CONTENTS. CHAP. I. Sketch of the History of Portugal, from the Earliest Period to the total Subju Pag. CHAP. II.-History of Portugal, from the In- vasion of the Goths in the Fourth Century to the Peace of 1762, in the Reign of Joseph I. 30 CHAP. III.-The History of the Army of Por- tugal, with a Continuation of the Principal Occurrences in that Kingdom from 1763 to CHAP. VI.-The State of the Civil Establish- ments of the Portuguese Army, comprehend- Pag. CHAP. VII.-A General View of the State of the Kingdom, including the State of Agri- culture, Population, Commerce, Fisheries, Manufactures, Literature, Literary Socie- CHAP. VIII.—A Sketch of the Campaigns of OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF PORTUGAL, &c. &c. &c. CHAPTER I. A Sketch of the History of Portugal, from the IN the year of the world 1792, say the early chro- Anno Mundi, nologists, Tubal the son of Japhet, and grandson of Noah, landed in the Peninsula. He founded his first city on a small neck of land, opposite the present town of St Ubes'; and the descendants of his followers spread over the whole of what is now called Spain and Portugal. Tubal, according to the same authors, lived and reigned for 163 years; and his offspring continued to direct the wander ings of the people for upwards of four centuries. A cir. 1792. A. M. cir. 2202. After the destruction of the last of this race by Gerion, a captain of banditti, and a native of Africa, in the year of the world 2202, Osiris, the son of Jupiter, and king of Egypt, reduced the colonies in the Peninsula to his subjection The improvements in agriculture introduced by Osiris, and the mild laws which he formed for the government of the wandering natives, rendered him not only an object of their highest esteem as a ruler, but of their strictest worship as a god. From the time of Osiris to the conquest of this country by the Carthaginians, a period of twelve hundred years, we find not less than twenty-five kings mentioned as holding the,supreme sway. Among these Hercules Libius,-Hispanus, from whom Spain took its name,-Lusus, from whom some derive Lusitania,-and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, are the most remarkable. As this chronology, however, is supported by no written authority, it is to be considered rather as a traditional than as a true history. Many of the present cities derive their origin from those traditionary kings. Thus it is said that Gerona was founded by Gerion, already mentioned ;-Seville, anciently Hispala, by a king named Hispalus ;Tagus, one of the descendants of Tubal, gave his name to the river;-Hercules founded Coim cir. 2883. bra; and Ulysses, during his wanderings after A. M. the destruction of Troy, married Calypso, daughter of Gregorius, king of Lusitania, and laid the foundation of the present Lisbon. It is even asserted that Homer visited the Peninsula in the suite of Ulysses; and it is disputed, whether the beautiful banks of the Mondego, or the fertile plains in Algarve, and in Andalusia, are the true Elysian fields; for so delighted was the poet with the beautiful scenery in those countries, that his picture could only be drawn from the impression which they had made upon his mind. But these fables are too ridiculous to occupy a place in grave history, although they have attracted the attention of many authors, and form the chief part of some voluminous histories of Portugal. Indeed, such is the anxiety of mankind in every country, and in every situation, to trace their origin to the highest source, that whenever true history has failed, fable has most conveniently stepped in and filled up the dreary blank. Long previous to the conquest of Spain by the Carthaginians, the Phoenicians had been in the habit of frequenting its harbours, and had established colonies on various parts of the coast 2. The object of the Phoenicians being traffic rather than conquest, they were but little acquainted with |