the purpose of the undersigned to deny the validity of these ancient treaties of alliance, friendship, and guaranty. On the contrary, he is desirous of admitting the existence, in full force and vigour, of all such treaties as have not been cancelled or varied by subsequent diplomatic transactions. Neither does he object to the mode of construction adopted by the Marquis de Barbacena. He will admit that the treaties may be explanatory of cach other, and that their spirit may be gathered rather from the tenor of the whole, than from the particular enactments of each. But the Marquis de Barbacena is aware that the specific object for which a treaty may have been framed, ought not to be lost sight of in this consideration; nor will he deny that the continued practice of the contracting parties forms the safest commentary upon the nature of their engagements; and that the true relation of the two countries towards each other is best estab. lished by the acts, during a long course of years, of their respective governments. But the undersigned is prepared to maintain, that the existing trea. ties, whether taken together, according to the cumulative method of interpretation proposed by the Marquis de Barbacena, or separately, cannot furnish any real support to the claim which has been advanced. It is assumed, that the usurpation of the throne of Portugal by the Infant Don Miguel has given to her Most Faithful Majesty the right of demanding from this coun. try effectual succours, for the recovery of her crown and kingdom. But it is not easy to see upon what foundation such a claim is sup. posed to rest. In the whole series of treaties, there is no express stipulation which can warrant the pretension put forward in the note of the Marquis de Barbacena. Neither is any such obligation implied by their general tenor and spirit. It is, then, either for the pur pose of resisting successful rebellion, or for that of deciding, by force, a question of doubtful suc cession, that Great Britain has now been called upon to act. But it is impossible to imagine that any in. dependent state could ever intend thus to commit the direction and control of its internal affairs to the hands of another power; for, doubtless, if his Majesty be under the necessity of furnishing effectual succour in the event of any internal revolt or dissention in Portugal, it would become a duty, and indeed it would be essential, to take care that no such cause should exist, if it could possibly be prevented. Hence a constant and minute in. terference in the affairs of Portugal would be indispensable; for his Majesty could never consent to hold his fleets and armies at the disposal of a king of Portugal, without exercising those due pre. cautions, and that superintendence, which should assure him that his forces would not be liable to be employed in averting the effects of mis-government, folly, or caprice. Is this a condition in which any state, professing to be independent, could endure to exist? And yet, if it were possible to admit the va lidity of the engagements contended for by the Marquis de Barbacena, such must necessarily be the relation in which Great Britain and Portugal would stand towards each other. But the truth is, that the whole spirit of the treaties, and their his. tory, show that the principle of the guaranty given by England, is the protection of Portugal from foreign invasion. When, upon the restoration of the Portuguese monarchy in 1640, a treaty was shortly after concluded between the two crowns, (which forms the real basis of their actual alliance,) the English government could have entertained no other object than that of extending an efficient protection to King John Fourth, struggling to maintain his newly acquired independence against the overwhelming power of Spain. Again, in 1661, when Charles II., in the treaty upon which the Marquis de Barbacena appears greatly to rely, declares "that he will take the interest of Portugal, and all its dominions, to heart, defending the same with his utmost power by sea and land, even as England itself;" it is clear that these engagements have reference to protection against foreign danger; and the manner in which this is to be afforded is expressly stated to be, by giving timely assistance against the "power of Castile, or any other enemy." In the course of the last century, Great Britain has repeatedly an. swered the call for this protection, and the Marquis de Barbacena need not be reminded, has done so with alacrity, and with effect. Never, until the unfortunate events of the year 1820, has she been called upon to interfere in the internal affairs of Portugal. This interference, although frequently demanded since that period, has been steadily refused by the British government. It has been equally refused to all parties, as for all pur. poses; and certainly these have been the most opposite and contradictory. Even in 1826, when his Majesty, in compliance with the requisition of the ambassador of his Most Faithful Majesty, sent a body of his troops to Portugal, the justification of that measure was expressly placed upon the ground that the Portuguese refu. gees had acquired a foreign cha. racter, by having been embodied, armed, and equipped, in Spain; and the commander of the British troops was strictly enjoined to take no part whatever in the contest between the factions in Portugal; but to oppose him to the foreign invaders, and to such as he might find united under their banners. In 1822, the King of Portugal regarded the declaration of independence by Brazil, and the assumption of the sovereign authority in that country by his son, the Emperor Don Pedro, as acts of successful rebellion. The Portuguese government frequently appealed to the treaties with this country, and to the obligations of a guaranty, by which the integrity of Portugal and her colonies was secured. But the British government, while admit. ting in their full extent the obligations of the guaranty, maintained that they only existed against dismemberment by a foreign power; and that to the effects of internal dissention they had no application. By the note verbale presented to the Portuguese government by the British Chargé d'Affaires at Lisbon, in the month of December, 1822, his Majesty declared, that, in the events which at that time divided the house of Braganza against itself, he was determined to observe "the most exact and scrupulous neutrality." By a happy agree. ment with his Most Faithful Majes. ty, concluded under the mediation of Great Britain, the independence of Brazil was finally acknowledged and secured; but this has been so far from weakening the effect of the guaranty given by Great Bri tain for the preservation of Portugal and her remaining colonies, that his Majesty would feel him. self bound to protect them equally against the unjust agression of Bra. zil, as of any other foreign power. It is not pretended by the Mar. quis de Barbacena, that the usurpation of the Infant Don Miguel has had any foreign origin, or has been encouraged by any foreign state. On the contrary, every sovereign in Europe has withdrawn his minister, and suspended all diplomatic intercourse with the court of Lis. bon. Whether the act be right or wrong, it was that of the nation. If proof were wanting, it would be found in the conduct of those who, having raised the standard of the Emperor Don Pedro, or of the Queen Donna Maria, at Oporto, having collected there the greatest part of the army, together with a large body of men in arms, not belonging to the military profession, superior in numbers, equipment, discipline, and means, to their opponents, still thought it necessary to abandon Oporto, and many of them to seek refuge in England, because, as they declared, they found the whole country against them. But if a case of successful usurpation and rebellion cannot justify the interference of Great Britain, still less can she be called upon tɔ take part in the decision of a disputed succession. It is attempted, however, to interpret the guaranty established in the treaties with Por tugal, as imposing upon Great Britain the obligation of securing the succession of the Queen Donna Maria, and of placing her Most Faithful Majesty by force upon the throne of her ancestors. If Great Britain had yielded to the solicitation of the ambassador of his Most Faithful" Majesty, in December, 1825, and had guaran. tied the succession of Portugal to the Emperor Don Pedro, in spite of his declared reluctance to accept it, confirmed by his subsequent ab. dication, we should have contracted an engagement utterly beyond our power to fulfil; and which, from its very nature, must have been known to be so, at the moment at which it was formed. The British government, therefore, did wisely in declining to accede to the proposition of the Marquis de Palmella. It is true that his Majesty, respecting the rights of primogeniture, and the order of nature, has acknowledged the Emperor Don Pedro as king of Portugal; and, upon his abdication, has also recognised the Infanta Donna Maria as his successor, and the lawful sovereign of that country. But his Majesty would contradict the principles which he has publicly professed, were he to employ force as the means of obtaining the acquies. cence of an independent people in this recognition. The only semblance ef founda. tion for the assertion advanced by the Marquis de Barbacena, that this country is bound, under the treaties of alliance and guaranty, to co-operate by such means in placing her Most Faithful Majesty upon the throne of Portugal, is to be found in the stipulation of the sixth article of the secret convention, concluded on the 22d of October, 1807, by which Great Britain engages never to recognise as King of Portugal any other Prince than "the heir and legitimate representative of the royal family of Braganza." It is to be recollected, that this convention was signed in anticipa. tion of the invasion of Portugal by a French force, and of the determination of the Prince Regent to embark with his whole family for Rio de Janeiro, rather than sacrifice his alliance with England. It was known, too, to be the intention of Buonaparte to parcel out the kingdom of Portugal in petty sovereignties, among the most favoured of his generals. This pledge, therefore, was the return made by the King of England for the devotion of his ally to the common cause. It was an assurance which that ally might naturally expect to receive against the dan. ger then imminent. Were this convention still in force, his Majesty might be bound to acknowledge, as king of Portugal, the legitimate heir only of the house of Braganza. But, obviously temporary in its character, it has ceased to exist with the necessity which gave it birth. The secret convention of 1807, was engrafted into the treaty of friendship and alliance signed at Rio de Janeiro in 1810; and in this treaty, the 6th article of the secret convention, containing the express guaranty of Portugal to the house of Braganza, was inserted, word for word; the convention, therefore, merged in the treaty of 1810. But in 1815, at the termination of the struggle in which both countries had been so long and so gloriously engaged, when the sceptre of Portugal was replaced unimpaired in the hands of "the heir and legitimate repre 66 sentative of the royal family of Bra. ganza," the main object of these treaties was accomplished. On the 22d of January of that year, the two powers entered into another treaty at Vienna, by the third arti. cle of which, the treaty of 1810, being founded on circumstances of a temporary nature, which have happily ceased to exist, the said treaty is hereby declared to be void in all its parts, and of no effect." That the provisions of the conven tion of 1807 are included in this revocation, is confirmed by the latter part of the same article, which declares that the revocation shall be without prejudice to "the ancient treaties of alliance, friendship, and guaranty, subsisting between the two countries," which are renewed and acknowledged to be in full force and effect, while it is entirely silent upon the convention of 1807; thus evidently showing, that in the opinion of both contracting parties, the latter convention partook of the same temporary character which is ascribed to the treaty of 1810; the stipulations of which, in consequence of the changes rendered necessary by the course of events, had previously been substituted for those of 1807. The undersigned trusts, there. fore, that the religious fidelity with which this country is desirous of fulfilling all its engagements, will not be exposed to imputation or doubt, if he finds himself compelled, in the name of the King, his master, to reject the appeal which has been made by the Marquis de Barbacena to the fancied obligations imposed upon Great Britain by the treaties existing between the two kingdoms. In addition to the supposed obli. gation arising from former engage. de. In proportion as this country is scrupulous in the performance of its engagements, care has been taken to render these engagements definite and precise; it has, moreover, long been the practice to ab. ́stain from giving any guaranty, the execution of which is not within our own power, but which may pend upon the good faith, or upon the inclination of others. The undersigned, therefore, cannot think it necessary to occupy much time in the refutation of an assumption so gratuitous, and so entirely un. supported by the real state of the facts, as that which has been thus put forward by the Marquis de Bar. bacena. His Majesty's ambassador at the Court of Vienna attended the conferences, by the invitation of the Austrian Chancellor of State, and in consequence of the letter addressed to his Majesty, by the Emperor Don Pedro, on the third of July, 1827, in which his Impe. rial Majesty declared, that he had appointed the Infant Don Miguel to be his Lieutenant and Regent of the kingdom of Portugal. Had his Majesty, indeed, overcome the reluctance of the Emperor Don Pe. dro, and prevailed upon his Imperial Majesty to confer upon his brother the appointment of Regent; and had his Majesty given his guaranty for the conduct of his Royal Highness, and for the performance of his promises, there might have been a claim upon his Majesty to see that the engage. ments then contracted were carried into execution; but, in truth, the ambassador of his Majesty entered into no engagement of this description, neither did he take part in any negotiation leading to such a pledge; and although the King had reason to complain of the Infant Don Miguel, for having failed to perform engagements made in the presence of his ambassador, this cause of complaint was founded upon the indignity thus offered to his Majesty himself, and not upon the injury done to the Emperor Don Pedro. It is true, that in the conferences of Vienna, and, subsequently, in Loudon, his Majesty's ambassador, and the plenipotentiary of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Austria, did give an assurance that their respective sovereigns would jointly exert their good offices to prevail upon the Emperor Don Pedro to complete his act of abdica. tion of the throne of Portugal, as well as to send his daughter to Europe, and by a definitive treaty, to regulate the order of succession in the two branches of the house of Braganza. The Marquis de Bar |