PORTUGAL

PORTUGAL.—This kingdom, the origin of whose name is discussed in the Encyclopædia, had different limits assigned to it by the Romans, who possessed it under the name of Lusitania. Its northern boundary was the river Douro, whilst eastward it extended over a large part of Leon and Castile. Its line of demarcation passed from the bridge of Arzobispo to the eastward of Talavera, extended to Si-manacas on the Douro, and included within its bounds the cities of Salamanca, Truxillo, Coria, Merida, and Avila, and the several intermediate towns and villages. When the northern tribes penetrated to the peninsula, and gained the mastery of it, Lusitania still retained the same name, and a

Portugal. branch of the Suevi, having established themselves in it, made Braga the capital of their government. Though under the Moors, the names of many cities, towns, rivers, and mountains, received the nomenclature of that people, yet the whole country retained the Roman title till the more modern name of Portugal was bestowed upon it.

Limits and Extent. The present kingdom of Portugal is bounded on the north by the Spanish province of Galicia, on the east by the several provinces of Leon, Estremadura, and Andalusia, and on the south and west by the Atlantic Ocean. It has the figure of a parallelogram, with its longest side from north to south; extending from $37^\{\backslash circ\}\; 3\text{'}$ to $42^\{\backslash circ\}\; 12\text{'}$ north latitude, and from $6^\{\backslash circ\}\; 15\text{'}$ to $8^\{\backslash circ\}\; 55\text{'}$ west longitude from Greenwich. Its extent is estimated, following the map of Lopez, at 3437 square leagues, or about 22,765,000 English acres. The divisions of Portugal, like those of most of the other kingdoms of Europe, have been derived rather from feudal possessions than from any other cause, and though they have produced great inequalities in their extent, in their relative and absolute population, and in their fertility and wealth, there is no reason to expect any alteration in them; they are as follows, according to Antillon, viz.

Population. The population here given is the result of the last actual census, which was taken in the year 1798, by order of the late queen. The enumeration then made was of the number of families, which, being multiplied by five, gives the state of the population here expressed. Notwithstanding the desolating war which has since occurred, and which must, for a time, and within certain districts, have lessened the population, the best native authorities contend, that, during the last twenty years, the increase has been gradual, and that the number of inhabitants now is nearly equal to that census.

Portugal may then be considered a well peopled country; as compared with Spain, the density of population is as 3 to 2, and as compared with Scotland, which is of nearly the same extent, it is almost double. If the whole of Portugal were as thickly settled as the province of Entre Duero e Minho, the number of souls would amount to 10,700,000; whereas, if the whole had no greater density than that of Alemtejo, they would not exceed 1,480,000.

An ingenious writer, in comparing the present population of the kingdom with its state in the fifteenth century, remarks that, "in the provinces where commerce flourishes the inhabitants have increased; where they subsist by the fisheries they have diminished; and where both commerce and the fisheries exist, the increase has been only in proportion to the quantum of commerce."

The face of the country is generally mountainous, divided into ridges by deep chasms, through which rapid torrents rush, in the rainy seasons; but which, in times of drought, scarcely afford sufficient supplies of water for the wants of the inhabitants and their cattle. This irregular surface of the country is very unfavourable to intercourse between the different provinces. The expence of constructing roads and bridges in such a country is too great to be borne by its inhabitants. Hence, there is scarcely any conveyance either for goods or passengers by wheel carriages. Although, in the northern parts of the kingdom, there are some bridges of very ancient erection, yet in the south scarcely any are to be found. The roads, too, in the north are, in some few instances, tolerably good. The merchants of Oporto have constructed a road to Lamego for the conveyance of their wines, and are still extending it. A good road has been formed to Mafra, and the Government has been occupied in making one to Coimbra. In the southern provinces no such efforts have been made; but the road from Mertola to Beja, originally constructed by the Romans, has been recently repaired. At present none are likely to be commenced, so that the inconveniences of travelling are perhaps greater than in any other part of Europe.

The state of agriculture was till lately very bad; and though much of the soil is naturally fertile, and the climate highly favourable to the production of all the necessaries of life, yet Portugal did not raise more corn than was sufficient for one third of its annual consumption; and though animal food can scarcely be deemed an article of general sustenance, its own lands did not pasture cattle sufficient for the scanty demand of the inhabitants. When cultivated with care, the soil produces abundant crops of wheat, barley, maize, and rice; besides which, it yields hemp and flax of excellent quality. Some improvements in husbandry have, however, begun to appear. The cultivation of potatoes has been introduced, and, on the more elevated parts of the country, with great success. They have extended rapidly, and form already so large a part of the sustenance of the inhabitants, that the exportation of flour from the United States of America has nearly ceased; and the small quantity of corn now required is drawn from the northern parts of Europe, or from the Cape de Verd Islands.

The attention of the Portuguese husbandmen is principally directed to the production of those articles which find their most ready vent in foreign countries, or which are raised with the least labour. Of the first sort is their wine, chiefly in the

Portugal. northern provinces. The quantity usually made is about 80,000 pipes of red, and 60,000 pipes of white. Of the former about one half is sent to England, about one eighth to the other parts of northern Europe, and the remainder to Brazil. Not more than one sixth part of the white wine is exported to all the countries of Europe; the rest is either sent to Brazil or is consumed at home; but, in general, the natives drink wine of a quality far inferior to any that could find a vent in foreign markets. The productions that require but little labour, such as chesnuts, almonds, oranges, lemons, and citrons, are profusely raised; and, with the onions and garlic, form no small proportion of the aliment of the inhabitants. Olive trees are plentiful, and the oil expressed from their fruit forms an important article of sustenance; and though not of a quality or flavour that is relished for the table in foreign countries, it is a considerable article of export; being used by the woollen manufacturers of England, Holland, and Germany, in their respective operations.

Fisheries. The sea coasts of Portugal abound with excellent fish, especially with Tunnys and Sardinias, and they, as well as the rivers, afford both occupation and food to a great portion of the inhabitants; but the supply from them is inadequate to the wants of the population, whose consumption of that kind of diet, from their adherence to the fasts prescribed by the Catholic religion, is very great; requiring an annual importation of salted fish, which is furnished by the English and Americans, from the banks of Newfoundland, and by the Swedes, Norwegians, and Dutch.

Manufactures. The manufactures of Portugal are in a very languid state. With the exception of the lower classes of people, who are clothed with their domestic manufactures, or with the skins of their sheep, nearly the whole of the nation may be said to be furnished with their apparel from England, Holland, and Germany. The few manufactures of Portugal are those of cotton, at Alcobaza and Tomar; of linens, at Guimarens, on the Ave; of glass, at Leyria; and of woollen cloths, at Guarda. The best goods that are made in the kingdom, as compared with those of other countries, are the cambrics, shirting and table linens, and sewing threads. In Lisbon are made some silks, hats, and silver and plated wares. A late most superb service of plate, presented to the Duke of Wellington, made wholly by natives, shows that they are not deficient in taste in the goldsmith's art.

Minerals. The mineral riches of Portugal have been much neglected. There are mines of tin which were formerly worked to considerable extent, and much profit, but are now abandoned. Besides these, there are veins of silver, iron, lead, and copper, none of which are wrought. The country abounds with most beautiful marbles, though many of the quarries are at so great a distance from water conveyance, and the roads are so bad, that they will not repay, in the present condition of the kingdom, the expences attendant on carrying them to a market.

Commerce. The emigration of the court to Brazil destroyed

that colonial monopoly which, till that event, was most rigidly maintained. Instead of being the point in which both the wants and the produce of the colonies met, and were exchanged, the imports have been confined to what the parent state has required for its consumption; and the exports have been restricted to the wines, oil, and fruits, which were sold to purchase the corn and other sustenance required to feed the people, and procure clothing from England and Holland. The sugar, cotton, and other productions of Brazil, are carried direct to the places of consumption; and from the same places the Brazilians obtain their supplies of European commodities, without the intervention of Portugal. Next to wine and fruits the chief export from Portugal is the bay salt, made from sea water, by natural evaporation, at St Ubes. The vessels which bring salted fish usually take a part of their returns in this article. Near five hundred vessels are annually loaded with salt, at St Ubes, and the quantity exported is about 100,000 tons. Of late years wool has been transported to England; in one year nearly one million pounds weight; but a tax laid on that commodity here has operated nearly to exclude that of a coarse quality from our markets.

The government of Portugal was a monarchy Government and Laws. of the most absolute kind. The several Boards or Councils, which carried on the administration, had no check or even voice in the measures that were adopted, but obeyed the orders of the King implicitly; and it is generally understood, that in no Court did corruption and favoritism abound to an equal extent. The laws were a most incoherent mass, without fixed principles or regularity; and the administration of them, whether by superior or inferior judges, was perverted by bribery, so as to favour the purposes of oppression rather than of justice.

The religion of the kingdom is the Roman Catholic, of the most rigid, not to say of the most superstitious, description. The proportionate numbers of the clergy were greater than in any other country in Europe. There are three archbishops, thirteen bishops, and a prelate presiding over them, denominated the patriarch. The Inquisition was in full force, to check, in their earliest stages, the growth of any opinions that were thought to militate against the established faith. By some late regulations the number of the clergy has been reduced, and the Inquisition abolished.

Before the invasion by the armies of Buonaparte, Finances and Military Strength. the revenues of Portugal, including the sums drawn from Brazil, were calculated to amount to about 3,000,000 Sterling. At the same period, the land forces consisted of 30,000 men; and the marine comprised 20 sail of the line, besides frigates, corvettes, and sloops. During the war, resources were called forth which the nation never had imagined it possessed. Troops, notorious for indolence, want of discipline and filthiness, when placed under the command of British officers, became active, disciplined, and brave; and bore no inconsiderable share of the dangers and successful contests which liberated their own country, Spain,

Portugal. and ultimately the whole of Europe. When the Court emigrated to Brazil, where the marine of its ally was a better protection than any she could furnish, Portugal suffered her navy to dwindle, and she has now few large ships that are capable of warlike operations.

People and Language. The inhabitants of Portugal are generally a robust, yet not an industrious people. They are enterprising and persevering, patient in adverse circumstances, excessively attached to their own religion and customs; and, though temporary circumstances may seem to indicate the contrary, they retain a high sense of loyalty to their monarch, and of submission to their spiritual superiors. The Portuguese language is derived from the Latin, of which it contains a great proportion of words, though mixed with many others of Arabic origin. In the construction of its sentences, it very much resembles the Castilian; but the pronunciation of the syllables differs considerably; and there are many words introduced which are peculiar to itself, and whose derivation it is difficult to trace; though probably they are to be found among some of the tribes on the coast of Barbary.

Cities, Towns, and Ports. Portugal contains twenty-two cities. The capital, Lisbon, on the north side of the Tagus, distinguished by its excellent harbour, by some superb buildings, its irregular surface, and disgustingly filthy streets, contains 260,000 inhabitants; Oporto contains about 65,000; Coimbra, 15,000; Evora, 12,000: the other cities are small, poor, and less populous. The remainder of the inhabitants occupy 647 towns and 4262 villages. The proportion of agricultural labourers to the whole population is so small, that, scanty as are their harvests, and favourable as the weather almost uniformly is for securing their fruits and corn, the labours of the field, in autumn, require numerous additional hands, which are furnished by the adjoining Spanish province of Galicia. The principal sea ports are Lisbon, Oporto, and St Ubes. Besides these, Viana, at the mouth of the river Lima, Aveiro, Sines, Serdao, Villa Nova, Faro, and Tavira, have harbours, but generally accessible only to small vessels; and, except Viana and Faro, they have scarcely any other than a mere coasting trade.

Recent History. The Encyclopædia brings down the history of political events in Portugal to the conclusion of the Convention of Cintra in August 1808. Towards the close of that year, the armies which Spain had collected to oppose the invading forces of France being dispersed, Madrid having surrendered, and the British troops under Sir John Moore having been compelled to a precipitate retreat from the Peninsula; the invasion of Portugal was again resolved upon by the French with the fullest confidence of success.

Three armies were collected on the frontiers. One under Marshal Soult in Galicia, a second under General Lapisse at Salamanca, and a third on the banks of the Tagus under Marshal Victor. The only opposition which could be presented was to the last of these corps, by an assemblage of the fugitives of the Spanish army which General Cuesta was attempting to reorganize. Consternation and dismay spread

over the kingdom; the garrison and stores were withdrawn from the frontier fortress of Almeida; the forts and batteries on the Tagus were dismantled; and the British troops in the vicinity of Lisbon were concentrated as preparatory for instant embarkation. A war breaking out again, at this period, between Austria and France, induced Buonaparte to withdraw from Spain, and to take with him 15,000 of his best troops, which in some measure checked the rapid advance of his forces, and allowed an interval for preparation, which was sedulously improved in Portugal. General Beresford, who had acquired the confidence of the natives, was, at the suggestion of the British Government, appointed Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the armies of Portugal. Twenty thousand of the Portuguese were taken into the pay of England, and British officers were nominated to the superior commissions in each battalion; by which means a general system of discipline and subordination was quickly established. Reinforcements of troops from England, augmenting the army to 17,000 men, had reached Lisbon, and confidence was in a great measure restored before a blow was struck.

Marshal Soult at length having dispersed the 1809. Spanish troops in Galicia, and thus secured that province, entered Portugal by the road of Chaves. He was slightly opposed by General Friere, at the head of a Portuguese army, who had intended to have retired, on his approach, to stronger ground nearer Oporto. In this design he was interrupted by the mutiny of a division of his troops, who, insisting on defending Chaves, were shut up in that town, and in a few days compelled to surrender. As Soult advanced, Friere would have retreated, but the rest of his army being without due subordination, were impatient to fight; and as he persisted in his prudent plans a mutiny arose, when, under the suspicion of treachery, the General and his Staff were massacred by the mutinous troops. They then demanded a British officer who would lead them to attack the enemy. Baron Eben, a German in the British service, took the command, and gratified their wishes by fighting the unsuccessful battle of Carvalho da Este, where, after some creditable efforts of individual bravery, the sabres of the enemy's cavalry took ample vengeance on them for the murder of their late Commander. Soult then invested Oporto, which had been strongly fortified, and was defended by 200 pieces of cannon, and a garrison of 20,000 men; but the same insubordination and want of confidence prevailed in the city as had produced the disasters in the field; and, after an ill conducted defence of three days, it was taken by assault on the 29th March. The French soldiers, on entering the town, made an indiscriminate slaughter of the inhabitants, and delivered themselves up to every species of plunder and licentiousness; and, though their Commander used efforts to repress their fury, he was unable to accomplish it before the sufferings had continued a whole day and night.

The day before the fall of Oporto, Victor had defeated the Spanish army commanded by Cuesta in the battle of Medellin. This event opened to the

Portugal. French an easy road to Lisbon. General Craddock, the British Commander, posted a corps of his army of 6000 men at Abrantes, assembled the main body of his troops at Leyria, and the Portuguese army at Thomar.

Such was the situation of affairs in Portugal when, on the 22d of April, Sir Arthur Wellesley landed at Lisbon to assume the chief command of the armies of England and Portugal.

The ill consequences of independent Commanders were visible in the movements of the French. The three armies of Soult, Victor, and Lapisse, which, if directed by one Chief, would long before this period have entered Lisbon in triumph, being disunited, and fearing to be separately committed, lost the precious moments for action in suspense, or petty movements. Soult remained nearly a month at Oporto, in expectation of intelligence from the other Commanders, without which he deemed it imprudent to move forward. In the meantime, the Portuguese troops had captured Chaves, and thus cut off his direct communication with Spain by that route. The movements of Lapisse and Victor were equally hesitating. Sir Arthur, on the other hand, being unfettered in his views, could act with decision and promptitude. On the tenth day from his landing, the British in Leyria, to the number of 16,000, began to move by Coimbra and Aveiro, for the recovery of Oporto; whilst 6000 Portuguese under Beresford marched to cross the Douro at Lamego, and cut off the enemy's retreat by Amarante; and the forces at Abrantes were left in that city to keep in check the army of Victor. The British from Leyria first met the enemy on the 10th May, on the banks of the Vouga, and, after a slight affair, drove them over the Douro. The floating bridge across that river was destroyed, and all the boats near Oporto were secured by the French on the right bank; thus the British General found himself separated from his antagonist by a rapid river, nearly 300 yards broad, without any means of effecting the passage across it. Sir Arthur then planned and successfully executed the boldest passage of a river that is to be found on military records. He detached a body of troops under General Murray to Avintas, five miles higher on the river, where, if boats could not be found, a ford would admit of the troops passing; and sent General Sherbrook with the Guards to the common ferry below the city; whilst from the Serra Convent, nearly opposite the town, he directed the passage in person. The stream was excessively rapid, and the heights on the right bank considerable. By the aid of some inhabitants, two boats were brought over from the enemy's side, and in them, protected by the fire of a brigade of light guns, three companies of the Buffs were ferried across. Soult, either despising the effort, or believing it to be merely a feint to draw his attention from the main object, did not oppose the landing, but gave time to General Paget, who commanded, to ascend the bank, and place the troops in a formidable attitude in a ruined building before he attacked them. He then brought up a considerable force, which was firmly resisted, and gained time for passing over several other battalions. General Paget was early wounded, and the command devolved on General Hill, who was warmly

engaged in contesting the post, when General Murray appeared in sight, marching on the enemy's left flank. The Guards were then pushed across, and the French precipitately retired into the city. Soult discovered that he had been out-maneuvred, and ordered the immediate retreat of his army; but the British were already in the town, and charging up the streets. The confusion and precipitancy with which the French fled was far greater than can be readily imagined, and their panic seemed to increase as they gained the open country. Never was the rout of an army more complete, when night put an end to the pursuit, and gave the enemy a few hours respite. Soult, finding the bridge at Amarante destroyed, abandoned all his artillery and wheel carriages, and leaving the high road, took the mountain track to Guimaraens. Thus freed from every incumbrance, the badness of the roads favoured his flight, and he gained a narrow pass on the shore near Salamonde, before Beresford's troops had reached the spot, as was projected, to intercept him. On the 18th he reached the frontier, and the pursuit closed, as more important affairs required attention to the south. Victor had joined with Lapisse, and forced the passage of the Tagus, at Alcantara; from whence they were advancing towards Lisbon at the time that the victorious army from Oporto reached that river early in June; when the enemy retired into Spain, and abandoned Portugal for the present.

When Buonaparte had compelled Austria to conclude a peace, he stood pledged to his people and to the world to conquer Portugal, and "to drive the British into the sea." His means for effecting those objects appeared unlimited; whilst the English nation, desponding at the general ill success of the war, and dissatisfied with the waste of their military strength in the Scheldt, were generally disposed to withdraw from the contest.

Early in March, however, the Parliament deciding with the administration to continue with vigour the defence of Portugal; the subsidiary force of that nation was increased to 30,000 men; and such of the British battalions as could be rendered effective after the effects of the climate of Walcheren, were sent out to reinforce the army. The French assembled an army of 72,000 men under Marshal Massena, in the vicinity of Salamanca, early in April; which could only be opposed by about 50,000; one-half composed of young Portuguese levies, yet untried in general action. The operations of the campaign commenced by the siege of the Spanish city of Ciudad Rodrigo, which, after a stout defence, capitulated on the 10th July. The road to Portugal was thus opened to the French, who entered it, and besieged Almeida. Owing to an explosion, by which all the powder in the garrison was destroyed, the Commander was compelled to surrender the latter end of August. The road by which Massena intended to force his way to Lisbon, soon became evident to the rival commander, and the united British and Portuguese armies were placed in such positions as were most likely to frustrate his intentions. The British Commander, during the whole progress of the enemy, had employed the abundant means at his disposal in constructing a secure asylum in which he

Portugal. could effectually make a head against the superior forces that were employed to drive him from the Peninsula, and to possess the capital of Portugal. Lisbon is situated on the extremity of an isthmus formed by the ocean and the river Tagus. Across this peninsula nature had drawn the outline of a strong defensive position, which the military art had been secretly but sedulously employed in rendering perfect. A track of country, thirty miles in extent from the mouth of the small river Tiranda to Alhandra, on the Tagus, was modelled into a field of battle; mountains were scarped perpendicularly, rivers dammed, and inundations formed. All roads that could favour the enemy were destroyed, and others made to facilitate the communications of the defenders; formidable works were erected to strengthen and support the weak parts; whilst numerous cannon, planted on inaccessible posts, commanded the different approaches to them, and gave an equality of defence to the whole position. Behind these defences the inhabitants of a district of nearly 2000 square miles were invited to retire with what of their substance they could convey, and were directed to destroy whatever could not be removed, that might afford support to the advancing army of Massena. Though these orders were but partially obeyed, yet, as far as they were executed, they contributed to the ultimate success of the defensive plan formed by Lord Wellington.

With this secure asylum in his rear, the British Commander could safely practise all the manoeuvres which tended to retard the approach of his antagonist. Massena, after the capture of Almeida, pushed on with rapidity towards Coimbra, and meeting no opposition there, expected the British army was hastening to Lisbon to embark. He received a check at the mountains of Busaco, but having turned that position, the British slowly marched within the formidable lines so celebrated in military annals by the name of Torres Vedras. The day after the 9th of October Marquis Romano joined the British army with 6000 Spanish troops; and on the next day Massena first discovered the formidable works which covered his antagonists. "To judge," says an eye-witness, "from the instant halt he made, and from the retrograde movement which followed, as soon as it became dark, they struck him as much with dismay as astonishment, and three days elapsed before he again ventured to the same spot." After some slight efforts to ascertain the nature of the defences, the French remained a month without any movement, merely sending out strong parties to their rear to ascertain the nature and resources of the country, from which alone they could hope to draw sustenance. The irregular troops of Portugal pressed him on all sides, and contracted the limits from which supplies could be obtained; and a division of them captured the sick and wounded of the French to the number of 5000 men, which, in the haste of his progress, Massena had left at Coimbra.

On the 14th November the French army, to be nearer their supplies, retrograded towards Santarem and Thomar, where they fortified their position, and were followed by the British to Cartaxo, from whence they were ready to fall back on their lines, should

Portugal. the enemy receive such reinforcements as to render it necessary. In this situation the two armies remained; the English receiving from Lisbon abundant supplies, which were sent by sea, and the French exhausting the country in their rear till scarcity produced disease, and rapidly thinned their ranks. Though reinforcements were sent to them, the desolate state of the country made them a burden, rather than an assistance to their coadjutors. After thus remaining in sight of each other till the 7th March 1810, a period of five inactive months, without a prospect of decisive action, the French were compelled to commence their retreat, just at the moment when the British had received a reinforcement of 7000 fresh troops. At the commencement of their retreat the loss in the French army since it had entered Portugal amounted to more than 30,000 men. Disgusting accumulations of filth, and remains of the most unhealthy kind of food, with the wretched and squalid appearance of most of the prisoners, and the neglected and unprovided state of the hospitals, sufficiently testified the miserable condition to which the invaders were reduced, and accounts for so prodigious a mortality beyond that inflicted by the sword. The sufferings and losses of the French, however, were nothing in comparison with those which their visitation had inflicted on Portugal and its inhabitants. A wide extent of country remained for five months with scarcely an inhabitant: every thing it contained was devoured by the enemy or destroyed by the season. In the space immediately bounding the positions of the two armies, which was not permanently occupied by either, the harvest perished in the ground, and the fruit fell rotten from the trees; flocks of innumerable small birds, as if drawn to the spot by instinct, fattened unmolested on the ungathered grapes; and latterly the very wolves, conscious of security, or rendered more daring by the absence of their accustomed prey, prowled about, masters of the territory, reluctantly giving way to the cavalry patrols which occasionally crossed their track.

Many of the wretched inhabitants who had neglected the warning voice that invited them within the lines, passed the whole season of winter, exposed to its inclemencies, in the neighbouring woods or mountains, subsisting merely on roots and herbs; and on the advance of the allies, returned to their ruined homes with bodies emaciated from abstinence, and intellects impaired by long continued apprehension; among these were girls of 16, who, become ideots, resembled in person women of 50. At the departure of the French, in many districts neither a living animal nor an article of subsistence was to be found. The official account of the Moniteur correctly and unblushingly states, that "the towns and villages were deserted, the mills destroyed, the wine running in the gutters, the corn stalks burnt, the furniture broken; and not a horse, a mule, an ass, a cow, or even a goat, to be seen."

The retreat conducted by Massena exhibited great military talents, and every movement was made with such skill and celerity, that his active and indefatigable opponent could gain but few advantages over him. The rapid pursuit in a few days carried the

allied armies farther than their supplies could reach them, and they were obliged to halt till provisions could overtake them. Massena availed himself of these circumstances to retire out of Portugal, after throwing supplies into the fortress of Almeida. The retreat of the French was conducted with so much ability, that its loss, both by the sword and in prisoners, did not exceed 5000 men; that of the allies being under 650. Having thus freely bestowed the tribute of praise justly due to the French as soldiers, it is but proper to notice their conduct as men, and to state, on the authority of an eye-witness, that the unnecessary cruelties and wanton devastation which marked every step of their retreat, were such as to cast a shade over their character which no military glory can efface, and to stamp them rather as sanguinary and unprincipled banditti, than as the organized warriors of a civilized state.

The French army was reinforced and refitted at Salamanca, returned to Portugal in the beginning of May, and made several movements and attacks, some of a very important nature, to prevent the British from capturing Almeida; but having been foiled in every attempt, they retired and left that fortress to its fate; the garrison of which evacuated it, and forced their way in a most spirited manner through the British army that surrounded them. With this operation the scene of war closed in Portugal; for though, during the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and in the attempt made by Marmont, some parts of that kingdom were included in the theatre of hostilities, they never extended beyond the frontiers. The other events of this important war belong rather to the history of Spain and of France than to that of Portugal, though in all the operations the troops of that nation bore an active and conspicuous part.

After the dissolution of the government of Buonaparte, the troops of Portugal were marched to their own country; but before the proper measures for reducing their numbers were adopted, his return from Elba again set them in active movement, till the decisive battle of Waterloo once more permitted them to rest. The state of the country was, however, by no means tranquil. The absence of their Court in Brazil, the little influence enjoyed by the Regency, the calls for pecuniary aid from the Provinces, and especially the large army being still kept up, and its command continued in foreign hands, with the spirit of insubordination prevailing among the native officers, gave sufficient grounds to apprehend that convulsions must ensue. A conspiracy, of a very extensive nature, was timely discovered in the army, and its progress checked, but without the spirit which generated it being extirpated. This was strongly exhibited afterwards, when 10,000 men, who had been ordered to embark for Brazil, revolted, and showed such determination, that the Regency was compelled to yield to their wishes. Portugal felt that the order of nature was inverted, and the parent state become a dependent on her own colony. Conflicting claims between the Regency and the Commander of the Forces induced Lord Beresford to repair to Rio de Janeiro, to obtain fresh instructions, and probably additional authority from the King. In his

absence a revolution broke forth, which, giving to Portugal a new aspect, renders all accounts of its present condition doubtful, and leaves to conjecture what may be the result of the circumstances in which she is placed.

The first symptoms of this revolution were exhibited at Oporto, and the first movements were made on the 24th August 1820, in the 18th regiment, under the command of Don Bernardo de Castro e Sepulveda, in which he was supported by the other troops in that garrison, and, as is supposed, by the civil authorities of the city. A provincial Junta of 13 members was chosen by acclamation, who issued a proclamation to quiet the apprehensions of the British officers. Sepulveda was opposed by Count Amarante, the commander of the troops in the province Tras os Montes; but on marching towards him, in the end of August, that officer was forsaken by his troops, who joined the insurgents, and rendered it necessary for him to take refuge in Spain.

Sepulveda then advanced with his army towards Lisbon, and reached Coimbra, where the Junta of Oporto followed him and held their sittings. The Regency of the kingdom in Lisbon acted with indecision, or perhaps with treachery. On the 29th August, they issued a proclamation denouncing the transactions that had taken place at Oporto, and calling on the inhabitants and military to oppose their progress; and, on the 1st September, issued another, by which they directed the assembling of the Cortes of the kingdom according to its ancient institution. Before the period had arrived for the convocation of the assembly, an event occurred which wholly frustrated the plan projected by the Junta of Regency. It had been usual to celebrate, on the 15th September, the deliverance of Portugal from the French invaders. The Junta fearing to assemble, in the agitated state of the public mind, such a concourse of people as usually met on that day, resolved to omit the ceremony; but the troops, at the instigation of the native officers, paraded without orders, and, before they separated, deposed the Government, and installed a temporary Council to rule. The Junta of Oporto, who were at Coimbra, soon received intelligence of the occurrences in Lisbon, and reached the capital on the 1st October. Before any agreement between the two Juntas had been made, the arrival of Lord Beresford, from Brazil, in an English ship of the line, caused great consternation. The soldiers were known to be attached to him, his powers were presumed to be extensive, and the acclamations which the native officers had drawn forth from the troops could not be depended on. The two Juntas, agreeing in nothing else, united, however, to prevent his landing; and after some ineffectual efforts to open an intercourse, he departed for England. When left to themselves, divisions of the most embittered kind arose among the insurgents. The partizans of the Junta of Oporto were the most furious; and having placed at the head of the troops one of their own partizans, the Junta of Lisbon was surrounded on the 11th November, the meeting dissolved, and a proclamation issued declaring the adoption of the Spanish constitution. The ascendancy of this violent party was but short. Texeira, who had com-

manded the troops, changed his views; and through his means the more moderate party were put in possession of power. By them the Cortes was convoked, and the Spanish constitution voted as far only as it should suit the circumstances of Portugal. The mode of election of one deputy to 30,000 inhabitants, as prescribed by the Spanish plan, was adopted; and when the assembly met, it was found that few men of wealth or family were chosen. The assembly assumed all power, uniting the executive, judicial, and legislative authority, in their own body. The King was induced to return from Brazil, but on his arrival found himself a mere cypher; every one in whom he had any confidence being carefully kept from his presence, and some of the ministers, who had accompanied him, being committed to prison. The Cortes have since occupied themselves in framing a constitution and a code of laws; but have made no such progress in either as can enable any certain judgment to be formed of what may be the result of their deliberations. In the meantime, the inhabitants of Brazil have established a government, in effect independent of Portugal, with the Prince Regent at its head. The troops that have been sent to that country have revolted to the Brazilians, and their officers being dismissed, have been sent back to Europe. The

state of the finances has so much deteriorated, that there is not money sufficient to pay even the troops, who are six months in arrear; and the civil officers and creditors of the state are in a still more lamentable situation. There is no power to put in execution the decrees that issue from the Cortes; and that body has not sufficient unity of mind to enact a series of laws consistent with themselves.

Whether it was wise to attempt the establishment of a democracy, in a country where the priests of various kinds, the military, and the officers of the state, comprise one-fifth of the male population, it is not for us to determine; but so wretched was the previous condition of the Portuguese government, that it is scarcely possible the revolution can leave the country in a worse state than that which preceded it.

See Elementos de la Geografia Natural y Politica de Espana y Portugal, por Don Isidoro de Antillon. Memoria sobre las causas de la diferente poblacion de Portugal, por Jozè Joaquin Soares de Barros. Link's Travels through France, Spain, and Portugal. Jones's War in Spain and Portugal. Campagnes de l'Armée de Portugal, par M. Guingret, Chef de Battalion. Essai Statistique sur le Royaume de Portugal, par Adrien Balbi. (w. w.)