forward my views, which were in many respects his own. I now told
him that I did not come to Portugal with the view of propagating
the dogmas of any particular sect, but with the hope of introducing
the Bible, which is the well-head of all that is useful and
conducive to the happiness of society,--that I cared not what
people called themselves, provided they followed the Bible as a
guide; for that where the Scriptures were read, neither priestcraft
nor tyranny could long exist, and instanced the case of my own
country, the cause of whose freedom and prosperity was the Bible,
and that only, as the last persecutor of this book, the bloody and
infamous Mary, was the last tyrant who had sat on the throne of
England. We did not part till the night was considerably advanced,
and the next morning I sent him the books, in the firm and
confident hope that a bright and glorious morning was about to rise
over the night which had so long cast its dreary shadows over the
regions of the Alemtejo.

The day after this interesting event, which was Saturday, I had
more conversation with the man from Palmella. I asked him if in
his journeys he had never been attacked by robbers; he answered no,
for that he generally travelled in company with others. "However,"
said he, "were I alone I should have little fear, for I am well
protected." I said that I supposed he carried arms with him. "No
other arms than this," said he, pulling out one of those long
desperate looking knives, of English manufacture, with which every
Portuguese peasant is usually furnished. This knife serves for
many purposes, and I should consider it a far more efficient weapon
than a dagger. "But," said he, "I do not place much confidence in
the knife." I then inquired in what rested his hope of protection.
"In this," said he: and unbuttoning his waistcoat, he showed me a