PORTUGAL.

Reigning Sovereign and Family.

Luis I., King of Portugal, born Oct. 31, 1838, the son of Queen Maria II. and of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg; succeeded his brother, King Pedro V., Nov. 11, 1861; married Oct. 6, 1862, to

Pia, Queen of Portugal, born Oct. 16, 1847, the youngest daughter of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy. Issue of the union is a son, Carlos, born Sept. 28, 1863.

Sisters and Brother of the King.-1. Princess Maria, born July 21, 1843; married, May 11, 1859, to Prince George, second son of the King of Saxony. 2. Princess Antonia, born Feb. 17, 1845; married, Sept. 12, 1861, to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. 3. Prince Augustus, born Nov. 4, 1847.

Father of the King.-Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, titular 'King of Portugal,' born Oct. 29, 1816, the eldest son of the late Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg; married, April 9, 1836, to Queen Maria II. of Portugal; obtained the title King,' Sept. 16, 1837; widower, Nov. 15, 1853; Regent of Portugal during the minority of his son, the late King Pedro V., Nov. 15, 1853, to Sept. 16, 1855.

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Great-Aunts and Uncle of the King.-1. Princess Teresa, born April 29, 1793, the daughter of King Joan VI. of Portugal and of Princess Charlotte of Spain; married, April 11, 1809, to Don Pedro of Spain; widow July 4, 1812; married, a second time, Oct. 20, 1838, to Don Carlos, pretender to the crown of Spain; widow, March 10, 1855. 2. Princess Maria, sister of the preceding, born July 4, 1801; Regent of Portugal from March 10, 1826, to Feb. 26, 1828. 3. Prince Miguel, born Oct. 26, 1802; Regent of Portugal, Feb. 26, 1828; declared King of Portugal by decree of June 30, 1828; abdicated May 29, 1834; married, Sept. 24, 1851, to Adelheid, daughter of the non-sovereign Prince of LöwensteinWertheim-Rochefort, domiciled in the grand duchy of Baden. Offspring of the union are four daughters and one son, who assume the title of Prince and Princesses of Portugal, but are not acknowledged as such by the Government of King Luis I.

The reigning dynasty of Portugal belongs to the House of Braganza, which dates from the commencement of the fifteenth

century, at which period Affonso, an illegitimate son of King Joan or John I., was created by his father Duke of Braganza and Lord of Guimaraens. When the old line of Portuguese kings, of the House of Avis, became extinct by the death of King Sebastian, and of his nominal successor, Henrique 'the Cardinal,' Philip II. of Spain took possession of the country, claiming it in virtue of his descent from a Portuguese princess; but in disregard of the fundamental law of the kingdom, passed by the Cortes of Lamego in 1139, which excluded all foreign princes from the succession. After bearing the Spanish rule for more than half a century, the people of Portugal revolted, and proclaimed Don Joan, the then Duke of Braganza, as their king, he being the nearest heir to the throne, though of an illegitimate issue. The Duke thereupon assumed the name of Joan IV., to which Portuguese historians appended the title the Fortunate.' From this Joan, through many vicissitudes of family, the present rulers of Portugal are descended. For two centuries the members of the line of Braganza kept up the ancient blood alliances with the reigning house of Spain; but the custom was broken through by the late Queen Maria II., who, by a union with a Prince of Coburg, entered the great family of Teutonic Sovereigns. Luis I. is the second Sovereign of Portugal of the line of Braganza-Coburg.

Luis I. has a civil list of 365,000 milreis, or about 82,000l.; but His Majesty returns annually 26,000 milreis to the public exchequer, to be employed for educational purposes. The expenses of the whole Court, including the allowance to King Ferdinand and the other princes, amount to 675,000 milreis, or nearly 152,000l. King Luis has settled upon his consort, Queen Pia, sixty contos of reis, or 14,000l., from his own civil list, declining a proffered grant from the funds of the nation.

The following is a list of the Sovereigns of Portugal since its conquest from the Moors :—

The average reign of the thirty-five sovereigns of Portugal, from the ascension of the House of Burgundy, amounted to twenty-two years.

Constitution and Government.

The fundamental law of the kingdom is the 'Carta de Ley' granted by King Pedro IV., April 29, 1826, and altered by an additional act, dated July 5, 1852. The crown is hereditary in the female as well as male line; but with preference of the male in case of equal birthright. The constitution recognises three powers in the State, the legislative, executive, and 'moderating' authority, the two last of which reside in the Sovereign and his responsible ministers. There are two legislative Chambers, the Camara dos Pares,' or House of Peers, and the Camara dos Diputados,' or House of Commons, which are conjunctively called the General Cortes. The peers, unlimited in number, but actually comprising 115, are named for life by the Sovereign, by whom also the president and vicepresident of the first Chamber are nominated. The peerage was formerly hereditary in certain families; but on May 27, 1864, the Cortes passed a law abolishing hereditary succession. The members of the second Chamber are chosen in direct election, by all citizens possessing a clear annual income of 133 milreis, or 221. The deputies must have an income of at least 390 milreis, or 891. per annum ; but lawyers, professors, physicians, or the graduates of any of the learned professions, need no property qualification. Continental Portugal is divided into thirty-seven electoral districts, returning 154 deputies, to which Madeira and the Azores add twenty-five. Each deputy has a remuneration of about 10s. a day during the session. The annual session lasts three months, and fresh elections must take place at the end of every four years. In case of dissolution, a new Parliament must be called together within thirty days. The General Cortes meet and separate at specified periods, without the intervention of the Sovereign, and the latter has no veto on a law passed twice by both Houses. All laws relating to finance and general taxation must originate in the Chamber of Deputies.

The executive authority rests, under the Sovereign, in a responsible Cabinet, divided into seven departments, namely

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-Duke de Loulé, born 1802, the son of Count Val de Reis, who was nominated Marquis de Loulé by King Joan VI., in 1807, and assassinated March 1, 1824. Educated for the diplomatic career; Minister of the Interior, July 4, 1860; appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and chief of the Cabinet, Feb. 21, 1862.

2. The Ministry of the Interior.-Chevalier Anselmo José Braamcamp, appointed Feb. 21, 1862.

3. The Ministry of War.-Viscount Bernardo Sá da Bandeira, born in 1796; entered the army, 1816; exiled, 1824; returned to Portugal, 1826; Governor of Oporto, 1831-32; Minister of Marine, 1832-33, and Nov. 1835 to April 1836; general and Commanderin-chief of the royal army, 1836; leader of the opposition in the Cortes, 1846-56; Minister of Marine, 1856-57; appointed Minister of War, July 4, 1860.

4. The Ministry of Justice and of Ecclesiastical Affairs.Councillor Gaspar Pereira da Silva, appointed Feb. 21, 1862.

5. The Ministry of Finance.-Baron Joaquim Thomas Lobo de Avila, appointed Feb. 21, 1862.

6. The Ministry of Marine and of the Colonies.- Commander José Da Silva Mendes Leal, appointed Feb. 21, 1862.

7. The Ministry of Commerce and Public Works.-Duke de Loulé, appointed 'ad interim,' March 10, 1862.

The Sovereign is permitted, in important cases, to take the advice of a Council of State, or Privy Council, consisting of thirteen ordinary and three extraordinary members, nominated by the Crown for life. The leading ministers, past and present, generally form part of the Privy Council.

Church and Education.

The Roman Catholic faith is the State religion; but all other forms of worship are tolerated. The Portuguese Church is under the special jurisdiction of a 'Patriarch,' with extensive powers, two archbishops, and fourteen bishops. The Patriarch of Lisbon is always a cardinal, and, to some extent, independent of the Holy See of Rome. Under the Patriarch are five continental and five colonial bishops; under the Archbishop of Braga, who has the title of Primate, are six; and under the Archbishop of Avora three bishops. The total income of the upper hierarchy of the Church is calculated to amount to 300,000 milreis, or 67,500l. There are 3,769 parishes, each under the charge of a presbitero, or incumbent. Most of the conventual establishments of Portugal were suppressed by decree of May 28, 1834, and their property confiscated for the benefit of the State. At that period there existed in the country 632 monasteries

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and 118 nunneries, with above 18,000 monks and nuns, annual income of nearly a million sterling. This revenue was applied to the redemption of the national debt; while a library of 30,000 volumes was set up at the former convent of San Francisco, at Lisbon, from the collections of books and manuscripts at the various monasteries. A few religious establishments are still permitted to exist; but their inmates are in a state of great poverty, and the buildings are gradually falling to ruin. The lower ranks of the priesthood are poorly educated, and their income scarcely removes them from the social sphere of the peasants and labouring classes. The number of Protestants in Portugal, mostly foreigners, does not exceed 500. They worship in chapels at Lisbon and Oporto.

The superintendence of public instruction is under the management of a superior council of education, at the head of which is the Secretary of State for the Home department, and which holds its sitting at Coimbra. Public education is entirely free from the supervision and control of the Church. By a law enacted in 1844, it is compulsory on parents to send their children to a place of public instruction; but this prescription is far from being enforced, and only a very small fraction of the children of the middle and lower classes really attend school. In 1854 there were 1,186 schools devoted to primary instruction, attended by 33,500 pupils of both sexes, of whom, however, only 1,570 were females. From the year 1854 to 1862 the Government founded 588 new schools, of which for boys 452, for girls 136. Portugal had in 1854, 1,200 public schools, with 55,12 scholars. At the close of 1861 there were 1,788 public schools, with 79,172 scholars, showing an increase of 23,980 scholars. In 1862, there was one scholar to every 36 inhabitants. There is only one university in the kingdom, that of Coimbra, founded in 1290. It has five faculties, and 46 professors and lecturers, who are attended by between 800 and 900 students. The lyceums, which impart secondary instruction, number 182, with, on the average, 3,000 scholars. The clergy are educated in six seminaries and eight training schools, where most of them receive gratuitous instruction. In the building of the extinct monastery at Belem, about 900 orphan and abandoned children of both sexes are supported, educated, and taught various useful trades.

Revenue and Expenditure..

The estimated revenue of the kingdom for the financial year 1863-1864 amounted to 15,371,266 milreis, or 3,415,8577., derived from the following sources:

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