The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-27 00:00:00

THE PORTUGUESE CORTES.

The Portuguese Cortes held their usual sitting on the
20th. In the Chamber of Peers, Senor Foutes Pereira
de Mello said that a change of Ministry having taken
Place in consequence of recent events, he wished neither to
discuss nor to qualify them, and therefore the best course'
Would be to adjourn the sittings of the Chamber until they
had a regularly established Government.
The Marquis of Sabigosa declared that the Chamber
Would not fail to assemble daily, but as that sitting
might, through the force of circumstances, be the last,
he felt bound to protest against the attack on the Con-
stitution of the country. (Applause.) It was the duty
Of the Chamber of Peers to defend the Constitution and to
chew the head of the State and the country that it was
ready to fulfil its duty. (Assent.)
Viscount de Foute Arcada expressed his conviction
that the politics of the time tended to a violent result,
and it was above all things necessary to organise a
Ministry-
The Count de Thomar said the first duty of the
Chamber under the circumstances was to be prudent, and
he called upon the Duke de Loul6 (the late Minister) to
give an explanation.
The Duke de Lould said he would assuredly do so when
the new President of the CounCil (Marshal Saldanha)
came to the Chamber to render an account of recent
events.

Senor Costa Laho, as member of the Opposition to the
fallen Ministry, united his protest to that of the Marquis
°f Sabigosa, because he fought according to legal forms,
and in no other way. (Applause.) When all the consti-
tutional edifice crumbled to its base, he held that it was
their duty to protest against such attempts, and to declare
that force should never be employed, as it had just been,
t° overthrow the Constitution and lessen the dignity of
the public powers of the country. (Loud applause.)
Senor Souza Pinto Bastos spoke in the same strz.in,
and declared that such overthrows were as re-
pugnant as they were useless. He feared
the event of the previous day was the prelude to civil
Ic'ar, and perhaps to the national autonomy. It was not
1341 Y the Government that had disappeared, but also th e
constitutional system.
The Viscount de Chanoedeiros said they were speaking
of an accomplished fact, and the Crown had exercised its
Prerogative. In any case an explanation would be ne-
cessary from the Duke de Lould, to prove whether or no
constraint had been exercised.
The Count de Thomar and the Duke de Loult main-
lined that explanations were impossible while the Duke
Saldanha was not present. I may say, added the
Duke de Loulg, that I refused to countersign the decree
40Iidnating the new President of the Council, as I was
convinced the King was not exercising his prerogative
freely, and everything was altogether irregular. It was
evident that in requiring the Ministry to give in their
l'es3ignations the King was constrained by the exigencies
of the military sedition.
The Chamber then rose, adjourning till the next day.
In the Chamber of Deputies,
Senor Pereira Diaze called attention to the gravity of
the
situation. There had been an attack on the Constitu-
tional Charter, and it was their duty to protest.
Senor Tomas de Carvallo declared that the discussion
Was very inopportune, and the Chamber ought to adjourn
Until the day when a new Ministry was formed.
Senor Santos Silver could not admit this. The deputies
°wed it to themselves and the country to remain at their
Posts.
The President adjourned the sitting until the next day.