The Sun.
London, England, 1829-06-22 00:00:00

BETWEEN

GREAT BRITAIN AND PORTUGAL.

THE MARQUIS DE BARBACENA TO THE EARL OF

ABERDEEN.

LONDON, Nov. 25, 1829.
The undersigned, Plenipotentiary of his Majesty

the Emperor of Brazil, discharges the sacred duty
imposed upon him by his august master, by addres-
sing to his Excellency, the Earl of Aberdeen, hi-
riritannic Majesty's Principal Secretary .of St,te for
Foreign Affairs, the official demand of his Britannic
Majesty's support in favour of her Majesty the
Queen of Portugal, and the claim of effectual assist-

ace in placing her most faithful Majesty upon the
throne belonging to her, as well as in securing to her
the possession of her kingdom.
The intelligence of the usurpation effected at
Lisbon on the Ist of July of this year, having excited
in the mind of his Majesty, the Emperor Don Pedro,
a just indignation and the most lively pain, it may be
easily conce►ved that these feelings of his Imperial
Majesty are heightened by the paternal uneasiness
necessarily occasioned by the lot of a beloved
daughter, from whom he could not separate but
with regret, to comply with the repeated instances
of the Sovereigns, his allies; and in the full con-
viction that she would keep possession of the crown
zuaranteed to her, no less by her legitimate rights
than by the solemn arrangements to which the Courts
of England and Austria were parties, and by the
oaths of the Prince upon whom he had conferred the
Regency of Portugal, and for whom he had destined
the hand of his daughter.
His Imperial Majesty, though cruelly disappointed
in this hope, can entertain no doubt of the same
powers sharing his just indignation ; and he has
gratefully received the first proof which they afforded
of it, by withdrawing their Ministers from Lisbon.
He has looked upon it as a sure pledge, that the
ancient and intimate ally of Portugal would not be
satisfied with testifying by that Act, in common
with all the other Courts of Europe, his disapproba-
tion of the perfidious insurrection excited in Portugal,
but that his powerful co-operation would be still
more effectually displayed in favour of the Queen,
when formally called upon for that purpose by the
head of the House of Braganza ; and this hope
happily accords with the words spoken from the
throne at the closing of the last session of the British
Parliament. Determined never to come to any terms
with the usurper of the Portuguese crown, and to assert
the rights of her Majesty, the Queen Donna Maria 11.,
the first thought of his Majesty, the Emperor of
Brazil, could be no other than that of claiming for
this purpose the aid of his Britannic Majesty, in
virtue of the treaties subsisting between Portugal
and Great Britain.

These treaties, as his Excellency Lord Aberdeen
is aware, commence with the earliest periods of the
Portuguese monarchy. In the reign of Edward I. of
England, stipulations of friendship and commerce
were entered into between the two Crowns; and in
1373 a formal treaty of alliance was concluded be-
tween Ferdinand I. of Portugal, and Edward 111. of
England. Such is the ancient alliance still subsist-
ing, it may be affirmed, in full vigour and intact, by
means of the series of treaties which have succeeded
each other, and which, most of them, set out with
confirming all the former treaties.
This series ends with the treaty of the 21st Jan.,
1815, the third article of which runs thus :—" The
ancient treaties of alliance, amity, and guarantee,
which have sq long and so happily subsisted be-
tween the two Crowns, are by .this present article
renewl by the two ,high contracting parties, and
acktio Oged to be in full force and vigour."
No war has, during this long period, interrupted
between the two Governments a connection of
which diplomatic history exhibits no similar instance ;
and the only rupture which has occurred took place
Cromwell's Protectorate, occasioned, it is
of remark, by the assistance given by the
during%Kvoinr worthy
of Portugal to the partisans of King Chailes
I. to whom he had granted an asylum at Lisbon.
The undersigned, after. proving the existence and
the validity of the whole of this series of treaties,
would exceed the limits which he must prescribe to
himself in this note, if he were to enter into a minute
examination of each of them. He will therefore
only extract some of the stipulations, by which their
spirit and tendency may be demonstrated, as the
true import of them is not to be sought only in the
letter of the treaties, but in their aggregate, and in
the intimate relations which they have created and
kept up between the two countries and the two
Crowns.
By Article 1 of the Treaty of 1373, of which the
undersigned encloses a copy, No. 1, it seems to have
been intended to apply the stipulations of the alli-
ance to the case of rebellion, and this supposition is
confirmed by the subsequent Act, No. 2, by which
the King of England permits the raising in his do-
minions of a body of volunteers, to serve in the war
which the King of Portugal was at that period
carrying on against his rebellious brother, the Con•
veyance of that body having been effected by means
of two ships of the line which the British Govern-
ment provided for that purpose.
The Treaty of Alliance of 1571, between Queen
Elizabeth and King Sebastian, No. 3, makes ex-
press mention of rebellion; at least it states that the
two Sovereigns take a mutual interest in maintain-
ing their respective Governments.
In the Act of Ratification of the Treaty of 1642,
No. 4, the express intention of renewing the preced-
ing treaties is observable.
The first article of the Treaty of 1654, No. 5, con-
tains the stipulation of neither receiving nor harbour-
ing, reciprocally, the rebellious subjects of either of
the two countries; and in virtue of this article, her
Majesty, Queen Donna Maria 11., has, undoubtedly,
the tight to demand, that her august ally should not
suffer an avowed agent of the usurper's Government
of Portugal to reside in England.
The 17th Article of the Treaty of 1661, No. 6,
deserves to be read with attention, since in it is re-
cognised, sed, under preceding treaties, the power of
levying troops in England. That treaty contains
the strongest and the most positive expressions to
be found in any Act of this kind, as the King of
England goes the length of declaring, that he will
watch over the interests of Portugal with as much
care as over those of his own dominions.

The first Article of the Treaty of Alliance of
1703, No. 7, explicitly confirms all the preceding
treaties.

In Article 6 of the Convention, signed at Lon-
don, the 22d October, 1807, No. 8, occur the fol-
lowing expressions :—" His Britannic Majesty en-
gages in his name, and in that of his successors,
never to acknowledge, as King of Portugal, any
prince other than the heir and the legitimate repre-
sentative of the Royal Family of Braganza."
This stipulation evidently applies to the present
case; for the heir and legitimate representative,
whom his Britannic Majesty has recognised as such,
is at the present moment dispossessed of her crown,
by a prince of the same family, indeed, but who is
not the less an usurper.
Neither can it be alleged that the convention,
just mentioned, was only temporary; for not only
is this condition nowhere stated, but it is formally
contradicted by the general confirmation of all the
preceding treaties of alliance and guarantee, con-
tained in Article 3 of the Treaty concluded at
Vienna, the 21st January, 1815.
The undersigned deems it his duty to dwell upon

be quotations just made, and to• which he might
idd many more ; but he flatters himself to have
adficiently demonstrated :-Ist, That all the treaties
tf alliance and guarantee, concluded between Por-
ugal and Great Britain, are still subsisting in full
igour ;-2dly, That the nature of these treaties,
heir number, and the connexion which they have

•stabiished between the two Crowns for so many

iges, give them a peculiar character, which dis-
tinguishes them from ordinary treaties, and that it
is necessary to interpret them as a whole, rather
than to analyse them separately;-3dly, That in
aeveral instances, express mention is therein made
of cases of revolt, or of rebellion, either with the
view to stipulate the affording of assistance, or for
the purpose of permitting the levy of troops, or in
order reciprocally to exclude rebels from the two
states ;-4thly, And, finally, that this alliance, at
the moment when it was entered into, was applied

:o the case of revolt of the Infant Don Henry against

his brother, the King Don Ferdinand, which is a
similar ease to that which now presents itself be-
tween his Majesty the King Don Pedro IV., and
his brother, the Infant Don Miguel. The applica-

ion therefore of the ancient treaties of allititce-to
he case under consideration has all the force of a

precedent.
In addition to these treaties, alike valid and ob•
ligatory, the undersigned has yet to -adduce other
acts equally valid and diplomatic, although not
possessing the form and denomination of treaties.
His Excellency the Earl of Aberdeen will be
aware that the undersigned alludes to the protocols
of the conferences held at Vienna, and at London,
in October, 1827, and in January and February,
1828, to which conferences the plenipotentiaries of
his Britannic Majesty, and of his Imperial and

Royal Apostolic Majesty, became principal parties,
and which invest those sovereigns with the right
_ ..

of insisting upon the execution of all the engage-
ments there contracted. . These engagements are

not binding solely upon the Emperor Don Pedro,
and his Royal Highness the Infant Don Miguel.
The Courts of England and Austria did not on that
occasion act the part of mere witnesses, an asser-
tion, the truth of which, it is imagined by the un-
dersigned, will evidently be proved by the follow-
ing passages taken from the protocol of the second
conference of Vienna, and from that of the confer-
ence of January 12th of London. It was stated in
the second conference of Vienna, that the two
powers, " (England and Austria) were impressed
with the importance of not suffering any longer to
be undecided questions of so high an interest (the
confirmation of the Act of his Majesty the Emperor
Don Pedro's abdication ; the sending of the young
Queen to Europe; and the total and definite
separation of the two crowns), and that those two
powers were determined to unite their attention,
and their efforts in pressing for, and obtaining the
decision upon those points at Rio de Janeiro."
In the Conference of London, the plenipotentiaries
of Great Britain and of Austria explain themselves
thus :—" Lord Dudley, Prince Esterhazy, and
Count de Bombelles, cannot, in accordance with

what has already been set forth in the Vienna Con-
ferences, but again express the wishes of their re-
spective governments for the abdication of the
Crown of Portugal being, as soon as possible, and
without restriction, effected by his Majesty Don
Pedro IV., and as soon as such abdication shall
have been completed, and the separation confirmed,
the two courts engage to employ their good
offices, in order to induce the governments of Por-
tugal and Brazil, conjointly; to announce this ar-
rangement to all the powers, and to procure their
recognition of it. The two courts bind them-
selves, likewise, to use their good offices for defini-
tively regulating, by means of a treaty, the order of
succession in the branches of the House of Bragauza,
and that when this transaction shall have been con-
cluded, it shall be brought to the knowledge of the
foreign powers, with the view of its being recognised
by them."
On reading these two protocols, it would certainly
be difficult to maintain that England and Austria
were but as mere witnesses, present at the confer-
ences of Vienna and London, through the medium
of their Plenipotentiaries.
Had such been the case, how could those two
Courts have imagined themselves called upon, not
only to express their wishes in the above confer-
ences, but to contract the positive engagement of
uniting their attention and their efforts for obtaining
at Rio Janeiro, agreeably to those wishes, the deci-
sion of several questions of the highest interest to
the future destinies of Portugal, and of Brazil ? Is
it not evident, that if (contrary to all probability) his
Majesty the Emperor of Brazil had chosen to recall
his promise, the two Courts would have found them-
selves authorized, according to the tenure of the
protocols, to demand the performance of them ?
And, on a stronger ground, is it not also incontes-
tible that they would find themselves authorized more
forcibly to exert this right, which they had exercised
in respect of his Imperial Majesty, with regard to a
Prince whose oaths they, on that occasion, had in a
manner put on record ?
The undersigned, therefore, takes leaves to repeat
that the above protocols ought to be considered ex-
actly in the light of a formal treaty, because they
contain reciprocal promises and engagements to
which the plenipotentiaries of Portugal appointed
by the. Regent, in the King's name, as well as the
plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and Austria, were
parties.

Finally, his Excellency the Earl of Aberdeen
knows that the name of treaty or convention is not
requisite to constitute the validity of political en:-
gagements, and that the signed memorandum of a
conference, or an exchange of notes, have frequently
answered the same purpose.
And can the British Monarch;if the undersigned
may presume to make such an appeal, ever forget
the written assurances which his Majesty received,
and the words which his Majesty himself heard the
Infant Don Miguel utter ? Will the King of Eng-
land forget, that the Prince, after having been re-
ceived in England in the most distinguished and
most friendly manner, and after having been accom-
panied as far as the Tagus by an English squadron,
did immediately violate every oath, while under the
protection, it may be asserted, of the British troops,
whose presence at Lisbon, though without any such
intention, produced the effect of repressing every
attempt at resistance to measures, by which under,
the legal mask of the regency, the Infant was pre-
paring to accomplish the usurpation?
Can his Britannic Majesty, on the other hand,
forget the generosity, the good faith, and the impli-
cit confidence with which his Majesty, the Emperor
of Brazil, has complied with all the wishes, and con-
formed to all the counsels of his august ally, by com-
pleting his abdication of the Crown of Portugal,
and by sending the young Queen to Europe ?
And can it be possible that the august Monarch
who so earnestly advised both those measures should
patiently bear the usurpation, and refused to lend
the Queen, his ally, that succour which the under-
signed, in the name of that Sovereign, and sup-
ported by her presence, claims in her favour ? No
one can suppose it.
To conclude, the undersigned therefore claims, in

the name of his august Master, and in favour o,
Queen Donna Maria 11., such assistance as the
circumstances call for, and as her Most Faithful Ma-
jesty is justified in expecting, on the part of his Bri-
tannic Majesty, in virtue of the intimate alliance
subsisting between the two Crowns, and of the en-

gagements resulting from the formal conferences he
at Vienna and London. The undersigned cannot
doubt of the resolution which the sentiments of jus-
tice and of honour will dictate to the Cabinet of his
Britannic Majesty, the more particularly Nllicn be
calls to mind the coun-els and the promises which
he was charged himself to convey to the Emperor,
his master, from the eminent personage who now
presides, and was already presiding in March last,
over his Britannic Majesty's Counsels: he has only
to add, that in case the stipulations of the treaty of
1661 should not be judged sufficient for the present
circumstances, he is provided with the necessary in-
structions and full powers for concluding a conven-
tion, in which the succours to be furnished by his
Majesty, the Emperor of Brazil, and of his Britannic
Majesty, to her Majesty the Most Faithful Queen,
may be formally specified.
The undersigned avails himself of this opportu-
nity, &e.

THE MARQUIS DE I3ARBACE.NA
:is Excellency the Earl of Abet deen, &c.

THE EARL OF ABERDEEN TO THE MARQUIS DE BAR-

BACENA.

FOREIGN OFFICE, JAN. 13, 1829.
The undersigned, in replying to the note which
he had tf,e honour of receiving from the Marquis do
Barbacena, on the 30th of November, cannot help
noticing the extraordinary circumstance that, while
the Ambassador of his Majesty, at the Court of Rio
de Janeiro, is charged with a special commission,
having for its object the reconciliation of the Empe-
ror Don Pedro with his brother the Infant Don
Miguel, the plenipotentiary of his Brazilian Majesty
iu this country, should claim officially from his Ma-
jesty effectual succours, in order to place her Most
Faithful Majesty Donna Maria IL upon the throne
of Portugal ; and this, at the same time that Lord
Strangford, and the Minister of his Imperial Majesty
the Emperor of Austria, were receiving, from the
mouth of the Emperor of Brazil, professions of his
intention to defer to the counsels and judgment of his

august father-in-law, and of the King of Great Bri-
tain, in the settlement of the unhappy difrerence

subsisting in the house of Braganza. -
Under these circumstances, the undersigned would
have felt himself compelled to wait until further ad-
vices had enabled him to ascertain the real senti-
ments of the Court of Rio de Janeiro; but the de.,
mend of the Marquis de Barbacena being founded
upon the alleged obligations of treaties, it ►s more
consistent with his sense of duty towards his Sove-
reign, to explain at once the real nature of these ob-
ligations, and in doing so, to remove all doubt from
the honour and good faith of the King, his master:
The Marquis de Barbacena has presented a sum,
mary of various treaties contracted between the twct
countries, commencing with that of earliest date, its
the year 1373, and concluding with the engagements
entered into at the Congress of Vienna, in the year
1815. It would not be difficult to add to this
and to prove that the obligations of Great Britain,
throughout this long period, have been discharged
by a continued succession of services rendered to
the kingdom of Portugal. It is not the purpose of
the undersigned to deny the validity of these ancient
treaties of alliance, friendship, and guarantee:--o"
the contrary, he is desirous of admitting the exist-
ence, in full force and vigour, of all such treaties as
have not been cancelled or var►ed by subsequent di,
plomatic transactions. Neither does he object I")
the mode of construction adopted by the Marqui,
de Barbacena. He will admit that the treaties may
be explanatory of each other, and that their spirit
may be gathered rather from the tenour of the whole
than from the particular enactments of each. But
the Marquis de Barbacena is aware that the specific
object for which a treaty may have been framed,
ought not to be lost sight of in this consideration ;
nor will he deny that the continued practice of the
contracting parties forms the safest commentary upon
the nature of their engagements; and that the true
relation of the two countries towards each other is
best established by the acts, during a long course of
years, of their respective governments.
But the undersigned is prepared to maintain that
the existing treaties, whether taken together, ac-
cording to the cumulative method of interpretation
proposed by the Marquis de Barbacena, or separately,
cannot furnish any real support to the claim which
has been advanced.

It is assumed that the usurpation of the throne of
Portugal by the Infant Don Miguel has given to her
Most Faithful Majesty the right of demanding from
this country effectual succours, for the recovery of
her crown and kingdom. But it is not easy to see
upon what foundation such a claim is supposed to
rest. In the whole series of treaties, there ►s no ex-
press stipulation which can warrant the pretension
put forward in the note of the Marquis de Barbacena.
Neither is anv such obligation implied by their gene-
ral tenour and spirit.

It is then, either for the purpose of resisting suc-
cessful rebellion, or for that of deciding, by force, a
question of doubtful succession, that Great Britain
has now been called upon to act. But it is impos-
sible to imagine that any independent state could ever
intend thus to commit the direction and control of

:s internal affairs to the hands of another power ;

for, doubtless, if his Majesty be under the necessity
of furnishing effectual succour in the event of any
internal revolt or dissension in Portugal, it would
become a duty, and indeed it would be essential, to
. . ._ .

take care that no such cause should exist, if it could
possibly be prevented. Hence a constant and minute
interference in the affairs of Portugal would be indis-
pensable; for his Majesty could never consent to
hold his fleets and armies at the disposal of a King
of Portugal, without exercising those due precau-
tions, and that superintendence, which should assure
him that his forces would not be liable to be em-
ployed in averting the effects of mis-government,
folly, or caprice. Is this a condition in which any
state, professing to be independent, could endure to
exist ? And yet, if it were possible to admit the
validity of the engagements contended for by the
Marquis de Barbacena, such must necessarily be the
relation in which Great Britain and Portugal would
stand towards each other.
But the truth is, that the whole spirit of the trea-
ties, and their history, show that the principle of
the guarantee given by England, is the protection of
Portugal from foreign invasion.
When, upon the restoration of the Portuguese
monarchy in 1640, a treaty was shortly after con-
cluded between the two crowns,—which forms the
real basis of their actual alliance,—the English Go-
vernment could have entertained no other object than
that of extending an efficient protection to King •
John IV., struggling to maintain his newly acquired
independence against the overwhelming power of
Spain. Again, in 1661, when Charles the Second,
in the treaty upon which the Marquis de Barbacena
appears greatly to rely, declares" that he will take
the interest of Portugal, and all its dominions to
heart, defending the same with his utmost power by
sea and land, even as England itself;" it is clear that
these engagements have reference to protection
against foreign danger; and the manner in which this
is to be afforded is expressly stated to.be, by giving
timely assistance against the " power of Castile, or
any other enemy."
In the course of the last century, Great Britain
has repeatedly answered the call for this protection ;
and the Marquis de Barbacena need not be reminded,
has done so with alacrity, and with effect. Never,
until the unfortunate events of the year 1820, has
she been called upon to interfere in the interval
affairs of Portugal. This interference, although fre-
quently demanded siace that period, has been stea•
dily refused by the British Government. It has
been eqpally refused to all parties, as for all pur-
poses ; and certainly these have been the most op-
posite and contradictory. Even in 1826, when
his Majesty, in compliance with the requiition of
the Ambassador of his Most Faithful Majesty, sent
a body of his troops to Portugal, the justification of
that measure was expressly placed upon the ground
that the Portuguese refugees had acquired a foreign
character, by having been embodied, armed, and
equipped, in Spain; and the commander of the
British troops was strictly enjoined to take no part

whatever in the contest. between the faction.; in Por.
tugal ; but to oppose himself to the foreign invaders,
and to such as he might find united under their
banners.

In 1822, the King of Portugal regarded the de-
claration of independence by Brazil, and the assump-
tion of the sovereign authority in that country by
his son, the Emperor Don Pedro, as acts of suc-
cessful rebellion. The Portuguese Government
frerpiently appealed to the treaties with this country,
and to the ohliations of a guarantee, by which the
integrity of Portugal and her colonies was secured.
But the British Government, while admitting in
their full extent the obligations of the guarantee,

maintained that they only existed against dismem-
berment by a foreign power ; and that to the effects
of internal dissension they hail no application. By
the stoic Verbak presented to the Portuguese Go-
vernment by the British Charge d'Affaires at Lis-
bon, in the month of December, 182?, his Majesty
declared, that, in the events which at that time
divided the House of Braganza against itself, he seas
determined to observe " the mo=t exact and scru-
pulous neutrality." By a happy agreement W ith
his Most Faithful Majesty, concluded under the
mediation of Great Britain, the independence of
Brazil was finally at knovidedged and secured ; but
this has been so far from weakening the effect of
the guarantee given by Great Britain fur the pre-
servation of Portugal and her remaining colonies,
that his Majesty would feel himself bound to pro-
tect them equally against the unjust aggression of
Brazil as of any other foreign Power.
It is not pretended by the Marquis de Barhacena
that the usurpation of the Infant Don Miguel has
had any foreign origin, or has been encouraged by
any foreign state. On the contrary, every sovereign
in Europe has withdrawn his Minister, and sus-
pended all diplomatic intercourse with the Court of
Lisbon. Whether the art be right or wrong, it
was that of the nation. If proof were wanting, it
would be found in the conduct of those who, hav-
ing raised the standard of the Emperor Don Pedro,
or of the Queen Donna Maria, at Oporto, having
collected there the greatest part of the army, to-
gether with a large body of
.men in arms, not be-
longing to the military profession, superior in num-
bers, equipment, discipline, and means to their op-
ponents, still thought it necessary to abandon Oporto,
and many of them to seek refuge in England, be-
cause, as they declared, they found the whole coun-
try against them.
But if a case of successful usurpation and rebel-
lion cannot justify the interference of Great Britain,
still less can she be called upon to take part in the
decision of a disputed succession. It is attempted,
however, to interpret the guarantee established in
the treaties with Portugal, as imposing upon Great
Britain the obligation of securing the succession of
the Queen Donna Maria, and of placing her Most
Faithful Majesty -by force upon the throne of her
ancestors.
If Great Britain had yielded to the solicitation of
the ambassador of his Most Faithful Majesty, in
December, 1825, and had guaranteed the succession
of Portugal to the Emperor Don Pedro, in spite of
his declared reluctance to accept ii, confirmed by
his subsequent abdication, we should have contract-
ed an engagement utterly beyond our power to
ful-
fil; and which, from its very nature, must have
been known to be so, at the moment at which it

was formed. The British Government, therefore,

did wisely in declining to accede to the proposition
• of the Marquis de PaLeella. It is true, that his
Majesty, respecting the rights of primogeniture, and
the order of nature, has acknowledged the Empes or
Don Pedro as King of Portugal; and, upon his ab-
dication, has also recognized the Infanta Donna
Matia as his successor, and the. lawful sovereign of
that country. But his Majesty would contradict
the principles which he has publicly professed, and
upon which he has alwa)s. acted, were he to em-
ploy force as the means of obtaining the acqui-
escence of ftn independent people in this recognition.
The only semblance of foundation for - the asser-
tion advanced by the Marquis do Barbacena, that -
this country is bound; under.the _treaties of alliance.
and guarantee, to co-operate by such means in Plat-
ing her Most Faithful Majesty upon the throne of
Portugal, is to be fungi in the stipulation of the
6th Article of the Secret Convention, concluded
on the 22d of October, 1807, by which Great Bri-
tain engages never to recognlze us King of Portu-
gal any other Prince than " the heir and legiti-
mate representative of the Royal Family of Bra-
ganza."

It is to be recollected that this convention was

signed, in anticipation of the invasion of Portugal
by a French force, and of the determination of the
Prince Regent to embark with his whole family for
Rio de Janeiro, rather than sacrifice his alliance with
England. It was knoWn too, to be the intention
of Buonaparte to parcel out the kingdom of Portu-
gal in petty sovereignties, among the most favoured
of his generals. This pledge, therefore, was the re-
turn made by the King of England for the devotion
of his ally to the common cause. It was an assur-
ance which that ally might naturally expect to re-
ceive against the danger then imminent. Were
this convention still in force, his Majesty might
be bound to acknowledge, as King of Portugal, the
legitimate heir only of the house of Braganza.
But, obviously temporary in its character, it has
ceased to exist with the necessity which gave it
birth. The secret convention of 1807 was engraft-
ed into the treaty of friendship and alliance signed
at Rio Janeiro in 1810 ; and in this treaty the sixth
article of the Secret Convention, containing the ex-
press guarantee of Portugal to the house of Bra-
ganza was inserted, word for word ; the conven-
tion, therefore, merged in the treaty of 1810. But
in 1815, at the termination of the struggle in which
both countries had been so long and so gloriously
engaged, when the sceptre of Portugal was replaced
unimpaired in the hands of "the heir and legitimate
representative of the Royal Family of Bra-
ganza," the main object of these treaties was
accomplished. On the 22d of January of that
year, the two powers entered into another treaty
at Vienna ; by the third article of which the
treaty of 1810, " being founded on circumstances
of a temporary nature, which have happily ceas-
ed to exist, the said treaty is hereby declared
to be void in all its parts, and of no effect.
That the provisions of the said Convention of
1807 are included in this revocation, is confirmed by
the latter part of. the same article, which de-
clares that the revocation shall be without pre-
judice to " the ancient treaties of alliance, friend-
ship, and guarantee, subsisting between the two
countries," which are renewed and acknowledged
to be in full force and effect, while it is entirely
site t upon the convention of 1807 ; thus evidently
showing, that in the opinion of both contracting
parties, the latter convention partook of the same
temporary character, which is ascribed to the Treaty
of 1810; the stipulations of which, in consequence
of the changes rendered necessary by the course of
events, had previously been substituted for those of
1807.

The undersigned trusts, therefore, that the reli-
gious fidelity with which this country is desirous of
fulfilling all its engagements, will not be exposed to
imputation or doubt, if he finds himself compelled,
in the name of the King, his master, to reject the
appeal which has been made by the Marquis de Bar-
bacena to the fancied- obligations imposed upon
Great Britain by the treaties existing between the
two kingdoms.
In addition to the supposed obligation arising
from former engagements, the Marquis de Barba-
cena has adduced certain diplomatic acts, whiCh his
Excellency maintains are to be regarded as possess-
ing the character and validity of treaties, and, as

such, giving to the Emperor-Don Pedro an indis-
putable right to call for his Majesty's assistance, in
conquering the kingdom of Portugal for his daugh-
ter. These acts are the result of the conferences at

Vienna and in London, in the month of October,
1827, and in the month of,January, 1828, before
the departure of the Infant Don Miguel for Lisbon.
In these conferences, the Marquis de Barbacena
contends that both his Majesty and his Imperial

Majesty the Emperor of Austria, virtually entered
into some solemn engagement, by which they bound
themselves to exact the fulfilment of the promises
then made by the Infant.

In proportion as this country is scrupulous in the
performance of its engagements, care has been taken
to render these engagements definite and precise ;
it has, moreover, long been the practice to abstain
from givin any guarantee, the execution of which
is not within our own power, but which may depend
upon the good faith, or upon the inclination of
others. The undersigned, therefore cannot think it
necessary to occupy much time in the refutation of
an assumption so gratuitous, and so entirely unsup-
ported by the real state of the facts, as that which
has been thus put forward by the Marquis de Bar-
bacena. His Majesty's Ambassador at the Court of
Vienna attended the conferences, by the invitation
of the Austrian Chancellor of State, and in come-
puence of the letter addressed to his Majesty by the
Emperor Don Pedro on the 3(1 of July, 1827, in
which his Imperial Majesty declared, that he had
appointed the Infant Don Miguel to be his Lieu-
tenant and Regent of the kingdom of Portugal.
Had his Majesty, indeed, overcome the reluctance
of the Emperor Don Pedro, and prevailed upon his
Imperial Majesty to confer upon his brother the ap-
pointment of Regent, and had his Majesty given
his guarantee for the conduct of his Royal Highness,
and for the performance of his promises, there might
have been a claim upon his Majesty to see that the
engagements then contracted were carried into exe-
cution ; but, in truth, the Ambassador of his Ma-
jestv entered into no engagement of this description;
neither did he take part in any negotiation leading
to such a pledge ; and although the King had reason
to complain of the InfLnt Don Miguel, for having
failed to perform engagements made in the presence
of his Ambassador, this cause of complaint was
founded upon the indignity thus offered to his Ma-
jesty himself, and not upon the injury done to the
Emperor Don Pedro.

It is true that in the conferences of Vienna, and
subsequently in London, his Majesty's Ambassador,
and the Plenipotentiary of his Imperial Majesty the
Emperor of Austria, did give an assurance that their
respective Sovereigns would jointly exert their good
offices to prevail upon the Emperor Don Pedro, to
complete his act of abdication of the Throne of Por-
tugal, as well as to send his daughter to Europe,
and by a definitive treaty to regulate the order of
succession in the two branches of the House of lra-
gauze. The Marquis de Barbacena complains that
the Emperor, his master, was urged to act in this
manner; and more than insinuates that he did so
contrary to his own interests, and in compliance with
the solicitations of England and Austria. But what
is the fact ? Undoubtedly the King did advise his
Imperial Majesty to complete the act of Abdication
of the Kingdom of Portugal, and thus to perform an
obligation which his Imperial Majesty himself, as far
back as the month of May, 1826, had solemnly con-
tracted before the world. His Majesty further ad-
vised the Emperor to send his daughter to Europe,
in accordance with the declaration of his Imperial
Majesty made at the same period. These measures
were well calculated to conciliate and to tranquillize
the Portuguese nation, by removing the just suspi-
cions of the people, and convincing them that it was
not intended to govern them as a colony of Brazil.
It is unfortunate that the measures thus advised were
not carried into execution previous to the arrival of
the Infant at Lisbon. Had this been the case, much
of what has since happened, and which is most to
be deplored, would probably have been prevented.
But the assurance given to Don Miguel, and entered
upon tile protocol of the conference, to offer to the
Emperor Don Pedro this advice, does not render his
Majesty the guarantee of the performance of those
promises contained in the letters of Don Miguel,
which were laid before the conference, and annexed
•to the protocol. Neither does the advice tendered
to the Emperor upon the propriety of the execution
of these important acts, respecting which his Impe-
rial Majesty had long before spontaneously pledged
.his Royal word, confer any right whatever of claim-
ing from his Majesty those succours which are ne-
cessary for the conquest of Portugal.
The tone of expostulation and complaint which
pervades the rote of the Marquis de Barbacena, and
the impression which it is intended to convey, that
the present state of Portugal is in great measure to
be attributed to the deference paid by the Emperor
Don Pedro to the counsels of his allies, render it
necessary to take a short review of some events con-
nected with this subject, to the end that Great Bri-
tain may be as effectually relieved from the moral
resporisibility which it is attempted to impose upon
her, as from the weight of more formal obligations.
The late King, John VI., died on the 10th of
March, 1826: the intelligence of his death arrived
in England on the 23d of March, and in Brazil on
the 26th of April. The Emperor Don Pedro im-
mediately assumed to himself the government of
Portugal as King, in virtue of his right of succes-
sion as the eldest son of his father :—he published
a general amnesty, and framed the constitution, in
the preamble to which the three orders of the state
were called upon to swear fidelity to it forthwith;
and in which it was declared that the kingdom cif
Portugal should thenceforward be governed accord-
ing to the conditions laid down in that instrument.
The Emperor, at the same time, made over the suc-
cession of the Crown to his daughter as Queen ;
appointed his sister, Donna Isabella Maria, Regent
of the kingdom; and, in order that no doubt what-
ever might remain of his intentions, his Imperial
Majesty explicitly declared, in his speech to the Le-
gislative Assembly of Brazil, on the 6th of May,
that " he had abdicated and ceded all the indisput-
able and irrefragable rights which he had possessed
to the Crown of the Portuguese monarchy to his
daughter the Princess Donna Maria da Gloria,
Queen of Portugal." His Imperial Majesty de-
spatched Sir Charles Stuart from Rio de Janeiro to
Lisbon, as the bearer of these instruments, on the
11th of May,—thus concluding the whole of this
important transaction in 14 days. It is obvious,
from the observation of these dates, that no person
possessing any authority from his Mejesty, with the
exception of Sir Charles Stuart, could have inter-
fered, even by advice, in the adoption of these mea-
sures; and it is not pretended that such advice was
ever received from his Excellency. The avowed
object of the measures of April and May, 1826, was
to separate, finally, the kingdoms of Portugal and
Brazil,—an event,; ually desired by both parts of
the Monarchy. This object was accomplished by
the promulgation of the charter, as effectually and as
solemnly as it could be by an instrument executed
by the Sovereign himself. In the proclamation ad-
dressed to the Portuguese nation, and dated the 2d
of May, 1826, his Imperial Majesty declared that
his abdication should become complete, as soon as
the constitution had been sworn to, and the mar-
riage concluded between the Infant Don Miguel arid
the Queen Donna Maria. The constitution was
sworn to as his Imperial Majesty had directed, upon
its reception in Portugal ; and the affiance of mar-
riage was completed at Vienna, on the 29th of Oc-
tober, 1826.
The undersigned may now be permitted to ask
whether the promises of the abdication and of the
transmission of the Infant Queen to Portugal, were
fulfilled. Did not his Imperial Majesty continue to
interfere in all the measures of detail of the Portu-
guese government ? Did he not create peers ? pro-
mote officers in the army and navy ? interfere in the
selection and nomination of ministers, and in all the
interior arrangements of the kingdom ? The Por-
tuguese nation was disappointed in its hope and ex-
pectation of a final separation from Brazil ; and the
disappointment of this hope and expectation was still
further confirmed by.the detention of their young
Queen at Rio de Janeiro. In the mean time, the
dissatisfaction and discontent, produced by the con-
stitution transmitted from Brazil were daily increas-
ing; and at last broke out into acts of violence and
open rebellion. In this state of things, his Imperial
Majesty, having first ordered his brother, the Infant
Don Miguel, to repair from Vienna to Rio de Ja-
neiro, and having sent a ship of the line to Brest for
the purpose of conveying bins thither, suddenly coun.