Part 14

The people of Portugal, thus delivered from the horrors of war, remained in the greatest tranquillity during the reign of John the Vth, who never took the smallest part in any war, except that which arose between the Ecclesiastical States, the Venetians, and Turks, shortly after the peace of Utrecht. On this occasion the king of Portugal sent out a squadron to assist the former; and the pope, in acknowledgment of so essential a service, divided the archbishopric of Lisbon into two dioceses, and raised the royal chapel to the dignity of a metropolitan, patriarchal church: since which time the city of Lisbon has been separated into two great districts, distinguished by the name of eastern and western.

The patriarch received permission from the pope to officiate habited like his holiness; whilst the canons of his church had the privilege of wearing habits resembling those of cardinals.

The king immediately caused a most superb patriarchal church to be erected, and greatly beautified the fine palace of his predecessors: he also constructed an aqueduct, which was still more useful than magnificent, Lisbon having been hitherto very ill supplied with water; whilst on the other hand he built the sumptuous convent of Mafra, which may be termed with equal justice more _magnificent_ than _useful_.[35] The taste displayed by his majesty for architecture, did not divert his attention from the cultivation of arts and sciences. On the 8th of December, 1720, he issued a decree for the institution of the _Royal Academy of the History of Portugal_.[36] He gave orders for the purchasing of a variety of curious and valuable articles from foreign countries, such as pictures, statues, books, and manuscripts. He encouraged and rewarded artists of every description, and succeeded in inspiring them with that noble emulation so necessary to the progress of talents; but he did not sufficiently interest himself about artificers, and the means of improving the industry of his people, and making it turn out to the greatest advantage: this neglect may probably be attributed to lord Tyrawley, the English ambassador, who had obtained a very great ascendance over the mind of this prince; who, however, paid the strictest attention to every other branch of the administration. He was possessed of much firmness of character, was a rigorous observer of justice, and knew much better than any of his predecessors how to maintain the necessary subordination between the people and the nobles, who had formerly been very absolute, nay, indeed almost independant. He proved his strict adherence to justice on several occasions; especially in the following instance; when Cæsar de Ménézes, the son of the viceroy of Bahia having, with the assistance of several other gentlemen, forcibly rescued one of his attendants from the hands of the corregidor, the king immediately deprived the latter of his employment, as a punishment for his want of firmness; banished Ménézes to Africa, and either exiled or imprisoned all the gentlemen concerned in the business.

This monarch, though slavishly attached to the fair sex, still retained the inflexible justice of his character, even in moments when the greatest men have sometimes yielded to the seductions of beauty. The relations of a gentleman condemned to work in the mines, contrived to interest the king's mistress in his favour: but this prince presently put a stop to her entreaties, by observing, "that the pardon she solicited depended on the king of Portugal, who resided in the _Terreiro de Paco_: but that in her house he appeared in no other character than that of her lover."

The convents, and different houses of the grandees, which had hitherto served as sanctuaries for criminals, were in this reign deprived of that privilege, which indeed had only served to screen the most notorious villains from the punishments due to their crimes. His humanity was equal to his justice, for during an epidemical malady in Lisbon, which in the year 1723 carried off a thousand persons in a month, he gave audience three times a week to every description of his subjects, whether blacks or whites, freemen or slaves; he also forbid the nobles who composed his court to quit the capital, and insisted on their seconding his benevolence, and aiding him in the distribution of his charities.

A dreadful tempest, in the following year, destroyed more than a hundred vessels in the Tagus: immediately the beneficent hand of this humane monarch, was stretched forth, to repair, to the utmost of his power, the cruel losses sustained on this fatal occasion.

The great abuses which had for a long time taken place in the administration of the holy office, called for the attention of a just and merciful sovereign. John the Vth succeeded in making a most important reform. Before his reign, the prisoners detained in the inquisition were never allowed counsel to plead their cause; so great an abuse of power sensibly affected the king, who obtained a bull from pope Benedick the XIIIth, in 1725, by which these unhappy prisoners were granted every assistance that justice made necessary in their situation: this was followed up by a decree, obliging the inquisitors to communicate the sentences they pronounced to the king's council, before they were put in execution.

Such was the conduct of John the Vth, that he was equally beloved and feared by his people. The grandees, indeed, viewed him with sentiments of fear rather than of love; a truth of which he was so well convinced, that he is said to have declared, that though his grandfather feared the grandees, and his father both loved and feared them, that he himself neither feared nor loved them.

These sentiments are supposed to have arisen in his bosom, from the untoward conduct of the nobles, who, on several years being passed without the queen's having children, neglected paying their court to his majesty, and attached themselves very particularly to his brother, don Francisco: a prince, who is represented of so savage a disposition, that it appears extraordinary any one should wish to approach his person. One author,[37] in particular, mentions him as cruel, constantly delighting in fighting, and infesting the streets of Lisbon, at the head of a set of armed men, who nightly rambled through the city in search of adventures. These bands of gentlemen were termed _ranchos_; their amusement consisted in attacking and insulting passengers of every description, and such was the force of example, that several personages of the first nobility vied with don Francisco in the commission of these dreadful disorders. The duke de Cadaval, the marquis de Marialva, de Cascaes, the Aveiros, and the Obidos, had each their separate _rancho_. No night ever passed without people being wounded or murdered by this illustrious banditti; hatred, revenge, and a sort of civil war throughout the city, unrestrained by the presence of the king, were the natural consequences of such horrid barbarity. Foreigners also formed offensive and defensive treaties; and a body of sailors left their vessels on pretence of attacking the bravoes of Lisbon, whom they plundered, whenever their party happened to be the strongest.

A personage likewise acted a part in these nocturnal scenes, who afterwards made a very different and still more celebrated figure in the page of history. Carvalho, possessed of extraordinary strength, and invincible courage, with a form nearly gigantic, seemed decided to surpass every other bravo of the age. He chose for his companion a man of a mind and person resembling his own, who, with himself, was habited in a white Spanish capotte, with shoes and hat of the same colour: thus accoutered, they were easily distinguished in the night, when, without any other assistance, they attacked the different _ranchos_, which they frequently conquered; though never without being exposed to the most dangerous resistance, nor without receiving several wounds.

All the endeavours of his majesty to prevent such dreadful disorders, proved fruitless: they were thought, indeed, to proceed in some degree from a spirit of chivalry, which suited the national taste, and which the people did not wish to extinguish. The justice which always distinguished the character of the king, was about that time put to a severe and singular test, by a very unexpected claim, and one which had all the appearance of being well founded. In the year 1724, the chevalier _Porta_, a gentleman of Lausanne, arrived in Portugal, and was presented at court, where he demanded a private audience of his majesty, on a very particular occasion; no less than to lay claim to the possessions of don Antonio, who had been proclaimed king of Portugal in 1580, and from whom he alledged his wife was lineally descended. The king having granted him several audiences, and received him with great distinction, did not, however, venture to give judgment either for or against his claim, but left the decision to two juntas or councils. These were immediately assembled, and the opinions of the most celebrated civilians taken on the occasion. The result of their deliberations was, that the Swiss gentleman's claims were not legal, since don Antonio had been proscribed by Philip the IId of Spain, as a traitor to his country, and his property justly confiscated to the crown. This decision of the civilians was approved and confirmed by the two juntas.

That Philip the IId, who himself usurped the crown of the Braganzas, should pronounce such a sentence, is not extraordinary. Philip the IVth likewise pronounced one of the same nature against that family: but surprising indeed must it appear in the eyes of posterity, that a grandson of the duke of Braganza should acknowledge and admit such a judgment as just and legal. Whilst the Portugueze looked up with gratitude and blessings to a prince, under whose reign they had enjoyed all the comforts of peace, and whilst his paternal hands were ever open to bestow fresh marks of his bounty, they were on the eve of receiving a blow to their happiness, as dreadful as it was unexpected.

John the Vth, who was above the middle size, very well made, and so extremely strong, that his great delight in the bullfights was to seize the furious animal by the horns, and bring him to the ground, was attacked by a lingering illness, which, during the last eight years of his reign, reduced him to a state of inactivity, very fatal to the interests of his kingdom.

So great was his devotion after this attack, that he neglected all public affairs, which were entirely confided to the care of brother Gaspard, a _récollet friar_. From that moment the revenues of the state were employed in building or endowing convents and churches, and causing masses to be said: this last piece of devotion was carried to such an excess, that it arose to a degree of madness; and it became necessary to conceal from his majesty the deaths which took place in Lisbon; for no sooner did any one expire, were it the meanest of his subjects, than he caused at least a hundred masses to be said on the occasion. This gave rise to the following expression: "_that John sent the living to hell, to pray the dead out of purgatory_."

During the course of this fatal malady, which terminated in death on the 31st of July, 1750, every branch of the administration became relaxed, and the state was in the end not only destitute of money, but charged with a debt of a hundred millions of French livres.

John the Vth, as has been already observed, was of a fine height; his figure was noble, and his countenance agreeable, though his complexion was rather dark and thick. His dress was magnificent, and he sent for all his cloaths from Paris. As for his character, it is not very easy to delineate; he was particularly jealous of the dignity of his throne and his quality as king; and sought more to inspire his grandees with fear, than with love. He bore, in many particulars, a great resemblance to Louis the XIVth; their tastes were the same, except indeed in the article of war, which the Portugueze monarch always wished to avoid. The French, and some other nations, have reproached this prince with his partial attachment to the English, into whose hands he gave up the whole of the commerce both of Portugal and its colonies.

Joseph the Ist succeeded his father at a most unfavourable juncture: the deplorable state of the government and finances, required not only his strictest attention, but the assistance of the most able ministers. Diego de Mendoça was the first entrusted with the care of public affairs; but his majesty soon perceived that his choice had fallen on an improper person. Carvalho, who has been already mentioned as destined to play a great part on the stage of Portugal, and who, in future, will make the most conspicuous figure in this history, had displayed very great talents in his embassies to London and Vienna: he had also shewn himself so superior to all who composed the council held on the death of John the Vth, that he was fixed upon to replace Mendoça, who was afterwards banished to Mazagan, in Africa.

The new minister was born in 1699, of a gentleman's family from Soure, near Coimbra; in the university of which he was educated: after having made a great proficiency in his studies, he entered into the service, which his levity and misconduct obliged him to quit. Launched into the pleasures of the great world, his gallantry and spirit of chivalry seduced the affections of a young heiress, of the illustrious house of Almada. He succeeded in carrying her off, and married her in spite of her family, whose resentment he braved with impunity, notwithstanding all their efforts to cause his destruction: fortunately for him, brother Gaspard, who was the uncle of the duke d'Aveiro, and the favourite of John the Vth, was particularly his friend, and sent him off immediately; first to London, and afterwards to Vienna, as secretary to the embassy. During his residence in the last mentioned city, he received intelligence of the death of his wife. He very soon was happy enough to captivate the heart of a relation of the celebrated count de Daun, and having received letters patent of nobility from the court of Lisbon, all the numerous objections made at first to this alliance were immediately removed. Thus fortunate in a foreign country, let us now examine the different qualities and talents which paved the way for the brilliant post he was destined to fill on his return to his native land. The page of history scarcely furnishes a man possessed of so fine an understanding, and so strong a mind; or who could assume such a variety of forms, with a character so strikingly contrasted. He, indeed, displayed successively the lively wit and fascinating manners of a finished man of fashion; the cultivated understanding of the most learned scholar; the supple humour of the most artful courtier; the ready genius of the most consummate man of business; and the subtle spirit of the most able negociator. With his friends, Carvalho was sometimes open, and perfectly unreserved; whilst at other times he treated them with the same profound dissimulation he practised towards his enemies. The services he received were always rewarded, and the injuries he suffered were never forgiven. His manners towards foreigners were as easy and obliging as they were stiff and reserved towards his countrymen. Such, indeed, was the extent of his capacity, and his profound knowledge in politics, that he has ever been equally celebrated as a minister of state, and a manager of foreign affairs.

The great similarity existing between Carvalho, marquis de Pombal, and the cardinal de Richelieu, has given rise to the following comparison.[38] These two great personages had each been elevated from the middling station of life to the highest dignities. Each governed by terror, and re-established the sovereign authority, by cutting off the heads, and humbling the arrogance of a turbulent nobility. Each had the ridiculous pretension of being esteemed wits, and possessed of universal knowledge. Each was a profound politician, an imperious master, an irreconcileable enemy, and yet withal of amiable manners. Each rose to dignities by honourable means, and though alike disdaining to bend the knee at the shrine of fortune, each became possessed of immense riches.

It would greatly exceed the limits of this work, were we to attempt to enter minutely into the long administration of the marquis de Pombal; we shall therefore only take notice of some important particulars, and the most remarkable events, which took place during the reign of his master.

The respective domains of Spain and Portugal on the continent of South America, had never been properly divided; but in the year 1751, commissaries were sent thither to settle this affair, and on their report the limits were fixed, and a line of separation traced between the possessions of these two powers; this was approved and confirmed by treaties signed in the month of April in the same year; these treaties, however, were not easily put into execution, being strongly opposed by the Indians of Para and Marignan, and still more violently by those who inhabited the countries near the rivers d'Uraguay and Parana. Whatever may be the motives alledged in favour of the war then declared against these Indians, the principle on which it was founded was certainly unjust; for even on the supposition that one power has a right to insist on the neighbouring states adopting the form of government most conformable to the views of that power; it surely can never have that of attacking their independence; particularly after their having conformed to the new established laws, lived happily under them; and desiring nothing more than to be allowed the quiet enjoyment of the blessings of peace. The Portugueze, who dreaded the approach of the Spaniards towards Brazil, and still more particularly towards the mines of St. Paul, and their settlements on the river Parana; and the Spaniards, who were equally apprehensive that the Portugueze, by posting themselves on the Uraguay and Rio de la Plata, should come too near the colonies of Buenos Ayres, Chili, and the mines of Potosi, had by mutual agreement ceded the tract of country lying between their different settlements, to the Jesuits who acted as missionaries in that distant quarter of the globe.

If the grant of these lands, the length of which had never been ascertained, though the breadth had been determined, became clearly void on the part of those who ceded it, it could not possibly be valid on the part of those who signed it; unless, indeed, it was acknowledged as such by the parties concerned; and this was the ground on which the missionaries built all their pretensions. This society of holy men, to the disgrace of the other colonies,[39] had by constant attention and assiduity greatly humanized Paraguay and the other countries in the circle of their mission: villages were built in every part, Christianity triumphed over infidelity and idolatry; the savages became civilized, and lived happy under a wise government; no people, indeed, ever appeared more truly blessed; the produce of their labour was distributed in common; there were neither rich nor poor; no distinctions of high and low, consequently no avarice, ambition, or jealousy: all took an equal share in the labours of the day, and all were equally rewarded. The Jesuits distributed in the different towns and villages, treated the people with paternal tenderness, and reigned over the whole of Paraguay like the patriarchs of old, surrounded by a numerous and affectionate family. The authority they had established, by a system of politics very different from that of the generality of earthly governments, was founded on a perfect union of public utility and private happiness; and this astonishing republic existed some time in peace; for the missionaries, from moderation, and a wish to avoid all disputes with Spain and Portugal, paid a reasonable tribute to those powers, without murmuring at the illegality of such a demand on a free people, who, though now formed into a commonwealth, was not on that account to be esteemed either Spanish or Portugueze.

The courts of Lisbon and Madrid, jealous of the great population and rapid civilization of countries situated so near to their most important colonies, united to rob the Jesuits of the fruit of their labours, and to divide the spoil between them. In vain these holy fathers represented their lawful claim to lands, which had been particularly granted to them, and the injustice of committing such an outrage on a free people, who, though they had embraced the Christian religion, and adopted European manners, never intended bowing their necks to the yoke of foreign powers. The just reasons alledged by the Jesuits were treated as acts of rebellion, and an armed force immediately invaded their colonies. The Indians made all the resistance in their power, but were presently overcome by the superior skill and experience of European troops. A small number amongst them submitted to their new masters, whilst the rest, accompanied by their holy comforters, went farther up the country, and formed another settlement.

_The war of the missionaries_ bore a very serious aspect at Lisbon; and Carvalho dispatched his brother to terminate it as soon as possible. The effects of this war proved in the end very fatal to the Jesuits, for it prejudiced the king strongly against them, and certainly prepared the way for their destruction. A very short time afterwards, Joseph the First not only banished all father confessors of that order from the court of Lisbon, but every other Jesuit who held employments of whatsoever nature.[40]

Such about this time became the distressed state of the finances of Portugal, that the gold of Brazil became an object of the greatest importance to the minister. The usual annual importation of gold from that country he knew to amount to forty millions of French livres, whilst he also knew, that there were not more than fifteen millions, and those too not without alloy, in circulation throughout the whole of Portugal. He accordingly published an edict, forbidding the exportation of gold out of the kingdom. England was greatly alarmed at this intelligence; and government thought the affair of too much importance to trust to the common mode of representation; lord Tyrawley was therefore sent ambassador to Lisbon, with the strictest injunctions to prevent the effect of this edict; but neither his repeated expostulations, nor the threatened hostilities of his court, were of any avail to cause its revocation.

The establishment of several new manufactories in Portugal, occasioned fresh complaints on the part of the English, which were treated with as little attention as the former one.[41]

In the mean time Portugal was on the eve of sinking under a blow which no human prudence could possibly foresee or avert, and which was still more dreadful, from its not being preceded by any of those signs which usually presage such awful events.