Patriota Funchalense

Among the most important places in our country, Funchal was by no means the last to see a periodical publication appear for the first time. When the first Azorean newspaper appeared on the island of Terceira in 1830, eight Madeiran newspapers had already been published before that date. The same was true in relation to the other places outside Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra. Since the Portuguese had begun their great colonising movement in this archipelago, a movement that soon spread to the ends of the earth, it would also seem natural that the most powerful lever of modern civilisation should have been introduced here before it reached the other lands discovered or conquered. And so it turned out.

A great political event on the Portuguese mainland, which had repercussions in all the island and overseas dominions, was the immediate cause of the publication of Madeira’s oldest newspaper, which took the name O Patriota Funchalense (‘The Funchal Patriot’). The advance of the so-called liberal ideas, which brought about the Porto Revolution and the resulting Constitution of 1822, was soon felt on this island. However, it was only some months after the events in the capital of the north that the political principles which were to establish the representative system in Portugal were solemnly proclaimed in Funchal. The official consecration of these principles took place on 28 January 1831. The event was commemorated on its anniversary the following year by the laying of the foundation stone of a monument to the Constitution, in front of the churchyard of the Cathedral (Sé Catedral), Funchal Cathedral (Sé), and this commemoration was marked by extraordinary and remarkable pomp.

One of the most fervent supporters of those ideas at the time was Dr Nicolau Caetano Betencourt Pita, an eminent physician and distinguished Madeiran who enjoyed great prestige and wide influence in our society. He placed these enthusiastically at the service of a cause that he believed to be among the most beneficial for the greatness and prosperity of the nation. To promote the new political principles and consolidate the system of government that had just begun, he undertook the publication of a periodical sheet. To do so he had to struggle against almost insurmountable difficulties, which his tenacity and boundless dedication succeeded in overcoming entirely. Many will say, perhaps with some reason, that the nature of this cause did not deserve such great sacrifices, but the sincerity of his convictions will suffice to absolve him of any perhaps exaggerated positions he may have taken at that juncture.

A ‘press’, as it was then called – in fact a modest printing workshop – was bought in Lisbon and brought to Madeira. With it came the typesetter and printer Alexandre Gervásio Ferreira, who for about two years directed the composition and printing of O Patriota Funchalense; from no. 179 onwards he was replaced by the typesetter Inácio S. de Abreu. The workshop, management and editorial office were installed in a house in the Rua dos Ferreiros (‘blacksmiths’), which bore the street number 7 and must have stood not far from the former editorial office of O Jornal (1921).

On 2 July 1821, regarded as the anniversary of the discovery of Madeira, the first issue of O Patriota Funchalense appeared. It was a twice-weekly publication, coming out regularly on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It had four pages of text, but many issues were accompanied by ‘supplements’ of two and sometimes four pages. It was of small format, the printed area not exceeding 23 by 16 centimetres. In all, 214 issues were published, the last on 16 August 1823.

On the plan of the subjects covered by the paper and its distribution to subscribers, the first issue carries this curious notice: ‘The plan of O Patriota Funchalense is as follows: this sheet will be published twice a week (Wednesdays and Saturdays) and will contain the most interesting news from the National and Foreign Gazettes – Reflections on the internal Economy and external Relations of Madeira – Politics – Miscellany – Arrivals and departures of ships, Current prices, etc. Subscribers, and those who wish to become subscribers, will send for the sheet on the said days in the afternoon.’

On every issue, at the top of the first page, the royal arms stood out, bearing as their motto these lines by Almeida Garrett:

The great writer, giving thanks for the tribute paid to him, sent an interesting letter to the editor of O Patriota Funchalense, which ends with these fiery and hyperbolic words: ‘Receive, Sir, my thanks, not as a Poet, but as a Citizen – for I prize and honour myself in the latter quality as much as I disdain the former when it is detached from it.’

On p. 142 ff. of volume I of this work we gave the main biographical details of Dr Nicolau Caetano Bettencourt Pita, founder of O Patriota Funchalense.