Star.
London, England, 1831-09-06 00:00:00

IPORTUGAL.

The Earl of ABERDEEN rose, pursuant to notice, to
hying under the consideration of their lordships die present
sate of Portugal. The noble earl said the petition he had
to present on the occasion was from the merchants, ship.
rwr,crs, and manufacturers, connected with the trade to Pur.
mgal. They complained that this trade, which had been so
rag protected and increased, and which had been so favour-
able to the nation at large, had been exposed to hardship at.d
loss. The petitioners were alarmed lest the measures of
his nlajesty's ministers, in concert with other powers.
tar arrangements which appeared impracticable, would
increase the difficulties under which they labour, and re-
duce the commerce of the country. The noble earl observed,
tl.at the difficulties alluded to were not only of a commercial
ramie ; a feeling had been excited in Portugal which con-
stantly exposed our countrymen to danger. On a future oc-
ttsion, when the commercial policy of his Majesty's 31 i-
rsters might come under discussion, he should be ready
to state his views. In the present instance he should
endeavour to prove, that the present state of our
political relations and the trade between Portugal and
this country. could not be carried on with advantage. It
r.ruld be difficult indeed to carry on the present relations
ter any time. The fact was, our connexion with Portugal,
founded upon treaties, required cordiality and friendship.
Portugal had long been the friend of England, which
almost stood in the situation of a mother country. The
French had been, on all occasions, so jealous at our ad-
vantages in Portugal, that they called Portugal the colony
ct England. The present inactivity of England with re-
spect to the ail'airs of the Portuguese nation, would place
in jeopardy the whole Peninsula. In bringing the sub-
ject forward, the noble earl expected to be charged with
partiality, and the desire to support a despotic govern-
ment. Without bawling so loudly about liberty as some
robe lords, he hallowed the rights of freedom, and
would stand up fe r those rights as strenuously as any
noble lord in that house; (Hear, hear.) but in looking at
foreign states, he turned to qualities which engaged his at-
tendon more than forms of governments. He alluded to
those qualities in Portugal, which he considered love of Eng-
land and bet interests, and love of peace. He was less
anxious about constitutions, than what was doing to tarnish
the honour of England. He admitted that the Government
of Portugal was despotic, and knew that despotism had ex-
isted for centuries; but our connexion had been cemented,
and all the engagements of Portugal with this country ful-
filled. He had seen for the first time, in the history of Eu.
rope, a Ft ench fleet domineer over Portugal, with the consent
of England. This he considered a disgrace to the Bri.
tish nation. It was no matter for resentment on the part
of this country, when Portugal refused to have a new con-
stitution. So long as she was able to fulfil the treaties by
which she was bound, this country t ught to be satisfied.
The refusal to have a Constitutional Government in Portu-
gal, was no ground for breaking the friendly relations of this
ecuntry. Mr. Canning, speaking on the affairs of Spain,
had declared that the people were opposed to a free coo.
etitution when it was offered them. :he same might be
said of Portugal. The fact was, the people would not de.
part from their ancient forms : it was not so wonderful that
they should feel a desire to remain unaltered. Notwithstand.
ing the glorious days of Paris and Brussels, they had before
them no ether than prospects of misery, bankruptcy, and
distress. To force a constitution down the throats of
the Portuguese against tl.eir will, was, in the Noble
Lord's opinion, most ludicrous. It was like the conduct
of the father in " Tom Jones," who endeavoured to make
die daughter happy by forcing her to marry the man she de-
tored. Bow sere they to bring the difference in our reit'•
thins with Portugal to a conclusion ? How were the dia-
-1 eltiee to be overcome? His Majesty, in his speech iron' the
throne, hail expressed regret that he hod not been able to re-
new his engagements with Portugal; and he (Lord Aber-
deen) wished to ask what it was that could glee his Majesty's
Government satisfaction? It could not be said the supposed
esurpaticn of the Crown of Portugal stood in the way.
He should contend there was no usurpation. Don Mi-
guel had invoked the estates of the kingdom, and those
estates had unanimously elected him their king. They had
gone further, perhaps to the injury of Spain, sad declared
him the legitimate king. The majority of the people had
submitted to the justice of that decision ; and Don Miguel
had been upon the throne three years, during which the great.
cst difiiculues bad assailed all governments. This, however,
had been done in opposition to the wishes of the principal pow.
era in Europe, and the measures taken by that Prince might
not be strictly justifiable—there was much in the Portuguese
government to condemn. It was known they were severe,
and when they were reminded of the severity of their mea-
sures, they had invariably said, we desire to be merciful, but
In fore we can be so, we must have your suppoen The noble
earl was satisfied, even on that subject, there had been gross
misrepresentation. During the last three years not more
than twenty-two persons had been put to death in Portugal,
and their lordships must admit, that in there years, consider-
ing the situation in which that Government had been placed,
22 capital punishments could not be severe. It was said,
shy did not Don Miguel keep his personal engagements ?
There could be r.o doubt of his breach of faith—the late
Government of this country felt that it was necessary to
witcdraw our Minister, and put Don Pedro in posses.
soon of the facts. They had a desire to know what he would
do with respect to the rights of his daughter. In the
course of a Log protracted negociation Don Pedro deter-
mired that there should be no hostilities with his brother,
and th..t all should be settled by a marriage of his daughter
with Don Miguel. He knew not what could have induced
Don Pedro to alter his mind, but certainly up to the be-
ginning of this year the same intention was manifested.
His Majesty's Government were anxious to produce a set-
tlement of disputes, and the first thing they recommended
was a general armistice. In November a modified am.
zesty was submitted to his Majesty's Government,
ilt' alter it Lad received the sanction of his Majesty
it was transmitted to Portugal on the very day the
noble earl gave up the seals of his office. Whatever
might bare occurred since that time he (Lord
Ahe:dcen) should contend that a renewal of our relations'
with Portugal was of the utmost impottanee tines the Fret*
took possession of the Tagus. Ilia hope wee, if any
be ix;
diment should in the way, the paper be laid b
the House. The claims on the part of France might be sub-
stantially just, but his objection was not founded on those

claims, he should contend that it was the duty of the govern-
ment to interfere and save the Portuguese before the French
fleet bad left the port of Toulor Tmties between the two
countries made It imperative on us to-become mediators, and
use our good offices, but that we had not done. It was desirable
to look at the mode in which the French claims had been en-
forced. The Admiral forced the passage of the Tagus, and took
possession of the fleet. The French Admiral then required
indemnity for the war, and notwithstanding his assn.
dons about French magnanimity he delayed that the Pam-
guese fleet was to be carried to France. It was considered,
perhaps, that the Portuguese ships were good prizes of war.'
Ills hopa was, that the noble lords, if they had such an opi-
niun, would lay that opinion before the House. He should
contend there had been no legitimate w.r between the two
countries ; but it might be said there was war, but it was
peace de facto. It was clear the French (lid not• consider
themselves at war with Portugal. The French Admiral,
not satisfied with imposing these terms, entered into a
new convention, by which he took care to make terms
most favourable to French commerce. The French were
to stand upon the footing of the most favoured nation.—
This could not be agreed to without injustice to Eng-
land, and Viscount Santarem merely declared that he was
disposed to treat upon commerce in a yawner reciprocally
advantageous to France and Portugal. Another advantage
to this country—he hail heard it was the intention of his
Majesty's glvern.nent to allow the Portuguese ships to assist
Don Pedro in his designs upon Portugal. Now if it were a
Portuguese fleet, what right had the French to take it away ?
and if the ships were prizes, why did the French allnw them
to be so employed ? Could the noble lord be so infatuated
as not to ace that anything done by France in Portugal was
injurious to this country. The object was to destroy the
colony of Portugal—for such it had been considered with
reference to England by Hourhous,'Honepattists, and Carl.
ists. Every government in France had looked with jealousy
upon the connection between England and Portugal, and
the object of all, including the present Government of
France, had been to gain, if possible, the advantage Eng-
land had so long enjoyed. The noble Earl (Aberdeen) went
on to say that n earl at the head of the present Oo•
vernmcnt would find that he had much to unlearn on the
subject of our foreign p ricy ; that pol'ey might carry the
horrors of civil war into the Peninsula and deluge it with
blond, but lie never could succ:ed in disturbing those falai.
utions to which the people of Portugal had shown so much
aft:id:mew. (Hear.) He, therefore, should conclude by
merely moving that tttc petition be real and ordered to be
lard on the table.

The i chitin which was from the shipowners, merchants,
and °thin in London, engaged in the trade with Portugal,
was then read at length by the clerk from the table.
Earl GREY said, he had not been made altogether am
quainted with the secure of the noble earl's petition. He
had sui,posrd that the petition had reference alone to the
commerce of this country with Portugal ; hut the noble
earl who presented it had thought tit to enter into leng h.
end details respecting not only the :rade of the two coun-
tries, but also their political connexion.
The Earl of ABERDEEN, across the table, observed, he
had given notice that his remarks should have reference to
the political shoe of Portugal.
Earl ORBIT rammed. He considered, after the promises
which had been made by his Majesty's Government on the
present subject, and after their consent in the other House
of Parliament to produce certain papers which had been
called for relative to the affairs of Portugal, he (Earl Grey)
had hoped that the Noble Earl would have abstained from
making his present statements. All he (Earl Grey) had now
to offer generally was, that he was not prepared to follow
and answer all the Noble Earl's remarks ; he should observe,
however, that he had been informed (be did not know how
co:reetly) that the petition presented by the Noble Earl had
been got up, as the phrase is, by an individual connected
with the press of the country, friendly to the views enter-
had by teat noble earl respecting Portugal, and that it had
lain at a toffee-house in the city for a considerable time, and
had only obtained 16 signatures to it. (Hear.) With respect
to the non-recognition of Portugal by this and other states,
and the French expedition to the Tagus, the necessary infor.
mat'on should in a few days be laid before the house, which
would completely show that the statements of the Loble earl
were not well founded. The noble earl had denied that
France had any right to demand redress of Portugal; he
(Earl Grey) was not prepared to answer that statement, but
he was rather surprised to hear it made after what had fallen
from the noble duke opposite,who had said thee after the Eng-
lish had demanded redress, there was no other course left for
France but to adopt the same line of proceeding. Touch.
hug the opinion of the King's Advocate respecting the ne.
gociations with Portugal, he (Earl Grey y was exceedingly
anxious to place that opinion before the House; from that
document it would appear that the whole and only wish of
his Majesty's Ministers had been to act with the utmost
impartiality as regarded both nations. When the Noble
Earl and his colleagues had the Government of the country
entrusted to them they laboured with all their might to show
sufficient cause for refusing the very information which was
now demanded. Whilst the Noble Earl and others on his side
of the House indulged in such statements, they ought to re-
collect the affair ofTerceira.—(Hear). But with respect to the
more important part of the Noble Lord's remarks, viz. the
position in which this country was placed in relation to Por-
tugal, in consequence of a suspension of that friendly inter-
course which had existed for so long a time between the
two ra:ions, he begged briefly to direct their lordships' at-
tention. The noble earl ( Aberdeen) himself would not go
further than he would to maintain these friendly relations,
and if there was any responsibility attached itself to this
country for the present state of affairs in Portugal, he could
assure e house a very small portion of that responsibility
rested on the present ministers of the crown. (Hear.) After
alluding to the expulsion of Don Pedro, the noble earl
(Grey) said, that expulsion was not the cause of the non-
recognition of Portugal; but a general recognition might
follow, if treaties of peace, and amnesty with other nations,
were ratified by Don Miguel. The noble earl (Aberdeen),
in one of his own dispatches had alluded 'o the insur-
mountable barriers which existed to the recognition of Don
Miguel; these barriers still existed, and however desirable
it might be to have them removed, there was still greater
and more important objects to be kept in view by his Ma-
jesty's Government ; an amnesty, the non. grantingof which
was considered an insurmountable barrier by the alibi* earl
(Aberdeen) on the firer day of last Session, never had been
issued—never could be4obtrined by the present Ministers. In.
stru:tions had been sent to Mr. Mackenzie, the British:Con- ,
sul at Lisbon, to obtain an =natty ; these instrucrie ns had
been repeated to Mr. Hoppner, the successor of Mr. Mac-
kenzie, and he had been equally unsuccessful; in short,
up to the present moment, the detzuud for an amnesty hail I
been met in the same spirit, and none had been obtain d.—
(Hear, hear.) Again, says the noble earl, the Government
of Don was not of a harsh or bloody character, for
only 22 individuals during its three years continuance had
been executed on the scaffold. The noble earl, however, had ,
passed lightly over those unfortunate persons who, for slight I
political offences, were submitting to imprisonment in the
dungeons of Portugal. The: noble earl, before he arraigned
his Majesty's present Ministers, should hare been prepared .
to defend himself fur the state into which the politics of the
two countries were now placed. It was not the duty o
Minister. to look too nicely into governments of other coun-
tries, if they found their sovereigns willing to cultivate peace
and amity with neighbouring states. One word as to the
counsel of the noble earl respecting the vigilance which was
necessary to be adopted by Ministers to guard the interests of
the country which had been entrusted to them, he (Earl Grey)
did not stand in need of such counsel. He trusted he should
guard the interests of the country against both enemies and
powerful rivals. ( akar.)
The Duke of WELLINGTON vindicated the charac-
ter of the petition which had been presented by the noble
earl ; it had the signatures of thirty-two of the principal
merchants of the city of London, engaged in the trade to
Portugal, attached to it ; the topics brought forward in the
presenting of that petition, by his noble friend, were the
very topics treated of in the petition itself; there wax one
point, however, which that noble earl had abstained from
noticing, namely, the wine trade with Portugal, a point
which t ot tally interested that country, but the whole Penin-
sula, Germany, and Italy ; it was now intended to put
the wines of these places on a par with those of France,
a country, in its relations with England, which ought
not to be entitled to such an advantage; but it ,hewed
the partiality which noble lords opposite entertained
for France. After alluding to the expedition of i
France to the Tagus, and the subsequent possession
of St. Michael's by the French, the noble duke said, that
as an Englishman, and not as an officer, he considered the
conduct of the French Admiral as calculated to excite feel-
ings of indignation. Then there was the treaty for fort St.
"Fallen • arid that the forts in the Tagus should not be re-
inforami or repaired ; the dispute altogether arising out of
articles in two newspapers, the one published in Coimbra,
and the ether in Oporto. It was the duty of this Govern-
ment
to_ place Portugal with tha Governments of other coun-
tries. No man deprecated more strongly than he did the eon-
duct of Don Miguel, who, after he went to Portugal from