Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-02-02
The "ENellsH PALM.
A Popular saying Taat Explain
Horiunal,s DislIIrn NJ EuuIn.,a

n foputnr saying VnRt Explains
PortoEsl's Dislike OF England.
''There are one or two things about
the Portuguese and their history" said
a former resident OF Lisbon the other
day, (which, IL seems, ought to have a
good deal of bearing in the present
state of the relations between Great
Britain and Portugal. but which nei-
Their Americans nor Englishmcn who
have never lived in Portugal are likely
to count upon.
THE feelings of the Portuguese peO-
pie about England are peculiar In
point OF plain fact the Portuguese as a
people hate England more than they
hate any other country except Spain,
and yet there has never In the whole
course OF European history been a war
between Portugal and England. The
luminosity. paradox as il may seem. oil
grows out of alliances. II is said that
the first treaty OF amity aud alliance
between the two countries was made
In the reign of Edward Ill. the father
of the Black Prince. aud John of
Gaunt That was more than 500 years
ago. John of Gaunts second wife was
Spanish princess. and his daughter
by her was the wife of John l. king Of
Portugal. and mother or Prince Henry,
the first European explorer Of the At.
lantic.
$50 much is only what may be read
in any history. How the feeling about
the English grew up i'm Portugal is a
matter of tradition, and the tradition Is
exclusively Portuguese because the
English have never troubled themselves
about the matter. The Portuguese say
that from the end of the fourteenth
century English merchants began set.
Ting at Lisbon. and that they were
much too shrewd i'm business to be pop
ular with the natives. Anyhow there
is Portuguese roIIoqulalism i'm use TO
this day by which u man who does an
other in business transaction is said
to give him the English PALM That
phrase is supposed 10 allude to some
little tslck of the English cloth mer-
chants IN the days when cloth used to
be measured 10y the breadth of the
palm of the hand.
Whatever the origin Of the expires.
sion may have been. it has been freely
applied by the Portuguese 10 conncc.
ton with several international bar
gains In which. according TO them. the
English got the better Of them. One
such was the bargain by which BON.
bay passed into the possession Of the
British crown as part of the dowry of
poor Catherine Of BraganZa. who mar.
ried Charles III. But the sorest Nom.
DRY in the history of the relations be-
tween the two countries is the conven.
ton Of Cintra. by which. they say.
England. after using Portugal as a con-
venient cockpit for the war against
Napoleon and numbers of Portuguese
as food for French powder, gave them
another English PALM
"Of course Ii is difficult historical
question how far these complaints may
be well founded. But 1t certainly is
strange to be in Lisbon when the cor.
ties is debating over some point of the
national relations with Great Britain
and TO hear and see the popular anti
British demonstrations In the streets.
while In the two chambers the debat-
ers, whatever their private feelings
may be. follow the fashion which has
prevailed In all Portuguese state and
official ustcrances for ages and sneak
of England as 'nossa feel aliada' cour
faithful ally. Dom Luis, the father
OF the present king. sent message TO
the cortes- one day all about 'uoSsa ficl
aliada,' and the next day the shop win
dows all over Lisbon were adorned
with copies of n new patriotic song en-
titled 'Delenda est Albion cAlhion
Must BE Wiped New York
Tribune.