246 Don Miguel, and the Stale of Portugal. [^Skpt. 



experiment which, in the minds of all rational men, was from its birth 

 pronounced a chimera. 



" How ineffectual," said the Roman moralist, " are the wisest laws, if 

 they be not supported by good morals." How fully is this observa- 

 tion illustrated in Portugal ! The violent revolutions which, at different 

 times have convulsed modern Europe, we are ready to allow, have arisen, 

 not from a spirit of innovation in sovereigns and statesmen, but from 

 their bigoted attachment to antiquated forms, and to principles bor- 

 rowed from less enlightened ages. But it is possible also to fall into 

 the opposite extreme, and to bring upon society the very evils we are 

 anxious to avoid, by prematurely forcing on a country, institutions which 

 it is utterly incapable of receiving : — this Avas precisely the case in Por- 

 tugal. All the acts of the Portuguese Cortes displayed an indiscrimi- 

 nate zeal in abolishing the ancient institutions of the monarchy — and 

 that too in a country where the people are distinguished for their 

 devoted attachment and deep-rooted reverence for ancient usages^ 

 •while they left untouched all those flagrant abuses which so powerfully 

 influence the humble happiness of the million. When so wide a field 

 presented itself for their labours, it must be in the recollection of all, 

 that the subject of their debates was some abstruse metaphysical doc- 

 trine on the rights of man, and the dignity of human nature ; or on the 

 more important question, of what should be the colour of the national 

 cockade. Like an exotic transplanted from its native clime, the Portu- 

 guese constitution soon withered and died — it fell without a blow, and 

 by a singular refinement in national degeneracy, some of the very men 

 who first unfurled its banner were instrumental in its overthrow. 



On the demise of Don Joao the Sixth — surnamed by his subjects the 

 most amiable of sovereigns, but to whom, with much gi-eater justice, 

 the term " most imbecile" might have been applied — a new constitution, 

 of Brazilian fabrication, was sent to Portugal. This political document 

 was accompanied by the act of abdication of Don Pedro in favour of 

 his daughter, and the appointment of Don Miguel to the Regency. 



The promulgation of this constitution was immediately followed by 

 the insurrection of the IMarquis de Chaves in the north, a movement 

 which the Marquis de Palmella succeeded in imposing on i\Ir. Canning 

 as the van-guard of a formidable Spanish invasion. When Don Miguel, 

 a few months afterwards, set his foot on the shores of Portugal, the 

 elements of a counter-revolution were ready to burst forth in the capital 

 itself. It is not our intention, we repeat, to stand forward as the defend- 

 ers of this prince : but the cries of outraged humanity which burst from 

 the crowded prisons of Lisbon, invoking the vengeance of Heaven on his 

 head, should be with greater justice hurled against the leaders of the 

 ultra party, in whose hands ]Miguel is but a puppet skilfully played off. 

 It is the cause he upholds so in unison with the feelings of the people, 

 and not the person of Don Miguel, which is popular in Portugal — and 

 hence the stability of his government. 



The right of every nation to choose its own form of government, has 

 now become a received political axiom. In proclaiming Don Miguel as 

 their king, the Portuguese people have only exercised a right 

 inherent in the nation. If they have chosen to relinquish liberty, and 

 prefer the chains of the most degrading despotism, we may pity 

 that prostration of intellect, which adds another example to the annals _ 

 of human imbecility and degradation — but we certainly have no right I 



A 



