shew, did not neglect turning the whole of his sovereign's indignation
on the marquis d'Aïamonte, and giving him up to the utmost rigour of
the law. This nobleman had been put under arrest, and it was requisite
to induce him to make a full confession of his guilt; he was therefore
flattered with the hope of pardon, and assured that it depended on him
alone to experience the same mercy from the best of kings, as had been
already shewn to the duke of Medina: but that sovereigns, like the
Almighty, whose representatives on earth they were, granted pardon to
those only who sincerely repented, and who confessed their guilt.
The marquis, seduced by these promises, and particularly by the
acquittal of his accomplice, the duke de Medina, signed every thing
which was required of him, and this very confession was brought against
him. He was accordingly arraigned, tried, and condemned to lose his
head. He listened to this sentence, which was passed upon him in the
evening, with the most surprising composure, and without breathing a
single complaint against the duke, or the prime minister. He afterwards
supped with his usual appetite, and slept so soundly the whole of the
night, that his judges were obliged to awaken him to convey him to the
place of execution, whither he walked in profound silence, and died with
a degree of firmness worthy a better cause. Thus ended a conspiracy, to
which the king of Spain must inevitably have fallen a victim, without
the intervention of the luckiest chance; or, more properly speaking,
without the interference of Providence, which will not always permit
such crimes to prosper.
The king of Portugal having failed in this attempt, turned all his
thoughts to the support of his crown, not only by open force, but by the
assistance of his allies. France afforded him all possible aid, and
piqued itself on thus protecting the most ancient branch of its last
race of kings. This foreign war was likewise useful in causing a
diversion, and giving employment to part of the Spanish forces.
The Portugueze gained several advantages at different times over the
Spaniards, and thus prevented them from approaching the frontiers. The
king of Portugal might even have penetrated into Castille, had his
generals been more able, or his body of regular troops more
considerable. The greater part of his army being composed of militia,
was much fitter to make incursions than to keep the field: he was
frequently destitute even of means to pay his troops, and having
abolished most of the taxes on his first accession to the crown, in
order to gain the favour of his people; it would have been a dangerous
experiment to have re-established them under so new a government. With
all these disadvantages, however, he contrived to support the war
against Spain, very nearly seventeen years. That country could not boast
of greater generals than Portugal; each nation gained more by the
weakness of its opponent, than by its own strength; and the exhausted
treasury of Philip the IVth, at the latter end of his reign, supplied
the place of riches to the new king of Portugal. This prince departed
this life on the 6th of November, 1656; and the Portugueze, unable to
call forth the attention of posterity to the most striking qualities of
their king, confine their praises to his moderation and piety; whilst
impartial historians accuse him of want of courage, diffidence of
himself, mistrust of others, reserve towards the nobles, who found it
difficult to approach his person, whilst he conversed openly and
familiarly with his ancient domestics alone, and more especially with
the friend and companion of his confessor. The only inference to be
drawn from this conduct is, that this prince, naturally peaceable, and
given up to his devotions, might be said to possess the good qualities
of a private individual, though never the splendid virtues of a great
king. His accession to the crown of Portugal must then be solely
attributed to the hatred borne by the people of that country to the
Spaniards, and to the adroit management of his queen, who made use of
this national animosity to raise her to the regal dignity.[24] The king,
her husband, in his last will, appointed her regent of the kingdom,
rightly judging, that the same conduct and courage which had placed the
crown on her head, would not fail to preserve it during the minority of
his children. He left behind him two sons and one daughter; the eldest
of which, don Alphonso, was nearly thirteen years of age when he
succeeded his father. This young prince was of a melancholy
disposition, and was deprived of the use of one side: his brother, the
infant, don Pedro, was only eight years old; and the infanta, donna
Catharine, who was the eldest of the family, was born before the
revolution. Don Alphonso being shewn to the people, was proclaimed king,
according to the usual forms, and the queen took upon herself, the same
day, the regency of the state.
The princess was very ambitious to signalize the commencement of her
government by some brilliant action; but her generals could boast more
bravery as soldiers, than conduct as captains, and there was not one
throughout the whole of Portugal capable of either fortifying a town, or
conducting a siege. Neither was her council much better composed; some
of her ministers attending more to displaying their eloquence in proving
the necessities of the state, than in endeavouring to relieve them;
whilst others, without attending to the low state of the army in
Portugal, amused themselves by proposing plans of conquests: thus the
debates of these supreme councils generally ended in schemes as
ill-concerted as unsuccessful.
The considerable losses sustained by the Portugueze at Olivença and
Badajos, where they were obliged to raise the siege, may, in a great
measure, be attributed to the above causes. They had also embroiled
themselves with Holland, on account of the India trade; and France, ever
after the peace of the Pyrenees, appeared no longer interested in their
favour. The queen, thus deprived of foreign allies, without either
disciplined troops or able generals, had no resource left but in the
greatness of her courage, which, indeed, supplied to her every other
loss. The weight of affairs could not shake her steady soul; the extent
of her genius, and the prudence of her conduct were equal to every
thing; and the agitated state of the country in the commencement of her
regency, served only to display in more striking colours the brilliant
qualities of this all-accomplished princess, who began her operations by
vesting the authority of the council in her own person: she constantly
read all the dispatches; nothing escaped her attention and foresight,
and she directed her views to all those European courts from which she
could possibly hope for assistance.
Such noble efforts, and constant application, succeeded in putting
Portugal in a state of defence against Spain; but being perfectly aware
of the necessity there would be in future of employing foreign troops
to form her own, and particularly the want she stood in of an able
general for that purpose, she cast her eyes on Frederic count de
Schomberg, whose valour and capacity were already known and
distinguished. The regent was very desirous of appointing him commander
in chief of the army, but she was fearful of giving umbrage to the
_governors of arms_, whose pride would not very readily have consented
to act under the orders of a foreign chief: she found it, therefore,
necessary to employ the count de Soure, her ambassador at the court of
France, to treat with the count de Schomberg, and propose his appearing
at first in Portugal only as colonel commandant of the army, promising
him, however, that in case of the death or resignation of the present
_governor of arms_, he should immediately be appointed commander in
chief.
The count set off for Lisbon attended by eighty officers, partly
captains, and partly subalterns, together with more than four hundred
troopers, all experienced soldiers, capable of forming and commanding
new forces. In compliance with secret orders from the regent, the count
passed through England, where Charles the IId was newly restored to the
crown, and where he was to endeavour to discover whether that
protestant prince would object to an alliance with the infanta of
Portugal. The count acquitted himself of this commission with great
nicety, and succeeded in making both the king, and the lord chancellor
Hyde, solicitous for the marriage. The queen was no sooner secure of
their approbation, than she dispatched the marquis de Sande to England,
to carry on the negociation.
The king of Spain, who trembled at this alliance, used every possible
endeavour to prevent its taking place; he did not even scruple offering
three millions of French livres to Charles the IId, to induce him to
espouse a protestant princess; and his ambassador proposed to him the
princesses of Denmark, Saxony and Orange, assuring him that the king his
master would adopt as his daughter whichever of these princesses he
should honour with his choice, and as such, bestow her on him in
marriage. The chancellor Hyde, however, represented in such forcible
terms, the great necessity of supporting the family of Braganza on the
throne of Portugal, and the danger of that country being united to Spain
under the government of one prince, that Charles decided on accepting
the hand of the infanta. Thus, we see, a protestant minister, engaging
his sovereign to form an alliance with a catholic, whilst a prince of
the latter religion, particularly distinguished by the title of catholic
king, offered immense sums to induce him to marry a protestant. So true
it is, that reasons of state are the basis on which crowned heads form
their religion; since princes, in cases of this nature, are usually
guided by motives of self-interest alone.
The king of England, through this alliance, contrived to make a treaty
of commerce between the States-General and Portugal; and afterwards sent
a considerable body of troops, under the command of the earl of
Inchinquin, into that kingdom. This nobleman was soon recalled, and the
English commanded to act under the orders of the count de Schomberg, who
presently after his arrival in Portugal had the troops of three
different nations at his command. The Portugueze, indeed, had a separate
general of their own country, but this distinction was a vague title,
intended only to flatter the ambition of the grandees, since the count
enjoyed the unlimited confidence of the queen; who, in fact, gave him
absolute power over the army, which he employed in establishing the
strictest discipline. He taught the Portugueze the order to be observed
on a march; with the art of encamping to the greatest advantage; and
erected regular fortifications on most of the frontier posts, which had
hitherto been left in an undefended state.
The regent, thus happy in so experienced a general, carried on the war
with the greatest vigour. Her arms were almost always successful. Her
troops had never before been in so flourishing a state, or so perfectly
well disciplined; the poor blessed her government; and the grandees,
impressed with sentiments of fear and respect, were all submission to
her will; but alas! this happy state of affairs soon underwent a painful
alteration, and domestic troubles, joined to different intrigues, gave a
new turn to every thing at court; for whilst this great princess was
constantly and successfully employed in securing the crown to her son,
that prince, by the irregularity of his conduct, was proving himself
unworthy of so dignified a situation. His mind was low and sordid, his
temper gloomy and savage: he could not support the idea of submitting to
the authority of his mother, and contemptuously rejected the advice of
his ministers. The society of the noblemen appointed to attend him, was
odious to a prince who delighted only in that of negroes and mulattoes,
with other young men chosen from the very dregs of the people; and of
these wretched beings he had contrived to form a little court,
notwithstanding every effort of his governor to prevent it. He termed
them his _bravoes_, and thus escorted, passed the night in ranging
through the streets of Lisbon, insulting every one who had the
misfortune to meet him.
The disordered state of his intellects was supposed to be occasioned by
a paralytic stroke, which attacked him at the age of four years. The
impressions it caused were terrible; but his defects were left
uncorrected in his earliest youth, from the fear of his weakness being
increased by severity; hopes were also entertained, that time, by
strengthening his body, might also temper his mind: this indulgence,
however, only added to his natural indocility: his health, indeed,
improved by age and medicine; he was equal to the strongest exercise,
and fenced and rode remarkably well; but his disposition still continued
savage; he acted more from violence than judgment; and when the passions
of youth took place of those of childhood, he did not scruple
introducing the vilest strumpets into the palace; nay, he even
frequently passed his nights in the most notorious brothels, where he
gave way to all kinds of shameful debauchery.
The regent, deeply grieved at such conduct, rightly judged that it must
inevitably end in the loss of his crown, and that it would finally
destroy the work it had cost her such pains, and so many years to
complete. She was frequently tempted to imprison him for life, and place
the infant his brother on the throne; but the fear of creating a civil
war, of which the Spaniards would not fail to profit, alone prevented
her taking so bold a step. She also flattered herself with the
possibility of reclaiming the king, by depriving him of a certain Conti,
a tradesman's son, who was his favourite, and the secret agent of his
debaucheries. She therefore gave orders to have him secured, and sent to
the Brazils, from whence he was forbidden to return on pain of death.
The king at first appeared thunderstruck at the loss of his favourite,
but he soon affected great calmness, and even became more tractable.
This alteration delighted the queen, who congratulated herself, and was
congratulated by the courtiers and ministers on the success of her
scheme: but the king's apparent tranquillity proved to be merely put
on, to cover designs of a deeper nature than the queen thought him
capable of forming; and this sagacious princess, who could penetrate
into the most secret recesses of a courtier's heart, became the dupe of
an absolute idiot.
The king, in the first moments of his grief for the loss of Conti, had
bewailed his misfortunes to the count de Castello Melhor, a Portugueze
nobleman of very high extraction, who, though an ambitious and artful
courtier, was much more capable of carrying on a court intrigue, than
conducting a state affair. Such a mark of confidence appeared a fair
opening for the count, to replace the favourite in his master's
affections, by pretending to pity his disgrace, and by contriving
methods to restore him to the king. He therefore began his operations,
by representing to his majesty, that he was himself the sole cause of
Conti's misfortunes, since being the sovereign, and having been long of
age, he had nothing to do but to exert his authority, throw off that of
the regent, and recal his favourite, who would then return, not only
triumphant over his enemies, but even over the queen herself.
The king, delighted with advice so conformable to his natural
disposition, let him into every secret of his heart. Their intimacy,
however, was carried on in a mysterious manner; and his majesty bestowed
no public marks of favour on the count, who was fearful of incurring the
suspicions of the regent; but this princess was too clear sighted not to
perceive his influence over her son; and meeting him one day in the
train of that prince, she caught him by the arm, and fixing her eye upon
him, with that dignified aspect which made her equally respected and
feared by all her subjects, "Count," said she, "I am well informed of
your credit with the king; and should he commit any action contrary to
my will, your life shall be the forfeit."
The count made no reply to this discourse, but profoundly bowing,
followed the king, who at that moment called him. He was, however, no
sooner alone with his majesty, than he related all that had passed;
adding, that he was very well aware of the danger of his situation,
being on the eve of sharing the fate of Conti; but he would submit to it
with pleasure, could he once see his master freed from the yoke of an
imperious regency, which, whilst it subsisted, must ever keep him in
the back ground, with no other distinction than the title of king,
without either authority or consideration.
This artful speech irritated the monarch to a degree little short of
madness, and he was on the point of insisting on the regent's delivering
into his own hands the great seals of the state, which are always
regarded as the mark of sovereign authority: but the count was too well
acquainted with the queen's empire over her son, to permit him to take
such a step; he therefore advised him to retreat to Alcantara, without
seeing her, and from thence dispatch couriers to the magistrates of
Lisbon, and the governors of the provinces, to make known his
determination of taking the reins of government into his own hands. In
compliance with this advice, the prince, in disguise, attended alone by
the count and his friends, arrived in the night at Alcantara. The next
morning he wrote to the secretaries of state, commanding them to attend
him immediately; he also sent for the Spanish guards, and published
throughout the kingdom, that the term of the queen-mother's regency
expired with his minority.
The greater part of the courtiers obeyed his majesty's summons, and the
queen was soon deserted; she indeed had presently reason to know, that
borrowed authority can never subsist, when it ceases to be supported by
the legitimate power. This princess, however, always herself behaved
with her usual dignity; and the noble and generous manner with which she
gave up the sovereign authority, sufficiently proved how deserving she
was to reign still longer, and that her only motive for having prolonged
the regency beyond the usual term, was to ensure the happiness of the
nation. She immediately wrote to the king, that it little became him to
act the part of an usurper, and to employ clandestine measures to gain
possession of a throne, which was his lawful right; inviting him at the
same time to return the following day to his palace, when in an assembly
composed of the grandees, and principal magistrates of the city, she
would herself present him with the seals, and give up to him the
government of the kingdom. The king accordingly went back to Lisbon,
where the queen, true to her promise, convened the grandees of the
kingdom, together with those dignified with titles, and the heads of
orders, and in their presence gave the purse which contained the seals
to his majesty: "Here," said she, "are the seals which were confided to
me as regent of your kingdom, by virtue of the last will of my lord the
late king. I commit them most willingly into the hands of your majesty,
and I heartily pray God, that the prosperity of your government may
equal the wishes I form in your favour." The king, taking the seals,
presented them to the secretary of state; after which, the infant, his
brother, and all the grandees, kissed his majesty's hand, and
acknowledged him a second time their lawful sovereign.
The queen declared her resolution of retreating into a convent at the
expiration of six months; and she delayed thus long, merely to have an
eye on the measures pursued by government. The favourite, dreading the
exalted genius of this princess, and the natural influence of a mother
over a son, prevailed on the king to treat her on several occasions with
great disrespect, in order to hasten her retreat. The proud and haughty
spirit of the queen could not submit to such indignities, and she
retired immediately into a convent, where, perfectly convinced of the
vanity of worldly grandeur, she passed her whole time in preparing for
_that_, of which no human means could ever deprive her. She did not
survive her departure from court quite a twelvemonth, dying on the 18th
of February, 1660. This princess was possessed of a most superior
genius: to the virtues of the softer sex, she added those by which the
other is particularly distinguished. Seated on a throne, she displayed
the splendid qualities of a great sovereign; and when retired into a
convent, she seemed to have banished from her memory the regal diadem
which had once graced her brow.
The king, no longer restrained by the authority of this wise princess,
gave way openly to the natural ferocity of his disposition, attacking by
night, accompanied by his bravoes, every one he met, and even assailing
the watch, and all others appointed to attend to the security of the
city. Whenever he indulged himself in these nocturnal rambles, the next
morning never failed bringing to light some tragical history, of which
he was the hero; and the people felt as much dismayed on meeting him in
the streets, as at the appearance of a savage beast escaped from his
den.
The count de Castello Melhor endeavoured to conceal excesses to which he
owed his authority. A true courtier, though a weak unskilful minister;
he was arrogant and proud when success crowned his wishes, but dismayed
and helpless on a reverse of fortune. Portugal, thus governed, must
inevitably have perished, had not the weakness of Spain secured its
safety.
The king, don Alphonso, whose authority did not extend beyond the walls
of his palace, gave up the whole charge of the government to the care of
his favourite, reserving no other part of the sovereign power, than the
privilege of committing every species of extravagance with impunity.
The Spaniards thought this a favourable opportunity to attack Portugal,
which they flattered themselves would be easily subdued, whilst governed
by an idiot and madman. They therefore raised a considerable army, which
was commanded by don John of Austria, a natural son of Philip the IVth.
The count de Schomberg headed the Portugueze troops, though the title of
general belonged to the count de Villaflor; and it was to the valour and
conduct of the former alone, the king of Portugal owed the preservation
of his crown. That great officer gained several different victories over
the Castilians; and those with less difficulty than he conquered the
obstinacy of the Portugueze general; whose jealousy of his glory was so
great, that he was continually thwarting every plan which he feared
might increase it. The French general, however, possessed the full
confidence, not only of the court, but more especially of the troops,
who were eager to follow a commander whom victory always crowned with
success.