The Sun.
London, England, 1823-06-27 00:00:00

PROCLAMATION

OF HIS MAJESTY THE PING TO THE INHABITANTS or
LISBON, TO TRANQUILLIZE THE CAPITAL, MADE AT
VILLA FRANCA DE XERA ; IN WHICH HE REJECTS ABSO-
LUTE POWER, AND AFFIRMS TO MODIFY THE CON-

STITUTION.
" INHABITANTS OF LISBON !—The salvation of the rec.
ple has always been a supreme law, and to me a sacred law.
This conviction which has been my guide in the critical circum.
stances in which Providence has placed me, imperiously pre.
scribes the resolution which I have taken to.day, with regret, to
separate myself from you for some days, yielding to the prayers
oithe people, and to the desires of the army, which accompa.
nies me, or has preceded me.
" Inhabitants of Lisbon !—Make yourselves easy. I will
never belie the love which I consecrate to you ; 1 sacrifice my-
self for you, and, in a short time, your dearest wishes will be
fulfilled. _ .

" Experience, the wise instructress of Nations and Govern-
ments, has demonstrated, in a manner very afflicting to me, and
fatal to the nation, that the existing institutions are incompati.
ble with the will, the customs, and the persuasions of the greater
part of the Monarchy. The evidence of facts confirms these as-
sertions ; Brazil, that interesting part of the Monarchy, is torn
to pieces ; in the kingdom, civil war Las caused Portuguese blood
to be shed by the hands of their countrymen ; the danger of fo-
reign war is imminent, and the State is threatened with total
ruin, unless the most prompt and efficacious means are adopt.
ed. In this afflicting crisis, I act as the King and Father of
my subjects, and save them from anarchy and invasion, by con-
solidating the parties which are hostile.
" To attain this desirable end, it is necessary to modify the
Constitution. If it had made the happiness of the nation I
would continue to be its first guarantee; but when the majority
of a nation declares itself so openly and hostilely against its
institutions, those institutions need reform.
" Citizens, I do not desire, nor ever did desire absolute
power; and I this day reject it. The sentiments of my heart
are repugnant to despotism and to oppression. I desire only
the peace, the honour, and the prosperity of the nation.
" Inhabitants of Lisbon ! Do not fear for your liberties, they
shall be guaranteed in a manner which, securing the dignity of
the Crown, shall respect and maintain the rights of the cid.
zers. Meantime, obey the Authorities; avoid private revenge;
stifle the spirit of party ; avoid civil war • and. in a short time,
'
you shall see the bases of a new Code, which securing personal
safety, property, and employments, dilly acquired in any pe-
riod of the actual Government, shall give all the guarantees
that society requires, unite all wishes, and make the prosperity
the whole nation.

" JOHN VI. Ring.
" Villa Franca de Xera, May 21, 1823.
" Published by an order written and signed by his Majesty,
transmitted to the Minister of Finance this day. The original
is in my hands.
" JOSE XAVIER MOZINHO DA SILVEIRA.
" Lisbon, May 31, 1323."

[PRIVATE LETTER.]
"I.tsnox, MAY 31.
" In the morning of the 27th of May, the Infante Don
Miguel, the King's second son, fled from the Palace, under a
previous arrangement made with his mother, and those persons
in her secrets, accompanied by a party of the cavalry regiment,
infantry
regiment, 4. He proceeded to Villa Franca to join the 23d
regiment, which on the same morning had left this place for
Beira, on their way to the head-quarters of the army stationed
on the frontiers. Thence he wrote to his father the letter in-
serted in the Diario do Gaverno, and Souza, the Colonel of
the 234, also wrote to General Sepulveda, published in the
same Paper. The Cortes named Sepulveda Commander of
the Forces in Lisbon, independent of the Ministry, and the
latter were changed, and other Ministers substituted in their
place, part of whom accepted, and the others refused. In place
of those who refused to serve, were afterwards named for
the Interior, Marciano de A zevedo ; for the War Depart..
ment, Fonseca Rangel ; and for that of Justice, Jose Antonio
Guerrero. In the night of the 27th, some of the police sol-
diers fled away to Villa Franca. From that period- the Na-
tional Guards were assembled at their posts, and continued
regularly doing garrison duty. The other regiments also went
on deserting, and General Sepulveda, who by this time had
been discovered, was nearly assassinated on Corpus Christi
Day, in the Terreim do Paco. In the same evening, he also
made off to Villa Franca, carrying with him the 20th infantry
,regiment and 6th chasseurs. On the 28th, General George de
Aviles was named General-in-Chief of the army of Portugal,
and in the morning of the 30th, he went to the parade-ground
with all the militia and some regulars. In the afternoon of
the same day, the 10th regiment withdrew, although up to
that moment they had remained faithful and patriotic. They
immediately proceeded to the Palace of Bemposta, drew up in
line before the windows, and shouted " Long live the Abso-
lute King." The King and his whole Household then went off
with the 18th to Villa Franca. The national guards continued
doing garrison duty, and evenarrested some officers of the regu-
lar army and the police, who were flying away. The commercial
volunteers ware stationed in the Castle and Limoeiro prison.
A company of military artillery were on duty at the bank with
one piece of cannon. Anarchy was by this time complete in
Lisbon and also in Villa Franca, where a shot was tired at
Viscount Jerunanha, which killed his horse. The person who
tired thought it had been Sepulveda. When the King
i and con-
spirators were assembled in Villa Franca, the former issued the
following Proclamation on the 31st (vide our Lisbon extracts),
which certainly chews that the intentions and wishes of the
King are good. The Proclamation was nevertheless torn down
from the corners of the streets by the people. On the ht, Gen.
Aviles issued a Proclamation calling on the inhabitants to
resist the anarchists. _ .

List of the Portuguese Passengers in the packet :—Minister
of Justice, Sr. Just, da Silva Carvallo, wife, brother, and three
children. Counsellor of State, Jose Ferreira Borges. De-
puties in the Cortes, Francisco Xavier Monteiro, and Joao
Bernardo da Rocha. Regenerators, Duarte Lema and Jose
Maria Lope*: Carneiro ; General Pepe. Maiiino J.
Pereira tie Azevedo, of the Tercera Islands. Sebastian du
Prat and Son, merchants. Joao Carpinteiro, jun. and Antonio
Luis de Lima.
" Lisnost, MAY 31.
" The changes here have been so great, and so quick in sue.
cession, within these last few days, and our anxieties kept so
constantly awake, that we are left hardly any time to write,
and can only give the amount of what has happened.
" By order of the Government the 23d regiment of infantry
marched from the Castle of St. George here, on the morning
of the 27th, before day-break, to proceed to the province of
Beira, to oppose the operations of Amarante, who was daily
expected there; but they had not proceeded further than Sa.
cavern, a village two leagues distant, when they halted and
cried out, " Viva El Rey absolisio e ltforre a Constiluicao.l!
—llere they were immediately joined by Don Miguel;
the King's second son, who had Jett the palace of Queluz,
two leagues on the other side of Lisbon, taking with him
a squadron of cavalry which was doing uty at the palace.
They immediately proceeded to Villa Franca, and from thence
to Santarem, and were well received every part of the way.
Dispatches, in the King's name, were sent by the Prince, to all
the troops in the North, to come down immediately and meet
him at Coimbra, to relieve the King, and give a death
blow to the Constitution. As soon as this was known in Lis-
bon, all the Militia, Volunteers, and National Guards were
called out to protect the city and to maintain order. On the
morning of the 211th more regiments of the line marched, of
their own accord, to join the Prince. The Recta of the
Cwpo de Dees took place on the 29th, when there is always
a grand procession in the Roeio, one of the public squares,
and there the King attended, accompanied by some of the
Members of a new Ministry which he had appointed the pre-
vious evening at the suggestion of the Coates, who hoped thus
to make some arrangement. In the evening there was more
tumult than usual m the Streets. General Sepulveda was ac-
tamed of treachery, and narrowly escaped assassination in the
Praca do Conemercio; and when nearly midnight it was dis.

We now lay before our Readers the particu-
lars of the important intelligence from Lisbon,
which reached us yesterday, but at too late an
hour to be fully inserted in our columns. The
details are contained in private letters of the 31st
ult., and in the Lisbon Journals from the 27th
ult. to the Ist instant. We are still ignorant of
the final results of the counter-revolutionary
movement ; but there can be no doubt that it ter.
minated in the complete subversion of the Con-
stitution,—though whether an absolute Sove-
reignty has been re-erected on its ruins, or, as
seems•to be more probable, a limited Monarchy
with a House of Peers and a House of Commons,
and the reservation of an absolute Veto for the
KING, as the third branch of the Legislature,
must remain matter of conjecture until the ar-
rival of the Lisbon Mails which are still due. The
first of these must of course have left Lisbon on
the Bth instant, by which time, probably, the
KING had returned to the capital, and the basis
of the new system of Government had been
formed. From the KING'S second Proclamation,
dated Villa Franca de Xera, 31st May, there
is every reason to hope that the blessing of a
liberal form of Government will be preserved
for Portugal ; and that the reel objects of the
authors of the Counter-Revolution, viz. the re-
establishment of arbitrary power, and the ex-
tinction of the influence of England in Portugal,
will thus be frustrated. It is evident that the
KING himself has been constrained to yield to
the overpowering force of the revolted troops,
and to the extensive treachery and defection
by which he was surrounded, and which he had
found it impossible to resist.

In our preceding columns we have also in-
serted two Official Reports from the French Ar.
mies. The first, from Major-General GUILLE.
MINOT, details the operations of General MOLITOR
against General BALLASTEROS, the capture of Se-
guntu m, and the occupation by the French of Va-
lencia, as announced in the SUN of Monday last.—
The Second Report is from Baron de ROTTEM.
DOURO. It contains some further assertions re.
specting the alleged defeat of a part of 141:44.'s
troops, and, after announcing that he had enter-
ed the Seo d'Urgel, reiterates the vain-glorious
boast, (already become so ridiculous,) that the
power and influence of the enterprising Spanish
Chieftain are annihilated ? Upon this subject,
the Journal du Contmcrce of 'Wednesday makes
the following reflections:—

" MINA, who was either abandoned by his
soldiers, or who had no more than 2,3, or 4,000
men, exterminated with fatigue and hunger, ac.
cording to the Ministerial Journals, has sue-
ceeded—according to what they also state, in
occupying the attention of 26,000 men upon all
the points which they occupy, In re-victualling
two fortresses, in coining to seek his provisions
in France, in compelling General Damns to quit
his positions before Figueras) tu retiring again

upon France, and in retaining for nearly three
months the whole of the French army in the first
quarter of the province of Catalonia. They will
doubtless not call Mina a great Captain; but they
invite others to call him so, when they designate
him as a mere adventurer. After having tracked
him so often, and announced on Sunday, as was
done in the Journal des Dacia, that all the ar-
rangements were made to cut off his retreat upon
Urgel and complete his destruction, is it not
making him a hero, and authorising the public
to believe that he has overcome all obstacles,
and passed over the bodies of our soldiers, to
publish on Monday that he entered Urgel the
17th ? Messieurs Ministerialists, if any one
has made Mina a supernatural being, it is
you ; if any one has degraded our soldiers, and
sought to deprive them of all glory, in pursuing
nothing but a vagabond, and suffering him to es-
cape, it is still you.—The Drapeuu Blanc pro-
mised to tell us why Mina was not taken, but it
gave us to understand, yesterday, that for
this it is to appear before the Tribunals.
We cannot recognise, im its justification,
its ordinary freedom and boldness ; and we are
sorry, because freedom and boldness would
please us, even in an opposition diametrically
opposite to our own. The little success of the
operations against Mina was, it is said, owing to
a political cause. What is that cause ? The
Drapeau Blanc declare► its ignorance, since it
calls it occult, and adds that it will one day
explain it more clearly, when it shall become
more Clear."

Bogota Gazettes, or the 6th April, have beets
received. They state that the Congress was ex-
pected to assemble on the 17th.

It is reported that the King of SP.% IN, after
his arrival at Cadiz, was formally deposed by
the Cortes.

A Jamaica Mail arrived this morning, with
Papers to the 10th May.
[From the Jamaica Courier of the fith May.]

We have received Colombian Gazettes to the
Bth ult.—Maracaibo is closely blockaded. The
Royalists are snisl to be in great confusion and
despair, 400 having deserted, and their ammuni-
tion being almost expended. Puerto Cabello is
closely besieged by the Independents:—ft Bul-
letin mentions some skirmishes.—The Colombian
Papers are full of conjecture respecting the des-
tivation of Commodore OW EN'S squadron. All
seem to anticipate the occupation of Cuba in the
event of a war.

A New York Paper of the 18th May is re-
ceived, but does not contain any news.

It has been reported this day that information
has been received by the Government in Ireland
of an intended insurrection, which was to take
place on the I.2th of next month. As Govern-
ment, however, has received this information in
due time, it is to be hoped that its vigilance avid
decision effectually obviate the danger. It

is not improbable that the following extract from
an Irish Paper, received this morning, relates to
the same subject :
" The troops quartered here harebeen kept, for some reason
or another, more upon the alert for a few days past, than
heretofore. There appears also to be an unusual vigilance
on the part of all those to whom the preservation of the,
peace belongs as a peculiar duty. Any soldier billetted
out of barracks is strictly ordered to deposit hi., musket,
bayonet, &c. in the barracks, previously to his retiring at
night to his quarters. A strong military patrol parades the
streets at night. There is no doubt that some suspioions are
entertained of the nature of which we do not affect to be in-
formed. The last Connaught Journal would insinuate that
there have been some anonymour communications made
to the Government respecting the state of Galway. The
Government do not generally pay very implicit attention to
vague or anonymous communications. It may not perhaps
be very wild, or very silly to suspect, that some information
has been conveyed to the Castle, authenticated by real and ?non
respectable signaturcs.—(Geelleay Chronicle.)

THE KING.— (Windsor, June 26..)—in the
course of his drive yesterday, his MAJESTY again
visited Windsor. lie drove up to the Castle in his
pony chaise, and alighted at the entrance to the
private apartments, walked through the rooms
that have been prepared for his Majesty's resi-
dence. His Majesty then called at .Frogmore, and
returned to his Lodge in the Great Park by way
of Old Windsor and Egliam.—ills Majesty's
frequent visits to Windsor have excited an
unusual degree of life and bustle in the town,
and there seems to be no doubt of his Majesty's
intention to make the Castle in future his princi-
pal place of residence. The Lord Steward and
another Gentleman have been inspecting the
domestic part of the Castle this morning.

It is rumoured theta Courier has been stopped
between Seville and Paris, and his Papers exit-
mined, amongst which, it is said, was found a
Letter addressed to Mons. VILLELE, by the ac-
credited Minister of a great Maritime Country !
Yesterday afternoon, at one o'clock, a Cabinet
Council was held at the Foreign Office, Down-
ing-street, which was attended by the Earl of
L VERPOOL, the Earl of WESTMORLAND, Mr,
PEEL, Mr. CANNING, Earl BATHURST, Viscount
MELVILLE, Viscount SIDMOUTII, Mr. WYNN, &C.
The Cabinet broke up at a quarter past three
o'clock. The Principal Secretary of the Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland was in attendance during
the sitting of the Cabinet.
The Sir. William Curtis, which sailed yester-
day from the River, has on board 100,0001. in
specie for the Russian Government ; also two
bulls and two cows, of the best English breed,
purchased by Count Lituvux for the Emperor of
itussi A.