Os factos

A contemporary chronicle penned by a 19th‑century Portuguese deputy, this work opens with a candid note on the myriad typographical slips that survived the printing press. It maps the turbulent decades after the liberal wars, when the nation wrestled with feudal privileges, clerical dominance and the emerging demand for constitutional guarantees. The author’s voice blends rhetorical fervor with stark statistics, painting a portrait of a country striving to free itself from the shackles of antiquated authority.

Between 1855 and 1869 the narrative follows the author’s own legal advocacy, exposing how successive authorized and unauthorized loans swelled the public debt from twenty to nearly sixty million pounds. Detailed tables reveal the relentless climb of interest payments, while passionate commentary outlines reforms in taxation, education, and the wine trade that were meant to steady the economy. Listeners will hear a vivid, data‑rich account of Portugal’s struggle to balance progress and fiscal prudence, framed by the earnest, sometimes lyrical prose of a man determined to defend his nation’s future.