Page:Lusitania illustrata- notices on the history, antiquities, literature, etc., of Portugal. Literary department. Part I. Selection of sonnets, with biographical sketches of the authors (IA lusitaniaillustr00adam 0).pdf/134

iv you, prompted by the example of my Countrymen, Percy and others, who had collected our older Ballads, and by the poetical works of Sir Walter Scott, determined to rescue from oblivion the Minstrelsy of Portugal.

You were then an exile in England, and if, during that period, my friendship afforded you any solace, as you have been kindly pleased to intimate; the recollection of our communications is equally a source of pleasure to me. You afterwards returned to Portugal, and have enjoyed place and station, besides having your high literary attainments duly appreciated.

In the present publication I have little to claim. The preliminary remarks are almost all drawn from your own observations. I made as faithful translations as I could of the poems, and the ver-