The Sun.
London, England, 1826-12-26 00:00:00

tude; that a grateful mind is at once indebted and dis-
chaiged, and recovers its level, by a just acknowledgment
that there is no room for either commercial or political
jealousy between Great Britain and Portugal—that the
world is large enough both for Portuguese and British
Commerce ; and that Great Britain, while she has never
been wanting to her Ally in time of need, seeks no other
reward for all her exertiornk and all her sacrifices, than mte,
tual confidence ,and common prosperity. lam sure that 1
fihsfl bOightly bnderetood, by all those in whose presenee
I speakOiof only as to my meaning, but as to my motives.
The delicacy of the situation in which the local Govern-
ment of this kingdom is placed; the weight of their re-
sponsibility, and the anxiety which (as I have witnessed)
necessarily attends it, entitle them to peculiar considera-
tion. I have no fear of their disavowing the
,assurance
which I give ,-(on of their friendly disposition towards this
Meeting; and I venture, therefore, .to propose to you,
Gentlemen, in the confidence that you will receive it cor-
dially, and that your cordiality Will be duly estiMated.and
returned—' The health of their Excellencies the Gover-
nors of the kingdoin.' " .

MANNERS OF THE PORTUGUESE.

At Mafra, twenty miles from Lisbon, a friend and my-
'self had taken a ride to view the celebrated convent there,
which is the Escurial of Portugal. In the middle of a
meal we heard the bells, and instantly ran out to moss.
The congregation consisted of a' great number of men, in
thick brown cloaks, each on his knees, holding upright an
immense long stick, with a goad at the top, which stick
is a weapon, as well as a tool. Near the altar a Lady of
`Quality with her daughters were kneeling. After mass
the lady retired to her otriage, which was worse than the
worst English: hackney coach, drawn by a'yoke of oxen,
and directed by a coachman with one of the long sticks for
it whip.
On'our return to'the inn—if inn it could be called, we
overheard our landlady upbraiding the landlord for furnish-
ing us with any,refreshment, as we were heretics, but he
justilied_himself by assuring her that he was certaittwe
were Irishmen, and good Catholics, for that we left our
meal and ran to mass the moment we heard the bells : this'
silenced lier
It may appear 'somewhat knowing in the landlord, that
be should distiguish between Irish Catholics and English
heretics; but this was in consequence of the Irish soldiers,
in the British army attending mass when in Portugal,
while the. Protestant soldiers attended the regimental
Chaplain.
The noble and wealthy, might lead the way to reform,
but the majority of them are es bad as the lowest peasants.
A friend of mine had to wait on a Portuguese Marchioness,
at her quinta or country-seat. He found the Marchioness
sitting on the floor, with her head -in her mother's lap,
and her daughter's head in her own; the party was em-
ployed in combing heads, &c. A Noble Portuguese,; in
whose company I often dined, used regularly to smoke
his cigar, and spit on the floor, directly after dinner, Ond
his mother, on paying him a visit, in my presence, squat
ted herself down on the stone slab of a balcony looking.
into the public street, anti began spitting es elegantlyas
her son, which she-continued all the while she remained.
The late King of Portugal would, without scruple, when
pressed inconveniently, go to the public balcony, facing a
public square full of people, and pour out Water.. Marty
of the Nobility can neither read nor write, and I have seen
the noblest 'and the bravest of the Peers and Generals
sweating under the load of an image in a procession, with
the most fervent devotion. I also recollect a Portuguese
gentleman, who was Much more, enlightened than is coat-
mon, remarking severely 0n the superstitions of his coup-
trymen, and on the ridiculous ideas respecting a certain
image; bnt on leaving my party, his conscience twitted
him, and he anxiously observed, thet although many fool-
ish things were `certainly. said of the image, yet he feltit
a duty to observe:. that he did not disrespect the image
itself,--for that it .certainly did work miracles. These
then, are the wealthy and the Noble, who are to lead the
public opinion, and they will assuredly lead it in the di-
rection which they are bid by the priests.
But, I am falling into the anglicism myself, of talking
about public opinion—Sir, there is no public opinion in
Portugal. There is an opinion among the few, but they
are like a drop.of water in the ocean ; and as for the rest,
their opinion is the opinion of the priests; and they feel
no interest in politics except as connected with religion,
dictated by the priests, or roused by the national antipathy
ta eiery thing Spanish. Even in the eitieseven in Lis-
bon at the opera—the audience cry " Long live the abso-
lute King," or " Long live the Constitution," which ever
happens to be
,the order of the day, without caring or
thinking one moment of the merits of either.
Were Spaniards to invade Portugal, or were French-
men-to do so, they would, especially the former, have to
ebeobbter inveterate antipathy, hitt that antipathy is alto
`*ether a matter of feeling, not of Opinion : the great mass
of the common people utterly detest the French, but no.
words—no, not even the emphatic execration's of the Po t•
tuguese language, can express the awful, and even diabo-
lical hatred, and even infernal inveteracy of the people of
Portugal against every thing Spanish. Were the pseudo-
'loyalists to bring Spaniards into Portugal, they would
ruin their cause, but it is of Portuguese rebels that the
present invading army consists.
If spatilards and Frenchmen invade Portugal, we may
safely reckon that the whole Portuguese population will
rally with ardent enthusiasm around the British standard—..
aye prie:hn and

'Phis last remark is qUite correct.-1 speak from per.
!tonal observation, • The Portuguese priest and the Poi=tugtese peasant equally look on fs Spaniard as a being to
be more detested than Satan.