ministry objected to take this report into consideration; because the committee had taken upon themselves to report on a matter which had not been referred to them; and, after a stormy discussion, it was held by a majority of five that the report should not be received. But the question of the legality of placing at the head of the ministry an individual, who had not the specific charge of any particular department of the administration, was formally brought before the deputies on 31st of October; and after a debate of two days, was decided in favour of Palmella, by a majority of fifty-three to forty-two. An affair still more important to the young queen than the appointment of a ministry, was the selection of a husband, On the 1st of September, a resolution was moved in the chamber of deputies, that Don Pedro should have power to arrange a marriage between his daughter and some foreign prince, subject, however, to this limitation -that the marriage should not be carried into effect without the approbation of the Cortes. The resolution was carried in the deputies by sixty-seven to twentyseven; and in the peers, by twentythree to six. The duke of Leuchtenberg, the son of Eugene Beauharnois, and the brother of Don Pedro's wife, was the selected husband. The sudden death of Don Pedro occasioned some delay in the completion of the arrangement; but on the 1st of December the marriage of the queen to this prince was celebrated at Lisbon by proxy; and the solemnity was accompanied by great rejoicings. In the meantime a bill to exclude Don Miguel and his descend ants from the throne of Portugal had been passed by the deputies without one dissentient voice, and had received the sanction of the peers. The following were the principal enactments:-The exinfante, Don Miguel, and his descendants were for ever excluded from the succession to the Portuguese crown: he and they were for ever banished the Portuguese dominions, deprived of all political or civil rights, and precluded from possessing or acquiring any property in Portugal: should he or they venture to enter the Portuguese territories, they, and all who accompanied them, were to be considered guilty of high treason; they were to be tried by a council of war, composed of a president and four other members; the whole process was to be verbal, and was not to last more than twenty-four hours; and when convicted, he and they were to be shot immediately. Such individuals, as joined them after their arrival within the kingdom were to suffer death. Any inhabitant, who met the ex-infante within the Portuguese territory, might kill him, and was to receive a reward of ten contos, equivalent to about 2,500l. sterling, for the delivery of his body. The like reward was to be given to any one who handed him over alive to the authorities; and any public functionary, who neglected to apprehend the usurper, was to be punished with death. Another measure, adopted with a view to give permanence to the new order of things by increasing the number of persons whose interests were bound up in it, was the sale of the national domains, including that part of the property of the Church which had been confiscated. By the law, which was passed on this subject, landed estates were directed to be divided into as many lots as possible, in order that the facility of purchasing might be increased; and the purchaser had the option of a variety of modes of payment. The government securities were to be received in payment at par, whatever their value in the market might be the same privilege was extended to a great variety of titles, giving the holders pecuniary claims against the government; and that the poor might be enabled to buy as well as the rich, it was sufficient if twenty per cent. on the purchase money were paid in cash, and the remaining fourfifths in the course of the next sixteen years, by annual instalments of five per cent, with interest at two per cent per annum. The measure for the substitution of a metallic currency for the paper currency, which don Pedro Casa Real (Royal-house) had announced by his decree, was brought forward in the shape of a law. It received various modifications, the most material of which was, that prior contracts should be liquidated according to the terms on which they were contracted; and it finally received the sanction of the legislature with very little opposition. On the 4th of November, M. Silva Carvalho presented the financial budget of the year, from the 1st of July, 1834, to the 30th of June, 1835. It showed a deficit of 5,333 contos of reis (about 1,280,000l. sterling); but it was expected that a sum would very shortly be received in part payment of the debt due by the Brazils, which would reduce the deficit to 2,971 contos of reis, or about 720,000l. sterling. The budget amounted to 12,549,270,912 milrees, equal to about 3,100,000%. sterling, and consisted of the following items:— ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Ditto of Finance,-interest, and sinking fund in * Interest and sinking fund on the loans contracted in MILREES. 405,000,000 67,000,000 1,115,342,499 1,976,680,374 1,207,601,354 ... 3,897,855,018 1,280,783,320 ... Ministry of Justice and Church Affairs Provinces beyond the Seas 316,725,054 670,318,909 1,611,964,384 This amount was to be payable by Portugal only in the event of the Bra zilian government failing in its payment. REVENUE. Provinces of the continent Provinces beyond the Seas Receivable still from the loan contracted 16th September, 1833, in London, 284,288l. 5s. 1d., at 56d. MILREES. 6,877,494,269 1,482,236,034 1,218,378,250 9,578,108,553 The minister did not propose to lay on any new taxes; for he hoped, that, at no distant period, the increasing prosperity of the country would render the decima alone sufficient to answer all the wants of the state. In the mean time, all that he required to cover the deficit was, that the chamber, besides sanctioning the law for the sale of national and church property, should authorise the government to take an interest of ten per cent in any undertaking of private responsible individuals or companies for the repairing or construction of roads, canals, improvement of harbours and ports on the coasts, directing the course of the rivers, or for any other purpose of public utility; to grant charters for the establishment of banking companies in four capitals of provinces, for the purpose of granting loans of money to the farmers and manufacturers, with the privileges not exceeding those of the bank of Lisbon, and reserving to the bank of Lisbon the option, in the first instance, of establishing such banking compa nies: and, to adopt such measures, as it might deem expedient, for the consolidation of the national credit, without increasing in any manner the charge to the public treasury. The pecuniary wants of the administration, though the only, were but a poor excuse for the mode in which they treated the British volunteer auxiliaries, by whose aid chiefly the cause of the queen had been made triumphant. They had been induced to enter into Don Pedro's service by promises of pay equal to that of England, exclusive of allowances for compensation and other advantages. The difficulties, which for a long time confined the progress of Don Pedro to Oporto, having disabled him from fulfilling his engagements, the officers and soldiers were content to be paid in the meanwhile at the rate of the Portuguese service, leaving the arrears to accumulate till the end of the war. The regiment of British lancers voluntarily renounced their British rate of pay till the army should arrive at Lisbon; and they received Don Pedro's thanks in a printed order of the day, for setting such an example of disinterestedness to his army. When the campaign had begun before Santarem the Portuguese government proposed to the British infantry new terms, which were signed by the minister at war, marshal Saldanha, who pledged himself to their execution, and by the adjutant-general. These were, that, from the 1st of January, 1834, the British should receive only Portuguese pay; that upon leaving the service, after the war, they should receive certain compensations, and that, in the mean time, their arrears up to the 31st of December, 1833, should be paid in bills, half at three months' date, payable in March, 1884, and the remainder at nine months, payable in September. The English officers, having discussed these propositions, consented, though re. luctantly, to accept them. The regiment of lancers were to go on Portuguese pay, on condition of their arrears to the 31st of December being immediately paid. The war came to an end; the arrears due to the British troops still remained unpaid; and the men, on whose bravery the sole dependence was placed when danger threatened, were left to wander through the streets of Lisbon in rags and poverty, without pay, and prolonging a miserable existence on scanty rations of beans and bread, with the occasional addition of a morsel of salt fish. Such are the rewards which await adventurers or zealots, who hire themselves out to be the mercenary supporters of foreign revolutionary governments. -- CHAP. XV. HOLLAND and BELGIUM. - Political relations between Belgium and Holland-Disputes connected with Limburg and Luxemburg -Interference of the commanders of the fortress of Luxemburg to stop the proceedings of the Belgian functionaries-Opening of the States General-Speech from the throne-Budget-Votes of the States General-France-Riots in Brussels-Acquittal of the rioters Commercial subjugation of Belgium to France-Change of ministers in Belgium-Votes of the Belgian Chambers-SWITZERLANDInvasion of Savoy by Polish refugees-Conduct of the Swiss cantons in reference to these disturbances-Representations of the neighbouring states-Proceedings of the democratical faction in Switzerland -Meeting of the Swiss Diet-Parties in the Diet-Discussion as to the Polish refugees-Application of Neuchatel to be severed from the confederation-Discussions as to the revision of the federal pact of Switzerland-Miscellaneous proceedings of the Diet-The termination of its session. HE political relations be Twee tween Holland and Belgium continued in the same state of uncertainty, in which they had been left at the close of the former year. The king of Holland, yielding to the remonstrances of France and England, applied to the collateral branches of the house of Nassau and to the Germanic Diet for their assent to his cession of part of the grand duchy of Luxemburg; at the same time stating, that he could not give to either any indemnity in territory. On the 18th of January, the duke of Nassau, and his brother, prince Frederick, refused their consent: and the Germanic Diet declined to depart from their established principle, of not ceding any part of the territory included in the confederation without a territorial equivalent. An equivalent, England and France said, might easily be found in Limburg. The Dutch replied, that Limburg was left to them as an integral part of Holland, and was not to be separated from Holland, in order to be exposed to the chance of becoming eventually a part of Nassau, or of the Germanic empire. They said, that by the 12th protocol, containing the basis of the separation, and declared by the protocol of the 19th of February, 1881, to be fundamental and irrevocable, it was fixed, that there should be a complete and uninterrupted communication with the towns and places in the respective territories of Belgium and Holland. To comply with this principle, Holland consented to the eventual cession of the towns and places on the left bank of the Meuse, in the province of Liege, which belonged to the ancient territory of the United Netherlands. The same principle should be acted on reciprocally, |