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CHAPTER XI.

PORTUGAL.-Opening of the Session of the Cortes by a Royal SpeechOutbreak of Insurrection in the province of the Upper Minho-José Cabral, Minister of Justice, quits Oporto for Lisbon-Resignation of the Cabral Ministry-Castro and José Cabral take refuge on board a French man-of-war, and afterwards sail to Cadiz-Dissolution of the Cortes-Suspension of Cash Payments by the Bank of Lisbon-Formation of the Palmella Cabinet-Popular appointments made by the Ministry-Abrupt dismissal of the Duke de Palmella and his Colleagues-New Ministry formed by the Marquis de Saldanha-Com. mencement of Civil War in Portugal-Revolutionary Leaders-Conflicts between the Insurgents and Queen's Troops-Defeat of the Rebel Leader Sà da Bandiera near Chaves-Valença taken from the Rebels-Das Antas besieged in Santarem by the Marquis Saldanha-The Duke de Palmella quits Lisbon, and goes on board an English man-of-war.

BELGIUM.-New Ministry.

PAPAL STATES.-Death of Pope Gregory XVI.-Candidates for the vacant See-Election of Cardinal Mastei, who assumes the title of Pope Pius IX.-Sketch of his Life-Liberal Measures of the new Pope-Popular demonstrations of joy at his Elevation-Cardinal Gozzi appointed Secretary of State-New Commercial Tariff. GREECE.-Opening of the Greek Chambers by King Otho-Royal Speech-Addresses voted in the two Houses-Extraordinary Statement made by the Minister of Finance-Opening of the Third Session of the Greek Parliament, and Speech from the Throne.

POLAND.-Insurrection in Silesia-Suppression by the three "Protecting Powers"-Annexation of the Republic of Cracow to Austria-Edict of the Emperor-Cracow taken possession of by Count Castiglione and Count Maurice de Deyme in the name of the Austrian Government— Manifesto by Count Castiglione.

THE annual Session of the

T1
Cortes was opened by the
Queen in person, on the 2nd
of January, with the following
Speech:-

"Noble Peers of the RealmGentlemen of the Deputies of the Portuguese Nation,—

"I again behold with great pleasure the representatives of the nation assembled in this place.

"In the interval which has occurred since the last Session, no grave event has disturbed peace and public order, they continue unchanged.

"Our relations with Foreign Powers are preserved in perfect harmony, corresponding to the care with which I have endeavoured to draw closer the ties of friendship, and to promote the development of our mutual commercial interests. "The dispositions of the treaty of commerce and navigation which was lately celebrated with Prussia, have been extended in those points which were applicable to the greater part of the States constituting the Germanic League of Custom Houses.

"A consular convention has been concluded with Spain, for the regulation of the powers of the respective consuls.

"The firmness with which I have caused to be carried into effect the decree of the 10th of Decem ber, 1836, and the treaty which binds this kingdom with Great Britain in endeavours to effect the suppression of the traffic of slavery, have produced the happiest results.

"The good faith with which the Government has continued to discharge its liabilities, both at home and abroad, is producing the most satisfactory consequences in all that has reference to the re-establishment and consolidation of public credit.

"By the budget for the approaching economical year, with which you will be presented, in conformity with the fundamental law of the Monarchy, you will learn what are the charges and obligations of the State in the said year, and the means and resources from which the same must be liquidated.

"I feel assured you will lend the most serious attention to the examination of the Estimates, and the projects of law by which they will

be accompanied, to the end that the Government may be empowered to proceed in the faithful discharge of the duties which are imposed on it in this most important department of the public administration.

"In determining the sea and land forces you will keep in view what the public safety and the dignity of the nation require.

"Regarding the various branches of Public Service which call for legislative measures, my Ministers will lay before you such proposals as may be deemed fitting, and experience recommend.

"I confide in the Chambers affording to my Government that efficacious and enlightened co-operation, without which it is impossible to reap the advantages of a representative Government.

The Session is opened."

In a

Several disturbances occurred in the early part of the year in different parts of Portugal, but they led to no result. On the 10th of May, however, an insurrection broke out of a more formidable character, and attended by important consequences. It commenced in the province of the Upper Minho, and the immediate cause was the opposition of the peasantry to a new health tax, including burial fees recently imposed, and everything odious to the people. few days, the region of Alemtejo, Beira Alta, the Tros os Montes, and other places, were in arms against the Castro Cabral Government, and formed revolutionary juntas, according to the mode always adopted in the Peninsula in such emergencies. José Cabral, Minister of Justice, the brother of Castro Cabral, was then at Oporto; but as his life was unsafe, owing to the fury of the populace, he hastily quitted that city for Lisbon, where

he arrived on the 15th. Immediately afterwards, Castro Cabral, accompanied by his brother, proceeded to the palace, and tendered the resignation of himself and his colleagues, which the Queen accepted. The Count de Villa Reale was at first commissioned to form a Government, but he failed in the attempt; and on the evening of the 20th, the Duke de Palmella was sent for, and charged with the difficult task. On the 22nd, the Queen, to conciliate her subjects, issued a proclamation, in which was promised a redress of grievances, including the restoration of the liberty of the press. The two Cabrals were obliged to quit the capital. For some days they had remained under the protection of the police, and afterwards took refuge in the hotel of the Spanish Ambassador, Senor Gonzales Brano, but they were not allowed to exasperate the populace by their presence in Lisbon, but were compelled to go on board a French man-of-war in the river, whence they removed into an English steamer on her way to Cadiz, where they disembarked.

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On the 26th of May, two Royal proclamations appeared, by the first of which the Chamber of Deputies was dissolved, and the Grand Cortes was convoked traordinarily" for the 1st of September, before which time a general election was to take place. The other proclamation provided for a temporary suspension of cash payments by the Bank of Lisbon, on account of the sudden run upon it occasioned by the insurrectionary movements. The decree consisted of the following articles :

"1. It is conceded to the Bank of Lisbon to suspend the general payment of its notes for a period

of three months, reckoned from the date of this decree (23rd May), if before the end of that term it should not be possible for it to resume the said payment. 2. During the said space of three months all the notes of the Bank of Lisbon will have a forced circulation, and will be received for their nominal value as metallic money, as well in the payment of all taxes and public revenues as in transactions between private individuals. The sole exception from this disposition is letters of exchange between Lisbon and foreign countries. 3. The tribunal of the public Treasury is charged with fiscalising the convenient execution of this decree, and proposing to me, with all possible despatch, the measures which it may deem opportune on this important subject.

On the 26th, the new Ministry was definitively constituted as fol

lows:

President of the Council and

Minister of Finance, Duke de
Palmella.

Minister of War, Marquis de Saldanha.

Minister of the Kingdom (Interior),

Monsinho d'Albuquerque. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Conde do Lavradio.

Minister of Justice, Joaquim Filippe de Soure. Minister of Marine and (ad interim) of War, José Jorge Loureiro.

Monsinho d'Albuquerque was also appointed Civil Governor of the district of Lecria, which had taken a very prominent part in the late insurrection, in the place of Paredes, who held that office under the Cabral Ministry; and at Viducia, Evora, Oporto, and other places, the Governors who were ob

noxious to the people were removed, and popular officers appointed in their stead.

The Palmella Cabinet continued in power four months, when it was abruptly dismissed. It had experienced great difficulty in effecting a loan which the necessities of Government demanded, and on the 6th of October the Duke de Palmella was summoned to the palace, and asked by the Queen whether he and his colleagues still found themselves unable to obtain the money that was required. On his stating that such was the case, Her Majesty at once announced her determination to change her Ministers, and as every thing appears to have been arranged beforehand for their dismissal, the requisite decrees were produced, and signed at the same interview. The next day the new Ministry was announced, and was composed of the following members :

President of the Council and Minister of War, Marquis de Saldanha.

Minister of the Kingdom and (ad interim) of Finances, Viscount d'Oliveira.

Justice, J. J. Valente Farinho.
Marine and Colonies, D. Manoel de
Portugal e Castro.
Foreign Affairs, Viscount da Car-
reira.

Throughout the rest of the year civil war raged in Portugal, and the King Consort himself assumed the post of Commander-in-Chief of the army. Oporto, Coimbra, Evora, Braza, Penafiel, and many other places, early in November, had "pronounced" against the Government, and wide-spread disaffection caused the utmost alarm. At one

time it was feared that the Queen and Royal Family would be compelled to abandon Lisbon, and seek safety in England. Four regiments under General Vinhaes marched against Oporto, where Count das Antas had assumed the military command of the rebels under the revolutionary" Supreme Junta of Government. The other principal leaders were Counts Louli and Fornos, and Viscount Sà da Bandiera, who were, by a Royal decree, deprived of their titles and rank. In the latter part of October, the Queen's troops under Viscount de Setubal, at Viana, and under Baron Cazal, in Tras os Montes, engaged and defeated the rebels. But the conflicts that took place between the Queen's troops and the insurgents led to no decisive result, and it is not our intention to give a detail of the obscure skirmishes and unimportant actions that characterized the feeble efforts on both sides. One of the principal successes gained over the rebels was the defeat, on the 16th of November, of a body of them amounting to 2000 men under the command of Sà da Bandiera, by Baron Casal and Viscount Vinhaes, near Chaves, in the province of Minho. During the action two regiments deserted from the enemy and joined the Queen's troops. The insurgents lost a considerable number of men, and Sà da Bandiera rapidly retreated upon Oporto, which continued until the end of the year, to be the head-quarters of the enemy. The strong fortress of Valença in the Upper Minho, which had been occupied by the rebels, was wrested from them at the beginning of December, and Don Antonio Pereira, who had been appointed Royal Commissioner of the

provinces of the Upper Minho and Tras os Montes, took possession of it for the Queen. Das Antas shut himself up in Santarem, where he was closely besieged by the Marquis de Saldanha, who remained before the town until the close of the year.

Early in December, the Duke de Palmella hastily quitted Lisbon at the instigation (as was believed) of the Queen, and went on board one of the English men-of-war which were then in the Tagus, under the command of Admiral Parker.

BELGIUM.-In April a change of Ministry took place, and the new Cabinet was composed of the following members :

M. de Theux, Minister of the Interior.

M. Deschamps, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

M. Malon, Minister of Finance.
M. de Bavay, Minister of Public
Works.

General Prisse, Minister of War.
Baron d'Anethan, Minister of
Justice.

PAPAL STATES.-The most important event that occurred this year in Italy was the death of Pope Gregory XVI., who expired on the 1st of June, at Rome. His name, before he was elevated to the triple Crown, was Mauro Capellari, and he was born at Belluno in 1765. He was raised by Leo XII., in 1825, to the dignity of a Cardinal, and not long afterwards he was placed at the head of the Propaganda College. He was elected Pope by the College of Cardinals, in opposition to Cardinal Pacca, the candidate favoured by Austria, on the 2nd of

February, 1831, and assumed the name of Gregory XVI.

Such an event would in former times have engrossed the interest of Christendom, but now it hardly excited attention in the political world; so much has the temporal power of Papacy been diminished, and its influence upon the affairs of other nations destroyed. The candidates for the vacant tiara, were - Cardinal Fransoni, aged seventy-one; Cardinal Castruccio Castracane, sixty-seven; Cardinal Orioli, sixty-eight; Cardinal Micara, seventy-one; Cardinal Polidori, sixty-eight; and Cardinal Mastei, fifty-four. The election took place on the 16th of June, and the choice fell upon the last, who was crowned Pope on the 21st, and assumed the title of Pius IX. His name was John Maria Mastei Ferretti, and he was born at Sinigaglia, in the Roman States, on the 13th of May, 1792. He was of a noble family, and in early life served in the army as one of the body-guard of the then existing Pope, but, owing (as it is said) to the death of a lady to whom he was attached, he quitted the profession of arms for the church, and afterwards distinguished himself as a zealous missionary in South America. He returned to Italy, and in the year 1832 was made Bishop of Imola; and proclaimed Cardinal on the 14th of December, 1840. He seems to be a Pontiff of the most liberal and enlightened views, and one of his first acts was to publish a general amnesty for political offences. The preamble of this interesting and important document speaks well for the benevolence of the new occupant of St. Peter's chair. It says,"In these days, when our heart is moved to see public joy mani

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