both the chairs. He was fifteen years deputy-mafter of the corporation of the Trinity-houfe; a governor of Greenwich hofpital; ferved two feffions in Parliament for Weft Looe; and on the 25th of July 1778, the King was pleafed to create him a baronet. He planned the reduction of Pondicherry during the American war, and received a rich fervice of plate from the India Company, as a teftimony of their fenfe of his fkill and judgment in that affair. On the 16th of December 1783, Sir William died, aged fixty-two. In the year following, a handfome building was erected on his eftate in Kent, near the top of Shooter'shill: it is built in the style of a caftle, with three fides, and commands a moft extenfive view. The lowest room is adorned with weapons peculiar to the different countries of the Eaft. The room above has different views of naval actions and enterprifes painted on the ceiling, in which Sir William had been a confiderable actor. The top of the battlements is four hundred and eighty feet above the level of Shooter's-hill, and more than one hundred and forty feet higher than the top of St. Paul's cupola. On a tablet over the entrance door is this inscription: This building was erected MDCCLXXXIV, by the Reprefentative of the late Sir WILLIAM JAMES Bart. To commemorate that gallant officer's Achievements in the Eaft Indies, during his Command of the Company's Marine Forces in those Seas; and in a particular Manner to record the Conqueft of the Caftle of Severndroog, on the Coast of Malabar, which fell to his fuperior Valour and able Conduct on the 2d day of April, м,DCC,LV. Of Sir William, it is faid, by a perfon who koew him intimately near thirty years, and was well acquainted with his profeffional abilities, that, as a thorough practical feaman, he was almoft without an equal; as an officer, he was brave, vigilant, prompt and resolute; patient in difficulty, with a prefence of mind that seemed to grow from danger. An Account of the LIFE of LUIS DE CAMOENS, the celebrated Portugueze Poet. [Extracted from the Introduction to the English Translation of the Lusiad. By WILLIAM JULIUS MICKLE.] WHEN the glory of the arms of Portugal had reached its meridian fplendour, Nature, as if in pity of the literary rudeness of that nation, produced one great Poet, to record the numberlefs actions of high fpirit performed by his countrymen. Except Oforius, the hiftorians of Portugal are little better than dry journalists. But it is not their inelegance which rendered the poet neceffary it is the peculiar nature of poetry to give a colouring to heroic actions, and to exprefs an indignation against the breaches of honour, in a fpirit that once feizes the heart of the man of feeling, and carries with it an instantane ous conviction. The brilliant actions of the Portugueze form the great hinge which opened the door to the most important alteration in the civil hiftory of mankind: and to place thefe in the light and enthufiafm of poetry, that enthufiafm which particularly affimilates the youthful も youthful breaft to its own fires, was Luis de Camoens, the poet of Portugal, born. Different cities claimed the honour of his birth; but, according to N. Antonio, and Manuel Correa, his intimate friend, this event happened at Lisbon in 1517. His family was of confiderable note, and originally Spanish. In 1370, Vafco Perez de Caamans, difgufted at the Court of Caftile, fled to that of Lifbon, where King Ferdinand immediately admitted him into his council, and gave him the lordfhips of Sardoal, Punnete, Marano, Amendo, and other confiderable lands; a certain proof of the eminence of his rank and abilities. In the war for the fucceffion, which broke out on the death of Ferdi.nand, Caamans fided with the King of Caftile, and was killed in the battle of Aljabarrota. But though John I. victor, feized a great part of his eftate, his widow, the daughter of Gonfalo Terey ro, grand-mafter of the order of Christ, and General of the Portugueze army, was not reduced beneath her rank. She had three fons, who took the name of Camoens. The eldest of the family intermarried with the firft nobility of Portugal, and even, according to Caftera, with the bloodroyal. But the family of the fecond brother, whofe fortune was flender, had the fuperior honour to produce the Author of the Lufiad. Early in his life the misfortunes of the poet began. In his infancy, Simon Vaz de Camoens, his father, commander of a veffel, was fhipwrecked at Goa, where, with his life, the greatest part of his fortune was loft. His mother, however, Anne de Macedo of Santarene, provided for the education of her fon, Luis, at the university of Coimbra. What he acquired there, his works difcover: an intimacy with the claffics, equal to that of a Scaliger, but directed by the taste of a Milton or a Pope. When he left the univerfity, he appeared at court. He was hand fome *, had fpeaking eyes, it is faid, and the finest complexion. Certain it is, however, he was a polished fcholar, which, added to the natural ardour and gay vivacity of his dif pofition, rendered him an accom. plifhed gentleman. Courts are the fcenes of intrigue, and intrigue was fashionable at Lisbon. But the particulars of the amours of Camoens reft unknown. This only appears: he had afpired above his rank, for he was banished from the court; and in feveral fonnets he afcribes this misfortune to love. He now retired to his mother's friends at Santarene. Here he renewed his ftudies, and began his poems on the difcovery of India. John III. at this time prepared an armament against Africa. Camoens, tired of his inactive obfcure life, went to Ceuta in this expedition, and greatly diftinguished his valour in feveral rencontres. In a naval engagement with the Moors in the Straits of Gibraltar, in the conflict of boarding, he was among the foremost, and loft his right eye. Yet neither the hurry of actual fervice, nor the diffipation of the camp, could stifle his genius. He continued his Lufiadas, and feveral of his moft beautiful fonnets were written in Africa, while, as he expreffes it, One The French Tranflator gives us fo fine a defcription of the perfon of Camoens, that it seems to be borrowed from the Fairy Tales. It is univerfally agreed, however, that he was handsome, and had a most engaging mien and addrefs. He is thus defcribed by Nicholas Antonio, "Mediocri fatura fait, et carne plena, capillis ufque ad croci colorem flavefcentibus, maxime in juventute. Eminebat ei frons, et medius nafus, cætera longus, et in fine craffiufculus." One hand the Pen, and one the Sword employ'd. The fame of his valour had now reached the court, and he obtained permiffion to return to Lisbon. But while he folicited an establishment which he had merited in the ranks of battle, the malignity of evil tongues, as he calls it in one of his letters, was injuriouЛly poured upon him. Though the bloom of his early youth was effaced by feveral years refidence under the fcorching heavens of Africa, and though altered by the lofs of an eye, his prefence gave uneafinefs to the gentlemen of fome families of the first rank where he had formerly vifited. Jealousy is the characteristic of the Spanish and Portugueze; its refentment knows no bounds, and Camoens now found it prudent to banish himself from his native country. Accordingly, in 1553, he failed for India, with a refolution never to return. As the fhip left the Tagus, he exclaimed, in the words of the fepulchral monument of Scipio Africanus, Ingrata patria, non poffidebis offa mea! "Ungrateful country, thou shalt not poffefs my bones!" But he knew not what evils in the eaft would awake the remembrance of his native fields. When Camoens arrived in India, an expedition was ready to fail to revenge the King of Cochin on the King of Pimenta. Without any reft on fhore after his long voyage, he joined this armament, and in the conqueft of the Alagada iflands, difplayed his ufual bravery. But his modefty, perhaps, is his greatest praife. In a fonnet he mentions this, expedition: we went to punish the King of Pimenta, fays he, e fuccedeones bem;" and we fucceeded well." When it is confidered that the poet bore no inconfiderable fhare in the victory, no ode can conclude VOL. 2. In the year following he attended Manuel de Vasconcello in an expedition to the Red Sea. Here, fays Faria, as Camoens had no ufe for his fword, he employed his pen. Nor was his activity confined in the fleet or camp. He vifited Mount Felix and the adjacent inhofpitable regions of Africa, which he fo ftrongly pictures in the Lufiad, and in one of his little pieces, where he laments the abfence of his miftrefs. When he returned to Goa he enjoyed a tranquillity which enabled him to beftow his attention to his epic poem. But this ferenity was interrupted, perhaps by his own imprudence. He wrote fome fatires which gave offence, and by order of the Viceroy Francifco Barreto, he was banished to China. Men of dull abilities are more confcious of their embarraffment and errors than is commonly believed. When men of this kind are in power, they affect great folemnity; and every expreffion of the moft diftant tendency to leffen their dignity, is held as the greatest of crimes. Confcious alfo how the man of genius can hurt their intereft, they bear an instinctive antipathy against him, are uneafy even in his company, and on the flightest pretence are happy to drive him from them. Camoens was thus fituated at Goa; and never was there a fairer field for fatire than the rulers of India at this time afforded. Yet whatever efteem the prudence of Camcens may lofe in our idea, the noblenefs of his difpofition will doubly gain. And fo conscious was he of his real integrity and inno cence, that in one of his fonnets he wifhed no other revenge on Barreto, than that the cruelty of ** D his The accomplishments and manners of Camoens foon found him friends, though under the difgrace of banishment. He was appointed commif fary of the defunct in the ifland of Macao, à Portugueze fettlement in the bay of Canton. Here he continued his Lufiad; and here, alfo, after five years, he acquired a fortune, though finall, yet equal to his wishes. Don Conftantine de Bra, ganza was now Viceroy of India, and Camoens, defirous to return to Goa, refigned his charge. In a fhip, freighted by himself, he fet fail, but was fhipwrecked in the gulph, near the mouth of the river Mehon, on the coaft of China. All he had acquired was loft in the waves his poems, which he held in one hand, while he fwimmed with the other, were all he found himself poffeffed of, when he food friend. lefs on the unknown fhore. But the natives gave him a moft humane reception: this he has immortalized in the prophetic fong, in the tenth Lufiadt; and in the feventh he tells us, that here he loft the wealth which fatisfied his wifhes. Agora Caftera, who always condemns Camoens as if guilty of facrilege, when the flightest reproach of a grandee appears, tells us, "that pofterity by no means enters into the refentment of our poet, and that the Portugueze hiftorians make glorious mention of Barreto, who was a man of true merit. The Portugueze hiftorians, however, knew not what true merit was. The brutal uncommercial wars of Sampayo, are by them mentioned as much more glorious than the lefs bloody campaigns of a Nunio, which established commerce and empire. But the actions of Barreto fhall be called to witnefs for Camoens. We have feen Sowza's villainous negotiation in favour of Meale Khan, and the dangerous war which it kindled. Barreto took up the fame bufinefs, and Meale Khan, in breach of the treaty with his brother Hydal Khan, was by him proclaimed King of Vizapore. This begat a war, which ended in the captivity of Meale Khan, and the difgrace of the Portugueze, who were ftript of the territory and revenues pro mifed them by the ufurper. In the fpirit of Sampayo, Barreto's officers defolated the coafts of Malabar and Ceylon. Because Hydal Khan fought revenge for the fa vour fhewed to the ufurper, Barreto fent Coutinho to attack Salfette and Bardes, all the fea-ports of which he deftroyed with fire and fword, and returned, fays Faria, with bonour and riches to Goa. Hydal Khan, on this, raifed a great army. Barreto did the fame; but, though he made a winter campaign, did nothing, fays Faria, wor thy of hiftory. The King of Cind defired Barreto's alliftance to crufh a neighbouring Prince, who had invaded his dominions. Barreto went himself to relieve him; but having difagreed about the reward he required, for the King had made peace with his enemy, he burned Tata, the royal city, killed above 3000 of the people he came to protect, for eight days deftroyed every thing on the banks of the Indus, and loaded his veffels, fays our author, with the richest booty hitherto taken in India. The war with Hydal Khan, kindled by Barreto's treachery, continued. The city of Dabul was deftroyed by the Viceroy, who, foon after, at the head of 17,000 men, defeated the injured Hydal Khan's army of 20,000. While horrid defolation followed thete victories, and while Hydal Khan raifed new armies, Duarte Deza treacherously imprifoned the King of Ternate and his whole family, though in alliance with Portugal, and ordered them to be ftarved to death. This kindled a war which endangered the Moluccas, and ended in the fubmiflion of the Portugueze. Such was the monter Barreto, the man who exiled Camoens, and fuch were the villains who acted under him. Having named the Mehon; Efle recebera placido, & brando, No feu regaço o Canto, que molbado, c. Literally thus: "On his gentle hofpitable bolom (fic brando poetice) fhall he receive the fong wet from woeful unhappy hipwreck, elcaped from deftroying tempefts, from ravenous dangers, the effect of the unjuft fentence upon him, whofe lyre fhall be more renowned than enriched." When Camoens was commaillary he vifited the islands of Ternate, Timor, &c. defcribed in the Luliad. Agora da efperança ja adquirida, Te. Now bleft with all the wealth fond hope could crave, Soon I beheld that wealth beneath the wave Forever loft My life, like Judah's heaven-doom'd By miracle prolong'd On the banks of the Mehon he wrote his beautiful para phrafe of the pfalm, where the Jews, in the first strain of poetry, are reprefented as hanging their Earps on the willows by the rivers of Babylon, and weeping their exile from their native country. Here Camoens continued fome time, till an opportunity offered to carry him to Goa. When he arrived at that city, Don Conftantine de Braganza, the Viceroy, whofe characteristic was politenefs, admitted him into intimate friendship,and Camoens was happy until Count Redondo affumed the government. Those who had formerly procured the banishment of the fatirift, were filent whilft Conftantine was in power. But now they exerted all their arts againft him. Redondo, when he entered on office, pretended to be the friend of Camoens; yet, with all that unfeeling indifference with which he made his moft horrible witticism on the Zamorin, he fuf. fered the innocent man to be thrown into prifon. After all the delay of bringing witneffes, Camoens, in a public trial, fully refuted every accufation of his conduct while commiffary at Macao, and his enemies were loaded with ignominy and reproach. But Camoens had fome creditors; and thefe detained him in prifon a confiderable time, till the gentlemen of Goa began to be ashamed, that a man of fuch fin gular merit fhould experience fuch treatment among them. He was fet at liberty; and again he affumed the profeffion of arms, and received the allowance of a gentleman volunteer, a character at this time common in Portugueze India. Soon after Pedro Barreto, appointed Governor of the fort at Sofala, by high promifes, allured the poet to attend him thither. The Governor of a diftant fort. in a barbarous country, fhares in fome meafure the fate of an exile. Yet, though the only motive of Barreto was, in this unpleafant fituation, to retain the converfation of Camoens at his ta ble, it was his leaft care to render the life of his gueft agreeable. Chagrined with his treatment, and a confiderable time having elapfed in a vain dependence on Barreto, Camoens refolved to return to his native country. A fhip, on the homeward voyage, at this time touched at Sofala, and several gentlemen, who were on board, were defirous that Camoens fhould ac company them. But this the Governor ungenerously endeavoured to prevent, and charged him with a debt for board. Anthony de Cabral, however, and Hector de Sylveyra, paid the demand, and Camoens, fays Faria, and the honour of Barreto, were fold together. After an abfence of fixteen years, Camoens, in 1569, returned to Lifbon, unhappy even in his arrival, for the peftilence then raged in that city, and prevented his publication for three years. At laft, in 1572, he printed his Lufiad, which, in the opening of the first book, in a molt elegant turn of compliment, he addreifed to his prince, King Sebaftian, then in his eighteenth year. **D 2 The According to the Portugueze life of Camoens, prefixed to Gedron's, the best edition of his works, Diogo de Couto, the hiftorian, one of the company, in his homeward voyage, wrote annotations upon the Lufiad, under the eye of its author. But thefe unhappily have never appeared in public. |