Lieutenant 
 called us aside, and, regretting that the King's service com- 
 pelled him to make such a demand, desired us to deliver our 
 gold, unconscious that Shocky's zeal had disembarrassed us of 
 all we possessed. The subject was never mentioned by the 
 Captain, but, after our carriage was taken, the Lieutenant 
 renewed the request with the same guarded delicacy of manner, 
 saying that the defence of the mountain required every assistance. 
 When we assured them, in the earlier part of the day, that we 
 had given up all we had brought to the mountain, although they 
 regarded our conduct with deep suspicion, even Shocky, who 
 was the least satisfied, and by far the least considerate of the 
 band, did not attempt to ascertain the fact. I might have carried 
 in my pocket half the gold of which we were dispossessed, had I 
 conceived such conduct either honourable or prudent. 
 
 In Spain a beggar will invite the passenger to share with him 
 his last crust of bread : with the same characteristic generosity, 
 although they never scrupled to express before us their belief in
 
 CHAP, vii.] A GUERILLA ORIGINAL. 175 
 
 our guilt, and their desire of vengeance, still, whenever they 
 paused to drink from the stream, they pressed us to do so like- 
 wise ; and while they took some refreshment at the venta, a 
 guerilla-man came out, and, offering us brandy, pressed us to 
 drink it with good-humoured earnestness. 
 
 The alliance that existed between me and Shocky was cer- 
 tainly of a curious and indefinable character. This man was 
 totally unlike the rest of his companions, and in all respects a 
 perfect original. He possessed neither the pride, the stateliness, 
 nor the delicacy of the Spanish character, but was good-humoured, 
 and not ungenerous ; he was cunning, and had much of that dry 
 wit peculiar to the Catalans, which he sometimes exercised upon 
 his prisoners with more talent than judgment. In the first mo- 
 ment of our capture he was more violent than the rest ; when 
 their suspicions had abated, he shook hands with us most warmly ; 
 arid when their doubts revived, his voice was most decidedly 
 against us. During our march, he principally attached himself 
 to me, asking many indifferent, some very insidious questions, 
 and mingling amicable conversation with repeated assurances of 
 our destruction. The ardour with which he gave his voice for 
 our death whenever the question was agitated, and, when he was 
 over-ruled, the naivete with which he resumed his place by the 
 side of my horse, and renewed the conversation without any 
 appearance of ill-will, or the slightest suspicion that I could 
 entertain feelings of ill-humour with him for the part he had 
 taken in the discussion, were infinitely absurd and almost amus- 
 ing. He was short ; his countenance unprepossessing, and at 
 times ferocious ; but, in his good-humoured moments, there was 
 a lively and reckless expression of eye, that, combined with the 
 general animation of his manner, disguised the natural plainness 
 of his features. I do not believe he was malignant : he sup- 
 posed us to be enemies, and possibly, like the foxhunter, who 
 thinks the sport incomplete if he lose his fox, so Shocky thought 
 that the day's business would be unsatisfactory if two strangers 
 of doubtful character were permitted to escape. In the evening, 
 when he saw us exchanging presents with the Captain, he came 
 up to me, actually arrayed in my spoils, and asked, in the most 
 artless tone, whether no present was reserved for him " Nada 
 para mi T' He evidently thought that his connexion with me
 
 176 CIVIL WAR OF 1822. [CHAP. vn. 
 
 during the march had fully entitled him to this parting act of 
 friendship, and was in nowise cancelled by the summary pro- 
 ceedings he had so constantly advised, or the rapidity with 
 which every article of value had vanished under his inspection. 
 I laughed at his request, and with some difficulty found an old 
 knife, which I presented to him, and which he may since have 
 possibly applied to the disadvantage of some constitutional 
 throat. He took it good-humouredly, and, as we lost sight of the 
 band, we saw him waving his bonnet higher and longer than the 
 rest of his companions. 
 
 I have dwelt, perhaps, too long on details of this nature ; but 
 I wished to make my reader in some degree acquainted with the 
 character of the Royalist insurgents, and with the interior, if I 
 may use the expression, of a Catalan guerilla. The Captain 
 was distinguished only by a hat, which he wore instead of the 
 bonnet. He had fought among those mountains in the war of 
 Independence : he was middle-sized, but his features were hand- 
 some and expressive ; he seemed to be from thirty to thirty-five 
 years of age, and was apparently a man of deep reflection, and 
 of strong but controlled passions. 
 
 u I have dwelt but slightly on the mode of warfare peculiar to 
 the guerillas, as it has been so often described by officers en- 
 ga<mlin the Peninsular war. During the civil war of 1822, the 
 Constitutional troops, compelled to attack the insurgents in their 
 own fastnesses, and frequently in situations where cavalry is use- 
 less, suffered almost equally from victory as from defeat. Small 
 parties were totally destroyed, convoys cut off, and every strag- 
 gler from his regiment doomed to destruction : sometimes, at the 
 call of a popular leader, like the Trappist, the Royalist gueril- 
 las came down from the mountains like a whirlwind, formed 
 at once a powerful army, supplied the want of good discipline 
 by fanatic courage, overran the open country, and even obtained 
 possession of the fortified towns. The Trappist, supposed to be 
 invulnerable, went to battle, mounted on a black charger, bear- 
 ino- the sabre in one hand and the cross in the other, and habited 
 in his monastic garb, that was literally perforated with musket- 
 balls. Before the combat he knelt upon the ground, prayed 
 fervently for success, then burst upon the enemy with a valour 
 that was thought supernatural. Such was his influence, that, at
 
 CHAP, vii.] ROYALIST CHIEFTAIN OF NAVARRE. 177 
 
 his approach, the tocsin rang, and the peasantry rose to arms. 
 He was connected with the great military operations of that time, 
 and his fame has survived ; but others, whose names are scarcely 
 remembered, appeared for a moment on this scene of confusion, 
 emulated his actions within the narrow limits of their native dis- 
 trict, acquired a great though bounded influence, and stamped 
 the war with an _ extraordinary character of chivalry and devo- 
 tion. 
 
 I am not acquainted with the fate of our Captain and his band. 
 Few of the petty chieftains who played a prominent part in this 
 early period of the civil war survived the disastrous days that 
 followed the fall of Cervera. The principal leaders had more 
 resources at their disposal, for the most part succeeded in ef- 
 fecting their escape into France, and reappeared with greater 
 force. 
 
 As I have been dwelling at some length upon the devoted 
 loyalty which animated the Royalist leaders of that time and 
 country, I will conclude this chapter by adverting to an acci- 
 dental interview which I had, a few days after my capture at 
 Montserrat, with another noble specimen of the guerilla chief. 
 
 We left Pampeluna in the commencement of June, and, pass- 
 ing through some bold and beautiful scenery, followed the road 
 to Tolosa. The main pass of the Pyrenees was at that time occu- 
 pied by a Royalist guerilla. On leaving the posada at the entrance 
 of the defile, we were preceded by a man whom I afterwards dis- 
 covered to be the chief of the band, and one of the guardians of the 
 mountain appointed by the Royalists for the purpose of examin- 
 ing suspicious persons, and protecting travellers from outrage. 
 He joined me as I was walking before the carriage, and almost 
 immediately led the conversation to public events, as if desirous 
 of ascertaining my opinions. I replied freely, and followed him 
 without hesitation as he entered a wood, and led the way by a 
 shorter path to the main road : he was nattered at the want of 
 suspicion implied in my manner, and continued to discuss the po- 
 litical grievances of his party with much earnestness. The 
 treatment of the King and the clergy, and the abolition of the 
 provincial distinctions, formed the principal causes of complaint ; 
 
 N
 
 178 ROYALIST CHIEFTAIN [CHAP. vn. 
 
 but his language was free from the bitterness so prevalent in the 
 districts we had lately quitted : it was generally considerate ; and 
 more than once he corrected himself when he had made use of 
 an expression which he thought intemperate. Not' only the 
 insurrection was recent in Navarre, and mutual injuries had not 
 yet, as in Catalonia, brought every deadly passion into play, but 
 its population is less intractable, and neither party was eager 
 to adopt the system of extermination that characterised the 
 struggle in Catalonia. In that province the most ferocious acts 
 were perpetrated by the native militias, and the Catalan parti- 
 sans were distinguished as the " terrible guerillas," from their 
 unrelenting retaliation. In allusion to the massacres engendered 
 by this system of war, the Cortes, in an address presented to the 
 King on the 25th or 26th of May, 1822, concluded their review 
 on the state of Catalonia in the following expressive language : 
 " Sire, the statement which we have laid before you is unhappily 
 proved by the different factions that have simultaneously appeared 
 in Catalonia, where events have occurred that are too horrible to 
 recall to your recollection, and which the pen trembles to record." 
 But a milder spirit prevailed in Navarre. My Royalist guide 
 informed me that, a few days before, his band had captured a 
 small party of the Constitutional troops, but had only disarmed 
 them, and desired them to make the best of their way to Pam- 
 peluna, under the protection of the Deity. He seems to have 
 partly relied on a promise which he had exacted, as the price of 
 their liberation, that they would not again bear arms against the 
 soldiers of the Faith ; an engagement that superseded the'severe 
 measures adopted in Catalonia, where the difficulty of maintain- 
 ing prisoners in the mountain fastnesses rendered their execution 
 on the part of the Royalists, not only an act of reprisal, but al- 
 most of necessary policy. He spoke confidently of the approach- 
 ing invasion by the French troops, and dwelt enthusiastically on 
 the praises of the Baron Eroles, under whom he had served, and 
 who would again place himself at the head of his ancient fol- 
 lowers a prediction soon afterwards verified. This valley, he 
 said, was rendered famous by the annihilation of a French regi- 
 ment, during the war of Independence ; and he trusted the 
 Constitutionalists would not provoke a similar fate, by venturing 
 to attack them in their fastnesses. He then save me a detailed
 
 CHAP, vii.] OF NAVARRE. 179 
 
 account of the manner in which his party had baffled a large body 
 of the French troops, who had completely surrounded the moun- 
 tain where they had retreated. It was resolved that the guerillas 
 should disperse ; that each man should choose a separate path ; 
 but that all should re-assemble at a given hour and at an 
 appointed spot. They dispersed, and every man, left to his own 
 resources, effected his escape ; nor was an individual absent when 
 the Captain called over their names at the stated time and 
 place. 
 
 When we reached the middle of the pass he showed me a 
 rock on the opposite side, hanging over the stream that flowed 
 beneath, and covered with chestnut and underwood. There, he 
 said, his guerilla were concealed. A few minutes later he fired 
 his musket as a signal that they should not descend at the sound 
 of the carriage, and soon afterwards shook hands with me and 
 departed. During this conversation, in which he frankly but 
 temperately expressed his opinions, his language was always 
 elevated, and sometimes scriptural. I give one specimen of his 
 native eloquence : while he was speaking of the sufferings of the 
 priesthood, he saw some little children playing on the road, and, 
 turning to me, said with vehemence," Nosotros sabemos bien 
 la ley de antes y la ley de Dios ; pero esos chicos que ley cono- 
 ceran ?" ("We are well acquainted with the law of the old time 
 and the law of God ; but these little ones what law will they 
 know ?) and his voice faltered with emotion.
 
 180 PORTUGAL. [CHAP. vin. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 First impressions confirmed Surpassing beauty of the Entre Minho 
 Superstition of the Bento Convent of Thibaim Guimaraens Inhabit- 
 ants of the Minho and Mountaineers of the Trazos compared Breakfast 
 in the Convent Parlour Monkish waggery Return to Lisbon. 
 
 AND now, having reverted to the year 1822 and mingled again 
 in the wild feuds which then distracted Catalonia, I shall once 
 more assume a privilege conceded rather to the novelist than the 
 traveller, and, overleaping time and space, again transport my 
 reader to the year 1827 and to the banks of the Minho; re- 
 minding him that, when we mutually agreed to make a slight 
 digression to other scenes and other years, I had just accomplished 
 a somewhat hasty exit from the Spanish territory, and was rather 
 safely than gloriously landed on the friendly shores of Portugal. 
 At Valenca I called on the Governor, and in the evening at- 
 tended a party at his house, where I was introduced to the ladies 
 of his family, the officers of a regiment stationed in the town, 
 and three fat and favourite pugs. I found the Governor, a most 
 worthy man, in bed, suffering from indisposition, and a lady of 
 a certain age, evidently wife, mother, or daughter, feeding him 
 with affectionate solicitude. Valen9a is a place of great strength, 
 and might easily demolish its sister town on the opposite bank ; 
 in allusion to its fortifications, some Portuguese officers observed 
 that their forbearance, in refraining from such a tempting act, 
 was a signal proof of the national moderation, and added, as a 
 supplement to the remark, that the strong were always merciful; 
 as if the destruction of Tuy involved that of Spain, and would 
 be followed by no retributive consequences. 
 
 The exquisite beauty of the country between Tuy and Ponte 
 de Lima baffles all description. I rode among hills covered 
 with cork and olive, over knolls partly bare and partly clothed 
 with picturesque groups of chestnut, emulating the richest park 
 scenery, and through fields of the most delightful verdure, inter-
 
 CHAP, viii.] ENTRE MINHO THE BENTO. 181 
 
 sected by streams of clear water, and overshadowed by ancient 
 oaks. Here too the walnut grew profusely ; that tree at once 
 the beauty and disgrace of English scenery ; for, in England, its 
 leaves fall often in September, and its bare denuded branches 
 form a mournful contrast to the green luxuriance of the sur- 
 rounding forest : with us it is the first harbinger of winter, an 
 early and unwelcome herald of the general dissolution ; but in 
 the Minho its foliage is unimpaired, even in the heart of No- 
 vember. The rare union of trees and shrubs belonging to dif- 
 ferent climates, and growing side by side, is the most striking 
 feature of this earthly paradise. Here the north and south may 
 be said to meet on amicable terms, for the Indian corn, the dark 
 cork, the deep-green orange, and the luxuriant vine, then com- 
 pletely turned and of a bright-red colour, were beautifully inter- 
 spersed with the oak, and elm, and the hardy vegetation of the 
 northern world. At length I reached Ponte de Lima, and 
 rambled along the banks of that delightful stream the Cavado. 
 I thought I had never gazed upon a lovelier scene, as I saw the 
 sun set gloriously behind a range of bold mountains then robed 
 in the deepest purple, and illuminate with its last beams many 
 peaceful and picturesque hamlets built of cork and thatched with 
 broom. From Lima I rode on to Braga, through a continu- 
 ation of the same enjoyable country and execrable roads ; while 
 the hedges, high and covered with wild flowers, reminded me of 
 the lanes near Dawlish on a spring day : a little farther on the 
 pine abounded, mixed with the red heath in full bloom. 
 
 In the course of this day's journey we passed the hut of a lone 
 Bento. The superstition of the Bentos is deeply rooted in parts 
 of Portugal, and the Bentos and Bentas are greatly venerated. 
 As the Bento is distinguished by the possession of extraordinary 
 faculties during his mortal career, so his entrance into this 
 world of grief and sin is accompanied by extraordinary circum- 
 stances. Before his birth, strange and fearful lamentations are 
 heard to issue from his mother's womb, and, when born, the sign 
 of the cross is seen distinctly marked on the roof of his mouth ; 
 his progress from infancy to manhood is characterized by un- 
 usual gravity, by an abstinence from all boyish amusements, by 
 premature wisdom, and by a foresight exceeding that of man : 
 no fraud, however well contrived, can escape his penetration ; if
 
 182 THE BENTO CONVENT OF THIBAIM. [CHAP. vin. 
 
 an offence has been committed, he fixes with unhesitating decision 
 upon the offender ; if a robbery has occurred, he indicates the 
 place where the stolen goods are deposited, and names the robber. 
 To him the shades of midnight are clear as the glare of noon ; 
 and if man's life be taken at that silent hour, his glance can 
 pierce the darkness impenetrable by other eyes, and his awful 
 voice proclaims the accursed man of blood. 
 
 And there, where his lonely hut lies buried amid crag and 
 heath, there, after a heavy fall of rain, when the mountain 
 streams are flooded, and the wild clouds chasing each other over 
 the disordered face of heaven, there may be seen the aged Bento 
 filling the magic phial with the waters of seven different foun- 
 tains ; waters which, united by his pious hand, and at the fitting 
 moment, have some strange inexplicable power to heal the most 
 grievous maladies : there too, on the still eve, when not a breath 
 disturbs the forest-trees, that sainted and solitary mortal is 
 beheld by a revering peasantry culling simples from the hill-side, 
 or kindling a mysterious fire upon the rock, and feeding it with 
 the sable feathers of some spell-bound bird ; a wonder-working 
 combination which can infuse fresh vigour in the healthy, and 
 restore to life the dying man. 
 
 Arrived at Braga, I stopped at the Dos Amigos, and in the 
 evening was visited by the Commandant. On the following 
 morning I partook of a sumptuous breakfast at his house, after 
 which he mounted me on a fine horse, and accompanied me to 
 the convent of Thibaim, a spacious edifice placed in the midst 
 of an enchanting garden. The verdure was wonderfully rich, 
 the roses in full bloom, and the whole country, seen from the 
 convent windows, resembled a great extent of pleasure-ground. 
 This monastery contains some pictures of considerable merit. 
 Two are said to have been executed by Rubens, and I have 
 little doubt that one at least is an original. There is also one 
 by Raphael, and some others, called Italian, which may, I think, 
 be safely ascribed to the Bologna school. There are two pictures 
 of Inez de Castro, the one representing her in the first blossoming 
 of youth, the other a few years later, when her charms had fully 
 expanded. The general character of the colouring, the stiffness 
 of the figure, and the hardness of the outline, fully establish 
 their claims to antiquity. In the convent garden I observed a
 
 CHAP, viii.] BRAGA GUIMARAENS. 183 
 
 tree which seemed to me a kind of poplar, with so large a leaf 
 that I at first suspected it to be a variety of the banyan-tree. As 
 I returned to Braga I saw the Indian corn, cut and piled around 
 the trees, the stalk being left for cattle to feed on. A branch, 
 hung over the portal of a house, is here, as it was in England 
 during Shakspeare's time, an unfailing sign of entertainment 
 for man and horse. In the evening the Dean of Braga accom- 
 panied me to the cathedral, an edifice possessing little beauty, 
 but venerable from its antiquity, and supposed to have been 
 built before the Moorish invasion. The scene was melancholy 
 but imposing. The Archbishop had lately died ; the walls were 
 hung with black cloth, and the low funereal music, mingling 
 with the tender voices of the young choristers, sounded sweetly 
 but mournfully through the long aisles. The Archbishop of 
 Braga fills a post of the highest dignity, and at that time enjoyed 
 an enormous revenue. 
 
 Early on the following morning I continued my journey. 
 The vale of Braga richly wooded ; the white walls of innu- 
 merable quintas peeping through the trees ; the monasteries 
 crowning the heights ; the fleecy clouds, which rested midway 
 on the adjacent hills ; and the blue smoke, curling upwards from 
 the town, produced a very pleasing effect. At Guimaraens I 
 visited the old palace of the kings, now converted into a barrack, 
 and afterwards explored the castle, evidently built by the Romans 
 in the days of their best workmanship, and still in high preser- 
 vation. Prisoners for debt are now confined within its walls, 
 which seem calculated to endure for ages. There I saw a man 
 whose haggard face was fearfully impressed by want and wretch- 
 edness ; when I gave him a piece of money he prostrated him- 
 self before me in the depth of his humility, with such an air 
 of utter self-abasement as hardly became a human being when 
 addressing his^ brother man. The cathedral of Guimaraens is 
 ancient, and more worthy of notice from its extreme singularity 
 than from any architectural merits. The old columns are strong, 
 uncouth, and barbarous ; the walls are partially tiled with china : 
 and decorations in the most execrable taste have been added 
 in latter times. Guimaraens contains many wealthy inhabitants, 
 and some of the provincial nobles have houses in the town, and 
 are by no means unpopular. The people were much attached
 
 184 SCENERY OF THE ENTRE MINHO. [CHAP. vin. 
 
 to the convents, and particularly to the nunneries, which dis- 
 pense assistance to the poor with great liberality. From Gui- 
 maraens I rode on to Oporto, which terminated an expedition 
 attended with considerable hardship and fatigue, but full of 
 interest and excitement. Since we left Santiago the weather 
 had been truly delightful: the three weeks that succeed the 
 heavy autumnal rains in Portugal are often the most agreeable 
 in the year ; and that season, known by the name of 1'ete de 
 St. Martin, combines the unclouded sunshine and genial sensa- 
 tions of the real summer, without its oppressive heat. 
 
 I had now traversed the Entre Minho twice, and during my 
 second journey through the country was still more impressed with 
 a sense of its surpassing beauty. All that is most graceful in 
 cultivated scenery, all that is most striking in the wild land- 
 scape, have combined to render this little district a fairy-land. 
 In the more sheltered situations of the Entre Minho the tea- 
 plant and the Cape jessamine grow with little care, while the 
 azereiro, or Prunus Lusitanica, the cytisus, and several varieties 
 of the cistus tribe, are intermingled in gay profusion with the 
 lofty broom of Madeira. The fields are full of Indian corn ; the 
 meadows are abundantly watered by artificial as well as by their 
 own natural and beauteous streams ; the sides of the hills, con- 
 verted into terraces, are cultivated with exquisite care ; the vines 
 climb up the highest trees, and at once embrace and unite the 
 oak, the chestnut, and the poplar. Let the traveller pause in 
 almost any valley of the Minho, and his eye will feast on all this 
 rich detail of beauty, while from the adjacent heights of granite 
 rock he will command a gorgeous scene of woodland, diversified 
 by streams, and frequent cottages half-seen amongst, half-hid by, 
 their embowering groves ; he will perceive spots almost inac- 
 cessible, yet reclaimed from the heathery mountain, planted 
 with maize, and hanging as if in the air; he will gaze with ad- 
 miration on the many remnants of the old warrior castles, each 
 invested with its peculiar legend, and guarded by its own en- 
 chanted Mooress ; and last, not least in beauty, on the convent 
 towers, rising in peaceful pomp above the luxuriant plain. 
 
 His heart must be insensible to external influences who can 
 behold without delight, or quit without regret, such a favoured 
 country. Even the stern victors of the ancient world, little
 
 CHAP, viii.] POETIC TENDENCIES. 185 
 
 prone to the soft emotions of our nature, were vanquished by 
 the bewitching beauty of the valleys of the Cavado. Upon the 
 banks of that matchless stream they threw down the national 
 eagles, and refused to leave that happy land. They caught the 
 poetic spirit of the people, they called the Lima and the Cavado 
 the rivers of oblivion, and, in a fit of passionate enthusiasm, 
 forgot the ties that bound them to their distant home, and 
 renounced the glories of Imperial Italy for the pastoral and 
 peaceful seclusion of the Minho. 
 
 I have already observed that poetry and song are here much 
 in vogue here indeed they seem the spontaneous growth of the 
 mind ; that tendency to poetic expression and poetic exaggeration 
 in the ordinary intercourse of life, which characterizes the 
 inhabitants of the Traz os Monies, is equally remarkable in the 
 Entre Minho, but is modified by the different character of the 
 people and of the country. In the Minho the mind of man is 
 more light and elastic, embellishing all it touches, investing 
 matters of little interest with a nameless grace, and frequently 
 adverting to common objects with an almost Oriental pro- 
 fusion of metaphor. But in the Traz os Monies the imagination 
 of the mountaineer partakes of the gloom of his own less genial 
 climate and of the Gothic world. For instance, the crimson 
 clouds that surround the setting sun would be compared by 
 the gay people of the Minho to the damask rose of their own 
 enchanted valley of Barcelos, while the same clouds in the 
 Traz os Montes would be likened to the blood of a slaughtered 
 enemy. A difference equally striking pervades the provincial 
 songs : soft and tender in the Minho, generally plaintive, but 
 almost always celebrating the joys and sorrows of a gentle love; 
 in the Traz os Montes they breathe more often the language of 
 frantic passion and vehement revenge. The common peasant 
 in the Entre Minho not unfrequently adopts the expressions and 
 understands the delicacy of refined courtship ; in the Traz os 
 Montes he often holds the language, and is animated by the 
 sentiments, of a hero. The inhabitants of both provinces are 
 loyal to excess. In the Minho it is the unthinking, reckless, 
 laughter-loving loyalty of the Frenchman of the old school ; 
 but in the Traz os Montes attachment to the sovereign is, in 
 times of trouble, a stern engrossing passion which banishes every
 
 186 CONVENT OF BENEDICTINES. [CHAP. vin. 
 
 selfish consideration, and scarcely admits of a co-existing 
 thought. The inhabitant of the Minho, under every fluctuation 
 of feeling, enjoys equal and unclouded spirits ; but his brother 
 mountaineer, like the Highlander of old, is alternately wrought 
 to the loftiest enthusiasm, or weighed down by the deepest de- 
 jection ; and in that mood of mind an omen from the river or 
 the cloud will daunt a heart assailable by no mere mortal peril ; 
 he has indeed his golden dreams, his confident anticipations of 
 success, but then he has his sure forebodings of approaching 
 doom. Both the inhabitants of the Traz os Montes and of the 
 Minho are devotedly attached to their native soil ; the people 
 of the Minho frequently maintain that neither the rest of Por- 
 tugal, nor any known portion of the globe, can compete in 
 beauty with their valleys, but that Heaven alone possesses such 
 scenes of true enchantment. 
 
 I remained at Oporto for several weeks after my return from 
 Spain. In the society of Count Villa Flor and his beautiful 
 Countess, time glided rapidly and pleasantly away. 
 
 A few days previous to my departure from that city I accepted 
 
 an invitation from Dona R P to breakfast with the 
 
 nuns at the convent of Benedictines. This amiable and inter- 
 esting young lady was descended from a noble English family 
 remotely connected with my own, and had recently taken the 
 veil. Our party, consisting of my intelligent friend Mr. White- 
 ley, Mrs. Whiteley, another lady, and myself, were shown into 
 the convent parlour, where we found breakfast prepared ; about 
 the same time the lady Abbess, accompanied by some young 
 nuns, entered an adjoining apartment, only separated from ours 
 by a double grating. The reception she gave us was courteous, 
 though dignified ; the nuns, gentle and retiring in manner, yet 
 totally free from any appearance of awkward embarrassment, 
 joined gracefully, though but occasionally, in conversation. I 
 observed on some of their countenances an expression pensive 
 and resigned, but not indicative of mental disquietude ; their 
 deep black attire accorded well with the clear paleness of their 
 complexions ; the mantilla depended from the head, protecting 
 rather than shrouding the face ; their hair was parted in the 
 Madonna style, and a curious kind of whalebone projected from 
 the forehead in a curve and rested upon the nose.
 
 CHAP, viii.] CONVENT OF BENEDICTINES. 187 
 
 After breakfast we walked through the convent church, and 
 listened with delight to the rich sounds of its powerful organ, 
 and saw the nuns looking down upon us from another grate 
 raised high above the body of the church. At length the grate 
 was opened ; the nuns descended, and warmly and affectionately 
 embraced the ladies of our party, after which we exchanged 
 salutations and departed. The general effect was pleasing, but 
 1 was still more impressed by a scene which I afterwards wit- 
 nessed at the same place. I walked with my friend Mr. 
 Whiteley to the church at a late hour on Christmas eve. It was 
 brilliantly illuminated, and crowded to excess by persons flock- 
 ing in from the country as well as from the town, anxious to 
 behold the celebration of the Christmas rites, and animated by a 
 spirit of the most fervent devotion. I felt no common interest, 
 as I gazed upon those beautiful young women who appeared at 
 the high and distant grate, waking at intervals the deep organ 
 and accompanying it by their voices, voices of surpassing sweet- 
 ness, which thrilled through a thousand hearts. Raised far 
 above the lower world, they reminded me of the angelic host 
 seen by the awe-struck shepherds on the blessed anniversary of 
 that eve, floating upon the realms of space, breathing celestial 
 strains and singing, " Glory to God in the highest, and on 
 earth good will to man." 
 
 I cannot quit this subject without stating my conviction that 
 the aspersions cast upon the nuns are, generally speaking, unjust. 
 As far as regards the interesting persons to whom I have been 
 alluding, their conduct was universally admitted to be pure and 
 unexceptionable ; to call them blameless would be faint praise 
 indeed, as their lives were spent in an uninterrupted exercise of 
 the most active charity. In a country abounding in convents 
 some few instances may be adduced of nuns who have broken 
 their vows, overcome by the force of an earthly passion ; but the 
 disgrace entailed upon the sisterhood by any detected frailty is 
 considered great, and the penalty inflicted upon the offender is 
 proportionably severe. 
 
 I had now devoted more time to the north of Portugal than 
 I had' originally intended, and my departure from Oporto had 
 been for several days delayed solely by the rough sea and tem- 
 pestuous winds, which effectually prevented the steam-boat from
 
 188 THE BAR OF OPORTO. [CHAP. vm. 
 
 quitting the harbour. At length the weather became more 
 favourable, and, having taken leave of my friends, I rose before 
 break of day on the 27th of December, and embarked on board 
 the steam-boat bound to Lisbon. But the discouraging accounts 
 brought by the pilot of the state of the bar determined the 
 captain to defer the voyage to another day. The passage of 
 the bar is perilous when the sea is much disturbed, or the water 
 lo\v, as the only channel through which a vessel can navigate in 
 safety is shallow, confined, and hemmed in by rocks. It may 
 easily be conceived that among the English society at Oporto, 
 which is principally composed of gentlemen engaged in com- 
 merce, the state of the bar becomes a frequent and anxious sub- 
 ject of conversation at their evening parties. " How is the bar 
 this evening ?" is as often asked at an Oporto dinner as " Were 
 you in the Park to-day ? " in St. James's Square. There are 
 some curious facts connected with this dangerous accumulation 
 of sand. The sea, previously tranquil, often rises in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of the bar, and rushes in upon it with tremendous 
 force, although no visible cause of excitement can be discerned, 
 while, strange to say, a little farther along the shore the water 
 remains completely undisturbed. Oporto is nearly three miles 
 from the main ocean, but even at that distance I have been 
 sometimes forcibly struck by the loud and awful roar produced 
 by the sudden rise of the bar, unexpectedly breaking in upon 
 the stillness of night. 
 
 A somewhat similar phenomenon sometimes prevails along these 
 coasts. Upon such occasions the whole sea becomes chafed with- 
 out any assignable cause, and rolls in its mountainous surges 
 upon the beach, although the day is perfectly calm, and there is 
 not the lightest cloud, or the faintest breath of wind. Some 
 persons attribute this peculiar kind of ground-swell to the opera- 
 tion of heavy gales in distant seas : those gales, they suppose, 
 chafe the waters under the influence of their own immediate 
 action, and the waters, becoming disturbed, gradually commu- 
 nicate their own agitation to the remoter parts of the ocean. 
 
 I have observed the same kind of swell, in a lesser degree, at 
 Bude Haven, a wild port on the northern coast of Cornwall, 
 which should be visited by every painter of the storm, and, 
 indeed, by every man who loves the sea in its roughest mood ;
 
 CHAP, vin.] BAR OF OPORTO. 189 
 
 for he will there behold, on a tempestuous day, a size and gran- 
 deur of wave, and an uninterrupted surface of foam, such as 
 perhaps no other part of the British coast can present. I asked 
 an Irish sailor, who had lived two years at Bude, whether he 
 had ever seen a wilder sea on his native shore. " Never, indeed, 
 Sir," he replied, " and I verily believe that Bude Haven was 
 the last harbour God Almighty made."* Those great masses 
 of foam, contrasting with the dark crag of the coast, form not 
 unfrequently a scene which Morland would have loved. 
 
 But I am wandering strangely from my subject. On the 
 following morning I again rose before daylight, and embarked 
 on board the steam-boat, where I finally took leave of my kind 
 friend Mr. Whiteley, whom I quitted with real regret. The 
 sun shone brightly on the beautiful banks of the Douro as we 
 glided down the river ; but when we approached the formidable 
 bar, the old doubts were revived, and the propriety of passing 
 it was again called into question : the captain, who had been 
 prevented from quitting the harbour for two-and-twenty days by 
 the state of the bar, became impatient of further delay, and de- 
 cided in the affirmative. He was not, however, altogether with- 
 out apprehension lest the water should prove too shallow, and he 
 afterwards admitted that there was only just sufficient depth to 
 permit the free passage of the ship. Long before we reached 
 the bar I was struck with the magnificent appearance of the 
 distant breakers, which, succeeding each other rapidly, as they 
 rolled in upon the shore, resembled spirited chargers with high 
 crests and white flowing manes coming proudly in at the end of 
 the race. The passage of the bar was the work of a moment, 
 and, looking back upon it, it resembled a foaming whirlpool. 
 Emerging from the channel we entered on an enormous length 
 of swell, the vessel alternately riding over a mountainous wave, 
 and falling completely into a valley ; a heavy sea which pre- 
 vailed only in the immediate neighbourhood of the bar, for, as 
 we receded from it, the water became perfectly smooth. 
 
 * It must not, however, be supposed that this place, so remarkable for the 
 grandeur of its sea effects, is destitute of the comforts or conveniences of 
 life. There is a very good hotel established at Bude, and good lodging- 
 houses. Sir Thomas Acland has generously built a chapel, at his own ex- 
 pense, where the Rev. Mr. King officiates, and delivers some of the most 
 practical, yet eloquent, sermons that it has ever been my lot to hear. The 
 people are well disposed and grateful.
 
 190 MONKISH WAGGERY. [CHAP. vm. 
 
 Our progress was but slow, as the captain did not venture to 
 apply a strong horse-power to the engine, the vessel being shat- 
 tered and unfit to navigate the Atlantic during the winter 
 months. The state of that ship was a remarkable instance of 
 the mischief arising from the system so much in vogue in Por- 
 tugal, but so prejudicial to the public interest, of granting mo- 
 nopolies to favoured individuals. The communication between 
 Lisbon and Oporto is so frequent, that the establishment of 
 steam-boats would in all probability have been attended with 
 perfect success, had free competition been allowed ; but the 
 right of carrying passengers, in vessels worked by steam, was 
 restricted by the Government to a single individual. The 
 public suffered extremely from this narrow policy ; travellers, 
 having no choice, were compelled to avail themselves of this the 
 only conveyance ; yet no improvements, and scarcely even the 
 necessary repairs, were made in it, the proprietor being actuated 
 by no fear of competition. In consequence, we spent no less 
 than thirty-three hours in performing a voyage which had been 
 often effected in seventeen or twenty. 
 
 The last steam-packet which ran between Lisbon and Oporto 
 was lost, but the cause of the accident has never been fully un- 
 derstood, as there was little wind at the time, and the sea was 
 calm. A noble, who escaped from the wreck, related a curious 
 anecdote of monkish waggery connected with the loss of the ship. 
 In the desperation of that dreadful moment when she struck 
 upon the rock, many passengers, anxious to disengage them- 
 selves from the sinking vessel, sprang into the boats, which 
 became overladen, and went down. A few days after this dis- 
 aster, my friend met at court a friar, who was also in the ship, 
 and had like him escaped the fearful fate which surprised so 
 many persons on the night of the wreck. The King inquired 
 minutely into the particulars of an accident which was then the 
 general subject of conversation. The friar entered into all the 
 details, and concluded by declaring that, at the moment when 
 the boats went down, the dreadful certainty of approaching death 
 was lost in an overpowering sense of loyalty ; and that an una- 
 nimous shout of " Long live our excellent King ! " was heard 
 from the drowning crew. This little imaginary trait of devotion 
 to the Crown, notwithstanding its great improbability, time and 
 place considered, was highly palatable to the royal hearer ; and
 
 CHAP, vm.] RETURN TO LISBON. 191 
 
 my friend, a man of scrupulous veiacity, was hugely discomfited 
 when his delighted Sovereign required him to confirm the truth 
 of these loyal vociferations. 
 
 The day was beautiful, and the deck was profusely adorned 
 with flowers and odoriferous plants. I fell asleep towards sun- 
 set, ,and did not awake till a late hour, when I arose and paced 
 the deck. The scene was striking, but wild and dreary ; black 
 clouds were rapidly chasing each other over the face of heaven, 
 and contrasted strongly with occasional intervals of deep-blue 
 sky, upon which the stars were shining brightly : the immea- 
 surable waste of waters, obscurely seen by their dubious light, 
 and undistinguishable from the horizon ; the silence, broken only 
 by the sullen dash of the waves, and the short, stern call of the 
 men on duty, were all circumstances fraught with poetic interest. 
 We passed the rock of Lisbon on the afternoon of the following 
 day, and anchored in the Tagus as the last beams of the setting 
 sun threw a fine glow over the river. Our passage from Oporto 
 had been slow, but totally free from danger or alarm. Our 
 party was singularly uninteresting : the only personage worthy 
 of record was a French lady, who, rejoicing largely in flowers 
 and feathers, affected a juvenile deportment ; though somewhat 
 passee, she was, however, still pretty, and benevolently dis- 
 posed to be appropriated, either with or without the nuptial 
 ceremony. At times inordinately sick, she apparently derived 
 unspeakable solace from the affectionate attentions of two par- 
 rots, three Canadian ducks, four gold-fish, a cat, a dog, a 
 monkey, and a couple of hideous maids, who alternately laughed 
 and wept over their recumbent mistress.
 
 192 OPENING OF THE CORTES. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Opening of the Cortes The Chambers Dom Miguel's Arrival in the Tagus 
 Swears to maintain the Charter Tumults Melancholy Party at 
 Bemfica Progress of the Revolution Policy of the Court Emigration 
 of the Imperialists -Interview with Count Villa Flor on board the Frigate 
 Visit to Costa A Night's Adventure. 
 
 A FEW days after my arrival at Lisbon I engaged apartments at 
 a Spaniard's house, which was situated on the Caes do Sodre, 
 and commanded a splendid view of the Tagus, the various ship- 
 ping, and the mountains beyond. The southern sun sparkled 
 brightly upon the water for many hours in the day, and its setting 
 tints, though more subdued, were not less beautiful. In my 
 landlord, who was married to an Englishwoman, by whom he 
 had a very pretty daughter, I recognised " the noblest work of 
 God," an honest man. As a husband and a father, and indeed 
 in all relations, his conduct was unexceptionable : he was just to 
 his neighbour, obedient to the existing powers, professed no 
 political opinions, and received men of all parties with equal 
 courtesy. 
 
 On the 2nd of January, 1828, I attended the Royal Sitting 
 for the opening of the general Cortes, which took place at the 
 palace of Ajuda. The Infanta Regent, scarcely restored to 
 health, began her speech in a languid voice, congratulating the 
 Peers and Deputies on the favourable prospects of the kingdom, 
 and exhorting them to continue their patriotic exertions; she 
 deplored the failure of the bank, but trusted that credit would 
 soon revive ; she glanced at what she called the aggressive 
 conduct of the Spanish Government, but was glad to state that 
 their assurances had been latterly more pacific, and the character 
 of their policy materially improved. In conclusion, she spoke 
 of Dom Pedro as the undoubted Sovereign of Portugal, and 
 declared that her younger brother, Dom Miguel, would speedily 
 arrive to administer the Government in his name.
 
 CHAP, ix.] OPENING OF THE CORTES. 193 
 
 , The suspension of payments in cash by the bank had occa- 
 sioned general surprise, and had given rise to much angry dis- 
 cussion, but had not excited the great alarm which such an event 
 would have produced in England. The bank, in the first in- 
 stance, engaged, at the solicitation of Government, to take on its 
 own account half the loan voted by the Chambers, but was sub- 
 sequently induced to contract for a larger proportion. The 
 directors were in consequence obliged to extend their issues, and 
 eventually became unable to give silver in exchange for their 
 notes ; yet they might have answered the demand in gold, but 
 rather chose to incur the discredit of suspending payment alto- 
 gether than adopt this equitable and obvious course. 
 
 Thirty-six Peers were present at the opening of their house, 
 and forty -one declared absent : they commenced their labours by 
 a spirited assertion of their privileges, and refused to recognise 
 General Caula as a Peer, because the Emperor had raised him 
 to that dignity without the sanction of his council of state ; an 
 act of prerogative disallowed by the Charter. In the House of 
 Deputies, the law on the liberty of the press was brought forward 
 in the first days of the session. Senhor Sarmento, a most able 
 speaker, distinguished himself in the course of the discussion, 
 but some foolish resolutions were passed by the House ; among 
 other questions, the proposed division of the territory, and a 
 project for the amelioration of the judicial system, were debated. 
 Soon afterwards a proclamation was issued by the Infanta, in 
 which she deplored the sacrilegious robberies that had taken 
 place in different parts of the kingdom, accompanied with insults 
 to the Eucharist, and in conclusion denounced vengeance on the 
 impious offenders. 
 
 The impeachment and trial of the Archbishop of Elvas, the 
 Marquis of Fronteira, the Count of Taipa, and the Count of Cunha, 
 were perhaps the only public events that about this time excited 
 any general interest. These Peers were accused of stimulating 
 the people to revolt, and of encouraging certain manifestations 
 of republican feeling, which took place during the disorders 
 consequent on Saldanha's retirement from the ministry ; an accu- 
 sation which appears to have been wholly unfounded. With 
 respect to the Archbishop of Elvas, the Papal court revived 
 pretensions stigmatised by many as antiquated and obsolete, in- 
 
 o
 
 194 HOUSE OF PEERS. [CHAP. i. 
 
 sisted on his total exemption from civil jurisdiction, and arrogated 
 to itself the sole right of pronouncing judgment in his case. 
 This claim advanced by the Legate was referred to the House of 
 Peers, where it was warmly advocated by the Cardinal Patriarch, 
 the Bishop of Viseu, and the Count Rio Pardo, but negatived 
 after a stormy debate. 
 
 I was well acquainted with Fronteira and Taipa, and there- 
 fore frequently attended the House of Peers during the progress 
 of the trial, which was long protracted, but terminated in their 
 acquittal. The debates in both Houses were uniformly con- 
 ducted with dignity ; even during the discussion of the most 
 momentous questions, members never indulged in those lively 
 ejaculations and sudden bursts of passion which convulse the 
 French Chamber on very trivial occasions. In Spain, during 
 the heat of the Revolution, the most monstrous doctrines were 
 uttered with a calmness and moderation that formed a singular 
 contrast between the matter and the manner of the speaker. 
 The Conde da Linhares, the Conde da Taipa, the Conde da 
 Puente, and the Conde San Miguel, spoke with considerable 
 talent in the House of Peers ; and Senhores Sarmento and Guer- 
 rero took a prominent part in the Lower House. The Houses 
 were opened at ten o'clock in the forenoon for the despatch of 
 business, and usually continued sitting till two o'clock, when 
 the members returned home to dine. About this time the secret 
 marriage of the young Infanta with the Marquis of Louie took 
 place, and the melancholy circumstances attending her departure 
 from the kingdom excited much interest. 
 
 The presence of the British officers, the flower of our army, 
 gave an unusual degree of spirit to society : my time was partly 
 spent with them, and partly with my Portuguese friends, into 
 whose feelings and opinions I daily gained a further insight. 
 The wintry months rolled pleasantly away, if wintry they could 
 be called which had nothing of that inclement season but the 
 name, for the air was constantly warm, the sky serene, and the 
 sun bright : it rose with its accustomed splendour on the memor- 
 able 22nd of February ; about two o'clock in the afternoon the 
 royal flag was seen flying from all the signal-posts, and thunder- 
 ing salutes from the various shipping, answered by the cannon at 
 the castle, proclaimed the Infant's arrival. The joy occasioned
 
 CHAP, ix.] STORM AT BUDE. 195 
 
 by this event was increased by the fears latterly entertained for 
 his safety, as the coast had been visited, on the 19th'of February, 
 by one of the most tremendous gales on record ; and his preser- 
 vation was considered by many of his adherents as a signal proof 
 of the interposition of Providence in his behalf. That extra- 
 ordinary storm gave little warning of its approach, and lasted 
 only a few hours ; on that evening the heavy clouds cast an 
 unusual gloom, relieved only by vivid and repeated flashes of 
 lightning; " the troubled Tagus chafing with its shores" imme- 
 diately beneath my window was indeed a noble object. I saw 
 many of the smaller craft riding on its waves, dismasted, and 
 some actually go down amid the strife of wind and water : at 
 Setuval alone nineteen vessels were lost, and the whole line of 
 the Atlantic coast was strewed with wrecks. 
 
 The western coast of Cornwall was ravaged by a tempest 
 equally terrific on the 21st of February, 1833; I happened to 
 be at Bude at the time; the oldest inhabitant recollected no 
 similar visitation ; two ships were wrecked at the entrance of the 
 port during that memorable storm. On the evening of the 21st 
 I was accosted by a sailor who had belonged to one of the vessels 
 wrecked in the morning, and had been saved from a dreadful 
 death by the combined exertions of the people of Bude : weak 
 and exhausted, he had crawled to a fire kindled in a blacksmith's 
 shop on the very edge of the sea ; he was at that moment watch- 
 ing, with an interest no less intense than mine, the progress of 
 another vessel then rapidly approaching the harbour, and was 
 offering up most earnest wishes for the deliverance of his brother 
 seamen from the raging waters which had so nearly engulfed 
 him a few hours before. He told me that, in the course of a 
 long naval life, he only remembered one storm of equal horror 
 the storm to which I have been just alluding, which had ravaged 
 the coast of Portugal five years before, almost on the anniversary 
 of that day. He had then been wrecked for the first time, and 
 now returned unfeigned thanks to that Almighty Being who 
 had twice stretched forth his hand to save, and had borne him 
 unharmed through two such fearful visitations. 
 
 As we were still speaking, the vessel, that was rather rushing 
 than sailing into the harbour, impelled by a furious wind, passed 
 the most dangerous point in safety ; but while we were exulting 
 
 o2
 
 STOEM AT BUDE. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 at her apparent escape, she suddenly deviated from the right 
 track and struck upon some hidden rocks, close to the ship which 
 had been stranded a few hours before. It afterwards appeared 
 that the crew, unacquainted with the port, had mistaken, in the 
 jgloom of the evening, the black hulk of the stranded ship for the 
 pier, and had not discovered their mistake till the mischief was 
 irremediable. The situation of these poor men was awful in the 
 extreme : instead of the friendly shelter anticipated but a moment 
 before, they saw, immediately beside them, an appalling proof of 
 tfoe violence of the gale and the insecurity of their own situation 
 a spectacle that warned them of the recent fate of others, and 
 seemed a dreary prelude to their own. For some hours they 
 confidently expected death ; and when the receding tide per- 
 mitted the people of' Bude to approach them, they were over- 
 whelmed with joy and astonishment. The crews of both vessels 
 were saved : the first by great exertions and with great difficulty, 
 the second by a fortunate accident, too detailed in its character 
 for insertion here ; or, I should rather say, by an interposition 
 of Providence in their behalf, for, as the tide was nearly at its 
 height, no human aid could have been extended to them at the 
 moment when they struck upon the rock. It was a scene of 
 wild and almost terrible excitement. A fire was kindled upon 
 the heights, while the fury of the wind and the raging of the 
 waters drowned the voices of the sailors on the pier, but could 
 not prevent their passionate gesticulations, as they beheld the 
 vessel striking upon the rocks, and knew that death was staring 
 their shipwrecked brethren in the face. But it is high time to 
 leave the coast of Cornwall and return to the shores of the 
 Tagus. 
 
 The Infantas proceeded to the royal frigate to receive their 
 brother ; but when he saw them approaching he sprang into a 
 boat, and embraced them with tears of affection. As he landed, 
 the soldiers cried out, " Long live the Infant !" the people 
 replied with " vivas " for the Absolute King. At the palace of 
 Ajuda he was welcomed by his mother. Falling upon one knee, 
 he imprinted the most fervent kisses on her hand, and said, 
 taking from his bosom an image of the Virgin of the Rock, 
 " Behold this relic, your parting gift. Mother, you see before 
 you the same child you lost in 1824." From that moment the
 
 CHAP, ix.] KECEPTION OF DOM MIGUEL. 197 
 
 royal attendants knew that his political tendencies were unaltered, 
 her influence over his mind unimpaired, and the fate of the 
 Charter sealed. In the evening the palace was surrounded by 
 people shouting for the Absolute King. The officer on duty 
 sent a message to the Infanta Regent requiring instructions, 
 and offering to disperse the crowd ; but her Royal Highness 
 referred the messenger to the Infant, saying, " Brother Miguel, 
 you hear." u Let it pass," replied the Infant, and the people, 
 emboldened by his obvious approbation, reiterated their shouts. 
 
 That night the city was brilliantly illuminated. On the fol- 
 lowing day Dom Miguel repaired to the cathedral ; again he 
 was greeted with " vivas " for the Absolute King, more generally 
 and vehemently expressed ; and some soldiers who attempted to 
 stifle those cries were severely reproved. I conversed with some 
 Constitutionalists in the evening, and even then they were greatly 
 dispirited, and predicted the overthrow of the Constitution. The 
 Infant's ambiguous reply to the Portuguese deputation in Lon- 
 don, his actual encouragement of the rioters, and the absence of 
 any proclamation, were justly considered as no slight indications 
 of his real feelings. Dom Miguel's intention of taking the oath 
 to the Constitution was, however, known on the following morn- 
 ing, and revived the drooping hopes of the Imperial party. 
 
 I repaired on the 26th of February to the great saloon of 
 the Ajuda. The Peers, attired like Roman senators, occupied 
 the front benches on the right hand ; immediately above sat the 
 Peeresses, among whom the Countess of Villa Flor and the 
 Countess of Alva were undoubtedly the most distinguished by 
 their personal attractions : the Deputies were ranged along the 
 benches on the left hand, and the space above was reserved for 
 strangers. At one o'clock Dom Miguel entered the saloon, ac- 
 companied by his sisters. The Infanta Regent seated herself on 
 the throne : the Prince at first stood by her side under the Royal 
 canopy ; but, taking him familiarly by the arm, she forced him to 
 occupy part of her seat during the delivery of the speech. She 
 expressed her sincere desire for the welfare of the Charter, and 
 assured her hearers of the upright intentions which had uniformly 
 actuated her conduct in the administration of the Government, 
 and of the pleasure with which she now resigned it into her 
 brother's hands. She was frequently interrupted by shouts pro-
 
 198 HE SWEARS TO MAINTAIN THE CHARTER. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 ceeding from the court below, and her voice was at one time so 
 completely lost in the clamour, that she was obliged to pause ; 
 upon which occasion Dom Miguel's flashing eyes gave indica- 
 tions of that impatient temper which has characterized him from 
 his earliest years. Having concluded her speech, she arose, and 
 retiring from the throne, which she appeared to resign with the 
 utmost cheerfulness and good humour, placed herself by her 
 sister, an interesting young person, seated on the right-hand 
 bench immediately above the Peeresses. 
 
 The written oath of adherence to the Charter was then pre- 
 sented to the Infant, who regarded it with apparent confusion, 
 and seemed unable or unwilling to read it : at the same time the 
 Duke de Cadoval drew near with a missal to administer the oath ; 
 but his Excellency's wide-spreading mantle so effectually con- 
 cealed the Infant from the general observation, that it was im- 
 possible to see him kiss the Sacred Book or hear him pronounce 
 the solemn words. I was not far from the royal party, but can- 
 not give any decided opinion upon that much-debated point, 
 whether Dom Miguel really went through, or evaded, the forms 
 prescribed. Many of his adherents declared then, and still 
 assert, that he neither repeated the words nor kissed the book ; 
 and the Infant himself is said to have assured his favourite nurse, 
 on the same day, that in subverting the Charter he should incur 
 no moral guilt, as he had not bound himself by any oath to main- 
 tain it. 
 
 The ceremony being now completed, he walked towards the 
 great folding-doors at the extremity of the hall, between the 
 Peers and Deputies ranged on both sides ; but suddenly paused 
 midway, and, recollecting that he had left his sister, the Infanta 
 Regent, he returned, and led her down the saloon. During the 
 whole proceeding Dom Miguel's countenance was overcast, and 
 he had the constrained manner of a most unwilling actor in an 
 embarrassing part. I read the approaching fate of the Constitu- 
 tion in the sullen expression of his countenance, in the imperfect 
 manner in which the oath was administered, and in the strange 
 and general appearance of hurry and concealment. This opinion 
 was so much increased by his hasty departure from the saloon, 
 without uttering a single word confirmatory of his new obliga- 
 tion, that, under the strong impression of the moment, I ob~
 
 CHAP, ix.] GENERAL ALARM TUMULTS. 199 
 
 served to an officer standing near me, " This is surely ominous :" 
 he replied, "Poor boy ! he is only shy." I began to doubt the 
 justice of my suspicions, but in the evening they returned with 
 all their original force. Yet, in spite of symptoms so discourag- 
 ing to their cause, the Imperialists began again to indulge in 
 sanguine anticipations, and the city was brilliantly illuminated 
 that night; but the appointment of a Corcunda, or ultra- Royalist 
 ministry, on the following morning, destroyed their hopes, and 
 placed the real intentions of the Infant in the clearest light. 
 
 A crisis was foreseen, and consequently the panic on the Ex- 
 change was immense ; commercial transactions were suspended, 
 and in the public mind there was a general misgiving, an unde- 
 fined alarm, a certainty of coming change, a fearful looking 
 forward to the issue of events. No circumstances worthy of 
 record occurred during the next few days, but groups continued 
 to assemble and shout for the Absolute King ; and these proceed- 
 ings were openly encouraged by persons within the palace, who 
 appeared at the windows, joined in their " vivas," and waved 
 white handkerchiefs in token of their cordial approbation. But 
 the evening of the 1st of March was marked by serious tumults; 
 and the strange selection of time and place for the perpetration 
 of those outrages was, perhaps, the most extraordinary feature of 
 all those extraordinary transactions. That evening was fixed on 
 for the presentation of certain eminent persons, and many others 
 availed themselves of that opportunity to repair to the palace 
 and offer the earliest tribute of their homage to the Infant ; but 
 their astonishment was extreme when they found the inner courts 
 of the palace, and the flight of steps leading into the hall of the 
 Archers' Guard, completely occupied by a lawless mob. To 
 such an extent was the popular feeling at that time in favour of 
 Dom Miguel, that every individual who entertained Constitu- 
 tional opinions, however moderate, was assailed. The Cardinal 
 Patriarch was compelled to make the sign of the Cross, to call 
 down heavenly blessings on the excited people, and to join in the 
 cry of " Down with the Charter !" Fortunately Count Villa Flor 
 was absent, for the mob expected him with impatience, and had 
 sworn to take his life ; but General Caula was severely wounded, and 
 the Count da Cunha was only rescued from assassination by some 
 officers, who drew their swords to protect him in the palace itself.
 
 200 FEARS OF THE IMPERIALISTS. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 The tumult was so great that the address from the Academy, 
 which the Secretary was at that time reading to the Infant, could 
 be scarcely heard by any of the surrounding courtiers. Yet the 
 Infant was unmoved, and would not, or perhaps could not, re- 
 strain these outrages perpetrated on his guests, and committed in 
 his own palace. The indignant troops, compelled to endure 
 passively the insults heaped upon their officers, manifested their 
 unabated attachment to the Imperial cause by playing Dom 
 Pedro's hymn during the greater part of the ensuing night under 
 the windows of the Ajuda. At this critical period Sir William 
 A'Court, now Lord Heytesbury, one of the best diplomatists this 
 country ever produced, left Portugal, being appointed to the 
 Court of St. Petersburg. 
 
 On the 7th of March Count Taipa made an eloquent speech, 
 and moved that Ministers be summoned to explain the causes of 
 the recent tumults. I met him that evening at the Opera, in 
 Count Villa Flor's box, and he then clearly foresaw the approach- 
 ing downfall of the Constitution. Count Villa Flor was de- 
 pressed, and the conviction that all his military efforts during the 
 preceding year had been of no avail weighed heavily upon his 
 mind. 
 
 Three days afterwards I dined with the Marquis of Fronteira, 
 at his noble mansion near Bemfica : the dining-room is truly mag- 
 nificent, the carving rich, the height imposing : it is built in the 
 old style, and graced with a fine heroic bas-relief of the first 
 chivalrous Marquis of Fronteira. Our party consisted of the 
 British Commander of the Forces, Sir William Clinton, and his 
 Military Secretary, Colonel Hare ; the Count and Countess of 
 Villa Flor ; the Count of Alva, and his young daughter-in-law, 
 the beautiful and unaffected Countess of Alva ; the Count of 
 Taipa, the Count of Puente, Dom Carlos, and our noble host and 
 hostess. I allude particularly to this party, because it was chiefly 
 composed of men who played a prominent part during that 
 eventful crisis ; because it was the last act of hospitality I re- 
 ceived from my Portuguese friends at Lisbon ; and, still more, 
 because it was the last time they met in their native land around 
 the festive board, for, before three days had elapsed, they were 
 exiles and at sea. That was a trial-hour indeed ; their long 
 descended rank was henceforth to be denied, their privileges
 
 CHAP, ix.] MELANCHOLY PARTY AT BEMFICA. 201 
 
 annulled, their possessions confiscated ; even those ancient halls in 
 which we were then sitting for the last time, those halls inherited 
 from a long line of ancestors, were passing away from the rule of 
 their lineal lord. 
 
 During dinner no allusion was made to public events, but 
 afterwards the party divided into separate groups : the conversa- 
 tion was now carried on by the men in a low, but calm voice ; 
 and the darkening prospects of the country, which engrossed their 
 thoughts, became the only subject of discussion. They knew the 
 extent of the crisis, they felt the magnitude of the danger ; they 
 had maintained Dom Pedro's cause with unshaken fidelity, and 
 were in consequence exposed to the resentment of the actual 
 Government ; that Government was advancing by rapid strides 
 to the establishment of absolute power, and had already dismissed 
 from the army many officers of moderate opinions, and had sup- 
 plied their places by persons devoted to the court. They knew 
 that the vengeance of Dom Miguel would be directed against 
 themselves, when the changes then in progress should be com- 
 pletely effected, and the court be enabled to strike the blow 
 securely. They were still unmolested, it is true, but theirs was 
 a hollow peace, a treacherous quiet ; they slept upon gunpowder, 
 and were well aware that the match would be applied at the 
 fitting moment. 
 
 Wishing to divert the minds of her guests from the heavy sense 
 of impending calamity, the Marchioness of Fronteira placed her- 
 self at the piano, and played a lively air ; but though her taste 
 and execution were equally admired, it seemed as if the very 
 music was infected by the melancholy of the time ; and like 
 
 " The practised minstrel's fabled strain, 
 That, disobedient at the call, 
 Wail'd loud through Bothwell's banner'd hall, 
 Ere Douglases, to ruin driven, 
 Were exiled from their native heaven " 
 
 even so her notes, as if prophetic of approaching woe, fell heavily 
 upon a silent room and a lifeless audience. 
 
 On the following morning fresh changes were announced. 
 The Count of Villa Flor was dismissed from the military go- 
 vernment of Alentejo, the Count of Alva from the Algarves, the 
 Marquis of Valenja from the Traz os Monies, the Count of
 
 202 GENERAL DISTURBANCE. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 Lumiares from the Minho, and Sir Thomas Stubbs from Oporto ; 
 and their appointments were given to adherents of the ultra- 
 Miguelist party. The Marquis of Chaves and the chiefs lately 
 in arms against the Government were recalled. I do not blame 
 their recall, but the proceedings against the Imperialists were, to 
 the last degree, impolitic ; for every measure tended to produce a 
 struggle, and every circumstance showed that a day of active con- 
 flict was at hand. 
 
 On the 12th of March the panic was at its height among the 
 Imperialists, and the Miguelists were scarcely less alarmed. Rio 
 Pardo, a decided Absolutist, and then Minister of the War Depart- 
 ment, terrified at the rapidity with which the wheel of revolution 
 was revolving, exclaimed, " We have done in a week what could 
 not have been effected, with safety, in a year." He was an able 
 man, and knew the danger of the crisis. Spirited and even fierce 
 discussions had taken place in the Chambers ; and the militia and 
 the regular troops were united, almost to a man, in their opposi- 
 tion to the Government. Whenever the Infant appeared in 
 public they struck up the national hymn : the court, in conse- 
 quence, forbade it to be played ; the order was complied with, 
 but flashes of resentment broke forth among the troops, and they 
 did not scruple to declare that the oppressive measures then in 
 progress should recoil on the oppressors. 
 
 I saw a detachment of the Cacadores drawn up in line at the 
 Opera-house. Their colonel had been just superseded ; the 
 usual expression of good-humour no longer irradiated their 
 features, but they stood with lowering countenances, preserving 
 a gloomy silence. Probably the members of the Administration 
 had no alternative in the course which they pursued : as a dis- 
 masted ship is driven upon the breakers by an uncontrollable 
 tempest, so the Government, deprived of its better judgment, 
 was compelled to adopt these perilous expedients by the secret 
 but powerful influence of a fanatical priest, and the frantic 
 energy of the Queen-mother. 
 
 That extraordinary person possessed abilities and a firmness 
 of purpose that, under better regulation, might have led to all 
 that was good and great. She had been foolishly insulted by 
 the Cortes of 1820, and the sense of injury was not appeased, 
 in her vindictive mind, by the overthrow of the offending par-
 
 CHAP, ix.] POLICY OF THE COURT. 203 
 
 liament, but every modification of the representative system 
 became afterwards hateful in her sight. She organized con- 
 spiracies against the Charter in every part of the kingdom, and 
 communicated with the conspirators ; she originated, matured, 
 and carried every desperate measure into execution ; her word 
 was law, her smile promotion ; she sometimes persuaded, some- 
 times intimidated her incapable son ; she snatched the rudder 
 from his feeble grasp, and, with a furious but not unsteady 
 hand, steered onward to the destined point, rejecting the safer 
 but more circuitous path, and unappalled by the tempest gather- 
 ing round her. 
 
 Dom Miguel in the mean time remained, like an eastern 
 monarch, shut up within the walls of his palace, and refused to 
 partake of any food that was not prepared by his faithful and 
 favourite nurse. Nor were his apprehensions groundless : by a 
 more conciliating policy he might have eventually secured the 
 highest object of his ambition, and have probably governed with 
 undisputed authority ; but the impolitic violence of his conduct 
 produced a corresponding spirit of resistance ; and unforeseen 
 events alone prevented, at that period, the reaction which might 
 have been expected in the actual temper of the troops. 
 
 It was said, and I believe truly, that an extensive con- 
 spiracy was organized under the direction of a secret committee, 
 but was rendered abortive by peculiar circumstances. Dom 
 Miguel stood at that time on the brink of a precipice. Never, 
 in any preceding period of Portuguese history, had a prince 
 of the house of Braganza been involved in greater and more 
 imminent peril ; but in spite of his actual danger he suc- 
 ceeded for the moment ; a short-lived success, not produced by 
 plans wisely conceived and greatly executed, nor yet the off- 
 spring of that steady foresight which calculates on the stunning 
 effects produced by vigorous measures following each other in 
 rapid succession, nor of that considerate courage which carries 
 unshrinkingly into execution the daring acts dispassionately 
 resolved on as at once the boldest and the wisest policy. The 
 fleeting triumph of the court -was the result of unreflecting 
 passion, aided by a fortunate combination of causes over which 
 it had no control, and its ultimate failure was the almost certain 
 result of a policy which outraged the feelings, not of the people
 
 204 POLICY OF THE COURT. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 generally, but of those who had arms in their hands, and who, 
 baffled, it is true, in the first hour of surprise and alarm, had 
 yet eventually, as circumstances have since proved, the great 
 question in their decision.* 
 
 When Dom Miguel arrived in Portugal he found his authority 
 rather nominally than practically controlled by the establishment 
 of the Charter, divested as it was of any very popular tendencies, 
 and essentially aristocratic in its elements. An enlightened or 
 even a selfish view of his real interests should have made him 
 cling to that Charter ; upon that Charter he should have lavished 
 every outward mark of respect, for, under the actual combi- 
 nation of parties, and in the actual temper of the people, it 
 could have formed no real barrier against any determined exertion 
 of the royal prerogative ; yet would have enabled him to effect, 
 without incurring personal odium, those reforms which had 
 become absolutely essential to the prosperity of the state and to 
 the stability of his government. 
 
 It is true that at the period in question the national feeling 
 very generally inclined to the ancient rule ; for, although the 
 Portuguese Government had been for ages despotic in form, it 
 had yet in practice been mild and paternal. But although the 
 manifest sympathies of the people with the old order of things 
 induced many persons to believe that the restoration of the 
 absolute system on a stable basis was by no means impracticable, 
 still, beneath these favourable appearances, there were symptoms 
 in the body politic which led the calm and unprejudiced ob- 
 server to infer that the best chance of preserving the old insti- 
 tutions of the country was to be found in an honest recognition 
 of the Charter of 1827. To every man who looked beyond the 
 surface, it was evident that, unless considerable changes were 
 introduced into the fiscal and other departments, the wasteful 
 expenditure of the public money could not be checked, the dis- 
 order of the finances, then yearly increasing, would continue to 
 augment, and, in the critical state of parties, almost inevitably 
 terminate in popular revolution. Internal revolutions are, at 
 
 * About this time, and subsequently, I blamed the policy pursued, on 
 certain points, by our ambassador, Sir Frederick Lamb. I must frankly 
 admit that, in that respect, I was completely in error, for I then possessed 
 only a partial knowledge of events.
 
 CHAP. ix.J POLICY OE THE COURT. 205 
 
 present, with few exceptions, ultimately referrible to one and 
 the same cause. The circumstances which immediately pro- 
 duce the change vary indeed in different states, according to 
 the different character, habits, and condition of the people, but 
 almost every revolution in our own times is ultimately referrible 
 to embarrassments connected with the revenue. In states that 
 have undergone the fiery ordeal of revolution, it will be gene- 
 rally found that difficulties of finance were not only an accom- 
 panying symptom, but often a very efficient cause of the national 
 malady, and have not unfrequently preceded for a long time the 
 crisis of the disease. 
 
 A Portuguese monarch, relying for support exclusively on 
 the Absolute party, could hardly have ventured to introduce 
 reforms prejudicial to the interests of many of his partisans, 
 however essential to the safety of the state ; he might, perhaps, 
 have corrected the abuses which disfigured the judicial system, 
 but he could hardly have abolished the gross monopolies which 
 then pervaded the kingdom, checked the development of the 
 national industry, and prevented the improvement of the revenue : 
 but by the means of the Chambers he might have easily carried 
 into effect the necessary improvements : the partial unpopu- 
 larity resulting from those changes would have been borne by 
 the legislature, while the advantage would have been reaped not 
 only by the people, but also by the sovereign. Dom Miguel 
 might, at that period, have affixed his own limits to every 
 measure of change ; a power seldom enjoyed by the head of the 
 state in periods of active transition. The Charter of 1828 and 
 the Charter of 1834, though essentially the same, were calcu- 
 lated to produce very different results. The Charter overthrown 
 by Dom Miguel could not, I think, have been detrimental to 
 the established interests of the country, at a time when an immense 
 majority of the nation were attached to his person, and the 
 strength of his adherents was unbroken ; it was, however, fraught 
 with ruin to many of those interests, when imposed on a defeated 
 people by a party that had outstripped the moderation of their 
 early leaders, that was flushed with success, and triumphant 
 over every obstacle opposed to the gratification of their wishes. 
 But in 1828 the Charter was an engine which would have 
 obeyed the slightest impulse of the master-mind : a great ma-
 
 206 POLICY OF THE COURT. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 jority of the House of Peers were then devoted to the Infant ; 
 the representative assembly would have been moulded to his will ; 
 and thus, I believe, under the protecting sanction of the popular 
 forms, he would have acquired a more real authority and a 
 more effective command over the resources of his country than 
 had ever fallen to the lot of any Prince of the House of Braganza 
 under the old despotic rule. Had the Charter been respected, 
 that species of authority which, however grateful to the caprices, 
 is unimportant to the solid power of the monarch, could indeed 
 have been no longer exercised ; the nobles could not have been 
 kept in a state of tutelage ; their properties and family honours 
 would not have remained dependent on the will of the court ; 
 nor would individuals in any rank of life have been liable to 
 arrest at the mere fiat of a minister ; but that power of calling 
 forth and wielding the national resources which constitutes the 
 real strength of a government, and should alone be coveted in 
 the present day by an enlightened sovereign, would, I think, 
 have been considerably augmented. But if this view of the 
 case had proved in the result erroneous, if Dom Miguel had 
 eventually discovered that the new Constitution was practically 
 incompatible with a fair exercise of the royal prerogative, he 
 might, even then, I am convinced, by personal conciliation, and 
 by a gradual succession of cautious measures, have ultimately 
 removed every obnoxious privilege, without incurring any real 
 hazard ; for among the Portuguese, with whom the love of 
 liberty is of recent date, and altogether subordinate to their 
 hereditary sense of loyalty, the Constitution was not sufficiently 
 rooted in the hearts of the people, or of any influential order in 
 the state, to have interfered with the attachment which would 
 have soon grown up for a young and popular Prince. 
 
 A praedial insurrection is usually produced by some general and 
 prevailing cause of discontent, but men in a higher rank of life are 
 influenced at all times, and especially during periods of internal 
 commotion, by motives of a mixed nature. Unquestionably, 
 some of Dom Miguel's opponents were stanch adherents of the 
 Charter ; but many, who became determined enemies, would 
 have quietly acquiesced in his authority, if the impolitic measures 
 of his Government had not rendered submission more perilous 
 than resistance. By declaring open war against the Consti-
 
 CHAP, ix.] POLICY OF THE COURT. 207 
 
 tution, and, still more, by the unmeasured denunciations of the 
 court against the Constitutionalists, he drove into complete in- 
 surrection not only those who were sincerely attached to the 
 Charter, but all who had, from various reasons, enlisted under its 
 banners during the preceding year, when constitutional principles 
 were still in the ascendant. Many of these would have adopted 
 with little reluctance a system more congenial to his views, if 
 their retreat had been rendered easy, if a prudent veil had been 
 thrown over the past, and the new reign had been ushered in by 
 the prospect of a lenient and impartial rule. " Tros Tyriusve 
 mihi nullo discrimine agetur " was a maxim which should have 
 been graven in letters of gold upon the royal tablet, and should 
 have uniformly influenced Dom Miguel's political conduct ; but, 
 by dividing the nation into two fierce and hostile factions, he 
 evoked against his Government every varied principle of action 
 which could sway the minds of his opponents. He should have 
 allowed the distinctions of party to have blended insensibly, 
 and have become lost in a general emulation to meet his wishes, 
 and a general sense of loyalty to his person ; and this, in the 
 then temper of the nation, would have been not only a con- 
 summation to be devoutly wished for, but most easy of attain- 
 ment. But when he drew still broader the actual line of 
 demarcation between the rival factions, and compelled every man 
 to proclaim his faith, and to take up his position either as an 
 opponent or as a friend of Dom Pedro and the ne\v Constitution, 
 shame, and a sense of consistency, and the strong obligation of 
 party ties, combined to retain under the standard of the Charter 
 an immense proportion of those who had once espoused his cause ; 
 while others became involved in a mortal struggle with the Go- 
 vernment, not without regret on their part, not from attachment 
 to any abstract theories, not for the sake of the extinguished 
 Constitution, but simply because they found themselves pro- 
 scribed. In corroboration of this statement, witness the personal 
 terrors experienced by the Constitutionalists in the last days of 
 the Constitution, witness the general expatriation before the 
 standard of revolt was raised. 
 
 That statesman would materially underrate the real measure of 
 
 the attachment felt by the Portuguese for the old institutions of 
 
 heir country, who judged entirely from the apparent strength
 
 208 DOM PEDRO'S MEASURES. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 of the respective factions as arrayed against each other 
 during the recent struggle, or even from the final issue of the 
 civil war. The most popular cause that ever was maintained 
 by man would have been endangered, if not ruined, by the 
 policy of Dom Miguel's Government. It would therefore be 
 incorrect to imagine that the great body of the people were 
 friendly to the unjust and oppressive measures adopted by Dom 
 Pedro, after his return to Lisbon, against the Peers, the convents, 
 and the Church generally ; no such inference can be fairly 
 drawn from the facility with which acts subversive of their 
 interests were carried into execution. 
 
 The Miguelists were naturally opposed to those innovations, 
 but they were vanquished, and had no voice : the moderate and 
 influential men of the Imperial party beheld those violent 
 changes with dissatisfaction ; but, absolutely committed by the 
 part they had taken in the recent struggle, they trembled for 
 the safety of the new Government, and were consequently 
 unwilling to endanger its stability, and perhaps restore Dom 
 Miguel's power, by any vehement opposition to measures which 
 they justly considered tyrannical and oppressive. Dom Miguel's 
 failure in Portugal is not a proof that the great body of the 
 people are favourable to changes so hastily adopted by the 
 Governments which succeeded him ; it is only a practical proof 
 that institutions supported by the greatest portion of the pro- 
 perty of the country, and firmly rooted in the popular affections, 
 may yet be lost by an improvident policy on the part of their 
 supporters, and by the gross mismanagement of their available 
 resources. 
 
 There was a disposition in the leaders of the popular party in 
 1828 to reform manifest abuses, but at the same time to* preserve 
 all that was venerable in the old institutions. This spirit per- 
 vaded their legislation, and appeared in their careful abstinence 
 from any foolish intermeddling with the property enjoyed by the 
 church and the aristocracy, and in their almost ostentatious respect 
 for the convents : even in the projected subdivision of the terri- 
 tory, although fresh arrangements were resolved on. as essential 
 to the better administration of the local government of the 
 country, the old names of the provinces were religiously pre- 
 served. Their policy was to retain old laws and usages whenever
 
 CHAP, ix.] ALTERED POLICY OF THE LIBERALS. 209 
 
 they could be retained without injury to the state, and in all 
 instances to surround their new institutions with the old forms of 
 the monarchy. This judicious deference to the popular prejudices 
 was not imitated by their constitutional successors of 1834. 
 They, on the contrary, adopting a different principle, laboriously 
 endeavoured upon all occasions to obliterate that which was an- 
 cient, and substitute that which was new ; a policy in which they 
 were supported by Dom Pedro, who sacrificed the real interests of 
 his country to the passionate indulgence of his personal resentments. 
 In the altered spirit of their legislation may be found the cause of 
 half the evils that afflict Portugal : to this cause may, in a great 
 degree, be attributed the desecration of the convents, the conse- 
 quent alienation of the peasantry, their unsettled state, and the 
 lamentable change that has recently taken place in their habits 
 and modes of life. The loss of the British privileges in Portu- 
 gal, and the decline of British influence, may be traced, not 
 very remotely, to the operation of a kindred feeling. But why, 
 it may naturally be asked, were the liberal party of 1828 
 exempt from the influence of that hostility to every established 
 system which almost invariably actuates the foreign Constitu- 
 tionalist ? Because the prevailing spirits of that party were, in 
 1828, the leaders of society ; were men of rank and stake in the 
 country, swayed by many of the feelings that attached to the 
 old regime, and rather friendly to representative government 
 from the force of circumstances than from any natural bias in 
 favour of constitutional doctrines. I felt at the time that a state 
 of parties and a conjuncture of circumstances so favourable to 
 the old institutions of the country were not likely to recur if no 
 real settlement were then effected ; for I could not believe that, 
 with an expenditure unchecked in the various departments, and 
 which the state had become wholly unable to support, an abso- 
 lute government could be maintained for any great length of 
 time in the face of a powerful minority in the towns. I there- 
 fore earnestly desired a compromise of parties and of interests, 
 in which all that was really valuable in the new system of 
 opinions might be brought in aid of the tried and long-esta- 
 blished institutions of the kingdom. But parties were at that 
 time too exasperated for mutual concession, and a compromise 
 was rejected, which might have been fraught with benefit to the 
 
 p
 
 210 SALOON OF THE TAGUS. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 country, and have long protracted the existence of institutions, 
 many of which, unhappily, I think, for the interests of Portugal, 
 have now ceased to exist. 
 
 I called on Sir William Clinton on the morning of the 12th 
 of March, and found him suffering from the effects of a violent 
 kick from a mule. Among the absurd rumours of the day, it 
 was reported that the Queen-mother had purchased the recalci- 
 trant brute, as a signal proof of the hate she bore the English. 
 I afterwards called on Count Villa Flor : he was absent, but I 
 found the Countess conversing with her mother, the Marchesa 
 de Louie, in the beautiful saloon which overhangs the sunny 
 Tagus. The Marchesa was a soft and interesting person: she 
 held her daughter's hand affectionately clasped in hers: she 
 dwelt with feeling upon the anguish of their approaching separa- 
 tion, and bewailed, in simple but affecting language, the heavy 
 times that rendered so precarious any future meeting on this 
 side of the grave. 
 
 During the night of the 12th of March the troops remained 
 under arms ; some decisive blow was in consequence expected, 
 and on the following morning the Chambers were closed by a 
 decree of the Infant. As usual, the general apprehension ex- 
 ceeded the real danger ; a belief was prevalent that stronger 
 measures were in the contemplation of Government, that the 
 leading Imperialists would be arrested during the course of the 
 ensuing night, and that an extensive list of proscriptions, pre- 
 pared by the Queen-mother and her confessor Macedo, was 
 actually delivered into the hands of the officers appointed to 
 carry them into execution. 
 
 The terrified Imperialists no longer ventured to remain within 
 their houses, but concealed themselves during the day in various 
 parts of the city, and, favoured by darkness, escaped to the 
 vessels of neutral powers lying in the Tagus. On the following 
 day I hired a boat, and rowed to the frigate of the British 
 Admiral, to take a last farewell of Count Villa Flor and the 
 Marquis of Fronteira, who had sought refuge on board the 
 Spartiate. Times had changed, and the splendid Governor of 
 Oporto,* so lately hospitable to the stranger, courted by the 
 great, and worshipped by the poor, could no longer rest his 
 * Count Villa Flor.
 
 CHAP, ix.] GENERAL EXPATRIATION. 211 
 
 head securely in the lowest hamlet of his native land. He was 
 evidently dejected, but endured with firmness this rapid reverse 
 of fortune, and pressed my hand warmly as he alluded to the 
 brighter days of our first acquaintance. " However, I have not 
 abandoned the cause ; honour is preserved," he said. His young 
 and beautiful Countess was much affected by this sudden wrench 
 from so many cherished ties ; but the same exalted spirit that 
 supported her during the dreadful night of her father's murder, 
 and afterwards in the prisons of Peniche, sustained her in this 
 heavy hour of hopeless separation from the kinsmen and the 
 country of her youth. Determined to follow her husband's for- 
 tunes through every sad vicissitude, this exemplary woman 
 renounced, without a murmur or a tear, the home that was soon 
 to become the prey of the spoiler, and the friends she might 
 never see again. The Marchesa de Fronteira wept bitterly, but 
 did not speak ; Fronteira was depressed, but said that he did not 
 regret the part he had taken in public affairs : we walked to the 
 cabin-window ; he gazed earnestly on the well-known towers of 
 Lisbon, and his eyes filled with tears as he saw, for the last time, 
 the sun go down upon his native shores. Before that sun had 
 risen again they were far away on the wide Atlantic. 
 
 In the evening I saw the police drawn up in rank, each man 
 standing by his horse, obviously prepared to act at a moment's 
 notice ; the regular troops were again under arms, and remained 
 in that state during the whole night. The Imperialists beheld, 
 with renewed alarm, preparations which were in fact only pre- 
 cautionary, for the court dreaded a military reaction, as much as 
 the liberal party feared some sudden act of ministerial aggression. 
 The rumours were exaggerated and endless, the ferment great, 
 the alarm universal, and it is difficult to say by which party it 
 was entertained in the highest degree. During the following 
 days the emigration was incessant, and the agonizing scenes 
 which passed in the interior of Portuguese families would have 
 touched the hardest heart ; for persons of either sex, and of 
 every rank and age, were involved in the general expatriation, 
 and the British ships overflowed with the unfortunate fugitives 
 who crowded around them, imploring that protection which 
 was never yet denied by British seamen to the desolate and 
 oppressed. 
 
 p 2
 
 212 CONTINUED EXCITEMENT. [CHAP: ix 
 
 In this crisis Lord Amelias Beauclerk extended his line-of- 
 battle ships from the harbour up to Lisbon. This movement, 
 though judicious, alarmed the timid, while the protracted 
 occupation of the forts by British troops, against the known 
 wishes ;of the court, exasperated the Miguelists, and the popular 
 feeling, which afterwards flowed so strongly against the English, 
 began even now to take a direction hostile to our Government. 
 In the mean time Dom Miguel made arrangements to leave 
 Lisbon and repair to his palace at Villa Viciosa, ostensibly to 
 enjoy the pleasures of the chase. There, joined by his mother, 
 supported by the peasantry, and strengthened by the Marquis of 
 Chaves and his troops, he hoped to find himself speedily at the 
 head of an overwhelming force, in a condition to march upon 
 Lisbon, and dictate terms of submission to the Imperialists ; a 
 scheme discovered, I believe, and disconcerted, by Sir Frederick 
 Lamb. 
 
 On the 15th of March an official proclamation appeared, 
 alluding in terms of high commendation to the conduct of the 
 troops during the crisis of 1824, expressing a confident hope that 
 they would be found to possess the same zeal and loyalty when a 
 similar occasion should require similar exertions, and threatening 
 any refractory corps with severe punishment. As the over- 
 throw of the first Constitution (and it must be admitted that 
 most deservedly it fell) was the act of heroism for which the 
 troops now received the Infant's thanks, it was impossible to 
 misunderstand the nature of the services hinted at in this address 
 and expected from the soldiery : this was followed by an order 
 to the Intendant-general of the Police, requiring him to supply 
 the Minister of the Interior with a list of the magistrates, 
 throughout the kingdom, who had prevented the people from 
 manifesting their affection for Dom Miguel, that such disaffected 
 persons might feel the terrible effects of his justice. It is 
 difficult to describe the alarm and indignation perpetuated by 
 these successive announcements in the minds of the Imperialists, 
 who enjoyed no repose, no freedom from anxiety, not even a 
 momentary respite from great and continued excitement.
 
 CHAP, x.] ASSASSINATIONS. 213 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Assassination of the Professors of Coimbra Costa Midnight Adventure 
 Visconde Sa da Bandeira Departure of the English Army Sir William 
 Clinton Doin Miguel. 
 
 ABOUT this time there occurred a dreadful event which exhibits 
 in striking colours the fury of the conflicting parties and the 
 distempered feeling which prevailed. A deputation, consisting 
 of three professors of the University of Coimbra, and two dig- 
 nitaries of the see attached to that city, were proceeding to 
 Lisbon, for the purpose of congratulating the Infant, when they 
 were stopped by a party of students, who compelled them to 
 leave their carriages, and, conducting two of the professors into 
 an adjoining field, shot them. A military detachment was pass- 
 ing by at the critical moment, and, hearing the report of mus- 
 ketry, fortunately arrived in time to save the remaining members 
 of the deputation. It was rumoured that many of the students 
 had assembled on the evening preceding these events, had calmly 
 discussed the offences imputed to the members of the deputation, 
 and had passed sentence of death upon the offenders. Nine of 
 these young assassins, some of whom were the children of very 
 respectable parents, expiated their crime on the scaffold. At 
 Lisbon attempts were made to assassinate a brother of Count 
 Ficalho, and a brother of General Saldanha, and both these 
 nobles were severely wounded. 
 
 General Saldanha himself arrived in the Tagus on the 2 1st of 
 March ; his departure from England took place only a few days 
 after the Infant had quitted it, apparently intending to respect 
 the Charter : finding, to his utter astonishment, the Regent en- 
 gaged in a very hazardous enterprise, and the country involved 
 in all the turmoil of a revolution, he felt at once that with his 
 acknowledged principles he could not land without incurring 
 great personal danger, and therefore took the earliest opportu- 
 nity of secreting himself in a neutral vessel. At this time my
 
 214 GENERAL SALDANHA. [CHAP. x. 
 
 friend Major Sa, one of the most talented men in Portugal, and, 
 by universal admission, one of her most gallant soldiers, was 
 extremely anxious to see the General, under whom he had for- 
 merly served in the capacity of aide-de-camp, and to whom he 
 was much attached. He discovered the ship in which Saldanha 
 was concealed, and asked me whether I would accompany him 
 in his attempt to reach it a project attended with some hazard 
 and considerable difficulty, for Saldanha's arrival had alarmed 
 the Government to such a degree, that the most rigorous search 
 had been made for him in various houses, under the belief that 
 he had landed, and bodies of the police patrolled the quays all 
 night to intercept his retreat. Bernardo Sa felt that Saldanha 
 was involved in difficulty and danger, and the knowledge of his 
 critical situation made him anxiously desire to obtain an inter- 
 view with his old commander ; an interview which more cau- 
 tious or less generous spirits would have as carefully avoided, 
 and which was not sought for the purpose of plotting against the 
 Government in any way. As a stranger, I would not have 
 involved myself in any political intrigues, or have become acces- 
 sory to any proceedings hostile to the Government ; but although 
 there may possibly have been some personal imprudence on my 
 part, still, in facilitating the object of my generous friend, and in 
 agreeing to accompany him on a visit solely intended, on his 
 part, as a tribute of respect to his former chief, I cannot surely 
 be reproached with having compromised that character of neu- 
 trality, which it is the duty of every foreigner to observe in every 
 country, and under every government, which affords him a tem- 
 porary protection. 
 
 General Saldanha had played a very distinguished part in the 
 recent history of Portugal, and, though I was by no means an 
 approver of his general policy, I will not deny that a strong 
 desire to see such a man under such extraordinary circumstances 
 in some degree influenced my decision. Situations of intense 
 interest excite intense feelings : the habitual reserve of ordinary 
 life is then involuntarily thrown aside, the usual barriers are 
 broken down by an urgency which overcomes all minor consi- 
 derations, and the man appears in all his native strength or 
 weakness. As steel calls forth fire from flint, so the excitement 
 produced by a revolutionary crisis is an unfailing touchstone to
 
 CHAP, x.] CONCEALMENT OF SALDANHA. 213 
 
 extract the essential qualities of the mind, and drag them from 
 their most hidden recesses. An hour spent in observing, at such 
 a period, the development and play of character, will often afford 
 a deeper insight into the real energies of an individual, or of a 
 people, than years devoted to the investigation of their habits 
 and modes of thought in tranquil times. Perhaps, also, my 
 natural love of enterprise inclined me to second my friend's 
 wishes. 
 
 Our resolution taken, it was by no means easy to determine 
 the safest and most practicable mode of carrying our intentions 
 into effect, as we could only proceed to the vessel by night, and 
 were sure to find the guard ranged on the quays at our return ; 
 and both passengers and boatmen who landed after dark were 
 subject to a severe examination. At length our plan of oper- 
 ations was arranged. It happened that on a certain evening 
 I was engaged to meet a large party at dinner on board a British 
 frigate : it was settled that my friend Bernardo Sa should en- 
 gage a couple of boatmen upon whose good intentions he could 
 in some degree rely, without, however, communicating to them 
 any part of our scheme. He then agreed to call for me at the 
 frigate, whence we proposed to row without loss of time to the 
 vessel which contained Saldanha, and, after a brief interview 
 with the General, return to the quay. When required to state, 
 on landing, whence we came, it was settled that I should reply, 
 as indeed I might with truth, that I had been dining on board 
 the British frigate ; and as the English were continually passing 
 and repassing between the ships and the shore, my answer could 
 hardly excite suspicion : moreover, I had been residing on the 
 quay for some months, and was generally known as an English- 
 man, so that no doubt could exist on that head ; and if I led the 
 way with apparent confidence, my friend, enveloped in his man- 
 tle, might in all probability pass unnoticed. Even if the worst 
 mischance befell us, and we were suspected and stopped by the 
 guard, the truth of my statement would be corroborated by 
 reference to the party on board the frigate ; and as we felt the 
 boatmen would not willingly compromise us, we might ration- 
 ally hope that our little digression to Saldanha's ship would 
 remain undiscovered. 
 
 The appointed evening came, but our measures were discon-
 
 216 COSTA. [CHAP. x. 
 
 certed by one of those untoward circumstances which sometimes 
 derange the best considered schemes. There was a party a con- 
 cert, I believe given that night at Lisbon, which began at an 
 hour unusually early, and which my host of the frigate and many 
 of his guests meant to attend. The party at the frigate, in con- 
 sequence, broke up immediately after dinner, and, as I could not 
 remain on board after the general dispersion without attracting 
 observation, I thought it prudent to retire with the rest of my 
 friends. Bernardo Sa arrived at the appointed hour and found 
 me gone : by this unlucky contretemps our arrangements failed 
 for that evening, and our plan was postponed, but not aban- 
 doned. 
 
 Early on the following morning I set off for Costa, with my 
 intelligent friend Colonel Lambert. We crossed the water, 
 hired mules, and rode for some miles through an uninteresting 
 country. From the summit of a hill we looked down upon the 
 village of Costa, bearing a strong resemblance to those Arab 
 tents which I have seen studding the African plains, and appear- 
 ing in the distance like mounds of earth raised in a pyramidical 
 form. The Arab tents are made of camels'-hair, but these 
 hovels are apparently composed of broom, and both are conspi- 
 cuous from the darkness of their colour. Costa is built on the 
 edge of the water ; before it is a fine expanse of sand and a bold 
 open sea, and the mountains of Cintra rise nobly in the distance. 
 
 By a strange inconsistency, perceptible in many parts of the 
 Peninsula, the women of Costa were handsomely attired, al- 
 though their wretched huts were destitute of the common neces- 
 saries of life : the men were on shore hauling in the nets ; some 
 wore bonnets, others hoods resembling cowls, while the rope, 
 girded around their loose and picturesque garments, gave them 
 a monkish appearance, which ill accorded with the sternness of 
 their countenances and the freedom of their attitudes. The 
 children were laden with mussels, and vociferous for money, and 
 a few pence thrown amongst them produced a terrific decline and 
 fall of their aquatic goods. We lingered on the spot, enjoying 
 the scene, and saw the fishermen haul in a draught of sparkling 
 sardines. At our departure we were somewhat molested by an 
 ancient dame, a worthy soul no doubt, but a little sentimental, 
 and very much intoxicated ; she spoke with energy about Dom
 
 CHAP, x.] MOONLIGHT SCENE. 217 
 
 Miguel, and seemed so much inclined to associate us in her poli- 
 tical harangues, that we had some difficulty in avoiding the dan- 
 gerous theme. We reached Lisbon before dark. 
 
 In the evening Bernardo called at my lodgings, and told me 
 that he had made the necessary preparations for carrying our 
 scheme into execution without further delay. As I had no 
 longer any particular engagement at the frigate, we had not the 
 same facilities as before, but we, however, determined to proceed 
 upon the same plan. We left the house at nine o'clock, and, 
 stepping into the boat then lying under the quay, rowed to the 
 frigate, where we remained a few minutes, and then, re-embark- 
 ing, ordered the watermen to steer us to the shore. When, 
 however, midway between the ship and the shore, we suddenly 
 pretended to recollect an engagement, and desired them to 
 change their course and row us to the vessel which we well knew 
 contained the General ; that vessel was at a greater distance from 
 the Lisbon quay than we had at first supposed, lying far down the 
 river, which is here almost an arm of the sea, indeed nearly as 
 far as Belem. It was a night of extreme beauty ; there was not 
 a cloud in the sky, not a breath on the face of the deep ; the 
 moon alone was to be seen in heaven, and was beautifully 
 imaged in the water below ; the banks, studded with towers and 
 palaces intermingled with gardens and ancient walls, were repos- 
 ing in the silver light ; and the deep black shade they cast upon 
 the water immediately beneath was separated by a defined line 
 from the radiant surface beyond. Protected in some degree 
 from observation by the bank, we glided down the stream among 
 the vessels of various nations, and admired their tall masts rest- 
 ing against the deep-blue sky, and their beauteous tracery of 
 spars, so light and delicate, yet so distinctly visible by the light 
 of the moon ; occasionally we passed -a mighty frigate, at once 
 the guardian and emblem of British greatness, standing apart 
 from the naval host in solitary grandeur, and casting its gigantic 
 shadows across the water. 
 
 At length we reached the vessel which contained Saldanha, 
 and saw that great precautions had been taken to prevent the 
 possibility of a successful attack. Some minutes elapsed before 
 any reply was made to our reiterated calls, but at last a man 
 appeared on the deck. Bernardo then rose, and said that he had
 
 218 WATER-CHASE. [CHAP. X. 
 
 formerly served under the General as aide-de-camp, and now 
 desired to see him. The sailor replied that Saldanha had re- 
 cently left the ship. We disbelieved this statement, and my 
 friend persevered in his efforts, entreating him at all events to 
 mention his name to the General ; but though the man hesitated 
 for a moment, he afterwards repeated his former statement with 
 increased decision. He had probably received instructions not to 
 admit, upon any account, that the General was actually concealed 
 in the ship. 
 
 Baffled in our main object, we became anxious to effect a safe 
 retreat, as the most difficult part of our enterprise was yet to be 
 surmounted. Desiring, therefore, our men to hasten back to the 
 quay, we rowed up the stream for some time without experienc- 
 ing any interruption, but heard at length the unwelcome sound 
 of a distant challenge ; we looked anxiously around, and saw a 
 small black speck upon the illumined water, like a mote on the 
 brilliant disk of the sun. For a moment we hoped that an acute 
 sense of danger had rendered us peculiarly alive to every sound, 
 and we trusted that the suspicious object which lay before us, too 
 clear to admit a doubt of its existence, was only a buoy. It lay 
 so motionless, it seemed so little instinct with life, that our hopes 
 became confirmed. While we were yet gazing upon it the call 
 was repeated, and the black speck evidently changed its place ; 
 we immediately supposed it to be one of the many Government 
 boats appointed to intercept communications between the refugees 
 in the ships and their friends on shore, and especially between 
 Saldauha and his partisans ; and as our proceedings could not have 
 borne the test of official inquiry, we felt that every chance of 
 safety depended on instant flight. We urged our men to apply 
 their utmost strength to the oar ; they needed no exhortation, for 
 they knew the danger of becoming involved in any questionable 
 enterprise ; their broad chests and vigorous arms were not exerted 
 in vain, and we rather flew than glided up the stream. But this 
 precipitate movement was hailed by our crafty observers as a 
 signal to commence the chase, upon which they entered with equal 
 determination and greater power ; our boatmen, however, plied 
 their oars with unabated spirit, and for a few minutes the result 
 seemed doubtful. We looked with intense anxiety upon the 
 object moving towards us ; it was no longer a speck, distinguish-
 
 CHAP, x.] HAZARD IN LANDING. 219 
 
 able only by its darkness from the surrounding waters, but evi- 
 dently a boat bearing down upon us ; we saw her every moment 
 increasing in bulk ; we saw the crew that manned her, like 
 shadows first, then bodily and distinct ; the quick repeated dash- 
 ing of the oars came full upon our ears : our pursuers were now 
 gaining rapidly upon us ; the next moment they overtook our boat, 
 commanded us to stop, and we reluctantly obeyed the summons. 
 To our unspeakable relief they only proved to be custom-house 
 officers ; who, having ascertained that we carried no smuggled 
 goods, departed somewhat incensed at the unnecessary speed to 
 which we had put such good men and true. We rowed on to the 
 quay ; as we approached the landing-place we distinguished the 
 military patrol ranged along the shore, and saw their arms glitter- 
 ing in the moonlight ; and now the last and most hazardous part 
 of our enterprise was to be achieved. Our plan of operations 
 had been previously arranged, so that our movements had no 
 appearance of hesitation or embarrassment. I led the way up 
 the landing-place ; my friend, enveloped in a cloak which con- 
 cealed his face, followed as an attendant. We were instantly and 
 fiercely challenged by the officer on duty, and I as quickly replied 
 that I was an Englishman, and had been that evening on board 
 the frigate. The frequent occurrence of visits from Englishmen 
 to the British line-of-battle ships, our unembarrassed manner, the 
 confident and almost careless tone in which I answered, my 
 English accent, and probably the recognition of my person, pre- 
 vented me from experiencing any interruption. I regarded the 
 officer steadfastly, to divert his attention from Bernardo. 
 Attracted by my gaze, he returned it with equal earnestness, and 
 kept his eyes so riveted upon me that I doubt whether he even 
 observed my friend. If I mistook not, I perceived a shade of 
 doubt and suspicion on his countenance, as if he wished to detain 
 us, yet felt that such a step would hardly be justified by actual 
 appearances. But we allowed him no time for reflection. As 
 his first impulse did not prompt him to stop us, we passed on 
 with quick but not with hurried steps, and in a few minutes were 
 beyond his reach. So terminated our nocturnal enterprise : "H&c 
 olim meminisse juvabit," I observed to my friend as we sepa- 
 rated. Had we been arrested by the guard, and the object of 
 our expedition discovered, I, as an Englishman, should only
 
 220 BERNARDO SA. [CHAP. x. 
 
 have been subjected to great inconvenience : Bernardo would, 
 however, have been exposed to real danger ; but danger, in what- 
 ever shape it came, never affected his intrepid mind. He is one 
 of the most humane and honourable men I have ever known. 
 At a later period of the revolution he encountered far greater 
 perils, and was placed in more difficult situations, yet throughout 
 those trying scenes he well sustained his previous reputation. 
 When Dom Pedro's standard was raised at Oporto in 1828, he 
 escaped from Lisbon and joined Count Villa Flor's army in the 
 north of Portugal ; he marched with the troops to Coimbra, and 
 never deserted them during their disastrous retreat into Spain ; 
 and when the failure of the insurrection became complete, he 
 embarked for Terceira, the last stronghold of the Imperial cause. 
 The vessel in which he sailed was, however, captured by a 
 Miguelist sloop-of-war, and the most rigorous search was made 
 for the scattered adherents of the Charter. During this exami- 
 nation he remained under a heap of cinders, which seemed in- 
 capable of affording effectual shelter to any living creature. The 
 Miguelists, however, pierced the heap in various places with long 
 sticks to remove all doubt, but missed him every time, and de- 
 parted without any suspicion of the truth. Had he been taken 
 prisoner at that time he would probably have suffered, as his ex- 
 treme activity in Dom Pedro's cause had rendered him peculiarly 
 obnoxious to the government of that day. Since that period he 
 has given proof of great military talent ; he has risen to high dis- 
 tinction, has been made a Peer, and is now a member of the 
 Portuguese Cabinet. 
 
 The British army had received final instructions to return, and 
 the 1st of April was the last day on which they continued to 
 occupy any part of the Portuguese territory. My friends 
 Colonel Lambert and Captain St. Clair spent their last evening 
 with me. The first I met a few months afterwards in England, 
 the last I never saw again. Captain St. Clair had virtues which 
 endeared him to his friends, he had all the spirit of his own 
 gallant profession, and abilities which might have reflected credit 
 " on the lordly line of high St. Clair." But fate had otherwise 
 decreed, and he died soon after his return, lamented by his 
 brother officers.* On the following morning I went to head - 
 
 * Both are now gone. While this edition is going through the press the
 
 CHAP, x.] DEPARTURE OF THE BRITISH ARMY. 221 
 
 quarters and found the General preparing to quit the palace. 
 Sir William Clinton had entirely won the affections of the Portu- 
 guese. His sway had been so firmly yet so gently administered, 
 authority had been so tempered with kindness, the foreign Chief 
 had so completely merged in the common Protector ; in short, 
 the elements were so mixed in him, that those who had hailed 
 the arrival of the British army lamented his departure as a 
 general misfortune, and those who hated British interposition 
 spoke of him with a forbearance and even with a warmth of feel- 
 ing rarely felt by men towards their political opponents. The 
 separation between the British and their Portuguese allies was 
 truly affecting. Our officers had awaited their recall with 
 extreme impatience, but, when the hour of departure actually 
 arrived, their joy was damped by the doubtful prospects which 
 overhung their foreign friends ; men with whom they had long 
 co-operated on equal terms and lived as brothers. They felt that 
 all hope of preferment for their late associates was at an end, 
 and that even the prospect of preserving their rank in the army 
 was hourly diminishing. The Portuguese accompanied our 
 officers to the water's edge, as if they wished to postpone the 
 final farewell to the latest moment, and cling, while it was yet 
 possible, to their only remaining friends ; and our officers em- 
 barked, not like men returning in high spirits to their native 
 land, but with tears in their eyes, as if retiring from a disastrous 
 campaign. 
 
 Bernardo dined with me, and in the evening we rowed to the 
 Windsor Castle, a lirie-of-battle ship commanded by Captain 
 King, and under orders to sail for England early on the follow- 
 ing morning. I was unacquainted with the Captain, but he re- 
 ceived us with civility, and I had the pleasure of again seeing 
 many of my military friends. I went into the General's cabin, 
 and found him still suffering from the effects of his accident and 
 almost worn out with business, for in feeble as in robust health 
 he paid the same unremitted attention to his official duties. 
 Having quitted him with regret, I walked the deck with my 
 friends. The air was warm, the sea calm, and as the evening 
 
 melancholy news of General Lambert's death has reached England. My 
 gallant friend was Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica, and fell a victim to 
 the yellow fever, the scourge of that country.
 
 222 DOM MIGUEL. LCHAP. x. 
 
 deepened the firmament became spangled with stars, and the 
 lattices of Lisbon were illuminated by a more earthly but not 
 less beauteous light. As we rowed to the shore the delicious 
 scent of the orange-flower was wafted over the water, and 
 actually loaded the air with its rich perfume. On the following 
 morning I heard that the vessels appointed to convey the British 
 forces to their several destinations had quitted the harbour with 
 the earliest glimpse of light. A few days afterwards I called at 
 the quarters recently occupied by the Commander-in-Chief, to 
 see a young Portuguese officer who had been officially connected 
 with the British army and was still remaining there. All his 
 brother officers had been dismissed from the regiment, and he 
 was only detained in consequence of the General's kind recom- 
 mendation ; but this apparent deference to Sir William's wishes 
 only survived his departure a short time, and before two months 
 had elapsed this young man was involved in the general expa- 
 triation. The shutters were closed when I entered the great 
 saloon, but he opened them and admitted light. His conversa- 
 tion flagged and his spirits seemed depressed, and I could hardly 
 myself resist the melancholy influence of the moment as I paced 
 the deserted apartments so lately occupied by a brilliant staff 
 and so often cheered by the voice of social mirth. 
 
 The departure of the British army created at first among our 
 merchants considerable alarm, which, however, subsided on the 
 following morning, when they found that their throats were in a 
 satisfactory state. The rain fell plenteously about this time, and 
 contributed to cool the apprehensive imaginations of my English 
 brethren. Before I left Lisbon I was presented to the Infant, at 
 the palace of Ajuda, by Sir Frederick Lamb. The folding- 
 doors of the audience-room were suddenly thrown back, and Dom 
 Miguel was seen standing between his sisters under the royal 
 canopy at the extremity of the apartment. He said little, but 
 his manner was gentle, and the gloom which darkened his coun- 
 tenance on that inauspicious morning when he vowed a fruitless 
 vow ! to defend the Charter, was replaced by a placid and good- 
 humoured expression. In the evening I called with my friend 
 Bernardo on the Marchesa d'Alorna, grandmother of the Mar- 
 quis of Fronteira. She had been driven from Portugal by the 
 French invasion, and had fondly hoped, on her return after the
 
 CHAP, x.] LISBON DESERTED. 223 
 
 general peace, to close her eyes in her native land, amid those 
 who were nearest and dearest to her. But those ties, she said, 
 were rent asunder, her kindred were again scattered over the face 
 of the earth, and the evening of her life was desolate. 
 
 I had long intended to explore the southern provinces of Por- 
 tugal, and most particularly those parts where a British foot 
 " had ne'er, or rarely, been." My English friends were on the 
 ocean ; my Portuguese in exile. Bernardo alone remained ; but 
 the increasing dangers of the time compelled him at length to 
 take refuge on board an English frigate, and I became a solitary 
 being amid the populous city of Lisbon. Lisbon had therefore 
 no longer any attractions for me ; her deserted palaces only re- 
 vived mournful recollections, and I determined to commence my 
 journey without delay.
 
 224 MOITA. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Author leaves Lisbon Moita Luxuriant Vegetation Setuval Wild 
 Scene of Midnight Revolution Arrabida Convent Melides Simplicity 
 of the People Santiago The Capitan Mor Want of Communication 
 Villa Nova Sierra de Monchique Beauty of a Portuguese Heath 
 Senhor Joaquim (Corregidor of Lagos) : his kindness and hospitality. 
 
 CONTRARY to the advice of my friend Mr. Forbes, who was 
 well acquainted with the character of the people of the country, 
 and read the signs of the times, I crossed the Tagus early in the 
 morning, and reached Moita in about two hours. The only 
 object of interest in our passage was a sand-bank washed by a 
 current at times extremely strong, and called the Cabeza de los 
 Espanoles, because a boat full of Spaniards was lost there a few 
 years before. The banks in the immediate vicinity of Moita are 
 low and sedgy, but a little farther on the mountain range of 
 Palmella rose boldly before us. At Moita we mounted our 
 horses, but experienced a most vexatious interruption before we 
 had advanced half a mile into the interior of the country. 
 
 It appeared that my servant Antonio, greatly moved for the 
 maintenance of his dignity, having heard at Lisbon that I had 
 hired a horse for my own use, rejected the offer of a safe but 
 humble mule, and insisted upon the loan of a prancing animal ; 
 and in this wish he was so happily indulged, that having, with 
 considerable difficulty, effected a lodgment in the saddle, he was 
 ejected from the premises at a moment's notice. In this dilemma 
 I proposed returning to Lisbon to negotiate matters with the 
 horse-dealer; for I knew that Antonio, under the influence of 
 his recent alarm, would probably return accompanied by some 
 dilapidated creature, unable to totter along the first day's road. 
 I therefore preferred sailing back to Lisbon, inconvenient as it 
 certainly was, to the chance of any protracted delay ; so, re- 
 entering the vessel, which I had just congratulated myself on 
 quitting, I lay down in a most implacable mood, my head resting
 
 CHAP, xi.] SETUVAL. 225 
 
 on a hard sack, and my feet refreshed by the wind and rain 
 which were driving fast against us. 
 
 In spite of various discomforts, I contrived to sleep, and the 
 weather cleared up before we reached Lisbon, where we arrived 
 rather crestfallen, after all the pomp and circumstance of our 
 matutine exit. I spent the night at Bento's, and, having pro- 
 vided my dejected squire with an appropriate nag, I embarked 
 early on the following morning, and, arriving at Moita, con- 
 tinued my journey through a sandy and pine-covered country. 
 
 Many flowers were in full bloom : I saw some fine specimens of 
 the tall malmaquiers growing in beautiful abundance ; the stuva, 
 with its elongated and gummy leaf; the pink saragassa; and the 
 arresminino, which covers whole districts and fills the air with 
 its delicious fragrance. The hedges were overrun with luxu- 
 riant fern, and with innumerable shrubs then in their loveliest 
 state of vegetation, for the tender light- green tint, which seldom 
 survives the first fortnight of spring in that burning climate, 
 was still resting upon them. Palmella is a fortified town, finely 
 situated on the summit of a hill. Here, man or horse becoming 
 somnolent, Antonio was quietly transferred from the saddle to 
 the sand, whilst I, unconscious of the deposit then in process, 
 was admiring the first view of Setuval and its noble bay, bounded 
 on one side by the Arrabida mountains. The plain is covered 
 with magnificent orange-trees, laden with fruit, actually touching 
 the ground. The air, deliciously scented with the lemon-bloom, 
 showed at once the fertility of the soil and the indolence of the 
 people, who, in other countries, would have collected the flower 
 for the sake of its perfume. The ash, differing in some respects 
 from our British species, was in full leaf; so was the fig ; poppies 
 of various colours abounded, and looked bright and gay amid 
 the corn, but showed the defective state of the agriculture. 
 
 The chief trade of Setuval consists in the exportation of salt : 
 the inhabitants are said to prepare annually 200,000 tons, of 
 which 90,000 are exported in foreign shipping. The greater 
 part of these 90,000 tons is sent to Ireland, Russia, Sweden, 
 and Finland, and a small quantity is reserved for the use of the 
 English fisheries. The remaining 110,000 tons of salt are partly 
 consumed at Setuval, and partly exported to Oporto, Viana, and 
 other Portuguese towns. The profits arising from the exporta- 
 
 Q
 
 226 SETUVAL. [CHAP. xr. 
 
 tion of oranges at Setuval are small : the salt is the staple 
 article. By mutual regulations, British and Portuguese ships 
 are, or at least were, entitled to the same indulgences in their 
 respective ports; but as the trade was principally carried on in 
 English bottoms, the advantages preponderated greatly on our side. 
 On my arrival at Setuval I stopped at a house kept by an English 
 Catholic, a man possessing an extent of information far beyond 
 his station in life. In the evening he accompanied me to a plot 
 of ground just out of the town, where a large concourse of 
 people was expected to assemble that very night. The agitation 
 which then prevailed among the inhabitants was extreme. En- 
 thusiastically attached to Dom Miguel, and implicitly guided by 
 the priesthood, they regarded the Charter with utter abhorrence ; 
 and recent events at Lisbon had inflamed their minds to such a 
 degree, that only a few days before my arrival the citizens had 
 collected in large bodies and attacked the troops stationed" in the 
 town. The Caadores, devoted to the Imperial cause, imme- 
 diately fired upon their assailants, and a considerable loss of life 
 ensued ; but the popular feeling was so strong, and the authorities 
 were so unanimous in supporting the Miguelist party, that the 
 troops were obliged to leave the town, and were replaced by a 
 regiment principally composed of the inhabitants, and fully 
 participating in their political sentiments. The only check on 
 the zeal of the Miguelists was thus for the first time removed, 
 and the Imperialists looked forward with alarm to the result of 
 a meeting convened by their avowed enemies, and held during 
 the hours of darkness. The numerous confessions made during 
 that particular season, for we were then in Lent, tended greatly 
 to augment their apprehensions, as the priests thus obtained 
 increased opportunities of secretly but deeply instilling into the 
 popular mind their rooted, and, it must be admitted, not unjusti- 
 fiable, hatred of the Constitutionalists. 
 
 As I walked with my host towards the scene of action, he 
 endeavoured to dissuade me from prosecuting my journey into 
 Alentejo, a district never very safe for travellers, but at that 
 time peculiarly dangerous from the great political excitement 
 which prevailed. He told me of an alarming incident that had 
 once befallen him in travelling through a wild and uncultivated 
 part of that province. He put up one evening at a lonely inn,
 
 CHAP, xi.] REVOLUTION OF SETUVAL. 227 
 
 where he found the kitchen table surrounded by a party of ill- 
 looking men, whom he soon recognised as confederated robbers, 
 by their appearance and manner, by the general style of their 
 conversation, and still more by the peculiar connexion which 
 seemed to exist between them and the master of the house. 
 Shortly afterwards a gentleman stopped at the inn, accompanied 
 by his servant and mounted on a fine horse, whose handsome 
 accoutrements bespoke the rank of his owner. In the course of 
 the evening my informant observed his host take up a pair of 
 pistols belonging to the stranger and extract the bullets. Con- 
 firmed in his worst suspicions, he cautiously left the room and 
 lost no time in effecting his escape ; he assured me that he had 
 afterwards reason to believe that both the gentleman and his 
 servant perished in that den of villains. 
 
 Engrossed in conversation, we unconsciously approached the 
 chapel at the extremity of the green, before which an enormous 
 concourse of people were assembled. Night had long set in, but 
 we saw by the glare of the lamps the crowd collected most 
 densely around a regimental band, which was playing with 
 amazing spirit the ultra-Royalist hymn ; but even this favourite 
 tune was often drowned by the deafening shouts of " Miguel the 
 First, the Absolute, the most Absolute King ! and death to the 
 Malleardos,* death to the infamous Constitutionalists !" It was 
 evident that the designs of the Miguelists in promoting this 
 meeting had been crowned with success. The popular enthu- 
 siasm was at its height, and characterized by such extreme fero- 
 city that I could not behold it without awe, or hear the deadly 
 imprecations heaped upon the Constitutionalists without feeling 
 that a terrible hour of vengeance was at hand. I have mingled 
 much in revolutionary scenes, but never before or since, not 
 even at Evora during the heat of civil conflict, have I seen the 
 
 * The Constitutionalists were about this time contemptuously called the 
 Malleardos, or Spotted Ones, in consequence of an accident that befel Dom 
 Miguel ; the nickname is illustrative of the quick fancy and readiness of the 
 people by whom, it was given. He was driving an open carriage drawn by 
 two spotted horses, which ran away with him so vehemently as to endanger 
 his life. The people, who were generally attached to Dom Miguel, imme- 
 diately applied the term Malleardos to the Constitutionalists, thereby intend- 
 ing to express their belief that, in one respect at least, they resembled the 
 spotted horses, being equally disposed to run away with the car of the state, 
 and to compromise the safety of their prince. 
 
 Q2
 
 228 TERRIBLE SCENE. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 human face distorted by such a variety of horrible passions ; 
 passions cradled in fanaticism, nursed in silence and in gloom, 
 but now roused to madness, and ready to break down every bar- 
 rier opposed to their gratification. Every passing occurrence 
 ministered to their hate, and furnished matter for hateful illus- 
 tration : if a rocket went up ill, the people called it a Consti- 
 tutionalist, a declaration received with yells expressive of the 
 utmost detestation and contempt ; if it rose well, they cried out 
 that even thus should their knives be sent into the hearts of the 
 accursed Freemasons, and then they expressed fervent wishes 
 that their traitorous heads were burning in the wheel of (he 
 rocket. In short, among that assembled multitude all seemed 
 .alike transported by one common love for the Infant, by one 
 common hatred to his opponents, and by one pervading sentiment 
 of unlimited and almost frenzied devotion to the Church. They 
 were inflamed by music and the spirit-stirring hymn ; by wine, 
 which gave an appalling character of desperation to their ges- 
 tures ; and by religious zealots, who whispered, in each pause of 
 the storm, that every blow they struck was struck for God. It 
 is difficult to describe the effect produced at intervals by the 
 sudden glare of the fireworks, dispersing the gloom and lighting 
 up, though but for an instant, their stern and excited counte- 
 nances. Those momentary gleams showed each man his neigh- 
 bour's passion, and strengthened his own from a sense of the 
 general sympathy; so that every moment their expressions of 
 vengeance became fiercer, and their shouts more vehement and 
 unintermitted. 
 
 At length they raised the cry of " Death to the English !" 
 My host had long before urged me to quit the scene, but the 
 deep interest with which I viewed these tumultuary proceedings 
 fixed me spellbound to the spot. Had my British origin been 
 discovered, my situation might have been very unpleasant, but 
 the same dark face, which in Spain convinced the authorities 
 that I was a native outlaw, effectually shielded me at Setuval 
 from the suspicion of being an Englishman ; still my foreign 
 accent might have betrayed me had I been compelled to speak, 
 and I felt on many grounds the necessity of retiring, for the 
 people were ripe for violence ; and their leaders, seeing that the 
 time for action had arrived, bade the music cease. The crowd,
 
 CHAP, xi.] MIDNIGHT REVOLUTION. 229 
 
 that had been long pent up, chafing like a mighty stream within 
 a narrow channel, now overflowed on all sides, bearing down on 
 Setuval to carry their revolutionary intentions into effect. In 
 trying to disengage myself from the turmoil, I observed that I 
 was often recognised as a stranger, though not as an Englishman. 
 Many fierce inquiring glances were bent upon me, many persons 
 seemed inclined to stop me, and were only prevented by the 
 hurried movements of the multitude, which pressed on, rank 
 after rank, like the waves of the sea : once, indeed, a savage- 
 looking fellow, rendered still more fierce by intoxication, seized 
 me by the coat, and, declaring that I was a Freemason, desired 
 me to shout for the Absolute King. My actual position was not 
 agreeable, for my host had warned me that, although I might 
 pass through the crowd unmolested, still, if a mere urchin raised 
 the cry of Freemason against me, the people, in their irritated 
 state, might fall upon me, as a pack obeys a single hound ; no 
 well-known Constitutionalist would that night, he assured me, 
 trust himself on that plot of ground for all^the treasures of the 
 British exchequer : but the danger, if real, was but momentary, 
 for, disordered by wine and forced onwards by the irresistible 
 pressure of the crowd, my assailant lost his hold before I had 
 time to reply. Extricating myself from the crowd, I took refuge 
 in a knoll of trees behind the chapel, where I saw groups of 
 men careering around with shouts and gesticulations absolutely 
 demoniac, and rather resembling enraged wild beasts than rational 
 beings ; and still, as I made the best of my way to the inn by a 
 circuitous path, I heard the loud beat of the drum and the infu- 
 riated cries of the people as they rushed to attack the dwellings 
 of the Constitutionalists, who were, however, generally speaking, 
 prepared for the tempest, and had fled from their houses some 
 hours before the rising of the gale. 
 
 On the following morning I heard that great outrages had 
 been committed during the preceding night ; that the people 
 were undisputed masters of the town, and Dom Miguel had been 
 proclaimed King by universal acclamation. I had observed that 
 a large proportion of the rioters consisted of fishermen, whose 
 picturesque dress, dark tangled locks, and weatherbeaten visages 
 heightened the wildness of the scene. 
 
 It is a singular fact, that, although these men had derived
 
 230 SUPPRESSION OF CONVENTS. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 greater and more immediate advantages from the operation of 
 the Charter than any other class, they were perhaps the most 
 opposed to its continuance. The fishermen of Setuval were re- 
 quired to pay 30 per cent, to the religious establishments before 
 the revolution of 1820, but in 1828 only contributed 10 per cent, 
 to their support, and yet they were anxious to revive the abo- 
 lished rights of the Church, and were almost to a man prepared 
 to die in its defence ; a fact honourable to them, showing in 
 strong colours the immense powers of that Church, and the folly 
 of attempting to overthrow, by direct hostility, a system built 
 on feelings which defy calculation, and which, in Portugal, are 
 too strongly impressed on the public mind to be eradicated by 
 those arguments of mere self-interest which generally influence 
 the conduct of men. 
 
 During the extraordinary scene of which I had been a silent 
 but deeply-interested spectator, it was evident that the strong 
 attachment manifested by the people on that night to the Church 
 and to the ruling pj-ince was combined with feelings of bitter 
 resentment towards the supporters of the Charter. That resent- 
 ment was not, however, justified by the conduct of the Consti- 
 tutional party of that day, but the oppressive policy pursued by 
 the Cortes of 1820 was still fresh in the memory of the people, 
 and was not unnaturally, though it was at that time unfairly, 
 visited upon the adherents of Dom Pedro's Charter ; but since 
 that monarch's final triumph, since my journey through Portugal, 
 it must be admitted, that in violence and ill-treatment of the 
 Church his Ministers have fully equalled, if not exceeded, their 
 democratic predecessors. While they alienated the peasantry by 
 their hasty suppression of the convents, by the same act they 
 extensively indisposed the landed gentry of the kingdom ; for 
 almost every family of note in Portugal had some members 
 attached to the monasteries and interested in their preservation : 
 all these have grievously suffered, and many of them have been 
 reduced to actual penury, by the harshness and injustice with 
 which those ancient establishments were suppressed. 
 
 If there be yet in store for the Miguelists a day of power and 
 retribution, I shall not envy any inhabitant of Setuval the dis- 
 tinction of Constitutionalist when the counter-revolutionary storm 
 breaks out.
 
 CHAP, xi.] REVOLUTION OF LORCA. 231 
 
 I have often observed with interest the rapid transition by 
 which the popular mind, in southern countries, passes from vio- 
 lent action to profound repose. On the morning after the revo- 
 lution the people had resumed their ordinary avocations ; the 
 town exhibited a tranquil aspect, and I had some difficulty in 
 conceiving that it could have been so recently the theatre of such 
 a fearful disturbance. 
 
 At times, however, I have seen in the Peninsula, after a mur- 
 derous conflict, the people paralysed by terror and the streets as 
 silent as the deserts of Arabia. I remember arriving at aposada, 
 bordering upon Lorca, a town in Andalusia, and .hearing that 
 the place was in a state of great revolutionary excitement ; a 
 conflict of parties had occurred on the preceding evening, and 
 had terminated in the complete ascendancy of the revolutionists ; 
 the Governor had been driven from the town, his house burnt, 
 and he was rescued with difficulty from the fury of the people. 
 Four or five of the leading Royalists had been massacred in the 
 public square, and several had been severely injured. Wishing 
 to hear a more detailed statement of the affair, I ventured into the 
 town ; in the whole length of the principal street I only met two 
 individuals ; they appeared to shun observation, and were pass- 
 ing quietly but hastily to their destination. I delayed them, 
 requesting to know the nearest way to the Plaza, and, on the pre- 
 tence of inquiring whether I could proceed farther with safety, in- 
 troduced the subject on which I was desirous of obtaining informa- 
 tion. The first man to whom I addressed myself appeared much 
 annoyed at my questions, and replied in a tone of exultation, 
 which I suspect, from the nervous anxiety of his manner, was by 
 110 means in unison with his real feelings ; however, he urged me 
 to return to the posada, saying it was a very unfit time for a 
 stranger to venture into the town. The second only answered, 
 " For God's sake ask no questions, speak to no man, but return 
 home without delay." Both seemed alarmed at the interruption, 
 looked anxiously around them to ascertain whether the few words 
 that had passed between us had been overheard, and then hurried 
 on more rapidly than before. I perceived that the doors were 
 closed and the windows barred as I advanced into the heart of 
 the town, and, though I saw everywhere traces of the industry 
 of man, I heard not a sound that recalled his existence to my
 
 232 DESERTED TOWN. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 mind. I confess I felt awed by the unnatural contrast that ex- 
 isted between the magnitude and flourishing appearance of the 
 town, and the horrible stillness and desolation that seemed to 
 reign over it, and which was only disturbed by the echo of my 
 own footsteps. At length that echo became quite oppressive ; 
 it fell with such appalling distinctness on the ear, that I expe- 
 rienced a sensation of dread which actual danger could not have 
 inspired, and compared with which almost any sound, however hos- 
 tile, would have seemed a positive relief. As I walked amid these 
 living tombs, I felt as if I were invading precincts respected by 
 every foot but mine, and over which a sacred horror reigned : 
 how refreshing to the heart is the loneliness of the country, how 
 terrible the desolation of the town ! At length I heard a heavy 
 measured tread, and saw four or five men coming slowly and 
 steadily down the street ; they wore the black cap, and carried 
 muskets under the black mantle, which is the distinctive dress of 
 Lorca, but the points of their fire-arms projected beyond their 
 capotes, and were clearly shown. Perhaps this gloomy costume, 
 combined with the awful circumstances of the time, produced an 
 exaggerated impression on my mind, but I thought at the mo- 
 ment I had never seen an expression of villainy so sullen and 
 dispassionate, so hopeless and unrelenting, as that which was 
 stamped upon the features of these men. But to return to Se- 
 tuval. For a long time afterwards the Constitutionalists did not 
 venture to pass the night in their own houses, for they were 
 acquainted with the volcanic nature of their countrymen, and 
 during the late eventful times had not been wholly unaccustomed 
 to those sudden storms. 
 
 I set off at an early hour on a fine morning to see the Arrabida 
 convent, accompanied by the Consul's son, a young Portuguese 
 of lively and agreeable manners : we chose the Aceitao track, 
 and rode among hills fragrant with lavender and rosemary, and 
 finely clothed with olive, pine, and cork, through plains glitter- 
 ing with flowers of various hues, and between hedges composed 
 of aloes. The aloe-flower is white as snow and highly orna- 
 mental, but like the silver locks of age it is the blossom of the 
 grave, for the plant lives many years, but only blooms once, 
 and dies immediately afterwards. 
 
 We ascended a steep hill, and from the summit enjoyed a fine
 
 CHAP, xi.] OCEAN GROTTO. 233 
 
 though distant view of Lisbon and the broad Tagus ; riding on, 
 we looked down upon the blue bay of Setuval, and the long line 
 of the Alentejo coast stretching to Sines. Passing some chapels, 
 rising above each other embosomed in wood, we reached the 
 convent, and, entering a grotto, descended into the famous 
 cavern, which is spacious, supported by two great natural pillars, 
 and washed by the ocean. The water was that morning of a 
 deep-green colour, and so clear that we could count the pebbles 
 lying many feet below the surface ; but though so calm, the 
 echo of the wave resounding through the hollow vault was very 
 impressive. The convent is inhabited by indigent monks of the 
 Franciscan order, possessing no great extent of land, and receiv- 
 ing alms from strangers. Their internal regulations were very 
 strict ; they were forbidden to eat meat at any time, and enjoined 
 to sleep in the heart of winter with the most scanty covering : 
 before we left the convent they showed us the scourges with 
 which they lashed themselves, and heavy stones which they hung 
 round their necks as a penance. The garden terrace commands 
 a fine view of mountains, sometimes terminating abruptly in 
 precipitous crags, sometimes covered to the water's edge with 
 wood, amongst which are found the quercus Australis, the maple, 
 the strawberry-tree, and the carob, or St. John's bread-tree. 
 
 The Serra da Arrabida principally consists of grey limestone, 
 and there is much of a kind of coarse flint breccia in the neigh- 
 bourhood. The fathers asked us to spend the night at the con- 
 vent, but we were anxious to return; so, taking a guide, we 
 entered upon a track little used by horsemen. For the first few 
 miles it was narrow and not very safe, for a false step would have 
 precipitated us from a stupendous height into the sea below. As 
 we approached Setuval the road improved, but my horse fell 
 with me and bruised me slightly. During this expedition I had 
 observed many curious plants. The cistus ladaniferus grew 
 high, and covered the fields with its white blossoms, intermixed 
 with the dark yellow-streaked cistus, which I believe to be the 
 Libanotis. That lovely weed, the anagallis caerulea, which rivals 
 the blue heaven itself in the depth and beauty of its colouring, 
 grew side by side with the cardon, and under the shade of the 
 fragrant lavandula multifida, known to the peasantry by the har- 
 monious appellation of rosmenino.
 
 234 DEPARTURE FROM SETUVAL. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 I rode with the Consul's son to inspect the salt-ponds, which 
 are situated in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea. They 
 become filled when the tide flows in, and when it goes out the 
 sluices prevent the water from retiring ; as the water evaporates, 
 a thick crust of salt is formed, but this process is only carried on 
 during the hottest months of the year. The day was falling, 
 and we rode back in haste, as the rioters were generally abroad 
 towards dusk. 
 
 Having spent some days at Setuval, I took leave of the Consul, 
 and received the kind adieus of my landlady and her pretty 
 children, whose light-blue eyes and flaxen hair announced their 
 northern extraction, and formed a pleasing contrast to the dark 
 visages and sinister expression of that fiery race among whom 
 their lot was cast. Her husband, mine host, whom I have already 
 mentioned, asserted equality by a vigorous shake of the hand ; 
 honest and right-minded, fond of books, and capable of appre- 
 ciating them, his life seemed to have fluctuated, under the influ- 
 ence of changing circumstances, between a higher and an inferior 
 grade of society. 
 
 Embarking at Setuval, I landed, after a passage of three hours, 
 at a point on the coast about a league distant from Comporta. 
 Continuing my journey through a desolate country, I wound 
 along the base of a high sand-hill, which formed a most glittering 
 object in the distance, being entirely destitute of vegetation, 
 except in a few places where it was dotted with occasional tufts 
 of lavender. It was often difficult to maintain our footing, as 
 the hill rose almost perpendicularly from the plain, which was, 
 in many parts, completely under water. A large species of the 
 aquatic lily covered large stagnant pools, and the yellow iris 
 grew luxuriantly on the sedgy banks, but as we advanced the 
 soil became firmer, and was overrun with laurustinus, arbutus, 
 juniper, arbor vitae, and cedar. I saw the passion-flower and the 
 trevisco, and occasionally a beautiful plant sometimes mistaken 
 by travellers for yellow heath ; indeed I only discovered on in- 
 spection that, in spite of its general resemblance to the ericas, it 
 could not be classed among any varieties of that tribe. 
 
 I arrived late in the day at Fontigna, a village consisting of 
 a few houses only, but adorned with smiling gardens, and beau- 
 tiful from its contrast with the adjacent waste. Fontigna is
 
 CHAP, xi.] SIMPLICITY OF THE PEOPLE. 235 
 
 remarkable for a very primitive state of manners prevalent 
 among its inhabitants, which invested them with a peculiar in- 
 terest in my eyes : secluded from the world by the surrounding 
 wilderness, and ardently attached to their native place, they 
 rarely stray beyond its precincts ; their joys, their sorrows, the 
 recollections of their childhood, the hopes of their manhood, all 
 centre in that cherished spot ; living in a state of mutual amity 
 and kindness worthy of the golden age, selecting their partners 
 from the narrow circle of their little village, they pass on un- 
 troubled from the cradle to the tomb, in happy ignorance of the 
 external world. 
 
 I rode on to Melides, where I found the Mayor, conspicuous 
 by his new coat and oilskinned hat, haranguing his inferior 
 friends. Having bowed to authority in the shape of his Worship, 
 I adjourned to the inn, where I was overwhelmed with questions 
 touching my journey by the simple inhabitants, who seemed lost 
 in astonishment at the sight of a well-clad gentleman, as the 
 privilege of wearing decent attire had hitherto been supposed to 
 vest exclusively in the Mayor. An old woman, who was both 
 deaf and dumb, happening to see my silver canteen, testified the 
 utmost admiration by raising her hands and uplifting her eyes. 
 I was surprised at the readiness with which by-standers con- 
 veyed complex ideas to her mind, and admired the emphatic 
 gestures by which she made her own meaning understood. A 
 young man intimated to her that I came from England, not 
 from Spain ; wishing to ascertain the fact, she approached me, 
 raised one hand in the direction of the east, then, quickly with- 
 drawing it, stretched both forth in the wildest manner towards 
 the sea, wringing them and holding them extended for a minute, 
 as if to say, You come not from Spain, but from a land far, far 
 beyond the Western Ocean. Soon afterwards a Neapolitan drew 
 near the fire ; he had all the liveliness of his countrymen, and 
 talked fluently enough, though I did not altogether like the 
 general tenor of his observations, which ran too much on robbers 
 and their exploits. Such themes were certainly not inappropriate 
 in Alentejo, but I have remarked that villains in his rank 
 of life often lead the conversation to subjects connected with 
 their own vocation, partly to remove suspicion from themselves, 
 partly to extract information, and, perhaps, in some degree
 
 236 MISERABLE INN. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 from that vague and restless feeling which sometimes prompts 
 men 
 
 " to unload the breast, 
 Even when discovery 's pain." 
 
 His father's house was situated on the borders of Calabria, and 
 his provincial hatred of the Calabrians showed itself in the 
 energy of his abuse. Happening to admire a flower worn by a 
 young girl, she brought a basketful into my room ; I gave her 
 a trifle, which produced a second supply with a promise of a 
 third. I then assured her that the flowers only retained their 
 beauty whilst carried in her bosom. The observation pleased 
 her, but had not the effect of preventing a general invasion of 
 my apartment by her young companions, who arrived with 
 garlands in profusion, and proceeded to investigate my goods 
 and chattels with the utmost delight and amazement. The off- 
 spring of the poor are pretty throughout the south of Portugal, 
 and are generally distinguished a melancholy distinction ! by 
 a look of premature care, peculiar in that country to the chil- 
 dren of poverty. 
 
 As I retired to rest the old woman entered my room and 
 pointed towards the window with an energy of manner which in 
 any female of minor gesticulation I should have supposed intended 
 to warn me of approaching danger. If such was the motive of 
 her visit, her hint was certainly not lost upon me, for, recol- 
 lecting the admiration excited by my canteen, and not wholly 
 oblivious of my Neapolitan friend, I fortified my apartment 
 with especial care. However inviting my goods might be to 
 others, my room had certainly no attractions for me : there was 
 neither floor nor pavement, consequently my bed rested on the 
 damp earth ; the roof was rotten and full of apertures, through 
 which the sky was visible, and the rain fell in a lively stream. 
 This utter want of accommodation, combined with a host of 
 vermin, ravenous in the consumption of a well-fed Englishman, 
 effectually disturbed my repose without the assistance of any 
 human assailants. 
 
 On the following morning, as we approached the village of 
 Santiago, we passed by a large mansion, from which issued a 
 wild kind of being who proved to be the Capitan Mor ; ad- 
 dressing me with a courtesy remarkable in a man of such uncouth
 
 CHAP, xi.] MISERABLE COUNTRY. 237 
 
 exterior, he entreated me to alight and partake of all the hos- 
 pitality his house could afford. Having declined his offer, I 
 stopped at Santiago, where I drank in, with stunned and afflicted 
 ears, the lugubrious wailing of infants issuing from every quarter 
 of "the compass. There I devoured in a barn some eggs, and 
 bread soaked in water, the only breakfast I could obtain ; for 
 breakfasts in this part of the world are deficient in quantify, and 
 in quality not very conducive to the maintenance of man ; 
 dinners were often a total blank in the record of daily events. 
 Men shook their heads when I said that I was travelling through 
 that wretched country solely for my personal amusement, for I 
 did not venture to confess that the political excitement then 
 prevailing was my chief inducement. 
 
 After sundry expostulations with man and beast with man 
 that was rapacious in the shape of an innkeeper, and beast that 
 was obstreperous in the form of a mule I quitted Santiago, 
 having first explored the remains of a fine Moorish castle. We 
 then entered a defile that led through mountains entirely covered 
 with gum cistus many feet in height. It was cut down in 
 several places and lay in heaps, which the farmers intended to 
 burn during the ensuing August, esteeming the ashes good 
 manure. The cistus populifolius was occasionally to be seen, 
 but the ladaniferus is the prevailing growth. The foxglove 
 was abundant, and a beautiful but lowly flower of a pink colour, 
 called rosella by the natives, often attracted my notice. The 
 wild olive and the quercus coccifera were intermingled with 
 cork-trees almost as huge as forest-oaks, and covered by those 
 young shoots which give them during the spring the beauty and 
 freshness of deciduous trees. I observed some plots of ground 
 well tilled, upon which the corn appeared to thrive; and as 
 there seemed little difference in the nature of the adjacent soil, 
 I have no doubt that here the absence of a more extended culti- 
 vation is less attributable to the poverty of the soil than to other 
 causes. The want of water and want of hands in Alentejo 
 depress the agricultural interest, and prevent the farmer from 
 raising corn at a price which bears any competition with that 
 which is imported. The first Cortes increased the duty on the 
 admission of foreign corn into the kingdom, a measure highly 
 popular in Alentejo, and perhaps the chief cause of the Consti-
 
 238 ALENTEJO THE SEA. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 tutional feeling that was displayed so strongly in parts of that 
 province. The importation of Spanish corn, smuggled across 
 the frontier into Portugal, is, however, so considerable that no 
 regulations established for the purpose of improving the state of 
 agriculture in Portugal can have any great or permanent result, 
 unless combined with measures tending to promote an extension 
 of the home market ; an object which Government may very 
 much effect by opening roads and canals, and thus facilitating 
 the intercourse between parts of the kingdom now absolutely 
 unconnected. The material difference frequently existing in 
 the price of commodities, at places but a few miles distant from 
 each other, and sometimes only divided by a hill or a stream, 
 is a striking proof of the extreme inconvenience arising from 
 the want of proper communications. 
 
 In passing through a thicket near Calcar my horse made a 
 dead halt, exhibiting unequivocal signs of alarm ; this pause 
 was followed by a loud rustling among the leaves, and imme- 
 diately afterwards my muleteer cried out that a wild boar had 
 passed by him into the most tangled part of the covert. As we 
 approached Villa Nova, over a dreary waste of sand and heath, 
 I saw some coveys of red-legged partridges, several bustards and 
 curlews, and a cloud of gulls. The sea was always in my child- 
 hood an inexpressible source of pleasure to me, and now 
 when that creative fancy has very much subsided, 
 
 " Which out of all the lovely things we see 
 Extracts emotions beautiful and new," 
 
 and clads them in a brilliant but delusive colouring even now, 
 the sea, revisited after any absence, however brief, conveys to 
 my mind a sensation of delight which no other object of inani- 
 mate nature can in a similar degree awaken : it brings back 
 those fresh and joyous feelings which are constant inmates of 
 the breast during the springtide of life, but which afterwards 
 only return at intervals, " like angel visits, few and far between." 
 This delight in the ocean has never weakened with other im- 
 pressions, probably because it was imbibed in my earliest years, 
 because it was associated with some of my purest and happiest 
 recollections, and, more than all, because it was instilled into 
 my mind by one early lost, but fondly cherished and deeply
 
 CHAP, xi.] VILLA NOVA. 239 
 
 lamented one who loved that element in all its moods, who 
 appreciated natural beauty in all its forms, and whose ap- 
 preciation was ever just as it was exquisite. These sensations 
 I experienced in their full force when I arrived on the heights 
 above Villa Nova, worn out with fatigue and in but indifferent 
 spirits. The dash of the waves sounded in my ears like the 
 voice of a welcome and a well-known friend, and I rejoiced to 
 see the great Atlantic a splendid sight ! breaking over low 
 rocks, and crested with foam almost to the horizon, come dashing 
 
 * * o 
 
 against a succession of headlands, struggling and buffeting with 
 the Villa Nova stream, which seemed to pour into its bosom no 
 tributary tide. 
 
 On arriving at Villa Nova the Consul accompanied me to the 
 southern side of the harbour. Immediately opposite lay the 
 Terror, bomb frigate, wrecked on this coast during the terrific 
 storm of the 19th of February, and only saved from utter de- 
 struction by the skill and coolness of the Captain, and the un- 
 daunted spirit of his crew : had they struck a little lower down, 
 no efforts, however strenuous, could have availed them, as the 
 coast is lofty and ironbound. We hired a boat and rowed to the 
 frigate, where Captain Hope led me round the vessel, which was 
 undergoing repairs, and was still in a shattered state. He then 
 showed me the way across a barren sand-hill to the spot where 
 the accident had occurred, and pointed out the marks of recent 
 fires, and of the tents under which his crew had encamped for 
 nearly two months. I returned to the inn as the day was 
 closing, and was regaled with an apartment that admitted 
 dioramic views of heaven and earth through sundry picturesque 
 openings in the roof and wooden walls. 
 
 The sun shone brightly as I left Villa Nova early on the 
 following morning, but was overcast before I had gained the 
 heights above the town. The clouds seemed pregnant with 
 mischief, as they rolled heavily from the west, and gave the 
 altered scene a sad but just resemblance to the darkened pro- 
 spects of the kingdom ; the national landscape, as bright two 
 months before, was then as suddenly enveloped in doubt and 
 gloom. There was no inn at Port St. Antoine, but we stopped 
 at a wretched hut, inhabited by an old woman and her daughters, 
 who could only give us bread and water, a poor repast for
 
 240 SERRA DA MONCHIQUE. [CHAP. XT. 
 
 famished travellers. The youngest girl, Maria de Carmo, was 
 extremely pretty : observing me gather a white flower from the 
 hedge, she eagerly snatched it from my hand, and supplied its 
 place by a rose, for, according to the superstition of the district, 
 that white flower only grows above the dead, and borrows its 
 rank luxuriance from the grave. As I was sitting in the hut, 
 the peasants, unaccustomed to the visits of inquisitive English- 
 men, crowded in to see the wild beast. 
 
 There was little variation in the character of the scenery till 
 we reached the famous Serra da Monchique, a mountain-range 
 constituting the northern barrier of Algarve. For many miles 
 before we approached it the country was extremely desolate : for 
 hours together we neither saw any villages, nor even passed a 
 single hut : the few peasants whom we met seemed both astonished 
 and terrified by the appearance of a traveller. Boys and women 
 fled as we drew near, and, when they had not sufficient time to 
 escape, testified the utmost alarm ; even the men retreated when 
 they descried us at a distance. 
 
 These retrograde movements were highly inconvenient, as we 
 depended upon casual information for the right direction of our 
 course across those wild and often trackless wastes. More than 
 once I rode towards some of the peasantry to make the necessary 
 inquiries, but each in turn invariably fled as I advanced ; and 
 when I pressed the pursuit till I had arrived within a few feet 
 of my fugitive, he suddenly vanished, sinking into the gum- 
 cistus, where he lay effectually concealed from my view. In 
 vain I perambulated the place, and shouted ; I could not dis- 
 cover the foolish fellow among those high bushes, and neither 
 prayers nor menaces could draw him from his hiding-place. 
 Disappearing in this ridiculous manner one after another, they 
 reminded me of birds occasionally lost in a furze-brake, and not 
 recovered after a most diligent search, though the sportsman has 
 seen them fall. 
 
 We now commenced the long and arduous ascent of the Mon- 
 chique range, and, following for many hours a path that wound 
 up the steep in a zigzag direction, arrived, as the sun was setting, 
 at a village prettily situated among groups of chestnuts ; the air 
 was, however, keen even at that time of year, from the im- 
 mense elevation of the place. The people were simple, honest,
 
 CHAP. XL] A PORTUGUESE HEATH. 241 
 
 and good-humoured, but could not give me any dinner, and had 
 some difficulty in supplying me with a bed. From a nei^h- 
 bouring convent tower I gazed on the magnificent mountains 
 which surrounded me ; turning towards the north, my eye ran 
 over the dark wastes of Alentejo stretching into endless distance, 
 while far beneath me lay the rich and flourishing Algarve, 
 bounded by the sea. The kingdom of Algarve is long and 
 narrow, and its breadth appeared inconsiderable indeed in that 
 extensive view. 
 
 On the following morning we continued our journey, and 
 wound along the edge of a precipice. We were now in spring, 
 the most delightful season of a Portuguese year. To the lover 
 of natural beauty a Portuguese heath is, at that time, a scene of 
 indescribable interest, at least in those happy spots where the 
 peculiarly favourable nature of the soil permits the development 
 of its varied treasures. Through such a scene we passed : the 
 earth was then clad in its richest apparel ; besides the rosemary, 
 the juniper, the myrtle, the lavender, and a thousand bulbous 
 plants disclosing their thousand beauties, the ericas umbellata 
 and australis, with their brilliant and deep-red blossoms, and the 
 various cisti, some yellow, some of a rosy tint, some white as 
 snow, and others streaked with purple, embroidered the plain 
 with their variegated and delightful hues. The very insects, 
 disporting over those beautiful wastes, were marked by the same 
 rich and decided colouring : the deep blue of the butterfly was 
 not surpassed by its own azure heaven ; and the emerald-green 
 of some species of the scarabaeus tribe seemed fresh from the 
 colouring of their own Almighty artist. In short, a common 
 character of grace and beauty in detail distinguished almost 
 every object of animate and inanimate nature. 
 
 In gazing on that scene, how strongly did I feel that the great 
 Author of those natural treasures is not more to be marvelled at 
 in the awful assemblage of worlds which he has placed around 
 us, than in those minute and sometimes almost microscopic 
 glories which he has spread in such harmonious profusion at our 
 feet! But these varied beauties that occasionally charm the 
 eye on a Portuguese heath, and keep alive every faculty of 
 perception, are not, it must be confessed, the distinguishing 
 characteristics of the great wastes of Alentejo. 
 
 K
 
 242 VALLEY OF MONCHIQUE. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 The granite region, and the limestone strata, so often pro- 
 ductive of a beauteous vegetation, are limited in extent : the 
 sandstone and the slate more frequently prevail, and then the 
 traveller may pass, for hours together, through mountain defiles, 
 and over plains, covered, as far as the eye can reach, with the 
 tall and unvarying cistus ladaniferus ; and yet the graceful 
 form of this plant, its green glistening leaves, its large white 
 sleepy-looking flowers, heavily spotted with purple, and meeting 
 the sight in every direction, are not without their influence on 
 the mind. There is a fascination in the gorgeous monotony and 
 universal stillness of the scene, in the solemn splendour of the 
 never-clouded sun and sky, and in the heavy and almost 
 enervating fragrance with which that all-prevailing cistus loads 
 the air. 
 
 Insensibly affected by these circumstances, the mind, having 
 no scope for active observation, and perhaps pleased to retire for 
 a moment into a world of its own, involuntarily falls into that 
 dreamy state, half pleasing and half melancholy, in which fairy 
 visions arise unbidden, in which the fancy sports while the 
 judgment sleeps, and thoughts chase each other through the 
 half-unconscious brain, without effort, and almost without con- 
 nexion. 
 
 I confess I had fallen into this kind of unprofitable reverie 
 under the lulling influence of the great cistus wastes through 
 which I had been travelling, but a glorious scene of living 
 though inanimate beauty was at hand, springing up like an oasis 
 in the desert, lovely in itself, but still more lovely from the 
 force of contrast, affording ample matter for observation and 
 interest, renewing my energies, and, like the sun, at once dis- 
 pelling every mist from the mind ; for now, leaving the slate 
 soil and the cistus mountain, we entered that glorious valley of 
 Monchique, which, in point of picturesque scenery, is preferred 
 by many of the Portuguese to Cintra itself. It is indeed 
 eminently beautiful : the vegetation in the valley is most lux- 
 uriant, and refreshed by streams of the clearest water : upon 
 their banks the rhododendron grows profusely amid the lotus, 
 the jonquil, and many varieties of the scilla, while the hills 
 above are covered with chestnuts of an immense growth, and 
 orange-trees bowed down by the weight of their golden fruit.
 
 CHAP, xi.] THE CORREGIDOR OF LAGOS. 243 
 
 Upon the whole, Monchique is perhaps inferior to Cintra in the 
 beauty of particular situations, but is free from all the strikim* 
 defects of that far-famed spot. However, I did not see this 
 lovely valley to its utmost advantage, as the scenery was then 
 deprived of its brightest ornaments, the chestnut-woods being 
 only partially in leaf. 
 
 On leaving the beautiful valley of Monchique we entered a 
 country, wild and desolate as that through which I had ridden 
 during the few days preceding. The monotony of the cistus 
 plains was indeed occasionally varied by tracts covered with the 
 palmetto, so frequent in parts of the south of Spain. Like a 
 dwarf aping a giant, it is in some respects a caricature of the 
 great Eastern palm, yet, with its elongated leaves and short 
 wild-looking stem, its appearance is picturesque enough. My 
 destination was Cape St. Vincent, but, my horse knocking up 
 three miles from Lagos, I was obliged to deviate from my route, 
 and halt at a miserable little inn close to that town. Vexed at 
 an accident which threatened to impede my journey, and 
 exhausted by the heat of the sun, I threw myself on my 
 mattress, and was quickly asleep. Roused by admonitory taps 
 on the extreme tips of my toes, I found a lively little animal 
 gesticulating largely and exhorting me to rise, announcing in a 
 loud voice the approach of the Senhor Corregidor, an officer 
 whose duties, in many respects, resemble those attached to the 
 French prefecture, and whose official consideration is fully equal 
 to that, enjoyed by the French prefect. That such an advent 
 should not be duly honoured, that any individual should be 
 found by an inspecting Corregidor in the disrespectful attitude of 
 profound repose, was an outrage on the dignity of office sure to 
 fill the mind of a genuine Portuguese with horror. Believing 
 that this would prove a visit of inquiry into the motives of my 
 journey, terminating in annoyance and perhaps in arrest, I rose, 
 ungraciously enough, but was reassured on finding that he only 
 called to congratulate me on my arrival, and make me a free 
 tender of his services. I thanked him for his considerate atten- 
 tions, and he departed accompanied by three servants. I after- 
 wards wandered through the town, which is situated on the 
 southern coast of Algarve fronting the sea : the population is 
 considerable, though the harbour is indifferent, and the greater 
 
 R 2
 
 244 KINDNESS AND HOSPITALITY [CHAP. xi. 
 
 part of the houses consist of one story only. Lagos only affords 
 good anchorage for a fleet when the wind blows from the north 
 or west. 
 
 Returning to the inn I met the Corregidor, Senhor Joaquim : 
 he urged me to enter his house, and made me partake of tea and 
 refreshments, brought in by a handsome middle-aged woman, 
 who appeared sincerely attached to her master, and occasionally 
 joined in the conversation with the easy freedom of a favourite 
 and indulged servant. The extreme familiarity often existing in 
 Portugal between master and servant is, at first, a matter of 
 surprise to an Englishman. A servant standing behind his 
 master's chair corrects his statements if he consider them 
 erroneous, and not unfrequently makes observations on any 
 question under discussion. A grandee of the kingdom attempted 
 to combine the dignity of his elevated station with the national 
 habits of familiarity towards his domestics by a whimsical mode 
 of proceeding, for he invited them to join the family circle at 
 cards, but required them to remain on one knee during the 
 whole of the game. 
 
 On my return to the inn I found Antonio in a very feverish 
 state, which gave me great uneasiness, as the natives of this 
 district are subject to agues of a dangerous character. I imme- 
 diately sent for a surgeon, who declared him labouring under a 
 slight attack of that nature, and said that a few days' rest was 
 necessary to restore him. I was, therefore, obliged to postpone 
 for some days my journey to Cape St. Vincent. During this 
 time the kindness and hospitality of the worthy Corregidor knew 
 no bounds; he usually spent the greater part of the day with 
 me, showing me every object of interest, and pressing me to take 
 all my meals at his house with an earnestness that brooked no 
 refusal. Breakfast was on the ^table punctually at seven, and 
 consisted of tea and fruit in abundance, a delicious sweetmeat 
 made of milk and eggs, with wine and meat. Dinner was served 
 at twelve o'clock, an hour unusually late in the Algarve, but 
 fixed on out of complaisance to my English habits. Our fare 
 was always good, but varied little from day to day, consisting 
 chiefly of soup, beef, garavanzos, chickens under every possible 
 modification of cookery, rice in profusion, fruits, sweetmeats, and 
 excellent wine.
 
 CHAP, xi.] OF THE CORREGIDOR. 245 
 
 In the south of Portugal it is considered the duty of a liberal 
 host to press his guest in the warmest manner to continue the 
 repast, even when it is evident that his appetite is completely 
 satisfied. The guest declines, and the host upon that occasion 
 only makes an obeisance, but, immediately before the party 
 breaks up, renews his entreaty ; the guest again declines, upon 
 which the master rises from table, shrugs up his shoulders, and 
 assumes a look of great regret, as if to say, I have willingly 
 laid before you my best fare ; it is indeed indifferent, but you 
 must excuse it, for it is all I have to offer. 
 
 Dinner was invariably followed by the siesta, and afterwards 
 tea and coffee were successively handed round ; the last and most 
 delightful hours of the day were spent in the open air, and a 
 supper, in all respects resembling dinner, closed the evening.
 
 246 DON HENRY. [CHAP. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Visit to Sagres Don Henry Castle of Sagres Cape St. Vincent Portu- 
 guese Ceremonial Courtesies of Society St. Vincent's Chair Villa 
 Obisbo Ludicrous Mistake Return to Lagos Juan, the Borderer 
 Women of Silves Marquis of Pombal The Prazo Faro Tavira 
 Villa Real Barbarity to Animals Atrocities of Majendie Alcoutin 
 Revolt at Mertola The Lobishomens Beja The Alentejo Religious 
 Enthusiasm. 
 
 I HAD been prevented from reaching Cape St. Vincent by the 
 disaster which befell my horse, but I now availed myself of the 
 delay occasioned by Antonio's illness to visit it before I took my 
 final leave of Lagos. The Corregidor kindly determined to 
 accompany me ; so, starting at an early hour, we rode through a 
 wild country, covered with rosemary, heath, and cistus, and over 
 a track full of stones, and in many places scarcely perceptible. 
 The scenery became bold as we approached Sagres, a name dear 
 to every Portuguese who loves his country, for it is closely in- 
 terwoven with the best and brightest period of the national his- 
 tory. In this retirement Don Henry, that princely benefactor 
 of Portugal, matured his high designs, and from this bay sent 
 forth well-appointed naval armaments to explore an unknown 
 ocean, fraught with real, and invested with fabulous terrors ; 
 committing his fleets to the guidance of leaders whose steadfast 
 courage triumphed over obstacles deemed insurmountable, and 
 whose great discoveries still constitute the most imperishable 
 monument of Portuguese fame. 
 
 There is considerable depth of water in the Bay of Sagres, 
 which still affords shelter to vessels, and traces remain of a har- 
 bour which might easily be restored by an enterprising govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The day was closing as we arrived at the Castle of Sagres, 
 boldly placed upon a projecting headland : the sun had just set, 
 enveloped in crimson clouds ; the wind was moaning around the 
 mossy towers, and the sea raged at an awful depth below. Under
 
 CHAP, xii.] CASTLE OF SAGRES. 247 
 
 these circumstances, well suited to the scene, I saw, for the first 
 time, the heights of St. Vincent, and looked upon that famous 
 cape which occupies so large a space in the imagination of child- 
 hood. We halted beneath the old pile, and, obtaining entrance, 
 we proceeded along a narrow passage, cut through the massive 
 walls, into a kitchen of dimensions such as our ancestors used. 
 This apartment opened into an inner court of the fortress, where 
 Don Joaquim sent a message to the Commandant, requesting the 
 favour of a night's lodging for himself and a friend. Don Al- 
 varo received us graciously, and assured us, according to the 
 hospitable and rather magniloquent style of invitation common 
 among the Portuguese, that his castle, his houses, his gardens 
 (not a tree, not a bush, not even a plant was to be seen on that 
 bleak spot), and all that he possessed, were at our complete 
 disposal. 
 
 My sleep was that night disturbed by vivid dreams ; and I 
 awoke with a violent headache, and evidently affected in some 
 degree by the prevailing ague. Restless and in pain, I rose at 
 that early hour when the first faint streaks of light were stealing 
 over the sky, and for a long time paced the battlements that 
 frowned above a roaring ocean. The cliffs are dark and preci- 
 pitous on all sides, and the isthmus on which the fortress stands 
 has great peculiarities ; its surface is covered with masses of 
 rock, and the ground is in many places completely hollow. 
 There is a fearful chasm, exceedingly dark and deep, directly 
 communicating with the sea, which rushes through this subter- 
 ranean channel with so loud a roar, that I almost thought the 
 isthmus was in the act of being rent asunder. On placing a 
 piece of heath over the orifice, I observed that it was blown 
 away by the gust of wind produced by the rush of water below. 
 From this, and from other circumstances, I suspect that the 
 ground is in this part wholly undermined ; the currents probably 
 force their way from both sides of the isthmus into the narrow 
 chasm, and that astounding roar must arise from the furious con- 
 flict produced by the meeting of these two opposing tides. The 
 promontory of St. Vincent is composed of grey limestone, the 
 rocks on all sides appear to have undergone violent convulsions, 
 and the country, as far as the eye can reach, has an aspect of the 
 wildest desolation.
 
 248 PORTUGUESE CEREMONIAL. [CHAP. xii. 
 
 At breakfast Don Alvaro's daughter, a lively young person, 
 appeared, and made her mother's excuses. Soon afterwards we 
 took leave : the forms prescribed at parting by the old Portu- 
 guese ceremonial were gone through according to the strictest 
 rules of the national etiquette ; high and plenteous thanks were 
 tendered on our part, and, in return, the Commandant made 
 great professions of esteem, and reiterated many solemn excuses 
 for the scanty and unsuitable reception which, he was bound to 
 say, we had experienced in his poor Castle of Sagres. I. remem- 
 ber a striking instance of the great extent to which mere cere- 
 monial is carried by Portuguese of the old school, and it may 
 not be amiss to relate it while I am touching on the subject. I 
 called one morning on a high dignitary of the Church, and, as- 
 cending a magnificent staircase, passed through a long suite of 
 rooms to the apartment in which the reverend Ecclesiastic was 
 seated. Having concluded my visit, I bowed and departed, but 
 turned, according to the invariable custom of the country, when 
 I reached the door, and made another salutation ; my host was 
 slowly following me, and returned my inclination by one equally 
 profound ; when I arrived at the door of the second apartment, 
 he was standing on the threshold of the first, and the same cere- 
 mony again passed between us ; when I had gained the third apart- 
 ment, he was occupying the place I had just left on the second ; 
 the same civilities were then renewed, and these polite recipro- 
 cations were continued till I had traversed the whole suite of 
 apartments. At the banisters I made a low and, as I supposed, 
 a final salutation : but no : when I had reached the first landing- 
 place, he was at the top of the stairs ; when I stood on the 
 second landing-place, he had descended to the first ; and upon 
 each and all of these occasions our heads wagged with increasing 
 humility. Our journey to the foot of the stairs was at length 
 completed. I had now to pass through a long hall divided by 
 columns to the front door, at which my carriage was standing. 
 Whenever I reached one of these pillars, I turned and found his 
 Eminence waiting for the expected bow, which he immediately 
 returned, continually progressing, and managing his paces so as 
 to go through his share of the ceremony on the precise spot 
 which had witnessed my last inclination. As I approached the 
 hall door, our mutual salutations were no longer occasional, but
 
 CHAP, xii. j COURTESIES OF SOCIETY. 249 
 
 absolutely perpetual ; and ever and anon they still continued, 
 after I had entered my carriage, as the Bishop stood with unco- 
 vered head till it was driven away. 
 
 As I am here alluding to the manners of the country, I will 
 just state that in Portugal a gentleman never quits an apartment 
 in which there are ladies without turning round on arriving at 
 the door, although he has already taken leave, to renew his 
 parting salutation to his fair friends, who gracefully return it ; 
 and so invariably is this the practice, that a man disregarding it 
 would be considered as positively deficient in the courtesies of 
 good society, and a lady would feel somewhat disconcerted by the 
 omission of such a customary mark of attention. Habit is so 
 completely second nature, that, on returning to England after a 
 considerable residence in Portugal, I could hardly refrain from 
 this practice ; and till British customs had again in some degree 
 effaced my foreign impressions, I felt, on seeing our Englishmen 
 quit the drawing-room without this salutation, that kind of un- 
 comfortable sensation which is involuntarily excited in the mind 
 by witnessing a rather coarse neglect of any of the recognised 
 convenances of society ; so truly conventional are many of those 
 habits which appear interwoven with our very nature, and to be 
 " rather part of us than ours." 
 
 When upon any occasion a Portuguese tenders his arm to a 
 lady he is bound to proffer his left arm, on the chivalrous prin- 
 ciple that the heart, the seat of the affections, should be placed 
 as nearly as possible in juxtaposition with the fair being to 
 whom, for the moment at least, the homage of its possessor is 
 due. 
 
 But I am sadly digressing. Leaving the Castle of Sagres, and 
 passing by a ruined fort, we rode across a wild and uninhabited 
 country to the monastery which is situated at the extremity of 
 Cape St. Vincent and on the verge of a stupendous precipice ; a 
 bleak exposure, for around the summit of that cliff a never- 
 ceasing wind is heard to howl, and a stormy sea is for ever 
 raging at its base. The convent is in a very dilapidated state, 
 and only tenanted by a few monks, who happened to be all ab- 
 sent save one ; and certainly in that monastic visage appeared as 
 much of the animal and as little of the intellectual being as was 
 ever depicted on the human face divine. Yet their fare is very
 
 250 CAPE ST. VINCENT. [CHAP. xir. 
 
 indifferent, for they are far removed from any market, they sel- 
 dom if ever eat meat, very rarely fish, and can only obtain a 
 moderate supply of vegetables. " Non minuit prsesentia famam " 
 can be said of few places, but it is strictly applicable to Cape St. 
 Vincent ; that cape will not disappoint the most ardent imagi- 
 nation, for the view extends on either side over a coast uniformly 
 bold, and rendered still more picturesque by great masses of rock 
 standing out in the water, and then covered with clouds of shriek- 
 ing sea-birds. A few steps below the monastery is Cape St. Vin- 
 cent's Chair, a seat of stone not hewn by the hand of man, and 
 supposed to have been occupied by the saint himself; and still 
 the Portuguese mariner, sailing along this iron coast, sees 
 through the rolling mists the saint upon his stormy throne, and 
 fervently beseeches him to guide the ship in safety over his own 
 troubled sea. 
 
 From thence we rode on to Villa Obisbo, a village some 
 leagues distant from the convent : here a ludicrous mistake oc- 
 curred. Having accompanied the Corregidor to a house where 
 we dined, T wished to ascertain whether we were then in a pri- 
 vate-dwelling or in apartments hired for the occasion, as in one 
 case I was anxious to contribute my share of the expense, an 
 offer which in the other would have been considered tantamount 
 to an insult. Feeling some delicacy in putting the question to 
 my travelling friend, I inquired of a servant, and desired him to 
 acquaint me with the price of the dinner, but he, it seems, mis- 
 understanding me, approached the Corregidor, and, by some 
 strange confusion of ideas, asked the price of his coat. That 
 worthy officer was much astounded by such an unusual inquiry, 
 and waxed wrathful at this seeming ebullition of plebeian inso- 
 lence ; the man, alarmed at his displeasure, referred him to me, 
 and an awkward explanation ensued. My worthy friend was 
 appeased, not satisfied ; his good-humoured countenance assumed 
 a graver aspect during the next hour of our ride, and more than 
 once his eye glanced jealously from his substantial coat to mine, 
 as if he were weighing their respective merits, and pondering 
 upon the occult motive of such an extraordinary question. As 
 we were mounting our horses to quit Villa Obisbo, the Abbot of 
 St. Vincent approached us, and was immediately presented to 
 me by the Corregidor. He folded me in a most paternal em-
 
 CHAP, xii.] RETURN TO LAGOS. 251 
 
 brace, and expressed great regret at his absence during my visit 
 at the convent : I extricated myself with all imaginable polite- 
 ness from the conventual grasp, and, making reciprocal protes- 
 tations, took a sorrowful leave of this old and highly-valued 
 friend. Our progress to Lagos was seriously impeded by nu- 
 merous persons crowding around the Corregidor to pay him their 
 tribute of respect, and by the village magnates anxious for the 
 honour of a visit. We were joined by a party on horseback as 
 we approached the town; During the last few miles the Corre- 
 gidor kept up a sprightly conversation with a beautiful little 
 girl, who was only nine years old, but had the formed manners 
 and finished wit of a complete woman of the world. 
 
 On my return to Lagos I found Antonio slowly recovering, 
 but as yet unable to resume the journey. Besides the physical 
 debility resulting from his late attack, it soon became evident 
 that he was under the influence of extreme fear. The appalling 
 scenes which had taken place during our stay at Setuval had 
 completely extinguished the little valour he naturally possessed, 
 and the dread which was then generally entertained of an impend- 
 ing insurrection increased his reluctance to leave the Algarve 
 and venture at such a time among the more ferocious popula- 
 tion and into the more unsettled district of Alentejo. He was, 
 however, at length induced to proceed, and I quitted my kind 
 friend the Corregidor with real regret. I respected the generous 
 hospitality which had prompted him to make a perfect stranger 
 the constant inmate of his house, and was not insensible to the 
 high consideration which he, an eminent officer under the Crown, 
 had shown me in performing a journey of sixty miles over a 
 hard and jolting road for the sole purpose of accompanying me 
 in my expedition to the Cape ; but such is the spirit and character 
 of Portuguese hospitality. My greatest inconvenience had 
 arisen from Antonio's illness during my stay at Lagos. The 
 landlord of our miserable inn could only place at my disposal a 
 small apartment, which contained my servant's bed and mine ; 
 but, finding it impossible to sleep in the heated and unwholesome 
 atmosphere of a sick man's room, I generally passed the night on 
 my mattress in the passage, which was rather an uncomfortable 
 and chilling process. Had the Corregidor been apprized of this 
 circumstance he would have forced me to accept a bed at his
 
 252 JUAN THE BORDERER, [CHAP. xn. 
 
 house, but I knew that it was completely full, and I was un- 
 willing to encroach further on his kindness. 
 
 I should inform my readers that, in consequence of Antonio's 
 protracted indisposition, I engaged a young fellow to accompany 
 me to Faro in the capacity of an attendant. His name was Juan, 
 but, as he came from that part of the Pyrenees which adjoins the 
 Spanish frontier, he was generally called the Borderer (hombre 
 de raya), an appellation well suited to his appearance and man- 
 ners, which were wild and uncouth as his native mountains. 
 Hearing of Antonio's situation, he came to me and bluntly offered 
 his services ; I complied with his request, as he seemed insensible 
 to difficulty and danger, and was likely to facilitate my progress 
 through the disturbed districts. Accordingly, having sent 
 Antonio by the shortest road and easiest conveyance to Faro, I 
 rode with Juan to Villa Nova, which is, perhaps, the best harbour 
 on the Algarve coast; and then, directing my course into the 
 interior, I travelled through a mountainous country to Silves, 
 one of the most ancient towns in Portugal. Placed on the 
 summit of a steep hill, it resembles, at a distance, a city of other 
 days ; an impression confirmed on nearer inspection by its massive 
 walls, its overhanging houses, and old-fashioned windows. The 
 women of Silves, and indeed of all the Algarve, are in face and 
 often in figure extremely beautiful : their complexions are pale 
 but clear, their eyes, shaded by long dark lashes, are always fine, 
 and generally distinguished by a soft and pensive expression, 
 which pervades the countenance and even characterizes the smile. 
 Spanish charms dazzle and rivet the beholder ; the beauty of the 
 Algarvian, less full of fire, but fraught with more of tenderness, 
 sinks not, however, less deeply in the heart. 
 
 Arrived at Silves I sent my letter of introduction to the 
 Mayor, who received me courteously, and invited me to partake 
 of a repast which was eminently provincial, during which my 
 aversion to every dish, and my disinclination to annoy him by 
 refusing the proffered delicacies, were feelings most disagreeably 
 at variance. At length, to my unspeakable relief, I discovered 
 some sausages made of honey, a dish peculiar to Algarve, and 
 these I invaded with great courage, and lauded with perfect sin- 
 cerity, and devoured with amazing spirit. 
 
 His anxiety to hear the most recent news from Lisbon, and
 
 CHAP, xii.] SILVES : THE MAYOR. 253 
 
 the eagerness of his questions, betrayed the intense interest he 
 felt in the momentous changes then in progress. He was evi- 
 dently an Absolutist in the fullest acceptation of the word, hating 
 moderate men and moderate measures, holding every modifica- 
 tion of the representative system in equal aversion, and abhorring 
 liberty, which he designated as only devil's play. He read aloud, 
 with sparkling eyes and in an enthusiastic tone, a copy of verses 
 addressed to the adherents of the Silveiras, attacking the Cham- 
 bers, impugning Dom Pedro's claims, and speaking of their loved 
 and lawful Sovereign, Dom Miguel, in the language of un- 
 bounded eulogy. 
 
 The Royal members of the Holy Alliance and King George 
 IV. of England were warmly praised, but, as our late gracious 
 Sovereign's name was the concluding word of the song, I cannot 
 say whether his Majesty was commended on his own account or 
 merely for the sake of the rhyme. Putting his arm into mine 
 with all the cordiality of an old acquaintance, he asked me, as 
 we paced the apartment, whether many of my countrymen were 
 favourable to the establishment of a purely despotic government. 
 I answered, laughingly, that there were few Englishmen soli- 
 citous for the establishment of a system absolutely uncontrolled 
 in their own country. " Well, but you will admit that some of 
 your nation entertain these opinions, and wisdom is only the 
 portion of the few." Saying this gaily, he invited me to explore 
 the town. 
 
 The walls of Silves have been little injured, the old Saracenic 
 towers are very imposing, and a noble cistern, built by the 
 Moors, is still in good preservation. The view extends over a 
 finely-wooded country. The olive is not pollarded in these dis- 
 tricts, as in many parts of Spain, where that practice is adopted 
 to strengthen the oil and render it more highly flavoured. Some 
 are, however, of opinion that such a mode of treatment only 
 makes it more rancid ; but, whatever may be the practical effects 
 resulting from that system of managing the olive, it is unques- 
 tionably most injurious to the general appearance of the country, 
 which it completely mars by disfiguring each tree in detail. 
 
 From the cathedral, where the Mayor knelt down and prayed 
 devoutly, we adjourned to the town-hall, where the municipality 
 had been invited to meet me. After mutual presentations and the
 
 25-i ' ARGUS LOULE. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 exchange of mutual civilities, I again mounted my horse and rode 
 on to Argus, where I arrived as the night set in. The inn was 
 wretched enough, cats abounded, and women of little personal 
 attraction were scattered about the principal apartment engaged 
 in the construction of mats made of the palma, an indigenous 
 plant, very green in its natural state, and very white when dried. 
 I here experienced a slight return of fever, accompanied with 
 frequent shivering an affection increased by the severity of the 
 night and the hardness of my couch, which was only a plank of 
 wood. 
 
 From Argus I rode to Louie, and stopped at the house of a 
 Fidalgo, Senhor Sebastiao Alexandre de Gama Lobo, a young 
 man of pleasing manners and well informed on subjects con- 
 nected with his native province. His house was spacious, and 
 the walls were evidently of great antiquity. His gardens were 
 pretty and extremely productive, for he was said to export an- 
 nually 500,000 oranges to England. He told me that he had 
 never crossed the boundary of the Algarve ; and although his 
 grandfather had performed services which fairly entitled him to 
 remuneration, he had never solicited any favour from the Court. 
 He had, however, just obtained permission from the Government 
 to found an entail, for land in Portugal does not descend by right 
 of birth to the eldest son, unless so restricted by a special act. 
 
 The Marquis of Pombal perceived the theoretical, and perhaps 
 sometimes real, inconveniences produced by the perpetual exclu- 
 sion of large tracts of land from the market, but, instead of limit- 
 ing the duration of entails, which might not have been an in- 
 judicious course to pursue, if indeed any legislation on the subject 
 were expedient in the actual state of Portugal, he unwisely 
 deprived individuals of the power of creating them under any 
 circumstances without the express permission of the Court ; a 
 foolish restraint, which in some cases prevents the Portuguese 
 from exercising a proper discretion in the disposal of their pro- 
 perty, and is, in all, extremely unfavourable to the just mainten- 
 ance of an aristocratic influence. But it was the policy of that 
 jealous and over-lauded minister not to confine within due limits, 
 but to degrade, that order of nobility which, under the guidance 
 of a more sagacious mind, might have become at once the firm 
 supporters of the monarchy and the temperate guardians of the 
 national freedom.
 
 CHAP, xii.] THE MARQUIS OF POMBAL. or,5 
 
 Pombal certainly possessed abilities, and unquestionably carried 
 into effect some useful reforms, but, though more enlightened than 
 the mass of his countrymen, he imagined a common error of 
 superficial minds that a liberal policy consists in excess of 
 change. He forgot that moderation is a proof of strength, and 
 supposed, because preceding ministers had adhered somewhat too 
 blindly to the beaten path, he could not deviate too widely from 
 their track. His public conduct was not based on any public 
 principle, and he entered into a most unrighteous war against the 
 nobility of his country, not because he thought their privileges 
 incompatible with the well-being of other classes, but from a 
 mean and rancorous jealousy of an order to which he did not 
 naturally belong. I will not here dilate upon the dark and 
 doubtful history of the Aveiro conspiracy, but the sanguinary 
 policy by which, upon that occasion, he triumphed over a portion 
 of his fellow-subjects, has left an indelible stigma on his memory. 
 
 In alluding to the tenures on which land is held in Portugal, 
 I should add that the Prazo, a species of leasehold property 
 which I have described in a former work, is exempt from the 
 operation of the common law, and descends entire to the eldest 
 son. Land is generally much subdivided in Algarve and little 
 entailed. Senhor Sebastiao had, however, carried his point, and 
 Avas in consequence on the eve of uniting himself to a young 
 lady of noble birth. While his servants were preparing dinner 
 we visited a neighbouring manufactory, where many hands are 
 employed in the process of extracting a kind of weak brandy from 
 the fig, and from the algarroba, a fruit much relished in this 
 part of the country by man and beast. We called on the Di- 
 rector of the establishment, and Senhor Sebastiao politely 
 requested permission to show it to a friend. " Your Excellency 
 should command, not request," answered the Director, and im- 
 mediately conducted us over every part of the manufactory. 
 
 In Portugal the presence of a fidalgo generally smooths all 
 difficulties : indeed the very word has a magical influence over 
 the minds of men. I have observed that the provincial nobles 
 are generally kind and considerate to the people, and are often 
 repaid by their affection ; they are perhaps too exclusive towards 
 persons a degree beneath them in rank, but even this jealousy of 
 the middling classes is slowly melting away before the spirit of
 
 256 FARO. [CHAP. XH. 
 
 the age. A sumptuous dinner awaited our return, succeeded by 
 a dessert consisting of every fruit in season, an infinite variety 
 of sweetmeats, and an abundance of excellent wines and liqueurs. 
 From Louie I rode on to Faro, where I found letters from my 
 dear Father and Sister, and was hospitably received by the British 
 Consul. By these letters I heard that they had just seen the 
 Villa Flors and Count Taipa. On the following day I dined at 
 the Consul's house, where I met a large Portuguese society. 
 We spent the evening in a delightful garden near the town, where 
 the cavaliers of our party paid compliments to the dark-eyed 
 dames of Faro, who in return presented us with bouquets culled 
 by their own fair hands. 
 
 The trade of Faro principally consists of bark and oranges ; 
 the greater portion of the fruit, exported from Lagos, is sent to 
 Holland, but an enormous proportion of the cargoes exported 
 from Faro are shipped for England. Antonio had by this time 
 in a great measure recovered from his illness, but with reviving 
 health his fears of mobs and massacres revived, and he now 
 declared that he would not prosecute any further a godless expe- 
 dition into the interior of the country ; in conformity with this 
 declaration, he announced his intention of remaining at Faro 
 until the public tranquillity should be restored. 
 
 He was certainly unfit to cope with the difficulties and dangers 
 of the time, and I afterwards regretted that any entreaties on his 
 part should have tempted me to engage him as an attendant on 
 such a doubtful expedition. He remained in the south of Por- 
 tugal, and reaped the bitter fruits which are generally the portion 
 of timid and indecisive men whose lot is cast in times of peril 
 and alarm. He remained unmolested till the breaking out of 
 the revolution in favour of Dom Miguel, but at that critical 
 period, when the English name was held in execration, he Mas 
 recognised by the populace as the servant of an English gentle- 
 man. He indeed escaped their violence, but lived in a state of 
 perpetual terror, subjected to many hardships, concealing himself 
 by day, and never sleeping two successive nights under the same 
 roof. Body and mind sank under the united pressure of physical 
 suffering and mental anxiety ; naturally weak, he fell into a 
 deplorable state of health, and though he at length returned to 
 England he never rallied again, but died in a few months. Had
 
 CHAP, xii.] THE BORDERER. 257 
 
 he adhered to his master's fortunes, he would certainly have 
 encountered some rough weather, but would probably have 
 stemmed the gale, and gained the port in safety. 
 
 I now engaged the Borderer for the remainder of my expedi- 
 tion, much against the advice of my friends at Faro, who repre- 
 sented to me the inexpediency of trusting to the precarious 
 fidelity of such a man in the lawless state of the districts which 
 I intended to traverse. In consequence of these representations 
 I made inquiries respecting other servants, but found no one 
 disposed to accompany me through a country so proverbial for 
 the fierceness of its inhabitants as Alentejo,* at a time when it 
 was evidently on the eve of breaking out into open insurrection. 
 During my stay at Faro very serious apprehensions were enter- 
 tained for the tranquillity of the town ; the people had already 
 given very obvious indications of angry feeling, and great dis- 
 turbances were expected on the morning previous to my depar- 
 ture ; but the storm blew over for that day, and the explosion 
 did not immediately take place. Feeling the full force of the 
 objections urged against Juan, I adopted a plan which may seem 
 foolish enough to persons unused to travel in disturbed countries, 
 and perforce associate with desperate characters ; but my inter- 
 course with both had been very considerable during my various 
 rambles, and I felt that it was the only mode by which I could 
 combine my desire of retaining so useful an adventurer with a 
 due regard to my personal safety. I therefore summoned him 
 to my apartment, counted over my money before him, and con- 
 fided it to his care. I knew from experience that many of these 
 rough adventurers, who neither respect the lives or properties 
 of others, are yet often scrupulously faithful to a master who 
 reposes unbounded trust in their honour ; on the other hand, I 
 knew the stamp of man too well to suppose that, if he were de- 
 termined to obtain my money, he would abstain from plunder 
 because he must wade through blood to his object ; and I felt 
 that on the dreary wastes over which we intended to travel, and 
 at the lonely places where I must often pass the night, he, 
 assisted by others, would find numerous opportunities of carrying 
 into execution any plan however deadly. But few men commit 
 
 * I have heard it stated that the crimes committed in Alentejo exceed in 
 number those which are perpetrated over all the rest of the kingdom. 
 
 S
 
 258 TAVIRA. [CHAP. xu. 
 
 unnecessary crimes ; and should Juan prove a villain, he would 
 probably decamp with my money, if he were suffered to retain 
 possession of it, without attempting my life. I had afterwards 
 some cause to think that my reasoning on this point was not 
 altogether fallacious. So much for the Borderer. Having thus 
 endeavoured to guard against domestic treason, I now took 
 measures of precaution against my foreign foes, the knights 
 errant of the highway, who at that period of civil commotion 
 abounded in Alentejo. I desired Juan to secrete the greatest 
 portion of the gold in a jar of marmalade ; we deposited the 
 remainder in the saddle by means of an incision ingeniously made, 
 and scarcely perceptible on the minutest inspection ; keeping in 
 our pockets only a few gold pieces and many silver crowns, as 
 those champions of the public road are always incommoded, and 
 sometimes disagreeably uncourteous, if the bank entirely stops 
 payment. 
 
 At Tavira I sent my letter of introduction to Senhor Xavier 
 Palmerin, Governor of the Algarve, and was received by him 
 with unbounded kindness and hospitality. He introduced me to 
 his son Augustus, a fine young man scarcely twenty, well in- 
 formed, and of distinguished but simple and unpretending 
 manners. Immediately afterwards, as dinner was announced, his 
 wife, Madame Palmerin, a graceful woman, who had evidently 
 mixed much in the world, and possessed great conversational 
 powers, entered the room. The English custom of asking indi- 
 viduals at table to drink wine is unknown among the Portuguese, 
 but we pledged each other's healths abundantly, and filled our 
 cups to the prosperity of our mutual friends. In the evening 
 Augustus mounted me on a milk-white charger, whose proudly 
 arched neck bespoke his Andalusian breed. We rode to the 
 coast, where I saw a village, like Costa, resembling an African 
 crail ; the sea was roaring among the rocks, and the shore ap- 
 peared wild and striking, but the sun had set, and I could hardly 
 distinguish remote objects through " the twilight glow that 
 momently grew less." Yet, though the hour was late, we lin- 
 gered long on banks overgrown with aloes, amid olive-trees of 
 immense size, and clumps of the carob, by some esteemed the 
 most beautiful of European trees ; and here indeed it attains a 
 majestic height, and overhung our path with its finely feathering
 
 CHAP, xii.] TAVIRA. 259 
 
 foliage. We returned to Tavira through groves of cork and 
 olive, among orchards indescribably beautiful from their mass of 
 bloom, and over plains enamelled with flowers; the air was 
 balmy, and scented with a thousand odoriferous shrubs, and the 
 evening had all the " douceur enivrante d'une soiree d'ltalie " 
 a happy expression, which well describes the almost intoxicating 
 sensation produced by the delicious nights of southern climes. 
 Soon afterwards the moon arose, and lit up the scene with a 
 splendour unknown to our northern latitudes. On our return 
 we found many persons assembled at the Governor's house ; 
 recent events were the subject of conversation, and, although 
 each individual was guarded in the expression of his opinion, it 
 was evident that the general feeling inclined strongly to the 
 Infant. They maintained his heart was excellent, excused his 
 early follies, and declared that the enthusiastic attachment felt 
 for him in Algarve knew no bounds. Madame said that ladies 
 wept when they spoke of their Prince, and carried his portrait 
 in their bosoms ; a fact undoubtedly true, as I was assured by 
 one lady that she wore his miniature next to her heart by day 
 and night. The Governor informed me that he experienced the 
 utmost difficulty in preventing the people of Tavira from com- 
 mitting acts of violence against persons supposed to be adverse 
 to Dom Miguel's claims, and indeed Senhor and Senhora Pal- 
 merin, though ardent Miguelists themselves, were eminently 
 calculated to allay the bitter animosities that had grown out of 
 the civil dissensions, as far as general kindness and conciliation 
 could have that blessed effect. In the course of the evening I 
 conversed with a gentleman who impugned the conduct of the 
 Constitutionalists, and, though he did not directly object to. the 
 Constitution itself, gave it a side hit by a very novel argument ; 
 he contended that, if the Sovereign, who was a single individual, 
 could err, and his error produce mischief, the mischief occasioned 
 by an error of the whole Chamber, which consisted of two 
 hundred persons, would be exactly two hundred times more 
 detrimental to the state, although the act committed might be 
 precisely the same in both cases. The company dispersed before 
 supper, after which I retired to rest. The luxury of repose was 
 that night in some degree alloyed by a little circumstance which 
 Madame related during supper as having occurred in the sleep- 
 
 s 2
 
 260 TAVIRA. LCSAF. xn. 
 
 ing-room allotted to me, only a few days before my arrival. A 
 young girl, suddenly entering the apartment, perceived a large 
 snake coiled up behind the door ; disturbed by her entrance, it 
 glided away, and could not afterwards be found. On examining 
 the apartment, I had no difficulty in accounting either for its 
 entrance or for its disappearance, as both the ceiling and floor 
 were old and full of crevices, many of which I could not stop 
 by any contrivance. Knowing that these reptiles are attracted 
 by warmth, I lay down to rest with some uneasy sensations, as 
 such an addition to my solitary couch was not the most desirable 
 man could covet, and twice, I confess to my shame, as 
 I felt the smooth cold sheet, I started up, believing that the 
 creature was even then in the act of entwining itself around me. 
 These noxious intrusions are by no means uncommon in the 
 Algarve ; there is also a small ant that infests the houses, and is 
 cursed with an outrageous appetite, which brings down upon its 
 tiny but devoted head the vengeance of hard-hearted house- 
 keepers ; and a jet-black earwig, of a species resembling our 
 own, but of a larger size, is often seen crawling with incredible 
 rapidity, and unceremoniously intruding upon society, to the 
 unspeakable dismay of nervous dames. 
 
 The Governor kindly urged me to protract my stay at Tavira, 
 and I should have spent with pleasure some days among that 
 amiable family, but was deterred from accepting his invitation 
 by my increasing conviction of an approaching revolution, which 
 would probably have rendered my journey into Alentejo, if de- 
 ferred, not only difficult, but absolutely impracticable. He gave 
 me a letter to the Juiz de Fora of Villa Real, and, as a mark of 
 high consideration, commanded a naval officer to convey me in a 
 government sloop to Mertola. Society was very languid at 
 Tavira, partly from local causes, and partly from the gloomy 
 aspect of public affairs ; the regiment of Tavira had declared 
 in favour of the Infant on the first announcement of the Charter, 
 and had taken refuge in Spain after the suppression of the revolt ; 
 the wives of the exiled officers remained at home, and spent their 
 solitary hours in praying for their injured Prince, and in mourn- 
 ing over their absent lords ; a degree of fidelity unusual in the 
 present day among any wives, but most especially in the Penin- 
 sula. Isolated from the rest of their countrywomen, the spirit of
 
 CHAP, xn.] VILLA REAL AYAMONTE. 261 
 
 the age has scarcely yet approached the ladies of Tavira : many 
 of them still wear the long Moorish veil, and rarely appear in 
 places of public resort, even in the day, and are content to see 
 the world from their grated windows. 
 
 Leaving Tavira, I rode through a pretty and populous country 
 to Villa Real. Some lizards of an enormous size, probably ex- 
 ceeding a foot in length, crossed my path ; centipedes of huge 
 dimensions did ample credit to their hundred feet, and the far- 
 famed cameleons were occasionally basking on the sunny walls. 
 The American potato and the plantain are to be found in the 
 gardens of the villas by which we passed. In the Spanish Consul, 
 who signed my passport at Villa Real, I recognised an individual 
 attached to the British Consulate during my residence at Cadiz 
 some years before. Embarking in a vessel manned by a frolic- 
 some set of fishermen, and crossing the Guadiana, a fine broad 
 stream which falls into the sea immediately below the passage, I 
 landed at Ayamonte, which I visited solely because it was a 
 Spanish town, as I like to trace the national differences that often 
 appear strongly marked when placed in juxtaposition. The 
 houses are neat, have flat roofs, and are decorated with arcades, 
 according to the fashion of the country. The men are hand- 
 some and gaily dressed, wearing short jackets and ornamented 
 hats, but the children are badly clothed. I perambulated the 
 town with great expedition, as certain doleful reminiscences of 
 Spanish interference recurred to my mind ; feeling no inclination 
 to resume hostilities with the hydra, I asked no questions and 
 entered no house, but returned to Villa Real the same evening, 
 after a very moderate investigation of the place. On the follow- 
 ing morning I saw an instance of cruelty to animals, a fault 
 from which the Portuguese are by no means free, notwithstanding 
 the general mildness of their manners and a very great fault it 
 is. A little boy was holding a wounded bird, twirling it round 
 and round, making its broken wing the pivot of his operations. 
 I rose to kill the poor victim, whose screams were dreadful, and 
 to give the young rascal a little salutary correction, but the 
 people interposed, and both men and women declared that it was 
 a pity to destroy the bird, as it would survive many hours, and 
 afford their child a long continuance of amusement. 
 
 This vice, it must be admitted, is not uncommon in Portugal.
 
 262 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 The streets of Lisbon are infested with dogs, which are generally 
 protected by the lower orders, but I remember hearing that a 
 party of young Portuguese, armed with pikes, amused themselves 
 by sallying forth to destroy these animals. I was told, but am 
 unwilling to believe the fact, that some Englishmen joined this 
 disgusting expedition. I have no morbid feeling on the subject, 
 but I must confess that I could place no confidence in any man 
 who had been guilty of positive cruelty to a dog. The mind of 
 such a man must be almost irreclaimably reckless, or his heart 
 essentially wrong. A dog is united by so many sympathies to 
 the human race, his habits are so much identified with ours, the 
 love of his own species is so completely superseded by his love of 
 man, he is so often the companion of our sports and the minister 
 of our pleasures, he is so frequently " the first to welcome, fore- 
 most to defend," that the individual who can inflict causeless 
 suffering on a dog has, in my humble opinion, little of manhood 
 but the name. It may be observed that, generally speaking, 
 cruelty to animals is more or less prevalent among nations as the 
 national morality is high or low. 
 
 At Naples the most revolting instances of barbarity are not 
 infrequent, and do not incur the public reprobation. Men who 
 have kept mules for years will sell them, when old and unfit 
 for further work, to be baited and torn to pieces by dogs, and 
 thus repay a life of faithful service by a death of agonising pain. 
 
 Much cruelty is practised at the bull-fights in Spain ; but in 
 South America, where the public mind is in a still less healthy 
 state, the barbarities inflicted at those public festivals are too re- 
 volting to be endured in the mother-country. In Germany, where 
 manners are simple, and morals generally pure and unadulterated, 
 humanity towards animals is a virtue sedulously inculcated and 
 widely practised. Nor is this quality by any means rare among 
 the virtuous Swiss. 
 
 In England societies have been formed for the protection of 
 the brute creation, and the improved feelings of a more religious 
 age have compelled the legislature to pass enactments restraining 
 some of the monstrous cruelties which formerly prevailed. 
 Much, indeed, has been done, but much remains to do. The 
 pulpit should impress on the public, and parents on the youthful 
 mind, a just abhorrence of this most unmanly vice. Many of
 
 CHAP, xii.] ATROCITIES OF PR. MAJENDIE. 263 
 
 the Dissenters have warmly co-operated with the better portion 
 of.the public press in this sacred cause, but have the ministers of 
 the Established Church performed their part with equal zeal ? 
 Have that excellent body of men promoted, in this respect, with 
 sufficient diligence, the will of Him who, in his merciful regard 
 for every creature which his goodness has endowed with life, 
 commanded that the ox should not be muzzled when it trod the 
 corn, that the dam should not be taken with the young, that the 
 ass should not be yoked together with the ox, that the kid should 
 not be seethed in its mother's milk, and that the knife should be 
 sharpened before the sacrifice was slain ? 
 
 Exhibitions have, indeed, within the last few years, taken place 
 in England, which, except at Paris, have hardly a parallel 
 in iniquity. These exhibitions have, indeed, upon more than 
 one occasion, drawn down the execration of the British public ; 
 but yet it is a fact replete with shame and sorrow to a religious 
 people, that the " hellish Majendie,"* as he is termed by an 
 eloquent writer, should have been permitted to soil this country 
 by his bloody sacrifices, to pander to the worst passions of human 
 nature, and first to vitiate and then attract the minds of our Bri- 
 tish youth by the excessive horrors he deliberately submitted to 
 their view ; atrocities which he weekly perpetrates at Paris, not 
 for the advancement of general science, but ,to illustrate positions 
 indisputably established, or perhaps to augment the amount of 
 his own receipts at the expense of every virtuous feeling. Who 
 can peruse the published statement of experiments made re- 
 cently by one of his disciples, f without feeling disgust and 
 grief that such acts could have been lauded by a writer of this 
 country, and that such a statement should have been addressed 
 to an English public ? I will not harrow up the feelings of my 
 readers by dwelling upon the enormities recorded in that publi- 
 cation ; I will not dilate upon dogs kept in a state of torture for 
 sixteen consecutive days, with burning irons forced into their 
 heads, and all that long tissue of detestable villanies, as those 
 experiments are justly termed by the Editor of the ' Literary 
 
 * As an operator, the man is not, I believe, unskilful ; but medical men 
 abroad observe that " comme me'decin il est tres faible." The truly wise are 
 rarely cruel. 
 
 f A man of the name of Boillaud. Vide note at the end of the book.
 
 264 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. [CHAP. xir. 
 
 Gazette,' who, under the influence of an honest indignation, ex- 
 claims that the authors and abettors of such crimes should be ex- 
 cluded from the pale of society. 
 
 What portion of the British public can such a publication have 
 been intended to corrupt ?* Where, indeed, can it have touched 
 a kindred string ? I do not believe that such practices find 
 favour generally with medical men in England.f I have known 
 many individuals belonging to that profession, and have found 
 them honourable as men of the world, full of sympathy in the 
 hour of affliction, and often imbued with high Christian principle ; 
 but these protracted butcheries, which degrade the operator far 
 lower than the poor brute on which he exercises his fiendish skill, 
 this soiling of the hands for hours, ay, for days together, in blood, 
 this grovelling in torture, is inconsistent with any spirit of Chris- 
 tian charity, or with the proper feelings of a human being. 
 Vivisection may perhaps be justifiable in some rare cases of 
 acknowledged utility, but, carried to this horrible extent, it is a 
 plague-spot on an honourable part of the body social, and should 
 be extirpated, or at least restrained by legal enactments within 
 the narrowest limits possible ; otherwise it will involve in no 
 common obloquy the profession that ha-* produced a Baillie, that 
 is illustrated by a Halford, and that, existing for the noble pur- 
 pose of mitigating the sufferings of humanity, tends naturally to 
 soften and to elevate the heart. But this stain upon the profes- 
 sion will be soon effaced ; the improved feelings and increased 
 religion of the day cannot and will not slumber over practices so 
 utterly abhorrent to the mild spirit of our faith. 
 
 I embarked at seven in the morning in the sloop-of-war pre- 
 pared for me by the Governor's order ; we were assisted by the 
 tide, and the wind, though faint, was favourable. The hills were 
 sandy, and rather bold than high ; and villages were occasionally 
 scattered along the banks of the river, which there divides the 
 
 * Phrenological Journal and Miscellany, vol. vii. 
 
 t It is impossible to see without feelings of the most unlimited regret 
 the mode in which these questions appear to be considered in the life of Sir 
 Astley Cooper, or indeed the light in which they were regarded by that 
 eminent man. Had the circumstances there detailed been stated to me by 
 a foreigner, I should at once have denied them as absolutely incompatible 
 with the habits and feelings of English gentlemen moving in the first circles 
 of the medical profession.
 
 CHAP, xii.] ALCOUTIN. 265 
 
 kingdoms of Spain and Portugal. Completely exhausted by the 
 sun, which was that day intolerably oppressive, for the violent 
 heats had already set in, I slept till we reached Alcoutin, a vil- 
 lage prettily situated on the edge of the water. I had just 
 engaged a room at a private house, as there was no inn, when 
 the commander of the sloop arrived, and brought a civil message 
 from the Mayor, who expressed regret that I should have thought 
 of occupying any house but his during my stay at Alcoutin. I 
 adjourned to his house : he was an intelligent young man, a na- 
 tive of the Traz os Monies, and told me that for many years he 
 had spent his little income in collecting a library, which was 
 burnt by the insurgents after the capture of Braganza. On that 
 occasion he was compelled to fly, and endured great hardships, 
 rambling among the mountains, and sleeping in the open air 
 when the ground was covered with snow. In the cool of the 
 evening we explored the environs of Alcoutin, and strayed into a 
 garden belonging to a lady of some distinction, whom we met in one 
 of the walks ; joining parties, we sat down beneath a fine orange- 
 tree, and feasted on the fruit, which her servants were gathering 
 from the branches. The evening was delicious ; the birds sang 
 sweetly, the sky was cloudless, and a few brilliant stars were 
 gradually eclipsed by the moon, then rising, and becoming 
 brighter every moment. At length we returned to Alcoutin, 
 and, sitting near the window of the Mayor's house, enjoyed a 
 view which can hardly be surpassed in rural beauty. Above 
 and around us were bold and picturesque hills ; the moonbeams 
 quivered on the peaceful Guadiana as it rolled along, showed the 
 clear outline of the Spanish mountains, and lit up the village of 
 San Lucar on the opposite bank. 
 
 As we were gazing upon that tranquil scene, the Captain, a 
 fine old weather-beaten sailor, appeared and summoned me to 
 embark. He steered, and, as the wind had completely fallen, 
 our crew, consisting of several stout fellows, were compelled to 
 row. The voyage was delightful : the air was warm ; not a 
 sound was heard but the dash of the oars ; and among the thickets 
 
 on the bank 
 
 " the wakeful nightingale, 
 Who all night long her amorous descant sung." 
 
 As we proceeded, the river ceased to divide the two kingdoms,
 
 266 FORMAL GREETINGS. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 and I bade a final farewell to Spain. Occasionally we passed 
 some boats, which appeared to shun our observation, and, although 
 only a few yards distant from us, were almost concealed by the deep 
 shade of the rocks under which they glided. But the Captain's 
 keen and practised eye detected the slightest movement on the 
 face of the water. He regularly challenged the crews of the 
 passing boats, and on their reply some mysterious signs were 
 exchanged, which I afterwards learnt had reference to the revolt 
 at that time breaking out in these districts. On parting from 
 them, the Captain, according to the fashion of the country, inva- 
 riably saluted them in the following words, pronounced in a very 
 peculiar cadence" May you pass in safety to your home ! may 
 you preserve your health ! I esteem you greatly." In making 
 use of these expressions he paused distinctly between each sepa- 
 rate sentence, but was never interrupted by the person whom he 
 addressed. His hearer stood always in an attitude of profound 
 and solemn attention till the Captain had ceased to speak, and 
 then made his salutation in the very same form of words, the 
 Captain in his turn listening with an air of equal attention. After 
 this interchange of civilities, the respective parties pursued their 
 different ways. These formal greetings are not in this part of 
 Portugal restricted to any class, scarcely indeed to any age. I 
 have seen lads of eleven or twelve years old addressing each other 
 with the same gravity of manner, and in the same ceremonious 
 style, introducing also the regular pauses between sentences that 
 are rather sung than said. At length we reached Mertola, and 
 moored beneath a high and picturesque rock. 
 
 The Captain, who evidently entertained suspicions which he 
 did not think right to communicate, sent a man to the town, 
 whose return I awaited with impatience, as I felt extremely 
 fatigued, and the night was far advanced and had become very 
 cold. He brought the unwelcome tidings of a general revolt at 
 Mertola, which he said would render any attempt on our part to 
 enter the town that night extremely perilous. I therefore 
 wrapped myself up in my plaid, and, lying down on one of the 
 benches, took my rest alfresco. The blazing torches, reflected 
 in the water, brought out in strong relief the tall figures of our 
 crew, dressed in their white trowsers, and wearing the scarlet 
 sash and the Algarve bonnet ; lit up the eager countenances of
 
 CHAP, xii.] REVOLT AT MERTOLA. 267 
 
 some who were actively engaged in the division of their rude 
 fare ; and showed the deathlike repose of others, who, exhausted 
 by their labours, were sunk in a heavy sleep. I awoke early, 
 and lay for some hours shivering on the bench in a most uncom- 
 fortable state, for the morning air was intensely cold, and 
 brought back a considerable return of my late feverish attack. 
 
 On entering the town I found it in a state of extreme agita- 
 tion. The people had risen against the Authorities some hours 
 before my arrival, and had proclaimed Dom Miguel Absolute 
 King ; and large bodies of men were still parading the streets, 
 wearing the Miguelist colours, and threatening to renew the 
 tumults of the preceding day. An immense proportion of the 
 nobility, the clergy, and the magistracy had placed themselves 
 at the head of the movement, and, at a public meeting just held, 
 had drawn up a petition entreating the Infant to abolish the de- 
 mocratic institutions recently established. This meeting was 
 attended by one hundred and seventy-four persons, among whom 
 there were only four dissentients, who drew up a counter-petition, 
 in which they defended their opposition to the prayer of the 
 petitioners on curious grounds. They declared that the original 
 petition had a tendency to fetter the will of the Infant, by dic- 
 tating to him the line of conduct he ought to pursue, and was 
 consequently of a seditious and disloyal character. Under this 
 pious dread of infringing upon the prerogative, they sought to 
 disguise their real anxiety to preserve the Constitution, and en- 
 deavoured to save it by an appeal to principles still more despotic 
 than those which were advocated by their opponents : they were, 
 in fact, unwilling to resign their liberties without a struggle, 
 but were equally desirous to avert the anger of the Government, 
 and their mode of reconciling these conflicting objects was whim- 
 sical enough. The town was in such a disturbed state that I 
 could not visit some fine remains of antiquity. 
 
 From Mertola I rode over a large tract of country abounding 
 in cork and covered with lavender and cistus to a ruined house, 
 then used as an inn, and situated in the heart of the wilderness, 
 many miles distant from any other habitation. Here I stopped, 
 for I was ill and too exhausted to proceed farther. Two noble 
 storks were perched on a low tree near the house, and guarded a 
 huge nest which they had built in its branches, while the lesser
 
 268 LOBISHOMENS. [CHAP. XH. 
 
 birds, availing themselves of window-frames that never yet en- 
 closed a pane of glass, had made their habitation in the ceiling 
 of my room, and flew to and fro in utter disregard of mortal 
 man. I was drinking tea, when the Borderer entered and in- 
 formed me that some peasants had intimated their intention of 
 invading my apartment. They said that in their youth they had 
 often heard their fathers speak of the English, but had never 
 themselves seen an individual of that nation, and were anxious 
 to avail themselves of the present opportunity. I desired Juan 
 to give my compliments, and say that I should have great plea- 
 sure in being exhibited. On the strength of this invitation some 
 wild-looking fellows appeared, and standing in a row fixed their 
 stupid eyes upon me, as if determined to enjoy a perfect view of 
 the wild beast ; thus they gazed continuously upon me for some 
 minutes, but never uttered a word, and at length departed as 
 they came without the slightest salutation, 
 
 I was ill and shivering, though the evening was really warm ; 
 I therefore gladly established myself in the kitchen for the sake 
 of its roaring fire. The room was spacious and imperfectly 
 lighted, the chimney huge, and the roof high and pointed. 
 Here I observed a man of singular appearance, sitting apart, 
 not speaking himself, or spoken to by others. His face was 
 pale and haggard, his eyes deep sunk, and his hairs were prema- 
 turely grey. 
 
 The Borderer whispered in my ear that he was one of the 
 dreadful Lobishomens, a devoted race, held in mingled horror 
 and commiseration, and never mentioned without emotion by the 
 Portuguese peasantry. They believe that, if a woman be deli- 
 vered of seven male infants successively, the seventh, by an inex- 
 plicable fatality, becomes subject to the powers of darkness, and 
 is compelled on every Saturday evening to assume the likeness 
 of an ass. So changed, and followed by a horrid train of dogs, 
 he is forced to run an impious race over the moors and through 
 the villages, nor is allowed an interval of rest till the dawning 
 Sabbath terminates his sufferings, and restores him to his human 
 shape. 
 
 If, therefore, a peasant chance to meet a pale and weary tra- 
 veller at an early hour on a Sunday morning, he shudders, and 
 in fancy sees the traces left by the infernal chase upon the stran-
 
 CHAP, xn.] BEJA. 269 
 
 ger's haggard countenance. A wound inflicted upon the poor 
 victim of this unhallowed agency during the very act of transform- 
 ation can alone release him from this accursed bondage; a 
 liberation supposed to be most rarely effected, because few men 
 have courage to behold the appalling change in progress, and still 
 fewer have sufficient coolness to strike the critical blow at the ex- 
 act moment. Such is the superstition of the Lobishomens, diffused 
 more or less over the whole of Portugal, but subject to different 
 versions in different districts, and only credited implicitly in the 
 wild and lonely wastes of Alentejo. 
 
 On the following morning I continued my journey to Beja, 
 over an immense plain for the most part uncultivated, but occa- 
 sionally varied by patches of corn and groups of trees, and 
 bounded by the Spanish hills. A creature crossed my path 
 resembling a lizard in form and colour, but of such an enormous 
 size that I can hardly believe it to have been an animal of that 
 species, and should have certainly thought it an iguana if it were 
 not extremely doubtful whether that reptile is ever found in 
 Portugal. 
 
 Beja stands on an eminence, and, with its ancient gate and 
 fine girdle of Moorish towers, is conspicuous from afar. The 
 Mayor received me with great civility, but expressed the most 
 unfeigned surprise at the arrival of an English Lor, as he em- 
 phatically called me, observing that the motives which could 
 have induced me to visit Beja were quite unfathomable, and far 
 exceeded his powers of divination. The greatest impediment to 
 my researches invariably arose from the total inability of the 
 natives to comprehend the feeling which prompts an English- 
 man to forsake the comforts of his native land, and prosecute a 
 fatiguing and hazardous journey through a disturbed country. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the great Peninsular towns, the 
 people, accustomed to the visits of Englishmen, acknowledge the 
 harmless nature of their investigations, and only wonder at the 
 national infatuation. But my arrival created the utmost asto- 
 nishment in those remote and secluded parts of southern Portugal, 
 which had been rarely visited by a stranger : being engaged in 
 no mercantile transactions, and having no ostensible business, I 
 could not assign any of those reasons which influence other tra- 
 vellers, and render their motives explicable to the mind of a 
 foreigner.
 
 270 ALENTEJO. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 My journey to the fortress of Sagres, and afterwards to Cape 
 St. Vincent, had not only excited surprise, but actual consterna- 
 tion. The most absurd reports of an approaching descent upon 
 the coast by a British force were circulated among the people, 
 and credited by persons whose more extended means of informa- 
 tion should have preserved them from the popular error. The 
 people of Beja were so suspicious of my motives, that some gen- 
 tlemen to whom I sent letters of introduction were rather disposed 
 to treat them as forgeries than to admit that an Englishman of 
 rank could actually be travelling through the country, at such a 
 time, for the mere gratification of his curiosity. 
 
 The soil near Beja is good ; near Evora it is of a lighter and 
 less productive kind. The absence of cultivation over so great a 
 part of Alentejo is not, I think, entirely attributable, as some 
 persons have supposed, to any particular circumstance, but to a 
 combination of causes. The joint tenancies that exist, and the 
 peculiar tenures on which property is generally held, are cer- 
 tainly not favourable to an extended cultivation ; but unques- 
 tionably the arid nature of the soil over large tracts, their 
 absolute unfitness in many places for the growth of corn, the 
 scarcity of villages, the frequent absence of water, and the general 
 deficiency of hands for agricultural purposes, are the principal 
 causes of the neglected state of the rural interest in Alentejo. 
 This province is, with reference to its size, the least populous in 
 Portugal ; the towns and cities are indeed immensely peopled, 
 but whole districts are almost without inhabitants. 
 
 The population of Alentejo is supposed to have diminished 
 during the last century, while the Entre Minho has become un- 
 able to support its increasing numbers, many of whom annually 
 emigrate from their happy valleys, and offer their services to the 
 inhabitants of other provinces : influenced, however, by similar 
 habits, and by the recollection of a common home, these poor 
 people keep together, ranging from place to place, in tents, 
 under the command of a chosen chief. Large flocks of swine 
 are seen upon the desolate wastes of Alentejo, collected in num- 
 bers under the shade of the evergreen oak, and feeding upon the 
 mast ; and on this kind of diet they thrive wonderfully, and 
 attain a prodigious size. The hams of Alentejo ars proverbially 
 excellent, and indeed are not surpassed in flavour and quality by 
 any in the world.
 
 CHAP, xii.] PRIESTLY ENTHUSIASM. 271 
 
 Julius Caesar signed a treaty of peace at Beja, which from that 
 circumstance derived its ancient name of Julia Pax. I saw- 
 here some Roman masonry, apparently the remains of a cloaca, 
 said by my informant to form large and lofty communications 
 beneath the city, though now choked up. Whilst I was examin- 
 ing a fine tower, built by King John, I heard a cry as of many 
 voices, shrill, piercing, infinitely prolonged, and eminently absurd, 
 apparently the dying vociferations of pigs, or women in a state 
 of massacre. My attendants were greatly moved by these 
 piteous outcries, and I discovered, upon inquiry, that they pro- 
 ceeded from womankind, in the shape of tender nuns, proclaiming 
 vigorously, " Dom Miguel, Absolute King of Portugal." 
 
 In the evening I beheld a most impressive scene, strongly 
 characteristic of the country and of the time. Happening to 
 stray into a great church as the day was falling, I found it 
 thronged with persons listening with deep attention to the dis- 
 course of an eminent preacher. The first part of his sermon 
 consisted of the usual moral precepts ; but then, advancing slowly 
 and almost imperceptibly to the main object of his address, he 
 warned his hearers against the impious men who wished to un- 
 dermine their holy religion, and deprive those who sat in lofty 
 places of their rights. In this general and guarded language he 
 addressed them for some time, assuring himself of their sympathy 
 before he fully developed his views. At length he spoke of the 
 Infant in explicit terms ; he portrayed in vivid colours the 
 high-wrought devotion which he had shown to the cause of God, 
 even in his boyish days ; he described him as the youthful sa- 
 viour of his country, the princely saint. He then represented 
 him as fallen from his high estate, the victim of his holy zeal, 
 given over to the oppressor, and sent across the sea to spend the 
 best years of life in cheerless and unmerited exile. 
 
 During this period of his discourse the men were greatly 
 moved, the women bathed in tears. By a sudden and artful 
 transition, thrilling in its effects on the mind, he passed from this 
 affecting description of his woes and wrongs to the glorious cir- 
 cumstances attendant on his return an event, he said, indis- 
 putably wrought by the hand of God, which had marked him 
 out to the nation as her chosen ruler : and as Noah and his com- 
 pany were permitted to ride in safety over the dreadful deep,
 
 272 PRIESTLY ENTHUSIASM. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 when none others saw and lived, so was the Infant, returning to 
 the throne of his ancestors, miraculously preserved amid the 
 the storms that strewed his native coast with wrecks. As he 
 gave vent to his own excited feelings, the animation of his man- 
 ner and the fervour of his language increased. He denounced 
 the guilty Freemasons, haters of the Church, and enemies of 
 God's delegate upon earth : he pronounced the heaviest male- 
 dictions dishonour and mischance in this world, arid doom 
 eternal in the next on all those erring men who listened to the 
 dark suggestions of the conspirators against their lawful Prince, 
 the well-beloved of God, the specially guarded by his patron 
 saint the Archangel Miguel. Finally, he enjoined his hearers, 
 as they valued their immortal souls, to obey a call which came 
 from Heaven itself. 
 
 If it was curious to observe the knowledge of human passions 
 which he displayed, and the inimitable skill with which he 
 moulded them to his purposes, it was still more interesting to 
 trace the alternations, from melting pity to fervid indignation, 
 produced upon his hearers by the varying tenor of his discourse. 
 The effect was quite electrical when first, abandoning a veiled 
 though pointed style of expression, he burst forth into a sweep- 
 ing denunciation against the Constitutionalists, and as a prophet, 
 commissioned from on high, preached a crusade in favour of 
 their heaven-sent Prince ; a] murmur of applause and sympathy 
 pervaded the assembly, and would have grown into a loud unani- 
 mous shout, had not respect for the sacred pile restrained such 
 an irreverent expression of their feelings. But though the 
 expression faltered on the tongue, neither time nor place could 
 quell the thought then burning in the heart, and the sparkling 
 eye, the arm involuntarily raised as in defiance, and the low but 
 fiercely uttered vow which ran round the holy place, bespoke the 
 general and determined will. 
 
 I beheld the scene with the deepest interest, and thought of 
 the famous meeting at Clermont, when, summoned to avenge the 
 Christian griefs by Peter the Hermit, the mighty multitude, 
 moved by an eloquence as stormy, and inspired by as unanimous 
 a mind, cried out, " It is the will of God, it is the will of 
 God!"
 
 CHAP, xiii.] SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 273 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Revolt in the Provinces Evora Author arrested Fury of the Populace 
 The Guard-room The Prison Andalusian Banditti The Corregidor 
 Confinement Tumult and Defeat of the Troops Author released 
 The Borderer Andalusian Smugglers Leaves Evora Leaves Lisbon 
 Montemor Superstition of the Beggars Pegoines African Adventure 
 detailed Arrives at Lisbon Dom Miguel declared King Quits Lisbon 
 Reflections on past Events Returns to England. 
 
 ON the following morning I rose before the break of day. In 
 quitting Beja I saw a fine red stag, which recalled to my me- 
 mory the wild heaths of distant Somersetshire, 
 
 " Where the hunter of deer and the chieftain trod 
 To the hills that encircle the sea " 
 
 and for the moment Portugal .and Portuguese politics vanished 
 from my mind. I rode over some beautiful forest-ground, and 
 afterwards entered on an immense and apparently boundless 
 waste. Here I felt a touch of that peculiar feeling, so often 
 called a foreboding of approaching ill, but which in this, as in 
 almost every similar case, is only the result of observations that 
 leave a general and indistinct, but not ill-founded impression, 
 although the train of reasoning which leads to that impression is 
 at the time too subtle and too rapid to be detected even by the 
 mind through which it passes. But as I made further progress 
 over these wild plains, there were symptoms of the moral storm, 
 distinct and obvious to the most careless eye. I observed 
 couriers occasionally riding in breathless haste ; peasants coming 
 from different quarters, bearing the red cockade ; beggars who 
 no longer paused to supplicate, but wore a look of fierce excite- 
 ment, and pushed on in one direction as if they scented a richer 
 prey : and once I passed a strange wild- looking man, apparently 
 half pilgrim and half prophet, declaiming, in the emphatic 
 language of the day, in favour of the Prince. I had already
 
 274 SIGNS OF THE TIMES. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 seen, at times when danger overhung the altar and the throne, 
 such pilgrims travelling in still more unfrequented parts of the 
 Peninsula from village to village, and almost from hamlet to 
 hamlet, stirring up the minds of men and preaching the crusade. 
 Children at once and heralds of the storm, they owe their 
 passionate eloquence to the fanatic zeal which they inherit and 
 impel. I recollected having seen a still more singular enthu- 
 siast on the confines of Catalonia : his dress was composed of 
 tattered shreds of various hues ; he was tall, gaunt, and had a 
 film over the eye which seemed to impair his vision ; erect and 
 unbending, he seemed like a type of the old fanaticism ; he looked 
 like a seer of ancient times, as he called on the people, by the 
 Royalists who had recently died in arms for the faith, by the 
 martyrs who were slaughtered of old, by the Saviour's cross, in 
 the name of God, to rise in defence of the King, his delegate 
 upon earth. These wild beings were the immediate precursors 
 of the bloody Catalan revolution, and now I recognised the 
 same appearances in Alentejo, the same spirit of stern enthu- 
 siasm in the preacher and of deep conviction in the hearer. I 
 recognized the approaching triumph of royalist and religious 
 revolution in that wild figure which stood before me ; for now 
 the call to arms in defence of God and the crown was not merely 
 in the mouths but in the minds of men, and came not only from 
 the pulpit, but was proclaimed on the public way by ruder yet 
 not less powerful apostles of the faith. These circumstances 
 convinced me that an irresistible movement had begun, and that 
 society was ruffled by no passing breeze, but was upheaving 
 from its lowest depths. 
 
 It was now clear, from the statements of all with whom we 
 paused for a moment to converse, that the long-apprehended 
 revolt had actually taken place, and that the people were on all 
 sides rising en masse against the Constitutionalists. Our situa- 
 tion was becoming extremely precarious : Beja, which we had 
 just left, was manifestly on the eve of an explosion ; Evora, 
 which lay before us, was actually the scene of fearful commo- 
 tions ; and the same spirit was rapidly diffusing itself through all 
 the neighbouring towns and villages : in short, it was evident, 
 from many concurring accounts, that both in front and in rear, 
 towards the western wilds and along the Spanish frontier, revo-
 
 CHAP, xm.] EVORA. 275 
 
 lution, from which there seemed no escape, inevitable revolution, 
 had drawn around us its fiery circle. 
 
 " Tu ne cede mails sed contra audentior ito " 
 
 was, however, in this emergency my safest and indeed my only 
 principle of action. While yet in the open plain, some miles 
 from Evora, we saw in the distance a cloud of dust, upon which 
 Juan with some trepidation announced the approach of a Black 
 Company ; bands thus denominated by the peasantry from the 
 dark nature of their deeds. Confined to the wild parts of 
 Alentejo, these companies were the offspring of the civil dis- 
 tractions, during which they originated and with which they 
 ceased to exist. They generally consisted of mounted ruffians, 
 who combined together under political pretexts for purposes of 
 plunder, and proceeded from village to village perpetrating great 
 outrages. Such would indeed have been unwelcome visitors, 
 but Juan's alarm proved groundless. 
 
 Evora is built on an eminence like Beja, and is striking from 
 its elevation, and venerable from its ancient towers. Passing 
 under a high arch and entering the town, we were challenged 
 by the sentinel on duty, who at first supposed me to be a 
 Spaniard, and, under that impression, behaved with the utmost 
 civility ; but my passport soon revealed my English origin, and 
 this discovery produced an immediate change of manner. The 
 city was apparently in a very excited state, for the people had 
 collected together in groups in the public square, and were 
 engaged in earnest conversation, but, seeing me stopped by the 
 guard, they flocked around us to inquire the cause, and heard 
 that I was an Englishman with marked displeasure. They 
 assailed me with a thousand questions respecting the motives of 
 my journey and my arrival at that critical moment ; and became 
 confirmed in their worst suspicions when I could make no reply 
 which was in their opinion satisfactory. Some demagogues, 
 availing themselves of these prepossessions against me, cried out 
 that I was an accursed Englishman, a son of that heretical 
 nation which was now preparing to wage war against the holy 
 faith, and murder their lawful King Dom Miguel. 
 
 My position was awkward enough : the mob had already 
 fallen upon Juan and were plundering my baggage, and several
 
 276 ARREST OF THE AUTHOR. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 fierce enthusiasts threatened, and indeed seemed preparing, to 
 pull me from my horse. In this annoying conjuncture, the 
 sentinel gave a fortunate direction to the growing ferment by 
 declaring me a state prisoner, whose machinations ought to be 
 fully investigated, and for this purpose he would take me to the 
 town-hall and submit my case to the Mayor : the people ac- 
 quiesced in his proposal, and shouted, " To the Mayor ! to the 
 Mayor ! " 
 
 I was then placed between two soldiers, and, surrounded and 
 followed by a menacing crowd, was led to the town-hall, where 
 I found the Mayor in an upper apartment, greatly disconcerted 
 by this appeal to his authority. His utmost ingenuity could not 
 devise any legal ground upon which the adoption of coercive 
 measures against me could be justified ; but the fierce threats 
 and lawless conduct of the mob below showed him the imminent 
 danger of refusing to comply with their declared wishes. He 
 paced the room to and fro in a state of extreme indecision, and 
 at length, unwilling to condemn yet afraid to acquit me, sent me 
 for final judgment to the Corregidor. I was then led to the 
 house of that officer, escorted by a crowd, which, like a snow- 
 ball, gathered strength as it rolled along ; but the Corregidor, 
 placed in the same disagreeable alternative of encountering the 
 popular anger, or pronouncing an illegal and discreditable judg- 
 ment, declaimed against the Mayor's indecision, and, trembling 
 himself, said that he hated timid men, and sent me back to the 
 town-hall. This game of battledore and shuttlecock was not less 
 annoying to me than to the people, who, anxious for an im- 
 mediate decision, expressed their impatience by an angry yell, 
 and threatened to take the affair into their own hands. 
 
 On my return to the town-hall his worship's irresolution was 
 at once removed by a soldier, who informed him that the people 
 would no longer brook delay, and were forcing their way up 
 stairs. At this intelligence a hurried consultation took place 
 between the Mayor and the secretaries of police, and I was again 
 placed under the custody of the guard, which conducted me to' a 
 large hall filled with militiamen. There I met the Borderer, 
 my companion in misfortune, who informed me that he had been 
 despoiled of his knife, his pistol, and all that he carried about 
 him.
 
 CHAP, xni.] INDECISION OF THE POLICE. 277 
 
 I was here required to give up my papers and all that I had 
 in my pocket, and when this operation was completed the secre- 
 tary desired the soldiers to do their duty. " Senhor, follow me," 
 said the Sergeant. " To what place ?" " To prison," he re- 
 plied. I repeated his words in unfeigned astonishment, for, 
 although I was fully aware of the perilous predicament in which 
 I stood, the idea of a prison had never suggested itself to my 
 mind. The sudden and varying emergencies of the eventful 
 hour which had elapsed since my arrival at Evora had employed 
 all my faculties in counteracting immediate dangers, and had left 
 me no time to speculate on my eventual destination ; but this 
 unexpected announcement excited my surprise and indignation 
 to such a degree that I burst forth into a strain of unusual 
 vehemence, denied their right to imprison me, and reminded 
 them of the old Portuguese law by which no fidalgo could be 
 legally confined in a common jail. 
 
 I felt, even then, that such a plea might be considered in- 
 vidious, and was moreover ill-founded, as any enactment of that 
 nature could of course apply to native rank only ; but I knew 
 that it was in accordance with the opinions studiously professed 
 by the party into whose hands I had fallen, and was therefore 
 calculated to embarrass their operations. I concluded by saying 
 that, the privileges of an Englishman, violated in my person, 
 would be surely and promptly redressed by the British Am- 
 bassador. 
 
 The agents of the police were evidently startled by a vehe- 
 mence so unusual in a prisoner ; and, in the pause that followed, 
 a militiaman of the name of Montero came forward, and sug- 
 gested that during the night I should be confined in the guard- 
 room instead of the prison, saying that he would be responsible 
 for my appearance on the following morning. The police 
 acceded willingly to a proposition which in some degree extri- 
 cated them from their perplexing situation, and, as Montero was 
 distinguished for his attachment to the Infant, and was extremely 
 popular both with the people and the militia, the mob consented, 
 though not without reluctance. 
 
 Determined, however, to have one victim, they seized upon 
 the Borderer, and declared that he should expiate his own and 
 his master's crimes in prison. I remonstrated with them on the
 
 278 SERGEANT MONTERO. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 extreme injustice of persecuting an individual against whom no 
 accusation was levelled, and whose sole offence consisted in his 
 temporary connexion with an Englishman ; but, carried away by 
 their senseless fury, they twice endeavoured to drag him to prison, 
 and twice, assisted by Montero's earnest exhortations, I pre- 
 vented them. 
 
 At length the point was adjusted in our favour, and, for that 
 night at least, he was permitted to share his master's fortunes. 
 The scene must have appeared striking indeed to an indifferent 
 spectator, for, though so much occupied by the embarrassments 
 of my actual position, I was not even then insensible to the pic- 
 turesque appearance of surrounding objects. The militiamen 
 were standing in groups, some anxiously expecting their final 
 orders, others holding aloft blazing torches that dispelled with 
 their red glare the darkness of the night which had just set in, 
 and showed the people still pressing into the hall through the 
 lofty archway, and lit up the vaulted roof and the walls literally 
 black with smoke ; and there, looking upon the threatening 
 crowd with a calm but sullen eye, the Borderer stood, conspicuous 
 by his red scarf and Castilian hat. 
 
 We were now removed to the guard-room and placed under 
 the strictest surveillance, for neither Juan nor I were allowed to 
 exchange a word. In the evening the Sergeant Montero ap- 
 peared, and, with a delicacy unlocked for, but not in the Penin- 
 sula infrequent in his rank of life, entreated me to consider 
 myself rather as a guest than a prisoner, and assured me that, 
 while he had authority, the guard-room should be reserved for 
 my use. 
 
 This man's conduct was highly creditable ; he had opposed 
 with manly firmness the indiscriminating passion of the multi- 
 tude, he had obtained for me better terms from their leaders than 
 I could have expected under actual circumstances, and had 
 tempered by the courtesy of his manner the real harshness of 
 their measures. Soon afterwards some agents of the police 
 arrived, examined my baggage, and took possession of the greater 
 part of my papers. My journal I had secreted in my mattress, 
 to which I therefore clung with an apparent tenacity of regard 
 for my creature-comforts which somewhat amazed the worthy 
 inspectors. ,
 
 CHAP, xin.] FURY OF THE POPULACE. 279 
 
 I had now cause to congratulate myself on the precaution 
 which I had taken in thus concealing my notes; but not you, 
 my gentle reader, for, had they been seized, you would most 
 assuredly have never been troubled with the perusal of this little 
 volume. A few loose papers of some consequence were in my 
 pocket at the moment of my arrest, but these I contrived to slip 
 up my sleeve during the subsequent confusion. They, however, 
 occasioned me great uneasiness, as I momentarily expected to see 
 them fall to the ground, for ever and anon I felt them travelling 
 down my ann, and as so many eyes were fixed upon me I could 
 only replace them by sundry jerks intended to pass for the vehe- 
 ment gesticulations of outraged honour. 
 
 In the course of the evening I gradually discovered that a 
 great popular movement had taken place at Evora, and that the 
 revolutionary ferment was at its height. It appeared that just 
 before my arrival the people, impatient to proclaim Dom Miguel, 
 had summoned the Juiz de Povo, an officer appointed for the 
 express purpose of submitting their wishes to the Camera or 
 municipality, and had enjoined him to convene that body with- 
 out delay. When the Camera had assembled, the people forced 
 their way into the apartment where they were sitting in conclave, 
 and 'compelled each member successively, on pain of instant 
 death, to affix his signature to a document declaratory of the 
 Infant's right to the throne. They then unfurled the national 
 standard, paraded the city, and proclaimed him under the title 
 of Miguel I. The military governor of Evora, warmly attached 
 to the Imperial cause, endeavoured to suppress the insurrection, 
 but upon his interference the population rose en masse, and, 
 joined by the militia, attacked with desperate courage and com- 
 pletely defeated the regular forces, who escaped from the city 
 with difficulty and loss. 
 
 Their Commanding officer was only saved by the extraordinary 
 exertions of his troops, and the Colonel of the militia, deserted 
 by his men, who almost unanimously espoused Dom Miguel's 
 cause, fell desperately wounded. It was at that ill-fated time, 
 in the very first moment of popular triumph, that I reached 
 Evora ; the popular laurels were fresh, the popular success was 
 complete, but the victors had not yet dispersed, their dead were 
 still unburied, and their vengeance unappeased. During the
 
 280 THE GUARD-ROOM. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 whole of the day on which I arrived the greatest disorders pre- 
 vailed ; the links that hold society together were dissolved, and 
 the persons of the Constitutionalists were everywhere attacked 
 and their houses plundered. On that dreadful day alone two 
 hundred persons are said to have been arrested by the furious 
 rabble, and dragged to prison without the warrant of any legal 
 forms or the sanction of any legal authority. 
 
 The arrival of an Englishman at such a conjuncture was 
 calculated to excite deep suspicion, for the Miguelists then con- 
 sidered the British as the great stay and hope of the Consti- 
 tutional party, and regarded us with a hatred proportioned to 
 the unbounded love they bore the Infant. He had not yet 
 indeed assumed the crown, but was invariably styled King by the 
 civil officers, the militia, and most of the inhabitants, who wore 
 the red and blue cockade in token of their devoted attachment 
 to his cause. 
 
 The guard-room was small, and contained no furniture, except 
 indeed a clumsy table attached to the wall ; there I passed the 
 night, devoured by insects and oppressed by the heat, for the 
 door was closed and the window fastened. Montero called in 
 the morning, and expressed his readiness to oblige me in any 
 point consistent with his duty, but he was superseded imme- 
 diately afterwards, and I was consigned to the charge of a most 
 hot-headed Miguelist, who had obtained some share of public 
 favour from the exaggeration of his political principles. This 
 man quickly asserted his power with a degree of insolence which 
 I could ill endure : he threw open the door of the apartment, 
 insisting that it should not be closed till night had set in, and 
 actually encouraged the rabble to gather round the window, 
 which looked into the square, and was only a few feet from the 
 ground. Groups collected and dispersed several times in the 
 course of the morning, but later in the day they assembled in 
 greater numbers, and gave very decided indications of hostile 
 feeling. 
 
 My mattress had been placed on the table, but they now in- 
 sisted on its removal, and desired that it should be put on the 
 floor, while, in compliance with another mandate, the bed on 
 which the guard slept was promoted in its stead. My servant, 
 attended by a militiaman, had been allowed on the preceding
 
 CHAP, xni.] POPULAR DEMONSTRATIONS. 281 
 
 evening to fetch provisions from the town, but my new Governor 
 would neither permit Juan to leave the guard-room in the early 
 part of the day, nor would he send out any of his own men on 
 such a necessary errand ; and when he at length consented to 
 let Juan go, he was driven back with threats by the people, so 
 that we were kept for about twenty hours without any food. 
 
 That day slowly wore away, one of the most unpleasiug I have 
 ever experienced, for it was attended by humiliating circum- 
 stances, though not by a sense of humiliation, and I can hardly 
 now revert to it without sickening sensations. During my pre- 
 vious expeditions into revolutionised countries I had been 
 exposed to danger as imminent, but danger had been then unac- 
 companied by insult, and my spirits had risen under the excite- 
 ment ; but now, confined within narrow bounds, exhibited to 
 the crowd, an object of mingled curiosity and abhorrence, taunted, 
 and, still worse, occasionally pitied, I concealed my indignation 
 under the mask of indifference. A few bright traits, however, 
 relieved the general gloom of the picture. A Frenchman, 
 approaching the window, addressed me in his native language, 
 expressed regret at my situation, and intimated his willingness 
 to serve me ; and a young officer of rank, to whom I was subse- 
 quently indebted for acts of real kindness, entered the guard- 
 room, and had the courage to pledge me in a glass of wine. 
 The guard, suspicious of a conversation which they did not 
 understand, obliged the Frenchman to retire, but only looked 
 sullenly on the young officer, whose rank and station in some 
 degree awed them into good behaviour. 
 
 The day began to fall, and my situation was indeed most 
 uncomfortable. Large bodies of men paraded the streets singing 
 revolutionary songs intermingled with appalling shouts ; and, 
 stopping under the walls of the prison, which almost adjoined 
 the guard-house, uttered furious denunciations of vengeance 
 against its unpopular inmates. From thence they proceeded to 
 the guard-room, and, gathering round the open window, gave 
 loud hurrahs for Dom Miguel, and, looking at me with glaring 
 eyes and clenched fists, testified their rooted detestation by every 
 angry gesture and expression, and by every varied intonation of 
 voice, from the passionate yell to the hateful hiss, and then 
 departed, after some ferocious shouts of " Death to the Free-
 
 282 THE PRISON. [CHAP. xra. 
 
 masons !" and " Death to the English !" promising to return at a 
 later hour and destroy the accursed and heretical conspirator. 
 My charitable Governor, who had hitherto lost no opportunity 
 of increasing the odium under which I laboured, became alarmed 
 at these vindictive menaces, uttered as they manifestly were with 
 the dreadful energy of real determination. He knew that his 
 countrymen of Evora, when fairly roused, have much of the 
 tiger in their wrath : he was well aware that the hours of dark- 
 ness were generally selected for acts of outrage against indivi- 
 duals, and he felt himself unable to protect me from the coming 
 storm. He therefore sent a message to the Authorities, request- 
 ing them to make out an order for my immediate committal to 
 prison, as he fully expected the guard-room to be forced that 
 night by the mob, and would no longer hold himself responsible 
 for my life. His report was confirmed by the representations of 
 the Frenchman and of the young officer, who had kindly inte- 
 rested themselves in my behalf, and who now urged with equal 
 vehemence the necessity of my removal to some place of real 
 protection. The Authorities had unwillingly sanctioned my 
 arrest in the first instance, and had subsequently taken no notice 
 of the affair, hoping that, in a time so pregnant with events, the 
 whole transaction would be forgotten in a few hours, in which 
 case they intended to sign my passport for Lisbon, and desire me 
 to leave the city without delay ; but on receiving this intelli- 
 gence they made out the order for my committal, and sent a 
 party of militiamen, accompanied by two secretaries of police, 
 to see it carried into immediate execution. 
 
 The huge prison doors were opened by the jailor ; a tall man, 
 apparently still athletic, though he had numbered more than 
 seventy years, and every hair on his head was white. Entering, 
 I found myself in a low vaulted passage, the termination of 
 which was lost in obscurity : it led to a dungeon, and was so 
 dark that it might well appear to the eye of fancy a communica- 
 tion between the upper world and the infernal regions. Passing 
 this gloomy corridor, we reached a flight of stairs guarded by an 
 iron door, whose grated bars of immense thickness precluded all 
 hope of escape. This door the jailor unlocked, and, ascending 
 the staircase, conducted me to my destined apartment, which was 
 lofty, spacious, and unequally divided by an iron grating : the
 
 CHAP, xiii.] ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 283 
 
 roof was of wood, high, and pointed ; the floor of stone ; while 
 two windows, or rather apertures, for they contained no glass, 
 looked into the street, and were strongly guarded by iron bars 
 placed in transverse directions. Such was the general aspect of 
 a room that had neither fireplace, nor chair, nor table, nor fur- 
 niture of any kind. 
 
 It is a trite observation that our ideas of happiness and misery 
 are entirely relative : in the even course of ordinary life we are 
 hardly aware how rapidly, and of the extent to which, our feel- 
 ings vary with varying emergencies. The mere suggestion of a 
 prison had on the preceding evening filled me with irrepressible 
 anger ; so gross an indignity seemed scarcely tolerable, even in 
 imagination ; but yet, in ( fact, I have seldom known a more 
 grateful moment than that in which I first crossed the threshold 
 of my prison-room, and heard the retiring steps of the jailor 
 as he turned upon me the key of the iron door. I then felt that 
 I would rather submit to any hardship, and encounter any dan- 
 ger, than again pass through the bitter ordeal which I had that 
 day undergone in the guard-room. The massive walls and strong 
 bars of my grated apartment deprived me indeed of personal free- 
 dom, but delivered me from contumely and menace, and from 
 great and imminent peril : they spoke the language of protec- 
 tion, and the solitude to which they consigned me was unspeak- 
 ably delightful after the overbearing clamours of the populace. 
 
 In the course of the evening the secretaries of the police 
 arrived to take my depositions, which I signed at their requisi- 
 tion, having first attentively perused them. I had thus some 
 practical experience of the mode of administering justice in Por- 
 tugal. A prisoner charged with the commission of an offence is 
 subjected to a strict examination, his answers are recorded by an 
 officer of the law, acknowledged by his own signature, and then 
 submitted to the judge, who is guided in his opinion of the case 
 by this record, and by an accompanying statement of facts ; but 
 should the record and statement be perverted, it is evident that 
 subsequent proceedings flowing from a tainted source must be 
 equally vitiated, and, the more upright the intentions of the 
 judge, the more unjust will the final judgment be. And thus it 
 happens that a skilful notary can often in the first stage of the 
 process determine the eventual fate of the accused, who, if dull
 
 284 ANDALUSIAN BANDIT. [CHAP. xin. 
 
 and uneducated, will sometimes, through sheer stupidity, and a 
 total ignorance of the nature of the act he is performing, put his 
 name to a record of questions and answers imperfect, garbled, 
 and unfairly prejudicial to his own cause ; but he will, more fre- 
 quently, by a dishonest connivance with his legal examiner, 
 obtain a version of the affair eminently favourable to his own 
 case, and equally disadvantageous to the interests of justice. On 
 the present occasion I had no reason to complain of the notaries, 
 for they were unprejudiced and well-intentioned, and represented 
 the transaction in its real colours. 
 
 Some years before the events to which I am now alluding I 
 passed through Lucena, a town situated in the kingdom of Gra- 
 nada, and in the heart of a wild and secluded district, at that 
 time abandoned, almost without a struggle, to a numerous ban- 
 ditti, who had encamped in a neighbouring forest, and were 
 carrying on their depredations with impunity. Every man car- 
 ried a musket, every detached house was rudely fortified as in 
 the feudal times, and the boldest feared to traverse the wood 
 except in caravans or large bodies, associated and armed for 
 mutual protection. I remember hearing at this place that a 
 noted robber had recently appeared in the town, and had mur- 
 dered an inhabitant in the open day : he was arrested ; but, in 
 consequence of the nature of the depositions stating the case, was 
 speedily liberated. I asked how this had occurred. " It was 
 quite natural," my informant answered, " for he supplied the 
 Escribanos, and some of our principal magistrates, with clothes." 
 "Was he then a tailor? " I asked with some surprise ; know- 
 ing well that the Andalusian bandit generally follows his voca- 
 tion pretty exclusively, and regards with haughty contempt the 
 peaceful habits of industrious life. " A tailor, Senor !" said my 
 friend, smiling at my simplicity ; " he was a caballero" (a cava- 
 lier), " and when any travellers fell into his hands he appropriated 
 their gold and their goods generally, but reserved the waistcoats 
 and trowsers of the denuded individuals for the Escribanos and 
 magistrates, who were consequently the best-dressed men in the 
 town, and were thus enabled to keep up the dignity of their pro- 
 fession. In his prosperous days he supported them, and they 
 were bound by every tie of interest and honour to uphold him in 
 the hour of adversity." This good understanding between the
 
 CHAP, xni.] BANDIT DISTRICT OF SPAIN. 285 
 
 robber and the functionary is rather severe upon the traveller, 
 not only because all hope of redress or restitution of goods is 
 thereby rendered hopeless, but because a real orthodox bandit of 
 Andalusia generally disdains the appropriation of wearing appa- 
 rel, and therefore this spoliation of coats and waistcoats may be 
 considered as an extra loss incurred for the benefit of the guar- 
 dians of the law. 
 
 The state of Lucena was singular enough about that time. 
 To English eyes it was curious to behold a party dressed for an 
 evening assembly, proceeding to a house a few hundred yards 
 from the town with muskets in their hands. It was a strange 
 mixture of modern civilization with an almost feudal state of 
 society. 
 
 I was much struck with this peculiar state of things when I 
 passed through that unfrequented district of Spain in 1822, and 
 rode with my brother-in-law to Benamex or Benamegi, over a 
 desolate country exhibiting no vestiges of man, and fragments of 
 old Moorish towers alone indicating that this neglected plain had 
 been once inhabited. As we descended the heights, and were 
 enjoying a glorious though distant view of Malaga, the Mediter- 
 ranean, and the bold mountains of Honda, we met a muleteer, who 
 told us that a band of fifty robbers, mounted after the fashion of 
 the Andalusian highwaymen, had taken up their abode at a venta, 
 or solitary house, that bordered the road, in a forest which we 
 expected to traverse that evening. Towards the middle of the 
 day we entered Antequera, a town of some beauty, and famous in 
 Moorish story. Beyond, the country assumed an appearance very 
 unusual in Spain ; enclosures became frequent, the hedges were 
 lined with poplars, sometimes with elms, and groups of trees met 
 the eye in every direction, for an instant recalling to my recol- 
 lection the smiling scenes of the west of England ; but this com- 
 parison, momentarily suggested by the improved cultivation, was 
 quickly dispelled by the unprotected state of persons and property, 
 and the lawless habits of the population ; evils that soon pressed 
 themselves upon my observation in signs too manifest to be 
 doubted ; nor did the animation of nature extend far beyond the 
 environs of Antequera, after which we again relapsed into the 
 same monotonous country. Overtaken by a violent thunder- 
 storm, we endeavoured to gain admittance into a large but lonely
 
 286 HAUNTS OF THE BANDITTI. [CHAP. xra. 
 
 house by the roadside ; but the door was firmly secured, and its 
 inmates were for a long time deaf to our repeated vociferations. 
 It was at length unbarred after many questions, and with evident 
 symptoms of uneasiness, which seemed by no means to diminish 
 as we rode into the yard and asked for bread and wine. Unac- 
 customed to travellers, and sometimes visited by the mounted 
 highwaymen when foraging for provisions, they were unable at 
 first to determine the character of their visitors, or the nature of 
 our visit. The scene was curious, as it illustrated forcibly the 
 unsettled state of these districts, and reminded me of the old 
 feudal times when every mansion was secured against the assaults 
 of an enemy. As we rode along the path that led to the forest 
 of Benamegi, we were joined by some muleteers, who warned us 
 of approaching danger in very expressive terms. One, as he left 
 us, intimated a hope that the hour in which we traversed the 
 wood might be a fortunate one. It was then customary for per- 
 sons travelling through this part of the country to unite in cara- 
 vans sufficiently numerous and well armed to resist any attacks ; 
 and as these were principally composed of peasants carrying their 
 goods to market, travellers were often enabled to avail them- 
 selves of such efficient protection. Hearing that a caravan was 
 but a mile in advance, we galloped forward, and joined it as it 
 entered the forest. We passed the reputed quarters of the ban- 
 ditti, the fearful venta, a picturesque building situated in a hollow 
 in one of the wildest and most beautiful parts of the forest. 
 Soon afterwards a cry of robbers ran through the caravan, and 
 we were shown three men in the wood leaning on their guns, 
 whom our companions recognised as forming members of the 
 great banditti. Protected by the caravan, I felt some curiosity 
 to see the highwayman of Andalusia, who, like the legitimate 
 smuggler, was distinguished by a particular dress, was mounted 
 on the high-necked horse of the country, and had some redeem- 
 ing points in his character. He was seldom known to commit 
 murder or inflict any personal outrage, except in cases of conti- 
 nued resistance ; and affected, in the full exercise of his vocation, 
 a lofty courtesy of manner and a contempt for sordid details ; but 
 these men were not mounted, and were not remarkable from any 
 peculiarity of appearance. They were perhaps the last recruits 
 the band had received, and were not yet admitted to the privi-
 
 CHAP, xin.] CONFINEMENT IN THE PRISON. 287 
 
 lege of the robber's dress, or to a full knowledge of the myste- 
 ries of the profession ; for it was said that in the best established 
 bands a regular apprenticeship was often served. The number 
 of the band was I suspect exaggerated, although the district was 
 so much infested with robbers, that it had become a proverb in 
 the country that whoever drank from the clear spring of Lucena 
 was from that hour endowed with all the qualifications of a good 
 highwayman. 
 
 But to return to my prison at Evora, from which I have 
 wandered with my usual taste for rambling.' The Intendant left 
 me : the city remained that night in a state of the greatest excite- 
 ment, and the yells were sometimes tremendous. 
 
 The life of a prisoner is monotonous enough, as it is rather a 
 history of feelings than events. The grateful sensation at first 
 inspired by my prison-walls soon ceased to operate on my mind, 
 while the strict confinement became every day more severely felt, 
 and was to me peculiarly irksome, as it involved a total change 
 of habits. For some time past I had generally been on horse- 
 back from sunrise to sunset ; and the narrow limits within which 
 my movements were now restricted formed a most unpleasing 
 contrast to the free range of the mountainous Algarve and the 
 interminable wastes of the Alentejo ; and as I saw through my 
 grated windows the bright sun and the blue unclouded sky which 
 I could now no more enjoy, I longed for " the life so late I led," 
 and pined for the open heath and the rushing steed. Many hours 
 of the day I spent in pacing my apartment ; sometimes I amused 
 myself by observing a dark-eyed lady who frequented a balcony 
 on the opposite side of the street, but still more often I lay on 
 my mattress reading over and over again my only book, Gil 
 Bias, a most appropriate study, for his imprisonment by villainous 
 Corregidors made my own woes appear quite classical. I was 
 fortunately on good terms with the jailor, who, when he brought 
 me my meals, would sometimes linger to inform me of the events 
 occurring in the town, and I was always prepared for his arrival 
 by the heavy sound made by the grated door at the foot of the 
 stairs, as he unlocked it and swung it back on its iron hinges ; a 
 sound which, however discordant it might have appeared under 
 happier circumstances, was in my state of solitude rarely 
 unwelcome.
 
 288 FRIENDLY VISIT. [CHAP. xni. 
 
 I remember being amused by a little incident, which was 
 curious enough as a striking instance of the greater importance 
 men often attach to words than to things. One night, when the 
 jailor was bringing me supper, he observed, speaking of his 
 parents, that his father was a native of Galicia. I afterwards 
 inadvertently called him a Galician. " No, Senhor," said the 
 old man, drawing himself up with dignity, " I did not say my 
 father was a Galician ; I only said that he and his parents before 
 him were born in Galicia " a distinction too subtle for my unre- 
 fined intellect, but which really originated in a keen sense of the 
 contempt which in Portugal unjustly attaches to the word 
 Galician. 
 
 One day I was surprised by a visit from the young officer 
 whom I have already mentioned. He was accompanied by the 
 Frenchman, and had been permitted to see me by the authorities. 
 Having previously called upon the Corregidor, he had represented 
 to him the injustice of humouring a misguided people by detain- 
 ing any longer in prison an individual charged with no definite 
 offence ; he had urged him to issue an immediate but secret order 
 for my liberation, saying that he would take me to his father's 
 house without attracting the public attention, and would consider 
 himself responsible for my appearance on the day required. 
 
 The Corregidor in answer regretted the treatment I had 
 experienced, and admitted that my arrest could not be defended 
 on legal grounds ; adding that, if he had been present in the first 
 instance, he would have ordered the sentinel to let me pass 
 unquestioned, but that such a course was subsequently rendered 
 impracticable by the violent prepossessions of the people. He 
 had been, however, anxious to show me every possible indulgence, 
 and had awarded to me the best apartment in the prison ; but he 
 could not comply with his young friend's request, as an order 
 for my release would be construed by the suspicious citizens into 
 a connivance with persons arrested on political charges, and 
 would very possibly be followed by an attack on the prisons and 
 a massacre of the prisoners. 
 
 His declaration was sincere, and I felt it to be so. The Cor- 
 regidor could not act otherwise, for he was no longer a free 
 agent, but the slave of a faction that would only acknowledge 
 his authority while he complied implicitly with their wishes.
 
 CHAP, xin.] STORMY NIGHT. 289 
 
 Yet, although my young friend's application was ineffectual, I 
 was gratified by the generous zeal which had prompted him to 
 take so deep an interest in the fate of a perfect stranger ; but he 
 was only twenty-one, and at that age the heart is warm, and the 
 mind has scarcely begun to calculate. 
 
 That day, enlivened by the visit of my friends, brief as that 
 visit was, made the next appear more cheerless; cheerless it 
 seemed indeed to me, though full of beauty and brightness to the 
 emancipated portion of mankind : towards evening the aspect of 
 the heavens changed, clouds gathered, and 
 
 " with the night 
 
 Came storm and darkness in their mingling might." 
 
 I had never entirely recovered from the feverish attack under 
 which I had suffered in the Algarve, and the want of fresh air 
 and exercise now produced a return of indisposition, and the 
 appalling cries of " Death to the prisoners !" which rose that 
 evening from groups collected beneath my windows, jarred on a 
 mind then restless and irritable from disease. The disturbance 
 was, however, of short duration ; it seemed as if, yielding " to 
 power unseen, and mightier far than they," the furies of the 
 human breast were silenced by the more angry strife of the ele- 
 ments, for as the weather grew tempestuous the popular uproar 
 died away. As I lay on my mattress exhausted, yet unable to 
 sleep, gazing on the melancholy light of a solitary lamp and 
 the strong reflection cast upon the wall by the iron grating, I 
 could only hear the fitful gusts of the passing wind as it shook 
 the building, and the mournful and unvarying splash of the rain 
 as it fell drop after drop from the overhanging roof on the pave- 
 ment below. 
 
 Time and circumstance alike contributed to dispirit me, and 
 vexatious thoughts chased each other rapidly through my mind. 
 I felt that the issue of my adventure was extremely doubtful : a 
 favourable statement of my case had indeed been forwarded to the 
 Minister of Police at Lisbon, and I entertained no doubt of his 
 willingness to release me, I had written to the British Ambas- 
 sador, and was well assured of his interference in my behalf, but 
 I knew that serious differences must have arisen between the 
 Governments of Great Britain and Portugal in consequence of 
 
 u
 
 290 MELANCHOLY REFLECTIONS. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 Dom Miguel's recent conduct, and it was then generally believed 
 at Evora that Sir Frederick Lamb had actually left the kingdom. 
 
 My letter might therefore never reach its destination ; should 
 it, however, find Sir Frederick in Portugal, still it was extremely 
 probable that under the actual excitement the local authorities 
 would not venture to enforce an order issued by the central 
 Government if opposed to the public feeling at ,Evora ; and the 
 violence of the mob, which occasionally collected around the 
 prison, convinced me that even its thick walls and ponderous 
 bars would not afford its inmates any certain protection against a 
 sudden burst of popular fury. 
 
 I was also hardly satisfied with my own conduct. A dislike 
 to bend to circumstances, and alter the route I had originally 
 fixed on, when the expediency of such an alteration had become 
 apparent, assisted in some degree by a desire to see the great 
 political change in progress, had carried me into scenes which 
 cooler heads would have avoided ; and if the loss of life should 
 eventually prove the penalty of my indiscretion, such a termina- 
 tion of my exploit would not be cheered by any consolatory 
 reflections, for I should have perished in an expedition that could 
 hardly under any circumstances have been useful to others or to 
 myself. 
 
 From the contemplation of actual evils my mind " flew uncon- 
 scious o'er each backward year," and past as well as present 
 scenes were tinged with the same sombre hue. I had never per- 
 haps before had leisure to devote so many hours uninterruptedly 
 to calm and dispassionate reflection. In active life the mind is 
 hurried on by the pursuit of some real or imagined good, by the 
 eagerness of speculation, and the overmastering force of passion, 
 and turns away from all that is painful in the impressions of 
 former years ; impressions which the mind can never wholly 
 erase, but which it refuses to dwell upon as injurious to its 
 energies. 
 
 When captured by a Catalan guerilla in the great Spanish 
 revolt of 1822, and threatened with instant death, there was a 
 grandeur in the events passing around me, and a corresponding 
 elevation of sentiment in those among whom my lot was for the 
 moment cast, which made me comparatively insensible to the fate 
 which might await me. Their chivalrous and unconquerable
 
 CHAP, sin.] PAST AND PRESENT DANGERS. 291 
 
 attachment to their lawful King, their gallant bearing against 
 outnumbering enemies and under an overwhelming reverse of 
 fortune, and their steadfast resistance to the most unrighteous 
 persecution which ever brought down infamy on the prostituted 
 name of freedom, these were qualities that put to shame the self- 
 arrogated virtue of the Spanish legislator ; these are traits which 
 shed a glorious and redeeming light upon the gloomy history of 
 those days ; these are circumstances which time can never efface 
 from my mind, and which impressed me strongly even in that 
 hour of personal danger. And the sight of Vila, rich in youthful 
 heroism when the morning sun arose, rich in her bowers and 
 halls, but a heap of blood and ashes when that sun went down, 
 the sight, I say, of beautiful but perishing Vila,* and the heavy 
 sound of the destroying cannon, reverberating among the rocks, 
 as it mowed down the never-yielding population of that devoted 
 place, excluded from my mind every other emotion save that of 
 ardent sympathy with the martyred Royalists. 
 
 But in my lonely prison-room at Evora, with nothing to 
 interest and little to excite, debarred from every wonted occupa- 
 tion, deprived of books, and " left in utter solitude to pine the 
 prey of every changing mood," exposed to the chances of a 
 dreadful and inglorious death, and unsupported by a single 
 circumstance that could give dignity to danger, my spirits became 
 depressed, not broken. My mind, thrown entirely on its own 
 resources, found a painful pleasure in recalling past scenes, and 
 retracing the stormy course of my own varied and eventful life ; 
 for in my continual rambles I had mixed with every class and 
 experienced every vicissitude of fortune. 
 
 That hour of physical and mental depression exercised a soften- 
 ing influence on all my feelings. Those whom I loved appeared 
 in lovelier colours ; those whom I had been accustomed to view 
 under a less kindly aspect were now seen by the sobered spirit in 
 a more charitable light ; and many of my own actions, deemed in 
 their day of little moment, became to stern reflection each a 
 crime. I thought of the various occurrences I had witnessed in 
 various countries, from the Italian revolutions down to the actual 
 moment; I heard again the lofty aspirations breathed by an 
 
 * A town in the north of Spain destroyed by the Constitutional troops in 
 the spring of 1822. 
 
 u 2
 
 292 SOLITUDE OF THE PRISON. [CHAP. XTII. 
 
 ardent people in the delusive hour of an imagined liberation, and 
 their patriotic cry that the last day of slavery was the brightest 
 of existence rang again in my ears.* I remembered the mis- 
 judging zeal with which I then concurred in their hopes, and I 
 turned from the excesses which had belied the noble promise of 
 that day and had disappointed my boyish enthusiasm. And 
 blended with the stirring recollection of public events came the 
 memory of pleasures passed and friendships contracted in the midst 
 of war and confusion. Those companionships had been marred 
 and broken, that country had been visited by the heavy hand of 
 civil war. One undistinguishing night had buried all. 
 
 He who has ever spent a restless night, when the frame is 
 fevered and the heart heavy, must remember the unreasonable 
 impatience with which he pined for the first glimpse of day 
 as he turned from side to side on his lonely couch, vainly 
 soliciting 
 
 " That sleep which would not weigh his eyelids down, 
 Aud steep his senses in forgetfulness." 
 
 Such was my fretful and unhappy state on the evening to 
 
 * I remember seeing, on a great public occasion at the breaking out of 
 the Piedmontese revolution, two hundred educated persons lay their hands 
 on their hearts, and cry out, " Le dernier jour de 1'esclavage est le plus beau 
 de la vie." When the Constitution was proclaimed, I was given a tricolor 
 cockade by one of the revolutionists, and preserved it as a curious memorial 
 of the time. During the great Catalan revolution, when my desk was 
 searched by the exasperated Royalists, I expected every moment to see 
 this ill-starred badge of democracy brought up in judgment against me ; 
 but to my surprise the investigation passed over without eliciting this ap- 
 parently conclusive proof of my revolutionary tendencies. I was not aware, 
 till many months afterwards, that my life had been preserved by the kind 
 foresight of a sister, who, with her constant affection, had taken precautions 
 for her brother which he had not taken for himself. Under the influence 
 of some general apprehension, she had removed, without my knowledge, 
 those dangerous emblems from my desk immediately before my departure 
 for Spain. Since the last paragraph was written, though scarcely four 
 months have elapsed, that beloved Being has been taken to her kindred 
 heaven. She is gone the playmate of my boyhood, the delight and blessing 
 of my early home, the unvarying friend, and, in the grave business of life, 
 the faithful counsellor of my riper years. In younger days, when life was 
 new to both of us, she traced with me the golden paths of poetry, and in 
 after years every effusion of my pen, and even this story of my travels, was 
 submitted to her purer taste and rarely failing judgment. How great a 
 charm is to be found, how great a blessing is wrapped up in those simple 
 words there is ! Now, alas ! I can only say there was. " And, oh, 
 how many sorrows crowd into those two brief words !"
 
 CHAP, xiir.] POPULAR TUMULT. 293 
 
 which I allude. Sleep, " nature's kind nurse," refused to visit 
 me till the waning lamp showed that the night was far spent ; 
 then, indeed, sleep came, but not repose, the restless mind re- 
 newed its busy train of thought. My recollections assumed 
 distinct form and colouring ; I was transported to the cherished 
 scenes of former years I saw once more the friends of my early 
 days I mingled with the absent ; and the dead, restored to all 
 the freshness of existence, greeted me again 
 
 " With hand as warm and brow as gay 
 As if we parted yesterday." 
 
 I was suddenly and terribly awakened. I started up and 
 drank in with eager ears the most dreadful yell that I ever yet 
 heard sent forth by an infuriated people ; that shout I felt at 
 once was no longer a general expression of political animosity, 
 but the voice of popular passion freshly and violently excited. 
 The crowd, however, which had so fearfully revealed its near 
 approach, rushed on, and in a moment more I could scarcely 
 hear the distant sound of their heavy tread ; but the volcano was 
 labouring, and the eruption was at hand. After a brief interval 
 I heard a confused sound of voices, and, climbing up to the iron 
 grating, looked through it with intense anxiety. The sun had 
 risen, but my view was limited to the street in which the prison 
 was situated : I listened attentively, yet heard no repetition of 
 those startling cries ; but as the low moaning wind precedes the 
 tempest, so a general though indistinct murmur, uncommon at 
 that early hour in the morning, and apparently rising from all 
 quarters of the city, seemed to portend some unusual agitation. 
 Soon afterwards small parties rushed down the streets calling out 
 for arms, knocking at the houses, and exhorting their friends to 
 rise ; the signal was obeyed, the groups were reinforced, and the 
 tumult increased. At length the drum beat to arms, and the 
 tocsin sent forth its formidable peal. At this tremendous 
 summons the insurrection became universal, and a furious crowd 
 pressed doton the street, as through the main artery of the city. 
 As the refuse of the ocean is brought from its lowest depths to 
 the surface by a disturbance of the waters, so the worst portion 
 of the population, roused by the storm, was now seen conspi- 
 cuous. Every foul alley, every subterranean cellar sent forth its
 
 294 INSURRECTION. [CHAP. xiu. 
 
 birds of prey to darken with their ill-omened presence a scene 
 which needed no additional horrors ; an ill-favoured race, which 
 shunned the light in quiet times, and never left their loathsome 
 precincts but for deeds of ill ; men upon whom it were enough 
 to look but once to see that murder was their trade, and to feel 
 that mercy could be no inmate of their hearts. Mixed with them 
 were the more respectable inhabitants of the place, militiamen, 
 artisans, and peasants, variously attired and variously armed ; 
 some clad in long dark cloaks, others half naked from the haste 
 with which they obeyed the summons ; some bearing muskets 
 and bayonets, others long knives, while many brandished the 
 huge club and held aloft the dreadful pike. They were evidently 
 pressing on to the horrible work of blood : their countenances 
 were inflamed with rage, and their expressions stern and short, 
 for they had then no time for idle shouts. I vainly endeavoured 
 to discover from their hasty exclamations the object of the 
 rising: I wearied my mind in conjecturing the cause. The 
 insurgents had already expelled the regular troops and had pro- 
 claimed the Infant King ; the Imperialists had everywhere 
 submitted to their dictation, and the Miguelists remained undis- 
 puted masters of the city. Against whom then was this furious 
 ebullition directed ? My blood froze as the only probable 
 answer suggested itself to my mind. An attack on the prisons 
 had long been threatened by the mob and dreaded by the autho- 
 rities ; for they were then overflowing with those real and sup- 
 posed partisans of Dom Pedro's cause who had been arrested 
 during that distracted time ; and night after night the awful cry 
 of " Death to the Prisoners !" had been raised under the prison 
 windows. The people were then probably directing their course 
 to the great prison in the square, and, when they had satiated 
 their rage in the blood of its ill-fated inmates, would, I supposed, 
 undoubtedly retrace their steps to the prison in which I was con- 
 fined, and there renew the slaughterous work. 
 
 About this time the jailor entered my apartment to fetch a 
 loose bar that was lying in a corner of the room. The old man 
 was evidently possessed with the same belief; he was labouring 
 under extreme agitation, but said resolutely that he would 
 fortify the prison doors, and defend them against the mob to the 
 last extremity. I desired to know the immediate cause of the
 
 CHAP, xiii.] CONTINUED CONFLICT. 295 
 
 tumult; he told me that the regular troops, expelled a few 
 days before by the citizens, had re-entered Evora during the 
 night, and had just been found by the astonished inhabitants 
 drawn up in battle array in the heart of the city. Against these 
 invaders the energies of the people were now directed, and if, as 
 he anticipated, the issue of the struggle should prove disastrous 
 to the Imperial troops, the prisons, so often menaced, would, he 
 feared, become the scene of sanguinary excesses. He could not 
 then delay, but said he would return in a short time and give me 
 further tidings ; he left me, but not as before to irksome solitude, 
 for every faculty was engrossed by these momentous events. 
 
 A heavy discharge of musketry was followed by a complete 
 cessation of every hostile sound, and then the tumult was re- 
 newed, and the cries of the people rose high above the roar of 
 the combat. Had I been able even as a prisoner to behold the 
 thrilling scene, a sense of personal danger would probably have 
 been lost in the deep interest inspired by such a struggle ; but 
 the iron bars of my grated window prevented me from looking 
 down the street ; those bars which I never before viewed with 
 feelings of such unbounded aversion. At this time the doors 
 and windows on the opposite side of the street were closed, and 
 the inhabitants were ranged on the balconies armed with missiles 
 to pour down on the devoted troops. Even women shared the 
 exasperation of the moment, and, bearing jugs of hot water and 
 scalding oil, prepared to assist their sons and husbands in the 
 extermination of men whom they considered hostile to the altar 
 and the throne. 
 
 I remained in a state of great suspense till my jailor returned, 
 for, circumstanced as I was, life or death was apparently de- 
 pendent on the issue of the struggle. At length re-entering the 
 room he told me that victory was decidedly inclining to the 
 popular party : they had taken the arsenal, and had plentifully 
 supplied themselves with arms from its ample magazines, and 
 were thus enabled to renew the contest on more equal terms. 
 Again he left me, and another anxious pause ensued ; but at his 
 third and last visit he announced the total defeat of the regular 
 troops, who were only saved from utter destruction by the 
 admirable conduct of their commanding officer. 
 
 Hemmed in by a resolved and overwhelming populace, at-
 
 296 POPULAR TRIUMPH. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 tacked in front and rear, and from the houses above, unable to 
 maintain their ground, they yet succeeded in making- good their 
 retreat, after some gallant but ineffectual efforts to retrieve the 
 day. After their expulsion from the city the disorders which 
 had convulsed Evora at the breaking out of the revolution 
 were renewed : the Imperialists were again assaulted in their 
 houses, and the Corregidor, or civil Governor, whose compara- 
 tive moderation had excited the hatred of the fanatics, was 
 barbarously assailed, although himself sincerely attached to the 
 Infant's cause. His coat was stabbed through in several places, 
 and his life was only saved by the exertions of some faithful 
 adherents ; but he was degraded and deposed by general accla- 
 mation, and, as they hurried him to a place of confinement, to 
 preserve him from a worse fate, the mob repeatedly enjoined 
 them to tear him limb from limb. Such was the fall of the Cor- 
 regidor, who a short time before had signed the order by virtue of 
 which I was then a prisoner. So rapid is the march of revolu- 
 tion, so quickly does the condemner become the condemned ! 
 
 A calm now prevailed, perhaps more awful than the dreadful 
 din which had preceded it ; the streets were deserted, the ordi- 
 nary business of life was suspended, the uproar of conflicting 
 parties was unheard, for the assailants were engaged at the 
 extremity of the city in pursuit of the retiring troops. It was an 
 awful pause indeed, for I knew that the unnatural silence would 
 soon be terminated by the murderous bands returning from the 
 mortal struggle flushed with success and ripe for further out- 
 rage. 
 
 During that interval of fearful repose I could not but feel 
 that within the last few hours my prospects had become greatly 
 overcast, my chances of safety sensibly diminished. I felt as a 
 mariner wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, who, safe for the mo- 
 ment, awaits the gradual flow of that returning tide which must 
 prove to him inevitable death ; for I found myself in that hope- 
 less situation in which no efforts could profit me, no prudence 
 lead to extrication, no courage be of any avail. 
 
 There, in my prison cell, if the sovereign people willed it, I 
 must be coolly and deliberately butchered, without a weapon to 
 save or to avenge, without a chance of preserving life by flight, 
 or of prolonging it by manly resistance. In the nervous impa-
 
 CHAP, xni.] DEATHLIKE CALM. 297 
 
 tience of my feelings I almost wished to shorten my suspense, 
 and to exchange the deadly calm which reigned around me for 
 the furious assault which would soon, I was persuaded, be 
 directed against the prison doors. But that Power " which can 
 guide the whirlwind and direct the storm," and which in its 
 wisdom so often baffles the calculations of man, be they for good 
 or be they for evil, had otherwise decreed. 
 
 That calm, so strangely at variance with the general character 
 of the time, was of some duration. The return of the conquering 
 people was, at first, indicated by cries faintly heard in the dis- 
 tance, but deepening as they drew nearer, and at length sounding 
 absolutely terrific ; these were, however, only the expiring cries 
 of exhausted passion, for, rich in the spoils of the fallen arsenal, 
 they passed beneath my windows, apparently worn out by their 
 exertions, arid showed no disposition to attack the prison, but 
 passed sullenly by without a single menace. , 
 
 Their exhaustion was so complete that during the rest of the 
 day a deathlike stillness pervaded the populous city of Evora ; 
 not a shout, not an exclamation, not even the common sounds 
 of social life were heard ; but the ceaseless dash of the foun- 
 tain playing in the adjacent street alone interrupted a silence 
 which contrasted singularly with the stormy excitement of the 
 morning-. 
 
 Night came on, and an anxious night it was to every prisoner. 
 The fall of the Corregidor had been chiefly owing to the efforts 
 he ,had made to shield unoffending citizens from the lawless 
 arrests of the mob, and to preserve those who were arrested from 
 further violence. Our protector had now fallen, and, although 
 we might indulge in hope, we had no longer any assurance of 
 protection. Who, with the warning fate of the Corregidor 
 before his eyes, would say to the unbridled multitude, " So far, 
 no farther, shalt thou go " ? The dragon was unchained ; might 
 had vanquished right ; there was a power above the law, and, 
 though fatigued and slumbering for the moment, we had every 
 reason to apprehend that the spirit of popular vengeance would 
 revive with the reviving energies of the people. But, contrary 
 to the general expectation, the desire of shedding the blood of 
 the prisoners decreased when every barrier to the perpetration of 
 such an act was removed ; for, elated by their signal triumph
 
 298 RELEASE FROM PRISON. [CHAP. xra. 
 
 over the troops, proud of their triumphant capture of the 
 arsenal, and gratified by the deposition of the obnoxious Corre- 
 gidor, the leaders of the insurrection heard with less impatience 
 the calm remonstrances of their superiors in station, and allowed 
 the public feeling to take a better direction. Large bodies 
 of men remained in the square for many hours after the conflict, 
 and in the evening the peasantry formed companies selected 
 from their own class, and afterwards regularly guarded the ram- 
 parts by day and night. 
 
 I have little more to record during the remaining days I spent 
 in prison. One evening, when the room was darkened by the 
 shades of approaching night, as I sat by the window listening to 
 the perpetual chant in favour of Dom Miguel, sung by the men, 
 and echoed by the children, the door was opened, and letters 
 were brought me from the British Embassy informing me of the 
 decided interference of the British Ambassador in my behalf, 
 accompanied by a message from the Mayor announcing the 
 welcome intelligence of my actual liberation. 
 
 I instantly repaired to the town-hall, and requested him to 
 issue an order for the release of Juan, who was confined in the 
 great prison in the square ; but the Mayor declined complying 
 with my wishes, assigning no reason for his refusal, but only 
 stating that he was detained by the will of the Intendant of 
 Police and the superior authorities, by royal orders, by orders 
 from the King (for so Dom Miguel was then styled at Evora). 
 In short, it might have been inferred from his answer that all 
 the royalty of Europe had conspired against the unfortunate 
 Borderer. After some fruitless endeavours to persuade his inex- 
 orable worship, I had a last and hurried interview with Juan in 
 the prison, and then departed, resolved to renew my exertions in 
 his behalf at Lisbon, where, after a long altercation with the 
 authorities, my remonstrances were crowned with success. 
 
 If I were asked what was the real character of the Borderer, 
 I should answer, that during my long and frequent rambles I 
 have rarely met the man with whom I have spent so much time, 
 yet of whose real nature and designs I had finally so much doubt. 
 He was vainglorious and boastful to a ridiculous extent, but 
 was not, I think, deficient in real courage. His honesty was 
 very questionable, for when I arrived at Lisbon, and examined
 
 CHAP, xni.] THE BORDERER. 299 
 
 the money concealed in the saddle, I found a considerable deficit. 
 It is true that my portmanteau had been pillaged at Evora, and 
 that the saddle had remained without protection for a long- time ; 
 still I have difficulty in believing that, if the secret place had been 
 discovered, any common plunderer would have been so moderate 
 as to have taken only a portion of the spoil, during a period of 
 such universal licence, and when the chances of detection were 
 so slight. 
 
 A little circumstance, also, during our journey excited some 
 suspicion in my mind, though even now I hardly know in 
 what light to consider it. As we were one morning riding 
 through a defile in one of the wildest and most uninhabited 
 parts of Alentejo, he suddenly approached me, drawing nearer 
 till our horses were abreast, and then asked me whether I had 
 lost my eye-glass, saying he thought I had left it at the place 
 where we had slept the preceding night. 
 
 There is occasionally among the inhabitants of the Peninsula, 
 but especially among the Spaniards,* a sudden and apparently 
 unaccountable transition from extreme blandness and courtesy of 
 manner to a startling ferocity of expression and abruptness of 
 tone ; and I have observed that this peculiar change of counte- 
 nance and voice generally characterises the accomplished villain, 
 and is visible at the moment when he thinks he can safely throw 
 off the mask, and give way to his native brutality. 
 
 Such a fierceness of expression and abruptness of tone I then 
 remarked in the Borderer, symptoms which I had learnt to dis- 
 trust, and which struck me as ominous. At that hasty and 
 unexpected question I felt in my bosom for my glass, but kept 
 my eye steadily fixed on Juan's right hand, which was in the 
 pocket where I knew he carried fire-arms, so that the least suspi- 
 cious motion of his arm would have met with a corresponding 
 movement on my part, and I should instantly have sprung for- 
 ward and drawn forth my own pistol. If he really entertained 
 any villanous project he saw me prepared, and therefore aban- 
 doned his intention. But the peculiarity of his manner and the 
 position of his hand may have been purely accidental ; still my 
 suspicions were excited, and during the remainder of my journey 
 I made him always ride before me, and never remain even for a 
 * Chiefly among the Valencians.
 
 300 INDICATIONS OF CHARACTER. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 moment in the rear ; a precaution which I had adopted generally, 
 though not invariably, in the earlier part of our expedition. 
 There was also something highly unsatisfactory in his mode of 
 alluding to the past events of his life : he admitted that his 
 former master had been murdered in his presence, and, though 
 he deprecated the act, I could not discover, even "by his own 
 version of the affair, that he had made the slightest effort to 
 prevent it. 
 
 I have generally found these rough adventurers faithful and 
 devoted ; and, when our acquaintance has been of some duration, 
 they have often become much attached to me, and have some- 
 times offered to leave their country, and follow my fortunes all 
 over the world. I have, in consequence, frequently parted from 
 them with regret, but I entertained no feeling of this kind for 
 the Borderer. I may have done him wrong, but, in spite of my 
 disinclination to distrust his fidelity, dark suspicions would at 
 times irresistibly force themselves upon my mind. I had, how- 
 ever, no certain knowledge of any criminal intention on his part ; 
 and, as he had suffered in my service, I felt bound to exert my- 
 self to the utmost to procure his release. 
 
 Any man who has travelled much in wild countries, particu- 
 larly in Spain, where the extremes of vice and virtue exist, will 
 have found his observation of character rendered peculiarly acute 
 by the emergencies arising from the insecure state of the coun- 
 try, and the consequent necessity of obtaining some insight into 
 the intentions of the guides and adventurers upon whose fidelity 
 his safety for the time essentially depends. A series of constant 
 observations at length produces in the observer a rapid and almost 
 intuitive recognition of character. In forming a general and 
 hasty opinion of an individual, I have been sometimes guided by 
 indications so trivial that I should have been almost ashamed of 
 admitting that they could influence my conduct, although most 
 unquestionably they had that effect ; yet, practically, I was rarely 
 deceived. During my early wanderings those indications would 
 have passed, probably without notice, certainly without comment ; 
 but the necessity of scrutinizing the individuals to whose care I 
 intnisted my safety led me to connect particular symptoms with 
 particular intentions and a particular state of mind. A peculiar 
 mode of introducing subjects, a particular mode of questioning,
 
 CHAP, xiii.] INDICATIONS OF CHARACTER. 301 
 
 a certain reserve, and sometimes even a certain frankness, an 
 earnest look, or even a pre-occupation of mind, have occasionally 
 excited my suspicion ; and, latterly, I seldom found that suspi- 
 cion wholly destitute of foundation. It is true that men have 
 great constitutional differences ; some are frank, some reserved, 
 all occasionally absent ; and till we are acquainted with the tem- 
 perament of the individual, it may be said that no fair conclusion 
 can be drawn from such trivial circumstances. So I reasoned 
 for a long time, but practically there was a certain frankness, 
 there was a certain reserve, there was a certain absence, and 
 even a certain earnestness, which I learned to distinguish as 
 emanating from a person in some degree to be distrusted. I can 
 hardly explain the difference of manner that was often perceptible 
 between the honest man and the accomplished traitor ; the shades 
 in that state of society are often so indistinctly marked, the lines 
 so finely drawn ; but yet I was generally sensible of the differ- 
 ence, though Juan's case was certainly an exception. The truth 
 of these observations will, I am sure, be admitted by every per- 
 son who has travelled much in times and in a country requiring 
 perpetual caution and habitual observation of character. 
 
 I have known persons who have endeavoured to ascertain the 
 character of their guides, in very dangerous districts, by entering 
 into conversation with them upon points connected with their 
 doubts, and thus endeavouring to infer from their manner the 
 truth or the mistaken nature of their suspicions; but men will 
 frequently come to a false conclusion by this mode of proceed- 
 ing. A man conscious of his integrity will either betray embar- 
 rassment, or testify displeasure, or show something like ridicule 
 at the anxiety of his inquirer, if he have any clue to his motives, 
 or perceive the drift of his questions ; in short, he will manifest 
 emotion of some kind, which the superficial observer attributes 
 to a source from which it does not proceed. Your cool, insinu- 
 ating, pleasant guide, who deprecates treachery in fluent lan- 
 guage, and with a cool, unembarrassed manner, is, generally 
 speaking, the man to be really dreaded and suspected ; and his 
 intentions can only be inferred by indications of a very different 
 character. 
 
 In alluding to the different kinds of courtesy which pervade 
 society in different parts of Europe, I have before observed how
 
 392 DESOLATE PLAINS. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 quickly and almost insensibly men fall into the habits of indivi- 
 duals with whom they live, and adopt those conventional forms 
 which, however varied, are but the common expression of that 
 courtesy and high breeding which prevail in good society. It is 
 remarkable how soon the mind contracts a mode of judging, 
 thinking, and acting, alien from its general views, and which 
 the individual only applies to particular circumstances, and to a 
 particular state of things. I was impressed with the truth of this 
 observation by a circumstance which occurred to me in Spain in 
 1822. I was traversing with my brother-in-law the plains which 
 divide Gibraltar from Cadiz : no language can do justice to the 
 beauty of that scenery ; there the cork-tree exceeds in size and 
 fantastic variety of form all that I had ever heard of its magnifi- 
 cence, even in those far-famed forests ; the plain was literally 
 purple with flowers, and the coronella, growing luxuriantly 
 around us, overhung our patli with its yellow blossoms, shed 
 them profusely on the ground, and made our track through the 
 woodland a continued carpet of gold. Here nature reigned 
 undisturbed, and in her primitive glory. During a journey of 
 two days' duration no human habitation met our eyes, with the 
 exception of the solitary venta at which we passed the night ; 
 over those beautiful wastes the wild cattle ranged in herds, far 
 as the eye could reach, free as the air they breathed, and expe- 
 rienced no molestation from the tyrant man. Mounted on spirited 
 horses, and having left our servants, muleteers, and baggage 
 some miles in the rear, we perceived, towards the close of the 
 first day, two men, armed and on horseback, coming towards us 
 across the plain. Such an apparition, in such a lawless country, 
 and on so desolate a spot, induced us, being at the moment 
 wholly unarmed, to accelerate our pace ; an acceleration which 
 seemed to produce a corresponding degree of activity in the 
 strangers. Observing this, we put our horses to their utmost 
 speed, and, looking back, perceived that our pursuers had imi- 
 tated our example, and were pushing vehemently along a track 
 leading over broken ground and through a belt of wood. We 
 pressed hastily up the hill, and, reaching the summit, discovered 
 the strangers in the plain below, still following in our track, but 
 completely distanced, and having apparently given up the chase. 
 Though now relieved from any immediate apprehension, we were
 
 CUAP. xiii.] SPANISH BRIGANDS. 303 
 
 much perplexed, for the day was closing ; the ground, studded 
 with thickets and old trees, was tangled in the extreme, and the 
 track was almost lost. We soon became fairly bewildered, but 
 at length perceived through the increasing gloom an object which 
 we felt assured was the venta ; yet, as we approached it, there 
 was something uncommon in its form and dimensions, and it 
 seemed to bestride the height on which it was placed with an 
 assumption of dignity little suited to a lonely venta of the wil- 
 derness. When we arrived at the expected haven of repose, we 
 felt no inclination to select it as our resting-place ; most assur- 
 edly " our minds were never set so high," for it proved to be a 
 huge gibbet of peculiar construction, erected, as we afterwards 
 heard, by a feudal lord of the territory. The two props were of 
 heavy masonry, and, seen through the uncertain light of the 
 evening, resembled a lofty archway. Our mistake was not 
 agreeable under the circumstances of the moment, as we had 
 lost much time, and were apprehensive that our friends in the 
 rear might overtake us before we could reach an asylum : we, 
 however, soon regained the track, and arrived in safety at the 
 venta. 
 
 We had not been long installed in the inn, and had just 
 established ourselves in the seats scooped out of the huge chimney 
 by the side of the roaring fire, when the door opened and two 
 men entered the kitchen, one of whom was armed to the teeth : 
 he wore pistols, a huge sabre hung at his side, clattered along 
 the ground, and gave audible notice of all his movements ; there 
 were no candles, but the blazing fire illuminated the apartment, 
 flashed upon his arms, and showed his broad chest and vigorous 
 frame. A more formidable opponent never rode the King's 
 highway ; upon his lineaments the open and unscrupulous ruffian 
 was stamped in most unquestionable characters ; he seemed ready 
 to commit any crime, and equally ready to avow it ; his voice 
 was loud, his manner boisterous, and his eye had a peculiarly 
 hardened and reckless expression. He instantly recognised us, 
 and asked jeeringly, and in a tone as I thought in some degree 
 indicative of disappointment, whether our recent flight had been 
 the result of fear ? We observed coldly that the lateness of the 
 hour and the danger of being benighted on such wild plains 
 might account for the rapidity of our movements, without seeking
 
 304 SPANISH BRIGANDS. [CHAP. xin. 
 
 for other motives. Soon afterwards his companion drew near 
 the fire, and entered into conversation with me. He was a very 
 different man ; he had more control over his passions, more depth 
 of character, and evidently possessed a greater acquaintance with 
 respectable society. His friend was at all times, I suspect, an 
 open, brutal, and unreasoning ruffian ; but this man was a fair 
 specimen of the accomplished villain found in Andalusia and 
 Valencia ; ready with his knife, but not less ready with his tongue ; 
 loving pleasure ; having some regard, if not to character, at least 
 to the decorum of external manner ; versatile in his powers, and 
 assuming in different societies as many different hues as the 
 changeful cameleon. He drew near my seat by the fire, and 
 addressed me in a courteous and rather engaging manner, alluding 
 to our adventure on the plain with easy indifference. Continuing 
 the conversation, he asked me, as if by chance, whether our 
 road lay to Algeziras or across the northern wastes? I saw the 
 drift of the question, and gave an evasive reply, but soon after- 
 wards took an opportunity of stating, as if incidentally, that, 
 although we had little to defend, we were travelling armed. The 
 remark appeared to flow naturally from the conversation, but 
 the Andalusian was too keen and practised an observer to mis- 
 understand my motive ; he perceived at once that I understood 
 the nature of the pursuit on the plain, and saw into the reasons 
 of his recent inquiry : a quick light shot from his eye, a shade, 
 the expression only of a moment, passed over his countenance, 
 but from that time there was a peculiar something impossible to 
 doubt, yet equally impossible to define, which convinced us both 
 that we mutually understood each other's motives. And yet he 
 did not cease conversing : he scarcely flagged, though he perhaps 
 addressed himself to me less exclusively than before ; a mere 
 bystander would have perceived no difference in his manner, but 
 a close observer might possibly have remarked that he was a 
 shade less cordial at the close than he had been at the com- 
 mencement of the conversation. I think he was baffled in his 
 object, and therefore annoyed for the moment, but, as no expla- 
 nation occurred, he neither resented my suspicions nor was really 
 much embarrassed by my knowledge of his designs. He was, I 
 doubt not, one of those Andalusian bravos who will amuse their 
 intended victim, and ingratiate themselves with any person they
 
 CHAP, xiii.] SPANISH BRIGANDS AND SMUGGLERS. 305 
 
 think of consequence, up to the moment when they plunge their 
 daggers in his heart, not only for the purpose of eliciting inform- 
 ation conducive to their object, but, strange as it may seem, 
 from a certain appreciation of social intercourse and perception 
 of social distinctions. On subsequent reflection I felt that his 
 conduct and my own were somewhat singular. His apparent 
 disregard of my knowledge of his intentions arose in all proba- 
 bility from that indifference to the shedding of human blood 
 which so generally prevails in Spain, and from the consequent 
 belief that, although I was the object, and might have been the 
 victim, of his attack, my knowledge of his schemes would not 
 much depreciate him in my opinion, though it might lead me to 
 distrust him and guard against a recurrence of the danger. My 
 perception of his intentions appeared to raise me in his opinion, 
 while it had not the effect of materially disconcerting him. I 
 was also rather surprised at my own involuntary mode of view- 
 ing our relative positions, on reconsidering our conversation. 
 Although persuaded that he had intended to plunder us, and 
 would not have scrupled to combine murder with robbery, my 
 English abhorrence of the plunderer and assassin was uncon- 
 sciously tempered by the more lenient feelings which prevail on 
 those points in Spain, and I allowed him to continue the con- 
 versation with me, because I wished to obtain information from 
 him on points on which he appeared qualified to speak. Had 
 he impugned my honour, a strong impulse would have prevented 
 my communicating with him, but an attack upon my purse and 
 person, however indefensible, yet seemed in unison "with the wild 
 law of that wild country, which held such deeds in little repro- 
 bation, and only prescribed that force must be repelled by force 
 or met by stratagem. These men were avowed smugglers. 
 Before the revolution of 1820 the Spanish smugglers formed a 
 distinct class, that retained, with much originality of character, 
 certain defined principles and an established code of honour 
 upon which they professed to act. By this code all robbery 
 except the plunder of the revenue was highly censured, unless, 
 indeed, it took place under very peculiar circumstances. In 
 traversing the country they discharged their daily reckonings 
 with exactness and often with generosity ; and, in spite of their 
 illicit occupations, showed the most incorruptible fidelity towards 
 
 x
 
 306 CATHEDRAL AT EVORA. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 persons who placed themselves under their protection or relied 
 on their honour. Such principles were recognised, if not acted 
 upon, by every individual who became a member of the fraternity, 
 and continued more or less in force while the number remained 
 limited ; but when the change that was operated in the com- 
 mercial policy of Spain had given a violent stimulus to the 
 illicit trade, a new class of smugglers suddenly arose, unformed 
 by previous habits, and solely created by the demand for foreign 
 merchandise, which in consequence of the new regulations could 
 no longer be supplied by the old channels. This new class had 
 no restraining points of pride, and, becoming alternately robber 
 and smuggler, plundered the revenue and the traveller with 
 laudable impartiality. It is scarcely necessary to add that our 
 heroes of the plain were old villains of the new school. 
 
 On the following morning I went to the inn, and, desiring 
 the muleteer to load the mules, employed the interval in taking 
 a hasty view of the cathedral, which is Gothic, but has little 
 claims to beauty ; the altar is, however, built in the Italian style, 
 extremely rich, and decorated with various marbles. I also 
 visited the ruins of a temple, supposed to have been dedicated to 
 the goddess Diana, and which still boasts some noble columns, 
 evidently raised during the best period of Roman architecture. 
 At one moment I intended to inspect the Bishop's library, and 
 the museum, said to be the finest in Portugal, but, feeling the 
 imprudence of exposing myself too much to the public observa- 
 tion at such a time, I returned to the inn. The events then and 
 there occurring proved the justice of my apprehensions, and 
 showed the precarious tenure on which I enjoyed my newly- 
 recovered liberty. The innkeeper, vexed at the removal of the 
 mules, whose maintenance had been very profitable to him, 
 declared he would not allow them to depart unless positive 
 instructions to that effect were forwarded to him from the Mayor. 
 Several persons who happened to be in the court at the time 
 took his part when they learnt my name; and as a crowd, 
 attracted by the noise, began to collect, I was strongly advised 
 to prevent a recurrence of any unpleasant scenes by again taking 
 refuge in the prison. Thither I repaired most reluctantly, and 
 thence I addressed a strong remonstrance to the Mayor, calling 
 upon him to give effect to the instructions of his Government
 
 CHAP, xiii.] DEPARTURE FROM EVORA. 307 
 
 by issuing the necessary orders ; but that officer was either un- 
 willing or unable to enforce his authority, and chose rather to 
 attain his object by the gradual process of entreaty than by direct 
 command. I was in consequence compelled to pass the remainder 
 of that day and the ensuing night in my old apartment at the 
 prison, from which, in the distempered state of the public mind, 
 I did not again venture to sally till I quitted Evora entirely. 
 Towards dusk on the following evening I left the prison for the 
 last time. As I crossed the threshold I saw my fair friend 
 whom I had so often beheld from my grated windows, standing 
 on the balcony ; I bowed, and she returned the salutation grace- 
 fully, but every other countenance was scowling and distrustful 
 as I mounted my horse and left that inhospitable city ; none 
 there " the parting hand extended gave " none wished the 
 stranger a safe journey and a glad return and no kindly voice 
 exclaimed " God bless him !" 
 
 The high towers of Evora faded in the distance. I had in- 
 tended to have visited Elvas, a fortress of great national import- 
 ance, but could not deviate from the route prescribed by the 
 Authorities, my passport being made out for Lisbon in the name 
 of the King, Dom Miguel the First, although he had . not yet 
 assumed the crown. It was, I believe, the first passport drawn 
 up in that form, and was, as such, alluded to in the debates that 
 took place on the affairs of Portugal in the British House of 
 Commons. 
 
 I slept that evening at a solitary inn. At Montemor I 
 met a Juiz de Fora, recently appointed to the magistracy 
 of Elvas, to which town he was travelling escorted by seven 
 soldiers, as the road was said to be infested by robbers, and 
 accompanied by a young and blooming bride, scarcely seventeen 
 years of age, whose raven locks contrasted well with the alabaster 
 whiteness of her skin, and whose dark eyes were full of fire. 
 I spent the night at Selveira, where I was amused by the 
 energetic feeling displayed in the Infant's cause by a handsome 
 young woman, as she was chopping a block of wood with con- 
 siderable force near the kitchen fire: "Even thus," she said, " I 
 should like to cut off the heads of all who deny the divine 
 mission of Miguel." " The divine mission ! " I answered, 
 laughingly ; " would it not be enough to admit his divine right 
 
 x 2
 
 308 SUPERSTITION OF THE BEGGARS. [CHAP. XIIL 
 
 to the throne? If I denied his divine mission would you cut off 
 iny head ? " " Willingly," she replied with animation, " if you 
 were such an unbeliever ; but you are not, surely ?" " Surely 
 you do not deny the divine mission of our blessed Miguel?" 
 re-echoed the lady-mother, approaching me with a most sinister 
 expression of countenance. I was hungry, and therefore mean- 
 spirited : accordingly I acquiesced in the established creed, for 
 I knew that any manifestation of heterodox opinions on the 
 subject of Miguel's divinity would be followed by a supperless 
 retreat to bed. Entering the kitchen on the following morning, 
 I saw two convivial friars demolishing a coarse but substantial 
 breakfast, and the old woman waiting upon them, and evidently 
 rejoicing in their inordinate appetite. She required me to pay 
 three times as much for my breakfast as she charged the re- 
 verend Fathers, although the quality of the provisions was the 
 same, and the quantity they consumed far greater ; and yet 
 her charge to me was not high, but was rather extravagantly 
 low to them a liberality on her part the result of strong re- 
 ligious feeling, for she t must have been a loser by their visit to 
 her inn. One of the priests conversed with me very cordially 
 till he discovered me to be an Englishman, but then became 
 extremely shy and reserved. 
 
 On the following morning I continued my journey, and passed 
 several wild-looking men, who appeared to be compounded of 
 the beggar and marauder, and were probably roused into unusual 
 activity by the circumstances of the times. A curious super- 
 stition attaches to this rambling race in those parts of Alentejo 
 where the little landholders dwell in isolated nouses upon their 
 estates. When a child is born, crowds of wild-looking beggars 
 assemble from different and even remote parts of the great 
 Alentejo wastes, and collect around the house; barefooted, and 
 occasionally bareheaded, they frequently carry devotional pic- 
 tures in their hands, and sometimes a charm or talisman in the 
 bosom. If invited to partake of the good man's cheer, they heap 
 innumerable blessings on his infant heir ; but if the door is 
 sternly closed against their intrusion, they successively approach 
 the inhospitable threshold, denounce the guiltless object of the 
 day's rejoicing, and consign their victim to an early grave, or to 
 a lengthened life of sorrow. In some parts of the district, a
 
 CHAP, xin.] PEGOINES. 309 
 
 christening concluded without their presence and approval is 
 considered by the superstitious inhabitants as fearfully incom- 
 plete, and even by strong-minded men as wanting in a kind of 
 moral sanction. The mother dreads the scowl of a rejected 
 wanderer of the wild ; his curses, sometimes defied though never 
 disregarded, return in seasons of domestic grief with all the 
 terror of their original impression. Years afterwards, the con- 
 science-stricken parent, seated by her drooping child, hears on 
 the midnight blast the voice that warned her of her present woe, 
 and sees again the evil eye that froze the current of his blood, 
 and numbered his young days ; and as the terrible remembrance 
 wakes, her hopes decline : her care abates under the certainty of 
 a predestined doom, and thus the prophecy works out its own 
 fulfilment. 
 
 At Pegoines we heard formidable accounts of the banditti 
 that infested a forest through which we were obliged to pass. On 
 the preceding day they had attacked a gentleman's carriage and 
 fired upon the escort, who, alarmed by this uncourteous re- 
 ception, disappeared with all the pomp of war, abandoning the 
 gentleman and his treasures to the foe ; of these, the first and 
 probably the least valuable, they spared, the latter they secured. 
 
 The road from Pegoines traversed for many miles plains 
 covered with heath and cistus. At length we reached the fearful 
 forest, which was chiefly composed of pine-trees ; it was sad and 
 dark, and appeared a scene well calculated for robber exploits. 
 Behind the crumbling walls of a ruined house the banditti had lain 
 in ambush on the preceding day, and, safe themselves from any 
 danger of reprisal, had fired upon the travellers. The muleteer 
 pointed out the dreaded spot, which was only a few steps from the 
 road, but uttered not a word, and only waved his hand as a signal 
 to press forward, so much he feared to hear some startling sum- 
 mons from the brake, or to see it suddenly become alive with armed 
 men. The forest can generally be passed in safety, and the actual 
 danger was owing to the distracted state of the times, the gang 
 being chiefly composed of political outlaws. Indeed, highway rob- 
 beries, so frequent in Spain, are in Portugal of rare occurrence, 
 except in parts of Alentejo ; but the man from whom I hired my 
 mules was understood to have a secret understanding with most of 
 the bands dispersed over that province, in virtue of which they
 
 310 AFRICAN ADVENTURE DETAILED. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 abstained from plundering his muleteers and the persons who 
 travelled with them. 
 
 Every man who has dwelt upon the inspiration of the mightiest 
 spirit of our days will recollect that thrilling description of 
 Highland clanship, in which Ben Lomond's hill-side, apparently 
 so still and deserted, burst into armed and instantaneous life at 
 the call of Roderick Dhu. Such a sudden transformation I 
 once beheld in the north of Africa, and saw it without en- 
 countering the peril which generally attended the adventurous 
 scenes into which it was so often my fate to be thrown. I was 
 travelling with a relative through the forest of El Raba, accom- 
 panied by a Mussulman guard consisting of individuals named 
 and appointed by the Moorish Governor as men possessing 
 influence over the tribes and leaders of the wild district through 
 which we passed, and consequently able to secure our safety. 
 Our guard was headed by ;Medi, styled the Sacred, from his 
 recent pilgrimage to Mecca. The defile through which we 
 wound our way slowly and with difficulty was so narrow that 
 two horsemen could not ride abreast : crags rose on both sides, 
 but neither perpendicular nor high, surmounted in some places 
 with single trees, covered in other parts with a tangled vege- 
 tation of a most luxuriant but lower growth, and occasionally 
 admitting deep vistas into distant glades. When we had reached 
 the centre of the forest, which seemed as still and undisturbed 
 by man as on the day of its creation, we heard a rustling sound 
 among the bushes like the rush of a mountain deer when roused 
 from his sylvan couch, and instantly the silent and solitary forest 
 became instinct with formidable life. Thicket and brake gave 
 up its hidden denizens, and a wild Arab started into unexpected 
 existence from the shade of every sheltering tree and crag. At 
 the same moment a negro, apparently the leader of the band, 
 vaulted over a low rock, and laid his hand rather fiercely on the 
 bridle of the horse on which the Chief of our guard, the sacred 
 Medi, rode ; but, instantly recognising his superior, he bent the 
 knee and kissed the hem of his garment with an expression of 
 such devoted affection that it lives even now in my recollection, 
 and gave at the time an interest and almost a charm to features 
 naturally hard and repulsive. Our leader received this oriental 
 salutation with an air of dignified regard, and poured some gun-
 
 CHAP, xiii.] EOAD FROM PEGOINES. 311 
 
 powder into the hands of his black adherent, who retired after 
 another prostration, apparently gratified by the notice taken of 
 him by our chief. The Arabs, clothed in a species of white 
 garment, with scimitars at their sides and muskets of unusual 
 length in their hands, spoke not a word, but gazed upon us with 
 lowering countenances, as if disappointed of their prey. That 
 armed apparition rising upon us from the depths of the forest in 
 such a startling shape, the consequent interruption of our march, 
 and its renewal, were but the events of a moment. A scene 
 that left upon our minds an ineffaceable impression was, in its 
 actual occurrence, " like the lightning that has ceased to be ere 
 we can say it lightens ;" and as we wound round the projecting 
 point which excluded from our view that fiery and dark- tinted tribe, 
 they had not moved from their position, and each man was stand- 
 ing as he stood the moment that they burst upon our sight. 
 
 To return to my Portuguese rambles. Emerging from the 
 wood, we continued our journey between hedges of alders, which 
 formed a dense canopy overhead with their rich foliage and 
 intermingling branches, and cast a deep shade on the road. We 
 afterwards rode through an open country to Aldea Gallega, 
 -where I met a militiaman, who, according to his own account, 
 was on duty at Evora on the day of my arrest, and was now pro- 
 ceeding to Lisbon with the deputation appointed by the insur- 
 gents to wait on the Infant and explain the cause and nature of 
 the late revolution. He said that he belonged to the Montero 
 party, and had spared no exertions in my behalf; but I had no 
 recollection of the man, and could therefore neither confirm nor 
 deny his statement. A couple of crusados by no means tended 
 to diminish his zeal in my cause, and he left the apartment abus- 
 ing the Authorities who had committed me, and the people who 
 had urged my committal, and vehemently lauding gentle reader 
 your humble servant, the Absolute King, and all the other 
 good things of this wicked world. 
 
 On the following day we embarked for Lisbon, but were 
 encountered by a hurricane, which drove us to Alcantara. We, 
 however, subsequently effected a landing at the Black Horse 
 Square, where I met my friend Mr. Forbes, who informed me 
 that the Corps Diplomatique had suspended their functions. I 
 went to my former lodgings in the Caes do Sodre, and was
 
 312 DOM MIGUEL DECLARED KING. [CHAP. xin. 
 
 received with pleasure by my worthy landlord Bento, who rein- 
 stated me in my old apartments. 
 
 So terminated an expedition fraught with interest, full of 
 varying incident, attended with difficulty and danger, and singu- 
 larly disastrous towards its close. The most sumptuous and the 
 scantiest fare had been alternately my lot the Republican and 
 the ultra-Royalist, the peasant, the priest, and the noble, succes- 
 sively my hosts ; my race had been run through sunshine and 
 through storm, amid the greatest warmth of apparent friendship 
 and the utmost violence of real hate ; the heated room and the 
 luxurious couch, the hard plank and the cold night-air of heaven, 
 the palace and the prison, I had experienced in rapid revolution. 
 In the morning I frequently knew not where I could rest my 
 head at eve in safety, and I often lay down to rest without any 
 certainty of passing the night uninterrupted by alarm. 
 
 I remained in Portugal only a few days after my return to the 
 capital. During my tour through the southern provinces many 
 important events had occurred : the revolution in Dom Miguel's 
 favour had made considerable progress, and he had been actually 
 proclaimed King in Lisbon, Oporto, Evora, Faro, and all the 
 great towns of the kingdom. Supported by these manifestations 
 of the popular feeling, he had issued a decree convoking the 
 Three Estates for the purpose of determining the succession to the 
 throne, and had by that act virtually abolished the Constitution. 
 
 The consequent suspension of the diplomatic functions infused 
 a momentary hope into the bosoms of the dispirited Imperialists ; 
 the extensive changes recently made in the regiments that 
 occupied the capital, the dismissal of the Constitutionalists, and 
 promotion of Miguelist officers, had destroyed their hopes of 
 effecting at Lisbon any plan of successful resistance to the 
 Government ; but the reyular troops, stationed in the northern 
 districts, were still commanded by their former Colonels, retained 
 their attachment to Dom Pedro, and were quite disposed to turn 
 their arms against his opponents. Many individuals at Lisbon 
 knew that the clouds were gathering, and that the storm would 
 burst at Oporto. 
 
 I had accidentally heard of the intention. Day after day I 
 expected to hear that the strife had begun ; and, although per- 
 sonally unconcerned in the event, and taking no part whatever in
 
 CHAP, xiii.] DEPARTURE FROM LISBON. 313 
 
 the plots of that distracted period, it was not without a fearful 
 interest that I listened for the distant howlings of the gale which 
 would, I knew, at length break in upon the hollow tranquillity 
 of the time. It was, I believe, at one moment intended to place 
 the late Infanta Regent at the head of the insurrection, or at 
 least to commence operations under the sanction of her name ; 
 and the Government appears to have had some vague suspicions 
 of the scheme, as two curious manifestos appeared in the gazette. 
 In the first, Dom Miguel declared his sister's abhorrence " of 
 the machinations, plotted in the dark caverns, for the subversion 
 of all that is good and established on the face of the earth ;" and 
 in the second, the Princess confirmed his statement. 
 
 After an interview with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and 
 many discussions with the police, assisted by Sir Frederick 
 Lamb, who maintained our British privileges with British firm- 
 ness, I succeeded in obtaining an order for Juan's release. My 
 last visit was paid to the Conde de Linhares, one of the most 
 talented members of the extinguished House of Peers ; after 
 which I took leave of my excellent landlady Mrs. Bento and her 
 pretty daughter, and about midnight entered a boat accompanied 
 by my landlord, who had consented to act as my servant pro 
 tempore, and accompany me to England. 
 
 We had scarcely seated ourselves before a lad, about eighteen 
 or nineteen years of age, rushed from the house and threw 
 himself into Bento's arms, exclaiming, as the tears rolled rapidly 
 down his cheeks, " My master, my dear master, why are you 
 going to leave us ?" Bento, who was himself much affected, endea- 
 voured to console his servant with many expressions of kindness. 
 
 Feelings of this kind would hardly in England have existed 
 between persons standing in the relative position of master and 
 apprentice, or if, indeed, they had existed, those nicely regulated 
 notions of what is required by the gradual subordination of ranks, 
 which pervade every class of English society, from the highest to 
 the lowest, would not have permitted their unrestrained expression 
 on the one hand, or their free and cordial reception on the other. 
 Still this little incident prepossessed me highly in favour of the 
 lad whose fidelity to his master appeared so devoted, and of the 
 master whose kindly disposition had excited such grateful feelings 
 in the bosom of his dependant.
 
 314 KEFLECTIONS ON PAST EVENTS. [CHAP. xin. 
 
 I was unwilling to quit the country without bidding farewell 
 to my gallant friend Sartorius, so I rowed to the Pyramus, and 
 found Lord Frederick Beauclerk on deck keeping the midnight 
 watch. The Captain, roused from his slumbers, received me 
 with a countenance expressive of the deepest sympathy, for he 
 was fully prepared to find in his nocturnal visiter some unfor- 
 tunate emigrant arrived at that unseasonable hour to claim his 
 protection. 
 
 I passed the night in a comfortable hammock on board the 
 Pyramus, and on the following morning at break of day 
 embarked on board the Stanmer packet, commanded by Captain 
 Sutton. My only fellow-passenger, Senhor Jose Candido Xavier 
 (since dead), was a person of great attainments, and much dis- 
 tinguished by the prominent part he had taken in Portuguese 
 affairs. He had discharged, at the same time, the separate duties 
 of Minister for the War and for the Foreign Departments, and 
 was high in office when the Infant arrived. 
 
 Since the period to which I am now alluding the important 
 question which then agitated men's minds in Portugal has been 
 brought to an issue. Great changes have taken place in the 
 dramatis persona; time has removed the hostile brothers, the 
 victor and the vanquished, from the stage ; Dom Miguel is an 
 exile, Dom Pedro dead. In touching upon some of the circum- 
 stances which led to the present state of things, I have endea- 
 voured to speak of parties and events with perfect impartiality. 
 Our interposition had at that period very much alienated the 
 Miguelists from the English ; but, although I lived much more 
 with the Imperialists at Lisbon than with their opponents, my 
 opinions were not warped by this circumstance : I deprecate the 
 severe and injudicious policy pursued by Dom Miguel on his 
 return to Portugal, but I must not, in justice, withhold from his 
 party the praise which is unquestionably their due. As a party, 
 they were brave, sincere, high-principled, attached to their 
 religion and to the old institutions of the country. The honour- 
 able fidelity with which they adhered to the fortunes of their 
 Prince during the extremity of his reverses, and the unhesitating 
 devotion with which men in the enjoyment of all the luxuries of 
 life sacrificed every earthly possession in his cause, are circum- 
 stances that reflect upon them imperishable credit ; but their
 
 CHAP, xiii.] ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. 315 
 
 virtues could not redeem his errors or repair the calamities 
 entailed upon their families and their country by his misjudging 
 policy. In the provinces I found men of both parties anxious to 
 facilitate my journey and to show me personal attention. Even 
 at Evora, the Authorities of the city, fairly borne down by the 
 popular feeling, and trembling for their own existence, were, I 
 think, really unwilling to impede my journey, and, with the 
 exception of one individual, showed no disposition to aggravate 
 the rigour of my confinement. 
 
 The rain fell heavily as we sailed down the Tagus. I looked 
 for the last time at Lisbon, beautiful even through her tears. I 
 gazed earnestly on her convents, her palaces, and her orange- 
 gardens, and sighed as I remembered the pleasant hours which I 
 had spent among their light-hearted inmates, and thought upon 
 " the thousand heavy times which might befall them now." 
 
 At length we were fairly on the main ocean : the wind was 
 blowing furiously from the south, the gallant ship running before 
 the gale at the rate of twelve knots an hour, and the sea was so 
 stormy that a single wave breaking over the jib-boom divided it 
 as if it were a thread. During that day and the following night 
 I was confined to my berth by continual sickness ; but, becoming 
 accustomed to the rocking of the ship, went on deck the second 
 evening as the shades of night stole over the tempestuous bay ; 
 and that bay in its wrathful mood is as proud a sight as the eye 
 of man can seek to gaze upon ! 
 
 There I stood till a late hour watching the towering waves as 
 they came driving against our stern, and listening with pleasure 
 to their incessant dash, and to the creaking of the rigging, and 
 to the wind moaning among the high shrouds. The hurricane 
 blew steadily in one direction and without intermission for three 
 days, and only slackened a few hours before the termination of 
 our voyage, which was prosperous, and almost the shortest upon 
 record. 
 
 Early on the morning of the fourth day we hailed the Lizard 
 Point : my long wanderings, the fatigues of my solitary expedi- 
 tions, and the perils of revolution, were all forgotten as I trod 
 once more upon the soil of native, peaceful, and then unreformed 
 England.
 
 316 STATE OF THE BASQUE PROVINCES. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Review of the Social and Political State of the Basque Provinces. 
 
 I WILL only preface my review of the social and political state 
 of the Basque provinces by observing that, at the period when 
 the following account was first published, the ancient constitu- 
 tion of the free states grievously assailed indeed could not, 
 however, be considered as yet extinguished. The struggle for 
 its existence was then maintained by the ill-fated Basques with a 
 determination of which history records no similar example. The 
 thoughtful patriot knew, indeed, that even the fastnesses of the 
 Biscayan mountaineers, admirably calculated as they are for 
 defensive war, he felt that even courage and devotion great as 
 theirs, could hardly prevail eventually against the discipline of 
 regular armies, and the steady efforts of concentrated power. 
 Still bright gleams of hope, naturally elicited by the great though 
 transient lustre of their exploits, passed through the mind of 
 many a man who doubted, if not desponded of the result in his 
 more reflective hours ; and in the eyes of astonished Europe the 
 final success of the Spanish Government appeared for a long 
 time trembling in the balance. The author wrote his review of 
 the Basque provinces during this crisis, and therefore constantly 
 makes use of the present tense, and speaks of the privileges as 
 still in existence. He felt that, even when probabilities are the 
 most unfavourable 
 
 " Even when the crisis of their fate 
 To human eye seems desperate," 
 
 the issue of events must ever be regarded as more or less uncer- 
 tain. In spite of the darkened prospects of the Biscayan heaven, 
 he could not he would not prematurely assume the extinction 
 of rights which monarchs had indeed determined to destroy, but 
 which God, in his mercy and wisdom, might have thought fit to 
 spare. But it was otherwise decreed by Him whose counsels 
 cannot err : the power of man was permitted to do its worst in 
 those unhappy provinces. At length worn out by the indomita-
 
 CHAP, xiv.] THEIR RIGHTS ANNIHILATED. 317 
 
 ble opposition of the people, the Queen's generals fraudulently 
 guaranteed the preservation of rights which they knew their 
 own Government would not confirm, but which they doubted 
 their own ability to suppress. The last act of the tragedy was 
 worthy of the first ; a war of injustice was crowned by a deed 
 of the basest perfidy, and the laws which governed a land of 
 freemen for a thousand years were at length abrogated. In an 
 age of greater civilisation than any which had preceded it in an 
 age of greater supposed deference to the claims of justice this 
 most unjust and cruel act was committed. 
 
 These fueros, a term by which their peculiar laws and liber- 
 ties are designated in Biscay when spoken of collectively, these 
 fueros were not destined to die the lingering and dishonoured 
 death which generally awaits the final extinction of free institu- 
 tions. It has been said that free institutions can hardly perish 
 till the freemen who should have perished in their defence have 
 become themselves degraded ; that the tyrant cannot prevail 
 
 " Till self-abasement paves the way 
 For villain change and despot's sway ;" 
 
 but the sons whom Biscay had trained to the practice of all that 
 is good and great fell in thousands and tens of thousands, pouring 
 out their blood like unregarded water, before the liberties of 
 Biscay were suffered to expire. Those privileges were not worn 
 out by time, nor had become unsuited to the condition of the 
 people, nor had in any respect practically ceased to be loved, 
 honoured, or obeyed. Those rights had not retained the name 
 while they had lost the spirit of genuine freedom ; in those still 
 ripening institutions not a germ of decay was as yet to be found ; 
 their liberties, bright in the dawning of their political existence, 
 were still better and brighter in their meridian hour ; they had no 
 evening darkness came prematurely upon them ; or, if they had 
 an evening, the decline of their day was like that of the tropical 
 sun, which sets in undiminished glory : 
 
 " No pale gradations quench his ray, 
 
 No twilight dews his wrath allay ; 
 
 With disk, like battle target red, 
 
 He rushes to his burning bed, 
 
 Dyes the wide wave with bloody light, 
 
 Then sinks at once, and all is night."
 
 318 GUIPUZCOA UNITED TO CASTILE. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 The three provinces of Guipuzcoa, Alava, and Biscay form an 
 integral part of the Spanish monarchy, but have for ages pos- 
 sessed the rights, and been governed by the laws, of freemen. 
 
 The province of Guipuzcoa enjoys in many respects the same 
 privileges as Biscay. We are told by the Marquis de Mondexar, 
 in his Historical Memoirs of the Life and Actions of Alonzo the 
 Noble, eighth prince of that name, that the province of Gui- 
 puzcoa, possessed at the commencement of his reign by the King 
 of Navarre, although governed in fealty by different rich men of 
 the land, "became, in the year 1200, united with Castille 
 through the will of its inhabitants." He afterwards states " that 
 the people sent envoys to King Alonzo to treat of their inten- 
 tions, signifying that, if he would come among them to concert 
 and agree respecting their union, they would separate from Na- 
 varre." * The King of Castille gladly responded to their wishes, 
 and repaired to Guipuzcoa. where, in the terse language of the 
 historian, " they settled their matters and covenants." He 
 subsequently adds, " The conditions of this contract, eventually 
 signed and concluded on the 8th of October, 1238, correspond- 
 ing to 1200 of the Christian aera, are preserved in the original 
 instrument, afterwards published by Father Luiz de Vega, a 
 Jeromite monk, and quoted by Estevan de Garibay, in his 
 Chronicle."f " It would be superfluous," concludes the Mar- 
 quis, " to repeat the conditions, when it will suffice to say that 
 the same exemptions and privileges which they still enjoy were 
 granted to the natives." 
 
 In virtue of this compact the Guipuzcoans still hold their pri- 
 vileges, and the charter granted by King Alphonzo details the 
 circumstances which led to the union, and is or was preserved, 
 till lately, in the general archives of the province. This singu- 
 lar and interesting document | sets forth that the Guipuzcoans 
 were induced to withdraw their allegiance from the King of 
 Navarre, and transfer it to the sovereign of Castille, because the 
 Navarrese monarch, in direct contravention of their laws, and 
 disregarding their ancient right of free election, had illegally 
 endeavoured to nominate, by his sole authority, a chief magis- 
 
 * Mondexar, chap. Ixxvii. f Ibid. 
 
 J Copied by Don Rafael Floranes, of Valladolid.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] COMPACT WITH THE ALAVESE. 319 
 
 trate for their state, to the exclusion of the individual chosen by 
 their general assembly, held annually at Tolosa and Durango, 
 according to the ancient custom of the land.* Upon this 
 account they withdrew their fealty from him, and transferred it 
 to the King of Castille, who, in return, guaranteed to them their 
 ancient rights, and confirmed them by a charter.f 
 
 The province of Alava has its own constitution, not, however, 
 differing substantially from those of Biscay and Guipuzcoa. In 
 1332 this province acknowledged Alphonso XI. as their lord. 
 The deputies empowered to treat with this Sovereign as their 
 lord found him at Burgos, where they made him a formal 
 tender of the county.| He immediately hastened to Arriaga, 
 where the general assemblies of the country were convened on 
 great occasions, and there, in the presence of the Hidalgos and 
 the Prelate of Calahorra and the assembled people, he entered 
 into a solemn compact that neither he nor his successors would 
 ever alienate any part of the land of Alava ; that neither he nor 
 they would ever give laws to the Alavese,|| but would engage to 
 maintain, for the benefit of all, the fueros and freedom of the 
 country, as then established ; that the Alavese should be 
 exempt from every sort of contribution and personal service from 
 which they had been free before,1[ and that the Hidalgos should 
 retain undisturbed possession of their lands, woods, and forests ; 
 that although the King reserved to himself the lordship and 
 the justice,** and the Ox of March,ff the Governors of their 
 towns should be spontaneously chosen by the freemen of the 
 soil ; || that the Merino, or judicial officer, appointed by the 
 
 * Mendoza observes, that, although the Guipuzcoans at different times 
 intrusted their province to the protection of different princes, first to those 
 of Navarre, and afterwards to those of Castille, they never lost their inde- 
 pendent rights, although they may have recognised in the union (en la 
 Confederacion) some kind of superiority. Lib. ii. cap. 13, of the Monarquia 
 Espanola, por Salazar de Mendoza. 
 
 f From Mondexar, note to chap. Ixxvii 
 
 J Chap. c. of ' Cronica de Don Alfonzo XI. de Castilla,' by Cerda y 
 Rico, ed. Madrid, 1787. 
 
 Vide Note at the end of the work. 
 
 || Mariana, lib. ii. cap. 20. t ibid. 
 
 ** The appointment of the judicial officer. 
 
 ft This has reference to some old feudal reservation, though I have not 
 been able to discover the exact nature of the custom. 
 
 1J With the exception of Vitoria and Trevino.
 
 320 LIBERTIES OF BISCAY. [CHAP. xrv. 
 
 Crown, should be a noble of Alava, and that, except in certain 
 specified cases, he should not proceed against any of his country- 
 men unless they had been previously committed by their own 
 Alcaldes ; that the King, having no dominion over the pro- 
 vince, as property of his own, should not be at liberty to give 
 possession of it to any individual, nor even to issue orders for 
 the erection of any town or village.* 
 
 Finally, they declared that, in case these rights, or any portion 
 of these rights, should be infringed, the nobles or Infanzones 
 should be forthwith absolved from their sworn allegiance, and 
 each and every Alavese be authorised to take up arms, pursue, 
 and kill the offender. f To these articles the King subscribed, 
 and upon these terms it is stated, in the lofty style of Castille, 
 that " the Hidalgos consented that we should have the lordship 
 of the county of Alava, and that it should be royal, and they 
 put it in the crown of our kingdoms for us, and for those who 
 shall reign after us in Castille and Leon."| 
 
 Biscay retains its ancient laws, customs, and tribunals, and is 
 governed by its own national assemblies ; it yields contributions 
 to the Sovereign as a free gift ; it arranges its own taxation ; it 
 has no militia laws ; it is exempt from the odious system of 
 impressment for the navy ; it furnishes its own contingent of 
 soldiers and sailors ; it appoints its own police in peace ; it pro- 
 vides for its own defence in war ; the King's troops cannot enter 
 the province at any time, or upon any pretext, without the spe- 
 cial permission of the Junta ; no monopoly, royal or private, can 
 be established in Biscay ; no Biscayan can be required to contri- 
 bute to the Crown of Castille a greater amount of taxation than 
 that paid formerly to their lords, a sum now reduced to a sti- 
 pulated duty on the iron-foundries and to certain tithes and 
 rents. 
 
 The King, as lord, can only nominate Biscayans by birth to 
 
 * This restriction was imposed on the King to prevent the erection of 
 any fortress which might be turned against the liberties of his subjects. 
 
 t Garibay, vol. ii. book xiv. cap. vii. Zamacola, Historia de las Naciones 
 Bascas, torn. ii. cap. 2. 
 
 J Contract between Alonzo XI. and the Hijosdalgos of Alava, made at 
 Vitoria, on the 22nd of April, 1332. Zamacola. Mariana confirms the 
 principal articles of the compact, and states that the compact itself was 
 existing in his time. Lib. ii. cap. 2, de la impress, de Madrid, del ano de 
 1617.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] LIBERTIES OF BISCAY. 321 
 
 ecclesiastical appointments in Biscay ; their Alcaldes are freely 
 chosen by the people. No Biscayan, resident in any province of 
 Spain, can be tried, either civilly or criminally, by the laws of 
 Castille, but the case must be referred to Valladolid, to be there 
 determined by a tribunal of Biscayan judges, and according to 
 the laws of Biscay. Every Biscayan is noble, and is recognised 
 as such by the law in every province of Spain. A perfect equal- 
 ity of civil rights prevails in Biscay. The Biscayans are all 
 equal in the eye of the law, from the tenant of the aspiring Casa 
 Solar to the humblest peasant of the soil. All participate equally 
 in the benefit of the fueros, are equally bound by the law, and 
 receive the same measure of justice. 
 
 The house of the Biscayan is his castle in the most emphatic 
 sense of the word. No magistrate can violate that sanctuary ; 
 no execution can be put into it, nor can his arms or his horse be 
 seized ; he cannot be arrested for debt, or subjected to imprisonment 
 upon any pretext whatever, without a previous summons to appear 
 under the old tree of Guernica, where he is made acquainted 
 with the offence imputed to him, and called upon for his defence ; 
 he is then discharged on the spot, or bailed, or committed, 
 according to the nature of the crime and the evidence adduced 
 against him. This, the most glorious privilege that freemen can 
 possess this, the most effectual safeguard against the wanton 
 abuse of power this, a custom more determinately in favour of 
 the subject than even our own cherished Habeas Corpus was 
 enjoyed by the Basques for centuries before that far-famed gua- 
 rantee of British liberty had an existence in our islands ; and yet 
 a right which we esteem so inappreciable at home we are labour- 
 ing to subvert in a foreign and, till now, a friendly land. 
 
 I will at present shortly allude to the character and duties of 
 the legislative body. The General Junta, or Biscayan Parlia- 
 ment regularly assembles every second year, although, upon 
 critical occasions, an extraordinary session is frequently held. 
 It is called together by the Corregidor, who acts in concert 
 with the deputation, which during the recess sits permanently at 
 Bilboa. 
 
 Notice must be given at least fifteen days before the appointed 
 time of meeting, and the measures intended to be proposed and 
 discussed must then be publicly announced, that the Deputies 
 
 y
 
 322 THE BISCAYAN LEGISLATURE. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 may consult their constituents on each specific point, and receive 
 their instructions. 
 
 The Biscayan towns, with few exceptions only, are repre- 
 sented.* There is no electoral qualification, every inhabitant 
 has a vote, universal suffrage prevails. These rights have been 
 annulled by the Queen's Government, practically by Castanon, 
 virtually, but completely, by the Estatuto Real ; and yet we 
 are gravely told that the Basques are struggling only for the 
 establishment of despotic power ; and, strange to say, our Go- 
 vernment, professing to act on liberal principles, sends out an 
 officer of similar opinions to substitute a constituency, perhaps 
 the most restricted in Europe, for that system of universal 
 suffrage which was the ancient law of the land, and to replace a 
 Constitution which protects the liberty of the subject in the 
 highest degree by a species of anomalous charter which defines 
 no privilege and secures no right. So much for the consistency 
 of party politics, and for the real liberality of our foreign policy. 
 But to return to Biscay. 
 
 The Deputies meet on the appointed day beneath the cele- 
 brated tree of Guernica, and take their seats on benches of stone. 
 The arms of Castille glitter above the seat occupied by the Lord of 
 Biscay, or by the deputy Corregidor, who for many generations 
 past has always presided in his place, and the arms of Biscay are 
 displayed above the opposite seat of the popular Tribunes. Here 
 the Deputies deliver their credentials, but before they commence 
 the labours of the session they institute an inquiry into the list 
 of members returned. "With a simplicity worthy of the patri- 
 archal times they pass under a brief review the name of every 
 Deputy, to ascertain that he is pure and unspotted in his general 
 character, as no vicious man is fit in their opinion to legislate 
 for a free and virtuous state. And, indeed, they have at all 
 times well deserved the love of their country ; they do not bear 
 the name of Deputies, as in other states, but are called and have 
 been known immemorially in Biscay as the Guizon-onac or good 
 men of the land ; a touching proof of the integrity with which 
 they have exercised their functions from generation to genera- 
 
 * This exception applies only to the towns in the district of Durango, 
 which formerly separated of their own accord, and declined sending De- 
 puties.
 
 CHAP. xiv.J LEGISLATIVE POWERS. 323 
 
 tion, and of the perfect confidence reposed in them by their con- 
 tented fellow-countrymen. What a tale of virtuous government 
 and real sympathy between the people and their representatives 
 is disclosed in this single and simple expression of popular good 
 will ! 
 
 The debates are public, and the measures submitted to their 
 consideration are proposed in Spanish, but discussed in the 
 Basque language. The Biscayan Parliament possesses exclu- 
 sively the right to legislate for Biscay, to make new laws when 
 requisite, and repeal those which time or circumstances have 
 rendered inexpedient, to propose the budget, to adjust the tax- 
 ation for the two following years, and to make every necessary 
 arrangement connected with the internal economy and the ex- 
 ternal defence of the province. It also grants letters of natu- 
 ralization to foreigners, and assigns pensions to natives who, by 
 acts of signal patriotism, have deserved well of their country. 
 No order of the Spanish Government is directly received by the 
 Basque Parliament ;* any order emanating from the Crown of 
 Castille is addressed to the executive authorities of the province, 
 by which it is referred to the Tribunes, who take it into their 
 deliberate consideration, determine whether it be or be not in 
 unison with the law of the land, and, accordingly, either approve 
 or reject it. Their veto upon any resolution of the Spanish 
 Government is absolute, and the seemingly inconsistent, but not 
 uncourteous formula of " Obedecida, pero no cumplida," f is 
 their peculiar but decisive mode of rejection. If an order from 
 the Spanish Government be of great importance, and supposed 
 to affect any essential privilege, directly or indirectly, the Par- 
 liament is convened, the Tribunes deliver their opinions on the 
 legal and constitutional bearings of the question, and the De- 
 puties, after mature deliberation, confirm or condemn the order. 
 On questions of very doubtful and difficult decision the Deputies 
 request the presence of the fathers of their country, Patricios de 
 Biscaya, men so called from the great consideration in which 
 they are held. They are, generally speaking, individuals of 
 high personal character, who, perhaps retired from public life, 
 have yet grown grey in the public service, have once taken an 
 
 * Vide note at the end of the volume. 
 
 f " Obeyed, but not carried into execution." 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 GENERAL POWERS. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 active part in the Junta, have been members of the permanent 
 deputation to which I shall immediately allude, are profoundly 
 versed in the laws of their country, and are considered, from 
 their known opinions and from the past habits of their lives, 
 strongly disposed to maintain in all their integrity the ancient 
 fueros of the land. 
 
 During the interval which elapses between the close of the 
 session and the re-assembling- of the parliament, the administra- 
 tion of public affairs is vested in a commission residing at Bilboa, 
 composed of the two Tribunes and a certain number of Deputies 
 elected by ballot out of the legislative body. To these is added 
 the Corregidor, who sits as President ; and although a native of 
 Biscay is alone eligible to this office, the Basques have ever 
 guarded their privileges with such a jealous spirit of precaution, 
 not only against the likelihood, but almost against the possi- 
 bility of encroachment from the Crown, that this officer is not 
 permitted to vote in common with the other members of the 
 deputation, solely because he is appointed by the Court. 
 
 It may then be justly said that before the Queen's accession 
 the Basque provinces were freer than the freest canton in 
 Switzerland. Like the Swiss in character, their political po- 
 sition in some respects resembled that of the Swiss cantons at 
 the time when the unjust ambition of Austria compelled them 
 to assert their lawful rights ; like the cantons, the Basque pro- 
 vinces were bound to each other by strong ties of interest and 
 affection ; no change could take place in any of the provinces 
 without the previous consent of its own inhabitants ; no contri- 
 bution levied upon them without the sanction of their own repre- 
 sentatives was legal : these were privileges secured to them by 
 their respective and nearly similar constitutions constitutions 
 which required, by precise and positive enactments, every Basque 
 subject, from the highest to the lowest, to resist, even unto the 
 death, any encroachments upon their liberties, whether proceeding 
 from the Spanish Government or from any other power. To 
 which were those brave Biscayans, whom his Majesty's ministers 
 designate as rebels, bound to adhere in the crisis which has 
 arisen to the common, and also to the written law to the 
 immemorial law of their country or to the arbitrary edicts of 
 a Government of yesterday, based, as I hope to prove, neither
 
 CHAP, xiv.] NOBLE CHARACTER OF THE BASQUES. 325 
 
 in reason nor in legal right ? A determination to resist external 
 aggression, and to preserve their national rights, is the great 
 pervading principle which influences the present conduct of the 
 Basques, and has animated them from the earliest period of 
 their history. 
 
 Theirs are privileges, and theirs, indeed, a country, worthy of 
 defence, alike against the despotic and the democratic tyrant ; 
 and when I call to mind the high spirit of that people, and con- 
 trast the once flourishing condition of those provinces with their 
 present desolation, my heart swells with sorrow and indignation. 
 When formerly I crossed the frontier of the Basque provinces 
 I felt myself at once on a free land, amid a race of men pos- 
 sessing and deserving freedom. The erect, not haughty carriage, 
 the buoyant step, the frank and manly yet respectful greeting, 
 and the whole bearing, spoke of liberty long enjoyed, well under- 
 stood, and not abused. Such were the Basques, trained to habits 
 of self-reliance by centuries of self-government ; freemen in spirit, 
 not in name alone ; drinking in with their mothers' milk a love 
 of justice and a reverence for the law ; in thought sober yet 
 independent, and wholly without fear, except the honest fear of 
 doing wrong ; models of ancient manners, and not unfrequently 
 of manly beauty ; faithful friends, generous hosts, simple yet 
 inflexible observers of their word ; following with fervour, but 
 without intolerance, their Fathers' faith, they were the Tyrolese 
 of Spain, and, I might add, the flower of Europe. Lambs in 
 the hour of peace, yet lions in the field, with them the household 
 charities and patriotism went hand in hand ; in them the bravest 
 yet the kindest spirit, the mildest yet the proudest virtues, were 
 combined. Never, perhaps, existed a more perfect union of the 
 qualities which should adorn a people ; the idolatry of freedom 
 so distinctive of the Swiss,* and the unconquerable affection of 
 
 * I speak of the Swiss as I knew them when I wrote this account of 
 Biscay, not of that now styled Federal party, types of the worst democracy 
 of the day men who, without religion themselves, have made religious 
 pretexts a cloak for their own unprincipled ambition and for their own 
 insane spirit of persecution. These men have sprung up, or at least become 
 notorious, since that time. Their conduct in forcing on a civil war ar 
 their subsequent proceedings in the vanquished districts of the bunderbuna 
 place them on a level with the worst Jacobins of France and bpain. Ana 
 yet these men have had defenders in this country !
 
 326 THEIR SOCIAL STATE. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 the Tyrolese to his hereditary princes, were, by a happy and 
 most unusual combination, united in the Basques. 
 
 How well I recollect that beautiful and joyous country before 
 it groaned beneath the scourge of civil war ! those lowlands, 
 rich, luxuriant, and proving by their high cultivation the pros- 
 perous state and unfettered industry of the people ; those high- 
 lands, rich in wood and water, and a loyal population ; those 
 antique mansions, retaining the character of an earlier age, where 
 the gentlemen of the country lived, not crowding into towns, as 
 in other parts of Spain and of the continent, but residing on 
 their estates, benefiting the neighbourhood, and obtaining the 
 rich return of local love and respect a habit arising from the 
 security of the country, and the long prevalence of free institu- 
 tions. Their estates, handed down from generation to generation 
 from a remote antiquity, are not regarded with a jealous eye by 
 a people enjoying the largest measure of freedom compatible with 
 the public good, and who are at once too happy to envy their 
 superiors in station, and too rational to suppose that an aristo- 
 cratic influence is naturally hostile to their interests. On the 
 contrary, the public feeling flows in a very different channel, and 
 the man who sells his feudal and turreted mansion incurs the 
 certain disapprobation of his neighbours, is supposed to have com- 
 promised the just dignity of his position, and to have entailed 
 upon his relatives a family disgrace. 
 
 The proprietors of these castellated abodes were formerly reve- 
 renced as the Chiefs and Elders of the district ; great respect was 
 paid to their opinion, which, indeed, was considered decisive on 
 many points of private difference and local interest, and even 
 now they are treated with high distinction, and enjoy a solid 
 influence. 
 
 Under a social system so constituted, and when such was the 
 habitual feeling of the inhabitants in relation to each other, it is 
 scarcely necessary to say that before the breaking out of the actual 
 revolution the Basques were happy. Attached to their proprietors, 
 free from those jealous animosities which in many countries 
 array class against class ; elevated, for the most part, above 
 the pressure and temptations of poverty ; possessing a healthy and 
 temperate climate, a country and a dynasty to which they were 
 passionately attached, and institutions which left them nothing to
 
 CHAP, xiv.] AFFECTION FOR THEIR TRADITIONS. 327 
 
 reform and little to desire, they were exempt from all the ills 
 that " Kings can cause or cure," and were, and had been for ages, 
 blessed beyond the ordinary lot of mortals. The eastern Sage, 
 who vainly sought a virtue unattainable by man, and the Abys- 
 sinian prince, who roamed the world in quest of perfect happi- 
 ness, might have met rejoicing in the valleys of the Basque, and 
 have indulged, at least for a season, in the fond belief that they 
 had found, at length, the objects of their search. 
 
 What, then, could men whose political sympathies were based 
 on the most honourable affections of our nature have in common 
 with such a Government as that which is afflicting Spain ? How 
 could their generous and exalted sentiments of liberty accord with 
 that bastard freedom which respects not the means so that the 
 end be obtained which in spirit is based upon a principle of 
 absolute equality which has no toleration for any class of opinion 
 or line of conduct but its own and which rejects liberty itself in 
 its purest form, if clad in a garb of antiquity, and divested of 
 that uniformity which is an essential ingredient of that narrow 
 system ? 
 
 To their rights and privileges, erected on the broadest basis, the 
 Basques adhered with an affection which no words can express : 
 those were not rights of yesterday, but rights associated with every 
 deeply-cherished recollection, interwoven with their traditions, 
 connected with every stirring incident in the public annals of 
 their little state, and hallowed by the proud remembrance that 
 they had been maintained for ages by their Fathers against out- 
 numbering enemies ; at a time, too, when the night of despotism 
 weighed heavily on the surrounding world, and when their star 
 was the only light of liberty which shone in the European 
 heaven. 
 
 The memory of those glorious times is not extinct in Biscay ; 
 and still, I am assured, the enthusiastic Carlists sing the heroic 
 song of the " Field of the Blood-red Stones " when they attack 
 the squadrons of the Queen ; and, although so many centuries 
 have rolled away since that conflict, so disastrous to Castille, 
 they still recall the trophies of that fight, and boast that the Cas- 
 tillians of to-day shall crouch beneath the hereditary vigour of 
 their arms. 
 
 It is, then, against a people indomitable in war, and therefore
 
 328 PERFIDY OF THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 invaluable in periods of invasion as the props of the monarchy, 
 and in peace adorned by every social and useful virtue, that the 
 Spanish Government have thought right to direct their hostility ! 
 Such conduct will not stand the test of inquiry. The Govern- 
 ment have attempted to abolish privileges, not feudal or obsolete, 
 not enjoyed by a few for the advantage of the few, but affecting 
 the lowest as well as the highest individual, and securing to 
 all alike personal freedom and undisturbed enjoyment of pro- 
 perty. 
 
 On the part of the Spanish Government it was neither a matter 
 of policy nor expediency, but of positive obligation, to maintain 
 those privileges, as the result of mutual concession and solemn 
 compact at the time of the respective unions with the Spanish 
 Crown, and afterwards successively confirmed by the sovereigns 
 of Spain at their accession to the throne confirmed by the Aus- 
 trian confirmed by the Bourbon dynasty and respected even by 
 the gloomy spirit of the second Philip. 
 
 The conduct of the Spanish Government in violating those 
 rights, under those circumstances, is indefensible upon any prin- 
 ciple of law or equity. It is more than questionable whether one 
 party can recede from a compact of such a nature without the 
 concurrence of the other ; but the wildest partisan never main- 
 tained till now that during the existence of the connexion one 
 party is at liberty to absolve itself from the obligations it has 
 incurred, and yet require the other to fulfil its part of the con- 
 tract. The Constitutionalists are determined to preserve the 
 union, yet would destroy the privileges guaranteed by that union 
 to the Basques. They would retain for themselves the advan- 
 tages arising from an important accession of territory to the state, 
 while they refuse to fulfil the conditions by which alone those 
 advantages were obtained. 
 
 The Crown lawyers in Spain have evaded, discreetly enough, 
 a fair and direct consideration of the terms of the union with 
 Biscay, alluding to the compact, in general language, as vague 
 and doubtful, undefined at all times, and certainly not at present 
 binding on either the Sovereign or the legislature of the king- 
 dom. To establish a more correct view of the case, and to show 
 that these rights were made, from the earliest times, a matter of 
 solemn compact between the governor and the governed, it will
 
 CHAP, xiv.] HISTORY OF BISCAY AN LIBERTIES. 329 
 
 be necessary for me to enter, briefly indeed, but rather critically, 
 into some passages of the history of these provinces. 
 
 It is asserted for I speak with much doubt when referring to 
 such remote transactions that as early as the year 870 the free 
 Biscayans assembled under the memorable oak of Guernica, and 
 elected, as their Lord and Protector, Don Lope Zuria, a son of 
 an opulent noble of Biscay,* "stipulating" (I quote the very 
 words) "stipulating with him, at the same time, a compact, 
 having certain conditions, for the perpetual observance of those 
 laws and customs previously established among them, in the fol- 
 lowing words : ' That it was the law and liberty of the people 
 that any order or decree issued by the said Lord of Biscay, 
 if contrary to the laws and fueros of Biscay, directly or indi- 
 rectly, should not be put into execution.' "f 
 
 From this time till 1105 the Biscayan lords appear to have 
 been elected by the people ; from 1105 till 1370 they succeeded 
 each other in strict hereditary descent ; but, during that period, 
 the national assemblies met regularly under the ancient oak of 
 Guernica. 
 
 In the fourteenth century Don Pedro of Castille made an 
 ineifectual effort to obtain possession of Biscay ; but his brother, 
 Don Tello, married the heiress of the lordship of Biscay, and 
 was acknowledged as lord of that country, on condition that he 
 would swear to preserve inviolate, to all the inhabitants of Biscay, 
 their fueros, usages, customs, and privileges, as all the Lords of 
 Biscay had done before.J 
 
 Upon the death of Tello, and of his wife Donna Juapa de 
 Haro, the heiress of the lordship of Biscay, without issue, Don 
 Juan of Castille, heir to that kingdom, and at the same time 
 descended from one of the Haro ladies, was acknowledged by the 
 Biscayans as their lawful lord in the year 1371. Soon afterwards, 
 on his Father's death, this Prince succeeded to the throne of 
 Castille, and at that period the union of Biscay with Castille took 
 place. We have now to consider the circumstances under which 
 
 * Argote ascribes this election to the year 870. Henao alludes to the 
 event as occurring nearly forty years later. 
 
 t Argote de Molina, cap. Ixxxiii. Garibay, lib. ix. cap. xxu. Navarro, 
 cap. vii. 
 
 J Gutierres, lib. iii. , 
 
 For a more detailed account of the mode in which the crowns
 
 330 CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNT OF [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 it was effected. From the general nature of the transaction, even 
 without any direct testimony to that effect, it is highly probable 
 that the laws and privileges of Biscay would have been retained ; 
 but it is manifest, from the accounts handed down to us, that, in 
 point of fact, they were solemnly and specially reserved. 
 
 In the first place, the union was " quoad caput et regimen," 
 in virtue of which, upon every principle of national law, any 
 kingdom, province, town, or church, united to another, retains, 
 after the union, the same privileges, usages, and customs it pre- 
 viously possessed, experiencing no change, except that involved 
 by a mutual adherence to a common head. The union of Biscay 
 was with the Crown and not with the kingdom of Castille ; and 
 as Don Juan held the lordship of Biscay by a different title from 
 that by which he succeeded to the throne of Castille, the laws 
 and privileges of Biscay could hardly be affected by a junction of 
 the crowns. 
 
 The theory of the case would then induce us to suppose that 
 the national rights and customs of the Biscayans would not have 
 been impaired by the union. This probable view of the case is 
 borne out by testimony to that effect, of the most decisive kind, 
 and from various sources. 
 
 To such a jealous extent was the affection for their provincial 
 privileges carried at the time of the union, and so completely 
 were those rights made matter of deliberate compact, that the 
 free Biscayans stipulated that Don Juan and his successors to the 
 Crown of Castille should style themselves, not Kings, but Lords 
 of Biscay, to mark and keep in perpetual remembrance the 
 tenure and conditions upon which alone they held possession of 
 that country ; and ever since the union the Spanish Sovereigns 
 have invariably styled themselves Kings of Spain and Lords of 
 Biscay ; a designation foolish and unmeaning if that province had 
 merged in the kingdom generally. " Nomine qui differunt cen- 
 sentur differre effectu et essentia " is a recognised maxim of law. 
 The admitted fact, too, that the subsequent Sovereigns of Castille 
 confirmed the Biscayan fueros and privileges, not as Monarchs 
 graciously conferring a favour, but as lords exercising the office 
 of first magistrate, is strongly confirmatory of the compact. 
 
 tille and Biscay merged in the same individual, see ' Padre Gabriel Henao, 
 Averiguaciones Cantabras,' 1, folio. Mariana. Navarro, cap. 1, 28.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] THE BISCAYAN LIBERTIES. 331 
 
 It is, however, of great importance to my argument to 
 investigate minutely the arrangements entered into between the 
 Biscayans and their new Lord, the Sovereign of Castille, at the 
 period of the union of the Crowns. When Don Juan was 
 received by the Biscayans as their Lord in his father's lifetime, 
 he repaired in person to Guernica, and swore to respect their 
 rights ; again, at the junction of the Crowns, he entered into a 
 compact with the Biscayans that Biscay should be annexed for 
 ever to Castille, and, in return for this concession on their part, 
 bound himself and his successors to maintain their fueros, cus- 
 toms, franchises, and liberties, now and for all time to come. In 
 virtue of this engagement Biscay became united to Castille.* 
 
 From this statement of facts it appears that the allegiance of 
 the Biscayans was conditional from very remote times, and 
 dependent on the fullest recognition of their rights. It is equally 
 clear that at the union of Biscay with Castille the agreement 
 entered into by the Biscayans, first with their elective, and 
 afterwards with their hereditary Lords, was solemnly renewed by 
 the Spanish Sovereigns, who pledged themselves and their suc- 
 cessors to preserve inviolate the laws and privileges of the people 
 intrusted to their charge. And here I might almost rest my 
 case ; for it is clear that the Queen's Government, in abolishing 
 the privileges of Biscay without the consent of the Biscayans, 
 have violated the compact formed at the time of the union, in 
 virtue of which alone Biscay became an integral part of the 
 monarchy. 
 
 But as the Crown lawyers in Spain have shrouded the question 
 of the Basque privileges under a mist of their own creation, 
 skilfully enough ; for, well understood, it is fatal to the justice 
 of their cause ; as they have insinuated that those rights were 
 virtually annulled by the union of the Crowns, I will incur the 
 danger of fatiguing my readers by showing the light in which 
 those privileges were viewed by the first Sovereign who wore the 
 united Crowns of Biscay and Castille, and by the Spanish 
 monarchs who succeeded him. 
 
 Don Juan, first prince who was both Lord of Biscay and 
 King of Castille, permitted some of his subjects to erect on 
 
 * Lope Garcia de Salazar, libro xx. Senores de Vizcaja. Zamacola.
 
 332 BISCAY AN LIBERTIES [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 certain lands in Biscay a town subsequently called Miravalles ; 
 upon which Bilboa and other towns protested, declaring that the 
 Lord of Biscay could not grant those lands without an infraction 
 of their privileges, as the territory in question belonged not to 
 the Crown, but to the Hidalgos and people of Biscay. Some 
 meetings and consultations took place on the subject ; and 
 finally Don Juan issued a manifesto which was deposited in the 
 archives of the new town of Miravalles. From this declaration I 
 extract the two following paragraphs : 
 
 " I have found by the said consultation that, in authorizing 
 the erection of the town in question, I was acting in conformity 
 with the will of God and with a due regard to my own interest, 
 and that by so acting I did not infringe upon either the privi- 
 leges, usages, customs, or fueros of Biscay, nor against the 
 privileges of the town of Bilboa, nor was I acting against my 
 own oath, which I should have maintained inviolate before every 
 other consideration." And in another part of the manifesto 
 are these striking expressions : " I have moreover ascertained 
 by the council that the oath I took when I was received by the 
 Biscayans as their Lord does not extend to this, and that in 
 authorizing the erection of the said town I do not infringe upon 
 the said oath ; on the contrary, I keep my oath, and should have 
 been guilty of a crime if I had not given the order or had for- 
 bidden the erection of the city."* 
 
 This, the recorded language of the first King of Castille who 
 became Lord of Biscay, is a conclusive proof that, however 
 lightly the supple genius of the Crown lawyers of Spain may 
 affect to treat the question, still the Sovereign who lived at the 
 time of the union, and whose inclinations would have naturally 
 led him to disregard an oath of a merely formal nature when 
 militating against his own authority, had no hesitation in openly 
 declaring that he was solemnly bound by the engagement into 
 which he had entered to respect the ancient rights of the 
 Biscayans ; although, acting in accordance with the unanimous 
 judgment of his council, he was distinctly of opinion that the 
 order in question was not an infraction of their privileges. 
 
 Such was the conduct of the first King of Castille who became 
 
 * Covarrubias, Questiones Practice, vol. i. No. 5.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE UNION. 333 
 
 Lord of Biscay. In what light was the union of the free states 
 considered by his successors ? Did they conceive that, as 
 Sovereigns of Castille, where their government was compara- 
 tively despotic, they had any right to dispute the free privileges 
 of any of their Basque subjects ? Let us for a moment investi- 
 gate the matter, always remembering that the three provinces of 
 Alava, Guipuzcoa, and Biscay, united under different circum- 
 stances and at different times to the Crown of Castille, had still 
 been united conditionally, and with a strict reservation of their 
 peculiar laws and rights. 
 
 At the death of Don Juan the First, his son and heir, Henry 
 the Third, was eleven years old, and consequently could not be 
 required by the Biscayans to confirm their fueros ; but when he 
 attained his fifteenth year, the legal age, he repaired in person to 
 Biscay at the requisition of the States, and, under the oak-tree at 
 Guernica, swore to observe their rights in the year of our Lord 
 1393.* 
 
 We are told, in the curious chronicle that records the life of 
 Henry III., that upon this occasion when the King reached 
 Bilboa he sent letters to the chief Biscayans, requesting them to 
 meet him at the spot where they had been accustomed to assem- 
 ble ; and then the King, leaving the city, travelled onwards 
 until he reached a spot called, in the Basque language, Arecha- 
 balaga, which means " the hill of the broad-spreading oak ;" 
 and there he would fain have conferred with the assembled 
 nobles of the land in good and hearty intercourse, but they were 
 divided by jealous feuds, and each chief kept haughtily aloof on 
 the brow of the hill, with his train-band gathered round him ; 
 and then the Brotherhood came forward, and one and all re- 
 quired the King to swear to the good laws and usages of Biscay, 
 as they had been administered by all its former lords, and to 
 this the King replied that he was willing so to do ; and then the 
 Brotherhood again came forward, and desired him to confirm 
 their association, united by a common bond for the right and 
 good administration of justice, and to this the King replied 
 that he was willing so to do ; and then the Brotherhood came 
 forward a third time, and said that, as King Henry was not lord 
 
 * Garibay, lib. xv. cap. xl.
 
 334 LIBERTIES OF BISCAY ACKNOWLEDGED. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 of the land until he came in person to swear to their charters 
 and receive them as his own, consequently they were not bound 
 to yield him the contributions which had accrued since the death 
 of good King John, his Father, and therefore desired that he would 
 direct his treasurer not to require the same, and to this, their 
 third request, King Henry stated that he was willing to accede.* 
 
 King Henry's reign was generally marked by a cautious ob- 
 servance of their privileges ; but, labouring at one period under 
 great pecuniary embarrassments, he unwisely addressed a pedido, 
 or kind of summary request for money, to his Guipuzcoan sub- 
 jects ; upon which their Parliament assembled at Tolosa re- 
 pressed, with uncompromising vigour, those early symptoms of 
 Spanish encroachment, and came at once to a resolution singu- 
 larly divested of the courtesies of modern expression, and exhi- 
 biting that stern spirit of freedom which so strongly animated 
 those plain-spoken assertors of the popular rights. 
 
 The Deputies unanimously resolved on the 10th of August, 
 1391, that no Guipuzcoan cited before the courts of Castille 
 should obey the summons ; that, if any agent of Castille should 
 attempt to exact the pedido, on the plea of tribute, from any 
 Guipuzeoan, the injured man should alarm the province, and all 
 the inhabitants, old and young, should come in arms to seize the 
 collector, and bring him before the General Assembly of Uzar- 
 raga, there and by them to be judged ;| that, in case the collector^ 
 escaped with what lie had seized, an equal amount should be 
 taken from the duties payable to the King, and transferred to the 
 injured party ; that an account of the seizure should be promul- 
 gated throughout Guipuzcoa ; and that every Guipuzcoan, from 
 the age of sixteen to sixty, should hold himself prepared to main- 
 tain the decision of the States. 
 
 The King felt the justice of their reproof, attempted no remon- 
 strance, and at once withdrew his request. The following reso- 
 lution, passed by the Deputies of Guipuzcoa assembled at Tolosa 
 
 * Cronica de D. Enrique III., written by Don Pedro Lopez de Alaya, 
 and corrected by Secretary Geroninio Zurita, ch. xiv. 
 
 j- Garibay. If found guilty, death was the penalty. 
 
 j Garibay. I adhere not only to the general meaning, but, as nearly as 
 possible, to the words of the resolutions quoted by Garibay. The style is 
 antiquated, but may not on that account be unwelcome to the curious reader. 
 
 Garibay.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] GU1PUZCOAN PATRIOTIC RESOLUTIONS. 335 
 
 on the day specified, is a striking proof of the consideration 
 which the popular representatives had attained even at that early 
 period, and of the weight and influence they possessed. They 
 enacted, that if any inhabitant of Guipuzcoa be summoned by the 
 King, or his Governor of Castille, on account of his refusal to 
 pay the tribute, or on any similar ground, he should not obey 
 the summons, but the Deputies of the town should go forth and 
 inquire into the cause of the summons, and answer for him. 
 The Guipuzcoan representatives had higher notions of their own 
 importance in the fourteenth century than the Commons of Eng- 
 land after the lapse of more than one hundred and fifty years from 
 the period in question. Those Deputies were accustomed to 
 give laws to their country, and arrange their internal affairs with 
 moderation and firmness, at a time when the popular branch of 
 the English legislature were told by their Sovereign that they 
 were only brute folk and inexpert. Yet against the descendants 
 of such men, and against their hereditary liberties, have we, 
 their younger brothers in the art of government, waged a most 
 indefensible war. 
 
 When Henry died his son and heir was a child, and the cir- 
 cumstances to which his minority gave birth carry on our chain 
 of proof, distinctly mark the sense in which the treaty of union 
 was interpreted at that time both by the people of Biscay and 
 by the Court of Castille, prove clearly the extreme tenacity 
 with which the Biscayans clung to their rights, and show that 
 they were acknowledged in the amplest manner by the Spanish 
 Court. 
 
 During the minority of the young Prince, afterwards Juan II., 
 his mother Catalina and his uncle Don Fernando governed Cas- 
 tille, and, as Regents, called on the Biscayans to pay the contri- 
 butions due to the Lord of Biscay ; but they answered, with the 
 conscious pride of freemen, that they would not accede to that 
 request until their fueros and privileges had been confirmed by 
 oath, and with all the usual forms. 
 
 Upon a second and more urgent application from the Regency, 
 the Biscayan Parliament assembled under the tree of Guernica, 
 and came to the following resolution : 
 
 " That, although there was no precedent for payment of con- 
 tribution to their lord until he had confirmed their fueros, and
 
 336 BASQUES MAINTAIN THEIR RIGHTS. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 sworn to maintain the same, however, in consideration of his 
 tender age, and that the Regent, his uncle, was in the war 
 against the Moors, they would pay, on condition that the Queen 
 mother would engage that, when the Regent, Don Fernando, 
 should return from the war, he should go to Biscay and swear to 
 maintain their privileges, as Tutor and Governor, and that 
 when the King, Don Juan, their Lord, should become of age, 
 he would do the same ; if this arrangement were not agreed to, 
 they would still suspend the usual contributions."* 
 
 It is not easy to adduce a stronger proof of the jealous affec- 
 tion entertained by the Biscayans for their provincial rights. 
 They admitted no postponement in the legal confirmation of 
 their liberties ; they refused allegiance upon any other terms, 
 and required from the locum tenens the same guarantees for the 
 entire preservation of their privileges which they were accus- 
 tomed to exact from the more permanent possessor of the 
 throne. 
 
 Such was the course pursued by the Biscayans at this conjunc- 
 ture ; and it is worth observing that the Queen Regent, in her 
 reply, neither stated nor insinuated that their demand was an 
 encroachment on the authority of the Crown, or unsupported by 
 the common law of the land. On the contrary, she took the 
 following oath on the 14th of July, 1407 : 
 
 " I, the Queen mother, as Guardian and Regent of these 
 kingdoms belonging to my son, swear, upon the Cross and upon 
 the Holy Gospels, which I hold in my hands, to maintain to 
 Biscay, to the towns and to the lowlands, to the nobles, to the 
 citizens, and to the inhabitants therein, their fueros, usages, 
 customs, privileges, rules and ordinances, franchises, liberties, 
 gifts, immunities, and lands, according to the best and amplest 
 manner in which they were confirmed to them in the time of 
 Donna Constanza, and the other Kings and Lords of Biscay, 
 from that time to the present day ; and, in the name of the King 
 and Lord, my son, as his guardian, I confirm the same." 
 
 It has been, I think, sufficiently proved that the Biscayans did 
 not regard the compact entered into with the Crown of Castille 
 at the time of the union as a vain formality, but rigidly insisted 
 
 * Garibay, lib. xvi, cap. xlvi.
 
 CHAP, xrv.] INFRACTION OF THEIR RIGHTS. 337 
 
 upon the exact observance of their rights as the only condition 
 of their allegiance. They warned the third Henry in no courtly 
 language, when he endeavoured to strain the prerogative ; and 
 the fate of the fourth monarch of that name displays in striking 
 colours the just but inexorable sternness with which they 
 avenged the first positive infraction of the compact between Lord 
 and people. 
 
 King Juan died in 1454 ; and, in consequence, on the 4th of 
 March in the ensuing year, a deputation went from Biscay to 
 Segovia, and urged the new King to proceed without delay to 
 Guernica, and take the usual oath under the tree. The King 
 replied that the war then waging against the Andalusian Moors 
 would prevent an immediate compliance with their request ; he 
 would, however, take the earliest opportunity of confirming their 
 privileges at the appointed spot ; and, to leave no doubt of his 
 intentions, he immediately pledged his faith and royal word to 
 maintain to Biscay all its fueros and privileges ; and actually, in 
 1457, King Henry went to Biscay, and took the usual oaths.* 
 
 Not only did King Henry confirm the rights of the Biscayans, 
 on two separate occasions, within the limited space of three years, 
 but when they were alarmed, in 1470, by a rumour that the 
 King had granted certain lands in Biscay to some minions of his 
 court, conscious of the illegality of such an act, and before any 
 direct remonstrance had been addressed to him, he issued a ma- 
 nifesto, in which he assured the Biscayans that he had neither 
 granted the lands in question to any Castillians, nor had ever 
 entertained the slightest intention of so doing.t 
 : The royal declaration appeased his irritated subjects ; but, 
 prone to exceed his just prerogative, and forgetting the severe 
 rebuke which his ancestor had received on a similar occasion, he 
 addressed a pedido for money to his Guipuzcoan subjects, through 
 his minister of finance, a Jew : a deputy, transported with rage 
 at this apparent disposition to violate the privileges he had sworn 
 to observe, gave way to the fierce passions so common at that 
 time, and, drawing his sword, slew the encroaching minister on 
 the spot.J "When King Henry heard of the event, he sent 
 
 * Henao, lib. i. cap. 61. t Ibid., lib. ii. cap. 18. 
 
 I Mariana alludes briefly to the death of the Jew Gaon, and the attempt 
 to exact the pedido which produced it. Tom. ii. lib. xxiii. ch. 6. The cir- 
 cumstances of the murder are given at greater length by Garibay, lib. xvii. 
 
 z
 
 338 PROUD MESSAGE TO KING HENRY. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 envoys to Tolosa, demanding the immediate surrender of the 
 offending individual. To this demand the Guipuzcoans returned 
 a positive refusal ; stating that the act was committed in a law- 
 ful attempt to resist an illegal and treasonable proposition. 
 Collecting their troops on the hills commanding the town, the 
 citizens prepared to maintain, by force of arms, the spirited reply 
 which they sent back to the King, and which I here insert, as 
 characteristic of the determined spirit of the people : 
 
 " The Basques are the representatives of the Iberian nation. 
 For Spanish freedom they lavished their blood against Carthage, 
 against the Romans, and against the Goths. They restored 
 Spain by expelling the Moors, who had conquered it from the 
 barbarians. The struggles of the Basques against the Caliphs 
 of the West lasted for more than six centuries. The little 
 country of Castille scarcely existed when our nation, dwelling in 
 the Pyrenean Mountains, counted many centuries of glory and 
 enterprise ! 
 
 " In acknowledgment of the services which we have rendered 
 to Castille, we claim to be allowed peaceably to enjoy our laws 
 and liberties, the inheritance which our ancestors preserved to 
 us at the expense of so much blood and so many glorious 
 labours. If, however, the Castillians behave ungratefully and 
 unjustly towards us, they shall learn, at their own cost, who 
 were, and still are, their masters in the art of war, and their 
 mountain liberators. 
 
 " As regards the pedido unjustly demanded of us, and as 
 touching the death of the Jew, know that the intrepid Guipuz- 
 coan who killed the publican deserved well of his country. Tell 
 this to King Henry ! Return, and bid him remember that one 
 of the fundamental laws of our people runs thus : We ordain 
 that if any one, whether native or foreigner, should coerce any 
 man, woman, people, village, or town of Guipuzcoa, by virtue 
 of a mandate from our Lord the King of Castille, which has not 
 been previously agreed to and sanctioned by the general assembly, 
 or whosoever violates our rights, laws, charters, and privileges, 
 shall be disobeyed, and, if he persists, killed." 
 
 Such was the proud and patriotic spirit which animated the 
 
 ch. 9 ; and an old Biscayan manuscript enters still more fully into the 
 details of the transaction, and the events which followed it
 
 CHAP, xiv.] THE KING DEPOSED. 339 
 
 Basques. The King followed the example of his ancestor in 
 withdrawing, as he had foolishly imitated his conduct in propos- 
 ing, the pedido. He bowed before the storm ; but, too dishonest 
 to abstain from encroachments which he had not the power to 
 complete, he renewed the attempt which he had solemnly dis- 
 claimed to grant certain lands in Biscay to some Castillian 
 favourites.* When this resolution of the King was known in 
 Biscay, a national assembly was held at Guernica, and there, 
 under their cherished tree, they came to the memorable resolution 
 that their Lord had forfeited his right to the lordship by a deli- 
 berate infraction of their fueros, and, in consequence, determined 
 to transfer their allegiance from King Henry to his sister, the 
 Princess Donna Isabella, afterwards so famous in the annals of 
 Spain, and at that time next in succession to the lordship, the 
 presumptive heiress to the throne of Castille ; provided she 
 would swear to maintain their privileges, and on this condition 
 only. In conformity with this resolution, they sent to Castille 
 Don Lope de Quincozes, a Biscayan of high consideration, with 
 full power to acquaint the Princess with their decision, and offer 
 her the vacant throne upon the terms already stated. To those 
 terms she subscribed at Segovia, on the 14th of July, 1473; 
 and the faithless Lord of Biscay was dispossessed of his lordship. f 
 A revolution was thus effected in the succession, not after the 
 fashion of those days, by bloodshed and force of arms, but with 
 a calmness, a moderation, and an attention to legal and constitu- 
 tional forms, unparalleled among the warriors and statesmen of 
 that rough-dealing time, and which appeared almost incompre- 
 hensible to the age in which it occurred. When the feeble 
 despot heard the astounding intelligence of his own deposition, 
 so peaceably yet so completely effected, he was seized with an 
 unavailing repentance : he implored the Biscayan Parliament to 
 rescind their resolution, and restore him to his lost authority, 
 offering to grant them more extensive privileges than they had 
 ever yet possessed under his ancestors ;| ^ ut the wise Biscayans 
 refused to negotiate with a Prince who had been false to his 
 oath, and had violated a solemn compact with his people. The 
 
 * Zurita, Annales de Aragon, lib. xviii. cap. 61. 
 t Garibay, xvii. cap. 28. Lopez de Azala. 
 1 Zurita, cap. 61. 
 
 z2
 
 340 BISCAY TRANSFERRED TO NEXT HEIR. [CHAP. xrv. 
 
 King of France interposed, but his mediation was firmly re- 
 fused ;* and a Castillian army sent into Biscay to enforce obe- 
 dience to King Henry's will experienced the same success which 
 has characterised the military operations of the present Queen of 
 Spain, exerted at an interval of three centuries and a half, on the 
 same theatre of action, and for nearly similar objects. f 
 
 I will now insert the oath taken by the Princess Isabella in 
 the presence of Don Lope de Quincozes, the Biscayan envoy ; 
 and to this I must particularly direct the attention of my readers, 
 principally from its great constitutional importance, as renewing 
 a solemn compact between the Crown of Castille and its Biscayan 
 subjects ; and in some degree from the wild and chivalrous and 
 almost mystical character which breathes in every line a cha- 
 racter pervading the early annals of Spain, and which still tinges 
 the manners and lingers in the hearts of her people in some 
 secluded districts of the kingdom : 
 
 " I, as Princess and Lady of the said towns, lowlands, and 
 lordship of Biscay, with all places adjoining and adhering to the 
 same, I bind myself once, twice, and thrice once, twice, and 
 thrice once, twice, and thrice, according to the fuero and cus- 
 tom of Spain, on the hands of Gomez Manriquez, Knight, Man, 
 and Noble, who receives this my homage : and I swear to our Lord 
 God, to the Holy Virgin Mary, and on the sign of the Cross J-, 
 which, corporally, I touch with my right hand, and on the words 
 of the Holy Gospels, in whatsoever place they may be, to main- 
 tain firm, good, valid, and binding, now, and for all time to 
 come, the said privileges, general and special, fueros, usages 
 and customs, franchises and liberties, of the said towns and low- 
 lands of the said county and lordship of Biscay, and of all places 
 adjoining and adhering to the same.":}: 
 
 When, upon the death of Henry IV., King Ferdinand of 
 Aragon, and his consort the famous Isabella, succeeded to the 
 throne of Castille, King Ferdinand, although engrossed by his 
 Spanish and Italian wars, proceeded immediately to Biscay, 
 attended the Biscayan Parliament, and swore not only to main- 
 
 * Zurita, cap. 61. Annales de Aragon. 
 
 t Garibay, lib. xvii. Mariana, lib. xxiii. Navarro, cap. 29. Henao, 
 lib. ii. cap. 18. 
 
 } Cuerpo del Fuero de Biscaya, folio 282.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] BISCAYAN CODE REFORMED. 341 
 
 tain their fueros and privileges generally, but granted them new 
 liberties, and specially engaged that he would never alienate, 
 upon any pretext, the smallest portion of the land of the lord- 
 ship of Biscay. And we are told by the old chroniclers, whose 
 description of the events of the time is so full of striking and 
 picturesque detail, that, " immediately after the King our Lord 
 had taken the oath, on the said day, the 30th of July, 1476, the 
 King our Lord went out of the church, and under the tree of 
 Guernica, which is near the said church, his Majesty sat on a chair 
 of stone, which is under the said tree, covered with royal pomp of 
 gold brocade ; and the said Corregidor, and the Alcaldes del Fuero, 
 and the Prelate of the church, and the Procuradores, and the De- 
 puties Emanes, and the Knights, arid the Esquires, and the Hidal- 
 gos before mentioned spoke out, and said for themselves who were 
 present, and for those who were absent, that they received him 
 as the King of Castille and Leon, and as Lord of Biscay."* 
 
 Unlike her present Majesty of Spain, Queen Isabella regarded 
 the privileges of her Basque subjects with such profound respect, 
 that, although she had sworn at Segovia to maintain their rights 
 in the presence of the Biscayan envoy ; although her consort 
 Ferdinand had subsequently confirmed, and even extended, their 
 privileges ; still that just and politic Princess proceeded to the 
 Basque States in 1483, and again confirmed their rights, not 
 once but repeatedly, in the church of Guernica, under the tree 
 of Guernica, and in every large town of Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and 
 Alava-f 
 
 Some years afterwards the Biscayan Parliament determined 
 that many laws and ordinances were still remaining on the book 
 of the Fueros which, in consequence of the lapse of time and 
 change of manners, had become inapplicable to the state of society 
 as it then existed. Under that impression they introduced con- 
 siderable changes into the legislation of the day, and at the 
 accession of Charles V. presented the reformed code for his 
 approbation. He confirmed the book of Fueros, thus amended, 
 without scruple or hesitation, as well as the privileges, and fran- 
 chises, and liberties of the said lordship, and lowlands, and towns, 
 and cities (so the act of confirmation runs), in the same way and 
 
 * Recopilacion de los Fueros de Biscaya, folio 298. 
 f Henao, lib. i. cap, 61.
 
 342 THEIR RIGHTS RESPECTED. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 manner as they were confirmed and approved by the Catholic 
 Kings, our Lord's father and grandfather. Dated June 7th, 
 1527.* 
 
 Even Charles V., the greatest monarch of his age, only 
 assumed, in the height of his pride and power, the modest title 
 of Lord of Biscay. The wisdom of the policy pursued towards 
 the Basques by Ferdinand and Isabella became very conspicuous 
 in the time of that sovereign. When, in the early part of his 
 reign, Valladolid, Segovia, Toledo, and almost all the great 
 towns of the kingdom had openly joined the popular league, and 
 the armies of the commons were making head against his 
 authority, the Basques, guaranteed in the undisturbed possession 
 of their ancient laws and liberties, remained perfectly loyal, and 
 were publicly thanked by that monarch, not only for the peace 
 and order preserved in their country, but for the faith and loyalty 
 of their conduct during that trying conjuncture. If Charles V. 
 at his accession to the throne had encroached upon the liberties 
 of the Basques, they would most unquestionably have joined the 
 popular league, and the issue of that great struggle might have 
 been wholly different ; so true it is that in public as in private life 
 the most upright is generally the safest policy. 
 
 From the time of Charles V. to the present time the Spanish 
 Sovereigns have successively, and without a single exception, 
 confirmed the privileges of the Basques, whose lofty and inde- 
 pendent spirit did not decline with the age of chivalry, but 
 continued to burn with as pure and bright a flame in later times, 
 and amid surrounding despotism. 
 
 When Philip V., in 1718, opposed the pretensions of the 
 Duke of Orleans, then Regent of France, and unnecessarily pro- 
 voked hostilities with that kingdom, the Biscayans came forward 
 to assist the Crown with their characteristic loyalty and spirit. 
 The Spanish army experienced some reverses ; an unworthy 
 influence prevailed at Madrid ; and the timid monarch, who had 
 urged his subjects into a war with France, recoiled from the 
 tempest he had raised, and left the Guipuzcoans exposed to the 
 undivided hostility of their powerful enemy. When they found 
 themselves absolutely abandoned by the Court, at whose instiga- 
 tion and in whose behalf they had taken up arms, and when they 
 * Libro del Fuero, folio 301.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] THEIR LOVE OF FREEDOM. 343 
 
 saw their territory wasted and their cities given up to a licentious 
 soldiery, a deep and universal indignation pervaded the province, 
 and Deputies were returned from every part of Guipuzcoa to the 
 general Junta, solemnly pledged to bring forward and support a 
 measure for the immediate repeal of the union between Guipuzcoa 
 and Castille ; and, actually, it was proposed and carried in the 
 Guipuzcoan Parliament, that, in consequence of the unjustifiable 
 conduct of the Spanish Court, the union should be repealed and 
 the allegiance of the province transferred to France ; but on this 
 condition only, that the French monarch should swear to maintain 
 their rights and privileges in all their integrity. The offer was 
 actually made to France, but not accepted, and the matter 
 dropped in consequence. 
 
 After the conclusion of the war the popular exasperation sub- 
 sided, and the mild and cautious policy which the Spanish Govern- 
 ment pursued at that critical conjuncture succeeded in restoring 
 to the Crown the lost affections of the provinces. 
 
 Such were the proceedings of the Basques in the last century ; 
 and yet, in the face of these facts, we are called upon to believe 
 that men who so recently exercised the rights of a free people 
 and an independent state are now entitled to no privileges but 
 such as a bankrupt Government at Madrid may please to confer 
 upon them ! Strictly speaking, every King of Spain is still 
 bound to repair in person to Guernica on his accession to the 
 throne, and swear under the tree to preserve their privileges ; 
 but the Basques, contented with the substance, have of late years 
 dispensed with the form of attendance: that form, however, has 
 not been annulled, or even disputed, but only evaded ; for when 
 the Biscayan privileges are confirmed by the Spanish Sovereigns 
 at Madrid, the royal journey to the Basque States is announced, 
 but invariably postponed, on the plea of pressing business, to a 
 day that never arrives. 
 
 And now I have led my reader down the stream of time, and 
 have described the gradual formation of a constitutional system 
 of government, little known, indeed, but, in point of interest, 
 without a parallel in the history of the world, if we consider the 
 noble and engaging character of the people among whom it was 
 established, the length of time it has existed, the extent of 
 freedom it has secured, and the excellence which it attained in an
 
 344 ' INQUISITION NEVER TOLERATED. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 immature and half-civilized age. The soundest principles of 
 government were thoroughly appreciated and successfully carried 
 into effect by the isolated Biscayans at a time when the elements 
 of civil liberty were scarcely understood in other parts of Europe. 
 
 Time and experience have unquestionably improved the 
 science of government ; its machinery rolls on lighter wheels, 
 but the great political maxims to which the old Biscayans 
 adhered have been confirmed and diffused by the ripen ing wisdom 
 of mankind ; and I may safely say that there is no great principle 
 of law and liberty engrafted upon our own constitution in later 
 times which may not be found embodied in their early code. 
 
 The cant of liberty and the jargon of political economy were 
 not for ever on their lips, but a heartfelt love of freedom was the 
 mainspring of every thought and action ; and all that is of prac- 
 tical value to the happiness of individuals and to the welfare of 
 the state was comprehended by the Basques and steadily enforced. 
 At a time when religious toleration in Great Britain was rather 
 the Utopia of a few benevolent minds than an admitted principle 
 of government, and when every human energy was depressed by 
 the iron yoke of the Inquisition in other parts of Spain, this insti- 
 tution was unknown to the Basque provinces, and indeed was 
 never suffered to pollute that land of freedom. A tradition still 
 exists, that, when the agents of that dreadful tribunal went from 
 Castille on a message to the Biscayans to recommend that insti- 
 tution to their adoption, they were met by the Deputies on the 
 very frontier of the state, and sternly told, " So far, no farther 
 shalt thou go." In short, the more carefully we examine the 
 old Biscayan records, the more we shall be inclined to feel that 
 the Basques have had no superiors in the race of civil and 
 religious liberty. 
 
 And now let us pause for a moment and see the conclusion to 
 which we are irresistibly led by a calm consideration of the 
 events already enumerated. A compact appears to have been 
 concluded in very remote times between the Biscayans and their 
 elected Lords, in which the provincial privileges were insisted 
 on as the sole condition of their allegiance. Doubts have, I 
 know, been cast upon the events of that distant period ; doubts 
 which, I think, are not borne out by the notices of the time ; but 
 we can easily afford the Crown lawyers of Spain the benefit
 
 CHAP, xiv.] RECAPITULATION. 345 
 
 arising from the darkness and general uncertainty of that epoch. 
 Sufficient light is shed upon the transactions of a later period to 
 answer every practical purpose. 
 
 When the Crowns of Castille and Biscay were united, we find 
 the Biscayans insisting upon the full recognition of their privi- 
 leges as the price of their consent to that measure, granting to 
 their new master, the Sovereign of Castille, the title of Lord, but 
 refusing him that of King, as far as Biscay was concerned ; 
 that he might keep in mind the terms upon which he was re- 
 ceived, and the engagement by which he was bound. 
 
 We find the first Castillian Lord of Biscay journeying to that 
 country at the requisition of his Biscayan subjects, as soon as he 
 had attained the legal age, and solemnly swearing to preserve 
 their rights. We find him, at a subsequent period of his reign, 
 publicly adverting to his oath as that which should regulate his 
 conduct as their ruler, and during a reign of twenty years adher- 
 ing strictly to the letter of his engagements ; we find his son and 
 heir taking the same oath at the legal age ; we find the Bis- 
 cayans, in the reign of his infant grandson, refusing to pay their 
 usual contributions to the Regency, stating that there was no 
 precedent for payment of contribution to their Lord until he had 
 confirmed their fueros, and sworn to maintain the same ; and 
 only yielding to the repeated applications of the Regency on 
 the solemn promise that the young Prince should take the oath 
 at the earliest period practicable, and that the Regent should 
 proceed to Biscay, and swear to observe their rights during the 
 intervening time. 
 
 We afterwards see a King of Castille swearing to respect, but 
 violating, those privileges ; we find the crime and the punishment 
 following in close succession ; we see; him legally dispossessed 
 of Biscay by the Biscayan Parliament, and the territory trans- 
 ferred by a vote of that assembly to his sister, the next in suc- 
 cession ; and we see the offer accepted by that Princess, upon 
 the express condition of maintaining in perpetuity, and in their 
 fullest sense, the existing rights of Biscay. 
 
 The progressive history of the time shows us her husband, 
 King Ferdinand, soon afterwards, not only confirming but 
 extending these rights ; and the Biscayan Parliament, in the 
 reign of his successor, exercising their legislative functions on
 
 346 RECAPITULATION. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 the most delicate and important matters, and coming to a 
 solemn decision that the ancient laws of Biscay were defective, 
 and required reform. We discover that, in pursuance of this 
 resolution, their code of laws was re-arranged, and, to a great 
 extent, remodelled, by a Biscayan commission, acting under the ' 
 immediate control of a Biscayan Parliament ; that, so amended, 
 it was presented to Charles V. for his approbation ; that it re- 
 ceived the assent of that monarch ; that it was printed, and ever 
 since that time has formed a regular and written Constitution, 
 which has been invariably confirmed by the succeeding Kings of 
 Spain. 
 
 Did human laws ever rest upon a more legitimate basis ? 
 Were the liberties of freemen ever "bequeathed from sire to 
 son " in such unbroken succession, or maintained with such de- 
 termination for so great a length of time ? Every incident in 
 the origin and progress of the Biscayan Constitution that could 
 make engagement sacred, or give confidence and stability to 
 transactions between public bodies, has combined to give a cha- 
 racter of legal and established right to the liberties of that 
 nation. 
 
 Here is prescription in its most venerable shape for the lovers 
 of antiquity ; here is a revolutionary title for the friends of the 
 sovereignty of the people ;* here are privileges confirmed over and 
 over again by the monarch, and asserted by the people with unva- 
 rying energy and success in every age and under every variety of 
 circumstance. In whatever light, according to whatever political 
 bias, men may please to consider the question, to this conclusion 
 fair-judging persons must arrive that, if solemn and repeated 
 confirmation, if the most remote prescription can avail to make 
 any title indisputably good, the privileges of the Biscayans are 
 unassailable in principle, and cannot, therefore, with the faintest 
 semblance of justice, be abolished, or even modified, without 
 their own consent, expressed by their own assemblies. 
 
 The occasional attempts at encroachment are but additional 
 proofs of the reality and extent of those privileges ; for every 
 encroachment, from the thirteenth century down to the present 
 period, has been repelled by the Biscayans, and every repulse 
 has ultimately been acquiesced in by the encroaching party. 
 
 * The transference of the crown from Henry IV. to his sister Isabella.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] POLITICAL ENCROACHMENTS. 347 
 
 To believe that a free people, paying fealty to a sovereign 
 despotic in the rest of his dominions, should not, during the 
 lapse of centuries, have been exposed to some aggression upon 
 their liberties, is to suppose that which never yet existed in the 
 annals of limited monarchy, it is to suppose that, where two 
 conflicting interests are confronted, no collision will ever arise ; 
 that Sovereigns in Spain are exempt from the passions incident 
 to the human mind in other countries, in short, that it is not 
 in the nature of power to oppress, or of prerogative to encroach. 
 But we have seen the ineffectual efforts of every Prince who trod 
 that crooked path in the early days of the Basque connexion 
 with Spain, and similar attempts in recent times have been 
 equally conspicuous for their failure. 
 
 Philip III. endeavoured to introduce into Biscay some changes 
 at variance with their privileges, but he soon became sensible of 
 his indiscretion, he retracted his orders, confessed his error, and 
 stated in a public manifesto that he had been wrongfully ad- 
 vised.* 
 
 An attempt was made in Alava, in the commencement of the 
 last century, to enforce the royal orders without previously sub- 
 mitting them, as the law required, to the popular Authorities of 
 the province. This encroachment on the Alavese liberties 
 appears to have originated with one of the Ministers of the 
 Crown, but was speedily arrested by a royal injunction, counter- 
 signed by Don Joseph Nicholas de Castro, and bearing date the 
 6th of August, 1703. It ordered that " all warrants addressed 
 to the Judges of the Commission, or to other persons in the 
 province of Alava, shall be first presented to their Junta, or 
 submitted to the Diputado-General, to ascertain whether they 
 contain anything contrary to the fueros' laws and privileges, and, 
 if those privileges should be in any degree affected by its con- 
 tents, such warrants shall be obeyed but not carried into effect." 
 
 In the year 1742 an Alcalde of Fontarabia made a similar 
 attempt to violate the Guipuzcoan privileges, and also endea- 
 voured to carry into effect a royal order transmitted to him 
 through Don Joseph del Campillo, the Minister of that day, 
 without having previously submitted it to the provincial depu- 
 
 * Recopilacion de Fueros, folio 301. This manifesto is dated Valladolid, 
 May 24th, 1601.
 
 348 POLITICAL ENCROACHMENTS. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 tation. Guipuzcoa was thrown into the greatest ferment by 
 this departure from the law and usage of the land, but was 
 appeased by a royal order rebuking the Alcalde, and command- 
 ing that officer to submit to the proceedings instituted against 
 him by the deputation, and appear before their jurisdiction, as 
 an atonement for the outrage he had so wantonly committed. 
 The Royal order is inserted in the notes. 
 
 In 1804 Godoy (the nicknamed Prince of Peace) sent a 
 quantity of stamps into Biscay, insisting on their use in aid of 
 the general revenue. The Deputies met, denounced the act as 
 an infringement of their liberties, and declared that the innova- 
 tion was contrary to the laws of Biscay, and could not be 
 allowed. The Government threatened ; but the Deputies, sup- 
 ported by the sympathy of an unanimous people, persevered in 
 their refusal, and, in consequence, the obnoxious stamps were 
 delivered to the common hangman, and burnt under the tree of 
 Guernica. 
 
 This contemptuous defiance of the Spanish Government by the 
 patriots in the defence of their lawful privileges produced much 
 irritation at Madrid, but the Biscayans carried their point, and the 
 right they claimed was tacitly but fully admitted by the baffled 
 Ministry. The attempt was not renewed. Stamps were still, 
 as before, effectually excluded from Biscay ; and when any war- 
 rant issues from a superior court, the order for execution in 
 Biscay is always made out on plain, unstamped paper. 
 
 The last time, before the Queen's accession, that the Spanish 
 Government contemplated any infringement of the liberties of 
 the Basques, was in King Ferdinand's reign ; and the circum- 
 stances connected with this intention are extremely curious, as 
 solving an apparent contradiction in the feelings of the parties 
 engaged in the present struggle, and showing the principal 
 cause of the popularity enjoyed by Don Carlos in the north of 
 Spain. It is sometimes said in England that, if the Basques were 
 really struggling for their liberties, they would scarcely rally 
 with such passionate zeal round the standard of a prince known 
 to entertain opinions of a strongly monarchical character. The 
 fact may appear singular to men unacquainted with the recent 
 history of the Court of Madrid. At one period of Ferdinand's 
 reign, a profligate Minister, anxious to ingratiate himself with
 
 CHAP, xiv.] BASQUE LIBERTIES PRESERVED. 849 
 
 the Court by excess of servility, concocted a scheme to abridge 
 materially, if not entirely to suppress, the liberties of the Basques, 
 and submitted the plan to the Council of State, over which Don 
 Carlos then presided. The minister dwelt upon the possibility of 
 extracting a larger revenue from the Basques, upon the expediency 
 of extinguishing a spirit of independence so dangerous from the 
 example it held out, and strongly urged the policy of reducing 
 all the provinces of Spain to the level of a common servitude, 
 and of thus at once extending and securing the absolute prero- 
 gative of the Crown. In consequence of this proposal, the 
 question of the Basque privileges underwent a protracted inves- 
 tigation ; the case was argued before the Council in detail, and 
 considered in all its legal and constitutional bearings. During 
 the progress of this inquiry, Don Carlos, acting less as the Prince 
 than as the friend of the people, took ample care that the Bis- 
 cayan advocates should not be deprived of any fair advantage ; 
 and when the inquiry was brought to an issue, he rose and stated 
 that the ministerial scheme involved a manifest breach of the 
 compact solemnly entered into between the Crown of Spain and 
 the people of the free provinces ; that good, if indeed any good 
 could eventually result from such a measure, was not to be ob- 
 tained by a. positive violation of faith ; that the Crown was bound 
 to respect the established rights of the meanest subject of the 
 realm ; that such a conspiracy against their privileges was not to 
 be endured ; and that the proposition itself was an insult to Cas- 
 tillian honour. 
 
 Don Carlos may have prejudices connected with the royal 
 authority in common with his countrymen ; but that refusal to 
 enter into an unprincipled scheme, though possibly advantageous 
 to the prerogative, showed a man upon whose word, once given, 
 a nation can rely. There spoke the same resolute and honest 
 spirit which, when in France and captive, declined to treat with 
 his imperial oppressor on any but on equal terms ; the man who, 
 while his brother meanly consented to abandon the Crown of his 
 ancestors, and the people nobly struggling for that crown, re- 
 fused to give up his birthright, or to forfeit his eventual title, 
 by any voluntary act, saying that he was born a Prince of 
 Spain, and would maintain his just rights to the last hour of his 
 life. 
 
 But, with respect to the ministerial scheme for the suppression
 
 350 ATTACHMENT TO DON CARLOS. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 of the privileges, the vigorous condemnation pronounced by Don 
 Carlos had an electrical effect on the Council, and the worthless 
 project expired in its birth. 
 
 The project, indeed, expired, but gave rise to results unex- 
 pected by the projector. The honourable part which Don Carlos 
 had taken in the Council, on a question of such vital interest to 
 the Biscayans, was quickly known in Biscay ; and from that 
 moment he became the undivided object of their enthusiasm ; 
 the centre of their hopes ; the idol of their affections ; and, in 
 his person, they now revere the representative of their ancient 
 Sovereigns, and the guardian of their actual liberties ; and, when 
 they raise the war-cry for that Prince, the loyalty and the liberties 
 of Biscay seem identified in their eyes, and are indissolubly bound 
 up in the magic of his name. 
 
 And well, indeed, might the inhabitants of the privileged 
 provinces love the Prince who loved and respected their privi- 
 leges. The effect of those rights is perceptible not only in the 
 demeanour of the people, but in the general aspect of their dis- 
 tricts : a traveller, entering the Basque provinces by the Castil- 
 lian frontier, is impressed by the great and sudden improvement 
 visible in the appearance of the population, in their dress, in 
 their agriculture, in their very beasts of burden ; their cottages 
 are neat and sometimes beautifully ornamented, and a general 
 air of comfort pervades their districts. Entering Navarre on 
 the side of Aragon, he is equally struck with indications of in- 
 creased prosperity, and is agreeably surprised by the extreme 
 improvement of the roads, which are scarcely passable till he 
 reaches the frontier of Navarre, but are afterwards broad, smooth, 
 and kept in the highest order. 
 
 These are but the external symptoms of the real difference 
 which prevails between the internal arrangements of the privi- 
 leged provinces and those which have no especial rights ; taxa- 
 tion for local purposes is really applied in the privileged states 
 to the objects for which it is nominally raised. No individual 
 or body of men can there embezzle any portion of the public 
 money, which is guarded with a jealous eye, and dispensed with 
 a judicious hand ; and if those provinces derived solid benefits 
 from the possession of these privileges, the ancient government 
 was no sufferer by their existence. No district of the kingdom 
 possessing an equal population contributed more largely than
 
 CHAP. xiv. j THE NAVAERESE PRIVILEGES. 351 
 
 Biscay to the support of the Crown : this province maintained 
 and officered, at its own expense, alike in peace or in war, an 
 army of 14,000 men, kept in complete repair no less than three- 
 and-twenty forts, providing artillery, ammunition, and men, and 
 in periods of invasion sent forth a host of independent guerillas. 
 In times of unusual peril they voluntarily made unusual exer- 
 tions : in 1793 they sent 8000 men to divert the attack from 
 the royal army ; and when the lines were forced by the invading 
 French, they raised, without a sordid scruple or a dissentient 
 voice, an additional body of 16,000 men, and defended the fron- 
 tiers, and for a time repulsed the enemy with all the character- 
 istic courage and constancy of their country. 
 
 I will not fatigue my reader with any detailed instances of 
 the existence, in recent times, of the Navarrese rights. These 
 rights were great indeed ; these powers, more extensive, in some 
 respects, than those possessed by the British Legislature, were 
 actually wielded by the Cortes of Navarre, as proved by the ad- 
 mission of the Spanish Cortes of 1812, an assembly wedded to 
 the system of provincial uniformity, and hostile to provincial 
 distinctions. The privilege of suspending the promulgation of a 
 law, after it had received the sanction of the Crown, was actually 
 exercised by the Cortes of Navarre in 1817. By the old consti- 
 tution of Navarre, when the States General of the province had 
 determined upon a bill, which is called in Navarre the demand 
 of a law, the King either approves or rejects it ; but, even after 
 it has received the royal approval, the Cortes of Navarre can re- 
 examine it, and at last absolutely forbid its promulgation and 
 enrolment, should it appear contrary to the public interest. 
 
 The Basques and the Navarrese, separated from each other, it 
 is true, by a striking diversity of tastes and habits, are yet united 
 by an equal attachment to their privileges and to their Prince. 
 The Biscayan, delighting in varied enterprise, fond of agricul- 
 tural, but no less attached to commercial pursuits, as much at 
 home on the ocean as on his native hills, will frequently leave 
 his country in the morning of life to advance his fortunes in 
 other states, and sometimes in another hemisphere ; but, unlike 
 the adventurous spirits of France and England, his original im- 
 pressions are little weakened by a greater intercourse with the 
 world, and the laws, the liberties, and the traditions of his country 
 cling to him in whatever part of the globe he may be found ; in
 
 352 CONCLUSION. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 short, his affections seldom take root in the scene of his active 
 speculations, but are centered in that distant home which he 
 only leaves to revisit after years of successful enterprise, there 
 to spend the remainder of his life in competence and comfort. 
 The Navarrese, on the contrary, animated not perhaps by a 
 greater but by a different kind of affection for his country, ad- 
 heres with tenacity to the soil of his birth ; he is usually addicted 
 almost exclusively to agricultural pursuits ; no prospect of ad- 
 vantage or promotion can, generally speaking, induce him to 
 abandon, even for a time, the home of his fathers. 
 
 I have heard, even from their wild guerilla chieftains when in 
 arms, the most touching expressions of affection for their altars 
 and their hearths. The Navarrese is ready to make any sacri- 
 fices and incur any danger, if those sacrifices are to be made, and 
 that danger incurred, upon his native soil ; but if compelled to 
 pass the limits of his beloved province, his energies too often 
 desert him, and he sometimes seems deprived of half his strength. 
 To such an extent is this overpowering attachment to their 
 country carried in Navarre, that, when Guerge marched into 
 Catalonia, at the head of a Navarrese force, to assist the Carlist 
 insurgents, although his troops were quartered in a country far 
 more abundant than their own, were well received by the inha- 
 bitants, and were moreover crowned with success in the field, he 
 was prevailed upon by their entreaties and prayers to lead them 
 back to Navarre, and there, under the inspiration of their native sky, 
 they were surpassed by none in courage and devotion to the cause. 
 
 And now I have told my tale. This review of the state of 
 Biscay was written, as I have previously observed, when the 
 Biscayan war was still in active operation. This statement was 
 published at a time when I entertained some hopes of a happier 
 issue, with fear, however, preponderating over hope ; it is now 
 republished, when hope, alas ! has merged into certainty. Still 
 the coming generation may ask what were the far-famed fueros of 
 Biscay ; and it may not be uninteresting or useless to receive, 
 from the pen of one who knew and loved that people in their 
 better day, some brief account of those peculiar privileges which 
 constituted their pride and happiness from the dawn of their 
 political existence to their late shameful overthrow. 
 
 NOTES.
 
 NOTES. 353 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 "After the counter-devolution in 1823 the convents were restored, but have 
 been finally suppressed under the Christine Government. The cruelties 
 exercised on the unhappy monks upon this occasion are horrible to think of." 
 P. 22. 
 
 I WILL briefly communicate, for the information of readers who take an 
 interest in the administration of Church matters, a few of the decrees 
 levelled by the Christino government against the conventual establish- 
 ments, and notice some of the barbarities exercised upon the unhappy 
 monks at this time. 
 
 Upon one occasion, I think in 1834, a mob collected before the con- 
 vent of the Jesuits at Madrid, in the street of Toledo, the doors of the 
 edifice were forced open, and a massacre of the monks ensued. On the 
 same evening the head convent of the Franciscans was attacked. They 
 defended themselves for a long time with the most heroic courage ; but 
 the convent was at length taken, and no less than forty of its inmates 
 were deliberately butchered. Yet several battalions of the Queen's army 
 were present, and saw the carnage without emotion ; not a man stepped 
 forward in their defence, and not an officer of that degraded force 
 exerted himself to save those victims of the popular rage. Yet to these 
 monks no political crime had been imputed, and against them no poli- 
 tical accusation had been raised. On the same evening the convent of 
 the Dominicans, the convent of the Carmelites, and many other monas- 
 teries were destroyed, although the armed force in Madrid might have 
 easily suppressed the tumult. These striking displays of liberal energy 
 were imitated in the provinces, and repeated with still greater success. 
 The indignation felt by the ministers of foreign powers had compelled the 
 Spanish Government to take some notice of crimes which had dyed the 
 streets of the capital with the blood of innocent men ; but in the pro- 
 vinces these acts were renewed by the Liberals under the encouraging 
 eye of the constituted authorities. The result of these proceedings was 
 obvious. Forbidden to keep arms for their own defence, and unpro- 
 tected by the natural guardians of the law, the monks were compelled, 
 under the hourly dread of assassination, to desert their once peaceful 
 halls and well-cultivated fields, too fortunate if, in that hour of persecu- 
 
 2A
 
 354 NOTES. 
 
 tion, they could obtain from a compassionate and still revering pea- 
 santry some portion of that sustenance which they in more prosperous 
 times had never denied to the poor and the suppliant ; and happy, too 
 happy, if under the wretched roof of some lowly but sincere adherent 
 of the faith they could at once conceal their miseries and their pro- 
 scribed persons from the dangerous observation of their enemies. 
 
 The convents, in consequence, became in many places reluctantly de- 
 serted by their lawful tenants, who did not venture to remain ; upon 
 which the Government quietly seized upon their lands and upon all their 
 effects, in virtue of a decree which, in a spirit prophetic of coming 
 events, they had lately promulgated, "that, if any ecclesiastics should 
 quit the kingdom without licence, possession should be taken of their 
 temporalities," with this monstrous addition, "that no other proof of the 
 flight of the ecclesiastic from the kingdom was requisite than public 
 report." 
 
 As the endangered monks necessarily sought concealment, public 
 report was a creature wholly at the command of the liberal inquisitor, 
 and that monk was often declared a voluntary exile from his native land 
 who was perhaps at the very moment pining in the last state of indi- 
 gence within the limits of his former territory. The Government first 
 decreed " that any ecclesiastics who had left the kingdom," for which 
 no proof but flight was requisite, "should by that act have forfeited 
 their property ;" and then, by excluding them from the protection of 
 the law, the Government rendered flight almost inevitable, and thus 
 brought them within range of the confiscating edict. By this subtle 
 and iniquitous policy they succeeded, at least to a great extent, in gra- 
 tifying the animosity of the Liberals by the destruction of the monastic 
 establishments, without alarming the great European powers by an act 
 of manifest spoliation. 
 
 But among the Spanish monks there were men not only intrepid in 
 the faith, but stanch in the defence of their legal rights men who 
 would not be induced by the murder of their companions, and by their 
 own imminent peril, to desert their ancient halls. Against these obsti- 
 nate proprietors another process was adopted. The Government had 
 decreed "that any ecclesiastic who should be guilty of providing the 
 rebels with arms, money, &c., of receiving them, inducing persons to 
 join them, or exciting movements or sedition, should have their tempo- 
 ralities confiscated," &c. &c. 
 
 To the letter of that decree no objection could be fairly raised, if it 
 had been carried into effect with fairness ; bat when men were sum- 
 moned to rebut charges so easily made, so difficult to be disproved, of so 
 vajrue a description, and before individuals predetermined to effect their 
 2'uin, the deposition of a discarded menial was proof sufficient to decide
 
 NOTES. 355 
 
 their fate : the vaguest hearsay allegation from a liberal opponent was 
 an excess of testimony ; and, although property was at stake, property 
 dear to freemen as their lives, not only the spirit of justice, but the 
 very form of a trial, was declared by a Constitutional Government to be 
 unnecessary in their case ; and the confiscation of all their effects was 
 only preceded by a short investigation before a local functionary, whose 
 decision might be pronounced with certainty before the examination 
 commenced. Justice was then declared in pompous terms to be satisfied, 
 and no further measures to be requisite. 
 
 By such iniquitous means the Spanish monks, who had sacrificed all 
 other and better prospects to their profession, became in many instances 
 deprived not only of a comfortable provision for life, but of the means 
 of subsistence, frequently by an unjust sentence, upon an ill-supported 
 accusation, and sometimes in the evening of life ; yet these were men 
 to whom the people had long looked up with reverence, and now regard 
 as martyrs. 
 
 Since that period the open march of revolution has dispensed with the 
 assistance of collusive measures ; the convents have, with few excep- 
 tions, been suppressed by a general edict ; and, although the exiled 
 monks were promised a paltry pension, as some compensation for the 
 easy competence which they had again enjoyed during the restoration of 
 the old Government, even that inadequate allowance was so ill secured, 
 was practically so limited by conditions, and so irregularly paid, that 
 these poor pensioners have been reduced to a condition of the lowest 
 misery, and many of them, as in 1820, have perished from actual starv- 
 ation. 
 
 I do not know whether any faith has been kept with the survivors. 
 Narvaez, in his former administration, showed himself far more sensible 
 to the claims of justice, where the Church and its members were con- 
 cerned, than any other minister whom the revolution has produced. 
 Espartero, the favourite of the English nation, did not even understand 
 the meaning of that word when Church questions were agitated. 
 
 "The restoration of the Inquisition, altered and improved so as to meet the 
 improved spirit and the more humane policy of the present day, might have 
 been a proceeding neither unwise nor unpopular." P. 95. , 
 
 I have been censured for this expression of opinion, although I had 
 conceived that, with the stated limitation, it could have been open to 
 no objection. It cannot be supposed that I am friendly to the spirit of 
 such an institution ; but every man acquainted with the real state of 
 parties in Spain must be aware that an official manifesto, at any period 
 of the recent struggle, announcing the intention of Don Carlos to abolish 
 that tribunal, would probably have been attended with results highly 
 
 2 A 2
 
 356 NOTES. 
 
 prejudicial to the royal cause. That institution is still deeply rooted in 
 the prejudices, if not in the affections, of the peasantry. Over their 
 heads its thunders rolled almost innocuous, even in those days when the 
 despotism of the papal power was most uncontrolled ; and during the 
 last five-and-twerity years its depression has been invariably accompanied 
 by the desecration of their altars, the persecution of their priests, and 
 the destruction of every ancient and religious institution, and is therefore 
 associated in their minds by the ascendancy of revolution in its worst 
 shape. A formal abolition of this tribunal would probably have given 
 rise to great misapprehension of the motives of Don Carlos among that 
 valuable class which so long wielded in his favour the physical force of 
 the country, and might therefore have been most impolitic. Whether 
 or not it might have been desirable to have preserved the Inquisition 
 nominally, divesting it of all that was objectionable, might have been a 
 fair question for the consideration of a statesman. That it was not the 
 intention of Don Carlos or of his advisers to have perpetuated the abuses 
 of that tribunal is manifest from the following extracts from a corre- 
 spondence which I have seen, and of which I can guarantee the authen- 
 ticity. 
 
 Extract from a letter of Joaquim, Bishop of Leon : 
 " With respect to the Inquisition, the manifesto should state in ex- 
 plicit terms that, for the better regulation of the Church of Spain and its 
 dependencies, it has been found necessary to re-establish the old Coun- 
 cils of Toledo, which, during the number of years that the Church was 
 exclusively governed by them, shed so much lustre on it. You know as 
 well as I do that the said Councils are much anterior to the establish- 
 ment of the Inquisition, and that by the fact of calling them together 
 the Inquisition will be quietly abolished." 
 
 To make this clear, I will only state that the Councils of Toledo pos- 
 sess little more authority than that possessed by our Ecclesiastical Courts, 
 and their decisions cannot take effect without the previous sanction of 
 the Crown. 
 
 Extract from a letter of Don Carlos to the Bishop in 1835: 
 "You know, my dear Bishop, the rectitude of my intentions and my 
 sentiments on this subject, the abolition of the Inquisition, and that they 
 are the same as those which you express in your letter. It is true I am an 
 enemy to manifestos, because I only wish to do what is right, and to secure 
 the happiness of my countrymen, which must ever be my main desire. Now 
 a manifesto, besides that it raises expectations which one may never be 
 able to realize a thing which I detest above all others must either be 
 strung together with high-sounding promises and phrases intended to 
 hallucinate and deceive, or it must loo openly expose the intentions one 
 really has of doing good to one's country to be prudent. Nevertheless, if
 
 NOTES. 357 
 
 you still judge it necessary and useful, I am still ready to publish the 
 manifesto you advise ; but, in that case, I pray you to put it together for 
 me, because, so high is the opinion I entertain of your wisdom, and the 
 love and interest you bear me, that then I shall remain satisfied that it 
 will be done as it ought. 
 
 (Signed) " CARLOS." 
 
 Dated, Tolosa, Nov. 10, 1835. 
 
 I have stated that the Inquisition did not prevail in Biscay. In point 
 of form, the agents of that tribunal could not act openly in those pro- 
 vinces from the nature of their laws. In point of practice, it appears 
 from Zamacola an infinite number of Protestant families escaped from 
 France after the dreadful massacre of St. Bartholomew, and found a 
 secure asylum in Biscay, where they were protected and kindly received. 
 And yet this generous conduct observed towards the unfortunate exiles 
 might have entailed on the Biscayans the resentment of the Court of 
 France, and was sure to excite the displeasure of the Spanjsh Govern- 
 ment ; for it must be remembered that this toleration was shown by 
 them during the reign of Philip II., the most powerful prince that ever 
 swayed the sceptre of Spain, at a time when autosdaje were of frequent 
 occurrence in other parts of his dominions, and when foreigners as well 
 as natives were brought to the stake. 
 
 NOTES TO THE REVIEW OF THE SOCIAL AND 
 POLITICAL STATE OF BISCAY. 
 
 [In these Notes I have inserted some of the old proclamations and public 
 papers to which I have alluded in the historical chapter of my work (p. 
 316), and on which I have in some degree founded my argument. I have 
 also annexed a literal translation of those documents which appeared to be 
 most interesting or most essential to the points which of late years have 
 been brought under discussion.] 
 
 THE Basques, Vasques, or Guasques, have been at all times a most re- 
 markable people, and to this day speak a language of their own, entirely 
 different from that made use of in other parts of Spain, with which in- 
 deed it bears no kind of analogy. It appears, from various sources, that 
 the highland districts of Biscay, Alava, and Guipuzcoa were never sub- 
 dued by the Romans, invincible on every other soil. For this reason 
 we cannot discover, in those parts of the Basque provinces, any traces 
 of the language and the laws, the customs or the religion, of those 
 masters of the world. Towards the close of the Neustrian empire, the
 
 358 NOTES. 
 
 Basques were celebrated for their military achievements, and overran 
 and subjected, though they did not long retain, a large portion of 
 France.* Gascony tells its own tale, and is evidently a legacy be- 
 queathed by the Basques or Guasques, as they were then indiscriminately 
 called. The Mahometan invaders were not more successful in their 
 efforts against these highlanders of the north of Spain ; among their 
 rocks, for centuries, the persecuted faith of Christ found a secure 
 asylum, when, except in the Asturias, the Crescent had almost every- 
 where in Spain replaced the Cross. From these wild fastnesses the 
 tide of Christianity, that had ebbed so low, was destined to flow back 
 over its lost domain, in a course of gradual and progressive triumph, till 
 it had again no limits but the sea. 
 
 Don Rodrigo Toledano observes, " Saraceni totam Hispaniam occu- 
 paverunt gentes Gothicae fortitudine jam contrita nee alicubi resistente, 
 ecceptis paucis reliquiis, quae in montanis Asturiarum, Viseagiae et 
 Alavae, Guipuzcoae, Ruconiae, et Aragoniae remanserant, quas ideo Do- 
 minus reservavit ne lucerna Sanctorum in Hispanis coram Domino ex- 
 tingueretur." Rodrigo Tokdano, lib. iv. cap. 1. 
 
 " En las partes de los Pirineos, que estftn mas a la mar mayor y los 
 contornos de estos lugares, que descienden en Guipuzcoa, y costeando 
 el mar se estienden por Alaba y Bizcaya, quedaron los Christianos tan 
 exemptos de los Moros como primero lo fueron de los Romanes. " 
 JBueter, lib. i. cap. 30. 
 
 " Otra parte se encerro en los montes Pirineos en sus cumbres y 
 aspereza do moran los Vizcaynos y los Navarros. Estos contiados en 
 la fortaleza y fragura de aquellos lugares, no solo defendieron su libertad 
 sino tratoron y acometieron tambien de ayudar los demas en Espaila." 
 Mariana, lib. viii. c. 1. 
 
 Guipuzcoan union with Castille. p. 318. 
 
 Guipuzcoa is defended by the Crown, Biscay by the people them- 
 selves. The King's Governor in Guipuzcoa cannot, however, interfere 
 in civil matters. A Corregidor appointed by the Crown presides over 
 the Guipuzcoan Parliament, as in Alava and Biscay. The Guipuzcoan 
 Junta is composed of the Corregidor, four Deputies from San Sebastian. 
 Tolosa, Aspeitia, and Azcoitia, each of whom must be an inhabitant 
 of the town he represents, and Deputies from every village of the 
 province. 
 
 Speaking of the Guipuzcoan towns, Garibay observes that " King 
 Alonzo confirmed to them their fueros, which were afterwards confirmed 
 to them by other Kings." Lib. xii. c. 29. 
 
 * Michelet.
 
 NOTES. 359 
 
 "The King unwisely addressed a pedido to his Guipuzcoan subjects." p. 334. 
 The pedido was considered a direct infringement of their rights. 
 Garibay states that " there is an original document in the archives of 
 Mondragon stating that the King, Don Pedro, imposed a hundred thou- 
 sand maravedis of tribute, under the name of pedido, on all the towns from 
 the northern bank of the Ebro to the sea-coast, including Guipuzcoa, 
 but the nobles of that province ordered the King to search for a prece- 
 dent ; and as none could be found, the King commanded his secretaries 
 to register and note down that the demand should never more be re- 
 peated." Lib. xv. cap. 34. 
 
 " A Deputy, transported with rage. . . .slew the encroaching minister on the 
 spot." p. 337. 
 
 The murder of the Jew Gaon is differently related by different 
 writers, though all concur in stating that it was occasioned by an attempt 
 on his part to levy the pedido upon the Guipuzcoans in the King's 
 name. Mariana says that he was killed by the people ; Garibay attri- 
 butes his death to the Hidalgos ; others impute it to a Deputy. We 
 find this brief account of the transaction in Mariana : 
 
 " En Tolosa, pueblo de Guipuzcoa, " At Tolosa, a town of Guipuzcoa, 
 
 el comun del pueblo mato en seis de the common people killed, on the 6th 
 
 Mayo a un Judio llamado Gaon : fue of May, a Jew of the name of Gaon ; 
 
 la occasion que por estar el Key the event occurred in this manner : 
 
 cerca, entretanto que se entretenia While the King was at Fuente- 
 
 en Fuenterabia, empezo el Judio a rabia the said Jew began to exact a 
 
 cobrar cierta imposicion que se sort of contribution called the 'Pe- 
 
 llamaba el Pedido sobre que anti- dido,' which had formerly excited 
 
 guamente huvo grandes alteraciones much disturbance among the inha- 
 
 entre los de aquella nacion, y al bitants of that country ; and on the 
 
 presente llevaban mal que se les present occasion they were displeased 
 
 quebrantasen en sus privilegios y at this violation of their privileges 
 
 libertades. No castigo este delito and liberties. This crime and murder 
 
 y esta muerte." Tom. ii. lib. 23, was not punished." Tom. ii. lib. 23, 
 
 cap. 6. cap. 6. 
 
 Garibay enters into the transaction at greater length, and observes, 
 with respect to the authors of Gaon ? s death, that " the Hidalgos of 
 Guipuzcoa, indignant at an outrage which their privileges and lordly 
 nature (ftidalgwa) could not brook, killed the Jew in the town of Tolosa, 
 on the 6th of May, while the King was at Fuenterabia, being induced 
 to act thus in defence of their privileges, and in order that no man 
 should hereafter dare to commit a similar outrage." Lib. xvii. cap. 9. 
 
 " Tell this to King Henry ! Return, and bid him remember that one of the 
 fundamental laws of our people runs thus : ' We ordain that if any one, 
 whether native or foreigner, should coerce any man, woman, people.... 
 shall be disobeyed, and, if he persists, killed.' " p. 338. 
 
 The old Guipuzcoan law runs thus: " We ordain and command, that
 
 360 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 if any native Iqrd or foreigner, under the pretext of royal letters or pro- 
 visions from the King our lord, which have not been previously submitted 
 to the Junta, and approved of by them, if such a person shall commit 
 aught against the privileges of the province, and shall endeavour to do 
 aught against the right of any inhabitant or inhabitants of the towns and 
 villages, they shall not obey him or permit him to carry his intentions 
 into effect ; on the contrary, they shall resist him, and if they cannot 
 make him desist by fair means they shall kill him, and the towns and 
 villages shall defend the killers or wounders." Book of the Guipuzcoan 
 Fueros, cap. ii. tit. 39. 
 
 An Alcalde of Fontarabia attempted, in 1742, to violate the Guipuz- 
 coan privileges, by trying to carry into effect a royal order transmitted 
 to him through Don Josef del Campillo, the Minister of that day, 
 without having previously submitted it to the Provincial Deputation. 
 Guipuzcoa was thrown into the greatest ferment by this departure from 
 the law and usage of the land, but was as quickly appeased by a royal 
 order rebuking the Alcalde, and commanding that officer to give ample 
 satisfaction to the Deputation for the outrage he had so wantonly com- 
 mitted. 
 
 "He hecho presente al Key la carta 
 de vm. de 8 del corriente, en que da 
 cuenta de lo ha que executado en 
 cumplimiento de la orden que se le 
 did en 21 del pasado para la soltura 
 de M. Blanchet, y lo que de ello ha 
 resultado, y ha sido del desagrado de 
 S.M. que vm. no exhibiese su real 
 orden para que constase de ella a la 
 provincia y contribuyese a su obser- 
 vancia, como S.M. no duda lo haria 
 por la experiencia que tiene de su 
 obediencia, y no se hubiera dilatado 
 la execucion de la orden, ni vm. 
 hubiera pasado a la prision del Al- 
 calde de Sacas, que ha dado lugar a 
 que la provincia haya despachado 
 contra vm. judicialmente mandan- 
 dole comparecer a su jurisdiccion ; 
 por lo qual, no queriendo S.M. que 
 este modo de proceder vm. de motivo 
 en adelante a que se sienta, como lo 
 ha hecho en esta ocasion, una pro- 
 vincia que le es muy fiel; manda 
 S.M. que vm. comparezca ante ella, 
 como le ha intimado, dexando S.M. 
 a la diligencia de la diputacion la 
 libertad de Blanchet, como ya le esta 
 prevenido en fecha de 15 del corriente 
 y se le repits hoy." 
 
 " I have laid before the King your 
 letter of the 8th instant, giving an 
 account of what you have done in 
 the execution of the order sent to 
 you on the 21st of last month, re- 
 specting the discharge of M. Blan- 
 chet, and its results. It has displeased 
 H.M. that you should not have ex- 
 hibited his royal order, in order that 
 the province, on being informed of 
 it, should have concurred in its exe- 
 cution, as H.M. does not doubt it 
 would have done, having so many 
 proofs of its obedience ; and by that 
 means the execution of the order 
 would not have been delayed ; neither 
 should you have gone to the prison 
 of the Alcalde de Sacas, which has 
 induced the province to make a judi- 
 cial representation against you, re- 
 quiring your appearance before its 
 jurisdiction. H.M., therefore, being 
 unwilling that your conduct in this 
 respect should give offence to a pro- 
 vince so faithful, commands you to 
 appear before it according to the 
 notification, H.M. leaving the ques- 
 tion of Blanchet's discharge at the 
 discretion of the Deputation, as de- 
 termined upon on the 15th instant, 
 and communicated again this day."
 
 NOTES. 361 
 
 The union of Alava with Castille. 
 
 " The Deputies. . . .found the King at Burgos, where they made him a formal 
 tender of the county. . . .and there, in the presence of the Hidalgos and the 
 Prelate of Calahorra, &c." p. 319. 
 
 " From the time that Alava was conquered and taken from the Navar- 
 rese, it has always been an independent lordship, disposable at the will 
 of the Hidalgos and native proprietors of the land of Alava. Sometimes 
 they gave the lordship to one of the sons of the Kings (of Castille, I 
 imagine), sometimes to the Lord of Biscay, sometimes to the House of 
 Lara, and sometimes to the Lord of the Cameros. And during all that 
 time no King held lordship in the land, nor appointed officers to ad- 
 minister justice, except in the towns of Vitoria and Trevino, which were 
 his own ; and all that land, these towns excepted, was called the Frater- 
 nity of Alava. And when the King was at Burgos, the deputies from 
 the Fraternity of Alava, and the nobles and the proprietors of the soil, 
 with a deputation from the rest, came to the King and told "him that 
 they were willing to give him the lordship of all the land of Alava, and 
 they requested him to receive the lordship of the land, and to give them 
 their fueros reduced to writing, by which they might be governed, and 
 that he should appoint officers to administer justice. And upon this the 
 King left Burgos, and went to Vitoria. And when he was there, the 
 Bishop of Calahorra came to him and said, ' Senor, whoever is Bishop 
 of Calahorra is one of the Fraternity of Alava; and, as a Brother of 
 the Fraternity, I come to tell you that all the Hidalgos and proprietors 
 of Alava are assembled in the field of Arriaga, which is the spot where 
 they have been accustomed to assemble time out of mind ; and they 
 have begged me to come and tell you this, and request you to proceed 
 to the Junta, and they will give you the lordship of Alava, as they 
 have already informed you by their deputies.' And the King went to 
 the Junta in the field of Arriaga." Cronica de Don Alonzo XI. de 
 Castillia. Cerda y Rico, cap. 100. 
 
 Don Lorenzo Padilla, a most careful author, observes that " La pro- 
 vincia 6 cofradia de Alaba siempre fue libre y tomaba por Senor & quien 
 le parecia y asi fueron Senores de ella muchos de la casa de Guebara y 
 de la de Mendoza, y por la mayor parte se encomendaban d los Senores 
 de Bizcaya, 6 & los de los Cameros, y asi estuvieron encomendados 
 Don Lope de Haro." Royal injunction, restraining the intended en- 
 croachments on the Alavese liberties. 
 
 " Pero por fortuna semejantes disputas terminaron en 6 de Agosto del 
 ano de 1703, en que se concedid & aquella provincio real privilegio re- 
 frendado de D. Josef Nicholas de Castro, mandando, ' que todos los des- 
 pachos, que se dirigieren a jueces de comision y otros en la provincia 
 de Alaba, hayan de ser presentados primero en su junta, 6 ante el dipu-
 
 362 NOTES. 
 
 tado general, para que se reconozcan si tienen cosa que contravenga a 
 los fueros, leyes y preeminencias de la provincia, y en caso que se vul- 
 neren en todo 6 en parte, se obedezcan y no se cumplan dichos des- 
 pachos.' " 
 
 It is curious to perceive with what perseverance and complete success 
 the Basques have defeated every attack upon their freedom. Will her 
 Majesty of Spain and the British Cabinet succeed in effecting the over- 
 throw of that independence which neither the Romans, nor the Maho- 
 metans, nor the early monarchs of Spain, nor their foreign allies, nor 
 the later Sovereigns of the country were able to subvert ? 
 
 " To these articles the King subscribed." p. 320. 
 
 Alavese union with Castille. It was also agreed in the Alavese con- 
 tract, that no iron-foundries should be established in Alava, that the 
 forests might not be wasted ; that the Alcaldes should be natives of 
 Alava ; that the Hidalgos residing in the hamlets next to Vitoria should 
 be considered as nobles of Alava, although Vitoria and Trevino were 
 specifically exempted from the operation of that article which precluded 
 the King of Castille from the right of appointing governors to the Ala- 
 vese towns. It was also stipulated that the monasteries and property of 
 the Alavese should be their own; a clause intelligible enough, though 
 oddly worded, and apparently involving a truism, but which only im- 
 plied that the King their lord had no right to interfere with the con- 
 ventual property, although, as patron, he possessed the privilege of 
 appointing the abbots. If I were inclined to swell the catalogue of 
 outrages perpetrated by the Queen's Government upon the Basques, I 
 might dwell upon the decrees which have suppressed the monastic in- 
 stitutions in Alava, as in the rest of Spain a direct contravention of an 
 ancient fuero, and most essential article of the union. In the first and 
 second editions of this work the Spanish text was invariably placed in 
 juxtaposition with the translation. Generally speaking, the translation 
 is now alone given, for the sake of brevity. I have, however, stated the 
 works and the chapters from which the extracts are taken. 
 
 Mariana states, in lib. 16, that " The King, being at Burgos, some 
 ambassadors from that part of Cantabria, or Biscay, called Alaba, came 
 unto him, offering him the lordship of that country, which had been 
 free till then, accustomed to govern itself with its own fueros and laws, 
 except Vitoria and Trevino, which long before belonged to the Crown 
 of Castille. On the plains of Arriaga, where, in conformity with ancient 
 usage, they held their councils and juntas, and gave obedience to the 
 King in person, they, of their own accord, and by their own sponta- 
 neous will, placed under the protection and seignory of the King the 
 liberty which for so many centuries they had inviolably maintained.
 
 NOTES. 363 
 
 At their own requisition he agreed that they should be governed by the 
 fuero of Calahorra, and he confirmed their ancient privileges, so that 
 they remain at the present moment in a state as that of liberty, because 
 no sort of tribute nor excise can be imposed upon them. Of all these 
 covenants there are letters-patent of King Don Alonso, dated at Vitoria, 
 on the 2nd of April, 1332." 
 
 No direct taxes, or indirect contributions, were levied upon the Bis- 
 cayans by the Spanish Government. The King, as lord, had the follow- 
 ing rents, as expressed in the fueros of Biscay : " The Lords of Biscay 
 had always on certain houses and lands, in all the towns of Biscay, a 
 fixed annual rent and cess ; and so likewise they have in the iron-works 
 a duty of sixteen dineros viejos on every hundredweight of forged iron, 
 and on the monasteries and provostships. But they have never had any 
 alcavala, or duties on goods passed across the mountains, or contribu- 
 tions ; on the contrary, the Biscayans, and the Hidalgos of Biscay, and 
 the inhabitants of Durango, are now, and have always been, free and 
 exempt from every contribution, from all service, from any alcavala, and 
 from every imposition of whatever nature it may be." Fueros of Biscay 
 Law, 4 tit. i. 
 
 There were no customhouses established along the Biscayan frontier 
 of France, and the Spanish Government were unable to impose such a 
 restriction upon their trade as long as it respected the fueros of Biscay. 
 This exemption is one of the greatest privileges enjoyed by the Basques ; 
 but it has been assailed by the Queen's Government in that spirit of 
 wanton aggression which has characterized her policy towards the 
 Basques. 
 
 The King's troops cannot enter the province upon any pretext what- 
 ever, either in time of peace or war. A special permission from the 
 General Junta may, under peculiar circumstances, justify such a pro- 
 ceeding. 
 
 The Parliament, or General Junta, of Biscay, is composed of the Cor- 
 regidors and three Lieutenant-Corregidors, appointed by the Crown, but 
 not empowered to vote ; six Regidores, officers elected by the Junta, and 
 in some degree resembling our aldermen ; the two popular Tribunes, 
 chosen also by the Junta, and the Deputies sent from the towns, villages, 
 hamlets, and scattered houses of the lordship. 
 
 " No order of the Spanish Government is directly received by the Basque 
 Parliament." p. 323. 
 
 Any royal order sent from Castille to Biscay is addressed to the Cor- 
 regidor, and is presented by this officer to the members of the permanent 
 deputation, by whom it is referred to the popular Tribunes. If the order
 
 364 NOTES. 
 
 is confirmed by their sanction, it is carried into effect ; if disallowed by 
 them, it remains a dead latter. 
 
 " During the interval which elapses between the close of the session and the 
 re-assembling of the Parliament, the administration of public affairs is 
 vested in a Commission residing at Bilbao." p. 324. 
 
 The permanent Commission superintend the collection of the contribu- 
 tions, manage the expenditure both in the civil and military departments, 
 and administer justice. Their proceedings have, however, no legal 
 effect, unless sanctioned by one at least of the popular Tribunes, who are 
 bound to scrutinize their measures with great severity, that no act may 
 be committed, either purposely or unintentionally, directly or indirectly, 
 against the liberties of the land. The deputation are compelled to pub- 
 lish, a fortnight before the re-assembling of the Junta, a detailed state- 
 ment of the course pursued during their administration, and are bound to 
 send copies of the document to every member of Parliament. When the 
 Junta meets, a discussion generally arises with reference to some part of 
 their conduct, upon which the Tribunes appear, and freely take part in 
 the debates. The tribuneship, it may be observed, is in Biscay a post 
 of great trust and distinction, because the liberties of the subject may be 
 materially affected by a skilful or incompetent discharge of the duties 
 annexed to the office. 
 
 The General Junta of Biscay assembles every two years ; that of Gui- 
 puzcoa every year, in the month of July ; and that of Alava three times 
 in the course of every year. The provincial fueros were for ages the 
 common law of the land, and were only reduced to writing in 1452, in 
 the reign of Juan the Second, by a commission appointed for that pur- 
 pose. In the following century the Biscayan code, as I have already 
 observed, was reformed, printed, and recognised, in its amended state, 
 by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, as the established law of the land. 
 
 As far as it is possible to ascertain the truth at so remote a period, it 
 appears that Zenon, Lord of Biscay, had two daughters, one of whom 
 was married to Arista, King of Navarre, and the other, Dona Ifiiga, the 
 heiress of Biscay, to Don Lope Zuria, son of one of the most powerful 
 nobles of Biscay. We are told that, on account of the " noble qualities 
 and great valour which he displayed in the battle and victory of Arrigo- 
 riaga, he was chosen as their Lord by the Biscayans assembled under 
 the tree of Guernica, on condition that he would swear to maintain their 
 rights and privileges." Garibay, speaking of this transaction, observes, 
 " Refieren mas, que assentado con el sus fueros y orden que adelante 
 havran de tener, commenzo el dicho ano d ser Senor de Bizcaya," ix. cap. 
 22. Navarro also states, " Y los Biscaynos assentaron con el sus fueros 
 leyes y usos y le tomaron por su Senor, ni absolute ni soberano sino con
 
 NOTES. 365 
 
 sus leyes y condiciones y con pacto de ellas le juraron por tal el mismo 
 ano," cap. 7. [ The Biscayans covenanted with him with respect to their 
 fueros, their laws, and their customs, and chose him as their Lard, not as 
 their absolute or sovereign master ; but with laws to bind him, and with 
 stipulations, and with an agreement to observe them, they swore to him as 
 to their Lord that very year.'] Carmona states, " Viscayni dominum et 
 principem sibi assumpserunt Zuriam non tamen absolute sed certis adhi- 
 bitis panctionibus quibus eximia sibi privilegia Biscayni reserbabant quae 
 retulit Gutierres." Aut. 24. Gutierres confirms this statement, and 
 specifies the privileges, lib. iii. 
 
 From these statements, and from the accounts of other early writers, 
 who concur in the assertion that, when Lope de Zuria was chosen by the 
 Biscayans as their Lord, he swore to observe their privileges as then 
 established, it may be inferred that when those old chroniclers wrote the 
 rights in question were ancient, and lost, perhaps even then, in the night 
 of time. The Biscayan fueros were therefore, at a very remote period, 
 the common law of the land ; their constitution is probably the oldest in 
 the world, and has been the least subject to those vicissitudes which 
 attend all human institutions. As the highland districts of Biscay were 
 never overrun by a foreign enemy, it is impossible to assign any date to 
 the commencement of their liberties. 
 
 The Biscayans were so jealous of their privileges, and surrounded 
 them with so much form and circumstance, that they compelled their 
 lords, at their accession to the lordship, to take the oath to maintain the 
 rights of Biscay, in four different places, specifically named by the Book 
 of the Fueros. He was first required to take the oath " A las puertas 
 de la Villa de Bilbao," and then, in the words of the fuero, " Dende ha 
 de venir & San Emetrio Celadon de Larraverna : y ende en manos del 
 Clerigo Sacerdote que tenga el cuerpo de dios nuestro Senor consagrado 
 en las manos. ha de jurar lo mismo . . . . y assi venido la dicha Guer- 
 nica so el Arbol de ella, donde se acostumbran hacer las juntas de Biz- 
 caya, ha de jurar e confirmar todas las libertades e privilegios e fran- 
 quezas e fueros e costumbres que los dichos Bizcaynos han, y tierras y 
 mercedes que han del Rey y de los Seiiores passados de los guardar y 
 tener e mandar tener y guardar . . . . y dende ha de ir a la villa de 
 Bermeo donde en Santa Eu'femia de la dicha villa y ante el Altar de la 
 dicha Iglesia, estando ende el Clerigo Sacerdote revestido, teniendo en 
 las manos el Cuerpo de Dios consagrado, ha de poner la mano en el 
 dicho Altar, e jurar lo mismo." La Ley 2, del titulo I. The oath 
 was, therefore, to be taken by the new lord before the gates at Bilbao ; 
 secondly, under circumstances of great solemnity, in the parochial church 
 and juradera of San Emetrio ; thirdly, beneath the tree of Guernica ; and 
 lastly, in the juradera of Santa Euf'emia.
 
 366 NOTES. 
 
 I have observed that, from the time of Lope de Zuria till 1105, the 
 Lords of Biscay were chosen by the people ; so it is stated by some 
 authors ; at the same time it appears, as far as I can discover, that the 
 Biscayans almost invariably elected the son of the late lord. Garibay, 
 lib. xii. ; Navar., cap. 13 ; Henao, lib. iii. 
 
 The author of the Escudo, speaking of Don Juan the First, observes, 
 " That he proceeded in person to Biscay, and took the oaths in the 
 church of Santa Maria, of Guernica, and promised, for himself and his 
 descendants, that he would maintain their fueros, usages, customs, fran- 
 chises, and liberties. In the same form, and with the same stipulation 
 as to their liberties, he united, at a subsequent time, the lordship to the 
 royal crown of Castille, to be separated no more." 
 
 Lope Garcia states, " He (Don Juan) annexed or appropriated (apro- 
 prio) Biscay to the royal crown, binding himself in the church of Santa 
 Maria and in Santa Eufemia to maintain their usages, customs, fran- 
 chises, and liberties ;" and afterwards states that it was made a matter of 
 solemn compact that Biscay should never more be separated from his 
 crown. Lib. xxi. 
 
 Garibay observes, that from the time of the union the lordship of 
 Biscay remained for ever incorporated with the Crown. (Dende este 
 ano en adelante quedo perpetuamente incorporado en la Corona. Lib. 
 xix.) 
 
 " Upon which Bilbao and other towns protested." p. 332. 
 
 The people of Bilbao seem to have protested against Don Juan's 
 order for the erection of the town of Miravelles, in virtue of their fuero, 
 Ley viii. tit. 1 : " Que havian fuero, uso y costumbre, que por quanto 
 todos los montes, usos y Exidos son de los Hijos-Dalgo y Pueblos de 
 Biscaya y villa ninguna non se puede hacer." The order does not, how- 
 ever, under the circumstances of the case, appear to have been consi- 
 dered any infraction of the Biscayan privileges. 
 
 " And then the King (Henry the Third), leaving the city, travelled onwards 
 till he reached a spot called, in the Basque language, Arechabalaga." 
 p. 333. 
 
 Mariana, Henao, and other writers allude to this journey, and com- 
 municate different points of detail. Garibay gives the longest account : 
 
 Garibay, diet. lib. xv. cap. 40, ibi. " He went to the field of Arecha- 
 
 " Fuesse al Campo de Arechabalaga. balaga. There the whole of Biscay 
 
 En aquel sitio juntandose toda Viz- assembled in quadrillas, in bands, 
 
 caya en quadrillas, Vandos, y Her- and in hermandades, and asked the 
 
 mandades, pidieron al Key, que les King to swear to observe their fueros 
 
 Jurassc sus fueros, y privilegios, y and privileges, and, on his answering 
 
 respondiendo que le placia .... t'ue that it was his will so to do, King 
 
 el Key D. Enrique recibido por Se- Henry was received as Lord of Bis-
 
 NOTES. 367 
 
 iior de Vizcaya, y le besaron las ma- cay, and they kissed his hands ; and, 
 
 nos ; y passando con e'l a la Iglesia proceeding together to the church of 
 
 de la Villa de Larravezua, segun la the town of Larravezua, as the an- 
 
 costumbre antigua de los Seiiores de cient Lords of Biscay had done, he 
 
 Vizcaya, jure en el altar los fueros. swore on the altar to maintain their 
 
 Despues de comer fue el Key a la fueros. After dinner the King went 
 
 villa de Guernica .... en el dia si- to the town of Guernica On 
 
 guiente ido u. la villa de Bermeo, juro the following day he went to the 
 
 en la Iglesia de Santa Eufemia los town of Bermeo, and there he swore, 
 
 privilegios de aquella Villa, y su in the church of Santa Euphemia, to 
 
 Tierra. Prosigue diciendo, que buelto maintain the privileges of that town 
 
 a Guernica huvo alii grandes dife- and its hamlets Having re- 
 
 rencias, los unos pidiendo el riepto, y turned to Guernica, great feuds arose, 
 los otros contradiciendo, y a lo ulti- some asking the riepto, and others op- 
 mo, porque la mayor parte pedia, se posing it ; but as the greatest number 
 introducio en Vizcaya el riepto en were for it, the riepto* was finally in- 
 este afio, en el qual les concedio el troduced in Biscay in this year, with 
 ReyDon Enrique, estando assentado the sanction of the King Don Hen- 
 s6 el Arbol, y Lugar acostumbrado rique, while sitting under the tree, 
 de Guernica." El Padre Mariana, and in the usual place, at Guernica." 
 lib. xix., cap. 1.; El Padre Henao, 
 lib. i., cap. 61, con Pedro Barrantes, 
 en la Chronica de este Rey. 
 
 The calamities of the time, the lawless acts of the feudal chiefs, and 
 the excesses of the numerous bands that overran the country, induced 
 the inhabitants of the towns and cities to unite and form associations for 
 the protection of life and property. Those institutions, known as the 
 Hermandades or Brotherhoods, were celebrated for the efficiency of 
 their organization. The Captains were^gentlemen of high character, the 
 lieutenants were the richest inhabitants, and the soldiers the most ap- 
 proved citizens of the towns. They had power to punish robbers by the 
 most summary process, and to pursue offenders beyond the limits of the 
 province. Any citizen who refused to become a member of the frater- 
 nity, when invited, was placed beyond the pale of their protection. 
 These Hermandades were confirmed by the King, and were at one 
 period much renowned for their courage and activity. 
 
 Extract from a clause of a royal Cedula, issued by Henry the Third : 
 " Bien sabedes como el dicho mi Senorio de Biscaya es apartado sobre 
 si en sus fueros e libertades," &c. 
 
 * The word riepto puzzled me extremely, and for some time I could not 
 discover its exact import from any Spaniard ; it was, however, explained to 
 me by Sefior Jose' de Alcala, of King's College, London ; a gentleman who 
 combines the most profound attainments with the highest honour and inte- 
 grity, to whose information I am indebted on many historical points, and 
 whose acquaintance I have experienced much gratification in making. Riepto, 
 and sometimes repto, was the old orthography for the word now written reto, 
 from the word retar, which means to accuse a noble of an infamous action in 
 the presence of the King, calling upon him to make a full confession before 
 the Sovereign, or to meet his challenger in mortal combat, when, how, and 
 where the King mignt please to direct.
 
 368 NOTES. 
 
 "The Queen-Regent took the following oath on the 14th of July, 1407." 
 
 p. 336. 
 
 " Juramento de la Senora Reyna Madre : Primeramente la dicha 
 Senora Reyna Madre del dicho Senor Rey, assi como su Tutora, e Re- 
 gidora de sus Reynos Juro en la Cruz e Santos Evangelios, tanendo cor- 
 poralmente con sus manos, de guardar a Vizcaya, Villas, e Tierra-llana, 
 e los Fijos-Dalgo, e & todos los Vecinos e Moradores de ella sus Fueros, 
 e buenos usos, e buenas costumbres, e privilegios, e Quadernos, Orden- 
 anzas, Franquezas, Libertades, Gracias, e Mercedes, e Tierras, segun 
 que mejor, e mas cumplidamente les f'ue guardado en tiempo de Dona 
 Constanza, e de los otros Reyes, e Senores, que despues fasta aqui ban 
 sido de Vizcaya. E ella en nombre del dicho Senor Rey, assi como su 
 Totora, assi se lo confirmaba, e confirmo. Y prosigue, Jurando todo lo 
 demas, que los Vizcaynos, havian pedido por su carta, exceptuando sola- 
 mente, que en todo acontecimiento se pagassen los derechos de las Fer- 
 rerias ; y d la razon, ibi. Ca estos se pagaron siempre, y se deben pa- 
 gar, assi en un tiempo como en otro." 
 
 "King Henry pledged his faith.... to maintain to Biscay all its fueros and 
 privileges." p. 337. 
 
 " Father Henao, in chap. 61 of the 1st book, num. 6 : But in order 
 to show to them that his intention and will has been, and still is, to pre- 
 serve to them their said privileges, fueros, usages, and customs, he swore 
 and did swear, and promised and did promise, by his royal word, as King 
 and as Lord, to keep and to order to be maintained to the said towns, 
 villages, and lowlands of the county and lordship of Biscay, and to all 
 the Knights, Shieldbearers, and Figos-Dalgos of the same, all their pri- 
 vileges and fueros, and good customs, and the w r ritten ordinances by 
 which they are governed and ought to be governed, and their liberties, 
 grants, lands, and the free use of the same. Also, that his Lordship, as 
 soon as other pressing affairs permit, will repair in person to the said 
 land and county of Biscay, and will take the usual oath in those places 
 where it ought to be taken." 
 
 " And actually, in 1457, King Henry went to Biscay, and took the usual 
 oaths." p. 337. 
 
 " Formula of the oath taken by Don Henrique IV. in the church of 
 Santa Maria la Antigua, near the town of Guernica, on the 10th of 
 March, 1457 : ' The high and powerful Lord Don Henrique, King of 
 Castille and Leon, there present. . . .They said to his Highness, that ac- 
 cording to the fueros, usages, and customs, when a new lord comes to 
 Biscay to receive the lordship thereof, such a lord has an oath to 
 take. . . .The said Lord the King said that he was come there to take
 
 NOTES. 369 
 
 the said oath, and that it was his pleasure so to do ; and then he said 
 that he swore and did swear before God, and before the Holy St. Mary, 
 and by the words of the Holy Gospels, wherever they might be, and 
 by the sign of the Cross, which he touched bodily with his own right 
 hand (that Cross which was brought from the high altar of the said 
 church, with a crucifix on it), to maintain to all the said Knights, 
 Shieldbearers, Fijos-Dalgos, farmers, and labourers, and all other per- 
 sons, of whatsoever state, quality, or condition they might be in the 
 lordship of Biscay, their fueros and privileges, good usages and customs, 
 franchises and liberties, grants, lands, and official appointments, as well 
 and as fully as the same was preserved to them in the time of the King 
 Don Juan of blessed memory, his father, and of the other Kings and 
 Lords of Biscay, till the present time.' " &c. 
 
 " When the Biscayans were alarmed by a rumour that the King had granted 
 certain lands in Biscay to some minions of his court, ... .he issued a mani- 
 festo, in which he assured the Biscayans that he had not granted the lands 
 in question to any Castillians." p. 337. 
 
 " This royal order was signed at Segovia on the 19th of July, 1470 : 
 Know, &c., that I am informed some persons have said and announced 
 that I have given, as gifts to some gentlemen and persons, some towns, 
 villages, and lands of this my county, my lowlands and privileged 
 places, and that I have separated and divided, or intend to separate and 
 divide, the same from my Royal Crown, by which you may receive detri- 
 ment ; and as I have not given or made any grant of this my county, nor 
 even thought of so doing; as, on the contrary, considering that my 
 county is one of the noblest provinces of my kingdoms, and one of my 
 titles of honour, and as it is so noble in itself and borders upon foreign 
 kingdoms. . . .it has always been, and it is, my will, that my said county 
 be and continue to belong to my said Royal Crown, and that it be 
 not divided nor separated from it. In order, therefore, that you may 
 be sure and convinced of it, and that you may know it is essential to my 
 service, and to the honour of my said Royal Crown, it is my pleasure to 
 order and command, as hereby I command and order," &c. 
 
 Oath taken by the Princess Isabella. p. 340. 
 
 " Yo, como Princesa y Senora de las dichas Villas y Tierra liana del 
 dicho Condado e Senorio de Biscaya, con las Encartaciones y sus adhe- 
 rencias hago pleyto omenage una, dos e tres veces, una, dos, e tres 
 veces, una, dos, e tres veces, segun Fuero e costumbre de Espana en 
 manos de Gomez Manrique, Cavallero e Home e Hijo Dalgo, que de 
 mi lo recibe ; e juro d nuestro Senor Dios y d la Virgen Santa Maria, 
 suMadre yaesta senal de la Cruz -f-, que corporalmente tango con mi 
 mano derecha, e por las palabras de los Santos Evangelios, donde quiera 
 
 2 B
 
 370 NOTES. 
 
 que estan, de haver por ratos, gratos, firtnes y valederos, para agora y 
 en todo tiempo los dichos Privilegios generales, y especiales, Fueros. 
 usos, y costumbres, franquezas, e libertades de las dichas Villas y Tierra 
 liana del dicho Condada y Senorio di Bizcaya, con las Encartaciones. 
 Clausula del pleyto omenage y Juramento." 
 The translation of this remarkable oath is given in the text, p. 340. 
 
 " King Ferdinand .... swore to maintain their privileges." p. 340. 
 
 " The formula of the oath was as follows (fol. 294) : And then he 
 said, that he did swear, and swore before God and the Holy St. Mary, 
 and by the words of the Holy Gospels, wherever they may be, and by 
 the sign of the Cross 4" (here he touched with his right hand a Cross 
 with a crucifix, which had been brought from the high altar of the said 
 church), that he did swear and did confirm, and swore to preserve and 
 confirmed their fueros, their written laws, good usages and customs, 
 their privileges, franchises, and liberties, their grants and lanzas, and 
 lands, their official appointments, and monasteries, to the Knights, the 
 Shieldbearers, Hijos-Dalgos, husbandmen, and other persons, of what- 
 soever condition they may be, of the towns, of the lowlands, and city 
 of Orduna, of this county of Biscay, and of Durango, and of the privi- 
 leged places, as well and as fully as they had been preserved to them 
 in the time of the other Kings and Lords of the said county. 
 
 " Formula of a new oath for the preservation of the immunity and 
 liberty of the fuero, fol. 294 : Moreover she said and swore that inas- 
 much as her Highness the Queen, seeing that, during the time of her 
 difficulties and the unjust war carried on by the Kings of France and of 
 Portugal against her royal person and her kingdoms, the Knights, 
 Shieldbearers, Fijos-Dalgos, Dames and damsels, and husbandmen, and 
 all in their several stations, of the families and inhabitants of this county, 
 of the privileged towns, and of Durango, have served and followed her 
 with great love and loyalty, and do still serve and follow her, exposing 
 their persons and possessions to great risk and peril, like good, loyal, 
 and distinguished vassals, not only with that obedience, fidelity, and 
 loyalty to which they are bound, but with a zeal beyond what their 
 fueros and privileges prescribe and call upon them to show ; she, there- 
 fore, swore and declared, that with respect to those great, and high, and 
 distinguished services which they have performed, and are still perform- 
 ing every day, and those which they may yet achieve by sea and by 
 land ... it shall not be looked upon, nor understood, nor considered, or 
 in any way interpreted, that they have infringed upon their rights, nor 
 exceeded nor acted against the said fueros and privileges, usages and 
 customs, franchises and liberties .... Her Highness will not consider 
 such services as due to her at any time, nor will compel them at any
 
 NOTES. 371 
 
 period in any way to perform them .... And, therefore, that all those 
 f'ueros, and good usages and customs, and liberties, which her Highness 
 has sworn to preserve and has confirmed, shall continue and remain 
 firm, and in full force and vigour, for the time to come." 
 
 Zurita states, that " In the month of September, 1473, the Corregi- 
 dor and the Alcaldes, and the Prestamero, and the Lords of the Justice, 
 and the Cavalleros, and the Hidalgos of the county and lordship of 
 Biscay, and the places adhering to the same, assembled in the town of 
 Bilbao ; and the King of Sicily sent a cavalier of his house, bearing the 
 name of Alonzo de Mesa, to stimulate and inspirit them to remain true 
 to the cause of him their lord and the Princess, and to offer them 
 every kind of favour and assistance, because the Constable was waging 
 against them a cruel war, and they were sorely persecuted, because they 
 had transferred their allegiance to the Princes (Ferdinand and Isabella) 
 against the mandate and will of the King, Don Henry." Cap. 61, 
 lib. xviii. It appears, however, that, confiding in their own resources, 
 and determined to achieve their own liberation, they declined even the 
 assistance of their own chosen lord. The result of the struggle showed 
 that these brave Biscayans had formed no erroneous estimate of their 
 strength ; and one of their writers, alluding to this contest, and to other 
 circumstances connected with their history, observes, with becoming 
 pride, that the lordship of Biscay has been always so valiantly defended 
 by its own inhabitants, and at their own expense, that no enemy of the 
 Spanish Crown ever obtained, by force, a footing on that soil. 
 
 Zurita observes, with respect to this war, " Y con cinco quentos, que 
 el Rey mando dar al Conde de Haro, para que les hiciese guerra, junto 
 mucha gente suya, y los ostros Grandes, y entro por el Condado haciendo 
 mucho dano ; aunque se le resistio por los Biscaynos muy animosamente." 
 Cap. 61. 
 
 Garibay also states, " Sabido por el Conde de Haro, la buelta de Pedro 
 de Avendano, y Juan Alonzo de Muxica a sus casas .... juntando apriesa 
 sus gentes y las del Conde de Salinas, y Don Luis, y Don Sancho de 
 Velasco sus hermanos, y de otros valedores, entro con mucha Cavalleria 
 en Biscaya. Lo mismo hicieron el Conde de Trevino y el Adelantado 
 
 dieron batalla en Abril 27, dia Sabado al Conde de Haro, cerca de 
 
 la villa de Munguia en un passo ; donde el Conde fue vencido por la 
 Infanteria Biscayana habiendo peleado ambas partes varonilmente. Fue- 
 ron presos el Conde de Salinas y Don Luis de Velasco," &c. Mariana, 
 Henao, and Navarro, confirm this statement. 
 
 "The King our lord went out of the church." p. 341. 
 
 We are told that the Lord Don Ferdinand presided over the General 
 Junta, held on that day, under the celebrated tree. There, according 
 
 2fi2
 
 372 NOTES. 
 
 to the Cedula Real, " The oath was taken by the most lofty, the most 
 resplendent, and the most powerful Don Ferdinand, King of Castille, 
 Leon, Sicily, and Portugal, and Firstborn of Aragon." 
 
 " And under the tree of Guernica." p. 341. 
 
 Having often alluded to the celebrated tree of Guernica, I must ob- 
 serve that it partakes of the immortality of the crown : a younger scion 
 of the parent stock is always growing near the parent tree, and ultimately 
 replaces its predecessor in the national affection. 
 
 " Law i. tit. 1 : He shall come in person to Biscay, to take the oaths, 
 to promise, and to confirm to them their privileges and usages, and 
 customs, franchises, liberties, and fueros." 
 
 " They enjoyed it by fuero, and by law, and by franchise and liberty, 
 as a right established, that any decree or Royal order, given by the said 
 Lord of Biscay, or in his name, which should be or might be contrary 
 to the laws and fueros of Biscay, directly or indirectly, should be obeyed 
 but not put in execution." Ley 11, titulo primero del fuero. 
 
 " If, being required by the Biscayans to do so, the lord will not 
 come within one year to take the oath and confirm their privileges, 
 as above stated, the said Biscayans, both those of the lowlands of Biscay, 
 and those of Durango and the privileged towns, shall not give nor send 
 to him, nor to his treasurer, nor to the collector, the rents and contribu- 
 tions payable to him by the towns and those houses in Biscay subject 
 to pay the same. And if the said lord send, during that time, any 
 order or decree, it shall be obeyed, but not carried into execution." 
 La ley 1 del titulo. 
 
 " In the law xix., tit. 1, of the fuero, it is written thus : Moreover, 
 they said they had a franchise and liberty granted to them by his High- 
 ness, and his ancestors, to this effect, That inasmuch as the said Bis- 
 cayans have their Chief-Justice residing in the court and chancery of 
 Valladolid, to try all their causes, both civil and criminal, no inhabitant 
 of Biscay, or of the lowlands, or of any city of that county, or of any 
 of the privileged places, or of Durango, shall, even while out of Biscay, 
 be tried for any crime or debt by the civil or criminal, or by any other 
 Judge, in the kingdom and lordships of their Highnesses, nor shall be 
 sentenced by them, except only by the Chief-Justice of Biscay, although 
 those crimes and debts may be committed or contracted out of Biscay 
 and in any part of Castille. And should any Biscayan be sued or ar- 
 rested, he shall be sent before the said Chief-Justice as soon as he has 
 required his dismissal and declined any other jurisdiction." 
 
 Navarre is not a Basque province, and has had no connexion with 
 those states since the ninth century ; at which time the Guipuzcoans 
 are said to have entered into an act of federation with Don Garcia
 
 NOTES. 373 
 
 Ximenes, the first King of Navarre, stipulating, however, that they 
 should be free at all times to enter into an alliance with any other 
 power, or place themselves under the protection of any other state. 
 Navarre was united to Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella ; and I will 
 give a short account of the system by which they were governed after 
 the union. Their laws and liberties were not affected by that event, 
 and were fully recognised by the monarch who governed Spain at that 
 time, and by his successors. 
 
 The Cortes of Navarre are composed of three States the Church, the 
 Nobles, and the Commons, known in the province by the name of the 
 Universities. In conformity with the law of their fuero, the Cortes 
 met every two years, in virtue of a summons issued by the Viceroy of 
 Navarre. Their powers were very extensive. When assembled in 
 Congress, they agreed upon the exact sum to be granted to the King of 
 Spain during the two following years. With respect to their legislative 
 functions, they possessed the initiative, a most important privilege 
 of which the Crown was deprived, and were, as I believe I have pre- 
 viously observed, able to suspend, indefinitely, the promulgation of 
 acts passed by their own assembly, and sanctioned by the King or his 
 Viceroy. The Cortes availed themselves of this power upon extraor- 
 dinary occasions. Any measure resolved on by the States, and sanctioned 
 by the Viceroy, acquires the force of law, without any further or more 
 direct confirmation on the part of the Crown. 
 
 The Viceroy presides over the Cortes, and, at the opening of the 
 session, takes the oath prescribed by law ; the same oath was taken, in 
 the year 1500, by the Duque d'Albuquerque, then Viceroy of Navarre, 
 and has been adopted by his successors without the slightest change of 
 expression : 
 
 " I, Viceroy of the kingdom in the name of his Majesty, 
 
 swear by the sign of the Cross, and upon the Holy Gospels, to you the 
 Prelates, Marquesses, Knights, to you the men of the cities and towns, 
 and to all the inhabitants of Navarre, to those who are present, and 
 those who are absent, to maintain all your fueros, laws, usages, statutes, 
 customs, franchises, exemptions, liberties, and immunities which each 
 man possesses, without need of a new confirmation from his Majesty, 
 either special or general ; and that all the laws shall be interpreted in 
 your favour, and to your honour, and to that of the kingdom of Na- 
 varre." Amendariz, Leyes del Reyno de Navarra. 
 
 The Viceroy of Navarre is the military and civil chief of the province. 
 There is a supreme tribunal for civil and criminal causes, and another 
 court of a financial character, composed of a judge, or president, three 
 ministers, a treasurer, and an officer appointed exclusively for the pur- 
 pose of maintaining the boundaries of Navarre, and taking care that the
 
 374 NOTES. 
 
 contributions are to be levied within, but not extended beyond, the 
 limits of the province. This court regulates the contributions, superin- 
 tends their collection, and takes into consideration the orders of the 
 Viceroy with reference to the distribution of the money. 
 
 The administration of justice in the towns is vested in the Alcaldes, 
 who are freely chosen by the people. Their jurisdiction is, however, 
 as might be supposed, somewhat limited, except in those towns where 
 the Alcaldes are lawyers, or have assessors. An appeal lies to the 
 supreme court of Navarre, not to any court in Spain ; every cause must 
 be decided in Navarre. In short, this province has been so admirably 
 governed by its own peculiar laws and permanent tribunals, and the 
 people have been so completely satisfied with their own internal ad- 
 ministration, that the Cortes have gradually ceased to assemble regu- 
 larly, and of late years have only met on great occasions. The Queen 
 Regent ascends the throne ; the prospect is overshadowed ; the rights 
 of Navarre are invaded ; the loyalty of a contented people is exchanged 
 for a determined spirit of resistance ; and the province is convulsed with 
 civil war from one extremity to the other. 
 
 Catalonia possesses, in some respects, her own peculiar jurisprudence, 
 and some favourite privileges with respect to the selection of the men 
 sent by the province to serve in the royal army. But I am waxing 
 long, and must not exceed further, even on the interesting subject of 
 the provincial rights. 
 
 Note to p. 263. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE ' LITKRARY GAZETTE,' SATURDAY, 
 SEPTEMBER 10, 1831. 
 
 " We will not argue the question, or animadvert upon the absurd 
 lengths to which the apostles of phrenology, as a science, carry their 
 dogmata ; but we will at once go to the fourth paper, that which has 
 provoked our indignation, and ask if the detail of such abominable 
 cruelties, under the name of experiments, instead of procuring allies to 
 the cause of phrenology, is not sufficient to revolt human nature against 
 it and its atrocious professors ? The paper is entitled ' Bouillard's Ex- 
 periments to discover the Functions of the Brain, concluded ;' and so 
 cold-blooded a narrative of barbarities, perpetrated on a worthless plea, 
 it never has been our painful duty to peruse. 
 
 " We declare before Heaven that we think the barbarian who could, 
 during a whole week, thus inflict unendurable torments upon an animal, 
 and calmly count its writhings and agonies, deserves to be put out of the
 
 NOTES. 375 
 
 pale of society as a monster. Hamlet says, ' Hang up philosophy ;' we 
 say, ' Hang up philosophers who dare commit such outrages as these.' 
 The next trial was equally horrid, and prolonged during sixteen days. 
 We quote on, marking in italics some of the most obnoxious points of 
 heartless cruelty it was ever our misfortune to read : 
 
 " ' On the morning of the 28th of June / transfixed the anterior 
 part of the brain of a young dog, which possessed the reputation of 
 being lively, docile, and intelligent: the instrument, in making its way 
 from the right to the lei't side, inclined slightly in an oblique direction 
 upwards and backwards. 
 
 " ' When menaced, it crouches as if to implore mercy, but does not in 
 consequence obey. It, on the contrary, utters cries which nothing can 
 repress, similar to those of a young uneducated dog, whose intellect is un- 
 developed. It eats with great voracity, and is in good health. I watched 
 it attentively for the remainder of this and for the first fifteen days of 
 the succeeding month. It enjoyed the perfect use of its external 
 senses. By a kind of instinct of imitation, it walked when it saw any 
 one else walk, following the individual wherever he went. Its want of 
 docility was remarkable : when called it did not come, but lay down 
 and wagged its tail with an air of stupidity. When we tried to lead it, 
 it resisted, rolled upon the ground, and cried, but at last walked, again 
 stopped, drew back, and cried anew. When confined, it cried continu- 
 ally, in spite of all correction. It appeared astonished at everything : 
 and its air of stupidity was remarked by all those who were not aware 
 of the operation which had been performed, and strangers to physiolo- 
 gical observations. It was easily alarmed ; and when menaces were 
 succeeded by blows, in place of flying or acting so as to avoid them, it 
 merely lay down in a supplicating posture and cried. It did not caress 
 us on our return, although absent for many days.* 
 
 " ' All its docility consisted in coming when, after caressing it, we 
 called upon it in a tone of kindness ; or, if we had menaced, beat, or 
 called upon it in vain, in going away, holding down its head and tail, 
 and in crouching down as if in the act of supplication. Its eyes became 
 animated, its ears were erected on the slightest noise, but it still pre- 
 served a look of imbecility. It was sacrificed, August 15th, in the 
 performance of a new experiment.' " 
 
 I will add nothing in addition to these admirable comments ; but will 
 only appeal to the public of Great Britain, and especially to that valu- 
 able portion of it the clergy of the country, whether it can be right to 
 
 * So that the unfortunate animal on which these sixteen days of torture 
 were inflicted appears to have been previously attached to the authors of 
 these atrocious experiments, and in the habit of lavishing caresses upon 
 them ! !
 
 376 NOTES. 
 
 slumber any longer over practices so corrupting to the young mind, so 
 destructive of every virtuous feeling, so utterly abhorrent to a God of 
 mercy. Are not they, and all who humbly strive to hold the " bond 
 of peace," bound by every tie of duty to their Maker and their fellow- 
 men to spare no exertions in rooting out these demoralizing offences 
 from the land ? I appeal to the members of the medical profession, for 
 whom no man has a higher respect, whether as Christians, and even as 
 gentlemen, it has not become incumbent upon them to deny all partici- 
 pation in these and similar atrocities ; to banish such offenders from the 
 pale of their society ; and to rescue an honourable profession from the 
 stigma which such iniquities, if not disavowed, must fix upon it? 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Ix>r.don : Printed by WILLIAM CLOWE* and SONS, Stamford Street. 
 
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