house of Braganza has more than once been indebted for its political existence. But the prince-regent not being inclined to leave Brazil, raised it to the rank of a kingdom on the 16th of December 1815; and upon the death of the queen on the 20th of March 1816, took the title of king under the name of John VI.

Recent Events.] Between Spain and Portugal considerable misapprehensions had for some time prevailed, in consequence of the refusal of the former to restore Olivenza notwithstanding the determination of the congress of Vienna, and the occupation of Monte Video in South America by the latter, to secure herself against the consequence of the insurrection of the Spanish colonies. The ungrateful Portuguese also began to object to the influence which Britain naturally possessed in a country which depended upon her for its existence, and a conspiracy was organized by general Gomez Freyre in January 1817, to free the country from foreign influence; but this plan was discovered and punished by the execution of Freyre, and 13 of his partisans. Lord Beresford embarked for Brazil on the 4th of April 1820; and on the 24th of August, a part of the Portuguese army rose against the English at Oporto, and a new constitution was proposed. This movement was organized by colonel Sepulveda in concert with the bishop and the civil authorities of Oporto, and a provisional government was established. The Cortes assembled at Lisbon on the 28th of January 1821, when, during the absence of the king, a regency of five persons was named; and the Spanish constitution, with some modifications, was declared the fundamental law of the kingdom. These events in the mother-country soon exercised a reaction upon Brazil itself. On the 1st of January the province Para declared for a constitutional government, and Madeira, Bahia, and Pernambuco followed the example thus set them. On the 24th of February the king promised to make certain changes in the form of government; but the discontented not satisfied with this, addressed themselves to the crown prince Don Pedro, upon which the king promised to introduce the constitution of Portugal into Brazil, which was sworn to by the crown-prince in his own and his father's name. Directly after this the king declared his resolution to return to Portugal, and on the 21st of April embarked with a retinue of 4000 men, and a considerable sum of money, leaving the crown-prince as regent in Brazil. The king having landed in Portugal on the 4th of July 1821, confirmed all the resolutions of the Cortes, and swore to the constitution by which all feudal rights, the Inquisition, and censorship were abolished, and trial by jury introduced in civil and criminal affairs. It was in many respects like the Spanish, but had only one chamber-the Cortes-in whom alone the legislative power was vested. The French invasion of Spain in April 1823, having dissolved the constitution in that country, the second son of king John, Don Miguel, with the co-operation of his mother, a sister of Ferdinand VII. of Spain, and a part of the army, overturned the Portuguese constitution on the 27th of May 1823. He vowed death to the infamous freemasons, and caused the greatest part of the ministry, several ambassadors, and other persons to be arrested. Against these extravagant proceedings the ambassadors present at Lisbon protested, and followed the king on board an English frigate lying on the Tagus. Within three days, however, the king's party again prevailed, and the queen-mother and her son were driven from the position which they had attempted to occupy in the government. Shortly after these transactions, a treaty was con

cluded between Portugal and Brazil, by which it was declared that the two countries should remain united under the dominion of John VI. and his legitimate descendants, but each with an independent administration; that the title of his most faithful majesty, should be king of Portugal and the Algarves and emperor of Brazil; that the sovereign might reside in either country as circumstances might require; and that that part of the empire in which the sovereign should not reside, should be governed by the hereditary prince or princess under the title of regent. The king having expired at Lisbon on the 10th of March 1826, while his hopeful son Don Miguel was in honourable exile at Vienna, and his consort in a state of exclusion at the palace of Quebeira, the emperor of Brazil, as eldest son of the deceased king, succeeded by law to the vacant throne, and the infanta Isabella Maria entered on the functions of regent in name of her brother. On receiving intelligence of these events, Don Pedro, by a decree of 29th April, gave to the Portuguese a constitutional charter, vesting the crown of Portugal in the person of the princess Maria da Gloria and her descendants, and modelling the government strictly after the form of the British one, by the establishment of two chambers. This decree was followed by another of date the 2d of May, in which his majesty abdicated his rights to the crown of Portugal, in favour of his eldest daughter Maria da Gloria, whom he at the same time espoused to her uncle Don Miguel. These arrangements seemed at first to give universal satisfaction; but the charter-which was nearly a transcript of the constitution already given to Brazil-produced a great sensation in Spain, and towards the end of July a scheme was discovered to subvert the government, and to proclaim Don Miguel sovereign. The queen-mother did not conceal her hatred of the constitution, and Spain was held out as the model which Portugal ought to imitate by a party, headed by the marquis of Chaves, who were hostile to the introduction of any thing like popular elements into the government. On the 31st of July the royalists, as they called themselves, proclaimed Don Miguel king, and the queen-dowager regent during his absence. Spain secretly supported the rebels, and the priesthood lent the whole weight of their influence over a bigotted people to the cause, although the patriarch himself disavowed all connexion with their proceedings, and called their enterprise by its right name. The troops of the regency acted with little energy against the rebels; but the arrival of a British armament quickly changed the face of affairs, drove the insurgents out of the kingdom, and overawed their insidious ally. The princess-regent amid these troubles betrayed her unfitness for the important charge entrusted to her, by dismissing her most faithful and useful ministers; and Don Pedro on receiving intelligence of the dissensions which reigned in her government, determined to transfer her authority to her brother, whom by a decree, signed at Rio Janeiro on the 3d of July, he appointed his lieutenant to govern the kingdoms of Portugal and Algarves conformably to the constitutional charter. The elevation of Don Miguel renewed all the hopes of the enemies of the constitution, although he himself hypocritically affirmed his determination to maintain inviolate the institutions legally granted by his august brother. It is well known that instantly on his arrival in Portugal, Don Miguel threw off the mask, and allowed himself to be proclaimed absolute and independent king under the title of Miguel I. A counter-revolution was attempted by the constitutionalists; but the British troops had been with

drawn; the people at large, uninformed and bigotted, either remained passive spectators, or, with the exception of the better instructed, took part against a movement which was viewed with approbation by all that were honourable and patriotic in Portugal; and the higher classes basely deserted the house of peers to cling to the court of the usurper.

CHAP. II.-PHYSICAL FEATURES-CLIMATE-SOIL-AND PRO

DUCTIONS.

PORTUGAL in its general appearance has a considerable resemblance to Spain. It has not, however, so great a proportion of mountains, and seems neither to be so barren as the northern provinces of Spain, nor so fertile as its southern provinces. It is perhaps, in general, more pleasant than any part of that country with which it is so closely connected.

Physical Features.] There are only two extensive plains, the larger in Alenteja, and the smaller one in Beira. The most mountainous of the Portuguese provinces is Traz os Montes; but in Algarva too the flat country extends scarcely above 8 miles from the coast. Most of the mountains are barren; but a few are clothed with a fine vegetation. The coast is low in the N.; but rises afterwards, and is indented with rocks. In Beira it again flattens, and becomes sandy, in Estremadura it alternately rises and falls, and is unsafe for navigation. Under the Cabo Espichel the shore is high, steep, and rough; in Alentejo it is low, but the sea is shallow and unsafe. From Cabo S. Vicente, the coast rises to the E. but sinks again into sand-islands at the mouth of the Guadiana. The declination of upwards of four-fifths of the kingdom is to the W.; the eastern part of Alentejo and Algarva decline towards the south.

Mountains.] The mountains of Portugal are all continuations of the Spanish Pyrenees. They are: 1st. The Cantabrian chain, which spreads from Galicia over Traz os Montes and Minho, and of which the Gaviard, the highest summit, rises to 7,886 feet. It terminates at the mouth of the Vonga. All the different branches of the Cantabrian mountains in Portugal are granitic. 2d. The Guadarramas; to this chain belongs the Sierra de Estrella, a continuation of the Spanish Sierra de Gata, between the Douro and Tajo, rising to the height of 7,647 feet according to Balbi, and 6,883 according to Franzini. The Sierra de Cintra, which runs into the ocean at Cabo de Boca, is the extremity of the chain of the Guadarramas. 3d. The Sierra de Guadaloupe, of which the principal branches are the Sierra de Arrabida in Estremadura, which ends in the Cabo Espichel, and in Alentejo the Sierra de Ossa and the Sierra de Mamede. 4th. The Sierra Morena, which sends its branches through Algarva and Alentejo, and ends in the Cabo S. Vicente. In the S. its vanguards terminate in the Cabo Carvoeiro and Cabo de S. Maria. Its highest summits do not rise above 4000 feet above the level of the sea, but the Picota de Monchique serves as a signal to navigators who have reached the Cabo de S. Vicente.

Capes.] The principal promontories are the Cabo Mondego at the mouth of the river of the same name; the Cabo de Carvoeiro at the point of Peniche, which must be distinguished from the promontory of the same name in Algarva; the Cabo de Boca, and the Cabo Espichel on both sides of the mouth of the Tajo; the Cabo S. Vicente, the most S. W. point of

Europe; and the Cabo de Carvoeiro and de S. Maria on the coast of Algarva.

Rivers.] The chief rivers of Portugal have their origin in Spain, and have consequently been already mentioned. The Tajo flows into the sea at Lisbon, where its estuary forms the harbour belonging to that city.— The Douro, a very rapid stream, falls into the sea at Oporto.-The Guadiana has a small part of its course in this country. It is unnecessary to repeat what has been already said of these rivers. From the small extent of Portugal, it is not to be expected that any river of great size can belong wholly to it. Of those streams which have their sources in this kingdom the chief seem to be the Mondego which has its source near Guarda, in Beira, and falls into the sea below Coimbra; the Cadaen which runs into the Atlantic at Setuval; and the Sora which falls into the Tajo. Lakes.] No lake is found in this country which merits a description. Travellers have astonished the world with the account of fountains on which not even the lightest substance would float: they had perhaps received their accounts from natives who were not able to discover that the appearance which so much astonished them might be produced by a simple vortex. There are some extensive swamps on the coasts of Beira. Portugal abounds in mineral springs.

Climate.] The climate of Portugal is much more agreeable and more healthy than that of the greater part of Spain. Near Lisbon the atmosphere is so remarkably salubrious that invalids often resort thither from different nations. The heat in summer, and the cold in winter, are rendered moderate by the proximity of the Atlantic ocean; the medial degree of temperature is said to be about 60°. At Lisbon, rain is so far from being frequent that the number of days in which it rains constantly is said seldom to exceed 80; the number of days on which it is completely fair is generally about 200. When rain falls it is very violent.

Soil, Agriculture, Wines.] The soil of Portugal, like that of Spain, is in general fertile. It is for the most part of a light texture, and might be easily cultivated, but the Portuguese are said to bestow even the little toil which it needs very unwillingly, so that agriculture is little practised or understood. It is owing rather to this than to any deficiency in the soil that Portugal does not produce grain sufficient for its own inhabitants. Wheat and Indian corn are the species of grain which are most cultivated; the bread made of the latter is called broa, and forms the principal food of the common people. Vegetables are everywhere cultivated; but flax and hemp are reared only in very small quantities, and most of the linen and sail-cloth used in this country are imported. Wine is the chief production of the country. Of the Portuguese wines, Mr Henderson remarks, that the choicest growths are seldom to be procured pure. A great company has been long established for managing the wine-trade, and one of their privileges was to fix a maximum on the price of wine. Though at the late revolution this privilege was greatly abridged, yet it is not altogether done away, and the company still retain other privileges highly injurious (as all privileges must be that are inconsistent with the freedom of trade) to the growth of wine. The consequence is that all the produce of the Portugal vineyards is mixed together, and brought to one uniform level. "In this way," Mr Henderson observes, "the finer products of the Douro vintages have remained, in a great measure, unknown to us; and Port wine has come to be considered as a single liquor, if I may use the expression, of nearly uniform flavour and strength-varying, it is true,

to a certain extent, in quality, but still always approaching to a definite standard, and admitting of few degrees of excellence. The manipulations, the admixtures, and, in one word, the adulterations, to which the best wines of the Cima do Douro are subjected, have much the same effect, as if all the growths of Burgundy were to be mingled in one immense vat, and sent into the world as the only true Burgundian wine; the delicious produce of Romanée, Chambertin, and the Clos Vougeot, would disappear; and in their places we should find nothing better than a second rate Beaune or Macon wine." The same cause, namely, the influence of this company, has, according to Mr Henderson, ruined the Portugal white wines. These were formerly excellent, but the farmers being restricted as to the price, extirpated all the finest vines, and substituted others, which produced a larger quantity of wine, but of a coarser quality. Some red wines, resembling port, are imported into this country from Portugal. The principal are from the neighbourhood of Figuera dos Vinhos, near Thomar, and from Colares, near Cintra, about seven leagues from Lisbon. Some of these last are excellent, possessing delicacy, softness, body, and flavour. The white and red wines, chiefly gathered between Oiras and Carcavellos, in Estremadura, are known in England under the general name of Lisbon wines. They are good, wholesome, unsophisticated wines (because not fashionable,) and, when cheap wines are let in-as they should and must eventually be--for the consumption of the middling classes, at an equitable duty, they will come more into deserved notice and favour. The wines of Setuval, 15 miles S. and of Santarem, 45 miles N. W. from Lisbon, are of good quality. There are of these growths dry wines, and also sweet wines of the Muscatel flavour. Bucellas, about five leagues N. of Lisbon, produces a delicate and well-known white wine, resembling Barsac, but stronger,-an excellent table-wine when of sufficient age and not spoiled by brandy. Good old Bucellas is scarce, and sells for £42 per pipe. Lisbon wines, red and white, are worth from £28 to £34 in the London market, per pipe, of 140 old, equal to 117 imperial gallons.

Animals.] Cattle are in some places of considerable size; but in general the breed is neglected. The heat of summer parches the pasture, and artificial meadows are beyond the sphere of Portuguese agriculture. Mules, as in Spain, are used as beasts of burden; and are of a breed much superior to those found in more northern countries. Sheep are not reared with the same care as in Spain, and are consequently in every respect inferior. They are not numerous. Many hogs are reared; and the bacon of this country is not surpassed by that of any other. The fish upon the coast are numerous and of a good quality.

Minerals.] Portugal, like Spain, was formerly much more productive of the precious metals than it is at present; though it is probable that if these metals were not so easily procured from their colonies, a much greater quantity of them might be found at home than is at present. The Romans had mines which they wrought to a great extent in this country. The remains of what have been supposed to be these mines are still to be seen in the northern provinces. Of these one is described as being cut through the solid rock, upwards of 500 feet deep, and, at the surface, a mile and a half in circumference. The following is a list of the mineral produce of Portugal: gold, silver, tin, lead, copper, iron, coal, emery, marble, granite, talc, amianthus, felspar, fuller's earth, quicksilver, rubies, jacinths, and beryl. Besides these, Portugal produces manganese, bismuth,