Star.
London, England, 1828-07-01 00:00:00

[PRICE' SZVIINIPENCI .

_

which it did not possess. I; might have been.intimated.
to them without using technical language, and repro- ,
seining the act as legitipate.. The Garret nmeot might
have intimated to the authorities in Lisbon, that in the
peculiar situation in which England was placed with
respect to Portugal, that they could not permit the
commerce of British subjects to be disturbed by either
of the parties. They would have been perfectly justi-
fied in this, as the case was one which was quite new.
Here were two parties, both pretending to act for Don
Pedro—the one honestly and tritely. and the other
iraudulently and rebelliously. Such a course as this
should have been adopted, until a communication
could have been received from Don Pedro on the sub-
ject. The Honourable Member proceeded to observe, •
that, as he understood it, e hen the blockade of Oporto
rtoolt place, Don Miguel's usurped authority was only
four weeks old. He did nqt •know whether there
was ofi record a recognition of so green an au-
thority. He thought • before .ienesssuch recognition •
took place there should be sense show of power. -...
is
feyi objected that this aineleader of rebels should be
"Prince Regent'nf Portugal.'_ Dad thae *swa-
rms imply a legitimate authority or did it not? He
did not say that they acknowledged the blockade of
Oporto, but they did its existence. What was the re-
sult of this proceeding of the Government ?—that those
who 'were struggling for their legitimate, Sovereign
were declared to be rebels. What other description
could be given of the most legitimate Governmei t in
the world ? Aad in what other light could the Portu-
guese consider it but as a sanction given by Great Bri-
tain to the rebellion of Don Miguel ? He put it to the
Right Honourable Gentleman. (Mr. Peel), whether in
'this case, in which multitudes were interested, a greater
degree of caution should not have been used? The
notification of the blockade, too, came in an irregular
manner, and that was another reason why this language
should not have been used. He knew of no similar in-
stance in the history of the country. Since the French re-
volution, wherever there had been a case of disputab'e
authority, the custom, in the event of the one party or
the other declaring a blockade, was to introduce the
words of " persons exercising the powers of Govern-
ment." This was a ease strong in point, and had been
invariably followed during the last forty years, except
in the case of Don Miguel. In the case of Greece,
where the persons bad held the power cf Government
four years, Sir F. Adam, in his acknowledgment of a
blockade, designated them as " persons exercising the
poWers of Government." Then, was it the treason of
Don Miguel to his father and his brother, or his breach
of faith to all Europe, that was the cause of this ex-
ception? It was a matter of deep regret that this ex-
ception had been made, and it was one which required
a most satisfactory answer. He would ask, if Don Mi-
guel was entitled to the appellation of " Prince Regent
of Portugal," why had we ceased our diplomatic
functions with him? And if he was not entitled to
the appellation, why was he so styled? He (Sir James
Macintosh) held in his hand a passport in which the
preamble styled Don Miguel, Don Miguel the First.
This document Wiiiligned by four intendants. H-w
then could Don Miguel be styled Prince Regent ? By
this act he had abdicated the title of Regent But there
were facts which could not be denied. On the Si of
May, Don Miguel issued a proclamation for the As-
sembly of the Ancient Cortes. This was an abdication
of the title of Prince Regent, and in assumption of the
Royal authority under the old form of Government ?
The Hon. Member then referred to the tranoictions
which took place last year at Vienna, relative to the
return of Don Miguel to Portugal. In October list, a
c inference was held in that city, in whicti Prince Met-
ternich, on the part of the Emperor of Austria ; Lord
Cowley, on the part of the King of Great Britain ;
Count Villa Real, on the part of Don Miguel; and the
Brazilian Ambassador, on the part of Don Pedro ; seve-
rally assisted. The basis of this conference was the
note of the Brazilian Ambassador, which announced
that Don Pedro had assigned to Don Miguel the Re-
gency of Portugal. Count Villa Real, at this
co t-
terence, announced the firm determination of Dou Mi-
guel to exercise his office according to the charter. To
the Emperor of Austria be also voluntarily and unasked
for said the same thing. It was in consequence agree i
to, that he should proceed at once to Portugal. This
announcement was made t i Brazil, France, Englant,
and even Spain. Thus, on these conditions—the fulfil-
ment of the provisions of the charter—the Powers of
Europe admitted him to assume the reins of Govern-
ment. This, therefore; gave a right of intervention
on the part of the Power. of Europe. He gave them
this right. The Honourable Gentl man then referred
to the correspondence of a Noble L ird, which he said
should have induced the Government to have been
more cautious in the application of terms. This cor-
respondence gave a colour to the report that the secret
opinion of his Majesty's Government was at variance
with their avowed principles. He did not say it was
so, but in this light it was represented to the people of
Lisbon, and the most deplorable effects had in conse-
quence been produced. It would, however, requite
great evidence to disprove to I: that twoAmbassadms
(Lord Heytesbury and Sir F. Lamb), had not made re-
presentations to his Majesty's Government of the conse-
quence which this correspondence had produced. He
did not disapprove of the act of withdraw.ing the troops
from Portugal; but coupling that with the correspon-
dence, those circumstances must have had considerable
,influence on the people in Lisbon. He wished that our
Ministers had abstained from the description which they
had adopted regarding Don Miguel; it might damp
the ardour of the good, and encourage the guilty hopes
of the bad. There must be some very ample explana-
tions before he could approve rush language,-and he
should never have forgiven himself had he not taken
this opportunity of roe itioning them.
Mr. Secretary PEEL said, that the Right Hon. Gent.
had set out by stai.ing that he would look upon this subject
as a question of international law, and not view it in its
moral relations ro the two parties in Portugal. or to the
interests of this country; but the Right Hon. Gentlemen
had all the way through treated it in its moral relations,
and chiefly as they were interested. He (Mr. Peel) pro-
mised to be as cautious as possible in avoiding the use
of any expressions which might admit of this construc-
tion, but he could not avoid expressing the high dis-
satilaction which lie felt at the course pursued by Don
Miguel; but while he did so, he thought the true policy
of this country would be not to seek for exceptions, but
to adhere to those general principles of policy which this
country had before adopted, and which she would expect
from other countries. It might be unfortunate that in.