that without at all diminishing the duty of 24f. 75c. upon the sugar of our own colonies, which raises their price on coming out of bond into the market to 71f. 75c. the quintal, the duty upon the sugar of foreign colonies has been fixed at 41f. 25c., so that they shall not be able to come into the market at less than 78f. 75c. per quintal. And with respect to the homemade sugar, that from beet-root, while the just right to impose a duty upon it at some time or other, similar to that now imposed on wines, is not given up, the commission has thought fit to anticipate nothing in this respect; their wish is, that until an altered state of circumstances shall arise, the homemade sugar shall be free from all duty whatsoever. Thus the most important result of these branches of the inquiry will be, that for the present there is to be scarcely any change in the tariff of duties, and in the state of affairs, so far as iron and sugar are concerned. DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE regarding the Introduction of the PORTUGUESE CONSTITUTION. No. I.-Mr. Secretary CANNING No. II.-Sir CHARLES STUART to to Sir WILLIAM A'COURT. (Extract) Foreign-office, June 28, 1826. Although it is scarcely possible that the intelligence which has been received at Paris from Rio de Janeiro should not be already known at Lisbon, or at least should not arrive there before this packet, yet (to leave nothing to chance) I enclose to your excellency the copy of a despatch, received yesterday from his majesty's ambassador at Paris, enclosing the publication in the Moniteur of the act by which the emperor of Brazil abdicates the Crown of Portugal in favour of his daughter. In this act reference is made to another, by which his imperial majesty has given a constitution to the kingdom of Portugal. But of that act (whether it has not been received in France, or whether lord Granville has inadvertently omitted to forward it) I am not enabled to send you a copy. (Signed) GEORGE CANNING. His Excellency Sir Wm. A'Court, G.C.B., &c. Mr. Secretary CANNING. (Received July 7.) (Extract) Rio de Janeiro, April 30, 1826. His Imperial Majesty then talked of conciliating the affections of the Portuguese by giving them a constitutional charter; and, if the war should turn out unsuccessfully in the south, of obtaining military succour from Portugal, with a view to diminish the burthen, which is already severely felt in this country. My suspicion of the principles which such a charter might promulgate, induced me to point out the necessity of caution; saying, that if the mere convocation of the Cortes, who were the ancient and legitimate institution of the kingdom, was viewed with jealousy by Spain and France, what mischief might not be produced by a change, in which the Cortes had borne no part; and M. de Paranagua, who saw his majesty soon after, entered so fully into the spirit of this objection, that, for several days, no other constitutional system but such as should be founded upon CHARLES STUART. No. III.-Sir CHARLES STUART Rio de Janeiro, April 30, 1826. The Council did not separate, on Friday, until they had determined upon a complete change of measures, since it was resolved that his imperial majesty should merely accept the Crown of Portugal for the purpose of giving to that king dom a constitutional charter, suited to the circumstances of the times, and that, in the event of this charter being favourably received, and his eldest daughter given to the Infante Don Miguel, he should abdicate in her favour. I thought the consequences of this change too important to be passed over without comment, and I therefore waited upon his imperial majesty. I took the liberty of remarking to his majesty, that since he was reluctant to depend upon the ancient institutions of the country, by convoking the Cortes of Lamego, it was absolutely necessary to announce the constitutional changes which he meditated, in such a manner that they should not appear to emanate from the councils of his Brazilian advisers, and that I therefore hoped he would not wait for the meeting of the Chambers in Rio de Janeiro, to publish his decrees; adding, that although the same argument did not apply to the constitution, of which the tendency might be misinterpreted in Brazil, I implored him to bear in mind the possible hesitation of the people of Portugal to receive a boon, which should be calculated 'to involve them in disputes with their neighbours, and not to allow the constitution to transpire, before he should be certain that it had been accepted. His majesty said, that he appreciated the justice of my reasons for preferring the old institutions, of Portugal, but that however much I might admire those institutions, I must admit, that since they were not in every respect suited to the present day, some change must necessarily be introduced, and, this necessity once admitted, the Cortes would become a constituent body, subject to a thousand inconveniences which a charter could alone remove. He then produced his project of a constitution, already completed, to the compilation of which he had devoted the greater part of the week; and the joy with which he spoke of its contents shows, that the promulgation of this act is the principal inducement held out to him by his advisers, for the abdication of the Crown of Portugal. As it was impossible for me to look through so long a paper at that time, he told me, generally, that it established two Chambers, and that as it upheld the prerogatives of the sovereign, and the power of the nobility, he could not coincide in the fears which I seemed to entertain respecting its possible effect in other countries. He then proceeded to develope the plans, according to which his own abdication is conditional, and dependent upon the marriage of his daughter by proxy to the Infante Don Miguel, and upon the acceptance of the constitution. The regency is, in the first instance, confirmed, the amnesty published, and as soon as the three estates shall have taken the oaths to the new constitution, the queen will repair to Lisbon. After some altercation, his majesty promised to delay the publication of the Portuguese charter until it should have been accepted at Lisbon, whither he stated his wish to send these acts through my hands, as Portuguese plenipotentiary, since he considers them the complement of the treaty which I had signed for the separation of the two countries. I was somewhat startled by this mark of confidence, which I endeavoured to avoid, by expressing my doubts how far such a course might meet the approbation of my Court. As, however, he persisted in his determination, I replied that his request embarrassed me very much, since I was totally unprepared to take upon myself so heavy a responsibility; for that his imperial majesty might have observed, that in the course of the discussions upon this subject, I had not allowed myself to give an opinion which did not directly refer to the public acts approved by the king's government. Whatever may be the view taken by his majesty's ministers of the transactions detailed in this despatch, they are by no means committed by my language or my proceedings, under a total want of instructions, and they consequently remain at liberty to follow the course which they may consider expedient. (Signed) CHARLES STUART. The Rt. Hon. Geo. Canning, &c. No. IV.-Sir CHARLES STUART to Mr. Secretary CANNING. (Received July 7.) (Extract) Rio de Janeiro, May 1, 1826. The emperor sent for me, before he received the diplomatic corps this morning, for the purpose of telling me that the acts relative to the settlement of affairs in Portugal having been completed, he considered it a mark of respect to the memory of his father to request the plenipotentiary whom he had chosen to negociate the separation of the two countries, to perfect the work which had been so successfully commenced during his lifetime; adding, that when he had shown me, in my audience on the preceding day, the several papers which he had drawn up, he had fully opened his mind to me, and reposed in me a degree of confidence of which no other person could boast. I have the honour to enclose a copy of the full powers which his imperial majesty has been pleased to express his intention to intrust to me, and shall proceed to Lisbon on board the Diamond as soon as she can be got ready for sea. (Signed) CHARLES STUART. The Rt. Hon. Geo. Canning, &c. (Enclosure in No. 4.-Translation.) Full powers granted by the EMPEROR of BRAZIL to Sir CHARLES .. STUART, May 2, 1826. Honoured marquis of Angra, sir Charles Stuart, my friend,-I the king send you greeting as to one whom I love much. In consideration of your merits, and of the love which on no few occasions you have shown for my royal person and family, I am pleased to authorize you to deliver, in my royal name, to the regency of the kingdom, my royal decrees of the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th of April, and 1st of May, as well as my letters of constitution and law, the one of the 29th of April, and the other of the 2nd of May, all of this year, which I have intrusted to you, equally authorizing you to do whatever may be necessary for the execution of my royal orders. Given in the palace of Rio de Janeiro, this 2nd of May, 1826. (Signed) THE KING. The Marquis of Angra, Sir Charles Stuart. No. V.-Mr. Secretary CANNING to Sir CHARLES STUART. (Extract) Foreign-office, July 12, 1826. Colonel Freemantle arrived here on Friday evening, the 7th instant, with your excellency's despatches to the 7th of May inclusive, which have been laid before the king. Every thing of what your excellency brings from Rio Janeiro to Lisbon will be precisely what the Portuguese government and nation are prepared to expect, except the charter of a constitution. The opinion, indeed, has long prevailed at Lisbon, that a convocation of the Cortes (in some shape or other) would be necessary for the sanction of a new order of succession to the crown of Portugal. Whether the substitution of a representative constitution for the more antient form of national assembly, will be received with equal satisfaction in Portugal cannot be confidently pronounced beforehand. But there appears no reason to doubt of the acquiescence of the nation in the dispensation of a sovereign, for the manifestation of whose pleasure they have professed to look with the utmost deference and submission. Whatever may be, upon the whole, the preferable choice between the respective merits of the two modes of settlement, which were at the emperor's option, that by a convocation of the Cortes, or that by a constitutional charter, it is not to be denied that there is much weight in the remark of his imperial majesty, that the convocation of. an assembly which has been so long disused, that its very composition and modes of proceeding might be liable to doubt, would be even more likely to lead to the stirring of difficult questions, and to the excitement of excessive popular claims; more likely, in short, in the emperor's own words, to degenerate into a "constituent assembly," than a new code, defining at once the rights and duties of all ranks and orders of the state, and prescribing the forms of their deliberations, and the limits of their respective powers. It is not to be denied that the notables of France, in 1789, on the one hand, and the charter of Louis 18th, in 1815, on the other, come, in a remarkable degree, in aid of his imperial majesty's reasoning. It may be hoped, therefore, that when those Courts which are naturally most adverse to any convocation of national assemblies consider that the avoiding of all such convocation was absolutely impossible, and that the option was merely between two forms of assembly, they will abstain from opposition to that which has been selected; the rejection whereof in Portugal could only lead to a state of things which would revive all the difficulties that have just been overcome, and place the Crown of Portugal, and not the Crown only but the monarchy itself of Brazil, in danger. In order that we may inculcate with more effect on other governments the duty of abstaining from any interference with the free agency of Portugal, it is particularly expedient to remove all grounds of jealousy as to the exertion of British influence on so momentous an occasion. For this reason, while his majesty entirely approves of your excellency's having consented (under the peculiar circumstances of your situation in Brazil) to be the bearer of the emperor's decrees from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon, I am to signify to you his majesty's pleasure, that so soon as you shall have delivered those several instruments into the proper hands, and shall have rendered account to the Portuguese ministry of the mission with which your excellency was charged from his most faithful majesty's government to the emperor of Brazil, your excellency should take leave of the Infanta Regent, and return home.. (Signed) GEORGE CANNING. His Excellency Sir Charles Stuart, G.C.B., &c. No. VI.-Mr. Secretary CANNING to Sir WILLIAM A'COURT. (Extract) Foreign-office, July 12, 1826. I enclose to your excellency a copy of a despatch which I address, by this occasion, to sir Charles Stuart. If sir Charles Stuart sailed from Rio de Janeiro, as I understand (from other information) he was likely to do, on the 11th of May, his excellency may have reached Lisbon early in this month, and may, perhaps, have embarked for England even before this packet arrives in the Tagus. A foolish notion had got abroad in France, that sir Charles Stuart's powers from the emperor of Brazil amounted to the constituting of his excellency a member of the regency of Portugal. I see nothing in the copy of those powers which I have received from sir Charles Stuart that admits such a construction. There is nothing in sir Charles. Stuart's despatches to countenance the gloss which it has been attempted to put upon sir Charles Stuart's consent to be the bearer of the emperor's decrees to Lisbon; the instruction to sir Charles Stuart to return so soon as he shall have delivered those instruments into the proper hands, and have rendered to the Portuguese ministry an account of his mission from his most faithful majesty to Brazil," cannot be mistaken. 66 I do not think it necessary to state to sir Charles Stuart a misapprehension, in which I am confident he does not participate, and which his speedy departure from Lisbon will effectually put down. Lest, however, the regency or ministry of Portugal should be led which may possibly be the case, into any error upon this subject, and should consult your excellency upon the expediency of requesting sir Charles Stuart to remain at Lisbon, to superintend, either as a member of the government, or as a commissioner of the emperor of Brazil, or in any other character, the execution of his imperial majesty's lecrees, or of any of them, I am to instruct your excellency to discourage at once any such proposition, and to decline transmitting it to your court. The general substance of the instruction to sir Charles Stuart your excellency will consider as addressed equally to yourself, and will make it the guide of your language in communicating with the Portuguese government, and with your diplomatic colleagues. |