It was in this assembly, composed of the principal persons of the nation, that the fundamental laws, relative to the succession to the crown, were established. The first article commences as follows:--_May King Alphonso live amongst us, and reign over us!_ If he has male issue they shall be our kings; the son shall succeed his father, who in his turn shall be succeeded by his son, afterwards by his grandson; and so on to the end of time. ARTICLE II. If the king's eldest son die before his father, the second son shall succeed to the crown; in case of his death, he shall be replaced by the third, who shall be succeeded by the fourth, and, in the same manner, by all the remaining sons of the king. ARTICLE III. If the king die without male issue, and should have a brother, he shall be our king; but he shall not be succeeded by his son, unless the said son should be elected by the bishops and states, in which case, but in no other, we will acknowledge him for our sovereign. ARTICLES IV AND V. If the king of Portugal should leave no male issue, his daughter shall be our queen, provided she marry a Portugueze nobleman; who, however, shall not bear the title of king till after the birth of a male child. In presence of the queen, he shall always be placed on her left hand, and shall not be permitted to wear the regal crown. ARTICLE VI. This last law shall always be strictly observed, and the king's eldest daughter shall never espouse any but a Portugueze nobleman, lest the kingdom should become subject to a foreign prince. Should the king's daughter infringe this article and become the wife of a prince or nobleman of another country, she shall not be acknowledged queen; and this, because we will not suffer our people to be ruled by a king who was not born a Portugueze, since it is to our subjects and countrymen alone, without any foreign aid, who shed their blood in our service, and by their valour raised our country to regal dignity. * * * * * By the strict observance of the above wise laws, the crown of Portugal remained for several centuries in the possession of the royal family of Alphonso. His successors have since added greatly to the splendour and power of the kingdom, by the important conquests gained in Africa, India, and afterwards in America. The Portugueze have displayed a degree of courage and skill in the conducting these distant and wonderful enterprises, which justly entitles them to the warmest eulogiums. They have also had the glory of introducing the Christian religion into these conquered countries, where the Portugueze missionaries have greatly succeeded in making known the worship of the true God to the most idolatrous and barbarous nations. Such was the situation of Portugal about the year 1557, when the king, don Sebastian came to the throne. He was the posthumous son of don John, who died before his father, king John the IIId, who succeeded his father the great king Emanuel.