The History of the Revolutions of Portugal. Pierre Marie Louis de Boisgelin de Kerdu
destroyed some of his vessels, and dispersed the rest, found it impossible to approach the coast of Portugal. These different disappointments did not, however, discourage the count-duke; who attributed to chance alone the failure of his plan; since, had don Lopez once entered the port, don John must inevitably have been taken. Another scheme soon presented itself to the artful minister, who wrote to the prince in the most affectionate and confidential terms: he even appeared to regard him as a coadjutor in the ministry and government of the state; deploring the misfortune befallen the Spanish fleet at a moment when the enemy was particularly formidable, and adding, that the coasts of Portugal being left unguarded, the king wished him to visit in person, those places and ports throughout the kingdom, which might probably be insulted by the French; sending him at the same time an order for forty thousand ducats, for the purpose, if necessary, of levying additional troops, and defraying the expences of his journey. The minister did not neglect, in the interim, to direct the governors of the different citadels, most of whom were Spaniards, to secure, if possible, the person of the duke, and send him off instantly to Spain.
Such marks of confidence, and such exaggerated professions of regard, were too little comformable to the character of the minister, and to his usual mode of conduct, for the duke of Braganza to believe them sincere; this prince therefore mistrusted his design, and contrived to draw him into the very snare which had been laid for himself. He wrote to the count-duke that he accepted with the greatest pleasure and gratitude the appointment of general, that he flattered himself his conduct would justify his majesty’s choice, and prove him worthy of so honourable a mark of distinction. He now, however, began to entertain hopes of the possibility of regaining the throne of his ancestors; he accordingly took advantage of his situation to bestow places and employments on those of his friends who might hereafter be useful to his cause, and disposed of the money received from Spain in gaining new partizans, and securing them in his interest. He also took care to be accompanied by such a numerous retinue on visiting the different places and forts, that not the smallest shadow of hope remained to his enemies of ever succeeding in making themselves masters of his person.
The supreme authority with which he had been invested, did not fail to excite the jealousy of the whole court of Spain; every one expressed his disapprobation in the highest terms, and the king alone being in the secret of the prime minister, attempts were made to injure him in the opinion of that prince, to whom he was represented as a favourer and ally of the house of Braganza. His enemies warmly accused him of imprudence in giving the command of the Portugueze troops to a man, whose claims to the throne of Portugal were of a very serious nature, and who, being thus armed with power to assert his right, might probably be tempted to turn those very arms against his sovereign. The king, however, was still more confirmed in his resolution of adhering to the prime minister’s plan, on perceiving that no one had the smallest suspicion of the motive of his conduct.
These circumstances were all very favourable to the designs of the duke of Braganza, whose high employment authorised him to travel throughout the whole of Portugal, and it was in this journey he laid the foundation of his future grandeur. The magnificence of his equipage and attendants dazzled the eyes of all beholders, and he listened with the most obliging attention and affability to every one who addressed him. He curbed the insolence of the soldiery, whilst he bestowed the most flattering praises on the officers, whom he engaged in his interest by rewarding them to the utmost of his power. Such suavity of manners charmed the nobility, whom he received with the distinction due to their different degrees of rank and merit; he, in short, did so much good wheresoever he passed, and acted with such kindness and generosity, that he gained still more friends, from the hopes they entertained of his future favours, than from those he actually bestowed: thus every one who beheld him, thought to insure their own happiness by offering up vows to Heaven for his restoration to the throne of his ancestors. The friends and followers of this prince were equally anxious to support his reputation, and neglected nothing which could possibly establish it on the most solid foundation. On this occasion none was more active than Pinto Ribeiro, the steward of his household; he indeed, took the most efficacious steps towards putting the machine in motion, and forming a regular plan for the aggrandisement of his master. Naturally active, vigilant, and a consummate politician, he burned with impatience to see the prince on the throne of Portugal, when he, no doubt, flattered himself he should have no small share in a government which he had so greatly contributed to establish. The duke, indeed, had frequently confessed to him, that he should be happy to take advantage of any opportunity that might offer itself to become master of the crown; but that he could not possibly decide on undertaking so great an enterprise, like a needy adventurer who had nothing to lose. He, however, consented that Pinto should sound the disposition of the people, and gain friends to his cause, provided he made no engagements for his master, who was to appear entirely ignorant of every thing which passed on the occasion.
Pinto had long been very assiduous in finding out, and adding to the number of mal-contents in Lisbon. He never failed whispering complaints of the present government throughout the city, and expressed himself with more or less warmth, according to the character and rank of those with whom he conversed: these precautions, indeed, were scarcely necessary, for such was the general hatred of the Portugueze towards the Spaniards, that there was no danger of any secret being betrayed by the former which might tend to the destruction of the latter. Pinto never failed remarking to the nobility, the high and honourable employments held by their respective families when Portugal was governed by its legitimate sovereigns; but nothing affected and offended that class equally with the arriere-ban convoked by the king for serving in Catalonia; this expedition was represented by Pinto, as an exile, from which there would be great difficulty in returning; that, independantly of the enormous expence, they would be treated with the greatest haughtiness by the Spaniards, whose secret interest it was to expose the bravest of the Portugueze to the most imminent danger; and that, without affording them an opportunity of sharing in the glory.
Whenever chance led him into a society of merchants and citizens, he exclaimed against the injustice of the Spaniards, who had ruined Lisbon, and indeed the whole of Portugal, by the transfer of the India trade to Cadiz. His conversation constantly turned on the extreme misery to which they were reduced by so tyrannical a government, and of the happiness of those people7 who had so gloriously emancipated themselves from such servility. To the clergy he represented the frequent violation of the immunities and privileges of the church, and that the most considerable benefices and dignities were become the prey of foreigners, instead of the just reward due to the merit and learning of the natives of Portugal. With those whom he knew to be already discontented, he dwelt on the excellent qualities of the duke, his master, purposely to sound their inclination on the subject, deploring at the same time the indolent character of that prince, and expressing his sorrow that the only person who could effectually remedy such grievances, should be so little attached to his country, and so indifferent to his personal aggrandisement. Whenever this conversation appeared to make an impression on his hearers, he flattered one party with the glorious title of deliverer of his country, whilst he excited the indignation of those who had more particularly suffered by the ill treatment of the Spaniards; and held forth to the rest the most advantageous prospect from a change of government. Thus, having succeeded in stirring up the minds of the people in general, and in securing a particular party in his interest, he at last assembled a numerous body of nobility, at the head of which was the archbishop of Lisbon8, of one of the first families of the kingdom9. This prelate was learned, skilful in business, a favourite of the people, and hated by the Spaniards; whom he in his turn equally detested, from the preference they shewed to the archbishop of Braga10, a creature of the vice-queen, on whom they had bestowed the dignity of president of the chamber de Paço, and whom they even allowed to take a share in the affairs of the government. Amongst the people of distinguished rank, who composed this assembly, don Michel d’Almeida claims particular notice; this venerated old nobleman had ever been peculiarly esteemed for the superior merit of his character; he gloried in preferring the honour and happiness of his country, to his own personal interests; he was afflicted and enraged at seeing it thus reduced to servitude by an usurper, and had constantly and courageously persevered in these noble sentiments; nor could the entreaties of his family, nor the advice
The Dutch and Catalonians.
The first assembly took place on the 12th of October, in the garden of Antonio d’Almada. The archbishop of Lisbon was not present at the opening of it, and the conspiracy was in a state of great forwardness before he made his appearance. Vertot is not always very accurate in his account of these different assemblies.
d’Acugna.
Don Sebastian de Mattos de Norogna.