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give, was not followed. They recommended the publication of an amnesty, and the cessation of political prosecutions, as one means of restoring order; but the council of Castile opposed this recommendation, and the ministry joined the fanatical party. In this spirit, one of the ministers, having adopted or pretended to adopt the notion that Freemasons were the great cause of national anarchy and public misery, demanded a more severe set of enactments against masonic aprons and symbols. A body of persons, calling themselves "defenders of the faith and of the king," had been lately detected at Grenada in possession of secret symbols: for this offence, they were ordered to be tried and executed as Freemasons. Sufficient evidence was sent to Madrid to prove that the place where they met was not a lodge, that the badges which they wore were not masonic, and that the objects which they had in view had nothing in common with the subjects generally discussed in the conclaves of the craft; but the order was peremptory, and the "defenders of the faith" suffered as masons. being himself suspected of liberalism, could not venture to put down the rebellion of fanatics, without at the same time proving that he was ready to support the faction, whose furious excesses had alarmed

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the fears, and endangered the throne of his master.

But even these sacrifices to the bigotry and alarms of his master, and to the fanaticism of the courtiers and of the people, were insufficient to secure his power. In October, Zea and the whole cabinet, of which he was the head, suddenly received their dismissal; and the ecclesiastical and fanatical faction came into full possession of power. The duke del'Infantado, who was high in credit with that party, and was supposed to be on bad terms with the French cabinet, now became the chief of a new ministry. Notwithstanding the bigotry of his character, the general opinion was, that his administration would be more steady than that of his predecessor: for, though he might be willing, in general, to be the prompt instrument of the priesthood, and might thus longer oppose salutary reforms; yet as the church could place reliance on his zeal, they would more readily listen to his counsels, and he would possess more power to execute moderate measures, if so inclined, than a man like Zea. If ever the time was to come when any portion of the property of the church would be mortgaged for the relief of the nation, the proposition was more likely to be heard with favour from him than from any other minister.

CHAP. XII.

PORTUGAL Change of Ministry-Recognition of the Independence of Brazil-Treaty with Brazil - Change of Commercial System — BRAZIL-Executions-The Emperor's Course of Government-The Relations between Brazil and Peru-Invasion of Chiquitos by Brazilian Troops-The Emperor's disavowal of this Step--Insurrection of Fructuoso Rivera in the Banda Oriental-Expedition of Lavalleja -Provisional Government of the Banda Oriental-Incorporation of the Banda Oriental with the United Provinces of the Rio de la PlataMilitary Successes of the Independents-Victory of Sarandi-The Emperor's preparations-Blockade of Buenos Ayres.

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N the beginning of the year it was generally believed that sir William A'Court, the English ambassador at the court of Lisbon, was exerting all the influence of Great Britain to bring about such a change in the Portuguese ministry, as might pave the way for the recognition of the independence of the Brazils. Strong representations were made to the king on the subject; while M. Hyde de Neuville threw his weight into the opposite scale. Though the topic could not be very palatable to his majesty, he was too sensible of his complete dependence upon the power of England for protection against the intrigues of the queen's faction, not to give way ultimately. Accordingly, on the 14th of January, a change of ministry took place; and immediately afterwards decrees were issued appointing Jose Joaquim de Almeida de Aranjo Correa de Lacerda, minister of the interior; Fernando Luiz Perreira de Sousa Barradas, minister of justice and ecclesiastical affairs; the count de Barbacena, minister of war; senhor Silvestre Pinheiro Ferreira, minister for foreign affairs; don Miguel Antonio de

Mello, minister of finance, and president of the royal Exchequer ; and admiral J. J. Monteiro Torres, secretary of state of the marine and colonies. Pinheiro, it was understood, was nominated pro tempore merely, to the department of foreign affairs, and was to retain that office only until the count of Villa Real, then ambassador in London, could resign his functions there and return to Lisbon.

The effects of the British influence were seen, still more plainly, in the new footing on which the relations between the Brazils and Portugal were placed. On the 13th of May, the king, by his letters patent, created and recognized Brazil as an empire, independent of Portugal, and ceded and transferred the sovereignty of it to his son don Pedro. This preliminary step being taken, the proffered mediation of Great Britain between the two states was accepted; and sir Charles Stuart proceeded from Lisbon to Rio Janeiro as plenipotentiary of the king of Portugal, in order to negociate a treaty between the mother and the new trans-Atlantic empire. He does not seem to have met with many

obstacles; and, on the 29th of August, a treaty of peace and alliance between Brazil and Portugal was concluded. It is a circumstance not unworthy of notice, that this treaty should have been signed on behalf of Portugal by a British subject only; but it is still more remarkable, that, though his most faithful majesty declared in it that he recognized Brazil as an empire independent of, and separate from Portugal, and transferred of his own free will the sovereignty of it to don Pedro and his legitimate successors, there was no stipulation to prevent the two crowns from being united in the same person. One of the articles of it was, that the king of Portugal should, during his own life, retain the title of emperor of Brazil [see Public Documents, p. 104*].

The treaty was officially announced in Lisbon on the 15th of November, and the proper measures were ordered to be taken for carrying into execution its different clauses. Portugal made this year an important alteration in her commercial system. Many of the principal articles of traffic were excluded from her ports by prohibitory laws. With respect to most of these articles, the prohibition was now abolished; and in lieu of it, there was substituted a duty of thirty per cent. The new regulations were extended not only to Lisbon and Oporto, but to the Azores, Madeira, and the Cape Verd islands.

The matter, which, in the beginning of the year, chiefly occupied the attention of the Brazilian authorities, was the punishment of those who had been concerned in the insurrection at Pernambuco. Fre Caneca was executed on the 13th of January at Pernambuco;

and Macario, governor of the Registro, on the 11th of February. On the 17th of March, John William Ratcliff, born in Portugal of English parents, John Metrowich, a Maltese by birth, and Joquinda Silva Loureiro, a European Portuguese, suffered the same fate at Rio de Janeiro. Besides the numbers who perished by the executioner, many were left languishing in prison.

The administration of the em

peror was violent and tyrannical: in none of his proceedings did there appear any reverence either for the forms or for the spirit of a free constitution. On the contrary, all his conduct seemed to tend towards the establishment of absolute power, and to the discouragement of a spirit of liberty. A necessary step in this course of proceeding was, to secure the co-operation of the troops, and the support of the existing civil authorities. For this purpose, notwithstanding the financial embarrassments, there issued, on the 10th of January, a decree, fixing a table of increased monthly allowances to the body of police, to the officers of foreign corps, and to those of the other troops. Of foreign troops there were at that time about 4,000 in Brazil, and an addition of 3,000 was to be made as soon as they could be recruited. At the same time, another decree established a juridical college in the capital. As another step towards the abandonment of constitutional forms, loyal addresses were procured from the provinces, disapproving of any restrictions on the power of the emperor, and inviting him to reign with absolute authority. Of this kind was an address transmitted by the cabildo (or municipality) of Monte Video, in return for a portrait of the emperor, with which

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he had presented them. "On the 4th of December," say these loyal councillors, "appeared on the waters of our horizon like a true luminary, the precious gift which your imperial majesty had sent us. On the same day, your resplendent august colours ennobled the great hall of head-quarters; and on the 5th, the same most inestimable picture, was conveyed, incognito, to the capitular palace, till a room should be prepared for its solemn inauguration. In this inestimable gift your council think they perceive a solution of the famous problem of the quadrature of the sphere." After telling the emperor that they experienced in his presence a mixed sensation of pleasure and trembling, as if in the presence of the angel of the Lord," and that Monte Video might say of him, as the church says in the Canticles, "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine," they advise him to "govern imperially, and assume absolute power," as the most energetic and the most prompt mode of ruling. An answer was returned to this address on the 7th of January, in which his imperial majesty pretended to rebuke gently the too eager zeal of the people of Monte Video; but he nominated both the Syndic and the other members of the cabildo knights of the order of Christ. A similar address sent from Rio Grande was answered in a similar manner. The abject language of these addresses proves, that the general opinion was, that absolute power was the aim of Pedro's wishes, though he did not think it prudent as yet to avow his purposes.

In a letter of the 5th of May, the governor of the province of St. Paulo stated, that he had been making a tour among the towns

within his jurisdiction, and found the people every where disposed to proclaim his majesty as the absolute sovereign; and he expressed hopes that the capital would declare itself to the same effect, and that his majesty would be restored to the enjoyment of his inalienable rights. Upon the receipt of this communication, his majesty issued a decree, blaming, but in very gentle terms, these proceedings.

"Having been informed," says he, "of the reprehensible conduct of Manoel da Cunha de Azeredo Coutinho Souza e Chicoro, in taking criminal and scandalous steps, contrary to the established system of government, and to the constitution which I have sworn to maintain, I have resolved, with the advice of my council of state, to suspend him from the exercise of his functions, and to order him immediately to come to this capital to answer for such blameable proceedings." These are not the terms, in which treason should be spoken of.

Though there were many who were proud to grovel in the dust before him, others regarded his course of policy with alarm and hatred. In May, two attempts, it was reported, were made upon his life; and several persons were apprehended and thrown into confinement at the Isla de Cobras. But so much pains were taken to prevent the affair from coming to the knowledge of the public, that it remained involved in mystery. The suspicions, that were entertained of the emperor's purposes, were rendered both stronger and more general, by the treaty which he concluded with Portugal. The tenor of that arrangement was such as to lead naturally to the belief, that he intended, after the

death of his father, to unite the two crowns on his own head.

The relations between Brazil and some of the neighbouring independent states, became of a very delicate and perplexing kind. Early in the year, the independent troops of Peru, having taken possession of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, called upon don Sebastian Ramos, governor of the province of Chiquitos, who still adhered to the king of Spain, to join their standard. He refused to do so, and resolved to seek the protection of the imperial arms. With this view, he sent his aide-de-camp D. Jose Maria de Velasco to the governor of the adjacent Brazilian province, Matto Grosso, with a proposal to unite the province of Chiquitos with the empire of Brazil.

This proposal the governor of Matto Grosso, by the advice of the provisional authorities, accepted in the month of April; and he immediately sent a detachment of troops into Chiquitos, in order to prevent the advance of the patriots. These proceedings threatened to involve the emperor in a war with Peru and Colombia. But the sense of danger overcame his ambition; and in August, he, by an official document, disavowed the measures which had been taken by the provincial authorities. "Though the governors," said his majesty in this instrument, "hoped, perhaps, by this means better to provide for the defence of the capital of Matto Grosso, and actuated, by an indiscreet zeal, thought to do a service to his majesty and to the empire by the acquisition of an adjacent country, in order thereby to support the exertions of the roy alists in America; yet it should have occurred to the provisional government, that the particular VOL LXVII.

interest of a nation is not a sufficient or honourable reason for aggrandizing itself at the expense of the fidelity of people who are led to make such a sacrifice only by calamities, which, though serious, are, however, transitory. Besides, the government is quite incompetent to make a practical decision on the questions which divide the liberals and the royalists in Spanish America, and should not have resolved on such measures. Therefore, his majesty the emperor commands the minister of state for foreign affairs to signify his surprise to the government at the resolution which it took, not only to accept the union of the province of Chiquitos, but to make the Brazilian troops pass the frontier of the empire to protect it; and the more so, as, if his majesty had been previously consulted, as he ought to have been, he never would have given his consent to a step so contrary to the generous and liberal sentiments which guide the policy of his cabinet, and to his intention of not interfering in the present contest between the inhabitants of Spanish America and the mother country."

In adopting this prudent resolution, his majesty was probably influenced not a little, by the awkward circumstances in which he was then placed, with respect to the government of Buenos Ayres. Though general Lecor, with upwards of 2,000 troops, supported by a small naval squadron, still held Monte Video and the Banda Oriental as a dependency of Brazil, the inhabitants of that province were known to be exceedingly averse to the Brazilian dominion, and to be anxious to be united, as they formerly were, under the [N]

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