overnment, she retains the
link of a common language, policy, literature, and religion.

The growth of the great European powers at length overshadowed the
prosperity of Portugal, and the usurpation of her government by Spain
sank her into a temporary depression. But the native gallantry of the
nation at length shook off the yoke; and a new effort commenced for
her restoration to the place which she was entitled to maintain in
the world. It is remarkable that, at such periods in the history of
nations, some eminent individual comes forward, as if designated for
the especial office of a national guide. Such an individual was the
Marquis of Pombal, the virtual sovereign of Portugal for twenty-seven
years--a man of talent, intrepidity, and virtue. His services were
the crush of faction and the birth of public spirit, the fall of the
Jesuits and the peace of his country. His inscription should be, "The
Restorer of his Country."

The Marquis of Pombal was born on the 13th of May 1699, at Soure, a
Portuguese village near the town of Pombal. His father, Manoel
Carvalho, was a country gentleman of moderate fortune, of the rank of
_fidalgo de provincia_--a distinction which gave him the privileges
attached to nobility, though not to the title of a grandee, that
honour not descending below dukes, marquises, and counts. His mother
was Theresa de Mendonca, a woman of family. He had two brothers,
Francis and Paul. His own names were Sebastian Joseph, to which was
added that of Mello, from his maternal ancestor.

Having, like the sons of Portuguese gentlemen in general, studied for
a period in the university of Coimbra, he entered the army as a
private, according to the custom of the country, and rose to the rank
of corporal, which he held until circumstances, and an introduction
to Cardinal Motta, who was subsequently prime-minister, induced him
to devote himself to the study of history, politics, and law. The
cardinal, struck with his ability, strongly advised him to persevere
in those pursuits, appointed him, in 1733, member of the Royal
Academy of History, and shortly after, the king proposed that he
should write the history of certain of the Portuguese monarchs; but
this design was laid aside, and Pombal remained unemployed for six
years, until, in 1739, he was sent by the cardinal to London, as
Portuguese minister. He retained his office until 1745; yet it is
remarkable, and an evidence of the difficulty of acquiring a new