Chagas forgot the diversity of positions and even generations that could be found among the Lisbon Casino speakers (in the case of Augusto Soromenho and Eça de Queiroz). He considered socialism a "highly detrimental and dangerous party", seeing it as a synonym of reaction, and pitting it against values such as liberty and civilization. Moreover, he identified the internationalist propaganda with Iberism – another utopia that, in his view, called into question the concept of homeland. Pinheiro Chagas thus used the Iberist idea for purposes of political combat – which incidentally was very common in Portuguese political culture – and also in the construction of the memory of the nation. He adhered to the dark legend of Filipe II and saw a revolution in the restoration of 1640, in which the Portuguese people overthrew the despotism of the Filipe Dynasty (and not a palace coup, as it actually was).

He also referred to his support of Fontes Pereira de Melo, whom he greatly admired – he considered him the greatest Portuguese political figure of the second half of the nineteenth century (“Fontes Pereira de Melo”, O Ocidente, vol.X, no. 292, 1-02-1887, pp.26-27). He became his Minister of the Navy and Overseas in his last government (1883-86), at a time of decisive struggle for the African territories by European powers. In 1884-85 the Berlin Conference took place, which would define a new international law on dividing the African continent. In those roles Chagas pursued developmentalist policies to extend the colonisation of Angola and Mozambique: during his term of office he began the construction of the railway between Luanda and Ambaca and between Lourenço Marques and the Transvaal, as well as the construction of bridges and telegraphic communication lines, and even the administrative organisation of the territory (as in Manica in Mozambique, a territory already disputed by the English). He also acted as member of the Superior Council of Public Instruction, and President of the Board of Public Credit (1893-95).

If the memory of Pinheiro Chagas that has prevailed has been rooted primarily in his confrontations with some of the most gifted artists of his time, it is also true that such confrontations – that he also forged – reduced his image to this dimension. We should not be made to forget that he contributed greatly to the formation of historical consciousness of several generations of Portuguese people who read his work. His existential optimism, connected to an ingrained belief in progress, is perhaps one of the best examples of the civic consciousness of monarchical constitutionalism in its golden age. He may be considered the reverse side of the medal of a critical consciousness, as Oliveira Martins was, though his view of Portugal's "decadence" did not drive him away as much as you might think from the view of his opponents in political combat. Pinheiro Chagas was a partner and secretary general of the Academy of Sciences and President of the Association of Men of Letters and Journalists of Lisbon.

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