Star. — London, England, 1829-06-02 00:00:00

left to them to assert the honour of the nation as re spected its conduct to a feeble yet faithful ally. It teas a case in which the actions and proceedings of Govern. ment were most likely to be subjected to suspicion and . imputation, and he was therefore sure that every tndivi dual in that House would agree with him that it was a case which required the fullest explanation. In order to obtain that explanation, he should be under the ne cessity* stating to the House his reasons for making the present address, which was for the production of, certain papers which would throw a light upon the transactions which had taken place between Portugal and this country from the year 1826 to the present time. In stating his reasons for making this motion he • should be under the necessity of occupying the atten tion of the House for a greater length of time than he could with ; he should endeavour, however, to be as short and as concise as possible. It was well known that in the year 1825 a treaty of reconciliation between Portugal and Brazil, and for a peaceable separation of the two countries, was negotiated between Austria and England, and ratified at Rio Janeiro . in August of that year. Now, it was remarkable that the person selected by King John VI. as his Plenipotentiary to conduct the negotiation between Portugal and Brazil was no other than that intelligent and excellent person Sir Charles Stuart, whose knowledge and integrity in such affairs rendered him the most proper person that could have been selected tor the conduct of such an important business. England and Austria, therefore, had not only interfered and taken an active pint in this separation of the two countries, but Sir Charles Stuart, a distin guished Englishman, acted .as the Plenipotentiary of the Portuguese State to negociate the peaty. In the , March following King John the Sixth died, and after his death, Don Pedro proceeded to execute the treaty of separation which had been already begun. And it' should be observed that his intention at that time was very peculiar, so peculiar that there was no instance in history which he knew of exactly like it. Having ac complished the separation, be renounced all title to the kingdom of Portugal, but at the same time he held authority over that country for the purpose of putting the treaty into execution. Although he was not the lasting King of Portugal, he was King for that neces sary portion tlf time, which was, indeed, imposed upon him by the terms of the treaty, for, until that treaty was tarried into effect, he was invested with power over the two countries. This being the case, Don Pedro in• troduced three measures to procure a safe separation of the two countries. These three measures were—first, the abdication of the Crown to Donna Maria; secondly, her marriage to Don Miguel. a pleasure which he thtught would secure tranquillity to the State in the danger , us moment of separation ; and thirdly. the in troduction of the Constitution. without which the se- cond measure would have been of no use. These were the three measures which were introduced in the year 1826 as the means of separating the two countries. Then how was this Constitution received in Portugal? It was borne back to Lisbon by the same Sir Charles Stuart who had acted as the Plenipotentiary of the old King. He (Sir J. M.) would not enter into any discussion upon the propriety or impropriety of that step on the part of Sir Charles Stuart. But, whatever might be the opi nion of some persons, he was convinced that he bad acted, in every sense of the word, upon honourable and upright principles. It was much more easy for persons at 4 distance to make observations, and to draw conclu sions upon the . actions of men, than it was for those to form a correct judgment, or to adopt a proper deter mination in their line of conduct, who were immediately engaged at the time. But be would seriously call the au. anon of the House to the effect which the fact of his being the bearer of the Constitution had upon the pen. ple of Portugal. When they saw that such an indi vidual as he was made the bearer of that Constitution, s he (Sir J. Macintosh) would ask if they had 1101 rea son to augur well r f the Opinion of England towards it? —whether the manifest interpretation tube put upon it was not that England was favourable to it? But this, as he had every reason to believe, was not all. It should be observed, however, that he was now speaking under correction, and if he were wrong, he begged that he might be corrected from the proper quarter. But if he were not deceived, the Government of Portugal, fearful of taking upon themselves the awful responsibility which was devolved upon them, did not put the Constitutional Charter into effect until they had received the advice of his Majesty and his Ministers upon the propriety of adopt , ing it. It he were rightly informed, dispatches were for warded to London upon this point, to which answers were delayed for at least one mail, during which the publication of the Charter was delayed, and it was not until advice had been transmitted from this country that it was finally promulgated throughout the State. The changes in the Ministry were so numerous at the time that this transaction took place, that it was impos sible it could long remain secret. It speedily became known az Lisbon, and be (Sir J. Macintosh) had not the least doubt that many, if not all the Nobility of Portugal, were encouraged to manifest their principles, since it appeared to them that they had a favourable opportunity of doing so wimh advantage, because they were directly befriended and favoured by their ancient ally. He did not mean to reflect upon the conduct of those gallant men who were now seamed over the face of the world by the usurpation of the creature who now filled the throne of Portugal ; be did not mean to say that their conduct and behaviour had not been zealous arid patriotic; but he must say it would have been vain and idle for them to take the step which they had does unless they had the countenance of this country to sup port them. The neat point to which be wished to call the attention of the House before be proceeded to es- Plain, was that of what was called our neutrality., Neutrality was a word which bid not, in many canes, a very limited signification. It bad not prevented our interference. in many inStStlCeS s in the affairs of States towards which we had declared ourselves neutral. It was not a point but a line, within the length of which there was room for the execution of many friendly offices. It was a line of skit length as would admit of a change from friendly *takes to those of an adverse chatacter. But it was not for any breach of neutrality that be now required an explanation ; his object was to induce the tiovernment to adopt and to continue a friendly arid an honourable course of policy towards the most ancient ally of this kingdom, and it a as his wish to know whetbee such a course of policy had hitherto been departed from ? All that had yet been done, he did not hesitate to-aar, was itself within the line of neu trality, so that upon that point at least the count', bad nothing to complain of. On the 30tisof October, 1826, Don Miguel entered into espousals with the Infanta Donna Maria. This ceremony, which MS one of affiance and not of marriage, was performed by the Papal Nuncio in the rescue of the Portuguese arid Brazilian Ministers. It was a ceremony which was not decided on and consummated trithout anipleeonsiderap tine on all sides; so that Don Miguel could not plead we excuse of his subsequent conduct that he bed been seeread into, or that he bad not had sufficient time tu &liberal% urn it. At the time that the memo/ was performed he mote; ip thelteseftee of many witnesses, that he would observe the articles of the Chatter and sti s 'ainttin the Constitation of - Don Pedto. And this Was one 01 the acts of diception which he had practised in order to pave his . way to that summit which be rhad'sinee attained; although it must be admitted tbat if he were rewarded according to his . merits he would have arrived at a summit of a very different kind. At the time that this ceremony took place Don Miguel had partisans in the north-eastern parts of Por tugal. who immediately crossed the borders, and went into Spain—a movement which ultimately led• to the landing of a number of British troops in Lisbon—an act on the part of this Government which he should , ever continue to regard as one of the most noble acts of policy which had ever been adopted by any Minister in this country. It was correct, it was proper, it was necessary, that such a step. so bold and so decisive, should be taken when the safety of an ancient ally was threatened by a host of rebels. The next subject to which he wished to allude was one ofratherispeculiat nature. In the autumn of 1827 the . Portuguese km• bassador at the Couit of Austria presented a note, in consequence of which a conference was held at Vienna, the result of which was the formation of what, accords ing to the modern mode of expression, wa4 called a protocol. The Ambassador of Don Pedro at this time produced a letter from that Emperor, in which Don Miguel was nominated his Lieutenant in Portugal, with a view that the Constitutional Charter might be the better carried into effect. In addition to this letter was another to the King of Great Britain, beseeching him, as the great ally and natural protector of the kingdom which he had abdicated, not only to support Miguel in his regency, but also to see that the Constitutional Char• ter which he had granted to the people of that country was properly established as the fundamental law of the kingdom. He (Sir J. M.) was quoting all this from memory. but he believed that it would be found that he had .spoken correctly. Words tq the same effect were contained in another letter of the same date to the father-ini-law of Don Pedro. The result of these letters was. that England and Austria determined not only to aid and support the Regency of Don Miguel, but also to support the carrying into effect of the Constitutional Charter. Under these circumstances, what was more natural than that that great Minister, Prince Metter nich, should think that the first question was to ascer tain whether Don Miguel would observe the conditions under which he was to be vested with the power of Re gent, because it was upon that condition, and upon that alone, that the two nations who had been addressed by Don Pedro were required to put Don Miguel in such a 'Situation? Prince Metternich consequently made the inquiries which he felt he was bound to do ; and in the course of these inquiries he found Don Miguel exceed. ingly tractable, especially with respect to the course which he would pursue when he came to be placed in authority in Portugal. He had forgotten to mention that at the time the notes of Don Pedro were produced by his Ambassador two other Portuguese noblemen were also present. Of these one was the Count Villa Real. These noblemen had especially pointed out the neces sity of some interference on the part of Great Britain, in order to compel Don Miguel to preserve the con. ditions of the Charter. He would here call the at tention of the House to the consideration of What inference the Count Villa Real was to infer from this. What but that the return of Don Miguel to Portugal, through England, was a guarantee of security to the Constitution? what but that, by his being sent to Por tugal by a free country, he was not to be looked upon as one who came to destroy a free Constitution ? Was not this act, he would ask, an encouragement to the Constitutional party to think yell of the disposition of England, and to hope Much from the interference of England? But he would now return for a while to the point Isom which he set out. When Don Miguel de clined to return to Portugal through England, he gave as his mason for so declining his belief that a strong prejudice existed against him bete, and that lie was apprehensive as to his reception in this counir y.— He (Sir James Macintosh) believed that Don Miguel had formed a just anticipation as to the views enter tained towards him by the virtuous part of the British nation, but be did not then sufficiently calculate on his accomplished powers of hypocrisy, which subsequently stood him in such good stead. He was then informed by Prince Metternich that he must not return though Spain, that Austria would not for a moment listen to such a course—not that Austria feared his heading the discontented panics in that country, but for other weighty reasons of State. In the meantime Don Miguel had an interview with a higher personage than Prince Metternich, to whom it might have been expected he. would have told the truth, if the truth had been in him, and to whom he declared (spontaneously it was believed) his intention sacredly to fulfil all the directions and commands that had been issued by Don Pedro, his au gust and merciful brother. This declaration, let it be remenabered,was made to an august personage, to whom he would have spoken truth, if fat truth he had enter wiped the slightest respect. But when Prince Metter nich had informed Don Miguel that he could not 'morn to. Portugal through Spain he left him his choice of two places, distinctly telling him that he must fix upon one of them. The first was to pass into Portugal through hog.' land, the other was to remain at Vienna until the one rr views of Don Pedro were communicated to him. fe was necessary to state that the English Minister at Vienna was present at the conference when this deter mination was made known to Don Miguel, and was made perfectly aware of what passed in the presence of the august personage whom he (Sir James Macintosh) would sot name, and also in the presence of Prince Metternich, his Minister. All this was known in Eng land, for the intelligence was communicated to the Bri tish Government by the British Minister is a letter, of which he (Sir James Macintosh) possessed a copy, ad dressed to his Majesty*: Principal Secretary of &ate. Now, the conclusion to be drawn from this fact was, that there was no disposition against the proceeding manifested on the part of his Majesty's Gufernmeet. How came it, then, that Prince Metternich and the Allied Powers, for he spoke in their name, bad a right to dictate to Don Miguel the manner in which be should return to Portugal, and the precise path be was to take? How came it, then, that Prince hlerteroich communicated to him that he was mot to ;care Vitoria, unless his crone lay through England, uatd he bad been informed as to the ukerior determi nation of Doti Pedro? had Prince Metternich a right so to do? If he had, from whence did he derive that right ? It might be said he might be justified in to doing because of the commitment of Don Miguel to prison by his merciful father, and because of his in tended patricide; it might be said that such were the views Stoop which his father had acted; but it seemed to him (Sic James Macintosh) that there was an easier way of 'swinish% the cimosastaace, by supposing that the, Allied Powers bad agreed with Don Pedro to at image fen Pottugal is * way to preserve its safety, and to maintain its positiess ; and that by that agreement it was their ditty to Don Pedro to act so as net only to preserve the peace of Portugal but the ram of Europe —kbat they conceived it their My to do all that was necessary for the performance of that contract, and that open this principle they acted in reference toDonhliguel. Why bad the Allied Powers a light to put tie question to him as to how he intended to re.entes Portugal ? Wh)! betadse he had no tigbt to returittoPortugel until he had given a satisfotory answer. We perceived, then, that the Allied Powers had been acting upon the loundation of decrees and letters from Don P. dro, and that they required Don Miguel Cu exercise the regency consti tutionally in administering the affairs of Portugal, and that if he did not agree so to act they would detain him at Vienna until the ulterior determination of Don Pedro. was made known. Could there be a better proof *thee they acknowledged the right of Don Pedro to exer cise his power until his will was communicated to Don Miguel? In consequence of this arrangenient, Don Miguel wrote letters to his br..ther, accepting the regency with gratitude, and stating that lie was going to Portugal to support the constitution so graciously and wisely granted by his brother. In the same strain he wrote a letter to the King of Great Britain; in the sine strain he addressed his Most Christian Majesty; and, above all, in the same strain he wrote ta his sister, the Infanta Mat ia, then Regent of Portugal, desiring that his I tier might be made public, for the comfort and satisfaction of the Portuguese people. Thus, then, we had the obligation imposed upon Don Miguel, his assurance that he would keep the pledge he had given, mid we had his letter to his brother, in which he had tke holiness, the perverted courage—there could be no word to espiess the quality—the boldness or the shamelessness to declare to the Empeior of Brazil his determination to keep the Constitution as it then existed, in pursuance cf an oath par mai jar?—by me sworn. This oath he subsequently repeated, endeavoured to lull the suspicions of his brothel by the most solcnin assurances, and, on the faith of those assurances, and by the tricks practised on the Allied Powers, he was poi misted to return to P. rtugal by the way of England—the Allied Powers agreeing to help him by their councils, to assist him with means, and to secure to him in every country a reception due to his tank. Thus they enabled him to repair to Pottugal —thus they put him in a situation which gave him power to accomplish the usurpation he had since achieved. Was it not evident, then, that if the Allied Powers bad been gulled by this fraud--as it was plain they had been—and were induced to I urnish him with the means to accomplish the crime of usurpation, and the deg, a dation of the subjects of Portugal—and it they had a tight to impose any condition, when, he would ask, did the right to enforce it end ? If the Allied Powers had a right to dictate, they had no right to desist when they had placed in his hands the power of usurpation, and the means cf acquiring that which he must have been contemplating at the very moment he practised on diem the grossest deceit. He (Sir J. Macintosh) felt loath to occupy the time of the House, but he desired to have the slightest speck of suspicion etased from the chat octet of this country—he dewed it to be shown that nothing had been left undone that could be done on the part of Great Britain to preserve an ancient ally from the very depth disgrace and degradation Thus.then,Don M ire! was sent back to Portugal, and went there accompanied by a Bs itish Ambassador. In consequence of the decision of the Allied Powers no stopicion was entertained by Don Pedro, who gave the most unequivocal proof that such was the fact by sending over his daughter to Europe. Now, although it had been a vet bal engage ment, of which no minute was taken by the Allies, it became unquestionably binding upon individuals of faith and honour, and that the breach cf it would justify those Allies in subsequently acting. Upon the principle that such engagement was binding Don Pedro had acted—had committed the most important act he could commit, by sending over his daughter to Europe. Don Miguel then arrived at Lisbon, on the last day of February, 1828, attended by Sir Frederick Lamb, as Ambassador from his Britannic M +jetty; and a loan was procured from this country, and under'the sanction' of our Government. Under such circumstances he ar• rived in Portugal. At this time Count Villa Flor, who knew Don Miguel better than either Noce Metternich or the British Ministers, apprehending *the consequences that would result from his return, procured himself to be appointed to the Embassy to Paris, with a view to escape from the wolf, when he again visited his den; but this it was presumed, at Austria, would give some cause for suspicion, and letters were sent to the Count from Vienna, entreating that be would remain at his post, and assuring him that he had not the slightest ground for fear, declaring at the same time that no party in Portugal would be in any way oppressed.— Count Villa Plor, under this assistance, continued to se main ; but, fortunately for himself, subsequently effected an escape, when the plans of Don Miguel became tee obvious to be mistaken. He (Sir James Macintosh) felt it unnecessary to trace the various steps by which Don Miguel effected his usurpation—they were well known, and needed no farther explana tion; but he would proceed to notice the next find basest of all his perjuries—the most shocking and disgusting perjury that had ever, perhaps, been committed—he meant the oath that Don Miguel had pretended to take; but had slurred over in the presence f the Corte,, when he appeared to swear, but muttered over some words that actually meant nothing—thus lulling his conscience, and thinking to escape its re proaches. Of all perjuries this was the basest—of all perjuries this was the most infamous; because by it he offered the grossest indignity to that sacred ordeal which he pretended to venerate. Nothing was so Shocking, nothing was so horrible. as that a member of one of the noisiest families in Europe should, before his people and in the presence of his Crows, commit a knavish trick of which the vilest thiet at the bar of the Old Bailey would be ashamed. He (Sir James Macintosh) could scarcely find language in which to express his detesta tion of the base attempt on the part of the usurper, not only to cheat his own conscience, but to cheat the Searcher of all hearts. Yet this was done in the pre. since of the representative of England, before the Cortes, and before the leaders of the Constitutional perty,iito soon felt the effects of the change. In March he gave such evidence of his intentions, by dismissing the Cortes, and proclaiming a Government different to that he had sworn to support, that no doubt whatever remained among the loyal subjects of Don Pedro as to' his future acts. They were, therefore, justified in doing all in their power to counteract his treasonable practices ; and they might have succeeded but that an insurmouni . . able obstacle was suddenly placed inheir ways When the British troops arrived in Portugal they had bp; ,one direction, and that one was to guard the person of the Regent. Their general direction was nom interference there was but one exception, and that one was in favour • of a man who was upon the verge of crime, upon the track of usurpation. No &min the Constitutional party could then have sent intelligence to the merciful brother of Don Miguel, and have preserved the Constitution until' they received the directions of DonPedro,..and thut hisve followed up the instructions given by Prince Metternich; but they learned,tbat the Etitisb army was only to re main in Portugal for three months. This was to be considered In exceedingly unforttihite Citrate:lft" but it ought to have had its effect upon the Bluish G o . vernment. end to have made it consider it Its a duty t o we double caution in all its future proceedings with re. gaid to Don Miguel and the affairs of 'Portugal. Si r Frederick Lamb, as soon as he perceived the state of thmrs that existed. retort:A to England, and returned alone; but, unhappily, time had been afforded to the usurper to remove all the officers of the ga r . rison of Lisbon, and to appoint deer the troops the rebel and mercenary soldiers, whom, a a wn time before, the British rushy had driven out of the country. Thus, then, the Allied Powers had given to this man the power of usurping the throne of Portugal, and of that power he had availed himself. To the un botulism blockade of Oporto he would not now r e f er . But he would refer to some tithe events that foll owe d the usurpation. In consequence of these events a body o f royalist tramps escaped from Portugal, proceeded to W I country and landed at Plymouth. It was highly Innen t e able to that town that at a public me ming held their a tee solution was passed declaratory of the gcod conduct of thosellortugueee. and a petition was presented to his Nlae jesty.enttratingthey might not re win away f r o m oro ,, ns them. He (Sir James Macintosh) now approached the consideration of an event on which ha could not reflect without considerable pain. But he_ would first allude to some negotiations that had taken place between sue Government and the Brazdian Minister. At the per io d to which. he alluded thee were in this country three' persons 'cl;esming *to be the ienteeentatives of Beat) and Portugal--the Marquis 13.rbacena, as guardian to the daughter of Don Pedio; the Marquis hawk as representative of Puttugal ; a.d the Vi%cfraor bayonet, as the Ambassador from Brazil. All of thri•St attempted to interfere in tetertnice to Donna K o i et but the Marquis Patmella aas told. " We me g a see you in reterroce to the affairs of. Brae 1;" the Viscount. baba y ana, " ‘Ve cannot ate you in tete, tore to the affaies of Pot toga! ;" and the Marquis Barhacena, "We cannot see you, because yon appear only as the representative of the head of the house of Braga. za. Don Pedio, en whom devolves the right of guardianship of his &ugh ter, for we deny that Don Pedro has a tight to inter fere as the bead of the house of &apnea, or as the guardian of his daughter l' This, accoriing to a say. ing used in law, when he (Sir J. M.) acted in the poles. 51 ~,, , was "sharp practice." and no precedent could be quoted to defend the principle. A minor Queen was told by a neutral or friendly Government, " We recng. nice you as Queen, beet we will not acknowledge th at y Minister is entitled to act for you." This waste deed. placing a barren sceptre its her hand. Ile natural dictates of common sense would have been. to !save permitted any person appo;nred 'by her neutral guardian to act for her. In a very niemorable case a Slvereign of England, remarkably. jealous of her an. Itity, and especially upon the subject to which he . was about to refer, had , acted in a very different manner—he alluded to Queen Elisabeth and. Liding. ton, the Ambassador of the deposed Mary. Queen of Scots. In this case Elizabeth waived the objection, and treated with him as Ambassador several years; and it was not until he engaged in a rebellion agatnst her that she ceased to treat with him as an Ambassador, imprisoned him for some time, and subsettuently dismissed him. Queen Elizabeds took a very cliff:teat pair from that pursued with reference to the Queen df Portugal, in 'denying to Don Pedrir, orate lead of the • house of .Bragat sa. -and the 'neutral guardian of his • d slighter, the light to nominate her repreientative— Queen Elizabeth treated with the Minister of a deposed Queen. ,Its looking over the treaties, and they one voluminous, indeed, he might, perhaps, be dis'posed.ts say." It is not in the bond;" that there was tio parse tee on the part of our Government to give Milner y sue cour to Portugal; but it required only eierylittle par tiality to draw a very different conclusion, for we might very easily suppose that Such a guarantee was meant, tor it had amounted to an agreerrent withDoisPedrO that ha ie ws shonld becarried ititoefftct,and it did imply a.right and a duty on the parcof the Allied Powers to prevent Don Miguel from accomplishing his ultimate object.— Buv.he would only ask the Heise, whether these treaties, so closely hot desing on a guaranteetreaties drat had I continued between this country and-Portugal for up wards of 400 years, from Edward the Third down to George the Fourth, had not encouraged the people of Portugal and the friends of the Portuguese Constituting to expect succour from Great Britain in the hour of nted ? When be was told that there was no binding e f . treaty with the people, he would say . that there could be none; but acts which amounted to a promise, sad exa ci men to hope for succour. was the only Tseaty that could be entered into with a. people. He would now proceed to notice that particular subject Which he had a few moments since introduced—he referred to The Pot tuguese troops that, escaping from the vengeance of Don Miguel, had landed in England,' and remained at Plymouth. A correspondence on this subject wit opened between the Government and the Marquis de Pahrella —an individual to whom be (Sir J. M.) was anxious to do justice, and to state hi s belief that he was as excellent a man as any in Europe, and than whom nu man was less capable of practising deception., or acting in a manner that was not petfectly honourable. The sob. jeer of this correspondence originated in a wish that those Portuguese troops should be separated from their cfficers, and scattered through various towns in the west of' England. New it . most have been acknow ledged on all hands that no one for' a moment enter• rained any dread that those iitiops threatened the tran quillity of this souutty or the safety of Portugal. The piopotal, however, for their dispersion, was made, ha E which the Marquis Paimekla suited that, in preference so dividing the Officers (tomtite troops, and thus am nibilating the last troops of Vonna . Maria, he weak! 1 . wish them to be sent to Brazil.. This statement was I made on the 20th of November. From that period esti the 13d of December the Marquis Pahnella framed hie request in regard to the Portuguese troops so as to poke out Brasil as the place of their destination. And why did he do so? Becausein the Island of Terceira, which, in the month of June, had proclaimed Dun Pedro, September there had been an insurrection, and Doe Miguel had beta proclaimed; but on the fourth d December that insurrection had been suppressed, fader had been restored, and the legal authorities had pry Claimed Donna Maria. On the 23d of December* Marquis Palmella had received the information, and& 4 ; now requestecileave to alter his original determinating j and to send the troops to that island. He (griming Macintosh) mentioned these dates because they wereLf importance. The Marquis Palmella then chard 101 destination of the troops, and stated, as his rump for so doing, an event that' hid recently comma is the island' of Terceira. He (Sir James Macietoe) bad a large body of documents relative to this circumstance, and among them was the Proclamatio 4PDOnnkMariit. Sy these documents it apeeliedt bsi • . ihhough the Pilbliciseadt had been for a short 1 0 disgibed, from December-the authority of Donna 1 1 # 0 ria liidbeen recognised. He did not mesa to ttP [that'll guerilla care two Alight pot .hide ins urer./ ti t . [create disturbance; but these was certainly no preen lba cei Pt, lag VIII thi •OM itel So ovi btu by at. blc ten End to Dm • ten 'of -Joao 10