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CHAP. XI.

PORTUGAL-Installation of the Cortes-Prerogative of the CrownBritish Officers-Amnesty-Various Decrees--Arrival of the King His Reception by the Cortes-Law of the Liberty of the PressMinistry-Discussions in the Cortes-Increase of Duties on British Woollens-Bank-Quarrel of the Austrian Chargé d'Affaires with the Government-The Austrian and Russian Envoys quit PortugalBRAZILS-Revolutions at Para-Bahia-Pernambuco-Rio de Janeiro-Further Disturbances at Pernambuco-Monte Video.

ORTUGAL, though drawn into the revolutionary career by the example of her neighbour, continued during the year peaceful and orderly. Her revolution had not, like that of Spain, been brought about by the soldiers alone, nor in opposition to the wishes of the privileged classes and the great proprietors. The clergy and nobility had either co-operated in producing it, or had submitted to it, without much reluctance; and though men were not wanting, who showed an inclination to run into the wildest extremes of political fanaticism, and to urge their country through a succession of changes, these were speedily checked in their projects and deprived of power. Some theoretical doctrines were propagated, and some practices adopted in the constitution, which a more enlarged experience would probably have rejected: but in the mean time the order and subordination of civil society remained undisturbed; and if, amid the many

improvements that were made, a few ill-advised alterations found a place, there was at least time and opportunity to apply a remedy, before any serious mischief could be occasioned.

The Cortes assembled in the beginning of January; and, after some preparatory meetings, their solemn installation took place on the 6th of January. On that morning, at ten o'clock, the deputies being met in the church of St. Mary, solemn mass began, accompanied by vocal and instrumental music; at the same moment a flight of sky-rockets gave the signal, and immediately the castle of St. George, and the fortresses, the ships of war, and all the vessels in the river, fired a royal salute. Then the deputies proceeded to take the oath on the Holy Gospels, in the following words:

"I swear faithfully to fulfil, in the exercise of the powers which have been given me, the duties of deputy to the extraordinary Cortes, which are about to make

the political constitution of the Portuguese monarchy, and the reforms and ameliorations which they shall judge necessary for the good and prosperity of the nation, the Catholic Apostolic Roman religion, maintaining the throne of Senhor Don John VI., king of the united kingdoms of Portugal, Brazil, and Algarve, and preserving the Dynasty of the serene house of Braganza."

After the oath was taken, father Vincente de Santa Rota Lisboa ascended the pulpit, and delivered a discourse adapted to the solemnity; after which the members of the government and the deputies proceeded to the hall of the sessions, amid the acclamations of an immense multitude.

At two o'clock, the members of the government and the deputies began to enter, the galleries being already crowded with spectators. The members of the government took their seats on the right of the president's chair and on the left and remaining places on the right, the preparatory junta of the Cortes. The archbishop of Bahia acted as president, and the deputy Felgueira as secretary. All being seated, count de Sampayo addressed the assembly in an appro. priate discourse, and declared the Cortes to be installed. They proceeded immediately to elect a president. The choice fell on the archbishop of Bahia, who had 64 votes out of 74. They then proceeded to choose the members of the executive government.

A preparatory junta had been appointed to draw up the bases of a constitution; and the consideration of the fundamental articles, which this junta had agreed upon,

was for some time the principal occupation of the Cortes. These articles, in all important points, were borrowed from the Spanish system; most of them were approved of by the national assembly; a few were referred back to the junta. An unsuccessful attempt was made to deviate from the Spanish model in one most essential point, by either introducing a second chamber, or giving the king an absolute veto. The proposition to this effect was made by M. Pinheiro Azevedo. The debate on it commenced on the 22nd of February, and was continued with much animation till the 26th. The people in the galleries frequently applauded the members who spoke against the proposal, so that the president was obliged to admonish them not to carry their marks of approbation to excess. It was resolved at length to reduce the question to three points, on which the chamber proceeded to vote:1st. That there should be only chamber-Carried by 59

one

votes to 26;

2nd. That there be no absolute veto in the person of the kingCarried by 78 votes to 6;

3rd. That a suspensive vote should be given to the king; which was carried by 81 votes to 41.

An attempt was afterwards made to give the king the right of proposing laws; but this alteration was likewise rejected; so that the new constitution left the king of Portugal with little more power, than was possessed by his half-dethroned' brother of Spain.

It was no easy matter to determine, how to behave towards the English officers, who had

served in the Portuguese army. It would have been dangerous to have allowed a set of men, who were looked upon by the people as intruders, and who could not be well affected to the new order of things, to have remained in power. On the other hand, the abrupt dismissal of them, by exciting the displeasure of Great Britain, might be the cause of serious difficulties. The subject was referred to a special committee, who, in their report presented on the 24th of February, after expressing their gratitude for the services of the English officers, and regretting their inability, from the nature of the Portuguese laws and the state of the national treasury to reward them adequately, proposed the following resolutions:

1. That the English officers who, by the declaration of the 26th of August, 1820, of the provisional Junta of the supreme government of the kingdom, retired from the service of the Portuguese army, be dismissed with honour and with the thanks of the nation, solely from the necessity of giving a new organization to the national royal army.

2. That these officers should continue to receive the pay of their commissions for as many years, as they were in the war, in the Portuguese army.

3. That those who did not serve in the war should continue to receive their pay for one year, it being understood that their gratifications are personal.

4. Finally, that the brigadiers should receive the honour of commanders (commenda) of the order of the Tower and Sword, and the colonels and lieutenantVOL. LXIII.

colonels, the insignia of the same order.

One trait in the proceedings of the Portuguese legislature and people is deserving of particular praise; they showed no inclination to harrass with suspicions and jealousies any part of the community. Soon after the Cortes met, an amnesty was decreed and published for all who since 1807 had left their country on account of their political opinions or conduct, whether they were prosecuted, or feared to be so; and whether any process had been instituted against them or not; and it was afterwards declared, that this amnesty comprehended all those persons, who, up to the day of the installation of the Cortes, were under arrest, or restricted to a certain place of residence. On the other hand, it was decreed unanimously (and the decree was directed more particularly against the Patriarch), "that, inasmuch as he alone is a member of a society, who submits to its fundamental laws, every Portuguese who refuses to take the oath, simply and without any restric tion whatever, to the constitution, and to the bases of it, ceases to be a citizen, and is immediately to quit the Portuguese terri. tory.

All parks or preserves for game, not walled in (contadas abertas), were abolished as detrimental to agriculture, to the rights and property of the environs, and to their tranquillity and security; all offices and employments relative to the granting and management of such parks or enclosures were likewise abolished: but the officers were to continue to receive their pay, till the Cortes had [P].

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decided on their future destination.

While the Cortes were proceeding tranquilly in their career, their eyes were anxiously turned to the Brazils. The intelligence that the king had approved of the late changes was most acceptable; but when it was known that he was on the point of returning to Europe, a degree of anxiety was again excited; for any opposition on his part, to the new order of things, could not fail to produce much embarrassment. Accordingly, considerable precautions appear to have been taken, that on his arrival he might be without means of resisting the plans of the Cortes. These precautions were unnecessary. John VIth showed no inclination to oppose the prevailing current of the times. On the morning of the 3rd of July, it was announced at Lisbon, that the squadron which was accompanying him to Europe was in sight; and on the same day, he anchored in the port of Belem. A deputation of the regency immediately waited on him, and, in compliance with the orders of the Cortes, remained on board with him till next day; when a deputation of the Cortes, with the archbishop of Bahia at its head, proceeded to congratulate him on his arrival. They were graciously received by his majesty, who declared to them that he with his whole heart approved what the Cortes had done. On the same day (the 4th), at noon, his majesty and the royal family landed with great pomp, and went in procession to the cathedral, where a Te Deum was sung. They afterwards repaired to the hall of the Cortes. It was

five o'clock when his majesty entered the hall, supported by the secretary Felgueiras, preceded by the deputation of the Cortes, and accompanied by all the officers of his royal household. When he had taken his seat on the throne, the book of the Holy Gospels was presented to him by the president, on which his majesty laying his hand, pronounced the following oath :

"I, John VIth, by the grace of God and by the Constitution, king of the united kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and Algarve, swear, upon the Holy Gospels, to maintain the Catholic Apostolic, Roman religion; to observe, and cause to be observed, the bases of the Constitution decreed by the general, extraordinary, and constituent Cortes of the Portuguese nation, and the Constitution which they shall make; and and to be in all respects faithful to the said nation."

After the oath was taken, the president addressed the king in a speech, which, amid much rhetorical finery, breathed a tolerably moderate spirit; and the king on his part, left a written reply with the president, requesting at the same time, that, as he was too fatigued to read it himself, the president might communicate it to the assembly. This, however, it was observed, ought to be done by one of the ministers; and accordingly the minister for foreign affairs, being sent by the king, read the speech. [See the Foreign Documents, p. 586.]

This speech, though very submissive in its general strain, contained the following passage. "They (the Portuguese) have also sanctioned the fundamental

principle of every constitutional monarchy, that the exercise of sovereignty, consisting in the exercise of the legislative power, cannot be vested separately in any one of the integral parts of the government, but in the union of the monarch and the deputies elected by the people, as you have been, who are to form the supreme national council, called by our ancestors the Cortes, and to whom collectively belongs the exercise of the legislative power; so that if ever the monarch usurped this right without the participation of the chamber of deputies, the government would be transformed into a despotism; and, in like manner, if the chamber of deputies should attempt to exercise alone the legislative power, the constitutional government would be transformed into the government of a mob."

This passage drew from the secretary of the Cortes, Felgueiras, the following letter, addressed on the 12th of July to Ignacio da Costa Quintilla:

"Illustrious and most Excellent Sir;-The general and extraordinay Cortes of the Portuguese nation have heard with much satisfaction the principles and expressions, truly constitutional, contained in a part of his majesty's speech, read by his minister Silvestre Pinheiro, in the sitting of the 4th, in answer to the speech of the President of the Cortes. Nevertheless, the Cortes cannot help remarking, that the 5th and following paragraphs contained expressions contrary to the 21st, 23rd, and 24th articles of the bases of the constitution, in which the line of demarcation was drawn between the legislative and exe

cutive power. By these articles, the national representation and the executive power are exclusively reserved to the general Cortes. The king is excluded from all direct initiative; to him is confided the right of assent, and a veto, which is never absolute. Such are the arrangements fixed by the said articles.

"That there may not be ascribed to this majesty ideas and expressions contrary to these articles, while it is manifest that on all occasions he has declared his adherence to the principles consecrated by the constitutional bases, I send your excellency the enclosed discourse to lay before his majesty, who may give those explanations on the subject which he may deem expedient."

On the 14th, the minister Da Costa Quintilla sent an answer to the secretary of the Cortes, stating that his majesty commanded him to declare, that having sworn to adopt the bases of the constitution, it could not be his majesty's intention to insert in his speech any idea or expression, which was not in perfect accordance with those bases and his oath."

In addition to this communication, the king desired that his declaration should be made public, and addressed a letter to the Cortes on the 14th, which was read in the sitting of that day. His majesty repeated the sentiments expressed in the letters of his minister, and again declared, "that having sworn in the most solemn and unreserved manner, to observe the bases of the constitution, there was nothing in his speech intended to be inimical to those bases, nor had he ever cherished such a wish; and he

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