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AN 
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REVOLUTIONS OF PORTUGAL, 
 
 SINCE THE 
 
 CLOSE OF THE PENINSULAR WAR; 
 
 EXHIBITING 
 
 A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE EVENTS 
 
 WHICH HAVE LED TO THE 
 
 PRESENT STATE OF THAT COUNTRY. 
 
 BY AN EYE-V^ITNESS. 
 
 Caj^vH JcPi^A^ ' fh ivW^ 0^ 
 
 /iJTti^ 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 MDCCC XXVII. ^g^^ 
 
DPG4-6 
 
 MPWY''^'- ^SE STEPHEN* 
 
 3. Dennett, Printer, Leather Lane, London. 
 
TO 
 LIEUTENANT GENERAL 
 
 SIR HERBERT TAYLOR, G. C. H. 
 
 ^C. ^C. ^C. - 
 
 WHOSE NAME iS RENDERED ESTIMABLE TO 
 
 THE BRITISH ARMY, 
 
 NOT ONLY BY HIS UNWEARIED EXERTIONS FOR ITS WELFARE, 
 
 BUT LIKEWISE 
 
 AS BEING INSEPARABLY UNITED WITH THAT OF 
 
 iti0 me l^tipal f^igfine^^ tfie iBuU of Wlov% 
 
 ITS LAMENTED COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 
 
 THIS SKETCH 
 
 POLITICAL EVENTS WHICH LED TO THE RECENT EMBARKATION 
 OF BRITISH TROOPS FOR PORTUGAL, 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 June 1827. 
 
 515173 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 At a moment when the foreign policy of 
 Great Britain is again so intimately con- 
 nected with the state of the Peninsula, and 
 when the safety of Portugal is once more 
 committed to a British army, the author of 
 the following sheets has been led to believe, 
 that an authentic account of the political 
 circumstances which have produced the pre- 
 sent condition of that kingdom, will not be 
 unacceptable to the British reader. That a 
 great deal of misapprehension and ignorance 
 still prevail in this country, on the real cha- 
 racter of the revolutions which have agitated 
 Portugal, since the close of the Peninsular 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 war, the author has frequently observed with 
 surprise ; and having been himself a personal 
 and attentive spectator of those political 
 vicissitudes, he trusts he shall not be charge- 
 able with presumption for believing that it 
 has been in his power to offer a more accurate 
 narrative of their real causes, progress, and 
 results, than any of which the public of this 
 country has yet been put in possession. 
 
 Such are the motives which have induced 
 the author to compose the following " His- 
 torical View of the Revolutions of Portugal 
 since the close of the Peninsular War," 
 which he ventures to think will be found to 
 redeem its pledge of offering " a full account 
 of the events which have led to the present 
 state of that country." Uninfluenced by any 
 political or factious partialities, and having 
 no private interest involved in the fate of 
 Portugal, he has desired to offer only a plain 
 unvarnished statement of facts. He has not 
 misrepresented a single circumstance design- 
 edly, and although he possibly may have 
 erred in his speculative anticipations of the 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 future, the reflections advanced are at least 
 his honest and undisguised sentiments. 
 
 With respect to the sources of information, 
 on which the author has founded his record, 
 he can of course, in his anonymous character, 
 bring forward no better proofs of authenticity 
 than may be gathered from that internal 
 evidence, which usually accompanies truth. 
 But it is due to his readers to offer some 
 general explanation of the circumstances, 
 which have enabled him to collect the mate- 
 rials for the present volume. He has, in fact, 
 enjoyed the most favorable opportunities for 
 judging of the present state of Portugal, 
 from an intimate personal knowledge of that 
 country for more than seventeen years. Dur- 
 ing five years of the war, he became, as a 
 British officer, generally acquainted with the 
 Peninsula, and more particularly with the 
 Portuguese army, in which he served at the 
 latter part of that period. In 1814, returning 
 from France to Portugal, he was employed on 
 the staff of the army, until the revolution of 
 1820. In this situation, he was necessarily 
 
vm PREFACE. 
 
 brought into frequent contact with the native 
 authorities, and enabled to ascertain the ge- 
 neral feeling of the people. 
 
 In common with his brother officers, he 
 quitted the Portuguese service in 1820 ; but, 
 unlike the greater number of them, remained 
 in Portugal, and during the reign of the 
 Cortes devoted his time to agricultural pur- 
 suits. Shortly after the counter-revolution of 
 1823, he removed to Lisbon, where an inti- 
 macy with some members of the royal house- 
 hold, afforded him opportunity of being much 
 at the court of John VI., and acquainting 
 himself with circumstances that few of his 
 countrymen had means of learning. 
 
 With these advantages, it needed only a 
 small share of observation and discernment 
 to collect the information that he has em- 
 bodied into the present work. He has en- 
 deavoured, in the composition of his narrative, 
 to avoid egotism, but has yet found it neces- 
 sary, in order to illustrate some of his asser- 
 tions, to introduce a few anecdotes personally 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 relating to himself. He is aware that the 
 language and composition of his volume 
 abound with literary defects : but he trusts 
 it will be admitted as his apology, that he 
 has not aspired at style and embellishment. 
 Other occupations have denied him the lei- 
 sure, if he had possessed the power, to cul- 
 tivate the graces of composition. His sole 
 object has been to furnish his countrymen 
 with a correct view of the real condition of 
 Portugal at this interesting crisis ; and he 
 consigns his volume to the public judgment 
 with the consciousness, at least, of having 
 endeavoured well. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1814—1820. 
 
 Aspect of Portugal at the close of the Peninsular War — 
 Delusive Hopes suggested by the glorious Recovery of 
 her Independence — Apparent Prosperity, and real 
 Distress of the Country — Causes of the National 
 Decay : Extinction of Manufactures, Loss of the 
 Commerce of Brazil, Emigration of the Court, Ab- 
 sentee Nobility, Ruin of Agriculture— Cruel Suffer- 
 ings of the Farmers during the War : aggravated by 
 the Iniquity of Native Contractors — Olive Grounds and 
 Vineyards devastated, Corn Lands left waste — Miser- 
 able Condition of the Peasantry — Cupidity and 
 Wealth of the Monastic Orders — General Corrup- 
 tion and Peculation of Government — The Portuguese 
 Army — Honourable Contrast of its Character with 
 that of the Civil Institutions of the Kingdom — Ad- 
 mirable Administration of Lord Beresford : frustrated 
 by the base Intrigues of the Regency — Conspiracy of 
 Gomes Freire — Quelled by the Energy of Lord Beres- 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 ford—Good Spirit of the Troops ungratefully requited 
 by the Government — Privations and Sufferings of the 
 Army— Growing Discontents in that Body and the 
 Nation, provoked by the Misrule of the Regency — 
 — Voyage of Lord Beresford to the Rio— Revolution 
 eflfected in his Absence 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1820—1822. 
 
 Origin of the Revolution of 1820 — Revolt of the Gar- 
 rison of Oporto — A Constitutional Government there 
 proclaimed — Joyfully received by the People — Imbe- 
 cility of the Regency — Paralyzing Effects of their 
 Vacillation upon the Spirit of the Royal Adherents, 
 and upon the Loyalty of the Army — The Garrison of 
 Lisbon proclaim the Constitution— The Revolution 
 completed — At first hailed with Enthusiasm by the 
 Nation — Assembly of the Cortes — Intemperate Lan- 
 guage of that body — Gross Impolicy of its Proceed- 
 ings — Disappointment and Disgust thereby excited — 
 In the Nobility, the Peasantry, the Religious Orders, 
 and the Army — Re-action of Public Feeling — Arrival 
 of the King from Brazil — His insulting Reception by 
 the Cortes — Affection of the People for his Person — 
 Reviving Loyalty of the Army — Character of John VI. 
 — And of the Queen — Her injurious Treatment by the 
 Cortes — Her secret Schemes of Vengeance, and Coun - 
 ter-Revolution — Favored by the wretched Errors of 
 the Cortes — Continued Oppression and Corruption of 
 Administration under the Constitutional Government 
 — General Disaffection to its rule 45 
 
CONTENTS. XUl 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 1823—1824. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Count of Amarante raises the Standard of Counter- 
 Revolution — Abortive Issue of his Enterprize — He 
 retires into Spain — Alarm of the Cortes — Intrigues 
 of the Queen — Humiliating Dissimulation practised 
 by the King — The Cortes remove a suspected Regi- 
 ment from Lisbon — The Infante, Don Miguel, secretly 
 quits Lisbon and put himself at the Head of these 
 Troops — The Garrison of Lisbon march off to join 
 him — Consternation of the Cortes — The King escapes 
 from their hands — Easy Suppression of the Constitu- 
 tion of 1820 — Re-establishment of the absolute Go- 
 vernment—Rise of the notorious Pamplona, created 
 Count Subserra — His successful Intrigues — He ac- 
 quires a despotic Influence over the King's Mind — 
 Severities exercised against the Queen — Indignation 
 of Don Miguel and his Adherents— Mai- Administra- 
 tion of Subserra — Don Miguel excites the Army to 
 revolt — Estimate of his Conduct — Downfal and Flight 
 of Subserra — The King enthralled by his Son, and 
 the absolute Party — Their revengeful Violence and 
 Tyranny — The King, in concert with the Foreign 
 Ambassadors, escapes on board a British Man of War 
 — Don Miguel enticed on board, arrested, and ba- 
 nished — Restoration of the King's Authority — In- 
 fluence enjoyed by the British Ambassador — Injudi- 
 ciously withheld — He suffers the Restoration to Power 
 of Subserra — Renewed Misconduct of that Minister — 
 Recal of Sir. E. Thornton— Sir W. A'Court succeeds 
 him as British Ambassador at Lisbon 92 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 1823—1824. 
 
 Page 
 
 Critical Aspect of Affairs in Portugal— Difficult Position 
 of the new British Ambassador — He succeeds in ob- 
 taining the Removal of Subserra from Power — Subse- 
 quent Fortunes of that unworthy Favorite — Prospect 
 of Amelioration in the State of Portugal — Generous 
 Mediation of England between Portugal and Brazil — 
 Arrival of Sir Charles Stuart at Lisbon — He receives 
 full Powers from the King to treat with Brazil, and 
 sails for the Rio — He effects a treaty of Reconciliation 
 very favorable to Portugal — Death of the King — 
 Character of John VI. — Regency appointed by his 
 "1^ Will — Succession of his eldest Son, Don Pedro, to 
 the Crown of Portugal — His first Act is to grant to 
 the Kingdom the Constitutional Charter which still 
 subsists— Sir C. Stuart arrives in Lisbon, the Bearer 
 of this Charter — Injustice of the Censures passed on 
 that Minister for undertaking the Office — Excellence 
 of the new Constitution- — Don Pedro renounces the 
 Portuguese Crown to his infant Daughter, Donna 
 Maria II.— Project for the future Marriage of Don 
 Miguel with the young Queen — Praiseworthy Self- 
 denial of Don Pedro — Estimate of the State of public 
 Feeling in Portugal towards the new Constitution . .153 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 1826. 
 
 Wisdom of the Plan devised by the Emperor Don Pedro, 
 for the Settlement of the Portuguese Crown — The 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 Page 
 
 whole Arrangement sufficiently favorable to the In- 
 fante Don Miguel — Ready Submission of that Prince 
 to its Provisions — Correspondence between him and 
 the Infanta Regent — He explicitly disclaims all Par- 
 ticipation in the Designs of the absolute Faction — 
 Apparent Sincerity of his Protestations — The public 
 Tranquillity still endangered, by the turbulent Ambi- 
 tion of the Marquis of Chaves and the absolute Fac- 
 tion ; by the Discontents of the Army; and by the 
 secret Hostility of the Spanish Government — Insidi- 
 ous Practices of the Faction upon the popular Credu- 
 lity — Disaffection of the lower Clergy to the Charter 
 — Ceremony of swearing to the New Constitution — 
 Several Regiments refuse the Oaths, declare against 
 the Regency, and desert into Spain — Insurrection 
 under the Marquisses of Chaves and Abrantes, who 
 proclaim Don Miguel King — Vigorous Precautions 
 of the Regency — Marines landed from the British 
 Fleet to guard the Person of the Infanta Regent 
 — Operations of the Insurgents — Their Repulse and 
 Retreat into Spain — Concentration of their Force on 
 the Frontiers — Support evidently rendered to them by 
 the Court of Madrid, and falsely disavowed by Ferdi- 
 nand VII 206 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1826—1827. 
 
 Opening of the new Cortes — Speech of the Infanta Re- 
 gent — Recal of Sir Charles Stuart from the Court of 
 Lisbon — Estimate of his laudable Exertions for the 
 Welfare of the Portuguese Nation — Assemblage of 
 the insurgent Troops on the Frontiers — Faithless Con- 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 duct of the Spanish Government — Combined Invasions 
 of Portugal by the Insurgents under the Marquis of 
 Chaves and other Leaders— Review of the political 
 Conduct of Chaves and his Faction — Judicious Mili- 
 tary Operations of the Constitutional Government 
 against the Insurgents — Arrival of British Troops in 
 the Tagus — Its paralyzing Effect upon the Move- 
 ments of the Insurgents — They seek refuge in Spain 
 — Inaction of the British Army — Renewed Irruption 
 of the Insurgents — Repulsed by General Stubbs — Con- 
 siderations on the future Employment of the British 
 Forces in Portugal 243 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Considerations on the future Prospects of Portugal ; and 
 on the Line of Policy which it behoves England to 
 adopt in her Relations with that Country .... 284 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Examination of the Portuguese Charter of 1826 ; with 
 a Comparison between it and the Constitution of 1822. 327 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Translation of the Constitutional Charter of Portugal 
 —1826 363 
 
AN 
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 REVOLUTIONS OF PORTUGAL 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1814-^1820. 
 
 Aspect of Portugal at the Close of the Peninsular War — Delu- 
 sive Hopes suggested hy the glorious Recovery of her Indepen- 
 dence — Apparent Prosperity, and real Distress of the Coun- 
 try—Causes of the National Decay: Extinction of Manu- 
 factures, Loss of the Commerce of Brazil, Emigration of the 
 Court, Absentee Nobility, Ruin of Agriculture — Cruel Suffer- 
 ings of the Farmers during the War: aggravated by the 
 Iniquity of Native Contractors — Olive Grounds and Vineyards 
 devastated, Corn Lands left waste — Miserable Condition of the 
 Peasantry — Cupidity and Wealth of the Monastic Orders — 
 General Corruption and Peculation of Government — The Por- 
 tuguese Army — Honourable Contrast of its Character with 
 that of the Civil Institutions of the Kingdom — Admirable 
 Administration of Lord Beresford : frustrated by the base 
 Intrigues of the Regency — Conspiracy of Gomes Freire — 
 Quelled by the Energy of Lord Beresford— Good Spirit of the 
 Troops ungratefully requited by the Government — Privations 
 and Sufferings of the Army — Growing Discontents in that 
 Body and the Nation, provoked by the Misrule of the Regency 
 — Voyage of Lord Beresford to the Rio — Revolution effected 
 in his Absence. 
 
 At the termination of the Peninsular war in 
 1814, Portugal had recovered a reputation in 
 
 B 
 
2 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 the political world not unworthy of the best 
 days of her history. By the glorious issue 
 of the great contest, in which she had borne 
 so conspicuous a part, she was placed in an 
 attitude of pride and independence ; and the 
 interesting spectacle of all that she had en- 
 dured and surmounted, might suggest the 
 most lively anticipations of her future happi- 
 ness. It might seem that, having evinced the 
 brave spirit to resist foreign oppression, and 
 enjoying the generous friendship of England, 
 she was henceforth secured against all hostile 
 aggression, and was about peacefully to enter 
 upon a new career of enlightened exertion, 
 industrious improvement, and tranquil pros- 
 perity. 
 
 But, on a nearer and more scrutinizing 
 inspection of her real condition, she presented 
 a widely different aspect from that which 
 raight thus attract the pleased attention, or 
 excite the hopes, of the distant or sanguine 
 observer. Her noble efforts in the cause of 
 freedom, her patience and constancy in the 
 crisis of her fate, had invested her sub- 
 sequent success with a lustre, which only 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 8 
 
 concealed for a moment, but could neither 
 mitigate nor heal the complicated sufferings 
 to which those very triumphs had, in a great 
 measure, given rise. 
 
 Not that the cruel ordeal through which 
 Portugal had just passed was the sole origin 
 of her impending disasters. The greater part 
 of them, indeed, might be traced to this sea- 
 son of trial and sacrifice ; but there were 
 various other concurrent causes, altogether 
 producing effects so fatal, that, even had 
 the projected dismemberment of the Penin- 
 sula been carried into operation by the anti- 
 cipated success of Buonaparte, such arbitrary 
 proceeding could scarcely have rendered the 
 country more abject and more powerless be- 
 neath the grasp of a victorious invader, than 
 she was actually left amidst the triumphs of 
 an independence, so gallantly asserted, and 
 so firmly established. 
 
 A brief recapitulation of the several sources 
 from whence her ancient national prosperity 
 had been derived, with a view of the circum- 
 stances under which returning tranquillity 
 had found them, may, perhaps, tend to ex- 
 
 B 2 
 
4 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 plain and substantiate this apparently bold 
 assertion. 
 
 The manufactories of Portugal, never nu- 
 merous, were now annihilated: war, in its 
 ravages, had destroyed the greater part of 
 them, and the rest had ceased working. For, 
 destitute of encouragement, how could their 
 produce successfully compete with English 
 goods, which, having originally been in- 
 troduced with so many advantages by the 
 Methuen treaty in the last century, had ac- 
 quired a confirmed preference by that of 1810. 
 By the new treaty, concluded at this last 
 epoch, it had been more particularly stipu- 
 lated, that in return for certain valuable pri- 
 vileges in the wine trade, conferred on Por- 
 tugal by our government, she should concede 
 to us the right of importing our manufactures, 
 on the payment of only 15 per cent, duty: 
 while those of other nations are generally 
 chargeable with double that amount. 
 
 From the days of Vasco de Gama, and the 
 fruits of his happy temerity in doubling 
 the Cape of Good Hope, Portugal had never 
 relied on her own productions as adequate 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 6 
 
 sources of national wealth. Invited as she had 
 been by the discovery of a commercial resort,^ 
 hitherto inaccessible to European navigation, 
 and enriched by the vast treasures thus placed 
 within her grasp, her enterprizing spirit of 
 foreign speculation had superseded the ex- 
 ertions of domestic industry, and abundantly 
 repaid itself. Nor did the subsequent supe- 
 riority of the Dutch, in the same quarter, 
 repel this excursive inclination ; for although 
 the East no longer supplied her with a valu- 
 able monoply, a new mine of wealth, that 
 appeared inexhaustible, had been opened in 
 the West ; and Brazil proved to her a second 
 India. The abundant and varied produce of 
 this South American possession found its 
 emporium in Lisbon, and entered the Tagus, 
 to be thence scattered over Europe, while 
 every part of Portugal derived its full share 
 of these advantages, and flourished in the 
 prosperity of the capital. Hence it is evi- 
 dent how severe a shock must have been 
 given to the mother country, when the Bra- 
 zilian ports were thrown open to the direct 
 commerce of Europe, diverting the rich tide 
 
Q STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 of merchandize into other channels, and 
 leaving that comparatively dry, which had 
 so long been fertilized by its exclusive 
 course. 
 
 Nay, not only the privation of former gains, 
 but actual loss of what was originally her 
 own, followed the emigration of the king 
 from Portugal to this her Trans -Atlantic 
 colony. To supply the demands of the court 
 at the Rio, she was now in turn drained of 
 all that could be wrung from her by the gripe 
 of necessitous power, and she acquired, as the 
 price of these vast sacrifices, no more than an 
 uncertain sale in the Brazilian territory for 
 her native wines. 
 
 As might be expected, the nobles, and men 
 of property, flocked to the seat of government, 
 where many established themselves, taking 
 no farther thought for the land of their birth, 
 than as it furnished them with the needful 
 means of supporting their dignity, and minis- 
 tering to their luxuries abroad. Their stew- 
 ards in the mother country, on the other 
 hand, looking only to the present produce of 
 the estates within their reach, as augmenting 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 7 
 
 those remittances for which their lords con- 
 tinually called, neglected the important busi- 
 ness of cultivation, and allowed the lands to 
 become more impoverished every year: — a 
 natural consequence of absenteeism, in which 
 Portugal sympathized with other nations, and 
 to a grievous extent. Those of the emigrants 
 who returned, generally came to take posses- 
 sion of offices to which their attendance at 
 court had introduced them : often sinecures, 
 and too frequently situations where the prin^ 
 eipal employment consisted in plundering 
 those, whom they were appointed to super- 
 intend and to protect. 
 
 One instance, among the many that came 
 under my own personal observation, I will 
 adduce, as tending to illustrate the character 
 <>f these speculative migrations to the distant 
 i*jeat of government. The individual in ques- 
 tion was an acquaintance of mine. He pos- 
 sessed a very limited income, but had in 
 former days enjoyed the intimacy of some 
 who moved in subordinate situations about 
 the palace. Calculating on the good offices 
 <if these perscms, he mortgaged his little pro^ 
 
8 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 perty, prevailing on his brother to follow his 
 example, and lend him the produce. With 
 all the money he could thus scrape together, 
 he embarked for Brazil, where he depo- 
 sited his cash ; but how, or on what terms, 
 we can only conjecture from the result. Cer- 
 tain it is, that, in a very short period, he re- 
 turned pennyless, but in possession of an 
 appointment, from which, as a collector of the 
 king's dues, he might fairly derive an income 
 of about £300. a year. He owed at least 
 £1000. over and above his outlay of ready 
 money ; and his only visible prospect of 
 paying these debts, incurred while securing 
 the prize of an official situation for life, was 
 by making it as productive as he possibly 
 could. He lived only a few years to enjoy 
 his success ; but during that term it was well 
 known that no means were left untried, on 
 his part, to realize far more than, in justice 
 to others, the place might have been expected 
 to yield. 
 
 Beneath the pressure of such accumulating 
 evils, can we wonder that the arm of industry 
 in Portugal was paralyzed, and the spirit of 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 9 
 
 honest exertion subdued ? War, with its in- 
 evitable consequences, immediate and remote, 
 and corruption, with its less open, but, per- 
 haps, more baneful influence, laid an arrest- 
 ing hand upon the propelling wheels of na- 
 tional activity ; and if the loom was idle, 
 the implements of agriculture were scarcely 
 less so. 
 
 In many places cultivation was altogether 
 superseded. Four years' occupation of the 
 country by contending armies, had blighted 
 the hopes, and sickened the heart of the 
 farmer too often, to leave him encourage- 
 ment for a speculation hitherto so disastrous. 
 He was generally, too, of that class to whom 
 the conflict had been fraught with utter ruin ; 
 and his lands lying fallow, had little chance 
 of being again tilled. For, excepting in 
 some particular places, and those not nume- 
 rous, farming is not sufficiently lucrative, as 
 a business, to hold out much inducement for 
 embarking capital in it, even during seasons 
 of comparative prosperity. Still less could 
 it now attract the attention of those who, 
 having reaped individual advantages from the 
 
10 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 war which devastated their country, and 
 amassed wealth by means so much more 
 easy and expeditious, sat down to its enjoy- 
 ment, and paid no regard to branches of 
 industry which could add little to their own 
 riches, however important in a patriotic point 
 of view. 
 
 Such individuals there were, who had 
 fattened their gains upon the misery of their 
 country; who gleaned a golden harvest on 
 \i those plains where the rapid march of deso- 
 
 lation had impoverished and ruined their 
 countrymen. Lisbon, at once the port and 
 the capital of Portugal, the chief depot of 
 a mighty military armament, and the rendez- 
 vous and mart of an extensive naval equip- 
 ment, experienced an unwonted demand, and 
 beheld her trade in a state of unnatural 
 activity, resembling rather the hectic of 
 fever, than the even glow of a healthful 
 system. It was a transient and specious 
 prosperity, of which the bulk of the nation 
 partook not. Of this we had abundant proof 
 during the operations of our army in the 
 interior. 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 11 
 
 It is true that, as in Lisbon, wherever we 
 marched we left money, and gave a momen- 
 tary impetus to the spirit of traffic ; but let 
 it be remembered, that we often took from 
 them that for which money was an almost 
 worthless substitute. Com and wine were 
 the objects of our barter ; and while our con- 
 sumption of the latter decidedly benefited 
 the grower, an extensive demand for the 
 former involved him in severe calamities. 
 Our large bodies of cavalry required more 
 forage than could be yielded, without the 
 painful sacrifice of cutting down the green 
 blade of corn ; and this was paid for with a 
 sum that, in ordinary times, would scarcely 
 have purchased the grain which that blade 
 might have been expected to produce. With 
 this scanty remuneration in his hand, and 
 the promise of his future harvest removed 
 from before his eyes, the poor farmer himself, 
 and with him all the surrounding inhabitants, 
 must depend upon some distant province for 
 that supply which their own hands were 
 accustomed to gather from their native soil. 
 Most of the provinces, too, having been in 
 
12 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 turn the scene of operations equally ruinous, 
 the little which could be spared from the 
 remnant of the anticipated harvest in one 
 quarter, was only to be procured in another 
 on most exorbitant terms. The price of 
 the necessaries of life was thus far beyond 
 what the destitute people could spare from 
 the little store of cash reserved to answer 
 their craving wants, until the following an- 
 nual crop, even had they any chance of reap- 
 ing their fields after the lapse of another 
 seed-time. But seldom was this distant 
 prospect left to cheer them, for long before 
 the next period of depositing seed-corn in the 
 ground arrived, the cries of their starving 
 families had wrung from their unwilling 
 hands the last poor pittance remaining in the 
 granary for that purpose. 
 
 If such was the case where payment in 
 ready money had been received from our 
 troops, what aggravated miseries must have 
 followed when the usual mode of discharge 
 was adopted by the commissariat, who, in- 
 stead of cash, gave checques upon our funds 
 at Lisbon. A system arose from this plan of 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. W 
 
 payment, of which it would be difficult to 
 say, whether the cruelty or the knavery was 
 more conspicuous : certainly it was a most 
 infamous compound of both : and there is 
 too much reason to believe that a class of 
 our own countrymen, to whom was imputed 
 the disgrace of deeply participating in this 
 villany, were not unjustly accused. I leave 
 the reader to peruse the following particulars, 
 and to form his own conclusions. 
 
 Our army was attended on its march 
 through the provinces, by a description of 
 persons generally looked upon as contractors, 
 and frequently employed as such. They 
 were Portuguese, which gave them additional 
 influence among the poor simple peasantry. 
 These men, appearing with a supply of 
 specie which they never could have derived 
 from any resources of their own, insinuated 
 themselves into the confidence of the unfor- 
 tunate inhabitants, and persuaded them that 
 the checques before mentioned, were worth 
 no more than so many Portuguese valles, 
 issued by a government in a state of insol- 
 vency. They thus easily deluded the poor 
 
14 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 peasantry into an eager desire to part with 
 the paper received in exchange for their com, 
 though discounted by these knavish negocia- 
 tors at such a profit to themselves, as re- 
 duced the balance in the ignorant holder's 
 hands to a pittance incredibly small. 
 
 Nor did the inhumanity of these harpies 
 rest satisfied with thus completing the ruin of 
 the cornfactor and all dependent on him. 
 They carried on a plan equally atrocious 
 against those who possessed cattle. Keeping 
 near our troops, in places where they intended 
 to purchase, they urged their helpless dupes 
 to lose no time in taking ready money for 
 such beasts as they had ; assuring them, that 
 if they delayed concluding the bargain, they 
 would be compelled by the army to part with 
 their cattle, and to receive a paper in return, 
 either wholly valueless, or, at least, which no 
 one would take but at a discount proportion- 
 able to the hazard which, they asserted, the 
 holder of the checque must incur, of never 
 receiving any payment. Intimidated by this 
 description, and expecting to suffer cruel ex- 
 tortion from the armed foreigners, whose 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 15 
 
 approach was announced, the wretched crea- 
 tures sold their cattle for the veriest trifle to 
 these disinterested friends ; who again dis- 
 posed of the meat to our commissariat, often 
 at a most exorbitant rate. 
 
 By such means was the march of a 
 friendly deliverer rendered more welcome to 
 the natives than that of a hostile invader, by 
 so much only as a lingering death may be 
 thought preferable to a sudden and violent 
 one. Much has been said, and much written, 
 on the subject of these disgraceful scenes ; 
 but all is utterly inadequate to convey an 
 idea of the actual horrors witnessed by those 
 who followed the footsteps of a ferocious 
 enemy, and were thus compelled to de- 
 vour the little refuse that had eluded his 
 grasp. 
 
 To a mind not steeled against the plead- 
 ings of humanity, the field of battle pre- 
 sented a less painful view, when strown with 
 the m^^ngled forms of dead and dying, than 
 did the rescued villages, where, in order to 
 secure Portugal from the reflux of this de- 
 solating tide, we were necessitated to receive 
 
16 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 from her children almost their last mouthful 
 of bread, and to see them paid with what in 
 itself was a wretched compensation, though 
 all we had to give. And even this inadequate 
 remuneration was again diminished, as we 
 have seen, by the iniquitous frauds of those 
 insatiate fiends, who drained the last drops of 
 vital blood from kindred veins — from the ex- 
 hausted pulses of their own countrymen — to 
 glut their detestable avarice. A military 
 man cannot easily revert to the feelings of 
 that period in measured language, especially 
 when he hears it asserted that Portugal was 
 a gainer by the peninsular war. Collectively, 
 as one among the nations of the world, her 
 character was undoubtedly exalted, and in- 
 vested with a brilliancy that had for nearly 
 two centuries been totally lost. Individually 
 too, the agents of designing fraud flourished 
 upon their iniquitous spoils, and many were 
 seen starting into sudden importance, who, 
 but for these events, would have lived and 
 died in native obscurity and contempt. It 
 is true that some few fortunes were accumu- 
 lated, even by honest means, among the 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 17 
 
 mercantile dealers in Lisbon, and thai some 
 favorable national qualities were then de- 
 veloped and brought into action, which might 
 otherwise have lain unexcited and dormant. 
 But can a nation be said to gain, when the 
 great bulk of her population are evidently 
 and fatally impoverished, and when a de- 
 vastating blight has passed over the budding 
 promise of all her internal resources ? 
 
 The greater number of those tradesmen 
 who now excite, in the provincial towns, the 
 wonder and the envy of their more honest 
 but less fortunate compeers, had scarcely 
 shoes to their feet until they followed our 
 army, calling themselves contractors to the 
 British forces, and, under that character, pur- 
 suing with impunity their merciless system. 
 Many of these men were employed to super- 
 intend the land carriage of our commissariat 
 and other stores ; for the conveyance of 
 which, bullock-carts and mules were pressed 
 into the service, and the handsomest allow- 
 ance was given to remunerate the peasantry 
 for their daily work in attending them. But, 
 through the pernicious influence of these 
 
18 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 head-men, such means were adopted to 
 harass and disgust the poor owners, and 
 particularly those who had charge of the 
 bullocks, that they generally fled, leaving 
 their beasts a prey in the hands of the unna- 
 tural wretches, who tore, without feeling and 
 without fear, their latest support from these 
 their oppressed and ruined countrymen. 
 
 I must, however, return to the considera- 
 tion of other branches in which Portugal sus- 
 tained a diminution of national prosperity, 
 no less than in her manufactories and her 
 granaries. Of all her natural productions, oil 
 and wine are those which best ensure an 
 ample repayment to their cultivator ; but for 
 some time previous to the epoch before us, a 
 disease had greatly injured the olive trees, 
 occasioning, in many instances, the total 
 failure of their crops. In several districts the 
 destruction was very extensive, and it was 
 remarked that in others, where the trees re- 
 tained their healthy appearance and fruitful 
 qualities, a far greater number had been cut 
 down by the French armies than in the 
 former situations : as if the relentings of na- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 19 
 
 ture towards those whose subsistence de- 
 pended on her wonted operations, had given 
 a new stimulus to man in the cruel work of 
 afflicting his fellow creatures. 
 
 Oppressed by poverty, and dreading its 
 aggravation, the farmer did not venture to 
 prune his olives ; for he erroneously cal- 
 culated that should the following year pro- 
 duce a general crop, he would incur a loss, 
 by having reduced the luxuriant branches 
 and so diminished the number of olives. 
 Thus he deferred from year to year this ne- 
 cessary operation, until the state of his trees 
 shewed how ruinous were the effects. Indeed, 
 the general unhealthiness of the olive planta- 
 tions may be traced principally to this cause. 
 The advantages of a different plan are proved 
 by the uncommonly fine and vigorous shoots, 
 sprung from the roots of those trees cut down 
 by the French, and which are now, after fifteen 
 years, in full bearing. But the distress of 
 the poor farmers was too great, and their 
 wants were too urgent, to allow of any thing 
 like a sacrifice of present emolument to more 
 distant advantages. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 To conceive the universal depression 
 consequent upon a failure of the olive 
 crop is scarcely possible, unless by contrast 
 with the animating scene, the bustle, activity, 
 and hilarity, that mark the ingathering 
 of a plentiful store in this class of nature's 
 bounties, justly ranked among the richest 
 she bestows ; for no produce so amply repays 
 the cultivator for all his cost in labour, money, 
 and patience. The expences of collecting 
 the fruit, and of the process by which 
 oil is extracted, are very considerable ; it is 
 subject to a heavy duty, and fifteen or 
 twenty years of growth are required to bring 
 the. tree to perfection. Yet few cultivators 
 have ever, in peaceful times, had cause to 
 complain of an unsuccessful speculation, in 
 making this valuable fruit their chief de- 
 pendence. 
 
 Towards the month of November, the 
 olives arrive at that degree of ripeness which 
 renders them fit for the annual operations. 
 Like our walnuts, they are beaten from the 
 boughs by means of long rods, while large 
 cloths, spread around the trunk, receive as 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 21 
 
 many as fall within the space they occupy. 
 The rest are gathered from the ground by 
 wotnen and children ; and so great is the pro- 
 duce, that the entire population of an olive 
 district find ample employment, in this work 
 alone, for several weeks, although assisted by 
 large groupes, who flock from a distance, 
 sometimes of nearly two hundred miles, 
 to share the labour, and return with a little 
 store of money thus earned, for their winter 
 subsistence. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the sprightliness of 
 these olive gleaning parties : from sun-rise to 
 the hour of vespers no sound is heard but 
 that of singing, and merry converse, while 
 every countenance reflects the gladness of the 
 season, and the general happiness of the 
 simple hearted peasantry. When the mills 
 are set in motion, the farmer can securely 
 reckon on a supply of ready money where- 
 with to cultivate his lands ; the pork feeder 
 and poulterer find in the bruised kernel of the 
 olive a plentiful and nutritious article for 
 fattening their numerous pigs and turkeys; 
 while the poor labourer, in addition to his 
 
32 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 present wages, anticipates an ample supply 
 of oil for his family at a price he can afford 
 to pay, and stores of preserved olives, which, 
 with a little bread, will long furnish the daily 
 meal for himself and his household, almost 
 free of cost. 
 
 An imperfect idea may be formed, even 
 from this slight sketch, of the cheering effect 
 produced when the national tree yields its 
 accustomed tribute to the children of the soil ; 
 and imagination will not fail to picture, in a 
 like degree, the deep gloom, despondency, 
 and disappointment that pervade all these 
 classes when that supply is withheld, whether 
 by the immediate visitation of Providence, in 
 smiting the earth with a blight, or the re- 
 morseless cruelty of man, in wantonly afflict- 
 ing his fellows. 
 
 The culture of the vine is less lucrative 
 than that of the olive, when the latter retains 
 its health and fruitfulness ; but the grape 
 possesses the advantage of not being so 
 liable to failures through disease or accident. 
 Circumstances, however, had conspired to 
 affect even this important branch of agricul- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 23 
 
 ture in a considerable degree, and to lessen 
 its value. A vine requires the pruning hook 
 every year, nor will the vineyard thrive if 
 more than two or three years be suffered to 
 elapse without turning up the soil. A 
 tolerable crop cannot be expected unless this 
 biennial digging takes place ; nor can it be 
 neglected but at the hazard of destroying the 
 vines altogether. It will readily be con- 
 jectured how fatally the distracted state of 
 the country interfered with these regular 
 operations, while war and rapine left their 
 foot-prints on the paths where peaceful in- 
 dustry had hitherto held her even way. The 
 consequence was, that many vineyards 
 drooped, decayed, and ultimately withered 
 beyond a possibility of recovery ; while the 
 land which they had covered lay in a state of 
 hopeless neglect, barren and uncultivated. 
 Corn crops are less congenial to the soil, and 
 to the habits of the people, or at least to their 
 partialities ; and these are rarely introduced 
 where the vine has fallen. 
 
 Of this prejudice, history affords a strik- 
 ing instance. The Marquis of Pombal, the 
 
24 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 celebrated minister of Joseph I., among other 
 schemes of national aggrandizement, resolved 
 to render Portugal more independent of foreign 
 aid, by augmenting her internal supply of 
 grain in proportion to its consumption through 
 the country. With this view he caused many 
 of the vineyards to be ploughed up, conceiv- 
 ing that corn would immediately supersede 
 the vine, which, as it requires three years to 
 render it fruitful, he supposed the farmers 
 would not again introduce. But long habit 
 and experience are not so easily conquered ; 
 and, notwithstanding the temporary loss sus- 
 tained while waiting for its maturity, the cul- 
 tivators soon restored their ancient vine to its 
 pre-eminent station ; proving that, in their 
 estimation, it yielded a far greater profit to 
 them than grain would ever produce. Doubt- 
 less they calculated more wisely than the 
 minister, considering the quality of the 
 ground and climate : excessive droughts are 
 of very frequent occurrence in Portugal, and 
 threaten with destruction the most promising 
 crops, unless the land on which they grow 
 be remarkably rich, or plentifully irrigated, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 25 
 
 which is not in general the case. I speak 
 from experience, having in one year lost two 
 successive corn crops from the same ground 
 by these droughts, and on a spot Avhere the 
 vine would undoubtedly have been prolific. 
 My wheat was first sown in November, and 
 by the middle of March following, the blade 
 was so completely dried up, that I had no 
 alternative but to pass the plough over it, 
 and plant for a crop of Indian corn. This 
 again had suffered so severely from the same 
 cause by the month of May, that, in the end, 
 it barely yielded its original measure of seed, 
 although an increase of fifty fold is by no 
 means an uncommon return in favorable 
 seasons. 
 
 These discouragements withheld many pro- 
 prietors of ruined vineyards from hazarding 
 an attempt in the growth of grain ; nor had 
 they any cheering prospect in renewing the 
 vine. Spanish wines were now admitted into 
 the Brazilian territory, establishing a dis- 
 heartening competition with the people who 
 had hitherto enjoyed exclusively the pri- 
 vilege of that valuable exportation to their 
 distant colony. 
 
26 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Thus may it altogether be conceived how 
 little of prosperity, either in possession or 
 anticipation, smiled upon those classes in 
 Portugal to whom the discriminating eye 
 would naturally look for the indications of 
 reviving welfare. The tempests of war had 
 indeed ceased their protracted work of devas- 
 tation ; but on every side appeared evident 
 and lasting tokens that the storms which had 
 passed had laid low the pride of the land, with 
 little hope of its resuscitation beneath the 
 returning beams of tranquillity. It was not 
 alone from the ravages of hostile violence 
 that Portugal had received the most lasting 
 injury ; there was an invisible hand still busy 
 in undermining the foundation of national 
 prosperity ; and domestic treachery, as we 
 have seen, proved but too successful an ally, 
 though a silent and secret one, in deepening 
 the wound which the cruelty of foreign inva- 
 sion had inflicted. 
 
 Extensive, however, as was the distress at 
 this period, we cannot pronounce it to have 
 been universal. The innumerable fraternities 
 of monks enjoyed a happy exemption from 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 1^7 
 
 the troubles that weighed down their less 
 privileged neighbours. Returning to their 
 immense possessions, now secured by the 
 triumphs of our arms, if they had not at first 
 the means of cultivating them to their full 
 extent, yet the church dues, levied on almost 
 every individual among the laity, and punc- 
 tually collected, soon enabled them to rejoice 
 in the fulness of their accustomed gratifi- 
 cations. 
 
 Along the line of coimtry too, so legibly 
 and direfully marked out as the track of an 
 invading army on their retreat in 1811, and 
 for the repairs of which a sum had been 
 granted, there were many who could boast 
 of a double advantage ; having suffered the 
 most trifling losses, and received the largest 
 compensation. So unfairly was this money 
 distributed, that the greater part fell to the 
 lot of those, whose uninjured possessions in 
 other parts of Portugal yielded ample means 
 for restoring what the hand of rapine had 
 destroyed in this ; while the poor peasant, 
 who, in the ruins of his little cottage, beheld 
 the wreck of his all ; and the man of limited 
 
28 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 income, whose property was concentrated in 
 the one spot where devastation had passed 
 and levelled it with the earth, received no 
 aid. The grant that, by an equitable dis- 
 tribution, might have cau'sed the beams of 
 comfort once more to illume hundreds of 
 families, became an instrument of unjust and 
 wicked partiality ; enriching those who al- 
 ready had enough, and leaving the poor to 
 perish. 
 
 What else could be expected, when every 
 department of government was in itself an 
 example of corruption: — when money was 
 the sole and universal passport to favour and 
 distinction, and when such a matured system 
 of disgraceful, avaricious intrigue, was sup- 
 ported between the court at the Rio, the 
 provisional government at Lisbon, and the 
 petty despots with whom their mercenary 
 arrangements had scourged all parts of the 
 country, that it might almost be said, every 
 honest man felt himself under the necessity 
 of becoming a rogue. 
 
 From a scene so calculated to excite in- 
 dignant disgust, it is a relief to turn the eye 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 29 
 
 upon the solitary exception to which Portugal 
 could point — her army. Commanded by a 
 British officer, whose talents had formed from 
 among a heterogeneous mass of unpromising 
 materials, a beautiful fabric — whose exertions 
 had procured for it the honorable distinction 
 of becoming the national bulwark — and whose 
 lofty spirit, both by influence and example, 
 had preserved it from sharing the contamina- 
 tion now spread through every other branch 
 of the state — that army stood comparatively 
 pure. Its officers beheld with impatient pity 
 the miseries of their country, for which they 
 had laboured and bled; they contemplated 
 with melancholy interest the minds of their 
 compatriots, darkened as they were by igno- 
 rance, enthralled by" a crafty and arrogant 
 priesthood, and crushed beneath the iron rule 
 of legal despotism ; and they placed the con- 
 dition of their own population in strong con- 
 trast with the gallant spirits of England, who 
 had for five years been their associates, and 
 shewed them what civil and religious freedom 
 could effect in enlightening and elevating 
 human nature. Nay, a comparison with the 
 
30 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 scenes from whence they had recently re- 
 turned in the south of France, was alone 
 sufficient to shew them the darkness of their 
 degraded homes. 
 
 This awakened feeling among military men 
 was not overlooked by the wily and selfish 
 government ; every possible method was put 
 in operation to bring the army down to a 
 level with the other institutions of Portugal, 
 and to disgust a commander, whose perse- 
 vering efforts to uphold its respectability and 
 ^ independence were met by the most irritating 
 opposition and perplexing counteraction. 
 Orders from the Rio, dictated by a less dis- 
 graceful spirit, were evaded, as not tending 
 sufficiently to debase the military character; 
 and a memorable instance of the temper 
 under which the government in Lisbon acted, 
 was displayed in their conduct respecting the 
 Portuguese quota of 5000 men, which should 
 have been furnished in 1815. 
 
 On the escape of Buonaparte from the 
 Island of Elba, transports were dispatched 
 from England to convey this force to the 
 Netherlands, in pursuance of a stipulation 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 31 
 
 entered into at the congress of Vienna. But 
 the Regency had no intention of carrying 
 into effect this agreement: accordant with 
 their narrow and unpatriotic policy, which, 
 in every point of view appeared to labour 
 for their country's degradation. Pretending 
 to feel themselves incompetent to so impor- 
 tant an act as sending an army out of the 
 kingdom, without being sanctioned by an 
 especial order from the Rio to that effect, 
 they contrived to evade the obligation, pro- 
 tracting the necessary steps with successive 
 idle excuses, until the battle of Waterloo 
 decided the fate of Europe, without allowing 
 the Portuguese troops to add one foreign 
 leaf to the laurels they had gathered in the 
 expulsion and pursuit of invading foes from 
 their native land. 
 
 It was the lot of that great captain under 
 whom the allied army of England and Por- 
 tugal had achieved this signal triumph, after 
 a struggle unexampled in the history of na- 
 tions, to strike a last decisive blow, and to 
 terminate in one important victory that con- 
 test which had been carried on for years over 
 
32 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 a tract of country extending from Lisbon to 
 Toulouse. To write an encomium on the 
 Duke of Wellington is not my purpose ; all 
 Europe felt compelled to unite in his ap- 
 plause. Blending, as he does, the most 
 brilliant military talent and enterprizing spi- 
 rit that can promise success in the field, with 
 all the cool deliberation and political foresight 
 that characterize the sagacious diplomatist 
 and profound statesman, his merits are uni- 
 versally acknowledged. Still it is among 
 those who fought under his grace's standard, 
 during his arduous ascent to the pinnacle of 
 renown, that the subject carries with it the 
 deepest interest ; and they can best appre- 
 ciate his merits, who beheld him often sur- 
 rounded with difficulties, far more formidable 
 than the hostile army arrayed against him, 
 surveying both with equal resolution, and 
 encountering them with equal success. 
 
 The dearly-won laurels of the Peninsula 
 were vivid enough ; yet among many who 
 fairly earned them, there is found too much 
 cause for regret, that it was not their chance 
 to share with their veteran commander, and 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 33 
 
 more fortunate comrades, in the brilliant 
 achievements of a day, as important in its 
 results, as it was terrible in its sanguinary 
 struggle — as beneficial to all Europe, as it 
 was triumphantly glorious to the hero who 
 led, and to the troops that followed him. 
 They feel that this climax of victory, though 
 it be marked by far more conspicuous honours 
 and distinctive rewards, ought not to be con- 
 sidered, as it evidently is by some, "as eclips- 
 ing the long series of harassing service, of 
 arduous campaigns, and hard-fought battles, 
 in which so many sacrificed their youth, 
 their health, strength, limbs, and even life 
 itself. 
 
 Towards the close of the same year, the 
 commander in chief of the Portuguese army, 
 anxious for the welfare of the body placed 
 under his care, undertook a voyage to 
 Brazil, and succeeded in obtaining the king's 
 sanction to a most excellent military code of 
 laws, by which, if properly brought into ope- 
 ration, an effective army might have been 
 established, and upheld on principles alike 
 respectable and economical ; while that mi- 
 
 D 
 
H STATE OE PORTUGAt. 
 
 serable pittance, of the inadequacy of which 
 both officers and men justly complained, 
 would receive sufficient augmentation to sa- 
 tisfy all reasonable necessities. Still it was 
 found expedient in these regulations to in- 
 troduce some clauses not so conducive to 
 the domestic comforts of the military, as to 
 their professional advantage ; for hitherto 
 each regiment had been attached to its owij 
 district, where it had been originally raised, 
 and from whence it took its name; so that, 
 on the cessation of hostilities, every corps 
 found itself again domesticated in the bosom 
 9I its native liome ; a privilege as grateful to 
 individual feelings as it was subversive of 
 tliat promptitude with which the soldier should 
 quit his place of temporary repose at the call 
 of 4uty. In process of time, the Portuguese 
 ^nilitary would have been rendered totally 
 \i^fit fojr actual service, as the endearments 
 0f home resumed their powerful influence ; 
 aifid to obviate this, it was arranged that each 
 ^fps should take its appointed turn in cer- 
 tain garrisons ; and by the formation of 
 ca^Qps, with other similar expedients, the 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. ?§ 
 
 military habits of the soldier would have 
 been kept in activity, and his character 
 sustained. 
 
 True to their mischievous principles, the 
 delegated government of Portugal received 
 these regulations with jealousy ; and pro- 
 ceeded to defeat their object, not by open 
 opposition, but by putting in practice those 
 parts of the new system, which, as they en- 
 croached on established indulgences, were 
 sure to be most unpopular with the army; 
 while all that could counterbalance such pri- 
 vation, by administering, in other respects, to 
 the soldier's comfort, was withheld. This 
 perverse line of conduct did not fail of its 
 effect, so far as to harass and distress the 
 objects of its cruelty ; but nothing could as 
 yet shake the loyalty of the troops, nor un- 
 dermine their respectful regard towards the 
 commander in chief, whose zeal to benefit 
 them they could appreciate, amid all the 
 vexatious opposition of men invested with 
 civil control. This steadfast spirit was lio^bly 
 evidenced in 1817, when the conspiracy <>f 
 Gomes Freire afforded a fair opportunity of 
 
 d2 
 
B6 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 judging how far disaffection had spread among 
 the military. 
 
 A most erroneous view of this conspiracy 
 has been taken, and industriously circulated 
 by some, whose object is sufficiently evident ; 
 it was their policy to represent the intended 
 rebellion as nothing more than a revolt 
 against the commander in chief, and a pa- 
 triotic attempt to render Portugal indepen- 
 dent of England. But proofs most indis- 
 putable were adduced that the design of 
 Gomes Freire terminated in nothing less than 
 a total overthrow of the existing government, 
 and destruction of all constituted authorities, 
 in whose place himself and about twenty 
 others were to preside over the kingdom, but 
 without any plan or regulation for their future 
 guidance, in this most delicate and important 
 office. It was a wild, undigested scheme of 
 anarchy, fraught with consequences the most 
 calamitous to the country, and all connected 
 with it; and the odium cast on the com- 
 mander in chief, as if he had recommended 
 the decisive mode of proceeding adopted by 
 the government in dealing forth the due re- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 37 
 
 ward of discovered treason on its unprincipled 
 projectors, was but one among the many ma- 
 licious falsehoods, invented to excite the 
 indignation of Portugal against her truest 
 friend. 
 
 Through his exertions, in all probability, 
 Lisbon was rescued from becoming a scene 
 of universal carnage and horror on the night 
 of the arrest ; for there was a party in the 
 army who looked on Gomes Freire as a man 
 qualified to take the lead in great enterprizes ; 
 and a spirit of discontent existed among the 
 populace of Lisbon, as in other parts of the 
 country, excited by the wretched misrule of 
 their government, and ready to break forth 
 into open violence on the first fair pretence. 
 How then can we refuse the just tribute of 
 applause to the commander, by whose prompt 
 movements the opportunity was lost to them ? 
 Gomes Freire and his fellow conspirators 
 were arrested at night, nor was the fact gene- 
 rally known until the following day, although 
 the troops in the capital remained under arms 
 till nearly morning. To forego the execution 
 of these desperate rebels would have been to 
 
3a STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Invite a sanguinary struggle; and the facts 
 were too clearly brought home to them for 
 any doubt to exist concerning the justice of 
 their sentence, except among those who can 
 see nothing in a candid point of view, that 
 does not emanate from their own narrow 
 party spirit, or tend to foster it. 
 
 The Portuguese army entitled itself on 
 this occasion to the lasting gratitude of both 
 government and people: one insubordinate 
 movement — one seditious ciy — on their part, 
 had caused a scene in Lisbon of which all 
 Portugal must have suffered the effects ; and 
 in the tumult they could have gleaned a 
 golden harvest of spoil from their tyrannic 
 rulers ; who, in return for this forbearing 
 loyalty, continued to hold back every part 
 of the new code, that would at once have 
 supplied their necessities and gratified their 
 military pride. It never could have been 
 expected by the commander in chief, that his 
 regulations should be applied so unfairly,^ 
 having so arranged them as to check aod 
 counterbalance each other ; bu-t if it was the 
 noble ambition of the Begency to pjace them- 
 
St ATE OF PORTtJGAL. 39 
 
 selves, and all in authority, on the summit 
 of unpopularity, their proceedings were ad- 
 mirably calculated to attain that distinction. 
 
 The following example will serve to illus- 
 trate the cruelty of such a partial enforce- 
 ment of the new system. A regiment, stai- 
 tioned about eighty miles from Lisbon, was 
 ordered to march for the garrison of that- 
 capital, in pursuance of the rule which re- 
 quired the occasional movement of each 
 corps ; while the augmentation and regular 
 issue of pay, by which alone the officers could 
 meet the exigency of such sudden demand fof 
 unusual expenditure, had not been granted. 
 I had in that regiment a friend, a Portuguese 
 lieutenant, who gave me this affecting picture 
 of his situation at the time. With a wife and 
 three children he found himself under orders 
 to march for a station proverbial for its e'x- 
 pences, to meet every part of which, both 
 there and on the road, he had merely his 
 pay. Thi^, if fairly remitted to him, would 
 amount to eighteen mil rees a month (about 
 £4. 10s. sterling) attd might have sufficed for 
 his ^tibsistefice ; but bi^fore he receive it iii 
 
40 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 a state payable in the country, it was so re- 
 duced as to be utterly inadequate to answer 
 the most urgent wants of his family. 
 
 It must be observed, that previous to the 
 regulations above mentioned, clerks at the 
 Portuguese treasury, where the army pay was 
 issued, openly discounted the officers' monthly 
 receipts, at a moderate charge indeed, but 
 one that must be indefinite in its amount, as 
 the arrears often accumulated for several 
 months ; thus making it the interest of these 
 people to retard as long as possible the issues 
 of army payment, which was diminished to 
 its unfortunate owners in proportion as it 
 was delayed. The new regulations contained 
 a prohibition against this official usury, under 
 the penalty of punishment to those who con- 
 tinued it; but this was perverted, like all 
 other wholesome enactments, to the greater 
 profit of one party, and deeper injury of the 
 other. Officers, still unable to obtain their 
 long arrears, were compelled to borrow for 
 present need at any loss ; and the clerks con- 
 tinued privately to discount as before, only 
 augmenting the charge in consideration of 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 41 
 
 the hazard they exposed themselves to in thus 
 violating the law. 
 
 In addition to this grievous loss, my friend, 
 in common with others, shared the disadvan- 
 tage of having half what he did receive paid 
 in government paper, which has no circulation 
 in country towns, nor is any where taken in 
 payment of less than half a moidore, and on 
 which, of course, a very heavy discount was 
 laid. Altogether his little allowance was re- 
 duced to about two shillings and sixpence a 
 day; out of which he must find means to 
 dress himself as an officer, to provide lodg- 
 ings for his family, and answer all other 
 demands upon his purse. This officer had 
 served honorably during the greater part of 
 the war ; his case was that of hundreds 
 equally deserving, and it could not be other- 
 wise than that the discontent of the army 
 must daily increase with their increasing dif- 
 ficulties. 
 
 The wise military foresight that prompted 
 this occasional removal from one station to 
 another, became an act of oppressive cruelty, 
 as it passed through the hands of the govern- 
 
42 STATJB OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 ment ; for while the troops remained in their 
 own districts, where they were individually 
 known, many little comforts and aids were 
 supplied by considerate friends ; while the 
 tradesman probably indulged with a long 
 credit such as he could rely upon, from ac- 
 quaintance with their family and connexions. 
 Removed to a strange place, all tll^pse soften- 
 ing circumstances vanished ; the soldier bit- 
 terly felt the destitution in which he was left 
 by those for whom he had fought and suf- 
 fered ; and the Regency, in thwarting every 
 judicious measure of the British commander, 
 were preparing an engine to recoil with 
 double force upon themselves. 
 
 Meanwhile, the people became impatient 
 of deceptions that could no longer mislead t 
 they had allowed themselves to be flattered 
 into a delusive expectation of speedily wel- 
 coming their emigrant court, and once more 
 beholding their capital flourish, as the seat 
 of legitimate authority, and the emporium 
 of their commerce. But no sign appeared of 
 their king's long-expected return from the Rio, 
 and their oppressed situation became more 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 43 
 
 than ever galling, when they turned to the 
 free constitutions acquired by Spain and 
 Naples. They were ripe for any change, 
 and if the army proclaimed freedom, all Por- 
 tugal would joyfully re-echo the cry of revo- 
 lution. 
 
 Aware of this latent spirit, and anxious 
 yet to preserve to the house of Braganza its 
 ancient kingdom, the commander in chief 
 resolved on one more effort, and, in 1820, 
 he again sailed for Brazil, There, placing 
 before his majesty the true state of his 
 European dominions, of which he had doubt- 
 less been kept ignorant by his vicegerents at 
 home, this energetic advocate so far roused 
 the kingly and paternal feelings of the 
 monarch as to induce him not only to send 
 money, but even a part of his jewels, for the 
 payment of those troops whose patient fidelity 
 had still held out against the provocations 
 that tended to a most perilous result. 
 
 Together with these means of discharging 
 their claims, the commander in chief re- 
 ceived such powers as would have enabled 
 him to form, with that army, a secure bul- 
 
44 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 wark against any revolutionary attempt : but 
 advantage was taken of his absence, and the 
 the blow was struck while he, on the western 
 shores of the Atlantic, pleaded for those con- 
 cessions that alone might have prevented it, 
 if granted more promptly. Nay, so well 
 aware of his deserved popularity with the 
 troops, and his influence over them, were 
 those who had seized the reins of govern- 
 ment, that they refused him permission to 
 land, lest his loyal exertions might produce 
 some re-action favorable to the king. Thus 
 did Portugal reject from her shores, the man 
 who, for twelve years, had devoted himself 
 to her service, and sought her welfare, with 
 a zeal, a constancy, and a steadiness of pur- 
 pose that not one among the many pretenders 
 to patriotic ardour, born and nurtured on her 
 soil, ever exhibited in her cause. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 1820—1822. 
 
 Origin of the Revolution of 1820 — Revolt of the Garrison of 
 Oporto — A Constitutional Government there proclaimed— ■Joy- 
 fully received by the People — Imbecility of the Regency — 
 Paralyzing Effects of their Vacillation upon the Spirit of the 
 Royal Adherents, and upon the Loyalty of the Army — The 
 Garrison of Lisbon proclaim the Constitution — The Revolution 
 completed — At first hailed with Enthusiasm by the Nation — 
 Assembly of the Cortes — Intemperate Language of that Body 
 — Gross Impolicy of its Proceedings— Disappointment and 
 Disgust thereby excited — In the Nobility, the Peasantry, the 
 Religious Orders, and the Army — Re-action of Public Feeling 
 — Arrival of the King from Brazil — His insulting Re- 
 ception by the Cortes — Affection of the People for his Person — 
 Reviving Loyalty of the Army — Character of John VI, — And 
 of the Queen — Her injurious Treatment by the Cortes — Her 
 secret Schemes of Vengeance, and Counter-Revolution — 
 Favored by the wretched Errors of the Cortes — Continued 
 Oppression and Corruption of Administration under the Con- 
 stitutional Government — General Disaffection to its rule. 
 
 The picture which has been attempted in 
 the preceding chapter, will probably have 
 sufficed to illustrate the real condition of 
 Portugal at the close of the Peninsular war, 
 and during the six years that intervened be- 
 tween that epoch and the revolution of 1820. 
 
46 STAJ'E OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 The extinction of the few native manufacto- 
 ries of the kingdom, the total loss of the 
 lucrative commerce of Brazil, and the utter 
 ruin of agriculture by the ravages of a cruel 
 warfare, had all conspired to overwhelm the 
 mass of the Portuguese population in distress 
 y and poverty. The return of a season of tran- 
 
 quillity, which should have healed the wounds 
 left by foreign invasion and national misfor- 
 tunes, had been permitted to exercise no real 
 salutary influence. On the contrary, during 
 these six years, the continued residence of 
 the court in Brazil, with the exactions of an 
 absentee nobility, the general corruption of 
 the institutions of government, and the mis- 
 rule of the Regency, had altogether aggra- 
 vated instead of assuaging the sufferings of 
 the nation. The clergy, and the harpies of 
 administration, had alone flourished amidst 
 the general calamity : the great body of the 
 people, and especially the peasantry, were 
 reduced to the lowest stage of penury and 
 wretchedness ; and an army, distinguished 
 under its British commander for discipline 
 and loyalty, had been goaded into impatience 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 4f 
 
 and discontent. That beneath such a system 
 of misrule and misery the whole country 
 should have become ripe for any change, will 
 excite wonder in no reflecting mind ; and it 
 did not require the spirit of prophecy to an- 
 ticipate that the first revolutionary movement JJ 
 would be eagerly embraced, and successfully 
 prosecuted, against the corrupt and imbecile 
 government. While the commander in chief 
 wa§ thus absent in Brazil, labouring for the 
 public welfare of the kingdom, the army, no 
 longer protected and maintained in its loyalty ^^^ 
 by his personal influence and vigilance, was /^ 
 abandoned to the evil suggestions of design- 
 ing agitators. It then became an easy matter 
 for a few individuals successfully to raise the 
 standard of revolt ; and the insignificant 
 manner in which the revolution of 1820 was 
 effected, fully manifested the general dis- 
 affection of the nation against its cou'- 
 temptible rulers. 
 
 The commencement of the Portuguese re- 
 volution of 1820, is, however, worthy of some 
 remark, as it exhibits in a curious light the 
 genius of patriotism, or, at least, of that con- 
 
48 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 venient application of the term, by which 
 men provide themselves with a cloak to cover 
 their most selfish designs, under the imposing 
 aspect of devotion to their country. The 
 commanding officer of a regiment in Oporto 
 had made rather too free with the contents of 
 the regimental chest entrusted to his care, 
 and he knew that a commissioner would soon 
 arrive to examine his accounts. This was by 
 no means desirable ; and to avert his impend- 
 ing disgrace and ruin, he generously made 
 common cause with his country, and resolved, 
 by one bold revolutionary movement, to re- 
 lieve both the national distress and his own. 
 To save himself by delivering Portugal, was 
 too noble and comprehensive a scheme to be 
 easily relinquished. Communicating, there- 
 fore, his intentions to some miilitary men and 
 others, who might be influenced by motives 
 equally powerful, a conspiracy was quickly 
 formed, and its design was as promptly 
 executed. On the night of the 23d of August, 
 1820, after a secret meeting among them- 
 selves, the officers proceeded to the quarters 
 of their respective regiments, and found no 
 
STATE OF PORTUOAL. 49 
 
 difficulty in prevailing on the troops to raise 
 the cry of a constitution; to which, and an 
 embryo Cortes, they swore fidelity : an- 
 nouncing at day-break to the inhabitants 
 of Oporto, by a discharge of artillery, the 
 result of their nocturnal legislation. 
 
 The people, conscious that almost any 
 change must be for the better, received the 
 tidings with perfect cordiality ; and a junta 
 was presently nominated, who hoped that 
 through themselves, as the executive govern- 
 ment, all Portugal would henceforth be con- 
 tent to receive laws. Nor did the Regency 
 in Lisbon appear inclined to make any very 
 serious opposition to this revolutionary work. 
 Whether from the dread of receiving personal 
 chastisement, for their long misrule, from 
 those whom they could have little hope of 
 again reducing to a state of subjection, or 
 whether they were willing on any terms to 
 get rid of the English commander, whom 
 they hated, because they envied and feared 
 him, certain it is that they made no vigorous 
 effort on the occasion. Some troops were 
 marched, by the provincial governments, to- 
 
50 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 wards the scene of action ; but, as might have 
 been expected, the greater number joined the 
 popular party, formed by their comrades in 
 the north, and none evinced a disposition to 
 commence hostilities. 
 ^ '^ Had the Regency been serious in their at- 
 tempts to check these operations, they would 
 undoubtedly have moved the troops in Estre- 
 madura upon Coimbra, while the symptoms 
 of disaffection were confined to the neigh- 
 bourhood of Oporto, and by this means a 
 formidable barrier would have been opposed 
 to the revolution. The Conde of Amarante, 
 who, as General Silveira, had distinguished 
 himself during the war at the head of the 
 Portuguese militia, now commanded in the 
 province of Tras-os-montes, and remained 
 faithful to the king; General Victoria also, 
 in the province of Beira, manifested un- 
 shaken loyalty. But the Regency neglected 
 to come forward with that promptitude which 
 alone could ensure success at such a crisis ; 
 and their hesitation was fatal; to the loyal 
 principles of the soldiery, prepared as they 
 were to act under the command of such men 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 51 
 
 as the generals above named, and to maintain 
 their fidelity, had they seen themselves pro- 
 perly supported by the Regency. But upon the 
 indignant representations and remonstrances 
 of the senior Anglo-Portuguese officer in Lis- 
 bon — an officer who had already highly dis- 
 tinguished himself, and whose recent con- 
 quests in the East have added new glory to 
 the British arms— the agents of government 
 frankly told him, that the Regency desired to 
 avoid the effusion of native blood, and that, 
 fearing to irritate the army by employing 
 foreigners against their own countrymen, they 
 had determined to remove all British officers 
 from active employment, as far as they were 
 able : — and this resolution they forthwith car- 
 ried into effect. 
 
 The Regency thus completely paralyzed the 
 efforts of about eighty English officers, who 
 were scattered throughout the country with 
 the different parts of the army; and who 
 whould have exerted themselves to the utmost 
 to arrest the progress of revolt, before it ex- 
 tended to those regiments which had taken 
 no part in it at the commencement. 
 
 E 2 
 
53 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 To the good spirit which still, at this time, 
 pervaded the troops, I can bear testimony 
 from personal observation. My duty led me 
 to Santarem, to superintend the passage of 
 those regiments across the Tagus, whose 
 route, from the province of Alemtejo, lay in 
 that direction ; and I had then a fair oppor- 
 tunity of estimating the extent of their loyalty 
 and subordination. For, having observed 
 some appearances of increasing disaffection 
 among all the authorities, and great numbers 
 of the inhabitants in Santarem, I met the 
 first regiment previous to their crossing the 
 river, and took an opportunity of communi- 
 cating to their colonel the result of my re- 
 marks, with a view to his guarding his men 
 from the contamination of seditious princi- 
 ples. Acting upon this intelligence, he re- 
 solved to address his regiment ; and as soon 
 as they formed in the upper town, previous to 
 dismissing them, he spoke in the presence of 
 innumerable spectators : telling them that, as 
 they had now entered a different part of the 
 country, it was necessary to give the inhabit- 
 ants some evidence of their loyal feeling ; and 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 53 
 
 that he therefore took the occasion afforded 
 him to repeat the declaration which they had 
 so often made, of their readiness to lay down 
 their lives in the cause of their beloved sove- 
 reign, to whose name he was sure they would 
 now join their vivas. This was done imme- 
 diately, with loud acclamation, by the whole 
 corps : evidently to the no small annoyance 
 and discomfiture of some hundreds of sus- 
 picious characters, who had surrounded the re- 
 giment, waiting their opportunity to tempt the 
 men into disloyalty, and who now slunk away, 
 discouraged by this cordial burst of attach- 
 ment to the cause which they longed to sub- 
 vert. 
 
 These troops had been ordered to form 
 part of an army which appeared destined for 
 the covering of Lisbon ; but which was di- 
 rected to take its station only about fifty 
 miles in advance of the capital : an arrange- 
 ment so absurd that it appeared as if intended 
 to give time to the revolutionary powers in 
 Oporto, to strengthen themselves with all the 
 military force in the north, and to march 
 at their leisure upon the metropolis. 
 
54 STATE OF PORTUaAL. 
 
 While the zeal of these men cooled in 
 inaction at their quiet post, and while their 
 minds were practised on by the disaffected 
 people^ about them, the troops under the 
 Conde of Amarante and General Victoria, 
 finding themselves altogether unsupported by 
 the government whose part they had espoused, 
 began to waver, and by degrees joined the 
 party who had proclaimed the constitution. 
 It was thus evident that the revolters were to 
 be opposed with no weapons more formidable 
 than the fulminations of a government which 
 had nothing to urge in its own favour, and 
 which now by its pusillanimity invited re- 
 doubled contempt and derision : conceding 
 under the impulse of fear what the demands 
 of justice could never extort from it. 
 
 My official duty in Santarem being ful- 
 filled, I applied for leave to join the army 
 then forming ; but in answer received an order 
 to repair to Lisbon, and there became ac- 
 quainted with the prudent resolve of the 
 Regency against employing the British offi* 
 cers in their mock attempt to suppress in- 
 surrection. Few as these British officers 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 55 
 
 were in number, there can be no doubt of 
 their anxiety to have supported, with the 
 utmost zeal, the cause of the monarch in 
 whose service they were then commissioned ; 
 and the consciousness of being popular among 
 the military would farther have encouraged 
 them. But they were regarded with a very 
 different and decidedly hostile feeling, by 
 those who aimed at the overthrow of all exist- 
 ing institutions, and who would have scrupled 
 at nothing in order to get rid of them. Of 
 this I had an opportunity of judging, from an 
 attempt made to assassinate me, in Santarem, 
 immediately after the troops had passed, and 
 which could not be ascribed to any motive 
 whatever but that of revenge for the active 
 discharge of my duty in that town and its 
 environs. For it had been perceived that I 
 had exerted all the influence which I pos- 
 sessed among the native officers in com- 
 mand, in a manner most unfavorable to the 
 perfidious designs of the revolutionists. 
 
 Arriving at Lisbon early on the memora- 
 ble 15th of September, it was my fortune to 
 witness the events of that day, always cele- 
 
56 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 brated as an anniversary dear to the Portu- 
 guese — the expulsion of the French army 
 from their territory. At this time, however, 
 the Regency were too well acquainted with 
 the growing discontent of their troops to ven- 
 ture on the accustomed ceremonies of a field- 
 day ; and the different regiments were com- 
 manded to remain quiet in their respective 
 quarters ; with the exception of a small party, 
 who were to proceed, about four o'clock in 
 the afternoon, on some detachment. The 
 gallant subaltern at their head, conceiving 
 that he could better distinguish himself by a 
 less troublesome march in a different direc- 
 tion, repaired to the Rocio Square, and pro- 
 claimed the constitution. Here he was pre- 
 sently joined by the remainder of his regi- 
 ment, with the exception of their commanding 
 officer : he was an Englishman, who, having 
 recently been removed from another corps, 
 where he had been for years idolized by both 
 the officers and men under his command, 
 could possess little influence among those to 
 whom he was yet a mere stranger ; and his 
 dissent from this revolutionary determination 
 failed to prevent the movement. 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 57 
 
 Other regiments quickly received intelli- 
 gence of these proceedings ; and as the novelty 
 of assisting to proclaim the constitution was 
 a sufficient inducement to the thoughtless, so 
 others gladly embraced the opportunity of 
 effecting any change, vrell assured that none 
 could be for the worse. The whole garrison 
 was soon in motion, and the Rocio exhibited 
 the very scene which this wise government 
 had congratulated itself on preventing — a na- 
 tional change, effected by the cries of a few 
 troops. Nothing can better illustrate the 
 helpless character of the Regency than the 
 manner in which these tidings were commu- 
 nicated to its managing member. This great 
 personage resided at Belem, about three miles 
 from Lisbon, where a regiment of cavalry was 
 likewise quartered. Its cpmmandant was a 
 nobleman, who happened at the time to be 
 paying a visit to the worthy secretary. An 
 officer of the corps, being in Lisbon when the 
 affair commenced, gallopped off to Belem, to 
 bring his own regiment in for a share of these 
 bloodless laurels. Ascertaining that his com- 
 manding officer was with the minister, he 
 
[ 
 
 58 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 repaired to the house, and on being ushered 
 in, told him that all the troops were assem- 
 bling in the Rocio, and that he must imme- 
 diately lead his regiment thither also. " What 
 can this be ?" said the colonel, turning with 
 a look of enquiry to his host, who despair- 
 ingly shrugged his shoulders, " His excel- 
 lency, the governor of the kingdom, has given 
 no such order." '' Neither can he issue any 
 orders," rejoined the bold dragoon, "for his 
 excellency is no longer a governor in this 
 kingdom." 
 
 Thus unresistingly fell the power of a 
 man who had aspired to, and attained, the 
 chief place in a nation's councils, and who 
 endured to see that authority wrested from 
 his grasp, rather than fail to satiate his jea- 
 lous hatred of the British commander in 
 chief, whose talents had overawed him, whose 
 real services had shamed him, and whose 
 well-earned popularity had envenomed his 
 envy. Had the kingdom been his own, such 
 conduct could only excite contempt ; but we 
 must recollect that his authority was held in 
 trust for an absent sovereign, who had con- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 59 
 
 fided to his care the whole extent of his 
 European dominions ; from which his royal 
 person and family had been exiled by the 
 violence of foreign aggression. The king of 
 Portugal was defrauded of his sovereignty, 
 that the leader who had created her army 
 might partake in the exile of her monarch. 
 
 One native general was found faithful to 
 his trust, even at the imminent peril of his 
 life. He had for many years acted as adju- 
 tant-general to the army, and on this occasion 
 made a bold effort to reclaim the troops. Re- 
 pairing to the Rocio, where they were col- 
 lected, busied in displaying among the people 
 their newly- awakened enthusiasm, this officer 
 harangued and remonstrated with them, but 
 in so doing only produced such exasperation 
 as rendered his personal escape extremely 
 difficult. The time for stemming this popular 
 torrent had passed away, and every barrier 
 was levelled before the burst of national feel- 
 ing. Gratified by perceiving how high they 
 stood in the estimation of the mob, and con- 
 trasting it with the ungrateful return made 
 for their services on the part of the late 
 
p 
 
 ^ STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 government, the soldiery, to a man, now ap- 
 peared confirmed in the choice so precipi- 
 tately adopted. While feasting, bull-fights, 
 and illuminations manifested, for several suc- 
 cessive days and nights, the popular joy, a 
 perfect unanimity prevailed, and Portugal 
 was thoroughly revolutionized. 
 
 The government of Oporto considered 
 themselves entitled to a priority of rank, 
 having been the first in actual revolt, and in 
 their own estimation perfectly qualified to 
 lead the national councils. But Lisbon still 
 asserted her superior claim, and only con- 
 ceding to the others the privilege of incorpo- 
 rating a portion of their own junta with that 
 formed in the capital, extinguished the tem- 
 porary blaze of these northern illuminati. 
 
 From the slight sketch already given, of 
 the state in which these events found the na- 
 tion in general, it cannot be doubted that Por- 
 tugal hailed as a deliverance this complete 
 change in her government. Misery, in every 
 form, had been for some time the lot of her 
 inhabitants ; the few who prospered did so 
 at the expenoe of the many who were nearly 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 61 
 
 perishing ; and matters were in too desperate 
 a state to receive amelioration from any thing 
 short of a total revolution. Of a constitu- 
 tional charter, few had any defined idea ; but 
 they were assured that it would lead to na- 
 tional prosperity, and that England gloried 
 in tracing to hers all that greatness which 
 rendered her pre-eminent among kingdoms ; 
 and which had enabled her, within their 
 memory, not only to sustain unmoved the 
 menaces, and to dare unshrinkingly the as- 
 sault, of a hostile world combined, but even 
 at the very period of her own greatest diffi- 
 culties to stretch forth a protecting arm, and 
 deliver other nations from aggression. Ex- 
 tolling thus the charter of England, the new 
 legislators assured their admiring hearers 
 that the constitution which was about to be 
 conferred on them, would far expeed in the 
 excellency of its privileges this distinguished 
 prototype ; and consequently would exalt 
 Portugal considerably above the degree of 
 dignity to which England had attained. 
 
 In Portugal, as in other countries, a nu- 
 merous class of men may be met with, whose 
 
I 
 
 62 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 mode of elevating themselves is by dragging 
 down to their own level their superiors in 
 wisdom, worth, and station. This descrip- 
 tion of patriots had now much on their hands, 
 and they diligently improved the opportunity. 
 They excited a blind enthusiasm throughout 
 the country in favour of the beau ideal, which 
 they prevailed on the poor people to believe 
 would be invested with a tangible shape for 
 their benefit ; and they encouraged the match- 
 less ingratitude that now began openly to shew 
 itself towards every thing English. It was 
 rightly calculated that our government would 
 not afford their sanction to these disorderly 
 and rebellious proceedings ; and, greatly over- 
 rating their own resources, the people were 
 led to imagine that they should no longer 
 need the support of a foreign ally. Expect- 
 ing that the treaty of 1810, which was gene- 
 rally unpopular with these misjudging people, 
 would now be rescinded, they were taught to 
 believe that, by prohibiting the importation 
 of British goods, they should ensure the 
 revival of their own manufactories, and re- 
 store to Portugal as high a share of prospe- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 63 
 
 rity as she could ever boast, when in the un- 
 disturbed possession of her most valuable 
 colonies. j 
 
 The speculators who originated or en- 
 couraged this delusion, quite overlooked, in 
 their sagacity, the extensive market for their 
 produce which England afforded by her large 
 annual importations of fruit and wine ; nor 
 did they seem to take into their account the 
 distress that must inevitably ensue when these 
 things were left upon their hands, and the 
 chief riches of their soil abandoned to moulder 
 where they grew. Englishmen were wantonly 
 insulted by persons who could not assign a 
 reason for their disgraceful conduct ; and the 
 spirit evinced was rather that of a peevish 
 and envious child, than of a nation shaking 
 from its limbs the shackles of which it had 
 long complained. 
 
 The assembling of the Cortes was an 1/ 
 
 event to which every one now looked with 
 the most intense and impatient anxiety. /. 
 
 Much time was lost, and very disgraceful 
 scenes took place in the discussion of trivial 
 questions, referring to the forms by which the 
 
64 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 deputies should be elected ; and other matters 
 equally unimportant in comparison with the 
 weighty affairs that called for immediate dis- 
 cussion. These frivolous disputes sufficiently 
 indicated the extent to which a factious 
 spirit was carried, even at the outset : but at 
 length the Cortes met. Some men of talent 
 jj had been chosen among them ; and from this 
 hopes were entertained that measures would 
 forthwith be adopted to improve the internal 
 condition of the country, by checking abuses, 
 introducing wholesome laws, and enforcing 
 neglected regulations. But these hopes were 
 soon wearied out, and every thinking mind 
 disgusted by the idle delays, forms, procla- 
 mations, and ridiculous acts of a body, 
 which appeared under the guidance of a few 
 madmen, more fit to inhabit the cells of a 
 lunatic asylum, than to occupy such a respon- 
 sible place, and to frame laws for the govern- 
 ment of a nation. After sitting four hours to 
 encourage each other in the most virulent, 
 indiscriminate abuse and invective against all 
 established institutions, whether political or 
 religious, these demagogues arose, well satis- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 65 
 
 fied that they had performed the duties of a 
 deliberative assembly, and fairly earned their 
 daily moidore. They seemed to seek only 
 the applause of admiring galleries, who mea- 
 sured their approving vociferations by the 
 quantum of senseless violence contained in 
 these oracular harangues, and never failed 
 to mark with their weighty displeasure any 
 tendency to reason or moderation betrayed 
 by the people's leaders. 
 
 Some members there were, who could not 
 speak without exhibiting the good sense and 
 talent which they really possessed ; but these 
 were few, and soon overwhelmed by the cla- 
 mour of the majority. Though both qualified 
 and inclined to benefit their suffering country, 
 this better portion of the Cortes was thus 
 rendered pefectly powerless ; and every hope 
 of lasting advantage from the recent changes 
 became rapidly extinct, as these scenes un- 
 derwent their unvarying repetition. Many 
 had acquiesced in the revolution solely from 
 a compassionate desire to try every mode for 
 the amelioration of the distresses under which 
 Portugal groaned; and these men now dis- 
 
 F 
 
66 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 covered that the compromise of their loyalty- 
 had left them nothing but regret for having 
 sanctioned such proceedings. For, as they 
 expressed themselves, "the game was the 
 same though the partners were changed." 
 This host of complainants was daily aug- 
 menting, and shortly became considerable 
 throughout the country ; and it may be well 
 here to take a short review of the classes 
 which chiefly composed it, and among 
 whom discontent was most evident. 
 
 Loyalty to their kings has long been the 
 marked characteristic of the Portuguese na- 
 tion ; and although John VI. was not living 
 among his people, yet a large share of the 
 population, particularly in the provinces, 
 venerated their sovereign's name, and detested 
 a system whose principle it was to hold up 
 that name to scorn, and to cover it with op- 
 probrium. These were loyalists in their 
 hearts, at all times, whom it was difficult to 
 reconcile to any other form of government 
 than an absolute monarchy; and their re- 
 pugnance to the new order of things was in- 
 creased when they saw their present rulers 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 67 
 
 actuated by one unvarying spirit of hostility 
 against all that they revered, and out-doing 
 the late Regency in their reckless sacrifice 
 of national prosperity to their own selfish 
 purposes. 
 
 There were also a less numerous, but more 
 interested class of persons, who longed to see 
 the popular government overthrown. These 
 were in possession of small pensions, granted 
 by the king, and necessarily hostile to inno- 
 vations by which their little allowances might 
 be hazarded, but could never receive an in- 
 crease. Next came the territorial magis- 
 trates, who of their small stipends and trien- 
 nial appointments, made the greatest profit 
 that they could accumulate, by oppressing 
 those within their jurisdiction. The people 
 were loud in complaining of their judges, 
 who now saw but little probability of being 
 again employed as before. Not that the 
 government was active in redressing griev- 
 ances, but because it foolishly menaced all 
 who had held situations under the old regime. 
 The re-establishment of the ancient despotism, 
 therefore, of course was secretly and earnestly 
 
 F 2 
 
68 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 desired by these petty tyrants, who would 
 have rejoiced in the overthrow of any system 
 which did not promote their private interests. 
 None, however, were so decidedly opposed 
 to the Cortes as those of the nobles who had 
 remained in Portugal, and were subjected to 
 the most disdainful treatment from men in 
 power; while, in a manner equally illiberal 
 and impolitic, they were deprived of certain 
 privileges, enjoyed for years, and prized as 
 the inseparable accompaniments of their su- 
 perior rank. They felt themselves wronged 
 and insulted ; and in their natural resentment 
 were joined by those numerous dependents 
 who always cluster around the Portuguese 
 nobility : forming altogether a body prepared 
 to throw a very considerable weight into the 
 scale of loyalty, should the slightest appear- 
 ance of re-action afford them opportunity. 
 Even the field-labourer had powerful reasons 
 for wishing to see such re-action ; his daily 
 wages had received no accession, while [the 
 bread that he was obliged to purchase for his 
 family was increased in price to the amount 
 of 50 per cent- by the operation of corn laws, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. b9 
 
 enacted by the Cortes with their usual de- 
 fiance of all rational calculation, to the deep 
 injury of the very persons, the farmers, whose 
 advantage they were ostensibly intended to 
 promote. 
 
 In forming these laws, the Cortes availed 
 themselves of the model held out by ours, 
 without considering the very dissimilar cha- 
 racter of the two countries, with regard to 
 that branch of agriculture. No foreign corn 
 was allowed to be warehoused until that of 
 the country had reached a certain price ; this 
 maximum was fixed too high, and conse- ff 
 
 quently afforded the monopolists, among 
 whom were some members of the Cortes, an 
 opportunity of making nearly a hundred /?er 
 cent, on their speculations. The average pro- 
 duce of the land was equal only to about 
 eight months consumption in the year, the 
 price of bread continued to rise, and thus the 
 nation derived no real benefit whatever from 
 these arrangements. ^ ^-^"^ r -'^ -^ 
 
 The greater part of the land in Portugal 
 is held by small farmers, whose poverty 
 obliges them to sell a considerable portion of 
 
70 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 their corn at the commencement of harvest, 
 in order to enable them to get in the rest of 
 their produce. This was generally bought 
 up at very low prices, not exceeding half the 
 maximum that must be reached before foreign 
 corn could be admitted ; and the purchasers 
 were agents of monopolists, who favoured 
 «ach other's interests, and combined to keep 
 down the value by avoiding competition. This 
 corn was then lodged in stores until the price 
 had nearly reached its maximum, and it not 
 unfrequently happened that the poor farmer 
 went to buy his own corn again at nearly 
 double the amount for which he sold it. His 
 out-door servants, with the exception of field- 
 labourers, are generally paid in kind; and 
 for this purpose, as well as for family con- 
 sumption and seed, he must supply himself 
 with grain at any cost. When I mention 
 that the farmer sells the first-fruits of his 
 corn-fields for means to gather in the rest of 
 his harvest, I include under that term his 
 vintage also ; and to this must be added the 
 expence attendant on the necessary labour of 
 digging the vineyard and pruning the vines. 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 71 
 
 The stock reserved by the farmer being ex- 
 hausted by the time he requires seed for 
 spring corn, the sale of his wine enables him 
 to buy what he needs for this purpose, and his 
 support during the year. But at how great 
 and unjust a loss his purchases had now to 
 be made has been before stated; for at this 
 period the granaries of monopolists were re- 
 sorted to, and they of course refused to sell 
 at a rate much below the restricted price. So 
 cruelly were all farmers not possessed of 
 capital aggrieved by the laws enacted and 
 maintained under the plea of protecting them, 
 that they were naturally impatient to shake 
 oiF a yoke which pressed so heavily upon 
 them, and they could not but cherish feelings 
 decidedly unfriendly to the government which 
 involved them in continual distresses. 
 
 Another formidable band of oppositionists 
 stood arrayed against the new system. These 
 were the parochial clergy, and different reli- 
 gious orders with which Portugal abounds. 
 The vast number of the latter, the unlimited 
 influence which they possess over the minds 
 of the people, and their consummate^ skill in 
 
72 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 directing such influence so as best to promote 
 their own private interests, should have in- 
 duced the Cortes to make any possible sacri- 
 fice to attach these powerful allies to the 
 constitutional party, as knowing that their 
 enmity was not to be despised. But, on the 
 contrary, every provocation and indignity was 
 levelled at them ; and they were impoverished 
 and scattered about the country ". as if to give 
 force to their assertions, in proclaiming to 
 their bigotted disciples, that their faith was 
 insulted, the property of God wrested from 
 his delegates, and the religion on which they 
 all relied for the salvation of their souls 
 assailed and overthrown. So sedulously did 
 the infatuated government of Portugal la- 
 bour to arm against itself the most power- 
 ful bodies in the kingdom. 
 
 Nothing can be more evident than the 
 necessity of diminishing the overbearing 
 authority of the church in that country; 
 but the utmost care and circumspection are 
 requisite in pursuing this difficult work. It 
 must be one only of time, and gradual opera- 
 tion. The Cortes began by abusing every 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 73 
 
 religious institution in a more vehement 
 manner than the greatest latitudinarian would 
 sanction ; and after this specimen of their 
 good-will, they proceeded to legislate for the 
 ecclesiastical body. Finding that the esta- 
 blishments of different orders were not com- 
 plete, they submitted to the monks an alter- 
 native, fraught with objections and incon- 
 veniences on both sides. It was made 
 optional with them, either to proceed to other 
 prescribed convents of the same order, in 
 which the vacancies, occasioned by death and 
 other casualties, had not been filled up, or, 
 on a daily pittance, to forsake the monastic 
 life altogether, and return to their homes. 
 The latter was generally preferred, rather 
 than a tedious journey to incorporate them- 
 selves with strangers, who would naturally 
 regard them as intruders on their convents ; 
 and by this means, a great number of exiled 
 monks were thrown among their friends in 
 idleness, to inflame the minds of others 
 with their own resentful feeling of decided 
 opposition against the Cortes. The perse- 
 cution which they were suffering, they abun- 
 
V. 
 
 74 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 dantly repaid by exciting a sentiment of 
 hatred, peculiarly bitter, as it was grounded 
 on what they conceived to be a zeal for the 
 honour of religion. And they not unnaturally 
 felt their professions and themselves outraged 
 by men who began with an open avowal of 
 the scorn in which they held the institutions 
 of the national church. 
 
 If by these measures the Cortes expected 
 to decrease the local authority of the monks, 
 they betrayed an extraordinary ignorance of 
 both churchmen and laity ; for nothing could 
 more directly tend to increase and spread 
 the very influence which was dreaded, as the 
 event clearly shewed. Popular sympathy 
 was awakened in favour of the dispossessed 
 communities of monks ; and the character of 
 a suffering priesthood, of which they failed 
 not to make the most, was enveloped in two- 
 fold sanctity among these zealous devotees of 
 the Romish faith. If the anxiety of the 
 Cortes to seize on the estates of the church 
 be alleged as a strong motive for these arbi- 
 trary proceedings, it must be observed that 
 the orders thus assailed were by no i»eans 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. ^* 
 
 the richest ; and that the spoil was far too 
 scanty to be worth the perilous venture. The 
 cruelty practised towards the patriarch of 
 Lisbon, on his refusal to take the oath to the 
 constitution, is well known. It aroused 
 against the Cortes all the female population, 
 who so effectually exercised their influence 
 over the other sex, that I have seen 
 many ardent liberals transformed into the 
 most decided anti-constitutionalists, solely at 
 the instigation of their wives. No act of the 
 regency had ever armed against them this 
 formidable host of ladies; who now proved 
 themselves equally willing and able to per- 
 form an important, though not a conspicuous 
 part, in directing the national feeling. 
 
 Another unwarrantable proceeding, by 
 which the Cortes excited a powerful sensation 
 throughout the country, was, the seizure of 
 many most valuable brood mares and cows, 
 with horses and bullocks of the finest breed, 
 all of them the private property of the king ; 
 which, with an utter defiance of decent 
 respect, they had the temerity to sell, without 
 even asking his majesty's consent, and ap- 
 
76 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 propriated the purchase money as they 
 thought proper. These, and similar outrages 
 on propriety, gradually turned the mass of 
 the people against them ; while the little 
 good which they had effected, for it must be 
 allowed they did some, was too unimportant 
 to counterbalance such a tissue of folly and 
 injustice ; so that, had the king acted with 
 spirit and firmness, on his arrival in July 
 1821, and, instead of recognizing the existing 
 government, asserted his legitimate and un- 
 controlled authority over Portugal, there can 
 be little doubt but he would have established 
 it again without bloodshed or difficulty. Of 
 this the Cortes were well aware; and they 
 accordingly adopted a line of conduct, that, 
 through the timid acquiescence of the king, 
 succeeded in confirming their tottering power 
 under royal sanction. 
 
 The situation of the monarch was most 
 pitiable ; compelled to take shelter in a dis- 
 tant colony from invading enemies at home, 
 he was now again driven back to his Euro- 
 pean dominions by the widely spreading 
 spirit of independence ; which, however 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 77 
 
 laudable in its nature and object, was fre- 
 quently most tyrannical in its operations, and 
 injurious in its effects. The Brazilian revo- 
 lutionists had promptly followed the example 
 of their mother country; and, early in the 
 year 1821, they had extorted from the king, 
 then resident among them, his consent to a 
 constitution on the model of that adopted in 
 Portugal. Many disorderly proceedings, and 
 some bloodshed, took place, before the king 
 finally decided on leaving America ; where, 
 however, he still enjoyed a far greater share 
 of decent respect than awaited him on his 
 arrival in the Tagus, after an absence of 
 fourteen years. 
 
 Calculating, no doubt, upon the known 
 want of energy which characterized their 
 sovereign, and upon the absence of his more 
 enterprizing son, Don Pedro, who remained 
 at MP Rio, the Cortes sent to his majesty a 
 deputation, who, to the formality of a wel- 
 come, added the insolent declaration that he 
 would not be permitted to land in his own 
 kingdom, until he had sworn to the constitu- 
 tion ; and this oath he must again repeat in 
 
78 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 the presence of the Cortes, to whose as- 
 sembly he would be required to repair, imme- 
 diately on his disembarkation. 
 
 For three days was the monarch pre- 
 vented from landing after his long voyage, 
 harassed by the messages and dictations of 
 these loyal and loving subjects ; and when at 
 length the poor king proceeded to disembark, 
 the greater part of his suite were informed 
 that the Cortes had issued no permission for 
 their accompanying him. They were im- 
 mediately banished to the interior of the 
 country, without even the imputation of any 
 other crime than that of personal fidelity to 
 their royal and unfortunate master. Thus 
 did the followers of the king first experience 
 a taste of those blessings of freedom in 
 which their happy country so loudly exulted ; 
 and thus were more and mightier enemies 
 continually enrolled against that system, in 
 support of which the Cortes should, in com- 
 mon policy, have sacrificed all private and 
 party feelings. To all these insults the king 
 submitted with the patience of a man who 
 considers his case irremediable : he swore to 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 79 
 
 the constitution on board ship, repeated the 
 oath in presence of the Cortes, and went in 
 procession to sing Te Deum, for events that 
 must have pierced his heart with anguish. 
 
 The enthusiastic reception given to him 
 on his landing, shewed that he was still dear 
 even to the seditious population of Lisbon ; 
 and a man with greater determination of 
 mind, might, in his situation, by one bold 
 effort, have rallied around him the whole 
 body of the military. For the army were 
 still exceedingly discontented at finding their 
 long arrears of pay withheld ; and would at 
 that time gladly, at the easy price of over- 
 turning the constitution, have purchased the 
 regard of their sovereign. 
 
 In the name of that sovereign, and for his 
 throne, they had long fought and conquered. 
 Their native loyalty, though smothered for 
 a while, was never extinguished; and now, 
 for the first time, beholding him, a meek old 
 man, curtailed of his royal privileges, de- 
 prived of his most attached followers, and 
 mocked with a show of deference from those 
 who professed to honour him, while their 
 
H 
 
 80 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 every act was an insult; the most careless 
 heart became interested, the most obdurate 
 affected, among the troops that witnessed his 
 indignities and wrongs. 
 
 Nothing could have been further removed 
 from the king's intention than this return to 
 Europe, if affairs had not assumed such an 
 aspect in the Brazils as wrought upon his 
 fears, beyond the endurance of a mind so 
 constituted. On the very day before he 
 actually embarked at the Rio, forty citizens 
 had been slain by the bullets of his troops, 
 who were commanded to fire on the building 
 where these people had contumaciously en- 
 closed themselves. Much exasperation was 
 naturally to be expeced after so severe an 
 act ; and even Don Pedro, with all the ad- 
 vantages of youth, enterprize, intrepidity, 
 and decided popularity in his favour, found 
 it a most trying situation, when left to en- 
 counter the difficulties that chased his father 
 from the scene, and obliged him to seek a re- 
 fuge in his native kingdom. That the latter 
 never meditated a second voyage across the 
 Atlantic appears evident, when we recollect 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 81 
 
 that all the influence of our government had 
 been insufficient to induce his return in 1815, 
 when England sent an ambassador to Lisbon 
 to receive him, and dispatched a British 
 admiral, with his squadron, to escort him 
 home. He was at no loss for various, and 
 what he considered very sufficient reasons, 
 to explain his present line of policy as the 
 result of mature deliberation ; but I believe 
 all might be traced to that excessive timidity 
 and constitutional indolence, for which he 
 was remarkable. 
 
 Few characters, moving in so exalted a 
 rank, have been so imperfectly understood, 
 or so erroneously represented, as John VI. 
 Himself an upright and simple-hearted man, 
 he was slow in suspecting others of the craft 
 by which they deceived him, and very defi- 
 cient in that penetration which unmasks a 
 knave. He confided in designing persons, 
 and was their dupe, although really possess- 
 ing a quick comprehension, and capable of 
 very discriminating judgment on ordinary 
 occasions. Had his lot been cast in a more 
 humble station, he would doubtless have at- 
 
 o 
 
.W STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 tained a reputation above mediocrity among 
 his own countrymen, and shone in the various 
 characters of social life. Kind and benevo- 
 lent to a great degree, he would have been 
 found a valuable member of society ; and in 
 parental affection he could not easily be sur- 
 passed. His religion, too, was sincere ; for, 
 although attached to the pageantry and ex- 
 ternal forms of the Roman Catholic church, 
 he did not rest there, but strove, by a practi- 
 cal application of the precepts of Chris- 
 tianity to his own conduct, to recommend the 
 same course to others. His virtues, generally, 
 were indeed of a passive kind ; and they 
 were called into constant exercise by the 
 many trying scenes which it was his lot to 
 encounter: for few have been more deeply 
 taught in the school of misfortune than this 
 mild prince. Viewing him as a sovereign, 
 we find his reign marked by one continued 
 series of disasters, almost from the day of his 
 assuming the regency to the hour of his 
 death : as a man, we behold him a prey to 
 the most tormenting bodily infirmities, and 
 his mind borne down by such harassing dread 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. ^ 
 
 of personal danger, as rendered his life bur- 
 densome to him. Looking into his private 
 family, we there perceive the commencement 
 of those conspiracies that subsequently ren- 
 dered his closing days truly miserable. A 
 want of cordiality had long subsisted be- 
 tween the royal pair, which the political state 
 of Portugal assisted to widen into an irre- 
 parable breach. 
 
 The queen was, in many respects, the re- 
 verse of her consort; possessing, in a high 
 degree, that energy of character in which he 
 was so lamentably deficient. His conciliating 
 line of conduct she viewed with a jealous eye, 
 rightly judging that it would ultimately lead 
 to heavier calamities, and endanger his title 
 to that throne which she naturally desired to 
 see in the undisputed possession of her son. 
 '"^Oh that Pedro were but here!" she was 
 heard to exclaim, on witnessing the dis- 
 respectful, overbearing manner of the depu- 
 ties "he would soon teach these rascals 
 their duty, and bring the nation back to itS' 
 allegiance." 
 
 The Cortes passed a liaw, imposing oni 
 G 2 
 
64 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 each member of the royal family an oath to 
 support the constitution : with this injunction 
 the queen positively refused to comply. She 
 was told, that, unless she forthwith gave 
 the required pledge, the penalty of expatria- 
 tion would be put in force against her 
 majesty ; to which she undauntedly replied, 
 that such a proceeding was what she most 
 anxiously desired ; as it would enable her to 
 rouse the spirit of every European court 
 against the despotic acts of the usurpers. 
 Startled by a declaration so open, backed as 
 it was by a line of conduct equally decided, 
 the Cortes felt themselves greatly em- 
 barrassed ; nor could they devise any other 
 mode of preserving their dignity, and recon- 
 ciling with it the interests of their cause, 
 than the ungenerous expedient of passing a 
 vote on the state of her majesty's health, the 
 true purport of which was to establish the 
 assumed fact of her insanity ; and on this 
 plea they confined her to a solitary country 
 palace, near Cintra. 
 
 Such a proceeding would appear at least 
 to demand peculiar delicacy in those who 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 85 
 
 conducted the enquiry and led the debate. 
 But so far from this being discernible, the 
 Cortes set all temper and decency at defi- 
 ance, and stamped themselves with disgrace. 
 Declamations were heard, on all sides, as dis- 
 gustingly indelicate in their nature, as they 
 were cruel to the unoffending king. Every 
 opprobrious epithet was applied to his con- 
 sort; while the impossibility of his being 
 the father of some of her children was pub- 
 licly descanted on, and proclaimed to the 
 nation. And, to reach the climax of scur- 
 rilous slander, it was openly asserted that a 
 servant of the palace stood in that relation- 
 ship to the prince, who, from the state of 
 Brazil, then appeared most likely to take 
 possession of the Portuguese throne. 
 
 Even supposing that any foundation had 
 existed for such gross assertions, can it be 
 wondered at that a woman, and a queen, 
 should find her heart burn with indignation, 
 and eagerly seek opportunity for vengeance 
 against the persecutors, who assailed at once 
 her person and her fame ? She opened a com- 
 munication with her brother, Ferdinand of 
 
86 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Spain, indulging a hope, that as the French 
 nation had afforded him effectual aid against 
 his revolutionizing subjects, the same inter- 
 ference might, through his influence, be 
 extended to Portugal. To achieve this ob- 
 ject openly she found impossible ; but it was 
 soon understood that friends would not be few 
 or lukewarm, in aid of any counter-revolu- 
 tionary movement ; for, by this time, a 
 general disgust against their rulers had 
 taken possession of the public mind. Sen- 
 sible and considerate men, who had watched 
 for some indication, on the part of the govern- 
 ment, of conduct fitted to guarantee the 
 future welfare of the kingdom, now, wearied 
 out with fruitless expectation, confessed how 
 few and inadequate were the steps that had 
 been taken towards such desirable ends ; and 
 they admitted that, miserable as had been the 
 state of the people under the late regency, 
 the popular change had wrought no advan- 
 tage for them; and that, on the contrary, 
 their condition was far worse than formerly. 
 
 The wretched policy of the Cortes in de- 
 spatching expeditions against the Brazilians, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 87 
 
 instead of quietly acquiescing in events which 
 they had not the means to prevent, had pro- 
 duced the natural effect of provoking that 
 people to separate themselves altogether from 
 the mother country, and to close their ports 
 against her vessels ; leaving no market for 
 the inferior wines of Portugal, which^ remain- 
 ing in the hands of the farmer, proved his 
 utter ruin. Labourers, who in the winter of 
 1822 could not gain, by their utmost exertion, 
 sufficient bread to support their families three 
 days out of the seven, cursed the policy that in- 
 volved them in wretchedness so deep. It was 
 apparent, too, that the injustice and partiality 
 which, previous to the revolution, disgraced 
 every branch of the executive government, 
 continued unabated under the new system ; 
 and the situations in which the creatures of 
 the Cortes had established themselves, pre- 
 sented as foul a scene of petty oppression 
 and practised roguery, as had ever been dis- 
 played in former times. 
 
 To give one instance, I will mention that 
 branch of public service connected with the 
 conscription for the army. This had formerly 
 
88 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 been effected by the division of the country 
 into regular recruiting districts, each of which 
 was under the superintendence of a civilian, 
 with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 
 army, who kept a list-book of those indivi- 
 duals liable to serve, and of those pleading 
 exemption from the call. This person bore 
 the title of Capitao-Mor, and was usually a 
 man of property in the district : he received 
 no pay, but the office was considered honour- 
 able, and as such appeared in great request. 
 But the motives that induced most to aspire 
 to it, were far from laudable, or even honest ; 
 and it became as cruel a speculation of gain 
 as any other existing. 
 
 Men who, from the circumstances of their 
 families, ought in justice, if not by law, to 
 have enjoyed an exemption from service, 
 were thrown into prison, because the poverty 
 of their relations incapacitated them from 
 meeting the heavy demand of bribes for 
 delay, and were forwarded, without indul- 
 gence, to the recruiting depots. But others, 
 whose friends possessed both means and in- 
 clination to satisfy the griping avarice of the 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 89 
 
 manager, on well understood terms, were 
 excused from serving : although from their 
 station in life, and by every principle of law 
 and equity, they ought to have been among 
 the first enrolled. These men were exempted, 
 too, on pretences as difficult to detect at a 
 distance, as they were notoriously evident to 
 all who had closer opportunities of observing 
 the parties, and ascertaining their respective 
 circumstances. Concealment, indeed, was 
 hardly attempted on the spot by these corrupt 
 functionaries, who enriched themselves from 
 the spoliation of their neighbours ; as may 
 be inferred from the laconic and expressive 
 terms in which a person just appointed to the 
 situation announced the tidings to his wife. 
 *' Madam," said the new made Capitao-Mor, 
 " I congratulate you upon the increase to 
 your income of three thousand cruzades a 
 year." Considering that no government pay 
 was attached to the office, this will give a 
 tolerable idea of the extent of the practices 
 by which it was rendered a place of emolu- 
 ment. 
 
 Under colour of putting an end to these 
 
90 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 oppressive exactions, the Cortes suspended 
 the Capitao-Mor, and caused the recruiting 
 conscription to be carried on under the super- 
 intendence of the militia colonel, and consti- 
 tutional municipality of the place. How far 
 the grievance was abated, and the system of 
 bribery checked, by this reform, I had an op- 
 portunity of judging from personal experience. 
 One of my shepherds being measured by the 
 new authorities, and found of a sufficient 
 height, was ordered to return on the following 
 morning, and remain in attendance ; as, in 
 all probability, he would be enlisted. On 
 hearing this, I lost no time in dispatching a 
 pair of turkies to one of these patriotic mem- 
 bers of the constitutional municipality, re- 
 questing his acceptance of them, and re- 
 marking, that the lad was too sickly to make 
 an effective soldier, although very well equal 
 to his present employment in keeping part of 
 my flocks ; on which account, I added, his 
 loss would seriously inconvenience me. To 
 this 1 received a very civil reply, in which my 
 friend informed me that he was prohibited 
 from accepting presents on any occasion ; 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 91 
 
 but that as I, being a foreigner, could not be 
 expected to understand perfectly all their 
 laws and customs, he could not think of 
 offending me by returning my gift, the 
 beauty of which he greatly extolled. How- 
 ever, as my shepherd was already noted 
 down on the list, it was necessary that he 
 should attend in the morning, as directed. 
 The poor fellow went, with a heavy heart, 
 and was immediately called out, to be again 
 brought to the standard ; when — wonderful to 
 relate — either his sorrows or my turkies had 
 produced such an effect on his stature, as to 
 decrease it by nearly two inches in the 
 space of twenty-four hours, that diminution 
 being found needful to reduce him below 
 the regular standard which it was now 
 happily discovered that he did not reach. 
 The finesse of the proceeding certainly in- 
 dicated some delicacy, or at least caution, 
 on the part of these new authorities, com- 
 pared with the unmasked knavery of their 
 predecessors : how far it argued a change of 
 principle, the reader must judge. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 1823—1824. 
 
 The Count of Amarante raises the Standard of Counter-Revolu- 
 tion — Abortive Issue of his Enterprize — He retires into 
 Spain — Alarm of the Cortes— Intrigues of the Queen — Humi- 
 liating Dissimulation practised hy the King— The Cortes re- 
 move a suspected Regiment from Lisbon — The Infante, Don 
 Miguel, secretly quits Lisbon and puts himself at the Head of 
 these Troops— The Garrison of Lisbon march off to join him 
 — Consternation of the Cortes — The King escapes from their 
 Hands — Easy Suppression of the Constitution of 1820 — Re- 
 establishment of the absolute Government — Rise of the no- 
 torious Pamplona, created Count Subserra — His successful 
 Intrigues — He acquires a despotic Influence over the King's 
 Mind — Severities exercised against the Queen — Indignation 
 of Don Miguel and his Adherents — Mai- Administration of 
 Subserra — Don Miguel excites the Army to revolt — Estimate 
 of his Conduct — Downfal and Flight of Subserra — The King 
 enthralled by his Son, and the absolute Party — Their re- 
 vengeful Violence and Tyranny — The King, in concert with 
 the Foreign Ambassadors, escapes on board a British Man of 
 War — Don Miguel enticed on board, arrested, and banished 
 — Restoration of the King's Authority— Influence enjoyed by 
 the British Ambassador — Injudiciously withheld— He suffers 
 the Restoratio^n to Power of Subserra— Renewed Misconduct 
 of that Minister— Recal of Sir E. Thornton— Sir W. A' Court 
 succeeds him as British Ambassador at Lisbon. 
 
 As nothing but the voice of the army had 
 been required to effect the establishment of 
 the popular constitution, so, at this period, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 93 
 
 nothing farther was necessary to its over- 
 throw ; nor did the concurrence of the troops 
 appear unlikely, for discontent was now on 
 the increase among them also. Their pay 
 was as much in arrear as ever, and the ma- 
 jority of deserving officers were indignant at 
 seeing a few who had been most active in 
 accomplishing the revolution, promoted over 
 their heads. The soldiers dreaded being sent 
 off in greater numbers to Brazil, where they 
 could reap only the mortification of an easy 
 repulse ; and they were far more inclined to 
 renew, by counter-revolutionary exploits, the 
 fading verdure of the laurels which they had 
 gained in the recent easy triumph over an 
 imbecile Regency, 
 
 The flame was at length kindled by the 
 Count of Amarante, son of the loyal noble- 
 man already mentioned, who, on the 21st of 
 February 1823, raised in the province of Tras- 
 os-montes the cry so much dreaded by the 
 Cortes, and proclaimed "death to the con- 
 stitution, and the king absolute.'' He placed 
 himself at the head of militia and peasantry, 
 and put forth the following proclamation, 
 
94 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Avhich, by its bombastic extravagance of lan- 
 guage, was well calculated to rouse the feel- 
 ings of those to whom it was addressed. 
 
 " Portuguese ! 
 
 " What ! is it not time to break the 
 shameful and infamous fetters by which you 
 are bound ? which weigh you down, and dis- 
 grace your honour, glory, valour, and country. 
 Why do you still consent to be treated with 
 opprobrium and ignominy, and stamped with 
 infamy? Why do you allow the throne of 
 your monarch, the seat of so many kings, to 
 be profaned by a handful of destructive re- 
 bels, the enemies of our holy religion, of the 
 throne, of their country? Are you so cow- 
 ardly that you will not throw down and 
 confound in its own ruins that shameful edi- 
 fice which fraud and seduction have been 
 able to raise up on the Portuguese territory ? 
 Be ashamed, and hide yourselves in the 
 bowels of the earth ; be confounded at yaur 
 weakness ; you disgrace the name of Por- 
 tuguese — for soon will you see your monarch 
 and his whole family beheaded, your country 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. »6 
 
 flowing with blood, and the project of the 
 wicked covered with the canopy of an ensan- 
 guined throne. This was the fate of France, 
 by the hands of the Jacobins ; and it will be 
 the fate of Portugal, by the hands of the 
 Freemasons. Oh, my dear country I I al- 
 ready consider thee overwhelmed in an ocean 
 of troubles, covered with lamentation and 
 blood. But what crowd, what sound of arms 
 is that I hear ? What is this, Portuguese ? 
 It is the sound of the warlike trumpet — at 
 length then do you awake ? To arms, Por- 
 tuguese ! fear not, your courage will be equal 
 to the task. Follow me, and let us sweep 
 from our land these monsters, tyrants, and 
 sacrilegious despots 1 With you will I die to 
 save our country, religion, and the throne. 
 (Signed,) 
 
 '* Count of Amarante." 
 
 In the early part of his proceedings, 
 Amarante was joined by several regiments^ 
 Among others General Gaspar Texeira, who 
 had taken a distinguished part in supporting 
 the constitution, and was now dispatched to 
 
96 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 oppose Amarante, went over to his standard, 
 and consented to act as second in command 
 under him. He was likewise joined by his 
 uncle, Antonio de Silveira, formerly president 
 of the regenerating junta of Oporto ; Bri- 
 gadier Ayres, Paulo de Souza (placed at the 
 head of the junta in Chaves), General Souza 
 Vahia, and more of less note. They pro- 
 cured the old constitution of Portugal, pro- 
 mulgated by the Cortes of Lamego, appealing 
 to it in justification of their present designs, 
 and it was even said they treated with the 
 constitutional leader opposed, on the proposi- 
 tion of a charter similar to that of France. 
 But their movements indicated too little de- 
 cision of purpose to ensure a prospect of 
 success. 
 
 It was expected that, by marching imme- 
 diately on Oporto, the count would have won 
 from the nothern provinces an unanimous de- 
 claration in favour of the ancient regime. 
 But, instead of pursuing this decided course, 
 he made a weak attempt to cross the Douro, 
 in which he was foiled by a very inferior 
 force; and although afterwards successful in 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 97 
 
 an attack upon the vanguard of Luis de 
 Rego, who commanded the government forces, 
 he neglected to make due use of his advan- 
 tage, and by injudicious delays gave time to 
 the enemy to repair his losses. The re-in- 
 forcements which the constitutionalists at 
 length received were so considerable, that 
 Amarante had no other alternative than to 
 retire into Spain ; which he did in April, pur- 
 sued by five regiments, who, however, retreated 
 upon finding that the Spanish General Morillo 
 had made no attempt to intercept the Portu- 
 guese royalists. Amarante then advanced to 
 effect a junction with the French army, which 
 had lately entered that country ; but the Due 
 d'Angouleme declined to co-operate with him, 
 though he allowed him to remain stationary 
 with his followers, about 2000 men, receiving- 
 provision by means that must have been per- 
 mitted, at least, by the French. 
 
 This revolt, it must be observed, prevented 
 Portugal from taking any active part against 
 France, although she voted an increase to her 
 army, and directed her ambassador to with- 
 draw from Paris, as soon as hostilities were 
 
 H 
 
98 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 commenced by the French against Spain. The 
 occupation of that country by French troops, 
 who had been most vehemently complained 
 of by the Cortes in Lisbon ; and the death- 
 blow thereby dealt to the Spanish constitu- 
 tion, could not but exceedingly aggravate 
 their fears. Combining with these circum- 
 stances the openly dissatisfied state of the 
 public mind in Portugal, the recent attempt, 
 and the prepared, though as yet quiescent 
 situation of the unsubdued army by which 
 it was made, the Cortes could not reasonably 
 calculate on a much longer continuance of 
 their authority. That such was their feeling, 
 they shewed by an incessant apprehension 
 of conspiracies, and a watchful jealousy 
 which was apparent in all their proceed- 
 ings : banishing an immense number of 
 persons on mere suspicion, and without any 
 form of trial. These symptoms of weakness 
 only added contempt to the indignation which 
 they had roused throughout the country, by 
 their violent treatment of the queen and the 
 clergy. The conduct of their troops, who, in 
 the recent struggle, had burnt and destroyed 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 09 
 
 whole villages, and committed many inex- 
 cusable excesses against their own country- 
 men, added not a little to the general impa- 
 tience, and hatred of their authority. 
 
 Meanwhile the queen had effectually 
 worked on the enterprizing spirit of her se- 
 cond son, Don Miguel, who, since the election 
 of his elder brother Pedro to the new empire of 
 Brazil, was by many regarded as the imme- 
 diate successor of the reigning king in Por- 
 tugal. He was prompt as her majesty could 
 wish in the cause, but acted in the most wary 
 manner, conscious how irretrievably injurious 
 one precipitate step might prove to the inte- 
 rests of royalty : the anxious object of those 
 hopes which his mother openly professed, and 
 the king cherished in secret. 
 
 It has been asserted that John VI. was 
 friendly to the Cortes, an assertion as absurd 
 as it is untrue. When we remember what 
 an uniform course of insult was pursued by 
 that body towards him, it is impossible to 
 believe for a moment that any feelings but 
 those of resentful disgust could have been 
 excited in the bosom of a monarch so out- 
 
 H 2 
 
100 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 raged. Their shameful reception of him on 
 his return from Brazil, and the tyrannical 
 act of banishing his favourites to a distance 
 of twenty leagues from him, had been fol- 
 lowed by a series of wrongs worthy of such 
 a commencement. His income was limited 
 to an allowance, the most scanty for his rank ; 
 the royal preserves, in which he took much 
 pride and pleasure, were destroyed ; his pri- 
 vate property was wrested from him, his 
 establishment needlessly reduced, and all 
 patronage taken out of his hands : while the 
 insults that he was hourly made to endure, 
 in one shape or another, leave us still further 
 to wonder that he could so far command his 
 natural and kingly feelings as to practise 
 any deception, and appear a supporter of the 
 constitutional system. 
 
 Timidity, the origin of his greatest disas- 
 ters, prompted this line of proceeding ; and 
 while professing himself a staunch friend to the 
 Cortes, he carried his compliances to an extra- 
 vagant and ridiculous excess, rendering himself 
 contemptible even to those who most truly com- 
 passionated his sorrows. This was certainly the 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 101 
 
 case, when he voluntarily appeared dressed, 
 as chief of the national corps which had been 
 raised against himself, in a plain brown uni- 
 form, made according to regulation, of a coarse 
 cloth, in appearance little superior to our duf- 
 field. In this home manufacture, called sa- 
 ragossa, the patriotic Cortes directed their 
 national corps to be clad ; but by far the 
 greater part was an English imitation of the 
 native cloth, which was imported into the 
 country and received as genuine. 
 
 Shortly after meeting the king thus dress- 
 ed in the national assembly at Lisbon, I was 
 honoured with a private audience ; when his 
 majesty adverted to the circumstance, and 
 appeared ashamed of having been seen by 
 an English officer in so degrading a light. 
 " But," said he, " we are living in sad times, 
 and I am obliged to conform myself to them." 
 The period, however, was approaching when 
 insulted royalty might once more raise its 
 head, and vindicate the rights so indecently 
 trampled on by those men who knew no me- 
 dium between abject submission and the most 
 insolent despotism. 
 
102 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 The festival which the Roman Catholic 
 church celebrates under the title of Corpus 
 Christi day, is observed in Lisbon with great 
 splendour. A grand procession takes place, 
 in which the king, the nobility, the military, 
 and the religious orders all perform a part. 
 In times of popular commotion, this day is 
 much dreaded, from the facility which it af- 
 fords for working on the minds of the im- 
 mense multitudes then assembled. In this 
 year, 1823, it was the general impression that 
 a counter-revolution would then be attempted ; 
 and the hopes and fears of all parties were 
 excited, according as their interests or incli- 
 nations pointed. The 23d infantry, was then 
 in the garrison of Lisbon, a regiment which 
 was viewed with particular suspicion by the 
 Cortes, as a well-known enemy to their sys- 
 tem; for when every other corps there had 
 declared for the constitution in 1820, this 
 battalion, under General Victoria, continued 
 dissentient, maintaining their loyalty to the 
 last. The government therefore resolved to 
 move them from the capital, previous to the 
 dreaded day ; and they were accordingly 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 103 
 
 ordered to march for Almeida. This pro- 
 ceeding, while it exasperated the regiment, 
 increased their confidence ; for it plainly 
 shewed them how much they were feared by 
 the Cortes, who had deprived brigadier Sam- 
 payo of the command, before they issued 
 their orders for the march of his men. 
 
 It was on the 26th of May that this regi- 
 ment quitted Lisbon ; and the infante, Don 
 Miguel, aware how favourable to his view 
 was this event, took his measures with so 
 much secrecy and promptitude, that on the 
 same night he was enabled to leave the capital 
 in disguise, to follow them, and put himself 
 at their head. A squadron of cavalry also 
 joined his standard, and with this slender but 
 devoted little army, the young prince pursued 
 his march to the interior, proclaiming in every 
 place an absolute king, but promising also, 
 in the monarch's name, a more equal consti- 
 tution to the people. Unopposed, but re- 
 ceiving no accession to his force, he proceeded 
 as far as Santarem, nearly fifty miles from 
 Lisbon, and there learned that a large body 
 of troops was following his route, but whe- 
 
104 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 ther as friends or foes he had no means of 
 ascertaining. On the 30th he found that the 
 whole garrison of Lisbon, composed of some 
 troops of the line, and the two regiments of po- 
 lice, were on their way to unite with his force, 
 and place themselves under his command; 
 all but one battalion, the 18th, which, at the 
 instigation of two of its officers, had refused 
 to quit Lisbon. For this last corps, a far 
 more distinguished part was in reserve ; that 
 of rescuing the royal prisoners, and conduct- 
 ing them in safety to their liberator. 
 
 The Cortes were in dreadful consternation 
 on hearing that the garrison had marched off 
 to Don Miguel, leaving them altogether de- 
 pendent on the fidelity of this one corps, 
 which formed the royal guard at the palace 
 of Bem-posta. They were not long allowed 
 to calculate on probabilities ; for about seven 
 o'clock on the evening of the 30th, this regi- 
 ment suddenly raised the cry of " Viva el rey 
 absoluto!" Much confusion ensued in the 
 palace yard, and the appearance of the king 
 was loudly called for. His majesty, upon 
 being informed of this, resolved to obey the 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 105 
 
 summons, and present himself to the soldiery ; 
 but so doubtful appeared the event, that he first 
 called the princesses, and took a tender fare- 
 well of them, apprehending that some act of 
 violence towards himself would close these 
 alarming scenes. Surrounded by his house- 
 hold, he then presented himself at a window, 
 and was greeted with the loudest and most 
 unanimous acclamations of those without. 
 The soldiers, with great enthusiasm, called 
 out, " we have resolved to join our comrades, 
 confide yourself to us, sire, we will protect 
 you ; no one shall dare to insult your ma- 
 jesty." 
 
 Encouraged by such language, and per- 
 suaded by his attendants, who strongly point- 
 ed out the peril of remaining in Lisbon un- 
 guarded at such a desperate crisis, the king 
 made an extraordinary effort, and ordered 
 the royal carriages; the princesses hastily 
 equipped themselves ; and in less than a quar- 
 ter of an hour the royal family was on its 
 journey, surrounded by the bayonets of the 
 18th regiment, towards whom no individual 
 dared to direct a single taunt. They travelled 
 
10(> STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 that night as far as Villa Franca, about 
 twenty miles on the road to Santarem, and 
 there remained. His majesty immediately 
 from this place addressed the following pro- 
 clamation to his subjects in the capital. 
 
 '' Inhabitants of Lisbon ! The salvation 
 of the people has always been to me a su- 
 preme and a sacred law ; this principle, which 
 has been my pride in the critical circum- 
 stances wherein providence has placed me, 
 imperiously prescribes the resolution, which 
 I have to-day taken with regret, to separate 
 myself from you for some days, yielding to 
 the prayers of the people, and to the desires 
 of the army which accompanies me, and has 
 preceded me. Inhabitants of Lisbon, make 
 yourselves easy ; I will never belie the love 
 which I consecrate to you. I sacrifice my- 
 self for you ; and in a short time your dearest 
 wishes will be fulfilled. Experience, the wise 
 instructress of nations and governments, has 
 demonstrated in a manner very afflicting to 
 me, and fatal to the nation, that the existing 
 institutions are incompatible with the will, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 107 
 
 the customs, and the persuasions of the 
 greater part of the monarchy. The evidence 
 of facts confirms these assertions ; Brazil,, 
 that interesting part of the monarchy, is torn 
 to pieces ; in this kingdom civil war has 
 caused the blood of Portuguese to be shed by 
 the hands of their countrymen ; the danger of 
 foreign war is imminent, and the state is 
 threatened with total ruin, unless the most 
 prompt and efficacious means are adopted to 
 avert it. In this afflicting crisis I act as the 
 king and father of my subjects, to save them 
 from anarchy and invasion, by consolidating 
 the parties which are hostile. To attain this 
 desirable end, it is necessary to modify the 
 constitution. If it had made the happiness 
 of the people, I would continue to be its first 
 guarantee ; but when the majority of a nation 
 declares itself so openly and hostilely against 
 its institutions, those institutions need re- 
 form. 
 
 " Citizens ! I do not desire, nor ever did 
 desire, absolute power, and I this day reject 
 it ; the sentiments of my heart are repugnant 
 to despotism, and to oppression. I desire 
 
108 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 only the peace, the honour, and the prospe- 
 rity of the nation. 
 
 " Inhabitants of Lisbon ! do not fear for 
 your liberties, they shall be guaranteed in a 
 manner which, while securing the dignity of 
 the crown, shall respect and maintain the 
 rights of the citizens. Meantime, obey the 
 authorities, avoid private revenge, stifle the 
 spirit of party, shun civil war, and in a short 
 time you shall see the basis of a new code, 
 which, securing personal safety, property, 
 and employment, duly acquired in any period 
 of the actual government, shall give all the 
 guarantees that society requires, unite all 
 wishes, and make the prosperity of the whole 
 nation. 
 
 *'JoHN VI. King. 
 '' Filla Franca, May 3\st, 1823." 
 
 This document certainly was well calcu- 
 lated to sooth the minds of the people, who 
 could not doubt the sincerity of promises 
 which held out to them a near view of that 
 object so desirable to the majority : — a reform 
 of existing abuses, and the establishment of 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 109 
 
 a well digested and impartial constitution. 
 That such constitution never was given, as- 
 suredly reflects no credit on the author of 
 these flattering promises. 
 
 It is now necessary to advert to a cha- 
 racter, destined, as we shall see, to exert a 
 baneful influence over the councils of the 
 nation, and to involve it in new misfortunes. 
 This was the notorious Pamplona. He had 
 commenced his public career as a traitor to 
 his country, when the French army first as- 
 sailed it; and he afterwards commanded a 
 corps under Massena, in the invasion of 1810. 
 Subsequently, he joined the army of Buona- 
 parte in his expedition into Russia, and thus 
 identified himself with the destroyers of Por- 
 tugal, where he was so generally and justly 
 execrated for his treachery, that his effigy 
 had been publicly burnt at Lisbon. To avoid 
 the doom of a traitor, and preserve a life for- 
 feited to his injured country, he remained in 
 Paris at the termination of the war; but 
 when the Cortes published a decree of 
 amnesty in favour of all those who had be- 
 come outlawed, this man boldly presented 
 
110 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 himself at Lisbon, and, incredible as it may 
 appear, was shortly elected a member of the 
 Cortes. 
 
 This seat Pamplona vacated only to enter 
 upon the office of minister to the king, whose 
 Aveakest points he had the address to assail 
 by all the arts of successful adulation. Even 
 while the public prints held him up to de- 
 served reproach, as a designing hypocrite, he 
 obtained an ascendancy over the monarch, 
 which was well calculated to farther all his 
 own plans of self-advancement. He found 
 the constitution tottering on its unsteady 
 basis ; and by lending a hand to accelerate 
 its overthrow, he justly reckoned on an 
 increased share of royal gratitude. His 
 treacherous character was too well known 
 to admit of his being confided in by the 
 prince, on the subject of his meditated move- 
 ment : but Pamplona had cunning enough to 
 calculate on the probable consequences of 
 removing the 23d regiment from Lisbon at 
 such a time ; and, expecting important 
 events, he was most opportunely at a country 
 house of his, near the Santarem road, on the 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. Ill 
 
 evening when Don Miguel took his private 
 departure from Lisbon. Hence he accom- 
 panied the young prince to Santarem. 
 
 No sooner was the king's arrival at Villa 
 Franca made known to the troops, than this 
 worthy loyalist found some pretence for 
 hastening thither, and entered upon a system 
 of deceit by which he too well succeeded in 
 duping and misleading a credulous monarch. 
 He asserted that the intentions of the infante 
 were not only to overturn the constitution, 
 but to depose his majesty, as constitutional 
 king, and to place the queen, his mother, 
 at the head of affairs ; and that with this 
 view the prince was collecting all the forces 
 he could muster in Santarem, from whence 
 he would make some violent attempt, if im- 
 mediate measures were not taken to divert 
 him from his purpose. Having thus excited 
 the poor king's ready apprehensions, he pro- 
 ceeded to counsel that Don Miguel should 
 be appointed commander in chief of the 
 army ; and that he should immediately be 
 summoned to Villa Franca, as for the pur- 
 pose of being invested with this high com- 
 
112 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 mand ; but, in reality, to draw him away 
 from the scene of his treasonable plots. 
 
 By enforcing this crafty device, Pamplona 
 effected two objects of great importance to 
 himself: he confirmed and increased the 
 king's personal regard, by appearing as a 
 watchful, faithful servant, who had dis- 
 covered, and quietly defeated, purposes that 
 aimed at his crown, and, perhaps, life; and 
 he had also prevented the probable recall of 
 Lord Beresford to the command of the army, 
 which the king would naturally have been 
 eager to restore to him. In that case Pam- 
 plona had foreseen that his lordship's sagacity 
 and well-known resolution would speedily 
 unmask his crimes, and expose him to the 
 vengeance which they so justly merited. 
 
 The king followed this insidious advice, 
 and recompensed his counsellor with a title, 
 creating him count of Subserra ; while the 
 calumniated prince, by immediately obeying 
 his father's summons to Villa Franca, and 
 presenting himself before his majesty, in all 
 the happy consciousness not only of inno- 
 cence, but of having rendered most important 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 113 
 
 services to his family and country, convinced 
 every person who possessed a common share 
 of observation and reflection, that he could 
 have harboured no improper designs, either 
 on his own behalf or that of his mother. 
 The troops retrograded to Villa Franca, and, 
 under the command of their new chief, took 
 quiet possession of the capital on the 4th of 
 July. 
 
 The king's entrance soon followed, with 
 all the characteristics of a great national 
 triumph. He was received with the most 
 unbounded enthusiasm, and Lisbon appeared 
 to rejoice in this new change quite as much 
 as in that of 1820. The Cortes had continued 
 their sittings after the king's departure from 
 the capital; and as nothing was now left 
 them but the privilege of talking, they exer- 
 cised that faculty to the utmost. Indeed, 
 they declaimed most loftily on the heroic 
 examples of Roman senators, in imitation 
 of whom it seemed to be their intention to 
 die in their places. But their patriotic 
 ardour having evaporated in this harmless 
 bombast, which was perfectly in unison with 
 
 I 
 
114 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 their former conduct, they resolved to live a 
 little longer ; and when the troops arrived, 
 not one of these legislative martyrs could be 
 found at his post, all having voted among 
 themselves, that the glories of a memorable 
 death were far outweighed by the comforts of 
 a secure and timely retreat from danger. 
 
 The whole of Portugal now quietly and 
 gladly submitted to the dominion of her king, 
 acquiescing in whatever his government pro- 
 mulgated : while the Count of Amarante, 
 marching triumphantly from Spain, entered 
 Lisbon, where his arrival was greeted with 
 rejoicings as loud, and probably as sincere, 
 as those which had hailed, some time before, 
 the unfounded report of his death. At court 
 he was received with the highest distinctions : 
 he was created a Marquis, by the title of 
 Chaves, and invested with other honourable 
 rewards, bestowed by a grateful monarch. 
 But, in the midst of all this triumph, his 
 disappointment was great to find his pa- 
 troness, the queen, in a state very little better 
 than that in which the Cortes had confined 
 her: while the offices to which he had 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 116 
 
 looked, as the just recompense of himself 
 and his loyal followers, were already occu- 
 pied by the subtle Pamplona and crea- 
 tures of his selection. Neither was his in- 
 dignation abated on beholding those whose 
 punishment appeared certain, preferred and 
 caressed ; while the men who had set a price 
 on his head, as the most devoted partizan of 
 the king whom they insulted, were better re- 
 ceived at the court of that monarch than 
 himself, with all his and his family's claims 
 of long service and faithful attachment. 
 
 Under the government of the Cortes, men 
 had been brought into notice, who, on the 
 ground of birth or property, had no claim to 
 advancement ; but whose enthusiasm in the 
 popular cause, directed by a competent por- 
 tion of natural talent, ensured them a degree 
 of distinction, when thus enabled to make 
 themselves conspicuous. These men were 
 treated with kindness and attention by the 
 king ; who, either from the dictates of his 
 native benevolence, or the fear of their again 
 recovering the ascendancy, or else acting in 
 obedience to the counsel of his favorite Pam- 
 
 i2 
 
116 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 plona, appeared to be forming from among 
 them a party wherewith to defend himself, 
 alike against the intrigues of the constitu- 
 tionalists, and the suspected plots of the 
 ultra-royalists. This, of course, produced 
 the estrangement of many distinguished 
 friends, who beheld the intrusion, as they 
 considered it, of an order so plebeian, with 
 all the jealous pride for which the aristocracy 
 of the Peninsula are famed. 
 
 The precise object of Pamplona in recom- 
 mending this course to his master, cannot easily 
 be divined; but the whole tenor of his life leads 
 to the conclusion that his motive could not 
 be good. His policy, however, succeeded in 
 promoting his own interests : he was ap- 
 pointed principal minister to the king, and in 
 that office formed every department of the 
 government in subordination to him. As the 
 minister of war, he took into his hands both 
 the patronage and management of the army ; 
 and he availed himself of this power to sur- 
 round the infante so exclusively with his own 
 creatures, that he could do nothing but what 
 had already been marked out for him by 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 117 
 
 Pamplona. So completely was the prince 
 enthralled by this man, and so notorious was 
 the fact, that instead of being spoken of as 
 generalissimo, according to the rank which 
 the king had conferred upon him, he was fre- 
 quently called, in derision, and in reference 
 to his subordinate powers, " Clerk of the 
 army." How the king maintained a govern- 
 ment, which the prevailing influence of Pam- 
 plona shortly rendered again universally un- 
 popular, has been made a matter of surprise : 
 but, perhaps, the strongest argument in its 
 behalf, was contained in the imposing pre- 
 sence of an English line-of-battle ship, which, 
 on the occupation of Spain by the French 
 troops, had been sent to the Tagus. The 
 continuance of this vessel in the river, and 
 the pledge of British support which it seemed 
 to offer to the king's authority, tended, no 
 doubt, in some measure to overawe the dis- 
 contented of both parties; whose numbers 
 were rapidly increasing throughout the king- 
 dom. 
 
 The extreme harshness maintained towards 
 the queen, and the unmeasured severity of 
 
118 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 her treatment, excited the compassion of 
 many, and daily augmented the number of 
 her friends ; until the whole of the party 
 which had been originally the king's, es- 
 poused her cause, while the constitutionalists 
 had disappeared, and the king, with the ex- 
 ception of the faction immediately about him, 
 was without political supporters. Yet, among 
 the lower orders he was beloved with an 
 enthusiasm that, all circumstances consi- 
 dered, almost deserves the name of infatua- 
 tion ; and to the prevalence of such a feeling 
 I can bear personal testimony, having wit- 
 nessed at this time one of the most striking 
 ebullitions of native loyalty that ever I saw 
 displayed. 
 
 The king had ordered a wolf-hunt to take 
 place, near Santarem ; and for that purpose 
 the peasantry of the surrounding country 
 were commanded to assemble in different 
 directions, all moving upon a point where 
 the royal shooting party were to await 
 the approach of their prey, to be thus 
 driven towards them in a manner similar to 
 that in which the tinchel of the Highland 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 119 
 
 hunters collects the deer. A circle of several 
 leagues was formed, which narrowed as the in- 
 dividuals comprising it approached the central 
 station. When this duty was performed, 
 such a scene ensued as baffles description. 
 The joy of the rustics was of an almost 
 frantic character, when, to the number of 
 about three thousand, they caught a glimpse 
 of the royal carriages, upon which they 
 pressed as though resolved to demolish them. 
 While some shouted their strenuous vivas in 
 the most joyous tone, others were bathed in 
 tears of silent delight, and many were thrown 
 to the earth in their attempts to kneel as the 
 carriages moved off. 
 
 My astonishment was really great; for I 
 well knew that, in addition to the long pro- 
 tracted miseries to which these poor creatures 
 had been subjected, through the contentions 
 of their rulers, many of them were, at this 
 moment, in a starving condition. For no 
 allowance was made for their support during 
 their attendance, some for three days, others 
 for less, to promote the royal pastime, at a 
 considerable distance from their homes. Nor 
 
120 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 could they bear away provision for that 
 period, without leaving their helpless families 
 destitute. Half an hour previous to this en- 
 thusiastic display, I had seen the cavalry, 
 who were employed to keep the cordon 
 entire, roughly striking some of them with 
 the flat of their sabres, because they did 
 not move exactly in their assigned places ; 
 yet all was insufficient to abate the force of 
 their loyal devotion. I was riding near the 
 king's carriage, when a poor woman, with an ' 
 infant in her arms, ran out from a cottage, 
 and throwing herself on her knees, with so 
 little regard to her personal safety, that she 
 was in great danger of being rode over, 
 sobbed out, " Let me see my king ! Look, 
 my child, at our beloved father : — now I can 
 die contented." 
 
 In all this there was no artifice, no at- 
 tempt to produce stage effect, nor any ex- 
 pectation of personal advantage. All was 
 evidently from the heart ; and no one could 
 witness, with indifference, such an affecting 
 burst of simple love from an almost perish- 
 ing people to a monarch, who, whatever he 
 
STATE OF POKTUGAL. 121 
 
 might possess of the will, had not enjoyed 
 the power of conferring one national benefit 
 upon them. It was impossible to view the 
 miserable condition and the artless good 
 feeling of these poor creatures without a 
 sentiment of deep commiseration, and an 
 ardent desire that they might be brought to 
 participate in the blessings which civil and 
 religious liberty never fail to produce. 
 
 To return from scenes of nature to those 
 of art and insincerity — there was in the 
 king's household another favorite, who, like 
 Subserra, had betrayed the cause of his 
 country, and attached himself to the in- 
 terests of France ; but who, on presenting 
 himself to the king in Brazil, with the as- 
 surance of penitent regret, had been par- 
 doned, and replaced in a situation of high 
 favor at court. This man, the Marquis of 
 Louie, was Subserra's principal supporter, 
 and undoubtedly lent to his schemes much 
 important aid, which his situation so near 
 the king's person gave him abundant op- 
 portunity of affording. At the palace of 
 Salvaterra, where the royal family were 
 
122 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 passing some time on a sporting excursion, 
 in the month of February, 1824, the Marquis 
 of Louie was found to have fallen beneath 
 the hand of some assassin. It was reported, 
 that, had the murderer found opportunity 
 of carrying his original design into execution, 
 Subserra himself, and another obnoxious 
 character, would have shared the fate of this 
 unfortunate nobleman, who, however incor- 
 rect in many parts of his conduct, was by 
 no means to be ranked with Subserra in the 
 scale of political depravity. 
 
 An assertion was confidently made that 
 these murders had been planned by the 
 queen, and that the infante was to direct the 
 execution of her sanguinary project. But of 
 this no proof was ever adduced. If any circum- 
 stances could ever palliate the foul crime of 
 murder, the provocations unsparingly heaped 
 against these royal personages might have fur- 
 nished them with something like an excuse for 
 the crime in their own minds ; but it cannot be 
 supposed that, had any thing in the form of 
 admissible evidence been within the reach of 
 their accusers, the latter would have hesitated 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 123 
 
 to charge them publicly with the act. How- 
 ever, after various attempts to implicate 
 different persons in this melancholy busi- 
 ness, a seal was put upon all the proceed- 
 ings : never again to be opened even for the 
 vindication of those innocent persons, whose 
 names had been most falsely and maliciously 
 connected with the infamous transaction. 
 
 The royalist party, and among them the 
 Marquis of Chaves in particular, continued to 
 speak very openly of the mal-administration 
 that prevailed ; and it appeared evident that 
 matters would not long preserve an unin- 
 terrupted course. Considering how extensive 
 and powerful was the influence exercised by 
 this nobleman among the military, attentive 
 observers expected a movement of the army 
 against the government. Still the infante 
 appeared true to his duty as a son ; and be- 
 fore making any attempt to displace the 
 party surrounding his royal father, he took 
 measures to excite an interest in his behalf 
 among the people, who still loved, though 
 they could not much admire their sovereign. 
 Early on the morning of the 30th of April, 
 
124 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 1824, the prince hurried to the quarters of 
 the troops in Lisbon, summoning them to 
 take arms for the defence of their king, 
 against whom, he said, a conspiracy was 
 formed by the freemasons, (so the constitu- 
 tionalists were generally called,) whom he 
 represented as then proceeding, with Sub- 
 serra at their head, to assassinate his 
 majesty. 
 
 The effect of this vehement appeal was 
 instantaneous ; the troops sallied forth ; and 
 had, in a short time, arrested the whole of 
 the king's household, all Subserra's known 
 partizans, both in military and civil employ- 
 ment, and every person within their reach, 
 who had made himself conspicuous during 
 the days of the Cortes. While the troops 
 were forming in the Rocio, the Marquis of 
 Chaves galloped among them, with his hat 
 in his hand, crying aloud, '^ Death to the 
 freemasons!" The king was surrounded in 
 his palace, where admittance was granted 
 only to the acknowledged followers of the 
 infante. The prince himself demanded his 
 majesty's consent to institute immediately a 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 125 
 
 commission for the trial of those whom he 
 denounced as traitors to their sovereign, their 
 country, and religion, with authority to 
 execute forthwith such sentence as should be 
 passed upon the criminals. 
 
 The poor king, fearing from his anxious 
 deliverers the violence which they imputed to 
 the intention of others, and unable to extri- 
 cate himself from the queen's party, which 
 entirely surrounded him, granted all the in- 
 fante's demands ; and arrests to the amount 
 of eighteen thousand were instantly directed 
 to take place throughout the country. It was 
 a time of general consternation and terror : 
 no man considered himself safe, while the 
 false denunciation of a private enemy seemed 
 the unfailing introduction to a violent death. 
 The committals appeared as indiscriminate 
 as they were numerous : men who were firm 
 friends to royalty, avowed enemies to masonic 
 institutions, and opposed to the Cortes, even 
 on the strong grounds of individual wrong 
 sustained under their rule, were alike dragged 
 to prison, with as little prospect of being 
 allowed to vindicate themselves as the real 
 
126 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 adversaries of the royal cause had of escap- 
 ing princely vengeance. Subserra himself 
 was doomed to suffer death as soon as he 
 should be captured; but he made good his 
 retreat to the residence of the French am- 
 bassador, from whence he was adroitly 
 smuggled on board an English frigate. 
 
 The foreign ministers in Lisbon effected 
 at length an entrance into the palace, and 
 there solemnly protested, in the name of 
 their respective courts, against the whole 
 of the infante's proceedings. However, the 
 king's terror had completed his imbecility; 
 and throughout his dominions a deluge of 
 blood, innocent as well as guilty, appeared 
 inevitably about to flow, under his con- 
 strained, but confirmed sanction. 
 
 These events, like most others that took 
 place in this devoted country, have been, 
 either from ignorance or evil design, variously 
 and grossly misrepresented. It has been 
 affirmed, that the queen's party aimed at 
 removing the king from his throne ; and that 
 the infante, even in his first proceedings, 
 was actuated by an ambitious desire of com- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 127 
 
 pelling his majesty to abdicate in his favour : 
 but if it be reasonable to judge of men's 
 purposes by the tenor of their actions, we 
 may safely conclude that such measures were 
 never contemplated by Don Miguel, a very 
 young man, of remarkably high feelings, and 
 a most active spirit. Educated in the full 
 enjoyment of every royal privilege, and in 
 the bosom of a monarchy whose principles 
 were those of uncontrolled dominion, he had 
 accompanied his parents in what might be 
 called an indignant flight from scenes where 
 revolutionary doctrines were but commencing 
 a practical development; and when he was 
 brought at once into the sphere of their most 
 overpowering action — when he beheld his 
 father insulted, his mother imprisoned, his 
 own legitimacy openly and indecently ques- 
 tioned — when he considered his brother 
 Pedro, but one year his senior, undauntedly 
 contending with the same hostile power 
 throughout an extensive empire, and heard 
 his mother, in the anguish of her heart, utter 
 unavailing wishes for that brother's presence 
 to defend his royal father from injurious 
 
128 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 wrong— can we be necessitated to impute 
 unworthy motives to the prince in explana- 
 tion of the part which he took? Not only 
 was the queen continually rousing into action 
 all the innate enthusiasm of the youth, but 
 Subserra, the king's chief favorite, having, 
 in his wily calculation, long before this 
 period, anticipated the probable issue of 
 events, and hoping to secure a personal 
 exemption from peril, as the reward of his 
 pretended zeal, had lent it every encouraging 
 aid in his power, when at Santarem. 
 
 By an enterprize as romantic as it was 
 daring, Don Miguel had once delivered the 
 royal family from the power of their op- 
 pressors ; and found the whole army as- 
 sembling round his standard. Yet, so far 
 from taking undue advantage of this merited 
 popularity, he hastened, at the first summons, 
 to the king's presence, and gratefully re- 
 ceived as a royal boon, that nominal com- 
 mand over the forces of which he might have 
 seized the triumphant reality, had he turned 
 to a selfish purpose the enthusiasm kindled 
 by his chivalrous exploit. The only rewards 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 129 
 
 which he appeared desirous of reaping for 
 these services, were twofold : the restoration 
 of his mother, whom he sincerely loved, to 
 her rights, both domestic and regal, and a 
 due recompense to the faithful few who had 
 assisted him at the outset of his enterprize 
 from motives unquestionably loyal. We 
 may suppose, too, that he was not insensible 
 to the charms of that personal distinction, 
 which he had ventured, at so great a hazard, 
 to win. 
 
 So far from enjoying these fair fruits of 
 a generous effort, Don Miguel had the mor- 
 tification to witness the king's utter helpless- 
 ness in the hands of a base court faction, 
 headed by a man through whom all his own 
 meritorious claims were rewarded with such a 
 mockery of command as made his very title 
 a common jest ; who first vilified, then 
 trampled on him; and from whom his 
 mother received indignities more cutting 
 than those which the Cortes had cast upon 
 her ; while the companions of the prince 
 in his gallant undertaking were openly in- 
 sulted instead of receiving those applauses 
 
130 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 and emoluments which common gratitude 
 should have dictated as their just due. It 
 cannot indeed be supposed that his personal 
 regard for the king equalled in any way that 
 affection which the queen enjoyed. But 
 there can be no reasonable doubt that in the 
 first movement of the troops in Lisbon, under 
 the prince, his object was really to deliver 
 the king and country, as on a former occa- 
 sion, from a party who regarded his majesty 
 as the mere tool of their purposes. Success- 
 ful beyond his expectations, the infante 
 was perhaps intoxicated by so complete a 
 triumph, and lent too ready an ear to the 
 Marquis of Chaves and others, who exerted 
 their influence over him as best suited their 
 purposes of political revenge and personal 
 aggrandizement. And thus the impetuosity 
 of his character was wrought to extremes 
 altogether unjustifiable. 
 
 The king had been advised by one on 
 whose tried fidelity he well knew the utmost 
 reliance might be placed, to make a mental 
 effort, and to assume at this juncture the 
 exclusive management, and thus to prevent 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 131 
 
 the excesses too plainly approaching. This 
 counsel, given by a most accurate observer 
 of all parties, whose perfect knowledge of 
 Portuguese affairs peculiarly qualified him 
 to direct the embarrassed monarch, was de- 
 feated by that unfortunate infatuation which 
 always selected the most incompetent and 
 short-sighted, if not self-interested advisers, 
 in preference to those who had no object in 
 view but the real welfare both of sovereign 
 and people. He did so on this occasion : and 
 although their plan succeeded in effecting 
 his personal liberation, and averting the im- 
 pending fate of thousands, its execution re- 
 flected little dignity on the kingly character ; 
 and ultimately left the country in a far worse 
 state than previous to these transactions. 
 
 On Sunday morning, the 9th of May, the 
 king declared his intention of dining at a 
 country house, on the banks of the Tagus ; 
 and, taking the princesses, he embarked in 
 his barge, inviting the infante to follow in his. 
 The Windsor Castle was moored in the river : 
 on passing near her, his majesty, as if from 
 an accidental thought, proposed to pay a visit 
 
 K 2 
 
132 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 to this English man of war, and was accord- 
 ingly conveyed there. Soon after this part 
 of the royal family were received on board, 
 the infante appeared in sight ; and a hasty 
 note was dispatched, informing him where 
 the king then was, and that his majesty de- 
 sired to speak with him. This order was 
 immediately obeyed ; and, indeed, had the 
 prince shewn any hesitation on the subject, 
 the appearance of our men of wars' boats 
 rowing about, must have convinced him that 
 means were at hand to enforce the command 
 if necessary. 
 
 On being ushered into the royal presence, 
 the prince found the king surrounded by all 
 the foreign ministers, who had previously 
 fixed a rendezvous here, and who witnessed 
 the address of his majesty, which is said to 
 have been to the following effect : — ** Michael, 
 I have sent for you to confirm, in the pre- 
 sence of these ministers, who represent the 
 sovereigns of Europe, that pardon which I 
 before granted under the consolatory hope 
 that you would amend your conduct. Neither 
 a desire to preserve my life, nor ambition to 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 133 
 
 prolong my reign, has actuated me in seek- 
 ing shelter within this ship : I have been led 
 hitherto by a sense of the imperious obliga- 
 tion under which I, a king, am laid, to watch 
 over the peace and happiness of the people 
 whom Providence has confided to my charge. 
 Heaven has condemned me, as a man, to 
 suffer great bodily infirmities ; as a monarch, 
 I have been the sport of successive revolu- 
 tions ; as a husband, I possess a wife whose 
 constant study it has been to render my life 
 wearisome to me ; as a father, I have two 
 unnatural sons, of whom one has driven me 
 out of a kingdom, and rent it from me, while 
 the other labours to cover my old age with 
 disgrace and poverty — It is my will that, for 
 the present, you remain on board this ship." 
 The infante was then conducted below, where 
 a cabin and part of the ward-room were 
 appropriated to him ; and here he remained, 
 until a Portuguese frigate was prepared to 
 convey him to Brest, under the escort of a 
 British man of war. 
 
 The king had no sooner found himself 
 within the bulwark of an English ship, than 
 
134 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 he dispatched orders on shore for the imme- 
 diate release of every destined victim to 
 fanatical revenge. In Lisbon and its en- 
 virons alone, about a thousand were already 
 in confinement, and the constitutionalists, 
 who form the chief population of that and 
 other large towns, feeling themselves virtually 
 condemned, though not yet seized upon, 
 hailed as a resurrection from the dead this 
 unexpected exercise of the royal prerogative, 
 while, hurried on by the excess of sudden 
 triumph, they flatttered themselves that a 
 free charter would be the next boon granted. 
 Others, conscious of being marked by 
 private enmity, though innocent of political 
 interference, saw at once an end put to that 
 cruel system which had listened to the sug- 
 gestions of secret accusers. They found 
 themselves rescued from a tyranny which had 
 given full scope for the exercise of individual 
 malice, enabling a private or hereditary foe 
 to satiate his vengeance upon the guiltless, 
 and to plunge whole families in misery and 
 ruin. Such a scene took place in Lisbon 
 as may be imagined, but can never be de- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 135 
 
 scribed : every possible mode of expressing 
 joy and exchanging heartfelt congratulations 
 was resorted to : and the poor people, in the 
 transports of this unlooked-for deliverance, 
 forgot that their country had reaped no last- 
 ing benefit. For the kingdom was still, as 
 before, the sport and prey of contending 
 factions, who were too much occupied in 
 grasping at power, and making the utmost 
 profit of their short successes, to bend one 
 cordial effort towards the amelioration of 
 those evils which desolated the land. 
 
 The troops, however, were too much at- 
 tached to their prince to hear, without strong 
 emotions of resentment, the report, quickly 
 spread, of his being detained a prisoner on 
 board the Windsor Castle ; but their inclina- 
 tion for a disturbance was happily repressed 
 by the unanimity of the populace, who over- 
 awed their disorderly spirit. Nor could they 
 be unmoved at the rescue of so many hun- 
 dreds of their countrymen from an ignomi- 
 nious, and, as they well knew, in many cases 
 an unjust death. This feeling, and their 
 fears, won a triumph over their principles, 
 
136 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 and by degrees the cries of " viva o infante," 
 were lost in the more enthusiastic shouts of 
 '' viva el rey." Lisbon remained tranquil, at 
 the expense of two or three lives, sacrificed by 
 the soldiery, and the difficult enterprize of 
 attempting to rescue the prince was aban- 
 doned; although one regiment of cavalry, 
 inflamed with a more than quixotic spirit of 
 chivalrous zeal, actually saddled to attack 
 the Windsor Castle in the middle of the 
 Tagus ! 
 
 The fortunate issue of this affair was 
 greatly accelerated by the return to their 
 respective corps of many principal officers, 
 arrested by the prince, who were conscious 
 that their existence depended on the success of 
 the king's party. They therefore exerted them- 
 selves to preserve order and to reconcile the 
 troops to events which no efforts of theirs could 
 remedy. The British ambassador, who now 
 appeared to take the lead in every thing, so far 
 allayed the fears of the king as to prevail on 
 him to venture on shore. He landed on the 
 14th of May, and such was the extraordinary 
 enthusiasm of the populace, that, on hearing, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 137 
 
 of the circumstance, they left the host, then 
 passing in solemn procession, and ran to hail 
 their sovereign, and, as they fondly hoped, 
 their political saviour. 
 
 A commission was appointed to inquire 
 into the recent and former criminal proceed- 
 ings ; and the following proclamation, al- 
 though not published until the ensuing year, 
 may be here properly introduced, as shewing 
 the general amnesty which the king deemed 
 it prudent to grant, with the advice of his 
 counsellors, after Subserra's final removal 
 from the ministry. It will be perceived that 
 a reference was made to the investigation 
 concerning the Marquis of Louie's murder; 
 and that such of these offences as remained 
 unpunished were consigned to oblivion. 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 "The process having finished which was 
 instituted on account of the unheard of and 
 enormous attempts perpetrated on the un- 
 happy epoch of the 30th of April and follow- 
 ing days, of last year, and having now to pror 
 
138 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 nounce the subsequent decisions upon such 
 extraordinary acts, my royal and paternal 
 heart suffers the most painful conflict between 
 those sentiments which inspire horror at such 
 black crimes, and the compassion which re- 
 sists a severity of justice proportionate to the 
 excess of wickedness which miscarried on 
 that calamitous day. Not, however, being 
 able to separate in my mind the duties of a 
 king from the affection and sensibility of a 
 father towards all my vassals, and contem- 
 plating also with the most profound medita- 
 tion the sad and weighty circumstances that 
 intervened amid these extraordinary excesses, 
 paying likewise equal attention to the rules 
 of distributive justice without distinction of 
 persons, and to the very important and power- 
 ful reasons which contribute to induce my 
 royal mind to embrace in this conflict the 
 counsels of my supreme and innate clemency ; 
 wishing moreover to leave to posterity an 
 everlasting monument of the paternal senti- 
 ments which preside in my august delibera- 
 tions, in allowing the love of a father to pre- 
 vail in my soul over the infallibility of a king, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 139 
 
 without entirely losing sight of what I owe 
 to the security and tranquillity of my people, 
 I am pleased to decree as follows : 
 
 ** I grant a general amnesty and pardon 
 to all those who have been accused and have 
 been made subject to any proceedings insti- 
 tuted on account of the above detestable 
 crimes; and I declare them free and safe 
 from the penalties which they have incurred, 
 and to which they ought to be condemned, 
 according to the laws ; releasing all those who 
 are in prison, and taking off all sequestrations, 
 imposed on account of the said crimes. 
 
 *' From this general amnesty and pardon, 
 I except only those individuals who were the 
 most deeply implicated, by becoming the 
 leaders and promoters of the associations for 
 such abominable crimes; these shall imme- 
 diately quit my kingdom, not to return 
 without my express licence, and they 
 shall receive for this purpose the necessary 
 passports. With this limitation, which my 
 justice cannot dispense, these criminals 
 shall enjoy the other favours before grant- 
 ed. The persons excepted are mentioned 
 
140 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 in the annexed list, signed by the minister for 
 ecclesiastical affairs and justice. I extend 
 this pardon to the persons implicated in the 
 dark crimes committed on the night of the 
 28th of February, in Salvaterra, and to those 
 concerned in the actions perpetrated in this 
 capital on the night of the 25th of October, 
 last year, who shall also be set at liberty. 
 
 " And to give all extension, compatible 
 with the public security, to this pre-eminent 
 favour of my kindness, I am farther pleased 
 to comprehend in the said pardon the cri- 
 minals implicated in the acts of revolt in the 
 city of Coimbra, in the last and present 
 years ; but all the persons thus pardoned 
 must return to their native place, and to their 
 preceding abode, which must not be within 
 ten leagues of this capital. Those who held 
 any civil or military employment cannot re- 
 sume their functions till they have first ob- 
 tained my permission. 
 
 " Lastly, desiring to remove from the sight 
 of my subjects the pernicious monuments of 
 crime and infamy which so much dishonour 
 them, and which I am induced by most 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 141 
 
 weighty reasons to cover with an impene- 
 trable veil, I order that all the documents 
 relative to the above crimes, be collected in 
 the office of the department for ecclesiastical 
 affairs and justice, and there be so fastened 
 up and sealed, that they can never more ap- 
 pear, nor extracts be taken from them." 
 
 His majesty then dissolves the criminal 
 commission appointed on the 14th of August 
 1824; and expresses his conviction that all 
 Portuguese will cordially imitate the example 
 which he has given, and bury in oblivion all 
 party hatred and dissentions. 
 
 The crimes of the 25th of October, ad- 
 verted to in this document, existed probably 
 but in the imagination of Subserra, who had 
 caused some persons to be arrested on that 
 night, alleging against them treasonable prac- 
 tices. The disturbances at Coimbra amounted 
 to nothing more than a trifling commotion 
 among the students of that university. I have 
 anticipated the event of a subsequent year, in 
 order to introduce this proclamation, and now 
 return to that period when the king, leaving 
 
142 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Don Miguel in the safe-keeping of the ships, 
 resumed his throne and dignity. 
 
 It was very natural for the nation to ex- 
 pect substantial benefit from some of the 
 recent changes, and their concern for the 
 infante was greatly softened by the happy 
 consciousness that his exploit had at least 
 succeeded in relieving them from Subserra's 
 baneful presence in their councils. The lead- 
 ing part taken by the British ambassador in 
 all that concerned the king's proceedings, 
 strengthened their hope of an entire change 
 of policy; and it will scarcely be credited 
 that, acting as the king now did under the 
 influence of that ambassador, whose opinions 
 he would not have ventured to oppose, and 
 whose remonstrances, if uttered with proper 
 spirit, must have prevailed, the king was still 
 allowed to re-establish his former ministry. 
 He was not only permitted to recal to power 
 those men whose mis-management had so 
 deeply involved both him and his subjects 
 in peril, but likewise to replace the traitor 
 Subserra in the same conspicuous station that 
 he before occupied! A man whose hatred 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 143 
 
 of every thing English was notorious, and un- 
 blushingly avowed, in whom it was impos- 
 sible to confide under any treaty, and from 
 whom no one measure of national advantage 
 could ever be expected. It was said he pro- 
 mised to give a charter to the Portuguese 
 nation. This may have been true ; for, to a 
 man of his character, a promise carries no 
 farther obligation than his convenience may 
 dictate ; but can any person truly affirm that 
 he placed the slightest reliance on such a 
 declaration ? Biassed, as Subserra was known 
 to be in favour of France, and devoted to her 
 service, although no longer appearing in her 
 ranks against his country, he never would 
 have acted in opposition to the wishes and 
 principles of her rulers, on a question so im- 
 portant: and what these were the state of 
 Spain furnished a pretty evident proof. 
 
 Had our minister not been too easily im- 
 posed upon, he would have insisted on send- 
 ing this man out of the kingdom, and thus 
 have opened a prospect of some favorable 
 turn in the affairs of Portugal. But he was 
 either deceived, or inconsistently scrupulous 
 
144 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 on the occasion ; we had frequently declined 
 to interfere in the internal concerns of our ally, 
 and declared that such would be our constant 
 rule. On the present emergency that resolve 
 had been broken through, from motives of 
 compassionate kindness to all parties ; and 
 it was most distressing to find, that, after 
 having gone so far beyond our professed prin- 
 ciple, every advantage that might have been 
 expected to result from it was neglected ; and 
 that evils of such magnitude promised to 
 ensue as threatened to compromise the credit 
 of England in a serious manner. To allay 
 the ferment that arose from the misconduct of 
 the king's ministry, our naval force had been 
 permitted to extend an aid, which, without 
 striking a blow, had been more effectual than 
 any army could have proved, in accomplish- 
 ing his majesty's benevolent designs towards 
 his suffering people. So far none but the 
 most narrow-minded could express a censure ; 
 but when the former culprits were recalled to 
 contrive further mischief, and their infamous 
 acts were, to all appearance, protected by a 
 British squadron, the feelings of all classes 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 145 
 
 began to shew themselves most strongly ex- 
 cited, and ready to break forth into new com- 
 motions. 
 
 Whatever reasons might be assigned for the 
 increase of our naval armament in the Tagus, 
 its obvious effect was to encourage the mal- 
 administration of the Portuguese government, 
 who, as well as the people, perfectly knew 
 that upon the least disturbance they could em- 
 bark, and secure to themselves a safe retreat 
 on board the British squadron. Thus were 
 they emboldened in their shameless course, 
 by being able to set at nought every effort on 
 the part of the nation to rid itself of such 
 rulers. The most unjust and oppressive mea- 
 sures were now openly carried on ; situations 
 of some kinds were regularly and notoriously 
 sold ; and those who wished to obtain favors 
 knew perfectly well the channels through 
 which an effectual application could be made. 
 For there was no difficulty in tracing the 
 price paid, in its progress through the various 
 subordinate agents, until it was poured into 
 the lap of the Countess of Subserra's bosom 
 friend. It was idle to prefer any claim, on 
 
 L 
 
146 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 the mere strength of its own merits, and the 
 demands of justice : the most trifling boons 
 were invariably refused, if the applicant could 
 not support his request, either by the in- 
 fluence of the chief managers, or the weighty 
 plea of a well-filled purse. 
 
 That to have rendered any service, whe- 
 ther commercial or otherwise, to the state or 
 country, was not considered as affording 
 a pretence for the most moderate appeal, I 
 can furnish an instance in the case of two 
 persons with whom I was well acquainted; 
 and whose public spirit, as well as indefati- 
 gable industry, had they met suitable en- 
 couragement, would have entitled them to 
 rank among the benefactors of this suffering 
 country. One of these was endeavouring to 
 establish a paper manufactory, which would 
 have proved a real national advantage ; and 
 as he resided in the neighbourhood of the 
 royal forests, he expected to obtain a permis- 
 sion which had never been refused to any 
 person possessing the slightest degree of inte- 
 rest. For, as there was very little occasion to 
 apply this wood to public use, leave to cut 
 
.STATE OF PORTUGAL. 147 
 
 it down to almost any extent had been always 
 easily procured. A small quantity of tim- 
 ber being required for his buildings, the pro- 
 prietor applied through the official channels: 
 but these were now far from being the usual 
 medium, since private influence had appro- 
 priated to the emolument of a few individuals 
 even the most common rights of the subject, 
 as well as the most unimportant boons in the 
 gift of their rulers. At the expiration of a 
 year no permission had been granted; and I 
 am pretty confident that to this day it has 
 been withheld. 
 
 The other person acted as director of the 
 principal cotton factory in the kingdom ; the 
 machinery of which he brought to a degree 
 of perfection almost rivalling similar esta- 
 blishments in England, and certainly not to 
 be equalled elsewhere. By his uncommon 
 talent for mechanism, and its diligent appli- 
 cation to the service of his principals, he had 
 in a short time nearly doubled the annual 
 profits of the factory, without adding mate- 
 rially to its expenditure. He produced an 
 excellent imitation of our implements for 
 
 l2 
 
148 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 carding the cotton, which are so eagerly 
 sought for even in France, and which he suc- 
 ceeded in equalling. He likewise invented a 
 simple machine, which, under the manage- 
 ment of two persons, a man and a woman, 
 dressed more raw cotton in two days than 
 the labour of eight men formerly prepared by 
 a week's beating ; and he made other in- 
 valuable additions to the establishment. 
 
 On the strength of these services, he ap- 
 plied for a grant of land, similar to that ob- 
 tained by Sir E. Thornton, but not equal to 
 one twentieth part of it either in extent or 
 value. This, of course, was refused ; and as 
 if the meanness and ingratitude of the state 
 had infected every corner of the land where 
 there was an opportunity of displaying those 
 vices, he was told by the owner of the factory, 
 on representing the important benefits which 
 he had conferred on it, that he had his regular 
 salary for his work, and could expect nothing 
 more. Soon after he received the intimation 
 that whereas this salary, amounting to about 
 £250 a year, had hitherto been paid in 
 specie, he must for the future be content to 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 149 
 
 receive half of it in paper, according to the 
 law, of which his employer was resolved to 
 avail himself; and thus was the hard-earned 
 pittance of this meritorious individual dimi- 
 nished eight per cent, in recompense for effect- 
 ing that which, in any other country, would 
 have insured him an independent fortune and 
 the applause of every class. For no part of the 
 public could be ignorant of the important ad- 
 vantages which his ingenuity had conferred 
 upon the nation. 
 
 Having adverted to the grant of land ob- 
 tained by Sir E. Thornton, I must be per- 
 mitted to remark, as a subject for regret, the 
 custom of allowing ambassadors and official 
 agents to accept gifts of value from those 
 governments to which they are accredited. 
 To an Englishman it never will appear pos- 
 sible that such presents should carry with 
 them the slightest temptation to any unfair 
 bias, among the wealthy, honourable, and 
 distinguished class of his countrymen who 
 generally occupy these responsible stations. 
 But it must be remembered that nations are 
 sometimes placed in a predicament similar to 
 
150 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 that in which Portugal then stood, daily wit- 
 nessing instances of that sordid and covetous 
 spirit in the highest situations of trust, which 
 would for a paltry bribe sell honour, veracity, 
 justice, and the interests of a whole country. 
 Applying, therefore, to all, the principles 
 notoriously actuating the few placed under 
 their own observation, the people will regard 
 as douceurs any acknowledgments which a 
 monarch's gratitude may prompt him to confer, 
 and which an ambassador may most conscien- 
 tiously accept, without admitting a thought 
 of undue partiality towards the donor. 
 
 The title of count, in Portugal, was given 
 by the king to the French and other envoys : 
 Sir E. Thornton received the same compli- 
 ment, and with it the more substantial benefit 
 of a considerable estate in land. Unquestion- 
 ably he merited this at the hand of John VI., 
 for he had both taken a warm interest, and 
 acted a very conspicuous part, in the recent 
 events which so closely affected the monarch. 
 But when it was found that, upon the removal 
 of all previous checks on the royal inclination, 
 and while the British ambassador openly 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 151 
 
 assumed the direction of the monarch, who 
 looked solely to him for the privilege of 
 safely exercising his prerogative, Subserra 
 and his satellites were recalled to prey, as 
 before, on the vitals of their country, the 
 inference drawn, and the remarks made, were 
 such as could not but be grating to the feel- 
 ings of Englishmen, who continually heard 
 them uttered. 
 
 The general knowledge that much per- 
 sonal hostility subsisted between the ambas- 
 sador and his distinguished countryman lately 
 in command of the Portuguese forces, would 
 alone have rendered the situation of the for- 
 mer sufficiently delicate, in undertaking the 
 management of the court. But the parti- 
 cular favour shewn to Sir E. Thornton, in 
 voluntarily giving him what was cruelly denied 
 to the just claims of deserving individuals, 
 like those to whom I have alluded, afforded 
 a pretext for a most unfounded calumny : the 
 insinuation that our minister had allowed 
 himself to be bribed into connivance at the 
 designs of a man, whose deep enmity against 
 England was no where questioned, and whose 
 
152 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 bitter hatred of Lord Beresford should have 
 put the ambassador more on his guard against 
 the mortifying reflections naturally arising 
 out of his coalition with such a person. 
 
 The increasing perplexity of affairs in 
 Portugal, however, induced our government, 
 shortly after, to recal Sir W. A'Court from his 
 mission to Madrid, and appoint him to that 
 of Lisbon. This proved to be a most judi- 
 cious choice, for Sir William had given many 
 indications of talent and judgment, well suited 
 to the intricacies of diplomatic arrangements. 
 He had acted as our representative in Naples, 
 at the time when the constitution was there 
 proclaimed ; and he had passed through those 
 trying scenes without in the slightest degree 
 compromising his own character, or that of 
 his country. Afterwards, at Madrid, he had 
 evidenced the same delicacy and judicious 
 prudence, combined with perfect decision of 
 conduct; and now he was fixed upon to un- 
 dertake a task, the difficulties of which had 
 been accumulating for years, and required a 
 masterly hand to unravel. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1823—1824, 
 
 Critical Aspect of Affairs in Portugal — Difficult Position of 
 the new British Ambassadoi — He succeeds in obtaining the 
 Removal of Suhserra from Power — Subsequent Fortunes of 
 that unworthy Favorite— Prospect of Amelioration in the 
 State of Portugal — Generous Mediation of England between 
 Portugal and Brazil — Arrival of Sir Charles Stuart at 
 Lisbon— He receives full Powers from the King to treat with 
 Brazil, and sails for the Rio— He effects a treaty of Reconci- 
 liation very favorable to Portugal — Death of the King — 
 Character of John VI. — Regency appointed by his Will- 
 Succession of his eldest son, Don Pedro, to the Crown of Por- 
 tugal — His first Act is to grant to the Kingdom the Constitu- 
 tional Charter which still subsists — Sir C. Stuart arrives in 
 Lisbon, the Bearer of this Charter — Injustice of the Censures 
 passed on that Minister for undertahing the Office — Excellence 
 of the new Constitution — Don Pedro renounces the Portuguese 
 Crown to his infant Daughter, Donna Maria II.— Project for 
 the future Marriage of Don Miguel with the young Queen — 
 Praiseworthy Self-denial of Don Pedro — Estimate of the 
 state of public Feeling in Portugal towards the new Constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 Perhaps in the history of nations a spectacle 
 so confused and embarrassing as that now 
 exhibited by Portugal never was beheld by 
 a diplomatic eye, whether we regard it with 
 reference to its foreign connections or internal 
 
154 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 situation. Brazil, so lately an humble colony, 
 I was now exalted into an independent empire, 
 and most formidable foe to the mother coun- 
 try, to whose throne the Brazilian monarch 
 claimed succession. That throne was occu- 
 pied by a king nominally absolute, but en- 
 tirely subjected to the control of an un- 
 principled ministry, and reigning over a 
 people Avho appeared ready to break out into 
 open revolt. And that people, among them- 
 selves, were ripe for a sanguinary contest as 
 to the nature of the government which should 
 succeed, if they effected the overthrow of the 
 one at present established. England, after 
 interfering between the king and the sup- 
 posed treacherous designs of his son, had 
 sanctioned the misconduct of a man whose 
 enmity against her knew no bounds ; and by 
 thus exciting the jealous resentment of the 
 suffering people, had rendered it more diffi- 
 cult to maintain her ancient hold on the con- 
 fidence of the Portuguese. 
 
 Our new ambassador could not but find 
 his situation one of considerable perplexities ; 
 but the greatest among them seemed to be 
 
r STATE OF PORTUGAL. 155 
 
 the necessity of retracing the path which his 
 predecessor had trod, and of reversing the 
 course of policy which he had adopted. I 
 beheve he soon experienced the impractica- 
 bility of effecting any thing advantageous 
 with the Portuguese ministry, constituted as 
 it then was, under the despotic influence, and 
 perfectly subordinate to the will, of Subserra. 
 From this man nothing could be expected 
 but a continuation of the system of deceit in 
 which he had hitherto so deliberately per- 
 severed.; and his unlimited power over his 
 infatuated sovereign became daily more ap- 
 parent. Indeed, to such an extent did it 
 arrive, that many supposed the king's abject 
 submission must proceed from some dread of 
 personal injury from his worthless counsellor. 
 This, however, I do not believe to have been 
 the case ; for, in reference to the efforts made 
 to accomplish his removal, his majesty said, 
 **How can I be so ungrateful to a man to 
 whom I am indebted for my life, my crown, 
 and all that I possess ?" 
 
 An instance of this unjust and partial con- 
 sideration of his unworthy favorite's feelings 
 
156 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 occurred at Mafra, where there is a palace, the 
 greater part of which consists of a convent of 
 monks, among whom the king continually 
 went to celebrate church festivals. His 
 majesty seeing me there, enquired, with his 
 usual affability, whether I had ever been 
 at Mafra before : my answer was in the 
 affirmative ; and, I added, that my former 
 visit was on the occasion of a fete given by 
 the Duke of Wellington, whilst our armies 
 had the honour of defending the lines against 
 the enemies of his majesty's crown and king- 
 dom, and at a time when I little anticipated 
 the happiness of beholding that palace once 
 more the peaceful abode of its lawful and 
 royal master. This reply, natural as it was, 
 seemed to perplex the king strangely : in- 
 voluntarily casting a glance towards a door 
 near us, which appeared partly open, he very 
 abruptly changed the conversation to another 
 topic. I had afterwards the curiosity to in- 
 quire who occupied the adjoining room during 
 this interview, and ascertained that the Count 
 of Subserra was there, listening to what 
 passed in the royal apartment : — a fact of 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 157 
 
 which his majesty was evidently aware. He 
 no doubt felt how peculiarly annoying my 
 unintentional remark must have been to Sub- 
 serra, not only from the circumstance of his 
 having figured among the traitors who at that 
 period served in the French army against us 
 and their country, but because he might 
 perhaps think it calculated to remind his 
 majesty of his vast debt to England, the 
 object of Subserra's deeply-rooted abhorrence, 
 and indefatigable ill-offices. 
 
 Deficient as the king of Portugal was in 
 those qualities which should command re- 
 spect and inspire confidence, his character 
 yet evinced throughout his life such promi- 
 nent features of benevolent kindness, and 
 willingness to undergo personal inconve- 
 nience for the gratification of others, that 
 not to love him was impossible. It was 
 under the influence of this prevailing charac- 
 teristic, that he continued to give a weekly 
 audience to all ranks and classes of his sub- 
 jects, even when the heavy pressure of bodily 
 infirmities seemed to demand a respite from 
 such fatiguing exertion. No petition was 
 
158 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 unheard : no prayer rejected. He would 
 sometimes remain for thirteen hours, on the 
 appointed day, listening to recitals of griev- 
 ances, of which the greater part were se- 
 cretly aimed against Subserra, the petty 
 tyrant whose oppression was felt throughout 
 the kingdom. But the firm establishment of 
 the favorite in the affection of the king, and 
 his power of dispensing all that was to be 
 had, were too well known for any one to 
 venture a direct charge against so potent an 
 enemy : so that, in reference to one of these 
 audiences, his majesty was heard to exclaim, 
 " Why, they tell me my people are dissatis- 
 fied with my minister : I cannot believe it ; 
 for of more than seven hundred to whom I 
 spoke yesterday, not one uttered a complaint 
 against him." 
 
 These levees for some time gave the king 
 a powerful hold on the affection of his people : 
 the condescending kindness with which he 
 received all persons, his patient attention to 
 their requests, and his ready promises to do 
 all in his power for them, sent each away, 
 well satisfied that he had not preferred his 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 159 
 
 suit in vain, but had engaged the considera- 
 tion of a truly paternal sovereign. These 
 hopes, however, were generally found to be 
 futile ; the evil influence of Subserra pre- 
 dominated ; and private as well as public 
 wrongs continued unredressed. The gratify- 
 ing reception began to be looked upon as a 
 mere stratagem to secure popularity ; and all 
 that the good king gained by his trouble, was 
 an increased tendency on the part of the 
 people to dissatisfaction and disrespect. 
 
 By the most strenuous and persevering 
 efforts, our ambassador at length accom- 
 plished the augean task. Whatever might 
 have been the threats resorted to in order to 
 effect a change of ministry at the expence of 
 Pamplona and his party, the Portuguese felt 
 most truly grateful for it; and the king, 
 although reluctantly acceding, was still an 
 important gainer by the measure. For it 
 removed from him the pernicious counsels 
 of a man, whose object it really appeared to 
 render him unpopular and contemptible, as 
 well as unmindful of the serious duties im- 
 posed on every monarch by his commanding 
 
160 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 station. As it would not be decorous to doubt 
 the royal veracity, we must of course believe 
 his majesty's assertion, as it appeared in the 
 decree which made known this joyful news, 
 and in which it was expressly mentioned, that 
 the Count Subserra was dismissed at his own 
 request. How far this declaration is borne 
 out by the whole tenor of Subserra's con- 
 duct, and his well-known character, the world 
 must judge. Certainly, no man ever clung 
 to power with more persevering tenacity, nor 
 more readily sacrificed on the shrine of inor- 
 dinate ambition all that honest men hold 
 dear. 
 
 Not, however, to deprive Portugal alto- 
 gether of his valuable services, this distin- 
 guished patriot was at first appointed am- 
 bassador to the English court ; but here his 
 assurance failed him : he dared not openly 
 venture into a country against which his 
 malignity was so well known, and at whose 
 court his mal- administration and numberless 
 political crimes had excited too much con- 
 tempt and indignation to promise him a very 
 flattering reception. Accordingly the scene 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 161 
 
 of his future diplomatic exploits, it was sup- 
 posed would be shifted to France ; but in this 
 quarter also, certain awkward recollections 
 intervened to retard his approach to it. 
 There were some, perhaps, about that court 
 who could have spoken of the time when 
 Senhor Pamplona, with very little to recom- 
 mend him on the score of respectability, had 
 made himself conspicuous by his ostentatious 
 treason against his own sovereign and coun- 
 try, and by that profound devotion to the 
 Buonapartean dynasty, which had led him to 
 carry arms in the invasion of Portugal : a 
 circumstance not promising him much en- 
 couragement in the palace of the Bourbon 
 monarch. At length it was arranged that 
 he should make an essay in Madrid; nor, 
 considering the degraded and contemptible 
 state to which that court was reduced, had he 
 so much cause to shrink from a trial of for- 
 tune there. But so little respect could he 
 command even in Madrid, that they sought a 
 quarrel with him upon an occasion, almost too 
 ludicrously trifling to detail : as, however, it 
 may be the last opportunity of his excel- 
 
103 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 lency's appearance in this work, I will re- 
 late it. 
 
 At the period of time when nothing could 
 be tolerated in Lisbon that did not refer to 
 the popular form of government, our indus- 
 trious and indefatigable artizans, ever careful 
 to recommend the manufactures of England 
 by adapting them to the prevailing taste of 
 other countries, stamped almost every article 
 intended for Portugal with the favorite motto, 
 Viva a constitui^ao. Among other things, 
 they even marked the inner surface of the 
 brass buttons sent from Birmingham with 
 this inscription ; but public feeling under- 
 went a change, and Fiva a constituigad gave 
 place to Fiva el rey : the buttons of course then 
 became unsaleable, and, indeed, treasonable. 
 Previous to the departure of Count Subserra 
 for the Spanish capital, he ordered a hand- 
 some livery, befitting the appearance which 
 he desired to exhibit, for all his servants. 
 The tailor not having any buttons sufficiently 
 brilliant for the occasion, went to a vender 
 of those articles, and was told that he could 
 be supplied with some exactly suited to his 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 163 
 
 wish, but that they unfortunately bore the 
 exploded motto. *'That," said the tailor, 
 *' does not signify ; the inscription is on the 
 back of the buttons, and will not be seen : 
 besides, the count is going immediately out 
 of the kingdom." The bargain was con- 
 cluded, the liveries were furnished, and his 
 excellency most innocently conducted to the 
 ultra-royalist court of a very legitimate king, 
 some dozens of these revolutionary buttons. 
 
 It unfortunately happens that the words 
 in question bear the same signification both 
 in Portuguese and Spanish ; and it still more 
 disastrously fell out, that, by some chance, 
 the reverse of one of these buttons came 
 under the eye of a loyal Spaniard. The 
 effect was electrical ; for nothing less than a 
 plot to re-revolutionize the whole Peninsula 
 could be inferred from so alarming a dis- 
 covery. Two of the poor fellows who wore 
 the Count's livery were seized on by the 
 troops about the palace, and nearly mur- 
 dered : while a tremendous outcry was raised 
 against the ambassador. " See," it was ex- 
 claimed, "this Portuguese fellow, not con- 
 
 M 2 
 
164 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 tent with betraying his own country, and 
 misleading his king, has come here with a 
 desperate plan for the overthrow of this 
 monarchy. His attendants are all free- 
 masons : they bear concealed about them the 
 atrocious watch- word of their conspiracies." 
 
 Annoyed at the clamour which assailed 
 him — -mortified by the looks of suspicion that 
 clouded the Spanish court, and proved its 
 readiness to entertain the accusation — and 
 probably judging that there were many of all 
 ranks in Lisbon who would delight in thus 
 involving him, the count sent home one of 
 the guilty coats, and commissioned a friend 
 to bring the inventors and perpetrators of the 
 scheme to condign punishment. But the 
 poor tailor succeeded so well in exculpating 
 himself from any evil intention, that he 
 merely underwent three days confinement in 
 prison; while the button-seller, by proving 
 that the other was previously acquainted with 
 the objectionable character of his goods, en- 
 tirely escaped. It caused, however, much 
 laughter, at the Count Subserra's expence ; 
 and was the means of shewing him on how 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 165 
 
 slight a foundation his credit stood, even 
 with those of whose political principles he 
 had so long avowed himself the ardent sup- 
 porter. His removal from Lisbon was auspi- 
 cious alike to the sovereign and the people ; 
 and though it is said that his majesty ex- 
 pressed dissatisfaction at the insult which he 
 considered the court of Spain as having cast 
 on his representative, it was impossible that 
 he should feel any lasting regret on being 
 released from such thraldom. 
 
 Some reasonable prospect now appeared 
 of the amelioration of long-standing evils, 
 and the improvement of the country, which 
 had sunk deeper and deeper into the abyss of 
 poverty and despair. The queen's party, 
 though severely checked, had continued their 
 intrigues ; and the constitutionalists, pretty 
 well recovered from their alarm consequent 
 on the memorable proceedings of the 30th of 
 April, were again beginning to indulge their 
 favorite speculations. The army, never at a 
 loss for causes of complaint, and some of 
 them really founded injustice, were ripe for 
 a change, and certainly most inclined for 
 
166 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 such as would promote the interests of Don 
 Miguel, whom they looked upon as a martyr 
 to his honourable zeal against a worthless 
 faction, and whose banishment they attri- 
 buted to the machinations of that cabal. 
 Irritated by the violent conduct of the Cortes, 
 the young and promising empire of Brazil 
 had closed her ports against the commerce of 
 Portugal, whose shipping in the Tagus now 
 dwindled away almost to nothing. 
 
 Tracing, as we have done, this unhappy 
 country through a deepening sea of troubles, 
 during a period of seventeen years, and be- 
 holding her miseries augment with every 
 change that seemed to hold out a hope of 
 their alleviation, we now find her arrived at 
 that acme of national suffering, beyond 
 which there is nothing but dissolution to 
 expect. Abroad, bereft of her colonies, 
 destitute of commerce, and unable to com- 
 mand credit; at home, divided into two 
 powerful factions, who equally detested and 
 despised the existing government as totally 
 unfit to lead, and unable to oppose them, 
 what expectation could she indulge of escap- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 10t 
 
 ing the stormy conflict, the deluge of blood 
 that threatened to ensue from the heated and 
 overcharged state of the political atmosphere? 
 The crisis could not have passed over without 
 some more memorable change than liscd yet 
 been experienced; but at this juncture 
 England stepped forward, and offered her 
 invaluable aid to mediate between Portugal 
 and Brazil. 
 
 From the disinterested magnanimity of 
 England, Portugal had long known that she 
 might expect much, without fear of finding 
 those expectations deceived. On this occa- 
 sion she eagerly hailed the hope which 
 beamed forth upon her, when it was known 
 that an English plenipotentiary was ap- 
 proaching to treat with her king on the sub- 
 ject, and to arrange such terms as might be 
 most lastingly beneficial to the nation. Sir 
 Charles Stuart left England soon after the 
 removal of Subserra was announced there: 
 he arrived in the Tagus on the 25th of March, 
 1825, and his appearance was considered as 
 the dawn of a brighter day than Portugal 
 had known for many years. The object of 
 
168 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 his visit was well defined, and perfectly un- 
 derstood. A full recognition of the inde- 
 pendence which the Brazilian empire had 
 asserted, and would maintain, in despite of 
 all the idle protests and impotent threats of 
 the mother country, was the basis upon 
 which alone a commercial treaty could rest ; 
 and without such a treaty, Portugal must 
 shortly perish. For, while famine assailed 
 her wretched population in a thousand forms, 
 civil war would become inevitable, but by the 
 application of a speedy remedy for the evils 
 that devoured the land. 
 
 Doubtless it was most humiliating for a 
 kingdom, once so commandingly situated, to 
 sue in terms of conciliation for a renewal of 
 intercourse with her once oppressed and des- 
 pised colonists. But the relative position of 
 the two hemispheres had been politically 
 reversed as concerned those countries ; and 
 while the vassals were in a condition to grant 
 boons to their former lords, the son saw his 
 father compelled to at least a virtual acknow- 
 ledgment of dependence on his favourable 
 disposition. John VI. reigned nominally as 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 169 
 
 an absolute king over a nation, who set at 
 nought his authority and despised his person : 
 where, for one in whom he could confide as 
 a faithful defender of his throne, he might 
 number hundreds prepared to wrest it from 
 him, and then to turn against each other in 
 fierce conflict over the form of government 
 that should succeed his imbecile sway. His 
 son Pedro had accepted an imperial title and 
 crown, guarded in the most jealous manner 
 from all appearance of despotic power; yet 
 he governed aa united and attached people, 
 and after a short but severe struggle found 
 himself and his empire securely delivered 
 from any attempt to reduce either again to 
 subjection. And, lastly, he had the happi- 
 ness of finding all his projects for the public 
 weal crowned with a ready acquiescence on 
 the part of his free subjects. The immense 
 distance which separated the two countries, 
 and the impoverished and divided state of 
 Portugal, without a navy, and without an 
 ally who would countenance so wild an enter- 
 prize, rendered the continued assumption of 
 verbal command over a people whom she 
 
170 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 could not reach perfectly ridiculous ; while the 
 forcible exclusion of her trading vessels from 
 the ports which were once her own, was no 
 less mortifying than ruinous. 
 
 It was worthy of England to be foremost 
 among European powers in recognizing the 
 independence of a people who had quietly 
 freed themselves from a most grievous yoke ; 
 and who, instead of committing any hostile 
 aggression against the heir of the house of 
 Braganza (a prisoner in their power), had 
 respectfully invited him to become their 
 monarch, after his father had voluntarily 
 deserted the seat of government. It was 
 worthy too of England, to silence all the 
 narrow-minded suggestions of selfish policy, 
 and, disdaining to promote her own interests 
 at the expence of her old and unfortunate ally, 
 to tender such counsel, and proffer such as- 
 sistance, as should materially benefit both 
 parties ; conceding to the new empire that 
 recognition which must exist in fact, though 
 it might childishly be denied in words, and 
 obtaining in return, by her own influence, the 
 most important and lasting advantages to the 
 
STATE QF PORTUGAL. 171 
 
 country whose cause she had so powerfully ad- 
 vocated with the sword, and now again upheld 
 with the arm of her commercial superiority. 
 One long series of generous open-hearted 
 beneficence had characterized the conduct of 
 our country towards Portugal ; our treasure 
 and our blood had freely flowed in her behalf; 
 and the vessel that now bore our envoy to- 
 wards the shores of Lisbon, came, as the 
 British flag had ever come, the harbinger of 
 consolation, and the parent of reviving hope. 
 
 When Sir Charles Stuart arrived, the king 
 was at Mafra, chaunting with the monks ; 
 and by remaining there for some time longer, 
 he gave rise to apprehensions that he was 
 lukewarm in the business. But for this ap- 
 parent backwardness he afterwards atoned, 
 by offering to Sir Charles Stuart such powers 
 as he could not accept without more parti- 
 cular instructions from his own government. 
 It cannot be supposed that the king was 
 really indifferent, at a juncture when the fate 
 of Portugal was about to be decided; and 
 Sir C. Stuart having, as it is believed, 
 obtained permission from the British govern- 
 
172 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 ment to act as the representative of his Por- 
 tuguese majesty, to the utmost extent of his 
 wishes, he was invested by the king with the 
 fullest authority. He sailed for Brazil, ac- 
 companied by the prayers of all who were 
 interested in the state of the kingdom, and 
 who, in the success of his mission, anti- 
 cipated the only amelioration that her suffer- 
 ings were capable of receiving. 
 
 The terms which Sir C. Stuart obtained, 
 were very favourable for Portugal, in a com- 
 mercial point of view: they were such as 
 might be expected from the disinterested 
 motives that actuated England in her medi- 
 ation ; while the manner in which the suc- 
 cession to the throne was settled, prevented 
 a more wretched scene from occurring in Por- 
 tugal immediately on the king's death, than 
 had ever before appalled that devoted country. 
 With regard to this succession, it has been 
 urged that, as the separation of Brazil from the 
 mother-country took place during the life of 
 the late king, whose heir had taken posses- 
 sion de facto of that crown, the natural right 
 to succeed in Portugal was forfeited by the 
 
CTATE OF PORTUGAL. 173 
 
 deed of rebellion ; and that consequently, 
 upon the king's demise, his second son be- 
 came the rightful claimant of his European 
 dominions. But they who thus argue appear 
 to forget that, even admitting the emperor of 
 Brazil to have forfeited his title to reign in 
 Portugal, yet by the laws of that monarchy, 
 from its first foundation, the right of his chil- 
 dren to the succession would be in no wise 
 affected. Their father, by his own act, might 
 bar his own claim, but could not disinherit 
 them. This principle, which certainly has its 
 origin in justice, is fully recognized as an im- 
 portant part of the legal code in Portugal ; 
 and while it continues in force, the younger 
 branches of the late king's family could only 
 advance a plea of hereditary right in default 
 of such issue in the elder line. 
 
 I believe his majesty was desirous to pre- 
 vent the crown from passing to his second 
 son on his decease, which he appeared to be 
 sensible was near at hand ; and considering 
 into what excesses the infante had been led, 
 when following up the sudden blow struck 
 under his direction in 1824, it must be ac- 
 
n 
 
 174 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 knowledged that the apprehension of his again 
 dooming so many victims to destruction jus- 
 tified the king's anxiety. At least it was 
 evident, that only by confirming the succes- 
 sion formally in the family of the emperor, 
 Don Pedro, could Portugal have expected to 
 accomplish the commercial treaty which was 
 so happily concluded. By its advantageous 
 terms, a heavy debt has already been paid 
 off, which was calculated to embarrass se- 
 riously any new regent who might be ap- 
 pointed ; and the Brazilian ports have been 
 re-opened to the Portuguese produce and 
 shipping, the continued exclusion of which 
 must have entailed certain ruin on any go- 
 vernment which could have been appointed 
 in the kingdom. The following copy of the 
 treaty between the emperor of Brazil and 
 king of Portugal, will shew on what basis 
 the agreements were made to rest. 
 
 TREATY, &c. 
 
 " In the name of the Most Holy and 
 Indivisible Trinity. 
 " K[is most faithful majesty having con- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 175 
 
 stantly in his royal mind the most lively 
 desire to re-establish peace, friendship, and 
 good harmony between sister nations, whom 
 the most sacred ties ought to conciliate and 
 unite in perpetual alliance, in order to accom- 
 plish these important ends, to conduce to 
 general prosperity, and to secure the political 
 existence and the future destinies of Portugal, 
 as well as those of Brazil ; and desiring at 
 once to renounce every obstacle that might 
 impede the said alliance, concord, and hap- 
 piness of both states, by his diploma of the 
 13th of May of the current year recognizes 
 Brazil to hold the name of an empire, inde- 
 pendent of, and separate from, the kingdom 
 of Portugal and Algarve, and acknowledges 
 his best beloved and esteemed son, Don 
 Pedro, as emperor, yielding and transferring, 
 of his own free will, the sovereignty of the 
 aforesaid empire to his aforesaid son and his 
 legitimate successors, only taking and re- 
 serving for his own person the same title. 
 And these august lords, accepting the media- 
 tion of his Britannic majesty to adjust all 
 preliminary questions regarding the separa- 
 
u 
 
 176 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 tion of the two states, have named plenipo- 
 tiaries : to wit, his imperial majesty names the 
 most illustrious and most excellent Luiz Joze 
 de Carvalho e Mello, of the council of state, 
 dignitary of the imperial order of the Southern 
 Cross, commander of the orders of Christ and 
 of the Conception, and minister and secretary 
 of state for foreign affairs ; also the most 
 illustrious and most excellent baron de Santo 
 Amaro, grandee of the empire, of the council 
 of state, gentleman of the imperial chamber, 
 dignitary of the imperial order of the Southern 
 Cross, and commander of the orders of Christ, 
 and of the Tower and Sword ; and also the 
 most illustrious and most excellent Francisco 
 Villela Barboza, of the council of state, grand 
 cross of the imperial order of the Southern 
 Cross, knight of the order of Christ, colonel 
 of the imperial corps of engineers, minister 
 and secretary of state for the naval depart- 
 ment, and inspector general of the marine. 
 His most faithful majesty names the right hon. 
 his excellency sir Charles Stuart, privy coun- 
 sellor of his Britannic Majesty, grand cross of 
 the order of the Tower and Sword, and of the 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 177 
 
 Bath ; and full powers having been presented 
 and exchanged, they have agreed, in con- 
 formity with the principle laid down in the 
 preamble, that the present treaty should be 
 framed. 
 
 "Art. 1. His most faithful majesty recog- 
 nizes Brazil to hold the rank of an empire, 
 independent of, and separate from, the king- u 
 
 doms of Portugal and Algarve, and acknow- 
 ledges his best beloved and esteemed son, 
 Don Pedro, as emperor, yielding and trans- 
 ferring, of his own free will, the sovereignty 
 of the said empire to his said son, and his 
 legitimate successor, his most faithful ma- 
 jesty only taking and reserving the same 
 title for his own person. 
 
 "2. His imperial majesty, as an acknow- 
 ledgement of respect and affection for his 
 august father and lord, Don John VI., agrees 
 that his most faithful majesty shall in his 
 own person assume the title of emperor. 
 
 *'3. His imperial majesty promises not 
 to accept the proposals of any Portuguese 
 colonies whatever, to unite themselves with 
 Brazil. 
 
 N 
 
178 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 "4. Henceforth there shall be peace and 
 alliance, and the most perfect friendship, be- 
 tween the empire of Brazil, and the kingdoms 
 of Portugal and Algarve, with complete obli- 
 vion of the past dissentions between the 
 respective nations. 
 
 ''5. The subjects of both nations, Bra- 
 zilians and Portuguese, shall be considered in 
 the respective states as those of the most 
 favoured and friendly nations, and their rights 
 and property shall be religiously guarded 
 and protected; it being understood that the 
 owners of real estates shall be maintained in 
 the peaceable possession of such estates. 
 
 *' 6. All property, whether real, personal, 
 or moveable, sequestered or confiscated, and 
 belonging to the subjects of the two sove- 
 reigns of Brazil and Portugal, shall be forth- 
 with restored, together with their arrears, 
 deducting the expences of the administration 
 thereof: or their proprietors shall be indem- 
 nified according to the rules laid down in the 
 eighth article. 
 
 "7. All ships and cargoes captured, be- 
 longing to the subjects of both sovereigns, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 179 
 
 shall be in like manner restored, or their 
 owners indemnified. 
 
 "8. A commission named by both govern- 
 ments, composed of an equal number of Bra- 
 zilians and Portuguese, and established when 
 the respective governments shall judge most 
 expedient, shall be charged to examine the 
 matters treated of in the 6th and 7th articles ; 
 it being understood that claims must be made 
 in the space of one year from the formation 
 of the commission ; and in the case of a divi- 
 sion of opinions, and equality of votes, they 
 shall be decided by the representative of the 
 sovereign mediator ; both the governments 
 shall point out the funds from which the first 
 liquidated claims are to be paid. 
 
 " 9. All public claims between the govern- 
 ments shall be reciprocally made and decided, 
 either by the restitution of the article claimed, 
 or by an indemnification for their full value. 
 For adjusting these claims, both the high con- 
 tracting parties shall agree to make a direct 
 and especial convention. 
 
 '* 10. From henceforward the common civil 
 relations of the Brazilian and Portuguese na- 
 
 N 2 
 
180 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 tions shall be re-established, paying recipro- 
 cally on all merchandize 15 per cent, as du- 
 ties on consumption provisionally, the duties 
 on trans-shipment and re-exportation remain- 
 ing in the same form as was practised pre- 
 vious to the separation. 
 
 *' 11. The reciprocal exchange of the noti- 
 fication of the present treaty shall be made 
 in the city of Lisbon, within the space of five 
 months, or less if possible, reckoning from 
 the date of the signature of the present 
 treaty. In testimony whereof, we, the under- 
 signed plenipotentiaries of his imperial ma- 
 jesty, and of his most faithful majesty, by 
 virtue of our respective full powers, sign this 
 present treaty with our hands, and affix there- 
 unto the seal of our arms. 
 
 *' Done in the city of Rio de Janeiro, on 
 the 29th of August, 1825. 
 (Signed) 
 
 " Charles Stuart. 
 "■ Luiz JozE DE Carvalho e Mello. 
 "Baron de Santo Amaro. 
 " Francisco Villela Barboza. 
 " Published at Rio de Janeiro, Sept. 7." 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 181 
 
 The following additional convention was 
 afterwards agreed to by the contracting 
 parties. 
 
 *'It having been established by the 9th 
 article of the treaty of peace and alliance be- 
 tween Portugal and Brazil, signed this day, 
 that the public claims between the govern- 
 ments shall be reciprocally received and de- 
 cided either by the restitution of the article 
 claimed, or by an indemnification for their 
 full value, and agreeing that for the adjust- 
 ment of these claims both the high contracting 
 parties shall make a direct and especial con- 
 vention ; and considering since that the best 
 method of terminating this question will be 
 now to fix and settle a certain sum, doing 
 away with the right of both governments to 
 make reciprocal and ulterior claims, the un- 
 dersigned sir C. Stuart, &c. plenipotentiary of 
 his most faithful majesty the king of Por- 
 tugal, and the most illustrious and most ex- 
 cellent Luiz Joze de Carvalho e Mello, &c., 
 the most illustrious and most excellent baron 
 de Santo Amaro, &c., and the most illustrious 
 
182 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 and most excellent Francisco Villela Barboza, 
 &c., plenipotentiaries of his majesty the em- 
 peror of Brazil, through the mediation of his 
 Britannic Majesty, have agreed, in virtue of 
 their respective full powers, to the following 
 articles. 
 
 ** Art. 1. His imperial majesty agrees, at 
 sight of the claims presented from govern- 
 ment to government, to give to that of Por- 
 tugal the sum of two millions of pounds 
 sterling ; this sum annulling every other 
 1^ claim, and also all right of indemnifications 
 of this nature. 
 
 " 2. For the payment of this sum, his 
 imperial majesty takes upon the treasury of 
 Brazil the loan which Portugal contracted in 
 London in the month of October, 1823, pay- 
 ing the remainder to make up the said two 
 millions sterling in the space of one year, in 
 quarterly payments, after the ratification and 
 publication of the present convention. 
 
 *' 3. From the rule established by the first 
 article of this convention, are excepted the 
 reciprocal claims for transport of troops, and 
 expences incurred with the said troops. For 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 185 
 
 the liquidation of these claims there will be 
 a mixed commission, formed and regulated in 
 the same manner as that established by the 
 8th article of the treaty above mentioned. 
 
 *' 4. The present convention shall be rati- 
 fied, and mutual exchange of ratifications 
 made, in the city of Lisbon, within the space 
 of five months, or sooner if possible. 
 
 ^' In witness whereof, we, the undersigned 
 plenipotentiaries of his majesty the king of 
 Portugal and Algarve, and his majesty the 
 emperor of Brazil, in virtue of our respective 
 full powers, sign the present convention and 
 affix our seals. 
 
 " Done at Rio de Janeiro, on the 29th of 
 August, 1825." 
 
 (Signed as before.) 
 
 It will be remarked that Don Pedro con- 
 ceded to his father the privilege of also bear- 
 ing the title of emperor of Brazil; a mere 
 nominal distinction, but well calculated to 
 soothe the feelings of the poor old king, who 
 was thus permitted to retain a shadow while 
 irrevocably relinquishing all claim to the sub- 
 
184 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 stance. His enjoyment of this honour was 
 very short, for he only assumed it about four 
 months previous to his death. 
 
 On the 10th of March, 1820, king John 
 closed together a life and a reign, of which 
 it would be difficult to say what enjoyment 
 he could have derived from either. In his 
 person, and in his kingdom, he appeared 
 marked for calamities, as various as they 
 were heavy. Had he possessed discrimina- 
 tion of character to select wise and faithful 
 counsellors, such were the pliancy and humi- 
 lity of his disposition, that even while invested 
 with the most absolute power he would have 
 been the father and the benefactor of his sub- 
 jects. He erred in this important point, and 
 Portugal yet groans under the effects of his 
 error. 
 
 John VI., king of Portugal and emperor 
 of Brazil, was born May 13th, 1767. In the 
 year 1792 he first assumed the reins of go- 
 vernment, acting as regent in the name of 
 the queen his mother, who was afflicted with 
 mental derangement. At her death, in 1817, 
 he succeeded her on the throne, and was 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 185 
 
 crowned at Rio de Janeiro, then the seat of 
 government. Much as the Portuguese nation 
 had suffered during his short but eventful 
 reign, and many as were the complaints, not 
 ill-founded, of mis-managemen,t and mal-ad- 
 ministration under his authority, his death 
 had been anticipated with sentiments of deep 
 alarm. The general apprehension among all 
 ranks had been, that immediately on its oc- 
 currence a frightful explosion of party feeling 
 would ensue ; and that a fierce conflict be- 
 tween two formidable factions, each grasping 
 at power, would deluge the whole land with 
 the blood of its inhabitants. No person en- 
 tertained more lively fears of such a catas- 
 trophe than the king himself; and how to 
 avert this scourge from his people had 
 formed the chief study of his closing days. 
 A very short time previous to his decease, he 
 had caused the following declaration of his 
 wishes respecting the administration of affairs 
 to be drawn up. 
 
 " Department of the Minister of the 
 Interior. 
 " His majesty the emperor and king, our 
 
186 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 sovereign, unwearied in his paternal cares for 
 the government of his beloved people, and 
 in order to remove every thing which might 
 affect their tranquillity and security, attend- 
 ing to these important cares, even in the 
 midst of the pains and sufferings wherewith 
 Divine Providence is pleased to afflict him, 
 in the illness under which he is now labour- 
 ing, has been pleased to issue the following 
 decree. 
 
 '' It being advisable to provide for the 
 government of these kingdoms and dominions 
 during the illness under which I am now 
 suffering — that the suspension of affairs, 
 even though short, may not cause them to 
 accumulate, so that it will be afterwards more 
 difficult to dispatch them — I am pleased to 
 charge with the government, the infanta 
 Donna Isabella Maria, my beloved daughter, 
 together with the counsellors of state, the 
 cardinal patriarch elect, duke of Cadaval, 
 marquis Vallada, conde dos Arcos, and the 
 counsellor, minister, and secretary of state? 
 in each of the respective departments of the 
 secretaries of state. All matters are to be 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 187 
 
 decided by the majority of the votes, that of 
 the infanta being always decisive in case of 
 equality ; all of whom will, I hope, adminis- 
 ter justice to my faithful subjects, and will 
 act in all things with the prudence that I 
 desire ; and this my imperial and royal deter- 
 mination shall serve also in case that God 
 should be pleased to call me to his glory, 
 till the legitimate heir and successor to this 
 crown shall have given his orders in this 
 respect. And that this my imperial and 
 royal determination may be carried into 
 effect, I order," &c. &c. &c. 
 
 In this last official act of the king it has 
 been remarked, that " the legitimate heir and 
 successor to this crown" of Portugal, is not 
 mentioned by name, nor pointed out by any 
 particular indication; but this, so far from 
 arguing any thing of indecision on that sub- 
 ject, appears well calculated to prove that 
 his majesty entertained no thought of altering 
 the natural and usual order of inheritance, 
 by which the eldest son is expected to occupy 
 his father's place. 
 
 The king's death, and the succession of 
 
188 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 her favorite Pedro to the throne, again re- 
 vived the sanguine hopes of the queen and 
 her party; but their short-lived exultation 
 received a fatal blow when sir Charles Stuart, 
 in the British frigate Phaeton, once more 
 entered the mouth of the Tagus, the bearer 
 of a constitutional charter, granted to Por- 
 tugal by the emperor Don Pedro ; as un- 
 doubted inheritor of the dominions claimed 
 by the house of Braganza in the old world. 
 
 In charging himself with the delivery of 
 this valuablie instrument of Portuguese free- 
 dom, sir Charles Stuart appeared a second 
 time in the kingdom as its deliverer. But 
 this voluntary act of beneficence was ha- 
 zarded at some cost to himself; and it seems 
 to have exposed him to very unmerited cen- 
 sure. On the objections which have been 
 taken to the propriety of his having made 
 himself the bearer of this charter, I cannot, 
 in this place, refrain from offering a few ob- 
 servations. It is allowed that sir Charles 
 received full powers to negociate for Por- 
 tugal, as the confidential agent of her govern- 
 ment, sanctioned in that capacity by his own. 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 189 
 
 Now, if sir Charles found that he could 
 succeed in gaining from Don Pedro, recog- 
 nized as her future sovereign, a more ines- 
 timable advantage than she dared to hope, 
 and one of which successive generations 
 might reap the increasing fruits, is there any 
 Englishman so devoid of English benevolence 
 and English spirit, as to wish that his coun- 
 tryman had confined himself within the 
 letter of his actual instructions, (supposing 
 them so circumscribed as to admit none but 
 commercial regulations,) and had coldly re- 
 jected the opportunity of conferring an in- 
 calculable benefit upon this hitherto unfor- 
 tunate country ? 
 
 I hope there are few of those narrow- 
 minded calculators among Britons ; and sir 
 Charles, in refusing to rest satisfied with a 
 few commercial concessions, where he saw 
 a facility for securing to Portugal a much 
 more important boon, cannot fail to have 
 won, as he has deserved, the applause of all 
 who love freedom, and venerate justice. 
 Vanity, and an inclination to court popu- 
 larity among the Brazilians, may have been 
 
190 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 the inducement of the emperor Don Pedro 
 to offer Portugal a constitution ; and if it be 
 admitted that sir Charles Stuart did right 
 in availing himself of this occasion to obtain 
 the grant of a charter so valuable to our 
 ancient ally, surely it is peurile to censure 
 him for being personally the bearer of it. 
 This able negociator had done much to attain 
 the object of his benevolent wishes; and who 
 would deny him the recompense that he 
 reaped, when, nearing the coast of Portugal^ 
 he could look upon his precious gift, and 
 rejoice that he was bringing a most unex- 
 pected and efficacious balsam for the wounds 
 that excited the compassion of his country, 
 and wrought on it to send him forth on an 
 (^ embassy of mercy. 
 
 It was on the 29th of April, 1826, that 
 Don Pedro granted the existing constitutional 
 charter. Formed as that instrument is on 
 the best models that limited monarchies can 
 furnish, and peculiarly adapted to meet the 
 ills under which Portugal has suffered so 
 cruelly, it ought to be a bond of union among 
 all parties, and to attach them, by a general 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 1^1 
 
 feeling of gratitude, to those through whom 
 this boon was conferred. It will be seen that 
 the situation of the emperor, at the period of 
 his father's death, must have been one of 
 no inconsiderable embarrassment. For, while 
 already in quiet possession of the Brazilian 
 throne, he became likewise sovereign of Por- 
 tugal ; and the very basis of the treaty so 
 recently concluded, was a separation between 
 those two countries, of so complete a nature 
 as seemed to render it impossible for one 
 monarch to unite them under his sway. Pro- 
 nounced by the concurrent voices of the 
 general law of nations, and by his father's 
 express sanction, the indisputable successor 
 to the throne of his ancestors ; while, by the 
 election of a free people, he likewise held 
 that of the newly-formed empire, it remained 
 for him to relinquish, at his option, the one 
 or the other. I have already remarked that 
 he had no power to bar the hereditary rights 
 of his children ; and he appears to have paid 
 as equitable an attention to their prospective 
 interests as the case allowed, in retaining for 
 himself and his son the trans -atlan tic sove- 
 
192 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 reignty, while he abdicated the European 
 throne in favour of his infant daughter. Fol- 
 lowing as closely as he could the path 
 marked out by his late father, he confirmed 
 the regency as settled by him ; and he no 
 doubt thought he was cementing, in the 
 surest manner, the long -contending parties 
 in Portugal, when, in order to admit his 
 brother Don Miguel to a participation in 
 the sovereignty of the kingdom — to which 
 that young prince had, perhaps, in justice, 
 strong claims, though not in right — he pro- 
 mised him the lawful heiress in marriage. 
 
 It is difficult to assign any reasonable 
 ground for censure in this arrangement : 
 unless, as some fear, it may prove to have 
 been the emperor's intention to exclude Don 
 Miguel from the regency until the consumma- 
 tion of his marriage. On the 30th of April, 
 1826, the following decree was issued at Rio 
 de Janeiro, with reference to Portugal. 
 
 "The meeting of the general Cortes being 
 necessary, I think it proper to order that the 
 election of the deputies may be proceeded 
 with, in conformity ^ith chapter 5, title 4, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 1^3 
 
 of the constitutional charter which I have 
 decreed, and to which I have ordered the 
 oaths to be taken in the said kingdom, leav- 
 ing it to the regency for this purpose to give 
 the necessary instruction. The said regency 
 will thus understand it, and cause it to be 
 executed." Signed by the emperor, as king 
 of Portugal. 
 
 Then follows a decree for the creation of 
 peers of the kingdom: viz. two dukes, 
 twenty-six marquises, forty-two counts, two 
 viscounts, one cardinal patriarch, four arch- 
 bishops, fourteen bishops. Two other decrees 
 were also promulgated : one naming the duke 
 de Cadaval president of the chamber of 
 peers ; and the other nominating the cardinal 
 patriarch vice-president. To all these was 
 added another decree, in which his imperial 
 majesty states, that, wishing to promote and 
 consolidate the prosperity of Portugal and 
 Algarve, he authorizes the regency to cause 
 the convocation and installation of the gene- 
 ral Cortes, without waiting for the period 
 fixed by title 4th, chapter 1st, article 18th of 
 the constitutional charter which he has 
 
b 
 
 194 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 decreed and given, and to which he desires 
 the oath of adhesion may be taken in the 
 said kingdom. 
 
 Energy, promptitude, and decision, are 
 eminently apparent in the measures adopted 
 by this young monarch for the dispatch of 
 important business, while preparing to effect 
 at the same time his own plan of a complete 
 renunciation of that throne, which had been 
 so long held by his ancestors. His resolu- 
 tion to this effect was communicated to the 
 Brazilian empire, on the opening of their 
 national assembly, on the 6th of May, 1826, 
 in a speech by the emperor, of which the 
 following is an extract. 
 
 " The independency of Brazil was recog- 
 nized by my august father, Don John VI., 
 on the 15th of November, last year ; and 
 subsequently by Austria, Sweden, and 
 France: having long before been acknow- 
 ledged by the United States of America. 
 
 *' On the 24th of April, the anniversary of 
 the embarkation of my father, Don John VI., 
 for Portugal, I received the unhappy and 
 unexpected tidings of his death: severe 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 195 
 
 grief filled my heart ; but the course which 
 I had to follow, on finding myself, when I 
 least expected it, legitimate king of Portugal 
 and Algarve, and their dependencies, sud- 
 denly presented itself to me. Now grief, 
 now duty, occupied my mind ; but I con- 
 sidered the interest of Brazil, and remem- 
 bered my word : I resolved to maintain my 
 honour : and I reflected that I ought to make 
 Portugal happy, and that not to do so would 
 be disgraceful. I was plunged in the heaviest 
 affliction, while seeking means to insure the 
 happiness of Portugal without injuring 
 Brazil ; and so to separate them that they 
 should never again be united. 
 
 '' I confirmed to Portugal the regency 
 appointed by my father ; I gave a constitu- 
 tion ; I abdicated, and ceded all my indis- 
 putable rights over the crown of Portugal, 
 and the sovereignty of that kingdom, to my 
 beloved daughter. Donna Maria de Gloria, 
 now queen of Portugal, under the title of 
 Donna Maria II. Brazilians, hitherto in- 
 credulous, may now know, (as they ought to 
 have known before,) that the interest of 
 
 o2 
 
 O 
 
196 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Brazil, and the love of its independence, 
 possess such weight with me, that I have 
 abdicated the croAvn of the Portuguese mo- 
 narchy, which was mine by indisputable 
 right, merely because hereafter something 
 might arise to prejudice the interests of 
 Brazil, of which I am the perpetual de- 
 fender." 
 
 That the emperor was really, in a great 
 measure, influenced by the motives which he 
 assigns, it is but fair to admit, so far as a 
 judgment can be formed at this distance ; 
 and reflection may tend to give additional 
 weight to his assertions. I have endeavoured 
 to do justice to the infante's natural charac- 
 ter, and to the impulse which actuated him 
 in the early stages of his proceedings ; but 
 it cannot be disputed that he was very much 
 under the dominion of a party to whom the 
 new charter would be an object of indignant 
 rejection. For it was calculated to curb their 
 powers of oppression ; and it invested with 
 a degree of respectable independence, the 
 vast numbers whom they had hitherto re- 
 garded it as their privilege to spoil and to 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 197 
 
 trample upon. That the late king considered 
 a charter necessary to the welfare of the 
 people, and believed it to be the object of 
 their wishes, is clearly evident from the general 
 purport of his proclamations. That issued 
 from Villa Franca on the 31st of May, 1823, 
 is particularly strong and explicit upon the 
 subject ; and after the suppression of Don 
 Miguel's attempt in 1824, another was pub- 
 lished, in which his majesty directed a speedy 
 restoration of the ancient Portuguese consti- 
 tution : promising that an assembly of the 
 Cortes should shortly be summoned. 
 
 That his designs were not carried into 
 effect, must be attributed solely to the over- 
 powering influence of Subserra, with whom 
 the French ambassador united his efforts to 
 prevent it. Yet, on a recent occasion, this 
 very minister, Hyde de Neuville, was prat- 
 tling in the chamber of deputies in France, 
 to prove that the non-performance of the 
 promise then given might be attributed to 
 English interference. It is, on the contrary, 
 most certain that our ambassador, sir E. 
 Thornton, ultimately did all in his power to 
 
198 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 promote the grant of a charter, but failed ; 
 and perhaps on his success depended his 
 remaining in Lisbon as minister. It is also 
 certain that, in opposing it, the French envoy 
 did no more than fulfil his duty to his own 
 country : for he was perfectly well aware 
 that such an act would be followed up by a 
 declaration of opinions, relative to the inter- 
 ference of a foreign power in Spain, that 
 might place France in a situation of which 
 she is already beginning to feel the unplea- 
 santness. 
 
 I have been induced to make these re- 
 marks, because I know that in England a 
 very erroneous view is taken of the whole 
 subject : it is here supposed that a great ma- 
 jority of the Portuguese nation is decidedly 
 hostile to the present charter, or to any 
 moderate form of government, that checks, 
 without rendering nugatory, the royal pre- 
 rogatives. The fact is, certainly, that the 
 number of those who would from choice 
 adopt a reasonable and sensible constitution, 
 like that given by Don Pedro, is not so great 
 as the numbers of the two other parties com- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. i99 
 
 bined, into which the country is generally 
 divided. Of these factions, one, which has 
 diminished to a small body, still cleaves to 
 the old despotic form of government, and 
 would prefer a king perfectly absolute, with 
 an ascendant priesthood, and all the dark 
 bigotry of former ages : the other desires 
 only a return of anarchy, and of all the 
 licentiousness which, under the prostituted 
 name of liberty, was practised during the 
 reign of the Cortes of 1820. But these two 
 parties, violently as they are opposed to each 
 other, would sooner meet on neutral ground, 
 than that either should behold the other 
 triumphant ; and the old constitutionalists, 
 seeing the impracticability of restoring their 
 favorite system of jacobinism, and feeling 
 that any thing short of despotism is desirable, 
 are tolerably ready to coalesce with the few 
 sensible men who see the superiority of the 
 present charter. 
 
 We may add to this number, among the 
 favorers of the new constitution, some who 
 are generally looked upon as necessarily at- 
 tached to unlimited monarchy, the heads of 
 
200 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 the church, the peers, their numerous re- 
 tainers, with many others of less importance 
 in the public eye. It will even be found that 
 meii are ready to yield the prejudices of edu- 
 cation, and pre-conceived opinions, when 
 they are fully convinced that their own in- 
 dividual interests must be materially pro- 
 moted by departing from them; and such 
 abandonment of ancient political dogmas we 
 may anticipate in the present case. From 
 the provisions of this charter, all these classes 
 are likely to derive benefit, although perhaps 
 not exactly in the mode by which some would 
 have chosen for themselves. The clergy, no 
 longer forming a separate chamber, will 
 nevertheless command a great and permanent 
 degree of interest, by means of their principal 
 heads, who, like our bishops, enjoy the pri- 
 vilege of sitting in the upper chamber, and 
 voting among the peers, with whom their 
 superioriiy of education, as well as the de- 
 ference paid to their spiritual authority, will 
 always give them great weight. 
 
 The nobility, on their part, will find that 
 pre-eminence in their country's counsels as- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 201 
 
 signed to them as their birthright, which only 
 the most intriguing and undeserving among 
 them could before acquire by court favour. 
 Upon the discovery that their children, on 
 succeeding to this honourable station, will be 
 distinguished and respected according to their 
 abilities, they will be stimulated to new efforts 
 in the work of education ; this example will 
 doubtless be followed by the country gentle- 
 men, who will covet for their sons the honour 
 of shining in the national senate; and by 
 degrees other classes will enter into this spirit 
 of honest emulation, until Portugal shall be 
 rescued from the ignorance and barbarism 
 that now disgrace her. 
 
 But there are some whose interests forbid 
 them to contemplate such a prospect without 
 alarm ; and others who deem it fraught with 
 peril to the people. A general opinion seems 
 to prevail in England, that all, or by far the 
 greater number, among the Roman Catholic 
 priesthood, are crafty, designing, and hypo- 
 critical, making a merchandise of the people's 
 souls by assuming a character, of the fallacy 
 of which they are themselves perfectly con- 
 
202 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 scious. This, I can positively assert, is not 
 the case. It is true that such description 
 may apply, almost without exception, to the 
 better educated and more learned of that 
 body ; they certainly despise the dupes whom 
 they make, and laugh at the system of decep- 
 tion by which their power is maintained and 
 supported. Living, too generally, in the 
 practice of every thing that the precepts of 
 Christianity condemn, it is impossible that 
 their religion should be sincere ; nor can they 
 look otherwise than with feelings of ridicule 
 upon those observances which they teach 
 their flocks to regard as necessary to salva- 
 tion, and sufficient for it, but which they 
 know to be the fruit of their own fraudulent 
 devices. I could enumerate many instances 
 of the most extravagant absurdities being, 
 within my own personal observation, effected, 
 as if by miracle, and, by the actors in them 
 converted into a very profitable speculation ; 
 both as regarded the increase of their autho- 
 rity and of their revenues. 
 
 But still I must maintain that this cha* 
 racter is far from admitting an universal ap- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 203 
 
 plication. There are numbers of Roman Ca- 
 tholic clergy, who themselves firmly believe 
 all they teach, with the same faith as they 
 require from their flocks. These are men of 
 no education whatever, taken from among the 
 very lowest orders of poor tradesmen and 
 petty farmers ; acquainted with just so much 
 Latin as enables them to pronounce the words 
 contained in their breviaries, and devoutly 
 crediting the most preposterous legends and 
 unmeaning miracles, on which they are bound 
 to descant before the people. Some humble 
 mechanic or countryman may have rendered 
 a service to his priest, or otherwise engaged 
 his good will, and he in return will perhaps 
 select one from the poor man's numerous 
 family, and say, " send him to me, I will 
 teach him his breviary." This is easily done; 
 the lad then finds no difficulty in getting ad- 
 mitted into orders; and from the stall of a 
 cobbler, or from the tail of a plough, he is at 
 once elevated to officiate at the altar, which 
 he has been taught from infancy to reverence^ 
 and to declaim from the pulpit, whence he 
 is assured that nothing but the truth can be 
 
204 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 taught ; convinced of his church's infallibility, 
 he gives implicit faith to all which she as- 
 serts ; and he supposes himself endowed with 
 miraculous powers, in virtue of the garb he 
 wears. His untaught mind cannot penetrate 
 the artifices by which the sway of his church 
 is upheld; she denies him all access to the 
 Bible, in the only language he understands, 
 and he is therefore shut out from discovering 
 how far she is removed from the purity of her 
 original faith. 
 
 Thus, while the learned and wily among 
 the superior clergy dread all interference that 
 would bring into action the reasoning facul- 
 ties of their deluded subjects, and enable 
 them to judge for themselves, to the great 
 peril of their teachers' supremacy ; the sim- 
 ple ignorant monk, and the unlearned parish 
 priest, regard with horror that impending 
 torrent of heresy and schism, which, as they 
 are told, will rush in simultaneously with the 
 tide of political innovation, to overwhelm 
 their flocks, and endanger their souls, by 
 subverting the authority of their infallible 
 church. Nor can it be supposed that, upon 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 205 
 
 grosser principles of self-interest, they are 
 insensible to the dread of seeing all those 
 worldly advantages diminished, which they 
 so amply possess. I have known men of 
 this class, respecting whom it might almost 
 be said that, with them, bigotry was a virtue, 
 and persecution a principle ; and however we 
 may lament the existence of such error, and 
 compassionate those whom it misleads, we 
 must not confound, in a general censure, the 
 contrivers and abettors of a deceptive system 
 with those who, receiving it as the truth, 
 labour conscientiously for its diffusion and 
 support. Still, for the various reasons I have 
 mentioned, the Roman Catholic priesthood, as 
 such, are, and must be, hostile to any poli- 
 tical system which holds out the only certain 
 promise of permanent advantage to the na- 
 tion ; and we have already seen, in the over- 
 throw of the first Cortes, how extensively 
 they can influence the public mind. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 1826. 
 
 Wisdom of the Plan devised hy the Emperor Don Pedro, for the 
 Settlement of the Portuguese Crown — The whole Arrangement 
 sufficiently favor ahle to the Infante Don Miguel— Ready Sub- 
 mission of that Prince to its Previsions — Correspondence 
 between him and the Infanta Regent — He explicitly disclaims 
 all Participation in the Designs of the absolute Faction — 
 Apparent Sincerity of his Protestations —The public Tran- 
 quillity still endangered, by the turbulent Ambition of the 
 Marquis of Chaves and the absolute Faction ; by the Discon- 
 tents of the Army ; and by the secret Hostility of the Spanish 
 Government — Insidious Practices of the Faction upon the 
 popular Credulity — Disaffection of the lower Clergy to the 
 Charter— Ceremony of swearing to the New Constitution — 
 Several Regiments refuse the Oaths, declare against the Re- 
 gency, and desert into Spain — Insurrection under the Mar- 
 quisses of Chaves and Abrantes, who proclaim Don Miguel 
 King — Vigorous Precautious of the Regency —Marines landed 
 from the British Fleet to guard the Person of the Infanta 
 Regent — Operations of the Insurgents — Their Repulse and 
 Retreat into Spain— Concentration of their Force on the 
 Frontiers — Support evidently rendered to them by the Court 
 of Madrid, and falsely disavowed by Ferdinand VII. 
 
 The arrangements conducted by the emperor 
 Don Pedro, for the settlement of the Portu- 
 guese crown, appear to have been adopted 
 upon much deliberation, and with an earnest 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 207 
 
 solicitude to provide against every contin- 
 gency that could be foreseen. His own ab- 
 dication in favour of his daughter, was ac- 
 companied with the condition that the young 
 princess should not quit Brazil until the con- 
 stitution was sworn to, and the marriage con- 
 cluded with her uncle, Don Miguel. It was 
 thus, apparently, the emperor's intention that 
 the infante should go to Brazil, and that, 
 there awaiting the period at which the prin- 
 cess would be of age to marry him, he might 
 enjoy ample opportunity to study the nature, 
 and consider the advantages, of a constitu- 
 tional monarchy. 
 
 The cordial affection which has ever sub- 
 sisted between the two brothers, likewise en- 
 couraged an expectation that the prince would 
 profit materially by the example of Don 
 Pedro. For the emperor has really proved 
 himself worthy of imitation, by a happy union 
 of independent spirit with mildness and 
 lenity ; as well as by the broad and liberal 
 principles on which he has conducted his 
 policy. While her future monarch should be 
 thus acquiring a true kingly education, Por- 
 
208 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 tugal might make equal advances in national 
 improvement, under the protection of our 
 arms, and the influence of our councils, if 
 both should be employed with sufficient de- 
 cision; the ferment of party feeling in the 
 kingdom would gradually subside, and the 
 expended violence of faction would settle into 
 a composure not easily to be disturbed. 
 
 But, in supposing such to be the purpose 
 of the emperor, a difficulty occurs which is 
 not easily obviated. By the law of succes- 
 sion, recognized in the monarchy, Don 
 Miguel is excluded from the crown : while, 
 by the provisions of the charter, he is en- 
 titled to claim the regency in October, 1827, 
 the period of his completing the age of 
 twenty-five years. By the 92d article of 
 the charter, it is expressly ordained, that, 
 during the king's minority, the regency shall 
 be held by his nearest relative, according to 
 the order of succession, who shall have at- 
 tained the age of twenty-five years. That 
 Don Miguel will, in October next, be entitled, 
 on this ground, to demand the regency, cannot 
 be denied; nor is it easy to reconcile any 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 209 
 
 proceeding tending to restrain him from the 
 exercise of that office, with the general tenor 
 of Don Pedro's acts and professions. Neither 
 can the admitted expediency of such a plan be 
 fairly allowed to abrogate a recognized right, 
 which the prince holds under the charter. 
 
 Although, on the queen's coming of age, 
 the infante can be but a titular king, yet he 
 will find, in that character, abundant power 
 and occasion for the employment of all the 
 active spirit which he pre-eminently pos- 
 sesses. At the same time, by due regard 
 and kind attentions to his young wife, he 
 may reckon on ensuring her willing con- 
 currence in all his wishes, so long as they 
 do not aim at overstepping the bounds pre- 
 scribed by the charter. The constitution has 
 left a very considerable share of power and 
 influence in the sovereign's hands; and he 
 may expect that she will also become sub- 
 servient to the suggestions of his more manly 
 mind, in naturally looking to his riper age 
 and better experience for the guidance so 
 necessary to a youthful female of her exalted 
 station. Such, at least, are doubtless the an- 
 
210 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 ticipatioiis of her father; and should they 
 be realized, Portugal may hope for happier 
 days, and a more lofty place [among the na- 
 tions, than she can otherwise have any pros- 
 pect of attaining. 
 
 It has indeed seemed for a time as if a 
 part of the Portuguese people were resolved 
 to persist in a struggle for slavery and wretch- 
 edness, against the hands that would enfran- 
 chise and aggrandise their country. But 
 although Don Miguel was nominally placed 
 at the head of the turbulent faction, who used 
 his imaginary rights as the watch-word of 
 their cause, it is difficult to discover, in any 
 act or declaration of his, a sanction for such 
 proceedings, even distantly implied. Indeed, 
 the reverse is evidently the case, if we can 
 attach credit to reiterated professions. For 
 we find the infante, in a letter to his sister, 
 the princess regent, dated April 6th, 1826, 
 declaring his perfect readiness to submit in 
 all things to the will of the late king. He 
 disclaims pointedly the most remote intention 
 of authorizing or countenancing, either di- 
 rectly or indirectly, any machination against 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 211 
 
 the tranquillity of the state ; and he calls on 
 his august sister, in the event of any indi-r 
 viduals attempting to create disturbance, un- 
 der the pretended sanction of his name, to 
 make use of his letter for the purpose of 
 denying, on his part, any thing approaching 
 to participation in their councils, or approba- 
 tion of their measures. The princess, in her 
 reply, makes use of the following expressions. 
 " I have ordered your letter, of the 6th of 
 April, to be published immediately, that the 
 whole nation may know that my dear brother 
 is a good son and a good subject, and that by 
 retaining and putting in practice the senti- 
 ments which he expresses in his letter, he 
 will one day be a good father, and perhaps a 
 good sovereign. 
 
 ** My brother knows me perfectly, and 
 that I have no desire to reign; meantime I 
 cannot do otherwise than remain at the head 
 of the government, according to the last will 
 of our august father, till the legitimate suc- 
 cessor to the throne, our beloved brother the 
 emperor of Brazil, shall give his orders and 
 declare his will.'' 
 
 p 2 
 
212 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Another letter from Don Miguel, dated 
 the 14th of June following, at Vienna, and 
 written before the prince had heard of the 
 constitution granted by» his brother, yet more 
 strongly marks a feeling not merely of ac- 
 quiescence, but of cordial and grateful con- 
 currence in the suggestions of the infanta 
 regent, as the following extract may prove. 
 " The sweetest reward of the sentiments with 
 which I am animated, and which I communi- 
 cated to you in my letter of the 6th of April, 
 is, undoubtedly, the approbation which you 
 bestow on them ; and I esteem myself very 
 happy if the sincere and authentic manifes- 
 tation of those sentiments has contributed to 
 the preservation of good order and tranquil- 
 lity in Portugal ; which were the chief objects 
 I had in view in writing my letter of the 0th 
 of April. I thank you, my dear sister, for 
 your determination to have it printed without 
 delay ; for what I desire above all things is 
 to shew to the nation that the qualities on 
 which J most pride myself, are those of an 
 obedient son, a faithful subject, and a good 
 Portuguese. 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 213 
 
 " As for your private sentiments, nobody 
 can appreciate them better than myself; and 
 knowing you to be exempt from all ambition, 
 I conceive what violence you must have done 
 your own inclinations in accepting the heavy 
 burden which the last care of our august king 
 has imposed on you, till the legitimate heir 
 of the kingdom, to whom we all owe submis- 
 sion, shall have declared his will." 
 
 The letter concludes by requesting the 
 infanta to undertake the charge of Don Mi- 
 guel's private household, and to proceed to 
 the division of the private property which 
 had devolved to them by the king's death ; 
 to which effect, he says, he has sent her the 
 necessary powers of attorney. By those who 
 would sanction their seditious proceedings 
 with the infante's name, all this is, of course, 
 represented as a mere political manoeuvre, to 
 mask designs that were not yet sufficiently 
 ripe for avowal. If such be the case, the 
 letter must be acknowledged a master-piece 
 in its way ; for a more simple or natural air 
 could scarcely pervade any composition than 
 that which seems to prevail throughout the 
 
214 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 document in question, the authenticity of 
 which is indisputable. 
 
 The prince applies to himself the epithets 
 of a dutiful son, and a faithful subject, as 
 those of which he most covets to be found 
 deserving ; he speaks of ** the legitimate heir 
 of the kingdom, to whom we all owe submis- 
 sion," and he gratefully acknowledges the 
 kindness of his sister in making arrange- 
 ments in his household, requesting her con- 
 tinued superintendence, and placing in her 
 hands the necessary powers to act for him 
 in the division of their father's property. In 
 the history of nations we continually en- 
 counter instances of royal duplicity ; such 
 finesse, where a crown is the stake, seems to 
 be regarded as perfectly allowable, although 
 it should be attended with a degree of moral 
 turpitude that would stamp the character of 
 any private individual with well-merited in- 
 famy. But it is difficult to imagine a man 
 of common honesty, in any station, gratui- 
 tously sitting down to compose such a tissue 
 of hypocritical falsehood, as, in that view^ 
 the above letter must be confessed to have 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 215 
 
 been, or even affixing to it his signature if it 
 were the composition of a head more prac- 
 tised in the arts of dissimulation. 
 
 The infante's communication, containing 
 so much promise of future tranquillity to the 
 unhappy kingdom, was published in the Lis- 
 bon gazette, with a commendatory introduc- 
 tion from the infanta regent. But that she 
 had still many fears, on the ground of impro- 
 per influence which might be exercised to 
 change the apparently correct tenor of her 
 brother's sentiments and conduct^ may be 
 gathered from her reply to his letter of the 
 14th of June. After noticing the beneficial 
 effect produced by the publication of that 
 dated the 6th of April, she states it to be her 
 principal object to destroy intrigue, to unite 
 the royal family, and to turn its affections 
 more strongly every day to the nation. Then, 
 expressing her confidence that God will con- 
 found imposture, impiety, and crime, and that 
 Portugal is about to return to its ancient ages 
 of glory, the princess repeats her solicitude to 
 put in vigorous execution the wise determina- 
 tions of their brother and legitimate king, 
 
216 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Don Pedro IV. '' Determinations," she con- 
 tinues, "which have merited the applause, 
 and general approbation of the kingdom, and 
 have been displeasing to those only who cal- 
 culated upon the continuance of the inveterate 
 abuses which pressed upon unhappy Por- 
 tugal, and afflicted the paternal heart of our 
 august and lamented father, without his ever 
 being able to summon resolution for cutting 
 off and destroying them. 
 
 " Perhaps, my dear brother, some one has 
 written to you in a different sense from that 
 in which I now address you; I beseech you 
 not to lend credit in this respect to any thing 
 but what I write to you, and which you will 
 find to be the truth. And that, so far from 
 giving faith to those who live only by con- 
 fusion, who desire discord, and who breathe 
 nothing but vengeance, discord and blood, 
 my brother will agree to plant and support 
 among us the institutions which emanate 
 from the throne; institutions for which the 
 nation sighs, institutions, such as can alone 
 recover us from the abyss into which we have 
 been plunged, by the fatal surrender of our an- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 217 
 
 cient constitutional laws, and of our laudable 
 uses and customs. This the honour of my 
 beloved brother imperiously demands ; his 
 good name, his glory, as well as his interests, 
 are involved in it." 
 
 Many expressions of cordial sisterly affec- 
 tion, and a sincere desire to serve her brother, 
 conclude this letter from the infanta, who, 
 under the same date, July i2th, issued the 
 following proclamation. 
 
 *' Portuguese ! The regency of the king- 
 dom is about to relieve you from anxiety, and 
 to fix your attention upon decrees that inte- 
 rest you generally, and which his most faith- 
 ful majesty Don Pedro IV. has deigned to 
 issue from his court at Rio de Janeiro. With 
 these decrees will be also published the con- 
 stitutional charter of the Portuguese mo- 
 narchy, which the same sovereign has deigned 
 to decree, and which, according to his inten- 
 tions, must be sworn to by the three orders 
 of the state, to the intent that it may govern 
 the kingdom of Portugal and its dependencies. 
 
 "In the mean time, the regency informs 
 
2lS STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 you, that this charter differs essentially from 
 the constitution produced by infatuation, in 
 1822, and which contained principles incom- 
 patible with each other, and condemned by 
 experience. The character of the constitu- 
 tional charter, which his most faithful majesty 
 gives you, is totally different; it is not a forced 
 concession, it is a voluntary and spontaneous 
 gift of the legitimate power of his majesty, 
 matured by his profound and royal wisdom* 
 The tendency of this charter is to put to rest 
 the contest between two extreme principles 
 which have agitated the universe; it sum- 
 mons all Portuguese to reconciliation by the 
 same means which have served to reconcile 
 other people ; by it are maintained, in all 
 their vigour the religion of our fathers, the 
 principles of moral government, and the right 
 and sovereignty of the monarchy. All the 
 orders of the state are respected, and all are 
 alike interested in uniting their efforts to sur- 
 round and strengthen the throne, to contri- 
 bute to the common good, and to secure the 
 preservation and amelioration of the country 
 to which they owe their existence, and of the 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 219 
 
 society of which they form a part. The 
 ancient institutions are adapted and accom- 
 modated to our age, as far as the lapse of 
 seven centuries will permit ; and, finally, this 
 charter has prototypes among other nations, 
 who are esteemed among the most civilized 
 and the most happy. 
 
 "It is our duty to await tranquilly the 
 execution of the charter, and of the prepa- 
 ratory acts which it prescribes. If any among 
 you should, by words or actions, aggravate 
 resentments, excite hatred, or inspire ven- 
 geance, and interpose between the provisions 
 of the law and its execution, he will be con- 
 sidered as a disturber of public order, and as 
 an enemy of the sovereign and of his country, 
 and he will be punished with the utmost 
 rigour of the law. The regency flatters itself 
 that the Portuguese people, both from their 
 natural character, and for their common in- 
 terest, will adopt, on this occasion, that prin^ 
 ciple of conduct which is at once their most 
 important duty, and the course in which they 
 may become principally useful. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 "Infanta Regent." 
 
220 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Through all these official documents we 
 may trace the tone of apprehensions too soon 
 to be realised. Three considerations pre- 
 sented themselves, upon each of which, sepa- 
 rately, serious fears for the public peace 
 might reasonably be founded ; and the com- 
 bination of all these elements of danger now 
 threatened a terrible convulsion. Of these 
 three existing causes the first was the per- 
 severing temper of the Silveira party, ever 
 on the watch for occasions to promote their 
 own ambitious views, to embarrass the go- 
 vernment, and to re-establish in all its rigour 
 the despotism of the old regime. Irritated by 
 repeated checks and discomfiture, this faction 
 were aware that the more beneficial the new 
 charter was likely to prove in its operation, 
 the fainter would become their hope of ulti- 
 mately succeeding with the nation. It was 
 evident that their policy would therefore sug- 
 gest an immediate interference, before the 
 people should have leisure to consider, much 
 less to experience, the advantages of those 
 better prospects which were now beginning 
 to dawn upon them. 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 221 
 
 Secondly, the state of the army ; discon- 
 tented under every change of the late years, 
 because from none had they derived the 
 benefits anticipated in each. It has been 
 shewn how reluctantly they were led to con- 
 cur in the general voice, whose loud exulta- 
 tion had drowned their murmurs,' when the 
 decisive step of the late king had separated 
 them from the only member of the royal 
 house Avho had enjoyed opportunity of 
 winning their cordial good- will. In Don 
 Miguel they beheld a leader of the most 
 energetic character, under whose command 
 they had achieved a romantic exploit, and 
 overturned, without a blow, the whole system 
 put together with so much labour by the 
 Cortes. Under the same leader, they had 
 delivered the country from the oppression of 
 Subserra, and the king from his evil counsels. 
 The brighter and more dazzling points in the 
 prince's character had been pre-eminently 
 displayed before them ; upon its shades they 
 had not time, perhaps not ability, and cer- 
 tainly not inclination to pause. 
 
 Young, royal, enterprizing, enthusiastic, 
 
222 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 the prince had attracted their admiration, 
 and awakened their zeal : their affection 
 was gained by the confidence he so evidently 
 reposed in them ; and that they had not ex- 
 perienced greater advantages under his com- 
 mand, was attributed by no means to any 
 disinclination on his part, but to the well- 
 known fact of his being so fettered and 
 restrained as to enjoy merely the name, 
 while others exercised the reality of power. 
 By a bold effort, they had freed him from 
 these trammels ; and before a single event 
 could occur to prove the reality of his zeal in 
 their cause, he had, by a stratagem peculiarly 
 mortifying, been snatched from them altoge- 
 ther, leaving the remembrance of his exploits 
 and supposed wrongs as deeply engraved on 
 their minds, as were the sanguine hopes of 
 future glory and prosperity under his uncon- 
 trouled sway. What more could be neces- 
 sary in these unsettled times, than to suggest, 
 as was immediately done, to the troops, that 
 the infante was held an unwilling captive in 
 Vienna, and looked to their assistance as the 
 sure and only means of elevating him from 
 a prison to a throne ? 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 223 
 
 Lastly, the state of Spain afforded the 
 highest encouragement to the disaffected in 
 Portugal. Her monarch, the brother of the 
 restless queen, retained an absolute throne 
 by means of military force, strengthened by 
 foreign aid ; and this was precisely what the 
 adherents of despotism in Portugal might 
 choose for a model. Spain, garrisoned by 
 French soldiers, might readily spare to 
 them from her own army a host of allies, 
 prepared to assist in extinguishing that 
 liberty which, while it brightened Portugal, 
 rendered the darkness of the sister kingdom 
 more gloomy in the contrast. For the con- 
 stitutional government there was no security 
 that France would not sanction, passively at 
 least, in another court, the line of conduct pur- 
 sued by herself; and even supposing no overt 
 and active part were taken beyond the fron- 
 tier, still, that a safe retreat could be there 
 gained, and means too for the support of ^ 
 rebellious army, the Marquis of Chaves had 
 sufficiently proved during his stay at Sala,- 
 manca, in 1823. 
 
 From this formidable combination of un- 
 
224 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 toward circumstances, what could be expected 
 upon the promulgation of the new charter, 
 but consequences most perilous to the public 
 safety? I have already observed, that the 
 majority were favorable to a moderate con- 
 stitution, but let it be remembered in what 
 gross ignorance the peasantry, and others 
 among the lower orders, composing the bulk 
 of the Portuguese nation, had been kept, and 
 we shall then see how easily designing men 
 could give them such erroneous views of 
 the new constitution as best suited their own 
 nefarious purposes. Those who could read 
 and judge for themselves, were furnished with 
 falsified copies of the charter, in which some 
 clauses were omitted, others altered, and 
 several introduced which had been invented 
 by these unprincipled conspirators. 
 
 Copies, thus multilated, were actually 
 seized by the police in Lisbon, in the month 
 of July, and plainly shewed the designs of 
 a party indefatigable in mischief. Among 
 those who had neither ability nor opportunity 
 to ascertain the truth, it was only necessary 
 to assert whatever appeared most likely to 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 225 
 
 work on their feelings and prejudices. The 
 loyalists — and such, I have before remarked, 
 are the Portuguese generally — were assured 
 that the charter differed in nothing essential 
 from that established by the Cortes ; and 
 that, as their late king had been held in 
 forcible subjection by that audacious body, 
 so was now his daughter, the infanta regent, 
 by others holding the same principles under a 
 different name. 
 
 This argument served likewise with those 
 who gave themselves no concern about kings 
 and courts, but who well remembered the 
 miseries inflicted on them by the mismanage- 
 ment of the Cortes, and dreaded a revival of 
 that system, as the precursor of irremediable 
 ruin. The single act of causing the exclu- 
 sion of Portuguese vessels from the Brazilian 
 ports, had been sufficient to render the name 
 of that Cortes hateful to them. Commerce 
 was now about to revive ; the poor farmer 
 looked forward to a sure market for the pro- 
 duce of his land ; and to tell him that the 
 form of government under which that market 
 had been closed against him, would be re- 
 
 Q 
 
226 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 established, was to ensure his most vehement 
 opposition to every thing connected with it. 
 Nor could these uninformed rustics discrimi- 
 nate between the two cases. 
 
 Surrounded by prospects so threatening, 
 the party most interested in upholding the 
 new constitution should have enjoined and 
 practised the utmost circumspection in their 
 demeanour towards persons of different sen- 
 timents. But, on the contrary, so early as 
 the beginning of July, we find the avowed 
 partizans of the charter insulting the old 
 royalists, and deriding some who wore the 
 medal of fidelity, a decoration granted to 
 those who took part in the counter-revolution 
 of 1823. .Thus, by attacking their innocent 
 and laudable feelings of reverence for their 
 lawful king, the constitutionalists excited 
 those sentiments beyond due bounds; and 
 gave them first a pretext for holding out the 
 new charter as a sanction to republican 
 licentiousness, and then an excuse for com- 
 bining, as if defensively, against unprovoked 
 aggression. 
 
 Loyalty itself, too, was now a sure in- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 227 
 
 citement to rebellion in the bosoms of many 
 who merited the character of sensible men, 
 and good Portuguese. Canvassing the sub- 
 ject dispassionately, they dwelt on the evils 
 attending the uncertain minority of a child, 
 seven years old, a female too, and a foreigner, 
 while, as they conceived, a man born among 
 them, the son of their king, well acquainted 
 with their nation, and attached to it, was en- 
 titled to the preference by right, if not by 
 law. They argued, that the two nations 
 having been separated during the life time 
 of the late king, could not be again re-united 
 in the person of Don Pedro. The emperor, 
 indeed, had recognized the latter clause, and, 
 in consequence, abdicated the Portuguese 
 crown ; but they contended that he never 
 succeeded to it rightfully ; and what was 
 not his to enjoy, could not be his to 
 bestow. 
 
 Men of these opinions, likewise com- 
 plained that the charter which he had given 
 was completely foreign, and forced upon the 
 country without consulting its inclinations, 
 or even asking the sentiments of a single 
 
 q2 
 
228 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Portuguese : they denounced it as a most 
 tyrannical proceeding, tending to degrade the 
 nation from its dignity, instead of exalting 
 it. If they were to have a constitution, they 
 said, let that which was established at the 
 foundation of the monarchy be renewed and 
 put in force. Indeed, they remarked, that it 
 was still extant, and could easily have been 
 adapted to the present times : even up to 
 1812 there had existed in Lisbon a deputa- 
 tion of the three estates, church, lords, and 
 commons, which proved how very lately their 
 constitution had fallen into disuse. Such 
 was the tenor of their remonstrances; and 
 there was so much plausibility in some of 
 these arguments, on the ground of reason 
 and justice, that it sufficed to confirm a very 
 large number among the better class of Por- 
 tuguese in the cause of Don Miguel, whether 
 sanctioned by him or not. 
 
 The arrangement, also, by which, while 
 an ample proportion of the heads of the 
 church obtained seats in the chamber of 
 peers, all legislative power was apparently 
 withdrawn from the priesthood as a separate 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 229 
 
 body, stirred up the inferior and more vio- 
 lent orders among them, to great animosity 
 against the new charter, which was indig- 
 nantly represented to the people as an auda- 
 cious attack upon the honour of their religion, 
 a gross insult to their spiritual directors, and 
 calling for divine vengeance on the nation, if 
 permitted to continue. 
 
 The parallel is extremely close between the 
 events of 1823 and those of 1826, as regards 
 the means used, and the agents and instru- 
 ments employed, for the subversion of the 
 constitutional government, although so widely 
 and essentially differing in its present form, 
 from that which was justly detested and 
 overthrown. The queen, the clergy, the 
 army, and the peasantry, were all either 
 .working or wrought upon as before; and to 
 these may be added the female population, 
 generally, who, always led in a material 
 degree by the clergy, were not now less 
 likely to embrace the cause, when a young 
 prince, of chivalrous character and romantic 
 adventures, was nominally placed at its head. 
 Spanish influence and bribery operated in 
 
230 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 sure though unseen progress ; and agitations 
 excited at Madrid, spread from that central 
 point to the most distant provinces of Por- 
 tugal. Thus we have seen how, on the ad- 
 vance into Spain of the French armies, the 
 Marquis of Chaves had hoisted in Tras-os- 
 montes the standard of revolt, and that the 
 first impetus to a movement that shortly laid 
 Portugal again prostrate under the old 
 despotism, had been given precisely at the 
 epoch when the constitutional system was 
 overthrown in the sister kingdom. 
 
 Overawed by the presence of a French 
 army, Spain had made no effort to shake off 
 the yoke ; while Portugal, under the generous 
 influence of England, was continually aspir- 
 ing to, and obtaining, some fair hope of a 
 liberal and enlightened policy on the part of 
 her rulers. A reasonable constitution had 
 at length been brought forward in a tangible 
 shape, and promptly carried into effect : but 
 Spain desired no such neighbourhood to 
 attract the view, and to awaken the efforts of 
 her own enslaved population. Therefore was 
 all the secret machinery put in motion by 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL, 231 
 
 which she hoped to annihilate, in its birth, 
 the promise of any free and rational consti- 
 tution in the Peninsula; and therefore were 
 her frontier towns thrown open, as so many 
 depots, where the disaffected of Portugal 
 might assemble, and be furnished with arms, 
 money, and leaders. 
 
 From even a cursory view of the two 
 periods of 1823 and 1826, such would be the 
 just expectations formed in the latter year, 
 as to the probable result of publishing the 
 new constitution : and, accordingly, it was 
 found in effect that the process of swearing 
 to the charter, was opposed at the very outset 
 in various places. At Chaves several arrests 
 occurred, so early as the 22d of July, in 
 consequence of the open attempts made to 
 encourage such resistance. In the province 
 of Tras-os-montes, the troops indicated a 
 strong tendency to violent measures ; and on 
 the 26th of July the 24th regiment placed 
 some of its officers in arrest, and openly 
 declared against the regency, whose authority 
 the soldiers refused to recognize. This 
 example was followed, on the succeeding day. 
 
232 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 by two regiments stationed in the Alentejo, 
 the 17th of infantry, and the 2d of cavalry, 
 who stamped the character of determined 
 rebellion on their proceedings, by deserting 
 into Spain; as did also the 24th. These 
 movements, combined with the alarmingly 
 convulsed state of public opinion, growing 
 into an unappeasable ferment, induced the 
 regent to issue a proclamation, by means of 
 which, as it would appear, hope was enter- 
 tained that the storm might yet be averted. 
 On the 1st of August this address was pub- 
 lished. 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " Portuguese ! By the constitutional char- 
 ter to which you have just sworn, I am ap- 
 pointed to the regency of these kingdoms 
 during the minority of my august niece, our 
 lawful queen, Senhora Donna Maria de 
 Gloria. As the first among his subjects, 
 it is my first duty to put into speedy and 
 vigorous execution the wise constitutional 
 charter which has been given from his throne, 
 to his Portuguese subjects, by my august 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 233 
 
 brother, our legitimate king, Don Pedro IV., 
 whose glorious name is pronounced with 
 admiration, respect, and astonishment, in 
 America, in Europe, and in the whole world. 
 I shall execute, therefore, and cause to be 
 executed, this immortal constitutional code, 
 the only pledge of our political salvation. 
 He who opposes it, the laws will punish 
 without pity ; and I shall be as inexorable as 
 the laws. 
 
 "To revive, by all possible means, our 
 ancient prosperity and glory, to encourage 
 the arts and sciences, to promote agriculture, 
 commerce, and industry, in a word, to employ 
 all the means that are calculated to make a 
 nation happy which is worthy of being so, 
 such is my sacred duty; such is my ambi- 
 tion. O Portuguese ! I have no other : and 
 if, as you know, I have hitherto sacrificed my 
 health for the good of the country, I will 
 sacrifice myself, if such a sacrifice be neces- 
 sary, to the good of the state : and where is 
 the Portuguese, worthy of that glorious 
 name, who does not willingly join his regent 
 in such noble sentiments ? 
 
234 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 *' Portuguese ! let us imitate our ances- 
 tors, and we shall be as they were, by their 
 immortal deeds, the wonder of Europe and 
 of the world. Union, and obedience to the 
 laws, and we shall be happy : and when I 
 shall deliver up the government of these 
 kingdoms to our legitimate sovereign, Sen- 
 hora Donna Maria de Gloria, I shall be able 
 to say to her with truth, and with the purest 
 delight, * Senhora, you are about to govern a 
 noble nation; always faithful, always at- 
 tached to its legitimate sovereign. It was 
 unhappy, because the genius of evil found 
 among the Portuguese a fatal and protracted 
 asylum : but the wise political institutions 
 which your august father, our king, gra- 
 ciously granted us, casting far from us the 
 monster, laid the most solid foundation of 
 our felicity and glory. I raised the edifice of 
 our good fortune as far as I was able, assisted 
 by the whole nation ; but its completion is 
 reserved for your majesty. Read, and medi- 
 tate, as is fitting, on the truly heroic history 
 of Portugal : no reading will be more useful 
 to you. Imitate models which it presents to 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 235 
 
 you in the difficult art of reigning : imitate 
 them, Senhora, and you will be the delight of 
 the Portuguese, who, to the latest posterity, 
 will repeat with respect, love, gratitude, and 
 benedictions, the name of your august father, 
 and yours.' 
 
 ** Portuguese ! Union, and obedience to 
 the laws ! Let us imitate the heroic virtue of 
 our ancestors, and we shall be, as they were, 
 the wonder and admiration of the universe. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 "The Infanta Regent." 
 
 From this curious state paper, it would 
 appear that the infanta did not calculate on 
 relinquishing the reins of government, until 
 her niece should attain the right of assuming 
 them, notwithstanding the explicit declara- 
 tions of the charter on that point, by which 
 the infanta's regency could but continue a 
 little more than a year beyond the date of 
 this proclamation. The mixture of menace, 
 flattery, and persuasion, displayed in it, did 
 not answer the expectations of its framers. 
 A disposition to hostile movements was ex- 
 
236 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 ceedingly prevalent, and preliminary steps 
 had been taken to ensure a general revolt 
 among the troops quartered in Lisbon, which, 
 it was contemplated, should break forth on 
 the 21st of August: on that day a part of 
 the cavalry of the police corps — the same 
 who were foremost in joining the infante 
 when he quitted Lisbon, and marched for 
 Santarem, with the 23d regiment — com- 
 menced the work of confusion ; instigated, as 
 it appeared, by officers not belonging to their 
 own body. By the vigilance of the govern- 
 ment, these men were placed under arrest 
 before others of the military could re-inforce 
 their slender party ; and thus vigorously met, 
 at the outset of its career, rebellion dared not 
 raise so bold a front of defiance, as when the 
 timid regency, the blundering Cortes, or im- 
 becile king, were its opposers. 
 
 A more prudent mode of proceeding was 
 adopted, and the head- quarters of sedition 
 were placed at a distance from the capital : 
 while desertion into Spain, in small bodies, 
 gradually diminished the force of the army. 
 The Marquis of Abrantes had been ar- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 237 
 
 rested in 1824, for taking an active part in 
 the extraordinary occurrences of April and 
 May, when the infante headed the insurrec- 
 tion in Lisbon. His name also had been con- 
 tinually mentioned in connexion with the 
 secret sanguinary deed of the night that 
 proved fatal to the Marquis of Louie at Sal- 
 vaterra ; though this stain was not fixed upon 
 his character by any tangible proof; for, as 
 we have seen, the king's decree placed a seal 
 upon all the processes and examinations 
 which had reference to that period. As no- 
 thing, however, touching his participation 
 was ever published, we must in justice con- 
 clude that he was innocent of the atrocious 
 act, although one of those excepted in the 
 amnesty, and banished from the kingdom. 
 A warm partizan of the prince, he now came 
 openly forward, and on the 7th of October, 
 inducing the 14th regiment of infantry to 
 revolt at Tavira, where they were stationed, 
 he soon saw them joined by the greater num- 
 ber of the troops throughout Algarve. The 
 people of Tavira generally afforded no open 
 support to this measure, but neither did they 
 
238 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 testify any inclination to dispute it, and the 
 marquis gave importance to the place by 
 there establishing a regency in the name of 
 Don Miguel, king of Portugal. 
 
 These proceedings were not the effect of 
 sudden impulse ; a connected plan was evi- 
 dently in existence among the leaders; and 
 in pursuance of such mutual understanding 
 the Marquis of Chaves made a similar attempt 
 in Tras-os-Montes, two days previous. So 
 feebly, however, was he supported, and so 
 little did the people appear disposed to concur 
 in the insurrection, that he found it a more 
 prudent measure to make good his retreat 
 into Spain ; upon whose frontiers the in- 
 creasing numbers of deserters were regularly 
 forming, prepared for any incursive move- 
 ment in support of the regency newly pro- 
 claimed in Algarve. This revolt certainly 
 bore a very formidable aspect in the eyes of 
 the government ; for the minister of war, who 
 was known, deservedly, to enjoy more popu- 
 larity, among the remaining troops than their 
 other generals, left his official station in Lis- 
 bon, and put himself at the head of a divi- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 239 
 
 sion, with which, on the 18th of October, he 
 marched upon Algarve. 
 
 It may not be amiss here to remark on a 
 circumstance that took place about this time, 
 and which proves that, before the occurrence 
 of any actual invasion from Spain, our de- 
 cisive support was given to the government of 
 Portugal, in a manner which it is impossible 
 to reconcile with the doctrine of non-inter- 
 ference in the internal concerns of the latter 
 country. And although the force employed, 
 on the occasion to which I refer, was cer- 
 tainly very small, yet its disposal proved that 
 England was resolved to extend a protecting 
 arm over the royal personage who sat at the 
 head of the regency, should any insurrec- 
 tionary attempt in the capital menace her 
 safety. Thus were we interposing most effec- 
 tually in the national concerns of our old ally ; 
 and in a manner creditable to the generous 
 fidelity of England. I allude to the fact that 
 one hundred and fifty men of the royal ma- 
 rines were landed from our vessels, and placed 
 under the immediate direction of the infanta. 
 The British admiral, in his order, states that 
 
240 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 ** the purport of the royal marine corps is as 
 a body-guard, and, in case of necessity, to 
 render every assistance for the personal pro- 
 tection of her royal highness the princess 
 regent, and her family ;" and other arrange- 
 ments are mentioned, which satisfactorily 
 prove the intention of supporting that force, 
 if necessary, by farther decisive measures. 
 
 I advert to this circumstance, merely to 
 expose the folly and ignorance of those who 
 regard as an unjustifiable and inconsistent 
 act, our sending out efficient military aid to 
 tranquillize Portugal, and preserve her from 
 the horrors of a general civil war, while ad- 
 mitting, as they do, the propriety of our 
 maintaining a fleet in the Tagus, manned 
 with a marine force so numerous as to prove 
 that, if employed at all, their services were to 
 be rendered on shore. Portugal had learned, 
 from glad experience, that even a handful 
 of English troops were not to be despised ; 
 but the presence of this little armament un- 
 doubtedly operated as a salutary check on 
 the enemies of order, principally from their 
 being rightly regarded as an earnest of what 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 241 
 
 England would yet do, if called on to redeem 
 her ancient pledge of assistance. Without 
 foreign aid, no hope of successfully resisting 
 the constituted authorities could reasonably 
 be entertained; and the incursion of an in- 
 vading foe would be the summons for what 
 they plainly saw England would not be tardy 
 in granting. 
 
 As the division commanded by the mi- 
 nister of war advanced towards Algarve, the 
 self-created regency retired into Spain; this 
 example was followed by the troops who had 
 supported it; and beyond the frontier they 
 drew together in compact form, with the view 
 of attempting a farther descent upon their 
 ill-fated country. No one, surely, could 
 for a moment entertain the supposition that 
 such proceedings were carried on without the 
 sanction and connivance of the Spanish go- 
 vernment. Not to dwell upon that treacherous 
 and despotic character which Ferdinand has 
 so successfully established in the sight of the 
 whole world, and the circumstance of his 
 being the brother of the dowager queen of 
 Portugal, still we must acknowledge it im- 
 
242 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 possible that a large rebel force should be 
 harboured, collected, equipped, and supported 
 with such perfect impunity, in all the Spanish 
 frontier towns, had not the civil and military 
 authorities in those places been perfectly well 
 assured that a good understanding subsisted 
 between these insurgents and their own ty- 
 rannic rulers. Uninvited, the deserters of 
 Portugal never would have crossed the line 
 of demarcation ; unassisted, they never would 
 have re-passed it in hostile array against their 
 native land. It was worthy of the base and 
 cowardly Ferdinand, entrenched behind his 
 foreign guards from the indignant menaces of 
 his oppressed subjects, to give secret intima- 
 tions of his will, without openly committing 
 himself; and then, if England should justify 
 his fears and the hopes of Portugal, by vin- 
 dicating her high character, as she has done, 
 to protest that all was perpetrated by hi& 
 servants contrary to his known wishes. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 1826—1827. 
 
 Opening of the new Cortes — Speech of the Infanta Regent — 
 JRecal of Sir Charles Stuart from the Court of Lisbon — Esti- 
 mate of his laudable Exertions for the Welfare of the Portu- 
 guese Nation — Assemblage of the insurgent Troops on the 
 Frontiers — Faithless Conduct of the Spa7iish Government — 
 Combined Invasions of Portugal by the Insurgents under the 
 Marquis of Chaves and other Leaders— Review of the political 
 Conduct of Chaves and his Faction — Judicious Military Ope- 
 rations of the Constitutional Government against the Insur- 
 gents — Arrival of British Troops in the Tagus — Its pa- 
 ralyzing Effect upon the Movements of the Insurgents — They 
 seek refuge in Spain — Inaction of the British Army — Re- 
 newed Irruption of the Insurgents — Repulsed by General 
 Stubbs — Considerations on the future Employment of the Bri- 
 tish Forces in Portugal. 
 
 On the 30th of October, 1826, the first ses- 
 sion of the Cortes was opened, and the in- 
 fanta regent addressed the assembled repre- 
 sentatives of the nation in the following 
 speech. 
 
 "Worthy peers of the kingdom, and gen- 
 tlemen deputies of the Portuguese nation — In 
 beholding you assembled, on this memorable 
 
 R 2 
 
244 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 day, around the throne of my august brother 
 and king, Don Pedro IV., I rejoice with you, 
 and with the whole nation, that it has pleased 
 Divine Providence in a manner so authentic 
 and so solemn to consolidate these wise insti- 
 tutions, which at different periods have con- 
 stituted the happiness of many nations ; and 
 which will speedily lead to the prosperity of 
 our dear country. You are well aware how 
 the country, which is now denominated Por- 
 tugal, has never recognized, even in the most 
 remote age, any other government than that 
 of a representative monarchy ; but the pre- 
 lates and grandees of the kingdom formed the 
 representative body ; the people had no voice 
 and no share in its institutions, which were 
 almost feudal. It was the kings of Por- 
 tugal who, some time after the origin of the 
 monarchy, conceded to the third estate those 
 rights, and that dignity, which barbarous 
 ages had denied to the people. Portugal 
 then flourished for the first time under the 
 protection of a purely representative govern- 
 ment. There existed, however, no laws to 
 give stability to institutions adopted only by 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 245 
 
 usage, and handed down by tradition ; these 
 constitutions fell, in consequence, into desue- 
 tude, and the Cortes were forgotten by the 
 nation which they once represented. 
 
 " It has been reserved for our days to 
 revive the representative assembly by wise 
 and stable rules ; such was the design con- 
 templated by the royal mind of my august 
 father, whose memory will be ever dear to 
 Portugal ; such is the design which, to his 
 immortal honour, my august brother has con- 
 summated, by conferring upon this nation 
 the boon of the constitutional charter. We 
 are called to the highest destinies; to work 
 out the happiness of our country. Such a 
 prospect should conduct us on our way with 
 hope, and smooth the ruggedness of a journey, 
 of which honour and glory are the noble ter- 
 mination. The opinion of a vast number of 
 individuals who compose a nation can never 
 be expected to be uniform respecting the 
 principles upon which the art of governing 
 states is founded, nor upon the choice of the 
 means for securing their happiness. 
 
 " This truth presses most strongly upon 
 
246 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 our observation, at a time when progressive 
 political institutions are taking place in the 
 nation ; yet the Portuguese people, from their 
 naturally quiet and moderate disposition, and 
 from the strong affection which they bear to 
 their lawful kings, can never cherish long 
 such differences of opinion ; much less push 
 them to fatal results. There have arisen 
 among us, indeed, some perverse and trai- 
 torous individuals, who are neither true to 
 their ancient valor and loyalty, nor to them- 
 selves. Yet, with difficulty, have they suc- 
 ceeded in drawing away from the path of 
 honor and duty a few of their weak and im- 
 prudent countrymen, by the diffusion of mis- 
 representations the most gross, and the prac- 
 tice of impositions the most criminal. 
 
 *' Happily the number, whether of the 
 seducers or seduced, receive no increase ; the 
 great majority of the Portuguese nation re- 
 main firm in their fidelity to their country 
 and to their king. I can augur nothing but 
 what is favorable from the disposition shewn 
 by foreign nations towards us; and time, I 
 am assured, will confirm this augury. United 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 247 
 
 by the faith of treaties, and by the most un- 
 doubted proofs of friendship, to one of the 
 great European powers, and at peace with all 
 the rest, I calculate upon the decided support 
 of the first, and upon the kindness and fra- 
 ternal reciprocity of the others. All of them 
 A^ll speedily learn from experience that the 
 representative government of Portugal is truly 
 just and moderate ; that it seeks not to carry 
 disquiet into any other state on account of 
 diversity of institutions, but limits its inten- 
 tions to the energetic and steady defence of its 
 own. Already have facts, more forcibly than 
 words, shewn the prudence and good faith of 
 this government. These have, in great mea- 
 sure, relieved the apprehensions of a neigh- 
 bouring nation ; the government of that na- 
 tion is now convinced that difference of poli- 
 tical institutions ought not to diminish that 
 friendship and mutual confidence which the 
 solemn obligations of treaties, the ties of 
 blood, and the vicinity of territory, have so 
 long consolidated. 
 
 " But one circumstance was wanting to 
 confirm our hopes of future felicity, it is 
 
248 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 wanting no longer. A few hours ago I re- 
 ceived from Vienna intelligence that my 
 dearly beloved, and much esteemed brother, 
 had taken the oath to the constitutional 
 charter, without condition or qualification, on 
 the 4th of the present month ; and that, im- 
 mediately after that act, he had addressed his 
 holiness for the purpose of obtaining the 
 necessary dispensation for solemnizing his 
 marriage with my august niece and sovereign 
 queen, Donna Maria II. 
 
 ** Our legislative enactments will eminently 
 conduce to the maintenance of public tran- 
 quillity, and to the stability of the political 
 system confirmed by the charter; they will 
 establish on the solid basis of justice the civil 
 and criminal codes of the empire, they will 
 give regularity to our municipal bodies, and 
 to our provincial tribunals, and they will add, 
 at the same time, a new impulse to commerce 
 and agriculture, the sources of our national 
 prosperity. In mentioning commerce I can- 
 not refrain from communicating the very flat- 
 tering hopes which I entertain of seeing its 
 activity doubled, both in Portugal and Brazil. 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 249 
 
 The treaties concluded between that empire 
 and some of the powers of Europe, give addi- 
 tional strength to this hope; and we have 
 still more assured pledge of it in the well- 
 known affection of the emperor of Brazil 
 towards the country which gave him birth, 
 and over which his august ancestors reigned. 
 
 " Your attention will, doubtless, be di- 
 rected, with very particular care, to such 
 plans of education, and public instruction, 
 as must contribute efficaciously to purify the 
 morals of a people from the corruptions en- 
 gendered by a period of national distrac- 
 tions. Nor will the re-establishment of edu- 
 cation, founded upon the principles of the 
 holy religion which we profess, and which we 
 shall ever defend, less contribute to the sta- 
 bility of the monarchy, and to the production 
 of that perfect harmony in which all members 
 of this great family ought to dwell. 
 
 *' Worthy peers of the realm ! in your 
 capacity of legislators you are called upon to 
 take part in those important labours ; but 
 you are also summoned to exercise the high 
 functions of the magistracy. By the wisdom, 
 
^50 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 firmness, and patriotism which shall dis- 
 tinguish your efforts, you will serve as an 
 example to those who may succeed to your 
 hereditary dignities. 
 
 "It is with you, gentlemen deputies of the 
 Portuguese nation, that will of right originate 
 all measures which respect the recruiting of 
 the army, and the taxes — two subjects which 
 may most efficaciously concur in consoli- 
 dating our general happiness, as well as our 
 independence and safety, upon which that 
 happiness absolutely depends. The esta- 
 blishment of our public credit also demands 
 your most serious attention. The ministers 
 of state will furnish you with all the explana- 
 tions which the charter requires of them. 
 
 *' Finally, from all of you conjoined, wor- 
 thy peers of the realm, and gentlemen de- 
 puties of the Portuguese nation, I expect, 
 and the whole nation hopes, the accomplish- 
 ment of our brilliant destinies. To you the 
 throne looks for its firmest support ; and you 
 have before you, as the great recompense of 
 the interesting labours on which you are about 
 to enter, the delightful satisfaction of being 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 251 
 
 able one day to say to your countiymen, ' we 
 found Portugal weak and languishing, we 
 leave her vigorous and flourishing.' " 
 
 Not long after the opening of this session, 
 sir Charles Stuart was recalled from Lisbon, 
 and carried with him the good-will and the 
 gratitude of all whose esteem was worth 
 wishing for. Many things have been said of 
 his proceedings, as though he had greatly 
 overstepped the bounds of the authority 
 vested in him : nevertheless, I believe he 
 enjoys, what he unquestionably deserves, 
 the cordial approbation of every well-wisher 
 to national freedom. Nor can his conduct 
 towards Portugal appear really censurable, 
 except to those who have unfortunately con- 
 tracted such narrow views of general policy, 
 as to condemn every movement beyond the 
 most narrow limits of selfishness ; even when 
 undertaken for the sake of rescuing an old 
 and faithful ally from certain destruction, 
 and of conferring the inestimable blessings 
 of liberty upon a whole people. By such in- 
 dividuals, and by such only, must the truly 
 English spirit be condemned, which actuated 
 
262 STATE OF PORTUGAL, 
 
 sir Charles Stuart in becoming the benefactor 
 of Portugal ; to all others his conduct will 
 appear most praiseworthy, and deserving of 
 general admiration. 
 
 Notwithstanding the confident tone as- 
 sumed by the infanta, in speaking of the 
 recent rebellious movements, the greatest 
 perplexity imaginable pervaded the govern- 
 ment at this time. They had undoubted in- 
 formation that the troops, which had conti- 
 nued to desert from all parts of Portugal, 
 were rapidly collecting in Spain, at such 
 points as afforded the most evident facilities 
 for a simultaneous irruption into their own 
 country. Intercepted letters fully confirmed 
 the inference thus naturally drawn from their 
 movements; and even in the beginning of 
 November it was publicly spoken of at Ma- 
 drid, with remarks upon the plan there 
 known to be adopted by the insurgents, of 
 crossing the frontiers in two places, by a con- 
 nected and corresponding advance. 
 
 Through the intervention of our ambas- 
 sador, a promise was extorted from the 
 Spanish government of withdrawing the Por- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 253 
 
 tuguese deserters from the frontier stations, 
 which they had been permitted to occupy, 
 and dispersing them through the interior of 
 Spain. If we are to judge of the future 
 good faith to be expected on the part of 
 Ferdinand VII., by his sincerity in this en- 
 gagement, and by the fidelity of its perform- 
 ance, we certainly have little ground on 
 which to build any dependence, as the event 
 has abundantly shewn. For, on the 23d of 
 November, the Marquis of Chaves and Vis- 
 count Montalegre, at the head of an organized 
 force, commenced their long-meditated opera- 
 tions, by marching onward and entering the 
 province of Tras-os-montes ; while, on the 
 27th, another body, led by Magessi, and 
 acting upon the systematic plan of invasion, 
 so carefully matured under the counsels of 
 Spain, advanced into the Alentejo, and 
 planted the insurrectionary standard of civil 
 war in the bosom of their own country; 
 against whom they now put in practice all 
 the military knowledge which they had ac- 
 quired in defending her. 
 
 In this disgraceful and cruel proceeding. 
 
254 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 we find, as the principal actor, the Marquis 
 of Chaves, now become a member of the 
 upper chamber, and, as such, peculiarly 
 bound to watch over, and deliberate upon, 
 the interests of his countrymen. But, still 
 sacrificing to his own restless and ambitious 
 spirit, all that should have been most dear to 
 Jiim, he who, in 1822, had given the first 
 impulse to the movements of counter-revolu- 
 tion, who, in 1824, had taken so active a 
 part in the revolt under Don Miguel, now, in 
 1826, at the head of a rebellious army, 
 poured into his native land a torrent pre- 
 pared to desolate and destroy many of her 
 helpless inhabitants ; and to overturn what 
 he knew to be the fairest hope, the surest 
 bulwark, of her rising prosperity. We may 
 fairly allow that, in 1822, he had acted 
 upon a principle of conscientious duty ; 
 although his failures should have taught him, 
 that his talents did not qualify him for dis- 
 tinguished military command : in 1824, it is 
 evident that his motive was that of revenge, 
 and a wish to exalt himself upon the ruined 
 fortunes of his contemporaries : in 1826, he 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 255 
 
 was, doubtless, impelled by the same venge- 
 ful and ambitious projects, on an enlarged 
 scale, grasping at conquest and power, 
 although, instead of a few individuals, a 
 whole nation, and that his own, should bleed 
 for his and his family's aggrandizement. 
 
 For, we must not confound the Marquis 
 of Chaves, and other leaders of the same 
 party, with the poor deluded peasantry whom 
 they seduced into an acquiescence with their 
 measures. Those wily men perfectly under- 
 stood how total was the dissimilarity between 
 the constitution of 1822 and the charter of 
 1826. They knew the latter to be as well 
 calculated to promote the real interests of 
 Portugal, as the former had been to involve 
 her in anarchy and ruin. How unfounded, 
 then, is the remark which we sometimes hear, 
 that these men are true to their old principles, 
 and stedfast in the cause of legitimate 
 sovereignty. The object of their first op- 
 position, had been a government erected by 
 demagogues on the ruins of the monarchy, 
 whose title they yet preserved only as a 
 means of harassing, oppressing, and exulting 
 
256 STATE 6f PORTUGAL. 
 
 over the weak prince who represented it : the 
 cause against which they now so fiercely 
 arrayed themselves, was that of a rational, 
 constitutional, and temperate establishment, 
 voluntarily bestowed on the people by their 
 king, and guaranteeing to the throne all its 
 best and most honourable prerogatives, while 
 it redeemed the nation from the reproach of 
 slavery, and the long oppresssion of mis- 
 government. 
 
 By some it has been affirmed that it was 
 not to be foreseen how events would develope 
 themselves ; and that no one could certainly 
 suppose that the Portuguese would again re- 
 enter their country from Spain, and proclaim 
 the infante as king. The minds to which 
 this approaching climax was not visible, must 
 have been very little habituated to political 
 calculation, or even to the simple process of 
 comparing, and drawing inferences from, the 
 events before their eyes. For what other pur- 
 pose could reports, so false and calumnious, 
 respecting the new charter, have been circu- 
 lated so industriously among the people — 
 reports of its being no other than the old con- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 257 
 
 stitution revived ? Why was the infante's 
 name continually introduced, with lamenta- 
 tions on the assumption that he was coer- 
 cively detained at Vienna, as the only means 
 of preventing his personally asserting a pre- 
 tended right to the throne of his elder 
 brother ? To what intent were the deserters 
 instructed to make Spain their general ren- 
 dezvous? Surely that country could not hold 
 out to them the prospect of comforts so 
 superior to those which their own afforded, 
 as to compensate for the loss of their pay, 
 and all visible means of subsistence: nor 
 could they expect these to be bestowed on 
 them in Spain, in remuneration for the bene- 
 fit of their helpless and inactive presence in 
 a country wretchedly impoverished, and 
 already groaning under the additional burden 
 of a foreign army, who acted as gaolers to her 
 vanquished liberties. Neither can it be sup- 
 posed, that by the flight of the troops from 
 their quarters, the queen's party expected to 
 promote a rising of the general population in 
 their favor. No : they were too well ac- 
 quainted with the temper and habits of the 
 
258 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Portuguese peasantry to calculate upon this. 
 In no instance, among the late rapidly suc- 
 ceeding changes, had a revolution been 
 effected, or even attempted, by a popular 
 movement, independent of the army. The 
 suppression of those tumultuous proceed- 
 ings, in which the military had taken the 
 lead, under Don Miguel, in the summer of 
 1824, had been achieved by suddenly remov- 
 ing from their head, the chief under whom 
 alone they were prepared to act, thus leaving 
 them no alternative but to acquiesce in the 
 general voice, or to persist in an aimless con- 
 test. What, then, but a matured plan to carry 
 into effect the original object of the queen's 
 party, thus defeated on a former occasion, 
 could have induced this desertion of the 
 troops into Spain, there to assemble and to 
 be organized; and thence, under the sanction 
 of her government, to march back, a for- 
 midable host of determined assailants ? 
 
 By taking up their position on the fron- 
 tiers, the refugees might also hope to ascer- 
 tain what line of conduct England would 
 decide on adopting towards the Portuguese 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 259 
 
 government : for, should she confine her aid 
 to the maintenance of a naval armament in 
 the Tagus, they well knew such assistance 
 would oppose no bar whatever to their 
 designs. Establishing their regency beyond 
 the range of our cannon, they might proceed 
 at their leisure ; and could calculate on gain- 
 ing over a vast number of their wavering 
 countrymen, by plausibly asserting that the 
 government at Lisbon was compelled to 
 retain the semblance of authority under our 
 dictation ; being, with Lisbon itself, at the 
 mercy of our fleet. 
 
 Pausing here for a while, and seeing no 
 indications of active proceedings on the part 
 of England, they drew the inference most 
 consonant to their wishes, and advanced. Had 
 their commander been possessed of greater 
 energy and professional skill, this irrup- 
 tion had not failed to place our country in a 
 situation far from pleasant, while the subju- 
 gation of our ally to a despotic military 
 power must have been rapidly accomplished. 
 But, thanks to the incapacity of the rebel 
 leaders, and to the decisive promptitude of 
 
 s2 
 
260 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 the English government, this difficulty has 
 been spared us, and the ruin of Portugal 
 for the present averted. 
 
 On the 6th of December, it was found 
 necessary, by an act of the Cortes, to sus- 
 pend, for three months, the privilege indivi- 
 dually enjoyed by the citizen, under the 
 charter, of exemption from arbitrary arrest : 
 and power was vested in the government to 
 make use of this suspension, as might be 
 found expedient, according to provisions 
 made in the constitutional charter, (Article 
 145, paragraph 34.) The executive was also 
 empowered to suspend, and even to dismiss 
 from their situation, such magistrates and 
 judges as might incur suspicion of mal-prac- 
 tices, without observing the formalities pre- 
 scribed by the 121st and 122d Articles of the 
 charter. 
 
 This measure furnishes a strong, though 
 indirect, proof of the foreign interference 
 already adverted to. The magistracy were 
 suspected ; and as it cannot be supposed that 
 they would, without present remuneration, 
 have risked the loss of their situations, we 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 261 
 
 cannot but conclude that Spanish gold had 
 been employed in corrupting them. Circum- 
 stanced as Don Miguel avowedly was — held, 
 as his friends asserted, in durance, which pre- 
 vented, and still must continue to prevent, his 
 personal appearance among his partizans — 
 the enterprize of proclaiming him king was 
 one of very doubtful success ; nor could mem- 
 bers of the magistracy have been moved to 
 commit their fortunes to so hazardous an 
 attempt, unless by the allurement of such 
 immediate profit as overcame at least the 
 prudent scruples, if not the conscientious mis- 
 givings of these official men. Ill paid, liable 
 to removal on slight grounds, and always 
 looked upon as open to corruption, the temp- 
 tation held out by such bribery was great ; 
 and the influence which they were known to 
 exercise over the people belonging to their 
 jurisdictions, rendered their assistance worth 
 a persevering effort to gain. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the fore- 
 going character is applicable to the whole 
 body of the Portuguese magistracy. Corrupt 
 as the majority too surely are, I have yet 
 
262 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 known among them men whose honourable 
 principles, strengthened by a superior eduea- 
 tion, rendered them proof against every 
 species of subornation : but such exceptions, 
 I fear, are by no means common. 
 
 Of the troops who still preserved their 
 fidelity, a body was marched to oppose the 
 insurgents, now stationed in the Alentejo : 
 but the rebels retired upon their approach, 
 and were eventually compelled to evacuate 
 the province without coming to any engage- 
 ment. Indeed they did not appear desirous 
 of hazarding the diminution of their numbers, 
 by fighting in that quarter : but rather of 
 effecting a diversion in favor of their com- 
 rades in the north. For, Alentejo lying more 
 contiguous to the capital, any demonstration 
 of a menacing nature on that province, would 
 oblige the government there to concentrate 
 its disposable force, and thus to leave the 
 Marquis of Chaves time to establish himself 
 at his old haunt in the north ; where he might 
 expect to receive more general and effectual 
 support than in any other part of the country. 
 Reinforced, he might pursue such course a^ 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 263 
 
 appeared to promise the most siiccessful 
 results ; whether by crossing the Douro, and 
 entering the Beira, or by marching jipon 
 Oporto, and there fixing his head-quarters* 
 But it seems that the marquis and his con- 
 federates had miscalculated the extent ^f 
 their expected augmentation ; while the pre- 
 parations made to defend the line of the 
 Tamega and Oporto so intimidated the as- 
 sailants, that, after a very leisurely movement 
 in that direction, the marquis finally resolved 
 to cross the Douro ; a decision to which he 
 might further be induced by the opportunity 
 thus gained of effecting a junction with the 
 force lately repulsed from the Alentejoj and 
 which was now slowly moving along the 
 Spanish frontier, in order to unite with him. 
 
 As it is not my purpose to write a history 
 of this Lilliputian campaign, I shall merely 
 say, that the small corps sent against the in- 
 surgents, was disposed with such skill as to 
 confound all their calculations, and to drive 
 them back from every position which they 
 had taken up. In vain had they advanced 
 considerably into the Beira ; in vain pos- 
 
264 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 sessed themselves of Almeida, its principal 
 fortified town. Threatened on all sides, and 
 left to shift for themselves by the inhabitants, 
 who were taught, by their cruel and impolitic 
 violence, to consider them as invading foes, 
 they were compelled to abandon their enter- 
 prize, and to retire upon the territory of their 
 worthy ally, depending on such resources as 
 they were doubtless assured she would fur- 
 nish to them. Would they ever have ven- 
 tured forth from behind her frontiers, if not 
 perfectly secure of again finding there a safe 
 retreat, in the event of such discomfiture as 
 they had now experienced ? 
 
 The operations of the insurgents, on this 
 occasion, were conducted in a manner very 
 similar to the campaign of their party in 
 1823 ; that is to say, in a style more resem- 
 bling a burlesque upon military movements, 
 than the efforts of men who had a great and 
 permanent interest at stake : much less of 
 those to whom success would be aggrandize- 
 ment, and defeat utter ruin. At the former 
 period, they had been opposed by others who 
 appeared ambitious of contesting with them 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 265 
 
 the palm of ignorance, folly, and imbecility ; 
 and whose proceedings were as ridiculously 
 unconnected and unmeaning as their own. 
 But now they had to contend with an army 
 moving under different principles, and it 
 would be most unjust to pass over, without a 
 remark, the display of good generalship and 
 sound judgment by which the marches of the 
 government army were so ordered, as to me- 
 nace and dishearten their opponents, and 
 oblige them to retire without coming to an en- 
 gagement. Such an event would have been 
 extremely hazardous, as involving a trial of 
 fidelity on the part of the defending army, 
 under which it might very probably have 
 failed. A natural dislike to bayonetting 
 their countrymen and old comrades, would 
 have given additional force to the influence 
 of example, and to the awakened recollection 
 of days when all were disposed to unite 
 under that prince, in whose name the revolt 
 was insidiously planned, and ostensibly con- 
 ducted. 
 
 It was, therefore, most desirable to avoid 
 a personal encounter with the rebels; and 
 
266 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 the skill with which they were so effec- 
 tually manceuvred out of the country, with- 
 out putting the constancy of their oppo- 
 nents to too severe a test, demands the 
 highest applause. While fairly claiming the 
 merit of rescuing Portugal, by the energetic 
 movement of our government, we must not 
 withhold from her the commendation of hav- 
 ing successfully maintained a struggle on 
 her own behalf, until the effectual succours 
 of her old ally could place her in an attitude 
 of confident defiance. 
 
 But it is well known that to no particular 
 officer, in command of any military body, 
 belongs the praise of having formed these 
 judicious arrangements ; and that all acted in 
 pursuance of instructions received from the 
 seat of a government, among the members of 
 which it would be very difficult to select an 
 individual capable of directing the combined 
 movements of an army. To account for it, 
 therefore, we must adopt a supposition very 
 generally advanced, that these successive ope- 
 rations were planned, matured, and executed 
 under the presiding genius of the commander; 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 267 
 
 to whose experienced hand the troops of Por- 
 tugal originally owed whatever was imposing 
 in their character, or formidable in their esta- 
 blishment. When the marquis of Abfantes 
 entered Algarve, in October^ and proclaimed 
 Don Miguel as king, Lord Beresford was im- 
 mediately dispatched by our government to 
 Lisbon, where he arrived on the 1st of No- 
 vember, and continued to reside, certainly not 
 as an unconcerned spectator of the fate of 
 that nation, whose principal military com- 
 mand he had so long and so efficiently borne. 
 It is extremely fortunate that the insur- 
 gents were so speedily obliged to evacuate 
 Almeida. The state of that fortress, dilapi- 
 dated as it is, was fully adequate to its de- 
 fence against such troops as were advancing 
 upon it ; and the count of Villa Flor was 
 threatened with the unpleasant necessity of 
 ascertaining whether his men could be brought 
 to act offensively against their invading coun- 
 trymen. This is the fortress which, in 1810, 
 was delivered up to the French, through the 
 treachery of some Portuguese officers, which 
 caused the necessity of our sudden retreat 
 upon the lines of Torres- Vedras. 
 
268 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 If we may judge from the ridiculous ex- 
 aggeration with which the Portuguese com- 
 mander clothed his reports of some very 
 trifling affairs, it must be presumed that he 
 did not expect the opportunity of communi- 
 cating any considerable successes, probably 
 finding his troops by no means inclined to the 
 attempt. Had the rebels, therefore, made 
 good their possession of Almeida, for any 
 length of time, an opportunity must have 
 been given for tampering with the govern- 
 ment forces, and undermining their fidelity 
 to their present rulers; which, as we may 
 infer from their conduct during the last six 
 years, did not hold out any flattering promise 
 to the supporters of Don Pedro's charter. 
 
 This danger was happily averted by the 
 arrival of our troops in Lisbon, which so 
 affected the morale of the contending armies, 
 as to induce a large portion of one to desert 
 the standard of those who had seduced them 
 from their allegiance, and to confirm the other 
 in its wavering principles of obedience. To 
 counteract the good effect naturally looked for 
 from the appearance of our army once more 
 in the Peninsula, it was industriously reported 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 269 
 
 that the English troops would not act against 
 the Portuguese who had invaded their own 
 country; for, it was argued, England was 
 withheld from yielding such assistance by 
 her pledge of not interfering between the 
 political parties who might contend with each 
 other in Portugal. 
 
 This false assumption, however it might 
 affect the calculations of distant observers, 
 had then no weight with either of the con- 
 flicting bodies. They justly considered that, 
 by dispatching this military force, England 
 had explained her view of the recent inva- 
 sions, as a foreign attack ; and that she had 
 therefore come forward to support and pro- 
 tect the country, in conformity with the 
 articles of those treaties which formed the 
 basis of her alliance with it. They did not 
 so misjudge the consistent and intrepid cha- 
 racter of England as to suppose she would 
 rest satisfied with parading her soldiers in 
 Lisbon ; but they gave her credit for a 
 resolute purpose of employing them, most 
 actively, against all invaders, to whatever 
 nation they might belong. 
 
270 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 The most urgent solicitations could not 
 draw from England the aid of a single regi- 
 ment until a hostile force had actually crossed 
 the frontiers ; but no sooner was it known 
 that Spain had permitted the entrance from 
 her territory of an army, which, without her 
 consent and connivance, could never have as- 
 sumed its threatening aspect, than a power- 
 ful armament was dispatched to the Tagus, 
 once more to reiterate the proofs often given, 
 that, not only to the letter, but in the most 
 liberal spirit of all her engagements, England 
 was ready to prevent the wishes, and to sur- 
 pass the hopes, of all who could claim her 
 succour. 
 
 The invaders did not wait for a practical 
 illustration of her designs in favor of Por- 
 tugal ; they hastened again to take shelter 
 in Spain : but we must conclude that, finding 
 our army still stationary in Lisbon, the re- 
 peated assurances of those whose interest it 
 was to deceive them, at length gained some 
 credit. Believing that the British would not 
 act against them, they ventured on a second 
 irruption into Tras-os-morites, hoping by an 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 271 
 
 attack on Oporto to establish themselves 
 there, and thus to secure possession of the 
 northern provinces. In this they completely 
 failed, and we cannot but feel particular sa- 
 tisfaction in finding that failure principally 
 attributable to the gallant and persevering 
 efforts of one individual, an English officer, 
 who resigned his British commission in order 
 to devote himself entirely to the service of 
 Portugal, where he has singly sustained the 
 reputation of his countrymen, in a manner 
 most honourable to them and to himself. 
 
 General Stubbs, by his presence of mind, 
 and promptitude of action, has proved him- 
 self fully equal to the most perplexing emer- 
 gency. A more brilliant display of boldness, 
 energy, and decision, was never, perhaps, 
 witnessed, than that by which the personal 
 exertions of this distinguished officer have 
 recently saved the north of Portugal. In 
 him the people of Oporto have still before 
 their eyes a specimen of that character which 
 their country in general has so often enjoyed 
 the opportunity of appreciating ; although 
 the intriguing spirit of their wretched policy 
 
272 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 has again overcome their sense of its value. 
 By this same narrow and envious feeling, 
 have they been prevented from again seeing 
 Lord Beresford at the head of their military 
 force. And thus have they neglected the ad- 
 vantages once more placed within their reach 
 by the condescension of a man whose gene- 
 rous feelings of sympathy would have oblite- 
 rated from his mind the recollection of past 
 insults and ingratitude, who would have re- 
 organized, united, and disciplined that force, 
 which his former efforts had alone rendered 
 worthy to bear the name of an army. 
 
 The movements of our troops upon Co- 
 imbra did away with the deception under 
 which their temporary pause in Lisbon con- 
 tributed to leave the insurgents ; and we may 
 reasonably conclude, that the last effort of 
 the rebels will prove to have been the ex- 
 piring struggle of a discomfited faction. Now 
 that their final expulsion is effected, and our 
 army has taken up its assigned positions, no 
 farther aggression from the Spanish territory 
 can be apprehended. But let us be most 
 particular in confining our military assistance 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 273 
 
 within the limits of this task, carefully avoid- 
 ing the slightest appearance of interposition, 
 on the part of our troops, in the internal go- 
 vernment of the country. 
 
 Any encroachment, any assistance, where 
 her police is concerned, will be pregnant with 
 the most disastrous consequences. With the 
 administration of justice, with what relates to 
 the reciprocal duties of rulers and their sub- 
 jects, with all that binds these to their laws 
 and to each other, British soldiers must be 
 totally unconnected ; ever bearing in mind, 
 that, as a foreign invasion alone could justify 
 their appearance in that country, so, nothing 
 but the repeated attempt at hostile aggression 
 from another kingdom, can authorize their 
 slightest deviation from the quiescence of a 
 defensive attitude. 
 
 Should any new internal revolt arise, I 
 will venture to predict that it cannot wear an 
 aspect so serious as to disturb the general 
 tranquillity of the country, or baffle the mea- 
 sures which her government must be left to 
 take for its suppression. To this conclusion 
 I am led by the palpable fact, that all the 
 
274 STATE OF PORTUGAL, 
 
 revolutionary movements in Portugal have 
 hitherto been ventured upon under the ex- 
 pectation of assistance from Spain, should 
 such be required. The rebellion of 1820 
 sprung from the progress of the Spanish con- 
 stitution ; the counter-revolution of 1823 was 
 commenced by the marquis of Chaves, upon 
 the advance of the French army, and com- 
 pleted upon the triumph of arbitrary prin- 
 ciples in the sister kingdom. The revolt of 
 1826, originating in the ambitious projects of 
 a turbulent party, would never have become 
 formidable if unassisted by Spanish bribery, 
 and promises of all necessary aid, both in 
 arms and in troops. But while a British 
 army interposes between the territory of Por- 
 tugal, and that of her mischievous neigh- 
 bour, a prospect so evidently chimerical will 
 fail to delude any considerable part of the 
 nation. 
 
 To decline all interference with the Portu- 
 guese inhabitants, as far as our auxiliary 
 forces are concerned, may appear an easy 
 task ; but in our political relations one of con- 
 siderable difficulty and momentous impor- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 276 
 
 tance presents itself. The duty of our mili- 
 tary commanders is to see that no invaders 
 retain possession of the field ; but it remains 
 for England to make good her promises of 
 friendship to the country, by strenuously ex- 
 erting the influence with which her guardian 
 character invests her, to ensure to its people 
 the full enjoyment of every advantage con- 
 nected with the cause which she advocates. 
 I am aware how great a clamour has been 
 raised, in different quarters, on the subject 
 of *^ thrusting a constitution on the Portu- 
 guese nation at the point of the bayonet," 
 and if such nonsense deserved a serious refu- 
 tation, it would be easily given. 
 
 But unless it be asserted, that with the 
 bayonet's point sir Charles Stuart accom- 
 plished his benevolent purpose in Brazil, 
 and that he by force of arms introduced the 
 charter, so eagerly desired by every true 
 patriot throughout Portugal, it is impossible 
 to attach any meaning to this fashionable 
 expression. By the instrumentality of an 
 Englishman, this benefit was conferred on 
 our ally ; and England may congratulate 
 
 T 2 
 
276 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 herself that such was the case ; but by the 
 free, uncontrolled, undirected act of the Por- 
 tuguese executive, was the charter promul- 
 gated, established, and put into active ope- 
 ration. Scarcely has this event taken place, 
 when a hostile force enters Portugal, for the 
 avowed purpose of overturning such beneficial 
 act of legislation, and England, true to her 
 treaties, dispatches an army to drive them 
 thence. But if, from long observation and 
 experience, England knows the character of 
 the Portuguese government to be unsteady, 
 vaccillating, intriguing, and inconsistent with 
 its best principles, is it less her duty to see 
 that the nation suffer not from its rulers 
 that wrong which she will not permit it to 
 sustain from those who, under foreign in- 
 fluence, have rebelled against constitutional 
 authority ? 
 
 Let us keep, then, most carefully distinct, 
 the dissimilar process of military and political 
 interference. Our troops were sent for a spe- 
 cific object, beyond which they must not ad- 
 vance one step; but while the Portuguese 
 government feels that its very existence hangs 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 277 
 
 upon their presence, shall we not make use 
 of the weight attached by such circumstance 
 to our counsels, for the mutual advantage of 
 both rulers and subjects ? 
 
 That the undertaking is extremely diffi- 
 cult, requiring all the firmness and all the 
 delicacy that can be combined, calling too 
 for an extraordinary exercise of judgment, 
 temper, and an intimate knowledge of the 
 country with which we have to deal, no one 
 can dispute. But the incalculable advantage 
 accruing to a nation whose battles we have 
 fought, and whose welfare we have long 
 watched over, ought to surmount the unge- 
 nerous suggestions of selfish timidity ; and 
 although all the well-known intrigue of a 
 Jjisbon government be opposed to us, the 
 motives inciting to perseverance are suffi- 
 ciently powerful to promise well for the ac- 
 complishment of the important task. 
 
 An erroneous supposition is entertained 
 by some, that in Portugal a considerable fac- 
 tion bend their united efforts against our in- 
 fluence. But no English, or anti-English, 
 feeling has ever existed there to such extent 
 
278 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 as to deserve the title of party prejudice. 
 Our conduct and our people have been judged 
 by individuals, as occasion offered, and ap- 
 plauded or reviled according to our sympathy 
 or indifference towards their supposed na- 
 tional welfare. These, however, were merely 
 the partialities and resentments of the mo- 
 ment, and I believe that a recurrence of the 
 same circumstances will always excite no 
 more than the same temporary variations of 
 feeling, in the mass of the Portuguese nation, 
 towards us. 
 
 Be the government as despotic as it may, 
 there will be no ground for serious apprehen- 
 sion on their part, so long as we maintain an 
 army of 10,000 men on their territory, and 
 a naval squadron in the Tagus; but rather 
 let us withdraw both, and leave the country 
 to destroy itself in the violence of civil com- 
 motions, than affix to the English name the 
 stigma of supporting an unjust administra- 
 tion, and overawing an oppressed people. It 
 is to avert so painful an alternative, that 
 England should now keep a jealous eye upon 
 the rulers of Portugal ; and should the old 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 279 
 
 disposition to bad faith, and indifference to 
 the public welfare, re-appear, let the same 
 threat be resorted to that is said to have 
 wrought on John VI., when by no other 
 means could he be persuaded to dismiss his 
 ministry ; the menace of withdrawing the 
 British squadron, and leaving him, with his 
 favorite Subserra, to concert measures for the 
 suppression of that rebellious spirit of which 
 he had so often experienced the effects. It 
 must be our part to apprize the executive and 
 legislative powers that, unless they be faithful 
 to their pledge of labouring for the happiness 
 and prosperity of their country, they will be 
 left to encounter alone the natural conse- 
 quences of their misconduct. 
 
 The recent promulgation of the constitu- 
 tional charter, now renders this vigilance, on 
 our part, more needful ; because, by the neg- 
 lect of those whose office it is to bring its 
 enactments into due operation, injury rather 
 than benefit to the country may be the result. 
 The analogy which it bears to our own admi- 
 rable and happy constitution, will not imme- 
 diately produce corresponding advantages. 
 
280 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 The required concurrence of the three estates 
 is, with us, a formidable bar to innovations, 
 the tendency of which would generally be 
 injurious, our well-established laws, and poli- 
 tical regulations, scarcely admitting of much 
 alteration for the better. Portugal, on the 
 contrary, groans under a code that requires 
 not merely revision, but a total change in 
 almost every particular ; and it may be found 
 as difficult there to unite the three estates 
 for the amelioration of evil, as with us for 
 the overthrow of what is salutary and esti- 
 mable. 
 
 Many changes, sudden and entire, must 
 be wrought in Portugal, unpalatable to roy- 
 alty, to aristocracy, or to the representa- 
 tives of the people ; and from obstructions 
 easily raised in one of these quarters, such 
 delays, jealousies, and misunderstandings, 
 may be produced as shall serve to counteract 
 the best digested plans for the public advan- 
 tage. Here, our prompt and decisive inter- 
 ference is requisite to enforce, to the extent 
 of our influence, the adoption of measures . 
 that will leave the nation no cause to re- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. '281 
 
 gret the failure of Spanish policy, in at- 
 tempting again to force upon them a form 
 of government so despotic as to exclude 
 all disputations on the subject of their in- 
 terests. 
 
 Before the eyes of Europe and the world, 
 we have now established a proof of fidelity to 
 our avowed principles, and of disinterested 
 good-will towards our ally, to whom our aid 
 was promised in the event of foreign aggres- 
 sion. This aid was unhesitatingly extended, 
 when, had England been disposed to interpret 
 the spirit of her engagements according to 
 the dictates of selfish policy, the claim might 
 have been easily evaded. By taking up arms 
 in defence of Portugal, she hazarded very 
 serious consequences to herself; no less than 
 igniting all Europe with the torch of war, 
 while she, as the principal, must necessarily 
 have been the most considerable sufferer. 
 To avert from Portugal the impending storm, 
 she fearlessly exposed herself to this peril, 
 when, would she have stooped to subterfuge, 
 it could have been plausibly argued, that the 
 casus foederis had no more arrived, upon the 
 
282 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 return of insurrectionary deserters from Spain, 
 than she held it to have done when they had 
 before taken refuge in that country, and pro- 
 ceeded to arm and to organize a host, for the 
 evident purpose of such descent upon their 
 native soil. 
 
 The magnanimity of these proceedings on 
 the part of our government is undeniable, 
 when we consider how far from profitable to 
 us must be the alliance of Portugal in her 
 present state. Imposing no conditions, dis- 
 playing no reluctance, England succoured her 
 in the hour of her most hopeless distress ; 
 and if it be proved, that by now insisting on 
 such measures as shall establish and guaran- 
 tee the welfare of her people, we are likewise 
 laying a sure basis for our own permanent 
 advantage in our future connexion with her, 
 surely none will accuse us of acting upon 
 unfair or narrow principles. Genuine libe- 
 rality rarely fails of reaping its proper reward, 
 while promoting the well-being of others ; 
 and that such must be our case, with regard 
 to this unfortunate country, now looking to 
 us as the only bulwark of her liberties, is as 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 283 
 
 evident, as that a more contracted view of our 
 duties in respect to her would ultimately lead 
 to an issue no less certainly disastrous to 
 England, than it would be to Portugal irre- 
 trievably ruinous : for the bond of union be- 
 tween the two countries is now too closely 
 drawn to admit a separation of interests. 
 To extend or to withhold the repeated, and 
 strongly urged, application for military aid, 
 was optional with our government; but the 
 measure, once adopted, cannot be recalled; 
 nor can a more responsible situation be easily 
 conceived than that in which England, much 
 to her honour, has voluntarily placed herself 
 in her political relations with Portugal. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONSIDERATIONS ON THE FUTURE PROSPECTS OF PORTUGAL; 
 AND ON THE LINE OF POLICY WHICH IT BEHOVES ENGLAND 
 TO ADOPT IN HER RELATIONS WITH THAT COUNTRY. 
 
 After the attempt made, in the preceding 
 parts of this volume, to exhibit an historical 
 view of the revolutions which have agitated 
 Portugal since the close of the Peninsular 
 war, it may not prove useless to offer a few 
 remarks on the future prospects of that king- 
 dom. The generous interposition of England, 
 to arrest the calamities which were over- 
 whelming the Portuguese people, has inti- 
 mately connected us with their affairs ; and 
 our national interests and honour are all 
 pledged to promote their future happiness, 
 and to support among them that constitu- 
 tional system which we have had so large a 
 share in introducing. How these objects 
 
STATE OF PORTLGAL. 285 
 
 may best be effected, it remains to enquire ; 
 and having had a long experience of the 
 character of the Portuguese, and the political 
 state of their country, I may, perhaps, here 
 be permitted to offer a few suggestions on the 
 general subject. I shall endeavour briefly to 
 state my convictions on the line of policy 
 that it behoves England to adopt towards 
 Portugal, in regard both to our commercial 
 relations with her, and to the internal govern- 
 ment of her people. 
 
 If we would secure the affection of the 
 Portuguese, our first step should be a gene- 
 rous abandonment of those little profits 
 which, by existing treaties, we may have 
 been enabled to gather from our trading in- 
 tercourse with them. Our object being both 
 to confer and to reap advantages of far greater 
 importance, this trifling gain must be relin- 
 quished in furtherance of the design, and for 
 the purpose of more effectually proving that 
 the enlarged view which we desire to take, 
 overlooks those minutiae at which a narrow 
 policy would eagerly grasp. Why should 
 we, for the paltry consideration of a trifling 
 
286 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 monopoly of trade, cramp the energies and 
 deaden the enterprize of a people who, in 
 their most prosperous estate, can never hope 
 to compete with us, in any branch of the 
 produce which they import from our shores ? 
 
 There was, indeed, a time when that mar- 
 ket yielded a return of wealth too important, 
 and gave to our commerce an impulse too 
 animating, for such relinquishment upon any 
 other grounds than those of absolute neces- 
 sity. But that time has passed away ; and 
 our present exportations to her shores are not 
 worth a selfish calculation ; even if self-in- 
 terest did not point out the obvious expe- 
 diency of now exchanging our commercial 
 relations with her for others of a political 
 nature. For, let an eye be cast over the 
 scale of our general mercantile intercourse 
 with the different nations of the earth, and it 
 will be found that, during a long series of 
 years, a gradual decrease has been observ- 
 able under the head of Portugal : while, in 
 an inverse ratio, the profits derived from 
 trading with Brazil have proportionably aug- 
 mented. In short, in summing up the com- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 287 
 
 parative receipts from those two countries 
 during the year 1826, it appears that the 
 total vahie of our exports to the Peninsula 
 have suffered a diminution, since the pre- 
 ceding year, of about half a million sterling ; 
 while those to Brazil have, in the same 
 period, increased to the same amount ; the 
 advantage in one quarter balancing the loss 
 in another. 
 
 This fact deserves serious attention, as 
 proving the rapid decrease of national pros- 
 perity in Portugal, and the result is calcu- 
 lated to reconcile even the sordid mind to a 
 voluntary resignation, for the present, of 
 a few delusive advantages, which, if we give 
 not our earnest attention to the support of 
 that country, will shortly become valueless to 
 us. England reckons, in the revenue of her 
 post-office alone, an annual sum equalling 
 the entire revenue of the Portuguese nation : 
 and we may be assured, that however pros- 
 perous the latter may, through our means, 
 become, the ready market which our hard- 
 wares find in the Peninsula will always re- 
 main open, even if the import duties were 
 
288 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 double their present amount. Nor will any 
 competition be for many years attempted, 
 in producing supplies for her own consump- 
 tion, except in the articles, and under the 
 heads, of woollen cloths, cottons, glass, 
 leather, and coarse linens. Indeed, coarse- 
 ness must be the distinguishing mark of all 
 her manufactures and artificial productions, 
 the state of her machinery being almost as 
 rude now, as in the days of its invention. 
 Her workmen, too, are deficient in expert- 
 ness ; and yet more so in that energy which 
 security and confidence alone can bestow. 
 Nor can these encouragements be experi- 
 enced, until a long season of comparative 
 prosperity shall have healed the wounds in- 
 flicted by years of internal distraction. 
 
 Therefore we may safely infer, that no 
 attempt can be made to rival other nations in 
 the production of any superior goods what- 
 ever ; and no advance of duty will prevent 
 our broad-cloths — the principal article of our 
 exports in that quarter — from constantly ex- 
 periencing a sale as extensive as at this, or 
 any preceding period. Let us seek to en- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 289 
 
 rich Portugal, though it be at a present loss 
 to ourselves : the comparative wealth that 
 she may derive from our liberality, will, ere 
 long, be poured back into our national coffers 
 with interest ; and the reward will be ren- 
 dered doubly valuable to every benevolent 
 mind by the reflection, that we are not 
 grasping the extorted spoil of a helpless, 
 perishing neighbour, but gleaning plentifully 
 from the rich field where she will already 
 have reaped an abundant harvest, through 
 our forbearance and generosity. 
 
 I have said, that political relations ought 
 now to supersede those founded on commer- 
 cial principles : this is surely evident from 
 the present state of the whole Peninsula. 
 The influence of France is now all-powerful 
 in Spain, whose principal fortresses are oc- 
 cupied by her arms, whose territory is over- 
 run by her military force, and whose govern- 
 ment could not exist for one week after the 
 departure of such potent auxiliaries. Recent 
 events have sufficiently proved the absolute 
 necessity of our preserving in Portugal a 
 counter-balance to this formidable influence ; 
 
290 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 unless it be our will that she, like Spain, 
 should exchange the character of an in- 
 dependent kingdom for that of a helpless 
 province of the French empire. Of this she 
 also is perfectly aware; and if the merit 
 generally ascribed to us, of having introduced 
 to her acceptance the present constitutional 
 form of government be justly due, let no 
 false delicacy, no scrupulous adherence to 
 political formalities, no dread of incurring 
 the censure of narrow-minded calculators, 
 withhold us from that course by which alone 
 we can ensure prosperity to her, and to our- 
 selves a satisfactory retrospect. 
 
 Now is the time to operate effectually on 
 her behalf, to confirm the hopes we have un- 
 sparingly held out, and to consolidate the 
 form of government, which, to say the least, 
 we have publicly stamped with our approval. 
 Her happiness and our character are at stake : 
 either deserves a sacrifice of some value to 
 sustain it unimpaired ; and the union of both 
 objects should be a motive sufficiently strong 
 to overcome the voice of distrust or pusilla- 
 nimity. We have gone so far as to effect a 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 291 
 
 military occupation of her principal towns : 
 from this step we cannot now recede without 
 inflicting on her a twofold injury ; nor can 
 we here pause, with any real advantage to 
 her, or satisfaction to ourselves. 
 
 It behoves us, then, to address the govern- 
 ment in terms clearly explanatory of the 
 principles of our interference. *' We have 
 once before driven from your soil the invaders 
 who sought your subjection : we have now 
 again repulsed from your territory the rebels 
 who would have deluged it with kindred 
 blood, and overwhelmed you in the ruins of 
 your most promising institutions. We plant 
 a wall of defence between you and the ene- 
 mies of your security : we protect you in the 
 enjoyment of those commercial advantages, 
 which, through our mediation, have recently 
 been restored to you ; and thus, guarded as 
 you are from foreign warfare, from domestic 
 animosity, and from impending bankruptcy, 
 we demand of you the redemption of that 
 pledge so solemnly given, to watch over the 
 interests of the country. Whik in your 
 ports, and at your frontiers, we repel every 
 
 u 2 
 
292 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 external foe, be it yours to banish from 
 among your people those evils that have 
 preyed upon them for successive years. Be 
 it yours to legislate wisely, and actively to 
 execute the laws you frame. Our treaties of 
 alliance are not with this or that individual, 
 whose influence may, for a time, ride ascend- 
 ant over the national councils. Portugal is 
 our ally ; and to her permanent benefit your 
 efforts must tend ; for to that, our friendship, 
 our aid, and our inclinations principally 
 point." 
 
 If England shrink from using such a tone 
 as this ; if she withhold her advice, or fail to 
 insist on its adoption, she will find such a 
 task undertaken in her recent proceedings, as 
 will involve her in inextricable difficulties — 
 a task as wearisome, profitless, and perplex- 
 ing inlpeaceful times, as it will be inevitably 
 ruinous in a season of war. The measures 
 which we ought primarily to enforce, must 
 be those which will tend to make the charter 
 more familiar to the nation, and consequently 
 more popular than it ■ now is : by putting into 
 present operation all its most beneficial 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 293 
 
 enactments, and by bringing before the deli- 
 berative bodies such proposals as will prove 
 to the people that their dearest interests do 
 indeed form the subject of continual study 
 among the members of the state. 
 
 In Portugal, so much meets the eye, in 
 every imaginable point of view, requiring 
 revision, alteration, substitution, expulsion, 
 or. introduction, that, to those who have not 
 witnessed the inconceivable adroitness of 
 some governments in evading the perform- 
 ance of duties, and splitting hairs on ques- 
 tions of mere form, or ebullitions of private 
 feeling, it must appear impossible for the 
 executive to avoid being busily and import- 
 antly occupied. But experience has shewn 
 for how many hours every day men may sit 
 in solemn debate, and leave their country's 
 cause, at the end of a session, just where 
 they found it at the commencement. This 
 was eminently the case with the former 
 Cortes : the people know it : and nothing 
 will so convincingly prove to them the supe- 
 riority of the present constitution, as the 
 adoption of a widely different line of con- 
 
294 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 duct, on the part of their representatives, 
 convened under it. 
 
 Royal promises, too, have been scattered 
 most profusely, in former days, among the 
 expecting people, and eagerly caught at, as 
 the earnest of approaching prosperity. These 
 were found to be as insubstantial as air ; and 
 something better than bare assertion will be 
 requisite to satisfy the Portuguese nation, 
 that the proclamations of Don Pedro, and 
 the speeches of the infanta regent, will lead 
 to more tangible fruits than were produced 
 by the daily assurances of John VI. 
 
 Another most important mutual advan- 
 tage will accrue, from our thus applying a 
 needful spur to the leading authorities in 
 Lisbon. Spain cannot but watch, with a 
 curious and interested eye, the progress of 
 reforms which we have put it out of her 
 power to interrupt. Neither can she be blind 
 to the rising prosperity of her sister kingdom, 
 under a temperate and constitutional form of 
 monarchical government ; nor fail to contrast 
 this happiness with the wretched slavery to 
 which she herself is again reduced, beneath 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 295 
 
 the rod of a despotism, unrestrained in its 
 exercise, and wielded by the most imbecile 
 and contemptible of kingly puppets. The 
 result is easily to be foreseen : she will 
 struggle to shake off the disgraceful yoke; 
 and her indignant feelings, excited to the 
 highest pitch against the foreign armies 
 which have thrown and chained her prostrate 
 beneath the foot of Ferdinand, will burst 
 forth, to their sudden and signal discomfiture. 
 She will be aroused to prove that she is a 
 nation still — a nation sensible of her accumu- 
 lated wrongs, and prepared to re- assert, with 
 irresistible ardour, a nation's violated rights. 
 
 In this we may foresee a most formidable 
 weapon preparing for our use, as a salutary 
 and effectual check upon any menacing 
 movement, or warlike inclination, that France 
 may hereafter indicate against England. 
 Spain will not always be the vassal of that 
 power, whose armies we chased from her 
 mountains, and hunted through her vallies : 
 she will not always wear the aspect of 
 treacherous hostility against those allies who 
 conquered in her cause. If ever a bright 
 
296 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 prospect dawned upon a suffering and de- 
 graded people, such now sheds a distant 
 hope upon Spain. It rests with us to remove 
 the obstructions which interpose against its 
 consummation ; and to beware lest our su- 
 pineness postpone for many years the deli- 
 verance of a whole nation. France holds the 
 Spanish people in unwilling bondage : even 
 among those who, in 1823, were most anxious 
 for her interference, she may now number a 
 host of foes, whose jealousy and resentment 
 she provoked by her rentention of Cadiz, 
 Barcelona, and other strong holds of Spain. 
 
 Perhaps to the consciousness of this 
 general hatred, may be traced her abandon- 
 ment, in 1826, of the measures which she so 
 authoritatively sanctioned, and so powerfully 
 established three years before. Her situa- 
 tion, lofty and commanding as it appears, is 
 by no means an enviable one. But it is ours 
 to improve the opportunity now afforded, of 
 giving silent, though most efficient, encourage- 
 ment to the future rising spirit of the Spanish 
 people, by placing before their eyes the 
 fairest example of those blessings, which 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 297 
 
 they want but reviving energy to grasp at in 
 their turn. 
 
 AVith such prospects in view, I must 
 maintain that England is bound to press her 
 counsels upon the Portuguese government in 
 a way that, under other circumstances, she 
 might hardly deem justifiable. All coercive 
 measures are, of course, entirely out of the 
 question ; but there appears, in the character 
 of the present rulers, reasonable ground to 
 hope for a ready acquiescence in these friendly 
 suggestions. The infanta regent possesses 
 every requisite to promote the happiness of 
 the nation. Good natural abilities, quickness 
 of comprehension, and kindness of heart, 
 distinguish her. And although the time 
 approaches when she ought to relinquish the 
 regency, she must be kept till then from the 
 influence of those intriguing deceptions to 
 which she is necessarily exposed. I say the 
 princess ought, shortly, to relinquish the re- 
 gency ; because, in all its bearings, the char- 
 ter must be supported ; and in virtue of its 
 express enactment, Don Miguel will very 
 soon claim the right of administering the 
 
298 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 government during the queen's minority. 
 Until he assume that office, no lasting tran- 
 quillity can be expected in the country, his 
 right being well understood, and his party 
 too strong to be kept in subjection while the 
 queen is a minor. To see him established in 
 his authority as regent, is our duty, when he 
 shall have attained the prescribed age, and 
 have bound himself by such obligations as 
 may satisfy his brother, and the nation gene- 
 rally, that he will attempt nothing subversive 
 of that charter on which his right is founded, 
 and in support of which, we find ourselves 
 called upon to assert his claims. 
 
 We must not be led into the error of 
 imagining that, because, by the imposing 
 array of our troops, rebellion is now smo- 
 thered, and Portugal tranquillized, the whole 
 mass of the Portuguese nation will therefore 
 lay aside their long-cherished prejudices 
 and partialities, embrace the charter gene- 
 rally, and blend their contending factions 
 into one, beneath the influential presence of 
 our army of occupation. This will not be : 
 gratitude is not a prominent feature in their 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 299 
 
 character; and those who have the interests 
 of Portugal most sincerely at heart, do not 
 always rank the highest in her estimation, by 
 whatever labours and sacrifices they may have 
 evinced the reality of their good will to- 
 wards her. 
 
 Of the people, the majority, it is true, 
 have now^ hailed the charter : yet, among its 
 most open supporters, there is a numerous 
 and powerful party who approve it no farther 
 than as it protects them from a renewal of 
 the scenes that, in 1824, threatened them 
 with destruction. These, who were more 
 peculiarly endangered by the attempts of the 
 insurgents, most ardently desired the interpo- 
 sition of England: but when they behold, 
 through her means, these vengeful enemies 
 rendered harmless, their former principles 
 will re-assert themselves. Gathering strength 
 from the rational share of just freedom afford- 
 ed by the charter, they will begin to ciy for 
 more liberty than it allows; and they will 
 regard, with increasing dissatisfaction, those 
 to whom they attribute the adoption of terms 
 more favorable to royalty, and imposing a 
 
300 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 stronger curb on popular licentiousness, than 
 accords with their notions of a free govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Neither will the genius of intrigue forsake 
 the opposite faction, however its open mani- 
 festation may be checked by existing insti- 
 tutions, and by the barrier that intercepts the 
 support of their armed auxiliaries. Sancti- 
 fying with the names of devoted loyalty and 
 true religion, the narrow prejudices and sullen 
 bigotry of former ages, they will long for the 
 re-establishment of despotism and supersti- 
 tion ; looking forward to the return of their 
 titular king, as to the appointed triumph of 
 these their darling errors. And in fact, it is 
 but too probable that, should Don Miguel be 
 kept from the country until he can no longer 
 be restrained, the overthrow of those institu- 
 tions which caused his annoyance, will be- 
 come his object ; and in rewarding their op- 
 posers he will not fail to seek the injury of all 
 who supported them. 
 
 This whole question, of Don Miguel's as- 
 sumption of the functions of government, is 
 one requiring mature and careful deliberation, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 301 
 
 for on it, more than on any thing else, hang 
 the internal peace of the country, and the 
 stability of her newly acquired privileges. 
 This return of the infante, which must sooner 
 or later be looked for, must principally be 
 kept in view, where the affairs of Portugal 
 are under discussion. His name has been 
 used by the insurgents as their rallying word ; 
 under it a regency, opposed to that lawfully 
 established in Lisbon, has been appointed; 
 and it still is heard from many lips, still che- 
 rished in more hearts, as though he were a 
 rightful monarch, forcibly exiled, but ever 
 reigning in the loyal affections of his people. 
 It were, however, unjust to suppose that Don 
 Miguel sanctions such misuse of his name, 
 in direct contradiction to the explicit and 
 repeated assurances, and solemn oath, in 
 which he has recorded his full and cheerful 
 recognition of his brother's sovereignty, and 
 freely ratified the arrangements made on his 
 behalf. Yet it must be grating to his feel- 
 ings to see the throne of his ancestors thus 
 pass away from him, during the life- time of 
 his brother, who, for himself and his direct 
 
302 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 male line, has chosen a new empire, while 
 he places a female child on that ancient 
 throne. 
 
 I have already fully dwelt on the legal 
 justification of Don Pedro's proceeding in 
 this matter ; but we cannot expect Don 
 Miguel to view it in a light so unfavorable 
 to his own interests, and natural wishes. To 
 him, or at least to his conscientious partizans, 
 it seems that the young princess inherits this 
 kingdom upon precisely the same title by 
 which it would have devolved upon himself, 
 had the separation of Portugal and Brazil, 
 during his father's life-time, been recognized 
 dejure, as it was de facto. 
 
 That the present succession has been 
 settled according to the law of Portugal, 
 may be proved by a reference to that passed 
 in the year 1641, wherein it was provided, 
 ** that in case the king of Portugal should be 
 called to the succession of another crown, or 
 of a greater empire, and be compelled to re- 
 side always there ; and if he has two or more 
 male children, the eldest son shall assume 
 the reins of government in the foreign coun- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 303 
 
 try, and the second in Portugal ; and the 
 latter shall be the only recognized heir and 
 legitimate successor." Undoubtedly if this 
 king of Portugal is Don Pedro, in his assign- 
 ment of the crown to a younger child, he 
 has acted in conformity with the law above 
 quoted. But a person interested in taking a 
 different view of the matter, would find but 
 little sophistry required to maintain that, in 
 fact, John YI. was the monarch so called to 
 a greater empire, when he took upon himself 
 the title of emperor of Brazil, a few months 
 previous to his death ; and that in Don Pedro 
 and Don Miguel we behold the two sons, of 
 whom the elder being quietly established in 
 regular succession on the throne of Brazil, 
 the younger, as a matter of right, must seat 
 himself on that of Portugal. 
 
 The letter of this law, indeed, will not 
 admit of such interpretation, nor did John 
 VI. either make the slightest movement to- 
 wards taking possession of the Brazilian 
 empire, or by any act attempt to interfere 
 with the acknowledged sovereignty of his 
 son, whose title and authority he fully recog- 
 
304 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 nized, in the treaty already given, and in 
 other official acts. But yet it cannot be 
 denied that such an allotment of the respec- 
 tive crowns would have been in close con- 
 formity with the spirit of the law. Nor must 
 we be surprised that many in Portugal prefer 
 this interpretation, which would have given 
 them a king, well-fitted, in their own estima- 
 tion, to assume the chief power, instead of a 
 long minority terminated by the accession of 
 a young female, born and educated in another 
 hemisphere, and among those whom they 
 consider as the revolted subjects of their 
 ancient monarchy, and whose principles are 
 exceedingly opposed to their own. 
 
 Of Don Miguel himself we have no reason 
 whatever to conclude that he is otherwise 
 than perfectly reconciled to what he could 
 not prevent. He has declared himself con- 
 tented with the distant prospect, after exer- 
 cising the functions of regent during his 
 queen's minority, of appearing only as the 
 titular sovereign of a kingdom, over which 
 a great portion of its natives conceive that 
 he ought to reign the absolute monarch. If 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 305 
 
 such be really his feeling, too much commen- 
 dation cannot be bestowed upon him ; ac- 
 quainted as we all are with the energy and 
 enterprize of his character. But it is not 
 enough that he be thus peaceably disposed ; 
 some means should be adopted, without delay, 
 to reconcile the party distinguished as his, 
 and to unite them in cordial concurrence with 
 the present regency, as long as it exists. 
 This party is very powerful, even if we ex- 
 clude from it all who are friendly to despotism 
 for its own sake, without a reference to any 
 individual ruler. 
 
 It is desirable to convince them that the 
 present is a temporary arrangement, and that 
 in a short time Don Miguel will, according to 
 the charter, be placed at the head of the go- 
 vernment, until the young queen shall have 
 passed her minority. To fix the period at which 
 the infante should thus be entrusted with the 
 chief power, may be somewhat difficult. If 
 he refuse to enter into a solemn contract to 
 uphold the present form of government, no- 
 thing should be done until the expiration of 
 the four years for which the present chamber 
 
306 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 of deputies are elected ; nor until their suc- 
 cessors have taken their seats, and the two 
 chambers have fully entered into the business 
 of the session. The marriage of Don Miguel 
 ought in this case to be celebrated previous 
 to his return from Brazil ; and as twelve 
 years is no uncommon connubial age for the 
 females of South America, very little addi- 
 tional delay will be occasioned on this ac- 
 count. 
 
 The regency of the infante, extending 
 from the period of his marriage to that at 
 which the queen shall attain the full age 
 settled by the charter, must be, in many 
 respects, differently constituted from that now 
 established under the infanta, so as to insure 
 the fulfilment of the conditions imposed, for 
 the security of existing institutions. But cer- 
 tainly a prospect like this, at no great dis- 
 tance of time, will tend much to counteract 
 the designs of those who would seduce Don 
 Miguel into an active opposition to the pre- 
 sent administration, and the constitutional 
 charter. The stability of this government 
 Don Pedro will doubtless study to confirm. 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 307 
 
 by the tenor of such restrictions as he may 
 deem it right to impose on his brother ; and 
 the presence of our troops will combine to 
 guard it. 
 
 That such an arrangement would be the 
 best possible means of surmounting the diifi- 
 culties that threaten Portugal, in her very 
 delicate and peculiar relations with the in- 
 fante, I am far from presuming to assert. 
 The suggestion is only one of many schemes 
 that may be devised by those better ac- 
 quainted with the existing circumstances that 
 connect the Rio, Lisbon, and Vienna. But 
 this I will fearlessly and confidently predict, 
 that unless some efficient and satisfactory 
 measures be speedily adopted, to reconcile 
 the Miguelites and the existing government, 
 Portugal will not only continue in her present 
 wretched state of debasement, but her de- 
 liverance from it will likewise become more 
 hopeless than ever; while the political inte- 
 rests of England will be unavailingly sacri- 
 ficed, and her troops insulted by those whom 
 they are commissioned to protect. The queen 
 also will take possession of a throne involved 
 
 X 2 
 
308 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 in deeper perils, and more irremediable evils, 
 than those with which her unfortunate grand- 
 father had to contend ; while the assumption of 
 his titular authority will be with Don Miguel 
 the signal to commence a line of vexatious 
 and injurious policy, in regard to England. 
 He will naturally be taught to consider the 
 part which we have taken against him as an 
 unjust exclusion from his legitimate rights ; 
 and he will surely seek to revenge himself for 
 the long period of exile and mortification that 
 must have intervened, if no mode of con- 
 ciliating him and his zealous champions shall 
 have been, in the interim, decided on. 
 
 What the counsels of England may be I 
 cannot pretend to anticipate. We have states- 
 men fully competent to the task of duly con- 
 sidering the subject, and suggesting such pro- 
 visions as may ensure the most favorable 
 results. But these counsels must, in justice 
 to ourselves, and to the ally whose territory 
 our troops now occupy, be frankly and un- 
 equivocally given; and enforced by the de- 
 . claration, that unless sufficient weight be 
 allowed to attach to them, our army will 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 309 
 
 immediately be recalled. Admitting, as we 
 have done, and answering with ready succour, 
 the plea for military aid against an invading 
 foe, we know of no treaty by which we are 
 bound to maintain such force on their terri- 
 tory, on the speculative possibility of a second 
 armament being prepared in Spain, to take 
 advantage of our departure. 
 
 Portugal must know that we are interested 
 in her welfare, both as respects our friendly 
 feeling towards her, and as we have so freely 
 linked our own political relations with hers. 
 She is also to be convinced that we do not 
 consider our duty fulfilled when we have ex- 
 pelled her foreign invaders. A new, and pro- 
 bably an intriguing government, now claims 
 to direct her course ; if her public prosperity 
 be compromised by her rulers, we shall desire 
 by friendly counsel to rectify their errors. It 
 should be our object to render our national 
 interference, which was so earnestly sought 
 after in the hour of danger, conducive to the 
 permanent happiness of every class among 
 her population, in accordance with the charter 
 which she has solemnly accepted, and which^ 
 
310 STAI'E OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 if rightly administered, is calculated to pro- 
 duce every needful benefit, well suited to the 
 genius of the country, and must promote 
 her growth in prosperity, respectability, and 
 power. , 
 
 The Portuguese executive government, as 
 well as the condition of the people, being 
 burdened and corrupted by innumerable 
 errors, and abuses of the most obstinate 
 description, it is only by effecting complete, 
 though gradual reforms, in all, that the grand 
 object can be achieved, so indispensable to 
 the welfare of the country, of amalgamating 
 opinions and feelings that hitherto have re- 
 fused to blend, and conciliating adverse parties, 
 whose violent dissentions must continue to 
 rend and destroy their unhappy country. 
 
 Let the rulers of Portugal be distinctly told 
 that we are willing to sacrifice some com- 
 mercial advantages for the benefit of their 
 people, requiring in return such measures on 
 their part as shall render that nation a useful 
 and respectable ally, instead of a burdensome 
 dependent. That, among the first of their 
 public acts must be numbered the re-organi- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 311 
 
 zation and equipment, both of her army and 
 navy. At least 30,000 well disciplined troops 
 must be provided from her population, as 
 absolutely necessary for her defence on any 
 emergency ; that the trouble and risk of 
 organizing them may not again be imposed 
 upon us, when, perhaps, her frontiers may 
 be occupied by an active enemy, as was the 
 case in 1809, while we were obliged singly to 
 sustain the combat for her, until we could so 
 far train her raw undisciplined battalions, as 
 to commit them in the field by our side. 
 From the lessons then given by our officers, 
 and the example daily afforded in our sol- 
 diers, the army derived some benefit. But 
 we must not be contented with an imposing 
 militia force on paper ; this branch of the 
 Portuguese army has now no chance of ever 
 being so organized as to become effectively 
 disposable. We may expect to find, through- 
 out this branch, a resemblance to one of their 
 best regiments, which precipitately disbanded 
 itself during the progress of the counter-revo- 
 lution in 1823 ; each man flying to his own 
 home, exposing the town of Thomar to be 
 
312 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 deluged with blood, as it assuredly would 
 have been, had not individual resolution pre- 
 vented it. 
 
 In how deplorable a state is the navy of 
 Portugal ! The docks of Lisbon produce as 
 beautiful ships as can be launched, and the 
 Portuguese sailors received much well-earned 
 commendation from our naval commanders, 
 under whom they individually served during 
 the last war. Yet it cannot be forgotten 
 that, within a very few years, the Tagus was 
 blockaded by two Algerine corsairs, who 
 maintained their station for a considerable 
 time, with impunity, and set the whole Por- 
 tuguese navy at defiance. England has a 
 right to demand particular attention to this 
 very important branch of national defence. 
 The next war in which we are involved may, 
 probably, array a very powerful maritime 
 people against us ; and we, who have so 
 prodigally lavished both our naval and mili- 
 tary resources in the cause of Portugal, must 
 require that she now establish a competent 
 nursery for seamen, in the prospect of lending 
 us such assistance hereafter as the remem- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 313 
 
 brance of our former and present aid must 
 render her desirous of placing at our disposal, 
 if one honourable or grateful feeling exist in 
 her bosom. A Portuguese squadron may be 
 no unacceptable auxiliary to us, in the de- 
 fence, perhaps, of its own coast. 
 
 Should the council of state prove itself too 
 ignorant or too prejudiced for the promotion 
 of these objects, on a scale worthy the nume- 
 rical strength and political pretensions of 
 their country, let the regency ensure suffi- 
 cient support to the design, by commanding 
 a majority among them ; a task by no means 
 difficult, as no restriction is laid with respect 
 to the numbers composing the council ; or let 
 their opinion be taken merely on those sub- 
 jects connected with the moderating power, 
 in which the charter renders their interference 
 unavoidable. In the chamber of deputies, a 
 cordial support will doubtless be given to all 
 measures evidently calculated to improve and 
 aggrandize the country ; and wretchedly weak 
 indeed must that government be, which, in 
 the present state of Portugal, cannot, on every 
 question, ensure a majority in the upper cham- 
 
314 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 ber. Want of energy, or unprincipled in- 
 trigue, in the quarters from whence the coun- 
 try expects the amelioration of her miseries, 
 can alone present an effectual bar to improve- 
 ment ; that energy we must supply, should 
 the rulers be palpably deficient in it, and 
 counteract the baneful influence of such in- 
 trigue, by touching on the chord that most 
 readily vibrates — the fear of our desertion. 
 
 Agriculture must be carefully encouraged, 
 and relieved from the grievous oppressions 
 with which it is now burdened ; not by fixing 
 a high maximum of prices, as was done by 
 the Cortes in 1821, to the ruin of the farmer, 
 but by removing some, and diminishing others, 
 of the heavy dues to which his produce is 
 liable. The friars have immense estates at- 
 tached to their own communities ; let them 
 be restricted to these sources of wealth, and 
 let the tithes, the eighths, and the fourths, 
 drawn from lands cultivated within the dis- 
 tricts of their respective convents, be entirely 
 suppressed. These extravagant demands of 
 the church are the principal shackles that 
 paralyze the hand of industry ; and many 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 315 
 
 a league of good land lies untilled, because 
 the poor farmer cannot ensure a sufficient 
 return for his labour to cover all the unavoid- 
 able expences of its cultivation, after the 
 king's taxes have been claimed, and the 
 exorbitant church dues rigidly levied, as they 
 invariably are. When these grants were first 
 made to the convents, very little of the neigh- 
 bouring land was under cultivation. At pre- 
 sent their wealth is sufficiently enormous, 
 without wringing from the needy agriculturist 
 the hard earnings of his toil. Although any 
 attempt to decrease the property of which the 
 clergy are individually in possession must be 
 avoided as a perilous experiment, yet it might 
 be found very advantageous narrowly to re- 
 strict the number of individuals permitted to 
 enter the convents, admitting none under a 
 certain age. This would be an important 
 step towards a general reform, and others 
 might, in process of time, become practi- 
 cable. 
 
 The law which confines the term of leases 
 to a period of four years, should be repealed. 
 It not only bars the improvement of lands, 
 
S16 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 but leads to their continual impoverishment ; 
 because each tenant will seek to extort from 
 the soil its utmost produce during his short 
 proprietorship, and few can afford, fewer yet 
 think themselves required, to enrich it for 
 the next stranger who may become the oc- 
 cupant. 
 
 The parochial clergy should receive an 
 augmentation of salary^ both with a view of 
 encreasing their personal respectability, and 
 of attaching them more firmly to the govern- 
 ment, whose interests they can largely pro- 
 mote by means of their powerful influence 
 over the minds of the lower orders. We have 
 seen to how fatal an extent they were alien- 
 ated under the old constitution, by the rude 
 and oppressive measures of the Cortes. 
 Every repetition of such impolitic proceed- 
 ings must be carefully avoided, and no ex- 
 ternal disrespect to the clergy allowed : for 
 their enmity is as much to be deprecated, as 
 their services in keeping the people tranquil 
 are valuable. Most of them may be brought 
 to concur in projects for the gradual and 
 general education of the lower classes, if it 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 317 
 
 be made clearly conducive to their own ad- 
 vantage ; and this is a most desirable point 
 to attain. For, as long as the people con- 
 tinue sunk in ignorance so deplorable, they 
 will be the passive instruments of every artful 
 deceiver who can gain their attention to his 
 misrepresentations. 
 
 The power of proposing laws rests with 
 the government ; but in its choice of mea- 
 sures, it should be guided by the judgment 
 of those most intimately conversant with the 
 state of the country. Decrees relating to the 
 distribution of justice must be most carefully 
 framed, for no department requires a more 
 complete reform than this, so complicated 
 and so obstinate are the abuses that have in- 
 terwoven themselves with the whole system. 
 To put a period to bribery and subornation, 
 will alone be an Herculean labour; nor can 
 the necessary remedies be applied, nor the 
 requisite improvements effected, unless disin- 
 terested itinerant commissioners be appointed, 
 with full powers, to examine into and report 
 upon the numerous mal-practices of that 
 devouring host of placemen. When the 
 
318 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 people see an impartial process of enquiry 
 and reform in activity at their very doors, 
 they will begin to hope for real deliverance 
 from evils that have hitherto defied their 
 every attempt even to ensure a fair discussion 
 of them at the seat of government. 
 
 The Portuguese people manifest an ex- 
 traordinary spirit of opposition against the 
 introduction of every attempt at innovations : 
 that is to say, against every improved plan of 
 operation, whether in agriculture, mechanics, 
 or any other department of industry. The 
 press now used in preparing oil differs in 
 nothing from those which were in vogue some 
 centuries back : this rude machine consists 
 of the trunk of a large tree, about thirty feet 
 in length; an enormous stone is the force 
 applied to this clumsy lever, to which it is 
 suspended by a wooden screw, that serves to 
 raise it from the ground as required : and this 
 acts upon the bruised olives, placed near the 
 other extremity of the trunk, and presses the 
 juice from them. A foreigner, residing in 
 Portugal, took the husks and kernels that 
 had passed through this process, and placing 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 319 
 
 them in a press where the power of the screw 
 was properly brought into action, obtained 
 more than a eighth part of oil, in addition to 
 what had aheady been extracted by the 
 common method. The strange antipathy of 
 these people to improvements, may be farther 
 illustrated by the following curious instance : 
 the same person, when planting a vineyard^ 
 wished to avoid the needless cost and labour 
 attendant on the usual process. According 
 to this, the ground is dug to the depth of 
 nearly four feet, and the vine cuttings laid in, 
 at about the same distance apart. The fo- 
 reigner in question made use of an instrument 
 resembling a large gimblet, which, while it 
 bored the soil, likewise inserted the cutting. 
 It was afterwards discovered that the native 
 labourers, indignant at the innovation, had, 
 with the young scions, introduced speargrass, 
 which ultimately destroyed them. He also 
 attempted an improvement on the miserable 
 bullock-carts, and succeeded in consti^ucting 
 a car which, when heavily laden, was drawn 
 by one bullock more easily than the awkward 
 machines of the country could be moved by 
 
320 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 two oxen. But he experienced the greatest 
 difficulty in persuading any Portuguese to 
 work with it ; and at length it was inten- 
 tionally destroyed. One man exclaimed, " I 
 will no longer drive such a cart ; for load it 
 as heavily as you may, it will not squeak" — 
 alluding to the incessant grating noise pro- 
 duced by their rude revolving axles : an 
 abominable sound, which the rustics believe 
 to be as encouraging to their oxen as it is 
 agreeable to themselves. 
 
 This determined resistance to every novel 
 introduction, is the natural offspring of igno- 
 rance and long-rooted prejudice : it must be 
 overcome by liberal encouragement, and by 
 noticing indications of creative genius with 
 adequate rewards. In all cases of useful in- 
 vention, the recompense must be ample, and 
 the patent preserved inviolable to its owner. 
 The people will soon learn to regard with 
 complacency those modern improvements, 
 which they now hold as wanton superfluities, 
 because their fathers contrived to do without 
 them. The empire of Brazil, an infant in 
 respect to time, is far more advanced in many 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 321 
 
 branches of experimental knowledge than its 
 ancient mother in Europe : the diffusion of 
 useful instruction will be to her a valuable 
 boon ; and if the present opportunity pass 
 away, leaving the great mass of her popula- 
 tion still in darkness, we cannot hope to 
 behold her in that situation in which it is 
 alike our duty and our interest to place her. 
 
 To promote the free circulation of internal 
 trade, in all its branches, it will be necessary 
 to facilitate the navigation of the Tagus and 
 other rivers, connecting distant stations by 
 means of canals, and paying much attention to 
 the repair and improvement of roads, as the 
 nature of produce and amount of population 
 may point out. A valuable source of eco- 
 nomical supply presents itself, in the abun- 
 dance of excellent fish that surrounds the 
 coast. The better curing of this article, for 
 which the demand is very great, deserves 
 attention and encouragement from the legis- 
 lature, as tending to diminish the needless 
 quantity of salt-fish now annually imported. 
 Tobacco, and other contracts, should be taken 
 into the hands of government : they may 
 
322 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 produce, if rightly conducted, a considerable 
 accession to the revenue; and will likewise 
 afford employment to many public functiona- 
 ries, whose present number calls for great re- 
 duction in every department. That valuable 
 fruit, the olive, demands every attention, both 
 in respect to its cultivation, and to the manner 
 of extracting the oil. It has already been 
 shewn that, by the unskilful process still in 
 use, one eighth part of the latter is totally 
 lost. 
 
 Of the manufactures I have spoken fully ; 
 and must here repeat my hope that England 
 will prove the sincerity of her desire to assist 
 most effectually on this head. Satisfied that 
 no encouragement, however strong, no im- 
 provement, however rapid, can enable Portu- 
 gal to compete with us in foreign ports, or 
 even to supply her own population, except in 
 a few articles of the coarsest description, let 
 us, at a sacrifice scarcely perceptible to our- 
 selves, at once open to her a mine of national 
 prosperity. Let her double all her importa- 
 tion duties on woollen goods, cottons, glass, 
 paper, and leather. This will leave to us an 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 323 
 
 equal advantage with all other nations trading 
 to her shores ; and with this we ought to rest 
 satisfied, for a time at least. Her manufac- 
 tories will thus acquire a new impulse from 
 our forbearance, although a long period must 
 elapse before they can, in any degree, supply 
 the country. 
 
 The government revenue will meanwhile 
 receive a large increase ; and the advance in 
 price will only affect the consumers of such 
 imported goods as are not required among 
 the suffering peasantry, and impoverished 
 classes. The preference long enjoyed by us, 
 was conceded in Portugal's happier days, 
 when she held a conspicuous station among 
 the maritime traders of the world. A sad 
 reverse has now befallen her ; and how con- 
 sonant will it be to that high character which 
 England sustains and glories in, to forego the 
 advantage — unsolicited, and certainly unex- 
 pected, as the sacrifice must be — in the hour 
 of her ancient friend's calamity. 
 
 If a line of policy less broad in its basis, 
 or less philanthropic in its principles, be 
 adopted, we shall speedily see Portugal over- 
 
 y2 
 
324 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 whelmed in irretrievable calamities, ultimately 
 extending their fatal effects to our own 
 shores. We may powerfully support the 
 present system, convinced that it promises 
 every desirable good to the people ; but ex- 
 perience will shew that it is capable of being 
 made, like the former constitution, as de- 
 structive in practice, as it is beautiful in 
 theory. We may maintain an army on the 
 Portuguese territory, sufficient to repel those 
 enemies who now menace her; and we may 
 scatter a little money in the districts imme- 
 diately surrounding the stations which that 
 army occupies. But unless we demand a 
 change in the internal administration, much 
 more extensive than that which the charter 
 will necessarily produce, if executed to the 
 letter, we shall bring on ourselves a weight 
 of guilt, and its consequent punishment. 
 
 For every unjust act committed, every na- 
 tional benefit withheld, by a corrupt or in- 
 dolent legislature, we shall incur as heavy a 
 responsibility as if we ourselves had formed 
 a part of that government which we protect 
 with our arniy and our fleet. Condemning, 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 325 
 
 as every Briton must do, the conduct of 
 France towards Spain, whom, by the force 
 of her arms, she holds in subjection to a 
 worthless tyrant, we shall become partici- 
 pators in the deed to a disgraceful extent; 
 and, in the eyes of the world, bear upon our 
 national character the same stain. Our late 
 conduct, which, by its magnanimity, has 
 drawn forth the language of general com- 
 mendation, will be fraught with a curse in- 
 stead of a blessing ; and we, who justly 
 assume to be the unalienable friends of a 
 confiding and faithful ally, shall become the 
 objects of deserved scorn, hatred, and re- 
 proach to those who implicitly depend on our 
 professed good- will. 
 
 All may not discriminate, but all can feel ; 
 and Portugal, in her every cottage, will judge 
 of England according to the fruits she shall 
 reap from her present interference. So far 
 we have done well : the people of England, 
 obeying with alacrity the will of a beloved 
 king, answered, without hesitation, to the 
 claims of a distressed ally, and the call of 
 rational freedom. They saw, with exulta- 
 
326 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 tion, their countrymen on the march, to bear 
 once more protection and assurance to the 
 land where their proudest conquest had been 
 achieved, and their military glory exalted to 
 its zenith. The general feeling in our coun- 
 try was that which animates every en- 
 lightened mind throughout the Peninsula, 
 and, indeed, throughout the world : — the con- 
 viction, that when England interposes her 
 powerful aid, the happiness of other nations 
 is her disinterested object ; and that, in its 
 pursuit, she comes prepared with every sacri- 
 fice that honour and generosity can offer, 
 nobly relinquishing all selfish considerations, 
 and confining her efforts to the strict perform- 
 ance of whatever benevolence can suggest in 
 behalf of those whom she is pledged to 
 succour. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE PORTUGUESE CHARTER OF 1826: WITH A 
 COMPARISON BETWEEN IT AND THE CONSJITUTIO^ QS 1^22. 
 
 To all who contemplate the destinies of 
 Portugal with the natural sympathy of free- 
 men, it must be an interesting object to form 
 a correct estimate of public opinion, in refer- 
 ence to the established government, and the 
 charter by which the liberties of the Portu- 
 guese subject are guaranteed. For this pur- 
 pose, it may be advisable to take a brief com- 
 parative view of the present charter, in such 
 particulars as must more powerfully affect 
 the public mind, and the leading principles of 
 legislative authority; pointing out wherein it 
 essentially differs from the constitution of 
 1822, as settled by the Cortes. 
 
 To convince ourselves that a constitutional 
 
328 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 form of government has been, for several 
 years, most ardently desired by a vast ma- 
 jority of the Portuguese nation, we have only 
 to cast our eye back upon the general en- 
 thusiasm with which they hailed the pro- 
 fessed principles of the first code in 1822; 
 the manner in which the revolution that pro- 
 mised its establishment was effected; and the 
 expressions of eager hope and mutual congra- 
 tulation called forth by every renewed procla- 
 mation that, subsequent to its downfal, an- 
 nounced the intention of reviving it. These 
 very proclamations are in themselves strong 
 evidences of the national feeling ; since they 
 were found necessary, from time to time, in 
 order to repress the growing indications of 
 popular discontent. Irritated by the recur- 
 rence of these professions, without the ac- 
 companiment of a single step towards their 
 fulfilment, the public indignation arose, in 
 1824 and 1825, to a pitch that left no room to 
 doubt the real sentiments of the people. 
 
 The comparative indifference with which 
 the overthrow of that constitution was beheld 
 by the country, did not originate in any in- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 329 
 
 sensibility to the blessings of freedom ; but 
 took its rise from the gross misgovernment 
 of the Cortes, whose inconsistent proceedings 
 and tyrannical measures would have rendered 
 the most judicious enactments unavailing. 
 By blasting the well-grounded expectations 
 of those who most sincerely desired the esta- 
 blishment of civil liberty, the insane pro- 
 ceedings of this despotic oligarchy either 
 disheartened the warmest supporters of their 
 code, or armed them to effect its overthrow. 
 Released from the trammels of an absolute 
 monarchy, thinking men looked on the events 
 of 1820 with complacency, and were recon- 
 ciled to many things in which they would 
 not otherwise have concurred, by regarding 
 them as the sure means of attaining national 
 welfare and individual happiness. In this 
 they were grievously disappointed : they 
 beheld, instead of the scenes so joyously an- 
 ticipated, a dismembered country, a starving 
 population, a host of greater evils than the 
 most imperious tyrant that ever wielded the 
 sceptre, had ever assembled around them. 
 All these, and troubles still worse in perspec- 
 
330 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 tive, appeared clearly attributable to the ob- 
 stinate folly, the selfish inhumanity, the over- 
 weening ambition of a party, unanimous in 
 nothing but in their efforts at self-aggrandize- 
 ment, and for the ruin of their country. 
 
 These men had used the constitution as a 
 convenient footstool, by which to step into 
 places of power and emolument ; and having, 
 by its means, so far succeeded, they scrupled 
 not to violate it at their discretion, but ren- 
 dered it constantly subservient to their in- 
 dividual purposes. If, therefore, we find it 
 was deemed scarcely worth support in 1823, 
 we must not trace this feeling to any dis- 
 regard for the privileges which a free charter 
 was calculated to confer, and preserve to the 
 nation, but rather remark it as a strong proof 
 of the disgust and despair excited by the 
 conduct of the Cortes. If they could stand 
 no longer than while supported by this code, 
 the people were reconciled to its overthrow, 
 since among its ruins it would bury their most 
 mischievous enemies. 
 
 The Cortes were certainly called to the 
 fulfilment of a task, the most arduous and 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 331 
 
 difficult, and one where the highest talents 
 would have found ample room for severe 
 exercise. The work before them required, 
 in its planning, the utmost stretch of saga- 
 cious foresight, and in its development a 
 consummate union of wisdom and skill; 
 while watchfulness, temper, and moderation, 
 were indispensable to its safe execution. But 
 the members of this body, in general, founded 
 their political creed — a mere dream of true 
 freedom — on the speculative liberality of the 
 French revolution in its early stages ; and 
 thus schooled, it cannot be a matter of sur- 
 prise that they totally failed in their attempt 
 at practical legislation. That this disappoint- 
 ment might have befallen disinterested and 
 upright men, does not, however, palliate 
 their gross abuse of the power which they 
 wanted ability to wield advantageously for 
 the country. 
 
 Notwithstanding the great change in out- 
 ward demonstrations of opinion, I do not hesi- 
 tate to affirm that, at the end of the year 
 1823, the majority in Portugal who decidedly 
 favoured rational civil liberty, was as great 
 
332 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 as in 1820. Even putting the army out of 
 the question, as having, by their vacillating 
 conduct, proved their unfitness to enter into 
 any political calculation, still there existed 
 among the effective male population a party 
 favorable to the revolution, greatly out-num- 
 bering its opponents. From what has been 
 said in the preceding narrative, it will be per- 
 ceived that all who advocated the former con- 
 stitution must, for the present at least, support 
 the charter of 1826, which, however short it 
 may fall of their ideas of constitutional free- 
 dom, or rather licentiousness, is yet valuable 
 in their eyes, and secure of their co-operation, 
 as being their only safeguard against the 
 return of a despotism peculiarly hateful to 
 them, and which they have so strenuously 
 laboured to overthrow. 
 
 By directing our attention to some leading 
 passages in the new code, of which a trans- 
 lation is given in the appendix, and com- 
 paring them with the tenor of others in the 
 constitution of 1822, we may be enabled to 
 form a judgment of their respective merits, 
 and fitness for the purpose designed. From 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 333 
 
 this we may calculate their respective popu- 
 larity among those who are competent to give 
 an opinion on the laws that govern them, 
 which is not the case with the bulk of the 
 lower classes in Portugal. In England every 
 peasant, and almost every pauper, will occa- 
 sionally investigate and pass sentence upon 
 the proceedings of his legislature, even in 
 what cannot remotely concern himself; but 
 this spirit of enquiry, this pride of indepen- 
 dence, is little known among the Portuguese 
 of a similar rank ; to them it is immaterial 
 how or by whom they are governed, so long 
 as they do not suffer the excess of bodily 
 privation : while a blind submission to their 
 priest in all spiritual matters, leaves them 
 without a motive to exercise their reasoning 
 faculties. But in the higher and middle 
 classes, the question of legislative policy has 
 become one of deep interest ; it will be yet 
 more fully and generally investigated as the 
 spirit of true liberty spreads among them. 
 
 On referring to the charter of 1826, the 
 first instance of marked dissimilarity from 
 the constitution of 1822, is a very important 
 
334 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 one, intimately affecting the kingly preroga- 
 tive, which both assume to respect. In the 
 code of 1822 we find it distinctly stated, in the 
 30th article, that the legislative power of the 
 Portuguese monarchy '* resides in the Cortes, 
 dependent on the sanction of the king,'' to whom 
 also the 123d article as distinctly assigns the 
 especial right, *' to sanction and promulgate 
 the laws." On referring, however, to the 
 114th article, we see this privilege altogether 
 annulled by this extraordinary decree. ** If 
 the king, in the time established in articles 
 110 and 111, should not have given his sanc- 
 tion to the law, it will be understood that he 
 gave it, and the law shall be published. If 
 he refuse, however to sign it, the Cortes will 
 order it to be published in the name of the 
 king, being signed by the person on whom 
 the executive government devolves." 
 
 A more barefaced contradiction than is 
 here displayed can scarcely be imagined ; nor 
 a more effectual mode of exposing the royal 
 person and prerogative to contempt and deri- 
 sion. Insidiously stripping the monarch of 
 every vestige of regal power, legislative and 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 335 
 
 executive, while leaving to him the semblance 
 of possessing both, it reduces him to a mere 
 automaton. Very different is the charter of 
 1826, which leaves unfettered the privileges 
 befitting a sovereign ruler, though still in a 
 manner as perfectly compatible with the free 
 establishment of public liberty, security, and 
 property, as could be boasted of under the 
 former constitution. By the 57th and 58th arti- 
 cles of the new charter, the absolute veto is 
 reserved to the king, whose actual concur- 
 rence is rendered indispensable to the enact- 
 ment and promulgation of laws. 
 
 A farther instance of the disposition ma- 
 nifested, in the constitution of 1822, to fetter 
 in every way the royal hand, is conspicuous 
 where, in treating of a permanent deputation 
 which, by the 17th and 18th articles, was to 
 be established during the recess of the Cortes, 
 a part of their duty is described as being " to 
 watch over the observance of the constitution 
 and laws, in order to inform the future Cortes 
 of the infractions which they have witnessed ; 
 having from the government such information 
 as they think necessary for this end." This 
 
336 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 certainly appears a gross usurpation of the 
 powers that of right belong to the executive, 
 whose offences, real or imaginary, were thus 
 to be noted down, and reported to the suc- 
 ceeding Cortes. 
 
 In the regulations regarding the election 
 of deputies, there is a general similarity be- 
 tween the two constitutions, in both of which 
 the mode of double election is decreed ; but 
 some differences appear in relation to the 
 elective franchise, and the eligibility of indi- 
 viduals to the office of deputy. By No. 3. of 
 Art. 65. in the present charter, a class is ad- 
 mitted among the electors, which, in No. 3. of 
 Art. 33. of the old code was excluded. This 
 class consists of clerks, book-keepers, stew- 
 ards, &c., who there come under the deno- 
 mination of servants, and consequently in- 
 capable of voting ; but although these are 
 now comprehended in the list, the actual 
 number is considerably diminished ; for, in 
 the election of those on whom devolves the 
 choice of deputies all are prohibited, by No. 5. 
 of Art. 65, from voting, whose annual income 
 does not amount to at least £25. ; and from 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 337 
 
 among these primary electors none can be 
 nominated whose income does not double that 
 sum. (Art. 67. No. 1.) Nor can any be pro- 
 posed as deputies unless in possession of 
 £100. a year. These limits are more circum- 
 scribed than those marked out by the former 
 constitution. However, by that of 1826, ad- 
 mission to the chamber of deputies is ex- 
 tended to secretaries of state, bishops in their 
 dioceses, parochial clergy in their own pa- 
 rishes, and magistrates within their own dis- 
 tricts. All these were excluded by the con- 
 stitution of 1822 ; and by this invidious ex- 
 ception much needless offence was given, both 
 to the proscribed individuals, and to the many 
 who considered them as far better qualified 
 for a place in the legislative assembly than 
 a great portion of those who obtained seats in 
 it; and hence arose an increase of public 
 discontent. 
 
 How far the pecuniary qualifications in- 
 sisted on to establish the eligibility of voters 
 may conduce to the election of particular in- 
 dividuals, is an interesting question. But it 
 does not appear to have materially affected 
 
 z 
 
338 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 the foi*mation of the present chamber, by 
 altering the return of deputies ; as nearly one- 
 half of those now constituting the chamber 
 were members of the former Cortes; a pro- 
 portion as large as could be expected to ap- 
 pear there now, even had the mode of election 
 pursued in 1820, remained in operation. For 
 w*© must consider not only the lapse of six 
 years from that period, with all the changes 
 in the situation of individuals which such a 
 term might be expected to bring with it, but 
 also the number of deputies who had quitted 
 the kingdom altogether, upon the triumph of 
 the counter-revolution, and the numerous and 
 respectable class, who, returning in the in- 
 terim from Brazil, had offered themselves to 
 the choice of their countrymen. Under these 
 circumstances we could not expect to find in 
 the lower chamber a larger proportion of the 
 original representatives than are actually 
 i^ated there. It is to be regretted, indeed, 
 that so many violent men should have become 
 members, and that the government appears 
 to encourage rather than to check this dan- 
 gerous party. They me by no means de- 
 
STATi; 6V PORTUGAt. ^S§ 
 
 sirsible colles^gn^s ; Mi with whatever cau- 
 tious reserve their real disposition may, for the 
 present, be veiled, the time may come when 
 toequivocal acts shall betray their revol#- 
 tionary principles ; and they may probably 
 be fotmd heading a formidable attack upoi$^ 
 tbat system which now imprudently fosters 
 them. To me it appears that the diminution 
 of votes, far from tending . to repress the de- 
 mocratic party, is calctitated to strengthen it ; 
 for the lower orders in large towns, who ar^ 
 generally the most violent and determined 
 liberals, will be bxit slightly affected by the 
 clauses of exclusion ; while they ojyierate to 
 the utter prevention of voting aMong the 
 eoutitry labourers, with many of a simite 
 class, peculiarly subservient to the priest- 
 hood, nobility, landholders, and other mon^ti^- 
 chical supporters. In this instance the regula- 
 tions of the present charter do not appear well- 
 judged, nor likely to promote the ohjeSt a^t 
 which its framers undoubtedly aimed— the i^e- 
 establishnreht of legitimate authority on a ^m. 
 basis, and the imposition of a salutary cttA 
 on the rampant spirit of republicanism. 
 
 z2 
 
340 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Neither was it well done to provoke, in any 
 way, a body unfortunately swaying the minds 
 of the people with power more despotic than 
 the most absolute sovereignty could exercise 
 over their persons. By No. 4. of Art. 65. the 
 privilege of electing, or of being elected, is 
 withheld from the religious orders, and all 
 others living in cloisters — a disqualification 
 not only impolitic but really unjust. For, 
 although we usually regard these fraternities 
 as belonging to institutions exclusively spi- 
 ritual, and altogether distinct from the laity, 
 yet, in Portugal the monks are more con- 
 versant in temporal affairs, and have a greater 
 interest at stake in them, than almost any 
 other class of persons. They are landholders 
 and agriculturists to a vast extent, and pos- 
 sessed of immense property, which, by ac- 
 knowledged skill and perseverance in wield- 
 ing their ample means of improvement, they 
 have rendered the most valuable in the coun- 
 try. They cannot, therefore, but be looked 
 upon as proprietors peculiarly liable to be 
 affected by those measures which it is the 
 province of the deputies to discuss and de- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 341 
 
 cree ; and as such, manifestly entitled to join 
 in their election. No tax upon property in 
 general can be levied that will not bear upon 
 the estates of these conventual societies, 
 whose exclusion is really a grievance, un- 
 wisely inflicted on men who are not accus- 
 tomed to regard lightly any infringement of 
 their privileges. 
 
 To give this numerous and powerful body 
 any reasonable ground of complaint, was 
 wrong, especially in an early stage of the 
 great political change ; and much more so to 
 exasperate them at its very commencement, 
 with the assurance of their not being allowed 
 a single voice in the chambers, favorable to 
 their interests, or approved by themselves. 
 Disabled from contributing to the election of 
 deputies, what encouragement have they to 
 expect, in legislative deliberations, any atten- 
 tion to their wishes, or watchful regard for 
 their advantage ? The prospect is calculated 
 to awaken feelings decidedly opposed to the 
 new order of things ; and tending to the ex- 
 citement of a dangerous spirit through those 
 powerful engines, the pulpit and the con- 
 
342 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 fessioi^al. Accordingly, we find that these 
 places haye been made the point friOm ss^hich 
 to attack the new constitutional system, as 
 incompatible with the dignity and prosperity 
 of an order that none can offend witl^ i?iip^- 
 nity, in a country so entirely subservient to 
 the church of Rome. 
 
 Besides the great and substantial acces- 
 sipn of power granted to the king, or rather 
 the restoration of a prerogative most ]jnjustly 
 rent away by the former code, the present 
 charter displays the important feature of an 
 additional branch to the legislature, in the 
 formation of an upper chamber as part of the 
 natipi^al jGortes. When the revolution of 
 1820 took place, numerous plebeians, of libe- 
 ral sentiments, advocated the adoption of 
 such a measure ; and at one period it was 
 confidently expected that the constitution of 
 England would be chosen in preference to 
 that pf Spain. Many good reaspns were 
 advanced in favor of this arrangement, but 
 it does not appear that the Cortes generally 
 entertained such a purpose. Indeed, they 
 plainly saw that, in proportion to tjie exalta- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 343 
 
 tion of the nobility, their own assumed dig- 
 nity must suffer diminution ; and therefore, 
 in perfect consistency with their usual selfish, 
 narrow-minded policy, they not only excluded 
 the nobles of Portugal from a share in her 
 legislation, on the plea of their degraded 
 state, but used it as a plausible pretext for 
 wresting from them, individually, those pri- 
 vileges, and that patronage, which they held 
 as indisputable hereditary rights. Every spe- 
 cies of insult and mortification was brought 
 to bear against those who had, in an unac- 
 countable degree, commanded the public ve- 
 neration; they were assiduously exposed to 
 general contempt and ridicule, on the grounds 
 of imbecility and ignorance, which doubtless 
 existed pretty generally among them, but had 
 hitherto presented Tio bar to the homage habi- 
 tually tendered to the advantages of birth, 
 rank, and opulence. 
 
 If the frajners of that constitution had 
 really desired to pron^qte the welfare of their 
 country, and adorn her with the distinctions 
 of honourable aggrandisement, they would 
 surely not have selected the most conspicuous 
 
344 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 and responsible class of her sons as objects 
 of contumely and derision. They would ra- 
 ther have placed before them some stimulus 
 calculated to arouse the spirit of fair emula- 
 tion, some object for generous ambition to 
 grasp at ; and by decidedly elevating the 
 tone of their feeling, would have led the in- 
 ferior gradations of society to pursue, in the 
 same promising path, the footsteps of those 
 whom they were naturally disposed to follow. 
 That nothing could be farther removed from 
 the minds of these popular legislators than 
 the liberality whose name they ostentatiously 
 assumed as the watchword of their party, we 
 have here a decisive proof. Let us hope that 
 the present arrangement will produce this 
 desirable effect on the nobility, and be fol- 
 lowed by results generally beneficial. 
 
 The upper chamber is established on a 
 principle very similar to that adopted in the 
 formation of our house of lords. In a former 
 part of this work, I have taken occasion to 
 remark on the sound policy of opening this 
 source of mental improvement to the nobility, 
 who will speedily regain the ascendancy na- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 345 
 
 turally belonging to a party numerically 
 strong, and possessed of hereditary claims on 
 public respect. Nor has there been less 
 wisdom in conciliating the heads of the 
 church, by investing them with increase of 
 temporal dignity, by calling forth the latent 
 powers of minds often remarkably vigorous, 
 and by enabling them to secure to themselves 
 a gratifying share in civil legislation. This 
 is surely preferable, for them and for their 
 country, to that secret influence which, 
 under a despotic government, was usually 
 held, in an enormous degree of unrivalled 
 authority, by some individual monk, obscure, 
 probably, and uneducated, and turning solely 
 to the advancement of his private interests, 
 the unlimited worldly advantages belonging 
 to his spiritual office of father confessor to 
 the monarch. 
 
 To what a deplorable extent the exercise 
 of these functions may operate in ruining 
 nations, through the superstitious weakness 
 of an absolute sovereign, history furnishes 
 abundant proofs ; and where the Roman Ca- 
 tholic religion prevails, both among princes 
 
346 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 and people, that is the most judicious regula- 
 tion, which places the power that cannot be 
 denied to the church, in the hands of a 
 numerous body, enjoying the advantages of 
 superior education, and brought into daily 
 collision with the most enlightened political 
 characters of their country :-r-men whose de- 
 liberations are public, and upon whose every 
 movement is kept the watchful eye of a 
 people, beginning to feel thei|- own compe- 
 tency to enquire into affairs transacted in 
 their name, and for their benefit. 
 
 Under the democratic form of legislation, 
 the prelates not only found themselves and 
 their church insultingly excluded from all 
 participation in temporal affairs, but their 
 property was reduced, and their persons 
 were rendered contemptible, as fai* as poli- 
 tical slights could affect them. A system the 
 reverse of this cannot fail of winning their 
 support ; and while expecting advancement 
 in honours and dignity, according to their fair 
 claims upon the royal and national confi- 
 dence, they will aspire to excel ii^ solid learn- 
 ing and real liberality, and be ambitious to 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 347 
 
 distinguish themselves in attachijaerit to the 
 existing government. As \fitji tj^e l^^ity, so 
 in the ejcelesiastical body, improvement, 
 rapidly spreading in the higher orders, will 
 extend over the lowest scale; and thus we 
 may regard, as through a vista, the perhaps 
 remote, but certainly consequent, dethrone- 
 ment of dark and disgraceful bigotry, with 
 tjxe ,dawn of valuable knowledge throughout 
 the nation at large. 
 
 The immediate fruits of placing the four 
 §,rchbishops and thirteen bishops in the upper 
 chamber, will be to gain over with themselye§ 
 that part of the clergy dependant on them for 
 advancement ; and to check the intrigues of 
 others against a government in whose com- 
 position such ingredients are freely admitted. 
 At the same time, also, the assertions which 
 represent the charter as an attack upon reli- 
 gion will be more sparingly advanced, more 
 cautiously received, as time developes the 
 advantages conferred on its most distin- 
 guished ministers by this their admission to 
 a station in civil government. For, as a 
 body, all legislative voice had been hitherto 
 
348 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 denied them, as well under the old regime as 
 in the modern innovations on real legitimate 
 authority, which crept in with the sound prin- 
 ciples of rational reform. 
 
 It appears, therefore, on a comparison of 
 the two codes, in their most prominent fea- 
 tures, that while the object of the first was to 
 institute a government, as far as possible 
 removed from even the moderated interference 
 of a sovereign, hereotfore absolute; to degrade 
 the hereditary nobility of the land from their 
 exaltation in the sight of the people; and to 
 make the national church, not only a spoil, 
 but a scorn to those whose principles taught 
 them to consider it as the sanctuary of divine 
 power; the purport of the new charter is to 
 cement, in firm union, the various talents and 
 interests of these several estates, under such 
 modifications as shall conciliate and guard 
 the young spirit of popular liberty. Indivi- 
 dual discontent, or the murmurs of particular 
 classes, whose expectations are not fully 
 realized, may cause a dissentient voice to be 
 heard ; but unless the Portuguese nation be 
 inconceivably infatuated, such dissatisfaction 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 349 
 
 can never become either general or perma- 
 nent, while this charter is consistently acted 
 upon, and adhered to. 
 
 Excepting in the exclusion of religious 
 societies from the rights of election, which I 
 have already commented upon, no real griev- 
 ance can be pointed out, as imposed on the 
 people by this constitution. The monarch, 
 the aristocracy, the dignified clergy, can no 
 more hesitate in preferring it, than they can 
 pause on a choice between shame and honour, 
 insult and respect. The race of country 
 gentlemen and merchants, brought into fami- 
 liar contact with their acknowledged supe- 
 riors, will enjoy a complacency in such eleva- 
 tion, far more congenial to their national, and, 
 I may add, natural feelings, than the feverish 
 heat of insolent pride, trampling under foot 
 all that they have been taught to deem high, 
 and honourable, and sacred. The lower 
 classes will speedily become more alive to the 
 legislative proceedings of those men, whom 
 their own free choice has delegated to sit in 
 consultation on their interests; and all par- 
 ties, acting as a wholesome check on each 
 
350 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 othef, the balance, once adjusted, may be 
 preserved by their steady adherence to the 
 arrangements that effected the counterpoise. 
 
 By no other means can Portugal attain 
 respectability, or even preserve tolerable tran- 
 quillity. Ring, nobles, and democratic en- 
 thusiasts have taken their alternate course, 
 each, in succession, lording it over the other 
 two : with what effect, let the convulsions 
 Ihat pent the country under the regency, 
 cO^tes, and absolute monarchy, declare. In all 
 these struggles for power at the head of 
 affairs, the people have invariably been the 
 victims ; and if called on to pmnt out the very 
 climax of their miseries, it would be difficult 
 to avoid fixing it at the period when, under 
 the specious name of a popular government, 
 they wete oppressed by those who assumed 
 to \fage eternal war against oppression. 
 
 Under the present constitution, summon- 
 ing, as it does, to its support, the rank, wealth, 
 J)roperty, talent, influence, and, even in part, 
 the bigotry of Portuga;!, the best results may 
 be anticipated ; unless we conceive the most 
 wilful mal-administration and perversion of 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 351 
 
 its laws, or the baneful admission of foreign 
 interference against it. These things not cal- 
 culated upon, we may consider the charter 
 of 1826 as firmly established, and in due 
 operation. But there remains for decision 
 one inaterial point, on which mainly depend 
 the internal quiet and repose of the country. 
 I allude to the placing of Don Miguel to exer- 
 cise the regency, when the period shall arrive 
 for his assuming the office, as clearly fixed by 
 Article 92. of this charter. Little notice 
 publicly appears to be taken of the near 
 approach of that period, atnd the demand 
 which he will then be entitled to make ; but 
 among his own party, it is contemplated with 
 eaget expectation, and a full understanding 
 of the difficulty in which the goveriiinent will 
 be involved, if attempting to contravene a 
 conspicuous part of that code, by the institu- 
 tion of which it exists, in its present form. 
 
 The charter, once violated, will be repre- 
 sented as holding oiit no security to any class, 
 or to the country : if Don Miguel's rights be 
 A6w overruled, those of the people may next 
 be trampled oil. At least, so will his parti- 
 
352 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 zans assert ; and strengthening their already 
 preponderating influence with every other 
 description of discontents, all may unite in 
 assailing vigorously the constitution that 
 offends some by its establishment, others by 
 its violation. With the charter will, in all 
 probability, fall the government consolidated 
 under it, leaving the field of political power 
 once more open to the fierce and sanguinary 
 contests of parties, animated no less by 
 hostility against each other, than by the 
 grasping desires of avarice and ambition. 
 
 The path is clear before the government : 
 if they desire from the people a ready sub- 
 mission to the decrees of the charter, they 
 must themselves set the example, by faith- 
 fully observing its enactments, and giving 
 full effect to all that concerns the prosperity 
 of the country. The liberty of the press 
 must be fairly established and guaranteed, 
 according to Article 145, paragraph 3. On 
 the very first promulgation of the charter, a 
 censorship was appointed, in direct contra- 
 diction to this clause : perhaps such a step 
 was unavoidable, to check the greater evils 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 353 
 
 consequent on the first outbreaking of violent 
 opinions, so long withheld from expressing 
 themselves. But, instead of continuing to 
 impose an unconstitutional restraint, why not 
 expedite the passing of such laws as may 
 secure individual character from the attacks 
 of which a free press is too often made the 
 vehicle, and visit with signal punishment 
 those libellous spirits that we meet with in 
 every country, only awaiting a safe oppor- 
 tunity to vent their malignant effusions ? Let 
 them be punished in a measure proportionate 
 not only to the injury inflicted on another, 
 but, also, to the crime of using that as a 
 medium of private wrong, which is placed as 
 the best bulwark of public rights. The in- 
 adequacy of the laws on libel, under the con- 
 stitution of 1822, to curb the mischief which 
 they were framed to suppress, rendered the 
 freedom of the press, in Portugal, a calamity 
 and a disgrace. This matter calls for early 
 and serious attention ; as nothing can be 
 more detrimental to the popularity of the 
 charter, than allowing its most beneficial 
 enactments to remain as a dead letter. 
 
 A A 
 
864 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Among these enactments stands one of 
 very high importance, which cannot be too 
 soon or too fully acted up to by the legisla- 
 ture : — that which regards the individual 
 liberty of the subject. Although authority is 
 given, by Article 145, paragraph 34, to sus- 
 pend the operation of this great national 
 blessing, under particular circumstances, the 
 government should be extremely cautious in 
 availing itself of such exception. While our 
 army continues in the country, no general 
 suspension of the protecting act can be ne- 
 cessary. Their presence will be too effectual 
 a restraint on the impulse of popular feeling ; 
 and by persisting in such coercive measures, 
 the government would afford grounds for 
 suspicion, that some illegal designs of their 
 own call for its aid. The extreme jealousy 
 with which the slightest infringement of Our 
 national charter is regarded among us, ope- 
 rates powerfully for the preservation of our 
 liberties ; and the same scrupulous caution is 
 desirable in all other lands which have a con- 
 stitution to uphold. 
 
 It is lamentable, that an entire session of 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 355 
 
 the Cortes should have terminated with 
 scarcely any progress attempted in the work 
 of amelioration and improvement. By a 
 similar tardiness, the Cortes of 1820 created 
 against itself the innumerable enemies who 
 soon effected its downfal ; yet, with this 
 warning before their eyes, the Cortes of 1826 
 have done just as little as their predecessors 
 effected during a corresponding period. On 
 referring to Article 118. of the present charter, 
 we find the trial by jury forms a principal 
 feature in the legal code. Until the public 
 are permitted to feel the advantages of this 
 inestimable institution, due justice will never 
 be done to its merits. Nor will the govern- 
 ment otherwise be able, in any degree, to 
 disarm of their formidable power, the terri- 
 torial magistrates, from whose local influence 
 they have much to fear. It is miserable 
 policy to withhold, for a day, what will render 
 the charter so universally popular, as that 
 provision undoubtedly must, which secures 
 to every man a verdict according to the dic- 
 tates of impartial justice, leaving him no 
 longer dependent on the sentence of an in- 
 AA 2 
 
356 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 dividual, whose judgment is influenced by 
 the extent of his bribe. 
 
 Litigation, that ruinous bane of society, 
 is no where more prevalent than in Portugal. 
 Each party enters into it, calculating on his 
 own power of bribery, as exceeding that of 
 his adversary. The trial by jury, a practical 
 reform in the magistracy, and the establish- 
 ment of arbitrators, in pursuance of Article 
 129, will check this fatal propensity, and 
 render the most litigious spirit cautious of 
 adventuring. 
 
 By Article 140. it is provided, that any 
 errors discovered in the charter may be cor- 
 rected at the end of four years. This may 
 threaten to be the signal for fierce altercations 
 in the Cortes: but when we consider what 
 are the various objects naturally attracting 
 the different branches of the executive and 
 legislative powers, the danger becomes slight. 
 In the chamber of deputies we may antici- 
 pate some efforts to increase the force of those 
 parts of the charter which concern public 
 liberty. They will desire greater latitude, 
 and advocate national freedom. The upper 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 357 
 
 chamber will look to their particular privi- 
 leges, and labour to place the aristocracy in a 
 more ascendant position than it has occupied 
 since the rude shock sustained from repub- 
 lican attempts : while the king, or his repre- 
 sentative, will keep a jealous guard on mo- 
 narchical rights, and the conveniences which 
 their maintenance ensures to the occupant of 
 a regal seat. 
 
 There is little prospect, then, of the three 
 estates concurring in any infringement on the 
 established constitution ; and in this too, the 
 advantages of such balance must be duly 
 appreciated by all who calculate on political 
 probabilities. It is true that an excess of 
 eagerness, in pursuing their respective inte- 
 rests, may embroil the government, so far as 
 to aid in bringing on a great national con- 
 vulsion, should the public mind likewise be 
 in a state of irritation ; but by a judicious 
 choice of ministers, moderate in principle, 
 and honourable in action, this danger will 
 be considerably diminished. The recent re- 
 turn to his official duties of the gallant minis- 
 ter of war, may be hailed as promising a 
 
3fi8 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 beneficial change of measures in the present 
 administration of Portugal. The high cha- 
 racter, and sterling worth, of general Sal- 
 danha, are well known. We must hope that 
 his honest intentions will prevail against all 
 the intrigue that his coadjutors may put in 
 practice to thwart them. The imminent peril 
 into which public tranquillity was brought by 
 the regent's alarming illness, renders his re- 
 sumption of the portfolio at this time a matter 
 of peculiar satisfaction. 
 
 The late measure of marching a part of 
 our army into Lisbon, although obviously 
 necessary, is still a cause for deep regret. 
 Foreign treachery, by keeping the Portuguese 
 army in the most inefficient state, has obliged 
 the English troops to assume an office far 
 removed from the ostensible object of their 
 equipment ; and until the native force is pro- 
 perly re-organized, we must expect that they 
 will often be called on to prevent those in- 
 ternal distractions which, in a country situated 
 like Portugal, and destitute of civil police, 
 require an imposing military array to check 
 tlieir ebullitions. It rests with the war mi- 
 
STATE OF PORTUGAL. 359 
 
 nister to adopt decisive measures for placing 
 tjhie ^rmy under his management (wa an efii-r 
 cient footing. No man in the country is so 
 competent to that task as general Saldanha, 
 who unites to a high degree of deserved popu- 
 larity a character remarkable for ability, 
 energy, and perseverance. But to form a 
 new army will be impracticable unless the 
 country continue to be occupied by foreigft 
 soldiers. Should the British force be with- 
 drawn before such re-modelling can take 
 place, it becomes our duty to recommend 
 the employment of mercenary troops, the cost 
 of whose services may not be much greater 
 to Portugal than her share of our present 
 expenses, while rendering her the aid, which, 
 if it be recalled without such precaution, will 
 prove to have been far from beneficial. The 
 sudden return of Pamplona to Portugal, at 
 this juncture, is calculated to excite serious 
 alarm. Whatever be the designs of this 
 intriguing man against his country, expe- 
 rience must have taught all parties the ne- 
 cessity of universally shunning both him 
 and his counsels. 
 
360 STATE OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 But of any violent convulsion there is little 
 danger, until Spain shall have shaken off the 
 trammels that now bind her, and plunge again 
 into anarchy in escaping from despotism. 
 Such an event will be fraught with imminent 
 peril to the sister kingdom, affected as she 
 always has been by the movements of the 
 neighbouring machine ; and the best bulwark 
 that the art of man can raise against the 
 incursion of destructive principles, or the con- 
 tagion of pernicious example, will be found 
 in the charter of 1826, if in the interim it be 
 firmly established, and its institutions fairly 
 acted up to by a wise and temperate govern- 
 ment. Let us hope that such a government 
 will have sufficient patriotism to bury their 
 own private animosities in oblivion, and sa- 
 crifice the gratification of narrow, selfish feel- 
 ing, to the noble object of an united, perma- 
 nent, effort for the peace and prosperity of 
 the nation committed to their charge. 
 
 / 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 TRANSLATION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL 
 CHARTER OF PORTUGAL— 1826. 
 
 Don Pedro by the grace of God, king of Portugal, of the 
 Algarves, &c. I make known to all my Portuguese subjects 
 that I am pleased to decree, give, and order immediately to 
 be sworn to, by the three orders of the state, the constitu- 
 tional charter, below transcribed, which shall, from this time 
 forward, govern these my kingdoms and dominions, and 
 which is of the following tenor. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL CHARTER, 
 
 FOR THE KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL, ALGARVE, AND THEIR 
 DOMINIONS. 
 
 TITLE I. 
 
 Of the Kingdom of Portugal^ its Territory, Government, 
 Dynasty J and Religion. 
 
 Art. 1. The kingdom of Portugal is the political asso- 
 ciation of all Portuguese citizens. They form a free and 
 independent nation. 
 
 Art. 2. Its territory comprizes the kingdom of Portugal 
 and Algarve, and includes: — I. In Europe, the kingdom of 
 
364 APPENDIX. 
 
 Portugal, which contains the provinces of Minho, Tras-os- 
 monies, Beira, Estremadura, Alemtejo, and the kingdom of 
 Algarve, and the adjacent islands of Madeira, Porto Santo, 
 and A9ores. — 2. In Western Africa, Bissau, and Cacheu ; 
 on the coast of Mina, the fort of S. Joao Baptista de Ajuda, 
 Angola, Benguella, and its dependencies, Cabinda, and Mo- 
 lembo, the islands of Cabo Verde, and those of S. Thome 
 and. Principe, and their dependencies; on the Eastern Coast, 
 Mo9ambique, Rio de Senna, Sofalla, Inhambane, Quelamane, 
 and the islands of Cabo Delgado. — 3. In Asia, Salsete, 
 Bardez, Goa, Damao, Diu, and the settlement of Macao, and 
 of the islands of Solor, and Timor. 
 
 Art. 3. The nation does not renounce the right which 
 it may possess to any other portion of territory in these three 
 parts of the world, not included in the foregoing article. 
 
 Art. 4. Its government is monarchical, hereditary, and 
 representative. 
 
 Art. 5. The reigning dynasty of the most serene house 
 of Braganza is continued in the person of the princess Donna 
 Maria de Gloria, by the abdication and cession of her august 
 father, Don Pedro I. emperor of Brazil, legitimate heir and 
 successor to Don John VI. 
 
 Art. 6. The Roman Catholic apostolic religion will con- 
 tinue to be that of the kingdom. All other religions will be 
 permitted to foreigners, in their domestic or private worship, 
 in houses destined for this purpose, but without any exterior 
 appearance of temple. 
 
 TITLE II. 
 
 Of Portuguese Citizens. 
 
 Art. 7. Those are Portuguese citizens: — 1. who were 
 born in Portugal or its dominions, and who are not now 
 Brazilian citizens, although the father may be a foreigner 
 
APPENDIX. 365 
 
 except when his residence is in the service of his own 
 country. — 2. The children of a Portuguese father, and the 
 illegitimate offspring of a Portuguese mother, born in a 
 foreign country, but who have established their home in the 
 kingdom ; — 3. The children of a Portuguese father, who 
 might have been in a foreign country in the service of the 
 kingdom, although they may not establish their home in the 
 kingdom. — 4. Naturalized foreigners, whatever may be their 
 religion; a law will determine the qualifications necessary to 
 obtaining letters of naturalization. ''^ 
 
 Art. 8. Those forfeit the rights of Portuguese citizens :— 
 1. Who naturalize themselves in a foreign country. — 2. Who, 
 without the king's permission, accept employment, pension, 
 or decoration, from any foreign government. — 3. Who may 
 be sentenced to banishment. 
 
 Art. 9. The enjoyment of public rights is suspended : — 
 1. for moral or physical incapacity, — 2. for sentence con- 
 demning to imprisonment, or banishment during its ope- 
 ration. 
 
 TITLE III. 
 
 Of National Representation , and Authorities. 
 
 Art. 10. On the division and harmony of the political 
 powers chiefly depends the preservation of the rights of the 
 citizen; furnishing the most secure means for rendering 
 effectual those guarantees which the constitution offers. 
 
 Art. 1 1 . The political powers recognized by the constitu- 
 tion of the kingdom of Portugal, are four; the legislative 
 power, the moderating power, the executive power, and the 
 judicial power. 
 
 Art. 12. The representatives of the Portuguese nation 
 are, the king, and the general Cortes. 
 
366 APPENDIX. 
 
 TITLE IV. 
 
 OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Of the Branches of the Legislative Power, and its Attributes. 
 
 Art. 13. The legislative power belongs to the Cortes, 
 with the sanction of the king. 
 
 Art. 14. The Cortes are composed of two chambers ; the 
 chamber of peers, and the chamber of deputies. 
 
 Art. 15. The attributes of the Cortes are; — 1. To take 
 the oaths of the king, prince royal, regent, or regency. — 
 2. To elect the regent or regency, and mark the limits of 
 their authority. — 3. To recognize the prince royal, as suc- 
 cessor to the throne, in the first meeting immediately after 
 his birth. — 4. To nominate the king's tutor in his minority, 
 in case such nomination should not have been made in his 
 father's will. — 5. On the death of the king, or a vacancy 
 occurring in the throne, to institute enquiry into the late 
 administration, and reform the abuses that have been intro- 
 duced. — 6. To make laws, interpret them, suspend, and re- 
 voke them. — 7. To watch over the constitution, and promote 
 the general welfare of the nation. — 8. Annually to fix the 
 public expenditure, and divide the direct contributions. — 
 9. To concede or deny to foreign forces, whether of land or 
 sea, an entrance into the kingdom, or its ports. — 10. To fix, 
 annually, upon the information of the government, the amount 
 of land and sea forces, ordinary as well as extraordinary. — 
 II. To authorize the government to contract loans. — 12. To 
 establish convenient means for the liquidation of the public 
 debt. — 13. To regulate the administration of the property 
 of the state, and decree its alienation.— 14. To create or 
 
APPENDIX. 367 
 
 suppress public employments, and establish salaries.- — 1 5. To 
 determine the weight, value, inscription, type, and deno- 
 mination of coins ; as also the pattern of weights and 
 measures. 
 
 Art. 16. The chamber of peers shall bear the appellation 
 of Worthy peers of the kingdom ; and the deputies that of 
 Gentlemen deputies of the Portuguese nation. 
 
 Art. 17. Four years will be the duration of each legis- 
 lative assembly, and that of each annual session three 
 months. 
 
 Art. 18. The opening of the royal session shall take 
 place yearly, on 2d of January. 
 
 Art. 19. The session of closing shall also be royal; this, 
 as well as the opening, shall be performed in general Cortes, 
 both the chambers being united, the peers occupying the 
 right, and the deputies the left. 
 
 Art. 20. Its ceremonial, and that of the communication 
 of the king, will be according to the interior regulations. 
 
 Art. 21. The nomination of the president and vice-pre- 
 sident of the chamber of peers, belongs to the king : those 
 of the chamber of deputies shall be chosen from among five, 
 proposed by the same chamber. The nomination of the 
 secretaries of both chambers, the verification of the powers 
 of its members, the oath, and internal arrangement, will be 
 executed according to their respective regulations. 
 
 Art. 22. On the union of the two chambers, the pre- 
 sident of the peers will direct the business ; the peers and 
 deputies will take their places as in the opening of the 
 Cortes. 
 
 Art. 23. The sessions of each chamber shall be published, 
 ^cept in those cases where the welfare of the state requires 
 that they be kept secret. 
 
 Art. 24. The resolutions adopted shall be according to the 
 absolute majority of votes of the members present. 
 
368 APPENDIX. 
 
 Art. 25. The members of each chamber are inviolable 
 for the opinions which they may profess, in the exercise of 
 their functions. 
 
 Art. 26. No peer, or deputy during his deputation, can 
 be arrested by any authority, except by order of his respec- 
 tive chamber : unless in flagrante delicto of capital punish- 
 ment. 
 
 Art. 27. If any peer, or deputy, be accused, the judge, 
 suspending all farther proceedings, will inform his respective 
 chamber : which will decide if the process ought to continue, 
 and the member to be suspended, or not, from the exercise of 
 his functions. 
 
 Art. 28. Peers and deputies may be nominated to the 
 offices of consellors and ministers of state ; with this differ- 
 ence, that the peers retain their seats in the chamber, but 
 the deputy vacates his, and a new election takes place, in 
 which he may be re-elected, and unite both functions. 
 
 Art. 29. Those who exercise either of these offices at the 
 period of their election, may also unite the two functions. 
 
 Art. 30. It is impossible to be, at the same time, a mem- 
 ber of both chambers. 
 
 Art. 31. The exercise of any employment, excepting 
 those of counsellor and minister of state, entirely ceases 
 while the functions of peer, or deputy, continue. 
 
 Art. 32. In the interval of the sessions, the king cannot 
 employ a deputy out of the kingdom : nor shall a deputy go 
 to exercise his employment, when it would prevent his joining 
 in time for the convocation of the ordinary or extraordinary 
 general Cortes. 
 
 Art. 33. If, for any unforeseen cause, on which depends 
 the public security, or the welfare of the state, it should be 
 indispensable that a deputy be appointed to another com- 
 mission, the respective chamber will determine concerning it. 
 
APPENDIX. 369 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Of the Chamber of Deputies, 
 
 Art. 34. The chamber of deputies is elective and tem- 
 porary. 
 
 Art. 35. To the chamber of deputies belongs exclusively 
 the right of bringing in bills: — 1. for levying taxes — 2. for 
 conscriptions. 
 
 Art. 36. In the chamber of deputies will also originate : — 
 1. the examination of the late administration, and the re- 
 form of abuses introduced into it : — 2. the discussion of the 
 proposal made by the executive power. 
 
 Art. 37. It is the exclusive attribute of the same cham- 
 ber to decree that there exist grounds for the accusation of 
 the ministers and counsellors of state. 
 
 Art. 38. The deputies, during the session, v/ill earn a 
 pecuniary subsidy, as fixed at the end of the last session of 
 the preceding legislature. Besides this, there will be given 
 them an indemnification for their expenses in coming and 
 returning. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of the Chamber of Peers. 
 
 Art. 39. The chamber of peers is composed of members 
 for life, and hereditary, nominated by the king, and unlimited 
 in number. 
 
 Art. 40. The prince-royal^ and the infantes, are peers by 
 right, and shall obtain seats in the chamber as soon as they 
 arrive at the age of twenty-five years. 
 
 Art. 41. It is the exclusive attribute of the chamber of 
 
 B B 
 
370 APPENDIX 
 
 peers: — 1. To take cognizance of the individual crimes com- 
 mitted by members of the royal family, ministers of state, 
 counsellors of state and peers ; and of crimes of the deputies 
 during the period of legislation. — 2. To take cognizance of 
 the responsibility of the secretaries and counsellors of state. 
 -^3. To convoke the Cortes on the death of the king, for 
 the election of the regency, in those cases where it is rer 
 quired, when the provisional regency does not perform it. 
 
 Art. 42. In the trial for those crimes where accusation 
 does not belong to the chamber of deputies, the king's at- 
 torney general will become the accuser. 
 
 Art. 43. The sessions of the chamber of peers commence 
 and finish at the same time with those of the chamber of 
 deputies. 
 
 Art. 44, All assembling of the chamber of peers, except 
 during the sessions of the deputies, is illegal and null, sav- 
 ing in those cases which are pointed out by the constitution. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of the Proposal, Discussion, Sanction, and Promulgation of 
 the Laws. 
 
 Art. 45. It belongs to each chamber to propose, oppose, 
 and approve of the projects of laws. 
 
 Art. 46. In the formation of laws, the executive can 
 exercise, by any of the ministers of state, the right of propo- 
 sition which belongs to it : but it is only after having been 
 examined by a committee of the chambers, where it ought to 
 originate, that such proposition can be converted into a project 
 of law. 
 
 Art. 47. The ministers may assist in discussing the pro^ 
 position, after the report of the committee: but they can 
 
APPENDIX. * 371 
 
 neither vote, nor be present at the voting, unless they be 
 peers or deputies. 
 
 Art. 48. Should the chamber of deputies adopt the pro- 
 ject, they will transmit it to that of the peers, with the fol- 
 lowing form : — r" The chamber of deputies sends to the cham- 
 ber of peers the annexed proposition of the executive 
 power, (with, or without amendments,) and thinks that it 
 should be carried into effect." 
 
 Art. 49. If the proposition cannot be adopted, a deputa- 
 tion of seven members will inform the king of it, in the fol- 
 lowing manner : — " The chamber of deputies testifies to the 
 king its acknowledgement of the zeal shewn in watching 
 over the interests of the kingdom, and respectfully solicits 
 that he will be pleased to take into ulterior consideration the 
 proposition of the government." 
 
 Art. 50, In general, the propositions which the chamber 
 of deputies admit and approve, shall be transmitted to the 
 chamber of peers, with the following form : — " The chamber 
 of deputies sends to the chamber of peers the annexed pro- 
 position ; and thinks there is reason to ask the king for his 
 sanction." 
 
 Art. 51. If, however, the chamber of peers should not 
 entirely adopt the project of the chamber of deputies, but 
 have altered or added to it, it will be returned in the following 
 manner : — " The chamber of peers sends to the chamber of 
 deputies their proposition, (naming it,) with the amendments, 
 or additions, annexed: and thinks that, with them, that 
 there is reason to ask the king for the royal sanction.'' 
 
 Art. 52. If the chamber of peers, after having deli- 
 berated, shall judge that the proposition, or project, cannot 
 be admitted, they will announce it in the following terms : — 
 " The chamber of peers returns to the chamber of deputies 
 the proposition, (naming it,) to which it has not been able to 
 give its consent." 
 
 BB 2 
 
372 APPENDIX. 
 
 Art. 53. When the project originates with the chamber 
 of peers, that of the deputies will follow the same routine. 
 
 Art. 54. Should the chamber of deputies not approve of 
 the amendments or additions of the peers, or vice versa, and 
 should the project still appear advantageous to that chamber 
 which rejected it, a committee, composed of equal numbers 
 of peers and deputies, will be nominated ; and according to 
 their decision, the project of law shall be established or re- 
 jected. 
 
 Art. 55. If either of the two chambers, when the dis- 
 cussion is concluded, should entirely adopt the project which 
 the other chamber sent, it shall be reduced to a decree ; and 
 after being read in session, it will be directed to the king, 
 in two autographs, signed by the president and two secreta- 
 ries, asking his sanction thus : — " The general Cortes submit 
 to the king the enclosed decree ; which they consider advan- 
 tageous and useful to the kingdom: and request that his 
 majesty will be pleased to give it his sanction." 
 
 Art. 56. This transmission shall be made by a deputation 
 of seven members, sent by the last deliberating chamber, 
 which will, at the same time, inform the other chamber in 
 which the project originated, that they have adopted their 
 proposition relative to such an object ; and have directed it to 
 the king, asking him to sanction it. 
 
 Art. 57. Should the king refuse his consent, he will 
 answer in the following terms :— " The king wishes to meditate 
 upon the project of law, to resolve upon it in his own time." 
 To which the chamber will reply, — " That it thanks his ma- 
 jesty for the concern which he takes for the nation." 
 
 Art. 58. This denial is absolutely decisive. 
 Art. 59. The king will either give or refuse his sanction 
 to each decree within one month after it has been presented to 
 him. 
 
 Art. 60. Should the king adopt the project of the general 
 
APPENDIX. 373 
 
 Cortes, he will thus express himself: — " The king consents." 
 —With this it is sanctioned, and ready to be promulgated as 
 a law of the kingdom ; and one of the two autographs, after 
 being signed by the king, will be transmitted to the archives 
 of the chamber which sent it ; and the other will serve for 
 the respective secretary of state to promulgate the law from : 
 after which it will be lodged in the national archives. 
 
 Art. 61. The form of promulgating the law shall be 
 
 couched in the following terms : — " Don , by the grace of 
 
 God, king of Portugal, Algarve, &c. We make known to 
 all our subjects that the general Cortes decree, and we will, 
 the following law, (copy of the law). Therefore, we order 
 all authorities, to whom belong the knowledge and execution 
 of the said law, that they obey, and cause to be obeyed, and 
 keep it as entirely as is therein contained : the secretary of 
 state for the affairs of (the competent department) will have 
 it printed, published, and distributed." 
 
 Art. 62. The law being signed by the king, and by the 
 competent secretary of state, and sealed with the royal signet, 
 the original will be kept in the archives of the kingdom, and 
 printed copies of it will be sent to all the corporations, tri- 
 bunals, and other places throughout the kingdom where it 
 should be made public. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Of the Elections. 
 
 Art 63. The nomination of deputies for the general 
 Cortes, shall be made by indirect elections ; the mass of the 
 active citizens electing, in parochial assemblies, the electors of 
 the province ; and these the representatives of the nation. 
 
 Art. 64. Those who can vote in these primary elections, 
 are- — 1. Portuguese citizens, who are in possession of their 
 political rights. — 2. Naturalized foreigners. 
 
374 APPENDIX. 
 
 Art. 65. — Those excluded from voting in the parochial as- 
 semblies are — 1. Minors, under twenty-five years of age, 
 amongst whom, however, are not included married men, and 
 military officers, who are above twenty-one years of age, 
 bachelors of arts, and clergy in holy orders. — 2. Sons of 
 families who are living- with their parents, unless they hold 
 public offices. — 3. Servants, to which class do not belong 
 book-keepers, or head clerks of commercial houses, the ser- 
 vants of the royal palace that do not wear white lace, or the 
 administrators of country estates and manufactories. — 4. Re- 
 ligious oirders, and all that live in cloisteral community. — 
 5. Those who have not a clear annual income of a hundred 
 mil-reis, proceeding from estates, industry, commerce, or em- 
 ployment. 
 
 Art, 66, — Those who are not eligible to vote in the 
 primary parochial assemblies, cannot be members, nor vote 
 in the nomination of any elective national authority. 
 
 Art. 67. All can be electors, and vote in the election of 
 deputies, who have votes in the parochial assemblies ; except, 
 —1. Those who have not an annual clear rent of two hundred 
 mil-reis in estates, industry, commerce, or employment. — 
 2. Enfranchised slaves. — 3. Condemned criminals. 
 
 Art. 68. All those who can be electors, are competent to 
 be nominated deputies, excepting: — 1. Those who have not 
 four hundred mil-reis clear rent, according to articles 65 and 
 67. — 2. Naturalized foreigners. 
 
 Art. 69. — Portuguese citizens, wherever they may live, 
 are eligible in each electoral district for deputies, although 
 they were neither born there, nor have become residents or 
 settlers. 
 
 Art. 70. The practical manner of carrying on the elec- 
 tions will be arranged by a regulating law ; and the number 
 of deputies proportioned to the population of the kingdom. 
 
APPENDIX. 375 
 
 TITLE V. 
 
 OF THE KING. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Of the Moderating Power. 
 
 Art. 7 1 . The moderating power is the key to all political 
 organization, and belongs exclusively to the king, as supreme 
 chief of the nation, in order incessantly to watch over the 
 maintenance of the independency, equilibrium, and harmony, 
 of the other political powers. 
 
 Art. 72. The person of the king is inviolable and sacred: 
 he is not subject to any responsibility. 
 
 Art. 73. His titles are, king of Portugal and the Algarves, 
 on this and the other side of the sea, in Africa, lord of 
 Guine, and of the conquest, navigation, and commerce of 
 Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, &c. ; and he has the 
 style of most faithful majesty. 
 
 Art. 74. The king exercises the moderating power : 
 
 I. In nominating the peers, without any fixed number. 
 
 II. In convoking, especially, the general Cortes, in the 
 intervals of the sessions, when the interest of the nation re- 
 quires it. 
 
 III. In sanctioning the decrees and resolutions of the 
 general Cortes, that they may be enforced as laws. (Art. 55.) 
 
 IV. In proroguing the general Cortes, and dissolving the 
 chamber of deputies, in cases where the salvation of the 
 state requires it; immediately convoking another to re- 
 place it. 
 
 V. In nominating, and freely dimissing the ministers of 
 state. 
 
376 APPENDIX. 
 
 VI. In suspending magistrates, in cases of Article 121. 
 
 VII. In pardoning, and mitigating the punishments im- 
 posed on culprits condemned by sentence. 
 
 VIII. In conceding amnesty in urgent cases, and when 
 humanity and the welfare of the state recommend it. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Of the Executive Power. 
 
 Art. 75. The king is chief of the executive power, and 
 exercises it by his ministers of state. His principal attri- 
 butes are : 
 
 I. To convoke the new ordinary general Cortes, on the 
 2d day of March, in the fourth year of the existing legisla- 
 ture of the kingdom of Portugal ; and in the preceding year 
 in its dominions. 
 
 II. To nominate bishops, and present to ecclesiastical 
 preferment. 
 
 III. To nominate magistrates. 
 
 IV. To appoint to other civil and political employments. 
 
 V. To nominate commanders of the land and sea forces ; 
 and remove them when the welfare of the state requires it. 
 
 VI. To nominate ambassadors, and other diplomatic and 
 commercial agents. 
 
 VII. To direct the political negociations with foreign 
 nations. 
 
 VIII. To conclude treaties of alliance, offensive and de- 
 fensive, of subsidy and commerce ; bringing them, when con- 
 cluded, to the knowledge of the general Cortes, when the 
 interest and security of the state will permit it. If the 
 treaties entered into in time of peace, involve the cession or 
 exchange of territory in the kingdom, or of possessions to 
 
APPENDIX. 377 
 
 which the kingdom has a right, they will not be ratified with- 
 out being approved by the general Cortes. 
 
 IX. To declare war, and make peace ; communicating to 
 the Cortes what is compatible with the interests and security 
 of the state. 
 
 X. To grant letters of naturalization, according to law. 
 
 XI. To grant titles, honours, military orders and distinc- 
 tions, in recompense of services rendered to the state: the 
 pecuniary grants depending on the approval of the Cortes, 
 when they are not already designated and taxed by law. 
 
 XII. To expedite decrees, instructions, and regulations, 
 adequate to the proper execution of the laws. 
 
 XIII. To decree the application of rents, appropriated 
 by the Cortes to the different branches of public administra- 
 tion. 
 
 XIV. To grant or refuse sanction to the decrees of the 
 councils, and apostolic letters, and all other ecclesiastical 
 constitutions, that are not opposed to the constitution, and 
 are preceded by the approbation of the Cortes, if they con- 
 tain general matter. 
 
 XV. To provide for all that concerns the internal and 
 external security of the state, according to the constitution. 
 
 Art. 76. The king, previous to his being proclaimed, will 
 tender to the president of the chamber of peers, both the 
 chambers being united, the following oath : — ** I swear to 
 maintain the Roman Catholic Apostolic religion, and the in- 
 tegrity of the kingdom ; to observe, and cause to be observed, 
 the political constitution of the Portuguese nation, and other 
 laws of the realm ; and to promote the general welfare of the 
 nation, as far as lies in my power." 
 
 Art. 77. The king cannot go out of the kingdom of Por- 
 tugal, without the consent of the general Cortes : if he does 
 so, it will be understood that he has abdicated the throne. 
 
37B APPENDIX, 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of the Royal Family ^ and its Revenue. 
 
 ' Art. 78. The heir presumptive of the kingdom shall have 
 the title of prince-royal : and his first-born that of prince of 
 Beira ; all the others will have that of infantes. The style 
 of the heir presumptive shall be, royal highness, and the 
 prince of Beira's the same ; the infantes shall have the title 
 of highness. 
 
 Art. 79. The heir presumptive, having completed four- 
 teen years, will tender to the president of the chamber of 
 peers, both the chambers being united, the following oath : — 
 " I swear to maintain the Roman Catholic Apostolic religion, 
 to observe the political constitution of the Portuguese na- 
 tion, and to be obedient to the laws, and to the king. " 
 
 Art. 80. The general Cortes, immediately on the king's 
 accession, will assign to him, and to the queen his spouse, a 
 revenue becoming his high dignity. 
 
 Art. 81. The Cortes will also assign incomes to the 
 prince royal, and to the infantes, from the period of their 
 birth. 
 
 Art. 82. When the princesses or infantas are about to 
 marry, the Cortes will assign their dowry ; and upon its 
 delivery to them, their incomes will cease. 
 
 Art. 83. To the infantes who may marry and go to reside 
 out of the kingdom, a certain sum, determined on by the 
 Cortes, will at once be given : upon this, their former in- 
 comes will ceasoi 
 
 Art. 84. The revenue, incomes, and dowries, mentioned 
 in the preceding articles, shall be paid from the public trea- 
 sury, and delivered to a steward, named by the king, with 
 
APPENDIX. 379 
 
 whom will be settled what concerns the interests of the 
 royal household. 
 
 Art. 85. The palaces, and royal lands, hitherto in the 
 king's possession, will still continue to belong to his suc- 
 cessors : and the Cortes will provide for such purchases and 
 constructions as they think necessary for the decency and 
 recreation of the king. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of the Succession of the Kingdom. 
 
 Art. 86. The senhora Donna Maria II. by the grace of 
 God, and the formal abdication and cession of senhor Don 
 Pedro I. emperor of Brazil, shall always reign in Portugal. 
 
 Art. 87. Her legitimate descendants shall succeed to the 
 throne, according to the regular order of primogeniture, and 
 representation; preferring always the anterior to the pos- 
 terior line ; in the same line, the nearest degree to that more 
 remote ; in the same degree, the masculine to the feminine 
 sex : in the same sex, the elder person to the younger. 
 
 Art. 88. The lines of the legitimate descendants of 
 senhora Donna Maria II. being extinct, the crown will pass 
 to that which is collateral. 
 
 Art. 89. No foreigner can succeed to the crown of the 
 kingdom of Portugal. 
 
 Art. 90. The marriage of the princess, presumptive heiress 
 to the throne, shall be arranged according to the w411 of the 
 king, but never with a foreigner. Should the king not be 
 living at the time when this alliance is treated of, it cannot 
 be effected without the approbation of the general Cortes. 
 Her husband will have no share in the government; and 
 will not be called king until the qu^en shall have borne 
 a child. 
 
380 APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Of the Regency^ during the Minority or Impediment of the 
 King, 
 
 Art. 91. The king is a minor until he has completed his 
 eighteenth year. 
 
 Art. 92. During his minority the kingdom shall be 
 governed by a regency, which will belong to the nearest 
 relation of the king, according to the order of succession, 
 and who shall be more than twenty-five years of age. 
 
 Art. 93. If the king should have no relation in whom 
 are united these qualifications, the kingdom shall be governed 
 by a permanent regency, named by the general Cortes, com- 
 posed of three members, of whom the eldest shall be the 
 president. 
 
 Art. 94. Until such regency be elected, the kingdom 
 shall be governed by a provisional regency, composed of the 
 two ministers of state, of the interior and of justice, and of 
 the two senior counsellors of state, presided over by the 
 queen-widow; and in her absence by the senior counsellor 
 of state. 
 
 Art, 95. In case of the death of the queen-regent, her 
 husband shall become president of the regency. 
 
 Art. 96. Should the king, by reason of physical or moral 
 cause, clearly recognized by a majority of each chamber of 
 the Cortes, be unfit to govern, the prince royal, as regent, 
 will govern in his place, if he have attained the age of 
 eighteen years. 
 
 Art. 97. The regent as well as the regency will take the 
 oath mentioned in article 76, adding the clause of fidelity to 
 the king, and to deliver to him the government immediately 
 that he becomes of age, or the impediment ceases. 
 
APPENDIX. 381 
 
 . Art. 98. The acts of the regency, and of the regent, 
 shall be issued in the name of the king, in the following 
 manner : — "The regency orders, in the name of the king," — 
 "The prince-royal regent orders, in the name of the king" 
 
 Art. 99. Neither the regency nor the regent shall be 
 responsible. 
 
 Art. 100. During the minority of the successor to the 
 crown, that person shall be his tutor whom his father nomi- 
 nated in his will : in the absence of this, the queen-mother, 
 and in her absence the general Cortes, will appoint a tutor. 
 Providing, however, that the person to whom, on his impe- 
 diment, may belong the succession to the crown, can never 
 be tutor to the king in his minority. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Of the Ministry, 
 
 Art. 101. There will be different offices of state. The 
 law will designate the different business belonging to each, 
 and their numbers ; and will unite or separate them as shall 
 be most convenient. 
 
 Art. 102. The ministers of state will sign all the acts 
 of the executive power, without which they cannot be 
 executed. 
 
 Art. 103. The ministers of state shall be responsible : 
 
 I. For treason. 
 
 II. For bribery, subornation, or extortion. 
 
 III. For abuse of power. 
 
 IV. For not duly observing the law. 
 
 V. For what they do contrary to the liberty, security, 
 or property of the citizens. 
 
 VI. For any waste of the public property. 
 
382 APPENDIX. 
 
 Art. 104. A particular law will specify the nature of 
 these crimes, and the manner in which they are to be pro- 
 ceeded against. 
 
 Art. 105. The verbal or written order of the king- will 
 not do away with this responsibility of the ministry. 
 
 Art. 106. Foreigners, although naturalized, cannot be 
 ministers of state. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Of the Council of State. 
 
 Art. 107. There shall be a council of state, composed of 
 counsellors for life, nominated by the king. 
 
 Art. 108. Foreigners cannot be counsellors of state, al- 
 though they should be naturalized. 
 
 Art. 109. The counsellors of state, previous to entering, 
 will tender their oath to the king to maintain the Roman 
 Catholic Apostolic religion ; to observe the constitution and 
 the laws; to be faithful to the king, and to counsel him 
 according to their consciences, attending only to the welfare 
 of the nation. 
 
 Art. 110. The counsellors shall be heard in all serious 
 matters, and general measures of the public administration ; 
 particularly upon the declaration of war, the adjustment of 
 peace, or negociations with foreign countries ; as also on 
 every occasion wherein the king purposes to exercise any 
 of the attributes belonging to the moderating power indicated 
 in Art. 74, with the exception of paragraph 5. 
 
 Art. 111. The counsellors of state shall be responsible 
 for the counsel that they may give, contrary to the laws, and 
 the interests of the state, should it be evidently prejudicial. 
 
 Art. 112. Immediately upon the prince-royal having 
 completed his eighteenth year, he will by right become a 
 
APPENDIX. 383 
 
 member of the council of state. The admission of the other 
 princes of the royal family into the council of state will 
 depend on the nomination of the king. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Of the Military Force, 
 
 Art. 113. Every Portuguese is obliged to take up arms, 
 to support the independence and integrity of the kingdom, 
 and defend it from its external and internal enemies. 
 
 Art. 114. While the general Cortes do not decide on the 
 permanent land and sea forces, what may at present exist 
 will be continued, until the same Cortes alter it, for more 
 or less. 
 
 Art. 115. The military force is essentially obedient ; it 
 can never unite without being ordered by legitimate au- 
 thority. 
 
 Art. 116. To the executive power exclusively belongs the 
 employment of the land and sea forces, as may appear best 
 suited to the security and defence of the nation. 
 
 Art. 117. A special ordinance will regulate the organiza- 
 tion of the army, its promotion, pay, and discipline, as also 
 those of the naval force, 
 
 TITLE VI. 
 
 OF THE JUDICIAL POWER. 
 
 ONLY CHAPTER. 
 
 Of the Judges and Tribunals of Justice. 
 
 Art. 118. The judicial power is independent, and shall 
 be composed of judges and juries, who will act in civil, as 
 
384 APPENDIX. 
 
 well as criminal matters, in the cases and the manner that 
 the Cortes shall determine. 
 
 Art. 119. The juries pronounce upon the fact, and the 
 judges apply the law. 
 
 Art. 120. The judges shall be perpetual; however, it is 
 not to be understood that they cannot be moved from one 
 place to another, at such time, and in such manner as the 
 law may determine. 
 
 Art. 121. The king can suspend them for complaints 
 made against them, proceeding to inquiry of the same judges, 
 and hearing the council of state ; the papers which belong 
 to them shall be transmitted to the judicial tribunal of the 
 respective district, which will proceed according to law. 
 
 Art. 122. Those judges can only lose their places by 
 sentence. 
 
 Art. 123. All judges, and officers of justice, are respon- 
 sible for the abuses of power, and prevarications, which they 
 commit in the exercise of their functions ; this responsibility 
 will be rendered effectual by a regulating law. 
 
 Art. 124. For subornation, bribery, peculation, and ex- 
 tortion, a popular action may be brought against them, which 
 may be instituted within a year and a day, by the person 
 complaining, or by any of the people ; following the order of 
 the process, as established by law. 
 
 Art. 125. To judge causes in the second and last in- 
 stance, there shall be in the provinces of the kingdom the tri- 
 bunals that will be necessary for the convenience of the people. 
 
 Art. 126. In criminal causes, the examination of wit- 
 nesses, and all the other acts of the process, after denuncia- 
 tion, shall from henceforth be public. 
 
 Art. 127. In civil, and in penal causes civilly tried, the 
 parties may nominate arbitrating judges. Their sentences 
 shall be executed without appeal, if the parties shall have 
 thus agreed. 
 
APPENDIX. 385 
 
 Art. 128. Without proof that the medium of reconcilia- 
 tion has been tried, no process shall be commenced. 
 
 Art. 129. For this purpose there will be peace judges, 
 who shall be elected at the same time, and in the same 
 manner, with the aldermen of the corporations. Their attri- 
 butes and districts shall be regulated by law. 
 
 Art. 130. In the capital of the kingdom, besides the 
 judicial tribunal that ought to exist, as well as in the pro*- 
 vinces, there shall be also one with the denomination of 
 supreme tribunal of justice, composed of judges taken fronv 
 the judicial tribunals according to their seniority, who shall 
 be distinguished by the title of the council. In the first 
 organization of this tribunal, the ministers of those which 
 are to be abolished may be employed. 
 
 Art. 131. To this tribunal it will belong; 
 
 I. To grant or deny re\asions of causes, and in the 
 manner that the law will determine. 
 
 II. To take cognizance of crimes and official errors, which 
 its own ministers may commit, those of the judicial tribunals, 
 and those employed in the diplomatic body. 
 
 III. To take cognizance of, and decide upon all judicial 
 contests, and the competency of provincial tribunals. 
 
 TITLE VII. 
 
 OF THE ADMINISTRATION AND ECONOMY OF THE PROVINCES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Of the Administration. 
 
 Art. 132. The administration of the provinces will re- 
 main as at present, until it is altered by law. 
 , cc 
 
386 APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Of Corporations. 
 
 Art. 1 33. In all the cities and towns now existing, and 
 in all others that in future shall be formed, corporations shall 
 exist, to which will belong the economical and municipal 
 governments of the same cities and towns. 
 
 Art. 134. The corporations shall be elective, and com- 
 posed of such number of aldermen as the law shall appoint ; 
 the one who obtains the greater number of votes shall be 
 president. 
 
 Art. 135. The exercise of its municipal functions, for- 
 mation of its police, application of its rents, and all its 
 private and useful attributes, shall be decreed by a regu- 
 lating law. 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 Of the Public Revenue. 
 
 Art. 136. The receipt and expenditure of the pubhc 
 revenue, shall be in charge of a tribunal, under the name of 
 the public treasury ; where, at different periods, regularly 
 established by law, its administration, right distribution, and 
 accounts, shall be regulated. 
 
 Art. 137. All the direct contributions, with the exception 
 of those which are applied to the interest and liquidation of 
 the public debt, shall be annually settled by the general 
 Cortes ; but will continue until their repeal is published, or 
 others are substituted for them. 
 
 Art. 138. The minister of finance, having received from 
 the other ministers the estimates relative to the expenditure 
 
APPENDIX. 387 
 
 of thieir departments, will annually deliver to the chamber 
 of deputies, immediately on the assembling of the Cortes, a 
 general balance of the receipt and expenditure of the trea- 
 sury during the preceding year, and also a general estimate 
 of all the public expences for the ensuing year, and the 
 amount of all the contributions and public rents. 
 
 TITLE VIII. 
 
 Of the general Dispositions and Guarantees of the Civil 
 and Political Rights of Portuguese Citizens. 
 
 Art. 139. The general Cortes, at the commencement of 
 their session, will examine if the political constitution of the 
 kingdom has been exactly observed, in order to provide as 
 justice may direct. 
 
 Art. 140. If at the end of four years after the constitu- 
 tion of the kingdom has been sworn to, it is known that 
 some of its articles require reform, the proposal shall be 
 made in writing. It ought to commence in the chamber of 
 deputies, and to receive the support of one third of them. 
 
 Art. 141. The proposal shall be read three times, with an 
 interval of six days between each reading ; and after the 
 third, the chamber of deputies will deliberate if it shall be 
 admitted to discussion ; observing, in every respect, the rules 
 necessary for the formation of a law. 
 
 Art. 142. When admitted to discussion, and the necessity 
 of amending the constitutional article carried, the law will 
 be expedited, and sanctioned, and promulgated by the king 
 in the usual manner ; in this law the electors of the depu- 
 ties for the ensuing legislature shall be ordered to confer on 
 their representatives especial authority for the proposed 
 alteration or reform. 
 
 c c2 
 
388 APPENDIX. 
 
 -Art. 143. In the first session of the succeeding legis- 
 lature, the matter shall be proposed and discussed ; and that 
 which is carried shall prevail for the change or addition of 
 the fundamental law ; and being joined to the constitution, 
 shall be solemnly promulgated. 
 
 Art. 144. That only is constitutional which refers to the 
 limits and respective attributes of the political powers, and to 
 the political and individual rights of the citizens. Every 
 thing which is not constitutional, may be altered without the 
 forms referred to, by the ordinary legislatures. 
 
 Art. 145. The inviolability of the civil and political rights 
 of Portuguese citizens, which are founded in liberty, indi- 
 vidual security, and property, is guaranteed by the constitu- 
 tion of the kingdom in the following manner : — 
 
 I. No citizen can be obliged to do, nor be prevented from 
 doing, any thing, except according to law. 
 
 II. The operation of the law shall not possess a retro- 
 spective effect. 
 
 III. Every one may communicate his thoughts by written 
 words, and publish them in print, independent of a censor- 
 ship ; but will have to answer for the abuses that he may 
 have committed in the exercise of this privilege, in the cases 
 and in the manner that the law determines. 
 
 IV. None can be persecuted on account of religion, pro- 
 vided they respect that of the state, and do not offend public 
 morals. 
 
 V. All persons may continue in the kingdom, or quit it 
 when they please, taking with them their property, observing 
 the police regulations, and saving to the prejudice of others. 
 
 VI. Every citizen has in his house an inviolable asylum ; 
 none can enter it during the night, except with his consent, 
 or in case of help being called for from within, or to save it 
 from fire or inundation ; and in the day it shall only be free 
 of entrance in the cases and manner that the law determines. 
 
APPENDIX. 389 
 
 VII. No person can be arrested without a specific accusa- 
 tion, except in those cases pointed out by law ; and in these 
 within twenty-four hours, reckoning from the entrance into 
 prison, if in cities, towns, or any part near the judge's place 
 of residence, and in remote places, within a reasonable period, 
 which the law will mark, according to the extent of the ter- 
 ritory, the judge, in a note signed by himself, will inform 
 the criminal of the reason of his arrest, and the names of 
 his accusers and the witnesses, if there be any. 
 
 VIII. Even with a specified accusation, no person shall be 
 conducted to prison, or kept there if already arrested, if he 
 shall offer fit bail, in cases where the law admits of it ; and 
 in general in offences not liable to greater punishment than 
 six months imprisonment, or banishment from the hundred, 
 the culprit may become his own bail. 
 
 IX. Except in flagrante delicto, an arrest cannot be exe- 
 cuted, without a written order of the legitimate authority. 
 If this should be arbitrary, the judge who passed it, and the 
 person who demanded it, shall be punished with such inflic- 
 tion as the law shall determine. That which is ordered 
 respecting imprisonment without a specified accusation, does 
 not include the established military regulations, as necessary 
 to the discipline and recruiting of the army : nor those cases 
 which are not purely criminal, and in which the law, never- 
 theless, determines the arrest of any person for disobedience 
 to the orders of justice ; or for not fulfilling any bond within 
 the determined period. 
 
 X. No person shall be sentenced, except by the competent 
 authority, in virtue of an anterior law, and in the form pre- 
 scribed by it. 
 
 XI. The independence of the judicial power shall be 
 maintained. No authority can call in pending causes, arrest 
 them, or revive processes that are concluded. 
 
 XII. The law shall be equal for all, whether protecting or 
 
390 APPENDIX. 
 
 punishing ; and shall recompense in proportion to the deserts 
 of every one. 
 
 XIII. Every citizen is admissible to public offices, ^either 
 political or military, without any other distinction .than that 
 t)f his talents and virtues. 
 
 XIV. No person shall be exempt from contributing to 
 the expences of the state, in proportion to what he possesses. 
 
 XV. All privileges are abolished that are not essential 
 and entirely united to employments for public utility. 
 
 XVI. Except in those causes which, by their nature, 
 belong to particular judges, according to law, there shall be 
 no privileged courts, no special commissions, in civil or 
 criminal causes. 
 
 XVII. There shall be organized, as soon as possible, a 
 civil and criminal code, founded on the solid basis of justice 
 and equity. 
 
 XVIII. From this time are abolished whipping, torture, 
 marking with hot iron, and all other cruel punishments. 
 
 XIX. No punishment will pass from the person of the 
 delinquent: therefore, in no case shall there be any confiscation 
 of property ; nor shall the disgrace of the criminal be trans- 
 mitted to his relations, of any degree. 
 
 XX. The jails shall be secure, clean, and well ventilated ; 
 having different apartments, in order to separate the criminals, 
 according to their circumstances, and the nature of their 
 offences. 
 
 XXI. The right of property is guaranteed in all its pleni- 
 tude. If the public good, legally verified, require the use 
 and employment of the property of the citizen, he shall be 
 previously indemnified for the value of it. The law will 
 mark the cases in which this single exception shall take 
 place ; and will give the rules for determining the indemni- 
 fications. 
 
 XXII. The public debt is also guaranteed. 
 
APPENDIX. '391 
 
 XXIII. No sort of work, culture, industry, or commerce, 
 can be prohibited, if it be not opposed to public customs, or 
 the security and health of the citizens. 
 
 XXiV. Inventors shall have the property of their dis- 
 coveries, or productions. The law shall secure their own 
 temporary and exclusive privilege ; or will remunerate, to 
 make amends for the loss they may suffer by its becoming 
 common. 
 
 XXV. The secrecy of letters is inviolable ; the adminis- 
 tration of the post is rigorously responsible for any infringe- 
 ment of this article. 
 
 XXVI. The recompences conferred for services rendered 
 to the state are guaranteed, whether they be civil or military ; 
 as is also the right acquired by them according to law. 
 
 XXVII. Those in public employ are strictly responsible 
 for the abuses and omissions of which they may be guilty in 
 the exercise of their functions ; and for not rendering those 
 under them effectually responsible. 
 
 XXVIII. Every citizen may present, in writing, to the 
 legislative and executive powers, claims, complaints, or peti- 
 tions ; and even expose any infraction of the constitution, 
 requiring, before the competent authorities, the actual respon- 
 sibility of the infractors. 
 
 XXIX. The constitution also guarantees the public 
 succours : 
 
 XXX. The primary gratuitous instruction of all citizens. 
 
 XXXI. It guarantees the hereditary nobility, and its pre- 
 rogatives. 
 
 XXXII. Colleges, and universities, where shall be taught 
 the elements of sciences, belles-lettres, and arts. ] 
 
 XXXIII. The constitutional powers cannot suspend the 
 constitution in what it decrees regarding individual rights, 
 except in the cases and circumstances specified in the follow- 
 ing paragraph. 
 
392 APPENDIX. 
 
 XXXIV. In cases of rebellion, or invasion of an enemy, 
 the security of the state requiring that, for a limited time, 
 some of the formalities that guarantee individual liberty 
 should be dispensed with, it may be done by a specirJ act of 
 the legislature. If, however, at this time the Cortes should 
 not be sitting, and the country is incurring imminent peril, 
 the government may use this precaution, as a provisional and 
 indispensable measure, suspending it immediately when the 
 urgent necessity which caused it ceases : it being requisite, 
 in either case, to transmit to the Cortes, as soon as they have 
 met, an account of what caused tbe arrests, and the other 
 preventive measures taken : and all authorities that may have 
 been ordered to proceed in them, shall be responsible for the 
 abuses which they may have practised in this respect. 
 
 Therefore, I command all authorities to whom belong the 
 knowledge and execution of this constitutional charter, that 
 they swear, and cause it to be sworn to, and fulfil, and cause 
 it to be fulfilled, and guard it, as entirely as therein is con- 
 tained. The regency of these my kingdoms and dominions, 
 thus will understand it, and will have it printed, published, 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 Signed by the king, and dated at Rio de Janeiro, April 
 29, 1826. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 J, DENNETT, 
 
 Leather Lane, London. 
 
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 MAR 1 9 1961 
 
 
 
 .^(jct'62JC 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 LD 21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY