It has been already noted that Azurara, though he wrote under the very shadow of the Palace, was anything but a flatterer of the great; indeed, he has been accused by some of insisting too much on the defects in his heroes.[84] On the other hand, it must be confessed that he shows a marked partiality, if not a blind admiration, for D. Henrique in the _Chronica de Ceuta_ as well as in the _Chronica de Guiné_. In the former he attributes to the Prince the chief part in the capture of the city, while in the latter he shows himself ever ready to defend him from his dispraisers, and to convict of foolishness out of their own mouths the opponents of the voyages of discovery. Nay, more, he even finds an explanation for D. Henrique's neglect to defend his brother Pedro from being done to death at Alfarrobeira, a neglect which is hard to explain satisfactorily and must remain a blot on the Prince's fair fame. But this bias may readily be accounted for by the fact that Azurara passed much of his time in close intimacy with D. Henrique, and drew a great part of the information for his Chronicles of Ceuta and Guinea from that source, besides which he can hardly be blamed for the love he felt and displayed for a great and good man, the initiator and hero of modern discovery. [Footnote 84: The Azorean scholar, Dr. J. T. Soares de Sousa, calls Azurara "a clever courtier rather than a severe and impartial historian" (quoted by Dr. Theophilo Braga, in his _Historia da Universidade de Coimbra_, vol. i, p. 138); but this is certainly unjust and even untrue. K. Manoel de Mello gives a fairer estimate in the witty phrase, "Chronista antigo, tão candido de penna, como de barba."--_Apologos Dialogaes_, p. 455, ed. Lisbon, 1721.] Finally, while no serious critic would admit Azurara within the circle of great historians, few would dispute his title to be named a great Chronicler. That he was a laborious and truthful writer his pages make clear; that he could tell a simple story vividly--nay, dramatically--and that he had at times flashes of inspiration, the _Chronica de Guiné_ attests, though, even bearing this work in mind, it is easy to perceive his inferiority in the matter of style to Fernào Lopes, a point constantly insisted on by Portuguese critics. In a word, if, as Southey said, Lopes is "beyond all comparison the best Chronicler of any age or nation", it may well be that Azurara, "notwithstanding an occasional display of pedantry, is equal in merit to any Chronicler, except his unequalled predecessor".[85] [Footnote 85: _Quarterly Review_, May 1809, p. 288.] BIBLIOGRAPHY. The following is a list of Azurara's works in the order in which they were written:-- (_a_) "MILAGRES DO SANTO CONDESTABRE D. NUNO ALVRES PEREIRA."