Star.
London, England, 1829-10-08 00:00:00

on the return of a part of these unfortunate men to
Elvas, their native place, the priests and royalists, aided
by their usual mercenaries, rose and threatened to mur-
der them if they attempted to enter the town. When I
state that the authorities did not make the slightest effort
to interpose or prevent this outrage, it is quite needless
to point to the source whence it must have emanated.
The frequency of arrests since the appointment of
M A•rros, and especially the affair at Maffra, have been
already noticed.
Notwithstanding these acts of injustice, by which
alone the system could last an hour, there is no doubt
but even the apparent return to moderation was caused
by the repeated admonitions and remonstrances of the
friends of Don MIGUEL, in England, connected with
some members of the British Government. By a strange
coincidence, however, though this salutary advice may
have been followed in a few instances, with regard to the
constitutional peasanty, it has been totally disregarded
where the liberty and property of British subjects were
concerned ! On the score of internal tranquiflity, I
shall merely observe, that robberies and murders are ex-
ceedingly frequent both here and in the provinces—
what is more, these are invariably perpetrated tinder the
mask of royalism. With regard to Lisbon itself, I will
appeal to any English resident, whether a day passes
without some desperate acts of violence ; and also, whe-
ther many persons who occupied houses in the suburbs,
have not been forced to abandon their dwellings and
come into the city in order to save their lives and property.
The truth is. that a more complete system of terror on
the one hand, and of anarchy on the other, couid not
well prevail; and if Messrs. Vitt; o and 'Alarms have
acquired a little more credit for moderation than some
former agents of the usurper, it is simply because they
are more deeply versed in the arts of deception and hypo-
cracy than their predecessors. Both these men are, in
fact, well convinced, that even if inclined to be moderate,
those who placed them where they are, would not sanc-
tion a milder system. They know but one system of
terror alone.
After all that the literary partisans of Don Mn EL in
England have said about " internal tranquillity" it is
strange they should have been so silent relative to the com-
mercial and financial prosperity of the country. While
pursuing a system of calumny and falsehood, unexampled
in the worst periods of the most degraded country, it would
have cost these conscientious persons as little to dilate on
the above topics as on any others. Here it may be as well,
to fill up the mysteries with a few facts which I call on
them to controvert if they can. The usurpation having
put an end to all confidence, and either led to the exile
or imprisonment of such numbers of the most wealthy
and enterprising men in the country, the natural conse-
quence was an immediate stagnation, which is continuing
to increase up to the present moment, and has caused an in-
calculable degree of public misery among all classes.
None have escaped the hateful effects of a change which
was founded on fraud and injustice ; ruin, wide spread
ruin, has alike overtaken the noble and the peasant.
The suspension of all public works has thrown thousands
out of employ, while the sequestrated lauds, remaining
without culture, is another source of poverty. It is
needless to say, that with a Government which, so far
front offering any security to person or property, has,
from the first day of the usurpation, acted on a system
of plunder and proscription, there is not much probability
of the commercial or agricultural state of the country
being improved.
As to foreign trade, to which Portugal was in former
days indebted for so large a portion of her wealth and
power, it may fairly be said to have ceased altogether
with the destruction of the charter. It is only necessary
to cast one's eyes over the splendid river which spreads
before me, where four or five hundred ships were fre-
quently seen, it is now extremely rare to find half a
dozen, and these a small class of trading vessels. Nearly
the whole of the merchants' ships belonging to the India
and Brazilian trade, once so opulent, are laid up and
rotting at their moorings. Upon the whole, a more
dreary and deplorable picture than that presented by a
view of the Tagus, in its present deserted state, cannot
well be conceived. The destructive effect of such a state
of things in the population of Lisbon, is truly pitiable ;
the streets are covered with beggars, while thousands of
artisans and porters are deprived of all means of exist-
ence. Speaking of trade, I have heard a circumstance
which, though not immediately connected with my pre-
sent object, may as well he mentioned, en passant. You
have been told a great deal of the encouragement which
English commerce was to receive from the apostoli-
cals ; I am now enabled to assert, upon unquestionable
authority, that, for the last fifteen months, a decided pre-:
ference has been given by the whole of the Miguclites
to French manufactures ! Owing to the whole of our
factory considering trade as at an end, several have pro-
ceeded with their property to Cadiz, whence I know from
a personal knowledge of the fact, English manufactures
and Colonial produce, have already begun to find their
way into Portugal. I should not omit to add that a mer-
chant who has just arrived from Oporto, represents that
once flourishing city to be, if possible, in a worse state
than the capital.
After such a picture of the foreign and domestic trade
of the kingdom, you will hardly require to be told that the
finances bear a close affinity to its commercial condition.
—I shall only say on this subject, that were it not for
the subscriptions, or rather forced loans, under that spe-
cious appellation, and which continue with unabated vi-
gour, sums lent by rich individuals who look to the con •
fiscated estates for repayment, and the Crown jewels,
those who are the best informed on what is passing assert
that the system would not hold together for twenty-four
hours. Touching the Crown jewels, it will be mortify-
ing to certain persons in England to hear that there are
no more diamond buttons or sword-hilts likely to reach
London. If a few stray stars and crosses can be col-
lected, they are to be sent; but these will be the last of
the " good things" which the King, as his hebdomadal
panegyrist never fails to call him, will be able to bestow.
By the bye, there is a curious anecdote, though I be-
lieve not less true, in circulation, concerning one mode of
improving the finances. You have heard of the recent
death of the Princess MARIA BENEDETT A , aunt to the
late King JOIIN VI. a woman of exemplary character,
and affectionately attached to Don PEDRO as well as the
young QUEEN. Though her benevolence and extensive
charities during life were proverbial, she is known to
have died very rich. Among the legacies, it is said that,
besides some valuable diamonds; she bequeathed large
sums to the Est PEROR and Donna MARIA. No sooner,
however, had her death been announced to the Usurper,
than he proceeded to the apartment where she breathed
her last, and having examined the will, the trifles left to
her immediate attendants were distributed, but a report
was at the same time circulated that her Highness the
late Princess had not left more property than was neces-
sary to pay her debts. It is remarkable that scarcely
any of the usual ceremonies of lying in state or going
into mourning were observed after this excellent woman's
death. The reasons assigned for this are, first, her pre-
ference to Don PEDRO and the QUEEN ; and, secondly,
her well-known predilection for the Charter. It is not