opportunities of knowing his character,) was not discouraged; but, with vigour, set about the task of reformation, himself an example of most rigid economy, reducing the expences on his own account within £.20,000; and by infusing the same spirit into all around him, quickly restoring or der in the finances, and improving the revenue to double its amount, during his father's lazy and despotic administration. He raised troops, and the patriotic spirit diffused among the people soon filled the ranks of the militia; by the great exertions, as well as by his own merited popularity, he overcame all resistance to his measures, and at last completely freed the country from its Portuguese enemies, by transporting them all to Europe, and preventing fresh troops from landing. The country being thus delivered from internal enemies, was left at liberty to perfect its institutions, and to go on quietly in its course to independence. The greatest resistance was made to the revolution at Bahia; but the inhabitants of the country taking up arms, pressed it closely on the land side, while, being vigorously attacked by Lord Cochrane's fleet, it was at last withdrawn from the power of Portugal, and brought into the general confederacy of the other provinces. The province of Maranham was also reduced by Lord Cochrane. Brazil, thus united into one great empire, and ruled by a Constitutional Government, presents a most animating spectacle; and being rid, at the same time, of the chains of monopoly and tyranny, will, we hope, run a brilliant course of prosperity and political improvement. Nothing can be more grateful than to see these countries, so long the seats of every thing hateful in the form of bigotry, despotism, and the most odious commercial monopolies, now taking the lead as free and independent states, rising in importance in the scale of nations, and instead of lying in active and dormant under the leaden weight of a tyrannical domination, the enemy of all improvement, cultivating literature, science, and the arts, and all those manly virtues which follow in their train, and which awakening the moral energies of man, enable him to rear up, in all its splendour, the edifice of a free and improved community. Mrs Graham has prefaced her journal with a long introduction, containing a history of Brazil from its first occupation by Europeans, which is both unnecessary and tedious. We all know the history of those past transactions; and if we want further information, we know where to find it; so that there is no necessity for encumbering every new work on Brazil with an account of its past history. The Doris sailed from England in 1821, and arrived at Madeira after a short voyage. Here the good effects of the revolution were discovered in the greater freedom of the inhabitants, and the greater prosperity of trade. It is remarkable how rigidly all the petty colonies, both of Portugal and Spain, were made subservient to the interests of the mother country, and broken down under the oppressive weight of monopoly. In Madeira, the sons of the best families were dragged away as conscripts, to recruit the armies of Portugal in Europe. All manufactures, even of the coarsest articles, were prohibited; the very torches, made of twisted grass and rosin, indispensable in the mountain roads after dark, were all sent from Lisbon; and every species of cultivation, but that of the grape, was discouraged. The consequence was, that all classes joined heart and hand in the revolution. It is singular what an indispensable accompaniment of freedom the diffusion of knowledge is reckoned: formerly there was no printing-press in Madeira, but the promoters of the revolution immediately sent for one, and a newspaper was published. The ship arrived about the 22d of September at Pernambuco, while the town was in a complete ferment, and in a state of siege from the patriots. This did not, however, deter our fair traveller from going ashore into the town, where every thing wore the aspect of war. At the end of every street was a light gun, and at the heads of the bridges two, with lighted matches by them. There were also numerous guards stationed at different points; and the shopkeepers, who were all zealous in de fence of the town, as supposing it would be plundered, and whose shops were shut, were all under arms. Here Mrs Graham was sickened with first sight of a slave-market, which she describes in the following terms: We had hardly gone fifty paces into Recife, when we were absolutely sicken. ed by the first sight of a slave-market. It was the first time either the boys or I had been in a slave-country; and, however strong and poignant the feelings may be at home, when imagination pictures slavery, they are nothing compared to the staggering sight of a slave-market. It was thinly stocked, owing to the circumstances of the town; which caused most of the owners of new slaves to keep them closely shut up in the depots. Yet about fifty young creatures, boys and girls, with all the appearance of disease and famine, consequent upon scanty food and long confinement in unwholesome places, were sitting and lying about among the filthiest animals in the streets. The sight sent us home to the ship with the heart-ache. Mrs Graham and her husband dined with the Portuguese Governor of Pernambuco, M. de Rego, who had served along with the Duke of Wellington, with great credit, in the Peninsula. They were very politely received, and kindly entertained, and in the drawing-room, which was a handsome, comfortable apart ment, furnished with blue satin damask, they had excellent music; Madame de Rego had an admirable voice, and there were several good singers, and players on the piano, so that they passed a more pleasant evening than they had expected in Pernambuco, especially in a state of siege. A compromise having taken place between the Governor of Brazil and the patriots, all the occupations of peace, which had been suspended by the war, were resumed with new vigour, and the roads were seen crowded with ne groes, and others bringing loads of produce to market. There are in Pernambuco, including Olinda, 70,000 inhabitants, of which not above onethird are white. The same base distinctions prevail here as in all communities where there is an intermixture of black blood; a Portuguese would rather ally his family' in marriage with the meanest European clerk, than with any native VOL. XIV. Brazilian, however wealthy. These odious preferences have their origin in the unjust degradation of the many, by the few; but when the foundation on which they rest is withdrawn, the superstructure will naturally moulder away, and the road to honour being opened to all, by an equality of political rights, society will be moulded into, one harmo nious mass, where every man will be rated, not by the caprice and unjust prejudices of others, but by his own merit. Colour, the imprint of Nature, will no longer be raised up as will be fair play for all classes; on an insuperable bar to merit; there the wide arena of free competition, the great prizes of society will be held out to all, and every man will naturally rise to the level of his capacity or worth. Mrs Graham left Pernambuco on the 16th of October, firmly persuaded, that this part of Brazil will never that if the independent cause gained again tamely submit to Portugal, and ground under the firm and prudent administration of De Rego, no other Governor would have the least chance of repressing it. Brazil, increasing in wealth and population, and also, though slowly, in intelligence, will no longer submit to be merely a taxable province of Portugal; and having now tasted the sweets of independence, it will not be possible to wrest the cup from her hands. Bahia, before which the Doris arrived on the 17th of October, has sea, crowning, as it does, the ridge, a magnificent appearance from the and extending along the declivity of a very high and steep hill, with the spaces between the white houses clothed with all the rich vegetation of a tropical climate. But the lower town (for it is divided into upper and lower) is as disagreeable as filth, and narrow and dark streets, can make it. The following is the decription of what Mrs Graham saw on her first landing: The street into which we proceeded through the arsenal gate, forms, at this place, the breadth of the whole lower town of Bahia, and is, without any exIt is extremely narrow, yet all the workception, the filthiest place I ever was in. ing artificers bring their benches and tools into the street: in the interstices between 4 U them, along the walls, are fruit-sellers, venders of sausages, black-puddings, fried fish, oil and sugar-cakes, negroes plaiting hats or mats, caderas, (a kind of sedan chair,) with their bearers, dogs, pigs, and poultry, without partition or distinction; and as the gutter runs in the middle of the street, every thing is thrown there from the different stalls, as well as from the windows; and there the animals live and feed! In this street are the warehouses and counting-houses of the mer chants, both native and foreign. The buildings are high, but neither so hand. some nor so airy as those of Pernambuco. Mrs Graham gives a very indifferent account of the manners and domestic habits of the Brazilians. On making calls at several houses, she found them disgustingly dirty; the women dressed after the most slovenly, unbecoming, and indecent fashion; with hair black, ill-combed and dishevelled, or en papillote, and the whole person having an unwashed appearance. Education is at a very low ebb; and those who rise above the common level are flushed with all the pertness and conceit of new acquirements. They read Voltaire and other French writers, imbibe all their irreligion, and are forward to shew it as a mark of their superior acquirements. The police of the city is also in a most wretched state, and nightly murders occur frequently; they are calculated to amount to about 200 in a year. Owing to the narrowness, as well as darkness of the streets, the murderer almost always contrives to escape. The civil institutions of society seem to be in an equally low state. There is no adequate protection for life or property; no tribunals, apparently, to which an easy appeal can be made, or an easy redress afforded for injuries to either. The master of police, by a singular confusion of ideas on these matters, is the supreme judge in criminal cases; and there is no law to determine the limits of his power, or to restrict it. He is in this manner a sort of military despot, and can enter any private house with his gang, on receiving information, which may be private and malicious, against the owner. If the master, in this case, escapes imprisonment, it is well, but the house rarely escapes pillage. Persons accused before this formidable officer may be imprisoned for years without the possibility of redress. This shews to what a low ebb the civil policy of the country has been brought, under the long reign of despotism and ignorance; and what a necessity there was for the present revolution, which, it is to be hoped, will, among its other good effects, lead to a thorough reformation of those abuses, and spread through the country a taste for the blessings of a well-regulated liberty. The state of the military force, for the defence of the town, is respectable, the zeal of all ranks for independence having recruited the ranks of the militia,-for the people have everywhere come forward to fight for their newly-acquired freedom. There are, in the city of Bahia, of which the population amounts to 100,000, six corps of militia, one of gentlemen cavalry, one of flying artillery, two regiments of whites, almost all tradespeople, one of mulattoes, one of free blacks, amounting altogether to 4000 men. There is, besides, the country militia, amounting to 11,000, many of whom are well trained, and altogether would constitute a formidable defence against any invading force. Every man, by the law, is a soldier, and bound to take arms in defence of the country; and the zeal of the people co-operating with the law, an efficient force is thus always ready to take the field. Society here, according to Mrs Graham, is but in a low state. Knowledge and refinement are wanting to impart to social intercourse that charm which it possesses in Europe. The English merchants residing at Bahia are intent on commerce, and know nothing beyond the price of sugars and cottons. Evening parties are most common, and all classes are given to deep gambling. This passion has the worst effects. It gives the last coarse finish to society, and excludes all more refined enjoyments. Music and dancing are sometimes resorted to; but, on the whole, Mrs Graham's picture of Bahia is by no means an engaging one. The revenue is derived from a landtax of one-tenth of the produce, and from a tax on provisions, on imports and exports, and harbour dues. The taxes on provisions, such as beef, fish, vegetables, &c., are farmed out; and thus a bad tax is rendered worse, by the mode of collecting it. The public markets must be thus subject to the tax-gatherer's visits, and it is easy to see what a drawback this will be on these transactions. In short, there is a want of order and skill in every department of the public management. The slave-trade flourishes here without any check. Within the year, no less than seventy-six slave-ships were fitted out for the coast of Africa; and it is extremely difficult to put down the trade, the system of false papers has come to such perfection. A slave-owner reckons himself fortunate if one cargo in three arrives safe; and eight or nine successful voyages are sufficient to make a fortune. The horrors of the middle passage are well known. Mrs Graham gives, from a statement that appeared in the Bahia newspapers, an account of the casualties in five slave-ships, from which it appears, that out of 1574 slaves, about 374, or more than one in five, died in the passage. From the account of such mortality, the sufferings of all may be easily imagined. These blacks, when they are landed, depend, of course, on the temper of their master for good or bad treatment. When they are purchased by cultivators, and sent to live and work on their sugar farms, their situation is frequently comfortable and happy, and they enjoy, in their little huts, a few of which were visited by Mrs Graham, something like the blessings of freedom, as well as the family ties of domestic life. This, however, is a rare chance. They may be purchased by a master who hires out their services as porters, labourers, &c., and who may treat them with great cruelty ;-and for this there is no remedy. While at Bahia, a man belonging to one of the British vessels was murdered when on shore. He happened to be standing at the door of a drinking-house, where a quarrel had taken place between some sailors and one of the natives, who, drawing out a knife, rushed out of the house, and seeing the British sailor in his way, and imagining he wished to stop him, or belonged to the party with whom he had quarrelled, he stabbed him to the heart. The corporal of marines, who was present, instantly seized him, and was severely wounded in the affray. Such is the wretched state of the police, that similar acts of atrocity are very common. They shew also a very depraved state of morals. The following is a sketch of the general appearance of Bahia: I walked through the greater part of the town. The lower part extends much farther than I could see the day I landed; it contains a few churches, one of which, belonging to the monastery of A concepçao, is very handsome, but the smell within is disgusting; the flooring is laid in squares with stone, and within each square there is a panelling of wood of about nine feet by six; under each panel is a vault, into which the dead are thrown naked, until they reach a certain number, when, with a little quicklime thrown in, the wood is fastened down, and then another square is opened, and so on in rotation. From that church, passing the arsenal gate, we went along the low street, and found it widen con siderably at three quarters of a mile beyond: there are the markets, which seem to be admirably supplied, especially with fish. There also is the slave-market, a sight I have not yet learned to see with. out shame and indignation: beyond are a set of arcades, where goldsmiths, jewellers, and haberdashers, display their small wares, and there are the best-looking shops; but there is a want of neatness, of that art of making things look well, that invites a buyer in England and France. One bookseller's shop, where books are extravagantly dear, exists in the low town, and one other in the ascent to the upper. At Bahia they shewed a great jealousy of foreigners, and would not allow any of the English to enter into their public buildings. The theatre is handsome, and very commodious. The actors were bad, and the singers little better; but the orchestra was respectable. Mrs Graham met one evening at the English Consul's a large party of Portuguese and English; and in the well-dressed women whom she saw there, she had great difficulty in recognising the slatterns she had observed on the morning before. The ladies were dressed after the French fashion: corset, picture, garniture-all was proper, and even elegant; and there was a great display of jewels. The English women, however, bore away the prize of beauty and grace; for the elegant clothes worn by the Portuguese did not sit easy on them, not being accustomed habitually to wear them. The Portuguese men, Mrs Graham remarks, have a mean look, and never appear to have received any education beyond what is necessary for the counting-house; and their whole time is spent between trade and gambling. There was a bolder spirit of republicanism at Bahia than at Rio Janeiro; the Journals spoke out more plainly; and the desire for independence, and the resolution to possess it, appeared to be universal. Mrs Graham arrived at Rio Janeiro in the middle of December, and she gives the following fine description of the bay of Rio Janeiro: Nothing that I have ever seen is comparable in beauty to this bay. Naples, the Firth of Forth, Bombay harbour, and Trincomalee, each of which I thought perfect in their beauty, all must yield to this, which surpasses each in its different way. Lofty mountains, rocks of clustered columns, luxuriant wood, bright flowery islands, green banks, all mixed with white buildings, each little eminence crowned with its church or fort,-ships at anchor or in motion, and innumerable boats flitting about in such a delicious climate, combine to render Rio de Janeiro the most enchanting scene that imagina. tion can conceive. At Rio Janeiro, as an extraordi❤ nary instance of the gross stupidity, negligence, or corruption, which prevailed in the public management, a monopoly of butcher-meat was established; and this most important article of provision could only be supplied by one butcher, of whom any individual who wished to kill for himself was bound previously to ask leave, and to pay for the indulgence. From this fact we may guess how the public interest would be sacrificed to the base ends of interested individuals. Such an abuse could not exist for a moment in any country with the least pretensions, not merely to a free Government, but to any sort of political improvement. It argues a total destitution of any thing like common sense, or a regard for justice. The consequence of this odious monopoly was, that the butcher-meat was bad, but Mrs Graham says it was cheap. She means, of course, that it would have been cheap if it had been good; but meat so bad, that it can hardly be used for soup, must be dear at any price. One of the first effects of a change of government was the reformation of this abuse; and thus we find, that whenever reformation begins, it is the signal for the disappearance of all those old abuses and corruptions which seemed so congenial to the old despotismwhich was, in fact, the pestilential air they breathed, and which gave them all their nourishment and life. All other articles, which were not objects of nionopoly, such as vegetables, poultry, and fruit, were good. Pork was excellent, the hogs being fed principally on mandioc and maise, and on the sugar-cane. Fish was not so plentiful as might have been expected; but oysters, prawns, and crabs, were as good as in any part of the world; and, on the whole, Rio Janeiro is considered by Mrs Graham a good place to live in. They have excellent wheaten-bread, made of American flour. The great article of food is the mandioc meal, or farinha, which is made into cakes, and used universally at the tables of the rich; and by the poor also in bread, &c. every form, such as porridge, brose, The city of Rio Janeiro much more resembles a European city than Pernambuco or Bahia. The houses are three or four stories high, and some of them handsome. The streets are narrow. There are two very handsome squares; and, since the opening of the free-trade, new and wide streets are spreading out in every direction. There is, in the city, an air of bustle and activity quite refreshing to European eyes, though the Portuguese regularly take their siesta after dinner. The negroes look cheerful and happy; they are in full employment, and good pay, and are as little like slaves as possible, except when the slave-market is passed; on either side of which are magazines, or warehouses of new slaves, where these wretched creatures are exposed to all the miseries of scanty diet, brutal examinations, and the lash li berally administered at the caprice |