This ridiculous boasting and inane swagger, which was a vice in the Portuguese blood in the days of Camóens, exists unchanged to the present hour, and has been disgustingly manifested in a piece called “Magriço” lately selected for the opening of the National Theatre at Lisbon, in which Spaniards and Englishmen are alike insulted. “We are not accustomed to count numbers!” was a sentiment vehemently applauded in this piece. Let the Portuguese not deceive themselves by an imagined resemblance to their forefathers; and if their historical recollections are glorious, let them endeavour practically to revive them. They should remember that it is little more than a century since their entire army ran away from the Spaniards and French at Almanza, and left their English, Dutch, and German auxiliaries in the lurch.
I. “Upon the Chofre stood the dauntless Graham,
And marked the slaughter with determined eye.”
Mas luego que los fija en el cercano
Altisimo torreon, bramando en ira
Jura rendir el enemigo muro
En general asalto y choque duro.
Campo-redondo, Las Armas de Aragon en Oriente.
“Full fifty cannon streaming death on high.”
——Le macchine ...