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240 families from entering the profession. Sucli is the want of priests that the Government finds itself obliged to send to Italy for them. Among edxicatecl classes the spirit of materialism of the French writers of the 1 8th century made great progress, but a considerable reaction has lately taken place. The lower classes, above all in the interior, are still deplorably superstitious.

In several of the provinces contentions have arisen of late years between the church and freemasonry, and the excommunication of the members of the craft and the closing of the churches to which they belonged have awakened religious discussions and agitations. The Jesuit priests were expelled from the province of Pernambuco in 1875, and the bishop of that diocese, tried before the lay tribunal, was condemned to fine and imprisonment.

Brazil is not specially a manufacturing country, and its national industries of mining (with smelting of the metals), collecting and polishing precious stones, and salt making, already referred to, with tanning and hide working, have the widest range. The state has, however, encouraged and in some cases subsidized special manufactures which were of value in developing the resources of the country. Among these seventeen foundries, manufacturing engines and agricultural implements, have supplied a great national want. The home hat factories of Brazil have now all but superseded the imported hats by their products. In almost every city there are manufactories of soap, oil, and candles, which are made, not only of stearine and tallow, but of wax, and in the north from the valuable Carnauba palm. Hum distilling is largely carried on in the sugar districts, and cigars are extensively made, especially at Bahia. Gold and silver smiths and jewel workers are foremost among the delicate handicraftsmen, and excel in their workmanship. There are now two cotton-cloth factories in Rio, five in Bahia, two in Minas, and several in S. Paulo, and this branch cf industry is extending.

Ship-building is diligently prosecuted in many of the ports, and Rio has launched several fine iron-clad vessels from the navy yard. A law passed in 1871 enabled Govern ment to subsidize companies for the construction of more commodious docks, and these have been begun in Rio, Bahia, and Maranhilo, at Santos in S. Paulo, and at Paranagua in Parana.

Whale-fishery is carried on to some small extent from the ports of Bahia and Sta. Catharina, The fine coastal fisheries are not yet taken advantage of to nearly their full power ; on the other hand, large quantities of dried cod-fish are imported. On the upper Amazon and its tributaries a considerable quantity of oil is collected from the eggs of the turtle, and is sent down in earthen pots containing 50 to GO lb weight each. Jerked beef, an important article of general consump tion, is chiefly prepared in the &quot; Charqueadas &quot; of Rio Grande do Sul.

The coastal and fluvial communications of the empire are maintained by eighteen lines of steam-vessels, which receive an annual subsidy from the state (amounting to 150,000 in 1875). A North American company, keeping up a regular traffic between the ports of Brazil and the United States, is also aided by Government. Besides these the ocean lines of large vessels from Britain, Germany, and France, touch regularly at the chief points in passing to the La Plata. Almost all the navigable rivers of Brazil have now their regular steam packets. The Amazon has b?en navigated by steam for nearly twenty years : and since the passing of the decree of September 18G7, by which its waters were opened to the trading ships of all nations, direct commerce from foreign countries with the interior ports on its banks has begun to be developed. Within recent times the construction of railroads has been progressing very rapidly under the Government and in private hands. In 1867 there were but six short lines working; in 1873 there were fifteen distinct railways. Three main trunk lines are being actively extended by the state : the first called the Dom Pedro II. line, passing from Rio de Janeiro to Minas Geraes, is being extended thence to the head of the navigation of the Sao Francisco, and is planned to reach the valley of the Tocantins and Pard, ; the second trunk line is designed to unite the navigation of the Amazon with that of the Paraguay, through the head of the valley of the Tocantins and Araguaya; the third line, already partly executed, begin ning at Rio will pass through the capitals of S. Paulo and Parana to Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul. Many other lines have been begun or are projected under the .superintendence of the provincial assemblies. The ordinary roads are in an exceedingly backward condition throughout the empire, and those which are more than rude tracks are of very small extent. A fine macadamized road, however, called the &quot; Union and Industry,&quot; joins the capital with Minas Geraes, and others extend for short distances from the chief towns. There are also a few canals. It is but seventeen years since the first small line of telegraph was stretched in Brazil within the capital, but now a double line unites the maritime towns from Pernambuco to Rio Grande do Sul. Many other lines are being constructed, and in June 1874 submarine telegraphic cable was com pleted from Europe to the Brazilian ports.

The commerce of Brazil, despite the disadvantages against which it has had at various times to contend, has been on the whole uniformly progressive. These disadvantages consisted chiefly in the restrictions originally imposed on the young colony by the jealousy of the mother country, which refused to admit the Brazilian products except at certain stated seasons of the year. The exportation of native productions to the Old World was limited to the ports of Rio, Bahia, Olinda, and Paraiba. These restrictions continued in force long after analogous measures had been exploded in the commercial systems of other countries, and were not repealed till the beginning of the present century. In 1810, all the ports of Brazil were thrown open to British goods on the payment of duty at the rate of 15 per cent., and though this rate has bsen greatly increased by the tariff of 1844, the average annual value of manufactured goods imported into Brazil from Great Britain alone, chiefly cotton, iron, woollen, and linen goods, amounts to nearly *4, 500,000.

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