Chapter XVIII: Modern Portugal

CIVIL WARS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT.

The history of Portugal, after the conclusion of the Peninsular War, affords a melancholy example of the evil effects of all prolonged wars. The people, without great monarchs or great ministers, was divided into many parties, which quarrelled and fought; numerous civil wars distressed the country; commerce and agriculture were neglected; local rivalry and class jealousy were allowed to grow to serious proportions; the government of the country and the administration of justice went from bad to worse; and, as usual, misery and poverty followed in the train of political discontent. It is neither interesting nor instructive to study the details of the civil wars of the first half of the nineteenth century. Throughout the whole story of Portugal, the most prominent feature is the singular tenacity with which the little country maintained its independence and its individuality, and it is painful to observe that this patriotic feeling almost entirely disappeared for a time. It was during this period that Portugal fell to the rank of a third-rate state, for it now ceased to be an important factor in European politics, either from its wealth and its colonies, or as the trusted ally of England. This was largely due to a change in the attitude of England, where the old historical friendship for Portugal, which had been maintained since the Middle Ages and had been of advantage to both parties, was abandoned, to the lasting regret of every one who values the existence of sentiment and of historical continuity in politics. Nevertheless, in spite of its loss of importance, some account must be given of Portugal during this distressing epoch; for, if it is interesting to study the history of a nation in prosperity, it is also instructive to see how it fell to its lowest depths.

John VI. had greatly enjoyed the peace and comfort of his residence in Brazil as Prince Regent, and he had become more attached to Brazil than to Portugal, when he was proclaimed King of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves in 1816. The people of the mother country resented this heartily; they looked upon him as a deserter; and feared that he would favour the interests of the colony unduly. They were also alarmed at the growing spirit of independence in Brazil; they knew that the chief wealth of Portugal during the eighteenth century had been derived from its great colony, and they were well aware that any separation would be most prejudicial to their prosperity. The affection of the new king for Brazil appeared in the very first year of his reign, for instead of insisting on the restitution of Olivença, he preferred to attack the former possessions of Spain in South America, and ordered to Brazil a corps of 4,500 veterans of the Peninsular War under the command of Lieutenant-General Le Cor. A pretext for war was found in the republican movement of Artigas; the local militia could make no stand against the Portuguese soldiers; on the 20th of January, 1817, Le Cor took Monte Video, and he soon occupied all the country up to the left bank of the River Plate. The victorious general was created Baron of Laguna, and continued to occupy the Banda Oriental until 1825, when the inhabitants rose in rebellion, and after much warfare they founded the Republic of Uruguay, and became independent alike of Brazil and the Argentine Republic.

John VI. gave colour to the accusation of the Portuguese that he intended to desert them for the Brazilians, and invert the position of the two nations, by his obstinate refusal to leave Rio de Janeiro. The English Cabinet persistently urged him to return to Europe, but he remained deaf to all remonstrances, and paid little or no attention to the state of affairs in Portugal. He met with no help, but only with opposition from his queen, Donna Carlotta Joaquina, who was always intriguing against him, and who had, as early as 1805, promised a liberal constitution to certain Portuguese radical leaders, in order to build up a position distinct from her husband. Nor had she intrigued only in Portugal, for in 1812 it was discovered that she had formed a scheme to become independent Queen of Brazil. All these plots were intended for the eventual advantage of her younger son, Dom Miguel, an arrogant youth, who was commonly believed to be illegitimate. Nor was John VI. more happy in his relations with his elder son, Dom Pedro, who was a fanatical admirer of the system of parliamentary government. Dom Pedro was further Grand Master of the Freemasons of Brazil, and an open supporter of the Brazilian party, which hoped for a liberal constitution and complete separation from Portugal. This prince was a man of real ability, high character, and enlightened opinions, and his importance in the family was increased by his marriage, through the negotiations of Dom Pedro de Menezes Coutinho, Marquis of Marialva, and Prince Metternich, with the Archduchess Maria Josepha, daughter of the Emperor Francis I. of Austria.

In Portugal, the government of the Regency had grown intensely unpopular, for Lord Stuart de Rothesay and Marshal Beresford ruled most despotically. The people which had endured the authority of the English during the terrible war for existence, and the very soldiers who had served so gallantly under English officers on the field of battle, soon grew weary of foreign rule in time of peace, and raised the cry of “Portugal for the Portuguese.” The ministers, who had reluctantly paid the large sums needed for the expenses of the army, even when aided by subsidies from England, now that those subsidies were withdrawn, insisted on great reductions, and practically paid nothing at all. Democratic ideas spread swiftly; the people claimed a share in the government, and expressed aloud their hatred for the king, the Regency, and the English, and a spirit of discontent arose in every part of the kingdom. The first outbreak took place in 1818, when General Gomes Freire de Andrade, who had commanded the Portuguese Legion in the Russian and other campaigns in Napoleon’s army, and who was an ardent lover of France, planned a “pronunciamento,” but the plot was discovered and suppressed with stringent severity by the Regency, which ordered the execution of the general and of ten of his partisans. This rigorous punishment only enraged the radical party, and when Beresford went to Brazil in 1820 in order to get money from the king to pay the arrears due to the army, advantage was taken of his absence by the people of Oporto to raise the standard of revolt under the leadership of Colonel Antonio de Silveira, Brito da Fonseca, and other officers belonging to the garrison. The Regency in Lisbon, deprived of the presence of Beresford, gave way before a similar rising in the capital, headed by the Counts of Resende, Penafiel, and Sampaio, and the revolutionary juntas formed in the two great cities agreed to act in harmony. The English officers were driven from the country; Beresford was not allowed to land when he returned from Rio de Janeiro; a fresh regency was proclaimed; and a constituent assembly was summoned to draw up a constitution for Portugal.

This assembly, of which the majority consisted of men of the most democratic opinions, at once abolished all relics of feudalism, and, to the disgust of the ecclesiastics, suppressed the Inquisition in Portugal, in spite of its studied moderation in recent years, on account of its former misdeeds. The deputies then proceeded to draw up a most impracticable constitution for the future government of the country, which showed that they had studied the glowing speeches of the orators of the French Revolution, and had not profited by the knowledge of their mistakes. By this constitution, which was known in later history as the “Constitution of 1822,” protection of person and property was guaranteed; and liberty of the press, equality before the law, the admissibility of all citizens to all offices, the abolition of privileges and the sovereignty of the nation were proclaimed. One freely elected chamber was to be summoned yearly to make laws and superintend the government of the country, and the king was granted only a suspensive veto over its measures. On hearing of this revolution, Prussia, Austria, and Russia withdrew their ambassadors from Lisbon, and England insisted that John VI. should at once proceed to Portugal. The king accordingly left Rio de Janeiro and returned to Lisbon, where he solemnly swore to observe the new constitution, and to rule for the future as a constitutional monarch. The queen and Dom Miguel were not so complaisant; they refused to recognize the constitution, and were at once forced to leave Lisbon. On the departure of John VI., Brazil declared itself independent, and Dom Pedro, who was elected emperor, granted that country a liberal parliamentary constitution. The Portuguese troops and royal vessels made a slight attempt to preserve the royal authority in South America, but the latter were speedily defeated by Lord Cochrane, who entered the Brazilian service, and the separation of the great colony from its mother-country became an acknowledged fact.

The loss of Brazil and the conversion of the government of Portugal into a limited monarchy, enraged the nobility, and still more the clergy, who looked with horror on the radical reforms of the constituent assembly, and when the French invaded Spain in 1823 to suppress the rebellion in that country, General Francisco de Silveira, Count of Amarante, raised a “pronunciamento” in the Tras-os-Montes against the Constitution of 1822. John VI. had imbibed some of his elder son’s ideas, and was in favour of modifying the absolute character of the Portuguese monarchy, but he never concealed his opinion that the radical party had gone too far in its extreme reforms. He therefore took advantage of the “pronunciamento” in the north to declare the Constitution of 1822 abrogated, and appointed the Count of Palmella prime minister, with instructions to form a “junta,” and to draw up a moderate and well-balanced parliamentary constitution on the English model. But the absolutist party, headed by the queen and Dom Miguel, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the army, would not tolerate any form of constitutional monarchy; they raised an insurrection in Lisbon against John VI.; the king’s greatest friend, the liberal-minded Marquis of Loulé, was assassinated; Palmella and his colleagues were imprisoned; and the king himself was shut up in his palace and eventually fled for refuge on board an English man-of-war in the Tagus. The united action of the foreign ambassadors and ministers accredited to Portugal, led by Sir William A’Court, afterwards Lord Heytesbury, the representative of England, secured the restoration of the king’s authority; the insurrection was suppressed; Dom Miguel was banished; Palmella was re-appointed prime minister; and 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; it is almost impossible to follow the rapid sequence of events, and quite impossible to understand the varying motives of different statesmen and generals. The keynote of the whole series of disturbances is to be found in the pernicious influence of the army. Beresford’s creation was a grand fighting machine, but armies, and more particularly generals, after a long period of active service, are almost certain to become dangerous in times of peace. In the case of Portugal, 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 five thousand 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. The duke urged on the marriage of the queen with her uncle, and persisted in confusing the moderate and the radical parties, and in believing that Palmella was a democrat. The little queen was herself kindly received by George IV., but the behaviour of the Duke of Wellington was so obnoxious to her guardians, Amelia of Bavaria, Empress of Brazil and second wife of Dom Pedro, and Felisberto Caldeira Brant Pontes, Marquis of Barbacena, that they took her to France in 1829. She was there granted the Château of Meudon for a residence, and was educated by her stepmother, and two accomplished ladies, Eugenia Telles da Gama, Countess of Palmella, and Leonor da Camara, Marchioness of Ponte Delgada, while civil war was raging in Portugal in her name.

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 forty thousand 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. The island of Terceira in the Azores had never recognized Dom Miguel, and it was there in 1829 that Palmella, Villa Flor, José Antonio Guerreiro and Quevedo Pizarro declared themselves a council of regency for Queen Maria da Gloria. On the 11th of August, 1830, they defeated a fleet sent against them by Dom Miguel in Praia Bay, and at this news all the chartists who could escape from Portugal, and the numerous Portuguese exiles in England and France, hastened to the Azores. Dom Pedro, who had devoted his life to the cause of parliamentary government, resigned his crown in 1831 to his infant son, and left Brazil to head the movement for his daughter’s cause. He first went to London, where he met with a good reception from the Liberal Cabinet of Lord Grey, and he there negotiated a large loan in his daughter’s name. He then hastened to the Azores with as many men as he could raise, most of whom were English soldiers, tired of peace, or adventurers of other nations, and on his arrival he appointed the Count of Villa Flor, commander-in-chief of the army, and Captain Sartorius, of the English navy, admiral of the fleet, of Queen Maria da Gloria.

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; Dom Miguel finding himself invariably repulsed in his assaults, turned it into a blockade, and want within the walls and cholera among the besiegers decimated the armies. On both sides the commanders quarrelled among themselves, and the only event worthy of mention is the defeat of the Miguelite fleet by Sartorius on the 11th of October, 1832. In 1833 more vigorous action marked the career of the Pedroites. Major-General João Carlos Saldanha de Oliveira e Daun, an old officer of Beresford, and a friend and former colleague of Palmella, took the command of the army in Oporto, and defeated the Miguelites under the Count of San Lourenço, on the 4th of March, and under General das Antas, on the 24th of March, 1833. Captain Charles Napier, of the English navy, succeeded Sartorius as admiral of the Pedroite fleet, and conveyed a force of one thousand five hundred men from Oporto to the Algarves, under the Count of Villa Flor, now created Duke of Terceira, and then practically destroyed the Miguelite fleet off Cape Saint Vincent on the 5th of July, 1833. The Duke of Terceira was equally successful on land; he was warmly welcomed by the people of the Algarves and the Alemtejo; his army was increased by volunteers as he advanced; he utterly defeated the Miguelites under General Telles Jordão at Covada Piedade, and triumphantly entered Lisbon on the 24th of July. Dom Pedro immediately sailed round to the capital, and summoned his daughter from France, and on her arrival he again proclaimed the Charter of 1826. The Miguelites, under the French Marshal, Bourmont, then attacked Lisbon, but were easily beaten off. 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. Saldanha took Leiria and defeated the disheartened Miguelites at Torres Novas and Almoster; Captain Napier having destroyed the usurper’s fleet, took to the land, and reduced the Beira, capturing Caminha, Vianna, Ponte de Lima and Valença; General Sá de Bandeira conquered the Alemtejo; and the Duke of Terceira overran the Tras-os-Montes, and won a victory at Asseiceira. 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 declared the young queen of age, and summoned a full Cortes to meet at Lisbon. He appointed a strong ministry with the Duke of Palmella as president, and the Duke of Terceira at the War Office, and an attempt was made to rearrange the finances and settle the kingdom. The Cortes declared Dom Miguel and his heirs for ever ineligible to succeed to the throne and forbade them to return to Portugal under pain of death, and struck a fatal blow at the influence of the Miguelites by abolishing all the orders of the friars, who had hitherto kept alive his party in the provinces. 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, and the army, accustomed to fight and unable to do anything else, was a constant source of danger. Members of different parties could not or would not believe that all true Portuguese alike loved Portugal; the party in power proscribed and exiled its opponents, while the party in opposition invariably appealed to arms, instead of seeking to enforce its opinions by legitimate parliamentary means. In addition, the unfortunate country was ravaged by numerous brigands, generally disbanded soldiers, who called themselves Miguelites, and who invariably escaped into Spain, when attacked in force. Each successive government refused to recognize or to pay interest upon the loans raised by its predecessor, and the financial credit of Portugal soon fell to a very low ebb in the money markets of Europe. It is unprofitable and almost impossible to examine here the tendencies of the chief statesmen of the time, for new governments quickly succeeded each other, and it will be sufficient to notice only the most important “pronunciamentos” and appeals to arms. 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 her earlier years, Queen Maria da Gloria was chiefly under the influence of her stepmother, Amelia of Bavaria, and in January, 1835, she married the Queen Dowager’s brother, Augustus Charles Eugène Napoleon, Duke of Leuchtenberg, second son of Eugène de Beauharnais by Princess Augusta of Bavaria, to the great chagrin of Louis Philippe of France, who had proposed his son, the Duke of Nemours. This prince died after two months’ residence in Portugal, but it was so necessary to have an heir to the throne, that the queen was pressed to marry again at once. She complied, and in January, 1836, she married Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, nephew of Leopold, King of the Belgians, and it was his nomination to the high office of commander-in-chief, which brought about the first appeal to arms. In September, 1836, Fernando Soares da Caldeira headed a “pronunciamento” in Lisbon for the re-establishment of the Constitution of 1822, which was entirely successful, and resulted in the drawing up of a new constitution. This “pronunciamento” was followed by various other “pronunciamentos” and good deal of fighting, but eventually the new Constitution of 1838, which was really that of 1822 slightly modified, was generally adopted. It worked until 1842, when one of the radical ministers, Antonio Bermudo da Costa Cabral, suddenly declared for the Charter of 1826 at Oporto. The Duke of Terceira at once headed a “pronunciamento” in Lisbon in favour of the Charter, and came into office with Costa Cabral as home secretary, and virtual prime minister. Costa Cabral, who was in 1845 created Count of Thomar, made himself very acceptable to the queen, and by interpreting the Charter in the most royalist sense, even attempted to check the liberty of the press. It was now the turn of the Septembrists to have recourse to arms, and after an attempt to place Saldanha in office, the opposition broke out into open insurrection under the Viscount Sá de Bandeira, the Count of Bomfim and the Count das Antas. This new insurrection was followed by what is known as the war of Maria da Fonte or “Patuleia,” which is even more pitiable than its predecessors. Foreign powers eventually intervened, and on the 29th of June, 1847, the Convention of Granada was signed, by which a general amnesty was declared, and Saldanha was maintained in power. In 1849 the Count of Thomar once more came into office, and in 1851 he was again expelled by Saldanha at the head of his troops. This was the last “pronunciamento” worthy of notice; 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. 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; agriculture and commerce revived, and a great literary and historical revival took place, marked by the names of João Baptista de Almeida-Garrett, Antonio Feliciano de Castilho, and José da Silva Mendes Leal, the poets, and of Alexandra Herculano de Carvalho e Araujo, the Viscount de Santarem, and Luis Augusto Rebello da Silva, the historians. Men were not wanting in the first half of the nineteenth century to advocate the formation of an Iberian republic or kingdom, comprising the whole of the peninsula, but the revival of national pride in recalling the glorious past of Portuguese history, which has been the work of these great poets and historians, has breathed afresh the spirit of patriotism into a people which had been wearied out by perpetual “pronunciamentos” and absurd civil wars.

The only political event of any importance during the reign of Pedro V., who came of age and assumed the government in 1855, and who in 1857 married the Princess Stephanie of Hohenzollern, was the affair of the _Charles et Georges_. This French ship was engaged in what was undoubtedly the slave trade, though slightly disguised, off the coast of Africa in 1858, when it was seized by the Portuguese authorities of Mozambique, and, in accordance with the laws and treaties against the slave trade, the captain, Roussel, was condemned to two years’ imprisonment. The Emperor Napoleon III., glad to have a chance of posing before the French people, and counting on his close alliance with England to prevent the intervention of the ancient ally of Portugal, instantly sent a large fleet to the Tagus under Admiral Lavaud, and demanded compensation, which, as England gave no hint of assistance, Portugal was obliged to pay. 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, and morganatically married Elise Hensler, a dancer, assumed the regency until his return, soon after which King Luis married Maria Pia, younger daughter of Victor Emmanuel, king of Italy. The new monarch followed his brother’s policy, and allowed his ministers to fight out their battles in the chambers without any interference from himself. During his reign, the old combatants of the stormy reign of Maria da Gloria, Palmella, Terceira, Sá de Bandeira, Thomar, and Saldanha, all died off, and with them their peculiar method of enforcing their political views. Their successors in the leadership of political parties, the Duke of Loulé and the Marquis of Avila, Antonio Manoel Fontes Pereira de Mello and Antonio José Braamcamp, were men of greater administrative ability, who did not go to war when they were defeated in Parliament, and they therefore do not contribute any striking pages to the national history, though they have done much for the prosperity of the country. The last “pronunciamento,” or rather attempt at a “pronunciamento,” of the last survivor of Maria da Gloria’s turbulent statesmen, the Duke of Saldanha, in 1870, only proved how entirely the time for such movements had passed away. He conceived the idea that the Duke of Loulé was too great a favourite at court, and so he one day came to the palace and after recalling to the king’s mind a few historical examples, such as the fatal intimacy of Charles X. of France with the Due de Polignac, he threatened an appeal to arms unless the Duke of Loulé was at once dismissed. King Luis, perceiving that the old man was in earnest and not wishing to have the peace of the country disturbed, humoured his fancy, and after keeping Saldanha himself in office for four months, despatched him as ambassador to London, where the old warrior died in 1876. With this trifling exception, 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. This news created a profound impression in Portugal; the republican party, which has for some years been growing in strength in the cities of Lisbon and Oporto hailed it with delight, and the democratic journals urged that the example of Brazil should be followed. The young king’s difficulties have been further increased by the disputes which have arisen with regard to Africa, and there is no concealing the fact that Charles I. will have to show the greatest political wisdom, if he is to weather the storms now besetting the position of Portugal, and to save the Portuguese monarchy.

Many allusions have been made to the possessions of Portugal in Africa. It has been seen that certain places both on the east and west coasts of Africa, such as Angola and Mozambique, were originally occupied and fortified as resting-places for the Portuguese fleets on the way to and from India, and that when they were re-taken after the Revolution of 1640, they were occupied only because they had formerly belonged to Portugal and not because of their intrinsic value. Of recent years, however, the value of these settlements has increased owing to the opening up of Africa to commerce. This is thoroughly understood by the more intelligent of modern Portuguese statesmen, and courageous Portuguese travellers, such as Serpa Pinto, Roberto Ivens, and Brito Capello, have taken their part in obtaining a more correct knowledge of the geography of Africa. But the opening up of Africa has attracted settlers and explorers of other nations to the “Dark Continent,” who, if they have not denied the rights of Portugal, have certainly infringed them. The original Portuguese settlements were merely ports at which ships might rest and refit; and the points at issue now concern the amount of the territory adjoining those settlements or of the “hinterland” behind them towards the interior, which rightly belongs to Portugal. This question of boundaries is in the nature of things a difficult one to settle, and it is much to be regretted that the disputes which have arisen have chiefly been with England, the ancient ally of Portugal. The high spirit of the Portuguese people has been wounded by the tone of part of the English press, and their knowledge of their own present weakness and of their past greatness has made them the more sensitive. Some of their agents in Africa have possibly acted in an arbitrary and high-handed manner, and Englishmen have not been slow to resent such treatment. Yet it is to be sincerely hoped that these differences between the two ancient allies may be peacefully settled, and it may be that some knowledge of how close the friendship of the two nations was for many centuries may make the English people feel more tolerantly inclined towards the claims of the Portuguese to consideration and respect.

Within recent years the internal prosperity of Portugal has increased; railways and telegraphs have been constructed; sanitary improvements have been introduced; and a good system of national primary and secondary education has been established, owing mainly to the efforts of the poet, Antonio Feliciano de Castilho. Its financial condition, however, may well give rise to the deepest apprehension; the amount of its national debt is nearly as heavy in proportion to its population as that of England, and the repudiation of loans during the reign of Maria II. has made it difficult to raise money in the more wealthy countries of Europe. Even more serious danger to the prosperity of Portugal is threatened by the continued emigration to Brazil, to which country a large number of the sturdy peasants flock every year, chiefly from the northern provinces of the Tras-os-Montes and the Entre-Minho-e-Douro. This continuous stream of emigration, though prejudicial to Portugal, has been of the greatest service to Brazil, and Greater Portugal, as the mother country and her colony in South America may be termed, though politically divided, is more prosperous than ever.

Even more striking than the advance of material prosperity has been the great literary revival, which has marked the era of peaceful parliamentary government. King Luis was an enlightened patron of letters, and translated some of the plays of Shakespeare into Portuguese in a manner which showed him to be well versed in the capabilities of his own language. In the country of Camoens there has been no lack of poets, though none of the modern writers would dare to class themselves with him. Foremost among these poets are Almeida-Garrett and Castilho, who alike sang the ancient glories of Portugal, but among their followers are many whose inspiration is hardly inferior to their own. Such men as José da Silva Mendes Leal, Luis Augusto Palmeirim, and João Soares de Passos, have written poems worthy to rank with the classics of Portuguese literature, and their muse has generally been fostered by a knowledge of ancient writers and of old national lyrical forms. Even more important than the poets are the historians of modern Portugal, for they are the men who have made the Portuguese so proud of their nationality that they still cling closely to their independence and oppose the advocates of “Iberianism.” The founder of the new school of scientific historians was Alexandra Herculano de Carvalho e Araujo, who, after imitating Sir Walter Scott in his historical novels, showed that he had been influenced by Niebuhr and Ranke in his famous history of Portugal, of which the first volume was published in 1848. He it was who first grasped the fact that history can only be rightly studied and correctly written after a careful and critical investigation of documents, and he manifested both energy and discernment in clearing away the cobweb of legend which had been spun about the early days of the nation. Herculano inspired his spirit into the new generation, and he has had many painstaking and able followers, among whom the ablest are Luis Augusto Rebello da Silva, Simião José da Luz Soriano, and José Maria Latino Coelho. In general literature, the modern Portuguese are equally distinguished, though their greatest strength lies in poetry and history, and it is worthy of notice, that literary fame is a sure passport to rapid advancement in political life. The high opinion held of literary endeavour is an evidence of the persistency of the national spirit, and as such may be welcomed as the brightest augury for the future development of the Portuguese nation.

Few countries of Europe will repay attentive study better than Portugal; no nation, except Spain, passed through such a trial as the reign of Maria da Gloria, and in no country have the advantages of representative institutions been better realized; socialism possesses there a reforming, not a revolutionary, force; knowledge of the history of their nation, inspired by great writers, has made the modern Portuguese ambitious to revive the glories of the past, and has united men of all shades of opinion in a common patriotism. The Camoens celebration of 1880 showed that the Brazilians are still proud of their mother country, and that the Portuguese race on both sides of the Atlantic was ready to develop new energy and perseverance, and to prove its descent from the men who under Affonso Henriques conquered the Moors; who under John I. and John IV. rejected the rule of the Spaniards; who under Affonso de Alboquerque and João de Castro made their names famous from Arabia to Japan; and who, by the labours of Prince Henry “the Navigator” and the voyage of Vasco da Gama, initiated a new era in the history of the world.

INDEX.

A.

Abd-el-Melik, 248, 250, 253, 254

Abrantes, 57, 104, 392

Abrantes, Marquis of, 393

Abu Abdallah, Governor of Alcacer do Sal, 72, 73

Abu-l-Hasan, defeated at the Salado, 1340, 92

Abyssinia, visits of Portuguese travellers to, 167

“Academia Real das Sciencias,” 372, 396

Academy of History, 353

A’Court, Sir William; _see_ Heytesbury, Lord

Aden, 200, 214

Affonso Henriques, 24, 31, 34, 35, 37-58, 98

Affonso II., 70-74, 98

Affonso III., 79, 80-83, 89, 98

Affonso IV., 86, 91-99

Affonso V., 130-35, 138, 159, 160

Affonso VI., 324, 326-34

Affonso, son of Affonso III., 85, 86

Affonso, only son of John II., 163, 170

Affonso, João, bastard son of Diniz, 91

Affonso, Pedro, bastard son of Count Henry, 31

Affonso, Pedro, bastard son of Diniz, Count of Barcellos, 91

Africa, 144-56, 195, 213, 247, 343, 346, 428, 429

Agriculture, 87, 181, 368

Ahmed, Maulā, 248, 249, 253-55

Alans, the, conquer Lusitania, 10

Alarcos, battle of, 63

Albergaria, Diogo Soares de, 169

Albergaria, Francisco Soares de, 309

Albergaria, Lopo Soares de, 203

Albert, Cardinal, 286, 290

Alboquerque, Affonso de, 169, 185, 193, 197-201

Alboquerque, Francisco de, 193

Alboquerque, João de, 209

Alboquerque, Mathias de, 291

Alboquerque, Mathias de, 317

Alboquerque, Pedro de, 169

Alboquerque, Sancho, Count of, 101

Alcacer do Sal, 54, 62, 66, 72

Alcacer-Quibir, battle of (1578), 254

Alcanede granted to Knights of Calatrava, 66

Alcantara, battle of (1580), 283

Alçobaça, monastery of, 54, 69, 98, 99, 397

Alçobaça, Cortes of, 164, 165

Alemquer, 53, 104

Alemtejo, the, 55, 57, 66, 87, 181, 421

Alexander III., Pope, 57

Alexander VI., Pope, 163, 191

Alfarrobeira, battle of (1449), 133

Alfonso VI., 17, 18, 23

Alfonso VII., 30, 35, 37-39, 54

Alfonso VIII., 63, 71

Alfonso IX., 63, 64, 71

Alfonso X., 81

Alfonso XI., 92

Algarves, the, 43, 62, 76, 78, 80, 81, 181, 182

Alho, Affonso Martins, 94

Ali, Almoravide Caliph, 28

Ali Adil Shah, King of Bijápur, 247

Aljubarrota, battle of, 111, 113

Aljustrel, taken by Knights of Santiago, 76

Almada, 53, 62, 66, 104, 312

Almada, Alvaro Vaz de, _see_ Arronches, Count of

Almada, Antonio de, 308, 311

Almanza, battle of (1707), 351

Almeida taken by the Spaniards (1760), 363

Almeida, Francisco de, 195-97, 214

Almeida, Lourenço de, 175, 196

Almeida, Miguel de, 308, 309, 311

Almeida-Garrett, João Baptista, 425, 431

Almohades, the, 44, 55, 57, 62;
_see_ Ya’kūb, Yūsuf

Almoravides, the, 17, 41

Almoster, battle of (1834), 421

Alorna, João de Almeida Portugal, Marquis of, 371, 374

Alorna, Pedro, Marquis of, 395

Alva, Duke of, 249, 281, 283

Alvares, Manoel, 276

Alvares, Mattheus, 287

Alvitiz, Pedro, 72

“Amadis of Gaul” romance, 126

Amarante, Francisco da Silveira, Count of, 415

Ameixial, battle of (1663), 331

Amelia of Bavaria, 418, 423

Anadia, Viscount of, 391

Andeiro, João Fernandes, _see_ Ourem, Count of

Andrade, Gomes Freire de, 395, 413

Andrade, Jacinto Freire de, 325

Andrew of London, 52

Andrew of Oxford, 93

Angeja, Marquis of, 372

Angola, 324, 346

Anne of Austria, 314, 315

Annes, Affonso, 109

Annes, Estevão, 80

Annes, Gonçalo, 167

Annes, Martim, 75

Annes, Pedro, 73, 75

Annunciacão, Miguel de, 371

Antas, General das, 420, 424

Antonio, Prior of Crato, 281, 283-86

Aranjuez, Treaty of (1793), 386

Arcadia de Lisboa, 369, 372

Arguin, fort at, 154, 295

Armamar, Count of, 316

Arnold of Aerschot, 52

Arnold, Edmund, 118

Arrayolos, Count of, 130

Arronches, battle of (1801), 389

Arronches, Antonio Vaz de Almada, Count of, 132, 133

Arundel, Richard, Earl of, 93

Arundel, Thomas, Earl of, 118

Arzila, 133, 179, 249, 253, 285

Ashworth, Sir C., 405

Asseiceira, battle of (1834), 421

Asturians, the, 5

Ataulphus, Visigothic king, 11

Athaide, Catherina de, 270

Athaide, Luis de, Viceroy of India, 246-48, 257

Atoleiros, battle of (1384), 110

Augustus, Duke of Leuchtenberg, 423

Ayamonte, 78, 80

Ayamonte, Marquis of, 316, 317

Aymeric of Cahors, 89

Azambuja, Diogo de, 169

Azambuja, Jeronymo de, 276

Azamor in Morocco, 179

Azevedo, Antonio de Araujo de, 387, 388, 391, 396

Azores, the, 147, 285, 295, 419

Azurara, chronicler, 135, 379

B

Badajoz, 56, 326, 375, 389

Bahādar Shah, King of Gujarāt, 204, 205

Bainetti, Marquis de, 305

Baldaya, Affonso Gonçalves, 147

Ballerais, Count of, 316

Bank of Portugal, 368

Bar, Count of, 62

Barbacena, Felisberto Caldeira Brant Pontes, Marquis of, 405, 418

Barbosa du Bocage, Manoel Maria, 379, 385

Barbosa Machado, Diogo, _see_ Machado

Barcellos, João Affonso Telles de Menezes, Count of, 104

Barcellos, Duke of, 255

Bardez, Marāthas defeated at, 374

Barreto, Antonio Moniz, 320

Barreto, Antonio Moniz, 247, 248

Barreto, Francisco, 246, 247, 271

Barros, João de, 185, 226, 274-76

Batalha, Convent, 113, 119

Batavia, 294, 342

Beatrice de Gusman, 81

Beatrice of Castile, 86, 98

Beatrice, daughter of Pedro I., 101

Beatrice, daughter of Ferdinand and Leonor, 106, 107

Beatrice, daughter of the “Holy Constable,” 125

Beatrice, daughter of Emmanuel, 178, 264

Beauvais, Bishop of, 62

Belatha, Emirate of, 43

Belem, palace at, 176;
Convent at, 184, 204;
Sebastian buried at, 256

Bellesta, Spanish general, 397

Benedict XIV., Pope, 360

Bengal, trade with, 205, 296, 343

Beresford, William Carr, Viscount, 400, 402, 405-7, 412, 413

Bermudo II., King of Gallicia, 13

Berwick, James, Duke of, 351

Bishoprics and bishops, 10, 26, 30, 67, 75, 79, 183

Black Death, the, 95

Blake, Admiral Robert, 323, 324

Bojador, Cape, 146, 147

Bombay ceded to England, 330, 346

Bomfim, Count of, 424

Bonaparte, Joseph, 401

Bonaparte, Lucien, 389

Braamcamp, Antonio José, 427

Bradford, Sir Edward, 405, 406

Braga, Archbishopric of, 26

Braga Cathedral, 32, 98

Braganza, the Dukes of, 303

Braganza, Affonso, Duke of, 125, 126, 131-33

Braganza, Alvaro de, 161

Braganza, Catherine, Duchess of, 278

Braganza, Constantino de, 212, 213, 246, 270

Braganza, Ferdinand, Duke of, 161, 162

Braganza, Jaymé de, 255

Braganza, João, Duke of, 280, 284

Braganza, Theodosio, Duke of, 304

Brandão, Antonio, 301

Brazil, 175, 221-35, 243, 296-98, 318-20, 336, 337,
346-48, 369, 375-77, 392, 414, 419, 428, 430

Breyner, Pedro de Mello, 393, 396

Brézé, Chevalier de, 315

Brito, Bernardo de, 7, 301

Brotero, Felix de Avellar, 380, 385

Bugio, castle of, 312

Burton, Sir Richard F., quoted, 90, 130, 242, 257

Busaco, battle of (1810), 402