Chapter IV: Concerning the infallible teaching of the Roman (13)

"In order to secure his triumphs, Prince Henry procured a bull
from Pope Eugenius IV., which guaranteed to the Portuguese all
their discoveries between Cape Nun, in Morocco, and India.
None of his commanders approached within six or eight degrees
of the equator. … By the year 1472, St. Thomas, Annobon, and
Prince's Islands were added to the Portuguese discoveries, and
occupied by colonists; and at length the equator was crossed.
Fernando Po having given his name to an island in the Bight of
Biafra, acquired possession of 500 leagues of equatorial
coast, whence the King of Portugal took the title of Lord of
Guinea. The subsequent divisions of this territory into the
Grain Coast, named from the cochineal thence obtained, and
long thought to be the seed of a plant, Gold Coast, Ivory
Coast, and Slave Coast, indicate by their names the nature of
the products of those lands, and the kind of traffic.
{2573}
Under King John II., after an inactive period of eight or ten
years, Diego Cam (1484) pushed forward fearlessly to latitude
22° south, erecting at intervals on the shore, pillars of
stone, which asserted the rights of his sovereign to the
newly-found land. For the first time, perhaps, in history, men
had now sailed under a new firmament. They lost sight of a
part of the old celestial constellations, and were awe-struck
with the splendours of the Southern Cross, and hosts of new
stars. Each successive commander aimed at outdoing the deeds
of his predecessor. Imaginary perils, which had frightened
former sailors, spurred the Portuguese to greater daring.
Bartholomew Diaz, in 1486, was sent in command of an
expedition of three ships, with directions to sail till he
reached the southernmost headland of Africa. Creeping on from
cape to cape, he passed the furthest point touched by Diego
Cam, and reached about 29° south latitude. Here driven out of
his course by rough weather, he was dismayed on again making
land to find the coast trending northward. He had doubled the
Cape without knowing it, and only found it out on returning,
disheartened by the results of his voyage. Raising the banner
of St. Philip on the shore of Table Bay, Diaz named the
headland the Cape of Tempests, which the king, with the
passage to India in mind, changed to that of the Cape of Good
Hope. By a curious coincidence, in the same year Covillan [see
ABYSSINIA: 15-19TH CENTURIES] … learnt the fact that the Cape
of Good Hope, the Lion of the Sea, or the Head of Africa,
could be reached across the Indian Ocean."

_J. Yeats,
Growth and Vicissitudes of Commerce,
part 2, chapter 4._

"Pedro de Covilho had sent word to King John II., from Cairo,
by two Jews, Rabbi Abraham and Rabbi Joseph, that there was a
south cape of Africa which could be doubled. They brought with
them an Arabic map of the African coast. … Covilho had learned
from the Arabian mariners, who were perfectly familiar with
the east coast, that they had frequently been at the south of
Africa, and that there was no difficulty in passing round the
continent that way. … Vasco de Gama set sail July 9, 1497,
with three ships and 160 men, having with him the Arab map.
King John had employed his Jewish physicians, Roderigo and
Joseph, to devise what help they could from the stars. They
applied the astrolabe to marine use, and constructed tables.
These were the same doctors who had told him that Columbus
would certainly succeed in reaching India, and advised him to
send out a secret expedition in anticipation, which was
actually done, though it failed through want of resolution in
its captain. Encountering the usual difficulties, tempestuous
weather and a mutinous crew, who conspired to put him to
death, De Gama succeeded, November 20, in doubling the Cape.
On March 1 he met seven small Arab vessels, and was surprised
to find that they used the compass, quadrants, sea-charts, and
'had divers maritime mysteries not short of the Portugals.'
With joy he soon after recovered sight of the northern stars,
for so long unseen. He now bore away to the north-east, and on
May 19, 1498, reached Calicut, on the Malabar coast. The
consequences of this voyage were to the last degree important.
The commercial arrangements of Europe were completely
dislocated; Venice was deprived of her mercantile supremacy
[see VENICE: 15-17TH CENTURIES]; the hatred of Genoa was
gratified; prosperity left the Italian towns; Egypt, hitherto
supposed to possess a pre-eminent advantage as offering the
best avenue to India, suddenly lost her position; the
commercial monopolies so long in the hands of the European
Jews were broken down. The discovery of America and passage of
the Cape were the first steps of that prodigious maritime
development soon exhibited by Western Europe. And since
commercial prosperity is forthwith followed by the production
of men and concentration of wealth, and, moreover, implies an
energetic intellectual condition, it appeared before long that
the three centres of population, of wealth, of intellect, were
shifting westwardly. The front of Europe was suddenly changed;
the British Islands, hitherto in a sequestered and eccentric
position, were all at once put in the van of the new
movement."

_J. W. Draper,
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe,
chapter 19._

ALSO IN:
_G. Correa,
The Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama
(Hakluyt Society, 1869)._

_J. Fiske,
The Discovery of America,
chapter 4 (volume l)._

_G. M. Towle,
Voyages and Adventures of Vasco da Gama._

See, also, SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1486-1806.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1474-1476.
Interference in Castile.
Defeat at Toro.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1368-1479.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1490.
Alliance with Castile and Aragon in the conquest of Granada.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1476-1492.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1493.
The Pope's division of discoveries in the New World.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1493.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1494.
The Treaty of Tordesillas.
Amended partition of the New World with Spain.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1494.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1495.
Persecution and expulsion of Jews.

See JEWS: 8-15TH CENTURIES.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1498-1580.
Trade and settlements in the East Indies.

See INDIA; A. D. 1498-1580.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1500-1504.
Discovery, exploration and first settlement of Brazil.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1500-1514; and 1503-1504.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1501.
Early enterprise in the Newfoundland fisheries.

See NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1501-1578.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1510-1549.
Colonization of Brazil.

See BRAZIL: A. D. 1510-1661.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1524.
Disputes with Spain in the division of the New World.
The Congress at Badajos.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1519-1524.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1579-1580.
Disastrous invasion of Morocco by Sebastian.
His death in battle.
Disputed succession to the throne.
The claim of Philip II. of Spain established by force of arms.

"Under a long succession of Kings who placed their glory in
promoting the commerce of their subjects and extending their
discoveries through the remotest regions of the globe,
Portugal had attained a degree of importance among the
surrounding nations, from which the narrow limits of the
kingdom, and the neighbourhood of the Spanish monarchy, seemed
for ever to exclude her. … John III., the last of those great
monarchs under whose auspices the boundaries of the known
world had been enlarged, was succeeded in the throne of
Portugal [1557] by his grandson Sebastian, a child of only
three years old.
{2574}
As the royal infant advanced to manhood, his subjects might,
without flattery, admire his sprightly wit, his manly form,
his daring spirit, and his superior address, in all the
accomplishments of a martial age. But the hopes which these
splendid qualities inspired were clouded by an intemperate
thirst of fame. … He had early cherished the frantic project
of transporting a royal army to India, and of rivalling the
exploits of Alexander; but from this design he was diverted,
not by the difficulties that opposed it, nor by the
remonstrances of his counsellors, but by the distractions of
Africa, which promised to his ambition a nearer and fairer
harvest of glory. On the death of Abdalla, King of Morocco,
his son, Muley Mahomet, had seized upon the crown, in contempt
to an established law of succession, that the kingdom should
devolve to the brother of the deceased monarch. A civil war
ensued, and Mahomet, defeated in several battles, was
compelled to leave his uncle Muley Moluc, a prince of great
abilities and virtues, in possession of the throne." Mahomet
escaped to Lisbon, and Sebastian espoused his cause. He
invaded Morocco [see MAROCCO: THE ARAB CONQUEST AND SINCE]
with a force partly supplied by his uncle, Philip II.; of
Spain, and partly by the Prince of Orange, engaged the Moors
rashly in battle (the battle of Alcazar, or the Three Kings,
1579), and perished on the field, his army being mostly
destroyed or made captive. "An aged and feeble priest was the
immediate heir to the unfortunate Sebastian; and the Cardinal
Henry, the great uncle to the late monarch, ascended the
vacant throne." He enjoyed his royal dignity little more than
a twelvemonth, dying in 1580, leaving the crown in dispute
among a crowd of claimants.

_History of Spain,
chapter 22 (volume 2)._

"The candidates were seven in number: the duchess of Braganza,
the king of Spain, the duke of Savoy, Don Antonio, prior of
Crato, the duke of Parma, Catherine of Medicis, and the
sovereign pontiff. The four first were grand-children of
Emanuel the Great, father of Henry. The duchess of Braganza
was daughter of Prince Edward, Emanuel's second son; Philip
was the son of the Empress Isabella, his eldest daughter; the
duke of Savoy, of Beatrix, his younger daughter; and Don
Antonio was a natural son of Lewis, who was a younger son of
Emanuel, and brother to the present king [cardinal Henry]. The
duke of Parma was great–grandson of Emanuel, by a daughter of
the above-mentioned Prince Edward. The Queen-mother of France
founded her claim on her supposed descent from Alphonso III.,
who died about 300 years before the present period; and the
Pope pretended that Portugal was feudatory to the see of Rome,
and belonged to him, since the male heirs in the direct line
were extinct." The other candidates held small chances against
the power and convenient neighborhood of Philip of Spain.
"Philip's agents at the court of Lisbon allowed that if the
duchess of Braganza's father had been alive, his title would
have been indisputable; but they maintained that, since he had
died without attaining possession of the throne, nothing but
the degree of consanguinity to Emanuel ought to be regarded;
and that, as the duchess and he were equal in that respect,
the preference was due to a male before a female. And they
farther insisted, that the law which excludes strangers from
inheriting the crown was not applicable to him, since Portugal
had formerly belonged to the kings of Castile." Promptly on
the death of the cardinal-king Henry, the Spanish king sent an
army of 35,000 men, under the famous duke of Alva, and a large
fleet under the Marquis of Santa Croce, to take possession of
what he claimed as his inheritance. Two battles sufficed for
the subjugation of Portugal:—one fought on the Alcantara,
August 25, 1580, and the other a little later on the Douro.
The kingdom submitted, but with bitter feelings, which the
conduct of Alva and his troops had intensified at every step
of their advance. "The colonies in America, Africa, and the
Indies, which belonged to the crown of Portugal, quickly
followed the example of the mother country; nor did Philip
find employment for his arms in any part of the Portuguese
dominions but the Azores," which, supported by the French,
were not subdued until the following year.

_R. Watson,
History of the Reign of Philip II.,
book 16._

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1594-1602.
Beginning of the rivalry of the Dutch in East India trade.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1594-1620.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1624-1661.
War with the Dutch.
Loss and recovery of parts of Brazil.

See BRAZIL: A. D. 1510-1661.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1637-1668.
Crisis of discontent with the Spanish rule.
A successful revolution.
National independence recovered.
The House of Braganza placed on the throne.

"A spirit of dissatisfaction had long been growing amongst the
Portugueze. Their colonies were neglected; a great part of
Brazil, and a yet larger portion of their Indian empire, had
fallen into the hands of the Dutch; Ormus, and their other
possessions in the Persian Gulph, had been conquered by the
Persians; their intercourse with their remaining colonies was
harassed and intercepted; their commerce with the independent
Indian states, with China and with Japan, was here injured and
there partially destroyed, by the enterprising merchants and
mariners of Holland; whilst at home the privileges secured to
them as the price of their submission, were hourly, if not
flagrantly, violated by their Spanish masters. The illegal
imposition of a new tax by the king's sole authority, in 1637,
had provoked a partial revolt in the southern provinces, where
the duke of Braganza, grandson of Catherine [whose right to
the throne was forcibly put aside by Philip II. of Spain in
1580,—see, PORTUGAL: A. D. 1579-1580], was proclaimed king. He
refused the proffered dignity, and assisted in quelling the
rebellion. He was thanked by Philip and at once recompensed,
and, as it was hoped, ensnared, by an appointment to be
general–in-chief of Portugal. But the flame was smothered, not
extinguished. … The vice-queen, Margaret, duchess-dowager of
Mantua, a daughter of Philip II.'s youngest daughter,
Catherine, saw the gathering tempest, and forewarned the court
of Madrid of the impending danger. Her information was
treated, like herself, with contempt by Olivarez. One measure,
however, he took, probably in consequence; and that one
finally decided the hesitating conspirators to delay no
longer. He ordered a large body of troops to be raised in
Portugal, the nobles to arm their vassals, and all, under the
conduct of the duke of Braganza, to hasten into Spain, in
order to attend the king, who was about to march in person
against the rebellious Catalans.
{2575}
Olivarez hoped thus at once to overwhelm Catalonia and
Roussillon, and to take from Portugal the power of revolting,
by securing the intended leader, and draining the country of
the warlike portion of its population. The nobles perceived
the object of this command, and resolved to avoid compliance
by precipitating their measures. Upon the 12th of October,
1640, they assembled to the number of 40 at the house of Don
Antonio d' Almeida. At this meeting they determined to recover
their independence, and dispatched Don Pedro de Mendoza as
their deputy, to offer the crown and their allegiance to the
duke of Braganza, who had remained quietly upon his principal
estate at Villa Viçosa. The duke hesitated, alarmed, perhaps,
at the importance of the irrevocable step he was called upon
to take. But his high-spirited duchess, a daughter of the
Spanish duke of Medina-Sidonia, observing to him, that a
wretched and dishonourable death certainly awaited him at
Madrid; at Lisbon, as certainly glory, whether in life or
death, decided his acceptance. Partisans were gained on all
sides, especially in the municipality of Lisbon; and the
secret was faithfully kept, for several weeks, by at least 500
persons of both sexes, and all ranks. During this interval,
the duke of Braganza remained at Villa Viçosa, lest his
appearance at Lisbon should excite suspicion; and it seems
that, however clearly the vice-queen had perceived the
threatening aspect of affairs, neither she nor her ministers
entertained any apprehension of the plot actually organized.
The 1st of December was the day appointed for the
insurrection. Early in the morning the conspirators approached
the palace in four well-armed bands," and easily mastered the
guard. From the windows of the palace they "proclaimed liberty
and John IV." to a great concourse of people who had speedily
assembled. Finding Vasconcellos, the obnoxious secretary to
'the vice–queen, hidden in a closet, they slew him and flung
his body into the street. The vice-queen, seeing herself
helpless, submitted to the popular will and signed mandates
addressed to the Spanish governors and other officers
commanding castles and fortifications in Portugal, requiring
their surrender. "The archbishop of Lisbon was next appointed
royal-lieutenant. He immediately dispatched intelligence of
the event to the new king, and sent messengers to every part
of Portugal with orders for the proclamation of John IV., and
the seizure of all Spaniards. … Obedience was prompt and
general. … John was crowned on the 15th of December, and
immediately abolished the heavy taxes imposed by the king of
Spain, declaring that, for his own private expenses, he
required nothing beyond his patrimonial estates. He summoned
the Cortes to assemble in January, when the three estates of
the kingdom solemnly confirmed his proclamation as king, or
'acclamation,' as the Portugueze term it. … In the islands, in
the African settlements, with the single exception of Ceuta,
which adhered to Spain, and in what remained of Brazil and
India, King John was proclaimed, the moment intelligence of
the revolution arrived, the Spaniards scarcely any where
attempting to resist. … In Europe, the new king was readily
acknowledged by all the states at war with the house of
Austria." The first attempts made by the Spanish court to
regain its lost authority in Portugal took chiefly the form of
base conspiracies for the assassination of the new king. War
ensued, but the "languid and desultory hostilities produced
little effect beyond harassing the frontiers. Portugal was
weak, and thought only of self-defence; Spain was chiefly
intent upon chastizing the Catalans." The war was prolonged,
in fact, until 1668, when it was terminated by a treaty which
recognized the independence of Portugal, but ceded Ceuta to
Spain. The only considerable battles of the long war were
those of Estremos, or Ameixal, in 1663, and Villa Viçosa,
1665, in which the Portuguese were victors, and which were
practically decisive of the war.

_M. M. Busk,
History of Spain and Portugal,
book 2, chapters 10-12._

ALSO IN:
_J. Dunlap,
Memoirs of Spain, 1621-1700,
volume 1, chapter 12._

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1702.
Joins the Grand Alliance against France and Spain.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1701-1702.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1703.
The Methuen Treaty with England.

Portugal joined the Grand Alliance against France and Spain,
in the War of the Spanish Succession, in 1703, and entered at
that time into an important treaty with England. This is known
as the Methuen Treaty—"called after the name of the ambassador
who negotiated it—and that treaty, and its effect upon the
commerce of England and the habits of her people lasted
through five generations, even to the present time. The wines
of Portugal were to be admitted upon the payment of a duty 33½
per cent. less than the duty paid upon French wines; and the
woolen cloths of England, which had been prohibited in
Portugal for twenty years, were to be admitted upon terms of
proportionate advantage. Up to that time the Claret of France
had been the beverage of the wine-drinkers of England. From
1703 Port established itself as what Defoe calls 'our general
draught.' In all commercial negotiations with France the
Methuen Treaty stood in the way; for the preferential duty was
continued till 1831. France invariably pursued a system of
retaliation. It was a point of patriotism for the Englishman
to hold firm to his Port."

_C. Knight,
Popular History of England,
volume 5, chapter 17._

See, also, SPAIN: A. D. 1703-1704.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1713.
Possessions in South America confirmed.

See UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1757-1759.
Expulsion of the Jesuits and suppression of the order.

See JESUITS: A. D. 1757-1773.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1793.
Joined in the coalition against Revolutionary France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1793 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1807.
Napoleon's designs against the kingdom.
His delusive treaty for its partition with Spain.
French invasion and flight of the royal family to Brazil.

"One of the first steps taken by Napoleon, after his return to
Paris, … [after the Peace of Tilsit-see GERMANY: A. D. 1807
(JUNE-JULY)] was, in the month of August, to order the French
and Spanish ambassadors conjointly, to declare to the
prince–regent of Portugal, that he must concur in the
continental system, viz. shut his ports against English
commerce, confiscate all English property, and imprison all
English subjects to be found within his dominions, or they
were instructed immediately to leave Lisbon.
{2576}
The prince and his ministers dared not openly resist the
French emperor's will, even whilst the wiser part of the
cabinet were convinced that the very existence of the country
depended upon British commerce. In this extremity, and relying
upon the friendly forbearance of England, they strove to
pursue a middle course. Don John professed his readiness to
exclude British ships of all descriptions from his ports, but
declared that his religious principles would not allow him to
seize the subjects and property of a friendly state in the
midst of peace, and that prudence forbade his offending
England until a Portugueze squadron, then at sea, should have
returned safely home. … Napoleon punished this imperfect
obedience, by seizing all Portugueze vessels in ports under
his control, and ordering the French and Spanish legations to
leave Lisbon. The Portugueze ambassadors were, at the same
time, dismissed from Paris and Madrid. A French army was, by
this time, assembled near the foot of the Pyrenees, bearing
the singular title of army of observation of the Gironde; and
General Junot … was appointed to its command. … Spain was
endeavouring to share in the spoil, not to protect the victim.
A treaty, the shameless iniquity of which can be paralleled
only by the treaties between Austria, Russia, and Prussia for
the partition of Poland, had been signed at Fontainebleau, on
the 27th of October. … By this treaty Charles surrendered to
Napoleon his infant grandson's kingdom of Etruria (King Louis
I. had been dead some years), over which he had no right
whatever, and bargained to receive for him in its stead the
small northern provinces of Portugal, Entre Minho e Douro and
Tras os Montes, under the name of the kingdom of Northern
Lusitania, which kingdom the young monarch was to hold in
vassalage of the crown of Spain. The much larger southern
provinces, Alemtejo and Algarve, were to constitute the
principality of the Algarves, for Godoy, under a similar
tenure. And the middle provinces were to be occupied by
Napoleon until a general peace, when, in exchange for
Gibraltar, Trinidad, and any other Spanish possession
conquered by England, they might be restored to the family of
Braganza, upon like terms of dependence. The Portugueze
colonies were to be equally divided between France and Spain.
In execution of this nefarious treaty, 10,000 Spanish troops
were to seize upon the northern, and 6,000 upon the southern
state. … On the 18th of October, Junot, in obedience to his
master's orders, crossed the Pyrenees, and, being kindly
received by the Spaniards, began his march towards the
Portugueze frontiers, whilst the Spanish troops were equally
put in motion towards their respective destinations. … The
object of so much haste was, to secure the persons of the
royal family, whose removal to Brazil had not only been talked
of from the beginning of these hostile discussions, but was
now in preparation, and matter of public notoriety. … The
reckless haste enjoined by the emperor, and which cost almost
as many lives as a pitched battle, was very near attaining its
end. … The resolution to abandon the contest being adopted,
the prince and his ministers took every measure requisite to
prevent a useless effusion of blood. A regency, consisting of
five persons, the marquess of Abrantes being president, was
appointed to conduct the government, and negotiate with Junot.
On the 26th a proclamation was put forth, explaining to the
people that, as Napoleon's enmity was rather to the sovereign
than the nation, the prince-regent, in order to avert the
calamities of war from his faithful subjects, would transfer
the seat of government to Brazil, till the existing troubles
should subside, and strictly charging the Portugueze, more
especially the Lisbonians, to receive the French as friends.
On the 27th the whole royal family proceeded to Belem, to
embark for flight, on the spot whence, about three centuries
back, Vasco de Gama had sailed upon his glorious enterprise. …
The ships set sail and crossed the bar, almost as the French
advance guard was entering Lisbon. Sir Sidney Smith escorted
the royal family, with four men-of-war, safely to Rio Janeiro,
the capital of Brazil, leaving the remainder of his squadron
to blockade the mouth of the Tagus."

_M. M. Busk,
History of Spain and Portugal,
book 4, chapter 7._

ALSO IN:
_C. A. Fyffe,
History of Modern Europe,
volume 1, chapter 7._

_Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1800-1815,
chapter 52._

_H. Martineau,
History of England, 1800-1815,
book 2, chapter 1._

_R. Southey,
History of the Peninsular War,
chapter 2 (volume l)._

See, also, BRAZIL: A. D. 1808-1822.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1808.
Rising against the French.
Arrival of British forces.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1808 (MAY-SEPTEMBER).

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1808.
Wellington's first campaign in the Peninsula.
The Convention of Cintra.
French evacuation of Portugal.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1808-1809 (AUGUST-JANUARY).

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1809 (February-December).
Wellington's retreat and fresh advance.
The French checked.
Passage of the Douro.
Battle of Talavera.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1809 (FEBRUARY-JULY);
and (AUGUST-DECEMBER).

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1809-1812.
Wellington's Lines of Torres Vedras.
French invasion and retreat.
English advance into Spain.

See SPAIN: A.D. 1809-1810 (OCTOBER-SEPTEMBER);
and 1810-1812.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1814.
End of the Peninsular War.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1812-1814.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1820-1824.
Revolution and Absolutist reaction.
Separation and independence of Brazil.

"Ever since 1807 Portugal had not known a court. On the first
threat of French invasion the Regent had emigrated to the
Brazils, and he had since lived and ruled entirely in the
great Transatlantic colony. The ordinary conditions of other
countries had been reversed. Portugal had virtually become a
dependency of her own colony. The absence of the court was a
sore trial to the pride of the Portuguese. An absent court had
few supporters. It happened, too, that its ablest defender had
lately left the country. … In April 1820 [Marshal] Beresford
sailed for the Brazils. He did not return till the following
October; and the revolution had been completed before his
return. On the 24th of August the troops at Oporto determined
on establishing a constitutional government, and appointed a
provisional Junta with this object. The Regency which
conducted the affairs of the country at Lisbon denounced the
movement as a nefarious conspiracy. But, however nefarious the
conspiracy might be, the defection of the army was so general
that resistance became impossible. On the 1st of September the
Regency issued a proclamation promising to convene the Cortes.
{2577}
The promise, however, did not stop the progress of the
insurrection. The Junta which had been constituted at Oporto
marched at the head of the troops upon Lisbon. The troops at
Lisbon and in the south of Portugal threw off their
allegiance, and established a Junta of their own. The Junta at
Lisbon were, for the moment, in favour of milder measures than
the Junta of Oporto. But the advocates of the more extreme
course won their ends. The Oporto troops, surrounding the two
Juntas, which had been blended together, compelled them to
adopt the Spanish constitution; in other words, to sanction
the election of one deputy to the Cortes for every 30,000
persons inhabiting the country. … When the revolution of 1820
had occurred John VI., King of Portugal, was quietly ruling in
his transatlantic dominions of Brazil. Portugal had been
governed for thirteen years from Rio de Janeiro; and the
absence of the Court from Lisbon had offended the Portuguese
and prepared them for change. After the mischief had been done
John VI. was persuaded to return to his native country,
leaving his eldest son, Dom Pedro, Regent of Brazil in his
absence. Before setting out on his journey he gave the prince
public instructions for his guidance, which practically made
Brazil independent of Portugal; and he added private
directions to the prince, in case any emergency should arise
which should make it impracticable to preserve Brazil for
Portugal, to place the crown on his own head, and thus save
the great Transatlantic territory for the House of Braganza.
Leaving these parting injunctions with his son, John VI.
returned to the old kingdom which he had deserted nearly
fourteen years before. He reached Lisbon, and found the
Constitutionalists in undisputed possession of power. He found
also that the action of the Constitutionalists in Portugal was
calculated to induce Brazil to throw off the authority of the
mother country. The Cortes in Portugal insisted on the
suppression of the supreme tribunals in Brazil, on the
establishment of Provincial Juntas, and on the return of the
Regent to Portugal. The Brazilians declined to adopt measures
which they considered ruinous to their dignity, and persuaded
the Regent to disobey the orders of the Cortes. A small body
of Portuguese troops quartered in Brazil endeavoured to
overawe the prince, but proved powerless to do so. In May 1822
the prince was persuaded to declare himself Perpetual Defender
of the Brazils. In the following September the Brazilians
induced him to raise their country to the dignity of an
empire, and to declare himself its constitutional emperor. The
news that the Brazilians had declared themselves an
independent empire reached Europe at a critical period.
Monarchs and diplomatists were busily deliberating at Verona
on the affairs of Spain and of the Spanish colonies. No one,
however, could avoid comparing the position of Portugal and
Brazil with that of Spain and her dependencies. … The evident
determination of France to interfere in Spain created anxiety
in Portugal. The Portuguese Cortes apprehended that the
logical consequence of French interference in the one country
was French interference in the other. … The position of a
French army on the Spanish frontier roused the dormant spirits
of the Portuguese Absolutists. In February 1823 a vast
insurrection against the Constitution broke out in Northern
Portugal. The insurgents, who in the first instance obtained
considerable success, were with difficulty defeated. But the
revolt had been hardly quelled before the Absolutists
recovered their flagging spirits. Every step taken by the Duc
d' Angoulême in his progress from the Bidassoa to Madrid [see
SPAIN: A. D. 1814-1827] raised their hopes of ultimate
success. The king's second son, the notorious Dom Miguel, fled
from his father's palace and threw in his lot with the
insurgents. For a moment the king stood firm and denounced his
son's proceedings. But the reaction which had set in was too
strong to be resisted. The Cortes was closed, a new Ministry
appointed, and autocracy re-established in Portugal. The
re-establishment of autocracy in Portugal marked the
commencement of a series of intrigues in which this country
[England] was deeply interested. One party in the new
Government, with M. de Palmella at its head, was disposed to
incline to moderate measures and to listen to the advice which
it received from the British Ministry and from the British
Ambassador, Sir Edward Thornton. Another party, of which M. de
Subsérra was the representative, was in favour of an intimate
union with France, and ready to listen to the contrary
counsels of M. de Neuville, the French Minister at Lisbon. M.
de Palmella, despairing of founding a settled form of
government amidst the disorders which surrounded him on every
side, applied to the British Ministry for troops to give
stability to the Administration. The demand arrived in London
in July 1823. … The demand for troops was refused, but a
British squadron was sent to the Tagus, with a view of
affording the King of Portugal the moral support of the
British nation and a secure asylum in the event of any danger
to his person. Many months elapsed before the King of Portugal
had occasion to avail himself of the possible asylum which was
thus afforded to him. … The evident leanings of M. de Palmella
towards moderate measures, however, alarmed the Portuguese
Absolutists. Ever since the revolution of 1823 Dom Miguel had
held the command of the army; and, on the night of the 29th of
April, 1824, the prince suddenly ordered the arrest of the
leading personages of the Government, and, under the pretext
of suppressing an alleged conspiracy of Freemasons, called on
the army to liberate their king, and to complete the triumph
of the previous year. For nine days the king was a mere puppet
in the hands of his son, and Dom Miguel was virtually master
of Lisbon. On the 9th of May the king was persuaded by the
foreign ministers in his capital to resume his authority; to
retire on board the 'Windsor Castle,' a British man-of-war; to
dismiss Dom Miguel from his command, and to order his
attendance upon him. The prince, 'stricken with a sudden
futuity,' obeyed his father's commands, and was prevailed upon
to go into voluntary exile. The revolution of 1824 terminated
with his departure, and Portugal again enjoyed comparative
tranquillity."

_S. Walpole,
History of England from 1815,
chapter 9 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:
_H. M. Stephens,
The Story of Portugal,
chapter 18._

See, also, BRAZIL: A.D. 1808-1822.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1822.
The independence of Brazil proclaimed and established.

See BRAZIL: A. D. 1808-1822.

{2578}

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1824-1889.
Return of John VI. to Brazil.
Abdication of the Portuguese throne by Dom Pedro,
after granting a constitution.
Usurpation of Dom Miguel.
Civil war and factious conflicts.
Establishment of Parliamentary government, and Peace.

"At the close of 1824 the king returned to Brazil to spend his
last days in peace. On reaching Rio de Janeiro, he recognized
Dom Pedro as Emperor of Brazil, and on the 6th of March, 1826,
John VI. died in the country of his choice. By his will, John
VI. left the regency of Portugal to his daughter Isabel Maria,
to the disgust of Dom Miguel, who had fully expected in spite
of his conduct that Portugal would be in some manner
bequeathed to him, and that Dom Pedro would be satisfied with
the government of Brazil. The next twenty-five years are the
saddest in the whole history of Portugal. The establishment of
the system of parliamentary government, which now exists, was
a long and difficult task. … The keynote of the whole series
of disturbances is to be found in the pernicious influence of
the army. … The army was disproportionately large for the size
and revenue of the country; there was no foreign or colonial
war to occupy its energies, and the soldiers would not return
to the plough nor the officers retire into private life. The
English Cabinet at this juncture determined to maintain peace
and order, and in 1826, a division of 5,000 men was sent under
the command of Lieutenant-General Sir William Clinton to
garrison the chief towns. The accession of Pedro IV. to the
throne was hailed with joy in Portugal, though looked on with
suspicion in Brazil. He justified his reputation by drawing up
a charter, containing the bases for a moderate parliamentary
government of the English type, which he sent over to
Portugal, by the English diplomatist, Lord Stuart de Rothesay.
Then to please his Brazilian subjects, he abdicated the throne
of Portugal in favour of his daughter, Donna Maria da Gloria,
a child of seven years old, on condition that on attaining a
suitable age she should marry her uncle, Dom Miguel, who was
to swear to observe the new constitution. The Charter of 1826
was thankfully received by the moderate parliamentary party;
Clinton's division was withdrawn; Palmella remained prime
minister; and in the following year, 1827, Dom Pedro destroyed
the effect of his wise measures by appointing Dom Miguel to be
regent of Portugal in the name of the little queen. Dom Miguel
was an ambitious prince, who believed that he ought to be king
of Portugal; he was extremely popular with the old nobility,
the clergy, and the army, with all who disliked liberal ideas,
and with the beggars and the poor who were under the influence
of the mendicant orders. He was declared Regent in July, 1827,
and in May, 1828, he summoned a Cortes of the ancient type,
such as had not met since 1697, which under the presidency of
the Bishop of Viseu offered him the throne of Portugal. He
accepted, and immediately exiled all the leaders of the
parliamentary, or, as it is usually called, the Chartist,
party, headed by Palmella, Saldanha, Villa Flor, and Sampaio.
They naturally fled to England, where the young queen was
stopping on her way to be educated at the court of Vienna, and
found popular opinion strongly in their favour. But the Duke
of Wellington and his Tory Cabinet refused to countenance or
assist them. … Meanwhile the reign of Dom Miguel had become a
Reign of Terror; arrests and executions were frequent;
thousands were deported to Africa, and in 1830 it was
estimated that 40,000 persons were in prison for political
offences. He ruled in absolute contempt of all law, and at
different times English, French, and American fleets entered
the Tagus to demand reparation for damage done to commerce, or
for the illegal arrest of foreigners. The result of this
conduct was that the country was hopelessly ruined, and the
chartist and radical parties, who respectively advocated the
Charter of 1826 and the Constitution of 1822, agreed to sink
their differences, and to oppose the bigoted tyrant. … Dom
Pedro, who had devoted his life to the cause of parliamentary
government, resigned his crown in 1831 [see BRAZIL: A. D.
1825-1865] to his infant son, and left Brazil to head the
movement for his daughter's cause. … In July, 1832, the
ex-emperor with an army of 7,500 men arrived at Oporto, where
he was enthusiastically welcomed, and Dom Miguel then laid
siege to the city. European opinion was divided between the
two parties; partisans of freedom and of constitutional
government called the Miguelites 'slaves of a tyrant,' while
lovers of absolutism, alluding to the loans raised by the
ex-emperor, used to speak of the 'stock-jobbing Pedroites.'
The siege was long and protracted." The Miguelites finally
sustained several heavy defeats, both on land and at sea, and
Lisbon was triumphantly entered by the Chartists in July,
1833. "The year 1834 was one of unbroken success for the
Chartists. England and France recognized Maria da Gloria as
Queen of Portugal, and the ministry of Queen Isabella of
Spain, knowing Dom Miguel to be a Carlist, sent two Spanish
armies under Generals Rodil and Serrano to the help of Dom
Pedro. … Finally the combined Spanish and Portuguese armies
surrounded the remnant of the Miguelites at Evora Monte, and
on the 26th of May, 1834, Dom Miguel surrendered. By the
Convention of Evora Monte, Dom Miguel abandoned his claim to
the throne of Portugal, and in consideration of a pension of
£15,000 a year promised never again to set foot in the
kingdom. … Dom Pedro, who had throughout the struggle been the
heart and soul of his daughter's party, had thus the pleasure
of seeing the country at peace, and a regular parliamentary
system in operation, but he did not long survive, for on the
24th of September, 1834, he died at Queluz near Lisbon, of an
illness brought on by his great labours and fatigues, leaving
a name, which deserves all honour from Portuguese and
Brazilians alike. Queen Maria da Gloria was only fifteen, when
she thus lost the advantage of her father's wise counsel and
steady help, yet it might have been expected that her reign
would be calm and prosperous. But neither the queen, the
nobility, nor the people, understood the principles of
parliamentary government. … The whole reign was one of violent
party struggles, for they hardly deserve to be called civil
wars, so little did they involve, which present a striking
contrast to the peaceable constitutional government that at
present prevails. … In 1852 the Charter was revised to suit
all parties; direct voting, one of the chief claims of the
radicals, was allowed, and the era of civil war came to an
end.
{2579}
Maria da Gloria did not long survive this peaceful settlement,
for she died on the 15th of November, 1853, and her husband
the King-Consort, Ferdinand II, assumed the regency until his
eldest son Pedro V. should come of age. The era of peaceful
parliamentary government, which succeeded the stormy reign of
Maria II., has been one of material prosperity for Portugal. …
The whole country, and especially the city of Lisbon, was
during this reign, on account of the neglect of all sanitary
precautions, ravaged by cholera and yellow fever, and it was
in the midst of one of these outbreaks, on the 11th of
November, 1861, that Pedro V., who had refused to leave his
pestilence-stricken capital, died of cholera, and was followed
to the grave by two of his younger brothers, Dom Ferdinand and
Dom John. At the time of Pedro's death, his next brother and
heir, Dom Luis, was travelling on the continent, and his
father, Ferdinand II., who long survived Queen Maria da Gloria
… assumed the regency until his return; soon after which King
Luis married Maria Pia, younger daughter of Victor Emmanuel,
king of Italy. … The reign of King Luis was prosperous and
peaceful, and the news of his death on October 9, 1889, was
received with general regret. … Luis I. was succeeded on the
throne by his elder son, Dom Carlos, or Charles I., a young
man of twenty-six, who married in 1886, the Princess Marie
Amélie de Bourbon, the eldest daughter of the Comte de Paris.
His accession was immediately followed by the revolution of
the 15th of November, 1889, in Brazil, by which his great
uncle, Pedro II., Emperor of Brazil, was dethroned and a
republican government established in that country."

_H. M. Stephens,
The Story of Portugal,
chapter 18._

See BRAZIL: A. D. 1889-1891.

ALSO IN:
_W. Bollaert,
Wars of Succession in Portugal and Spain,
volume 1._

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1884-1889.
Territorial claims in Africa.
The Berlin Conference.

See AFRICA: A. D. 1884-1891.

----------PORTUGAL: End--------

PORTUS AUGUSTI AND PORTUS TRAJANI.

See OSTIA.

PORTUS CALE.

The ancient name of
Oporto, whence came, also, the name of Portugal.

See PORTUGAL: EARLY HISTORY.

PORTUS ITIUS.

The port on the French coast from which Cæsar sailed on both
his expeditions to Britain. Boulogne, Ambleteuse, Witsand and
Calais have all contended for the honor of representing it in
modern geography; but the serious question seems to be between
Boulogne and Witsand, or Wissant.

_T. Lewin,
Invasion of Britain._

ALSO IN:
_G. Long,
Decline of the Roman Republic,
volume 4, appendix 1._

_Napoleon III.,
History of Cæsar,
book 3, chapter 7._

PORTUS LEMANIS.

An important Roman port in Britain, at the place which still
preserves its name—Lymne.

_T. Wright,
Celt, Roman and Saxon,
chapter 5._

PORTUS MAGNUS.

An important Roman port in Britain, the massive walls of which
are still seen at Porchester (or Portchester).

_T. Wright,
Celt, Roman and Saxon,
chapter 5._

POST. POSTAGE. POST–OFFICE.

"The little that is known of the post-system of the [Roman]
empire is summed up in a few words in Becker's 'Handbuch,'
iii. i. 304: 'The institution of Augustus, which became the
basis of the later System known to us from the writings of the
Jurists, consisted of a military service which forwarded
official despatches from station to station by couriers,
called in the earlier imperial period speculatories. (Liv.
xxxi. 24.; Suet. Calig. 44.; Tac. Hist. ii. 73.) Personal
conveyance was confined (as in the time of the republic) to
officials: for this purpose the mutationes (posts) and
mansiones (night quarters) were assigned, and even palatia
erected at the latter for the use of governors and the emperor
himself. Private individuals could take advantage of these
state posts within the provinces by a special license
(diploma) of the governor, and at a later period of the
emperor only.' Under the republic senators and high personages
could obtain the posts for their private use, as a matter of
privilege."

_C. Merivale,
History of the Romans under the Empire,
chapter 34 (volume 4), foot-note._

"According to Professor Friedländer in his interesting work,
'Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschiehte Roms,' great progress
was made by the Romans, in the fourth and fifth centuries, in
their method of postal communication. Their excellent roads
enabled them to establish rapid mule and horse posts as well
as carts, and it is even stated that special 'postal ships'
(Post schiffe) were kept in readiness at the principal
sea-ports. These advanced postal arrangements, like many other
traces of Roman civilization, survived longest in Gaul; but
even there the barbarism of the people, and the constant wars
in which they were engaged, gradually extinguished, first the
necessity, and then, as a natural consequence, the means of
postal communication, until we find, at a much later period,
all European countries alike, for lack of any organized
system, making use of pilgrims, friars, pedlars, and others,
to convey their correspondence from one place to another. The
first attempt of any importance, to rescue postal
communication from the well-nigh hopeless condition into which
it had for centuries fallen, was made in Germany in 1380, by
the order of Teutonic Knights, who established properly
equipped post-messengers for home and international service.
An improvement and extension of this plan was carried out by
Francis von Thaxis in the year 1516, when a postal line from
Brussels to Vienna, via Kreuznach, was established. It is true
that, shortly before this, there is some record of Louis XI.
of France having started, for State postal purposes, what were
termed cavaliers du roy; but these were only allowed to be
used for private purposes by privileged individuals, part of
whose privilege, by the way, consisted in paying to Louis an
enormous fee. It is to Francis von Thaxis that must be
accorded the title of the first postal reformer. So eager was
his interest in the work he had undertaken, that, in order to
gain the right of territorial transit through several of the
small states of Germany where his plans were strongly opposed,
he actually agreed for a time to carry the people's letters
free of charge, an instance of generosity, for a parallel of
which we look in vain in the history of the Post Office. The
mantle of this reformer seems, strangely enough, to have
fallen in turn upon many of his descendants, who not only in
Germany, but also in Spain, Austria, Holland, and other
countries, obtained concessions for carrying on the useful
work started by Francis von Thaxis.
{2580}
One of the Thaxis family, at a later date, was created a
prince of Germany, and took the name of Thurm und Taxis; and
from him is descended the princely line bearing that name
which flourishes at the present day. Another member of the
family was created a grandee of Spain, and has the honor of
being immortalized by Schiller in his 'Don Carlos.' The first
establishment of an organized system of postal communication
in England is wrapt in some obscurity. During the reign of
John post-messengers were, for the first time, employed by the
king; these messengers were called nuncii; and in the time of
Henry I. these nuncii were also found in the service of some
of the barons. In Henry III.'s reign they had so far become a
recognized institution of the State that they were clothed in
the royal livery. Mr. Lewins, in his interesting work, 'Her
Majesty's Mails,' states that several private letters are
still in existence, dating back as far as the reign of Edward
II., which bear the appearance of having been carried by the
nuncii of that period, with 'Haste, post haste!' written
across them. … Edward IV., towards the end of the fifteenth
century, during the time that he was engaged in war with
Scotland, had the stations for postal relays placed within a
few miles of each other all the way from London to the royal
camp, and by this means managed to get his despatches carried
nearly a hundred miles a day. … No improvement is recorded in
the postal service in this country from the period last
referred to until the reign of Henry VIII. This king, we are
told, appointed a 'master of the posts,' in the person of Sir
Brian Tuke, who really seems to have made great efforts to
exercise a proper control over the horse-posts, and to bring
some sort of organization to bear on his department. Poor
Tuke, however, was not rewarded with much success. … James I.
established a regular post for inland letters, and Charles I.,
recognizing, no doubt, the financial importance of the Post
Office, declared it in 1637, by royal proclamation, to be
State property. It was, however, during the Protectorate,
twenty years later, that the first act of Parliament relating
to the formation of a State Post Office was passed. This
statute was entitled, 'An Act for the settling of the postage
of England, Scotland, and Ireland.' … The first trace which
can be found of a regular tariff of postal charges is in the
reign of Charles I., and even regarded by the light of to-day
these charges cannot be held to be exorbitant; for example, a
single letter from London, for any distance under eighty
miles, was charged twopence; fourpence up to one hundred and
forty miles; sixpence for any greater distance in England, and
eightpence to all parts of Scotland."

_Postal Communication, Past and Present
(National Review; copied in Littell's Living Age,
July 30, 1887)._

"A penny post was established in London, in 1683, two years
before the death of Charles II., for the conveyance of letters
and parcels within the City, by Robert Murray, an upholsterer
by trade, who, like a great many others, was dissatisfied with
the Government, which, in its anxiety to provide for the
postal requirements of the country, had entirely neglected the
City and suburbs. The post, established by Murray at a vast
expense, was ultimately handed over to a William Docwray,
whose name is now well known in the annals of Post Office
history. The arrangements of the new penny post were simple,
and certainly liberal enough. All letters or parcels not
exceeding a pound weight, or any sum of money not exceeding
£10 in value, or parcel not worth more than £10, could be
conveyed at a cost of one penny; or within a radius of ten
miles from a given centre, for the charge of twopence. Several
district offices were opened in various parts of London, and
receiving houses were freely established in all the leading
thoroughfares. … The deliveries in the City were from six to
eight daily, while from three to four were found sufficient to
supply the wants of the suburbs. The public appreciated and
supported the new venture, and it soon became a great
commercial success, useful to the citizens, and profitable to
the proprietor. No sooner, however, did a knowledge of this
fact reach the ears of those in authority over the General
Post Office, than the Duke of York, acting under instructions,
and by virtue of the settlement made to him, objected to its
being continued, on the ground that it was an invasion of his
legal rights. … The authorities … applied to the court of
King's Bench, wherein it was decided that the new or so-called
penny post was an infraction of the privileges of the
authorities of the General Post Office, and the royal
interest, and that consequently it, with all its organization,
profits, and advantages, should be handed over to, and remain
the property of, the royal establishment. … Post-paid
envelopes were in use in France in the time of Louis XIV.
Pelisson states that they originated in 1653 with M. de
Velayer, who established, under royal authority, a private
penny-post in Paris. He placed boxes at the corners of the
principal streets to receive the letters, which were obliged
to be enclosed in these envelopes. They were suggested to the
Government by Mr. Charles Whiting in 1830, and the eminent
publisher, the late Mr. Charles Knight, also proposed stamped
covers for papers. Dr. T. E. Gray, of the British Museum,
claimed the credit of suggesting that letters should be
prepaid by the use of stamps as early as 1834."

_W. Tegg,
Posts and Telegraphs,
pages 21-23 and 100-101._