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to cram my handkerchief into my mouth to fuppress a laugh, or at least fo to ftifle it as to avoid obfervation. In fhort, they were difputing violently, and the beards were, as I once before mentioned ro you, all wagging. I became more convulfed with mirth; and my friend feeing that I was likely to give offence, took me under the arm and hurried me out of the coffeehoufe; we retired into a porch in the caravanfera, where I gave vent to my suppressed laughter tili my fides were fore and my eyes ran tears.

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and marked with fuch grotefque lines of humour-he related it moreover with fo much wit, in fuch admirable language, and embellished and enforced it with fuch appropriate action, utterance, and emphafis-that it riveted, as you faw, the attention of all his auditors, and extorted laughter even from Turkish gravity.'

'But how came he to break off fo fuddenly?' faid I.

That,' returned my friend, is a part of the art of his profeffion, without which he could not live: just as In the name of God; my friend? he gets to a most interesting part of said I, tell me what is the meaning the ftory, when he has wound the of all that extravagant scene to which imagination of his auditors up to the we have just now been witnefs? who highest climax of expectation, he puris that madman that fpoke fo much? pofely breaks off to make them eager and why did they all quarrel after he went away?'

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Come, come,' faid he, let us retire to my houfe, and I will there explain the whole of it to you, from beginning to ending.'

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for the reft. He is fure to have them all next day, with additional numbers who come on their report, and he makes his terms to finish the story.” Why then,' faid I, did they who remained behind fall difputing? I accordingly accompanied him That I will explain to you,' faid home, where we found a very gay he. < Juft as he broke off, Caffem, circle affembled, to whom he def- the mifer (who, as far as I heard, cribed my aftonishment; recounting feems as well drawn as Moliere's my immoderate laughter, till they all Avare) having already suffered a thoulaughed very nearly as immoderately fand whimsical misfortunes and dilaas myfelf. You must know,' faid pidations of fortune, is brought before be, addreffing himself to me, that the cadi for digging in his garden, on ke whom you took to be a madman, the prefumption that he was digging is one of the most celebrated com- for treasure. As foon as the hiftorian pofers and tellers of ftories in Afia, was gone, they firft applauded him, and only wants the aid of printing, to and than began to discuss the storybe perhaps as eminent in reputation which they one and all agreed in for making Contes, as Marmontel or praifing highly; and when they came Madame D'Anois. As we paffed to talk of the probable iffue of the fealong I heard his voice, and, know- quel of it, there were almost as maing it, refolved to let you fee him, ny opinions as there were men in comand brought you in for the purpofe. pany; each maintained his own, and He was entertaining the Company they went to loggerheads, as you faw, with a very curious, interesting, and about it-when the chance is a thoucomical ftory; the fubject of which fand to one, that not one of them was was avarice; the hero a mifer of the near the mark. One in particular furname of Caffem. His mifery and ava- mised that Caffem would be married rice are represented in it as bringing to the cadi's daughter; which gave him into a variety of ferapes, which great offence to fome, and roused waste his wealth; and his character is another of the company to declare, drawn with fuch ftrength of colouring, that he was well affured in his con ..Ed. Mag. Jan. 1796.

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• C'est vrai, monfieur! and thereby they demonftrate the power of the poet (for poet we may well call him); and entre nous, I doubt whether it is not more rational, as well as more fair, to difpute what the denouement ought to be before, than after the inventor of the piece has difpofed of it, as is the practice with us, When he has once finished his fable, you will find them all content, and the voice of criticifm filent. Now in France or England, our critics lie perdus, in order to attack the poet, let him finifh his performance how he may. But you will recollect, monheur, that in Turkey criticism is the honeft fpontaneous iffue of the heart,

and with us is a trade, where fome. times lucre, fometimes vanity, but oftener than both, envy and malice dis rect the decifion, and difpofe to cavil and cenfure.

But we will go again to-morrow; continued he, probably he will be there to conclude or proceed further with his ftory ;' I agreed to this, and we parted.

On the next day we went, and not feeing the orator in his place, lounged about the caravanfera, and going to another coffee-houfe found him de claiming with all his might. My friend told me that the ftory he was now on was quite different from the former: however we watched his motions fo effectually that we got the conclufion of the story of Caffem, which completely disappointed the prognostics of the two conflicting Turkish critics; for Caffem was neit ther baftinadoed, staked, or hanged, nor married to the cadi's daughter, but lived to fee that extreme avarice was folly; and to be fenfible that to make the proper use of the goods of this life is to enjoy them.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PORTUGUESE.

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[FROM MURPHY'S TRAVELS; CONCLUDED FROM F. 448 OF OUR LAST NUMBER.] SHORT time before I left Lif bou I dined at a Spanish or dinary, near the convent of St Francis, in company with a gentleman who was a native of Malta, and a knight of that order. The univerfality of his information, and liberality of his remarks, induced me to requeft his opinion refpecting the Portuguese. These are his obfervations on that head, as nearly as I can recollect:

There are no people in Europe, Sir, whofe real character is lefs known than those of Portugal; for as their language is but little ftudied, or understood, our knowledge of

them is derived chiefly from the Spanish writers, and a Spaniard is rarely known to fpeak favourably of the Portuguefe. The latter, on the contrary, whatever might be their real opinion of the former, are induced by the precepts of Chriftian charity to fpeak refpectfully of them. Of this we have a ftriking inftance in Jofeph Texera, a Portuguese friar of the Dominican order. This friar lived in the fixteenth century, and was confeffor to don Antonio, heir prefumptive to the crown of Portu gal, whom he followed into France. He there declared from the pulpit, in one of his fermons, that we are bound

in duty to love all men, of what ever religion, fect or nation, even the Caftiliaus.

From the political enmity which for ages have fubfifted between the two rival powers, it is probable that the accounts we receive of the Portuguese through the medium of the Spaniard are not altogether to be depended upon. On the other hand, if we take the character of the Portuguese from the native writers, we fhall imagine they poffefs not only all the good qualities in existence, but are exempted from all the bad ones, This is like a painter vainly attempting to produce a fine picture without fhadows.

From the best information I can collect, the ancient Portuguese have been a brave, active, and generous people. At a time when the other nasions of Europe were funk in floth and ignorance, they were employed in propagating Christianity, in extirpa. ting infidelity, and enlarging our knowledge of this sphere,

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Neceffity, the parent of action, was the fource of all their great enterprises; attacked on one fide by a powerful and reftlefs neighbour, on the other by the Moors, who had long infested the country, their incurfions and confpiracies required the exertions of every finew of the ftate to preferve its independence. At length the horde of infidels were expelled, and the pride of the Caftilians humbled.

the modern difcoveries in naviga, tion.

The Lufitanian foldiers were brave and hardy, inured to all the hardships of war, fatigue, hunger, and thirft, which they bore with great patience in the hotteft climates, In the field their courage bordered on rafhnefs; their natural impetuo fity could never be reftrained even by the moft rigid military difcipline; they were too ambitious of fignaliz ing their valour out of the ranks, by which they fometimes caufed their defeat in deranging the order of bat tle; but when they fought in a phalanx, the enemy found them invinci ble.

The riches of Afia, the relaxa tion of difcipline, together with the ignorance and rapacity of the gover nors of India, at length corrupted the manners of the foldiers, and defaced every trace of their ancient character.

Every department of the state was haftening to ruin, when king Sebaftian afcended the throne; in him, as their laft refuge, were centered the hopes of the people; and the tokens of vir tue and courage he had given them in the early part of his life, feemed to promife the accomplishment of their expectations; he certainly inherited a great portion of the valour of his ancestors, though time evinced that he poffeffed but very little of their prudence. No prince was ever more enamoured with a love of fame, nor fought a more indirect road toward the attaining of it. The happinefs of his people is what conftitutes the real fame of every monarch; yet this was the leaft of Sebaftian's purfuit. The vain-glory of excelling in arms occupied his fole attention, and that glory he promifed to himself in the plains of Africa: but, alas! he, and the greater part of thofe who accompanied him thither, found there not laurels, but an untimely grave. Pa

In the reign of John the firft, when the Portuguefe found themfelves fecure from foreign or domef tic foes, their troops then inured to fatigue, their captains, animated by military fame, pursued the barbarians into Africa. Their contefts in this quarter, though unprofitable, and almost ruinous to the ftate, were ultimately attended with confequences very fortunate for the powers of Europe; as they diffused a spirit of enterprise which afterward led to all

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"The death of this prince would have been the lefs regretted, if he had not left a fucceffor to fill the throne who was in the decline of life and understanding, without energy, without abilities to heal the bleeding wounds of his expiring country. Providence, apparently, feeing its diffolution ap proach, fent a cardinal king to give it the dying benediction. Thus we find that ftates, like individuals, have their infancy, maturity, and decline; and what is not a little remarkable of this, it commenced with a Henry, and with a Henry it expired. The first was a hero and a statesman, the latter poffeffed neither of these qualities, nor fupplied the want of them by his wildom.

́ Philip the second now appended the crown of Portugal to that of Spain. It had been the invariable policy of this prince, and of his fucceffors, to render Portugal fubfervient by redu cing its refources, which they were carrying into effect every day, till at length the Portuguese, no longer able to bear the chains of their foreign maffers, revolted; and, by their refolution and unanimity, fupplied the want of forces in cafting off their bondage; and ever fince, the kingdom is gradually advancing to profperity under its native and lawful fovereigns.

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It is evident, however, that the advancement of the country is by no means proportionate to its vaft refources, nor is the ancient military fpirit of the people yet revived. Some remains of the courage of their ancestors may still linger among them; but the contempt in which they hold the profeffion of arms is fufficient to extinguish every spark of military en terprise. For feveral years past they have admitted officers into the regi ments of infantry without talents or education, whofe ignorance multiplied abufes and relaxed difcipline. The abuse at length advanced to that degree, that officers were appointed

from among the domestics of noble families. When count de Lippe was appointed commander in chief of the forces of the kingdom, he endeavoured to establish the dignity of the profeffion. One day he happened to dine with a Portuguese nobleman, who was a colonel in the fervice; one of the fervants who attended at table was dreffed in an officer's uniform: on enquiry, he found this attendant was a captain in a regiment of ins fantry; on which the gallant commander immediately rose up and infitted upon the military 'fervant's fit ting at table next himself.

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It has always been the policy of the wifeft generals to preferve a de gree of honourable dignity in the army; for pride is as commendable in a foldier as humility in a priest ; but fervility and military spirit are incompatible. This was the count de Lippe's maxim: and fuch was his zeal for the honour of the profession, that he declared openly it was a difhonour to an officer not to demand; or refuse to give, fatisfaction for an offence.

Since the reign of Joseph the first, there has been a great change for the better, not only in the army, but in almost every other department of the ftate.

When that prince afcended the throne, agriculture and manufactures were fo much neglected, that the people depended upon foreign nations for food and raiment; the arts were defpifed, and the revenues unproductive. The English, pursuant to the Methuen treaty, fupplied the Portuguefe with woollen cloths, in exchange for which they were to receive the wines of the country. The encouragement held out by this treaty for the growth of wine, and the facility which long experience has given the Portuguese in that branch of husbandry, induced the farmers to neglect the cultivation of corn, and convert their fields into vineyards;

thus

thus the grape increased in proportion as the grain diminished.

chains of flavery, he published an diet, whereby the inhabitants of Brazil, and of the other colonies appertaining to the crown, were to be reftored to their freedom, and to enjoy the fame immunities as the natives of Portugal. An act so replete with juftice and humanity, is fufficient to expiate many of the political fins imputed to the marquis de Pom

This was partly the ftate of Por tugal when king Jofeph appointed Senhor Carvalho, afterward marquis de Pombal, his prime minifter. The administration of this great statesman forms an epoch in the annals of Portugal. He endeavoured, and not in vain, to direct the attention of the people to their real interest; the land-bal, and is a lafting honour to Portu holders were compelled to diminish their vineyards, and appropriate a third part of them to grain and other fpecies of culture. This wife regulation was attended with fuch falutary effects, that to this day it is confidered one of the most beneficial acts of his adminiftration.

As the natural refult of agriculture is population, he prepared employment for the rifing generation, by establishing manufactories of different kinds; induftry thus excited, the country began to wear a new face: the merchant engroffed the trade heretofore carried on by foreigners, and the farmer fed and clothed himself and his family with the produce of his native foil,

The marquis efforts, thus far crowned with fuccefs, urged him to further exertions; he endeavoured to propagate a fimilar spirit of induf try among the colonifts, who had long felt the inertia of the mother country. But knowing how vain it was to expect either activity or induftry from a people groaning with the

gal, which was the first among the modern nations of Europe that enflaved mankind, and the first that fet the humane example of their emancipation. It was alfo the first that taught Europe navigation and com merce upon a comprehenfive scale: had not prince Henry exifted, we fhould not, probably, have ever heard of Columbus.

"It is to the difcoveries of the Portuguese in the old world (fays Voltaire) that we are ins debted for the new." They were, in fact, the firft that explored the coaft of Africa, that fuggefted the existence of the western world, and difcovered the road to India. A peo ple who have been thus early in fo many enterprising pursuits, and exhaufted their vigour when most of the furrounding nations were but waking from their flumber, might reasonably be allowed to take a refpite. They are now but commencing their career anew; and it must be left to time to determine whether they will ever more re-establish the once refpectable name of Lufitanians.'

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