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Duas memrias de Portalegre nos escritos de sir John Kincaid,

oficial do duque de Wellington

Our third march from Castello Branco brought us to Portalegre, where wehalted for some days.

In a former chapter, I have given the Portuguese national character, suchas I found it generally, but in nature there are few scenes so blank as to haveno sunny side, and throughout that kingdom, the romantic little town ofPortalegre still dwells the greenest spot on memory's waste.

Unlike most other places in that devoted land, it had escaped the vengeful

visit of their ruthless foe, and having, therefore, no fatal remembrance to castits shade over the future, the inhabitants received us as if we had been beingsof a superior order, to whom they were indebted for all the blessings theyenjoyed, and showered their sweets upon us accordingly.

In three out of four of my sojourns there, a friend and I had the goodfortune to be quartered in the same house. The family consisted of a motherand two daughters, who were very good-looking and remarkably kind. Ourreturn was ever watched for with intense interest, and when they could notcommand sufficient influence with the local authorities to have the house

reserved, they nevertheless contrived to squeeze us in; for when people are ina humour to be pleased with each other, small space suffices for theiraccommodation.

Such uniform kindness on their part, it is unnecessary to say, did not failto meet a suitable return on ours. We had few opportunities of falling in withthings that were rich and rare, (if I except such jewelsas those justmentioned,) yet were we always stumbling over something or other, whichwas carefully preserved for our next happy meeting; and whether they weregems or gew-gaws, they were alike valued for the sake of the donors.

The kindness shown by one family to two particular individuals goes, ofcourse, for nothing beyond its value; but the feeling there seemed to beuniversal.

Our usual morning's amusement was to visit one or other of the convents,and having ascertained the names of the different pretty nuns, we had only toring the bell, and request the pleasure of half-an-hour's conversation with oneof the prettiest amongst them, to have it indulged; and it is curious enough thatI never yet asked a nun, or an attendant of a nunnery, if she would elope withme, that she did not immediately consent,and that, too, unconditionally.

My invitations to that effect were not general, but, on the contrary,remarkably particular; and to show that in accepting it they meant no joke,

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April 13th, 1812.--Quartered at Portalegr.

DEAR PORTALEGR!

I cannot quit thee, for the fourth and last time, without a parting tribute to theremembrance of thy wild romantic scenery, and to the kindness andhospitality of thy worthy citizens! May thy gates continue shut to thineenemies as heretofore, and, as heretofore, may they ever prove those ofhappiness to thy friends! Dear nuns of Santa Clara! I thank thee for theenjoyment of many an hour of nothingness; and thine, Santa Barbara, formany of a more intellectual cast! May the voice of thy chapel-organ continueunrivalled but by the voices of thy lovely choristers! and may the piano in thyrefectory be replaced by a better, in which the harmony of strings maysupersede the clattering of ivories! May the sweets which thou hast lavishedon us be showered upon thee ten thousand fold! And may those accursed iron

bars divide thee as effectually from death as they did from us!!!

Extrado deAdventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the Peninsula, France, and The Nederlands, from

1809 to 1815