cccurred on the evening of the 9th February. On the 10th, in the morning, the Portuguese troops were seen striking their tents, and continued during the day to embark their baggage. A messenger was sent off to the prince stating their submission; and by the evening of the 11th, the greater part of them were on board the transports. One circumstance alone damped the general satisfaction at the lucky termination of this critical affair. We have mentioned, that, in the commencement of the alarm, the princess royal and her family had been conveyed to Santa Cruz. The infant prince, in consequence of exposure to the heat, by travelling in an open carriage, was attacked by a disorder, which proved fatal. The Portuguese troops sailed for Lisbon on the 16th, under convoy of two frigates.

About the same time, a similar transaction took place at Pernambuco. On the 28th of January, a meeting of the chiefs of the native army, the clergy, and the principal inhabitants, was convoked in that city, in which it was resolved, that the presence of the Portuguese troops was unnecessary, and that the junta should be called on to cause them, with as little delay as possible, to be embarked for Lisbon. The junta were compelled to yield to the general desire, so expressed. The Portuguese troops were collected in the barracks; and the parations for their departure were made in the presence of a Portuguese ship of war, which lay in the harbour.

pre

These proceedings were, if not a formal declaration, at least a virtual assertion of independence. The express commands of the Cortes were disobeyed; the Cortes itself was publicly vilified; their sol

diers were removed by force from the country; and the resolution was taken, not to permit the landing of the reinforcements which were then supposed to be on the way from Europe. Positive orders were sent to the provisional government of Pernambuco, to send back immediately any troops that might enter that harbour; supplying them, however, with refreshments and every thing necessary for their voyage home. Under such circumstances, it was clear that the sovereignty of Portugal had expired, and that, if Brazil continued united to her, it must be as an equal, and not as an inferior.

Even before the embarkation of the Portuguese troops, steps were taken for the organisation of a provincial government. For this purpose, the Camara of Rio de Janeiro, on the 6th of February, addressed a letter to the Prince Regent, in which they stated that it would contribute greatly to the advantage of the whole Portuguese nation, and particularly of Brazil, to create a junta composed of two representatives (Procuradores) for each of the greater provinces, and one for each of the less, to be chosen by the parochial electors. It was to be the duty of these representatives, to advise his royal highness on affairs of importance, to propose such measures as they might judge necessary, and to watch over and defend the interests of their respective provinces. On the 16th, the Prince Regent, in compliance with this recommendation, issued a decree, which directed, that provinces, which had four deputies in the Cortes, should choose one representative for the junta; those which had from four to eight, two; and those which had more than eight, three.

In

case the representatives did not duly attend to the interests of their respective provinces, they might be removed by their constituents. The Prince Regent was to preside in this Junta, which was called the Conselho de Procuradores.

In the following May, the prince, at the urgent intreaties of the people, assumed the title of "Constitutional Prince Regent, and Perpetual Defender of the Brazils.” In politics, a change of names generally betokens a change of things; and, accordingly, scarcely had his royal highness accepted this new title, when the senate of Rio de Janeiro, presented an address to him, dated the 20th of May, in which, without proposing to separate Brazil from the crown of Portugal, they insist upon a complete independence, both administrative and legislative. "In our name," say they in this address, "Senor, and in that of the confederated provinces, whose cause and sentiments are the same, we claim and require, That there shall be convoked in this city a general assembly of the provinces of Brazil, represented by an adequate number of deputies, being not less than 100, nominated by new parochial electors, chosen by the people, and invested with especial powers for that object, that object, whose attributes shall be, to deliberate in public session on the precise conditions, on which Brazil shall be permanently united to Portugal; to examine, whether the constitution, which is forming in the general Cortes of Lisbon, is in every respect adapted to Brazil; and upon the bases there decreed and sworn to, to establish the emendations, reforms, and alterations, with which the said consti

tution is to be received and sworn to at Brazil: and that this constitution may not be the less secure and prosperous for the want of a Brazilian legislative body, the same general assembly shall enter, as soon as installed, on the exercise of the legislative power, which is essential to it and inseparable from the sovereignty of Brazil. The general assembly shall be installed, as soon as there are collected in this capital two-thirds of the deputies of the confederated provinces, and shall communicate by writing with the Cortes of Lisbon, in order to maintain the union with Portugal, which Brazil is anxious to preserve. After being fully convoked, the assembly will appoint the place, where the seat of the Brazilian sovereignty shall reside."

The Prince's answer was in these words:

"I am informed of the wish of the people of Rio, and as soon as I shall be made acquainted with that of the other provinces, either through their Camaras or their procurators general, I shall immediately conform to the will of the people of this great, fertile, and rich kingdom."

He soon obtained what he was satisfied with as a formal expression of those sentiments, which were well known to pervade the country. The council of representatives, created by the edict of the 16th of February, was summoned, on the 1st of June, to meet on the following day. The council met at the appointed time, and the members of it took an oath, in which they swore to defend the Roman Catholic religion, the dynasty of the house of Braganza and the regency of his royal highness; to maintain the sovereignty

of Brazil, her integrity, and that of the province which each represented; and to insist upon all her rights and privileges, as well as upon all the measures that may be necessary for the preservation and maintenance of the peace, and the well-understood union of the whole monarchy." The prince informed them of the desire that had been expressed for the convocation of a legislative assembly: and they, on the 3rd of June, replied to him by an address,* in which they

In this address the language used concerning the Lisbon Cortes, was ex

ceedingly acrimonious. The following

are extracts from it:

"In the ardour of the indignation which the perfidy of her brethren caused her to feel, Brazil would have broken the moral ties of religion,

blood, and manners, that connected her with the mother-country, but for her attachment to your royal highness, the heir of a house which she adores, and serves still more from love and loyalty, than from duty and obedience.

"Brazil now cannot, ought not, to expect from Lisbon, any thing but measures hostile to her happiness. Repentance never enters into hearts that crime devours. The congress of Lisbon is now capable of framing every species of plot, and of propagating anarchy, in order to ruin that which it cannot rule. Parties are formed, dissentions fomented, criminal hopes nourished, animosities sown, abysses are opened under our feet; still further, two centres are acknowledged in Brazil, two principles of eternal discord, and they insist upon the retreat of your royal highness, which will instantly arm us against

cach other.

“Brazil wishes not to infringe upon the rights of Portugal, but is angry that Portugal should infringe upon hers; Brazil wishes to have the same king, but does not choose to have masters in the deputies of the congress of Lisbon; Brazil desires her independence, strengthened by a well-understood union with Portugal; she

declared that they joined in that desire, and implored him to comply with it. On the same day, his royal highness issued a decree convoking a general constituent and legislative assembly.

Thus, another step in the career of independence was taken. Brazil had now declared herself a sovereign state; but the hope of union with the mother-country, was still professed.

These professions soon ceased to be made. On the 1st of August, a formal manifesto was published," in which the sovereignty of Brazil was proclaimed, the blessings, delineated in glowing colours, and which would thence arise, were all the injuries, done or meant by the mother-country, were carefully enumerated, with scarcely a single word concerning union or alliance. This was accompanied by another manifesto of similar import, addressed to foreign nations, and by a decree which amounted almost to a proclamation of war; for, in it, the prince declares that, "considering the necessity of also that his majesty Don John VI, prompt measures, and considering our lord, whose name and authority the Cortes at Lisbon, for their own sinister ends, pretend to employ, is a prisoner in the kingdom of Portugal, deprived of his own free-will, and without that liberty of action which belongs to the executive power in constitutional monarchies," all Portuguese troops landing in Brazil shall be considered as enemies, unless his approbation and consent have previously been

wishes, in short, that they should form two great families, governed by their own laws pursuing their own respective interests, obedient to the same chief."

• See Public Documents, p. 599.

obtained. He calls on the people, if any such troops shall dare to land in Brazil, to oppose them en masse; and he further orders, that if, notwithstanding such resistance, they shall succeed in setting foot on the Brazilian shores, the inhabitants of the place, in which they may land, shall retire into the interior, carrying with them all the moveables and provisions they can collect, and, by laying waste the country, deprive them of the means of subsistence.

Shortly afterwards, the prince made a visit to Santo Paulo, a district which had taken the lead in the cause of independence. He returned to Rio, upon the 14th of September; and on the 18th, a decree was issued, which, after granting a general amnesty for all past political opinions, excluding only those persons who were then in custody, and in the course of trial, every European or Brazilian Portuguese who was willing to embrace the present system of Brazil, and ready to defend it, was ordered, by way of distinction, to wear on the left arm a green flower with the inscription " Inde pendence or Death." Those, on the other hand, who would not embrace the system, were to depart from their places of residence within thirty days, and from Brazil within four months, if in inland places, and within two months, if in maritime towns. On the 21st of September, the complete and final separation of Brazil from the crown of Portugal, was announced by a proclamation, in which the style of "Constitutional Emperor of Brazil" was given to the prince, and by an edict of the senate of the Camara, which informed the people, that the solemn inauguration of Pedro the First, in his high

dignity, would take place on the 12th of October. Upon that day, which was selected for the purpose, because it was the anniversary of the prince's birth, the august ceremony of the installation of a new sovereign in a newly-created empire, was performed amid the joyful acclamations of the people.

"I accept," said the prince, "the title of Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil, because, having heard my council of state and procuratorgeneral, and examined the representations of the corporations of the several provinces, I am fully convinced, that such is the general will of all the others, and that it is only from want of time, that they have not yet arrived." Thus expired the American sovereignty of Portugal.

Ma

Portugal, however, still retained military possession of Bahia. deira de Mello, the governor of that place, had under his command a garrison of 1,500 European regulars, besides some militia. With these he occupied the two forts of St. Salvador, and avowed his resolution to resist, to the last extremity, all attempts to separate the colony from the mother-country. Many overtures were made to induce the troops to embark quietly for Portugal, but without effect: so that the Bahians, who were not less zealous in the cause of independence than the other provinces, found it necessary to collect a military force. Not trusting to their own strength, application for assistance was made to the capital; and a fleet with troops on board was dispatched from Rio de Janeiro to their aid. It was known, that an expedition with reinforcements and supplies for the garrison of Bahia, had

sailed from Lisbon in the month of June; and the immediate fate of the province would probably vary, according as the Portuguese fleet or the Brazilian, reached the harbour first. On the 8th of August, the Lisbon squadron arrived; and scarcely had it entered the port, when that of Rio de Janeiro made its appearance. The latter finding itself thus anticipated, stood out to sca again, landed the soldiers and arms at Alagoas, and thence proceeded to Pernambuco. The Brazilians now mustered a considerable force, which was commanded by a Frenchman of the name of Labitat, who had served under Bonaparte, and, approaching to within a league and a half of Bahia, kept the city almost in a state of siege. They were not, however, strong enough to attack Madeira: who, on his part, though much to the dissatisfaction of the Portuguese residents, was contented with acting on the defensive. Considerable efforts were made at Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro, to send out fresh reinforcements to their respective armies ; and the Brazilians, it was said, applied to lord Cochrane to take the command of their

navy.

Monte Video, also, was still held in the name of the king and congress. General Lecor, who commanded there, was favourable to the cause of Brazilian independence, and wished to declare openly for it. His troops, however, could not be induced to adopt that course, and were so incensed at what they deemed his perfidy, that they would have murdered him, if he had not been protected and escorted out of the fortress by a battalion which he had commanded in Europe. With

this small force and attended by his staff, he took post at Canclones, where he was joined by Frutos Rivero with 700 men.

It was not to be expected, that Portugal would willingly resign her trans-atlantic dominion; the Cortes, however, deserve the praise of having acted in these delicate affairs, with more moderation than is usually shown by a mother-country to a revolting colony-a moderation, which was probably inspired by the evident superiority of the child to the parent, in political strength. In the Month of March, the Cortes adopted a set of resolutions, by which they revoked the measures that had been the immediate cause of the disobedience of the colonists, and testified their willingness to make every reasonable concession. The first of these resolutions was, that orders should be despatched, directing the prince royal not to leave Rio Janeiro; but to remain there until the general organization of the kingdom of Brazil was completed: another was, that the commander of the armed force of each of the provinces should be subordinate to the provincial junta, of which, however, he should be a member, and in which he should have a vote, but only on military questions; and a third, that the plan of a decree respecting commercial relations, should be discussed, and immediately referred to the provinces of the kingdom of Brazil. In it, said the Cortes, the Brazi lians will not discover a single article, which does not correspond with the most perfect equality and reciprocity; but, on the contrary, will be convinced, that the congress treats Brazil as a true friend and brother.