The Garden in Mid-Winter 



Carlos has enjoyed the benefit of some 

 military training, but having passed the age 

 of twenty-five he is relieved from the fear 

 of service in the army. These sturdy Portu- 

 guese countrymen make very well set-up 

 soldiers. They are of great strength and 

 endurance, 'and, if somewhat excitable, gifted 

 with a certain doggedness. Wellington wrote 

 of his Portuguese troops in the Peninsula, 

 when well paid and well fed, as the " fighting- 

 cocks " of his army. 



The good manners which are so marked 

 a characteristic of the Portuguese upper classes 

 are shared by the lower. To their social 

 superiors they are respectful without servility, 

 and they are uniformly courteous to each 

 other. Servants have a pleasant way of ex- 

 hibiting; an interest in their masters' health 

 and well-being ; if I meet our cook in the 

 morning he never fails to express a hope that 

 the patron has passed a good night. A master 

 is expected to address his servants as " Vosse 

 Merce " — " Your worship " — a form of speech 

 we too often omit. 



The Portuguese master does not need Lord 

 Chesterfield's advice to his godson : " There 



73 



