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were

fowling-pieces, some with bayonets screwed on poles, some with small swords, with daggers, with pistols, or with a single pistol. Here and there in the ranks seen halberts and pikes of curious and ancient workmanship, which had probably been wielded in the wars of the fifteenth century, and, after long lying in dust and darkness, were now dragged forth to light. The assortment of the men was as various as their arms. The tall and the short, the lean and the corpulent, the old man and the strippling, stood side by side. At the word of command, some turned to the right and others to the left, some parts of the line advanced while others remained stationary. In short, every thing was ridiculous except their cause, and that was most sacred.

"It is only necessary once to see these or similar levies, to be impressed with the folly of attempting to defend a country with them against a regular force. In a town or a pass they may be of great service; but in the present state of military science, a state which trusts to them in any great degree for her safety, when the hour of danger approaches, will inevitably be lost. The sure and hard test of good troops is the bayonet: how then can it be expected that new levies of citizens should stand this test, at the very first time of their seeing an enemy? and stand it they must, seeing that they have no other arms but those of hand to hand, a pike, or a halberd, or a sword.

"But the mob of Lisbon was armed, and determined to show that it was so. Every night at

least one Frenchman, or one suspected to be so, was discovered and dragged to prison, where generally his dead body alone arrived. I myself was witness to an Englishman being murdered in this manner, and strove in vain to save his life. An Englishman! you exclaim. Yes, reader, an Englishman. It was on a Sunday evening, and I was proceeding up the principal street, when having advanced a little beyond the headquarters of the English general, I heard the shoutings of a great mob. They drew nearer, and I presently found myself enveloped in a furious crowd, dragging along a poor wretch in the English dress; his countenance disfigured with blood, and hardly able to stagger along from the blows which he had received. I demanded his crime. They told me he was a Frenchman; but an English officer, who was in the crowd, exclaimed, that it was his servant, and endeavoured to reason with some who appeared as leaders of the mob. At this intelligence I made my utmost efforts to get near the unfortunate man, and just arrived in time to seize with both my hands a pike, which some brave Portuguese from behind was endeavouring to thrust into his back. I called out to the officer to assist me. He replied, it was the positive order of the general, that in all such cases no Englishman should interfere, and advised me to take care of my own life. I was in the midst of pikes, swords, and daggers, which seemed to be thrust about in all directions, as if through madness or intoxication. In spite of all my struggles, I was thrown down, and nearly

trampled

the whole in motion. They tell you what they see or hear; but it is no part of their plan to write histories, or statistical accounts of the countries through which they pass.

Mr. Semple belongs to this second class of travellers. He holds on in his course, which is pretty rapid, without stopping at any place, or on any occasion, to make collections or minute researches of any kind. He is guided in his attentions by taste and judgment. He describes sciences, societies, and persons in a lively manner, and he is throughout sensible, sincere, and candid. In a word, this Second Journey is, like the former, interesting, amusing, and instructive.

This Second Journey was undertaken with the intention of observing the effects produced upon Spain by the revolution. Mr. Semple proceeded from Falmouth to Lisbon, in the packet, in January, 1809. He found it dull and cheerless, and as much under the influence of fear, as of the hopes of patriotism. The state of Lisbon, and the Portuguese levies, he describes in the following man

ner:

"Every Englishman was well aware that in case of the French entering Lisbon, his property would be the first object of search and confiscation, and that even his peaceful and mercantile pursuits might not suffice to protect his person from imprisonment. The doubts, the suspense, the alarm, the confusion which prevailed, may therefore be well imagined. Whilst such was the state of the English residents, the native inhabitants presented a different and more in

teresting spectacle. Equally in suspense, equally in confusion, equally anxious after every fresh whisper of intelligence, they were yet chained to the spot by insurmountable ties, and obliged to wait at their post the issue of the contest. Hence a strange mixture of passions. Rage against the French who were advancing; rage against the English who were preparing to abandon them. The first was open and avowed; the second secret and concealed, but only waiting the last moment of embarkation to have displayed itself in all its madness. The conflict of contending passions ended in a burst of patriotism. When it could not longer be concealed that the English and Spanish armies in Gallicia were retreating. When it became evident that the English force in Lisbon was making every preparation to embark at the shortest notice; and those regiments which had marched towards the frontiers were rapidly retreating without having seen an enemy: then the government made an animated appeal to the people, reminded them of the former glory of the Portuguese name, and called upon them to assert it. The enthusiasm created by such appeals, and by necessity, was very great. But had the French advanced, it would, in my opinion, have proved less fatal to them than to the stragglers of the English rear-guard. Happily this was not put to the test. The streets, the squares, the quays, were lined with ranks of volunteers, whose arms, equipment, and movements, were most various and whimsical. The greater proportion carried pikes; some were armed with

fowling

fowling-pieces, some with bayonets screwed on poles, some with small swords, with daggers, with pistols, or with a single pistol. Here

and there in the ranks were seen halberts and pikes of curious and ancient workmanship, which had probably been wielded in the wars of the fifteenth century, and, after long lying in dust and darkness, were now dragged forth to light. The assortment of the men was as various as their arms. The tall and the short, the lean and the corpulent, the old man and the strippling, stood side by side. At the word of command, some turned to the right and others to the left, some parts of the line advanced while others remained stationary. In short, every thing was ridiculous except their cause, and that was most sacred.

"It is only necessary once to see these or similar levies, to be impressed with the folly of attempting to defend a country with them against a regular force. In a town or a pass they may be of great service; but in the present state of military science, a state which trusts to them in any great degree for her safety, when the hour of danger approaches, will inevitably be lost. The sure and hard test of good troops is the bayonet: how then can it be expected that new levies of citizens should stand this test, at the very first time of their seeing an enemy? and stand it, they must, seeing that they have no other arms but those of hand to hand, a pike, or a halberd, or a sword.

"But the mob of Lisbon was armed, and determined to show that it was so. Every night at

least one Frenchman, or one suspected to be so, was discovered and dragged to prison, where generally his dead body alone arrived. I myself was witness to an Englishman being murdered in this manner, and strove in vain to save his life. An Englishman! you exclaim. Yes, reader, an Englishman. It was on a Sunday evening, and I was proceeding up the principal street, when having advanced a little beyond the headquarters of the English general, I heard the shoutings of a great mob. They drew nearer, and I presently found myself enveloped in a furious crowd, dragging along a poor wretch in the English dress; his countenance disfigured with blood, and hardly able to stagger along from the blows which he had received. I demanded his crime. They told me he was a Frenchman; but an English officer, who was in the crowd, exclaimed, that it was his servant, and endeavoured to reason with some who appeared as leaders of the mob. At this intelligence I made my utmost efforts to get near the unfortunate man, and just arrived in time to seize with both my hands a pike, which some brave Portuguese from behind was endeavouring to thrust into his back. I called out to the officer to assist me. He replied, it was the positive order of the general, that in all such cases no Englishman should interfere, and advised me to take care of my own life. I was in the midst of pikes, swords, and daggers, which seemed to be thrust about in all directions, as if through madness or intoxication. In spite of all my struggles, I was thrown down, and nearly

trampled

my crossing the Guadiana. It was not a mercenary attention, which flies to execute your orders with the prospect of to-morrow's gain; but a grateful eagerness, which convinced me more and more how deeply the services which England had rendered to Spain were here imprinted upon every bosom. Such are the advantages which nations derive from acting on great and generous principles. The feelings not only of these peasants, but of the great mass of Spanish peasantry, will survive many a political storm, and remain true to England, at a period too distant for us yet to form hypotheses upon. The peasantry of all countries form the true basis of their strength. Their prejudices are strong, generous, and obstinate; and amid the fall of thrones, and the puerile vacillations of emperors and kings, it is at least grateful to reflect, that the peasantry of the peninsula, are in these respects, decidedly English. It may, perhaps, be said with truth, that England alone can destroy these favourable prejudices.

"The family at Monasterio, as usual, supped after me; and I observed with pleasure the children repeating their prayers, and kissing their hands to their parents before retiring to bed. This was not the first time that I was struck with the many points of resemblance between the generality of the Scottish peasants and those in many parts of Spain. The dark caps of the peasants of Sierra Morena, the uniformity of their dress, many of their dishes, the interior arrangement of their houses, the domestic manners of their women, their looks, their air, their gravity mixed with a dry humour, and an un

feigned spirit of piety, all tend to remind us of many of the most prominent features in the character of the Scottish peasantry. I once made the same remark to a wellinformed Spaniard at Madrid, on some of the peasants whom I observed to arrive there from various provinces. Undoubtedly,' he replied, in all the spirit of a true Spaniard, do you not know, that we have formerly sent colonies to Scotland?'

"Four hundred men of the second battalion of Cantabria were quartered here. The first batta

lion, they told me, was with the army; and in talking on these subjects, I found that an English regiment, the fortieth, which had lately passed along this road, on its way to Sevilla, was the theme of universal admiration. What chiefly excited the astonishment, and almost the envy, of the Spanish recruits, seemed to be the dress and accoutrements of that regiment; nor could they avoid contrasting their own miserable dress and scanty pay, with those of their new allies. The women were particularly charmed; and the musicians, with their hats dressed round with feathers, had, I found, made a deep impression on every heart. The death of general Moore, and the embarkation of the English, was not yet known here, even to the best informed. A French emigrant of the revolution, married in Spain, and an officer of some rank in the Spanish army, visited me, and was now, for the first time, informed of these important events. The miserable system of keeping the people in a state of ignorance, as much as possible, is still as strongly persisted in by the govern

ment

handed me a chair, while a fourth stretched my wet gloves on his hands, and held them over the fire. After an hour's rest I set off, accompanied by many good wishes. From Maimona to Fuente de los Cantos the distance is four leagues, and the country is in a higher state of cultivation than any spot between this and Elvas. On both sides of the high road the fields were green with rising corn, thickly interspersed with olive-trees, and the whole presented the charming prospect of a rich plain of great extent, bordered all round by romantic hills. As we approach Fuente de los Cantos, we have a clear view of the town of Bienvenida, at the distance of about five miles to the north-east, apparently a place of considerable note, and situated at one extremity of the great plain near the gorges of the mountains, towards Llerena. On this road, I, for the first time, observed a considerable number of narrow waggons, with two wheels, and drawn by two mules. By means even of these clumsy waggons, two mules dragged at least as much as six could carry: yet such is the force of hereditary customs, that, together with these, I saw droves of mules and asses loaded with articles of the same kind, and conducted by muleteers. The peasantry in general seemed remarkably stout, although not tall, and their dress was almost uniformly of a dark brown. In four hours I reached Fuente de los Cantos, apparently nearly equal in size to Maimona, and surrounded by cultivated fields, and plantations of olive. The curiosity of the inhabitants of Fuente seemed even stronger, if possible, than what I

had witnessed at Maimona; and the lively and handsome appearance of the women was particularly striking. Here I found little to detain me. It wanted still more than an hour of sun-set, and I set off for Monasterio, another post of three leagues distant. A little boy was my guide, and so young that I felt him as if placed under my protection. After proceeding about a league from Fuente de los Cantos, the country becomes interesting, and gradually increases in interest as we approach Monasterio. The small, barren, and regularly rounded hills, give way to heights of various forms, and to chains of lofty mountains, the summits of which are only at intervals perceptible through the driving clouds. We begin to discern small woods in the hollows, on the sheltered slopes of the mountains, and on both sides of the road are scattered various species of the oak, the elm, the cork-tree, and the wild olive. From Abuera, or even perhaps from Badajoz, and the Banks of the Guadiana, we have been constantly, but imperceptibly ascending until now, when it is evident that we are approaching towards the highest ridge of the Sierra Morena, which, in this direction we have to pass. We make a descent to arrive at Monasterio. I arrived there about an hour after sunset, and for the first time since leaving Badajoz, was challenged by the guard of the place, and asked for my passport. In this, however, they were easily satisfied; and I was speedily conducted to the post-house, where I again met in every individual the same eagerness to oblige an Englishman which I had uniformly observed from the first moment of

my

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