Star.
London, England, 1820-09-11 00:00:00

" PROCLAMATION.

" Portuguese !—The terrible crime of rebellion against the
power and legitimate authority of our august Sovereign the King
our Master, has just been calimitted in the city of Oporto. A
few ill-intentioned individuals, deceiving the Officers of the corps
of troops in that city, were unhappily able to induce them, co-
vering themselves with opprobrium, to violate, on the 24th of
this month, the oath of fidelity to their King, and to their co-
lours ; and to dare to constitute, of their own authority in that
city, a Government. to which they gave the name of the Supreme
Government of the Kingdom.
" The wretches who contrived this conspiracy well knew that
they could not mislead Portuguese hearts, but by concealing
from them, under the appearance of an illusory oath °Clove and
fidelity to the Sovereign, the tremendous step which they made
them take towards the abyss of revolution, the consequences of
which may be the subversion of the Monarchy, and the subjec-
tion of a nation, always jealous of its independence, to the igno-
miny of a foreign yoke.
" Do not then be deluded, faithful and valiant Portuguese, by
su-h appearances; it is an evident contradiction when the re-
volted, protesting obedience to the King our Sovereign, while
they withdraw themselves from the authority of the Government
lawfully established by his Majesty, propose, as the intruders
(tr..trissos) declare, to constitute themselves under the title of Su-
preme Government of the kingdom, to convoke Cortes, which
would be always illegal if not called by the Sovereign, and ,an-
nounce changes and alterations which they ought to content
themselves with soliciting, because they cannot emanate in a legi-
timate and permanent manner except by the Royal consent.
" Our Sovereign has never ceased to yield to just solicitations,
the object of which is the good and the prosperity of his subjects.
Even now, by the ship of war which has entered this port to-
day, regulations have been received, which will be speedily made I
public, proving the truly paternal solicitude with which he deigns
to attend to the good of this kingdom, and which, if possible, in-
creases the horror which all ought to feel at the crime committed
in the city of •?purto.
" Th.: Governors of this king Join arc taking, and will con-
tinue to take, all the measures which such circumstances impe-
riously dictate, and which are prescribed to them by the most
sacred duties of these offices.
" If, however, any causes of complaint and just representa-
tions shall be laid before them, they will hasten to forward them
respectfully to the Royal Prince, flattering themselves that the
same individuals now implicatecl in so criminal an insurrection
will reflect upon the evils into which they are going to precipi-
tate themselves, and. will, repenting, return to obedience to their
Sovereign, cenliding in the unalterable clemency of the most
merciful of llonarchs.

" 3Teantime, the Governors of the kingdom hope that tkis
most faithful nation may constantly preserve that loyalty. which
v►as alw,:ys its most precious distinction; that the Army, whose
heroism was but lately admired by all Europe, will hasten to
efface the blot with which its honour is threatened by the mis-
conduct of those kw corps who have inconsiderately suffered
thentselves to be deceived, and that the majority of the Portia..

tuese Army will preserve, together with fie reputation of its ia-
..
flexible valour, the equally distinguished virtue of its fidelity.
" Portuguese ! the preservation of implicit obedience to the
King, our Sovereigni is the most important obligation upon us
all. at the same time that it is our most evident interest. Thins,
-then, firmness in these principles is requisite—let all classes con-

cur to maintain the public tranquillity, and you will promptly
see order restored, which the ill-intentioned rashly attempt to
disturb.—This is what is recommended to you .in the name of
our adored Sovereign, by the Governors of the kingdom.
" Lisbon, in the Palace of the Government,
August 29, 1820. ..
(Signed) " The CARDINAL PATRIARCH,
" Marquis de BARBA,
" Conde de PENICHE,
" Con4e de FERIA,

" ANTONIO GOMEZ RIBEIRO."

That a Revolution should have taken place in Por-
tugal, can have surprised none who have paid atten-
tion to the real situation of that kingdom, and the
events that have been passing there for some years.
Portugal bad, in fact, changed places with her Ame-
rican dependencies, and, instead of being respected
as the mother country, had virtually become a co-
lony to the Brazilian Monarchy. The pride of her
people was thus humbled to the very dust, and they
themselves were sunk in a state of the most abject
degradation, while a humiliating ascendancy was at
the same time exercised, in all their affairs, by a foreign
Power, to whose politics they were strangers, and
which had gradually stripped them of all places of
trust andprofit in the administration of their own con-
veins. The Nobles who had accompanied the Royal
Family in its emigration, spent the revenues of their
European estates in another clime. Portugal, in short,
had been stripped of everything great and gay, and
became, as it were, a deserted country. All this had
operated the most injurious consequences to trade,
which, for some time past, had literally been at
a stand. Nothing could be more wretched than the
administration of justice, or more depressed than the
state of the finances—the troops have, in fact, been
long without pay and clothing.

Of all this Lord BERESPORD was sensible when he
left Lisbon for the Brazils. It will be remembered
that his voyage was subsequent to the triumph of the
Constitution in Spain, when he was fully enabled to
appreciate the consequences of such an example. He
crossed the Atlantic to tell the KING plainly and can-
didly the state of feeling prevalent in the Portuguese
Army as well as among the enlightened classes, and
he did not hesitate to add, that under such circum-
stances he could not answer for the fidelity of the
troops, or the exercise of the command confided to
him, at least so long as there was in the country an
authority superior to his own.
Ignorant of the real feelings of the Army, the
Brazil Government had n• doubt that an immediate
remittance of money, to pay the arrears, would re.
medy the evils that began to be apparent. How ig-
norant must they have been of the tone and feeling
inspired among the troops by the events of the war
which expelled the French from the Peninsula! They
had fought side by side with Spaniards under consti-
tutional banners, and in the same glorious cause; and,
had since seen these very soldiers wrest the sceptre of
tyranny from the hands of the individual who had
dared to rob them of the Constitution which they
had purchased with so much blood ; and..was it to be
expected, in the present age, that men who had
fought in the same battles should witness the rege-
neration of Spain and Naples with indifference, and
sit quiet and contented in the circumstances in which
they saw themselves and their country placed, merely
because the Government had furnished money to pay
arrears which were due to them?

Where will all this end ? This is an appalling
question to those who have been persuading them-
selves that they have found out means " to maintain
that which exists," and " to prevent deviation in any
manner from the existing order of things, from what-
ever origin it may have sprung."—[See Prince Mar-
TERNICII'S Circular, in the STAR of Thursday last].
Can you compel men to unthink? Command the
elements of Nature to submit to your will F---Order
the thunders and tempests to be silent ?—Make these
obey yon, and then, but not till then, you may hope to
retain the moral world in the fetters of the dark ages.

Since writing the foregoing, another Lisbon Mail,
with farther particulars of the Revolution, has ar-
rived. The following are the accounts that have
reached us:

Extract of a letter from Falmouth, dated Sept. 8 :
" We send you copies of the Proclamation issued
at Oporto on the 24th ult. brought by the Duke of
Kent Packet, from Lisbon. Military, Clergy, and
Public Authorities, have consented to call a Cortes to
form a Constitution, but to preserve King JOHN, and
protect the present dynasty of BRAGANZA. Our
friends at Lisbon say it is almost certain that place
would follow the example of Oporto.