Journal Of A Voyage To Brazil Part 5

In 1813, some disputes arose between the court of Rio and England on account of the slave trade. Three ships had been captured by the British squadron off the coast of Africa, while certainly engaged in illegal _slaving_; remonstrances were made, and the matter continued suspended until after the congress of Vienna, when that ill.u.s.trious meeting, though most of its highest and most powerful members had exclaimed loudly against the villanous practice, suffered it to be carried on.

Then indeed England consented to pay 13,000_l._ to indemnify the Portuguese slave traders for their loss (July, 1815)!

In the same year there appears to have been some discontent manifested, or suspected in the provinces. Many of the salaries of officers, both civil and military, remained unpaid; yet there were exactions, the more grievous, because they were irregular, in every department; the administration of justice was notoriously corrupt; the clergy had fallen into disorder and disrepute; and though much that was useful had been done, yet that was forgotten, especially in the distant provinces, and such a portion of discontent existed, that various officers who had come to Rio either on private business or to remonstrate on public wrongs, were peremptorily ordered to return to their own provinces.

It was wisely done at this juncture, to take off the public attention from such vexations by a measure at once just and gratifying to the pride of the Brazilians: by an edict of the 16th of December, 1815, Brazil was raised to the dignity of a kingdom, and the style and t.i.tle altered so as to place it on an equal footing with Portugal. For some months addresses of thanks and congratulation poured in to the king from various provinces, and the feasts and rejoicings on that happy occasion occupied the people to the exclusion of all other considerations.

Meantime the victories of the allies in Europe, having caused the exile of Napoleon to Elba, the necessity for an English guardian squadron at Rio had ceased; and accordingly the British establishment was broken up, and the stores sold, and the family of Braganza, again independent of foreign aid, began to renew its connections with the other courts of Europe.

These negotiations suffered some little interruption from an event which had long been expected, namely, the death of the queen, on the 20th of March, 1816, whose state, both of body and mind, had long precluded her from all share in public affairs. She was buried with great pomp in the church of the convent of the Ajuda; and, as is usual, dirges were sung for her in all the churches in the kingdom.

In the month of June, the Marquis Marialva was received at Paris as amba.s.sador of Portugal and Brazil, and shortly afterwards the way having been prepared by an inferior minister, he went to Vienna, to negotiate a marriage between Don Pedro de Alcantara, Prince of Portugal and Brazil, and the Archd.u.c.h.ess Maria Leopoldina, which was happily effected. On the 28th of November, she was privately contracted at Vienna to the prince.

On the 17th of February following, the contract was made public, and on the 13th of May she was married by proxy, the Marquis Marialva standing for Don Pedro; but it was not until the 11th of November that she arrived at Rio. The line of battle ship Joam VI. had been sent along with two frigates for her to Trieste, the voyage was performed without accident, and the person the most important to the hopes and happiness of Brazil, was welcomed with enthusiasm by all cla.s.ses of people.

In the autumn preceding, two of the Infantas of Portugal had been married to Ferdinand the 7th of Spain, and his brother the Infant Don Carlos.

But the frontier of Brazil to the southward now began to feel the effect of those disturbances which had long agitated Spanish South America. The chief Artigas showed a disposition to encroach on the Portuguese line, and, therefore, a corps of volunteers had been formed for the purposes of observation, and the Porte da Santa Theresa had been occupied in order to check the motions of that active leader: during the autumn of 1816, several skirmishes took place, but the arts of negotiation as well as of war were resorted to, and on the 19th of January, 1817, the keys of Montevideo were delivered up to the Portuguese general Lecor, by which the long-wished-for command of the eastern bank of the Plata was obtained.

Meantime the discontents in the northern provinces had broken out into open insurrection, in the captaincy of Pernambuco. The people of Recife, and its immediate neighbourhood, had imbibed some of the notions of democratical government from their former masters the Dutch. They remembered besides, that their own exertions, without any a.s.sistance from the government, had driven out those masters, and had restored to the crown the northern part of its richest domain. They were, therefore, disposed to be particularly jealous of the provinces of the south, especially of Rio, which they considered as more favoured than themselves, and they were disgusted at the payments of taxes and contributions, by which they never profited, and which only served to enrich the creatures of the court, while great abuses existed, especially in the judicial part of the government, which they despaired of ever seeing redressed. Such were the exciting causes of the insurrection of 1817, in Pernambuco, which threatened for many months the peace, if not the safety of Brazil. The example of the Spanish Americans had no doubt its weight, and a regular plan for obtaining independence was formed, troops were raised and disciplined, and Recife being secured, fortifications were begun at Alagoas and at Penedo.

The insurgents, however, had probably miscalculated the degree of concurrence or a.s.sistance they should meet with from their neighbours.

The people of Serinhaem as soon as the insurrection was known, namely the middle of April, posted themselves on the Rio Formosa as a check on that quarter, and the king's troops under Lacerda, marched immediately from Bahia. The Pernambucan leader Victoriano, having attacked the Villa de Pedras, received a decided check from a body of royalists, under Major Gordilho, who had been sent forward by Lacerda, on the 21st: and by the 29th Gordilho had occupied that post, as well as Tamandre, where he was not long afterwards joined by Colonel Mello, with a strong reinforcement.

Meantime the Pernambucan chief, Domingos Jose Martins, was actively employed in collecting troops, and forming guerilla parties, in order to hara.s.s the marches of the enemy. These parties were headed by Cavalcante, a man of wealth and family, aided by a priest, Souto, a bold and enterprising man, who was far from being the only ecclesiastical partisan. On the 2d of May, a vigorous attack was made on Serinhaem, by the famous Pernambucan division of the south, which had hitherto received no check; but the a.s.sailants were repulsed with the loss of their artillery and baggage, and a column under Martins coming up met with the same fate, on which he drew off his people with those of the south, to the ingenio of Trapiche. On the 6th of May they left that position, and meeting the royalists under Mello, suffered a complete defeat. Their chiefs were either killed or taken; and of the latter some were exiled, others imprisoned, and three, Jose Luiz Mendonca, Domingos Jose Martins, and the priest, Miguel Joaquim de Alameida, were hanged in Bahia.

At this juncture Luiz do Rego Barreto was appointed by the government at Rio to the office of captain-general of Pernambuco. He was a native of Portugal, and had served with distinction under Lord Wellington. Of a firm and vigorous mind, and jealous of the honour of a soldier, he was perhaps too little yielding to the people and the temper of the times.

The severe military punishments inflicted on this occasion certainly produced irritation, which though it did not break out immediately, was the cause of much evil afterwards, and brought an odium upon that gallant soldier himself, from which his high character in other situations could not shield him.

This year the ministry underwent a complete change. The Marquis d'Aguiar, who had succeeded to the Conde de Linhares, died in January, and the Conde da Barca in June; when the Conde de Palmela became prime minister, Bezerra became president of the treasury, the Conde dos Arcos secretary for transmarine and naval affairs, the Conde de Funchal counsellor of state, and Don Tomas Antonio de Portogal secretary to the house of Braganza.

I cannot pretend to speak of the character or measures of these or any other Portuguese or Brazilian ministers. My opportunities of information were too few; my habits as a woman and a foreigner never led me into situations where I could acquire the necessary knowledge. I wish only to mark the course of events, and in as far as they are linked with each other, the causes of those effects which took place under my own eyes.

In the early part of 1818, some additional restrictions concerning the slave trade, which had been agreed to by Conde de Palmela during the last year at London, were published at Rio, and a commission of English and Portuguese jointly was formed for the examining into and deciding on causes arising out of the treaties on that most important subject, a certain number of commissioners being appointed to reside in the different ports in Africa and Brazil, where the trade was still considered lawful. That year opened at Rio with unusual festivity. On the 22d of January, a great bull-feast was given at San Christovam, the royal country house, in honour of the young princess's birth-day; it was followed by a military dance, in which the costume of the natives of every part of the Portuguese dominions in the east and west were displayed. Portugal and Algarve, Africa and India, China and Brazil, all appeared to do homage to the ill.u.s.trious stranger. Music, in which the taste of the king was unrivalled, formed a great part of the entertainment, and never perhaps had Brazil witnessed so magnificent a festival.

On the 6th of February the coronation of his majesty, John VI., took place, and these peaceful festivities gave a character to the year, which was remarkably quiet, the only public acts of note being the farther prosecution of the plans for civilising the interior, by facilitating the communications from place to place, and reclaiming the border tribes of Indians.

The following year was not less tranquil. The birth of the young princess, Donna Maria da Gloria, was an event to gratify both the court and the people of Brazil. They had now the heir of their kingdom born among them, a circ.u.mstance which they were disposed to hail as a pledge that the seat of government would not be removed from among them.

The early part of 1820 was disturbed by some irruptions of the Spanish Americans under Artigas, on the eastern side of the Plata. The Portuguese troops, however, soon repulsed him, and strengthened their line by the occupation of Taquarembo, Simar, and the Arroyo Grande.

Meantime the peace in Europe had not brought back all the tranquillity that was expected from it. In vain did the old governments expect to step back into exactly the same places they had occupied before the revolutionary war. The Cortes had a.s.sembled in Spain. Naples had been convulsed by an attempt to obtain a const.i.tution similar to that promulgated by the Spanish Cortes; and now Portugal began to feel the universal impulse. Lisbon and Oporto were both the seats of juntas of provisional government, and both a.s.sembled Cortes to take into consideration the framing of a new const.i.tution, and the reformation of ancient abuses. On the 21st of August the Cortes of Lisbon had sworn to adopt in part the const.i.tution of the Spanish Cortes, but it was not until the month of November that the government of Brazil made public the recent occurrences in the mother country. Indeed it was not to be expected that Brazil should remain unconscious of the proceedings of Europe. The provinces were all more or less agitated. Pernambuco was as usual foremost in feeling, and in the expression of feeling. A considerable party had a.s.sembled at about thirty-six leagues from Olinda. They declared their grievances to be intolerable, and that nothing but a total reform in the government should reconcile them to longer subjection to the government of Rio. The royalist troops were sent out against them and were victorious, after an action of six hours, in which they lost six officers and 19 men killed, and 134 wounded. The loss on the other side was much greater, and as usual severe military executions increased the evils of the civil war, at the same time that they farther exasperated the people, and prepared them for a future and more obstinate resistance.

Bahia was far from tranquil. The old jealousy which had subsisted from the time the seat of government had been transferred from the city of St. Salvador to Rio, combined with other causes, tended to increase the desire of a const.i.tutional government, from which all good was to be expected, and under which, it was hoped, that all abuses would be reformed. Rio itself began to manifest the same feelings. The provinces of St. Paul's and the Minas were always ready to unite in any cause that promised an increase of freedom; and the whole country seemed on the brink of revolution, if not civil war.

The court party, however, still flattered themselves that the determination of the King to remain in Brazil, instead of returning to Lisbon to put himself into the power of the Cortes, would be so grateful to the Brazilians, that they would be contented to forego the probable advantages of a const.i.tution, for the sake of the positive good of having the seat of government fixed among themselves. But it was too late; the wish for improvement had been excited. The administration had been too corrupt, the exactions too heavy to be longer borne, when reform appeared to be within reach. The very soldiers became possessed with the same spirit, and though highly repugnant to the King's feelings, it soon became evident that a compliance with the wishes of the people and with the const.i.tuton, as declared by the Cortes at Lisbon, was inevitable.

It is said, that some of the wisest ministers hail long pressed His Majesty to a compliance with the wishes of his people, but in vain. His reluctance was unconquerable, until at length, perceiving that force would certainly be resorted to, he adopted a half measure which probably accelerated the very event he was anxious to avoid.[30] On the 18th of February, 1821, the King accepted as a junta, to take into consideration such parts of the const.i.tution as might be applicable to the state of Brazil, the following persons:--

[Note 30: Some have imagined that a paper published at Rio, written by a Frenchman, and supposed to have been in the pay of the then ministry, desirous of keeping the king in Brazil, had great effect on the subsequent events; and that greater still had been produced by the revolution of the 10th of February, at Bahia; but the motives of action were the same in all Brazil; the event must have been the same at Rio, whether Bahia had stirred or not, though, perhaps, it might be accelerated by that circ.u.mstance.]

Marquez de Altegrete--_President_ Baron de St. Amaro.

Luiz Jose de Carvalho Mello.

Antonio Liuz Pereiro da Cunha.

Antonio Rodriguez Velloso dc Oliviera.

Joao Severiano Maciel da Costa.

Camillo Maria Tonelet Joao dc Souza de Mendonca Costa Real.

Jose da Silva Lisboa.

Mariano Jose Pereira da Fonseca.

Javo Rodriguez Pereira de Almeida.

Francisco Xavier Pires.

Jose Caetano Gomez.

_Procurador da Casa._

Jose de Oliviera Botelho Pinto Masquiera.

_Secretarios._

Manoel Jacinto Noguerra de Gama.

Manoel Moreira de Figueiredo.

_Secretaries Sust.i.tuti._

O Coronel Francisco Saraiva da Costa Refoios.

O Desembargador Joao Jose dc Mendonza.

These persons were all anxious to retain the King in Brazil. Most of them Brazilians, they had felt the advantage of having the seat of government fixed among themselves, and though the King's foreign allies and his Portuguese subjects had pressed him to return to Europe, his own dread of the Cortes of Lisbon, together with their natural desire to detain him in Brazil, produced on the 21st a manifesto, describing His Majesty's affection and relianceon his Brazilian subjects, and stating, that he was resolved to send the Prince Don Pedro to Lisbon, with full powers to treat on his behalf with the Cortes, whom he seems to have considered as subjects in rebellion.

The Prince was also to consult with the Cortes concerning the drawing up of a const.i.tution, and the King promised to adopt such parts of it as might be found applicable to existing circ.u.mstances and to the peculiar situation of Brazil. This manifesto appears to have produced an effect very different from what was intended. At four o'clock in the morning of the 26th, all the streets and squares of the city were found full of troops. Six pieces of artillery were planted at the heads of the princ.i.p.al streets, and the most lively sensation agitated every part of the city of Rio. As soon as this circ.u.mstance could be known at San Christovao, the Prince Don Pedro, and the Infant Don Miguel, came into the city. The Camara[31] was a.s.sembled in the great saloon of the theatre.[32] The Prince, after conferring for a short time with the members of that body, appeared upon the balcony of the saloon, and read to the people and the troops, a royal proclamation, antedated the 24th, securing to them the Const.i.tution, such as it should be framed by the Cortes of Lisbon. This was received with loud cries of Viva el Rei, Viva a Religiao, Viva a const.i.tuicao. The Prince then returned to the saloon, and ordered the secretary of the Camara to draw up the form of the oath to be taken to observe the const.i.tution, and also a list of a new ministry, to be submitted to the people for their approbation. The list of ministers was first read, and each individually approved.[33]

[Note 31: The whole munic.i.p.al body.]

[Note 32: The square in front of the theatre, from its size and situation, was most fit for the a.s.sembly of the people and troops on such an occasion.]

[Note 33:

_New Ministers._

Vice-admiral and Commander-in-chief Quintella, secretary of state.

Joaquin Jose Monteiro Torres, minister of marine, and secretary for transmarine affairs.

Silvestre Pinhero Fereiro, secretary for foreign affairs.

Conde de Louca, head of the treasury.

Bishop of Rio, president of the board of conscience.

Antonio Luiz Pereiro da Cunha, head of police.

Jose Gaetano Gomes, grand treasurer.

Joao Fereiro da Costa Sampaio, second treasurer.

Sebastian Luiz Terioco, fiscal.