Star.
London, England, 1822-10-26 00:00:00

and to corrupt the Morals of the people. • But on
the fiat of October, 1640, by one of the best con-
ducted Revolutions ever recorded in the history of
nations, the dominion of Spain was annulled, and
John, Duke of Braganza, proclaimed king of Por-
tugal. England was one of the first and firmest
allies of the new King, and through her aid, and the
assistance of France and Holland, he soon found him.
self fully established on the throne of his ancestors.—
The Duke of Braganza was the grandson of Cathe-
rine, youngest daughter of Edward, brother to John
the Third, and • Henry the Cardinal, who married
John, Duke of Braganza, the fifth in descent from
Alphonso, the first Duke, a natural son of King
Jahn the First. He was, therefore, the legal and re-.
filar heir to the Crown, failing the line of Louis,
Doke of Beja, which ended in 1666. The Inquisi-
i ion, which had been smuggled into Portugal by an
adventurer in the fourteenth century, had taken deep
root and assumed great power, so as to be able to
controul the actions of both Prince and peasant. The
first act of the Holy 0./fire was to expel the rich Jews
from the kingdom. This gave a blow to the com-
merce of Portugal which she has never yet been able
ro recover. Besides, for many ages, the Court and
the country was much more eager to detect and de-
oy a concealed heretic, than to support the honour
cf the nation ; and, down to a very late period, an
fe was an object of greater interest than any
thing that concerned the welfare •of the people,
John the Fourth, during his reign of sixteen years,
restored the kingdom to something of its former
splendour; but leaving his son a minor—a Prince,
too, of a weak mind and debilitated body, the tool
flatterers and parasites—the Spaniards again tried
to get possession of the kingdom. The nation was
lovulred in a cruel and protracted war, and only
saved frora ruin by the assistance of an English army,
and the appoilanient of Don Pedro, the King's bro-
ther, as Regent. Charles the Second, who was uncle
to the King and Regent, by his marriage with Ca-
therine, the daughter of John interposed his
Powerful influence, and at last effected a peace. This
peace, which lasted for thirty years, was very inks-
lions to the militiry glory of Portugal, and added
bnt little to her internal power. Thewar of the Sac-
ceision drained her of her wealth, and it was not till
after the peace of Utrecht that she began to recover
from the effects of the Spanish usurpation.
In 1750. Joseph the First, a man of commanding
powers and inordinate ambition, began to reign.—
Ms object, from the first, was to raise the kingly
r Lice above all controul, and his views being seconded
by an able and active Minister, he soon became, in
every sense of the word, an absolute monarch. The
Marquis of Pombal, with all his desire to raise the
kingdom to its proper rank in the scale of nations,
wit' his great zeal to impror her agriculture and
commerce. was equally zealous, under the sanction
cf law, to derive the people of their just rights, and
to reduce them, as he actually did, to a nation of
slaves. Ile had the boldness to procure a law by
%%Lich the assembling of any general Cones was dis-
rensed with in future, and the will of the King de-
c:died absolute and supreme, and in no manner to
be called in question. So far did he carry his tyran-
tiical measures, that not only the orders signed by
his Majesty, but any command in the name of the
King, and signed by Isis Minister, was held to have
t::e effect of a law. Thus, what'were called Porlarca's
and .4viso's, superseded the laws and changed the
n!.ole Constitution of the Portuguese Monarchy.--
U— der such a King is Joseph, and such a Minister
as Pombal, the evils resulting from such measures
snivt have been for a time concealed or endured,
but e fiction which succeeded in removing Pombal
from his high station, though ready to avail them-

i wires of Lie unwarrantable power, which, as King's
rtlit.ester, he had assumed and made legal, wanted.
tLe abilities to render their execution either safe or
salutary. They found the Treasury full from the
regularity with which he had collected, and the fru-
gality with which he bad administered, the national

revenues; this they soon emptied by building churches

and convents, and, at the succession of her late Ma-
jesty, a reign of superstition and bigotry commenced
that would have disgraced the annals of any Court
of the middle ages. It was fortunate for Portugal,
that this ignorance and superstition was, in a great
measure, confined to the Court and the Holy fece.l
The nation had made great progress in refinement,
and possessed men capable of holding the first rank'
in every department of literature and science. But
it was not till his present Majesty took the Govern-1
silent into his own hands that any effort was made
tothroyr off the nightmare of Monkish; tyranny which
bad so long oppressed them—still, as Regent, the
Prince found himself surrounded by a cordon of
Ministers wedded to the old system, beyond which
his influence could not penetrate, and warned, too,
by the result of the French Revolution, the time
was not propitious for the commencement of a
reformation—old abuses were, therefore, continued
and confirmed.
In my neat I shall enter upon the state of Por-
tugal at the commencement of the present century,
and I remain, Sir, your's respectfully,
A BRITON.

A fellow possessed of a good deal of brass, and no.
furiously obtrusive, was reproached by a friend in the
Caty, a few days ago, for leading an idle and dissolute
)le, when he observed, that he was willing to be em
plowed, but candidly said, he did not know what lie
.w.ts tit for.-4, Nor I either," said his friend, " ezcept
m ws to assist in an Assurance Office !"