and Coasts intended to be blockaded, in such a constant state of Blockade that no Vessel can enter or depart without imminent danger of detention; that, if the force is inadequate to enforce the Blockade generally, the whole Blockade in all its parts is thereby vitiated; nor can the blockading Ships enforce it partially where they may happen to be present.

With this view of the Blockade which your Excellency has declared, I must warn you of the consequences that may follow from your attempting to apply to the Ships and Property of His Britannick Majesty's Subjects, a restraint not warranted by the Law of Nations, under the pretext of Blockade. I have, &c.

C. ROWLEY.

H. E. Field Marshal Don M. de la Torre. Maracaibo.

PROCLAMATION of the Emperor of Brazil to the People of Portugal, on his elevation to that dignity.-21st October, 1822. (Translation.)

PORTUGUESE!—The greatest force is insufficient against the will of a People determined to live no longer in a state of slavery. The history of the World has confirmed this truth, and it is further confirmed by the rapid events which have occurred in this vast Empire, which, deceived by the flattering promises of the Congress at Lisbon, the falsehood of which soon appeared, was betrayed in its most sacred rights and most obvious interests, and had presented to it only the prospect of re-colonization; and of legal despotism, a thousand times more tyrannical than the arbitrary acts of a single Despot. The great and generous Brazilian People have been successively influenced by unbounded credulity, justifiable distrust, and mortal hatred, and have finally come to the firm resolution of establishing a Legislative Assembly of their own, from whose wisdom and prudence the new social Compact which is to govern the Country shall emanate, and that Assembly is about to commence its glorious task; the same great and generous People have unanimously chosen me for their Perpetual Defender; an honourable charge which I have proudly accepted, and which I am determined to execute even to the sacrifice of my life.

This first step, which ought to have opened the eyes of the Congress of Lisbon to the abyss into which the whole Nation was about to be precipitated, which ought to have rendered it more circumspect in its conduct, and more just in its acts, has only served to inflame the corroding passions of the Demagogues, who, to your shame, are seated in the august sanctuary of the Laws. All measures tending to retain Brazil under the iron yoke of slavery have obtained the approbation of that Congress. It decreed troops for the purpose of conquering [1822-23.] 3 P

Brazil, under the frivolous pretext of suppressing factions. The Brazilian Deputies were publickly insulted, and their lives threatened. The Senhor, Don John VI., my August Father, has been compelled to descend from the high dignity of a Constitutional Monarch, owing to the severe captivity in which he is held, and to act the part of a mere publisher of the delirious Decrees of his corrupt Ministers, or of the factious Members of the Congress, whose names will be handed down with their crimes to the execration of posterity: and I, the Heir to the Throne, have been held up to scorn, and abused by the very persons who ought to teach the People to respect me, in order that they might themselves be respected.

Under such critical circumstances, the heroic People of Brazil, finding all means of conciliation exhausted, availed themselves of a right, the possession of which no one can dispute. On the 12th of the present month, they proclaimed me their Constitutional Emperor, and declared their own Independence. By this solemn Act, an end has been put to the distrust and suspicion of the Brazilians of the plans of dominion contemplated by the Lisbon Congress; and the uninterrupted series of monuments placed in the path of eternal time, to record to this People their past misfortunes, now only serve to convince them how far Brazil would have been advanced in prosperity, if at an earlier period she had been separated from Portugal; if her good sense and reason had sanctioned sooner a separation made by

nature.

Such is the state of Brazil. Though from the 12th of this month Brazil no longer forms an integral part of the ancient Portuguese Monarchy, still nothing prevents the continuation of their ancient commercial relations, as I have declared in my Decree of the 1st of August last, provided Portugal do not send more Troops to invade any of the Provinces of this Empire.

Portuguese-I offer you the space of 4 months to make your decision. Decide, and choose, either the continuance of a Friendship, founded on the dictates of justice and generosity, and in the ties of blood and reciprocal interests, or a most violent War, which can alone terminate in the recognition of the Independence of Brazil, or in the ruin of both Countries. THE EMPEROR,

Palace of Rio de Janeiro, October 21, 1822.

PROCLAMATION of the Emperor of Brazil, recalling Brazilians from Foreign Countries.-8 January, 1823. BRAZILIANS !

(Translation.)

As soon as the Independence of Brazil had been proclaimed throughout this vast Empire, and the sincere wishes and affection of its generous Inhabitants had raised me to the Constitutional Throne of

Southern America, the Country imposed on such of its Children as were absent, the sacred duty of abandoning the Enemy's Country, and of returning to their own, to join their Brethren, and partake in their labours, as well as in the glory which they are about to acquire by their noble efforts to render American Independence general and permanent.

Your Emperor, your perpetual Defender, and Friend, has no doubt of your honour or patriotism. He is assured that you will immediately come and range yourselves round his Constitutional Throne, the surest guarantee of the perpetuity of your Independence.

Come, and employ your patriotism, talents and virtues, advantageously, in the service of the Empire, and for the happiness of our dear Country. Powerful motives and difficulties, designedly created by our implacable enemies, may, probably, oppose your wishes and delay your return. Let not these difficulties and obstacles discourage you; patriotism and love of glory will teach you to overcome them.

I fix six months as the term for your return to your homes; come and co-operate with your Fellow Citizens in the great work of our political regeneration. Brazil requires it, and your Emperor commands it.

If it should happen, which God forbid! that, at the expiration of this term, any degenerate or deluded Brazilian shall obstinately remain among our Enemies, he shall cease to form part of the great Brazilian Family; he shall be considered a Subject of Portugal, and lose all the Rights of a Citizen of the Empire, and the whole of his Property shall be liable to the Penalty of Sequestration, according to the tenor of my Imperial Decree of the 11th of December last.

Brazilians! I flatter myself you will answer this call of honour and national dignity: my expectation will not be deceived.

Palace of Rio de Janeiro, January 8, 1823.

THE EMPEROR.

DECREE of the Emperor of Brazil, declaring the Port of Bahia, occupied by Portuguese Troops, in a state of Blockade. 29th March, 1823. (Translation.)

Ir being one of my most sacred duties, as Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of this Empire, to take every measure authorized by the Law of Nations to secure the tranquillity of the State, and to repel force by force; and it being notorious that the Portuguese Troops who make War on this Empire remain in Bahia, because the Port of that City is open and free; I am pleased to declare, as I do declare, the said Port in a state of rigorous Blockade. The entry of all Vessels whatever, National or Foreign, Men of War or Merchant Vessels, is henceforth prohibited, during so long as the Portuguese Troops shall continue there: and all Vessels which may in any man

ner act contrary to this my Imperial Decree, shall be liable to the penalties established in similar cases by the Law of Nations.

Luis da Cunha Moreira, my Councillor of State, Minister and Secretary of State for the Affairs of Marine, will so understand it, and cause it to be executed, sending the necessary Instructions.

Palace of Rio de Janeiro, 29th March, 1823. Second of Independence and of the Empire.

[His Imperial Majesty's Initials.]

LUIS DA CUNHA MOREIRA.

REPORT of the Minister of Finance to the Emperor of Brazil.-26th September, 1823.

(Extract.)

(Translation.)

IF, in 1812, in spite of intrigue and cabal, I dared to remove the thick and mysterious veil which covered the then Royal Treasury, persuaded that the extinction of patriotism and publick disquietude keep pace with publick distress, and that the ruin of States, and the fall of Empires are the consequences of financial disorders, whilst there is never any cause for apprehension, so long as, by a wise administration, the Publick Revenue is sufficient to defray the Publick Expenses; I now feel it my bounden duty, in this season of our Independence and Liberty, possessed of a General, Constituent, and Legislative Assembly of this Empire, to render an account of the condition in which I found the Publick Treasury, when, on the 21st of July last, I entered on my functions as Chief of that Department. In doing so, I shall not confine myself to a bare exposition of the state of the National finances; but, impelled by the desire of contributing to the publick welfare as far as my talents and experience allow me, I shall point out the means which suggest themselves to my mind, for extricating us from our present embarrassments, and for enabling us to raise this nascent Empire to the strength, opulence, splendour, and consideration, of which it is susceptible, and for which it has so many capabilities, in order that the General, Constitutional, and Legislative Assembly may afterwards deliberate on my Report, and adopt such measures as it may deem expedient.

The delay which has occurred in presenting my ideas, from the 21st of July to the present time, should not excite surprise. My Report embraces the accounts which I immediately required from all branches of the Treasury. It was necessary to ascertain the amount of the receipts and expenditures as far as it was practicable; the Publick Debt, active and passive; and the extraordinary resources which had been provided to meet the extraordinary demands; but, as no Statements existed to further the prompt execution of my order to that effect, notwithstanding the assiduity and zeal of the officers of the Treasury, I have only recently received the documents containing the

information detailed in my Report. I could not therefore, till now, present to your Imperial Majesty the state of the Treasury of Rio Janeiro at the end of June, in any thing like a correct form, or describe the particulars supplied by the Treasury, respecting the publick finances of the other Provinces of the Empire of Brazil.

By the Account of Receipt and Expenditure for the first 6 months of 1823, No. 1, your Imperial Majesty will perceive all the expenses of that half Year, and the amount of monies that have been paid into the publick coffers; the sum remaining in the Treasury, at the end of June, being 278,103 Milreas.

By the Account, however, No. 2, your Majesty will see, that on the 30th of June, when the balance was struck, there was only in the Treasury a disposable sum of 210,014 Milreas, including in that amount 132,658 Milreas on the books of the customs, and deducting a sum of 70,000 Milreas of the decima, and of the interest of the loan which was about to be paid, besides other indispensable and extraordinary charges.

By No. 3, your Majesty will learn that, out of the total proceeds of the loan, voluntary gifts, subscription for the Navy, and sequestrations, up to the 30th June, amounting to 596,304 Milreas, there has been expended of those extraordinary resources the sum of 386,289 Milreas.

No. 4 will make known to your Majesty, that, according to the estimate of the various receipts which may be expected in the next half Year, we shall obtain from the ordinary income of the Publick Treasury the sum of 1,769,000 milreas.

By the Estimate of expenses, No. 5, your Majesty will find the application to be made of that sum.-Imperial Household, 96,200; Ministry of War, 625,569; Marine, 294,000; Treasury, 753,240,

By the Estimate, No. 6, the extraordinary charges will amount to 900,000 milreas.

The Estimate, No. 7, of the Publick Debt, at the end of 1821, shows that the Treasury was then under obligation for £,870,918 milreas.

By the state of the Publick Debt, presented in No. 8, your Majesty will see, that in June, 1822, this Debt amounted to 10,176,580 milreas, being an increase of 305,662 milreas in six months.

No. 9 shows, that at the end of June, 1823, this Debt amounted to 12,055,582 milreas, to which, adding the sum of 100,563 milreas, when entered into the Treasury, as the proceeds of sequestrations, the amount will be 12,156,145 milreas, being an increase in one Year of 1,979,565 milreas.

No. 10 exhibits this increase under the different heads.

By the Accounts No. 11, the income and expenditure of the respective provinces of Minas Geraes, Goiaz, Matto Grosso, Santa Catherina, Rio Grande do Sul, and S. Paulo, will appear. The annual deficit of Minas Geraes amounts to near 60,000 milreas; that of Goiaz to near 20,000; that of Matto Grosso to 10,544; that of Santa Catherina, to 34,870; making in all more than 125,000 milreas.