remain where they were. They who had nothing to ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 345.♦ give suffered the whole inconvenience of this oppressive law. ♦THEY ENDEAVOUR TO AVAIL THEMSELVES OF THE CLERGY’S INFLUENCE.♦ The French commander tried to suppress the national feeling by the influence of religion. In the village of Varatojo, near Torres Vedras, there was a famous seminary for itinerant preachers of the Franciscan order, instituted by Fr. Antonio das Chagas, a man remarkable alike for his genius, for the profligacy of his youth, and the active, austere, enthusiastic piety of his after life. Junot sent for the Guardian of this seminary, requiring his immediate attendance; the old man, in strict adherence to the rule of his order, which forbade him to travel by any other means, obeyed the summons on foot, and arrived four-and-twenty hours later than the time appointed. He was then ordered to dispatch some of his preachers, as men who possessed great authority over the people, to Leiria and into Alem-Tejo, to preach the duty of submission and tranquil obedience. The Guardian excused himself by representing that his brethren who were qualified for such a mission were already on their circuits, and that there were then in the seminary none but youths engaged in preparing for the ministry, and old men, who, being past all service, rested there ♦NEVES, IV. 61–63.♦ from their labours, in expectation of their release. ♦JULY 2.♦ The dignitaries of the patriarchal church could not so well evade his commands; a pastoral letter was obtained from them denouncing excommunication against all persons who should, directly or indirectly, either by writing, speaking, or acting, encourage the spirit of insurrection which had gone abroad. This was sent into the provinces, with a letter from the French intendant of police, Lagarde, in which the clergy ♦JULY 4.♦ and the heads of convents were informed, that wherever public tranquillity might be disturbed, they would be held responsible, because no disturbance would break out if they exerted themselves to prevent it, as the true spirit of religion required. The fate of Beja, he said, should be that of every city in Portugal which should have the guilty imprudence to revolt against the Emperor, now the sole sovereign of that country. And he asked the Portugueze, wherefore they would bring upon themselves the heavy weight of power at a moment when the Almighty authority (such was the blasphemous expression) thought only of putting in oblivion the rights of conquest, and of governing with mildness? Is it, said he, before a few handfuls of factious men ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 348–353.♦ in Portugal that the star of the great Napoleon is to be obscured, or the arm of one of his most valiant and skilful captains to be deadened? Deeply as the baneful superstition of the Romish church has rooted itself in that country, the threat of excommunication excited nothing but contempt. The French