Proclamations of constitutional government

On p. 301 ff. of vol. I of this work we gave an account of how the first Constitution was proclaimed in this archipelago, and we refer readers who wish to learn about the subject to that passage.

In 1823 absolute government was restored, and on the death of John VI in March 1826 Dom Pedro granted the Constitutional Charter (Carta Constitucional), introducing representative government. The Charter was solemnly proclaimed on this island with great splendour and enthusiasm on 6, 7 and 8 August 1826, the last day being set aside for the oath of loyalty to the Charter. In Funchal and other places there were noisy celebrations to mark the advent of constitutional government. The following October elections for deputies were held, and those elected were Dr Lourenço José Moniz, Manuel Caetano Pimenta de Aguiar, Dr Father Caetano Alberto Soares and Luís Monteiro.

Miguel I restored absolute government once again in 1828. In 1834, with the Convention of Évora Monte and the end of the civil war, the representative system was raised up anew, in keeping with the provisions of the Constitutional Charter of 1826. It was on 5 June 1834 that the new system of government was solemnly proclaimed in this city, and for many years its anniversary was celebrated with the most fervent enthusiasm.

In those days it was always the students of our lyceum (state secondary school) who gave these festivities their characteristic liveliness and lent them all the warmth and enthusiasm of their ardent, restless youth. With what tender longing do we old men remember the dawn serenade played at the doors of the teachers’ homes, the Te Deum in the Colégio church (Igreja do Colégio, the Jesuit college church), the procession of students led by the blue and white silk processional banner, the recitation of some stanzas of The Lusiads (Os Lusíadas) by the octogenarian Sergeant Ferro on a bandstand in the old Passeio, and our emotion on seeing the aged peer of the realm and former minister José Ferreira Pestana hoist on the mast of the Fortress the blue and white flag, by then worn to a rag, but the very one that had been unfurled there on 5 June 1834!

On the afternoon of 3 June 1834 the war schooner Amélia, commanded by the distinguished Madeiran naval officer António Teixeira Doria, sailed slowly into our bay with the blue-and-white ensign hoisted at the head of her mainsail. The enthusiasm this at once aroused among supporters of constitutionalism was beyond description. The schooner had brought news of the convention of Évora-Monte, concluded on 26 May, and of the immediate end of the civil war that followed it, with the complete triumph of the supporters of the liberal cause.

Pedro IV officially informed the governor and captain-general of Madeira, Dom Álvaro da Costa de Macedo, of the political events that had changed the country’s system of government. He required him to submit the archipelago completely to the new Government, on pain of being considered a rebel, and held him responsible for any consequences that might arise from whatever attempt at resistance he might perhaps wish to make.

Far from thinking of offering the slightest resistance, Dom Álvaro de Macedo was in fact preparing to declare his public support for the new order of things when he was approached by a group of citizens, representing some thousands of the island’s inhabitants. They asked that the new sovereign and the new form of government be proclaimed at once, in the most public and solemn manner.

The governor agreed to the request, and the white flag of Dom Miguel was immediately lowered on the so-called bastion of the chestnut tree (baluarte do castanheiro) and the two-coloured flag raised in its place. The city’s fortresses fired salutes as they hoisted the same flag, and the constitution was joyfully acclaimed everywhere. On the 6th the ceremony of swearing to the Charter and of the acclamation (aclamação, formal public proclamation of a new king) of Queen Maria II took place in the town hall (Paços do Concelho). It was attended by the governor, the bishop, the other military and civil authorities and many citizens, and it was finally resolved to send congratulations to the regent, Dom Pedro, on the establishment of the liberal regime in the country.

The constitutionalists who went to the Palácio de São Lourenço (St Lawrence Palace) to demand the immediate proclamation of the new government were António Barnabé Soares, Cândido de Freitas Abreu, Luís António de Ornelas, Marceliano Ribeiro de Mendonça and Paulo Emílio de Ornelas. A painting in the Masonic lodge Liberdade depicts the glorious part these five Madeirans played on 5 June.

As they made their way from Rua de João Tavira towards the fortress, bearing two-coloured flags, the detachment guarding the gaol formed up. It is said that it was preparing to open fire on the five constitutionalists and the people following them when the officer of the watch arrived and ordered the soldiers to withdraw, preventing the outrage from being carried out.

Near Madeira the schooner Amélia met the frigate D. Pedro, commanded by Captain Henrique de Price Bertrand, which had been blockading the island since 28 May. This officer had sent an envoy under flag of truce to Dom Álvaro on that same day, the 28th, but Dom Álvaro refused to receive him or the correspondence he carried.

The following quatrain comes from a patriotic song that was widely sung in liberal families in 1834:

Having sworn, and administered, the oath of loyalty to the Charter and the Queen, Dom Álvaro de Macedo continued to govern the archipelago until 13 July, when he sailed for Lisbon aboard the frigate D. Pedro. He was succeeded by an interim government made up of the provisor (diocesan judicial and administrative officer) of the bishopric, since the bishop was absent, the corregedor (royal district magistrate) of the judicial district (comarca) and Captain Henrique de Price Bertrand. Under the terms of the royal decree (alvará) of 12 December 1770, this government administered the province until 6 August following, when the prefect (prefeito) Luís da Silva Mousinho de Albuquerque arrived from Lisbon.