The reign of Maria the Second of Portugal has been
abruptly closed by the Queen's death, in childbirth, on the 15th instant. It was an accident to which any woman was liable in undergoing the trials of maternity ; and it has never been understood that the Queen possessed a share of health which made her more proof than other women against such trials. But any change in Portugal is sup- posed to entail more change ; and from the fact that Queen Maria is succeeded by a well-disposed youth, in her son Pedro the Fifth, it is assumed that the Ministry of Saldanha cannot last, that Court intrigues will be discountenanced, and that a better day is opening for Portugal. It seems to be forgotten, in this assumption, that the government will be carried on by the King Consort as Regent, for the two years that must elapse before King Pedro shall com- plete his eighteenth year and attain his majority.
