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1801. Carta de Cipriano Ribeiro Freire, antigo ministro plenipotenciário, para Dom João de Almeida de Melo e Castro, ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros.

Author(s)	Cipriano Ribeiro Freire
Addressee(s)	João de Almeida de Melo e Castro
In English	Congratulations letter from Cipriano Ribeiro Freire, the former plenipotentiary minister in Philadelphia, to Dom João de Almeida de Melo e Castro, the new Portuguese Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The author congratulates the addressee for his nomination to a government position. João de Almeida de Melo e Castro (1756-1814), the 5th Count of the House of Galveias, was a Portuguese diplomat who, given the pluri-continental nature of the monarchy he represented, had to be very subtle, while dealing with foreign powers, in the management of the resulting Portuguese political ambiguity. He was a plenipotentiary minister in London, the Hague and Rome and an ambassador in Vienna. After 1801 he had different government functions: foreign affairs minister, war minister, navy and overseas minister. He had also several honorary titles. He married Dona Isabel José de Meneses but they had no children, so the 6th Count of Galveias was his brother Francisco (1758-1819). If there is no translation for the letter itself, you may copy the text (while using the view 'Standardization') and paste it to an automatic translator of your choice.

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[1]	~~Illmo e Exmo Snr~~ ~~Não he só o dever que nesta occasião tenho,~~
[2]	de ir dár os parabens a V Exa, como Conselheiro,
[3]	Ministro, e Secretario de Estado dos Negocios Estran-
[4]	geiros, e como meu Chefe, que me faz ter a honra
[5]	de hoje felicitar a V Exa; mas tambem a con-
[6]	sideração das immensas vantagens que espero
[7]	resultem a Portugal desta feliz nomeação do
[8]	Principe Regente Nosso Senhor, e o interêsse par-
[9]	ticular que tómo nella, como homem grato, e
[10]	que tanto, e ha tantos annos, deve a V Exa.
[11]	Minha mulher pretende ter sido
[12]	propheta; predizendo hum effeito, cuja causa
[13]	o fazia necessario, com a época mais ou menos
[14]	remota. ~~Ella tem tambem a honra de feli-~~
[15]	citar a V Exa, e á Illma e Exma Sra D Izabel de
[16]	Menezes, minha Senhora, a quem ambos
[17]	apresentamos humildemente os nossos respeitos.
[18]	E ás Ordens de V Exa fico promptissimo com
[19]	a mais fiel obediencia.
[20]	Deos