confessor and of her elder son, Dom José, who had married his aunt, Donna Maria Benedictina, completely upset the small amount of intellect possessed by Maria Francisca. It was observed in 1788 that she was quite unfit to transact any business; and in 1792, when the progress of the French Revolution was setting all Europe in a blaze, Dom John found it necessary to take the management of affairs into his hands, though he was not declared regent until 1799. To turn from the history of Portugal in the eighteenth century to the history of the Portuguese possessions in India is a melancholy task; for these possessions instead of being a source of pride were a source of expense and anxiety to the home government, and they were maintained rather from a recollection of ancient greatness and as a base for mission work than for any actual advantage derived from them. In 1739 Bassein, the “Capital of the North” as it was called, a city which had been second only to Goa in commercial and political importance, was captured by Chimnājī Apā, a Marātha general, after a three months’ siege, and with it fell Thana and all the possessions of the Portuguese on the north-west coast except Daman and Diu. In 1741 the Marāthas and the Bhonslās of Sawantwārī over-ran the country round Goa and threatened the city, but in the moment of difficulty, the Marquis of Louriçal arrived with twelve thousand men, and first defeated the Marāthas at Bardez, and then made Khem Sawant, the ruler of Sawantwārī, tributary. His successes were followed by those of the Marquis of Castello Novo, who captured Alorna, Tiracol, Neutim, Rarim, and Satari; and the Marquis of Tavora, who took Sadashivgarh.