1822.] 
an uncommon occurrence to find a 
pauper in a German village. From 
. the unceasing attention bestowed upon 
improving the circumstances of the 
German peasantry, neither the heavy 
calamities of the seven years’ war, nor 
of the last, have had the effect of pro- 
ducing in the country, a race of people 
burdensome to the community. 
A poor’s-rate (the canker-worm of 
England’s national welfare,) is known 
in Germany only by name. — Tithes 
(which are not, as in England, the 
property of the clergy,) are in part 
already released, or on the point of 
being so, for areasonable equivalent. 
It only remains, to add a few words 
on the condition of that class of coun- 
try labourers, who are not in the pos- 
session of land. ‘These are known by 
the name of day labourers ox domestics. 
They have the same personal privi- 
leges as all the others, and hire them- 
Fernandez Thomaz and the Portuguese Revolution.” 
135 
selves at weekly or daily wages; are 
highly in request, there never being a 
superfluity, but rather a demand for 
them. Thus all hands are occupied, 
and thence the number of the poor is 
so trifling; nor is there a shadow re- 
maining of ancient bondage, which in- 
deed seems already to have vanished 
from public recollection. 
These historical and actual facts 
are addressed to those English authors 
who, in succession, describe the Ger- 
man boors as in a state of villenage or 
slavery ; with the request that those 
gentlemen will be referred to the first 
volume of the work on Meierrecht, by 
Charles Gelenius, Wolfenbuttel 1801, 
—a truly classical work, meriting a 
translation into all languages. 
I am, my dear Count, &c. 
(Signed) 
CHARLES DE BREYMANN. 
BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT PERSONS. 
MANOEL FERNANDEZ THOMAZ and the 
PORTUGUESE REVOLUTION. 
APPY is it for a country when 
the active heroes of its liberty 
have been supported by the encourage- 
ment, and guided by the councils of 
the wise,—the generous,—the truly no- 
ble. Of such a man we are about to 
speak: of one whose clear judgment 
foresaw, whose enthusiasm led for- 
ward, and whose talents consummated 
the regeneration of Portugal. We 
mean Manoel Fernandez Thomaz, 
and let the tongue of eulogy be unre- 
strained: our affection and our admi- 
ration are united in his praise. He 
was born in the town of Figueira 
(Coimbra) in 1771. His father was 
John Fernandez Thomaz, his mother 
Maria da Encarnagao. His fathcr 
was engaged in the coasting trade, 
which gave him a sufficient income 
for the comforts of existence, and for 
the liberal education of his children. 
Many remarkable indications of su- 
perior talents distinguished the early 
life of Manoel Fernandez, and at the 
age of fifteen he was admitted into the 
University of Coimbra, and began his 
studies, not with particular diligence, 
—for he knew not the value of early 
acquirement,—but with the application 
of that natural steadiness and intellec- 
tual stren h which soon gave him 
considerable reputation in his college. 
The ecclesiastical profession in Por- 
tugal is generally a very direct road 
to distinction, when the candidate pos- 
sesses strong powers of mind; and the 
church was fixed on by several of his 
friends as the best and widest field for 
the display of his talents. He deter- 
mined to take orders; but soon re- 
nounced his mtention, and devoted 
himself wholly to forensic studies. He 
had close and confidential intercourse 
with many eminent lawyers, and im- 
bibed a decided attachment to their 
pursuits. He visited Coimbra, Lis- 
bon, and several other places inha- 
bited by individuals of established re- 
putation in juridical matters. They 
gave every encouragement to the bent 
of his mind, and he became acquainted 
with all the perplexities of the strange 
labyrinth of the Portuguese legis- 
lation. 
He then began to make a collection 
of allthe Extravagant laws which have 
been decreed by the different monarchs 
of Portugal, from the time of the 
“‘ Ordinances of the Kingdom,” made 
by D. Manoel, and sanctioned by Phi- 
lip of Spain; a work of such labour, 
perseverance, and expense, that no- 
thing but his extraordinary constancy, 
and the pecuniary assistance afford- 
ed by his generous father, could 
have brought about its completion. 
Defective the work may be, and it 
could 
