Récapitulation des Recettes. 10. Produits affectés à la Dette Consolidée 2o. Produits affectés aux dépenses générales Francs. 390,420,000 595,736,821 Montant présumé des produits propres au Budget de l'Exercice 1829 986,156,821 Certifié conforme: le Ministre Secrétaire d'Etat des Finances, ROY. PAPERS respecting the Relations between Great Britain and Portugal.-1826, 1827.* LIST OF PAPERS. Correspondence with Sir William à Court and Sir Charles Stuart, relative to the Constitution for Portugal, granted by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, 1826. No. 1826 Page Rio de Janeiro, April 30 966 968 1. Mr. Secretary Canning to Sir William à Court.. Foreign Office, June 28 966 2. Sir Charles Stuart to Mr. Secretary Canning. 3. Sir Charles Stuart to Mr. Secretary Canning. 4. Sir Charles Stuart to Mr. Secretary Canning. Encl. Full Powers granted to Sir C. Stuart. 5. Mr. Secretary Canning to Sir Charles Stuart. Foreign Office, July 12 969 6. Mr. Secretary Canning to Sir William à Court.. Foreign Office, July 12 970 7. Mr. Secretary Canning to Sir William à Court.. Foreign Office, July 17 971 8. Mr. Secretary Canning to Sir William à Court.. Foreign Office, July 19 972 9. Mr. Secretary Canning to Sir William à Court.. Foreign Office, July 22 973 10. Mr. Secretary Canning to Sir Charles Stuart.... Foreign Office, July 22 973 11. Sir Charles Stuart to Mr. Secretary Canning. Rio de Janeiro, May 9 974 12. Sir Charles Stuart to Mr. Secretary Canning Lisbon,...... July 15 975 Encl. Proclamation of the Infanta Regent.. 13. Sir William à Court to Mr. Secretary Canning.. Lisbon,. 14. Sir William à Court to Mr. Secretary Canning.. Lisbon,. 977 July 29 978 Aug. 4 978 Communications from Sir Henry Wellesley, respecting the Engagements entered into by the Infant Don Miguel, at Vienna, on his assuming the hegency of Portugal. No. 15. Sir Henry Wellesley to the Earl of Dudley.. Encl. Protocols of Conferences at Vienna... Vienna, 1827 Page November 5, 978 979 * Presented to Parliament, 19th June, 1829. [1827-28.] 3 R No. 1.-Mr Secretary Canning to Sir William à Court. (Extract.) Foreign Office, 28th June, 1826. ALTHOUGH it is scarcely possible that the intelligence which has been received at Paris from Rio de Janeiro, should not be already known at Lisbon, or, at least, should not arrive there before this Packet, yet (to leave nothing to chance) I inclose to Your Excellency the Copy of a Despatch, received yesterday from His Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, inclosing the publication in the Moniteur, of the Act by which the Emperor of Brazil abdicates the Crown of Portugal, in favour of His Daughter. In this Act reference is made to another, by which His Imperial Majesty has given a Constitution to the Kingdom of Portugal. But of that Act (whether it has not been received in France, or whether Lord Granville has inadvertently omitted to forward it) I am not enabled to send you a copy. H.E. Sir William à Court, G.C.B. GEORGE CANNING. No. 2.-Sir Charles Stuart to Mr. Sec". Canning.-(Received 7th July.) (Extract.) Rio de Janeiro, April 30th, 1826. His Imperial Majesty then talked of conciliating the affections of the Portuguese by giving them a Constitutional Charter; and, if the War should turn out unsuccessfully in the South, of obtaining military succour from Portugal, with a view to diminish the burthen, which is already severely felt in this Country. My suspicion of the principles which such a Charter might promulgate, induced me to point out the necessity of caution; saying, that, if the mere convocation of the Cortes, who were the ancient and legitimate Institution of the Kingdom, was viewed with jealousy by Spain and France, what mischief might not be produced by a change, in which the Cortes had borne no part; and M. de Paranagua, who saw His Majesty soon after, entered so fully into the spirit of this objection, that, for several days, no other Constitutional System, but such as should be founded upon the ancient Institutions of Portugal, was thought of. The Right Hon. George Canning. CHARLES STUART. No. 3.-Sir Charles Stuart to Mr. Sec". Canning.-(Received 7th July.) (Extract.) Rio de Janeiro, 30th April, 1826. THE Council did not separate, on Friday, until they had determined upon a complete change of Measures, since it was resolved that His Imperial Majesty should merely accept the Crown of Portugal, for the purpose of giving to that Kingdom a Constitutional Charter, suited to the circumstances of the times, and that, in the event of this Charter being favourably received, and his eldest Daughter given to the Infante, Dom Miguel, he should abdicate in her favour. I thought the consequences of this change too important to be passed over without comment, and I, therefore, waited upon His Imperial Majesty. I took the liberty of remarking to His Majesty, that, since he was reluctant to depend upon the ancient Institutions of the Country, by convoking the Cortes of Lamego, it was absolutely necessary to announce the Constitutional changes which he meditated, in such a manner that they should not appear to emanate from the Councils of His Brazilian Advisers, and that I, therefore, hoped he would not wait for the Meeting of the Chambers in Rio de Janeiro, to publish His Decrees; adding that, although the same argument did not apply to the Constitution, of which the tendency might be misinterpreted in Brazil, I implored him, to bear in mind the possible hesitation of the People of Portugal to receive a boon, which should be calculated to involve them in disputes with their Neighbours, and not to allow the Constitution to transpire, before he should be certain that it had been accepted. His Majesty said that he appreciated the justice of my reasons for preferring the old Institutions of Portugal, but that, however much I might admire those Institutions, I must admit that, since they were not, in every respect, suited to the present day, some change must necessarily be introduced, and, this necessity, once admitted, the Cortes would become a Constituent Body, subject to a thousand inconveniences which a Charter could alone remove. He then produced His Project of Constitution, already completed, to the compilation of which he had devoted the greater part of the week; and the joy with which he spoke of its contents shows, that the promulgation of this Act is the principal inducement held out to him, by His Advisers, for the abdication of the Crown of Portugal. As it was impossible for me to look through so long a Paper at that time, he told me generally, that it established two Chambers, and that, as it upheld the prerogatives of the Sovereign, and the power of the Nobility, he could not coincide in the fears which I seemed to entertain respecting its possible effect in other Countries. He then proceeded to develope the plans, according to which his own abdication is conditional, and dependent upon the marriage of his Daughter, by proxy, to the Infante Dom Miguel, and upon the acceptance of the Constitution. The Regency is. in the first instance, confirmed, the Amnesty published, and, as soon as the Three Estates shall have taken the Oaths to the new Constitution, the Queen will repair to Lisbon. After some altercation, His Majesty promised to delay the publication of the Portuguese Charter, until it should have been accepted at Lisbon, whither he stated his wish to send these Acts through my hands, as Portuguese Plenipotentiary, since he considers them the complement of the Treaty which I had signed, for the separation of the two Countries. I was somewhat startled by this mark of confidence, which I endeavoured to avoid, by expressing my doubts how far such a course might meet the approbation of my Court. As, however, he persisted in his determination, I replied that his request embarrassed me very much, since I was totally unprepared to take upon myself so heavy a responsibility, for that His Imperial Majesty might have observed, that, in the course of the discussions upon this subject, I had not allowed myself to give an opinion which did not directly refer to the public Acts approved by The King's Government. Whatever may be the view taken by His Majesty's Ministers of the transactions detailed in this Despatch, they are by no means committed by my language or my proceedings, under a total want of Instructions, and they consequently remain at liberty to follow the course which they may consider expedient. The Right Hon. George Canning. CHARLES STUART. No. 4.-Sir Charles Stuart to Mr. Sec". Canning.—(Received 7th July.) (Extract.) Rio de Janeiro, 1st May, 1826. THE Emperor sent for me, before he received the Diplomatic Corps, this morning, for the purpose of telling me that the Acts, relative to the settlement of Affairs in Portugal, having been completed, he considered it a mark of respect to the memory of his Father, to request the Plenipotentiary, whom he had chosen to negotiate the separation of the two Countries, to perfect the work which had been so successfully commenced during His life-time; adding, that when he had shewn me, in my audience on the preceding day, the several Papers which he had drawn up, he had fully opened his mind to me, and reposed in me a degree of confidence of which no other Person could boast. I have the honour to inclose a Copy of the Full Powers which His Imperial Majesty has been pleased to express his intention to intrust to me, and shall proceed to Lisbon on board the Diamond as soon as she can be got ready for sea. The Right Hon. George Canning. CHARLES STUART. (Enclosure.)—Full Powers granted by the Emperor of Brazil to Sir Charles Stuart. May 2nd, 1826. (Translation.) HONOURED MARQUESS OF ANGRA, SIR CHARLES STUART, MY FRIEND. I THE KING send you Greeting as to One whom I love much. In consideration of your merits, and of the love which, on no few occasions, you have shewn for my Royal Person and Family, I am pleased to authorize you to deliver, in my Royal Name, to the Regency of the Kingdom, my Royal Decrees of the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th of April, and 1st of May, as well as my Letters of Constitution and Law, the one of the 29th April, and the other of the 2nd May, all of this Year, which I have intrusted to you-equally authorizing you to do whatever may be necessary for the execution of my Royal Orders. Given in the Palace of Rio de Janeiro, this 2nd day of May, 1826. The Marquess of Angra, Sir Charles Sturt. THE KING. No. 5.-Mr. Secretary Canning to Sir Charles Stuart. (Extract.) Foreign Office, 12th July, 1826. COLONEL FREEMANTLE arrived here on Friday evening, the 7th Instant, with your Excellency's Despatches to the 7th of May inclusive, which have been laid before the King. Every thing of what your Excellency brings from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon, will be precisely what the Portuguese Government and Nation are prepared to expect, except the Charter of a Constitution. The opinion, indeed, has long prevailed at Lisbon, that a convocation of the Cortes (in some shape or other) would be necessary for the sanction of a new order of Succession to the Crown of Portugal. Whether the substitution of a Representative Constitution for the more ancient form of National Assembly, will be received with equal satisfaction in Portugal, cannot be confidently pronounced beforehand. But there appears no reason to doubt of the acquiescence of the Nation in the dispensation of a Sovereign, for the manifestation of whose pleasure they have professed to look with the utmost deference and submission. Whatever may be, upon the whole, the preferable choice between the respective merits of the two modes of Settlement, which were at the Emperor's option, that by a convocation of the Cortes, or that by a Constitutional Charter, it is not to be denied that there is much weight in the remark of His Imperial Majesty, that the convocation of an Assembly, which has been so long disused, that its very composition and modes of proceeding might be liable to doubt, would be even more likely to lead to the stirring of difficult questions, and to the excitement of excessive popular Claims; more likely, in short, in the Emperor's own words, to degenerate into " a Constituent Assembly," than a New Code, defining at once the rights and duties of all Ranks and Orders of the State, and prescribing the Forms of their deliberations, and the limits of their respective powers. It is not to be denied that the Notables of France, in 1789, on the one hand, and the Charter of Louis XVIII., in 1815, on the other, come, in a remarkable degree, in aid of His Imperial Majesty's reasoning. |