n
the zeal of justice against guilt was measured by the terrible
intensity of the punishment--we must charge the horror of such
sweeping executions to the ignorance of the age, much more than to
the vengeance of power.

This tragedy was long the subject of European memory; and all the
extravagance of popular credulity was let loose ill discovering the
causes of the conspiracy. It was said, in the despatches of the
English minister, that the Marquis of Tavora, who had been Portuguese
minister in the East, was irritated by the royal attentions to his
son's wife. Ambition was the supposed ground of the Duke of Aveira's
perfidy. The old Marchioness of Tavora, who had been once the
handsomest woman at court, and was singularly vein and haughty, was
presumed to have received some personal offence, by the rejection of
the family claim to a dukedom. All is wrapped in the obscurity
natural to transactions in which individuals of rank are involved in
the highest order of crime. It was the natural policy of the minister
to avoid extending the charges by explaining the origin of the crime.
The connexions of the traitors were still many and powerful; and
further disclosures might have produced only further attempts at the
assassination of the minister or the king.

It was now determined to act with vigour against the Jesuits, who
were distinctly charged with assisting, if not originating, the
treason. A succession of decrees were issued, depriving them of their
privileges and possessions; and finally, on the 5th of October 1759,
the cardinal patriarch Saldanha issued the famous mandate, by which
the whole society was expelled from the Portuguese dominions. Those
in the country were transported to Civita Vecchia; those in the
colonies were also conveyed to the Papal territory; and thus, by the
intrepidity, wisdom, and civil courage of one man, the realm was
relieved from the presence of the most powerful and most dangerous
body which had ever disturbed the peace of society.

Portugal having thus the honour of taking the lead, Rome herself at
length followed; and, on the accession of the celebrated Ganganelli,
Clement XIV., a resolution was adopted to suppress the Jesuits in
every part of the world. On the 21st of July 1773, the memorable bull
"Dominus ac Redemptor," was published, and the order was at an end.
The announcement was received in Lisbon with natural rejoicing. _Te
Deum_ was sung, and the popular triumph was unbounded