From 1814 onwards, Variedades sobre objectos relativos às Artes, Comércio e Manufacturas consideradas segundo os princípios da Economia Política [Miscellany on topics relating to the Arts, Commerce and Manufacturing considered according to the principles of Political Economy] (vols. I-II, 1814-1817, 1987) was published and, as part of his duties at the Board of Commerce between 1818 and 1820, he was one of the first ideologues to promote the use of the steam engine to consolidate the industrialization of the country.

With a literary culture grounded in the classical canons — one of characteristics — the critical thinking of José Acúrsio das Neves was extremely diversified, involving the fundamental areas of politics, economics and history, and also the defence of freedoms and fundamental rights in those tempestuous times, like he stated in Cartas de Um Cidadão Português a seus Concidadãos sobre Diferentes Objectos de Utilidade Geral e Individual [ Letters from a Portuguese Citizen to his fellow Citizens on Different Objects of General and Individual Utility ] (1822): "Well-defined liberty and equality are precious rights of mankind and can be lost due to the excess with which they are intended to be enjoyed. Ill-defined freedom and equality are the greatest of the scourges that plague the human race. Read the history of the French Revolution and you will be convinced of this truth: facts persuade more than speeches" (Letter VI, A Táctica dos Revolucionários [ The Revolutionaries' Tactics ] , p. 48).

At the end of the liberal revolution of August 1820, the political-ideological struggle continued. Dismissed from his main duties, he was nevertheless elected to the Courts in 1822 for the Arganil constituency, and maintained a diligent parliamentary activity. After the Vilafrancada (27 May 1823), he was readmitted to the Board of Commerce, from which he was dismissed again in 1824, after being arrested as a suspected participant in the Abrilada (29-30 April 1824). After the death of King João VI and the consolidation of King Miguel's power, he was reinstated to his duties in 1826. With a passion for scientific and technological progress, and grounded on the teachings of history, he published Entretenimentos Cosmológicos , Geográficos e Históricos [ Cosmological, Geographical and Historical Remarks] (1826/1987) and Noções Históricas , Económicas e Administrativas sobre a produção e manufactura das Sedas em Portugal … [ Historical, economic and administrative insights into the production and manufacture of silk in Portugal ] (1827).

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