The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-01 00:00:00

expect, that, with so many-powerful combinations, both with-
in and without, with so many elements of confusion as Por-
tugal abounds in, and besides such a number of willing in-
struments, anxious for notoriety, the first impression made'
on a territory by the appearance of an armed force, greatly
exaggerated, with pledges of foreign support and money to
distribute, would be serious and alarming. But when it
is discovered that the promises of foreign support are illu-
sory, the people Avill hardly enter warmly into the cause
of a woman, who, although descended from a -Bourbon, in
her private and public life has deser;ca only the contempt
of her subjects. To a man, Portuguese know
°Le the late
King's opinion of her.
They are aware that, for, a num-
ber of years r"- •
he
v... ..evious to his death, he would not live under
...sae roof with her; and although, from motives
or policy, during the Constitutional time, he sometimes
appeared in public in her company, his very gestures
and demeanour towards her whilst sitting side by side
in the royal box, at the opera of San Carlos for ex-
ample, evinced his detestation of her, as well as the tor-
tured state of his feelings, whilst thus compelled to make
a sacrifice for the sake of appearances. We shall not offend
'the delicacy of our readers by peeping into the Chronique
scandaleuse, either of the Court of Lisbon or Rio de Ja-
neiro; suffice it to say, that the enlightened portion of the
Portuguese community know well the real object of the
present attempt to disturb the tranquillity of their country,
and that the Queen Dowager is at the bottom of it. In
the midst of their rusticity, and the isolated state in which
they live, they are shrewd and alive to their own interests.
These lead them to wish them a stable and protecting
Government, such a one as will prevent political convul-
sions, and enable 'them to repair the ravages of the late
war. As a nation, they care little whether the Institu-
tions are derived from Pedro or Miguel, as long as they
ere in accordance with their wants, and recognized by the
States of Europe. The people, besides, follow, in most
instances, the example of their Notes and men of in-
fluence, and these, with very trifling exceptions, they al-
ready see pledged to the present order of things, nay,
even forming part of the Legislative Body on which it is
founded. They begin, also, to be sensible that the
Sil-
veira crusade is not the act of Miguel, and that his name
•,; has been used as a mere expedient. They do not feel
inclined to enter into the legal dispute, whether or not
the Emperor Don Pedro, by remaining in Brazil, has
lost his right to the Crown of Portugal; nor do they
think it necessary to consult the Charters Lamego, or any
.Arehives preserved in the Torre de Tonzbo on this sub-
ject. The Portuguese people, as well as their neigh-
bours, are tired of theories and changes. Since the
first inroads of the French into the Peninsula, they have
scarcely enjoyed a year's public tranquillity. The ruins
with which their country is, as it were, covered, remind
them forcibly of their recent sufferings, and will make
them pause before they accept the invitation of a stripling
or hair-brained adventurer, who thinks proper to league
himself with a band of fanatics, and is able to obtain sup-
plies of arms and money, either directly from foreign Po-
tentates, or from cowled Apostolicals. What the Portu-
guese people have to expect from his coming, in such a
cause as that in which he has raised the standard of rebel-
lion, they can already judge from what has happened at
13raganza, as well as along the line of march lie may have
taken, whether to cross the Tamego or the Douro. The
visit with which the elections for the Chamber of Depu-
ties were Conducted, and the readiness with which the
-Nobles and Prelates hastened to take their seats in the
National Legislature, are presumptions against the success
of the rebels. It must he acknowledged, however, that
we, as e. nation, have many enemies in Portugal, although
it does not, on that account, follow that the French have
there more friends than ourselves, for we do not hesitate
to repeat, that the present attempt of the Apostolicals is
mote intended to strike at our influence and popularity,
old at every thing which may have emanated from us,
than any wish to uphold the rights of a younger brother
to a throne secured to him by a title stronger than he can ,
find in either the records or traditions of, his couu
a tenure infinitely more secure than the benedictions
of the Apostolicals can make it. In the present contest,
'or rather war of opinions, the. reflecting part of the Por-
tuguese nation have held back, as it were, waiting for
events, because they were unaware, in the first place, to
what extent their country was undermined; in the second,
bow far the efforts of the Continental Governments would
be employed against their new institutions; in the 'third,
what sums of money could be made applicable to the
bribery of the regular soldiers, on whom they. Could place
little reliance; and, lastly, how England,
.as their ally,
woidd act on the present trying occasion. On all these
various points they are now enabled to Make up their
minds, More particularly on the last, the most important
of all; Many despaired when they saw the bayonets of a
ineeeenary and-dissolute band of regulars raised up against
them, more particular!): in the first moments, when they
were unprepared to Judge how far the contagion had
spread among the ranks of the other regiments, or to
what extent the dreadful expedient of bribery could be
carried. Others, again, almost desponded, when they re-
collected the earnestness with which the Constitutional
Government in 1823 in vain implored the aid of the
British Monarch, to shield them from the dreadful effects
of a military rebellion, more extensive and better combined
than !the present one. Appearances, nevertheless, would
change from the moment a British force was landed on their
shores. Nothing can be more conformable to our expecta-
tions than the facts stated in a Lisbon letter of the 10th Dec.
copied from the French Papers in our columns of Satur-
day. It distinctly states, " that since the approach of
British troops had been officially announced, the appear-
ance of things had changed in Lisbon ; the wavering had
been fixed, the courage of the good citizens doubled, and
the wicked made to tremble." This we do not doubt,
aud the tremor will extend to Madrid. Money is, how-
ever, still travelling on to support the Peninsular Aposto-
lieals. A gentleman who left Bayonne only 12 days ago,
assures us, that he saw chests containing two millions of
francs on their way to Spain, for this special purpose, and
he gave us the name of the Paris banker who had trans-
mitted them. The vicinity of both the eastern and western
Pyrenees is now filled with Friars and secret agents pur-
chasing- military stores, in support of the Altar and the
Throne. In the Lisbon letter above quoted, mention is
made " that the Queen had several times attempted to
escape with some of her confidants, and at last demanded
in writing, of her daughter, the Infanta Regent, to with-
draw the guard set over her, being resolved to act at li-
berty." This roost probably is the case, but we will give
a solution to this enigma. For some time-past, the Queen
has seen under surveillance, the same as she- was during
the life time of her late husband, and our readers will
readily admit, deservedly so. The Government have
long been in possession of ample documents to con-
vict her as an arch-conspirator, and as keeping up
a treasonable correspondence with her brother Ferdi-
nand an tier two 1112.(!fid, one-the
wife of the Infinite Don Carlos, and the other the widow
of a Spanish Prince. If possible, these two daughters have
been more active than the mother, because lately they
have been under his restraint, The latter, however, about three
months ago, was discovered in a plot to bribe the regulars placed
over her as a guard, having arranged a plan to escape to Spain
under their escort ; and, no doubt, had she then succeeded, she
would now have been in the retinue of the chivalrous and gallant
Marquess de Chaves. Her project was, however, foiled, and
her guard withdrawn in time. The Government then placed
her in charge of the " Voluntarios de Comercio," a volunteer
corps formed out of the principal merchants and shopkeepers of
the capital, of course not liable to bribery. They are formed
into one regiment of infantry, and a small body of cavalry, ac-
tually doing the garrison-duty of Lisbon, the main body being
posted on the commanding height of St. George. With the
exceptiLn of the British marines, landed from the men-of-War
lying in the Tagus, and who cannot be estimated at more than
300, there were not above ninety Portuguese regulars in the
whole capital, when the last picket accounts came away, and
these were cavalry, intended as orderlies and expresses, the rest
having been sent to Alentejo, Beira, and Algarve, to meet the
enemy.. This is a tolerable. proof of the confidence of the Go-
vernment in a population exceeding 130,000 souls, though-we
admit the Police Ordonnanee for the Dispersion of Assemblages
might lead to a different conclusion.—Before we dismiss the sub-