A X-5-1562. SECOND LETTER, ADDRESSED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY, &c. &c. &c. ON PORTUGUESE AFFAIRS, BY WILLIAM WALTON. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY; BOOTH, DUKE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 1831. LETTER, &c. MY LORD, LITTLE did I think when I last laid down my pen, that I should so soon have occasion to address a Second Letter to Your Lordship on the same subject; but, there is something so novel and alarming so much opposed to that considerate and dignified tone which Great Britain has been accustomed to adopt in her communications with other States, particularly those which do not rank as her equals in either wealth, or power; something so intemperate, overbearing and improvident in the Note of Mr. R. B. Hoppner, our Acting Consul General in Portugal, and presented to His Most Faithful Majesty's Minister of Foreign Affairs on the 25th of last April; as well as something so remarkable in its subsequent publication in a London Journal, that upon these points I cannot resist the temptation of submitting to Your Lordship my unbiassed senti ments. The task of again writing on Portuguese Affairs, 1 acknowledge, seemed to me appalling, so strong is the infatuation prevailing in the public mind; but I was roused when I reflected that the annals of Portugal have long presented no other than a cheerless picture of anarchy and civil discord, in which the difficulties of the government and the sufferings of individuals claim our warmest sympathy. With some persons I may not receive the credit due for my motives; my zeal may be deemed suspicious, or inconsiderate; but, thank heaven! I am blessed with a spirit too independent to be modeled to any standard, except that of my own conscience, and too firm to be deterred from an honourable and patriotic purpose by the scowls of party. I do not pretend to more sagacity than others, although in interest for the honour and welfare of my country few exceed me. Such, I can safely pledge, is the only motive that induces me again to take up my pen, and I should prefer martyrdom in the cause of truth and justice to the proudest honours any earthly prince could confer, if purchased at the expence of either. A cause, founded on justice and law, may boldly challenge investigation, and when I a second time presume to address your Lordship upon it, I feel convinced that the cloud by which it is enveloped is not impervious to the rays of truth, and would be wholly dispelled, whenever Your Lordship bestows upon it all the attention to which it is entitled. would not long resist the efforts of that strong and comprehensive mind, with which Your Lordship is It known to approach matters of the most intricate and difficult nature, and upon this it fortunately happens that Your Lordship's opinion is not publicly implicated. As regards Portugal, our position is peculiar. With that country we are connected by treaties, of ancient and modern date, founded on acts of reciprocal service, by means of which Portugal was led to believe that she had secured in Great Britain a just and powerful protectress, under every vicissitude, except those which arise out of misconduct ; whereas, during her late and most trying difficulties, although unprovoked, she daily complains of having experienced an equivocal intercourse which, in the language of diplomacy only, could be called amity. Portugal had fondly hoped, in the grateful remembrance of former times and the pleasing senti ment of mutual esteem, to have found some alleviation through our interference, at a moment when party feuds were spreading their influence over a more extended surface. When assailed on all sides and during a protracted contest was seen exhausting her strength and distressing her commerce, she trusted that her oldest Ally would have lent a helping hand; and at the period of an awful crisis, when her national existence was endangered by the unjust and inconsiderate acts of a giddy rival, she confidently anticipated that England would not abandon her; but rather use every friendly effort and never relax till tranquillity and concord were finally restored. Portugal reposed in confidence on an |