DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT.
Every man of penetration saw that the new ministry had too much of the old leaven to stand long as the present parliament was constituted. Sir Robert Peel, however, did not despair. Though there was a reformed parliament, he fully anticipated carrying on the government with advantage to the country. In the month of November he expounded the principles on which he designed to conduct government, in a long address to his constituents at Tamworth, observing, that he would not accept power on the condition of declaring himself an apostate from the principles on which he had hitherto acted, and declaring that he had not been a defender of abuses, or an enemy to judicious reforms, either before or after the reform bill had passed. It was evident, however, to Sir Robert Peel and his colleagues that government could not be carried on with the present parliament; and therefore, on the 30th of December, a proclamation was issued, dissolving it, and convoking a new one to meet on the 5th of February, 1835.
THE ACT ABOLISHING SLAVERY IN THE WEST INDIES CARRIED INTO EFFECT.
On the 1st of August in the present year, the act for the emancipation of the negroes came into operation. In some islands symptoms of insubordination were exhibited, and the planters were obliged to have recourse to punishment and force, in order to overcome the reluctance of the black population to regular labour; yet this great change took place without any serious disturbances. In Barbadoes, indeed, there was perfect tranquillity and order; and in Jamaica the transition was accompanied with very little alarm or commotion. The slave felt grateful that he was permitted to take his proper station among the great family of mankind.
STATE OF THE CONTINENT.
At the close of the last year, the government of the Queen of Portugal was in possession of the capital, as well as of Oporto. Having an efficient army, as the authority of Don Miguel was obeyed over a large extent of country, the government resolved to pursue its military operations with vigour. The plan adopted was to crush the smaller bodies of men in arms for the pretender in various parts of the kingdom, till there should be no Miguelites but those who were around himself at Santarem. In pursuance of this plan, the Duke of Terceira joined the queen’s army in January, in order that Saldanha might undertake other operations. Saldanha made himself master of Leyria, between Lisbon and Coimbra, and Torres Novas, in which a system of massacre was adopted disgraceful to himself and his officers. His army now separated Miguel from the north, while the army of the Duke of Terceira pressed upon him from Lisbon. Saldanha took up his position at Almoster, where, in February, he was attacked by the Miguelites; but he repulsed them with great slaughter. Events equally favourable to the queen took place in the north, where considerable numbers of Miguelites were still in arms. The provinces north of the Duero were, indeed, cleared of the enemy by the Duke of Terceira; and he then retraced his steps to expel the partisans of Miguel from the positions which they still held between the Duero and the Tagus, particularly Coimbra, on the Mondego, and Figueiras, at the mouth of that river. Figueiras was reduced by a naval expedition, under Admiral Napier, and Coimbra opened its gates to the duke himself. The queen’s forces now pressed upon Don Miguel; and on the 18th of May he abandoned his lines at Santarem, and retreated towards Guadiana, in the direction of Evora. He was followed by Count Saldanha and the Duke of Terceira, who were at the head of 20,000 men; and seeing no hopes of success or escape, he sought a suspension of arms for the purpose of negociating. The government refused to enter into any negociation, or to listen to any terms different from those which had been already tendered; namely, that Don Miguel should leave Portugal within fifteen days, and engage never to return to any part of the Spanish provinces or the Portuguese dominions, nor in any way concur in disturbing the tranquillity of these kingdoms; that he would be allowed to embark in a ship of war belonging to any of the four allied powers; and that he should receive a pension of sixty centos of reis, about £15,000, and be permitted to dispose of his personal property, on restoring the jewels and other articles belonging to the crown and to private individuals. The troops of Don Miguel were to lay down their arms, and return peaceably to their homes under the protection of the amnesty; and he was to issue orders to commanders of fortresses, or of troops, who still recognised his authority, immediately to submit, under the same protection, to the government of the queen. To these terms Don Miguel now consented; and having signed the convention, he went on board a British vessel of war, which carried him to Genoa. The civil war was thus brought to an end in Portugal; and it was this happy event which led his majesty to conclude a treaty with that government, as alluded to in his speech. One act of ingratitude which the Portuguese government committed, however, must not be forgotten. It was chiefly by the valour of the British volunteer auxiliaries that the cause of the queen was triumphant; and these volunteers had been induced to enter into the service by promises of pay equal to that of England, exclusive of allowances for compensation and other advantages. The Cortes, however resolved, in January, 1834, that they should only receive Portuguese pay; and when the war came to an end, the British troops remained unpaid. The men, in fact, on whose bravery the sole dependence was placed when danger was threatened, were left to wander through the streets of Lisbon in rags and poverty, and compelled to prolong a miserable existence on scanty rations of beans and bread, with the occasional addition of a morsel of salt fish. Such is the usual reward of mercenaries who hire themselves out as the supporters of foreign revolutionary governments.
During this year the political relations between Holland and Belgium continued in the same state of uncertainty in which they had been left at the close of the former year. In Spain, also, the history of the present year opens with a continuance of the same contests for the succession to the crown which had marked the close of the preceding. Throughout the whole year, indeed, there was war between the queen-regent and Don Carlos; and the year closed while yet they were in arms. In Switzerland some agitation was occasioned by an attempt of the Poles in that country, in concert with Italian fugitives in the French departments of the Rhone and Isère, to overthrow the Sardinian throne in Turin, by a sudden attack upon Savoy. Greece, during the present year, suffered both the evils of civil war and of political intrigue. In Turkey, the ascendancy of Russia was increased by an alliance, offensive and defensive, which was concluded between those two powers. The emperor gave up two-thirds of what remained to be paid in respect of the indemnities stipulated for by the treaty of Adrianople; and, on the other hand, to surround his Asiatic frontier, the Porte ceded to him an extensive tract of country in the pachalic of Athattsick. Turkey was to pay that portion of the indemnity which was not relinquished when it might suit her finances; and, in the meantime, Silistria was to remain as a pledge in the hands of the Russians, an arrangement which gave them the effective command of Moldavia and Wallachia, and left the frontier of Turkey defenceless against invasion. Russia also was to have the free passage of the Dardanelles.