Part 11

"I therefore challenge the said John (formerly duke) de Braganza, as having broken his faith to his God and to his king; and I defy him to single combat, hand to hand, with or without seconds, at his choice, which I also give him of weapons. The place of combat to be near Valentia d'Alcantara, which serves as boundary to the two kingdoms of Portugal and Castille, and there will I wait for him eighty days, beginning from the first of October, and ending on the nineteenth of December of this present year. The twenty last days I will appear in person, in the market-place of the said Valentia, and on the day he shall appoint, I will wait for him on the limits. This space of time, although very long, I grant to the said tyrant, that the affair may be made known, not only to him, but to the greater part of the countries in Europe; nay, indeed, to the whole world: and on condition that he will grant a safeguard to the cavaliers whom I shall send forward a league into Portugal, as I will grant one to those of his party a league into Castille, when I promise myself to make known in the fullest manner the infamous action he has committed.

"If he fail to obey this call upon him as a gentleman, and refuse to comply with my challenge, as the only means left me to exterminate this phantom; and I should perceive that he is not hardy enough to meet me in single combat, to prove how I and all my friends do, and ever have served our sovereigns, whilst he and his, on the contrary, are traitors; I hereby do offer (under the pleasure of his catholic majesty, whom God preserve) my town of Saint Lucar de Barameda, the principal seat of the dukes de Medina-Sidonia, to whomsoever shall kill the said John de Braganza: and prostrating myself at the feet of his said majesty, I humbly entreat him not to entrust me with the command of his army on this occasion, which requires a degree of prudence and moderation, that the excess of my wrath would prevent my exercising, but only to permit me to serve in person at the head of a thousand horse, from amongst my proper subjects; so that depending alone on my own courage, I shall not only contribute to the restoration of Portugal, and the punishment of this rebel, but in case he refuse my challenge, I may then be enabled, by the aid of my troops, to throw him dead or alive at the feet of his said majesty: and to omit nothing which may prove my zeal. I also offer one of the finest towns in my domains to the first Portugueze governor or captain who shall surrender a place in Portugal, whether of great or small importance to the service of his catholic majesty; but after doing all I possibly can, I shall never have done enough for his said majesty; since all I possess, I hold from, and owe to him and his glorious ancestors."--Given at Toledo, this 29th of September, 1641.

The duke de Medina, conformably to his challenge, did not fail to appear on the field of battle. He was armed _cap-a-pee_, and escorted by don John de Garray, colonel-commandant of the Spanish troops. Parleys were beaten, and defiances published in the usual form; but no one appeared on the part of the king of Portugal. That prince was indeed much too prudent to act a part in so ridiculous a comedy; and even had the affair been of a more serious nature, it would have been highly improper in a sovereign thus to expose his person with a subject of his enemy.

The prime minister, whilst amusing the people with this idle puppet shew, did not neglect turning the whole of his sovereign's indignation on the marquis d'Aïamonte, and giving him up to the utmost rigour of the law. This nobleman had been put under arrest, and it was requisite to induce him to make a full confession of his guilt; he was therefore flattered with the hope of pardon, and assured that it depended on him alone to experience the same mercy from the best of kings, as had been already shewn to the duke of Medina: but that sovereigns, like the Almighty, whose representatives on earth they were, granted pardon to those only who sincerely repented, and who confessed their guilt.

The marquis, seduced by these promises, and particularly by the acquittal of his accomplice, the duke de Medina, signed every thing which was required of him, and this very confession was brought against him. He was accordingly arraigned, tried, and condemned to lose his head. He listened to this sentence, which was passed upon him in the evening, with the most surprising composure, and without breathing a single complaint against the duke, or the prime minister. He afterwards supped with his usual appetite, and slept so soundly the whole of the night, that his judges were obliged to awaken him to convey him to the place of execution, whither he walked in profound silence, and died with a degree of firmness worthy a better cause. Thus ended a conspiracy, to which the king of Spain must inevitably have fallen a victim, without the intervention of the luckiest chance; or, more properly speaking, without the interference of Providence, which will not always permit such crimes to prosper.

The king of Portugal having failed in this attempt, turned all his thoughts to the support of his crown, not only by open force, but by the assistance of his allies. France afforded him all possible aid, and piqued itself on thus protecting the most ancient branch of its last race of kings. This foreign war was likewise useful in causing a diversion, and giving employment to part of the Spanish forces.

The Portugueze gained several advantages at different times over the Spaniards, and thus prevented them from approaching the frontiers. The king of Portugal might even have penetrated into Castille, had his generals been more able, or his body of regular troops more considerable. The greater part of his army being composed of militia, was much fitter to make incursions than to keep the field: he was frequently destitute even of means to pay his troops, and having abolished most of the taxes on his first accession to the crown, in order to gain the favour of his people; it would have been a dangerous experiment to have re-established them under so new a government. With all these disadvantages, however, he contrived to support the war against Spain, very nearly seventeen years. That country could not boast of greater generals than Portugal; each nation gained more by the weakness of its opponent, than by its own strength; and the exhausted treasury of Philip the IVth, at the latter end of his reign, supplied the place of riches to the new king of Portugal. This prince departed this life on the 6th of November, 1656; and the Portugueze, unable to call forth the attention of posterity to the most striking qualities of their king, confine their praises to his moderation and piety; whilst impartial historians accuse him of want of courage, diffidence of himself, mistrust of others, reserve towards the nobles, who found it difficult to approach his person, whilst he conversed openly and familiarly with his ancient domestics alone, and more especially with the friend and companion of his confessor. The only inference to be drawn from this conduct is, that this prince, naturally peaceable, and given up to his devotions, might be said to possess the good qualities of a private individual, though never the splendid virtues of a great king. His accession to the crown of Portugal must then be solely attributed to the hatred borne by the people of that country to the Spaniards, and to the adroit management of his queen, who made use of this national animosity to raise her to the regal dignity.[24] The king, her husband, in his last will, appointed her regent of the kingdom, rightly judging, that the same conduct and courage which had placed the crown on her head, would not fail to preserve it during the minority of his children. He left behind him two sons and one daughter; the eldest of which, don Alphonso, was nearly thirteen years of age when he succeeded his father. This young prince was of a melancholy disposition, and was deprived of the use of one side: his brother, the infant, don Pedro, was only eight years old; and the infanta, donna Catharine, who was the eldest of the family, was born before the revolution. Don Alphonso being shewn to the people, was proclaimed king, according to the usual forms, and the queen took upon herself, the same day, the regency of the state.

The princess was very ambitious to signalize the commencement of her government by some brilliant action; but her generals could boast more bravery as soldiers, than conduct as captains, and there was not one throughout the whole of Portugal capable of either fortifying a town, or conducting a siege. Neither was her council much better composed; some of her ministers attending more to displaying their eloquence in proving the necessities of the state, than in endeavouring to relieve them; whilst others, without attending to the low state of the army in Portugal, amused themselves by proposing plans of conquests: thus the debates of these supreme councils generally ended in schemes as ill-concerted as unsuccessful.

The considerable losses sustained by the Portugueze at Olivença and Badajos, where they were obliged to raise the siege, may, in a great measure, be attributed to the above causes. They had also embroiled themselves with Holland, on account of the India trade; and France, ever after the peace of the Pyrenees, appeared no longer interested in their favour. The queen, thus deprived of foreign allies, without either disciplined troops or able generals, had no resource left but in the greatness of her courage, which, indeed, supplied to her every other loss. The weight of affairs could not shake her steady soul; the extent of her genius, and the prudence of her conduct were equal to every thing; and the agitated state of the country in the commencement of her regency, served only to display in more striking colours the brilliant qualities of this all-accomplished princess, who began her operations by vesting the authority of the council in her own person: she constantly read all the dispatches; nothing escaped her attention and foresight, and she directed her views to all those European courts from which she could possibly hope for assistance.

Such noble efforts, and constant application, succeeded in putting Portugal in a state of defence against Spain; but being perfectly aware of the necessity there would be in future of employing foreign troops to form her own, and particularly the want she stood in of an able general for that purpose, she cast her eyes on Frederic count de Schomberg, whose valour and capacity were already known and distinguished. The regent was very desirous of appointing him commander in chief of the army, but she was fearful of giving umbrage to the _governors of arms_, whose pride would not very readily have consented to act under the orders of a foreign chief: she found it, therefore, necessary to employ the count de Soure, her ambassador at the court of France, to treat with the count de Schomberg, and propose his appearing at first in Portugal only as colonel commandant of the army, promising him, however, that in case of the death or resignation of the present _governor of arms_, he should immediately be appointed commander in chief.

The count set off for Lisbon attended by eighty officers, partly captains, and partly subalterns, together with more than four hundred troopers, all experienced soldiers, capable of forming and commanding new forces. In compliance with secret orders from the regent, the count passed through England, where Charles the IId was newly restored to the crown, and where he was to endeavour to discover whether that protestant prince would object to an alliance with the infanta of Portugal. The count acquitted himself of this commission with great nicety, and succeeded in making both the king, and the lord chancellor Hyde, solicitous for the marriage. The queen was no sooner secure of their approbation, than she dispatched the marquis de Sande to England, to carry on the negociation.

The king of Spain, who trembled at this alliance, used every possible endeavour to prevent its taking place; he did not even scruple offering three millions of French livres to Charles the IId, to induce him to espouse a protestant princess; and his ambassador proposed to him the princesses of Denmark, Saxony and Orange, assuring him that the king his master would adopt as his daughter whichever of these princesses he should honour with his choice, and as such, bestow her on him in marriage. The chancellor Hyde, however, represented in such forcible terms, the great necessity of supporting the family of Braganza on the throne of Portugal, and the danger of that country being united to Spain under the government of one prince, that Charles decided on accepting the hand of the infanta. Thus, we see, a protestant minister, engaging his sovereign to form an alliance with a catholic, whilst a prince of the latter religion, particularly distinguished by the title of catholic king, offered immense sums to induce him to marry a protestant. So true it is, that reasons of state are the basis on which crowned heads form their religion; since princes, in cases of this nature, are usually guided by motives of self-interest alone.

The king of England, through this alliance, contrived to make a treaty of commerce between the States-General and Portugal; and afterwards sent a considerable body of troops, under the command of the earl of Inchinquin, into that kingdom. This nobleman was soon recalled, and the English commanded to act under the orders of the count de Schomberg, who presently after his arrival in Portugal had the troops of three different nations at his command. The Portugueze, indeed, had a separate general of their own country, but this distinction was a vague title, intended only to flatter the ambition of the grandees, since the count enjoyed the unlimited confidence of the queen; who, in fact, gave him absolute power over the army, which he employed in establishing the strictest discipline. He taught the Portugueze the order to be observed on a march; with the art of encamping to the greatest advantage; and erected regular fortifications on most of the frontier posts, which had hitherto been left in an undefended state.

The regent, thus happy in so experienced a general, carried on the war with the greatest vigour. Her arms were almost always successful. Her troops had never before been in so flourishing a state, or so perfectly well disciplined; the poor blessed her government; and the grandees, impressed with sentiments of fear and respect, were all submission to her will; but alas! this happy state of affairs soon underwent a painful alteration, and domestic troubles, joined to different intrigues, gave a new turn to every thing at court; for whilst this great princess was constantly and successfully employed in securing the crown to her son, that prince, by the irregularity of his conduct, was proving himself unworthy of so dignified a situation. His mind was low and sordid, his temper gloomy and savage: he could not support the idea of submitting to the authority of his mother, and contemptuously rejected the advice of his ministers. The society of the noblemen appointed to attend him, was odious to a prince who delighted only in that of negroes and mulattoes, with other young men chosen from the very dregs of the people; and of these wretched beings he had contrived to form a little court, notwithstanding every effort of his governor to prevent it. He termed them his _bravoes_, and thus escorted, passed the night in ranging through the streets of Lisbon, insulting every one who had the misfortune to meet him.

The disordered state of his intellects was supposed to be occasioned by a paralytic stroke, which attacked him at the age of four years. The impressions it caused were terrible; but his defects were left uncorrected in his earliest youth, from the fear of his weakness being increased by severity; hopes were also entertained, that time, by strengthening his body, might also temper his mind: this indulgence, however, only added to his natural indocility: his health, indeed, improved by age and medicine; he was equal to the strongest exercise, and fenced and rode remarkably well; but his disposition still continued savage; he acted more from violence than judgment; and when the passions of youth took place of those of childhood, he did not scruple introducing the vilest strumpets into the palace; nay, he even frequently passed his nights in the most notorious brothels, where he gave way to all kinds of shameful debauchery.

The regent, deeply grieved at such conduct, rightly judged that it must inevitably end in the loss of his crown, and that it would finally destroy the work it had cost her such pains, and so many years to complete. She was frequently tempted to imprison him for life, and place the infant his brother on the throne; but the fear of creating a civil war, of which the Spaniards would not fail to profit, alone prevented her taking so bold a step. She also flattered herself with the possibility of reclaiming the king, by depriving him of a certain Conti, a tradesman's son, who was his favourite, and the secret agent of his debaucheries. She therefore gave orders to have him secured, and sent to the Brazils, from whence he was forbidden to return on pain of death.

The king at first appeared thunderstruck at the loss of his favourite, but he soon affected great calmness, and even became more tractable. This alteration delighted the queen, who congratulated herself, and was congratulated by the courtiers and ministers on the success of her scheme: but the king's apparent tranquillity proved to be merely put on, to cover designs of a deeper nature than the queen thought him capable of forming; and this sagacious princess, who could penetrate into the most secret recesses of a courtier's heart, became the dupe of an absolute idiot.

The king, in the first moments of his grief for the loss of Conti, had bewailed his misfortunes to the count de Castello Melhor, a Portugueze nobleman of very high extraction, who, though an ambitious and artful courtier, was much more capable of carrying on a court intrigue, than conducting a state affair. Such a mark of confidence appeared a fair opening for the count, to replace the favourite in his master's affections, by pretending to pity his disgrace, and by contriving methods to restore him to the king. He therefore began his operations, by representing to his majesty, that he was himself the sole cause of Conti's misfortunes, since being the sovereign, and having been long of age, he had nothing to do but to exert his authority, throw off that of the regent, and recal his favourite, who would then return, not only triumphant over his enemies, but even over the queen herself.

The king, delighted with advice so conformable to his natural disposition, let him into every secret of his heart. Their intimacy, however, was carried on in a mysterious manner; and his majesty bestowed no public marks of favour on the count, who was fearful of incurring the suspicions of the regent; but this princess was too clear sighted not to perceive his influence over her son; and meeting him one day in the train of that prince, she caught him by the arm, and fixing her eye upon him, with that dignified aspect which made her equally respected and feared by all her subjects, "Count," said she, "I am well informed of your credit with the king; and should he commit any action contrary to my will, your life shall be the forfeit."

The count made no reply to this discourse, but profoundly bowing, followed the king, who at that moment called him. He was, however, no sooner alone with his majesty, than he related all that had passed; adding, that he was very well aware of the danger of his situation, being on the eve of sharing the fate of Conti; but he would submit to it with pleasure, could he once see his master freed from the yoke of an imperious regency, which, whilst it subsisted, must ever keep him in the back ground, with no other distinction than the title of king, without either authority or consideration.

This artful speech irritated the monarch to a degree little short of madness, and he was on the point of insisting on the regent's delivering into his own hands the great seals of the state, which are always regarded as the mark of sovereign authority: but the count was too well acquainted with the queen's empire over her son, to permit him to take such a step; he therefore advised him to retreat to Alcantara, without seeing her, and from thence dispatch couriers to the magistrates of Lisbon, and the governors of the provinces, to make known his determination of taking the reins of government into his own hands. In compliance with this advice, the prince, in disguise, attended alone by the count and his friends, arrived in the night at Alcantara. The next morning he wrote to the secretaries of state, commanding them to attend him immediately; he also sent for the Spanish guards, and published throughout the kingdom, that the term of the queen-mother's regency expired with his minority.

The greater part of the courtiers obeyed his majesty's summons, and the queen was soon deserted; she indeed had presently reason to know, that borrowed authority can never subsist, when it ceases to be supported by the legitimate power. This princess, however, always herself behaved with her usual dignity; and the noble and generous manner with which she gave up the sovereign authority, sufficiently proved how deserving she was to reign still longer, and that her only motive for having prolonged the regency beyond the usual term, was to ensure the happiness of the nation. She immediately wrote to the king, that it little became him to act the part of an usurper, and to employ clandestine measures to gain possession of a throne, which was his lawful right; inviting him at the same time to return the following day to his palace, when in an assembly composed of the grandees, and principal magistrates of the city, she would herself present him with the seals, and give up to him the government of the kingdom. The king accordingly went back to Lisbon, where the queen, true to her promise, convened the grandees of the kingdom, together with those dignified with titles, and the heads of orders, and in their presence gave the purse which contained the seals to his majesty: "Here," said she, "are the seals which were confided to me as regent of your kingdom, by virtue of the last will of my lord the late king. I commit them most willingly into the hands of your majesty, and I heartily pray God, that the prosperity of your government may equal the wishes I form in your favour." The king, taking the seals, presented them to the secretary of state; after which, the infant, his brother, and all the grandees, kissed his majesty's hand, and acknowledged him a second time their lawful sovereign.