altered the relations which previously subsisted between the two countries."

The inclination of the Portuguese government to conciliate Great Britain, was marked by a decree of the 12th of March, suspending the edict of the 14th of July 1821, for the increase of the duty on British woollens, and directing that that impost should, until the conclusion of a final treaty, remain at its antient rate of 15 per cent. On the other hand, an attitude, somewhat hostile, was maintained towards France. They directed their ambassador to remonstrate against the doctrines avowed in the speech of Louis 18th, increased their military force, and declared their readiness to conclude a defensive treaty with Spain. But in Portugal, as in Spain, the constitutional system had enemies within the kingdom as well as without. The Conde de Amarante, after having traversed a great part of the province of Minho, and sojourned at Braga, and other considerable places in that province, made his appearance in Villa Real, and on the 21st of February; at the head of some militia and some countrymen, raised the standard of revolt. "Death to the constitution, and all its followers," was the cry, which marked the objects of Amarante, who at first proclaimed himself the partisan of the antient system, though, afterwards, as his cause began to droop, he was willing to remain satisfied with a modification of the representative system. He was joined by some of the troops who were stationed in the province; and, marched northwards, reaching Chaves, the garrison of which brought a considerable reinforcement to his ranks. Texeira was despatched

against him, joined in the insurrection, and a junta was now formed, of which M. Souza, formerly minister in London, was a member. The district, which was the scene of this revolt, was bounded by the Douro on the south, and the Galician frontier on the north; the river Sabor on the East, and the Tamega on the West. Beyond these limits the insurrection did not extend: but within them the peasantry took up arms, and were zealous in its support. General Rego, who was in the vicinity at the time, collected without delay such troops as could be depended upon, and pressed the insurgents so much, that they had no time to extend their intrigues or consolidate their strength. The only success, which they had, was obtained by surprise on the 13th of March. On the preceding day, Rego's advanced guard, under the command of Pamplona Moniz, was at Radial, a village distant about two miles from Chaves. On that evening, there came to the head-quarters of Pamplona, where general Rego then was, a cavalry officer, pretending to be an emissary from his com rades, who wished to escape from the rebels and join the constitu tionalists. In truth, he was a spy: and having seen, that the troops, instead of being bivouacked, were in quarters, he returned to Chaves to report his observations. At day-break, three squadrons of cavalry appeared in front of Rego's principal position, and a cordon on the flank extending as far as the cantonments of the constitutionalists. Rego's troops (the detachment consisted only of two regi ments) fought gallantly, but they were so completely taken by surprise, that they were broken and routed; Pamplona was taken, and

Rego himself narrowly escaped from being made a prisoner. On the 14th, all the constitutional officers, who had been made prisoners, were called upon to join the insurgents, or to promise not to bear arms against them: but they all refused except two, one of whom was not a Portuguese.

The insurgents, who mustered about 3,000 strong, now endeavoured to effect a passage to the right bank of the Tamega, with a view to penetrate into the province of Minho: and Rego was obliged to confine himself for a few days to defensive operations, in order to give the reinforcements, that were on their way to join him, time to arrive. His centre was first as sailed: but the rebels, not being able to force any of his posts there, resolved to endeavour to obtain possession of Amarante, where his right wing was stationed. With this view, at 8 in the evening of the 22nd of March, they commenced their march from Mondim de Basto towards his right, uniting all their regular troops on the centre of their line, and posting on the other points of it the armed militia and peasants. At day-break they opened a brisk fire on Villa Ponca de Tamega and Gatan; and the better to cover their manœuvre, they attempted to form a moveable bridge or raft on the river. In this, however, they failed; and they were repulsed with great loss on every point of attack.

After this failure, many of Amarante's troops went over to the enemy, and others dispersed themselves. He retreated through the province of Tras os Montes, in a north-eastern direction, towards the frontiers of Leon and Galicia; and was closely pursued by Rego, who had now about seven thousand

troops of the line under his com→ mand, and upwards of five thou-sand militia. There was nothing equal to resist a force like this, though the people of the province, in some districts at least, gave strong marks of adherence to the sinking cause. In the small town of Trindade, at the entrance of Villa Flor, although Rego was almost at its gates, the inhabitants, rose in arms, and intercepted the officers with cries of "Death to the Constitution!" On the 12th of April, orders were issued, that, as a punishment for its perverseness, it should be burnt to the ground. The atrocity of the punishment is a still more unequivocal proof of the predominant spirit of the district, than even the audacity of the offence. On the 13th of April, Rego entered Braganza; and the insurgents, encouraged by the approach of the French, sought refuge within the Spanish frontier.

There they offered to join the French generalissimo: he declined their direct aid, on the ground that France was not at war with Portugal: but he added, that there was no objection to their co-operating with the army of the Faith. Accordingly Amarante and his followers remained in the provinces of Leon and Castile, till the suc cess of the duke d'Angoulême, and the turn which affairs took at Lisbon, enabled the fugitives to return, in the month of June, to their country with the character of pa triots and conquerors.

At Lisbon, as soon as intelligence was received of this revolt, the government was armed with extraordinary powers of imprisonment and arrest; and many suspected persons were placed in confinement. Generals Sarrazin and Souligne, accused of being agents

in the machinations of the French against the peace of the Peninsula, were ordered to quit the Portuguese territory. General Stochler was removed to Bugio, and the archbishop of Braga to Busaco.

The insurrection in the province of Tras os Montes, seems to have been connected with intrigues, whose ramifications spread through the greater part of the Kingdom; though Amarante's failure in his first military operations deprived him of that open and declared assistance, on which he probably reckoned. The events which took place within less than six weeks after his retreat into Spain, proved that he had reason to hope for support and co-operation from the highest quarters. On the 26th of May, the 23rd regiment of the line, having received orders to set out for Beira, where it was to form part of the army of Observation, marched from the capital. At a short distance from the city, on the road to Almeida, the troops were harangued by the colonel, and, having expressed their willingness to concur with him in overturning the existing system, took up a position at Villa Franca, five leagues distant from Lisbon. Their intentions were expressed in the following letter, which their colonel immediately transmitted to Sepulveda, the commander of the troops in the city:

My dear general and friend, -The deposition of the present ministry and the formation of a new one-a king with dignity, and a constitution which may assure the happiness and repose of the country-in fine, union and the oblivion of the past- such is what the 23rd regiment wants: you doubtless want the Anarchy has then ceased to exist. (Signed)

same.

"Souza.",

On the 27th, at one o'clock in the morning, prince Miguel the king's second son, quitted the palace, leaving behind him a letter* addressed to his father. He was accompanied by some carabineers of the 4th regiment, and having joined the revolted troops at Villa Franca, published a proclamation, in which he called upon the nation to aid in the deliverance of their king, in order that a system might be established alike remote from despotism and anarchy. On the same day he was joined by several detachments. As soon as these events were known, the Cortes, an extraordinary session of which had commenced on the 15th of May, sent a message to the king, declaring that the ministers had lost the confidence of the country. His majesty immediately assembled a council, and deliberated with them on the appointment of a new ministry. On the 29th, being Corpus Christi day, the troops of the garrison assembled, according to custom, to parade the streets. After this ceremony was over, they repaired to the Terreiro do Paço (a

square), from whence all the regiments of the line (with the exception of the 18th regiment of infantry), and one or two regiments of militia, marched to join prince Miguel; and with them went general Sepulveda, the military governor, who had been entrusted with the defence of the capital, and on the preceding day, had issued a proclamation to tranquillize the inhabitants. The other militia regiments, the 18th infantry, and part of the artillery of the line, refused to follow Sepulveda; and such was their resentment, that he nearly lost his life in the square; one individual endeavoured to murder him, and was hindered only by the interposition of general Avillez and some other officers. The troops declared, upon this occasion, that they wished some changes in the constitution, naming particularly the establishment of two chambers, and giving the king an absolute veto. On the 30th, at the opening of the sitting of the Cortes, it was notified, that the king had appointed a new ministry; but within an hour after, it was announced that don Neves Costa, appointed minister of war, had gone over to the prince. M. de Braanchamp, one of the heads of the moderate party, who had been appointed minister for foreign affairs, took the same course. On the same day, the king published the following proclamation:

"Portuguese,-My son and infant, don Miguel, fled from my royal mansion and joined the 23rd regiment. I abandon him as a father, and shall know how to punish him as a king.

"His majesty declares, that faithful to his oath, and to the religion of his ancestors, he will

maintain the constitution which he voluntarily accepted. His liberty, he says, has never been restricted, nor his authority despised. He invites his people to confide in the Cortes, and to remain faithful to their oaths."

In the afternoon, the 18th regiment declared itself for the same cause as the other corps of the line; and, repairing to the palace of Bemposta, in the centre of the town, amidst cries of vivas to the king, the queen, and the infante, induced his majesty and all the royal family to quit Lisbon. They took their departure at 7 in the afternoon, and reached Villa Franca on the next day.

In the mean time, the peace of the city had been preserved by the zealous efforts of the citizens and national guards. A project for opening all the jails, and setting the numerous felons at liberty, was discovered and suppressed. The felons in the castle of St. George endeavoured twice to force the prison, but without success; and the guard fired on them, killing and wounding several. The Cortes held their session on the 31st at the usual hour, and transacted their business in the usual way. On the same day, the municipality sent a deputation to the king, begging to know what were his royal intentions: the deputation returned late in the night, with an answer, that his majesty by no means wished to return to the old system; but that it was necessary to frame a constitution more adapted to the interests of all classes, than the existing one. manifesto or proclamation to this effect, was issued by the king, countersigned by Mosinho da Silveira, who had been named minister of finance a few days

A

before. On the 1st of June a new ministry was appointed. The conde de Palmella, a man of talents and literature, who had been plenipotentiary to the congress of Verona, and filled the highest offices under the absolute monarchy, but had been treated by the Cortes with great rigour and harshness, [see Vol. for 1821, p. 217], was named minister of Foreign affairs. Pamplona CostaReal was placed at the head of the war department; Gomez de Oliveira became minister of the Interior; Falcao de Castro minister of justice; and Ferraz de Lima de Castro, intendant-general of the police of the court and kingdom.

On the 2nd of June, the Cortes closed their sittings; having, previously to their separation, drawn up a formal protest against any change in the government: "The Representatives of the Portuguese nation," said they in this instrument, "now assembled in the extraordinary Cortes, finding themselves deprived of the executive power, which may carry into effect any of their decrees, and destitute of an armed force, declare themselves in a situation which makes it impossible for them to perform the functions of their offices: as the continuation of their sittings may lead to the danger of the nation being afflicted in the persons of its representatives, without the hope of any public advantage, they interrupt their sittings, till the permanent deputation, which continues in the exercise of its functions, or the president of the Cortes, shall think fit to assemble the deputies: and they protest, in the name of their constituents, against any alteration or modification that may be made in the constitution of the year 1822."

At the very crisis, when these occurrences were taking place, sir Robert Wilson had come from Galicia to Oporto, in order to rouse the friends of liberty to vigorous resistance. Upon the fall of the constitutional system, he withdrew from Oporto, for the purpose of returning to Spain; but at Braga, he was seized by the populace, and imprisoned for two days. This cooled his ardour, and he thought that his most pru dent course now was, to return to Oporto. There, too, he was treated with considerable rigour, and was immediately sent back to Galicia by the way of Caminha. He arrived at Vigo on the 14th of June, and there issued an address to the Portuguese nation, forgiving with due magnanimity the wrongs he had met with from them, and regretting the inglorious course of political conduct which they had adopted.

These events were particularly agreeable to France, both in themselves and by their influence on the operations in Spain. M. Hyde de Neuville was despatched by Louis, to congratulate the king of Portugal on his re-acquisition of absolute power. That envoy was presented at the court, on the 3rd of September, in a solemn audience appointed expressly for the purpose; and, by the language which he used, did ample justice to the sentiments of those whom he represented. "Sire,” said he, addressing the king,-"My sovereign feels the most lively joy at learning the great and happy event which saved Portugal, and replaced in the paternal hands of your majesty a power which you always used for the happiness of your subjects a power, the legitimate exercise of which constitutes not