Viewed in relation to the whole of Portuguese literature, romantic prose continued nearly on the same footing on which it long had stood. It maintained its ground; but it was long after the death of Rodriguez Lobo before any more distinguished writer in this class of composition arose. With regard to invention, however, some of the Portuguese romances of the seventeenth century are not without merit. This praise is due to a work written by Matheus Ribeyro, a priest, who did not scruple to publish his name on the title-page, together with an enumeration of all his ecclesiastical dignities. This romance, which is entitled, “Retirement from Care, or the Life of Carlos and Rosaura,”[325] is not wanting in adventures both by sea and land. The style, however, is that of the old romance, with all its excrescences, and is particularly fantastical in the descriptive passages. But a more elegant and far more valuable production of fancy now demands some notice. That this work was written with the view of opposing fantastic ornament in polite literature, and of assisting to restore a more natural and dignified spirit and style, would never be suspected from its affected title, which, stripped of its antiquated form, means, as far as it can be rendered intelligible, “The elegant Evening Party, or the Improvement of Bad Manners.”[326] On the title-page, and at the close of the dedicatory address, the author styles himself Felix da Castanheira Turacem. No information respecting him, beyond what his work affords, seems to have been preserved; but from that it may be concluded that he was a man who moved in the more elevated and polished ranks of society. The bad custom which he particularly condemned was an improper extension of the liberty taken at the season of the carnival in Lisbon. To present a picture of a more elegant and noble style of social entertainment, he contrasts the sprightly conversation of the company, whose manners he describes, with the licentious tricks of the carnival (_entrudo_.) The plan of Castanheira’s work is similar to that of Rodriguez Lobo’s “Court in the Country;” but the composition possesses a higher degree of romantic interest. In the party which Castanheira assembles, beautiful women play prominent parts; and between them and the young gentlemen who most contribute to the entertainment, attachments are formed which cross and oppose each other. The characters by turns sing, play, tell stories, and converse. The composition is, upon the whole, equally graceful and natural; but the execution is in many passages less successful. Castanheira, particularly where he begins to describe, is often drawn unconsciously into the stream of Gongorism and Marinism, though it appears that he was really anxious to separate himself completely from the partisans of these styles. That this was his most serious determination, is obvious from his spirited preface, in which he acknowledges that he does not calculate on a very favourable reception