The Sun.
London, England, 1827-05-23 00:00:00

LISBON,

c

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
(Extracts from Morning Papers.) ,
In no long period Don Miguel and his party 'Meet gel
into power. Perhaps the only circumstance that cold°
prevent this would be the arrival of Don Pedro from the
Brazils. This, however, is not likely to take place till
affairs have reached such a pitch there that his life might
be in danger, when probably he would desert his new eDj.
pire, and take eltelter in the kingdom of Portugal. Ft°
all accounts, the wars which he is waging there are ruinell
in the extreme, and give great dissatisfaction to his subjects'
If he ever quit Rio Janeiro, to make the Portuguese soli'
low the Constitution, he will find, if he attempt to retort!'
that the Brazilians can dispense with his services. This
matter admi:s of little doubt, and few here expect to
him except for good and all. The Constitutionalists at!,
now in the highest spieits. Every concurrence seems to cea.
spire in their favour. The Princess Regent is recoveril:
the mutiny at Elves has been completely defeated, and,,,3
Canning and his party have gained the aseendant.
latter circumstance has thrown ell the rest into the sillier
mr
In fact, they are quite in an extacy of joy, rubbing%
hands, congratulating one another, and exclaiming, ie
have now nothing to fear." The last packet, wle
brought papers up to the 2Sth of April, and arrived on !3c
11th instant, was looked for with as much anxiety as if d,
fate of Portugal depended on the news from Englanhe
Many of them, however, are not a little anxious abuto
result, and believe that Mr. Canning will have a,
game to play. They can find no names of any note thea
new list. The affair at Elves, too, has given them gre,l
satisfaction ; and they ridicule the blind, eager, stay
rage of the Apostolicals, in making an attempt on sites
important fortress without have laid their plans
Elves is the strongest fortress in Portugal, and is 011.1,Ylit
few miles from Badajos, whence every assistance
have been expected, without almost any danger nf "106 f
covery ; and had the mutineers once got possessioa
of
it, there would probably have been a general rising
tet
the Apostolieals throughout the country, which, and,
present circumstances, would have gone far to 01:,`",;
throe, the Constitution. All the officers have
months' pay due to them—the prieate soldiers two. 117,
are ill fed, ill clothed, and, consequently, ready
listen to every demagogue, and desert their standa,er
for better pay. The soldiers and the mob were cone',
masters for twenty hours. The General thirst not tittle
them for fear of the infection spreading through the
and only recovered his authority when the misguided
titude saw they had no leader, and began to retreat 1.0
the scene of action. Had Chaves been with them PI
would, in half an hour, have been in the hands of the re;
bell, and Villa Flor would have had some difficulty bi
wresting it from them. One is only astonished that t
poor half-starved soldiers behaved so well. Measures art:
pear to be now in a better train. Saldanha, the grand'et,
of the famous Marquis of Pomba!, one of the greatest 0.0
that Portugal has to boast of, is now actively employed 1,
managing the War Department. It is extremely nr°bo'd
ble that he had some intimation of the intended revolt, a
immediately adopted means to counteract it. One thing!,
certain, that symptoms of discontent had appeared for rn
previous to the 29th. It is equally certain that moneY
fld
been distributed among the soldiers and the peasantry,
that the noted Subserra, who joined the French in their di t
vasion of Portugal—who was Governor of Coimbra 10 der
'0
Massena—who aided and abetted Don Miguel, (If
reeelt against the late King—who aftericalitg
resisted the son, and became Prime Minister to the fat
—and who is now the avowed coadjutor of the FreLe
party, passed through Badajos and Elves only a few t."i/
before the mutiny. Those who would acquit him
blame say that Don Miguel is his most inveterate ene'-oiti
and that in case of his return to Portugal, Subserra "lint
be the firet victim. It is well known, however, ,titt,
tyrants are sometimes appeased by peace-offerings. 'toe,
semi is now living in retirement at his country b°
which, I believe, is iu the neighbourhood of Villa Er°, the
Saldanha is believed to be a determined supporter ot to
bete,
Constitution, and it is not at all improbable that, owin:l,g,
his remonstrances, means have been adopted for Pay ta
the arrears of the troops. The Bank has contractet
half the loan sanctioned by the Cartes, and the other the
it is said, is to be taken by a celebrated Member ot .05
London Stock Exchange. The latter, however, regu; is
confirmation. The Bank takes it at 80 per cent., and 'the
not likely that 68 or 69, the highest sum offered by 4.0
other, would be accepted. If Saldanha is acceptable:o
the Liberals, he must, of course, be hated by the
re'
party. Indeed, they make no scruple in saying
slimed the portfolio illegally, and that be is bent On nee
with Spain. The story, as it goes, is this—he had v Ito
poisoned some months ago, by some secret agent ofia
enemies, and was obliged to retire to the Baths of Ca' ten
for the recovery of his health. Xavier was appointed a
ing Minister of War for the time being. Saldanha, p 0 his
covering his health, gave notice that he would resumed to
funtions on the Ist of May, and on that day proceede os
the War Office for that purpose. Xavier objected, be,taoet
be had been appointed by the Princess Regent, and di tae
consider himself justified in resigning his office withon;oet
order from her to that effect. Saldanha went to the Pa, reps
that beis'.o
in order to obtain an interview ; but after making dn'ee
attempts, and finding them all in vain, he at last for.:110,
the resolution of resuming his former situation at all f,,„soa
The other party complain much of this—for no good 1 r
that can he discovered. If the interim Minister Ira'i}olie
pointed only to act during his illness, there could be a°teer
jection to his resigning the portfolio as soon as the 85 to
was fit for duty. But the smallest trifle here gieelier:erP'
disputes and intrigues. I can compare the actual u°"e., 00
ment only to schoolboys without a master—they tir
head to look up to, and every one follows what outs ve?
pears most agreeable. The Foreign Ministers too, tend °toe,
alive the dissension among the parties. Each, of cocs to
favours the views of his particular Court, and conT,Ciner
find some party to join his views—and till some 14S„,ee'
of the Government takes a decided lead, or till the d je,
reign comes to the country, this state of disunion an
trigue will probably continue. re'
The energy which Saldanha has displayed since 'deice
turned to office might excuse the informality or imPtu tt°
which attended his return. He has sent a reinforceinf: re'
the garrison of Elvas,---he has urged on the trial of bees
bels,---he has taken the necessary steps to reward theiverit
vices of the faithful troops ; and on Tuesday last h„eteoc°
to the Palace of Ajuda with two measures of inV"-oeder
which he had got his colleagues to sanction.—.one, atio the
to pay the army its four months' arrear of pay (allieratie.
beginning of January) ; and the other, a decree noni'Pds el
the Marquis of Angeja, Count Villa Flor, the gat,,qctreors
Valenta, and the Count de Lumiares, Military-G,(ll,OeP
of the respective provinces of Tras-os-Alontes, esrr):
Beira, and Minh°. The commissions necessary `.°llBo o°'
into effect the latter measure, her Serene nightie° ,r has
yet been able to sign ; but the order for the form
already appeared in the Gazette. update
In every thing that does not require the sign 00
the Ministers as present act as if they were in (111,4 c orae
nication with their Royal Mistress. They take her
whenever it suits the convenience of their office' 0040°
In a former letter:l stated that the inhabitants of oit
and the Guards app 1
eared to be on the best terms' ado`
was fully verified when they left that place on veto °
se'miight. While they were drawn up in line 41
of the
t
the principal streets, preparatory to marching out d Abet'
place, great numbers of the inhabitants crowded file;
them, passed along the line, shaking hands with son'oil of
quaintance or other ; and having followed them
town for a considerable distance, gave three cheers, vat
were readily returned by the soldiers. An eye-Witlite-oecl
formed me that the people in that quarter, on all
, t
t:,
taus, showed theta the utmost kindness, and t'it ea;
parting at last did great credit to both partici.
Of
sorry to say that, in some instances, one or two ,cve oa,
officers have not merited the same praise. I will g!itb.lo:l
instance, without mentioning names. A General, until;
lady, received a billet on a family of great respeetah, e.
wealth, in a small town in the interior of the c 0
untvri(6 010
their arrival at the mansion, the owner, with his 1,4 the
daughter, were ready to receive them, and show; 08
every attention that a Portuguese can show. hest alit,
have visited them know that nothing can excee" 'hot alit,
lady, however, did not relish the company of her Oa'
his family, and the next day, no doubt at her inst?gi3rigtheLiii,
order came from the Juiz de Fora, or Mayor, require ited tint
to give up all the hest apartments to the Genera' onthell't
lady, and prohibiting them from entering thle thonoetc
his permission. They submitted, of course, boon tr,lti,
it hard that they should not only be shut out
.„roon
own apartments, but not even treated with enteset t
lite', for when they afterwards took a country rt° etlelha e
as t tllO4
fo is kindness, or even taking leave. le" tisel hat pal
left their quarters in town without thanking this ge
was) so distressed at this treatment, that he c° nlO-,1
Genera
..etern,
eiret
taste food for three days, he excused the
only his lady, and requested my friend, if lie
to hStifii
to—, not to take a billet, hut come
and be should find every attention and kin""tiona o'n i/
treatment as that does more to alienate the affec old o
, aware, esci, t
natives than our countrymen are probabiy
eer ooe
not at all unlikely that their conduct on a form a e.9when Lisbon was in o3session of the British, as tb
tow.,
influence as the Luke warmness of the natives
~001100
Constitution, in making cur troops be received
their landing.
p