tions or explanations, the government of Rio de Janeiro replied, that the usurpation of the throne of Portugal did not alter the obligations of Brazil, that these obligations, arising from existing treaties, should be fulfilled, whoever was king of Portugal,-and that, as the dividends could not be paid to the English creditors, from the want of an accredited agent from Portugal, the funds should be deposited in the Bank of England till such an agent should be appointed. "This order," the minister added, "still continues in force, and thus the credit of the empire has been saved." Nothing could be more frank than this statement of M. de Calmon. It admitted the obligations of Brazil fully and distinctly. It went farther; it implied that funds had been transmitted for the purpose of making the necessary payments; and that these funds, during a temporary delay, arising from the state of political relations, had been deposited in the Bank of England, and were now ready to be distributed among the creditors. Unfortunately, this, the most im portant part of the statement, was one in which the Brazilian minister was deceiving, or had been deceived. Not a shilling had been lodged in the Bank of England; and the question of the committee, "Where is the money?" was not yet answered.

The only interruption of the internal tranquillity of Brazil arose from a revolt which took place in Pernambuco. It was speedily crushed; but in suppressing it the government had recourse to extraordinary measures of military law, and tried the offenders by a military commission. These proceedings were loudly complained

of as being unconstitutional. A motion was made in the legislative assembly to impeach the Minister of Justice, for having ordered arrests, and continued to detain the persons arrested, in violation of the forms established by the law for the protection of personal liberty. This motion having failed, it was followed by another for impeaching Alvarez, the Minister of War, on the ground that the military commission which he had established was illegal and unconstitutional. The debates on this motion were long and angry; the Emperor took so lively a personal interest in the affair, that he remained all day in his palace during the discussions, receiving accounts, from time to time, of the turn which they were taking; and it was believed that he had determined, in the event of the impeachment being carried, to dissolve the chamber. The motion was lost, 32 deputies having voted for it, and 39 against it. So small a majority, all that the influence of government could produce, proved either that the government had been very clearly in the wrong, or that there was a dangerously powerful party determined to resist the imperial government, whether it was wrong or right.

In BUENOS AYRES, again, the termination of the war was the commencement of ruinous and disgraceful civil dissensions, in which nothing was respected but force, and the people allowed themselves and their government to be made the sport of military adventurers. General Lavalle returned to the capital with part of the army, in the end of November 1828, and forthwith proceeded to overturn the government, which, since the resignation of Rivadavia in 1827,

north. On the 7th of February, an engagement took place, at Palmitas, between a detachment of the Unitarians, and a body of five hundred Federalists, commanded by Molina. The latter were routed; their second in command was taken prisoner, and sent to Buenos Ayres, where he was immediately put to death by a military commission, as being guilty of sedition, insurrection, resisting in arms the troops of the province, and uniting with the Indians to desolate the country.

Lavalle, who, in the mean time, had been occupied in securing the peace of the capital, by prohibiting all publications hostile to his party, and in providing for the safety of the southern provinces, now collected his troops to march into the northern provinces. Before leaving the city he issued a proclamation, convoking the legislature on the 1st of May. That assembly, however, was prevented from meeting, and the enterprise of Lavalle against Santa Fè was suspended, in the end of April, in consequence of Rosas, at the head of a considerable army of Federalists, having unexpectedly appeared before the capital. This intelligence recalled Lavalle from his northern expedition. He contrived, by forced marches, to get between the enemy and the city, and some fighting took place, on the 26th of April, which terminated favourably for the Federalists. The city was in a state of the utmost alarm and confusion, numbers of women were placed on board ship; most persons who had the means of doing so, were making arrangements for the security of themselves and their property; business of every kind was suspended by order of the government, that the attention of all might be directed to the existing danger, and

foreigners of every nation were commanded to arm in defence of the city. To all this was added,

at the same moment, a foreign quarrel. In executing the order that foreigners should take up arms, a distinction was made between French subjects and the British and Americans, on the ground that France had not yet recognized the republic. Although the British and Americans were exempted from military service in the defence of the city, it was thought right to order the French residents to take up arms. The latter refused, and that refusal was followed by a notice from the government to quit Buenos Ayres within twenty-four hours. The French consul, M. Mandeville, immediately set about engaging vessels for the purpose, with all possible activity. He then repaired on board a French ship of war which was in the roads, and communicated what had taken place. Two days afterwards an expedition was sent into the inner roads in the night, which cut out all the men-of-war that were lying there in ordinary, and burnt one vessel. The French commander, likewise, intimated that he would take possession of all public property, unless the Buenos Ayres Government retracted its obnoxious order.

On the 4th of May, the Federalists sent in a flag of truce, with proposals for an accommodation. The answer returned was, that no terms could be listened to, so long as they continued to occupy any part of the province with an armed force. But Lavalle was too weak to beat back that armed force; the siege continued, and he was daily more closely pressed. The Federalists, always increasing in number, harassed the city night and day; they cut off its supplies; skirmishes

were taking place almost in the very streets. The horses of the Unitarian army were reduced to the last extremity from want of provender; their parties dared not venture far from the city, their enemies being too numerous and well mounted the authority of Lavalle did not extend beyond the streets of Buenos Ayres. The sufferings and dangers of the capital produced, among some of the wealthier inhabitants, mention of peace; and negotiations were begun between Lavalle and Rosas. They terminated in a treaty between these two chiefs, concluded on the 24th of June, by which it was stipulated that, within the shortest possible time, an election of representatives, according to law, should take place; that, on a permanent government being installed, both Rosas and Lavalle should place at its disposal the forces which they commanded; that the obligations contracted by Rosas for the maintenance of his troops should be recognized and discharged; that his officers should be entitled to pay according to their rank; that no individual should be molested for his conduct or political opinions anterior to the treaty; that Rosas should continue commandant-general of the country districts of the province, with authority to take such measures as he might think convenient for preserving the tranquillity and security of the country, and to fill up the necessary offices, the provisional government taking care, in the mean time, to provide him with every thing necessary for that service. Lavalle announced the treaty in a proclamation, in which, in relation to the men whom, during the preceding six months, he had been describing as traitors and robVOL. LXXI.

bers, he said, "I have found in those who were opposed to me only fellow-citizens, disposed to consecrate to the honour of their country those arms which were raised against their brothers." His scheme of securing the unquestioned domination of his own party had evidently failed; he had set out with the resolution of supporting himself by military power, but he found his antagonist too strong to allow him to expect a favourable issue from force.

General Paz, who commanded the Unitarians in the north, and had marched against the Federal provinces of Cordova and Santa Fe, was more successful in his operations. He took possession of Cordova on the 11th of April, general Bustos, with a force of about eight hundred men, having retired on his approach.

Paz marched in pursuit of him, and, on the 22nd of April, an action was fought, in which Bustos was worsted. The Unitarian leader continued in Cordova, while Bustos rallied and reinforced his troops, and effected a

junction with Quiroga, who commanded another body of the Federalists. They then advanced against Cordova at the head of five thousand men. Paz marched out to meet them; and, on the 22nd and 23rd of June, engagements took place, in which the Federalists were defeated, with the loss of about one thousand five hundred men in killed and prisoners.

These successes renewed the courage, and re-invigorated the exertions, of the Unitarians at Buenos Ayres, in the elections which had been decreed by the convention of the 24th of June. These elections took place on the 26th of July, and Lavalle was [R]

able, by his influence, and the presence of his troops in the capital, to turn them in favour of his own party. As the result, therefore, was disagreeable to Rosas, and gave little security for the observance of the stipulations of the treaty in his favour, Rosas, like every other leader who feels himself too powerful to be compelled to submit to what he does not like, refused to acknowledge the government thus created. He kept his station, threatening and discontented, within twenty miles of Buenos Ayres, at the head of his troops. The alarms of the city were renewed; even Lavalle's own party doubted the prudence of raising to power, and that, too, not without force, party-men of his own faction, whose appointment would only exasperate an adversary too powerful to be openly defied. New negotiations were set on foot, and led to a new convention, on the 24th of August, between Lavalle and Rosas, by which it was agreed, that the elections should be annulled, and a government created without regard to the elective system of the republic, by vesting the powers of the state in a senate consisting of twenty-four individuals therein named. In the selection of these individuals, the dictation of Rosas prevailed; they were all, with a few exceptions, decided Federalists. The new governor, general Viamont, though professing to belong to neither of the contending parties, was generally considered to be much more the friend of Rosas than of Lavalle. At the head of the finances was placed Garcia, the minister who, in 1827, had concluded with Brazil a treaty which the republic had disavowed. On the 2nd of September, Federalist troops marched into

The

the city, where Lavalle, however, was continued in the command, while Rosas retained his troops and his power as commandant-general of the country districts. senate was installed on the 16th of September. Some of the members appointed had refused to accept the office, on the ground that they could not act in any government formed in utter defiance of the constitution of the country, and the rights of its citizens. How soon had this new republic fallen into the fangs of military despotism! A general, having concluded a war, returns to the city. He finds a government created according to the laws of the country; he dislikes the political conduct of that government; and, by the mere power of the sword, strikes it to the ground, and sets himself up in its stead. He proceeds to inflict death on the members of that government, according to no law, but his own will, and after po investigation, either civil or military. Another military chief rises to oppose him; the country is kept in confusion and bloodshed between them; they modify and alter its form of government as seems good to their individual interests; at last they strike up a treaty, by which they trample its constitution under foot, and create a

government of their own manufacture; and, throughout all these proceedings, the people of this republic are allowed no voice-no interest is consulted but the military power of the rival leaders. The whole proved that one party ruled in the city and another in the country; that the former was too weak for the latter; and that in both the only efficient law was that of the sword. As to the confederation which formed the Ar