er, refused to accept propositions from foreign negociation which
involved any sacrifice of his daughter's claims, while he assured the
Portuguese that he would maintain the rights of their queen without
entering into any compromise with the usurper of her throne. But
Pedro did not strengthen the hopes of his friends at this time by the
resolution which he admitted of recalling his daughter from England to
Brazil; and the British government itself remonstrated with him on the
impolicy of that step. Donna Maria's return to Rio de Janeiro seemed to
convey the idea, indeed, that she had abandoned all pretensions to the
crown of Portugal, and had left Don Miguel undisputed master of the
field. But such was not in reality the case. Don Pedro had ulterior
objects in view by the recall of his daughter; and the Brazilian
minister made a public declaration, to the effect that Donna Maria's
departure from Europe neither involved an abdication of the crown on the
part of her majesty, nor an indifference on the part of Don Pedro to his
daughter's rights.

The history of Spain furnishes but few events of importance during the
present year. In the early part of it, Ferdinand lost his queen, and
towards the close he contracted a third marriage with a princess
of Naples. The marriage was celebrated at Madrid, to the great
dissatisfaction of the adherents of Ferdinand's brother, Don Carlos.
During the year, conspiracies transpired in Catalonia. They were
supposed to have been excited by the Count d'Espagne for the sake of
private advantage, and they were followed by cruel executions. The rest
of the country remained tranquil; but its finances were in so dreadful
a state of exhaustion from a long continuance of misgovernment and
exclusion, that Cadiz was declared a free port, in the hope of restoring
foreign commerce to its ancient condition. At this time, however, the
Spanish government, which had been driven from the English money-market
by its faithless conduct respecting the Cortes' bonds, ran the risk of
losing its credit with all the European states, by a discovery of its
fraud in a French loan.

CHAPTER XL.

{GEORGE IV. 1830--1831}

State of Parties..... Meeting of Parliament..... Motion for
a Committee of the whole House on the State of the
Nation..... Reduction of the Salaries of Public Officers,
&c...... Motion for revising the whole System of
Taxation..... Committee on the East India Compan