Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/277

Rh Janeiro on the 12tli of October lie was proclaimed constitutional emperor with great enthusiasm. The Cortes at Lisbon chose Bahia as a centre for resisting the independence, and large forces were sent thither. But the city was vigorously besieged by the Brazilians by land, and finally the Portuguese were obliged to re-embark on the 2d of July 1823. A Brazilian squadron, under command of Lord Cochrane, attacked the Portuguese vessels, embarrassed with troops, and took several of them. Taylor, another Englishman in Brazilian service, followed the vessels across the Atlantic, and even captured some of the ships in sight of the land of Portugal. The troops in Monte Video also embarked for Portugal, and the Banda Oriental remained a part of Brazil with the title of the Provincia Cisplatina. Before the end of 1823 the authority of the new emperor and the independence of Brazil were undisputed throughout the whole country. Republican movements now began to spread, to suppress which the authorities made use of the Portuguese remain ing in the country; and the disposition of the emperor to consider these as his firmest supporters much influenced the course of his Government and his future destiny. The two Andradas, who imagined they could govern the young emperor as a sovereign of their own creation, en countered great opposition in the constitutional assembly, which had been opened in Bio in May 1823, to discuss the project of a new constitution. In July the emperor resolved to dismiss them and form a new ministry, but against this the brothers raised a violent opposition. In November the emperor put an end to the angry debates which ensued in the assembly by dissolving it, exiling the Andradas to France, and convoking a new assembly to deliberate on a proposed constitution more liberal than the former project. The proclamation of a republic in the provinces of Pernambuco and Ceara, with the rebellion of the Cisplatina province, favoured by Buenos Ayres and its ultimate loss to Brazil, were the result of the coup d etat of November 1823. The Brazilians were universally discontented, on one side fearing absolutism if they sup ported the emperor, on the other anarchy if he fell. Know ing the danger of an undefined position, the emperor caused the councils to dispense with their deliberations, and adopt, as the constitution of the empire, the project framed by the council of state. Accordingly, on March 25, 1824, the emperor swore to the constitution with great solemnity and public rejoicings. By this stroke of policy he saved himself and Brazil. Negotiations were opened in London between the Brazilian and Portuguese plenipotentiaries, treating for the recognition of the independence of Brazil ; and on the 2oth of August 1825 a treaty was signed by which the Portuguese king, .Dom JoJio VI., assumed the title of Emperor of Brazil, and immediately abdicated in favour of his son, acknowledging Brazil as an independent empire, but the treaty obliged Brazil to take upon herself the Portuguese debt, amounting to nearly two millions sterling. The rebellion of the Banda Oriental was followed by a declaration of war with Buenos Ayres which had supported it, and operations by sea and land were conducted against that republic in a feeble way. Meanwhile the well-deserved popularity of the emperor began to decline. He had given himself up to the influence of the Portuguese ; the most popular men who had worked for the independence were banished ; and a continual change of ministry showed a disposition on the part of the sovereign to prosecute obstinately measures of which his advisers disapproved. His popularity was regained, however, to some extent, when, on the death of his father, he was unanimously acknowledged king of Portugal, and especially when hs abdicated that crown in favour of his daughter, Donna Maria; but his line of policy was not altered, and com mercial treaties entered into with European states conceding them favours, which were popularly considered to be injurious to Brazilian trade, met with bitter censure. During the year 1827 the public debt was consolidated, and a department was created for the application of a sinking fund. The year 1828 was a calamitous one for Brazil. It began with the defeat of the Brazilian army by the Argen tine forces, and this entirely through the incapacity of the commander-in-chief ; and misunderstandings, afterwards compensated by humbling money-payments on the part of Brazil, arose with the United States, France, and England, on account of merchant vessels captured by the Brazilian squadron blockading Buenos Ayres. Financial embarrass ments increased to an alarmiug extent ; the emperor was compelled by the British Government to make peace with Buenos Ayres and to renounce the Banda Oriental ; and to fill the sum of disasters Don Miguel had treacherously usurped the crown of Portugal. It was under these unlucky auspices that the elections of new deputies took place in 1829. As was expected the result was the elec tion everywhere of ultra-liberals opposed to the emperor, and in the succeeding year people everywhere exhibited their disaffection. During the session of 1830 the cham bers adopted a criminal code in which punishment by death for political offences was abolished. It was openly suggested in the journals to reform the constitution by turning Brazil into independent federal provinces, governed by authorities popularly elected, as in the United States. Alarmed at length at the ground gained by this idea in the provinces, the emperor set off to Minas to stir up the former enthusiasm in his favour from recollections of the independence, but was coldly received. On his return to Rio in March 1831 scenes of disorder occurred, and great agitation among the Liberal partj r. Imagining himself sure of a brilliant destiny in Europe if he lost his Brazilian crown, the emperor attempted to risk a decisive attack against the Liberals, and to form a new ministry composed of men favourable to absolutism. This step caused excited public meetings in Ihe capital, wldch were joined in by the troops, and deputations went to ask the emperor to dismiss the unpopular ministry. He replied by dissolving the ministry without naming another, and by abdicating the crown in favour of the heir apparent, then only five years of age. Dom Pedro immediately embarked in an English ship, leaving the new Emperor Dom Pedro II. and the princesses Januaria, Francisca, and Paula. The subsequent career of this unfortunate prince belongs to the history of Portugal. A provisional and afterwards a permanent regency, com posed of three members, was now formed in Brazil, but scenes of disorder succeeded, and discussions and struggles between the republican party and the Government, and a reactionary third party in favour of the restoration of Dom Pedro, occupied the succeeding years. In 1834 a reform which was well received consisted in the alteration of the regency, from that of three members elected by the legisla tive chambers, to one regent chosen by the whole of the electors in the same manner as the deputies ; and the councils of the provinces were replaced by legislative provincial assemblies. Virtually, this was a republican government like that of the United States, for no difference existed in the mode of election of the regent from that of a president. The ex-minister Feijoo was chosen for this office. With the exception of Para and Rio Grande the provinces were at peace, but these were in open rebellion ; the former was reduced tt&amp;gt; obedience, but in the latter, though the imperial troops occupied the town, the country 