The private letters from Lisbon had described an insurrectionary movement
as intended for the 8th instant ; and the ramifications of the conspiracy against the beloved MIGUEL were said to be extensive. Two decrees of that Prince, dated the 9th, confirm the intelligence,—which, from the repeated announcement of tumults in act or intendment, none of them realized, had been received with some doubt. The decrees state, that attempts had been made to corrupt some of the subalterns and privates of the garrison of Lisbon, and that the public tranquillity had been dis- turbed by skyrockets discharged on the morning of the 9th. The first decree directs an inquiry into the facts of the disturbance to be made by the department of ecclesiastical affairs and of justice. The second decree appoints two commissioners, one for Lisbon, and the other for Oporto, to try (or rather, from the words of the decree, to condemn) all persons charged with exciting to revolt, sedition, or tumult—execution to follow in twenty-four hours. The commissions are to consist each of four civil and three military judges. The latest letters, which come down to the 13th instant, say that one hundred and fifty persons had been arrested.
Previous page
