and companion Capt. Graham. He was attached to the 21st Portuguese Regiment, quartered in a large convent half-way between Leomil and Lamesso; and here, for the first time, I had a full specimen of the manners and habits of the priesthood of Portugal. I had, it is true, met them occasionally before, and always found them pleasant, agreeable companions; but I had little idea of the depraved state they lived in until I became, in a manner, an inmate of the convent where my friend was quartered.

Dinner was about to be announced when some five or six priests entered, each carrying uuder his arm a small pig-skin of wine. They were all merry gay lads, and looked as if they had which I have no doubt of tasted the contents of their fardau. All were agreeable men; they talked upon all subjects; but the fair sex "had the call." My friend asked where the others were who had promised to come. He was told they were on duty; but what that "duty" was I could not exactly define. Be this as it may, dinner was scarcely over when three monks entered the apartment. One, who seemed to be the provider, was loaded with an enormous pig-skin of wine, which he carried on his back; and so soon as the door was flung open, he, with some difficulty, placed it in a corner, and then, with his two companions, joined our festive board.

Now, at the time I am speaking of, I was a very young lad. I had, nevertheless, seen something of the world; I had mixed in society, high and low; I had read books-some of them moral; some, the contrary; but in all that I had ever seen, read, or heard of, I never could suppose that, amongst any set of men-much less priests, so great a scene of blackguardism could be amalgamated together as I witnessed on this night. Songs of the most indecent kind were sang, attitudes of the most indelicate nature were resorted to, in order to give effect to those songs: but still the fellows were so pleasant, that, if you could forget they were priests, it would have been well enough; but it is disgraceful to see men in this calling adopt the manners and habits of the most profligate; by which means they not only disgrace themselves, but the religion they profess.

It was, as well as I remember, for then I could not be exact as to the hour,-about four o'clock in the morning when a summons reached the "high priest" that "mass" was to be performed, and the "Host" carried to the dwelling of some person that was dying. The evening's, or rather morning's, work was thus interrupted, and all those on duty were obliged to scamper off. However, those who were not on the muster-roll remained; and we were about to begin the morning, when a Serjeant of Graham's regiment entered, and told him-he being on duty-that the "Host" was about to pass, and that the guard was already drawn out to pay it those honours which were exacted from them.

It may be here necessary to remark, that in Portugal the troops not only "present arms" to the "Host," but fall down on their knees as it passes. This order was strictly enforced by Lord Wellington, so far as regarded the British troops, with the exception of kneeling. I was once on duty, when a procession passed, and the man who was at the head of it, fulfilling, I suppose, the functions of some saint, was neither more or less than the blacksmith that shod my mules! I, as a matter of course, presented arms with my guard, but the fellow laughed so immoderately, that he was near being unhorsed.

When Graham turned out his guard to receive the "Host," and his quondam friends, the "Headsman" was so intoxicated as he passed, that he nearly fell downright on the troops that were arrayed to pay him due honour.

This picture of the Romish priesthood in Portugal, may be supposed by many to be an exaggerated one; but it is no such thing. What I have written is true, and those men I met with in this convent were most indubitably the gayest set of drunken fellows I ever associated with before or since.

I left the convent the next day; my head was confused from the liberal potations of wine which I drank, but the priests were as steady as rocks, and ere we all parted, they gave me a friendly invitation to pass a week with them; but I had not time to do so, and I never saw them again, nor is it likely I ever shall.

I took leave of my old regiment, and, with two hundred and sixty-five dollars in my pocket, bent my way towards Lisbon. My old friend D'Arcy accompanied me, and my man, Dan Carsons, took charge of our baggage-mule, which carried our kits. This, indeed, was a sort of sinecure to him; for, to say the truth, we were not overstocked with much extras.

Little occurred worthy of notice until we reached Lisbon, and there we met with our companion, Simon Fairfield, so well known to the army. Maurice Quill was also there, and as they were both, like ourselves, waiting for a passage home by the first fleet that was to leave the Tagus for England, we thought we could not do better than "club" together.

It was a rare circumstance to meet two such characters, and our time passed away agreeably in learning those anecdotes which have been told of both. Much has been related of Quill, but Fairfield was immeasurably his superior on some points. In the first place, he sang beautifully, while Maurice could not sing at all; and if Quill possessed that extraordinary humour, which it is so well known he did, poor Simon Fairfield was an overmatch for him as a punster.

Our stay in Lisbon was but short, as in a few days after our arrival the fleet was in readiness to sail for Portsmouth. But short as our sojourn was, it was of sufficient length to nearly empty our purses. That sink of profligacy and nest of sharpers, the Saint Carlos gamblinghouse, was the constant resort of all the idlers in Lisbon; and in a few days I and my friends were completely eased of all our loose cash. But we had one resource left, and, in the shape of a horse each, which was the same thing as ready money, we determined to try our luck once more at the gambling table. Accordingly, the horses were sent to the fair, were sold, and brought a "fair" price. Mine fetched one hundred and twenty-five dollars; those belonging to Hill, D'Arcy, and Adair, all of my corps, were also disposed of at a "fair" value. Poor "Fair"field had no horse or mule. He had an old jackass, his companion for years, which brought to the general fund only fifteen dollars. A sort of council of war was now held as to the line of operations we should follow, and it was unanimously agreed that D'Arcy, being a good judge of the game, should be the purse-bearer, and play according to his own

judgment to any amount he might think proper, for the profit or loss of the entire party.

Matters were so far arranged, and we were ready and panting with anxiety to have another trial with the bankers of the San Carlos tables, when Hill, a young man of sound sense, hinted that, to prevent any mistake, and not to leave all on the "hazard of the die," we should deposit a certain number of dollars each for the purchase of our sea stock. This hint was so replete with rationality that we all acquiesced, and fifteen dollars "par tête" was regularly pouched by Hill, who was understood to be our caterer. He laid in a capital stock of wine, brandy, fowls, and meat, and so far all went on right. The wine and brandy he purchased from the far-famed Signor Cavizoli; but if he paid high for them, they were of excellent quality.

Meanwhile D'Arcy, who conducted his department in the capacity of Chancellor of the Exchequer, was regular in his attendance at the gaming table. He marked with much circumspection the gains and losses of the numbers on his cards, for and against the banker; but his caution was of no avail. In the first night's play one hundred dollars had been scooped from him by the Portuguese banker, leaving a surplus of about seventy-five more at his disposal. As this was our last stake, and as the fleet was to sail the following day, (I wish it had sailed ten days sooner,) we all went to San Carlos to witness the luck of D'Arcy. Before him lay seventy-five dollars, and before him sat the banker, ready and willing to relieve him of their weight. For the first half hour he played with some success, but afterwards the tide of luck was against him. Not one of the party interfered pro or con. Again he made a rally, and, like a ship at sea who has weathered the storm and begins to right herself, he went on, as it were, sailing before the wind. But in a moment of exultation, and having, as he thought, calculated to a nicety the certainty of success, he staked the entire of our stock in trade on the turn of the card. He was right, the card turned up in his favour, and he was a winner of three hundred dollars and upwards. I looked on quietly, and expected to see him take the money or double the card, (which means "double or quit,") thereby insuring his stake, at the worst, or doubling it in the event of success. What then was our astonishment and dismay when we saw him "cock" the card, and heard him, in a loud tone, addressing the dealer of the pack in the single monosyllable, "Cock." Now the meaning of the word "cock," and "cocking" the card, that is to say turning up one of the corners of it, implies, that you will have, if you gain, three times the stake on the table, but if you lose, you lose all. So it was with D'Arcy; the wrong card turned up, and we, one and all, turned out, went home to our beds, sailed for Portsmouth next day, and I never wagered a shilling at a gaming table since. Perhaps it was the best "turn up" I ever had.

Our passage home was pleasant and short. No incident worth relating occurred; and in twelve days after we left Lisbon we found ourselves off Spithead. The number of Jews which crowded the vessel was astonishing. They all sought for gold, but amongst us it was a scarce commodity. One solitary guinea was all I possessed, and I believe I could say as much as any of my companions. For this guinea I received, from a Jew, thirty shillings; and it was then that I really began to lament the loss of my "specie" in Lisbon. It was, however,

of no use to repine. We had, after a good deal of peril, arrived once more on our native shore. We saw ourselves, on landing, hailed by our own people, and though last, not least, had an order on the agent for seven months' pay! We were all spendidly dressed, with braided coats, handsome forage caps, rich velvet waistcoats, appended to which were a profusion of large silver Spanish buttons, -some wore gold ones, and our pantaloons bore the weight of as much embroidery as poor Fairfield once said, would furnish a good sideboard of plate! Thanks to the old German tailor in Lisbon, (I forget his name,) for this. If he charged high, he gave everything of the best quality; but as we landed, and saw the garrison of Portsmouth in their white breeches and black gaiters, and their officers in red coats, long boots, and white shoulder belts, we must have appeared to them, as they did to us, like men who formed a part of an army of different nations.

We experienced much difficulty in the removal of Adair from the ship. He had been badly wounded in the knee at Salamanca, and we were obliged to construct slings to enable us to lower him into the boat. We at length succeeded, and got him on shore; and once landed, we were assailed by the different waiters and attendants belonging to their respective hotels, to give "their house the preference." Poor fellows! they little knew the scantiness of our purses, or they would not have been so obsequious. We, however, pitched upon one, the "George," and, as a matter of course, ordered a good dinner, good wines, and everything befitting the heroes of the Peninsula. It was nevertheless necessary to put our heads together, and see if we had the wherewithal to pay for what we had ordered, and pay for our seats up to London. We consulted, put our remnant of cash on the table, and found ourselves wanting in the scale! Hill, an Englishman, and his family known to the hotel-keeper, said he would manage the matter. "I fear it will be up- Hill' work," said Tim. He accordingly spoke with our host, told him of our lackage of cash, and settled all by giving an order on our agent, M'Donald, of Pall Mall, for the amount of our bill. The landlord even offered to advance us any sum we might require, but we refused his offer, having no need of it, yet we were not the less obliged by his good nature and confidence. Next day we started for London, where we took up our abode with our friend" Mrs. Tait," of the "Hungerford;" Fairfield "roosting" at his old perch, the "Northumberland."

The evening of the day of our arrival, there was to be a grand fête at Vauxhall. I had never been there, and expecting to meet, as we did, a great crowd, we thought our Peninsula dress would attract too much notice, so Hill wrote a note to his tailor, Mr. Adeney, Sackville-street, Piccadilly, requesting he would send his foreman to us, and, if possible, let Hill and myself have a dress-suit, that is to say, black coat, vest, and trowsers, in time for the gala. In less than half an hour, not the foreman, but Adeney himself, in propria persona, was with us. He came fully prepared with all those essentials so necessary in his profession, such as parchment measures, scissors, &c., &c., &c.

The process of measurement having been gone through, Adeney asked at what hour we wished the clothes. We answered, at six that evening, if possible, (it was then eleven). You shall have them at four," was the reply; and at four, to the minute almost, we had them.

This is the way they do business in London. Our tailor, at the time I speak of, was worth some 20,000l., yet he was not above his business, and carried his book of patterns in his pocket. In Ireland, a man worth the fourth part of this sum would "Do the fine gentleman," instead of making, as Adeney did, two fine gentlemen. But the Irish are all aristocrats; a poor devil of a peasant, without shoe or stocking, will talk of his family! whether they be of the Murphys, the Dumphys, or Roarks; the consequence is, that Ireland is in a state of beggary, not owing to any misrule, or "Tory oppression," as the cant phrase has it, but owing to the vanity and extravagance of the people. During the period of the war in the Peninsula, and for that matter all over Europe, the landholders in Ireland could have made, and did make, immense sums of money; but if they did, they squandered it all away. It was a service of danger to be on the public road (in those days,) on the evening of a market or fair. A dozen-or perhaps more of those farmers, (self-styled "gentlemen farmers,") after discussing the merits of several tumblers of punch, would sally out, mount their horses, (some of them worth 100l.) and run races on the high roads, galloping without heed to and fro, to the imminent risk of their own lives, as well as the lives of those persons they might meet or overtake on the highway. Some of those men having made and drank divers tumblers of punch, would make the last "tumbler" himself, by either breaking his own or his horse's neck, in attempting to jump over a turnpike-gate! It was a common saying at this time, "If I leap the gate, will I be free of the 'pike?" The invariable answer was, "You will, and more power to your elbow!" If the gate was cleared, as it generally was, a burst of applause followed; if, on the contrary, the man broke his neck-by no means a rare occurrence-a pleasant "wake," and "big funeral," made amends for the loss of the defunct farmer. This is the way that Irish farmers are now poor, and not by "Tory misrule."

Land let, by Tory landlords, as well as by Whig landlords, at from 15s. to 17. sterling, the acre, that land producing from six to ten barrels the acre of wheat, that wheat sold at 41. sterling the barrel! was not a very "grinding" system on the part of the owner of the soil, or-what is worse-not a "grinding" system on the part of the landholders. If they "ground" their corn, nothing is now left to them but the chaff; and for this misconduct on their own parts, not the misconduct of the landlords, every shop-boy or itinerant brawler, now "chaffs" away at the different political meetings, with which the country is overstocked. But I must leave Ireland, and proceed to Vauxhall Gardens.

I had expected to see, and also to hear, a great deal. When I say "hear," I mean as regarded the musical part of the entertainment; but I was greatly disappointed in this branch of the fête. The orchestra was not good, and the fire-works only a shade above mediocrity; however they were less annoying than the "fire-works" we had been in the habit of seeing in Spain, and the novelty of the scene amused me much. The gardens were crowded by people of rank, but the groups of drunken sailors, and women of not the most unexceptionable character, was a strong contrast to what I afterwards saw at the Tivoli Gardens in Paris. While traversing the dark walks, Miss Burney's novel was brought forcibly to my recollection; but I saw no Evelina there. However, the songs of Taylor and Mrs. Bland were well