954 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



the whole in motion. They tell 

 you what they see or hear; but it 

 is no part of their plan to write 

 histories, or statistical accounts of 

 the countries through which they 

 pass. 



Mr. Semple belongs to this se- 

 cond class of travellers. He holds 

 on in his course, which is pretty 

 rapid, without stopping at any 

 place, or on any occasion, to make 

 collections or minute researches of 

 any kind. He is guided in his at- 

 tentions by taste and judgment. 

 He describes scienceSjSocieties, and 

 persons in a lively manner, and he 

 is throughout sensible, sincere, and 

 candid. In a word, this Second 

 Journey is, like the former, in- 

 teresting, amusing, and instruc- 

 tive. 



This Second Journey was un- 

 dertaken with the intention of ob- 

 serving the effects produced upon 

 Spain by the revolution. Mr. 

 Semple proceeded from Falmouth 

 to Lisbon, in the packet, in Ja- 

 nuary, 1809. He found it dull 

 and cheerless, and as much under 

 the influence of fear, as of the 

 hopes of patriotism. The state of 

 Lisbon, and the Portuguese levies, 

 he describes in the following man- 

 ner: 



" Every Englishman was well 

 aware that in case of the French 

 entering Lisbon, his properly 

 would be the first object of search 

 and confiscation, and tiiat even his 

 peaceful and mercantile pursuits 

 might not suffice to protect his 

 person from imprisonment. The 

 doubts, the suspense, the alarm, 

 the confusion which prevailed, may 

 therefore be well imagined. Whilst 

 such was the state of tlie English 

 residents, the native inhabitants 

 presented a different and more in- 



teresting spectacle. Equally in 

 suspense, equally in confusion, 

 equally anxious after every fresh 

 whisper of intelligence, they 

 were yet chained to the spot by 

 insurmountable ties, and obliged 

 to wait at their post the is- 

 sue of the contest. Hence a 

 strange mixture of passions. Rage 

 against the French who were ad- 

 vancing ; rage against the English 

 who were preparing to abandon 

 thenri. The first was open and 

 avowed ; the second secret and 

 concealed, but only waiting the 

 last moment of embarkation to 

 have displayed itself in ail its mad- 

 ness. The conflict of contending 

 passions ended in a burst of pa- 

 triotism. When it could not longer 

 be concealed that the English and 

 Spanish armies in Gallicia were re- 

 treating. When it became evident 

 that the English force in Lisbon 

 was making every preparation to 

 embark at the shortest notice ; and 

 those regiments which had marched 

 towards the frontiers were rapidly 

 retreating without having seen an 

 enemy : then the government made 

 an animated appeal to the people, 

 reminded them of the former glory 

 of the Portuguese name, and 

 called upon them to assert it. The 

 enthusiasm created by such ap- 

 peals, and by necessity, was \ery 

 great. But had the French ad- 

 vanced, it would, in my opinion, 

 have proved less fatal to them than 

 to the stragglers of the English 

 rear-guard. Happily this was not 

 put to the test. The streets, the 

 squares, the quays, were lined 

 with ranks of volunteers, whose 

 arms, equipment, and movements, 

 were most various and whimsical. 

 The greater proportion carried 

 pikti; some were armed witli 



fowling;- 



