■>^KinKi«M>«^ ^ LIBRARY ^ SA.\ DIEGO Romance Seminar PO 9199 42 m 1791 Ml'nnfl,'7.1,'"" CAlirORNIA SAN DIEGG 3 1822 01 74 2228 Central University Library University of California, San Diego Please Note: This item is subject to recall after two weeks. ,,^,^ Date Due (\PKii) '^^" ¥Av ^ mf' €139(1/90) UCSD Ub. 2^ A i h.J , ;',; / ■tf^;,.. trw > .' ».. -^ I 1 . , 1^ 1 Vi c' ti^ ^v ^' r. --^^'^i^^^y yp''^>^' 'g^Tir^P^^. ' . //r/. ^'7Y^/tlc- ^^i/c) H THE L U S I A THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA, OR, ^\ ') -'i o ,.^ ^ //! I ^^ I LI. I AM J I LIT S MiCKLK ESQ' THE L U S I OR, THE'y DISCOVERY OF --li^^B^iif AN EPIC POEM. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL PORTUGUESE OF LUIS DE CAMOENS, BY WILLIAM JULIUS MICKLE. NEC VERBUM VERBO CURABIS REDDERE, FIDUS INTERFRES. HOR. DE ART. POET. VOL, I. THE THIRD EDITION, DUBLIN: PRINTED BY GRAISBERRV AND CAMPBELl, FOR JOHN ARCHER, N^ 80, DAME-STREET. I 7? I SUBSCRIBERS NAMES A H . ENRY Alexander, Efq The Rev. Merv. Archdall, The Rev. Mr. Gilbert Auften, Whaley Armitage, Efq. T. C. Cambridge Richard Amphlett, Efq, George Armflrong, Efq. Doftor Clement Archer, Thomas Archer, Efq. Mr. Edward Archer, London J. Atchifon, Efq. Derry Mr. Thomas Archdeakon, Jan. Mrs. Atkinfon, Marflifield Thomas Henry Armftrong, Efq. George Arthur Afh, Efq. John Afhworth, Efq. John Rigby Anderfon, Efq. Sterling. B Hon. Simon Butler Sir Samuel Bradftreet, Bait. The Hon. J. Browne, J. Blachford, Efq. Cornelius Bolton, Efq. Mr. Pat. Byrne, Bookfeller 50 copies The Rev. Mr. E. Berwick, James Bradifh, Efq. Mr. John Beatty Mr. Robert Burton, 2 copies The Hon. Denis Browne, The Rev. Mr. Edw. Barton, The Rev. Mr. Henry Boyd, T. S. Berry, Efq. The Rev. Mr. Bethell, Henry Brabazon, Efq, Francis Burroughs, Efq. Samuel Brook, Efq. Leixlip The Rev. Mr, Brownrigg, Denis SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. Denis O'Brien, Efq. Docftor Bryan Mr. Edward Brenan Mr. Wm. Beaufort Samuel Boyce, Efq. Waterford Charles Blake, Efq. Loftus Bland, Efq. James Blacker, Efq. Thos Bernack, Efq. Liverpool Captain Buchanan Thos. Montgomery Blair, Efq. Mr. Neptune Blood Mr. George Blood. Robert Bowis, Efq. Right Hon. Lord Vifcount Conyngham Right Hon. William Conjmg- ham Sir B. Chapman Andrew Caldwell, Efq. Graves Chamney, Efq. James Caflidy, Efq. Mr. James Cuming, Bookfel- ler, Newry, 12 copies Cotiban Carr, Efq. Robert Clarendon, Efq. Mr. Adam Clarke Mr. Richard Comerford, Por- tarlington Mr. John Conry, Portarlington J. P. Curran, Efq. Mrs. Cuff Mr. John Ca(h, 2 copies The Rev. Mr. Clarke Mifs Chetwynd Wm. Cope, Efq. 2 copies Mr. Campbell, printer, 2 copies Rev. Mr. Thos. Campbell Mr. Cuthbert, Rev. Hen, Cope, Lieutenant Card Rev. Mr. Crofton Captain Charters Mrs. Eliz. Carter John Copeland, Efq. Richard Cooper, Efq. Briflol Richard Colles, Efq. William Colles, Efq. D Mr. John Dumoulin Malachy Donelan, Efq. Mr. George Draper, 7 copies Richard Dobbin, Efq. Mr. B. Dugdale, Bookfeller, 7 copies The Rev. John Dunn, O' Regan Mr. S. H. Drury, 2 copies Mr. M. Daly, Greek ProfefTor* Lifbon Captain Dardis, 70 Regt. Surgeon Wm, Deafe Mr. 8. Darling Hubert Thomas Dolphin, Efq. T, C D. Stephen Dickfon, M, D. Jofias Dunn, Efq. Mr. Oliver Dcafe Antony Delap, Efq. Stephen SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. Stephen Defprett, Efq. J. George Dalrymplc, Efq. J. A. Eccles, Efq. The Rev. Dodtor Ellifon, Kil- kenny Jofhua Edkins, Efq. William Trevor Englifh, A. B. T. C. D. John Egan, Efq. Mr. Chriftopher Earl Mifs Mary Eafte Mrs. Eafte Thomas Egraount, Efq. Chef- ter Right Hon. John Fofter, Spea- ker of the Hon. Houfe of Commons Right Hon. James Fitzgerald L.ady Ann Fitzgerald Hon. Wm. Forward J. T. Fofter, Efq. Luke Fagan, Efq. Charles Frizell, Efq. The Rev. Thomas Fitzgerald, Ennis Wm. Fletcher, Efq. John Forbes, Efq. Col. Fawcett Mr. John Fleming Mr. L. L. Flyn Mrs. E. Lynch, Bookfeller," 7 copies Mr. John Farrell Rev. Mr. Fleming Right Hon. the Earl of Glan- dore The Countefs of Granard George Grace, Efq. Charles Gavan, Efq. The Rev. Wm. 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Mr. Thomas Kirwan Mr. Kennedy Mr. John Keelin Peter King, Efq. Dodor George Kittfon Mr. Nicholas Kildhal J. Kelly, Efq. Mrs. Kirwan, Cajlle-hachett Wm. Todd Jones, Efq. The Rev. J. Jones, B. D. Caleb Jenkin, Efq. Mr. Thomas Jackfon, Book- feller, 2 copies Robert Johnfon, Efq. Mr. J. Johnfon, T. C. D. Mr. Robert Jcflbn J. Henry Irvine, Efq. Mr. Wm. Jones, Bookfeller, No. 86, Danie-ftrect, 25 copies. Mr. Wm. Jackfon Fiedciick Jones, Efq. Robert Law, Efq. Leixlip Rev. Edward Ledwich Mr. Nicholas Le Favre Mr. James Lynch Sackville H. Lovett, Efq. Edward Lambert, Efq. Rev. Mr. Lambert Mr, Lewis Lyons. M Mr. Richard Edward Mercier George Murphy, A. B. Mr. Pat. Muqjhy Mr. Michael Mills, Printer Margus Mc. Caufland, Efq. Gerard Macklin, Efq. Bf-yan SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. Bryan Mc. Mahon, 'E{q.Limerid Rev. Dan. M'Nell, A. M. Mr. James Moran Gab. Maturin, A. B. S. T. C. D. John Magee, Efq. Leixlip Mr. John Milliken, Bookfeller, 25 copies. Rev. Dodor Mercier Mr. A. Moore James Murray, M. D. Mr. James Moore, Bookfeller, 50 copies Doftor Mc. Neven William Maturin, Efq. Thomas Montgomery, Efq. Charles Mc. Carthy, Efq. N Mr. Richard Nunn John Nuttall, Efq. William Nicholfon, Efq. Captain Edward Nugent O Charles O'Neill, Efq. William Ormfton, Efq. Archibald Ormfton, Efq. Henry Ottiwell, Efq. James O'Hara, Efq. William Oftrey, Efq. Robert Ogilvy, Efq. Mr. William Ofborne Ralph Oufley, Efq. Cornet William Oulley P Right Hon. Lord Vifc. Pery William Penrofe, Efq. Mr. Pomerett Robert Pearfon, Efq. Mr. Thomas Prentice Mr. Thomas Prior, T. C. D. Mr. John Ponfonby Mr. James Potts James Palles, Efq. Jofeph Pollock, Efq. R Lady Charlotte Rawden Jofeph Rowlins, Efq. Mr. John Rigby Rev. Mr. RufTel John RufTel, Efq. Mr. William Read Rev. Loftus Edward Robinfon Mifs Reynells Surgeon Rivers Mr. John Rice, Bookfeller, 12 copies Captain Robinfon, Britilh Ar- tillery Thomas Reynolds, Efq. Ruxton, Efq. Dominick Rice, Efq. . Smith Ramadge, Efq. Robert Roberts, Efq. S Right Hon. Lady Sidney Bowen Southwell, Efq. John Sutton, Efq. M.Saunders, Efq. of Saunderr.- Grove Mr. John Skeys Tho. Pennant, Efq. Land. 2 copies, Hugh Skeys, Efq. Robert Perceval, M. D. George Stuart, A. B. Mr. SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. Mr. Wm. Skater, Bookfeller, 12 copies. Mr, John Sweetman. Graves Chamney Swan, E'q. Doflor Robert Scott Rev. Dr. Sherlock Walter Stephens, Efq. T. C. D. Jofeph Smith, Efq. George Smith, Efq. London Mr. Martin Scully Rev. Mr. Sandys, Celbr'idgs Rev. Nicholas Stuart Tho. Smith. Efq. Richard Sharkey, Efq, Henry Tyghe, Efq. William Taylor, Efq. Thomas Towers, Efq. Mr. Wm. Thomas, T C. D. Mr. Wm. Tew, A. B. T. C. D. T. Take, Efq. Lieutenant Tyrel, Royal Ar- tillery J. Cooper Walker, Efq." Walter Wade, M. D. Mr. Richard White, Bookfeller, 50 copies. Samuel Whyte, Efq. 12 copies Mr. Tho. Walker, Bookfeller, 25 copies Mr. Henry Walker Robert Wallace, Efq. Limerici Ifaac Weld, Efq. Mr, Hugh Warren, Bookfeller, Be/fajl, 12 copies John Wallis, Efq. Chrift. Stone Williams, Efq. Rev. Mr. Warren Mrs. Dorotliea Williams James Williams, Efq. Mr. Henry Watts, Bookfeller, 25 copies Mr. Thomas White, Bookfeller^ Cori, 25 copies Captain Weftenra Samuel Walker, B. A. T.C.D. William Watfon, Efq. Mr. Luke White Edward Woods, Efq. Rev. Archdeacon Verfchoyle Ant. Vieyra, L L. B. T.C.D, Culonel Charles Vallancey W Mr. T. Yoaklv- Rev. Gore Wood Henry Wcdman Wood, Efq. Robert Watfon Wade, Efq. INTRODUCTION. If a concatenation of events centered in one great action, events which gave birth to the pre- fent commercial fyftem of the world ; if thefe be of the firft importance in the civil hiftory of man- kind, the Lufiad, of all other poems, challenges the attention of the philofopher, the politician, and the gentleman. In contradiftinclion to the Iliad and Eneid, the Paradife Loft has been called the epic poem of religion. In the fame manner may the Lufiad be named the epic poem of commerce. The hap- py completion of the moft important defigns of Henry Duke of Vifco, Prince of Portugal, to whom Europe owes both Gama and Columbus, both the eaftern and the weftern worlds, confti- tutes the fubjecl of that celebrated epic poem, (known hitherto in England almoft only by name) which is now offered to the Englifli reader. But before we proceed to the hiftorical introduction neceflary to elucidate a poem found- ed on fuch an important period of hiftory, fome attention is diie to the opinion of thofe theorifts VOL. L a in ii INTRODUCl ION. in political philofophy, who lament that either India was ever difcovered, and who alfert that the increafe of trade is big with the real mifery of mankind, and that commerce is only the pa- rent of degeneracy, and the nurfe of every vice. Much indeed may be urged on this lide of the qucltion, but much alfo may be urged againfl every inftitution relative to man. Imperfection, if not necellary to humanity, is at leaft the cer- tain attendant on every thing human. Though fome part^f ief- fed o( tlieir prefent greatnefs, it is in their power to difl'ufc over the Eaft every bleffing which flows from the wifeft and mcrft humane policy. Long ere the Europeans arrived, a failure of the crop of rice, the principal food of India, has fpread the devaflations of famine over the populous plains of Bengal. And never, from the feven years famine of ancient Egypt to the prefent day, was there a natural fcarcity in any country which did not enrich the proprietors of the granaries. The Mohammedan princes and Moorifh traders have often added all the horrors of an artificial to a natural famine. But however fome Portuguefe or other governors may (land accufed, much was left for the humanity of the more exalted po- licy of an Albuquerque or a Caftro. And under fuch European governors as thefe, the diftrelTes of the Eaft have often been alleviated by a gene- roiity of conduct, and a train of refources for- merly • M'iiammLtl All Klian, Nabob of the Cainalic, declared, " I met the • Biitiih with that freedom of opcnncfs which they lo\'e, and I efteem it " my hiinour, us well as ficarily, to be the ally of I'uch a nation o* INTRODUCTION. xxi inerly unknown in Afia. Abfurd and impracilca- ble were that fcheme, whicli would introduce the Britiih laws into India, without the decpeft re- gard to the manners and circumftances peculiar to the people. But that fpirit of liberty upon which they are founded, and that fecurity of property which is their leading principle, muft, in time, have a wide and ftupendous efled. The abject fpirit of Aliatic fubmiffion will be taught to fee, and to claim thofe rights of nature, of which the difpirited and paffive Gentoos could, till lately, hardly form an idea. From this, as naturally as the noon fucceeds the dawn, muft the other blelfings of civilization arife. For though the four great tribes of India, are almoft inacceflibie to the introduction of other manners and of ether literature than their own, happily there is in hu- man nature a propenlity to change. Nor may the political philofopher be deemed an enthuiiaft, who would boldly prophefy, that unlefs the Britifli be driven from India, the general fiiperiority which they bear, will, ere many generations fliall have paffed, induce the moft intelligent of India to break the fliackles of their abfurd fupcrftitionG, and lead them to partake of thofe advantages which arife from the free fcope and due cultiva- tion of the rational powers. In almv)rc every in- ftance | the Indian inftitutions are not contrary to t Every man muft follow his father's traJe, and m;ift marry a daughter of the fame occupation. Innumerable are their other barbarous refti iitions of geniiisand inclination. xxii INTRODUCTION. to the feelinc;s and wiflies of nature. And igno- rance and bigotry, their two chief pillars, can never fccurc unalterable duration *. We have certain proof, that the horrid cuftom of burn- ing the \vi\Ts along with the body of the deceafed hulband, has continued for upwards of 1500 years ; we are alfo certain, that within thefe twenty years it has begun to fall into difufe. To- gether wdth the alteration of this moft (Iriking feature of Indian manners, other aflimilations to European fcntiments have already taken place f . Nor can the obftinacy even of the conceited Chinefe always refift the defire of imitating the Europeans, a people who in arts and in arms are fo greatly fuperior to themfelves. The ufe of the twenty-four letters, by which we can exprefs every language, appeared at firft as miraculous to the Chinefe. Prejudice cannot always deprive that people, who are not deficient in felfifli cun- ning, of the eafe and expedition of an alphabet ; and it is eafy to forefee, that, in the courfe of a few centuries, fome alphabet will certainly take place of the 60,000 arbitrary marks, which now render the cultivation of the Chinefe literature not only a labour of the utmoft difficulty, but even * The impoflibility of alteration in the religion of the Bramins, is an afTcrtion agaiiifl farts. The high antiquity and unadulterated famcnefs of their religion, arc impofitions on Europe. For a clear demonflration of this, fee the Enquiry, cScc. at the end of the Vllth Lufiad. -(• Sec the above Enquiry, &c. INTRODUCTION. xxiK even the attainment of it, impoflible beyond a very limited degree. And from the introduction -of an alphabet, what improvements may not be .expected from the laborious induftry of the Chinefe ! Though moft obftinately attached to their old cufloms, yet there is a tide in the man- ners of nations which is fudden and rapid, and which acls with a kind of inftinctive fury againfl ancient prejudice and abfurdity. It was that nation of merchants, the Phoenicians, which dif- fufed the ufe of letters through the ancient, and Commerce will undoubtedly diflufe the fame blef- iings through the modern world. To this view of the political happinefs, which is fure to be introduced in proportion to civiliza- tion, let the Divine add, Vv^hat may be reafonably expected, from fuch opportunity of the increafe of Religion. A factory of merchants, indeed, has feldom been found to be the fchool of piety ; yet when the general manners of a people become allimilated to thofe of a more rational woi^ip, fomething more than ever was produced by an in- fant million, or the neighbourhood of an infant colony, may then be reafonably expected, and even foretold. In eftimating the political happinefs of a people, nothing is of greater importance than their capa- city of, and tendency to, improvement. As a dead lake, to continue our former allufion, will remain xxiv INTRODUCTION. remain In the fame ftate for ages and ages, {o would the bigotry and fuperftitions of the Eail continue the fimc. But if the lake is begun to be opened into a thoufand rivulets, who knows over what unnumbered fields, barren before, they may diffufe the bleflings of fertlHty, and turn a dreary wildcrnefs into a land of fociety and joy- In contrail to this, let the Golden Coaft and other immenfe regions of Africa be contem- plated ; Afric behold ; alas, what altered view ! Her lands uncultivated, and her fons untrue ; Ungraced with all that fweetens human life, Savage and fierce they roam in brutal ftrife ; Eager they grafp the gifts which culture yields, Yet naked roam their own negleded fields .... C^nnun-iber'd tribes as beftial grazers ftray, By laws unform'd, unform'd by Reafon's fway. Far inward ftretch the mournful fteril dales, Where on the parcht hill-fide pale famine wails. LusiAD X. Let us view what miUions of thefe unhappy fa- vages are dragged from their native fields, and cut off for ever from all hopes and the rights to which human birth entitled them. And who would hefl- tate to pronounce that negro the greateil of patri- ots, who, by teaching his countrymen the arts of fociety, fliould teach them to defend themfelves in the pofTcfTion of their fields, their families, and their own perfonal liberties ? Evident INTRODUCTION. xxv Evident however as it is, that the voyages of Gama and Columbus have already carried a fupc- rior degree of happinefs, and the promife of in- finitely more, to tlic Eaftern and Weftern Worlds ; yet the advantages derived from the difcovery of thefe regions to Europe may perhaps be denied. But let us view what Europe was, ere the genius of Don Henry gave birth to the fpirit of modern difcovery. Several ages before this period the feudal fyf- tem had degenerated into the mofl abfolute ty- ranny. The barons exercifed the moft defpotic authority over their vafTals, and every fcheme of public utility was rendered imprafticable by their continual petty wars with each other ; and to which they led their dependents as dogs to the chace. Unable to read, or to write his own name, the chieftain was entirely poiTeiTed by the moft romantic opinion of military glory, and the fons: of his domeftic minftrel conftituted his higheft, idea of fame. The clafTics flept on the flielves of the monaftcries, their dark, but happy afylum ; while the life of the monks refemblcd that of the fattened beeves which loaded their ta- bles. Real abilities were indeed polTeiTed by a Duns Scotus,- and a few others ; but thefe were loft in the inoft trifling fubtleties of a fophiftry, which they dignified with the name of cafuiftical divinity. Whether Adam and Eve were created with xxvi INTRODUCTION. with navels, and how many thoufand angels might at the fame inftant dance upon the point of the lineft needle without joflhng one another, were two of the feveral topics of Hke importance which excited the acumen and eno:a2:ed the con- troverfies of the learned. While every branch of philofophical, of rational invelligation, was thus unpurfued and unknown, commerce, incompati- ble in itfelf with the feodal fyftem, was equally neglecled and unimproved. Where the mind is enlarged and enlightened by learning, plans of commerce will rife into aclion ; and thefe, in re- turn, will, from every part of the world, bring new acquirements to philofophy and fcience. The birth of learning and commerce may be dif- ferent, but their growth is mutual and depend- ent upon each other. They not only aflift each other, but the fame enlargement of mind which is necclfary for the perfection in the one, is alfo necefiary for perfeclion in the other ; and the fame caufes impede, and are ahke deftructive of both. The intercourse of mankind is the pa- rent of each. According to the confinement or extent of intercourfe, barbarity or civilization proportionably prevail. In the dark monkifh ages, the intercourfe of the learned was as much impeded and confined as that of the merchant. A few unwieldy vefl'els coafted the fliores of Europe ; and mendicant friars and ignorant pil- ' grims INTRODUCTION. xxvii grims carried a miferable account of what was pafling in the world from monaftery to monafte- ry. What Do£lor had laft difputed on the Peri- patetic philofophy at fome univerfity, or what new herefy had laft appeared, not only comprifed the whole of their literary intelligence, but was delivered with little accuracy, and received with as little attention. While this thick cloud of mental darknefs overfpread the weftern world, was Don Henry prince of Portugal born, born to fet mankind free from the feodal fyftem, and to give to the whole world every advantage, every light that may poflibly be diffufed by the inter- courfe of unlimited commerce ; For then from ancient gloom emerg'd The rifmg world of Trade : the Genius, then. Of Navigation, that in hopelefs floth Had flumber'd on the vaft Atlantic deep For idle ages, ftarting, heard at laft The Lufitanian Prince, who, heaven-inlpir'd To love of ufeful glory rous'd mankiud, And in unbounded Commerce mixt the world. Thom, In contraft to the melancholy view of human nature, funk into barbarifm and benighted with ignorance, let the prefent ftate of Europe be im- partially eftimated. Yet though the great in- creafe of opulence and learning cannot be denied, there are fome who aflert, that virtue and happi- nefs have as greatly declined. And the immenfe overflow of riches, from the eaft in particular, has xxviii INTRODUCTION. has been pronounced big with deftruction to the Britifh empire. Every thing human,' it is true, lias its dark as well as its bright Tide ; but let thefe popular complaints be examined, and it will be found, that modern Europe, and the Britifli em- pire in a Very particular manner, have received the greateft and moft folid advantages from the modern enlarged fyftem of commerce. The ma- sric of the old romances, which could make the moft withered, deformed, hag, appear as the moft beautiful virgin, is every day verified in popular declamation. Ancient days are there painted in the moft amiable fimplicity, and the modern in the moft odious colours. Yet what man of for- tune in England now lives in that ftupendous grofs luxury, which every day was exhibited in tW Gothic caftles of the old chieftains! Four or five hundred knights and fquires in the domef- tic retinue of a warlike Earl was not uncommon, nor was the pomp of embroidery inferior to the profufe wafte of their tables ; in both in fiances un- equalled by all the mad excefles of the prefent age. While the Baron thus lived in all the wild glare of Gothic luxury, agriculture was almoft totally neglected, and his meaner vaflals fared har- der, infinitely lefs comfortably, than the meaneft induftrious labourers of England do now. Where the lands are uncultivated, the peafants, ill- cloathcd, ill-lodged, and poorly fed, pafs their miferable INTRODUCTION. xxlx tniferable days in flotli and filth, totally ignorant of every advantage, of every comfort which na- ture lays at their feet. He who pafles from the trading towns and cultured fields of England, to thofe remote villages of Scotland or Ireland, which claim this defcription, is aftoniflied at the com- parative wretchednefs of their defl:itute inhabi- tants ; but few confider, that thefe villages only exhibit a view of what Europe was, ere the fpirit of commerce diffufed the bleflings which naturally flow from her improvements. In the Hebrides the failure of a harveft almoft depopulates an illand. Having little or no traffic to purchafe grain, numbers of the young and hale betake themfelves to the continent in queft of employ- ment and food, leaving a few lefs adventurous behind, to beget a new race, the heirs of the famic fortune. Yet, from the fame caufe, from the want of traffic, the kingdom of England has often felt more dreadful effecls than thefe. Even in the days when her Henries and Edwards plumed themfelves with the trophies of France, how often has famine fpread all her horrors over city and village ? Our modern hiftories neglect this characteriftical feature of ancient days ; but the rude chronicles of thefe ages inform us, that three or four times, in almoft every reign of con- tinuance, was England thus vifited. The failure of one crop was then feverely felt, and two bad harvefts together were almoR infupportable. But Commerce xKx INTRODUCnON. Commerce has now opened another fcene, has armed government with the happieft power that can be exerted by the rulers of a nation ; the power to prevent every * extremity which may poflibly arife from bad harvefts ; extremities, ■which, in foreign ages, were efteemed more dreadful vifitations of the wrath of heaven, than the peftilencc itfelf. Yet modern London is not fo certainly defended againft the latter, its anti- ent vifitor in almoft every reign, as the Common- wealth by the means of commerce, under a juft and humane government, is fecured againft the ravages of the former. If, from thefe great out- lines of the happinefs enjoyed by a commercial over an ancom.mercial nation, we turn our eyes to the manners, the advantages will be found no lefs in favour of the civilized. Whoever is inclined to declaim on the vices o the prefent age, let him read, and be convinced, that the Gothic ages were lefs virtuous. If the fpirit of chivalry prevented effeminacy, it was the fofter father of a ferocity of marmers, now happily unknown. Rapacity, avarice, and effe- minacy are the vices afcribed to the increafe of com.merce ; and in fomc degree, it muft be con- fcflfed, they follow her fteps. Yet infinitely more dreadful, as every palatinate in Europe often felt, were ♦Extremity; for it were both higlily unjuft and impolitic in Govern- ment, to allow importation in fuch a degree as might be deflru£live of domcllic agriculture, even whtu there is a real failure of the harveft. INTRODUCTION. xxxi were the effects of the two firft under the fcodal Lords, than poffibly can be experienced under any fyftem of trade. The virtues and vices of hu- man nature are the fame in every age : they only receive different modifications, and lie dormant or are awaked into action under different circum- ftances. The feodal Lord had it infinitely more in his power to be rapacious than the merchant. And whatever avarice may attend the trader, his intercourfe with the reft of mankind lifts him greatly above that brutifh ferocity which actu- ates the favage, often the ruftic, and in general characterifes the ignorant part of mankind. The abolition of the feodal fyftem, a fyftem of abfo- lute flavery, and that equality of mankind which affords the protection of property, and every other incitement to induftry, are the glorious gifts which the fpirit of commerce, called forth by prince Henry of Portugal, has beftowed upon Europe in general ; and, as if directed by the manes of his mother, a daughter of England, upon the Britifh empire in particular. In the vice of effeminacy alone, perhaps, do we exceed our anceftors : yet even here we have infinitely the advantage over them. The brutal ferocity of former ages is now loft, and the general mind is humanifed. The favas-e breaft is the native foil of revenge ; a vice, of all others, ingrati- tude excepted, peculiarly ftamped with the cha- racter xxxn INTRODUCTION. racter of hell. But the mention of this was re- ferved for the character of the favages of Europe. The favage of every country is implacable when injured, but among foriie, revenge has its mea- fure. When an American Indian is murdered, his kindred purfue the murderer, and foon as blood has atoned for blood, the wilds of Ame- rica hear the hoftile parties join in their mutual lamentations over the dead ; and as an oblivion of malice, the murdered and the murderer are buried together. But the meaiure of revenge, never to be full, was left for the demi-favages of Europe. The vaflals of the feodal Lord entered into his quarrels with the moft inexorable rage. Juft or unjuft was no confideration of theirs. It was a family feud ; no farther enquiry was made ; and from age to age, the parties, who never in- jured each other, breathed nothing but mutual rancour and revenge. And adions, fuitable to this horrid fpirit, every where confeffed its vi- rulent influence. Such were the late days of Eu- rope, admired by the ignorant for the innocence of manners. Refentment of injury indeed is natu- ral ; and there is a degree which is honeft, and though warm, far from inhuman. But if it is the hard^alk of humanifed virtue to preferve the feeling of an injury unmixt with the flighteft cri- minal wim^of revenge, how impoffible is it for the favage to attain the dignity of forgivenefs, the grcateil ornament of human nature ! As in individuals. INTRODUCTION. xxxiii individuals, a virtue will rife into a vice, genero- fity into blind profufion, and even mercy into criminal lenity, fo civilifcd manners will lead the opulent into efFeminacy. But let it be confidered, this confequence is by no means the certain refuJt of civilization. Civilization, on the contrary, provides the moft effectual preventive of this evil. Where clallical literature prevails, the man- ly fpirit which it breathes muft be diffufed. Whenever frivoloufnefs predominates, when re- finement degenerates into whe^tever enervates the mind, literary ignorance is fure to comphat the effeminate character. A mediocrity of virtues and of talents is the lot of the great majority of mankind ; and even this mediocrity, if cultivated by a liberal education, will infallibly fecure its polTeffor againft thofe excelTes of efFeminacy which are really culpable. To be of plain manners it is not neceflary to be a clown, or to wearxoarfe cloaths ; nor is it necelTary to lie on the ground and feed like the favage, to be truly manly. The beggar who, behind the hedge, divides his offals with his dog, has often more of the real fenfua- lift than he who dines at an elegant table. Nor need we hefitate to aifert, that he who, unable to preferve a manly elegance of manners, degene- rates into the petit maitre, would have been, in any age or condition, equally inligni Scant and worthlefs. Some, when they talk of the debau- VOL. I. , c chery ^?7 xxxiv INTRODUCTION. chery of the prefent age, feem to think that the former were all innocence. But this is ignorance of human nature. The debauchery of a barba- rous age is grofs and brutal ; that of a gloomy fuperftitious one, fecret, excelTive, and murde- rous ; that of a more poliftied one, not to make an apology, much happier for the fair fex*, and certainly in no circumftance fo big with political unhappincfs. If one difeafe has been imported from Spanifli Americaf tlk moft valuable medi- cines have likewife been brought from thefe regi- ons ; and diftempers, which were thought invin- cible by our forefathers, are now cured. If the luxuries of the Indies uflier difeafe to our tables, the confequence is not unknown ; the wife and the temperate receive no injury; and intempe- rance has been the deftroyer of mankind in every age. The opulence of ancient Rome produced a luxury of manners which proved fatal to that mighty * Even that warm admirer of favage happinefs, the author of the H'ijlo'ire Philofoph'ique iff Politique des Etahlijfemensy &c. con- fefles, that the wild Americans feem deftitute of the feeling of love — " In a little while, fays he, when the heat of paflion is " gratified, they lofe all afFedion and attachment for their wo- *• men, whom they degrade to the moft fervile offices." — A ten- der remembrance of the firft endearments, a generous participa- tion of care and hope, the compaffionate fentimcnts of honour, all thofe delicate feelings, which arife into affisdion and bind at- tachment, are indeed incompatible with the ferocious and nrofs fenfations of the barbarian of any country. INTRODUCTION. xxxv mighty empire. But the effeminate fenfuaUfts of thofe ages were men of no intellectual cultivation. The enlarged ideas, the generous and manly feel- ings infpired by liberal ftudy, were utterly un- known to them. Unformed by that wifdom which arifes from fcience and true philofophy, they were grofs barbarians, dreffed in the mere outward tinfel of civilization *. Where the en- thufiafm of military honour characterifes the rank of gentlemen, that nation will rife into empire. But no fooner does conqueft give a continued lecu- rity, than the mere foldier degenerates ; and the old veterans are foon fucceeded by a new genera- tion, illiterate as their fathers, but deftitute of their virtues and experience. Polite literature not only humanifes the heart, but alfo wonder- fully ftrengthens and enlarges the mind. Moral and political philofophy are its peculiar provinces, and are never happily cultivated without its af- liftance. But where icjnorance characterifes the body of the nobility, the moft infipid dilTipation,! and the very idlenefs and effeminacy of luxury,! are fure to follow. Titles and family are then the only merit ; and the few men of bufmefs who furround * The degeneracy of the Roman literature preceded the fate of that empire, and the reafon is obvious. The men of fortune grew frivolous, and fuperficial in every branch of knowledge, and were therefore unable to hold the reins of empire. The degenera- cy of literary talle is, therefore, the fureft proof of the general declenfion. xxxvi INTRODUCTION. furround the throne, have it then in their power to aggrandife themfelves by riveting the chains of flavery. A ftately grandeur is preferved, but it is only outward ; all is decayed within, and on the firft ftorm the weak fabric falls to the duft. Thus rofe and thus fell the empire of Rome, and the much wider one of Portugal. Though the increafe of wealth did indeed contribute to that corruption of manners which unnerved the Portuguefe, certain it is, the wifdom of legiflature might have prevented every evil which Spain and Portugal have experienced from their acqui- fitions in the two Indies. Every evil which they have fuffered from their acquirements arofe, as fhall be hereafter demonstrated, from their gene- ral ignorance, an ignorance which rendered them unable to inveftigate or apprehend, even the firft principles of civil and commercial philofophy. And what other than the total eclipfe of th^ir glory could be expected from a nobility, rude and unlettered as thofe of Portugal are defcribed by the author of the Lufiad, a court and nobility, who fealed the truth of all his complaints againft them., by fuffering that great man, the light of their age, to die in an alms-houfe ! What but the fall of their ftate could be expected from barbari- ans like thefc ! Nor can the annals of mankind produce one inftance of the fall of empire, where the cliaracter of the grandees was other than that afcribed to his countrymen by Camoens. THE J THE HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA, l\l O leflbn can be of greatec national irfiportance than the hiftory of the rife and the fall of a commercial empire. The view of what advantages were acquired, and of what might have been ftill added ; the means by which fuch empire might have been continued, and the errors by which it was loft, are as particularly confpicuous in the naval and commercial hiftory of Portugal, as if providence had intended to give a lafting example to mankind ; a chart, where the courfe of the fafe voyage is pointed out 5 and where the flielves and rocks, and the feafons of tem- peft, are difcovered, and foretold. VOL. I. B The xxxW THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. The hlftory of Portugal, as a naval and commerciar power, begins with the enterprizes of Prince Henry. But as the improvements introduced by this great man, and the completion of his defigns are intimately connedled with the political ftate of his age and country, a concife view of the progrefs of the power, and of the charafter of that kingdom, will be necefTary to elucidate the hiftory of the revival of commerce, and the fubject of the Lufiad. During the centuries, when the effeminated Roman provinces of Europe were defolated by the irruptions of northern or Scythian Barbarians, the Saracens, originally of the fame race, a wandering banditti of Afiatic Scythia, fpread the fame horrors of brutal conquefi: over the fineft countries of the eaftem world. The northern conquerors of the finer provinces of Europe embraced the Chriftian religion as profefled by the monks, and, contented with the luxuries of their new fettlements, their military fplrit foon declined. Their ancient brothers, the Saracens, on the other hand, having embraced the religion of Mo- hammed, their rage of war received every addition which may poflibly be infpired by religious enthufiafm. Not only the fpoils of the vanquiflied, but their beloved para- dife itfelf, were to be obtained by their fabres, by ex- . tending the faith of their prophet by force of arms and ufurpation of dominion. Strengthened and infpired by a commiffion which they efteemed divine, the rapidity of their THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. xxxv their conquefts far exceeded thofe of the Goths and Van- dals. A great majority of the inhabitants of every coun- try which they fubdued, embraced their religion, imbibed their principles, united in their views ; and the profefTors of Mohammedifm became the moft formidable combina- tion that ever was leagued together againft the refi: of man- kind. Morocco and the adjacent countries, at this time amazingly populous, had now received the doftrines of the Koran, and incorporated with the Saracens. And the Infidel arms fpread flaughter and defolation from the foutli of Spain to Italy and the iflands of the Mediterranean. All the rapine and carnage committed by the Gothic con- querors were now amply returned on their lefs warlike pofterity. In Spain, and the province now called Portu- gal, the Mohammedans ere£led powerful kingdoms, and their luft of conqueft threatened deftrudlion to every Chriftian power. But a romantic military fpirit revived in Europe, under the aufpices of Charlemagne. Several religious military orders were eftabliflied. Celibacy, the ftudy of religion, and the exercife of arms, were the con- ditions of their vow, and the defence of their country and of the faith, their ambition and fole purpofe. He who fell in battle was honoured and ehvied as a martyr. And moft: wonderful vidlories crowned the ardor of thefe reli- gious warriors. The Mohammedans, during the reign of Charlemagne, made a moft formidable irruption into Europe, and France in particular felt the weight of their fury J but the honour which was paid to the knights who B 2 wore xxxvl THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. wore the badge of the crofs, drew the adventurous youth of every Chriftian power to the ftandards of that political monarch, and in faft, (a circumftance however negle(Sled by hiftorians) gave birth to the Crufades, the beginning of which, in propriety, ought to be dated from his reign. Few indeed are the hiftorians of this age, but enough re- main to prove that though the writers of the old romance have greatly difguifed it, though they have given full room to the wilJcfl flights of imagination, and have added the inexhauftible machinery of rnagic to the adventures of their heroes, yet the origin of their fictions was founded on hiftorical fa became the firft of the Portuguefe kings. In 1139 the Moors of Spain and Barbary united their forces to reco- ver the dominions from which they had been driven by the Chriftians. According to the loweft accounts of the Portuguefe writers, the army of the Moors amounted to 400^000 ; nor is ths number incredible, when we con- fider what great armies they at other times brought to the field ; and that at this time they came to take pofleflion of the lands which they expelled to conquer. Don Alon- zo, however, with a very fmall army, gave them battle on tlie plains of Ourique, and after a ftruggle of fix hours, obtained a moft glorious and complete § vi(n:ory, and which \\ as crowned with an event of the utmofl: impor- tance. On the field of battle Don Alonzo was proclaimed king t In propriety moft certainly a Crufade, though that term has never be- fore been applied to this war. j Sec the note on page 12. § I'or an account of this battle, and the coronation of the fiift king of Poitugal, fee tlie note, p. 22. THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA.' king of Portugal by his vi£lorious foldiers, and'^ie in rcr turn conferred the rank of nobility on the whole awny. But the conftitution of the monarchy was not fettled, nor was Alonzo invefted with the Regalia till fix years after this memorable day. The government the Portu- guefe had experienced under the Spaniards and Moors, and the advantages which they faw were derived from their own valour, had taught them a love of liberty, which was not to be complimented away in the joy of viflory, or by the Ihouts of tumult. Alonzo himfelf underftood their fpirit too well to venture the leafl attempt to make himfelf a defpotic monarch ; nor did he difcover the leaft inclination to deftroy that bold confcioufnefs of freedona which had enabled his army to conquer, and to eleiercing cold, and fo boifterous that the pilot's voice could eldom be heard, and a difmal, almoft continual darknefs, vhich at that tempeftuous feafon involves thefe feas, add- :d all its horrors. Sometimes the ftorm drove them buthward, at other times they were obliged to ftand on he tack, and yield to its fury, preferving what they had jained with the greateft difficulty. With fuch mad feas the daring Gama fought For many a day, and many a dreadful night, Incefiant labouring round the {Vormy Cape, By bold ambition led Thomson. D 2 During IxvHi THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. During any gloomv interval of the ftorm, the failors, wearied out with fatigue, and abandoned to defpair, fur- rounded Gama, and implored him not to fufFer himfelf, and thofe committed to his care, to perifh by fo dread- ful a death. The impoffibility that men fo weakened fliould ftand it much longer, and the opinion that this ocean was torn by eternal tempefts, and therefore had hitherto been, and was impafTable, were urged. But Ga- ma's refolution to proceed was unalterable. A formidable confpiracy was then formed againft his life ; but his bro- ther difcovered it, and the courage and prudence of Ga- ma defeated its defignf. He put the chief confpirators and fThe voyage of Gama has been called merely a coalHng one, and there- fore much lefs dangerous and heroicnl than that of Columbus, or of Ma- galhaens. But this, it is prefumed, is one of the opinions liallily taken up, and founded oo ignorance. Columbus and Magalliaens undertook to na- vigate unknown oceans, and fo did Gama ; with this difference, that the ocean around the Cape of Good Hope, which Gama was to encounter, was believed to be, and had been avoided by Diaz, as impaflable. Prince Henry fuggefted that the current of Cape Bojador might be avoided by {landing to fea, and thus that Cape was firft palled. Gama for this reafon did not coafl, but flood to fea for upwards of three months of tempeftuous weather. The tempefts which afflifled Columbus and Magalliaens, are by their difTerent iiiftorians defcribed with circumftances of kfs horror and dan- ger than thofe which attacked Gama. All the three commanders were en- dangered by mutiny ; but none of their crews, fave Gama's, could urge the opinion of ages, and the example of a living captain, that the dreadful ocean which they attempted was unnavigable. Columbus and Magalhaens always found means, afler deteillng a confpiracy, to keep the reft in hope, but Gama's men, when he put tiie i)ilt)ts in irons, continued in the utmoft I'cfpair. Columbus was indeed ill. obeyed; Miigalhaens fometimcs little belter : but nothing, fave the wonderful authority of Gama's command, *;ould have led his crew through the tempcft which he furmounted ere he •loublcd the Cape of Good Hope. Columbus, with Lis crew, muft have returned. The expedients with which he ufed to footh them, would, un- der THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Ixix and all the pilots in irons, and he himielf, his brother, Coello, and fome others, flood night and day to the helms, and direcSled the courfe. At laft, after having many days, with unconquered mind, withftood the tem- peft and an enraged mutiny, (molem perfidia) the ftorm fuddenly ceafed, and they beheld the Cape of Good Hope. On November the 20th all the fleet doubled that pro- inontory, and fteering northward, coafted along a rich and \3er his authority, have had no avail in the tempeft which Gama rode through. From every circumftance it is evident that Gama had determin- ed not to return, unlefs he found India. Nothing lefs than fuch refoluti- on to perifli or attain his point could have led him on. But Columbus, ill obeyed, indeed, returned from the mouth of the river Oronoko, before he had made a certain difcovery lAihether the land was ifle or continent. When Gama met a ftrong current off Ethiopia, he bore on, though driven from his courfe. Columbus fleering fouthward in fearch of continent, met great currents. He imagined they were the rifing of the fea towards the canopy of heaven, which for aught he knew, fay the Authors of the Univerfal Hillory, they might touch towards the fouth. He therefore turned his courfe, and (leered to the weft. The pafling of the ilraits of Magellan, however hazardous, was not attended with fuch danger as Gama experienc- ed at the Cape, The attempt to crois the Pacific was greatly daring, but his voyage in that fea was happy. The navigation of the flraits of Magel- lan and the Pacific are in this country little known ; but the courfe of Ga- ma is at this day infinitely more hazardous than that of Columbus. If Co- lumbus found no pilots to conduct him, but eiicountered his greateft dan- gers in founding his courfe among the numerous weftern iflands, Gama, though in the Indian ocean aflifted by pilots, had as great trials of his va- lour, and much greater ones of his prudence. The warlike (trength, and deep treacherous arts of the Moors, were not found in the welt. All was fimplicity among the natives there. The prudence and forefight of Gama and Columbus were of the highert rate ; Magalhaens was in thefe fbme- times rather inferior. He loft his own, and the lives of the greateft part of his crew, by hazarding a land engagement at the advice of a judicial aftrologer. See the note on this line ; Ttf match thy deeds Jhall Mugalhaem afpire. Lusiad X, Ixx THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. and beautiful fhore, adorned with large forefts and num- berlefs herds of cnttlc. All was now alacrity ; the hope that they had furmounted every danger revived their fpi- rits, and the admiral was beloved and admired. Here, and at the bay, which they named St. Bias, they took in provillons, nnd beheld tliofc beautiful rural fcenes, de- fcribed by Camoens. And here the flore floop, now of no farther fervice, was burnt by order of the admiral. On December the 8th a violent ftorm drove the fleet from the fight of land, end carried them to that dreadful cur- rent * which made the Moors deem it impoffible to dou- ble the Cape. Gama, however, though unhappy in the time of navigating thefe Teas, was fafely carried over the current by the violence of a tempeft ; and having recovered the fight of land, as his fafeft courfe, he fleered north- ward along the coaft. On the loth of January they de- fcried, about 230 miles from their lafh watering place, fome beautiful iflands, with herds of cattle frifking in the meadows. It was a profound calm, and Gama ftood near to land. The natives of this place, which he named Terra de Natal, were better drelTed and more civilized than thofe they had hitherto feen. An exchange of pre- fents was made, and the black king was fo pleafed with the politencfs of Gama, that he came aboard his fhip to fee him. On the 15 th of January, in the duflcofthe evening, they came to the mouth of a large river, whofe banks were fliaded with trees loaded with fruit. On the return • This current runs between the Cape from thence named Conicntes, uod the foulh-weft extremity of Madagafcar. I THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Ixxi return of day they faw i'everal little boats with palm-tree leaves making towards them, and the natives came aboard without hefitatlon or fear. Gama received them kindly, gave them an entertainment, and fome filken garments, which they received with viflble joy. Only one of them however could fpeak a little broken Arabic. From him Fernan Martinho learned, that not far diftant was a coun- try where fhips, in fhape and fize like Gama's, frequently reforted. Hitherto Gama had found only the rudeft barbarians on the coafts of Africa, alike ignorant of India and of the naval art. The information he here received, that he was drawing near to civilized countries, gave the adventurers great fpirits, and the admiral named this place The River of Good Signs. Here, while Gama careened and refitted his fhips, the crews were attacked with a violent fcurvy, which carried ofFfeveral of his men. Having taken in frefh provifions, on the 24th of February he fet fail, and on the firft of March they defcried four iflands on the coaft of Mozam-^ bic. From one of thefe they perceived {"even veflels in full fail bearing toward them. Thefe knew Gama's fhips by the admiral's enfign, and made up to her, fainting her with loud huzzas and their inftruments of mufic. Gama received them abroad, and entertained them with great kindnefs. The interpreters talked with them in Arabic. The ifland, in which was the principal harbour and trad- ing town, they faid, was governed by a deputy of the Jiing of Quiloa j and many Saracen merchants, they add- ed, Ixxli THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. ed, were fettled here, wlio traded with Arabia, India, and other parts of the world. Gama was overjoyed, and the crew with uplifted hands returned thanks to heaven. Pleafed with the prefents which Gama fent him, and imagining that the Portugucfe were Mohammedans from Morocco, Zacocia the governor, drefled in rich embroi- dery, came to congratulate the admiral on his arrival in the Eaft. As he approached the fhips in great pomp, Gama removed the lick out of fight, and ordered all thofe in health to attend above deck, armed in the Portuguefe manner -, for he forefaw what would happen when the ISIohammedans ihould difcover their miftake. During the entertainment provided for him, Zacocia feemed highly pleafed, and afked feveral queftions about the arms and religion of the ftrangers. Gama fhewed them his arms, and explained the force of his cannon, but he did not affect to know much about religion ; however he frankly promifed to fhew him his books of devotion whene- ver a few days refrefliment fhould give him a more con- venient time. In the meanwhile he intreated Zacocia to fend him fome pilots who might conduift him to India. Two pilots were next day brought by the governor, a treaty of peace was folemnly concluded, and every office of mutual fricndfhip feemed to promife a lafting harmony. But it was foon interrupted. Zacocia, as foon as he found the Portuguefe were Chriftians, ufed every endeavour to dcftroy them. The life of Gama was attempted. One of THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Ixxiii of the Moorifh pilots deferted, and fome of the Portu- guefe, who were on fhore to get frefh water, were at- tacked by feven barks of the natives, but were refcued by a timely affiftance from the fliips. Befides the hatred of the Chriftian name, infpired by their religion, thefe Mohammedan Arabs had other rea- fons to wifh the deftruflion of Gama. Before this pe- riod, they were almoft the only merchants of the Eaft. Though without any empire in a mother country, they were bound together by language and religion, and like the modern Jews, were united together, though fcattered over various countries. Though they efteemed the cur- rent off Cape Corrientes, and the tempeftuous feas around the Cape of Good Hope, as impaflable, they were the fole mafters of the Ethiopian, Arabian, and Indian feas ; and had colonies in every place convenient for trade on thefe coafts. This crafty mercantile people clearly forefaw the confequences of the arrival of Europeans, and every art was foon exerted to prevent fuch formidable rivals from effecting any fettlement in the Eaft. To thefe Moham- medan traders, the Portuguefe, on account of their reli- gion, gave the name of Moors. Immediately after the flcirmifli at the watering-place, Gama, having one Moorifh pilot, fet fail, but was foon driven back to the fame ifland by tempeftuous weather. He now refolved to take in frefli water by force. The Moors perceived Ixxiv THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA, perceived his intention, about two thouland of whom ri- ling from ambufh, attacked the Portuguefe detachment. But the prudence of Gama had not been afleep. His iTiips were ftationed with art, and his artillery not only difperfed the hoftile Moors, but reduced their town, which was built of wood, into a heap of afhes. Among forae priloners taken by Paulus de Gama was a pilot, and Zacocia begging forgivenefs for his treachery, fent ano- ther, whofe flcill in navigation he greatly commended. A war with the Moors was now begun. Gama perceiv- ed that their jejiloufy of European rivals gave him nothing to expe£l but fecret treachery and open hoftility ; and he knew what numerous colonies they had on every trading coaft of the Eaft. To imprefs them therefore with the terror of his arms on their firfk a^ of treachery was wor- thy of a great commander. Nor was he remifs in his at- tention to the chief pilot, who had been laft fcnt. He perceived in him a kind of anxious endeavour to bear near fome little iflands, and fufpefling there were unfeen rocks in that courfe, he confidently charged the pilot with guilt, 3nd ordere'd him to be feverely whipped. The punifli- ment produced a confeffion, and promifes of fidelity. And he now advifed Gama to fland for Qiiiloa, which he alTured him was inhabited by Chriflians. Three Ethiopi- an Chriftians had come aboard while at Zacocia's ifland, and the current opinions of Prefter John's country in- clined Gama to try if he could find a port, where he might THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Ixxr might expert the affiftance of a people of his own religion. A violent ftorm, however, drove the fleet from Quiloa, and being now near Mombaze, the pilot advifed him to enter that harbour, where, he faid, there were alfo many Chriftians. The city of Mombaza is agreeably fituated on an ifland, formed by a river which empties itfelf into the fea by two mouths. The buildings are lofty and of firm flone, and the country abounds with fruit trees and cattle. Gama, happy to find a harbour where every thing wore the ap- pearance of civilization, ordered the (hips to caft anchor, which was fcarcely done, when a galley in which were 100 men in Turkifh habit, armed with bucklers and fa- bres, rowed up to the flag fhip. All of thefe feemed defi- rous to come aboard, but only four, who by their drefs feemed ofiicers, were admitted ; nor were thefe allowed, till ftript of their arms. As foon as on board, they ex- tolled the prudence of Gama in refufing admittance to armed ftrangers ; and by their behaviour feemed defirous to gain the good opinion of the adventurers. Their coun- try, they boafted, contained all the riches of India, and their king, they profeli'ed, was ambitious of entering into a friendly treaty with the Portuguefe, with whofe renown he was well acquainted. And that a conference with his majefty and the offices of friendfiiip might be rendered more convenient, Gama was requefted and advifed to en- fer the harbour. As no place could be more commodious ••' for Ixxvl THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA, for the recovery of the lick, and the whole fleet was fick- ly, Gama refolved to enter the port ; and in the mean- while fent two of the pardoned criminals as an embafly to the king. Thefe the king treated with the greateft kind- nefs, ordered his olTicers to Ihew them the ftrength and opulence of his city; and on their return to the navy, he icnt a prcfcnt to Gama of the moft valuable fpices, of which he boafted fuch abundance, that the Portuguefe, he faid, if they regarded their own interefl, would feek for no other India. To make treaties of commerce was the bufinefs of Ga- ma ; one fo advantageous, and fo defired by the natives, was therefore not to be refufed. Fully fatisfied by the re- port of his fpies, he ordered to weigh anchor, and enter the harbour. His own fliip led the way, when a fudden violence of the tide made Gama apprehenflve of running aground. He therefore ordered his fails to be furled and the anchors to be dropt, and gave a iignal for the others to follow his example. This manoeuvre, and the cries of the failors in executing it, alarmed the Mozambic pilots. Confcious of their treachery, they thought their defign was difcovered, and leapt into the fea. Some boats of Mombaza took them up, and refiifing to put them orf board, fet them fafely on fhore, though the admiral re- peatedly demanded the reftoration of the pilots. Thefe circumftances, evident proofs of treachery, were farther confirmed by the behaviour of the king of Mombaza. In the THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Ixxvil the middle of the night Gama thought he heard fome noife, and on examination, found his fhips furrounded by a great number of Moors, who, in the utmoft privacy, endeavoured to cut his cables. But their fcheme was de- feated ; and fome Arabs, who remained on board confeiT- ed that no Chriftians were refident either at Quiloa or Mombaza. The ftorm which drove them from the one place, and their late efcape at the otlier, were now be- held as manifeftations of the divine fixvour ; and Gama, holding up his hands to heaven, afcribed his fafety to the care of providence*. Two days, however, elapfed, be- fore they could get clear of the rocky bay of Mombaze, and having now ventured to hoift their fails, they fleered for Melinda, a port, they had been told, where many merchants from India reforted. In their way thither they took a Moorifli velTel, out of which Gama felecled four- teen prifoners, one of whom he perceived by his mien to be a perfon of diftinclion. By this Saracen Gama was in- formed, that he was near Melinda, that the king was hofpitable, and celebrated for his faith, and that four fhips from India, commanded by Chriftian mafters, were in that harbour. The Saracen alfo offered to go as Gama's melTenger to the king, and promifed to procure him an able pilot to conduct him to Calicut, the chief port of India. As * It afterwards appeared, that the Moorlfii king of Mombaza had been informed of what happened at Mozambic, and mtended to revenge it by the total deftruiftion of the fleet. Ixxvlli THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. As the coaft of JNIelinda appeared to be dangerous, Gama anchored at fome diftance from the city, and un- willing to hazard any of his men, he landed the Saracen on an ifland oppofite to the town. This was obferved, and the ftranger was brought before the king, to whom lie gave fo favourable an account of the politenefs and hu- manity of Gama, that a prefent of feveral fheep, and fruits of all forts, was fcnt by his majefty to the admiral, who had the happinefs to find the truth of what his pri- foner had told him, confirmed by the maflers of the four fhips from India. Thefe were Chriftians from Cambaya. They were tranfported with joy on the arrival of the Portuguefe, and gave feveral ufefiil inftrudtions to the admiral. The city of Melinda was fituated in a fertile plain, fur- rounded with gardens and groves of orange-trees, whofe flowers difFufed a moft grateful odour. The paftures were covered with herds, and the houfes built of fquare ftones, were both elegant and magnificent. Defirous to make an alliance with fuch a ftate, Gama requited the civility of the king with the moft grateful acknowledg- ments. He drew nearer the fhore, and urged his in- ftruitions as apology for not landing to wait upon his ma- jefty in pcrfon. The apology was accepted ; and the kin^', whofe age and infirmities prevented himfelf, fent his Ion to congratulate Gan\a, and enter into a treaty of friendlhip. The prince, who had fometimes governed under THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Ixxix under the dire Vcfpucci the Portuguefe had crofTed the line ; and Diaz fourteen, and Gama near three years before, liad doubled the Cape of Good Hope, had diicovered feven ftars in the condcllation of the fouth pole, and from the appi-arance of the four moft luminous, had given it the name of The Crafs, a figure which it better refemblcs than that of an almond. THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Jxxxi no fooner entered Calicut, than he was lifted from his feet and carried hither and thither by the concourfe. Though the populace and the ftrangcr were alike earncft to be underftood, their language was unintelligible to each other,' till, happy for Gama in the event, a Moorifli mer- chant accofted his meflenger in the Spanifh tongue. The next day this Moor, who was named Monzaida, waited upon Gama on board his fliip. He was a native of Tu- nis, and the chief perfon, he faid, with whom John II. had at that port contracted for military ftores. He was a man of abilities and great intelligence of the world, and an admirer of the Portuguefe valour and honour. The engaging behaviour of Gama heightened his efi:eem into the iincereft attachment. He offered to be interpreter for the admiral, and to ferve him in whatever befides he could poffibly befriend him. And thus, by one of thofe unforefeen circumftances which often decide the greateft events, Gama received a friend, who foon rendered him the mod critical and important fervice. At the firft interview, Monzaida gave Gama the fuUefi: information of the clime, extent, cuftoms, religions, and various riches of India, the commerce of the Moors, and the charafter of the fovereign. Calicut was not only the imperial city, but the greateft port. The king or Zamo- rim, who refided here, was acknowledged as emperor by the neighbouring princes; and as his revenue confifted VOL. I. E chiefly Ixxxii THE DISCOVERY ^OF INDIA. chiefly of duties on merchandife, he had always encou- raged the refort of foreigners to his harbours. Pleafed with this promifing profpecl, Gama fent two of his officers with Monzaida to wait on the Zamorim at his palace of Pandarene, a few miles firom the city. They were admitted to the royal apartment, ?.nd delivered their embafly j to which the Zamorim replied, that the arrival of the admiral of fo great a prince as Emmanuel, gave him inexpreffible pleafure, and that he would willingly em- brace the offered alliance. In the meanwhile, as their prefent ftation was extremely dangerous, he advifed then^ to bring the fhips nearer to Pandarene, and for this pur- pofe he fent a pilot to the fleet. A few days after, the Zamorim fent his firft miniflier, or Catual, attended by feveral of the Nayres, or nobility, to conduct Gama to the royal palace. As an interview with the Zamorim was abfolutely neceflary to complete the purpofe of his voyage, Gama immediately agreed to it, though the treachery he had already experienced, fince his arrival in the eaftern feas, fhewed him the perfonal danger which he thus hazarded. He gave the command of the fliips during his abfence to his brother Paulus and his friend Coello ; and in the orders he left them he dif- played a heroifm, fuperior to that of Alexander when he crofled the Granicus. That of the Macedonian was fero- cious and frantic, the offspring of vicious ambition ; that of THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Ixxxiii of Gama was the child of the ftrongefl: reafon, and the moll: valorous mental dignity : It was the high pride of ho- nour, a pride, which the man, who in the fury of battle may be able to rufh on to the mouth of a cannon, may be utterly incapable of, even in idea. The revenue of the Zamorim arofe chiefly from the traffic of the Moors ; the various colonies of thefe people were combined in one intereli, and the jealoufy and con- fternation which his arrival in the eaftern feas had fpread among them, were circumftances well known to Gama : and he knew alfo what he had to expe6l both from their force and their fraud. But duty and honour required him. to complete the purpofe of his voyage. He left peremp- tory command, that if he was detained a prifoner, or any attempt made upon his life, they fhould take no ftep to fave him, to give ear to no mefTage which might come in his name for fuch purpofe, and to enter into no negocia- tion on his behalf. Though they were to keep fome boats near the fhore, to favour his efcape if he perceived trea- chery ere detained by force ; yet the moment that force rendered his efcape impracticable, they were to fet fail, and to carry the tidings of the difcovery of India to the king of Portugal. For as this was his only concern, he would fuffer no rjfk that might lofe a man, or endanger the homeward voyage. Having left thefe unalterable or- ders, he went afliore with the Catual, attended only by twelve of his own men, for he would not weaken the na- E 2 val Ixxxi'v THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA, val force, though he knew that the pomp of attendance would have been greatly in his favour at the court of India, As foon as landed, he and the Catual were carried in great pomp, in fofas, upon mens fhoulders, to the chief temple ; and from thence, amid immenfe crowds, to the royal palace. Xhe apartment and drefs of the Zamorim were fuch as might be expefked from the luxury and wealth of India. The emperor lay reclined on a magnificent couch, furroundcd with his nobility and minifters of ftate. Gama was introduced to him by a venerable old man, the chief Brahmin. His majefty, by a gentle nod, appointed the Admiral to fit on one of the fteps of his fofa, and then demanded his embafl)'- It was againfl; the cuftom of his country, Gama replied, to deliver his inftru6lions in a public alTembly, he therefore defired that the king and a few of his minifters would grant him a private au- dience. This was complied with, and Gama, in a manly fpeech, fet forth the greatnefs of his fovereign Emmanuel, the fame he had heard of the Zamorim, and the defire he had to enter into an alliance with fo great a prince ; nor were the mutual advantages of fuch a treaty omitted by the Admiral. The Zamorim, in reply, profeffed great efteem for the frlendfliip of the king of Portugal, and declared his readinefs to enter into a friendly alliance. Ik- then ordered the Catual to provide proper apartments for Gama in his houfe •, and having promifed another conference. THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Ixxxv conference, he difmifTed the Admiral with all the appear- ance of fincerity. The chara£l:er of this monarch is ftrongly marked in the hiftory of Portuguefe Afia. Avarice was his ruling paffion ; he was haughty or mean, bold or timorous, as his intereft rofe or fell in the balance of his judgment; wavering and irrefolute whenever the fcales feemed doubt- ful which to preponderate. He was pleafed with the prof- peel of bringing the commerce of Europe to his harbours, but he was alfo influenced by the threats of the Moors. Three days elapfed ere Gama was again permitted to fee the Zamorim. At this fecond audience he prel'ented the letter and prefents of Emmanuel. The letter was receiv- ed with politenefs, but the prefents were viewed with an eye of contempt. Gama beheld it, and faid he only came to difcover the route to India, and therefore was not charged with valuable gifts, ere the h^iendihip of the ftate, where they might chufe to traffic, was known. Yet that indeed he brought the mod" valuable of all gifts, the ofler of the friendflaip of his fovereign, and the commerce of his country. He then entreated the king not to reveal the contents of Emmanuel's letter to the Moors, and the king with great feeming friendfhip defired Gama to guard againfi: the perfidy of that people. And at this time, it Is highly probable, the Zamorim was fincere. Every Ixxxvi THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Every hour fince the arrival of Gama, the Moors had held feerec conferences. That one man might not return was their purpofe ; and every method to accomplifli this was meditated. To influence the king againft the Portu- guefcj.to afliiffinate Gama, to raife a general infurre£lion, to deftroy the foreign navy, and to bribe the Catual, were determined. And the Catual, the mafler of the houfe where Gama lodged, accepted the bribe, and entered into their intereft. Gama, however, was apprifed of all thefe circumftances, by his faithful interpreter Monzaida, whofe affection to the foreign Admiral the Moors hitherto had not fufpecled. Thus informed, and having obtained the faith of an alliance from the fovcreign of the lirft port of India, Gama refolved to elude the plots of the Moors ; and accordingly, before the dawn, he fet out for the fea fhore, in hope to efcape by fome of the boats which he had ordered to hover about the coaft. But the Moors were vigilant. His abfence was Imme- diately known ; and the Catual, by the king's order, pur- fued and brought him back by force. The Catual, how- ever, for it was neceflary for their fchemes to have the fliips in their power, behaved with great politenefs to the admiral, though now detained as a prifoner, and flill continued his fpecious promifes to ufe all his intereft in his behalf. The THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. Ixxxvii The eagernefs of the Moors now contributed to the fafety of Gama. Their principal merchants were admitted to a formal audience, when one of their orators accufed the Portuguefe as a nation of falthlefs plunderers : Gama, he faid, was an exiled pirate, who had marked his courfe with depredation and blood. If he were not a pirate, ftill there was no excufe for giving fuch warlike foreigners any footing in a country already fupplied with all that nature and commerce could give. He expatiated on the great fer- vices which the Moorifh traders had rendered to Calicut, or wherever they fettled ; and ended with a threat, that all the Moors would leave the Zamorim's ports, and find fome other fettlemqnt, if he permitted thefe foreignei's to have any fhare in the commerce of his dominions. However ftaggered with thefe arguments and threats, the Zamorim was not blind to the felf-intereft and malice of the Moors. He therefore ordered that the Admiral ihould once more be brought before him. In the mean- while the Catual tried many ftratagems to get the fhips in- to the harbour ; and at laft, in the name of his mafter, made an abfolute demand that the fails and rudders fhould be delivered up, as the pledge of Gama's honefty. But thefe demands were as abfolutely refufed by Gama, who fent a letter to his brother by Monzaida, enforcing his former orders in the ftrongefi: manner, declaring that his fate gave him no concern, that he was only unhappy left the fruits of all their labours and dangers Ihould be loft. After IxxxviH THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA. After two clays fpent in vain altercation with the Catual, Gama was brought as a prifoner before the king. The king repeated his accufation, upbraided him with non- compliance to the requefts of his minifter ; yet urged him, if he were an exile or pirate, to confefs freely, in which cafe he promiled to ta'ce him Into his fervice, and highly promote him on account of his abilities. But Gama, who with great fpirit had baffled all the itratagems of the Ca- tual, behaved with the fame undaunted bravery before the king. He aflerted his innocence, pointed out the malice of the Moors, and the improbability of his piracy ; boafted of the lafcty of his ileet, o£lei-ed his life rather than his fails and rudders, and concluded with threats in the name of his fovereign. The Zamorim, during the whole con- ference, eyed Gama with the keeneft attention, and clear- ly perceived in his unfaultering mien the dignity of truth and the confcioufnefs that he was the Admiral of a great Monarch. In their late addrefs, the Moors had treated the Zamorim as fomewhat dependent upon them, and he law that a commerce with other nations would certainly leflen their dangerous importance. His avarice ftrongly defired the commerce of Portugal, and his pride was flat- tered in humbling the Moors. After many propofals, it was at laft agreed, that of Gama's twelve attendants, he fhould leave (^cven as hoflrages ; that what goods were aboard his veflels fhould be landed, and that Gama fhould be fafely condu^ Almeyda fent his brave fon Lorenzo to give battle to Mir Hocem, but Lorenzo fell the vi£tim of his romantic bravery. While the father prepared to revenge the death of his fon, his recall, and the appointment of Albuquerque to fucceed him, arrived from Europe; but Almeyda refufed to refign till he had revenged his Ton's defeat. On this, a difpute between the two governors arofe, of fatal confequenc(^j|D thePortuguefeintereft in Afia. Albuquerque was imprifoned, and future governors often urged this example on both fides of the queftion, both to protraft the continuance, and prefs the inftant furrender of office. Almeyda, having defeated the Zamorim 'and his Egyptian allies, failed for Europe §, crowned with military laurels. But though thus plumed in the vulgar eye, his eftablilh- rnents were contrary to the fpirit of commerce. He fought, indeed, and conquered ; but he left more ene- mies of the Portuguefe in the Eaft than he found there. The honours he attained were like his, who having ex- tinguished a few houfes on fire, marches out of a city in triumph, forgetful of the glowing embers left in every corner, ready to burft forth in a general flame. It was left I The timber was brought through the Mediterranean lo Cairo, and from thence was carried by camels to the port of Suez. § See his fate, p. 129. PORTUGUESE ASIA. cxxlil left for the great Albuquerque to eftablifh the Portuguefe empire in Afia on a furer bafis, on aiSts of mutual bene- fit to the foreign colonifts and native princes. Albuquerque, as foon as he entered upon his government, turned his thoughts to the folid eftablifhment of the Por- tuguefe empire. To extinguilh the power of Calicut, and to ere6l a fortified capital for the feat of government, were his firfl defigns •, and in thefe he v/as greatly afllfted, both by the arms and the counfel of Timoja the pirate, who, very much injured by the Indian princes, was glad to enter into alliance with the Portuguefe. Don Fernando Coutinho, previous to the advancement of Albuquerque, had arrived in India, vefted with a difcretlonary power in- dependent of the will of the governor. The natural con- fequences of this extraordinary policy foon appeared. With thirty veffels and 2400 men, Albuquerque and Coutinho failed from Cofhin to befiege Calicut. It was agreed, that the troops imder Coutinho fliould have the honour to land firft. Thofe under Albuquerque, howe- ver, galled by the enemy, leapt firft afiiore. Coutinho, on this, roughly upbraided him : To conquer the feeble In- dians, he faid, ivas tio fiich honour as fome boajled. And J. will tell the king of Portugal^ he added, that 1 entered the palace of the Zamorint nvith only my cane in my hand. Albu- querque remonftrated the danger of raflinefs in vain. Coutinho ordered Jafper de Gama, the Polonian Jew, to conduct him to the palace ; to which, with 800 men, he marched cxxlv PORTUGUESE ASIA. jTiarched in confufed fpeed. Albuquerque, whofe mag- nanimity could revenge no infult when his country's inte- reft was at flake in the hour of battle, followed in good order with 6co men, and left others properly ftationed, to fecure a retreat ; for he forefaw deftrudlion. Coutinho, after fevcral attacks, at laft, with the lofs of many men, entered the palace, and gave his foldicrs liberty to plunder. All was now diforder among them. And Albuquerque, who perceived it, entreated Coutinho, by meflage, to be- ware of a fiercer attack. He was anfwered. He might take care of the troops under his own command. After two hours fpent in plundering the palace, Coutinho fet fire to it, and marched out. But ere he could join Albuquerque, both parties were furrounded by enraged multitudes. Coutinho and his braveft officers fell ; Albuquerque was wounded by arrows in the neck and left arm. At lafl, ftruck on the breaft by a large ftone, he dropped down, to appearance dead. On his Ihield he v/as carried off with great difTiculty. All was confufion in the retreat, till the body of referve, placed by Albuquerque, came up, and repulfed the enemy. Albuquerque was carried on board without hope of recovery. His health, however, was ref- tored at Cochin, and the Zamorim allowed a fort to be built near Calicut, and fubmittcd to the terms of peace propofed by the Portuguefc governor. The ifland of Goa, on the coaft of Decan, a moft com- modious lituation for the feat of empire, and whofe prince had PORTUGUESE ASIA. . '^ ' cxx^. .,:.,. had been treacherous to Gama, after various (i'!Bi(j3erate!' en-* gagemcnts, was at laft yielded to Albuquerque. Ttc^arda.- ing to his defign, he fortified it in the belt manner, and rendered it of the utmoft confequence to the prefervation of the Portuguefe power. He now turned his thoughts to Malaca, the great mart of the eaftern half of the oriental world. Under the government of Almeyda, Sequeira had failed thither, and while about fettling a treaty with the natives, narrowly efcaped a treacherous maflacre, in which feveral of his men were flain. Albuquerque ofl'ered peace and commerce, but demanded atonement for this injury. His terms were rejected, and this important place, won by moft aftonifliing viflories, was now added to the Portu- guefe dominion. Albuquerque now devoted his attention to the grand ob- je£l of his wiflies, the permanent efVablifliment of the Por- tuguefe dominion in Afia. His ideas were great and com.- prehenlive j and his plan, perhaps, the beft ever produced under an arbitrary government. His predeceflbr Almey- da had the fame objeft in view, but he thought the con- queft and fettlement of cities would weaken and divide the Portuguefe ftrength. Superiority at fea he efteemed as the fureft method to command all India ; and one fafe ftation, where the flilps might winter, was all the eflablifhment he defired. Albuquerque on the contrary, deemed the pof- feffion of many harbours, and adjoining territory, as the only effectual means to enfure the continuance of the na- val cxxvi PORTUGUESE ASIA, val fuperiorlty. He efteemed the fupply of the regal mo- nopoly, fays Oforius, as an inferior confideration ; to en- large and render permanent the revenues of fovereignty was his grand defign. As one tempeft might deftroy the ftrength of their navy, v^hile there was only one harbour to afford refuge, he confidered the Portuguefe dominion not only as very infecure, but alfo as extremely precarious, while they depended upon military and naval fupplies from I/ifbon. To prevent and remedy thefe apparent evils was therefore his ambition and for thefe purpofes he extended his fettlements from Ormuz in Perfia to the Chinefe lea. He eftabliftied cuftom-houfes in every port, to receive the king's duties on merchandife ; and the vaft revenue which arofe from thefe and the tribute of the vaffal princes, gave a fanclion to his fyftem. At Goa, the capital of this new empire, he coined money, conftituted a council chamber for the government of the city, and here and at all his fet- tlements he eredled courts of juftice §, and gave new regu- lations to fuch as had been formerly eftabliflied. And that this empire might be able to levy armies and build fleets in its own defence, he encouraged the marriage of the Portu- guefe § Utimtitirajah, a native of Java, and one of the greatcft men of Malaca, was, together with his fon, and fon-in-law, detected in a confpiracy againft the Pottugucfe. For this they were publicly tried in the court eftablirti- ed by Albuquerque ; were condemned, and publicly executed. This is the fiift iiiilauce of the execution of natives under the authority of Euro- pean courts. PORTUGUESE ASIA. cxxvii guefe with the natives f . His female captives he treated with the utmoft kindnefs, and having married them to his foldiers, gave them fettlements in the ifland of Goa. And hence, during the regency of John de Caftro, little more than thirty years after, the ifland of Goa itfelf was able to build the fleets and to levy the armies, which, by laving the important fort and city of Dio, preferved the Portu- guefe interefk in India. In confcquence of his plan of empire, Albuquerque con- ftituted Malaca the capital of the eaftern part of the Portu- guefe dominion. Here, as at Goa,- he coined money, and by his juflilce, and affable, generous manner, won the af- fection and eflreem of the people whom he had conquered. He received from, and fent ambafiadors to the king of Siam and other princes, to whom he offered the trade of Malaca on more advantageous conditions than it had hitherto been. And an immenfe commerce from China and all the adja- cent regions foon filled that harbour. For here, as at Or- muz and Goa, the redudlion which he made in the ouftoms, gave an increafe of trade which almofl: doubled the revenue of the king of Portugal. When Albuquerque returned to Goa, he was received, fays Faria, as a father by his family. The ■)• The defcendants of thefe marriages people the coafls of the Eafl at this day. They are called Mejlkos or Mejtizes, are become favages, fpeak a broken Portuguefe, called lingua Franca by the failors. Many of the black fervants brought to Europe are of this race. cxxviii PORTUGUESE ASIA. The ifland was at this time befieged by 20,000 of Hydal Can, the lord of Decan's troops, yet viiStory declared for Albuquerque. But to difplay the terror of the Portugucfe arms was only the fecond motive of this great man. To convince the Indian princes of the value of his friendlhip was his firfi: care, and treaties of commerce were with mu- tual fatisfadlion concluded with the king of Bifnagar, the king of Narfinga, and other powerful princes. The city of Aden, near the mouth of the Red Sea, was of great im- portance to the fleets of the Soldan. Albuquerque twice attacked this place, but could not carry it for want of mi- litary frores. By the veflels, however, which he kept on theie coalls, he gave a fevere wound to the Egyptian and Moorifh commerce ; and by the eftablifhments which he made in India, entirely ruined it. Mahomet, the ex- pelled tyrant of Maluca, affifled by 20,000 Javans attempt- ed to recover his throne j but the wifh of the people was fulfilled, and Albuquerque, who failed to its relief, was again vic'iorious. The Perfians, to whom Ormuz had been tributary, endeavoured to bring it again under their yoke *; but • When the Perfisns fent a demand of tribute, Albuquerque faid it fhou!'! be paid ; and a laige filver bafcn, under cover, was prefented to the ambaflador. When uncovered, leaden bullets and points of fpears ap- peared. There, faid Albuquerque, is the tribute which the kings of Por- tuj^al pay • Adiifiition of the virtues of their enemies was the ancient cliar3 and with Souza, the governor of the fcjrt, with intention to aflfafilnate them both. But ere his fcheme was ripe, Souza one day, in ftepping into Badur's barge, fell into the water. He was taken up in fafety, but fome Portuguefe, who at a diftance beheld his danger, rowed up haftily to his afllftance, when Badur, troubled with a villain's fears, ordered Souza to be killed. Four Portuguefe gentlemen, feeing Souza attacked, im- mediately, boarded the barge, and ruflied on the tyrant, lago de Mefqueta wounded him, but though thefe brave men loft their lives in the attempt, they forced Badur to leap overboard for fafety. A commotion in the bay en- fued, and the king, miable to fwim any longer, declared aloud who he was, and begged afllftance. A Portuguefe officer held out an oar, but as Badur laid hold of it, a com- mon foldier, moved with honeft indignation, ftruck hina over the face with a halbert, and repeating his blows, de- livered the world of a tyrant, whofe remorfelefs perfidy and cruelty had long difgraced human nature. In this abridged view of the dark barbarous politics, un- blufhing perfidy, and defolating wars of king Badur, the king of Delhi, and the Hydal Can, we have a complete epitome civi PORTUGUESE ASIA. epitome of the hiilory of India. Century after century contains only a repetition of the fame changes of policy, the fame defolations, and the fame deluges of fpilt blood. And who can behold fo horrid a pi^lure, without per- ceiving the ineftimable benefits which may be diffused over theEaft by a potent fettlement of Europeans, benefits which true policy, which their own interefl: demand from their hands, which have in part been given, and certainly will one day be largely difFufed. Nunio, as much as pof- fibly he could, improved every opportunity of convincing the natives, that the friendfhip of his countrymen was ca- pable of affording them the fureft defence. Greatly fupe- rior to the grofs ideas of Gothic conqueft, he addrefled himfelf to the rcafon and the interefts of thofe with whom he negociated. He called a meeting of the principal in- habitants and merchants of Cambaya, and laid the papers of the dead king before them. By thefe, the treacherous defigns of king Badur fully appeared, and his negociation to engage the grand Turk to drive the Portuguefe from India was detected. Coje Zofar, one of the firft ofiicers of Badur, and who was prefent at his death, with feveral others, witnefled the manner of it : and Moors and Pagans alike acquitted the Portuguefe. Letters to this purpofe, in Arabic and Perfic, figned by Coje Zofar and the chief men of Cambaya, were difperfed by Nunio every where in India and the coafts of Arabia. Nor did this great politi- cian ftop here. Superior to bigotry, he did not look to the Pope's Bull for the foundation of authority. The free exercife PORTUGUESE ASIA. civli exercife of the Mohammedan and Brahmin religions was permitted in every Portuguefe territory, and not only the laws, the officers appointed, but even the penlions given by king Badur, were continued. The Portuguefe fettle- ments now enjoyed profperity. A privateering war with the Moors of Mecca, and fome hoftilities in defence of the princes, his allies, were the fole incumbrances of Nunio, while India was again fteeped in her own blood. While the new king of Cambaya v/as dethroned, while Omaum king of Delhi loll an army of above 400,000 men in Ben- gal, and while Xercham, the king of that country, toge- ther with his own life, IqA: almoft as many in the fiege of Calijor, Nunio preferved his territory in the Decan in a ftate of peace and fafety, the wonder and envy of the other provinces of India. But the armament of the Turk, pro- cured by Badur, now arrived, and threatened the deftruc- tion of the Portuguefe. Selim, Sultan of Conftantinople, a few years before, had defeated the Soldan of Egypt, and annexed his dominions to the Turkifii empire. The RIo- hammedan ftrength was now more confolidated than ever. The Grand Turk was at war, and meditated conquefts in Europe. The traffic of India was the mother and nurfe of his naval ftrength, and the prefents fent by king Badur gave him the higheft idea of the riches of Indoftan. Se- venty large veflels, well fupplied with cannon and ail mili- tary ftores, under the command of Solyman, Bafliaw of Cairo, failed from the port of Suez, to extirpate the Por- tuguefe from India. The feamen were of different nations, many clvnl PORTUGUESE ASIA, many of them Venetian galley-flaves, taken in war, all of them trained failors ; and 7000 Janifaries were deftined to a£l on fhore. Some Portuguefe renegadoes were alfo in the fleet ; and || Coje Zofar, who had hitherto been the friend of Nunio, with a party of Cambayans, joined Soly- man. The hoftile operations began with the fiege of Dio ; but when Nunio was ready to fail to its relief with a fleet of eighty veflels, Garcia de Noronha arrived with a commif^ flon to fucceed him as governor. Nunio immediately re- figned, and Noronha, in providing a greater force, by a criminal lofs of time, reduced the garrifon of Dio to the greateft extremity. Here the Portuguefe fliewed miracles of bravery. Anthony de Sylveyra, the commander, was in every place. Even the women took arms. The officers ladies went from rampart to rampart, upbraiding the leafl: apjrearance of languor. Juan Roderigo, with a barrel of powder in his arms, pafl!ed his companions ; Make ivay^ he cried, / carry my owfi and many a man^s death. His own, however, he did not, for he returned fafe to his fl:ation : but above a hundred of the enemy were deftroycd by the explofion of the powder, which he threw upon one of their batteries. Of 600 men, who at fir ft were in the gar- rifon, forty were not now able to bear arms ; when Coje Zofar, II This officer was by birth an Albancfcj of Catholic parents, and had fcrved in the wars in Italy and Flanders. Having commenced merchant, he was taken at fca by the Turks and carried to Conflantinople, from wlvcnce he went to Cambaya, where he embraced Mohammedifm, and be- came the prime minifter and favourite of king Badur. PORTUGUESE ASIA. cllx Zofar, irritated by the infolence of Solyman, forged a let- ter to the garrifon, which promifed the immediate arrival of Noronha. This, as he defigned, fell into the hands of Solyman, who immediately hoifhed his fails, and with the Shattered remains of his formidable fleet, fled to Arabia, where, to avoid a more dreadful punifhmentj he died by his own hands. But while Nunio thus reftored the affairs of India, the uncommercial principles of the court of Lifljon accumula- ted their malignity. He did not amufe the king and no- bility with the glare of unmeaning Gothic conquefts, and the wifdom of his policy was by them unperceived. Even their hiftorians feem infenfible of it, and even the author of the Hijlotre Philofophiquey in his account of Portuguefe India, pays no attention to Nunio, though the wifdom and humanity of his politics do honour to human nature; though in the arts of peace he efledled more than any of the Portuguefe governors; and though he has left the noblefl: example for imitation, which the hiftory of Portu- guefe Afia afibrds. Recalled from his pi-ofperous govern- ment by the mandate of a court blind to its true interefl:, chains in place of rewards were prepared in Portugal for this great commander ; but his death at fea, after a hap- py regency of about ten years, prevented the completion of his country's ingratitude. Noronlia, clx PORTUGUESE ASIA. Noronha, tiie new Viceroy, the third who had been honoured with that fuperior title *, began his government with an infamous delay of the fuccours deftined by Nunio for Dio. Coje Zofar, by the fame fpirit of delay, was permitted, long after the departure of Solyman, to ha- rafs the Portuguefe of that important place. The Hydal Can, many other princes, and even the Zamorim himfelf, awed by the dignity and juftice of Nunio's government, had entreated the alliance of Portugal, and Noronha had the honour to negociate a general peace j a peace, which, on the part of the Zamorim, gave the Portuguefe every opportunity to flrengthen their empire, for it continued thirty years. Thefe tranfadllons, the privateering war with the Moors ; fome fkirmilhes in Ceylon ; the defign, contrary to the king's commiffion, to appoint his fon to fucceed him ; his death, and the public joy which it occalioned ; comprife the hifi:ory of the regency of the unworthy fuc- ceflbr of the generous Nunio. Both the Portuguefe and the natives gave unfeigned de- monftrations of joy on the appointment of Stephen de Gama, the fon of the great Vafco. By his lirft zS: he ordered his private eftate to be publicly valued, and by his • Almeyda and Gaina were the only two who had been thus honoured before him. PORTUGUESE ASIA. clxi his fecond he lent a great fum to the treafury, which by Noronha was left exhaufted. He vifited and repaired the forts, and refitted the fleets in every harbour. By his officers he defeated the king of Achem, who difturbed Malaca. He reftored tranquillity in Cambaya, where the Portuguefe territory was invaded by a very powerful army, led by Bramaluco, a prince who had been dethroned by king Badur ; and his brother Chrifloval he Tent on an ex- pedition into Ethiopia *. The Moors of Mecca, as al- ready obferved, were the moft formidable enemies the Portuguefe had hitherto found in the Eaft. In naval art they were greatly fuperior to the other nations of Afia, and from their numerous fleets, which poured down the Red Sea, the Portuguefe had often experienced the great- efl: injury ; and a check to their power was now wanted. The Governor himfelf undertook this expedition, and failed to the Red Sea with a fleet equipped at his own < private expence. Here he gaye a fevere wound to the naval fl:rength of both the Turks and the Moors f . But VOL. I. K while * For this melancholy fate, fee p. 466. f During this expedition he took the important city and fea port of Tore in Arabia ; after which he marched to mount Sinai, wlicie he knighted fe- veral of his officers, a romantic honour admired by Charles V. D. Luis de Ataide, having behaved with great courage as a volunteer, at the battle where Charles V. defeated the Duke of Saxony, was offered knighthood by the Emperor ; but he replied, he had already received that honour upon mount Sinai. The Emperor, fo far from being offended, declared in pre- fcnce of his officers, that he more envied that honour than rejoiced in his viflory. The fame fpirit of romantic gallantry, arifing from religious vene- ration, feems to have poflefled Don Stephen himfelf. He ordered his epi- taph clxii PORTUGUESE ASIA, while every thing was in profperity under the brave and generous Stephen, he was fuddenly fuperfeded by the ele- vation of Martin Alonzo de Souza. Though no policy can be more palpably ruinous than that which recalls a governor of decided abilities ere he can poffibly complete r.ny plan of importance, yetfuch recalls, ere now, had been frequently ifTued from the court of Lifbon. But none of them, perhaps, gave a deeper wound to the Por- tuguefe intereft than this. Stephen de Gama trod in the fteps of his father, of Albuquerque, and of Nunio. Sou- za's adlions were of a different character. He began his government with every exertion to procure witnefles to impeach his predeceffor ; but though he pardoned a mur- derer f on that condition, every accufation was refuted, and Stephen de Gama was received with great honour at Lifbon. Having refufed, however, to give his hand to^ a bride, chofen for him by John III. he found it conve- nient to banifh himfelf from his native country, the coun- try which his father had raifed to its higheft honours. And he retired to Venice^ his eftate 40,000 crowns lefs than taph to conflft of thefe words, " He that made knights upon mount Sinai ended bis courfe here." Don Alvaro, the fon of the great John de Caftro, was alfo one of thefe knights, and his father thought it fo great an honour, that lie took for his crefl the Catharine-wheel, which his family ftill continue. There is a chapel dedicated to St. Catharine on mount Sinai, faid, by the popifli writers, to have been built by angels. f lago Saurez de Melo, v/ho having ficd from the fcntence of death in Portugal, was at this time a pirate in the Indian feas, commander of two vcflcls and 120 men. Of this adventurer afterwards. PORTUGUESE ASIA. clxlll than when he entered upon his fhort government of two years and one month. Wars of a new charay which Xavier endeavoured to eflablilh his ilupendous tlan of the vafTalage of the eaftern world. And, had he ivcd in the more virtuous days of Albuquerque, his views /■ould probably have been crowned with fuccefs. By the aean artifices and frauds of the Jefuits who fucceeded in lis miffion, whofe narrow minds were earneft for prefent molument, what good eftecSls the fuperior mind of Xa- ier had produced, were foon counteracted, and totally After a regency of three years, Don Alphonfo de No- onha was fucceeded by Don Pedro de Mafcarenhas, a entleman in his feventieth year. Meale Can was now at Joa. Mafcarene adopted the former policy of fupporting 'leale's title to the throne of Hydal Can, and proclaimed im king of Vifapor. But Mafcarene's death, ere he had overned thirteen months, clofed his regency, and Fran- ifco Barreto, his fuccellbr, entering into his views, and efirous of the immenfe emoluments of an Indian war, rofecuted his deligns. The great Caftro, by his patro- age of Meale, had kept the Hydal Can in awe ; but 'aftro's faith and abiUties were now wanting. In breach f a treaty of peace with the Hydal Can, and on pre- snce of doing juftice to an exiled prince, Barreto kindled VOL. T. L a war. clxxvlii PORTUGUESE ASIA. a war, which proved highly injurious to the Portuguefe, Meale was defeated and taken prifoner in his kingdom of Vifapor 5 and fev^ral bloody undecifive campaigns dif^ played the refentment of the Hydal Can *. Nor were the affairs of the Maluccos lefs unhappy. Deza, the Portu- guefe governor, treacheroufly imprifoned the king of Ternate and his whole family, and ordered them to be ftarved to death. He was relie-'/ed, however, by the neighbouring princes, who took arms in his defence 5 and the fubmiffion of the Portuguefe, who deprived Dez?, of his command, ended the war. While the military reputation of the Portuguefe had ahnoft loft its terrors, while their empire in the Eaft was thus haftening to its fall, John III. was fucceeded by Se- baftian, an infant j and Don Conftantine de Braganza, of the blood royal, was appointed deputy-king of India. He governed three years, and never performed one adlion which did honour to his abilities. The officers he fent out on various expeditions were generally defeated, parti- cularly in a war with the Turks on the coafts of Arabia. He himfelf fliared the fame fate, and once faved his life, at the city of Jafanapatan, by inglorious flight. His views were of no importance. He imprifoned Luis de Melo for lofing too much time in a victorious expedition on the coaft of Malabar. In a defcent on Ceylon, the Portuguefe feized * Sec the note on Bancto, in the Life of Camocas. PORTUGUESE ASIA. cIxxIk ei2ed the tooth of a monkey, a relick held facred by the Pagans, for which, according to Linfchoten, 700,000 lucats were offered in ranfom ; but Conftantinc ordered t to be burned. The kings of Siam and Pegu pretended he real tooth was faved by a Banian, and each afferting hat he was in pofleffion of the genuine one, bloody wars, srhich much endangered the Portuguefe eaftern fettlements, rere kindled ; and Conftantine, finding himfelf embarraf- ed, refigned, contrary to the defire of the council of Lif- )on. He is celebrated for his great politenefs and affabi- ity ; and his government is diftinguilhed by the eftablifli- nent of the inquilltion at Goa. Don Conftantine was fucceeded by the Count de Re- londo. Petty wars continued as ufual on every coaft. In :$64y a Portuguefe fhip, contrary to the treaty of peace, vas attacked by three veflels of Malabar ; Redondo com- )lained, and was anfwered by the Zamorim, that fome re- 'els had done ity whom he ivas luelcome to feize and chajlife. rritated by this reply, and on purpofe to retort it, he fent Dominic de Mefquita with three fhips to fcour the coaft )f Malabar. And Mefquita foon murdered above 2000 Malabrians, the greateft part of whom he fewed up in heir own fail-cloths and wantonly drowned. Redondo, lowever, died fuddenly, ere the Zamorim complained ; Dut fuch was the famenefs of idea among the Portuguefe, that Juan de Mendoza, his fucceftbr, in anf.ver to the Zamorim's complaint, adopted the intended witticifm of L 2 Redondo, cixxx PORTUGUESE ASIA. Redondo, and retorted the Zamorim's reply ; it was donff by rebels f nvhom he was toelcome to fei%e and chaji'tfe. A fpi- rited reprifal is often the moft decifive meafure \ but this inhuman one, furely, was not dictated by wifdom. A bold woman of quality, whofe hufband had been murder- ed by Mefquita, with all the fury afcribcd to an ancient Druidefs, ran from place to place, execrating the Portu- guefe, and exciting to revenge. Many of the IVIoors en- tered into an oath, never to lay down their arms till they had rooted the Portuguefe out of India. They fuddenly befet the fort of Cananor, and burned above thirty Por- tuguefe fhips that rode under its cannon ; and a tedious war enfued. Mendoza, after fix months, was I'uperfeded by Don Antonio de Noronha, who ended the war of Cananor with the defolation of the adjacent country. Con- fufion and bloodfhed covered the rich ifland of Ceylon, and the new converts, the allies of Portugal, were hunt- ed down by the other natives. The king of Achem and other princes began now to meditate a general league for the extirpation of the Portuguefe. And the Grand Turk, defirous of acqulfition in India, became a zealous auxiliary. But though the firft attempt upon IMalaca was defeated by the valour of Don Leonis, the commander, the league continued In agitation, while the Portuguefe feemed to invite and to folicit their own deftruflion. The rapine of individuals became every year more fliamel?^. and ge- neral. While an idolatrous devotion to faints and images rendered them inexorable in their cruelty to thofe of a different PORTUGUESE ASIA. clxxxi different worfhip, they abandoned themfclves without re- Itraint to the moft lafcivious luxury, and every oflicer had his feraglio of five, fix, or eight of the fined women, [ndian women of quality were publicly dragged from their kindred by Portuguefe ravifhers. The inhabitants if Amboina had received the Portuguefe with the greatefh friendfliip. At a banquet given by the natives, a young officer, in the face of all the company, and in prefcnce Df her hufband, attempted to ravifli one of the principal ladies, and was unreproved by his countrymen. The ta-> bles were inftantly overturned, and the Portuguefe ex- pelled the ifland. And here, as at Ceylon and other parts of India, the popular fury was firft glutted v.-ith the Dlood of thole natives, now efteemed as traitors, v/ho bad embraced the religion of the Portuguefe- Immedi- itely another moft daring breach of humanity called aloud apon the princes of the Eaft to unite in the defence of sach other. Ayero*, king of Ternaje, had always been Friendly and tributary' to the Portuguefe, yet on renewing i treaty of alliance, after having mutually fvorn on the arm.s * This is the fame prince whom Deza treacheroufly imprifoned and at- tempted to flarve. He continued, however, faithful to the Portuguefe, till his nephew was murdered by fome of their officers. Three of the a"-- greflbrs were feized by the king's order, and put to death. On renewing the alliance with the Portuguefe, he was treacheroufly murdeied by the commandant's nephew. Ashe was fVabbed, he laid hold of a cannon which bore the arms of Portugal, and exclaimed, Ah ! Cavaliers, is it thus von rc- ivard the moji faithful fubje6l of your ii>'g, jay foverdgn ! clxxxii PORTUGUESE ASIA. arms of Portugal, he was ftabbed by order of the Por- tuguefe commandant. Nor did this treachery appeafe the murderer. In prefence of his queen and daughters, who in vain implored permiflion to bury him, his body was cut into pieces and falted, put into a cheft, and thrown into the lea. He had a fon, however, Chil Babu, who, in revenge of this, proved the moft formidable enemy the Portuguefe had ever known in the Eaft. His ambafla- dors hafted from court to court, and the princes of India, haraiTed by their cruel awful tyrants, who trampled on every hw of humanity and good policy, combined with him in a general league for the utter expulfion of the Por- tuguefe j and fo confident were the natives of fuccefs, that not only the divilion of the Portuguefe fettlements, but the pofleffion of the moft beautiful of their wives and daughters, was alfo fettled among them. Five years was this league in forming, and eaftern politics never produ- ced a better concevted plan of operation. The various forts and territories of the Portuguefe were allotted to the neighbouring princes. Goa, Onor, and Bracalor were to reward the victories of the Hydal Can ; Chaul, Da- mam, and Bacaim were to be taken by Nizamaluco, a king of the Decan j the Zamorim was to poflefs himfelf of Cananor, Mangalor, Cochin, and Chale ; the king of Achem was to reduce, Malaca j and the king of Ternate Was to attack the Maluccos. Befides thefe, many other princes had their appointed lines of acTiion ; and this tre- mendous ftorm was to burft, ia every tjuarter, at the fame inftant. PORTUGUESE ASIA. clxxxiii inftant. Don Luis de Ataide was governor of India when this war began. The Hydal Can, with an army which conflfted of 100,000 infantry, 35,000 horfe, 2140 elephants, and 350 pieces of cannon, covered the conti- nent oppoflte to Goa for fevcral leagues, and the difpofi- tion of his extenlive ppfts difplayed great generallhip. Every eminence was fortified, and his batteries, of two leagues in extent, thundered upon Goa. The difpofitions of Ataide, however, not only protected that ifland, but his unexpedled inroads often carried terror and flaughter through this immenfe encampment. The Hydal Can, though greatly difpirited, began to plant gardens and orch- ards, and build banquetting houfes, as if refolved to con- quer, at whatever diftance of time. While Goa was thus befieged, Chaul, a place of lefs defence, v/as invefled by Nizamaluco, at the head of an army of 150,000 men, Turks, Moors, Ethiopians, Perlians, and Indians. The king of Ternate attacked the Maluccos ; the queen of Gar- zopa carried her arms againfl Onor ; and Surat was feized by Agalachem, a prince tributary to tlie Mogul. And even the ancient Chriftians of St. Thomas, perfecuted by the inquifition of Goa, for non-fubmiffion to the See of Rome t, joined the Pagans and Mohammedans againft the natives t See Geddes's Hlftory of the Malabrian Church. The Chriftians of St. Thomas, according to the Portuguefe hiftorians, difturbed the new converts, by telling them that the religion the Portuguefe taught them was not Chriftianity. This gave great offence to the Jefuits, who in revenge perfe- cuted the Thomifts with all the horrors of the newly eflaljliflied Inquifition. The following fhort account of the Chriftians of the Eaft may perhaps be acceptable. clxxxiv PORTUGUESE ASIA, natives of Portugal. But where even the embers of haughty valour remain, danger an an able general will awake them into a flame. Don Luis, the viceroy, was advifed to withdraw the Portuguefe from the exterior parts for the fupport of Goa, the feat of their empire. But this he gallantly refufed, and even permitted a fleet with 400 men to fail for Portugal *. The Zamorim and the king of Achem, having met fome repulfes at fea, were not punctual in the agreed commencement of hoftility. Tliis favoured Ataide -, and no fooncr did he gain an advantage in one place, than he fent relief to another. He and the befl: troops hafteried from fort to fort, and victory followed victory, till the leaders of this mofl: formidable combination fued for peace. A fignal proof of what valour and mili- tary art may do againft: the greateft multitudes of undif- ciplined militia. An acceptable. In the fouth parts of Malabar, about 2CO,coo of the inhabi- tants profefred Chriftianity before the arrival of the Portiiguefe. They called themfelves the Chriftians of Saint Thomas, by which apoftle their anceftors had been converted. For 1300 years they had been under tlie Patriarch of Babylon, who appointed their 7kfrfy one of his officers. The traitor was beheaded by order of Echebar. PORTUGUESE ASIA. clxxxvii able. Leonis therefore failed for Portugal, where his con- ducl was juftiiled, yet no punifhment allotted to Moniz ; fucii was the unblufhing partiality with which the minif- ters of Sebaftian governed the falling empire of Portuguefc Afia. While Malaca was thus deferted by its governor, the king of Achem and the queen of Japara, with numerous fleets and armies, poured all the horrors of war upon that valuable territory. Time after time, as the fhattered fleets of the one retired to repair, the new armaments of the other immediately filled their ftatlons. And the king of Ternate, the author of the League, was viflorious in the ifles of Malucco. The fcveral fupplies of relief, fent by Moniz, one of which confided of 2000 troops, all periflied by fliipwreck ere they reached their defliined ports. The murderer of king Ayero was ftabbed by the populace, and the Portuguele were totally expelled from this fettle- ment, which commanded the fplce iflands. Nor was the government of Francis Barreto, in Monomotapa, lefs un- happy. Ke, who had been governor of India, fays Faria accepted of this diminiflied command for three reafons ; becaufe he was poor^ becaufe it was the king's will, and be- caufe it was a pofl: of great danger. His commifiion was to make himfelf mafter of the mines which fupply Sofala and the neighbouring ports with gold and filver : and one Monclaros, a Jefuit, accompanied him, without whofe con- currence he was prohibited to aft. He failed from Lifljon, with cixxxu PORTUGUESE ASIA, with only three fliips and a thoufand men, in 1569, and having received fome fupplies at Mozambique, together with tools for miners, camels | and other beafts of burden, he proceeded to his viilonary government. He landed in the river of Good Signs, and propofed to march to the mines by the route of Sofala. But to this Monclaros would not confcint, and by his direction he took a more diftant courfe. After a march of ten days along the river Zam- beze, during which his fmall army fufFered greatly by ex- treme heat and thirft, he favv the mountains and valleys covered with innumerable multitudes of armed men. Thefe, however, were difperfed by his fire-arms •, and foon after another army, ns numerous as the former, fhared the fame fate. The Cafres now fued for peace, and offered to difcover the mines. But when now on the eve of fuc- cefs, Monclaros commanded him to defift from his ruinous expedition, and immediately to return to Mozambique. And fo deeply was Barreto affefted with this difappoint- ment \ Cortez is juftly admired for the ready dexterity with which he improv- ed every opinion of the Mexicans to his own advantage. Barreto gave an inftance of this art upon this expedition. When the Cafres were fuing for peace, and Barreto -in great want of provifions, one of the camels having broke loofe from its keepers, and after running till tired, happened to be met by Barreto, to whom it inftantly kneeled, as is ufual for that creature when it receives its burden. The Cafres, who had never before feen fuch an animal, thought it fpoke to the governor, and earncflly afked what it faid. Tiiefe creatures, replied Barreto, live upon human flclh : and this one has been lint from i';s brethren to beg 1 would not make peace with you, otiicrwilc they mufl be ftarved. After much entreaty, Barreto promifed to perfuade the camels to be contented with the flelh of beeves ; upon which tilt Cafics ghiiUy Aipplied him with as many herds as he defired. PORTUGUESE ASIA. clxxxlx ;acnt and diflionour, that overwhelmed with the fever of indignation, without any other fymptom of ail, he breathed out his life in fighs, after the violent mental agitation of two days. Among his papers was found a commifTion for Vafco Homem, his major, to-fucceed him ; who, perfuad- ed by the Jefuit, immediately returned to Mozambique. But Monclaros having failed for Portugal, Homem, up- braided by the officers of that ftation, returned to Mono- motapa. He landed at Sofala, and from thence, by a fi^ort and eafy march, arrived at the place were the mines were expefted. After fome llcirmifhes with the Cafres, the king of Chicanga pretended to be friendly, and offered to fhew the mines. Having led the Portuguefe from province to province, he at laft brought them to a place where he had ordered fome ore to be buried and fcattereti, and here he told them was a rich filver mine. While the Portuguefe were feveral days bulied in digging around, the Cafres eC- caped ; and Homem, his provifions beginning to fail, re- turned to Sofala, leaving a captain named Cardofo, with 200 men, to make farther trial. Fearlefs of this finall par- ty the Cafres returned, and with confident promifes offer- ed to difcover the richeft and eafieft worked mines in their country. Cardofo believed them, and was led into defiles, where he and all his men periflied by the weapons of the artful barbarians. Such was the end of the government of Monomotapa, the golden dream, the ill- concerted and ill- conducted plan of the weak minifters of a giddy empire haflening to its fall. Moniz, cxc PORTUGUESE ASIA. Moniz, after he had governed three years, the term now ufually named in the writs of fuccefllon, was fucceed- ed by Don lago de Menezes, under whom the bloodfhed of the ufual petty wars with the Moors and Malabrians continued. His regency is diftinguiflied by no warlike event of note : and after he had held the fword of com- mand about two years, he was fuperfeded by the brave Ataide Count de Autoiiguia^ whofe art and valour had lately triumphed over the moft formidable efforts of the General League. To fuppofe that Sebaftian or his fliinifters perceived the precarious and ruinous ftate of their Eaftern Empire, when they appointed this able ofHcer to that very critical com- mand, were to allow them a merit, which every other part of their conduft relative to India difclaims. Don Sebaftian's ideas were totally debauched by the moft ro- mantic thirft of military glory, and it was his ambition from his childhood to diftinguifli himfelf at the head of an army in Africa. Ataide ftrenuoufly oppofed this wild expe- dition, which, he was juftly convinced, was ill-adapted to the ftate of his country. But Sebaftian, now in his twenty- fourth year, to be relieved of his difagreeable counfel, or- dered him to refume the viceroyfliip of India. The fpeech which Sebaftian made to Ataide, upon this his fecond ap- pointment, ftrongly charafterifes the frivoloufnefs which now prevailed at the court of Liftjon. Don Conftantine de Braganza, of the blood royal, was one of the weakeft governors PORTUGUESE ASIA. cxd governors that ever ruled India. Ataide, on the contrary, had performed moft incredible actions ; had liwed the Por- tuguefe from the greateft dangers they ever furmounted in Afia. Yet Sebaftian did not bid him reign as he had for- merly done. No, he bade him reign like Don Conftan- tine — a man, whofe abilities reached no farther than per- haps to open a ball gracefully, for his politenefs was his only commendation. When errors in government begin, the wife fee the fecret difeafe, but it is the next generation which feels the worft of its effects. Camoens, whofe poli- tical penetration was perhaps unequalled in his age and country, faw the declenfion of manners, and foretold in vain the fall of empire. Portugal owed its exiftence to the fpirit of chivalry and the ideas of liberty, which were con- firmed by the ftatutes of Lamego. Camoens, in a fine al- legory, laments the decay of the ancient virtues. Under the character of a huntfman he paints the wild romantic purfuits of king Sebaftian, and wifhes that he may not fall the vi^im of his blind paflion. The courtiers he charadle- rifes, as the moft venal of felf-interefted flatterers : and the clergy, the men of letters, he fays, • trim'd the lamp at night's mid hour. To plan new laws to arm the regal power, Sleeplefs at night's mid hour to raze the laws. The facred bulwarks of the people's caufe. Framed ere the blood of hard-earn'd victory On their brave fathers' helm-hackt fwords was dry. Unperceived excii PORTUGUESE ASIA. Unperceived by the unlettered nobility, the principles of the conftitution gradually expired under the artful increafe of the royal prerogative. If Sebaftian was more abfolute than John I. his power was bought by the degeneracy of his fubjecis, and weaknefs of the ftate, the certain price with which monarchs purchafe their beloved defpotifm. The neglecl of one man of merit is the fignal for the worth- lefs, if rich, to crowd to court. Many of thefe fignals were given in the reigns of Emmanuel, John III. and Sebaftian, and thus the labours of an Albuquerque, a Nunio, a Caftro, and an Ataide, were fruftrated and reverfed. Thefe go- vernors, bred in war, enthufiafts in honour, all died poor. Xarafo, the creature of Sampayo, the tyrant of his mafter the king of Ormuz, juftly accufed of murders and the moft unbounded extortion, was fent in irons to Lifbon. But he carried his treafures with him, and was reftored to his employments. Anthony Galvam, the moft honeft of men, faved the Maluccos, returned poor to Portugal, and, like Pacheco, died in an alms-houfe. But thefe the errors and crimes of former reigns, were of little effect compared to the evil confequences of the inattention to, and ignorance of Indian affairs, difcovered by the minifters of Sebaftian. They ordered Don George de Caftro, who furrendered the fort of Chale to the Zamorim, to be tried and beheaded ; and he died on the fcaffold at Goa. Yet a year after this, the court of Lifbon iflued a commiffion appointing him to command on another ftation. The poverty of an Al- buquerque, a Nunio, and a Caftro, was now the public jeft of PORTUGUESE ASIA. cxclli of the Portuguefe f commandants. Under the fhade of niken umbrellas, fome of the late viceroys rode to battle, in chairs carried on men's flioulders. All was difunion, grofs luxury, and audacious weaknefs in Portuguefe Aiia, when Sebaflian loft his crown in his African expedition. And what greatly haftened their ruin, the natives now per- ceived their weaknefs, and foretold their approaching fall. About fifty years before this period, it was the general opi- nion of India, that the Portuguefe were among men what lions are among beafts : and for the fame reafon^ faid an In- dian captive to a Portuguefe officer, tiature has appointed that your fpecies fhoidd he equally feiv. But as foon as their luxury began to appear, their fentiments were changed. Let them alone^ faid one Indian prince to another, the frauds of their revenue^ and their love of luxury ivill foon ruin them. What they gain as brave foldiers they ivill foon lofe as avaricious merchants. They now conquer Afia, but Afia luill foon con- quer them. And a king of Perfia alked a Portuguefe cap- tain how many of the Indian viceroys had been beheaded by the kings of Portugal. None^ replied the officer. Then you will not longy returned the Perfian, he the mnflers of India. VOL. I. M When f 111 particular, Don A. de Noronha, viceroy in 1568, is recorded for publicly branding fuch conduct as madnefs. But the motives of thefe he- roes perhaps difplayed the trucft policy and highcft magnanimity. Of this hereafter. cxciv PORTUGUESE ASIA. When Ataide failed for India on his fecond viceroyfhipy he dreaded the difafters which would follow the precipi- tate, ill-concerted expedition of Sebaftian. And it was his firft care, after his arrival in the Eaft, to prevent the evil confequences of the unhappy event. He immediately fit- ted out a fleet which ftruck the princes of India with awe and terror. Any particular deftination of this armament was never known ; for fo formidable did Ataide appear, that the tidings of the death and total defeat of Sebaftian in Africa, produced no war in India. Sebaftian was fuc- ceeded by an old weak man, his grand uncle, the cardi- nal Henry. Two years clofed Henry's puftUanimous fway. And Philip II. of Spain foon after made himfelf mafter of the kingdom of Portugal. The brave Ataide, after having humbled the Hydal Can for a breach of treaty, and con- cluded a peace, fell into a deep melancholy, of which he died in the third year of his regency •, fo fincerely was he affecfted with the fall of his country, which he forefaw and foretold f . He was fucceeded by Hernan Tellez de Me- nezes, appointed by the live regents who governed Portu- gal after the demifc of Henry. Under Menezes, Mafcate was plundered by the Turks. A fquadron was fitted out to its relief; but this the commander never attempted. He avoided t So clear was his heart from the infe(nion of avarice, lL.vs Faria, that while others carried immenfe treafures from Afia to Portu^^al, he only brought four jars of water, filled fiom the four great rivers, Tigris, Eu- phrates, Indus, and Ganges, which were many years prcferved as his tro- phy in his caftlc of Pcniihe. PORTUGUESE ASIA. cxcv avoided the Turkifh gallies, but plundered and laid in afh- es the rich cities of Pefani, Gaudel, and Teis, on the coaft of the Naytaques, near Cambaya, with whom the Portu- guefe were not at war. After a government of fix months Menezes was fuperfeded by Don Francifco dc Mafcaren- has, the firft viceroy appointed hy Philip. His brave de- fence of Chaul againft Nizamaluco entitled him to this dif- tincftion ; and Philip, for obvious reafons, loaded him with honours, powers, and emoluments, fuperior to thofe en- joyed by any former viceroy. He was commiffioned to proclaim Philip in India ; but Menezes, though he loft his reward, had already performed this confirmation of the ufurper's title *. But though Mafcarene found Philip peacefully acknowledged, all was confufion and weaknefs in the Portuguefe fettlements. Turks and Moguls, the Zamorira, and other princes, in little fquadrons, uncon- nected with each other, fpread all the horrors of piratical war from Melinda to Malaca. The Portuguefe fquadrons were frequently defeated, and their military reputation was in deep decline. Cochin had long been the faithful and valuable ally of Portugal ; but the prefent king, unable to pay the enormous, ungenerous taxes demanded by Mafcarene, refigned his revenues to the Portuguefe. Twenty thoufand Cochinians bound themfelves in an oath to die in defence of their ancient rights, and Mafcarene M 2 was • By the ftatutes of Lamego, the Mogna Charta of Portugal, a foreigner cannot hold the Portuguefe fceptte. cxcvi PORTUGUESE ASIA, was neceffitated to fufpend his acquirement, an acquire- meat which was relinquilhed by D. Duarte de Monezes, who, after the ufual regency of three years, fucceeded ^ina in command. Malaca, inverted by the king of Ujantana, was now defolated by famine. About an hundred people died every day, and mothers exchanged their children that they might not eat their own offspring. The ifland of Ceylon was alfo fleeped in blood, and the Portuguefe there reduced to the deeped diftrefs. But though Don Paulo de Lima difplayed the ancient valour of his countrymen in the relief of Malaca and the fort of Columbo in Ceylon, the frequent repulfes of the Portuguefe emboldened the natives to fcliie every opportunity of hoftility. Under the government of Menezes, a court of chance- ry, in I 586, was ere(Sted at Goa. The citizens, long op- prefled by military tyrants, had requefted Philip for fuch jurifdiiTtion. But what chiefly diftinguiflies this period,' is the alteration of the Royal Monopoly, and the eftablifliment of a Portuguese East India Company. The re- venues of India, received by the exchequer of Lifbon, amounted to little more than a million of crov;ns. This, yearly fent to Portugal in Indian goods on board of his majefty's Ihips, had long been inadequate to the expence of the armaments almofl: annually equipped in Portugal for the fupport of the Indian dominion ||. And Philip, un- willing I According to Faria, the royal revenues, about tliis time, (lood thus : 'J'lic cullonis of Dio, above 100,000 crowns; thole of Goa, i6o,COO ; thofc of PORTUGUESE ASIA. cxcvii willing to continue fuch prepofterous courfe, fanned the trade of India to a company of merchants, under regulati- ons of the fame fpirit by which the Spanifh trade to Mexi- co, and the Portuguefe commerce with * Brazil, have ever been governed. As in thefe the fovereign is fole niafter of the garrifons and territory, which are protected by his fleets and armies, Co Philip remained fovereign of Portu- guefe India. And as the annual flotas which fail to Mexi- co and Brazil are under fevere reftridtions, but have the €xclnfive privilege of trading to thofe regions, fo the mer- chants who undertook the annual equipment of the Indian fquadron, in reward of the revenue ftipulated to be paid, received the exclufive privilege of trading with India. An eftablifhment upon other principles would have been incon fiftent with every idea of colonization, underitood, or ever pradtifed, by the courts of Spain and Portugal. When this new commercial regulation was known in In- dia, it excited the greateft difcontent. And all the autho- rity of the viceroy and of the clergy was hardly fufficient to fupprefs Malaca, 70,000; the tribute of princes and territories, 2CO,ooo ; uhich to- gether with the king's fhare of the piizes taken by his own Ihips, amount- ed to above a million of crowns yearly. It ought to have been two milli- ons, fays our hiftorian, but was thus reduced by the frauds of office, and enormous falaries of the commanders of the various forts, which article alone amounted to more than half a million per annum. * The trade to thefe places is confined to particular ports, annual flotas and regifter fhips, and even the quantity of goods limited. See Account of the European Settlements in America, fifth edit. vol. i. p. 2.34, &c. and 315. cxcvlil PORTUGUESE ASIA, fuppr^fs an infurredlion at Goa. By its due operation, the lucrative licentioufnefs of the private traders would have received feme bounds ; and a check upon their immenfe profits gave a general alarm. There were ftated voyages performed under the dire(Sl:ion of the viceroy to collect the king's revenues in the different fettlements. And the com- manders of thefe fquadrons, a6led now, without reftraint, as private merchants, and their profits were almoft incredi- ble J. The idea of preventing the military to become mer- chants was now no more. And even the viceroys, after Caftro and Ataide, became private traders. Befides their yearly falarics, now raifed to 18,000 crowns, fome of them cleared 3, fome 5, and fome 800,000 ducats, by their own merchandife. And thofe who bore the title of Don were not now aflaamed to command their own piratical mer- chant fhips. After Caftro, fome of the firft nobility of Portugal were fent to govern India ; and their hiftorians bluntly confefs, that they went thither to repair their for- tunes. But though the new regulations were in the fpirit of the Spanifh trade to Mexico, nothing like the regulari- ty of the flotas was retained in India. The viceroy ftill re- tained the care of fitting out the homeward fhips, and the exigencies of India rendered their number and cargoes ever precarious. Don t According; to Faria's eftimate, tlic voyage from Goa to China and Ja- pan, brought the captain loc ,000 crowns, for only the freight of the goods of others which he cairied; that from Coromandcl to Malaca, 20,000; from Goa to Mozambique, 24,000; and the fhort voyage to Ceylon, 4OGO. And the profits of their own trade were equally great. PORTUGUESE ASIA. cxclx Don Duarte de Menezes was fucceeded, in 1588, by Emanuel de Souza Coutinno, who in 1590 refigned the fword to Matthias de Albuquerque, who governed about feven years. In 1597, Don Francifco de Gama, Count de Vidigueyra, and grandfon of the difcoverer of India, afcended the throne of Portuguefe Afia. But not more de- generated were the times, than were his a£tions and man- ners from thofe of his illuftrious anceftor. He was the moft detefted and moft infulted ruler | that ever governed India ; and the meannefs of his abilities, the ferocious un- graceful haughtinefs of his carriage, and his grofs injuftice, merited the lignal contempt with which he was treated. The peninfula of Pudepatam, between Goa and Cochin, was at this time polTefTed by a Moorilh pirate named Mahomet Cunnale Marca, who made war alike on the Por- tuguefe and the rubje£ls of the Zamorim. The Zamoriin and the Viceroy entered into a treaty to crufh this pirate ; and the former, with an army of 20,000 men, and Don Luis de Gama, brother of the latter, with a fleet of above fifty veflels, laid fiege to Marca's peninfula ; but both were ignominioufly repulfed; and the Portuguefe arms ander Don Luis received the greateft difgrace, fays Faria, they had ever, except at Ormuz, experienced in the Eaft. Andreas de Furtado, the only Portuguefe officer of this period whofe name is recorded with honour, foon after compelled Marca to furrender on condition of life ; a con- dition I For indances of thefe, fee the notes on the life of Camoens. cc PORTUGUESE ASIA, dition which was brutally violated by the ungenerous Gama J". But what principally marks the fatal regency of this count de Vidigueyra, is the arrival of the iirft warlike fquadron of the Dutch in India, the heralds of the total fubverfion of the Afiatic empire of Portugal. For the laft twelve years, the Portuguefe cruelties f in Ceylon had difgraced human nature. And for many years, annual fleets had regularly been fent to the coafts of Mala- bar and the north of Goa, to make piratical wars, on pre- tence of the fuppreffion of pirates. Yet, as if all their for- mer cruelties had been too little, a Bull ofCroifade, in 1594, arrived in India, commanding the Portuguefe to reduce the infidels to the faith by the force of arms. This was a new pretence to plunder the pagodas, the repofitories of the Gentoo treafures, and was procured by the Jefuits, who now governed the fprings of action over all Portuguefe Afia. Though moft adroit in fraudful cabals, that which bears the difhoneft name of low cunning was their only ta- lent. Cruel, obftiuEte, and narow in their minds, the grolTeft I Vitl. Notes on the life of Camoens. •}• Don Hieiomc de Azevedo commanded in Ceylon during the niinous vars already mentioned. When he kept the field, and had gained any ad- vantages, he compelled the Indian mothers to caft their children between milftoncs, and to look on while they were ground in pieces. At other times lie ordered his foldiersto hold up the fhrieking infants on the tops of tlieir pikes. This he did for a moft wretched pun. The natives of Ceylon call themfclves Galhi, and Gallos is Spanilh for a cock. Harl l.oiv t/jep yot.-ng 4ocls cro-cL — is recorded as his ufual fpcech, when the infants Icrcamcd on the lance. PORTUGUESE ASIA. cci grofieft compulfion, and the horrors of the inquifition ||, were the methods by which they endeavoured to propagate their religion. Avaricious of power and riches, and eager for immediate pofleffion, they thruft themfelves into every public tranfadlion. The idle luxurious military eafily fuf- fered themfelves to be guided by them : and their intrigues and ignorance of the arts of civil and military government, embroiled and perplexed every operation. In almoft every expedition was a Monclaros : and it became ufual for the defeated commanders to vindicate themfelves by accusing the Jefuits. Impreft with the enumeration of the fadls from which the above conclufions are drawn, and having mentioned a difpute amicably adjufted by a Jefuit, The Re- UgmiSy fays the hiftorian Soufa, are fuccefsful agents in the promotion of peace between Lay Governors ; but -when they take upon themfelves the governtnent of fecular affairs., they bring every thing to confufion and ruin. While the Jefuits thus cankered and confounded every fpring of government, the civil and military officers, intent only on their own prefent gain beheld the public weak- nefs with the moft languid indifference. Almoft totally engroffed [1 So different from Xavier were the Jefuits of tl\is period, that they to- tally impelled the converfion of the Gentoos, by the mofl abfurd topics of conteft. The Gentoos wear a TfJJtra of three threads, (of which fee p. 473) and are bii;otted to the ufe of this their ancient badge. But the Jefuits, who faid it was inflituted by the Devil, obftinately inlifted that it fhould be relinquifhcd by their new converts. The badge and their old religion were therefore continued. ccii PORTUGUESE ASIA, engrofled by their immenfe American empire, and the politics of Europe, the Spanilli court paid little attention to Portuguefe India. The Will of the Viceroy, now more arbitrary than ever, was the Supreme Law j head- long in its operation in his prefence, and headlong where his creatures, who fliaped it to their pleafure, were armed with power ; but it was feeble and mifinterpreted, often contemned and difobeyed, in the diftant fettlements. The commanders on the different ftations ceafed to a6l in con- cert with each other ; and their forts were often in a ftate of blockade, under all the miferies of famine. It was now ufual for commanders and whole bands of the Portuguefe, without the confent of their fuperiors, to undertake pira- tical expeditions, and to enter into the fervice of the Afia- tic princes * : and in many adlions they fought againft each other with the greateft rancour. Their mother country groaned * About 1586, the Turks with powerful armies invaded Perfia. Some years after, the immenfe armies of the Mogul invaded the regions beyond the Ganges. And the great kingdoms of Pegu and Siam were alternately laid wafte by each other. Portuguefe adventurers dirtinguifhcd themfclves in all thefc wars ; nor did they confult the viceroy when they went off with their fhipping and foldiers. Two of thefe renegadoes, by the moft detefla- ble treachery and cruelty, rofe to thefovereign rank ; and, under the regal title, negociated with the Portuguefe viceroys. Of thefc hereafter. The hiftory of one of thefe renpgadoes throws light on Portuguefe Afia. lago Soarez de Melo, guilty of murder, fled from the fentence of death in Portugal. He was feveral years a pirate in the eaftern feas. On his pro- mife to accufe Don Stephen de Gama, he was pardoned by M. Alonzo de Souza, the new governor. He afterwards, with above looo Por- tuguefe, who renounced allegiance to their fovereign, went to Pegu, where he was appointed general of the army, gratified with im- menfe treafurc, and entitled the king's brother. In this height of his fortune. PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccHi groaned under the yoke of Spain. Moftly natives of the Eaft, the Portuguefe in India loft all afFeclion for Portu- gal, and indeed the political chain which bound them to- gether was now but a flender thread. Unreftrained by regular government, the will of the captain of the fort was abfolute, and his protection of the moft audacious plun- derers was the fupport of his power. Detefted by the na- tives, at ftrife among themfelves, every circumftance con- curred to invite other merchants to India. In this wretch- ed condition of Portuguefe Afla, Houtman, a Dutch mer- chant, while in jail for debt at Lifbon, planned the efta- blifhment of his countrymen in the Eaft, The Hollan- ders paid his debts ; he failed for Afia, and returned with credentials of his promife, which gave birth to the Dutch India Company, an inftitution of deep commercial wifdom : a regular machine, connected in all its operations, and the very reverfe of that blind monfter, that divided Polypus, the Portuguefe defpotical anarchy. The fortune, he happened to pafs by the houfe of a rich merchant on the day of his daughter's wedding. He entered in with his armed followers, and was invited to partake of the fumptuoiis entertainment. Struck with the beauty of the young lady, he attempted to take her away by force ; the bridegroom and his kindred who offered refiliance, were flaughtered upon the banqueting tables ; and the frantic bride fled from the fcene of horror, and ended her life with a cord. Soon after, however, the power of Melo, and the h oufand Portuguefe who ferved under him, were not fufEcient to proteft him from the rage of the people. The king delivered him up, and he was torn in pierces by the multitude. cciv PORTUGUESE ASIA. The fpice iflands offered the faireft field for the Dutch operations. Here the Portuguefe were both wealceft and moft detefted. And at Amboina and Ternate the Grangers were gladly received, and conditions of com- merce fettled f. In 1600, Ayres de % Saldanna fucceeded the weak Count de Vidlgueyra ; but he was equally remifs, and made no head againft the Dutch. One of his captains only, the brave Furtado, for five years carried on a petty war with the Hollanders among the Maluccos ; but though he gained feveral victories, he was unable to expel the new intruders. And new fquadrons from Holland arrived vearly, and carried their hoftllitles from Mozambique to Bengal and other parts of India. The Portuguefe valour feemed to revive, and the Dutch, in many engagements, were defeated. Their vanqulfhed fleets, however, carried rich cargoes to Europe, and brought frefh fupplies. The Jefults omitted no device, no fraud, that might inflame the natives againft them ; even their republican form of government was reprefented as big with ruin to the Indian f Nothing but the CiCcp deteflation of the Portuguefe couidhave procured fuch favour ; for previous to this, tlie very firfl operation of the Dutch had difplayed their chara£fer. They were deteifled in offeting money of bafe mttal for the cargo of the firft fhip which they loaded with fpiccry. Thofc who offered it werefeized by the natives ; and the fquadron which firfl ar- rived at Ternate, endeavoured to refcue their countrymen at Java, by force of arms, but were repulfed, and compelled to pay the ranfom which the natives demanded. \ He renewed the treaty of alliance with tlie celebrated Echebar, or AkLar, who was now mafter of all India, as far fouth as Vifapor. princes. PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccv princes. But the deteftation of the Portuguefe name was (Jeep in India ; and that rooted odium, to which their vil- lainies and cruelties had given birth, and had long nourifh- cd, was now felt to militate againft them more than milli- ons in arms. Had the general conduct of the Poi-tuguefe governors been like that of Albuquerque, had the princes of India mourned over their graves, no flrangers had ever eftablifhed themfelves on the ruin of fuch allies. Though repeatedly defeated in war, the Dutch commerce increafed, the harbours of India received them with kindnefs, and gave them affiftance ; while the friendlefs detefted Portu- guefe, though victorious in almoft every fkirmifh, were haraffed out and daily weakened. Like beafts of prey in their dens, or mountaineer banditti, they kept their gloomy fortrefles, their deftrudlion the wilh of the natives, who yet were afraid too openly to provoke the rage of thefe wolves and tygers. About four years after the arrival of the Dutch, the Englifh alfo appeared in India. The Dutch, who pleaded the law of nature, without ceremony entered the beft harbours, and endeavoured to drive the Portuguefe from their fettlements. The Englifh, in 1601, under Sir James Lancafter, creeled feveral fa(5lories in In- dia, but they went to ports open to all, and offered injurv to neither Dutch, Portuguefe, nor Moorlfh fettlement. Twenty Englifh fleets made the voyage to India without hoftllity with the natives, when the Portuguefe Jefuits brought on a rupture, which ended in the lofs of the Por- tuguefe ccvi PORTUGUESE ASIA. tuguefe military reputation. Every treacherous art which the Moors pradlifed againft Gama was repeated by the Je- iUits, and the event was the fame : for he who fights with the weapons of fraud, whenever he mifles his blow, ftands naked and weakened, and every wound he receives is mortal. In 1 604 Saldanna the viceroy was fucceeded in office and languid negligence, by Don Alonzo de Caftro -, and on Caftro's death, in the third year of his government, Don Frey Alexio de Menezes, archbilliop of Goa, was inverted with the authority, though not with the title of viceroy. The patronage of the Inquifition, and the re- duction of the Chriftians of St. Thomas, of Ethiopia and Armenia, to the See of Rome, were the fole employ- ments of this governor. In 1608, the brave Furtado re- ceived the fword of command : he was a foldier j and his firtl: ambition was the expulfion of the Hollanders. He called the council and principal citizens of Goa, and urged them to affift him in ftriking a decifive blow, which might ruin the Dutch. His fpeech was heard with joy ; but when he had filled the port of Goa with a formidable navy, Ruy Lorenzo de Tavora arrived from Portugal, and fuperfeded Fortado, in the Third Month of his regency. The only circumftance for which Tavora is diftinguifhed is his gene- rous acknowledgment, that he thought it was Furtado who governed, when he faw fuch warlike preparation, and PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccvli and that he was unhappy to fuperfede fo worthy a gover- nor. And unhappy it was for the Portuguefc intereft. It was now twelve years iince the EngUfh, and fifteen Uncc the Dutch, had portended the ruin of the Portuguefe j yet, ex- cept the armament of Furtado, no regular plan had ever been concerted for the expulfion of fuch formidable rivals. About this time, captain Beft, in a large Enghfli fhip, and captain Salmon, in a bomb-ketch, lay near Surat ; Nunno de Cundo, with four large galliots, and twenty-five fri- gates, part of the armament prepared by Furtado, was fent by Tavora to take or deflroy them. The Mogul had an army at this time upon the fliore. The beach and the eminences were covered with fpeclators. And now thofe who had deemed the Portuguefe invincible at fea, with aftonifhment beheld nine and twenty fhips vanquiflied and put to flight by two vefTels *. And a few days after, Tho- mas Beft, in a harder conflifV, was again victorious. Don Hierome de Azevedo, whofe cruelties in Ceylon difgraced the name of man, in 1612 fucceeded Tavora in the viceroy- fhip of India. In every view of importance, the hiftory of Portuguefe Afia terminates with his government. And the occurrences of his regency are ftrongly characleriftic, not of a falling, but of a fallen empire. The " An Indian, who had been aboard the Englifh fhips, told Nunno that they had not above a week's provifion, and that he had nothing to do but to prevent them to take in fiefh water. Nunno replied, that heivouldr.st fptnd a -week^s prav'tjions upon his otvn mai to purchuje a viclary that might legx'.r.ed ccviH PORTUGUESE ASIA. The mofl: fearlefs infolence and treachery were now the characleriftics of the Portuguefe commanders on every fta- tion. Pereyra, captain of the fort of MombaiTa, treache- roufly bribed the Cafres to murder the king, whofe head he fent as a trophy to the viceroy Azevedo. The infolence of Don Luis de Gama brought the hoftilities of the Turks and Perfians upon Ormuz and the adjoining territories. In Ceylon, the common foldiers robbed the natives at plea- fure, in an hour. And in the fame high fpirit he Tent Canning, an Englilh prifb- ner in his cuftody, to help his countrymen to fight, boafting, that he -would foon take him again ivith more company. As Nunno advanced, with red banners difplaycd, Bcft weighed his anchors, and began the fight in the centre of the four large galliots; and Captain Salmon, in the bomb ketch, behaved with equal courage. Withington, a writer of king James's time, thus men- tions the engagement : " Captain Salmon, of the bomb ketch, the Ofian- " der, was like a Salamander amid the fire, dancing the hay about the " Portuguefe, frifking and playing like a falmon." The Portuguefe wri- ters afciibe thefe vidorics to the excellence of the Englifh and incapacity of their own gunners. Soon after, however, the Englifh commerce in In- dia greatly declined. The Dutch pretended that their hoftilities in India were in revenge of the Spanifh tyranny in the Netherlands. Portugal alfo bowed down beneath the fame cruel yoke ; yet this, in the Dutch logic, was her crime ; and thus, becaufe the Portuguefe groaned under Spanilh opprelTion, the Spanifh opprcflion in the Netherlands was revenged upon them. The truth is, the Portuguefe fettlements were little regarded by Spain, and the Dutch intruded upon them as the llron<4tr boars in a German foreft (hoiilder the weaker ones from the heft fall of acorns. Though beat off by the hcidfmen, the flronger boars pel fill and return ; fo the Dutch perfiftcd, till they fccured pof- fertion. Everything, however, was different in the firft fcttlement of the Englifh. The Author of the Hijloire Philofophique, {5't. feems to decry the policy of their firfl captains, who made themfelves mafters of no port, but bought their cargoes of the native merchants. But he ought to have owned that the hoflilities of tlie Turks r.nd f/loguls, and the treachery of the lat- ter in expelling the Engliih faitors, rendered retribution juft. But with all the PORTUGUESE ASIA. cax lire, and the commanders added rapes and adulteries ; //// he people^ fays Faria, fought refuge among the loi/d beafcs cf he mountains, toJJjiin the more brutal outrage of men. Near Jurat, a Portuguefe captain, in breach of the peare, took I rich Ihip from Mecca, the property of the Mogul, and larried her in triumph into the harbour of Goa. Reftitu- ion was refufed, and the Mogul, whofe dominion was VOL. I. N nov/ \\Q fang f raid of a MaterialiH:, the Englidi perceived, fays he, that great r'ulj- •s could not be acquired itiltljout great injiijiice ; and that to attain the advantages ;njoyed by the Portuguei'e and Dutch, they muft alfo adopt their mealures, md eftablifh themfelves by force of arms. But James, he adds, as if hecon- lemned fuch narrow policy, was toopufiilanimous, and too much engaged n controverfjal divinity, to allow warlike operations. The treaty of the Snglifti with the potent king of Perfia, however, he mentions as an effort )f great political wifdom. But Sir D. Cotton's embafly into Perfia, in the Zllarendon State Papers, Vol. I. p. 36. fol. throws another light upon this ifTair. The treaty with Perfia was the idlefl: (lep the Engliih could poffibiy lave taken. According to this authentic record, the great monarch of Perfia appears little better than a captain of Italian banditti ; and his prime Tiinifter, raifed from the meaneft ftation, as a greater ftiuffler and villain ;han his maflcr. The treaty with Perfia, indeed, alarmed the Mogul, the Portuguefe, and the Dutch, and brought hoftilities upon the Englifh, which :he pufilianimous James would not allow them to punifh asjuftice required. But it was not two months together in the mind, nor was it in the power )f the tyrant of Perfia to give any effe£lual adiftance to the Engliih. A Per- rian ftruck Lord Shirley, the Sophi's ambafTador, in the prefence of James, ind each charged the other with impofture. The king of Perfia and his tninifter did nothing but fcruple the credentials fent from England, and en- deavour to extort prefents. While James thus amufed hiinfelf with his Perfian negociation, as fagacious and fruitlefs as thofe he held with the court of Spain and the Prince Palatine, the commerce of his fubjefts lan- guifhed in India. Hopelefs of any help from Petfia, they entered into a kind of partnerfhlp in fome of the Dutch fettlements. But when the Hol- lander found his opportunity, the Engliih of Amboyna a;id other places experienced injuries and cruelties vsJwch are yet unatoned, and which for any years rendered them of little or no confequence in the Ea{}. ccx PORTUGUESE ASIA, now extended from the kingdom of Delhi to the confines of Calicut, detained all the Portuguefe fhips in his harbours ; and, together with his tributary the king of Decan, laid Cege to Damain, Chaul and Bacaim, and defolated the country around. Even the unw,ii-llke Chinefe were exafpe- rated, and the humble fubmifllon of the Portuguefe to new and fevcre laws, preferved their continuance at Macao. In 1606, a Dutch fleet had blocked up the mouth of the Ta- gus, and prevented the annual fupplies to India -, and their power was now greatly Increafed in the Eaft. The natives in hatred of the Portuguefe, in every part favoured them : the kings of Achem and Ternate often afEfted them with powerful armies againft Malaca and the Maluccos, and the Hollanders were now frequently viftorious. While the caftern world was thus in arms againft the Portuguefe, in- furreclions among themfelves raged in every fettlement. While the goldfmiths and mercers of Goa had a bloody en- gagement, the peace ofiicers robbed the fhops of both par- ties. An armament of feven fhips and 250 foldiers was found neceiTai-y to fupprefs the murderous tumults at Me- liapcr. In the tumults of Chaul, Bacaim, Trapor, and Tana, fome of the Portuguefe were almoft daily flaughter- fcdby each other ; and while they were murdering one ano- Mer in Ceylon, the natives iffiied from, the forefls and mountains, and reduced them to the greateft extremity, lago Simoens, for fervices rendered to the emperor of Mo- nomotapa, had received a grant of all the mines of that country in favour of the king of Portugal, and had built fomc PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxl fome forts on the river Zambeze. To enfure his fuccefs, he folicited a reinforcement from the viceroy, which was fent under the command of Fonfeca Pinto, a lawyer. But this reinforcement turned their arms againft Simoens, and brought him and his fettlement to utter ruin. Fonfeca, who was fent as judge to Mozambique, enriched himfelf by the moft flagitious acls of injuflicc and tyranny f , an example which was followed by his fuccefTors, who without the au- thority of Azevedo, condemned an oflicer to the gibbet, and alternately imprifoned each other. By conceflions and prefents the viceroy had now purchai^ ed peace with the Mogul, who Influenced by the arts of the Jefuit Pereyro, interdidled commerce with the Engllili and Dutch ; and the Portuguefe merchant Ihips which were de- tained in his harbours were relieved. During the laft thir- ty years, the flirength and commerce of the Turks had con- fiderably increafed on the coafts of Arabia 5. Their trade N 2 with •f He even fold the provifions, implements, and mining tools which he carried to Simoens, whom he accufed to the emperor as a icbcl againft the \iceroy, and urged the emperor to kill him. He feized the lands of Simoens, and fold his flaves and efFefls, He depofed Ruy de Melo, governor of AIo- zambique, and alfo feized his eflate, which he appropriated to himfeit. Melo was acquitted at Goa. lago de Cunha, another lawyer, was appoint- ed to authority equal with Fonfeca, with command to reftore Melo, When they arrived, they imprifioned Fonfeca, but aa officer named Guerra reliev • ed him, and imprifoned Cunha. And he, as Fonfeca had done, bribed his keepers, and efcaped to Mombafia, where Melo then was. Melo and Cunha now failed for Mozambique, and Fonfeca with immenfe wealth fled to Goa; but Guerra, who remained, was tried by Cunha, and executed. § By this increafe, the cuftoms of Ormuz and Mafcatc w^re ijrsaily re- duced. Vid. Faria, fub Ann, 1616. ccxli PORTUGUESE ASIA. with the ports of the Mogul was great, and confiderable quantities of the produce of India were now again fent to Europe by Egypt and Conftantiuople. The fu bj eels of the IMogul refufed commerce with the EngUfh, and the Turks had offered hoftilities to Sir Henry Middleton in the Red. ' Sea. Middleton therefore appealed to the force of ,nrms; but he did not acl as a pirate. He feized fome Mogul vef- fels near Aden, but for the Indian traffic which he took from them, he gave them full value in Englifh goods, ac- cording to the eflimation of the Eaft, profeffing that he only defired an equitable commerce. Fearful of fuch rivals, Azevedo fitted out a fleet of eight fhips, fome of 8. fome of 6, 5, and 400 tons, belides 60 frigates, and fome fly boats. But after a faint attack, Azevedo withdrew ; and though often braved by the Englifh, reinforced only with four vefTels, to the deeper aftonlfhment of India, he de- clined the combat, and fufFered the enemy, unmolefted, to proceed homeward with loaded fiiips. Nor was Miranda, the admiral of the Teas of Malaca^ more profperous. After a hard engagement with a great fleet of Achem, he was totally defeated f by a Dutch fqua- jBon of eight vefTels. The trade with China was now an- nually interrupted by the Dutch, who, not fatisficd with the route by the Cape of Good Hope, had now pafled the ftraits . f So completely was he defeated, that he efcapcd to fliorc with only fix men. PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxiii ftralts of Magellan, and opened a tr ade wit;l-i Japan t- A Portuguefe adventurer, named Sebaftian Gonfalcz Tibao §, who, by betraying the Indian princes who favoured him, eftablifhed himfelf in Sundava, was there proclaimed king, and became an independent monarch. Confcious that the king of Arracam, his late ally, whom he had treacheroufly deferted when invaded by the Mogul, would meditate re- venge, he fent an embafly to Azevedo, to whom he offer- ed alliance, and propofed a war with the king of Arracam, Allured by Tibao's report of the immenfe treafures of that prince, Azevedo, contrary, fays Faria, to all laws human and divine, concluded the defired treaty with the renegado, and invaded Arracam. But here alfo the Portuguefe arms were difgraced, and Tibao, deprived of every foot of ter- ritory, was reduced to his original meannefs. Even more unfortunate was Philip de Brito e Nicote. By the moft un- grateful treachery to the king of Tangu and other Indian princes, he alfo had raifed himfelf to the ibvereign power, had been proclaimed king of Pegu, and his name was the terror I This country was difcovered by the Portuguefe, who opened a trade with it, about 1543. rke § This adv^enturer wait to India a private foldier. He deferted from fcrvice, and became a feller of fait in Bengal. His profits increafed, til found himfelf mafter of a fquadron of ten vcfiels, with which he commenc- ed piratical wars ; and having alTumcd regal power, he extended his territo- ries, and made treaties with the neighbouring princes. The king of Arra- cam, threatened with an invafion from the Mogul, entered into a league with Tibao. But, bribed by the Mogul, he fuffered his army to pafs him ; and while the Moguls plundered one part of the rich kingdom of Arracam, he j)Iundered the cities of the other fide. ccKvl PORTUGUESE ASIA, terror of Slani and the neighbouring regions. The king of Ava, in revenge of his vaflal the king of Tangu, with an nrmy of i 20, coo men, and a fleet of 400 vefTels, laid liege to Brito in his ftrong fort of Siriam. Azevedo in hope that he might prove an aufpicious ally, fent an armament of five galliots to the fupport of Brito ; but Brito, ere its arrival, was overpowered, after a brave defence |. His wife and foldiers were maimed and fent into flavery ; and he himfelf and his male kindred were impaled on the ram- parts of his garrifon. Such were now the civil infurreftions, fuch the wars § of the Portuguefe ; the fpirit of Azevedo's treaties are even more charadleriftic. Won by Middleton's gallant behavi- our, and regardlefs of the viceroy's refentment, the Mo- gul contrary to the late treaty, not only admitted the Eng- lifli to free commerce with his fubjecSls, but the Englifh admiral i Brito had no powder to repel the enemy, an officer whom he had fent wiih njoney to purchafe that article having never returned. He was impal- ed witli his face to his hcufe, and lived two days, fays Faria, in that dread- ful condition. 4 Though under the fame monarch, the Spanifh governor of the Philip- ifics fent a party of men, in 1602, who, in defiance of the remonftran- ces and threats of the Portuguefe commander, built a fort at the port of Pinal. Some years after, however, the increafe of the Dutch power inclin- ed the governor of Manilla to folicit the affiflance of Azevedo, to expel the Dutch from the Maluccos. But the viceroy could only afford an armament which confided chiefly of tranfported felons. And thcfe wholly defertcd ere they came to aflion. The admiral having, contrary to his orders, tou< ! cd at Malaca, gave them the final opportunity. -PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxv admiral was entertained, by his order, with all the fplcn- dour of eaftern pomp. The Zamorim, the king of Cochin, and the king of the little ifland of Paru, prepared for hof- tilities ; Azevedo fent rich prefents, and begged for peace -, tlie prefents were accepted, but the moft contemptuous pretences excufed delay, and the conditions were never fet- tled. An embafly, with rich prefents, was fent to Abas Xa, king of Perfia, who meditated the conqueft of Ormuz ; but this was alfo treated with fcorn, and the Perllans, alTifhed by the Englifla, foon after wrefted Ormuz and its territory from the Portuguefe. Idle, undetermined treaties, were renewed with the Mogul, and tranfa£led with the king of Siam, who would not confent to expel the Engliih from his harbours. The reafons he urged fpeak the deepeft con- tempt : he excufed the hoftilities of the queen of Patane, his vafTal, by faying (he was mad ; and he liked the Englifli, he faid, becaufe they were ufeful to him, and fliewed him great relpedt. The prince of Pandar, a kingdom of Cey- lon, though the Portuguefe had lately murdered an ambal- fador from his neighbour the king of Candea, fent propofals of peace and offered tribute to the viceroy ; but finding the Portuguefe lefs formidable than he had efteemed, he recant- ed; and Azevedo concluded the treaty, on condition of on- . ly one half of the tribute firft propofed. But the moft con- temptuous treatment is yet unmentioned. The king of Ava, alarmed at the treaty with Siam, and apprehenfive or r^ venge for the death of Brito, fent an embafiy to the viceroy Azevedo accepted his propofals, and Martinho de Coila Falcam, ccxvi PORTUGUESE ASIA. Falcam, his ambaflador, went to ratify the treaty at the court of Ava. But the monarch's fears, and the reputati- on of the Portuguefe valour, were now no more. After many days fpent by Falcam in vain fohcitations for an au- dience, the hour of midnight was at laft appointed. In the dark he was brought to an apartment, and in the dark alfo was ordered to deliver his embafl)', for the king, they faid, was there, and liftened. He delivered it, and received no anfv/cr. Yet, though this haughty filence told him he had been talking to the walls, Falcam ftill meanly folicited to fee the fovereign ; and the former refined contempt was renewed. A day, and a place in the ftreet were named, V. here Falcam might fee his majcfty as he rode out on his elephant. The day came, but the king never deigned turn his eye to the place where the ambaflador flood. And Falcam, thus loaded with the mod contemptuous dif- grace, returned to Goa. On a voyage to Dio, Azevedo fell in with four Englilli veflels. He held a council of war, and it was rcfolved not to fight, bccaufe the ftate of India, fhould vidory declare againft them, could not fuftain the lofs of the large galleon in which the admiral failed. Such was the poverty of the Portuguefe cuftom-houfes in the Eaft ; and the exchequer of Lift^on received an equally fmall and precarious revenue li o\ii tlie Company of Merchants who were the proprietors of tlic goods brought to Portugal, In fome of the laft fif- teen years, not a Portuguefe fliip failed from India to Eu- rope; PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxvii rope i and half of thofe which ventured out, were either taken by enemies, or, having failed late in the feafon, were deflroyed by tempeft. While thus degraded and broken down, the Spanifli court completed the ruin of the Portuguefe Eaftern empire. The expence of the fupplies, lately fent againft the Dutch and Engliih, far exceeded the taxes of the Company, reap- ed by Spain ; and Azevedo received an order from the court of Madrid, to difpofe of every employment, of every office under him, by public fale, that money might be raif- ed to fupport his government. We now need add few cir- cumftances more, for the hiftory of the fall of the Portu- guefe empire in Afia, is here eflentially complete. While the Indian flate was fo poor, that it could not afford to rifque the lofs of a fingle galleon, Azevedo the viceroy was immenfely rich. As he complained one day of the great lofles fuftained by his trading veflels, near the latter part of his reign, one of his officers told him he was ftill worth 4 or 500,000 ducats. To this he replied, I am jlill luorth more than that Jiim in cattle OJily. Though the miniftry of Spain feemed to have abandon- ed India, they beheld the fuccefs of the Dutch with great refentment. Becaufe he had not defeated the Dutch and Englifh, Azevedo was recalled, was flripped of his riches, and ccxviii PORTUGUESE ASIA, and condemned to a dungeon, in which he * ended his life, and in which he was maintained by the Jefuits, who afterwards honourably buried him : a debt, no doubt, of gratitude for the fervices which he had rendered that fo- ciety in India. Even deeper declenfion followed the reign of Azevedo. The numerous Portuguefe forts, almofi: every were ftrip- ped of territory, had been long fuffered to fall into decay ; for their commanders were only intent on their own fud- dcn aggrandifement. Shipwrecks and dreadful tempefts ad- ded to the miferies of the Portuguefe : and the moft remark- able events of the government of John Count de Redondo, who in 1 617 fuperfeded Azevedo, are the folemn fafts held at Goa. In fome of thefe, the citizens lay day and night on the floors of the churches, imploring the divine mercy, in the deepefl and moft awful filence, while not a found was to be heard in the mournful ftreets. Though Azevedo was punifhed for not defeating the Dutch and Engliih, fo little regard did Spain pay to India, that Hernan de Albuquerque, who after Redondo govern- ed for three years, never received one letter from the court of his fovereign. In 1622, Don Francifco de Gama fail- ed • To the inftances of Azcvcdo's ciiielties already mentioned, let another be added. He ufed to amufc himfelf and his foldiers, by throwing his pri- foners over the bridge of Malvana, to fee the crocodiles devour them. The crocodiles, fays Faria, were fo ufed to this food, that they would lift their heads above water and crowd to the place, at the fight of "the vidims. PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxlx cd from Lifbon with four fliips, and the commiflion of viceroy. On his voyage, the three velTels which attended, contemptuoufly left him; and, to fave himfelf from a Dutch fquadron, he burned his own fhip ou the coaft of Mozam- bique, from whence in a galliot he proceeded to Inula. After a regency of five years, in which he neither execut- ed nor planned one adlion of the fmalleffc confequence, he refigned the government to Don Luis de Brito, the bifhop of Cochim. Malaca, again belieged by the king of Achem, was again reduced to the deepeft diftrefs ; but the bifliop would fit out no armament to its relief; jealous, it was thought, Jeft the commander of it fhould be appoint- ed viceroy. On the bifhop's death, which happened after his having benumbed every bufinefs of fi:ate for near two years, the writs of fuccefllon were opened, and two go- vernors were found named, one for tlie civil, the other for the military department. But fo vague were the terms of exprefllon, that two gentlemen of different names claimed the fword of command. The difpute was fubmitted to the council of Goa, and Alvarez Botello was declared gover- nor. By a vigorous effort he relieved Malaca ; but he fell foon after in an engagement where the Hollanders were vic- torious ; and Malaca was again invefted by the neighbour- ing princes, aflifted by a fquadron of twelve Dutch fliips. Mozambique, Ceylon, various forts of the Moluccas and on every coaft of India, were alternately loft and recover- ed, were again repeatedly attacked by the enemy, and at laft finally abandoned by the Portuguefe. In 1632, under the ccxx PORTUGUESE ASIA. the viceroyalty of the Count de Linarez, Our European enemies J fays Faria, roved over the feas ivithout oppofition^ took many of our Jh'ips, and ruined our trade. They alfo every luhere incenfed the Indian prmces againji us ; for ive had no agent at any of their courts to vifidicate our caufe. Yet, deep as fuch declenfion appears, Linarez, on his return to Europe, pre- fcnted the king of Spain with a hat-band, and the queen %vlth a pair of pendants, a gift valued at 100,000 crowns. In 1639, while another archbifhop of Goa was governor, a fquadron of nine Dutch veffels rode in triumph in the river of Goa, and burnt three galleons in the harbour, without oppofition ; for the fort, fays Faria, was deftitute both of ammunition and men. In 1640, the kingdom of Portugal, by one of the nobleft efforts upon record, threw off the yoke of Spain 5 and tiie Portuguefe in India ac- knowledged the duke of Braganza as their fovereign. And in 1642, a viceroy v/as fent to India by John IV. But though the new monarch paid attention to India, and though the Englifh, during their civil wars, abandoned the commerce of the Eafc , the Dutch were now fo formidable, and their operations fo well connected, and continued, that every exertion to recover the dominion of India was fruit- lefs and loft. Soon after the civil wars, the Englifli arofe to more power and confequence, than even the Dutch, in Alia ; and many of the Portuguefe merchants became their agents and naval carriers. Towards the end of the feven- teenth century, the court of Lifbon turned its attention to the Brazils, and negle^ed India. A fucceflion of viceroys was PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxxi was however continued ; but of all their numerous fettle-' ments on every coaft of the eaftern world, the ports of Goa and Dio in India, and the ifle of Macao in the bay of Can- ton, only remain in the pofTeffion of the Portuguefe. And, according to the information procured by the abbe Reynal (who publiflied his Hljlotre Philofoph'tqiie., ^c, about ten years ago) two fmall velTels, often Chinefe, once in the year carry fome porcelaine to Goa and Dio : but thefc mufi: touch at Surat and other ports to complete their re- turn of filks and fpicery. And one fhip, with a poor car- go, partly furnifhed by the two floops of Macao, and partly purchafed from the Englifh, fails once in the year from Goa to Lifbon. Such is the fall of that Power, which once commanded the commerce of Africa and Alia, from the ftraits of Gibraltar to the eaftern fide of Japan. But Dio and Goa are unrivalled flations ; and the ifland of Macao, on the coaft of China, Is a pofteffion of the ut- moft value, a poiTeffion which might be envied by the firft power of Europe. Vfould the Portuguefe abolifh the In- quifition of Goa, fays Reyral, and open their ports upon liberal principles, the Portuguefe flag might again flow triumphant over the eaftern ocean. But though this flou- rifli cannot be realifed, while the power of the Britifh and Dutch continue, there is a wide and favourable field open for the increafe of the Portuguefe Indian commerce ; and a beginning that promifes future importance has already taken place. In 1773, the late king of Portugal nc.v- modclled ccxxll PORTUGUESE ASIA, modelled the government of his Aflatic fettlements. By the new * laws the power of the governor is altered, and the title of Viceroy Is changed to that of Captain General. '-The Inquifition of Goa, formerly more dreadful in its cruelties than even that of Portugal, is utterly aboliflied ; and about fix or feven veflels are now annually cleared from Lifbon for India, but the commerce of thefe fleets is a Royal Monopoly, and regulated in the fame fpirit by which the trade to Brazil is now, and has always been, con- ducted and governed. The hiftories of wars, from the earlieft times, are much alike ; the names of the countries ravaged, the towns de- ftroyed, and captains flam, are different ; the motives and conduft of the oppreflbrs, and the miferies of the opprefled, are the fame. Portugal raifed the firfl: commercial em- pire of the modern world j the hiftory of her fate there- fore opens a new field for the moft important fpeculation. The tranfaclions of the Portuguefe in India are peculiarly the wars and negociations of commerce, and therefore of- fer infl:ru6lions to every trading country, which are not to be found in the campaigns of a Csefar or a Marlborough. The profperity and declenilon of foreign fettlements, re- fulting from the wifdom or errors of the fupreme power at home, from the wifdom or imprudence, the virtues or vices of governors abroad •, The ftupendous efledls of un- • For which fee the NatUlas, in the Appendix. -i,—;^ / . ftalned :fot)c ^ t|c \ J' PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccvli ftained honour and faith ; The mifcrablc ruinous cmbar- raflments which attend diflioneft policy, though fupported by the greateft abiUties in the field or in the council ; The uncommercial and dreadful confequences of wars unjuftly provoked, though crowned with a long feries of vidlories ; The felf-deftrudtive meafures, uncommercial fpirit, and in- herent weaknefs of defpotic rule ; The power, affluence, and ftability which reward the liberal policy of humane go- vernment ; in a word, All thofe caufes which nourifh the infancy, all thofe which as a fecret difeafe undermine, or as a violent poifon fuddenly defVroy the vital ftrength of a commercial empire ; all thefe are developed and difplayed, in the moft exemplary manner, in the hiftory of the tran- fadlions of Portuguefe Afia. And all thefe combine to afcertain the great principles upon which that ftupendous Co.mmon Wealth the Britifh Eaft India Company muft exift ar fall. The commerce of India is of mofl: efTential value to the Britifli nation. By the Indian goods diftributed over Europe, the eflential ba- lance of trade is preferved in our favour. But whether the Indian commerce fhculd be conduced by an Exclufive Company, or laid open to every Adventurer, is the quef- tion of the day, a queftion of the very firfh importance to the Britifh empire. And to this queftion the ex- ample of the Portuguefe is of the firft confequence. Both in the Senate, and in the works of fome poli- tical Writers, this example has been appealed to; an exact ccxxlv PORTUGUESE ASIA. exacSt knowledge of the commercial principles of Portu- guefe Afia is therefore highly neceiTary ; particularly, if the moft grofs mifreprefentations of it have already been given, with the profefled view of influencing the Legifla- ture. And an authenticated flate of the principles of the Portuguefe Afiatic commerce, were it only to guard us againft the vilionary and dangerous fchemes of Theory, cannot but be of fome utility to that nation Avhich now commands the commerce of India. Throughout the foregoing Iliftory of Portuguefe Afia, the chara(Steriflics and principles of the Portuguefe mili- tary and commercial government, have been ftated and authenticated. But a retrofpefl will be neceflary, to bring the Portuguefe example decifively home ; and feveral faiSls, as for their proper place, have been hitherto referved for the following RECAPITULATION. PORTUGUESE ASIA. RECAPITULATION. When Gama arrived in India, the Moors, great maf- ters of the arts of traffic, were the lords of the eaftern feas. They had fettlements on every convenient ftation, from Sofala to China -, and though under different go- vernments, were in reality one great comnK)nwealth. They clearly forefaw what injury their trade would fuf- tain, were Europeans to become acquainted with the Afia- tic feas. They exerted every fraudful art, that not one; man of Gama's fleet might return to Europe. And when thefe arts were defeated, with the moft determined zeal they commenced f hoftilities. Garrifons and warlike fleets were now abfoluleiy necef- fary to the exiftence of a naval commerce between Eu- rope and Afia. And on the return of Gama, Cabral was rent with an armed fleet of thirteen veffels. His commif- lon was to make alliances, to eflablifli forts and factories, md to repel hoftilities. His commiflion he executed, and :he commanders who fucceeded him greatly extended the Portuguefe fettlements, which were reduced by Albu- ijuerque into a regular plan of empire. VOL. I. O To f To the above let it be added, that the Soldan of Egypt, and the Grand Turk, for near a century, continued tlieir flrenuous efforts for the utter expullion of the Portnguele. ccxxv'l PORTUGUESE ASIA. To increafe the population and riches, and thence the ftrength of the mother country, by the exportation of her domeftic manufaiSlures, raifcd from the domeftic ftaples, is the great and only real advantage of foreign fettlement. But this was not underftood by the Portuguefe. To raife a revenue for the king his mafter was the idea of Albu- querque. And the ftupendous fabric which he raifed does his genius immortal honour : for it muftbe remembered, that even had he underftood the domeftic advantages of a Free Trade, it was not in his power to open it. The king of Portugal was fole merchant, every factory was his, and the traffic between Portugal and India was, in the ftrifteft fenfe, a Regal Monopoly. There was z /pedes of free trade indeed allowed in the eaftern feas ; but from this the mo- ther country received no benefit ; and the principles upon which it exifted, naturally produced the fall of the Portu- guefe eaftern empire. We need not repeat its piratical anarchy. The greateft and moft accomplifhed of the Por- tuguefe governors faw its fatal tendency, and every method was attempted to reftrift and render it infamous. The tribute of the valTal princes, the territorial levies, and the duties of the various cuftom-houfes, produced un- der fome governors a confiderable revenue. But how mi- ferably obvious is thisfyftem to every abufe ! The foregoing Hiftory demonftrates how, period after period, it fell into deeper and deeper diforder. TJie yearly falary of Almeyda, the firft viceroy, was only 15,000 rials (/. c. 1041/. 13^. i\d. fterling) ; PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxxvli fterllng) ; about fourfcore or an hundred years after, tlie falary and profits of three years viceroyalty amounted to about one million and an half of ducats. Faria y Soufa has given, from the archives of Portugal, an exaft lift of all the fhips cleared from Portugal for India, from the dif- covery of Gama to the year 1640 f. During the firft fifty years, which was the moft flourifhing period of Portuguefe Afia, only nine or ten veffels failed yearly from Portugal for India. And from that period to the end of the Spanifli ufurpation, only one or two veiTels carried the annual traf- fic of India to Portugal. Befides the mifcondudl: which naturally refults from that worft of all monopolies, a Regal one, many were the other circumftances which included the future ruin of the Por- tuguefe. O 2 The f From the commencement of the Indian commerce under Cabral, in 1500, to the death of the great Caftro, in IJ48, 494 fiiips failed from Lif- bon for India, of which 41 were loft on the voyage. On an average, there- fore, about 19 fhips in each two years arrived in India. As many ofthefc were war fhips, fent to continue in the Eaft, we cannot fnppofe that, making allowance for fhipwrecks, more than five returned annually to Por- tugal. From IJ48 to the acceflion of Philip, 173 failed from Lifbon for India, of which 17 were loft. The yearly average is therefore near five fliips fent, and the return, as above proportioned, about three. During 57 years under the crown of Spain, only 285 failed for India, whereof only 236 arrived. Some years not one fhip failed, either from Lifl)on to India, or from India to Lilbon. At this period, fay all our authors, the (hips were moftly overloaded, and failed at improper feafons, by which means many- were loft, and many were taken by the Dutch and Englifti. And thus, upon an average, at leaft, from about the year i6l6, not more than three vefiels in each t'.vo vtars arrived at LiCoon. ccxxTiii PORTUGUESE ASIA. The vague terms of the viceroy's commiflion {for nvhich fee the Appendix) and his ai-bitrary power, from which there was no appeal to any body of laws of fupreme au- thority, naturally produced the unjuft wars, the infolence, cruelty, and fearlefs rapine of the Portuguefe governors and their dependent officers. From every circumftance it appears, that the courts of Li{bon and Madrid never confldered the commerce of In- dia as an object worthy of their attention. Sovereignty and revenue were the advantages they expected, and en- deavoured to find in the Eaft. Every hiftorian of Portuguefe Afia complains of the fud- den recalls of the viceroys ; and the ftated term of three years viceroyalty is moft apparently abfurd and ruinous. Every hiftorian of thefe tranfadtions mentions It as the ge- neral pradlice, that the new viceroy flopped and revg-fed every preparation and plan of his predeceflbr. Though no vefTels but thofe of his majefty carried the commodities of India to Europe, a contraband traffic of the officers and failors had been, moft affiircdly, of the earlieft commencement. By a ftatute pafTed in 1687, it appears that the viceroys had formerly obtained the privi- lege for themfelves, and of granting licences to others, to carry certain articles and quantities of their own private traffic, on board of his majefty's vefTcls, to Portugal. When PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxxix When this grant commenced, we have not been able to de- termine. Certain it is, however, that it muft have been mentioned, had it been in exiftence when Caftro, Ataide, and other viceroys exerted the moft ftrenuous efforts to difcourage the mercantile purfuits of the native Portu- guefe. Were we allowed to venture a conjecture, we would place this excluftve grant to the viceroy and his crea- tures in the reign of John IV. who made a faint and vain endeavour to recover the dominion of India. And it outrages probability to fuppofe it older than the extraordinary but uncertified emoluments recorded as given by Philip II. to the viceroys of India. Whenever it commenced, how- ever, in 1687 the legal right to this private traffic was abo- lifhed J but the contraband pradlice, which certainly began with the firft voyage of Cabral, was as certainly continued. The Exclufive Company of Merchants, who in 1587 contracted to fit out the Indian fleets, appear to have had little influence in the affairs of India. The power of the viceroy and the piratical anarchy were fl:ill predominant. While only one or two failed annually for Portugal, the floops and other veflels employed in the trade of the pri- vate adventurers amounted to a confiderable number. Captain Befl: met a trading fleet of 240 Portuguefe veffels on the coaft of Cambaya : and when the Mogul declared war againft the Portuguefe, in 161 7, the number of their vefTels, detained in his harbours, {y'ul. Far. fub ami.) was 200, Yet were the adventurers in this trade liable to eve- ry ccxxx PORTUGUESE ASIA, ry inconvenience ufually fuffercd by fmug^lers and free- booters. It is true they carried the commodities of Ethiopia and the coafts around Ormuz, to Malaca and China ; and in return diftributed the products of the eaftern over the weftern Ihorcs of the India ocean. But they had no cer- tain protection of tlieir property, and they were furrounded with monopolies. The viceroys and commanders of forts had monopolies of their own in every ftation between Ethiopia and China. And it is eafy to conceive how their creatures muft have lorded it over all thofe who dared to interfere with their profits. To render a foreign trade profperous, the honeft merchant muft have every poffible encouragement. If it is eafy to acquire an handfome inde- pendence in an honourable channel, the fons of men of property and of connexions will adventure ; and where ca- pital ftock and real abilities are beft rewarded, commerce muft greatly increafe. If on the other hand, the merchant is fettered with difficulties, only men of defperajie fortune will fettle In a diftant climate. And thefe, confcious of the reftraints under which they labour, confcious that they have much to gain and little to lofe, will, in the nature of things, be folely influenced by the fpirit of the mere adven- turer ; by that fpirit which utterly ruined the Portuguefe in India. Each of tlie fleets which failed annually from Liflion to India, carried out, upon an average, about 3000 men. Very few of thcle ever returned to fettle in Portugal. They PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxxxi They married in the Eaft, and became one people with the defcendants of thofe Portuguefe, who, at various periods, had fettled and married with the natives, in the numerous colonies of Portuguefe Afia. Their great commonwealth, in the beginning of the feventeenth century, was a mere anarchy, and its revenue of To little value to the mother country, that Philip III. abandoned India in the moft ex- traordinary manner : he made an edicV, that every office under the government fliould be ibid by public fale, an edi£l that merit fhould be neglected, and that only the moft \vorthkfs and rapacious fliould be entrufted with the affairs of ftate. THE APPLICATIOK^ Of the example of Portuguefe Afia cannot be better enforced than by an examination of the popular arguments relative to the Britifh commerce with India. A recent writer on the nature and cmifes of the nuealth of nationSy has ftood forth as the philofophical champion for the abolition of the monopoly of the Englifli United Eaft India Compa- ny. His arguments may be reduced to thefe four pofi- tions, I. Exclufive Companies are in every refpccl pernicious. II. In the Portuguefe commerce with India, for more than a century, there was no exclufive company \ fuch monopoly ccxxxii PORTUGUESE ASIA. monopoly is therefore unneceffary for the fupport of the Indian commerce. III. Under a Free Trade, factors will fettle in India of their own accord, and every commercial accommo- dation of felling and purchafing cargo will natu- rally follow. IV. Where forts and garrifons are abfolutely neceflliry, thefe will be befi: under the immediate protection of the fovereign, under whofe care his native fubjecls will find themfelves perfe&lyfafe and eafy. The fable of Procruftes, and his iron bed, was perhaps deligned by the ancients to fignify a fyftem builder and his fyftem. The reader will foon be enabled to form his own judgment on the juftice of this explanation. The firfl: pofition is thus maintained by our Author : <* Of ail the expedients that can luell be contrived tojiunt " the natural growth of a new colony, that of an exclu- " five company is undoubtedly the moft effeftual." Vol. ii. p. 171. Having diftinguifhed monopolies into two kinds, our Author thus concludes his chapter i " Such exclufive ** Companies, therefore, are niiifances in every refpecly al- " ivnys more or lefs inconvenient to the countries in which " they PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxxxHi «' they are eftablifhed, and deftrucHiive to thofe which " have the misfortune to fall under their government.'* Vol. ii. p. 2^6. Thus, and throughout our Author's whole work, mo- nopolies are reprefented as akvaysy every nuherey and in every refpeci pernicious. Yet when fome hillorical fa£ls, and the manners of nations, are put in the other balance, the fcale, loaded with thefe aflertions, will inftantly fly- up and kick the beam. However fome men may declaim, there was a time when the founding of abbeys and monafteries was the moft poli- tical method by which the monarchs of Europe could in- troduce civilization among their barbarous fubjedls. And, however ill adapted to the prefent times, that old mono- poly, the inftitution of corporations, was at one period highly political, and abfolutely neceflary to fupport infant commerce againft the furrounding oppreffions and uncom- mercial fpirit of the feodal fyftem. The commerce of the Hans towns began not only with incorporated companies, but alfo with a general ftipulated league of thefe compa- nies, for fuch union was abfolutely neceflary to protedl the infancy of their naval commercial intercourfe againft the numerous bands of favage pirates, who at that time infeft- ed the Baltic, the Danifh, and the German feas. "When ccxxxiv PORTUGUESE ASIA. When Prince Henry of Portugal, at his own private expence, had difcovered Madeira, his brother, king Ed- ward, made him proprietor of that ifland. Henry divid- ed it into diftricts, which he gave to fome of his captains, who in return paid him a revenue. When the fame prince had difcovered the coaft of Guinea, tlie united efforts of a company appeared to him as the moft vigorous method of profccuting his defigns. Under a charter from him, and for which they paid him a revenue, feveral of his captains erected a commercial company at Lagos, and the vigour of their purfuits anfwered the expedlations of Henry. In the third year of their eftabUfliment, fourteen fhips fail- ed from that port upon trade and farther difcovery j and fifteen were the fame year fitted out from Madeira. In 1471, Alon^io V. engroffed bydomeftic quarrels, and the affairs of Morocco, granted Fernando Gomez a monopoly of the Guinea trade, for the fmall fum of 500 ducats an- nually, but upon condition that during the firft five years he fhould extend his difcoveries 500 leagues farther along the fea coafl. This condition highly vindicates the wif- dom of this monopoly ; as the numerous fleets of Lagos and Madeira juftify Henry. Difcovery was a mofl unpo- pular meafure, and neither the attention of Alonzo, nor the finances of the ftate, could afford to fit out fquadrons on expeditions of hope. Even in 1497, two of the four fliips which were fent to difcover India, were purchafed from fujjecls, (fee appendix) fo unable were the royal dock-yards of Portugal to fit out fleets for difcovery. Without PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxxxv Without the regular connetSlion of a Company, under the fandtion of Legiflative authority, the Dutch might have as rationally attempted to eftablifli a commerce with the Moon as with India. The natives, it is true, received, at firfl:, both the Dutch and the Englifli with joy. But the Portuguefe were infinitely too firrong for all the un- conne£led attempts of all the private merchants of Eu- rope, and it was their intereft to prevent intruders. Nor did the good will of the natives arife from any other caufe than their deep hatred of the Portuguefe. It was the in- terefl: of the Moors, Egyptians, and Turks, that no Eu- ropeans lliould navigate the eaftern feas ; and had the Dutch and Englifli been the firlt wlio difcovered India, they muft have encountered the whole force of the Eaft, and all the rage of the Moors. A fovereign who defires to open a commerce with a diftant country, under the circumftances of India, has only this alternative : he muft either give exduftve privi- leges to a Company, or he muft put his exchequer to the enormous expence of forts and garrifons, and warlike fleets year after year, to awe the hoftile natives. In this laft fuppofition, tlie trade with fuch countries may be ei- ther referved as a monopoly of the crown, or laid open and free to all the fubje«Sts. Exclufive Companies were chofen by the Dutch and Englifli, in their profecution of the commerce of India. And a crown monopoly was adopted by the kings of Portugal. But no fovereign was ever ccxxxvi PORTUGUESE ASIA, ever fo deep a Theorift as to take upon himfelf the enor- mous and uncertain expence of conquering and bridling dif- tant and warlike nations, in order that, after enriching themfelves with the commerce of fuch countries, his fub- je£ls might be better enabled to pay what future taxes he might think proper to impofe upon them. The fecond pofition afcribed to our Author is deduced from thefe fentences : " The Portuguefe carried on the *' trade both to Africa and the Eaft Indies, ivithout any " excliifive Companies." Vol. ii. p. 248. ** Except in Portiigaly and within thefe few years in *' France, the trade to the Eaft Indies has, in every Eu- " ropean country, been fubjefled to an exclufive Compa- " ny." Vol. ii. p. 242. *< That fuch companies are not in general neceflary for *' carrying on the Eaft India trade, \s, ftificiently demonjlrated " by the experience of the Portuguefe, who enjoyed al- •' moft the whole of it for more than a century together^ " without any excliifive Company." Vol. ii. p. 246. In political philofophy an excliifive Company and excliifive Trade are exaftly the fame. Our Author himfelf gives the very worft of charadters of a Regal Monopoly ; but it feems to have been utterly unknown to him, that fuch ever was, and is, the Portuguefe commerce between Eu- rope PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxxxvPi rope and India; utterly unknown to him, that the Por- tuguefe free trade in the Indian feas Was a difgrace to commerce, was ruinous in every principle, was efteemed infamous, only fit for felons, in the days of the Portuguefe profperity ; and in order to its fuppreflion, was taxed greatly beyond the trade carried on by the natives. The continuance or abolition of the Eaft India Company is a matter of the firft importance. If either method be adopted upon falfe principles, the confequences will be fe- verely felt. We fhall therefore claim fome merit in hold- ing up a confpicuous example to future philofophers, how imprudent it is to truft to the felf-fuficiency of /peculation ^ when, on the moft important topics, they appeal to hif- torical fadls as a fuficient demonjlration of the eafe and fafcty of their theoretical fchemes. The third pofition afcribed to our Author will be found at great length in his Fourth Book. In Sweden and Den- mark he owns that the encouragement of a moncpolv was necelTary to their trade with India. But where monopo- lies are neceflary, fuch countries, he fays, oufrht not to trade dii-eftly to the Eafl: Indies. He takes it for granted, that the fmallnefs of the national capital flock, which can- not be fpared in the flow returns of fo diftant a trade produces this neccflity. And it were better, he adds, for fuch countries to buy their Indian goods " fbmewhat dear- " er" from other nations. But when a nation is rich enough to trade with India, a free commerce, according to ccxxxvill PORTUGUESE ASIA. to our Author, would naturally fpring up in the moft beau- tiful order. He ftates the objection of the impoflibiUty of a private merchant's capital being able to fupport fa£iors and agents in the different ports of India ; to which he thus replies, (vol. ii. p. 246.) " There is no great branch *' of trade in which the capital of any one private mer- ** chant is fufficient for carrying on all the fubordinate *< branches, which muft be carried on in order to carry *' on the principal branch. But when a nation is ripe for ** any great branch of trade, feme merchants naturally *« turn their capitals towards the principal, and fome to- " wards the fubordinate branches of it If a nati- " on therefore is ripe for the Ead: India trade, a cer- *' tain portion of its capital will naturally divide itfelf *' among all the different branches of that trade. Some *' of its merchants will find it for their intereft to reiide in *• the Eafl Indies, and employ their capitals there in pro- *' viding goods for the fhips which are to be fent out by ** other merchants, who refide in Europe." When this fcheme of commerce with India cannot be effected, it is a proof, according to our Author (p. 247.) that fuch country, at that particular time, was not ripe for that trade ; and had better buy their Indian goods, *• even *' at a higher price," from other nations. But had the Portuguefe, Dutch, and EngUfh, waited for fuch theoreti- cal ripcnefsy they had never yet fet one foot in India. In PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxxxix In the mofl: favourable view of fuch eftabliflimcnt of commerce with the great world of Afia, its perfection can- not fpring up In a few years, and would be always preca- rious. When the Moors were in force, fuch peaceful ef- tablifiiments were impoffible, for they knew their prefent intereft too well to liften to the promifes of European fpe- culation ; and the prefent character of the Indian nations gives no prophecy when forts and garrifons will become unnecefTary to the European refldents in India. Our Au- thor feems aware of this, in the fentence which immedi- ately follows the laft cited, and which vindicates the fourth pofition into which we have divided his argument. But it will be here neceflary to give a fhort Analyfis of the great principles of our Author's fyftem. The wealth of nations, he fays, arifes from labour ; the value of which, he often tells us, is only to be fixed by the higgling of the marlet. That fliare of land-rent which is claimed by the fovereign, is his fa- vourite fource of revenue. And were every fubje£l al- lowed a free trade too.^ the whole nation would be en- riched, and this fource of revenue, of confequence, greatly enlarged. But monopolies of all kinds, hy Jlunt- vig the ufe of ftock and the confequent increafc of riches, Jlu/ii the fources of revenue. Monopolies are therefore every where and in every refpeiH: prejudicial to fovereign and people. As the fovereign Is chiefly in- terefted ccxl PORTUGUESE ASIA, terefted in the flourifliing ftate of the land-rent revenue, it is mod likely to flourilh under his care. And over and above as the population of foreign colonies muft enlarge the above natural fource of revenue, for all other fources are round about ; fo the population of foreign colonies is the chief end of colonization. From this analyfis, which challenges the fevereft teft, the propofition to put the forts and territory of Britifli India into the hands of the fovcreign, naturally follows. We (hall give it in our Author's own words : *' The fettlements, fays he, which different European *' nations have obtained in the Eaft Indies, if they were *' taken from the exclufive Companies to which they at " prefent belong, and put under the immediate protection *' of the fovereign, would render this refidence" (i. e. of the volu7itary uncontieclcd adventurers before mentioned J ** both ** fnfe and eafy^ at leaft to the merchants of the particular " nations to whom thofe fettlements belong." But ere we examine this bold propofition, our Author's great objections againfl the Dutch and Englifh Eafl India Companies require our previous attention. *' Thefe, fays " our Author, though pofleiTcd of many confiderable fet- *' tlcments, both upon the coafl of Africa and in tlie Eafl " Indies, have not yet eftablifhecl in either of thofe coun- " tries fuch numerous and tluiving colonies as thofe in the " iflands PORTUGUESE ASIA. clxi " iflands and continent of America, (p. 247.) .... In <* the fpice iflands, the Dutch burn all the fpicery which " a plentiful feafon produces, beyond what they expedl to ** difpofe of in Europe with fuch a prolit as they think ** fufHcient They have reduced the population of " feveral of the Moluccas. Under the government even " of the Portuguefe, however, thofe iflands are faid to ** have been tolerably well inhabited. The Englifli Com- ** pany have not yet had time to eftablifh in Bengal fo *' perfedlly deftrudlive a fyftem. The plan of their go- *' vernment, however, has had exactly the fame tenden- *' cy. It has not been uncommon, I am well aflured, *' for the chief, that is the Jir/I clerk of a factory, to order ** a peafant to plough up a rich field of poppies, and fow " it with rice or fome other grain. The pretence was to *' prevent a fcarcity of provifions ; but the real reafon to " give the chief an opportunity of felling at a better price " a large quantity of opium, which he happened then to " have upon hand. Upon other occaHons the order has *< been reverfed, and a rich field of rice or other grain *' has been ploughed up, in order to make room for a *' plantation of poppies." p. 250. And thus, as our Au- thor exprefles it, p. 253, Monopolies '■*■ Jlunt the natural " growth of fome parts, at leaft, of the lurplus produce *' of the country, to what is barely fufficient for anfvver- " ing the demand of the Company." VOL. I. m Our cclxii PORTUGUESE ASIA. Our Author's abhorrence of commercial purfuits, an^ his keen predilecSlion for land rent revenue, are ftrongly marked in the following fentence : " A Company of mer- ** chants are, it feems, incapable of confidering them- " felves as fovcrcigns, even after they have become fuch. " Trade, or buying in order to fell again, they ffill con- ** fider as their principal bufinefs, and by a Jlrange ah- " furdify, regard the character of the fovcreign as but an ** appendix to that of the merchant, as fomething which "^ ought to be made fubfervient to it, or by means of « which they may be enabled to buy cheaper in India, " and thereby to fell with a better profit in Europe. '* They endeavour for this purpofe to keep out, as **■ much as pofiible, all competitors. . . . Their mercantile " habits draw them in this manner, almoft neceflarily, ** though perhaps infenfibly, to prefer, upon all ordinary " occafions, the little and tranfttory profit of the monopo- <* lift, to the great and permanent revenue of the foVe- « reign." p. 252. Such are the evils which attend the Dutch and EriglifR Eaft India Companies : The advantages which would fol- low, were fuch monopolies to be aboliflied, and the fo- vereign to be fole mafter of Indian acquifition are thefe : •all his fubjefts, who plieafed, might turn their ftock to the commerce of India. By fuch means, the population of the colonies, and, of confequence, the i-egal fhare of rheir revenue, would be ''rcatlv increafed. And PORTUGUESE ASIA. cclxiii And thus, according to our Author, coininerce is of very inferior confequence ; and the importation of the So- vereign's revenue the very fummum bonum of the political wifdom of colonization. But thefe very fi:^picious data. demand a much deeper inveftigation than our Author has beftowed upon them. In many places he expreiTes the moft cordial aflfedlion for the kingly power. Becaufe it is the fovereign's intereft: that his colonies Ihould profper, he fuppofes, therefore, that colonies, if under his imme- diate prote£lion, will and mufl * flourifh. And becaufe a monarch, at the head of a ftanding army, may defpife the rudeft and moft licentious libellers, he concludes, p. 311. that a ftanding army is propitious -f- to the caufe of Liberty. That perfection of wifdom, magnanimity, and attention, which is moft efientially implied m thefe fuppofitions, is not, however, to be found in a Succes- sion of monarchs. No, not in an individual fovereign, if we may believe an aflertion v;hich has efcaped from our Author, p. 441. " The fervants, fays he, of the moll ** carelefs private perlon, are, perhaps, more under the " eye of their mafter, than thofe of the moft careful <* prince." P 2 When * This argument, abfolutely elTential to his fyftciii, is fupported by oi^r- Author, Vol. ii. p. 251, &c. &c. &c. t What a pity it is, that France and Spain have never found out this fc- cret ! What aibitrary imprifonments might be avoided, and what expence of legions of fpies might be laved, couU they perceive cur Author's advau- tages of a (landing army. cclxir PORTUGUESE ASIA, When the Portuguefe Indian commerce was farmed^ by a Company of merchants, in 1587, about 87 years after its commencement, the Regal monopoly was altered, not abolifhed ; for this commerce was continued, accord- ing to every idea ever known in the Spanifli or Portuguefe colonies. It was carried on in a limited number of Re- gifter fliips ; and the fovereign authority of the Indian viceroys was ftill predominant. Our Author confefles, p. 171. that the commerce of regifter fhips is "very ** fiearly upon the fame principles as that of an exclitfive com- " pany." And certainly, with refpedl to his fyftem, they are exactly the fame. In defcribing the management of trade, where it is the fole property of the fovereign, our Author has given, though very undefignedly, a very accu- rate fketch of the regal monopoly of Portugal. Talking of the mercantile purfuits of princes j *' They have fcarce " ever fucceeded, (fays he, p. 414.) The profufion ** with which the affairs of princes are always managed, *' renders it alnioft impoffible that they fhould. The *' agents of a prince regard the wealth of their mafter as " inexhauftible j are ca'relefs at what price they buy j are " carelefs at what price they fell ; are carelefs at what ex- *' pence they tranfport his goods from one place to ano- ** ther. Thofe agents frequently live with the profufion " of princes, andfometimes too, in fpite of that profufion, " and by a proper method of making up their accounts^ ** acquire the fortunes of princes. It is thus, we are told " by IMachiavel, that the agents of Lorenzo of Medicis, " not PORTUGUESE ASIA, ccIxt " not a prince of mean abilities, carried on his trade." And thus, alfo, the corrupted viceroys of India conducted the trade of the kings of Portugal. But it may be faid, the confequences of the above are inappUcable, for a regal monopoly of revenue, and not of trade, is our Author's fyftem. His fyftem is held forth as fuch indeed, yet we apprehend its confequences would be the fame. A hoftile country, of vaft extent, bridled and awed, and the revenue of an immenfe territory, governed by the troops and officers of a diftant fovereign, is fome- thing exceedingly like the Portuguefe plan. The confe- ■quences of the Portuguefe fyftem, therefore, require our ftridleft attention. The Portuguefe viceroys, it may be faid, were arbitrary, and governed by no code of known lav/s : and the officers of a Britifh fovereign will not be armed with fuch power. Yet our Author is of opinion that the fervants of the In- dia Company ajfume fuch power, ,and that it is completely foolijl} to expe^l they would not. Monopoly, he fays, is the intereft of a Company and its fervants. A free trade, and revenue is the interefc of a fovereign. But does it fol- low, as our Author's argument implies, that fuch is the intereft of his fervants alfo ? By no means. We may well enquire, what is that wonderful virtue, eflential to our Autlwr's argument, which is conferred by the royal com- miflion j cckvi PORTUGUESE ASIA. miffion ; the virtue, which would correct all the felfifh paffions which influence the clerks of a counting-houfe, and would fave the poppies and the rice of Bengal from an untimely plough ? If the territory of Britifh India is to be the king's, he muft have men In office to manage It under him, and thefe will have their private interefts to ferve, as well as the officers of a Company. Whence, then, are we to expe£l: their fuperlor virtue ? Not, furely, from their greater opportunities of extortion, and of evad- ing enquiry — But we fliall here adopt a fcntence from our Author, (vol. ii. p. 253.) only fubftituting the word iiTi/;^, where he writes Counting Houfe : *' Nothing can be more *' completely fcoli/Jj than to expedt that the clerks of a great ** King, at ten thoufand miles dijlance^ and confequently ** almojl quite out of fight ^ fhould, upon a flmple order ** from their mafter, give up, at once, doing any fort of *• bufinefs upon their own account abandon for ever all ** hopes of making a fortune, of which they have the ** means in their hands, and content themfelves with the «« moderate falarles which their mafter allows them."— ^ Our Author purfues his argument, how the fervants of a Company edablifh monopolies of their own ; and fuch, at- tended with every circumftance of unreftrained enormity, %vas the condu£l: of the crown officers of Portuguefe Alia. The {uperlor opportunities of extortion and rapine enjoy- ed by the military governors of 4 very diftant and rich country. PORTUGUESE ASIA; cclxvn country, are felf-evident. The clerks of a crown office have infinitely better opportunities of evading detection, .and of amaffing perquifites, than thofe of a company. Our Author has already been cited to explain how the fervants of a prince abufe their truft. " It is perfectly In- " 4ifferent," fays he, vol. ii. p. 255. ** to the fervants of '* the India Company," when they have carried their •* whole fortune with th^m, if, the day after they left it, <* the whole country was fwallowed up by an earthquake." And, in the name of God, will not fuch difafter be equally indifferent to a royal general, or a royal cuftomhoufe offi- cer, whenever he finds it convenient to retire from India ? But this is not applicable, it may be faid, to our Au- thor's fyftem, which is to plant colonies, like thofe of America, in Ind^a, on purpofe to draw a revenue from them ; and the profperlty of the country will then be the intereft of the royal officers. But a hard queftion here obtrudes itfelf ; Will it b^ the deftre of fixed Reftdents to ex- port a revenue^ or to he careful of it ? Though many of the Portuguefe were natives of the Eafl, war was their harveft ; and, like tlie favages of Louifiana, who cut down the tree when they defire the fruit, their rapacity deftroyed the roots and fources of revenue. The nature of their fituation, explained by our Author in the cafe of Lorenzo of Medi- cis, vindicates this afl"ertion, and every period of Portu- guefe Afia enforces its truth. Though all the artillery of arsuraents. cclxviii ■ I^'O R T U G U E S E ASIA, arguments, Mrawn from the abufes committed by the fer- i'ants of a company, may thus, with accumulated force, be turned againft the fervants of a prince •, arguments of deeper import ftill remain. Whenever a fociety emerges from what is called th^Jhep- hcrdjiate, luxuries become its infeparable attendants. And imported luxuries, however neglecled and undervalued in our Author's eftimate, offer not only a plentiful, but the fafeft mode of taxing the wages of labour, the profits of ftock, and the rent of land. The induftry of the manu- facharer and hufbandman can never thus be impeded or in- jured, which they mod certainly are, for a time, by every new tax upon labour and land. The luxuries imported by the Eaft India Company have afforded a revenue * which has been equal to the land-tax of England. The queftion then is, whether would this valuable revenue be dlminifiied or increafed, were every port open, and every adventurer free to fit out what fhips he pleafed, to traffic with India ? But were this allowed, what an army of cuftomhoufc officers, muft there be in waiting at every port of the kingdom } for who knows what port a veffel from India, once in feven years, may chufe to enter ? What a door for * The revenue paid by the goods of the company, and tlie revenues of ihtir fervants, together with the former annual donation, have been abort two millions yearly. The land tax falls fliort of two millions. PORTUGUESE A S I /i .V^ S??x-,^1^ for fmuggling the luxuries of India would nii^QenT^Aml^'-^ — * H we need not add, what a diminution of revel«5|jef»->*^'^ '^i£w' ^ -y Befides the great revenue which it pays, the Eaft India Company forms one of the mofi; a and its conti- nuance includes the promifc of future fupport on the like emergencies. And muft tfiis ftupendous and important fabric be demo^ lifhedj to make way for an i untried Theory ? For * " The credit and the intereft of the nation depend on the fupport of the public funds — Wliile the annuities, and intereft for money advanced, is there regularly paid, and the principal infured Ijy both prince and people, (a fecurity not to be had in other nations) foreigners will lend us their pro- perty, and all Europe be interefted in our welfare ; the paper of the com- panies will be converted into money and merchandize, and Great Britain can never want calh to carry her fchemes into execution. In other nations, credit is founded on the word of the prince, if a monarchy ; or on that of the people, if a republic; but here it is eftabliflied on the intereftsof both prince and people, which is the ftrongeft fecurity " G^ithrie. \ " In the progrefs of fociety, additional props and balances will often become neceflary. That of pulling down a whole edifice, to eredt a new building, generally ends in the deftrudtion of the community, and always leads to convulfions which no one could forefee." Sic Governor Johnftonc's Thoughts on »ur acqidfttions in the Eajl Indies. colxx PORTUGUESE ASIA. For a free trade, which, while it encreafed our import- ed luxuries, would greatly diminifli the revenue whicl:; arifes from them : For a trade which would injure cur own f manufactures, were the prefent reftridtions abolifiied : For a trade which could not be eftabliflied in India for many years, and which, perhaps, is in its nature imprac-r ticable : ** For a tranfition, which, though pofllble, muft be *' attended with innumerable difficulties, confidering what " convulfions, even the fmalleft ftroke of legiflative au- " thority upon private property generally produces, not- f* withftanding all the precautions which may be J ufed :" For a fyftem, which muft render the fovereign the mi- litary Defpot of an immenfe and rich § territory, and make him f Silks, muflins, callicoes, emhioidery, cottons, toys, and many of the Indian manufadtures, would greatly injure thofe of this country, were a free importation allowed. The woven manufa£lures of India, imported by the Company, are reftrifled to foreign markets. I This fentence in inverted commas is from a pamphlet, entitled, Thoughts on cuf acquifttions in the Eaji ///a'/Vj— written by Governor John- Jtone. § " The immenfe power whicli would be added to the crown, by our dominions in the Eafl falling immediately under its management, muft be ■i. fgrious confidcration, with every one who believes the preponderating weight PORTUGUESE ASIA. cdx^ him the fole mafter of an unconftitutknal revenue. A revenue, which, in the hands of a corrupt miniftry, would eafily defeat the nobleft check againft arbitrary power pro? vided by the Britifli Conftitution> the right of taxation in the Houfe of Commons » America, paffively fubmiffive at the feet of a junto in power, could not, for feveral centuries, afford the means of corruption, which India, already deeply enflaved, would freely yield, for at leaft a few yearso In every probability, for only a few years— however highly our Author may think of the great and permanent revenue of the fovereign ; and however he may defpife the little and tranjitory profit of the merchant, we will venture to fupport the very oppofite opinions. Our Author laments, that merchants will never confider themfelves as fovereigns, when they have really become fuch. Commerce was defpifed, aud fovereignty was the ambition weight which that part of the conftitution already pofTefTes ; and who wifties, at the fame time, to preferve the juft balance. Every intelligent mind muft forefee the immenfe additional influence that would accrue, by the command of fuch a number of troops, the adminiftration of fuch ex- tenfive revenues, and the difpofal of fo many offices. The Author of thefe refle<£tions is perfuaded, we might expe£l the fame effeds that followed thp annexation of the rich orders of St. lago, Calatrava, and Alcantara, to the crown of Spain ; which, a celebrated Spanilh hiftorian fays, contributed more towards enflaving that country, than all the other in fidious arts and expedients of Ferdinand and Ifabella." Gov. Johnjiones Thoughts fSc cclxxli PORTUGUESE ASIA, ambition of the Portuguefe. Immenfe extenfion of domi- nion, greatly fuperior to the fettlements of both the Dutch and Englifli, became therefore their object : and uncom- mercial, often unjuft wars, naturally followed this fearch for revenue. And this fyftem as naturally produced the deepefl: ruin. Wars after wars will ever be produced by a fovereignty afTumed in a diftant region. The Spanifli me- thod of extirpation is the only preventive. Some territory is neceflary to fettlements in India. But fuch extenfion as would deprefs the grand fyftem of the Indian commerce, muft, like the Portuguefe fovereignty, end in ruin. The plan of fovereignty directly leads to war with the jealous natives of India. Such revenue, therefore, cannot be permanent^ and moft probably will not be gyeat for a length of years. Our Author upbraids the India Company, be- caufe their colonies in India are not fo populous and thrivr ing as thofe in America. But were the Indian colonies a? fafe from the natives, as his fcheme of unconnected fet- tlers requires; as populous, and their revenue zsgreai, as his idea of perfection may poffibly include, how long would he itisxj RE the pennafienry of their revenue againft the in- terruption of a Revolt or Rebellion^ or fuch colonies them- felves from a fudden and final difmemhcrmait ? — Alas i at this prefent hour we feel a moft melancholy proof of the difficulties and difappointments of raifing a revenue in a diftant country. May God never curfe Great Britain, by PORTUGUESE-ASIA, cclxxlS by fixing her views and hopes on fuch diftantj llich little and travjttory fupport ! If properly watched and defended, if not facrificed to the dreams and dotage of Theory, the Grand Machine of her Commerce will ever render Great Britain both profpe- rous and formidable- In this grand machine the Eafl India Company forms a principal wheel. The concentered fup- port which it gives to the public credit ; the vaft and MOST RATIONAL home tax which its imported luxuries afford, a tax which forms a conjlitutional fourcc of revenue, ever in our own hands, never to be affef India, on the great principles of its prefcnt eflablilh- nent, are important, domeftic, and permanent. In an Lufpicious trade, therefore, we muft fubmit to that necef- ity of circumftances which we cannot alter ; we muft not hut our eyes againft the broad glare of the light of fa£ls, md amputate the limbs, and diflocate the joints of com- Tierce, in order to fhorten or to lengthen it to the ftand- ird of Theory, as Procruftes is fabled to have fitted his anhappy captives to the flandard of his iron bed. Every Inftitution relative to Man, is not only liable to corruption, but, fuch is the imperfection of human na- ture, is fure to be corrupted. Both the fervants of a Com- pany, and the ofBcers of a king, are liable to the influence of felf-intereft. But the monarch's ear is hard of accefs, and often guarded •, and the regulations of a regal mono- poly, or defpotic revenue, are variable at his will. Ap- peal here muft be hopelefs. But, under a Company, go- verned by fixed inftitutions, there exifts not only a legal claim of redrefs, but a legal right of oppofition. If errors and corruption, therefore, be natural to every fyftem of human government, let the fyftem moft open to infpedli- on and correftion, be preferved, and let its errors and C^2 corruptions cclxxx PORTUGUESE ASIA, corruptions be corrected. And hnppily the Britifh Parlia- ment is pofl'efTed of the power of fuch infpe£lion and cor- rection ; and happily alfo fuch authority is the very reverfe of a regal power to raife a foreign revenue : this parliamen- tary power is conjiitutional. The Abbe Reynal, in his refle(SI:ions on the fate of the Portuguefe, informs his reader, that while the court of Lifbon projeon the fureft foundation. It is not the fpirit of Gothic conqueft ; it is not the little cunning finelle of embroiling the Indian princes among themfelves -, of cajoling one, and winning another ; it is not the groveling arts of intrigue, often em- barrafled. failure of a crop of rice is here dreadful. It is the true fpirit of commerce to prevent famine, by bringing provifion from one country to another. And may this true ipirit of it be exerted by the Britifh in India ! PORTUGUESE ASIA. ccxxxix barrafled, always fliiftlng, which can give lafting fecurity. An effential decifive predominancy of the juftice of laws like the Britifh, can alone fee u re the profperity of the moft powerful commercial fyftem, or render its exiflence ad- vantageous or even safe to the feat of Empire. THE THE LIFE OF LUIS DE CAMOENS. W HEN the glory of the arms of Portugal had reach- ed its meridian fplendor, Nature, as if in pity of the literary rudenefs of that nation, produced one great Poet, to record the numberlefs adlions of high fpirit per- formed by his countrymen. Except Oforius, the hiftorians of Portugal are little better than dry journalifts. But it is not their inelegance which rendered the poet neceffary. It is the peculiar nature of poetry to give a colouring to heroic a(5tions, and to exprefs an indignation againft the breaches of honour, in a fpirit which at once feizes the heart of the man of feeling, and carries with it an inftanta- neous convidlion. The brilliant adlions of the Portuguefe form the great hinge which opened the door to the moft important alteration in the civil hiftory of mankind. And to place thefe adlions in the light and enthufiafin of poetry, that ccxci THE LIFE OF CAMOENS. that enthufiafin which particularly aflimilates the youthful breaft to its own fires, was Luis de Camoens, the poet of Portugal, born. DifFerent cities claimed the honour of his birth. But, according to N. Antonio, and Manuel Correa his intimate friend, this event happened at Lifbon, in 15 17. His fa- mily was of confiderable note, and originally Spanifh. In 1370, Vafco Perez de Caamans, difgufted at the court of Caftile, fled to that of Lifbon, where king Ferdinand im- mediately admitted him into his council, and gave him the lordflaips of Sardoal, Punnete, Marano, Amendo, and other confiderable lands j a certain proof of the eminence of his rank and abilities. In the war for the fucceffion, which broke out on the death of Ferdinand, Caamans, fided with the king of Caftile, and was killed in the battle of Aljabarrota. But though John I. the vidlor, feized a great part of his eflate, his widow, the daughter of Gon- falo Tereyro, grand mafter of the order of Chrift, and ge- neral of the Portuguefe army, was not reduced beneath her rank. She had three fons, who took the name of Camoens. The family of the eldeft inter-married with the firft nobility of Portugal, and even, according to Caftera, with the blood royal. But the family of the fecond brother, whofe fortune was flender, had the fuperior honour to pro- duce the Author of the Lufiad. Earlv ^ THE LIFE OF CAMOENS. ccxclii Early in his life the misfortunes of the Poet began. In his infancy, Simon Vaz de Camoens, his father, comman- der of a vefTel, was fliipwrecked at Goa, where, with his life, the greatefi: part of his fortune was loft. His mother, however, Anne de Macedo of Santarene, provided for the education of her fon Luis at the univerllty of Coimbra. — What he acquired there, his works dii'cover : An intimacy with the dailies, equal to that of a Scaliger, but direcled by the tafte of a Milton or a Pope. V/hen he left the univerfity, he appeared at court. He was handfomef, had fpeaking eyes, it is faid, and the fineft complexion. Certain it is, however, he was a polifh- ed fcholar, which, added to the natural ardour and gay vi- vacity of his difpolition, rendered him an accompliihed gentleman. Courts are the fcenes of intrigue, and intrigue was fafliionable at Lifbon. But the particulars of the amours of Camoens reft unknown. This only appears : He had afpired above his rank, for he was baniflied from the court; and, in feveral of his fonnets, he afcribes this mif- fortune to love. VOL. I. R He f The French Tranllator gives us fo fine a defcriptiou of the pcribn of Cariioens, that it feems to be borrowed from the Fairy Tales. It is uni- vetfally agreed, that he was handlbme, and had a mod engaging mien and addrefs. He is~ thus defcribed by Nicolas Antonio, " Aiediocri jiatura fuit, et carne plena, capiUts ufque ad croci colorem Jlavifccntibus, max'ime in juvsntuis-, F.minehat ei frons , \S> medlus nafus, cateralon^us, et irijiiit c?-ajjiufcuius." ccxciv THE LIFE OF CAMOENS. He now retired to his mother's friends at Santarene Here he renewed his ftudies, and began his' Poem on. the Difcovery of India. John III. at this time prepared an ar- mament againft Africa. Camoens, tired of his inactive' obfcure life, went to Ceuta in this expedition, and greatly diftinguiflied his valour in feveral rencounters. In a naval engagement with the Moors, in the ftraits of Gibraltar, in the conflict of boarding he was among the foremoft, and lofi: his right eye. Yet neither the hurry of actual fervice, nor the diflipation of the camp, could ftifle his genius. He continued his Lufjadas, and feveral of his mofi: beauti- ful fonnets were written in Africa, while, as he exprefles it. One hand the pen, and one the fword empToy'd. The fame of his valour had now reached the court, and he obtained permillion to return to Lifbon. But while he folicited an eftablifliment which he had merited in the ranks of battle, the malignity of evil tongues, as he calls it in one of his letters, v^'as injuriously poured upon him. Though the bloom of his early youth was effaced by feveral years relidence under the fcorching heavens of Africa, and though altered by the lofs of an eye, his prefence gave unea- fmefs to the gentlemen of fome families of the firfl rank, where he had formerly vifited. Jealoufy is the charadle-' riftic of the Spanifh and Portuguefe ; its refentment knows no bounds : and Camoens now found it prudent to banifh himfelfl THE LIFE OF CAMOENS. ccxcv hmifelf from his native country. Accordingly in 1553, he failed for India, with a refolution never to return. As the fliip left the Tagus, he exclaimed, in the words of the fepulchral monument of Scipio Africanus, Ingrata pairwy mn pojjtdebis ojfa mea ! Ungrateful country, thou fhalt not poflefs my bones ! but he knew not what evils in the Eafl tvould awake the remembrance of his native fields. When Camoens arrived in India, an expedition was ready to fail to revenge the king of Cochin on the king of Pimenta. Without any reft on fhore after his long voyage, he joined this armament, and in the conqueft of the Ala- gada iflands, difplayed his ufual bravery. But his modef- ty, perhaps, is his greateft praife. In a fonnet he menti- ons this expedition: We went to punifli the king of Pi- menta, fays he, e fuccedeones bein^ and ive fucceeded ivell. When it is confidered that the Poet bore no inconfiderable fliare In the viiTtory, no ode can conclude more elegantly, more happily than this. In the year following, he attended Manuel de Vafcon- cello in an expedition to the Red Sea. Here, fays Faria, as Camoens had noufe for his Avord, he employed his pen. Nor was his activity confined in the fleet or camp. He vi- fited Mount Felix, and the adjacent inhofpitable regions of Africa, which he fo ftrongly pictures in the Lufiad, and in one of his little pieces, where he laments the abfence of his miftrefs. R 2 When ccxcvi THE LIFE OF CAMOENS. When he returned to Goa, he enjoyed a tranquillity wliich enabled him to beflovvhis attention on his Epic Poem. But this ferenity was interrupted, perhaps by his own im- prudence. He wrote fome fatires which gave offence, and, by order of the viceroy, Francifco Barreto, he was banifhed to China. Men of poor abilities are more confcious of their em- barraffment and errors than is commonly believed. When men of this kind are in power, they affecl great folemnity ; and every expreffion of the moft diftant tendency to leflen their dignity, is held as the greateft of crimes. Confcious alfo how feverely the man of genius can hurt their intereft, they bear an inftinclive antipathy againft him, are uneafy even in his company, and, on the flighteft pretence, are happy to drive him fr om them. Camoens was thus fituat- ed at Goa 5 and never was there a fairer field for fatires than the rulers of India at this time afforded. Yet, whatever efteem the prudence of Camoens may lofe in our idea, the noblenefs of his difpofition will doubly gain. Andp fo confcious was he of his real integrity and innocence, that in one of his fonnets he wifhes no other revenge on Barreto, than that the cruelty of his exile fliould ever be remembered f. The f Calkra, who always contlemns Camoens, as if guilty of facrilege, wlicn the flighted reproach of a grandee appears, tells us, " that pofterity " by no means enters into the refcntment of our poet ; and that the Por- " tuguefe hiftorians make glorious mention of Barreto, who was a man of " true merit." The Poriiiguefehiftorians, however, knew not what ti-ue merit THE LIFE OF CAMOENS. ccxcvU The accomplifhments and manners of Camoens foon found him friends, though under the dlfgrace of banifli- ment. He was appointed commiflary of th^eftates of the Defundl in the ifland of Macao, on the coaft of China. Here he continued his Lufiad ; and here alfo, after five years refidence, he acquired a fortune, though fmall, yet equal to his wifhes. Don Conftantine de Braganza was now viceroy of India, and Camoens, defirous to return to Goa, refigned his charge. In a fliip, freighted by himfelf, he fet fail, but was fhipwrecked in the gulph near the mouth of the river Mecon, in Cochin-China. All he liad acquired was loft in the waves : his poems, which he held in one hand, while he laved himfelf with the other, were all he found himfelf poflefled of, when he flood friendlefs pn the unknown Ihore. But the natives gave him a moft merit was. The brutal uncommercial wars of Sampayo are by them mentioned as much more glorious than the lefs bloody campaigns of a Nunio, which eftablifhed commerce and empire. But the aftionsof Barreto Ihall be called to witnefs for Camoens. We have already feen his ruinous treaty with Meale Can, which ended in the dilgrace of the Portuguefe arms. The king of Cinde defired Bar- reto's afnftance to crudia neighbouring prince, who had invaded his domi- nions. Barreto went himfelf to relieve him ; but having difagreed about the reward he required, (for the king had made peace with his enemy) he burned Tata, the royal city, killed above Sooc of the people he came to prote(ft ; for eight days he deftroyed every thing on the banks of the Indus, and loaded his veflels, fays Faria, with the richeft booty hitherto taken m India. The war with Hydal Can, kindled by Barreto's treachery, continu- ed. The city of Dabul was deftroyed by the viceroy, who, foon after, at the head of 17,000 men, defeated Hydal Can's army of 20,000. Horrid de- folation followed thefe vitflories, and Hydal Can continued the implacable enemy of Portugal v/hile he lived. Such was Barreto, the man who exiled fTnn-.oens ! humane ccxcviii THE LILE OF CAMOENS. humane reception : this he has immortahfed in the pro- phetic fong in the tenth Luliad f ; and in the feventh he tells us, that here he loft the wealth which fatisfied his wiflies : Agora da cfperatiga ja adquiridof &c. Now bleft with all the wealth fond hope could crave. Soon I beheld that wealth beneath the wave For ever loft ; My life, like Judah's heaven-doom'd king of yore, By miracle prolong'd On the banks of the Mecon, he wrote his beautiful pa- raphrafe of the pfalm, where the Jews, in the fineft ftrain of poetry, are reprefented as hanging their harps on the willows by the rivers of Babylon, and weeping their exile from their native country. Here Camoens continued fome time, till an opportunity offered to carry him to Goa. — When he arrived at that city, Don Conftantine de Bra- ganza, whofe charadteriftic was politenefs, admitted hinx intp j- Having named the Mecon : £Pe recebera placido, e irando, iVb Jeu regdfo o Canto, que molbado, &C. Literally thus : " On his gentle hofpitable bofom fftc hnado foetice J fliall he receive the fong, wet from woeful unhappy fhijjwreck, efcaped from de- llroying tempefts, from ravenous dangers, the efrel. He correfponded with them, directed their bbours, and received the Cui\. accounts of their fuccefs. Under his .patro- nage cccii THE I.IFE OF CAMOENS. the author of the Lufiad was utterly neglefted by Henry, under whofe inglorious reign he died in all the mifery of poverty. By feme it is faid he died in an alms- houfe. It appears, however, that he had not even the certainty of fubfiftence which thefe houfes provide. He had a black fervant, who had grown old with him, and who had long experienced his mafter's humanity. This grateful nage it was difcovered, that St. Thomas ordered the Indians to woifhip the (Jrofs; and that the Moorifli tradition of Perimal, (who, having embraced JMohammedifm, divided his kingdom among his officers, whom he rendered tributary to the Zamorim,) was a malicious mifreprefentation ; for that Perimal, having turned Chriflian, refigned his kingdom, and became a monk. Such was the learning patronifed by Henry, who was alio a zealous patron of the inquilition at Lilbon, and the founder of the iiiquilition at Goa, to wliich place he fent a whole apparatus of holy fathers to fupprefs the Jews and reduce the native Chriflian* to the See of Rome. Nor muft the treat- ment experienced by Buchanan at Lifbon be here omitted, as it afTords a convincing proof, that the fine genius of Camoens was the true fource of his misfortunes. John III. earned to promote the cultivation of polite literature among his fubjc£Vs, engaged Buchanan, the moll elegant Latinift, perhaps, of modern times, to teach philofophy and the belles Uttres at Lif- bon. But the defign of the monarch was foon fruflrated by the cardinal Henry and the clergy. Buchanan was committed to prifon, becaufe it ^vas alledged he had eaten flefh in Lent ; and becaufe, in his early youth, at St. Andrew's in Scotland, he had written a fatire againft the Francifcans ; for which, however, ere he would venture to Lifbon, John had promifed him abfolute indemnity. John, with much difficulty, procured his releafe from a loathfome jail, but could not efTefthis refloration as a teacher. He could only change his prifon ; for Buchanan was fent to a monaflery, to be injlruclci by the monk!, the men of letteis patronifed by Henry. Thefe arc thus characterifed by their pupil Buchanan,— /;uyalr,f, hv J» KSi Ovjavwy £7rovo,Ma^O|M£V. r. Ss VEiJlcoa, Aio; Kut Aiav»!j, 'jv Se 7ravJ>j,uov xaXs^EV. cccxxxviii DISSERTATION. proper perfonage of that mythology to figure Chriftianlty. And Bacchus, the conqueror of the Eaft, is, in the anci- ent poetical allegory, the moft natural protestor of the al- tars of India. Whatever may be faid againft the ufe of the ancient machinery in a modern poem, candour mufl con- feis, that the allegory of Camoens, which arms the genius of Mohammcdifm :}: againft the expedition of his heroes, is both fublime and moft happily interefting. Nor muft his choice of the ancient poetical machinery be condemned without examination. It has been the language of poetry thefe three thoufand years, and its allegory is perfectly un- derftood. If not impofilble, it will certainly be very dif- ficult to find a new, or a better machinery for an Epic poem. That of TaiTo is condemned by f Boileau, yet, that of This Urania- Venus, according to Paufanius and other writers, had fumptuous temples in Athens, Phoenicia, &c. She was painted in complete armour ; her prieftefTes were virgins ; and no man was allowed to approach her flirine. Xenophon fays, Ihe prefided over the love of wifdom and virtue, which are the plea- fures of the foul, as the terreftrial Venus prefided over the plea- fures of the body. :J: For feveral collateral proofs, fee the note, p.* 133. and text, in Lufiad VIII. where Bacchus, the evil dsemon, takes the form of Mohammed, and appears in a dream to a priell of the Koran. f On account of his magic. But magic was the popular belief of Taffo's age, and has afforded him a fine machinery, though his ufe ot It is fometimcs highly blameable ; as where he makes an enchanter oppofe the arch-angel Michael, armed with the autho- rity of the true God, &c. Sec. DISSERTATION. cccxxxix of Camoens may plead the authority of that celebrated cri- tic, and is even vindicated, undeflgnedly, by Voltaire him- felf. In an eflay prefixed to his Henriade, Le mot d' Am' phitritey fays he, dans noire pocjie^ nefignifie que la Mer^ ^ non /' Epoufe de Neptune — " the word Amphitrite in our " poetry lignifies only the Sea, and not the wife of Nep- ** tune." And why may not the word Venus in Camoens fignify divine Love, and not the wife of Vulcan ? ** Love," ** fays Voltaire, in the fame eflay, " has his arrows, and ** Juftice a balance, in our mofl: chriftian writings, in our ** paintings, in our tapeftry, without being efteemed as the ** leaft mixture of Paganifm." And if this criticifm has juf- tice in it, why not apply it to the Lufiad, as well as to the * Henriade ? Candour will not only apply it to the Lufiad, but * Thus, when the Henriade is to be defended, the arrows of Cupid convey no mixture of Paganifm. But when the Ifland of Love in the Lufiad is to be condemned, our honnete critic muft ridicule the ule of thefe very arrows — Oefi la que VemiSy 'oidee des confeih du Pere Eternely et fecondie en meme terns des Jleches de Cupidoti. — It is there that Venus, aided by the counfels of the eternal Father, and at the fame time, feconded by the arrows of Cupid, renders the Nereides amorous of the Portuguefe." — But this, one of his lateft additions, is as unlucky as all the reft. The eternal Father is the fame Jove, who is reprefented as thtfupreme Father in the firft book, (St. 22. Portuguefe.) and in book 9. ft. 1 8. is only faid to have ordained Venus to be the good genius of the Lufitanians. There is not a word about the ajjijlance of hh counfel ; that was introduced by Voltaire, folely to throw ridicule upon an allegory, which, by the bye, when ufed in the Henriade, has cccxl DISSERTATION. but will alfo add the authority of Boileau. He is giving rules for an Epic poem : Dans le vajle recit d'tine longue aSlion, Se foutient par lafahky et vtt de jiB'ton. La pour nous enchanter tout ejl mis en ufnge : Tout prend un corps ^ une amcy un efprity un vifage ; Chaque vertu devient une divhiiie ; Mifierve ejl la prudence y l^ Venus la beaute, Ce n^eji plus la vapeur qui produit le tonnere^ Gejl Jupiter arme pour ejfrayer la terre. Un orage terrible aux yeux des maielotSy C'ejl Neptune y en cotirrouxy qui goiirmande les Jlots .... Zans tous ces ornente?is le vers tomhe en langueuy : La poefte ejl mortey ou rampe fans vigueur : Le po'ete t^ejl plus qu'un orateur timidcy ^c'un froid hijlorien d^ une fable infipide. Every idea of thefe lines ftrongly defends the Luliad. Yet, it njuft not be concealed, a diftind^tion follows which may appear againft it. Boileau requires a profane fubject for the Epic Mufe. But his reafon for it is not juil,: De lafoi d'un Chretien les mjleres terribUs D* ornemens egayes ne font point fufceptibles. L'evangile a Pefprit iHoffre de tous cotes ^ue penitence a faire, is" tourinens merites : Et has not the leaft fault, in his opinion j but is there every way in the true ftile of poetry. DISSERTATION. cccxli Et de vos JiB'tons le melange cotipablc JMeme a fes verites donne Pair de la fable. The myjleres terribles afford, indeed, no fubjeci: for poetry. But the Bible offers to the Mufe Ibmething befides penitence and merited torments. The Paradife Loft, and the works of the greatefl Painters, evince this. Nor does this criticifm, Falfe as it is, contain one argument which excludes the heroes Df a Chriftian nation from being the fubjeci of poetry. Mo- iern fubje(fl:s are indeed condemned by Boileau ; and an- :ient fable, witli its UlyfTes, Agamemnon, &c. — notus heureux femblent iies pour Ics I'ers — are recommended to :he poet. But, happy for Camoens, his feelings direiHied. lim to another choice. For, in contradiction of a thou- 'and Boileaus, no compofitions are fo miferably unintereft- ng as our modern poems, where the heroes of ancient "able are the perfonages of the a£lion. Unlefs, therefore, he fubjeci of Camoens may thus feem condemned by the elebrated French critic, every other rule he propofes is in avour of the machinery of the Lufiad. And his own ex- mple proves, that he thought the pagan machinery not mproper in a poem where the heroes * are modern. But here is an efTential diftindlion in the method c^ ullng it. ^nd Camoens has ftri(fl:ly adhered to this eirentiai difference, rhe conduct of the Epic poem is twofold ; the hiftorical nd allegorical. When paganifm was the popular belief, VOL. I. U Diomed * He ufes the Pagan mythology in his poem on the paflage of lie Rhine by the French army in 1672. cccxlii DISSERTATION. Diomed might wound Mars or f Venus •, but when the names of thefe Deities became merely allegorical, fuch alfo ought to be the actions afcribed to them. And Carnoens has ftrictly adhered to this rule. His heroes are Chriftians , and Santn Fe, Holy Faith, is often mentioned in the hifto- rical parts where his heroes fpeak, and act. But it is only in the allegorical parts where the pagan or the poetical mythology is introduced. And in his machinery, as in his hiftorical f Thus it was the belief of the firft ages of Chriftianity, that the Pagan Gods were fallen angels. Milton, with admirable judg- ment, has adopted this fyftem. His Mammon, the archited of Pandemonium, he alfo calls Vulcan : Nov was his name unheard or unador'd In ancient Greece, and in Aulbnian land. Men call'd him Miiiciber; and how he fell From heav'n, they fabled, thrown by angr)' Jove— — On Lemnos, th' Egean ifle : Thus they relate Erring ; for he with this rebellious lout Fell long before. Moloch and Vulcan are therefore mentioned together with great propriety in the Paradife Loft. The belief of the firft Chriftians, with lefpedt to daemons, was unabated in the age of Camoens ; for the oracles of the Pagan deities were then believed to have been given by evil fpirits. Bacchus might therefore in a Chriftian poem of fuch ages, reprefent the Evil demon ; and it was on this princi- ple that TdS^o felt no impropriety in calling Pluto his king of hell, the grand foe ofmanldnd, and making him talk of the birth of Chrift. In like manner, when Camoens fays that the Chriftian altar raifed (book II.) to deceive the Lufians, was the illufion of Bacchus ; he fays no more tlian what was agreeable to the popular belief of the heathen oracles, and no more than what poetry ;dlows when a ftorni is afcribed to Neptune, or arrows given to Cupid. DISSERTATION. cccxlUi hiftorical parts, there is no mixture of Pagan and Chrif- tian perfonages. The deliverance of the Lufian fleet, afcribed to the celeftial Venus, fo ridiculed by Voltaire, is exadlly according to the precepts of Boileau. It is the hif- torical oppofition or concert of Chriftlan and Pagan ideas which forms the abfurd, and disfigures a poem. But this abfurd oppofition or concert of perfonages has no place in the Lufiad, though it is found in the greateft of modern poets. From Milton both the allowable and blameablc mixture of Chriftian and Pagan ideas may be fully exempli- fied. With great judgment, he ranks the Pagan Deities among the fallen angels. When he alludes to Pagan I mythology, he fometimes fays, " as fables feign •," and fometimes he mentions thefe deities in the allegory of poetical ftyle ; as thus, When Bellona fborms. With all her battering engines bent to rafe Some capital city lAnd thus, when Adam fmiles on Eve ; as Jupiter On Juno fmiles when he impregns the clouds That fhed May flowers lere the perfonages are mentioned exprefsly in their alle- gorical capacity, the ufe recommended by Boileau. In the allowing the blameable mixture occurs. He is defcribing Paradife U 2 Univerial cccxKv DISSERTATIOrr. Univerfal Pan Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance Led on th' eternal fpring. Not that fair field Of Enna, where Proferpine, gathering flowers, Herfelf a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis Was gathered : which coft Ceres all that pain To feek her through the world might with this Paradife Of Eden ftrive The mention of Pan, the Graces and Hours, is here in the pure allegorical ftyle of poetry. But the ftory of Profer- pine is not in allegory •, it is mentioned in the fame manner of authenticity as the many Scripture hiftories introduced into the Paradife Loft. When the angel brings Eve to Adam, fhe appears —in naked beauty more adorn'd More lovely than Pandora, whom the Gods Endow'd with all their gifts, and O too like In fad event, when to th' unwifer fon Of Japhet brought by Hermes fhe enfnar'd Mankind with her fair looks, to be avenged On him who had ftole Jove's authentic fire. Here we have the heathen Gods, another origin of evil, and n DISSERTATION. cccxlv ind a whole ftring of fables, alluded to as real events, on I level with his * fubje^t. Nor Is poetical ufe the only defence of our injured au- hor. In the age of Camoens, Bacchus was efteemed a eal daemon : and celeftial Venus was confidered as tl\c lame by which the Ethnics exprefled the divine love. Jut if the cold hyper-critic will ftill blame our author for lis allegory, let it be repeated, that of all Chriftian poets, Camoens is in this the leaft reprehenfible. The hell, pur- ;atory, and paradife of Dante, form one continued unal- sgorical texture of Pagan and Scriptural names, defcrip- ions, and ideas. Ariollo is continually in the fame fault. /Ind, if it is a fault to ufe the ancient poetical machinery n a poem where the heroes are Chriftians, Voltaire him- felf has infinitely more of the melange coupahle than Camo- :ns. The machinery of his Henriade is, as confefled by limfelf, upon the idea of the Pagan mythology. He cites 3oileau, Cejl d'lin f cm pule vahi f allarmer fottemenl.y Et voiiloir mix leEleurs plaire fans agrtment^ Bien-tot Us defetidront de pe'tndre la prudence ^ De donner a Themis ni bandeau^ ni balance Et par-tout des difcoursy commc tine idolatrie^ Dans kur faux "zale iro?it chaffer F allegoric. But * Nor are thefe the only inftances ; the death of Hercules, and feveral Jthers in Milton, fall under the cenfur€ of an injudicious mixture of facred ind profane mythology and hirtory. cccxlvi DISSERTAT ION. I5ut lie fupprefTes tlie verfes which immediately follow, where tlie introduaion of tlie true God is prohibited by the critic, Et fahulciix Chretiens i fiallons point dans fios fonges, Dti Dieu de verke faire itn Dieu de menfonges. Yet, the God of truth according to the Chriftian idea, in direft violation of this precept, is a confiderable perfonage in the Pagan allegorical machinery of the Henriade. But the couplet laft cited, though as direa againft the Henri- ade as if it had been written to condemn it, is not in the leaft degree applicable to the machinery of the Lufiad ; a machinery infinitely fuperior in every refpc^ to tltat off Voltaire, though Camoens wrote at the revival of learn- ing* f The machinery of the Henriade is briefly rims : The foul of St. Louis adts the part of Venus in the Eneid, and always pro- tects the hero. When D'Aumale is wounded, and in danger of being killed, La Difcorde fees It, and covering him with her iron immenfe impenetrable buckler, flies away with him to the gates of Paris, where flie cures his wounds. She then comforts May- enne, the chief of the league againft Henry. She then flies in a whirlwind to the Vatican, where flie meets La Politique. They then find humble religion in a defert, and cloathing themfelves in her facred veftments, return to Paris, where they ride about in a bloody chariot, along with the authors of the league. Thefe foon after are reprefented as at a magical facrifice, an obvious imitation of that of Camoens, Lufiad VIH. where they have a Jew for their prlcft ; and Henry appears to them riding in a cha- riot DISSERTATION. cccxlvii ing, ere criticifni had given her beft rules to the nioJern Mufe. The poem of Camoens, indeed, fo fully vindicates it- felf, that this defence of it perhaps may feem unnecellary. Yet riot of victory. St. Louis then takes Henry, in a dream, through heaven and hell. La Difcorde goes in fearch of love, who is her brother ; and love takes a journey to France, where, by the charms of Madamoifelle D'Etree, he entices Henry to negleft the war, St. Louis then fends the genius of France to roufc Henry. He returns to the fiege of Paris, but, on the point of carrying the city by ftorm, the angel of France prevents him. D'Aumale, on the part of the League, fights a duel ; and all the monflers of hell fly to his ailiftance. But the heavens now open, and an angel defcends on the throne of the air, with the olive of peace, and the fword of God's vengeance. D'Aumale falls, and the infernal monfters fly away. But St. Louis will not allow Henry to take the city. The Saint goes to the throne of God, and prays for Henry's converfion. The Eternal .con- fents ; Truth defcends from heaven to the Hero, who turns Ro- man Catholic St. Louis then appears, with an olive bough in his hand, and leads Henry to the gates of Paris, which now open at his call, and receive him in the name of God. And thus the machinery and the poem conclude together. Nor is the ridicule of this machinery more evident, than the want of unity of adion which charafterifes the Henriade. Hen- ry's journey to England, though it fills near three parts of the poem, has no connexion with the other parts of the aAion ; and the events do not arife from each other ; for Sr, Louis prevents the efi^eds of every vidory. And the cataftrophe is brought about by Heni-y's converfion, independent of every exertion of his ge- neralfliip or valour, which are properly the fubjed of the poem. cccxlviii DISSERTATION. Yet one confideratlon will vindicate this defence. The poem is written in a language unknown in polite litera- ture. Few are able to judge of the original, and the un- juft: clamour raifed againft it by Rapin * and Voltaire, has been » It is an unhappy thing to write in an unread tongue. Never was author fo mifreprefentcd by ignorance as the poet of Portu- gal. Rapin, that cold-blooded critic, tells us, that to write a good Epic, " Ilfaut ohferver de la proportion dans le dejfe'tn., it is neceflary to obferve proportion in the defign, juftnefs in the thought, and not to fall into rambling." — He then aflcrts, that Camoens trefpafles againft all thefe rules — that he wants difcei'n- ment and condudl — that he thought of nothing but to exprefs the pride of his nation, for his ftyle, he fays, ejl Jier iif fajlueuxy fierce and ftiltcd. In another place he fays, " poetical dicflion ought to be clear, natural, and harmonious, and obfcurity is its greateft; blemifh," — to which, having named Camoens, he adds, " fts vers font fi ohfcurs, qu'ih pourroient pajfer pour d:s myjl^res — his verfes are fo obfcure that they may pafs for myileries." — Perhaps the eld French verfion may defei-ve this character ; but certain it is from hence, that Rapin never read the original. Per- fpicuity, elegant fimplicity, and the mofl: natural unftrained har- mony, is the juft charadteriftic of the ftyle of Camoens. The appeal is to the world. And the firft Linguift of the age, has given the ftyle of Camoens a very different chara(5ier from this of Rapin : Camoenjium Lufitanum^ cujus poefis adeo venujia g/?, adeo polita^ ut nihil ejfe pojfit jucundius ; interdum vero, adeo elata, grnti- dlloqua, ac fonora., ut nlhd fing'i poJfit magnificentlus. Jones, Poe- feos Afiat. Comment. Montefquieu's high idea of the Lufiad is cited p. 138. We fliall only add the fufFrage of the great Cervantes, who, in his Don Qu^ixote, C. iv. 1. 6. moft warmly exprefles his idea of the excellence of the genius of Camoens. DISSERTATION. cccxlix been received in Europe as its true chara6Ver. Lord Kaimes |, and other authors, very cordially condemn its mixture % Lord Kaimes thus follows Voltaire : " Portugal was rifing in power and fplendor fit 'was hajlenlng to the very lafl Jlages of decknjion) " when Camoens wrote the Lufiad, and with refpeft ** to the mufic of verfe it has merit. The author however is far *' from (liining in point of tafle (moji majlerly defcription, and bound- lefs variety, hoivever, are his char act erijlics. He has given the ttvo Jinejl JiBions in poetry. And according to Voltaire the Jiory of Ine-x. is equal to the hejl ivritten parts of Virgil.) " He makes a flrange " jumble of Heathen and Chriftian Deities. " Gama," obfcrvcs " Voltaire, " in a ftorm addrefles his prayers to Chrift, but it is " Venus who comes to his relief" Voltaire's obfervation is but " too well founded (and is it indeed, in the name of truth !j. " In " the firil book, Jove fummons a council of the Gods, which is " defcribed at great length, for no earthly purpofe but to fhew " that he favoured the Portuguefe ; Bacchus, on the otlicr hand, " declares againft them on the following account, that he him- ** felf had gained immortal glory as conqueror of India, which ** would be eclipfed if the Indies Ihould be conquered a fecond " time by die Portuguefe. A Moorifli commander having re- " ceived Gama with fmilcs, but with hatred in his heart, the " poet brings down Bacchus from heaven to confirm the Moot " in his wicked purpofes, which would have been perpetrated, " had not Venus interpofed in Gama's behalf. In the fecond " canto Bacchus feigns himfelf to be a Chriftian, in order to de- ** ceive the Portuguefe, but Venus implores her father Jupiter to " proteft them." Such is the view of the Lufiad given by a profeffed Critic. It is irapoffible to make any remark on it without giving offence to falfe delicacy. But to that goddefs the Tranflator of the injured Camoens will offer no facrilice. We have fullv proved, and Ba- con has been cited to explain the philofophical reafon of it, that the cccl DISSERTATION, mixture of Pagan and Chriftian mythology; even con- demn it in terms, as if the Lufiad, the poem which of all other the fpii it of poetry demands fomcthing fupernatural. Lucan has been fcverely cenfured, by the greateft of ancient and modern cri- tics, for the want of poetical cloathing or allegory. The fpirit of poetry exifts in perfonification ; Tout prend un corps, nne awe, uii ejpr'il, un infage — and an allegorical machinery is effential to the Epopoeia. In this manner Virgil and Homer condudl their poems. (See the note, p. 187.) But our critic perceives nothing of this kind in Camoens. Though the whole condufl of the Lufiad depends upon the coun- cil held by Jove, upon the allegorical parts taken by the perfona- ges of the machinery ; Her fpreading honours thus the one infpir'd, And one the dread to lofe his worlliip fir'd — and though this allegory is finelv fuftained throughout the whole poem, where celeftial love is ever mindful (fee B. 9.) that Jove or fate had decreed that her altars fliould be reared in confequence of the fuccefs of her heroes ; though all this is truly Homeric, is what the world ever efteemed the true Epic condudt, our critics can fee no earthly purpofe in the council of Jove, but to fhew that he favoured the Lufians ; no reafon for the oppofition of Bacchus, but that he had been conqueror of India, and was averfe it fliould be conquered a fecond time. In the fame ignorance of the Epic conduft is the vacant account of Bacchus and the Moor. But let our critic be told, that through the fides of Camoens, if his blow will avail, he has murdered both Homer and Virgil. What condemns the council of Jove in the Lufiad, condemns the coun- cils DISSERTATION. cccli other modern ones is the mofl unexceptionable in .this, were in this mixture the moft egregioufly unfufferable — Befides, whatever has the iandlion of the celebrated name of Voltaire will be remembered, and unlefs circumftanti- ally clls of Jove in thefe models of the Epopoeiaf. What condemns Bacchus and the Moor, condemns the part of Juno in the Eneid, and every inteqiofition of Juro and Neptune in Homer. To make the Lufians believe that Mombaffa was inhabited by Chriftians, the Moors took the Ambaffadors of Gama to a houfe, where they ffiewed them a Chriftian altar.. This is hiftory. Camoens, in the true fpirit of the Epic poetry, afcribes this appearance to the illufion of Bacchus. Hedtor and Turnus are both thus de- ceived. And Bacchus, as already proved, was efleemcd a fallen angel when our poet wrote. Nor are the ancients alone thus re- probated in the fentence pafled upon Camoens. If his machinery muft be condemned, with what accumulated weight muft his fentence fall upon the greateft of our modern poets ! But the myftery is eafily explained: there are a race of Critics, who can- not perceive the noble profopopceia of Milton's angels, who pre- fer Voltaire's Hennade to the Paradife Lojl, who would reduce a Virgil to a Lucan, a Camoens to a mere hiftorian : who would ftrip poetry of all her ornamients, becaufe they cannot fee them, of all her paffions, becaufe they cannot feel them ; in a word, who would leave her nothing but the neatnefs, the cadence, and the tinkle of verfe. f It is truly aftonifhing, that one wlio has read the Epic poets fliould Iiave made this objection. A School-boy needs not to be told how often a coun- cil of the Gods occurs in the Iliad, Odyficy, and Eneid. A part of Air. Pope's note on the fifth Odyfiey, may with prop'icty be here cited. " Tliis " book, as well as the firft," fays he, " opens with an aiTcmi)ly of the Gods. " This is done to give an air of importance' ro his poem, and to prepare the " mind of the reader to e~xpe£l every thin<; that is great and noble, when " Heaven is engaged in the care and protedlion of his heroes," ccclll DISSERTATION. ally refuted, may one time, perhaps, * be appealed to, as decifive, in the controverfies of literary f merit. Other * Voltaire's defcrlption of the apparition near the Cape of Good Hope, isjuil as wide of the original as bombaft is from the true fublime : yet it has been cited by feveral writers. In Camoens a dark, cloud hovers over the fleet, a tremendous no'iie is heard, Gama exclaims in amazement, and the apparition ap- pears in the air, rifing thro' the darken'd air, Appali'd we faw an hideous Phantom glare. — Every part of the defcription in Camoens is fublime and nobly adapted for the pencil. In Voltaire's laft edition, the paflage is thus rendered — " C'e/l une fantims quo f^ekve — it is a phantom which rifes from the bottom of the fea, his head touches the clouds ; the tempefts, the winds, the thunders are around him, his arms are ftretched afar over the furface of the waters" — Yet not one pidturefquc idea of this is in the original. If the Phan- tom's arms are ftretched upon the furface of the waters, his Hioulders, and his head, which touches the clouds, muft only be f As we have paid attention to the ftri<5lures of Voltaire, fomc is alfo due to the praifcs which he beftows upon the Lufiad. Though he falfely afferts that it wants connexion, he immediate- ly adds, " Tout celaprouve eriptt, que V ou'vrage ejl ph'tn des grandes beautes — This only proves, in line, that the work is full of grand beauties, fince thefe two hundred years it has been the delight of an ingenious nation." — The fi(5lion of the apparition, he owns, will pleafe in every age ; and of the epifode of Inez, he fays, // y a pen d'eiidroits dans Vtrgde plus attendrijfants iff mieux ecr'tts— There are few parts of Virgil more tender or better written," DISSERTATION. cccliii Other views of the conduct of the Lufiad now offer themfelves. Befides the above remarks, many obfervati-' ons on the machinery and poetical condu<^, are in their proper- places fcattered throughout the notes. The exu- berant exclamations of Camoens are there defended. Here let it only be added, that the unity of adtion is not inter- rupted by thefe parenthefes, and that if Milton's beautiful complaint of his blindnefs be not an imitation of them, it is in the fame manner and fplrit. Nor will we fcruple to pronounce, that fuch addrefles to the Mufe would have been be above the tide. Yet, though this imagerle, with tempefls, winds, and thunders hanging around him, would be truly abfurd upon canvas, a celebrated Italian writer has not only cited Vol- taire's defcriptlon, as that of the original, but has mended that of the Frenchman by a xlroke of his own. "The feet of the Phan- tom, fays Signor Algarottl, are in the unfathomable abyfs of the fea.'* (See his treatife on Newton's Theory of Light and Colours.) And certainly, if his fhoulders and head reached from the furface of the waters to the clouds, the length which the Signor has given to his parts under the water was no bad calculation. Nor is Al- garotti the only abfurd retailer of Voltaire's mifreprefentations. An Englifti Traveller, who lately publifhed an account of Spain and Portugal, has quite completed the figure. " Ses brasf'etcn- dent au loin fur la furface des eaux.^ fays Voltaire ; and our Travel- ler thus tranflates it, " His arms extend over the nvhole furface of the waters." And thus the burlefque painter is furnlilied with the fineft defign imaginable for the mock fublime. A figure up to the arm-pits In the water, its arms extending over the tvholc furface of the fea, Its head In the clouds, and Its feet In the unfathomable abyfs of the ocean ! very fine indeed, it is impoflible to mend it fartlier. cccliv DISSERTATION, been admired in Homer, arc an intercfting improvement on the Epopoeia, and will certainly be imitated, if ever the world fhall behold another real Epic poem. The Lufiad, fays Voltaire, contains a fort of Epic poetry unheard of before. No heroes are luounJed a thoufand different nvays ; no ivoman enticed aivay and the ivorld overturned for her caufe. — But the very want of thefe, in place of fupport- ing the objeclion intended by Voltaire, points out the hap- py judgment and peculiar excellence of Camoens. If Homer has given us all the iire and hurry of battles, he has alfo given us all the uninterefting tirefome detail. What reader but muft be tired with the deaths of a thoufand he- roes, who are never mentioned before nor afterward in the poem. Yet in every battle we are wearied out with fuch Gazette returns of the flain and wounded EvStt Ti'va "ar^iTov, Ti'va S'-Jc-laTov e^iva^t^tv ' ExJojf njia/xi'Sijf, oTE SI Zfiif JcCSof litiiKfv ; Ag-craTov f/.iv TT^Sira, xal Ai/tovoov, y.a.1 'Ottitw, Kal AoXcTTi. KXvliir.v, xal '0>})EA](oy, hi 'AyiXaov, AltrVfA-iOV T il^OY T£, Hal 'iTrmiliOV (t*£V&p^aj|U,»;V Tu; aj/ cy rr/ifx,iya; Actyaoiv ihiV atTcts i'S/cCiX nXnBi;' if oWiTE, &C. II. lib. XI. lin. 299. Thus imitated by Virgil, • Cx-dicus Alcathoum obftruncat, Sacrator Hydafpem : Partheniumque Rapo, & prredurum virlbus Orfen : MefTapus Cloniumque, Lycaoniumque Ericetem : Ilium, DISSERTATION. ccclv Ilium, infraenis equi lapfu tellure jacentem ; Hunc, peditem pedes. Et Lycius proceflferat Agis, Quem tamen hand expers Valerus virtutis avita Dejecit : Atroniun^ Salius ; Saliumque Nealces -^n. 1. X. 747. With fuch catalogues is every battle extended ; and what can be more tirefome than fuch uninterefting defcriptions and their imitations ! If the idea of the battle be raifed by fuch enumeration, ftill the copy and original are fo near each other, that they can never pleafe in two feparate poems. Nor are the greater parts of the battles of the Eneid much more diftant from thofe of the Iliad. Though Virgil with great art has introduced a Camilla, a Pallas, and a Laufus, ftill in many particulars, and in the fights there is, upon the whole, fuch a famenefs with the Iliad, that the learned reader of the Eneid is deprived of the plea- fure infpired by originality. If the man of taftc, how- ever, will be pleafed to mark how the genius of a Virgil has managed a war after a Homer, he will certainly be tir- ed with a dozen of Epic poems in the fame ftyle. ' Where the fiege of a town and battles are the fubje(Sl of an Epic, there will of neceffity, in the characters and circumftances, be a refemblance to Homer •, and fuch poem muft therefore want originality. Happy for Taflb, the variation of man- ners, and his mafterly fuperiority over Homer in defcrib- ing his duels, have given his Jerufalem an air of novelty. Yet with all the difference between Chriftian and Pagan heroes. ccclvi DISSERTATION, heroes, we have a Priam, an Agamemnon, an Achilles, &c. armies flaughtered, and a city befieged. In a word, we have a handfome copy of the Iliad in the Jerufalem de- livered. If fome imitations, however, have been fuccefs- ful, how many other Epics of ancient and modern times have hurried down the ftream of obhvion ! Some of their authors had poetical merit, but the fault was in the choice of their fubje£ts. So fully is the ftrife of war exhaufted by Homer, that Virgil and Taflb could add to it but httle novelty ; no wonder, therefore, that fo many Epics on battles and lieges have been fufiered to fink into utter ne- gleft. Camoens, perhaps, did not weigh thefe circum- ftances ; but the ftrength of his poetical genius directed him. He could not but feel what it was to read Virgil after Homer ; and the original turn and force of his mind led him from the beaten track of Helens and Lavinias, Achillefes and Hedlors, fieges and (laughters, where the hero hews down and drives to flight whole armies with his own fword. To conftitute a poem worthy of the name of Epic in the higheft and ftriiStefl: fenfe, fome grand charac- teriftics of fubjedl and conduct, peculiarly its own, are ab- folutely neceflary. Of all the moderns, Camoens and Milton have alone attained this grand peculiarity in an eminent degree. Camoens was the firft genuine and fuc- cefsful poet who wooed the modern Epic Mufe, and flie gave him the wreath of a firft liOver : A fort of Epic Poe- try unheard of before ; or, as Voltaire calls it (in his laft edition,) tir.e notwelle cfpece d'Epopec. And the grandeft fubje(n: DISSERTATION. ccclvii fubje£l it is (of profane hiftory) which the world has ever beheld f , A voyage efteemed too great for man to dare ; the adventures of this voyage, through unknown oceans, deemed unnavigable ; the Eaftern World happily difcover- ed, and for ever indiflblubly joined and given to the Wef- tern ; the grand Portuguefe empire in the Eaft founded ; the humanization of mankind, and univerfal commerce the confequence ! What are the adventures of an old fa- bulous hero's arrival in Britain, what are Greece and La- tium in arms for a woman, compared to this ! Troy is in afhes, and even the Roman empire is no more. But the efiedls of the voyage, adventures, and bravery of the Hero of the Lullad, will be felt and beheld, and perhaps in- creafe in importance, while the world fliall remain. Happy in his choice, happy alfo was the genius of Ca- VOL. I. X moens -|- The Drama and the Epopoeia are in nothing fo different as in [this : The fubjeds of the Drama are inexhauftible, thofe of the Epopceia are perhaps exhaufted. He who chafes war and the war- like characters, cannot appear as an original. It was well forthe memory of Pope, that he did not write the Epic poem he intend- ed. It would have been only a copy of Virgil. Camoens and Milton have been happy in the novelty of their fubje<5ts ; and thefc Ithey have exhaufted. There cannot poffibly be fo important a Ivoyage as that which gave the Eaftern World to the Weftern. koddid even the ftory of Columbus afford materials equal to that )f Gama, the adventures of the hero, and the view of the extent li his difcoveries, muft now appear as fervile copies of the Lufiad. riic view of Spanifh America, given in the Auracana, is not only mere copy, but is introduced even by the very machinery of inoens. ccclvln DISSERTATION, moens in die method of purfuing his fubjedl:. He has not, like Tafib, given it a total appearance of li(Slion ; nor ha3 he, like Lucan, excluded allegory and poetical machinery. Whether he intended it or not, for his genius was fufEci- ent to fuggeft its propriety, the judicious precept of Petro- nius is the model of the Lufiad. That elegant writer pro- poies a poem on the civil war ; Ecce Belli Civi/isy fays he, ingens opus Non enim res gejl! forme fe achao no Concelho Ultramar'ino em Ltjhoa^ ,t ;-^ .-:y' ,'7 " T^ N.... por gra9a de Deos Rey de Portugal e dos Algar-- -'^'^ 1 9 ves, d'aquem e d'alem-mar em Africa, Senhor de Guine, e da Conquifta, Navegagao e Comercio da Ethiopia, Arabia, Perfia, e da India, l^c. " Fago faber aos que efta minha Carta-Patente virem, que aten- dendo a qualidade, merecimento, e mais partes que concorrem na peflba de N.... Hei por bem de o nomear (como por efta no- meio) no emprego de Vice- Rey, e Capitao-general de mar e ter- ra, dos Eftados da India, e fuas dependencias, por tempo de trez annos, e o mais que Eu for fervido, em quanto Ihe nao no- mear fucceflbr ; e com o dito governo avera o foldo de 24,000 cruzados pagos em cada hum anno na forma das minhas ordens : c gozara de todas as honras, poderes, mando, jurifdigao, e alga- da, que tern, e deque gozarao os providos no dito Governo ; c do mais que por minhas ordens Ihe for concedido, como Vice- Rey e Capitao-general, meu Lugartenente, e imediato a minha Real Peflba. Peioque mando ao Vice-Rey feu anteceflbr, ou a peflba. ecclxxviit APPENDIX. peflba que eftiver governando, de pofTe do mefmo Governo geral do Eftado da India ao dito N.... E outrofim ordeno a todos os Officials de Gucrra, Jufti^a, e Fazenda, que em tudo Ihe obede- ^ao, e cumprao fuas ordens, e mandados, como a feu Vice-Rey e Capitao-general : e o Tizoureiro, ou Recebedor da minha Fa- tendu, a quem o recebimento das rendas da India tocar, Ihe fara pagamento do referido foldo aos quarteis, por efta Carta- Patente fomentc, fern para ifto fer neceflaria outra Provizao minha, a qual fc rcgiftara para o dito efFeito nos livros da fua defpeza, para fe Ihe levar em conta. E o dito F... jurara emminha Chancella- ria, na forma coftun>ada, deque fe fara affentonas coftas dcfta minha Carta-Patente ; e antes de partir defta Corte, fara em minhas Reacs maos preito e omenagem pelo dito Governo do Eftado da India, e fuas Conquiftas dependentes. Epor firmeza de tudo Ihc mandei pofTar efta Carta-Patente por mim aflignada^ e fellada com o Sello Grande de minhas Armas, &c. Dada na cidade de Lifboa, ^c. El Rey." N O T I C I A S. T. Os Vice-Rcys da India tinhao huma jurifdi^ao fuprema, co- mo fe vc das fuas Patentes : e erao unicamente fujeitos, no fim do feu governo, a huma deva^a de rezidcncia, que El Rey mandava tlrar do feu procedimento, por hum Miniftro civil. Nefta deva9a dcviao jurar todas as Ordens do Eftado ; principiando-fe pela Camera ^ou feja Concelho Municipal) ; e continuando-fe pelos Of- iiciaes das mais repartigoens civis, como a Rclagao de Goa, os Miniftros e Officiais de Fazenda, os Generais e Officials Militares, fcm excep9ao dc pcffba alguma. Efta devac;a era remetida em direitura a Liftioa. Porem, fe o novo Vice-rey [tendo precedido qucixas Corte do feo antecef- for] trazia ordens particulates ; podia mandalo logo prezo a Lif- boa, achando o culpado. 2. Na India avia alcm do Vicc-Rey e dc dous Secretarios de Eftado, OS Tribunaes feg'iintes em Goa : a Inquizigao para as couzas APPENDIX. ccclxxix covizas da Religiao : o Tribunal do Ordinario para os mais Nego- cios Eccleziafticos : uma Junta das Mifibens, independente do Bifpo, mas fujeita a infpecao dos Vice-Reys, na qual Junta pre- zidia o Superior dos Jezuitas : huma Rcla9ao (tribunal fuperior de Judicatura) Com hum Chanceller-mor para os negocios civis, com appelagao para o Tribunal fupremo do Reino (em Portugal): hum Concelho da Fazenda, e o Senado da Camera. 3. O Vice-Rey era Regcdor das Jufti9as, & como tal era Pre- zidente da fobredita Relagao, & do referido Concelho da Fazen- da : nao fe podendo difpender couza alguma fern hum defpacho, ou portana do mefmo Vice-Rey» Efte, como Lugar-tenente d'EI Rey, governava fem limitagao fobre os Militares ; conferia Patentes ate o pofto de Capitaens inclufive : nomeava interina- mente todos os mais Poftos fuperiores ; e conferia todos os Gover- n03 da fua depcndencia, que nao vinhao providos pela Corte. Nos cazos criminaes, aflim civis, como militares, a Rela^a o e o Con- celho de Guerra da India tinhao o direito fupremo de vida e mor- te : e o Vice-Rey, como Prezidente, tinha o direito de dezem- pate nos cazos de igoaldade de votos. 4. Alem dos referidos eftablecimentos, Senado da Camera tinha os mefmos direitos de policia, que tem todos os do Reino : e alem dilfo o direito dc reprezentagao a o mefmo Vice-Rey ; e de fe queixar, em Corpo de Tribunal, em direitura a fua Mageftade a Lifboa. '?'■' 5. Quando avia vacancia de Vice-Rcys, por cauza de morte, o Arcebifpo, o Chanceler da Re]a9ao, e o Official Militar de maior Patente, tomavao o governo de Ellado ; e exercitavao pro- mifcuamente todas as f ungoens, affignando todos juntos as ordens que davao. 6. O Commercio da Afia pertencia inteiramente a El Rey, e tudo fe fazia por conta da Coroa, em navios proprios : para o que tinhao eftabelecido, por parte de mefma Coroa, e a fua cufta, dif- ferentis ccclxxx A P f^ E N D I X. ferentcs Fcitorias em todos os Eftabelecimentos da Afia, admin:-' ftrados por Feitores e Officials da Fazenda Real, debaixoda ju- rifdicao dos Vice-Reys ; os quais-davao contas no fim de 3 annos fua adiTiiniflra9ao, ao Concelho da Fazenda da India: e efte as dava ao Concelho-Ultramarino de Lifboa, na fequinta mongao. Efte comercio fe fazia em frotas, que partiao da India, e depo- zitavao tudo nos Armazaens Reaes da Caza aflim chamada (da India) em Liftoa : donde fe vendia por conta da Fazenda ReaF, aos nacionaes, e aos eftranjeiros. 7. Os Vice-Reys obtiverao a liberdade de fazerem comefcio para o Reino ; porem nao podiao exceder dc huma porgao limitada, que fe Ihes arbitrou, A mefma faculdade fe eftendeo aodepois difTo a muitas outras peflbas, tanto civis, como militares ; porem com grandes limitagoens e rezervas ; exceptuando fempre as pe- dras preciozas, perolas e aljofar, cujo comercio fe deu excluziva- mente as Rainhas de Portugal, para feo patrimonio : affim como taobem o da pimenta. O comercio dos outras efpeciarias, dofali- tre, fandalo, e porcelana, fempre foi rezervado a Coroa. 8. Prohibio-fe em fim aos Vice-Reys e a todos os Officiaes Ci- Tis e Militares de fazerem comercio algum por huma Lei que foi promulgada no anno de 1687, 9. Ogoverno da India foi alterado no anno de 177.^. Abolio- fe o Vice-Reynado, ficando em Capitaens Generaes. Deu-fe uma nova forma a arrccadagao da Fazenda, eftabelecendo-fe hum Erario Regie, no forma do Erario de Lifboa. Abolio-fe a In- quizi9ao, e o Tribunal de Relacao : ficando a adminiflragao da jufli^a, nas maos dos Ouvidores Geraes, com appellagao para Lifboa. Mandou-fe eflabelcer no mefmo Eflado o mefmo regu- lamento milltar, que fe praftica em Portugal : e pagar as tropas por conta da Coroa cm dinh.eiro ; por quanto efla defpeza era feita d'antcs pelos Capitaens que exerciao monopolios onerozos, pagan- .Jo Tins ri.UlaJos fuftcnto e fardaraento por fua conta. Copy APPENDIX. ccclxxxi Copy of the King's Letters Patent, given to the Vice-Roys, fnpreme Comiiianders of Portuguefe Enjl India, according to the original kept in the King's Office, called Concelho Ultramarino in Lifbon. " Don N. by the grace of God King of Portugal and AI- garves, on the fide of the fea, and on that of Africa ; Lord of Guinea, and of the Conquefl, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Perfia and India, &c. ** Be it known to all to whom this my Letter Patent may come that, attentive to the qualities, merits, and talents of N. I am pleafed to name him (as I do hereby) to the office of Vice- Roy and Generaliflimo of the fea and land, in the States of India, and dependencies thereon, for the (pace of three years, and till fuch time after as I fhall appoint another to fucceed him ; and on account of this government, I appoint him a falary of 24,000^1 cru- zados, to be paid to him every year according to this my commifli- on : and he fhall enjoy all the honours, powers, command, jurifdic- ^ion, and authority, which now holds the prefent Vice-Roy, and formerly did his predeceffors in the fame government, and befides whatever further grants 1 may allow to him as Vice-Roy, Generalif- fimo, and my Locum-tenens immediate to my Royal Perfon. On account of which I order the till now Vice-Roy of India, or who- foever holds in his ftead the government of that State, to deliver up to the fald N. the fame government at his arrival. And more- over I order all the officers of War, of the King's-bench, and of the Exchequer, to obey him in every refpedl, and execute his orders or commands, as their Vice-Roy and Generalifiimo : and the Lord Treafurer or high Receiver of the Revenue in that State, Ihall make him payment of the aforefaid Salary quarterly, accord- ing to this prefent Letter Patent, without waiting for any further orders of mine ; which payment beiijg regiftered in the book of tRe ^ Two thoiifand fix hundted and fixty-fix pounds fterling. ccclxxxii A P P E N D 1 X. the expences of State, fliall be reckoned as one of them. And the faid N. fhall fwcar in the High Court of my Chancery in the ac- cuftomed form : an atteftation of which fliall be taken on the back of this Letter Patent : And before his departure froni fliore, he fhall fwear obedience, and do homage on my Royal hands, for the faid government of India and its dependencies : and as a ted and confirmation of the v/hole, I have ordered this my Letter Patent to be pafl^ed, which fliall be figned by me, and fealed with the Great Seal of my Arms, &c. Given at Lifoon, Sec. " OBSERVATIONS. T. The Vice-Roys of India held a fupreme jurifdi(5lion, as ap- pears by their Letters Patent, and were only fubjed at the end of their government to an Inquefl: on the difcharge of their official du- ty and perfonal behaviour, which the King always ordered to be made by a Civil Magiftrate. Into this Inquefl were to be fworn all ranks of the State, the Members of the Supreme Council of the India adminiftration, and thofe of all the other Councils and Courts, the King's Bench of Judges at Goa, the Minifters and Officers of the India Exchequer and King's Revenue, as well as all the Generals and Military Officers of the State, without ex- ception of any pcrfon foever. The refult of this general Inqueft was to be fentdireiflly to the King's Council at Lifton : and there to be judged accordingly. But if the new Vice-Roy, in confequence of any complaints having been made to the King's Privy Council againft his prede- ceflTor, had got particular orders from the king, he then could, on finding him guilty by the aforefaid Inquefl, commit him to prifon, and fend him under confinement to Lifljon, to be judged by the King's Privy Council, or by the King himfelf. 2. There were in India, befides the Vice-Roy an J two Secre- taries of State, who a(5ted with him as a kind of Privy Council, the APPENDIX. cdclxxxlf^ the following Tribunals in Goa, viz. The Inquifition of the af- fairs of Religion : An Ecclefiaftical or Spiritual Court, with the Bifiiop at their head, for the affairs which fall under the cogni- zance of the Church : A Board or Council for the Propagation of the Gofpel, without any dependence upon the BiHiop, but only fubjeded to the infpedtion of the Vice-Roys, of which Council the Superior of the Jefuits was Prefident : The King's Bench, confifling of a Chancellor and a certain number of high Judges, named by the King, for tjie Civil affairs, from whom there could be no appeal but to the fupreme King's Bench of the high Judges at Liibon : A Councilor Court of the Exchequer, for^he King's Revenue : And a kind of a Court, \Jikethe Common Council of Lo?i- don'\ but very few in number, for the police of Goa. 3. The Vice-Roy being, on account of his office, a kind of High Chancellor of the State, was in confequence thereof Prefident of the fupreme King's Bench of high or great Judges; and of the Court of the Exchequer already mentioned : nor could any ex- pence or difburfement be made by this laft, without confent and permiiTion figned by himfelf. He, as a Locum-tenens of the King, had an unlimitted authority and command over the whole military departments : he conferred all the military Commiflions in the army, not above thofe of Captains ; and even appointed any fuperior OfKcers, till thefe offices were filled up by the King's nomination ; and, finally, he nominated and gave all other com- miflions and charges under him, v/hich were not provided by the King. In all criminal cafes, both civil and military, the above King's Bench of high Judges, and the Council of War, or Court Martial, held the decifive authority of Life and Death : But tiie Vice-Roys had the cafting-vote, as Prefidcnts of both, in cafe of an equality of votes. 4. Befides the aforefaid civil cllablifliments, the Municipal Court, under the name of Senate of the Camera, \jwhich ivas like the Common Council of London, though compofed of much fewer mem- bers'] was veiled with the fame authority and exclufive power, in regard ccclxxxiv APPENDIX. regard to matters of police, as that of Portugal ; it had alfo the right of addrefling and petitioning tlie Vice-Roy, and even of ap- plying by common confent, as a civil body, for redrefs, to the King himfelf, at Lifbon. 5. On the death of the Vice-Roy, during his government, the Archbifhop of Goa, the Chancellor of the King's Bench or Coun- cil of Juftice, and the Military Officer of higheil rank and of oldeft commiffion, were to take the government of the State, and to ex- ercife conjointly all its functions j all three figning together what- ever orders they gave- 6. The whole Commerce of Afia belonged folely to the King ; and was carried on, on account of the Crown, in the King's fhips. To this end there were eftablifhed different faftories, by the au- thority and at the expence of the Crown, in all the fettlements of Afia, with proper Officers and Clerks, under the jurifdidlion of the Vice- Roys ; who at the end of every three years were to ren- der an account of their management to the India Exchequer, by which it was fent to the high Council Ultramarine at Lifbon in the next * mongoon. This Commerce was carried on by fleets, which failed from India, and depofited their cargoes in the Royal ware- lioufes of the Eaft India Houfe at Lilbon ; from whence they were fold on behalf of the Royal Revenue, both to the Portuguefe and to foreignersf . 7. In courfe of time the Vice-Roys obtained leave to trade, on their own account, from India to Portugal ; but they were not allowed to exceed a limited and determined portion. Afterwards the fame power was extended to many other perfons, both of the civil * MoiK^'.on means here the dated times in which the Portuguefe India fliips ufeJ to fail to Lifbon. f B'jf'dts the Ead-India vvarc-hcufes at Liftion, there were other warc- houfcs at Antwerp, with a conful, anriat Rotteidam and Amlterdam, with two refpcdtivc factois, for the difpofal ot the India goods fent to them from l.ifbon. APPENDIX. ccclxxxT civil and of the military profeiTion : but this was to be done within great limitations and reftriftions. The commerce of precious ftones, and pearls of every fize, was always excepted. The trade of thefe, and of pepper, was the exclufive right of the Queens of Portugal, as a part of their patrimony || , The trade of the other Ipices, of nitre, fandaloj, and that of porcelain, always was re- ferved to the Crown. 8. In fine, the Vice-Roys of India, and all Officers, both civil and military, were prohibited carrying on any kind of commerce between India and Portugal, by a law which was publifhed in the year 1687. 9. The government of the Portuguefe Eaft India was lately al- tered, in the year 1773. The title of Vice-Roy was abolifhed, and changed into that of Captain General. A new form of levying the duties, and managing the King's Revenue was eftablifhed. A new Royal Treafury or Exchequer was ereded, like that of Lif- bon, known by the name of Royal Erariunu The court of Inqui- fition was abolifhed, as well as the fupreme Tribunal of the King's Bench, the adminiftration of Juflice being put into the hands of Auditors-General, from whom there may be an appeal to the High Tribunal at Lifbon. The fame military regulations, as now prac- tifed in Portugal, were extended to India : and the troops were ordered to be paid in ready money, on account of the Crown ; the pay of the foldiers having formerly pafTed throtigh the hands of the Captains, who exercifed confiderable monopolies in the ma- nagement of it, by paying them in provifions and cloaths, &c. from their own warehoufes. Ambitious II The Queens of Portugal have a kind of patrimony afligned to them by the State : it confifts of diiFerent cities, towns and villages, whofe duties and cuftoms belong to the Queen's houfehold or revenue. They have a Se- cretary of State, with a council of their own, an exchequer for their own revenue : and all the juflices of peace, judges, and officers of the Queen's State, are of her majefty's nomination. § A kind of red woodj for dying with, like the Brazil wood. ccclxxxvi APPENDIX. Ambitious of giving his hiftorical narrative the lall confirmation tlie tranflator applied for afliftance to fome gentlemen, who, on the appearance of the EngliHi Lufiad, honoured him with their corref- pondence. He entreated that, if pofl'iblc, a copy of the commif- fion of the Viceroys, might be procured, together with an abftradl of the laws and conftitution of Portuguefe Afia. And the fore- going papers, of which he has given a tranflation, were remitted to him from the Continent. During the Spanifh ufurpatlon, the affairs of India fell into the deepeft anarchy. When John IV. af- cended the throne of Portugal, he endeavoured to reflore regu- larity to the government of his eaftern empire ; and from the re- gulations of tliat monarch and his fucceflbrs the above Notidas were carefully extracted. There is no copy of the Viceroy's com- niliTion of older date than the beginning of the reign of John IV. the former papers relative to the government of India having pro- bably been removed to Madrid. But the commlflion itfelf bears a proof that it was in the iifual form ; and the regulations of John, which remain upon record, appear, by the teftimony of hiflory, to be only a confirmation of the former government of India, with a great diminution of the Viceroy's falary, and perhaps fome few novel eftablidiments which did not affedt the fpirit of the confti- tution. By the lateft alterations, it appears, that the conftitution of Lift)on, ever was, and is, the grand model of the government of Portuguefe Afia. *** Whatever clrcumftances have a tendency to elucidate the manners and policy of former times, or to give us an accurate idea of the energy and ftrength of her various governments, when Europe began to emerge from the inaflivity of the Gothic ages, .ire highly worthy of the careful inveftigation of the philofopher and politician. Roufed into aftion by Prince Henry of Portugal, the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the fixteenth century be- came the great aera of maritime difcovery. The three grand ex- peditions were thofe of Gama, Columbus, and Magalhaens. And the object of all was the fame, the Difcovery of India. The force A P P, E N D I X. ccclxxxvii force of the various fleets which attempted this arduous undertak- ing will give us an idea of the ftate of maritime affairs in the reigns when they were fitted out. In i486, Bartholomew Diaz, a Portugucfe captain, with three fliips, attempted the Difcovery of India by the coaft of Africa ; but, harafled by tempefts, his crew mutinied, and having difcovered the river del Infante, on the eaftern fide of Africa, he returned to Europe. About 14 years after, this expedition was happily completed by Gama ; and the force with which he went out is thus circumftantially dcfcribed by Hernan Lopez de Caftaneda, a cotemporary writer, and careful journalift of facfls. *' Emmanuel, earneft to profecute what his predeceflx)r Don ** John had begun for the difcovery of India, ordered Fernan *' Lorenzo, Trcafurer of the houfe of the Myna (on the gohltn *' coajl) to build with the timber that was bought in king John's *' time, two fhips, which, after they were finifhed, he named, *' the Angel Gabriel, being of one hundred and twenty tons bur- " then, and the Saint Raphael, of one hundred tons. And to ** accompany thefe fliips, the king bought of a pilot who was born ** in Lagos, named Berrio, a caravel of fifty tons, which bore *' the name of the pilot. Befidc thefe, he bought a fliip of two " hundred tons of one Ayres Correa The king alfo appointed ** Bartholomew Diaz to go along with them in a caravel to the *' Myna. And becaufe the fhips of war could not carry provifions *' fufficient for the voyage, the king gave orders that the fhip of " Correa fliould be laden with provifions, and accompany the fleet *' to the bay of St. Blafs, where it would be neceffary to take in " frefh water ; and the flore fliip was to be there unloaded and " burnt. The Captain General went in the fhip called St. Gabrielj *' having for pilot one Pedro de Alanquer, who had been pilot to " Bartholomew Diaz, when he difcovered the river called El rye " del Tnfante. Paulus de Gama, brother of the Captain General, *' went in the fhip called St. Raphael ; Nicolas Coello went in ^* the caravel nanied Berrio j and Gonfalo Gomez commanded « tlie ccclxxxvlii APPENDIX. " the {lore (hip." The number of the crews of this fquadron, according to Caftaneda, was 148 men; according to others, 160- Gama and his brother, and the ten malefadors who were on board were perhaps not included in Caftaneda's account. The voyage of Cohimbus has been called the moft daring and grand ever attempted by man. Columbus himfelf, however, feems to have had a very different idea of it ; for certain it is, he ex- pedled to reach India by the weftward paffage in the fpace of not many weeks. The fquadron with which he attempted this dif- covery, confifted of only three vefl'cls Dr. Robertfon calls the largeft which Columbus commanded, " of no confiderable bur- *' den ;" and the two others, " hardly fuperior in burden or force *' to large boats." The crew confifted of ninety men, and a few adventurers. And the expence of fitting out this equipment did not exceed 4000I. fterling, for which queen Ifabella pawned her jew^els. The enterprize of Magalhaens was infinitely more daring than that of Columbus. India and the continent of America were now both difcovered, and now kno\yn to be at vaft diftance from each other. To find a route to India beyond the great American con- tinent was the bold defign of Magalhaens ; which he attempted, according to Faria, with 250 men and five fliips ; which with refped to its purpofe, Dr. Robertfon calls, <' a proper fquadron." When Gama failed from LilLon, it was unknown that a great and potent Commonwealth of Mohammedan merchants, deeply (killed in all the arts and views of Commerce, were fcattered over the eaftern world. Gama, therefore, did not fail to India with a warlike fleet, like that which firft followed him, under Cabral, but with a fquadron every way proper for difcovery. The Por- tuguefe hiftorians afcribe the fhipwreck of many Portuguefe veffels on the voyage between Europe and India to the avarice of their owners, in building them of an enormous bulk, of 4, 5, and 600 tons. The fleet of Gama was therefore not only of the raofl per- fea APPENDIX. ccclxvii feft fize which the art of fhip-building could then produce, but was alfo fuperior in number, and nearly of the draught f of water with the veflels which at this day are fent out on voyages of dif- covery. The difpofition of GamaV.voyage is alfo worthy of notice: the captain who had already pafTed the great fouthern promon- tory of Africa, to accompany him to a certain latitude ; the pilot who had failed with that captain, to go the whole voyage ; the Cze of Coello's caravel, proper to enter creeks and rivers ; and the ap- pointment of the ftore-lhip ; are circumftances which difplav a knowledge of and attention to maritime affairs, greatly fuperior to any thing difcovered by the court of Spain in the equipments of Columbus and Magalhaens. The warlike ftrength of Gama's fleet was greatly fuperior to that of tlie firft voyage of Columbus, and little inferior to that of Magalhaens ; though Magalhaens, who had been in India, well knew the hoftile di{]5ofition of the natives. In the art of war the Indians were greatly inferior to the Moors, ^nd the Moors were as inferior to the Portuguefe. And the fquadron of Gama not only defeated the whole naval force of the firft maritime ftate of India, but in every attack was vidorious over the fuperior numbers of the Moors. Thefe circumftances are clearly evinced in our hiftory of the Difcovery of India ; and this comparative difcufTion will not only give an accurate idea of the progrefs which the Portuguefe had made in navigation, but is alfo, perhaps, necefTary in fupport of the rej)utation of this work. Had an author of ordinary rank reprefented the fquadron of Gama as extremely feeble, conjijling only of three ;j: veffels, of neither burthen nor force adequate to the-fer-vice — fuch condemnation of our narrative had been here unnoticed. But when a celebrated and juftly ad- mired hiftorian, in a work publiflied about one year and an half after the firft appearance of the Lufiad, has given fuch reprefenta- VOL. I. Z tion + Capt. Cook's ttvo -veffl'ls have, by the iatcft experience, been found the fittefl; for difcovery. The one was of 462 tons burthen, tlie other of -?36 ; and built to draw little water. And certain it is that veilels of fach burthen are now built, which draw as little water as thole of 120 ton.<. in the iufan!;y of modern navigation. \ See Hill. Ameiic. vol. i. p. 145. ccclxvii APPENDIX. tion of the equipment of Gama, diredly contrary to the light in which it is there placed, tlie foregoing detail will not appear, it is hoped, an unnecefTary or rude vindication. We have followed the ample and circumflantial accounts of the Portuguefe writers, and not the imperfed and curfory abftradls of the Spanifh hiftorians when they allude to the affairs of their filler kingdom. * ^* To our former accounts of Portuguefe Literature let the following be added : In 1741, an Heroic poem was publilhed in Portuguefe by the Coun t de Ericeyra. It is named Henriqueidof and celebrates the eftablilhment of the kingdom of Portugal. Though it has fome extravagancies, it contains an ardent Ipirit of true poetry. And in the preface and notes the author has given many judicious criticifms, and by his opinion of Milton difcovers a flrength of mind greatly fuperior to that frivoloufnefs, that poverty of tafte, which the French generally betray, when they criticife the works of tliat great Poet. The tranflator has been favoured with the following account of this noble author by a learned and ingenious gentleman of Portugal ; for whofe favours he here re- turns his acknowledgments. " Don Francifco Xavier de Menezes, fourth Count of Erlcejn-a, " was one of the moft learned men of this age, and a great orna- " ment to Portugal ; he was born at Lifbon the 29th of January, " 1673, and died in the fame city the 31ft of December, 1743. *' To the qualities of a foldier, a politician, a philofopher, a ma- *' thematician, an hiftorian, and a poet, he joined that of a man " of honour and probity. He was diredor and cenfor of the royal ** academy of Portuguefe Hiftory ; he fpoke the Latin, French, *' Italian and Spanifh languages with as much eafe and elegance " as his own, and wrote in them all with accuracy. Although " he never went out of Portugal, he was known and admired in " all Europe, and obtained tlie efteem and the praifes of Pope " Innocent Xlll. and Lewis XIV. of France, as well as fome " of the moft eminent men of that age, fuch as Muratori, Bian- *' chioi, APPENDIX. cccvlxii " chinJ, Crefcimbeni, Dumont, Garelli, Le Clerc, Bayle, Def- ** preaux, Renaudot, Bignon, Salazar, Feijoo, Mayans, &c. ** With all thefe he appears to have kept a literary correfpondence; ** was member of the Arcadian academy of Italy, and of the Royal ** Society of London, and much refpeded by the Ruffian academy. " He compofed a great number of excellent pieces in profe and " verfe, many of which have been publifhed." THE THE L U S I A D. BOOK I. XjlRMS and the heroes, who from Lifbon's fliore, Thro' feas ^ where fail was never fpread before, Beyond where Ceylon lifts her fpicy breaft. And waves her woods above the watery wafte, VOL. I. B With » T/je Liifiad; in the original, Os Luftadas, The Lufiads, from the Latin name of Portugal, dei ived from Lufus or Lyfas, the companion of Bacchus in his travels, and who fettled a colony in Lufitania. See Plin. 1. iii. c. i. '' Thro' feas •where fail -was never fpread before.-— M.. Dupei ron de Caflera, the French tranflator of the Lufiad, has given a long note on this pafTage, which he tells us, mud not be underflood literally. His arguments are thefe ; Our author, fays he, could not be ignorant that tlie African and In-iian Oceans had been navigated before the times of the Portug^iefe. The Phoenicians, whofe fleets pafied the (Iraits of Gibraltar, made frequent voyages in thefe feas, though they carefully concealed the courfe of their navigation that other z THE LUSIAD. book i. With prowefs more than human forc'd their way To the fair kingdoms of the rifing day : What wars they wag'd, what fcas, what dangers pafl, What glorious empire crown'd their toils at laft, Vent'rous other nations might not become partakers of their lucrative traffic. It is certain that Solomon, and Hiram king of Tyre, fent fliips to the Eaft by the Red Sea. It is alfb certain that Hanno, a Carthaginian captain, made a voyage round the whole coafl of Africa, as is evident from the hiftory of the expedition, written by himfelf in the Punic language ; a Greek tranfla- tion of which is now extant. Befidcs, Pliny, Pomponius Mela, Ptolomy and Strabo, afliire us, that Mozambic and the adjacent iflands, and fome parts of India, were known to the Romans : and thefe words of Macrobius, Sed ne: monjlruofis cariiibus abjl'meth, infcrentes poculis tejliculos Cajiorum et venenata corpora Viperarum; quibiis admifcdh qu'idquid India nutrit, fufficiently prove that they carried on a confiderable traffic with the Eaft. From all which, fays M. Caftera, we may conclude that the Portuguefc were rather the reftorers than the difcovcrers of the navigation to the Indies. In this firft book, and throughout the whole poem, Camoens frequently defcribes his heroes as parting through feas which had never before been na- vigated ; and ^iiefo dos fcyos focas fe navega. Where but fea-monjlers cut the iva-ves Before, That this luppofition afforded our author a number of poetical images, and adds a folemn grandeur to his fubjcft, might perhaps with M. Caftcra be efteemed a fufficient apology for the poetical licence in fuch a violation of hiftorical truth. Yet whatever liberties an epic or a tragic poet may com- mendably take in embcllifliing the actions of his heroes, an aflertion i da- tive to the fcene where his poem opens, if falfe, muft be equally ridiculous as to call Vcfpafian the firft who had ever afTumed the title of Cacfar. But it will be found that Camoens has not fallen into fuch abfurdity. The poem opens with a defcription of the Lufitanian fleet, after having doubled the Cape of Hope, driving about in the great Ethiopian Ocean, fo far from land that it required the care of the Gods to conduct it to fome hofpitable Ihore. Therefore, though it is certain that the Phoenicians palled the Ne plus ultra of the anticnts ; though it is probable they traded on the coaft of Cornwall, and the ides of Scilly ; though there is fome reafon to believe that the Madeiras and Carribecs were known to them; and though it has been «oox I, THELUSIAD. ^ Vent'rous I fing, on foaring pinions borne, And all my country's wars the fong <= adorn ; What kings, what heroes of my native land Thunder'd on Alia's and on Afric's ftrand : Illuftrious lliades, who levell'd in the dufl: The idol-temples and the flirines of luft ; And where, erewhile, foul demons were rever'd, To holy faith unnumber'd altars d rear'd : B 2 Illuftrious httn fuppopd tV.iX. fome of their fliips might have been driven by ftorm to the Brazils or Noith-Amenca; yet there is not the lead foundation in hiftory to fuppofe that they traded to the Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. There is rather a demonilration of tlie contrary ; for it is certain they car- > ied on their traffic with the Eafl:, by a much nearer and fafer way, by the two ports of Elath and fiziongeber on the Red Sea. Neither is it certainly- known in what particular part, whether in the Perfian gulph, or in the Indian ocean, the Tarfliilh and Ophir of the ancients are fituated. Though it is certain that Hanno doubled the Cape of Good Hope, it is alfo equally- certain that his voyage was merely a coafting one, like that of Nearchus in Alexander's time, and that he never ventured into the great ocean, or went fo far^s-Gama. The citation from Macrobius proves nothing at all relative to the point in queftion, for it is certain that the Romans received the merchandife of India by the way of Syria and the Mediterranean, in the fame manner as the Venetians imported the commodities of the Eafl from Alexandria before the dii'coveries of the Portuguefe. It re- mains, therefore, that Gama, who failed by the compafs, after having gone further than his cotemporary Bartholomew Diaz, was literally the ffrft who ever fpread fail in the great fouthern ocean, and that the Portuguefe were not the reftorers, but literally the difcoverers of the prefent rout of na- vigation to the Eafl Indies. = And all ?!iy country's loars. — " He interv/eaves artf-i^Uy the hillory of Poitugal." Voltaire. ^ To holy faith unnumuer^ J altars rear'd.— la. no period of hiilory does hu- man nature appear with more fhoddng features than in the Spanifh con- quefl; of South America. To the immortaUhonour of \hejirjl Portuguefe difcoverers, their conduct was in every refpe^ the reverfe. To eftabjiilh a traffic equally advantageous to the natives as ,tp themfelvas, w^s the prin- ciple % THE LUSIAD. book i. lUuftrlous names, with deathlefs laurels crown'd. While time rolls on in every clime reno\\Ti'd ! Let Fame with wonder name the Greek no more, What lands he faw, what toils at fea he bore j No more the Trojan's wandering voyage boaft. What ftorms he brav'd on many a per'lous coaft : No more let Rome exult in Trajan's name. Nor eaftern conquefts Ammon's pride proclaim; A nobler hero's deeds demand my lays Than e'er adorn'd the fong of ancient days ; lUuftrious Gama, whom the waves obey'd. And whofe dread fword the fate of empire fway'd. And ciple they profefTeci, and the ftriiflcft honour, and that humanity which is ever infeparable from true bravery, prefided over their tranfa>, acldreflTcd to John IH. king of Portugal, the grandfather of Scbaflian : Jnque fnii Phahus rcgn'u orierfque cadenfqut Vix longumj'rjp) ciiidcret axe diem. Et quacunque vago J'e circumvolvit Olympo 1 Till" I taiibus famma minijlra tui: . sooK I. THELUSIAD. 9 The dreams of bards furpafs'd the world fliall view, And own their boldeft fiiTtions may be true ; Surpafs'd, and dimm'd by the fuperior blaze Of Ga ma's mighty deeds, which here bright Truth difplays. No more let hiftory boaft her heroes old ; Their glorious rivals here, dread prince, behold : Here fhine the valiant Nunio's deeds unfeign'd, Whofe iingle arm the falling ftate fuftain'd ; Here fearlefs Egas' wars, and, Fuas, thine. To give full ardour to the fong combine ; But ardour equal to your martial ire Demands the thundering founds of Homer's lyre. To match the twelve ' fo long by bards renown'd. Here brave Magricio and his peers are crown'd (A glorious twelve !) with deathlefs laurels, won In gallant arms before the Englifli throne. Unmatch'd no more the Gallic Charles fhall ftand. Nor Csefar's name the iirft of praife command : Of nobler a£ls the crown'd Alonzos fee. Thy valiant fires, to whom the bended knee Of vanquifli'd Afric bow'd. Nor lefs in fame. He who confin'd the rage of civil flame. The godlike John, beneath whofe awful fword Rebellion crouch'd, and trembling own'd him lord. Thofe ' To match the t'u-dvefo long by bards remivnd. — The twelve peers of Char- lemagne, often mentioned in the old romances. For the epifode of Ma- gricjo and liis eleven companions, lee the fixth Lufiad. 10 THE LUSIAD. book r. Thofe heroes too, who thy bold flag unfurl'd. And fpread thy banners o'er the eaftern world, Whofe fpears fubdued the kingdoms of the mom, ' Their names, and glorious wars the fong adorn : The daring Gam a, whofe unequall'd name Proud monarch fliines o'er all of naval fame : Callro the bold, in arms a peerlefs knight. And ftern Pacheo, dreadful in the fight : The two Almeydas, names for ever dear. By Tago's nymphs embalm'd with many a tear ; Ah, ftill their early fate the nymphs fhall mourn. And bathe with many a tear their haplefs urn : Nor fliall the godlike Albuquerque reftrain Tlae mufe's fury ; o'er the purpled plain Tlie mufe fhall lead him in his thundering car Amidft his glorious brothers of the war, Whofe fame in arms refounds from fky to Iky, And bids their deeds the power of death defy. And while, to thee, I tune the duteous lay, AiTume, O potent king, thine empire's fway ; With thy brave hoft through Afric march along, And give new triumphs to immortal fong : On thee with earned eyes the nations wait. And cold with dread the Moor experts his fate ; The barbarous mountaineer on Taurus' brows To thy expected yoke his flioulder bows : Fair Thetis wooes thee with her blue domain. Her nuptial fon, and fondly yields her reign ; And aooKie THE LUSIAD. it And from the bowers of heaven thy grandfires ^ fee Their various virtues bloom afrefli in thee ; One for the joyful days of peace renown'd. And one with war's triumphant laurels crown'd: With joyful hands, to deck thy manly brow. They twine the laurel and the olive-bough ; With joyful eyes a glorious throne they fee, In Fame's eternal dome, referved ' for thee. Yet while thy youthful hand delays to wield The fcepter'd power, or thunder of the field. Here view thine Argonauts, in feas unknown. And all the terrors of the burning zone, Till their proud ftandards, rear'd in other Ikies, And all their conquefts meet thy wondering ^ eyes. Now far from land, o'er Neptune's dread abode The Lulitanian fleet triumphant rode j Onward ^ T/jy grandfires. — John III. king of Portugal, celebrated for a long and peaceful reign ; and the emperor Charles V. who was engaged in almoll continual wars. referveJ for thee.- Anne novum tardis ftdus te menfthus addas, ^ua locus Erigonen inter chelafquc fequentes Panditur : ipfe tibi jam brachia contrahit ardem Scorpius, et cslijufaplus parte relijuit. ViRG. »" — i/jy ivonderiiig eyes.— Some, critics have condemned Virgil for flop- ping his narrative to introduce even a fliort obfervation of his own. Mil- ton's beautiful complaint of his blindnefs has been blamed for the fame rcafon, as being no part of the (ubjcift of his poem. The addrefs of Ca- ihoens to Don Sebaftian has not efcaped the fame cenfure ; though in fomc jneafure undeferfedly, as the poet has had the art to interweave therein fome part of the general argument of his poem. Iff THE LUSIAD. book i. Onward they traced the wide and lonefome mahi, "Where changeful Proteus leads his fcaly train ; The dancing vanes before the zephyn flow'd. And their bold keels the tracklefs ocean plow'd ; Unplow'd before the green-tinged billows rofe. And curl'd and whiten'd round the nodding prows. When Jove, the God who with a thought controuls The raging feas, and balances the poles, From heav'n beheld, and will'd, in fovereign flate. To fix the Eaftern World's depending fate : Swift at his nod th' Olympian herald flies. And calls th' immortal fenate of the Ikies ; Where, from the fovereign throne of earth and heaven, Th' immutable decrees of fate are given, Inftant the regents of the fpheres of light, And thofe who rule the paler orbs of night. With thofe, the gods whofe delegated fway The burning fouth and frozen north obey ; And they whofe empires fee the day-flar rife. And evening Phoebus leave the weftern Ikies ; All inftant pour'd along the milky road. Heaven's chryftal pavements glittering as they trode : And now, obedient to the dread command, Before their awful Lord in order fland. Sublime and dreadful on his regal throne, That glow'd with fturs, and bright as lightning flione, Th'- BOOK I. THE L us IAD. xj Th' immortal fire, who darts the thunder, fate. The crown and fceptre added foleain ftate ; The crown, of heaven's own pearls, whofe ardent rays» Flam'd round his brows, outflione the diamond's blaze : His breath fuch gales of vital fragrance flied. As might, with fudden life, infpire the dead : Supreme controul throned in his awful eyes Appear'd, and mark'd the monarch of the fkies. On feats that burn'd with pearl and ruddy gold. The fubje£l gods their fovereign lord enfold. Each in his rank, when, with a voice that fhook The towers of heaven the world's dread ruler fpoke : — Immortal heirs of light, my purpofe hear. My counfels ponder, and the Fates revere : Unlefs Oblivion o'er your minds has thrown Her dark blank fliades, to you, ye Gods, are known The Fate's decree, and ancient warlike fame Of that bold race which boafls of Lufus' name j That bold advent'rous race the Fates declare, A potent empire in the eaft ihall rear, Surpaffing Babel's or the Periian fame. Proud Grecia's boaft, or Rome's illuflrious name. Oft from thefe brilliant feats have you behekl The fons of Lufus on the dufty field. Though few, triumphant o'er the numerous Moors, Till from the beauteous lawns on Tago's fhores They drove the cruel foe. And oft has heaven Before their troops the proud Caftiiians driven ; While 14 THELUSIAD. book i. While VI(Slory her eagle-wings difplay'd Where-e'er their warriors waved the fhining blade. Nor refts unknown how Lufus* heroes flood When Rome's ambition dy'd the world with blood ; What glorious laurels Viriatus " gain'd, How oft his fword with Roman gore was ftain'd ; And ■ PT'/jat glorloiii laurels yiriatus ga'ind.—^Kis brave Lufitanian, who was firft a (hepherd and a famous hunter, and afterwards d captain of banditti, exafperated at the tyranny of tlie Romans, encouraged his countrymen to revolt and (hake off" the yoke. Being appointed general, he defeated Ve- tilius the prztor, who commanded in Lufitania, or farther Spain. After this he defeated in three pitched battles, the prjEtors C. Plautius Hypfa:us, and Claudius Unimanus, though they led againfl him veiy numerous armies. For fix years he continued vi^orious, putting the Romans to flight wher- ever he met them, and laying wafle the countries of their allies. Having obtained fuch advantages over the proconful Servilianus, that the only choice which was left to the Roman army was death or flavery ; the brave Viriatus, inftead of putting them all to the fword, as he could eafily have done, font a deputation to the general, ofTciing to conclude a peace with him on this Tingle condition. That he Jhould continue majler of the country noia in his foiver, and that the Romans Jhould remain poff.JJcd of the rejl of Spain. The proconful, who expected nothing but death or flavery, thought thefe very favourable and moderate terms, and without hefitation concluded a peace, which was foon after ratified by the Roman fenate and people. Vi- riatus, by this treaty, complcatcd the glorious dcfign he had always in view, which was to creiri?, an old word, which fignifies//6* zvaters of the fca, " and 5i THE LUSIAD. book u. The curving billows to their breafts divide, And give a yielding paflage through the tide. With furious fpeed the goddefs rufh'd before j Her beauteous form a joyful triton bore, Whofe eager face, vsrith glowing rapture fired, Betray'd the pride which fuch a taflc infpired. And now arriv'd, where to the whiftling wind The warlike navy's bending mafcs reclin'd, As through the billows rufh'd the fpeedy prows. The nymphs, dividing, each her ftation chofe. Againft the leader's prow, her lovely breaft With more than niortal force the goddefs preft ; The fhip recoiling trembles on the tide. The nymphs in help pour round on every fide. From the dread bar the threaten'd keels to fave ; The fhip bounds up, half-lifted from the wave. And, trembling, hovers o'er the watery grave. As when alarm'd, to fave the hoarded grain. The care-earned ftore for winter's dreary reign. So toil, fo tug, fo pant, the labouring emmet train. So toil'd the nymphs, and ftrain'd their panting force To turn S the navy from its fatal courfe : Back, " and of fhr,, a flic ; as if one fhould fay, the fie of the fa ivaters, a myftc- " rious expieffion, applicable to faith, which is the file of our foul, aiid " which is rendered perfcft by the water of baptifm." Our French para- phrif^ wifely adds, that perhaps fome perfons may dcfpife this etymology, hut tl^-it for his part, he is unwilling to rejeifl it, as it tends to unravel the allegory of his author. «: Imitated from Virgil, ■* Cymotho'^ ftmu!, ct Triton adn'ixtu acuta Ihtrudimt navcsfcopulo, • Viae. JE.K. I, 1 I BOOK II. THE LUSIAD. Back, back the fhip recedes j in vain the crew With fhouts on fliouts their various toils renew ; In vain each nerve, each nautic art they ftrain, And the rough wind diflends the fail in vain : Enraged, the failors fee their labours croft 5 From fide to fide the reeling helm is toft ; High on the poop the fkilful mafter ftands ; Sudden he fhrieks aloud, and fpreads his hands A lurking rock its dreadful rifts betrays, And right before the prow its ridge difplays ; Loud flirieks of horror from the yard-arms rife. And a dire general yell invades ihe ikies. The Moors ftart, fear-ftruck, at the horrid found. As if the rage of combat roar'd around. Pale are their lips, each look in wild amaze The horror of dete6led guilt betrays. Pierc'd by the glance of Gama's awful eyes The confcious pilot quits the helm and flies, From the high deck he plunges in the brine ; His mates their fafety to the waves confign j Dafh'd by their plunging falls on every fide Foams and boils up around the rolling tide. Thus h the hoarfe tenants of the fylvan lake, A Lycian race of old, to flight betake ; 53 At •• thus the hoarfe tenants. — Latona, fays the fable, flying from the feipent Python, and faint with third, came to a pond, where fome Lycian peafants were cutting the bulrufhes. In revenge of the infults which they offered her in preventing her to drink, (he changed them into frogs. This fable, fays Caftera, like almoft all the reft, is drawn from hiftory. Philocorus, as cited 54 THE LUSIAD. book n. At every found they dread Latona's hate, And doubled vengeance of their former fate ; AU cited by Boccace, relates, that the Rhodians having declared war againfl: the Lycians, were aflifted by fome troops from Delos, who carried the image of Latona on their ftandards. A detachment of thefe going to drink at a lake in Lycia, a crowd of peafants endeavoured to prevent them. An encounter enfued ; the peafants fled to the lake for flicker, and were there flain. Some months afterwards their companions came in fearch of their corpfes, and finding an unufual quantity of frogs, imagined, accord- ing to the fuperftition of their age, that the fouls of their friends appeared to them under that metamorphofis. Is it allowable in epic poetry to introduce a comparifon taken from a low image ? This is a queftion which has exercifed the abilities of critics and tranflators, till criticifm has degenerated into trifling, and learning into pe- dantry. To feme it may perhaps appear needful to vindicate Camoens, in a point wherein he is fupported by the authority of Homer and Virgil. Yet as many readers are infeifted with the fang f raid oi a Rollin or a Perrault, an oblervation in defence of our poet cannot be thought impertinent. If we examine the fined effufions of genius, we fliall find, that the mod ge- nuine poetical feeling has often didated thofe fimiles which are drawn from familiar and low obje«fls. The facred writers, and the greateft poets of every nation, have ufed them. We may therefore conclude, that the criticifm which condemns them is a refinement not founded on Nature. But, al- lowing them admiflible, it muft be obferved, that to render them pleafmg requires a peculiar happinefs and delicacy of management. When the poet attains this indifjienfable point, he gives a flriking proof of his^elcgance, and of his maflierfliip in his art. That the fimiles of the emmets and of the frogs in Camoens are happily cxprefTed and applied, is indifputable. In that of the frogs there is a peculiar propriety, both in the comparifon it- felf, and in the allufion to the fable ; as it was the intent of the poet to re- prefent not only the flight, but the bafenefsof the Moors. The funile he feems to have copied from Dante, Inf. Cant. <;. Come U rane innanzi a la nemica Bifciafer Vacquaji dileguan tutte Fin che a la terra ciajcuna s'abbica. And Cant. 2Z. E come a I'orlo de Vacqua d'lin fojfo Stan It ran'jcchi pur col mufo fuori Si' che cdano i ficJi, c I'altro grojfg. «ooK n. THE LUSIAD. 55 All fudden plunging leave the margin green. And but their heads above the pool are feen. So plung'd the Moors, when, horrid to behold ! From the bar'd rock's dread jaws the billows roll'd. Opening in inftant fate the fleet to whelm. When ready Vasco caught the ftaggering helm: Swift as his lofty voice refounds aloud The ponderous anchors dafh tlie whitening flood. And round his vefTel, nodding o'er the tide. His other fhips, bound by their anchors, ride. And now revolving in his piercing thought Thefe various fcenes with hidden import fraught ; The boaftftil pilot's felf-accufing flight. The former treafon of the Moorifli fpite j How headlong to the rock the furious wind. The boiling current, and their art combin'd. Yet though the groaning blaft the canvafs fwell'd. Some wondrous caufe, unknown, their fpeed withheld : Amaz'd, with hands high rais'd, and fparkling eyes, A ' miracle! the raptur'd Gama cries, A miracle ! ^ A miracle. — Oforius gives the following account of this adventure. Talk- ing of the two exiles whom Gama had fent on (hore ; Rex laeta et hilari fronte exules excepit, imperavitque domefticis fuis, ut illis urbis fitum et pulchritudinem demonftrarent. Ubi vero reverfi funt, Rex multa aroma- tum genera, quae ex India deportari folent, illis oftentat, et quantulum vifum eft donat, u6 Gams monftrare poflent, et admonere, quanto elTet utilius apud Regem amicum lem gerere, quam vitam tam periculofae navigation! committere. Cum his mandatis redeunt exules in clafTem, Gama mirifice Istatus eft, et poftridie anchoras toUi jubet, et naves prope urbem confti- tui. Ciim vero illius navis asftus incitati vi celerius, quam commoduni effet, uiveheretur, timens ille ne in vadum incideret, vela contrahere et an- choras 56 THE LUSIAD. book n A miracle ! O hail thou facred fign. Thou pledge illuftrious of tlie care divine ! Ah ! fraudful malice ! how fhall wifdom's care Efcape the poifon of thy gilded fnare ! The front of honefty, the faintly fhew. The fmile of friendfliip, and the holy vow ; Ail, all conjoin'd our eafy faith to gain, To whelm us, fhipwreck'd, in the ruthlefs main ; But where our prudence no deceit could fpy, There, heavenly guardian, there thy watchful eye Beheld our danger : ftill, O flill prevent, Where human forefight fails, the dire intent. The lurking trcafon of the fmiling foe ; And let our toils, our days of lengthening woe, Our weary wanderings end. If ftill for thee, To ipread tliy rites, our toils and vows agree. On India's flrand thy facred Ihrines to rear. Oh, let feme friendly land of reft appear ! If for thine honour we thefe toils have dar'd, Thefe toils let India's long-fought fhore reward ! So choras dcmitterc confcftim jufilt Quo fafto Mozambiqucnfcs gubernatores metu repentino perculfi, fe praccipites in mare dcjiciunt, et ad IhitresquafdaiTi, qua: non procul abeiant, nando confugiunt At Gamu niagnis vocibus-ad cos, qui in lintrihus erant, inclamavit, ut fibi fuos gubernatores reddcrent : at illi clamorcs iliius afpcrnati, gubernatores in terram cxpofuerunt. Hie Gama cum et conjecftura, ct aliquo etiam Arabis gubernatoris indicio, et multis praeteiea lignis, perfpexiflet c quanto peri- culo fuinet auxilio divine libcratus, manus in coelum fuflulit. Barros and Ca^aneda, in relating this part of the voyage of Gama, fay, that the fleet, juft as they were entering the port of MombafTa were driven back, as it were, by an invifible hand. Thefafety of the armada depended upon this circum (lance. BOOK II. THE LUSIAD. So fpoke the chief: The pious accents move The gentle bofom of celeftial love : The beauteous queen to heaven now darts away ; In vain the weeping nymphs implore her ftay : Behind her now the morning ftar flie leaves. And the ^ fixth heaven her lovely form receives. Her radiant eyes fuch living fplendors cafl:. The fparkling ftars were brighten'd as fhe paft ; The frozen pole with fudden ftreamlets flow'd, And as the burning zone with fervor glow'd. And now, confeft before the throne of Jove, In all her charms appears the queen of love : Fiufli'J by the ardour of her rapid flight Through fields of aether and the realms of light. Bright as the bluflies of the rofeate morn, New blooming tints her glowing cheeks adorn ; And all that pride of beauteous grace flie wore. As 1 when in Ida's bower fhe flood of yore. 57 When ^ As tiie planet of Jupiter is in the fixth heaven, tiie autlior has with pro- priety there placed the tluone of that God. Caftera. ^ As luhen in Ida s boiver Jbe Rood of yore.— -'''' J^entends Ics cenfeurs, fays CaC- " tera, y« recrier que cet endroit-c't ne con-jtent nulletnent a la Venus celtj}e.——\ zxn '" aware of the objeftion, that this pailage is by no means applicable to the " celeftial Venus. 1 anfwer once for all, that the names and adventures of " the Pagan divinities are fo blended and uncertain in mythology, that a " poet is at great liberty to adapt them to his allegory as he pleafes. Even " the fables, whicli to thofe who penetrate no deeper than the rind, may " appear as profane, even thefe contain hiftorical, phyfical, and moral " truths, which fully atone for the feeming licentioufnefs of the letter. I " could prove this in many inftances, but let the prefent fuffice. Paris, fon " of Priam, king of Troy,fpent his firft years as a (hepherd in the country. " At this time Juno, Minerva, and Venus difputcd for the apple of gold, " which 58 THE LUSIAD. book ii. "When every charm, and every hope of joy Enraptured and allured the Trojan boy. Ah ! ro had that hunter, whofe unhappy fate The human vifage loft by Dian's hate. Had he beheld this fairer goddefs move Not hounds had flain him, but the fires of love. Adown her neck, more white than virgin fnow. Of fofteft hue the golden trefles flow ; Her heaving breafts of purer, fofter white. Than fnow hills gliftening in the moon's pale light, Except where covered by the fafh, were bare. And "love, unfeen, fmil'd.foft, and panted there. Nor lefs the zone the god's fond zeal employs ; The zone awakes the flame of fecret joys. As •' which was deftined to be given to the moft beautiful goddefs. They con- " fented that Paris fhould be their judge. His equity claimed this honour. ♦' He faw them all naked. Juno promifed him riches, Minerva the fci- " ences, but he decided in favour of Venus, who promifed him the poflef- " fion of the moft beautiful woman. What a ray of light is contained ixi " this philofophical fable ! Paris reprefents a ftudious man, who, in the li- " lence of folitude, feeks the fupreme good. Juno is the emblem of riches " and dignities, Minerva, that of the fciences purely human, Venus is that " of religion, which contains the fciences both human and divine ; the " charming female, which Ihe promifes to the Trojan (liepherd, is that divine *' wifdom which gives tranquillity of heart. A judge fo philofophical as " Paris would not hefitate a moment to whom to give the apple of gold." " Ah, bad that hunter. — " The allegory of Camoens is here obvious. If " Afteon, and the flaves of their violent pafTIons ceuld difcover the beauties " of true religion, they would be aftonilhed and reclaimed ; according to " the cxprcfllon of Seneca, St virtus cerni foffet oculis corforeii, omncs ad amoretn " fuum felUceret. Caftcra. ■ And love, unfccn. — " That is divine love, which always accompanies reli- " gion. Behold how our author infinuatcs the excellence of his moral !" Caftcra. Camoens, BOOK 11, THE LUSIAD. 59 As ivy tendrils, round her limbs divine Their fpreading arms the young defires entwine : Below her waift, and quivering on the gale, Of thinneft texture flows the lilken veil : (Ah ! where the lucid curtain dimly fliows. With doubled fires the roving fancy glows !) The hand of modefty the foldings threw. Nor all conceal'd, nor all was given to view. Yet her deep grief her lovely face betrays. Though on her cheek the foft fmile faultering plays. All heaven was mov'd — as when fome damfel coy. Hurt by the rudenefs of the amorous boy, Offended chides and fmiles j with angry mien Thus mixt with fmiles, advanc'd the plaintive queen ; And o thus : O Thunderer ! O potent Sire ! Shall I in vain thy kind regard require ! Alas ! and cherifli ftill the fond deceit, That yet on me thy kindeft fmiles await ! Ah heaven ! and muft that valour which I love Awake the vengeance and the rage of Jove ! Yet mov'd with pity for my fav'rite race I fpeak, though frowning on thine awful face I mark Camoens, as obferved in the preface, has twice afTcrtcd, that his machi- nery is allegorical. The poet's aflertion, and the tafteof the age in which he wrote, fufficiently vindicate the endeavour to unravel and explain the al- legory of the Lufiad, • And thus, thunderer. — The following fpeech of Venus, and the reply of Jupiter, are a fine imitation from the firft .^neid, and do great honour to the claffical tafte of the Portuguefe poet. 6c- THE LUSIAD. book ii. I mark the tenor of the dread decree, That to thy wrath configns my fons and me. Yes ! let ftern Bacchus blefs thy partial care. His be the triumph, and be mine defpair. The bold advent'rous fons of Tagos clime I loved — alas ! that love is now their crime : O happy they, and profp'rous gales their fate, Had I purfued them with relentlefs hate ! Yes ! let my woeful fighs in vain implore, Yes ! let them perifh on fome barb'rous fhore. For I have loved them — Here, the fwelling figh And pearly tear-drop rufhing in her eye. As morning dew hangs trembling on the rofe, Though fond to fpeak, her farther fpeech oppofe — Her lips, then moving, as the paufe of woe Were now to give the voice of grief to flow : When kindled by thofe charms, whofe woes might move, And melt the prowling tyger's rage to love. The thundering god her weeping forrows ey'd, And fudden threw his awful ftate afide : With that mild look which ftills the driving ftorm. When black roll'd clouds the face of heaven deform : With that mild vifage and benignant mien Which to the fky reftores the blue ferene. Her fnowy neck and glowing cheek he preft. And wip'd her tears, and clafped her to his breaft : Yet flie, ftill fighing, dropt the trickling tear. As the chid nurfling mov'd with pride and fear. Still BOOK II. THELUSIAD. 6r Still fighs and moans, though fondled and careft ; Till thus great Jove the fates decrees confefl : O thou, my daughter, ftill belov'd as fair, Vain are thy fears, thy heroes claim my care : No power of gods could e'er my heart incline. Like one fond fmile, one powerful tear of thine. "Wide o'er the eaftern fhores Ihalt thou behold The flags far-ftreaming, and thy thunders roll'd ; While nobler triumphs fhall thy nation crown, Than thofe of Roman or of Greek renov/n. If by mine aid the fapient Greek could brave The Ogycian feas, nor P fink a deathlefs flave ; If through til' Illyrian (helves Antenor bore. Till fafe he landed on Timavus' fhore j If, by his fate, the pious Trojan led. Safe through Charibdis's barking whirlpools fped : Shall thy bold heroes, by my care difclaim'd. Be left to perifh, who, to Vv'orlds unnam'd By vaunting Rome, purfue their dauntlefs way ? No — foon fhalt thou with ravifh'd eyes furvey. From fiream to ftream their lofty cities fpread. And their proud turrets rear the warlike head ; The ftern-brow'd Turk iliall bend the fuppliant knee, And. Indian monarchs, now fecure and free. Beneath thy potent monarch's vol: - /hall bend. Till thy juft laws wide o'er the eaft extend. Thy r Norfwi a diulhUfs Jlj-js. — i. e. Tiie flave of Calypfo, who of- fered Ulvfles immortalitv on condition he would live with her. 62 THE LUSIAD. book u. Thy chief, who now in error's circling maze, For India's fliorc through llielves and tempefts ftrays ; That chief ilialt thou behold, with lordly pride. O'er Neptune's trembling realm triumphant ride. O wondrous fate ! when not a breathing q gale Shall curl the billows, or diftend the fail, The wave fhall boil and tremble, aw'd with dread. And own the terror o'er their empire fpread. That hoftile coaft, v.'ith various ftreams fupplied, Whofe treacherous fons the fountain's gifts deny'd ; That coaft flialt thou behold his port fupply, "Where oft thy weary fleets in reft fhall lie- Each fhore which weav'd for him the fnares of death. To him thefe fliores fhall pledge their ofler'd faith ; To him their haughty lords fliall lowly bend, And yield him tribute for the name of friend. The Red-fea wave fliall darken in the fliade Of thy broad fails in frequent pomp difplay'd ; Thine eyes fhall fee the golden Ormuz' Ihore, Twice thine, twice conquered, while the furious JNIoor, Amazed, *» ■ When not a breathing galtjhall curl the billows. — After the Portllguefc had made great conquclts in India, Gama had the honour to be appointed viceroy. In 1524, as he failed thither to take pofleflion of his government, his fleet was becalmed on the coaft of Cambaya, and the fliips ftood moti- onlefs on the water : inftantly, without the leaft change of weather, the waves were fliaken with the moft violent agitation. The Ihips were tolled about ; the failors were terrified, and in the utmoft confufion, thinking themfelvcs loft; when Gama, perceiving it to be the effeOof an earthquake, with his wonted heroifni and jjrudence, exclaimed," Of luhat are you afraid? Do you not fee hoiu the ocean trembles under its fovercigns /" Barros, L. 9. C. I. and Faria (tom. i. C. 9.) who fays, that I'uch as lay fick of fevers were cured by the fright. BOOK H. THELUSIAD. 63 Amazed, fhall view his arrows backward J" driven. Showered on his legions by the hand of heaven. Though twice aflailed by many a vengeful band, Unconquered ftill fhall Dio's ramparts ftand ; Such prowefs there fhall raife the Lufian name That Mars fhall tremble for his blighted fame ; There fliall the Moors, blafpheming, fink in death, And curfe their prophet with their parting breath. Where Goa's warlike ramparts frown on high, Pleas'd fhalt thou fee thy Lufian banners fly ; The Pagan tribes in chains fhall crowd her gate, While flie fublime fliall tower in regal flate. The fatal fcourge, the dread of all who dare Againfl thy fons to plan the future war. Though few thy troops who Conanour fuflain, The foe, though numerous, fhall afTault in vain. Great Calicut, for potent hofts renown'd. By Lifboa's fons aflail'd fhall ftrew the ground : What floods on floods of vengeful hofts fhall wage On Cochin's walls their fwift repeated rage ! In vain : a ^ Lufian hero fliall oppol'e His dauntlefs bofom, and difperfe the foes. As ' his arroivs lachivari t/r/w».— Both Barros and Cadaneda relate this faft. Albuquerk, during the war of Ormuz, having given battle to the Perfians and Moors, by the violence of a fudden wind Ihc arrows of the latter were driven back upon themfelves, whereby many of their troops were wounded. • A Lufian hero Pacheco ; in the fiege of Cochin he defeated fuccefllvely feven numerous armies raifed by the Zamorim for the redudtioij of that city. 64 THELUSIAD. book ii. As liigh-fwell'd waves, that thunder'd to the fliock, Difperfe in feeble ftreamlets from the rock. When ' blackening broad and far o'er Aclium's tide Auguftus' fleets the flave of love defy'd. When that fallen warrior to the combat led The braveft troops in Baftrian Scythia bred. With Afian legions, and, his fliameful bane, The Egyptian queen attendant in the train 5 Though Mars raged high, and all his fury pour'd, Till with the ftorm the boiling furges roar'd ; Yet fliall thine eyes more dreadful fcenes behold, On burning furges burning furges roll'd. The fhcets of fire far billowing o'er the brine. While I my thunder to thy fons refign. Thus many a fea fhall blaze, and many a fhore Refound the horror of the combat's roar. While thy bold prows triumphant ride along By trembling China to the ifles unfung Bv ' IVben blackening broad and far o'er A£l\ums tide. " Uinc ope harbarica varlifque Antonius armis Victor^ ab Aurora populis tSJ* I'ltore rubra JEgyptum, "virefque oricntis, 13* ultima fcciim JJiiiira vehit : fcguiturgue ncfas ! ^gyptia conjux. Una omnes ruere, ac totumjpumare reduSlli Con'uull'um riniis rojlr'ifqiie tridentibus aquor. Aita pel lint : pelagq credas innare revulfas Cycladas, aut monies eoncurrcre mont'ibus alios '. Tania mole viri tiirritis pupplbus injlant. Stupea Jlanima manu, telifqife volatile ferrum Spargitar : arva nova Ncplunia cade rubefcunt, f avii medio in cert amine Mavors. ViRG. JE'S, viir. BOOK n. THE LUSIAD. 65 By ancient bard, by ancient chief unknown. Till ocean's utmoft fliore thy bondage own. Thus from the Ganges to the Gadian ftrand. From the moft northern wave to fouthmoft land ; That land decreed to bear the injured name Of Magalhaens, the Lufian " pride and flaame ; From all that vaft, tho' crown'd with heroes old, Who with the gods were derni-gods enroll'd ; From all that vaft no equal heroes fliine To match in arms, O lovely daughter, thine. So fpake the awful ruler of the fkies. And Maia's fon fwift at his mandate flies : His charge, from treafon and Mombafla's king The weary fleet in friendly port to bring, And while in fleep the brave De Gam a lay. To warn, and fair the ilaore of reft difplay. Fleet through the yielding air Cyllenius glides. As to the light, the nimble air divides. The myftic helmet on his head he wore. And in his right the fatal rod he " bore j VOL. I. F That " — The Lufian pride andjhame. — Magalhaens, a mofl: celebrated navigator. Neglefted by John II. king of Portugal, he offered his fervice to the kingdom of Spain, under whom he made mod important difcoveries round the ftraits which bear his name, and in the back parts of South America; acquirements, which at this day are of the utmoft value to the SpaniOi empire. Of this hero fee farther, X, Lufiad, in the notes. '' - The fatal rod he bore Turn "virgam capit: hac animas ille evoccit Oreo Pallentes ; alias fub trijlia Tartar a mittit, Dat fo?nnos adimitque, i^ lumiiia mcrte refgnat, YlPM. JEn. :v. 66 THE LUSIAD. book rr. That rod, of power to wake the filent dead. Or o'er the lids of care foft flumbers fhed. And now, attended by the herald fame. To fair Melinda's gate conceal'd he came ; And foon loud rumour echoed through the town. How from the weftern world, from waves unknown, A noble band had reach'd the ^Ethiop fhore. Through feas and dangers never dared before : The godlike dread attempt their wonder fires. Their generous wonder fond regard infpires. And all the city glows their aid to give, ^ To view the heroes, and their wants relieve. 'Twas now the folemn hour when midnight reigns. And dimly twinkling o'er the ethereal plains The ftarry hoft, by gloomy filence led. O'er earth and fea a glimmering palenefs fhed ; When to the fleet, which hemm'd with dangers.Iay, The filver-wing'd Cyllenius darts away. Each care was now in foft oblivion fteep'd. The Watch alone accuftom'd vigils kept ; E'en Gam A, wearied by the day's alarms. Forgets his cares, reclined in flumber's arms. Scarce had he clofed his careful eyes in reft. When Maia's fon in vifion ftood confeft : And fly, he cried, O Lufitanian, fly ; Here guile and treafon every nerve apply : An impious king for thee the toil prepares, An BOOK II. THELUSIAD. 67 An impious people weave a thoufand fnares: Oh fly thefe ftiores, unfurl the gather'd fail, Lo, heaven, thy guide, commands the rifing gale ; Hark, loud it ruftles, fee, the gentle tide Invites thy prows ; the winds thy lingering chide. Here fuch dire welcome is for thee prepared As y Diomed's unhappy flrangers fhared ; His haplefs guefts at filent midnight bled, ^ On their torn limbs his fnorting courfers fed. Oh fly, or here with ftrangers' blood imbrew'd Bufiris' altars thou flialt find renew'd : Amidfl his flaughter'd guefts his altars flood Obfccne with gore, and bark'd with human blood : Then thou, beloved of heaven, my counfel hear ; Right by the coaft thine onward journey fleer. Till where the fun of noon no fhade begets. But day with night in equal tenor fets. A fovereign there, of generous faith unfi:ain'J, With ancient bounty, and with joy unfeign'd Your glad arrival on his fliore fliall greet. And foothe with every care your weary fleet. F 2 And *■ As D-amed's unhappyJlrar.gers.'—Diomtdt, a tyrant of Thrace, who fed his hoifes with human fiefh; a thing, fays the grave Czi^trz, prsfque ihcroyabte, almolt incredible. Bufiris was a king of Egypt, who facrificed ftrangers. i^h — illaudati nefcit ^ufiridis aras ? ^'l R G . G £ o R . iii. Hercules vanquifhed both thcfc tyrants, and put them to the fame puni(h- ments which their cruelty had inflided on others. Ifocrates compofed an oration in honour of Bufiris j a mafterly example of Attic raillery and fa- tire. To this Caftera wifely appeals, to prove the truth of the hiftory of that tyrant. 68 THELUSIAD. book u. And when again for India's golden ftrand Before the profperous gale your fails expand^ A fkilful pilot oft in danger try'd, Of heart finccre, fliall prove your faithful guide- Thus Hermes fpoke, and as his flight he takes Melting in ambient air, De Gama wakes. Chill'd with amaze he ftood, when through the night With fudden ray appear'd the burfting light ; The winds loud whizzing through the cordage figh'd Spread, fpread the fail, the raptured Vasco cried ; Aloft, aloft, this, this the gale of heaven ; By heaven our guide th* aufpicious fign is given j Mine eyes beheld the mefTengef divine ; O fly, he cried, and gave the favouring fign, Here treafon lurks. Swift as the captain fpake The mariners fpring bounding to the deck. And now with fhouts far-echoing o'er the fea. Proud of their ftrength the ponderous anchors weigh. When 2 heaven again its guardian care difplay'd ; Above the wave rofe many a Moorifli head Conceal'd by niglit they gently fwam along, >And with their weapons fawed the cables flirong, That ' IVhen haaven again its guardian care diJjilay'J.^tliving mentioned the flcape of the Moorifli pilots, Oforiub proceeds : Rex deinde homines magno cum filentio fcaphis & llntribus fubmittebat, qui fecuribus anchoralia norte pncidercnt. Quod nili fuidlt a nortris fingulari Gamsc induflrla vigilatum, et iafidlis fctlerati illius reois occurfum, noftri in fiimmum vita: dlfcrimcn incidiflent. BOOK IT. THELUSIAD. /S9 That by the fwelling currents whirl'd and toft, The navy's wrecks might ftrew the rocky coaft : But now difcover'd, every nerve they ply, And dive, and fwift as frighten'd vermin fly. Now through the filver waves that curling rofe, And gently murmur'd round the floplng prows, The gallant fleet before the fteady wind Sweeps on, and leaves long foamy tracks behind ; While as they fail the joyful crew relate Their wondrous fafety from impending fate j And every bofom feels how fweet the joy When dangers pafl the grateful tongue employ. The fun had now his annual journey run, And blazing forth another courfe begun. When fmoothly gliding o'er the hoary tide Two floops afar the watchful mafter fpied ; Their Moorhh make the feaman's art difplay'd ; Here Gam a weens to force the pilot's aid : One, bafe with fear, to certain flilpwreck flew ; The keel dafh'd on the fhore, efcap'd the crew. The other bravely trufts the generous foe. And yields, ere flaughter fl:ruck the lifted blow, Ere Vulcan's thunders bellowed. Yet again The captain's prudence and his wifh were vain j No pilot here his wandering courfe to guide. No lip to tell where rolls the Indian tide j The 70 THE L US IAD. book ii. The voyage calm, or perilous, or afar. Beneath what heaven, or which the guiding ftar : Yet this they told, that by the neighbouring bay A potent monarch reign'd, whofe pious fway For truth and nobleft bounty far renown'd, Still with the ftranger's grateful praife was crown'd. O'erjoyed brave Gama heard the tale, which feal'd The facred truth that Maia's fon reveal'd ; And bids the pilot, warn'd by heaven his guide. For fair Melinda turn the helm afide. 'Twas now the jovial feafon, when the morn From Taurus flames, when Amalthea's horn O'er hill and dale the rofe-crown'd Flora pours, And flatters corn and wine, and fruits and flowers. Right to the port their courfe the fleet purfued. And the glad dawn that facred day renewed. When with the fpoils of vanquiflx'd death adorn'd To heaven the vidlor of the tomb return'd. And foon Melinda's fhore the failors fpy ; From every maft the purple ftreamers fly ; Rich-figured tap'ftry now fupplies the fail, The gold and fcarlet tremble in the gale ; The ftandard broad its brilliant hues bewrays. And floating on the wind wide-billowing plays ; Shrill through the air the quivering trumpet founds, And the rough drum the roufing march rebounds. As BOOK u. THE LUSIAD. 7j As thus regardful of the facred day The feftive navy cut the watery way, Melinda's fons the fliore in thoufands crowd. And offering joyful welcome fliout aloud : And truth the voice infpired. Unawed by fear, "With warlike pomp adom'd, himfelf fincere. Now in the port the generous Gam a rides ; His ftately vefTels range their pitchy fides Around their chief; the bowfprits nod the head, And the barb'd anchors gripe the harbour's bed. Strait to the king, as friends to generous friends, A captive Moor the valiant Gama fends. The Luflan fanie the king already knew, What gulphs unknown the fleet had labour'd through. What fhelves, what tempefts dared ; His liberal mind Exults the captain's manly trufl to find ; With that ennobling worth, whofe fond employ Befriends the brave, the monarch owns his joy. Entreats the leader and his weary band To tafte the dews of fweet repofe on land. And all the riches of his cultured fields Obedient to the nod of Gama yields. His care meanwhile their prefent want attends. And various fowl, and various fruits he fends j The oxen low, the fleecy lambkins bleat. And rural founds are echoed through the fleet. His gifts with joy the valiant chief receives. And gifts in turn, confirming friendfliip, gives. Here 72 THELUSIAD. book ir. Here the proud fcarlet darts its ardent rays, And here the purple and the orange blaze : O'er thefe profufe the branching coral fpread. The * coral wondrous in its watery bed : Soft there it creeps, in curving branches thrown ; In air it hardens to a precious ftone. With thcfe an herald, on whofe melting tongue The b copious rhet'ric of Arabia hung, He fends, his wants and purpofe to reveal, And holy vows of lafting peace to feal. The monarch fits amid his fplendid bands, Before the regal throne the herald ftands. And thus, as eloquence his lips infpired, O king ! he cries, for facred truth admired, Ordain'd by heaven to bend the ftubborn knees Of haughtieft nations to thy juft decrees ; Fear'd as thou art, yet fet by heaven to prove That empire's ftrength-refults from public love: To thee, O king, for friendly aid we come ; Nor lawlefs robbers o'er the deep we roam : No luft of gold could e'er our breads inflame To fcatter fire and flaughter where we came ; Nor ' The coral ivondrous in its •watery be d Vinien erat dum Jlagna fubit, frocejferat undit Gemma fuit. ClaUD. Sic et coralium, quo primum conti^it auras ^ Tempore durefcit, moll'ts fu'tt hcrba Jul undis. OviD. *> The copious rhet'ric of Arabia. — There wert on board Gama's fleet feve- ral pcrfons fkillcd in the Oriental languages. Ofor. BOOK ir. THE LUSIAD. 73 Nor fword, nor fpear our harmlefs hands employ To feize the carelefs, or the weak deftroy. At our moft potent monarch's dread command We fpread the fail from lordly Europe's ftrand : Through feas unknown, through gulphs untry'd before, We force our journey to the Indian fhore. Alas, what rancour fires the human breaft ! By what ftern tribes are Afrie's fliores pofleft ! How many a wile they try'd, how many a fnare ! Not wifdom fav'd us, 'twas the heaven's own care : Not harbours only, e'en the barren fands A place of reft deny'd our weary bands : From us, alas, what harm could prudence fear ! From us fo few, their numerous friends fo near ! While thus from fliore to cruel fhore long driven. To thee conducted by a guide from heaven. We come, O monarch, of thy truth alTured, Of hofpitable rites by heaven fecured ; Such c rites as old Alcinous' palace graced. When lorn Ulyfles fat his favour'd gueft. Nor deem, O king, that cold fufplcion taints Our valiant leader, or his wifh prevents : Great is our monarch, and his dread command To our brave captain interdicts the land Till Indian earth he tread : What nobler caufe Than loyal faith can wake thy fond applaufe, O thou, «See the Eighth Odyfley, 8ic. 74. THE LUSIAD. book ii. O thou, who knoweft the ever-prefling weight Of kingly ^ office, and the cares of ftate ! And hear, ye confcious heavens, if Gama's heart Forget thy kindnefs, or from truth depart. The facred light Ihall perilh from the fun. And rivers to the fea fhall ceafe to e run. He d Of h'lngly cjjice. — Camera's note on this place is h charafteriftical of a Frenchman, that the reader will perhaps be pleafed to fee it tranfcribed. In his text he fays, " Toi qui occupes ft dignement le rangfuprene. In the note he thus apologifes : " Le Poete dit. Tens de Rey o officio, Tai qui fais le metier " de Hoi — The poet fays, thou zvho hoLieJl the Inifintfs of a king. " I confefs I " found a ftrong inclination totranflate this fentence literally. I find much " noblenefs in it. However, I fabmitted to the opinion of fome friends, who " were afraid that the ears of Frenchmen would be ihocked at the word buf- " nefs applied to a king. It is true, neverthelefs, that royalty is a bufmefs. " Philip II. of Spain was convinced of it, as we may difcern from one of his " letters. Hallo, fays \i^,me muy embara^ado, &c. I am fo entangled and ineum- " bered iiith the multiplicity of btfimfs, that I have not a moment to myfelf. In " truth, ive lings hold a lahorio::s office, there is little reafonto envy us." May the politenefs of England never be difgufted with the word bufmefs applied to a king! « The herald's fpeech.^Thz propriety and artfulnefs of Homer's fpeeches have been often and juftly admired. Camoens is peculiarly happy in the fame department of the epopoeia. The fpetch of Gama's herald to the kinw of Melinda is a ftriking inflance of it. The compliments with which it begins have a dirC't tendency to the favours afterwards to be alked. The allurance of the innocence, the purpofe^f the voyagers, and thcgreatnefs of their king, are happily touched. The exclamation on the barbarous treatment they had experienced, " Not wifdom faved us, but heaven's own care," are mafleriy infinuations. Their barbarous treatment is again re- peated in a manner to move compaffion : Alas ! what could they fear, &c. is rcafoning joined with the pathos. That they were conducted to the king of Melinda by heaven, and were by heaven aflUrcd of his truth, is a moft delicate compliment, and in the true fpirit of tiie epic poem. The allu- fion to Alcinous is weii timed. The apology for Gama's rcfuial to come on niore,is exceeding aitful. It conveys a proof of the grcatncfs of the Por- ti'gucfe fovcrcign, and affords a compliment to loyalty, which could not fail to BOOK II. THELUSIAD. 75 He fpoke ; a murmur of applaufe fucceeds. And each with wonder own'd the val'rous deeds Of that bold race, whofe flowing vanes had wav'd Beneath fo many a fky, fo many an ocean brav'd. Nor lefs the king their loyal faith reveres, And Lifboa's lord in awful ftate appears, Whofe leaft command on farthefi: fhores obey'd. His fovereign grandeur to the world difplay'd. Elate with joy, uprofe the royal Moor, And, fmiling, thus, — O welcome to my flaore ! If yet in you the fear of treafon dwell, Far from your thoughts th' ungenerous fear expel : Still with the brave, the brave will honour find, And equal ardour will their friendfliip bind. But thofe who fpurn'd you, men alone in fhewy Rude as the beftial herd, no worth they know j Such dwell not here : and fince your laws require Obedience ftrift, I yield my fond defire. Though much I wifh'd your chief to grace my board. Fair be his duty to his fovereign lord : Yet when the morn walks forth with dewy feet My barge fhall waft me to the warlike fleet ; There fliall my longing eyes the heroes view. And holy vows the mutual peace renew. What to be acceptable to a monarch. In fhort, the whole of the fpeech fupplicates warmly, but at the fame time in the mod manly manner; and the adjura- tion concludes it with all the appearance of warmth and fmcerity. Eufla- thius would have written a whole chapter on fuch a fpeech in the II ad or Odyfiey. 96 THR L US IAD. )^ook ir. What from the bluftering winds and lengthening tide Your fliips have fufFer'd, fhall be here fupply'd. Arms and provifions I myfelf will fend. And, great of fkill, a pilot fhall attend. So fpoke the king : And now, with purpled ray, Beneath the fliining wave the god of day Retiring, left the evening fliades to fpread ; And to the fleet the joyful herald fped : To find fuch friends each breaft with rapture glows, The feaft is kindled, and the goblet flows ; The trembling comet's imitated rays Bound to the flcies, and trail a fparkling blaze : The vaulting bombs awake their fleeping fire, And like the Cyclops' bolts, to heaven afpire : The bombardiers their roaring engines ply, And earth and ocean thunder to the iky. The trump and fife's flirill clarion far arovind The glorious mufic of the fight refound. Nor lefs the joy Melinda's fons difplay. The fulphur burfts in many an ardent ray. And to the heaven afcends in whizzing gyres. And ocean flames with artificial fires. In feftive war the fea and land engage. And echoing fhouts confefs the joyful rage. So pad the night : and now with filvery ray The ftar of morning ufhers in the day. The BOOK n. THE LUSIAD. The fliadows fly before the rofeate hours, And the chill dew hangs glittering on the flowers : The pruning hook or humble fpade to wield. The cheerful labourer haftens to the field ; When to the fleet with many a founding oar The monarch fails ; the natives crowd the fhore. Their various robes in one bright fplendor join. The purple blazes, and the gold-ftripes fliine ; Nor as ftern warriors with the quivering lance. Or moon-arch'd bow, Melinda's fons advance ; Green boughs of palm with joyful hands they wave. An omen of the meed that crowns the brave. Fair was the fhow the royal barge difplay'd. With many a flag of gliftening filk array'd, Whofe various hues, as waving thro' the bay, Return'd the luftre of the rifing day : And onward as they came, in fovereign ftate The mighty king amid his princes fate : His robes the pomp of eafliern fplendor fliew, A proud tiara decks his lordly brow : The various tiflue fliines in every fold. The filken lufl;re and the rays of gold- His purple mantle boafts the dye of Tyre, And in the fun-beam glows with living fire. A golden chain, the fkilful artifli's pride. Hung from his neck ; and glittering by his tide The dagger's hilt of fl:ar-bright diamond flionc, The girding baldric burns with precious ftone ■■, 77 And 78 THE LUSIAD. book n. And precious ftone in fluds of gold enchafed, The ftiaggy velvet of his bulkins graced : Wide o'er his head, of various filks inlaid, A fair umbrella caft a grateful iTiadc. A band of menials,- bending o'er the prow. Of horn-wreath'd round the crooked trumpets blow ; And each attendant barge aloud rebounds A barbarous difcord of rejoicing founds. With equal pomp the captain leaves the fleet, Melinda's monarch on the tide to greet : His barge nods on amidil a fplcndid train, Himfelf adorn'd in all the pride of Spain : With fair embroidery f fhone his armed breaft. For polifh'd fteel fupply'd the warrior's veft; His fleeves, beneath, were lilk of paly blue. Above, more loofe, the purple's brighteft hue Hung as a fcarf, in equal gatherings roU'd, With golden buttons and with loops of gold : Bright in the fun the poiifli'd radiance burns. And the dimm'd eye-ball from the luftre turns. Of crimfon fatin, dazzling to behold. His caflbc fwell'd in many a curving fold; The make was Gallic, but the lively bloom Confeft the labour of Venetia's loom : Gold ' 'A^ithfair emiroiJcry Jhoite bis armed Irenjl. Camoens feems to have his eye on the pifture of Gama, wliich is thusdefcribcd by Faria y Sou/a. " He " is paintctl with a black cap, cloak anJ bictclics edged with velvet, all flafhed, " through which appears the ciinifon lining, the doublet of ciimfon fatin, " and over it his armour inlaid with i^olj." BOOK II. THE LUSIAD. Gold was his fword, and warlike trowfers laced With thongs of gold his manly legs embraced : With graceful mien his cap aflant was turn'd j The velvet cap a nodding plume adorn'd. His noble afpedl, and the purple's ray, Amidft his train the gallant chief bewray. The various veftments of the warrior train, Like flowers of various colours on the plain, Attract the pleafed beholders wondering eye. And with the fplendor of the rainbow vie. Now Gama's bands the quivering trumpet blow. Thick o'er the wave the crowding barges row. The Moorifh flags the curling waters fweep, The Lufian mortars thunder o'er the deep ; Again the fiery roar heaven's concave tears. The Moors aftonifh'd flop their wounded ears : Again loud thunders rattle o'er the bay. And clouds of fmoke wide-rolling blot the day ; The captain's barge the generous king afcends. His arms the chief enfold •, the captain bends, A reverence to the fcepter'd grandeur due : In filent awe the monarch's wondering view Is fixt g on Va SCO's noble mien ; the while His thoughts with wonder weigh the hero's toil, 79 Efteem g The mnnarcVs wondering "vieiu isjlxton Vafco' s iiob'.d mlen.—Thc zim'i- ration and friendfliip of the king of Melinda, fo much infifted on by Ca- moens, is a judicious imitation of Virgil's Dido- In both cafes fuch prepa- ration was neceflary to introduce the long epiibdes which follow. 8o THELUSIAD. book ii. Efteem and friendfhip with his wonder rife. And free to Gama all his kingdom lies. Though never fon of Lufus' race before Had met his eye, or trod Melinda's fhore, To him familiar was the mighty name, And much his talk extols the Luflan fame ; How through the vaft of Afric's wildeft bound Their deathlefs feats in gallant arms refound ; When that fair land where Hefper's offspring reign'd, Their valour's prize the Lufian youth obtain'd. Much fhill he talk'd, enraptured of the theme, Though but the faint vibrations of their fame To him had echoed. Pleafed his warmth to view, Convinced his promife and his heart were true. The illuftrious Gama thus his foul expreft, And own'd the joy that laboured in his breafl : Oh thou, benign, of all the tribes alone. Who feel the rigouc. of th^ burning zone, Whofe piety, with mercy's gentle eye. Beholds our wants, and gives the wifh'd fupply ; Our navy driven from many a barbarous coaft. On many a tempeft-harrowed ocean toft. At laft with thee a kindly refuge finds. Safe from the fury of the howling winds. O generous king, may he whofe mandate rolls The circling heavens, and human pride controls, May the great Spirit to thy breaft return, That needful aid, beftowed on us forlorn ! And BOOK II, THE LUSIAD. 81 And while yon fun emits his rays divine, And while the ftars in midnight azure ihine, Where'er my fails are ftretch'd the world around, Thy praife (hall brighten, and thy name refound. He fpoke ; the painted barges fwept the flood , Where, proudly gay, the anchored navy rode ; Eameft the king the lordly fleet furveys ; The mortars thunder, and the trumpets raifc Their martial founds Melinda's fons to greet ; Melinda's fons with timbrels hail the fleet. And now no more the fulphury tempeft roars ; The boatmen leaning on the refted oars Breathe fliort ; the barges now at anchor moor'd, The king, while filence Iifl:en'd round, implored The glories of the Lufian wars to hear, Whofe fainted echoes long had pleafed his ear - Their various triumphs on the Afric fliore O'er thofe who hold the fon of Hagar's lore, Fond he demands, and now demands again Their various triumphs on the weftern main : Again, ere readieft anfwer found a place. He aflts the ft:ory of the Lufian race ; What god was founder of the mighty line. Beneath what heaven their land, what fliores adjoin ; And what their chmate, where the flnking day Gives the lafl: glimpfe of twilight's filvery ray. VOL. I. G But 82 THELUSIAD. book ii. But moft, O chief, the zealous monarch cries. What raging feas you braved, what louring Ikies ; What tribes, what rites you faw ; what favage hate On our rude Afric proved your haplefs fate : Oh tell, for lo, the chilly dawning ftar Yet rides before the morning's purple car ; And o'er the wave the fun's bold courfers raife Their flaming fronts, and give the opening blaze ; Soft on the glafly wave the zephyrs fleep, And the ftill billows holy filence keep. Nor lefs are we, undaunted chief, prepared To hear thy nation's gallant deeds declared ; Nor think, tho' fcorch'd beneath the car of day. Our minds too dull the debt of praife to pay j Melinda's fons the teft of greatnefs know. And on the Lufian race the palm bellow. If Titan's h giant brood with impious arms Shook high Olympus' brow with rude alarms i If Thefeus and Pirithous dared invade The difmal horrors of the Stygian fhade. Nor lefs your glory, nor your boldnefs lefs, That thus exploring Neptune's laft recefs Contemn his waves and tempefts ! If the thirft To hve in fame, though famed for deeds accurft, Could '« For a defence of the king of Melmda's learning, ignorantly objefted to by Voltaire, fee the preface. BOOK II. THE LUSIAD. g^ Could urge the caitiff, who to win a name Gave Dian's temple to the wafting flame : If fuch the ardour to attain renown. How bright the luftre of the hero's crown, Whofe deeds of fair emprife his honours raife, And bind his brows, like thine, with deathlefs bays ! END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.