JET. 28.] MISSION TO PORTUGAL. 345 



knowledge which he had of the king's strong pre- 

 judices ; and considered that the whole matter might 

 have been settled with a little temper and firmness. 

 He had frequent occasion to come upon the subject 

 of the Catholic system and its gross abuses, which he 

 always maintained that sensible men like Aranjo and 

 Souza viewed in the same light as we ourselves did ; 

 while the mere courtiers and the royal family, espe- 

 cially the regent, were in a state of deplorable big- 

 otry, and were ruled partly by their confessors and 

 partly by their servants. I recollect his going to see 

 the ceremony of a woman taking the veil; and on 

 that occasion he showed very little respect for the 

 solemnity when the part of it came which shows the 

 individual to the world for the last time unveiled, 

 and he had been expressing his pity beforehand on 

 so sad a thought as a young creature shut up from 

 the world. We were a good deal amused at his expense, 

 for it turned out to be an old woman not in any re- 

 spect interesting. We afterwards accused him of 

 emitting exclamations far from benedictory, and not 

 altogether suited to the place. 



He was one day referring to something which I 

 had published, and on his saying "you authors," I 

 said you used to say you lawyers, when you denied 

 having any prejudice against our craft, but still less 

 ought you to take exceptions against authors, being 

 one yourself, and of a celebrated work. He asked in 

 what way ? I told him that when I was lately in 

 Scotland, his health, I found, was given at political 



