rendered him not only indifferent to all considerations merely relative to himself, but averse to all exertion on such an account, if he saw any opportunity of serving a friend, of patronizing talents, or of assisting distress, it may be truly said of him, in the words of our great dramatic bard, that on these occasions the cares of infirmity fell from him, "like dew-drops from a lion's mane," and he hastened to the scene of action with a glow of benevolence that operated with all the vigour of health, and all the spirit of youth, till he had fully accomplished his object.

Mr. Desenfans was of the middle size, with a well proportioned form. His features were regular, and strongly expressive of benevolence and penetration. There was a spirit and vivacity in his eyes that strikingly r csembled those of Mr. Garrick. His manners were courteous, affable, and attractive, the natural effect of the urbanity of his disposition. It is hardly necessary to add that his table was marked by liberal and elegant hospitality, and that his house was the resort of genius, taste, and knowledge. He proved his attachment to this country by remaining in it when Monsieur DE CALONNE, who had been his fellow student at Douay, and with whom he maintained a friendship through life, was at the head of affairs in France, and consequently could have given Mr. Desenfans, whose abilities he well knew, a situation calculated to draw them forth for his own advantage, and the interests of the French nation.

The numerous friends of this meritorious individual, and we may add, society, were deprived of him on the 8th of July, 1807. His remains are deposited in a private chapel, erected for that purpose, according to an appropriate and elegant design by Mr. SOANE, in the garden of the house where he resided in Portland Road, and where a place is reserved for his amiable relict, and also for Sir FRANCIS BOURGEOIS, who cherishes the memory of so valuable a friend with filial veneration,

It may not be improper to conclude with the following lines:

EPITAPH

ON THE LATE NOEL DESENFANS, ESQ.

When wealth and grandeur meet the common doom,
The pliant Arts adorn the stately tomb,

Plant round the place the cypress and the bay,
And Fancy adds the tributary lay,

Design'd to bid the votive stone declare,

The knowledge, wisdom, virtue, buried there.
Hence, generous Desenfans, thy friends can pay,
A ready homage to thy honour'd clay:
"Tis only by transferring fiction's strains,
To mark the sepulchre of thy remains;
And all who know thy merits will agree,
The flattery's chang'd to truth, applied to thee.

T.

MEMORANDA LUSITANICA.

THE HOUSE OF BRAGANZA.
No. V.

[Concluded from P. 272.]

A realm, which held its head among the nations,
Droops in despondence, and expects its fall.
The hour when nature, in convulsion, hurl'd
Our lofty domes and temples to the dust,

Was fraught with less calamity....

I see and hail a glorious beam, of light,
Which pierces through the darkness of the cloud,
And gives a promise of a brighter day
To great Braganza's House.

ALTHOUGH Margarita di Mantua was a princess of extraordinary judgment and abilities, yet the government of Portugal was entirely managed by Vasconcellos, the secretary of state, whose oppressions and cruelty were insufferable. Excited by the example of the Catalonians, the Portuguese determined to throw off the yoke, and disclaim obedience to the usurper. On Saturday the 1st of February, 1640, all the nobility of the kingdom, led on by the Marquis of Ferreira, and the Count of Vimiosa, took arms, and, accompanied by a great multitude of the inhabitants of Lis bon, and soldiery, came to the castle; which, being in a com manding situation, in the centre of the city, served, at the same

time, as a palace; and was then the residence of the vice-queen. On the appearance of this alarming force, the guards abandoned their posts, and they entered without opposition. At the time of their entering the castle, Vasconcellos, suspicious of some design, was employed in his chamber, writing to Madrid, and press. ing that some vigorous steps might be taken, to prevent the alienation of Portugal from Spain. The confused noise of the soldiers alarmed him, and running to enquire the cause, attended by two guards, was arrested in his progress by the Portugueze, exclaiming, "Kill the traitor, kill the enemy of Portugal;" upon which he fled, and determined to sell his life as dearly as possible; his attendants, however, being slain, and seeing no possibility of escape, he leaped from the window of his apartment, and met with that death, his conduct had so amply merited.

The Marquis of Ferreira, in the mean time, secured the vicequeen, and placed her under a guard of 200 musqueteers; he then called a council, and shortly set forth the miseries endured by Portugal under the Spanish dominion, and exciting his countrymen, by relating the valorous deeds of their ancestors, exhorted them to elect a king, nominating Don Joam de Braganza, as most worthy of the crown; a shout of public joy interrupted his address, proclaiming him king. The Duke was at his country-residence of Villa Viciosa; they therefore, in his absence, nominated the Archbishops of Lisbon and Braganza regents, who immediately entered upon their duty, and were obeyed with implicit confidence. The house of Vasconcellos alone suffered; his body also underwent all those disgraces which an infuriated populace, wronged and oppressed, could inflict, until wearied with this inhuman sport, it was, on the following day, carried by the fraternity Della Misericordia, and thrown into the burying-place of the Moors. The Marquis of Alemquer having secured the strong posts of the city, sent the soldiers to proclaim Joam in the streets; a proclamation which was greeted by the populace with universal joy.

The first messenger that was dispatched to the Duke, arrived breathless at Villa Viciosa, on the Sunday morning, before day; the Duke seemed disinclined to believe his assertions, or accept the proffered crown. But, on the arrival of the Count de Monte Santo, who came to accompany him to Lisbon, he, after a conference of two hours, made the necessary arrangements with TT-VOL. VI.*

respect to his wife and son; and immediately set out with the Count and five hundred attendants.

The Marquis of Ferreira was, in the interim, employed in reducing those forts and castles which held out for his Catholic Majesty; the Tower of Belem, and that de la Cabera, were surprised; the strong fortress of St. Julian, which protected the entrance of the Tagus, surrendered, and in a short time all the strongholds were reduced. After the surrender of St. Julian, the Marquis administered the sacrament and an oath of allegiance to the clergy, nobility, and commons; and on Thursday the 6th of February, his Majesty Don Joam de Braganza made his entry into Lisbon, hailed with those applauses which a beloved king expects from his loving subjects. The rich liveries given by the nobles, the splendour of the triumphal arches, the streets hung with tapestry, the multitudes that flocked to behold their deliverer, the magnificence of the fire-works, all proclaimed the universal joy which that day blessed the people. The multitude of spectators was so great, that although his Majesty entered into the city by noon, he did not arrive at the palace until two hours after sunset. On his arrival, his first care was to consult for the safety of the kingdom, and the reduction of those places garrisoned by the troops of his Catholic Majesty. He was crowned on the 25th of March, amid the applauses and acclamations of the people. In the square before the palace, a stage was erected, on which stood a chair of state, under a canopy of cloth of gold; about noon his Majesty came forth from the palace, in a suit of chesnut velvet, embroidered with gold, ornamented by buttons richly set with diamonds, and about his neck was a collar of immense value, whereunto hung the badge of the chief order of knighthood, the order of Christ; he wore a sword, his robe of golden cloth lined with white, wrought with gold and flowers; the sword was borne before him by the heroic Marquis of Ferreira, high constable of the kingdom, and the banner was displayed by Fernando Telles de Meneses, earl marshal; before him went D. Manrique de Silva, Marquis of Govea, steward of the household, followed by the nobles and grandees of Portugal. Having ascended the stage, and placed himself in the chair, his Majesty was crowned, and the sceptre delivered to him by the Archbishop of Lisbon, who addressed him in an eloquent speech; his majesty then proceeded to the cathedral and took the oaths.

: I have now traced the family of Braganza from their origin, up to the period of their ascending the Portugueze throne. The peace of Joam's reign was alone disturbed by some conspiracies, which threatened his person, and by the inroads of the Spaniards, the expected results of the revolution. Before his death, which happened on the 6th of November, 1656, he had the satisfaction to see Portugal in a flourishing state. He was buried at St. Vincente de Foro, with all becoming ceremonies, and universally lamented, not only by his subjects, but by those sovereigns, who had been his allies.

ENDYMION THE EXILE.

LETTER XXIII.

WHEN a man writes a book here, there is generally as much clamour excited against him, as if he had roasted a child. He is looked upon as such a Julius Cæsar in the republic of letters, that every brute, who can wield a quill, thinks it meritorious to have a thrust at him. That this should be the case on the appearance of a work of imagination, the experience of our own behaviour in France would prevent us from being surprised: we are extremely loth to allow others to be wittier than ourselves: it is a mark of prodigious wisdom to be dissatisfied, and the cut and dry jokes upon these occasions, are in such ready preservation, that it requires no ordinary good-nature to abstain from the use of them. For instance, the blank-verse lines of a sacred poem, are mere segments cut out of the Bible, and placed in parallel order, like the steps of a ladder, by means whereof the bard hopes to work miracles, like Peter, in the Tale of a Tub, and to endow himself with poetical inspiration. Pastorals are mere narcotics. Ameryllis reclines her head in slumber under a beech tree, and her reader reposes his on a mahogany table. If the writer, according to the old custom, presumes to invoke the Muse, he is reminded by the Reviewer that he has done nothing more than leaving his card at her door, and that the intimacy is not likely to extend further: and if, like the Poet GRAY, he rushes,