d one which was crowned with an event
of the utmost importance. On the field of battle Don Alonzo was
proclaimed King of Portugal by his victorious soldiers, and he in return
conferred the rank of nobility on the whole army. The constitution of
the monarchy, however, was not settled, nor was Alonzo invested with the
regalia till six years after this memorable victory. The kind of
government the Portuguese had submitted to under the Spaniards and
Moors, and the advantages which they saw were derived from their own
valour, had taught them the love of liberty, while Alonzo himself
understood the spirit of his subjects too well to make the least attempt
to set himself up as a despotic monarch. After six years spent in
further victories, he called an assembly of the prelates, nobility, and
commons, to meet at Lamego. When the assembly opened, Alonzo appeared
seated on the throne, but without any other mark of regal dignity.
Before he was crowned, the constitution of the state was settled, and
eighteen statutes were solemnly confirmed by oath[37] as the charter of
king and people; statutes diametrically opposite to the divine right and
arbitrary power of kings, principles which inculcate and demand the
unlimited passive obedience of the subject.

The founders of the Portuguese monarchy transmitted to their heirs those
generous principles of liberty which complete and adorn the martial
character. The ardour of the volunteer, an ardour unknown to the slave
and the mercenary, added to the most romantic ideas of military glory,
characterized the Portuguese under the reigns of their first monarchs.
Engaged in almost continual war with the Moors, this spirit rose higher
and higher; and the desire to extirpate Mohammedanism--the principle
which animated the wish of victory in every battle--seemed to take
deeper root in every age. Such were the manners, and such the principles
of the people who were governed by the successors of Alonzo I.--a
succession of great men who proved themselves worthy to reign over so
military and enterprising a nation.

By a continued train of victories the Portuguese had the honour to drive
the Moors from Europe. The invasions of European soil by these people
were now requited by successful expeditions into Africa. Such was the
manly spirit of these ages, that the statutes of Lamego received
additional articles in favour of liberty, a convincing proof that the
general heroism of a people depends upon the