PORTUGAL, 





rokcd. 



iter 



11. on. 



Brazil de 

 clare* its 

 indepen- 

 dence. 



dancy was but if short duration. The rival party, 

 owing to a chance in the views of Texeira, who com- 

 mandfd the troops, wt-n- *oon put in possession of 

 r; iiinl l>y tin-in the Cortes was convoked, and 

 the Spanish cnns-titntion votrd so far only us it should 

 (I with l hi- circumstances of Portugal. Every 

 K) mlnliitants were to send a representative, and 

 the Cortes, thus constituted, was found to contain very 

 fi-\v individuals of wealth or family, or even of talents. 

 The Assembly, however, assumed all power, uniting 

 in thi-inselves the judicial, the executive, and IrgMative 

 authority. They commenced framing a constitution, 

 and n code of laws ; ar.d while they thus were employ- 

 ed in promoting the best interests' of the nation, they 

 seemed to enjoy the affections and confidence of the 

 people. This, however, was not the case; for, when 

 they had almost succeeded in establishing the constitu- 

 tion and administration of the kingdom on the most li- 

 beral and enlightened principles, all their operations 

 were superseded, and their authority destroyed, by a 

 counter revolution. The revolution of 1820, indeed, 

 was too fundamental, too far removed from the previous 

 order of things, to be permanent. A very liberal sys- 

 tem of government cannot be expected to exist in a 

 country where the priesthood enjoy such overwhelming 

 revenues and power as in Portugal, and where this or- 

 der, the military,' and the officers of state, comprise 

 a fifth of the male population. The counter revolution, 

 therefore, which took place in 1823, and which, like 

 that of 1820, was achieved by the military, was ef- 

 fected with a facility which evinces that the liberal in- 

 stitutions, which the Cortes had established, had little or 

 no hold on the affections of the great mass of the people. 

 This change, however, was owing, not more to the pre- 

 judices and sympathies of the nation reverting to the dy- 

 nasty under which they had been educated, than to the per- 

 sonal character of the monarch, a moderate and humane 

 prince, who had returned from Brazil in 1820, to endea- 

 vour, by his presence, to counteract the innovations 

 which were then introduced. The revolution of 1823 

 was also accomplished without bloodshed ; in every 

 part of the kingdom, it was brought about by the in- 

 tervention of the military, but without the least appear- 

 ance of violence or hesitation ; and yet so rapidly was 

 the measure effected, that though the first steps in it 

 were taken on the 29th of May, John made his public 

 entry into Lisbon on the 5th of June, as the absolute 

 and uncontrollable head of the new constitution. While 

 a very small portion of the spirit of the government, as 

 established by the Cortes, is allowed to remain, the 

 present dynasty is nearly the same as that which ob- 

 tained previously to 1 820. It is indeed an absolute des- 

 potism, and is attended by that instability, and those 

 evils by which despotism is everywhere characterized. 

 The liberty of the press, an engine inconsistent with 

 despotism, is abolished; and foreign newspapers, and 

 all foreign publications relative to Portugal, are strictly 

 prohibited from entering the kingdom. Assassinations 

 are frequent ; and distrust on the part of the court, and 

 dissatisfaction on the part of the people, prevail to a 

 degree that indicates that Portugal is far from being in 

 a happy or settled state, and that ere long it may be- 

 come the theatre of convulsions more important and 

 more sanguinary than those that have recently occurred. 

 But the king of Portugal, while he has thus got 

 himself replaced at the head of the despotism of the 

 mother country, has lost the extensive and opulent co- 

 lony of Brazil. Don Pedro, his oldest son, was left as 

 regent when the king and his family removed from 



hence to Europe in 1820; but no *i, ( ,nfr were the Font*l- 

 Brazilians left to thetmelves, than, with the recent ml '-*"<"'" 

 their head, they threw off the Portuguese yoke, and 

 declared their independence. It was supp<ned they 

 had revolted merely on account of the convu!i/m that 

 had taken place in the mother con I that, on the 



'abli-,hment of the legitimate regime in 18i3, they 

 wouM return to their allegiance. The king according- 

 ly, in Sc'i;ti-i!ibi-r of the'year last mentioned, dispsitched 

 an embassy to Brazil, in order to accomplish this end. 

 But the Brazilians never contemplated such a result ; 

 and, when the object of the mission was underttobd, 

 the persons composing it were not allowed to come on 

 shore, nor were the letters from the king to his son per- 

 mitted to be received. In vain John h_'ld out promises 

 and thre.vs. To all his overtures of reconciliation it 

 was firmly answered that " the independence of Brazil 

 was the natural result of events xvhich could not be 

 controlled, and of the firm determination of the inha- 

 bitants to throw off the yoke of the mother country." 

 And, accordingly, the independence of this vast and 

 fertile region seems now to be completely established. 

 Portugal does not possess a single fortress or foot of land 

 in the whole territory. After considerable deliberation, 

 and some misunderstanding between Pedro and the 

 legislative assembly, which was established at the 

 commencement of their independence, and which at 

 length he forcibly dissolved, a new constitution has 

 been founded, borrowed from England and the United tion. 

 States. It consists of a monarchy, a senate, and a 

 house of representatives. The 1 1th of December 1823 

 was the date of its promulgation, which will form an 

 era in the Brazilian annals. Don Pedro is the reign- 

 ing monarch, under the title of Emperor. The crown 

 is declared hereditary; and when the family of the 

 present emperor is extinct, the legislature is to choose 

 a new dynasty. The senators are elected for life; 

 and as there is no hereditary aristocracy, two-thirds 

 of them are to be elected by the nation, the remainder 

 by the king. The house of representatives is qua- 

 drennial. The members receive pay. They vacate 

 their seats in being chosen to offices, but they may be 

 re-elected. The elective franchise is extended to all 

 free Brazilian subjects, possessed of the moderate pro- 

 perty of 200 milrees (50) a-year. The Roman Ca- 

 tholic is the established religion; but all others are 

 tolerated, on the condition that they are not to be 

 permitted temple or external worship. The foreign 

 commerce of Brazil, with few or no restrictions, is 

 open to all powers, except the Portuguese, who are 

 denied every connexion with this new empire. All 

 the natives of Portugal, who would not recognise the 

 new order of things, were prohibited to remain, under 

 the greatest penalties. 



See Resendii Aniiqnilates Lusllaniae, 12mo. 1600; 

 Lasitau's History of the Portuguese Discoveries and Con- 

 quests, 2 vols. 4to. Paris, 1733; Vertot's Hl<t. da R- 

 volutions de Portugal; Reichard's Guide des Voy<tgcuri, 

 3 vols. 8vo. Weimar, 1805 ; Link's Travels in Portugal, 

 translated from the original German by Hinckley; 

 Murphy's Stale of Socitty in Portugal; and Travels 

 in Portugal, by the same author ; Accounts of Portugal, 

 by Dr. ^Halliday, General Dumourier, and others ; 

 Jones' War in Portugal. But particularly Essai Sta- 

 tislique sur le Royaume de Portugal et d'Algarve, par 

 Adrien Balbi, 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1823. This is one of 

 the most minute and best-written statistical accounts 

 that have appeared. See also in this work the articles 

 SPAIN, LISBON, BRAZIL. (T. M.) 



