Star.
London, England, 1820-09-16 00:00:00

FROM THE DIARIO NACIONAL.

" OPORTO, AUGUST 29.—1 n the preceding number'
of our Diary we said that some ill-informed persons
feared great disasters to Portugal, because, say they,
our allies cannot be pleased that we make suck an ex-
traordinary reform in our Political Institutions.
Who ?—the liberal English, the nation in the world
which best knows by theory and experience how
much its greatness is the fruit of its liberty, should
take amiss in us an heroic resolution, a transcendant
virtue, which it so highly values and loves in itself?
Has it opposed the progress of the emancipation of
South America? Hasit employed its army or navy
to trouble our neighbours? Have we heard in the
speeches of its representatives in Parliament a word
of disapprobation or of alienation from Spain on
account of the restoration of its Cortes ? We have
seen nothing of this. We know, on the contrary,
that the enlightened Lord Liverpool answered Lord
Holland, that the Government of his Britannic
Majesty w ill never interfere with the affairs of Spain,
relatively to its Constitution; for nations are inde-
pendent of each other—each Is at liberty to adopt
the form of Government, and to make the laws most
analogous and suitable to its circumstances, and
that the highest interest of a combined power is to
be just to all.'
• When a Power has the good fortune to have at
the bead of its Government men like Lord Liverpool,
actuated by such just and liberal principles, it is im-
possible that it should interfere v. ithout more reason
than it is pretended the English have to invade us.—
Let us make ourselves easy, experience will shortly
prove that we tre not deceived in our prognostica-
tion. The Supreme Provisional Junta continues to
give undoubted proofs of its wisdom. We may be
excused making any reflections on this head, when
we present to our Readers the following documents.
The first is an order to the Colonels and Commanders
of Corps of the troops of the line, to include in their re-
commendations for military promotion those Serjeants
whose character and military conduct merit this ho-
nourable distinction.

" The second document is a general pardon to all
privates and subalterns, on condition of their return-
ing to their corps within seventy daysfrom the date
of the Proclamation (28th of August). Thanks to
HEAVEN, that valour and merit will not find the
doors closed to encouraging rewards! What matters
it that the soldier was not the son of a Nobleman, jibe
has that genuine nobility which is not inherited, which
is not to be bought with gold, but which is gained
by virtue, by honourable wounds, and by blood shed
in the service of the country? If public utility is the
supreme law, why should the brave Serjeant be ex-
cluded from the rank of Officer, when he has so often
distinguished himself by the side of his Chiefs in the
field of battle?
" The first wants of man are food and raiment. The
soldier who serves his country must be clothed and
fed by the country. If he is in want of food, who
can wonder that his courage fails? And if those
who command let him fall into the opprobrium of
beggary and want, how can they require that the
wretch accustomed to ask alms shall resist the temp-
tation of deserting her banners ? Let it not be ima-
gined that we approve or excuse desertion : it is a
crime: but we mean to say that in this crime there
are various degrees of guilt, and that the least of all
is when an unjust Government neglects to pay what 11
it owes to the meritorious defenders of their country.:
" The accounts which we receive from all quarters
are highly satisfactory relatively to the good cause
of our liberty."

Since the foregoing was prepared for the Press, we
have received the Paris Papers of Wednesday; and
we have pleasure in stating, that the complexion of
the intelligence concerning Portugal, so far as re-
spects our countrymen, is very different from their
first statements. According to the Censtitutionnel, the
English OJkera, with the Agents of the English Fac-
tory, were arrested and sent off to Gibraltar next day.
The Journal de Paris (a Ministerial Paper) repeats the

story of ye-today, as a rumour.: .We do not credit
it. The following. are their respeitive statements :
" The Revolution of Portugal is no longer doubt-
ful; but there is some disagreemeit as to the manner
in which it was effected. It is said by some accounts,
that it has not cost any effusion of. blood, and that
the Insurgents contented •themselves with arresting
the English Officers and principal Agents of the,
English Factory, who were embarked the next day
for Gibraltar. Others maintain, on the contrary,
that a Regiment, commanded by an Englishman,
had made resistance at Lisbon; that the Royal Au-
thorities had refused to recognize the now Govern-
ment, and that an engagement ensued, which cost
the lives of a great number of persons, estimated by
one Journal at as high as 1,500. The latter version
appears extremely exaggerated, if it is not entirely
false ; the greater part of the letters from Spain and
Bayonne make no mention of it.
" The accounts received by some commercial
houses in Paris mention only the arrest and em-
barkation of the English. The new Provisional Go-
vernment has published a Proclamation, in which it
declares that the new Revolution has for its object,
to discard foreign influence, and to establish, on solid
bases, the national liberty and independence.
" It is said that Portugal has declared itself inde-
pendent of Brazil, and that the Constitutional King
will reside at Lisbon ; but nothing official has yet
transpired on the subject. Several journals affirm
also that Spain has sent 20,000 troops into Portugal
to support the Revolution. Ilowever much that
Revolution may be in the interest of the Cabinet of
Madrid, this news appears to us quite improbable,
or at least premature ; and the letters from the Pe-
ninsula do not say a word of any such thing. It is,
at the same lime, extremely probable that the two
kingdoms, united as they are in interest and in system,
will soon form more intimate ties.
44 The news of this Revolution cannot fail to ex-
cite a deep sensation in England. Portugal was, in
fact, entirely dependent on that country, which had
all its commerce in its hands and availed itself
of all its resources. Everything of the first necessity,
even the simplest stuffs, were manufactured by the
English ; they made the very hogsheads in which
they exported the wines of Portugal: the industry of
the country was gone, and two English factories, one
at Lisbon and the other at Oporto, had long excited
the hatred and jealousy of the inhabitants. The army
was commanded by an English General Officer, Lord
Beresford, who some time ago deiarted for Brasil,
and about three or four hundred English Officers
ivere dispersed through the Regiments. It was Eng-
lishmen 'too who commanded the provinces and
strong places, so that the jealousy of the army was
not less than that of the people."—Constitutionfiel-
A letter from the Spanish Charge d'Affaires at
Lisbon (M. de Ponda), dispatched on the 31st of Au-,
gust, at eleven o'clock at night, to the Minister of
Foreign Affairs at Madrid, has fully confirmed the
news of the Revolution in Portugal. It was at,
Oporto, and in the province of which that city is the
capital, that it commenced, and that the Constitution
of the Cortes was proclaimed without at first any
opposition. Several other garrisons followed the
example. Portuguese Authorities have everywhere
superseded the superior English O%cers, who com-
manded several forts and some provinces.
" As yet there are no precise,details as to the un-
fortunate events at Lisbon, but we are still assured
:hat the number of victims has been considerable.—
It appears that the English, who had troops in Fort
St. Julien, which defends the port of Lisbon, wished
to oppose the Revolution, and that the fury of the
people turned, not only against these military, but
against the English merchants settled at Lisbon. ,It
is said that all of these unfortunate persons who could
escape, had, with the English garrison, embarked for
Gibraltar.

A report was also current at Madrid, at the de-
parture of the Courier, that 20,000 Spanish troops
were on their march to Portugal, to serve as auxi-
liaries to this new Revolution."—Journal de Path.