1826. ] _ Portugal Sketches. 293 
thevsequel executed; but she escaped capital punishment by virtue of-a decree made 
hy; the late queen-mother, forbidding its infliction upon females, rm : 
° PW do'not exactly appreciate the scope and tendency of that last-regulation, 
ess perhaps’ her late Majesty of Portugal, whose intellect it is well kiiown 
avas’ Of the ‘clearest; so well distinguished the improbability of female barbers 
as to think it altogether unnecessary to make a law about them. nowelTeo he 
roWerineautiously said a short time ago that there were no stories, of love in 
-the ‘book, whliich simply arose from our not having then read it, very much /in.the 
‘manner of reviewers in general. Listen to the stories of capotes. 
The street equipment of females of the lower orders, called by them “ Capa ‘e 
engo,’\is'so' very becoming, that in the winter season it is not unfrequently adopted 
*by young ladies ;\and°as'the weather is seldom sufficiently cold to, render, fires |me- 
“eessat'y, the orily expedient which they adopt for keeping themselves warm is that,of 
Wéaring the capote in-doors. All classes of women are therefore proyided with. this 
‘article of dress, whether they wear it in public or not. , 
“Whenever a young Jady is indisposed, you see her with her eapote on; and they 
Who are habitually in ‘bad health seldom go without it. In fact, this cloak is.a covering 
for all things ; with it wrapped round them, they might be en chemise without its being 
diseernible'; ‘and in' ‘spite of the Argus-like precautions of vigilant parents, many a 
little fauz-pas is committed, the consequences of which are veiled from obseryation,by 
the happy invention of the capote, the lady protesting (and with reason) that she.is 
‘jndisposed, until the critical moment is passed. 
" Ychave informer pages endeavoured to illustrate my subject by some anecdote or 
“Other in support of my assertions: I shall therefore do the same in the present case. 
A lady, an acquaintance of mine, residing on a first-floor, observed that a young lady 
awho,/ with, her,parents, inhabited the. second-floor of the same house, had been for 
several,months complaining, sometimes of one ailment, sometimes of another; and 
Owas, \itpis needless to, say, wrapped up constantly in her capote. After a certain lapse 
,of.time,,she came down, stairs, to my friend, and throwing her arms round her neck, 
sobbed, out a confession, of |her real situation, imploring her aid, as she imagined that 
the period long dreaded was at length arrived, 
My friend, embarrassed how to act, but yielding at last to ‘compassion for the 
“unhappy girl, sent'up a request to her parents that their daughter might be allowed to 
‘Temain with her for a’ day’ or two, in order to assist her in some preparations of linen, 
&e. for charitable tisés, which she feared she should not otherwise be able to finish in 
otime:, ‘Pbhis,was.immediately granted. A sage woman was sent for, and a carrotty- 
headed little fellow soon made his appearance: when the mother exclaimed, “Oh, 
show like his father! that tall red-headed Irish friar my confessor.” 10 
»o-'The poor bantling was deposited at the Roda (foundling hospital), and the young 
_ lady soon after. left, off her capote, and resumed her dress as a “* Senhora de Corpo:”’ 
»an.expression,, by, the way, which corresponds with our term of lady, and which'is 
equivalent in rank to. that, in the other sex, of ‘‘ homen de gravata Jayada.” qe 
+? ni rates 
“A tragic occurrence shocked us, 2 page or two farther forward. , The author 
‘youches for it on his’ own authority ;—so therefore it may be looked upon as 
. 
“quite decided. rm, 
‘oo As I became acquainted with another circumstance, of a nature similar to that which 
) Dhave above related, regarding the conyenience of capotes, I shall mention it before 
T am led into any further digression. A Portuguese gentleman, returning one night 
_to Lisbon from Sacavem, heard, as he was passing near a vineyard, the moans of a 
_ female in apparent suffering. “He immediately proceeded to the spot, where he found 
‘a young and apparently lovely female in labour, who implored his assistance, which 
he unhesitatingly afforded, to the best of his power. She afterwards conjured him by 
«every: thing, that..jwas. sacred. to carry the new-born to the Roda in the city. To this 
he also, consented.,, The darkness of the night, and the care which she had taken to 
= eoneeal her features in the best, way, possible, prevented his being able to recognize her 
positively: Meoil 9d jauon 4 oms - 7 : ii {p= Aut 4 ates 
oi Buthis curiosity, however. was.so,much excited, that he followed her at a convenient 
edistauee| unperceiyed,;and saw, her enter agentleman’s quinta tot far off. “He con- 
a therefore, that .she was the daughter of the house; and he was not mistaken. 
«ihe interest which she had excited in him was so intense,—for his nation are not’ fas- 
tidious in these matters,—that fora long time -he mad pret ied his favourite Tide,“in 
_order-to-enjoy the happiness of seeing her at her window. Slie had fot the’most 
vA @ 
