William Julius Mickle

“ Shall hail Braganza: of the fairest flowers
Of Helicon, entwined with laurel leaves
From Maxen field, the deathless wreath he weaves;
Anxious alone, nor be his vows in vain!
That long his toil unfinished may remain!
The view how grateful to the liberal mind,
Whose glow of heart embraces human kind,
To see a nation rise! But ah, my friend,
How dire the pangs to mark our own descend! ”

“ In the Twelfth Century, Lisbon, and great part of Portugal and Spain, were in possession of the Moors. Alphonso, the first King of Portugal, having gained several victories over that people, was laying siege to Lisbon, when Robert, Duke of Gloucester, on his way to the Holy Land, appeared upon the coast of that kingdom. ”

“ As the cause was the same, Robert was easily persuaded to make his first crusade in Portugal. He demanded that the storming of the Castle of Lisbon, situated on a considerable hill, and whose ruins shew it to have been of great strength, should be allotted to him, while Alphonso was to assail the walls and the city. Both Leaders were successful; and Alphonso, among the rewards which he bestowed upon the English, granted to those who were wounded, or unable to proceed to Palestine, the Castle of Almada, and the adjoining lands. ”

“ The magnificent and extensive ruins of the palace of Braganza contain several hundreds of these idle people, much more wretched in their appearance than the gypsies of England. ↑ The Praça de Commercio, or Forum of Commerce, is one of the largest and most magnificent squares in Europe. Three sides consist of the Exchange and the public offices; the fourth is formed by the Tagus, which is here edged by an extensive and noble wharf, built of coarse marble. ”

“ When Albion falls, she falls to rise no more.
↑ The expedition of Vasco de Gama, the discoverer of the East-Indies, was extremely unpopular, as it was esteemed impracticable. His embarkation is strongly marked by Osorius the historian. Gama, before he went on board, spent the night along with the crews of his squadron in the chapel of our Lady at Belem, on the spot where the noble gothic church now stands adjoining the convent of St. Jerome.
In the chapel they bound themselves to obedience to Gama, and devoted themselves to death. ”

“ Thousands flocked in from the country to assist in their destruction, and the crews of some French and Dutch ships then in the river, says Osorius, were particularly active in murdering and plundering. ↑ When the Spanish yoke was thrown off, and the Duke of Braganza ascended the throne under the title of John IV. This is one of the most remarkable events in history, and does the Portuguese nation infinite honour. ↑ This description is literally just. Whole families, of all ages, are every where seen among the ruins, the only covering of their habitations being ragged fragments of sail-cloth ”

“ A motley, modern character displays,
And languid trims her long exhausted store;
Iberia's fields with rich and genuine ore
Of ancient manners wooe the traveller's eye;
And scenes untraced in every landscape lie. ”

“ The beach was covered with the inhabitants of Lisbon. A numerous procession of priests in their robes sung anthems, and offered up invocations to heaven. Every one beheld the adventurers as brave innocent men going to a dreadful execution, as rushing upon certain death." Introduct. to the Lusiad. ↑ The houses in Portugal are generally whitened on the outside, white being esteemed as repulsive of the rays of the Sun. ↑ The river of Lima, in the north of Portugal, said to be the Lethe of the ancients, is thus mentioned by Cellarius in his Geographia Antiqua ”

“ There is another Lethe of the ancients in Africa. ↑ This great man is called by Florus the Romulus of Spain. What is here said of him is agreeable to history. ↑ Ebora, now Evora, was the principal residence of Sertorius. ↑ 6.0 6.1 According to History, this different policy is strikingly characteristic of those celebrated names. ↑ Lucan, Martial, Seneca. ↑ Palmela's hill and Cintra's summits—are both seen from Almada, and were principal forts of the Moors. ”