In the Political Notes in Thursday's Times it is stated
that Lord Mayo, who, it will be remembered, recently raised a debate on Portuguese slavery in the House of Lords, has received a threatening letter from " Portuguese Carbonarios." The letter, which is written in bad French, begins by stating that it comes from Portuguese Carbonarios, and ends with the threat, couched in vague terms, that it will be on Lord Mayo's own property that revenge will be taken—or " the job done," to use words nearer the original. That efficient pro- tection will be accorded to Lord Mayo by the police we do not doubt, but we hope that the British Government will not fail to point out to the Portuguese Government the consequences of any attempt to stifle debate upon the slavery question in Parliament or elsewhere by threats of assassination. We of course do not suggest for a moment that the Portuguese Government is in any sense responsible for this particular threat or would not view it with the utmost detestation. At the same time, we do not doubt that the Portuguese Government can, if it likes, explain clearly to the Carbonarios what would be the inevitable result of any attempt to carry out the threat.
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