fortune, though his only share in the business was his being the first
to receive the intelligence; thus his credit daily increased, and he was
in possession of the sovereign authority; under the name of the king,
whom he directed as a mere machine, the springs of which he employed
according to his will and interest; taking advantage of the violent
passions of his master to prejudice him against all those whom he
mistrusted; by which means he presently removed the greater part of the
ministers who acted during the regency, and replaced them by creatures
of his own, in every respect devoted to his pleasure. The council, and
indeed the whole court, underwent a thorough change; nor did these new
members remain longer in office than whilst they were either useful or
agreeable to the minister; who even contrived to banish Conti a second
time from Portugal. The king, anxious for the presence of his first
favourite, had given orders for his return from the Brazils; but no
sooner did the count hear of his landing, than he forbad his appearing
at court, and sent this imperious message by the same courier who had
been dispatched by the king to express the joy he felt at his arrival.
This wretched prince, impressed with the most slavish fear of his
minister, never ventured to see Conti in public; and the count dreading
the effect these secret meetings might have on his credit, decided on
breaking off the connexion, by accusing Conti of being engaged in a
conspiracy against his majesty; an accusation void of proofs, witnesses,
or even the shadow of probability, but which was sufficient to complete
the ruin of his unfortunate rival.
The minister, thus relieved from the presence of Conti, turned his whole
attention towards the infant, don Pedro, the brother of the king. This
young prince, now no longer a child, appeared noble and generous: he was
esteemed and looked up to by the Portugueze, who could not fail to
approve and admire the regularity of his conduct, and still more so,
from the comparison they naturally made between him and their monarch.
The count, not satisfied with the empire he had gained over his master,
was desirous of having the two brothers equally at his disposal, he
therefore placed his own brother in the household of the infant,
flattering himself that he would soon obtain his confidence. The young
prince received this brother most obligingly, and even treated him with
particular attention, but never admitted him into his intimacy or
esteem. His friendship and confidence were indeed much more worthily
bestowed; for the regent, who had always regarded don Pedro as the
principal support of the royal family, had early taken care to place men
of the first abilities about his person. These prudent governors, and
faithful friends, represented to this young prince the probability of
his one day mounting the throne, should the king continue his disorderly
course of life, or should he have no children, which they hinted was not
very likely to be the case; whilst on the other side, they put him on
his guard against the artful designs of the minister, whose interest was
so deeply concerned in prolonging the reign of Alphonso. Views of so
different a tendency, naturally formed two parties as different at
court: that of the minister was the most considerable, since it was
composed of those who constantly attend at the fountain-head of places
and preferments: but the old ministers, who foresaw the short duration
of so violent a government, and the first nobility of the kingdom, who
could not patiently submit to the authority of the favourite, paid their
court to the infant, don Pedro, as to the presumptive heir to the crown.
The minister perceiving that the hopes of the opposite party were
entirely founded on the reported impotence of the king, determined on
his immediate marriage. Proposals were therefore made to the court of
France, for Mary Elizabeth Frances, of Savoy, the daughter of Charles
Amadeus, duke de Nemours, and of Elizabeth de Vendôme. These proposals
being accepted, the princess was conducted into Portugal by her uncle,
(_à la mode de Bretagne_[25]) Cæsar d'Estrées, bishop and duke de Laon,
so well known throughout the whole of Europe by the illustrious title of
cardinal d'Estrées. This prelate was accompanied by the marquis de
Ruvigné, ambassador extraordinary from the court of France, together
with a numerous train of gentlemen and persons of distinction, who were
either friends or domestics of the house of Savoy, or attached in
different manners to those of Vendôme and d'Estrées.
The marriage ceremony was performed with the magnificence usually
displayed on such occasions. The extraordinary beauty of the young queen
caused universal admiration; don Pedro appeared enchanted with her
perfections, but the king still remained insensible; and the world soon
began to suspect that the quality of queen, and wife to the king, were
vain titles, and merely intended as a veil to conceal the natural
infirmities of that prince.
The minister had flattered himself with gaining the same empire over the
mind of the young princess, as he had so long possessed over that of his
sovereign; he consequently treated her, at first, with the profoundest
respect, but he soon perceived that she was endowed with too much sense,
courage, and proper pride, to suffer herself to be governed by a
subject. Fired with revenge, he took every opportunity to make her feel
his power. All state affairs were most carefully concealed from her; and
if ever she chanced to interest herself in private concerns, she as
constantly failed in her designs; since a recommendation from her was a
sufficient title of exclusion with the minister. He next proceeded to
stop the payment of her pension, and those of her household, on pretence
of the necessities of the state, and the expences of the war having
exhausted the royal treasury; and the king, whom the favourite sometimes
_let loose_ on the objects of his hatred, behaved with such rude
violence to don Pedro and the queen, that the latter was frequently seen
retiring from his apartment bathed in tears, and in the deepest
distress.
Her beauty, her misfortunes, the complaints of the ladies and officers
of her court, who no longer received their salaries, contributed to
render her an object of compassion to all who were not immediately the
tools of the favourite. Thus a third party was formed at court, where
nothing was talked of but the barrenness of the queen, though a
twelve-month had not yet elapsed since her marriage.
Strange[26] reports were assiduously circulated relative to a door which
the king had ordered to be made close to the queen's bed-side, and of
which he alone kept the key. The queen appeared alarmed at this
circumstance, which was alike injurious to her virtue and her
reputation: and her friends and favourers publicly declared, that the
minister, being decided on procuring heirs for his majesty, (no matter
by what means) flattered himself with the hopes of concealing, through
the medium of this mysterious door, the natural infirmities of his
master, though at the price of the queen's honour.
This princess disclosed her apprehensions to her confessor, who advised
her to communicate them to the confessor of don Pedro. Two religious
men, though apparently attached to different interests, decided on
acting in concert in a circumstance not only extremely delicate, but of
the highest consequence to them both. Their friends were of opinion that
it would be very possible to reconcile these said interests, by pursuing
the original designs formed by the regent. The two factions, once so
different, soon formed but one party. The queen contrived to engage the
count de Schomberg, commander of the forces, to favour her plan, and the
infant, who knew no bounds to his hopes and desires, secured in his
interest the principal magistrates of the city, together with every
person who stood high in the opinion of the people.
The king in his own person was regarded as a mere cypher, and as such
would have been easily set aside; but he was supported by an artful and
ambitious minister, who knew how to make the august name of sovereign
respectable in the eyes of the people. The first step, therefore, to be
taken, was to remove this artful favourite from the post he held in the
palace, and they were well aware it would be no easy task to make him
resign the government of the kingdom. For this purpose, they secretly
tampered with one of his most intimate friends, whom they engaged to
represent to him, that don Pedro attributed the ill treatment he
received from his brother to him alone; and that the prince having sworn
to complete his ruin, his safety depended on his quitting the court.
Naturally timid, the minister immediately published this intelligence,
and doubled the number of guards usually attendant on his person. He
also armed all the officers of the household, and endeavoured to
persuade the king to place himself at their head, and thus attended,
arrest don Pedro in his own apartment: but the king, mad and violent as
he was in his nightly rambles, when no one dared to oppose him, would
not consent to a plan which he foresaw could not be executed without
resistance and danger; he accordingly contented himself with writing to
the infant, and commanding his immediate attendance. The prince excused
his disobedience, on account of the injurious reports published against
him by the minister; representing, that the count being sole master in
the palace, he could not possibly enter it till he should be removed.
Several letters passed between his majesty and the infant on this
occasion, all of which were made public. The king at last made offers of
sending the count to sue for pardon at his brother's feet; but the
infant, whose views soared much beyond the poor triumph of revenging
himself for reports of which he himself was the secret author, would
accept of no other alternative than the minister's dismissal from the
palace. This affair caused universal disorder; the court and city were
in continual agitation, and every thing seemed preparing for a civil
war. The minister was sensibly affected at having lost the support of
the count de Schomberg. The greater part of the grandees openly declared
in favour of the prince don Pedro; and to add to the minister's
distress, his own friends, nay, even his relations, refused risking
their safety in his behalf, alledging, that they were not sufficiently
in force to resist the infant's party, supported as it was by that of
the queen. The count, thus abandoned by the creatures who had hitherto
basked in the sunshine of his favour, lost all courage, and quitting the
palace at night, and in disguise, retired to a monastery seven leagues
from Lisbon; and from thence proceeding to Italy, sought an asylum in
the court of Turin.
The infant immediately attended at the palace, on pretence of paying his
devoirs to his majesty; but his presence inspiring universal submission,
he presently discarded all the remaining tools of the minister. The
king, thus deprived of his usual advisers, was entirely at the mercy of
his brother, who dared not, however, possess himself of the crown; well
aware that such conduct would brand him with the odious epithet of
usurper. He had indeed no pretence for so bold an action, nor could he
possibly obtain the sovereign power, but from an act of legal authority
which must take place in a general assembly of the states.
The king alone having the power of convening this assembly, he was
recommended to adopt a measure, which it was pretended the necessities
of the state made requisite, since such necessities could not be
relieved without the concurrence and assistance of his subjects.
Naturally weak as was this prince, he soon perceived the intention of
this meeting was to conspire against his authority; he consequently
evaded for a long time attending to the several petitions, which, at the
instigation of the infant, were presented to him by the different bodies
of the people; but at last the council drew up a resolution, which they
obliged him to sign, making thus this wretched prince the instrument,
and even the promoter of his own destruction. The assembly by this act
was convened for the first of January 1661. [27] Don Pedro having
succeeded in an enterprise, on which he founded his hopes of future
grandeur, the queen acting in concert with him, next appeared upon the
stage. She began her operations by retiring into a convent, from whence
she immediately wrote to the king, that her conscience would no longer
permit her remaining in the palace; and since no one knew better than
himself that he had never lived with her as her husband, she only
requested that he would be pleased to return her dowry, and permit her
to seek an asylum in her own country, and under the protection of her
own family.
The king, on receiving this letter, flew in a transport of rage to the
convent, to force back his queen; but don Pedro, who foresaw what would
happen, and whose authority in the capital was already greater than his
brother's, appeared at the gates of the convent, accompanied by the
nobles of his party, and obliged the king to return to the palace, where
he called upon his different mistresses to vouch for his virility; and
broke forth into violent threats against the queen and don Pedro; the
latter, far from regarding the resentment of a king destitute of
counsellors and strength, was resolved on putting a finishing stroke to
his power; he therefore repaired the following morning to the palace,
followed by the whole of the nobility, magistrates, corporation, and an
immense multitude of people, all anxious to know the event of so serious
an affair. On entering the palace, he was met by all the counsellors of
state, who waited his arrival, and after a short conference, he sent
orders to have the king put under arrest in his own apartment; which
done, he was soon obliged to sign his abdication. The infant, however,
did not venture to assume the title of king, but that of regent was
bestowed upon him by the states-general, who took the oath of allegiance
accordingly. Peace with Spain was the first object which engaged the
attention of the new regent; the king of England acted as mediator in
the business, and the king of Spain, by a solemn treaty, acknowledged
the crown of Portugal henceforward independent on that of Castille.
Nothing was now wanting to complete the happiness of the regent, but to
obtain the hand of his sister-in-law in marriage. The queen, on entering
the convent, had presented a petition to the chapter of the cathedral
church, (the see being vacant) demanding the dissolution of a marriage,
which could never be consummated during nearly fifteen mouths
cohabitation. The chapter pronounced it null and void, _without any
other juridical formalities, than the negation of the proctor, and the
non-appearance of the party complained against; the impediment_, as the
sentence imports, _being reduced to a moral certainty, without any
necessity of farther proofs, or longer delay_. The regent thus, by means
of formalities which the generality of judges very willingly accommodate
to the wishes of those possessed of sovereign authority, found himself
at liberty to espouse the queen: he was advised, however, out of respect
to public decency, to obtain a dispensation from the pope, which
dispensation, Mr. de Verjus, from a fortunate concurrence of
circumstances, happened[28] to bring from France at this very juncture.
This brief was obtained from the cardinal de Vendôme, at that time the
pope's legate à Latere, who had been invested with that temporary
dignity, for the purpose of assisting, in the name of his holiness, at
the baptism of the dauphin. The bishop of Targa, coadjutor to the
archbishop of Lisbon, bestowed the _nuptial benediction_ on the regent
and queen, by virtue of this brief, which was afterwards confirmed by
that of pope Innocent the IXth, which was thought necessary, not only to
calm their consciences, but to ensure peace and tranquillity in the
kingdom.
King Alphonso was banished to the islands of Tercera, which make part of
the Portugueze dominions. The people, ever deeply interested for the
unfortunate, openly declared, that he was sufficiently punished in the
loss of his crown and consort, without depriving him of the liberty of
breathing his native air: but, alas! a dethroned prince seldom finds
friends or protectors. Not a single grandee dared to espouse his cause,
or plead in his favour, being well aware that the regent would never
forgive an instance of compassion, which might in the end prove fatal to
his government.
Don Alphonso remained in exile till the year 1675, when he was recalled
by the regent, who suspected him of having formed a party to assist him
in his escape from the islands of Tercera, and to re-establish him on
the throne.
This prince died in the neighbourhood of Lisbon[29] in 1683, leaving
his brother the liberty of assuming the title of king, the only right of
which he had not already despoiled the unfortunate monarch.
The death of Alphonso the VIth, having removed all apprehensions from
the breast of don Pedro, he remained in future unrivalled possessor of a
throne, which, flattering as it was to his ambition, most probably cost
him some moments of remorse. This sunshine of prosperity was in the
first year of his reign overclouded by the death of the queen, an event
sincerely deplored by his majesty; who, however, having paid the just
tribute of his tears to her memory, employed his every thought in
alleviating the misery of a people who had sympathised in his
misfortunes, and whose love towards a sovereign, whom they regarded as a
father, made them deeply regret his being left without male heirs. He
therefore, in compliance with their solicitations, consented to form a
second marriage, and on the 2d of July, 1682, espoused Mary Elizabeth,
the daughter of William, elector palatine of the Rhine. This princess,
one of the most accomplished women of the age she lived in, bore him
several children, and died on the 4th of August, 1699.
The great affection felt by the Portugueze for this monarch, will not
appear extraordinary, if we trace back the whole of his conduct from the
commencement of his administration as regent, and the situation of
Portugal at the moment he took into his own hands the reins of
government. Having settled every thing relative to the abdication of the
king, with the states-general, his next care was to convince the people,
that his true and only motive for taking upon himself the sovereign
authority, was the good of the public. Those Portugueze who had presumed
to attribute this action to personal interest were most severely
punished: nothing, however, contributed so much to silence the clamours
of the friends and favourites of the deposed monarch, as the plan of
conduct adopted by his successor; a plan from which he never departed
during the whole course of his life.
Don Pedro, during his regency, and even after he became king, instead of
increasing the expence of his household, introduced the practice of the
strictest oeconomy; and so far from being surrounded by a pompous
train of attendants, he was waited upon by a single domestic. He very
frequently eat alone, seated upon a piece of cork on the floor, and
neither drank wine himself, nor permitted any one who did to approach
him. He passed the greatest part of his time with his ministers, and
often negociated affairs himself with foreign ambassadors, when his
penetrating eye saw through their deepest designs, and disconcerted
their best combined projects. He placed the greatest confidence in his
relation, the duke de Cadaval, and had never any reason to repent his
choice. He renewed the treaties entered into with England and Holland,
and took care they should insert no clause contrary to his views, which
were to preserve the strictest neutrality with his neighbours. He
rejected the pressing solicitations of Louis the XIVth, to join with him
against Spain, and was proof against the most brilliant proposals made
him by that monarch, at a time too when Louis had subdued the Low
Countries, invaded Holland, conquered Franche Comté, crossed the
Pyrenees, and penetrated into Catalonia.
The Spanish government may be said to have acted a most villainous part
at this juncture, if it indeed be true, as has been asserted, that it
was then secretly contriving the assassination of so firm and faithful
an ally.
The court of Portugal being at the baths of _Obidos_, received
intelligence that a most dreadful plot was formed to massacre the
regent, his consort, the infanta his daughter, and replace Alphonso the
VIth on the throne. The criminals were presently discovered, seized,
tried, and condemned to die. Don Francisco Mendoça, don Antonio de
Cavida, and their accomplices were accordingly publicly executed. The
inquest taken on this trial had been carefully concealed; yet still it
transpired that the Spanish ambassador was not unacquainted with this
horrible conspiracy. The coolness subsisting between him and the court
increased the suspicions of the public; but the dignity of the
diplomatic character secured his person. The Portugueze minister at the
court of Madrid was very soon after most grossly insulted in his own
house, and not being able to obtain redress, returned to Lisbon.
Affronts which it was impossible to revenge were passed over in silence
by the prudent regent; who, however, did not neglect taking every
precaution which the situation of his affairs made necessary. He caused
the frontiers to be put in a proper state of defence, and sent a well
armed squadron to the Terceres (or Azores) islands, to fetch back his
brother Alphonso, who, it had been purposely reported, was improperly
treated in that place. The war between France and Spain was still
carried on, though to all appearance it was drawing towards an end; and
the very moment don Pedro became acquainted with the overtures for peace
made at Nimeguen, he offered to act as mediator between the two powers.
This proposal was received by Louis the XIVth with a degree of
haughtiness and contempt which drew upon himself the never-ending
resentment of a prince, to whom he was very soon afterwards forced to
sue for succour.
Let us now take a cursory view of the situation of Portugal at that
critical juncture. The pains taken by the regent to put the finishing
stroke to a war which had lasted twenty-six years, have been already
remarked; but great as were the miseries it had caused, they were much
less distressing, and much easier repaired than those suffered by
Portugal, whilst under the dominion of Spain: such indeed were those
calamities, that time itself has been unable to repair them.
During the sixty years this unhappy country groaned under the Spanish
yoke, the navy was almost entirely destroyed; more than 200 large
merchantmen were lost. The arsenals and forts were robbed of above 2000
brass cannons, with an infinite number of iron ones; and the great
square at Seville was at one time filled with 900 pieces of cannon, all
marked with the arms of Portugal. Two hundred millions of golden crowns
were taken out of the country between the years 1584 and 1626; and the
finest estates and richest domains were bestowed on Spanish subjects.
The Dutch deprived them too of the islands of Ceylon, Ternate, and
Tidor; they forced Malacca to surrender after a long siege, took
possession of the ports of Mina and Arguin on the coast of Guinea, and
formed different settlements in Brazil; in short, such were the losses
sustained by the Portugueze during these sixty years, that all their
efforts have been hitherto inadequate entirely to repair them. The spice
and East India trade which they had carried on exclusively during a
whole century, then fell into the bands of the Dutch and English; and
the Portugueze government finding it impossible to regain this valuable
branch of commerce, turned all their thoughts towards Brazil, from which
they had no small difficulty in driving the Dutch. Don Pedro likewise,
on his first accession to the crown, made this important colony one of
the principal objects of his attention, and spared no pains to extend it
to the utmost of his power.
It became necessary at this time to increase the authority of the
missionaries, who, from their first entrance into the interior parts of
America, had defended their proselites against the armed savages, with
no other weapons than the gospel of Christ in one hand, and a crucifix
in the other. An ordinance was therefore published on the 21st of
December, 1686, which declared that the _holy fathers of the society of
Jesus should not only be invested with the spiritual government, as
before, but also the political and temporal one, over the towns and
villages under their administration_.