2940 Portugal, Sketches» (Sere, 
distantidea|thatJjre,,was the person who had rendered, her sq essential a service, a bs 
she therefore concluded that no being was acquainted with the shame to ae As Jt. 
aftexwards, aved, the, villany.of her confessor had exposed. her,.... oft. cod WT 
othepgent eman’s addresses. were. therefore fayoura aly. received, and: she was, n 
afterwards united to, him, About a twelyemonth after their marriage, she. was b, 
to,present;him with the first pledge of their. Jove, and every, anxious. preparation. was... 
made.for the eyent,,..But her caprices were so many and so great that, Pa 
the tenderest solicitude ; and after having in vain endeavoured.to satisfy. every stra 
fancy.and whim, with all the devotion which the most. indulgent, of hsp ae 
evince, he was atlast provoked beyond patience to exclaim, that ‘* she had. 
less, serupulous when he assisted her in the vineyard,”’. This indiscreet. an peritim y., 
sarcasm. at; so. critical a moment had a fatal effect :—it threw her into violent con 
vulsions,, under which she expired, leaving him Jong to lament the imprudence ang 
rash irritation of a moment. 
‘It is really with difficulty that we restrain our tears over'such a piteous tale 
—the delicacy of the husband, and the sensibility of the lady, appear to be so’ 
peculiarly marked, that they render it one of the most * molloncholy” tales on’ 
record, and only inferior to the catastrophe of the falcon, as narrated by fine: 
Cornwall. 
of Iigbon Bile 
“The Lisbon negroes keep all their chureh-festivals with the greatest possible abe 
and with as much burlesque mummery as those whose imitators they are. © ; 
The plate’ before us represents a deputation of the brotherhood’ of Nossa Senbiow 
a ‘Atalaya, i in the act of raising the wind for the feast of that saint. One of the’ troop 
carries an image of the infant J esus, seated on a chair, and ornamented with tinsel and 
ribbons. "This he tenders to the by-passers, who almost invariably kiss its feet, having 
first ‘taken off their hats, and then drop a copper donation into the bag.’ The i image 
is often handed all over every house in the streets through whieh’ the troop passes : 
most individuals, particularly the females, bemg'anxious to shew their pious” ta otiom 
for the sacred original, in thus caressing his infantine similitude. 
The reader will observe, that the child is of the’ same colour’ as’ he who ehitiebs at 
about to cater for its mother’s feast:—this is easily accounted for. ‘The sume feeling, 
which induces Europeans to attach ideas of superiority and advantage to those of theit 
owyn| colour; operates with negroes in favour of theirs; so that not only cannot they 
persuade, themselves that the Deity would condescend to assume any earthly form but 
that) of a negro, but they also fully believe that the devil is of our colour, and they 
represent, him accordingly. 
he lower orders of Portuguese have pretty much a similar feeling’ regarding” the 
birth- lace of our Lord. They would be ready to tear any individual to jetes wlio’ 
should téll them that Jesus wore the earthly semblance of a Jew; or’that ‘Bethlehem 
wis’ not’ somewhere or other in Portugal. So gross and universal, but a short time 
since, was the ignorance of all classes, that I am not quite clear whetheryi in® the ‘days 
ofthe Inquisition, that tribunal would not have pursued with its utmost rigour any 
one:who had dared to attribute Jewish extraction to the Saviour of marikindss bovors 
The virgin, in the character of our Lady of Atalaya, is,painted also black, but for, 
this the negroes imagine an excuse in the book of Canticles* ; and they are not singular 
in this portraiture, since many French Catholics agree with them, and believe that the 
Virgin was by birth an Ethiopian. But I cannot account for their attributing that 
colour to the Bacchus of the papal church:—that bon vivant and patron of jolly 
fellows, saint Antonio de Lisboa; who besides being a thorough-bred Portuguese, is 
still moreover bore, updn me. staff of the ational army, howev er incredible the 
thirst for aieorephilicn of BS ey which so 5 Se Ouee characterizes every departchaae of 
the Roman catholic church, induced the clergy of Lagos to petition government not 
long since to promote S. Antonio to the rank of field-officer, in order that the revenue 
of his chapel might be augmented by this increase of pay. But the government had 
too many live sinners to support to have any thing to spare for dead saints; and not- 
withstanding tae important services alleged to have been rendered to the state by the 
* Nigra sum sed formosa, filia Jerusalem, &e. See in the Vulgate. Cant. Cantico- 
rum, cap. i. y. 5. : 
