[1817]. Cópia de carta de Nicolau Murta, oficial da Secretaria Inglesa, para sua mulher.

Copy of a family letter from Nicolau Murta, a clerk, to his wife.

The author says goodbye to his wife just before committing suicide. He was in the imminence of being arrested for insolvency.

Nicolau Murta was a Sergeant in the Lisbon Police. Later, he went to work as a clerk in the English Secretary Services. He owed a large sum of 2,011 «réis», corresponding to several salaries of British Army officers. He tried, by letter, to postpone the payment to his creditor but when he knew that he was going to be arrested, he committed suicide.