The Sun.
London, England, 1831-08-06 00:00:00

AFFAIRS OF PORTUGAL.

The Earl of ABERDEEN—He had for some time been
extreine!y desirous to call their Lordships' attention to
matters connected with the present situation and affairs of
Portugal—matters which, under the present circumstances,
appeared to hint to be of the highest importance. The
subject to which he more particularly wished to call their
Lordships' attention was, the present state of the Azores,
and the transactions which had tecently taken place in.
these islands. He referred, not only to the outrages which
had been lately committed by the garrison, and what was
called the Regency and Terceira troops, but to the pro-
jects which appeared to be there for the future—projects
in which the honour as well as the interest of this
country were deeply compromised.—(Hear, hear.) Of
all places in the world, perhaps, there was not a spot more
important, with reference to the commerce of Great Bri-
tain, than these islands. They lay directly in the course
of vessels coming from the west, and it was of the last im-
portance that they should be in the hands of a friendly
Power. They had been for a long period in the hands of
a Power friendly to this country, and this had been of im-
mense advantage to British commerce. If they should
fall into the hands of an unfriendly Power, it was impos-
sible to calculate the mischief with which that circum-

stance might be attended. He had some time ago called
the attention of their Lordships to this subject, and the
Noble Earl at the head of his Majesty's Administration
had then stated, that he bad received no accurate informa-
tion with respect to the events which had occurred at
Terceira, and the rest of the Azores. He hoped that the
Noble Earl bad since that time received accurate information
respecting the proceedings at these islands, and that he
was ready to communicate that information to their Lord-
ships and the public. His Majesty's Ministers had lately,
as was well known, demanded reparation from the exist-
ing Government of Portugal for injuries done to British
subjects, and it was admitted that the reparation had been
as satisfactorily made as it had been promptly demanded.
Then see how far reparation for similar injuries had been
demanded from and made by the Liberals of Terceira.—
(Hear, hear.) On the recognition of the present actual
Sovereign of Portugal by the Cortes and the Portuguese
nation, the troops and the people of Terceira and of
the rest of the Azores, had cordially concurred in
that recognition. But the garrison of Terceira had after-
wards revolted, and had reduced the inhabitants who re-
fused to join them to subjection, and ruled them on a
system of complete tyranny and military despotism.—
(Hear, hear.) But by intelligence from the British Con-
sul, and from every arrival from that quarter, it appeared
the inhabitants remained firmly attached to the existing
Government of Portugal. Some time ago, Don Pedro
had thought proper to create a Regency, and appointed
the island of Terceira as its place of residence.
At first the Regency had fixed its residence in Lon-
don, but by an order of Don Pedro, of last year, they
were positively directed to reside at Terceira, and
there they established themselves. At Terceira they re-
mained quiet as long as their monthly stipends were paid,
for they were the creatures of Don Pedro, and it was by a
monthly allowance from him that they were supported.
As long as they were paid in this manner, they did no-
thing particular bearing on the interests of this or any
other country. But when, either from want of ability or
disposition in Don Pedro to pay, this monthly allowance
ceased, it became necessary for the garrison of Terceira
to adopt some other course to procure subsistence, and no
other course presented itself than plunder. An expedi-
tion to some of the other islands was then determined
upon, and on the 9th of April an embargo was laid on
the British vessels at Terceira, and the masters of the

vessels having been applied to to take part with their ships
in the expedition, an:! they refusing, the masters were
_ .

turned out, the vessels forcibly taken possession of, to be
employed in the expedition. On the 10th of April, the
matter of the vessel called the Coquette, of London, was
applied to in this manner, and the master having posi-
tively refused to have any thing to do with the expedition,
he was forced to abandon his ship, which was taken pos-
session of by eighty or one hundred soldiers of the gar-
rison, and the British flag torn down. The masters of
four or five other vessels, seeing what had happened,
thought it most prudent to come intoterms, and th, y under
protest consented to join the expedition. On the 17th
of April the expedition sailed, and took possession of one
of these defenceless islands, and afterwards of another
of them, called the island of St. George; where, according
to the information which he had received, they corn
mitted the most horrible cruelties and atrocities, although
he hoped that these had been greatly exaggerated.
But, be that as it might, this was, properly, no military
expedition, for the object was manifestly plunder, and
nothing else. They had captured some British vessels;
and, if all this was not piracy, it was certainly something
approaching to it. Those who undertook the expedition
were, properly, subjects of no Government, either de facto
or de jure, but were merely a Junta appointed by the
Emperor Don Pedro, and supported by him. Ile was
sorry to say, that all this passed under the eye of the
master of one of his Majesty's vessels of war—the Gala..
tea—and that, notwithstanding the complaints of the
merchantmen, that officer did' not feel himself authorised
by his instructions to interfere. Let it be recollected
that, at the same time, the French fleet were blockading
the Tagus. The existing Portuguese Government was
anxious to send two vessels to warn the vessels corning
from the west of this circumstance. The merchantmen
coining from the west were insured at London, and yet
the British Consul refused to lend his authority to the
sending of the two vessels to warn the merchantmen, on
the pretence that the British Government was neutral,
and could not interfere. There never was a more scan-
dalous act of injustice than the capture of these merchant-
men, and vet we had prevented intelligence being sent to
them
d assumed u their
drgrearcZ of (llegarater, re hear.)
them
These to wn
proceedingsar
im-
portance from events that had recently taken place. Don
Pedro had been driven from his dominions, and had
now arrived in. this country, and was engaged in

projects for the invasion and conquest of Portugal":
(Hear, hear.) It was notorious that lie had endeavotur
t r raise a loan in this country, for the execution of t 111!
project, and had proposed to secure its repayment by the
evenues of Portugal. Great as.was the gullibility of t''g
capitalists of this country, this speculation was rather to
l)
much for the most of them, although there was bar
any speculation of the kind which would not take beret
some extent ; and he believed that a promise of 00'
money had been obtained, and that negociations were e°
foot to purchase vessels for the invasion with the morel'
and to have those vessels commanded by British officer';
Was it to be tolerated that these things should be peranitte.,
to proceed, in violation of the law of nations and the 1",
of the land ? and that they should not only be permitted
but encouraged ?—( Hear, hear.) This evinced ato
disregard of courtesy and common duty with respect to
the existing Government of Portugal. When D m yedr:
was Emperor of the Brazils, we admitted that he had a
right, if he chose, to make war on Portugal against lv
brother and in support of the claims of his daughte6;
and with respect to this we had preserved a strict ne3l:l
trality. This was what we had done when Don Pedr;3.
had rebelled against his father. We had preserved a strlc 1
neutrality, and our answer to the father, when he ee.
inanded succour from us, was, that we did not pretend °
n'erfere in the internal affairs of Portugal. We had Pitj
served the same course with respect to Don Pedro st)
his brother, and we informed them that we were tr.
solved that other nations should preserve the same ne,.l:
trality. But the Emperor Don Pedro had found '
case desperate, and he had in the course of the last I
intimated to the Government of this country that be h,
no thoughts of proceeding in a hostile manner against ':
brother ; but that, on the contrary, he was anxious ',il
settle the disputes between them by conciliation 8e
negociation; and he sent an Ambassador to this countlf
avowedly with a view to this amicable adjusttneti
He began at first to negotiate a loan, but at length Ow
cially communicated that he was authorised to enter up
a negociation for settling the differences between the E°:l,
peror Don Pedro and his brother. He did not mean t; I
enter into the details of this affair, although if he (1;1
their Lordships would not be a little surprized to be 3.
some of them. But Don Pedro had since been drivesi
from his throne, with a unanimity on the part of his dr
jects of which there had hardly ever before occurred °
example. He was deprived of his throne, and not °,
t°
single hand was held up in his defence. He appealed Pr:
the troops, but they refused to obey, and he was forced
abandon his throne, his country, and his children, undeli
circumstances the most painful that could be conceiveu.:l
He now came here to wage a private war against hi:
brother, and appeared to look for assistance from tl'el
British Government. But there was no man who its'
lass title to assistance from the British Government the,
Don Pedro. There was no Power that had ever acte‘
more offensively and more injuriously to the British gab,'
jects than he had done. Talk of injury indeed ! flelll.
frequently inflicted injuries upon them, and every 10/13',,.'
was justified by an insult, and all redress was obstinate'',
refused. It was not long since that it had been found °el
cesaary to have recourse to effectual measures to obtain ,re'ei
dress, and the proposed conditionshad been at length acee'
to, and the claims of British subjects had been acknowledge 0
lgrei
signed,
thee aite tee
and redress promised. He had not thought it expedients,
vtßeeruirittujuopintt
hsoitgili
insert these disputes in these dispatches, as his object gip.
to procure redress without, if possible, doing anything to 03.
ritmetsn
conditions would be performed, for the present Gover'l,
' might e
haden
still
t i e agreedPe
uncertaindll
andto ,
andih' i os wt broth
r °te tj el ivr :
mount of Brazil might have different views on the sub; d 1
and it might he doubtful how far the Government of v.,," 1
Pedro the Second might think itself hound by a cool'
Lion made with Don Pedro the First. These things ei!lio,
of great importance with reference to our present posit' i
with the existing Government of Portugal. Any jetfrop
ference on our part in favour of Don Pedro's restorstli
t a the throne of Portugal would be a manifest breach
neutrality ; and yet it was notorious that Don Pedro eon
gaged in projects here for the invasion and conquest
Portugal. He did not mean to say that any exPed,„ f
for the accomplishment of that object was to sail frna'
British port; but it was notorious that preparations elf
making
here for the conquest of Portugal, and the kreipot
ledge of that circumstance must injure our interest iii
only with the existing Government of Portugal, hat s
every quarter of the world, as long as Portugal rerna'fji
in its present condition. That condition was most pit;
and most painful to think of. Their Lordships had bust
of the recent transactions. They had heard of
.s
French fleet entering the Tagus, without any effort 03i;
by our Government to prevent it. It was utterly iii
possible for him to describe the feelings of !Obi;
and humiliation with which, as a British subject, 0,
reg irded that transaction. He gave the Noble Ss
(Grey) himself credit for being impressed with tei
same feelings. In this conduct of the French!.
there was no humiliation to Portugal. It was r'"'
land that was disgraced.—(Hear, hear, from the OP
~i
sition benches.) Let it be supposed for a moment t;
this event had taken place while Charles the Tenth red
in France. Let it be supposed that at that time the ri.
fish had permitted the French fleet to enter the Tety.
and that the white flag had waved under the walls of tij
bon, not to say upon the walls, as had been represeepi
by a slip in a late royal document.—(Hear, hear.) 40
it be suproied that the white flag bad then waved Ilit
under the walls of Lisbon, what a noise their Lords of
would have heard in this House about national degrada,t;i
and dishonour ! Was it clear that they would not Rol
even heard something about an impeachment ?A,V
since this event had taken place, he called upon the P:f
Lord to produce such documents and papers as he ersge
sidered best calculated to explain the extraordinary 001
action. He was astonished that the Noble Earl hall
_44
laid these papers on the table. As long as there s'shi
negociations depending on the subject, and as long a,',
result was doubtful, it might be improper that the °oat
ments should be made public. But when the result ,la
already known, and when war had actually been 03 i
then there was no use whatever in concealing thdi
vious proceedings. Take the case of the last invasie°,o
Spain by the French. Negotiations had taken placeo9
order to prevent that catastrophe. These negociatto
failed, and the invasion took place ; and theo
5,,,i,
Canning, without delay, came down to the 1400,
of Commons, and explained what these negoeia4,
were—how they had failed. This was au eo'd
which the Noble Earl ought to have followed in the Poi'
sent case; and the more so, because the interest doll
country was much stronger in the present case than le $a
of Spain. Portugal was much dearer to us than SP
`r
therefore no unnecessary delay ought to have tilir!
place in laying these documents before the public. I„ ti irj
indeed, possible that some negociations might be sti'llai
pending to restore peace between Portugal and Frail
but so there were, in order to restore peace hety
France anti Spain, and he himself had the satisfacti°itt:
see the termination of these negociations in the retteilot
the French from Spain. He frankly admitted that, i
was a responsibility in forcing information, buts' '1
same time it must be considered that there was a ae°,
bility in refusing to produce information.—( Hear,
The French fleet was now in the Tagus, and the 3;e,
Earl ought to lay the proper documents on their
ships' table, to explain how it came that a French.)
was in that situation. The Noble Earl ought, "1 ,
delay, to explain how it came that the British ships N'
captured and so improperly employed at the Azoreell,
must again call the Noble Earl's attention to the l'il
existing between this country and Portugal. The IcitS";
Earl had said that he did attend to these treaties, lot,
he admitted their obligation. But front the cont l°(
the Noble Earl towards Portugal, one could scf
imagine that he was aware of the full force ,°Arl
obligations founded on those treaties. Let him !9.efi
the whole of them, commencing with ',;it? '''.e.,71.1
Edward the Third and coming dotan to the P`,,`l,
time. Let hint look at the treaty of 166 l , to,ictl'
the King of England engaged to maintain the 51,1,1.6.
friendship and alliance with Portugal, and t 0 the:
its interest both by sea and land, even in th°,,Y,
manner as he would defend the interest:: of E011)/6 d,,'
There was a series of these treaties bettveertif
country and Portugal from the time of Edward theroi!
down to 1815, which was the last which was ~0)'
between the two countries, and in which it was PI y,
that all former treaties should remain in full foo'l ill:
vigour. The Noble Earl admitted the obligatic4:l
that '
posed by those treaties, but then he said
not bound to support the present Government 9 .11
goo b 1
since we had not acknowledged it. taut with telt iti,
oi
these treaties been made ? They had been made 'e ,t't
Portuguese nation as represented by its varione4oao
Governments for the time being. How could tr. g ,
made with nations except by means of their existitriaie,
vernments, and to whom were treaties to be l'e ereol
except to the Governments which, for the time,
cognised by the nation ? From whom was retire' (141
sought, and from whom had the Noble Earl dell,
it,i
dress except from the existing Governinen 'trei'
Noble Earl, however, admitted the force of the rt pd
but then he said that we weie not bound to stilir,,ase 1,
tugal in an unjust cause. Granted ; but sePrjed t.,
cause of Portugal had been unjust, still lie coutenlig,t;
it was the duty of this country, in virtue of the oucii ,
us
imposed by the Portuguese treaties, to have 140
, means in their power to have prevented this 11.

of- Partoigall
bad endeavour°,
execution of tb
repayment by
gullibility of the
DR was rather to
there was hardli
I not take here 01
promise of Olt '
ociations were e
with the mono;'
y British office,
iould be permitr
tioas and the Inf
naly be permitted;
s evinced a roul
with respect t$
When D in Pelf
ed that he had $
rtugal against bis
of his daughteo
rved a strict nell'
when Don Pee ••
preserved a OA°
her, when he de
did not pretend Di
;al. We had Pre-
to Don Pedro or
that we were r
eve the same oelr
ro had found
se of the last letitj
antry that he I",
pauper against fit
le was anxious l°l
conciliation or
ar to this countri',
;cable adjustment"
but at length of6'
iced to enter Or
between the ErllsY
did not mean
'though if he didl
urprized to hess
since been drives
se part of his Ob.
'Jefore occurred $
axone, and not s
He appealed t°
he was forced t°
us children, uncle(
ald be conceive].
war against 11,i:
assistance from tw
no man who 1151
Government tholl
at had ever acre'
the British sub"
indeed ! He bas
/ and every injut,
ess was obstinate!!
tad been found Ile'
cures to obtain re"
na at length aecedefi
)een acknowledge'
fight it expedient t°
/ as his object 04,,
ring anything toil'
) and his brother,
,1 to, and the Off
ortain how far t"
a present Goverr
ews on the sub?
;overnment of IY°
ound by a conye
These things ores
present posit),
fugal. Any
Pedro's restoratiol
manifest breoll
at Don Pedro e°,
's .1
a and conquest,
hat any expeslito:l
was to sail front/
t preparations
gal/ and thelm0:0;
ire our interest 4
Portugal, blitorti
Portugal rernoi.
on was most pi'Jod
:.ordships had he
had heard of
,nut any effort nsr
It was utterly itil ;
feelings of sl,b,
British subjects
we the Noble g'
impressed with tj'
the French Ili,'
;al. It was
r, from the Ort,
I for a moment IF,
es the Tenth rele:
that time the f-'l2,
to enter the frw,,,
ler the walls of P,
id been represellfil
,( Hear, hear.) 'Ol
ad then wave' eV
toise their Lort101;
national degradatjti
ley would not bs,o
rnpeachment? !by
tiled upon the 3`l.
I papers as he °-,1
extraordinary 07
Noble Earl had A 4
long as there rly
and as long a,:'

,per that the 4°;:i
when the result
actually been 0
the?
concealing 4,
the last inYAO4:I;O
a had taken pli°;ol!
These negoeititod
ce ; and 00,01
awn to the

these neva°
011
was an e ,
followed in the t'
e the interest 0'
sent case than 10
r to us than 5,0,

ught to have '''
e the public. 11/
a might be still/'
.e
lugal and Fr,-
itore peace het
id the satisfactiell
ions in the retrer
admitted that
wmation, but at ,
there was a r ..I
tion.—(Hear• Icl,
gus, and the
ants on their l
that a French:di
Earl ought, "”,"
3e British ships 9
d at the AzorePri
ntion to the 114)
'ortugal. The di
hese treaties, e, 01
from the cours>l
one could ,
he full force (441
es. Let him NI
with of
rip
lowa to th?_110,1,!,

of 1661, in ‘lOl/
maintain the 111
ugal, and toill
' th°
I even dp ,
:erects of Eogi
reaties betweenfe
of Edward tberA
,t which was fi
vhich ;.t g
lain in full 1.00;
the obliga0:410
lie said that We„ol
wernment of
But with 100,0 t
d teen made WI,
by its varioUs,
law could tqvi
of their existiriaol
sties to be 11,00
for the time, 0 0
out was retire
ble Earl ile°ll 1
t
uoverotneo
force of the 'rv' 0
t
bound to sBl3l/°„00',1
ted ; but suPrjer,
still he contetiiso,
irtue of the
g, to haveo:!..no
elite(' this i 1 Pr''T