An English agriculturist would regard with astonishment and regret the
extensive tracts of land lying waste in the Brazil, and particularly
in the vicinity of the capital and principal towns. On accompanying
a party with Mr. M’Keand, from whom I experienced much attention, to
Campinha, only eighteen miles from Rio, my surprise was more forcibly
excited to see that very fine champaign and extensive valley almost in
a wild state, and with its primitive and verdant woods. It is a plain,
comprising twenty-five or thirty square miles, interspersed with gentle
acclivities, and encircled by graceful and softly undulating eminences,
presenting a tranquillizing contrast to the more lofty contexture of
alpine objects before described. It is a most inviting situation, and
its self-producing vegetation reflects shame upon the indolence it has
contributed to create. One of the party joined me in a walk through the
intervening woods, to a white house, finely situated upon an acclivity
at the edge of the valley, and whose proprietor was a farmer of the
sugar cane, and manufactured a fair quantity of rum. His son was a
padre; and one end of the veranda formed a small chapel, garnished with
tinsel trappings. It was Sunday, and the tocsin had already sounded the
signal for mass, and was gradually assembling its votaries. Many of the
females, as in Scotland, walked without shoes and stockings. A spring
amongst some rocks, served as a purifying fountain, from whence they
issued in silk stockings and embroidered shoes, ascended the hill into
the veranda, sat down on the floor, beat their bosoms, and with other
brief ceremonies concluded the devotional exercise. The padre sat down
to gamble at cards, and some of the females danced not ungracefully
with the castinets.
The waste lands I had seen on this and other excursions were
satisfactorily accounted for, by the circumstances arising out of
an attempt made by a friend of mine to purchase about twenty acres,
situated upon the margin of the bay, four miles by water and eight
by land from the city. Its cultivation had extended no further than
the employment one solitary slave could give it; a few patches of
mandioca were visible, and two rows of fruit trees, from the eminence
on which a clay tenement stood, formed a pathway towards the bay. Nine
hundred milreas (upwards of two hundred pounds) was the sum demanded
for the everlasting possession of it, subject to the payment of a fine
of five pounds per annum to a lady, whose assent to the transfer was
required, and could be immediately obtained. My friend determined to
be the purchaser, and called upon the donna, to ascertain under what
circumstances the five pounds were to be paid. She had no objections
to his becoming the purchaser; but said, she thought the sum demanded
was too much, and that she would send in a person to value the
_bemfeitoras_; that is, what produce might be upon the ground, if
the party wished to sell it. He found, therefore, in place of its being
a free purchase, this lady had the full controul over the property, in
case of the occupier wishing to dispose of it. He would have purchased
her five pounds fine; that she would on no account part with, and
further stated, that, for every two slaves more that he employed, he
must pay five pounds more fine. The present holder was only to work it
with two. The object of this would seem to be, that, in the event of
its being disposed of, she would not have so many _bemfeitoras_
to take. This gentleman would have expended a considerable sum, and
have brought the land into a state of fine cultivation, if he could
have retained it in his own possession, and that of his successors in
perpetuity; but, if circumstances compelled him to part with it, this
donna, by the Brazilian laws, would have had the preference; and two
people, appointed for the purpose, would have been sent to value the
produce standing upon the ground, without regard to improvement of
times, or the amelioration of the soil; and, in consequence of this
fine, she would have unfairly regained possession of the property for a
mere bagatelle. This being the state of the case, my friend immediately
declined any further treaty upon the subject. This donna and two
sisters, all spinsters, possess a most extensive range of land, the
whole under similar circumstances, and nearly in the same condition
that it was left by the Indians. The parties occupying it live upon
the produce of fruit sold at market, and a little mandioca. Under the
present system of landed tenure, it will remain covered with wild grass
till doomsday.
It is a great misfortune to the Brazil, that extensive tracts of
land have been granted to donatories, who do not possess the means
of cultivating one-hundredth part of it, but hold it on under the
expectation that the gradual improvement of the country will render
it daily more valuable, and the residence of the court here induces
them to adhere more strongly to this impression: if they dispose
of any part of it, they generally subject it to a fine, and the
consequences attending such a contract will present a decided obstacle
to the agricultural improvement of this country, at all proportioned
to its extent or superabundant powers. Individuals who would devote
their exertions and property to the culture of the soil, where this
mode prevails, must be effectually deterred. The province of St.
Paulo, which may be estimated to contain one hundred and twenty
thousand square miles, has no land devoluto, or ungranted, although
one-thirtieth part of it is not in a state of cultivation. Land of
course may be bought without a fine, but not generally. I had some
conversation with a Portuguese gentleman, whose intention it was to
obtain from his Majesty a grant of land to the extent of two or three
square leagues, situated upon the northern bank of the river Parahiba;
but he could not have placed more than two slaves upon it, and his
avowed object was to retain it under the anticipation of futurity
producing him an advantage in the sale of it, by portions or otherwise.
The King is very liberal in granting land; and would, no doubt, afford
encouragement for the agricultural improvement of the country, and even
during my short stay at Rio he supplied some individuals with slaves
for the purpose of cultivation; but the parsimonious feeling and apathy
which prevails will operate against any speedy change or improvement
of the system. In the donation of lands, it would be wise to attach
a positive obligation to cultivate, or in a certain period either
to revert to the crown or be publicly disposed of to those who are
competent, and intend to work them; and further, to grant lands only in
quantities proportioned to the means the individual receiving them may
possess of bringing them into a state of culture; otherwise it would
be infinitely better for the lands to remain with the crown, thereby
precluding the practice of retailing them out with a fine.
That small quantities of land, when well cultivated, are, from the
exuberance of their productions, adequate to the maintenance, and even
enrichment of a family, where industry prevails, is amply demonstrated
by the shacara of Bella Fonta, consisting only of eight or ten acres,
which is planted with African grass, having a thick stem, and a long
and broad lancet leaf, affording grass all the year for daily cutting.
When the circuit is made, and the point first commenced at reached
again, the grass is a second time in readiness, and so on. The amount
of this supply affords food for four horses and two bullocks, besides a
surplus conveyed to the city by the latter, producing twenty shillings
per week. The fruit trees, which beautify the walks that intersect
the grounds, together with a vegetable garden, yield beyond what is
fully requisite for domestic consumption, upwards of two hundred
pounds a year more. It may be said that this situation is near the
capital and possesses advantages which land more distant could not; but
that observation cannot apply to the uncultivated tracts stretching
along both sides of the bay, enjoying even a greater facility of
communication by water.
There does not appear to be any great spirit of emigration from other
states of Europe to the Brazil, for the purposes of agriculture; the
principal hitherto are French, and I conversed with some of that nation
recently arrived at Rio, with the view of forming coffee-plantations,
but their expectations appeared to be much moderated, from the system
they found existing. To go far into the interior, a man must be
expected to sacrifice all idea of society, and to reside amongst a
class of people who are strangers to the agreeable intercourses of
civilized life, to which he may have been accustomed. The French are
understood however to assimilate themselves to the habits and usages
of the country with more facility than any other European emigrants.
The remains of an unfortunate colony of Swiss emigrants arrived at
Rio in the month of October, 1819, having sailed from Hamburgh in
ships badly provided for their reception; nearly eighty died during
the voyage, including their medical attendant. The King, previously
to their departure from Europe, had given them promises of land and
encouragement; and those who escaped the fever amounting to about two
hundred persons of both sexes, were to proceed, soon after I left Rio,
to Canto Gallo, a very fine district, where they would receive an ample
donation of land to settle upon; and it is possible that, if the good
intentions of the King are not frustrated by intrigue, they may form
a valuable and flourishing colony. Their known habits of industry and
morality would warrant the most favourable expectations from them.
The Brazilians were condemning this measure very much, and intimated
that the government might find plenty of their own nation to bestow
those lands upon; but the wise policy of the King, in manifesting
this encouragement towards these worthy Swiss emigrants, will be
demonstrated in the example of industry which they will furnish by
their own personal exertions for the improvement of their property.
The Portuguese do not labour in the field, but every thing is done by
slaves; and, if they were capable of investigating the state of their
country, the inference would be, that they ought to hail the arrival
of any class of individuals who would promote its improvement, rather
than feel a mistaken jealousy of them. Surely there is abundant scope
for all their exertions in a region containing nearly two millions of
square miles, the sixtieth part of which is not in a proper state of
cultivation. The mountains would universally produce coffee-trees; a
Mr. Mawke and a Mr. Le Sange have planted them with success in the
vicinity of the Tejuca, the cascades of which place present one of the
most interesting objects near Rio.
I accompanied a party from Bella Fonta to visit them. We passed the
Pedra Mountain and proceeded through that part of the valley called
_Grande et pequena Andrahi_; the road was good, adorned with neat
white houses, and fences of lime bushes, orange trees, and flowering
shrubs. The ascent leading between higher mountains was till lately
very difficult of access, and the immense stones which rendered it so
are distributed on both sides of the way. From its different winding
points we were gratified with varied and pleasing views of the valley,
the city, and the bay, the waters of which presented a silvery hue,
caused by the rays of the sun just diffused above the horizon; the
_tout ensemble_ producing an animated and pictorial effect, in
which the Pedra Mountain, resembling a hay-cock, and detached from
all others, formed a singular feature. From the summit of the pass
we commanded a view of the sea on the opposite side, and had now to
descend by a narrow road of the utmost intricacy, covered with large
stones, the horses at every step being liable to fall. It was, however,
a most romantic and delightful way; and, although it could not boast
of any edifice beyond clay huts, it partook of all the grandeur of the
mountain scenery before mentioned, with even more of sublimity in the
general and more versatile combination and expression of its objects.
A continued charm was produced by a succession of waterfalls, forming
a murmuring stream below, and hid in the depth of its descending
recesses from the eye by embowering trees, which send forth the
music of its feathered inhabitants, variegated in rich and beauteous
plumage. Towards the bottom of the descent, stones of a prodigious size
were dispersed all around, the rivulet had accumulated into a more
considerable body of water, and a lake, situated in the plain below,
terminating its course, presented a crystal mirror. We alighted at a
farm-house, in the veranda of which the neighbouring population were
assembled at mass, and proceeded on foot, by a rude pathway, along
the skirts of a wood, at the end of which a narrow opening through
the rocks astonished us with the view of those truly fine cascades.
It was indeed a profound and perfect seclusion, and the whole may be
deemed one of the _chefs-d’œuvre_ of nature, its most fanciful
and wondrous operations being here conspicuously displayed. The fine
platform upon which the opening enters is nearly one hundred and fifty
feet square, and forms the centre of two cascades, the waters passing
by a perpendicular rugged precipice of one hundred feet in height,
and, flowing in a stream across it, descend by another of almost equal
altitude. A fugitive bishop and his followers, wandering over these
unfrequented mountains, in the year 1711, when the French had taken
possession of the city, accidentally discovered this recluse situation,
so well adapted for their concealment. They cut out niches in the
rocks for the reception of saints, mutilated portions of which still
remained. A large stone table and a seat formed of the rock served as
conveniences for our repast, rendered doubly grateful by the noble
peculiarity of the surrounding objects. We afterwards crossed the
stream, and attempted to explore the precipitous ascent of the Gavea,
“Whose hairy sides,
With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
Access denied; and overhead up grew
Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
A woody theatre of stateliest view.”
With cautious steps we retraced our way, and the feelings which the
wild and romantic nature of the scene inspired were heightened by
the murmuring waters of the hidden cascades. The district of Tejuco
is extensive, and belongs principally to one individual, the Conde
d’Asceca.
The commerce of the Brazil has increased much since it was thrown
open, particularly in British manufactures, as they are now generally
used throughout the whole territory. That this augmentation of British
commercial intercourse with that country, as well as the aggregate
sum of the whole since its commencement, has been essentially
disadvantageous to the merchants and manufacturers of England, reducing
it into one account, is unquestionable. Suppose the shipments of all
goods since the first, to a certain period, where a line could be
drawn, were placed on one side at prime cost, and the returns for those
shipments in produce, bills, or specie, placed on the other side,
(without taking into view the occasional great losses sustained by the
sale of the produce,) it would then be too clearly demonstrated, and
exhibit by the comparison an actual loss, amounting to a very serious
sum. The testimony of one or two merchants connected with this trade
since its origin would suffice to show the immense sacrifices British
property experienced soon after this new channel induced such large
speculations through its medium, as well as the continued sacrifices
that have been made at different periods since. Even the years 1819
and 1820, and especially what has passed of the present one, have been
distinguished by considerable losses; and, if further corroboration
were required, the innumerable failures in England caused solely by
this deterioration of property might be adduced. I speak of the trade
as a whole, allowing that a great many persons have done well in it,
and some made fortunes, particularly the commission-merchants; but I
mean to submit, that the advantages those individuals have derived will
not bear the test of comparison with the losses sustained by others.
The Brazilians, particularly at Rio, have acquired no inconsiderable
gains out of the unfortunate circumstances detailed; besides, they
enjoy advantages which they are little sensible of, in the supply of
British capital, which, at the metropolis, where the longest credits
are given, alone extends to more than one million sterling, arising
from the too great liberality of the merchants resident there, in
granting credits with goods. The number of English establishments of
all kinds at Rio amounts to about sixty, and a spirit of competition
consequently existing, the native merchants have had the address
to turn it greatly to their advantage. For instance, if they could
purchase goods from one house at four months credit, they would
give the preference to another that would give them six, and so on;
till credits have extended, in some instances, to nine, twelve, and
even eighteen months, accumulating in their hands the prodigious
sum mentioned, and which the Brazilian laws induce some few to take
the unfair advantage of retaining as long as they can, and in some
cases altogether. English property, in this state of jeopardy, may be
computed at two hundred thousand pounds, resulting from the tedious and
imperfect mode of judicature. A Portuguese dealer, having exhausted
the patience of the English merchant, the latter obtains a summons
from the English judge, Senhor Garces, for the former to appear before
him within three audiences, (he holds two a week,) when it is at the
option of the plaintiff, whether the defendant is put upon his oath or
not. If he is put upon his _juramente d’alma_, and then swears
he owes nothing, the cause must finally end; but if the plaintiff
will not allow him to swear, he then probably denies altogether owing
the money, or admits the account, but says he cannot at present pay,
which produces the same delay. The plaintiff then cites him for a
_libello_, and proceeds to prove the fairness of his demand, which
the defendant opposes by counter declarations. Up to this point twelve
months may be calculated as already consumed. The judge, convinced by
the clear evidence of the plaintiff, gives a _despatch_ in his
favour, which the other immediately _embargos_, when a plea for
additional time is set up, under the pretence of adducing some other
evidence; and, after a further investigation, the judge gives a similar
_despatch_ to the first, which is a second time _embargoed_,
and the cause is then removed to the Court of _Relaçam_,
consisting of six or seven judges, three of whom must always attend.
Similar delays occur in this court, when the decision of the English
judge conservator is confirmed, which, however, is not final; the
defendant can carry the case before the _Conseil de Fazendes_,
a supreme authority, consisting of many members, from whose decision
there is no appeal. The plaintiff, whose verdict gives him a power over
the property only of the defendant, and not over his person, proceeds
to take possession of his premises and effects, when, in some cases,
I have been informed, he discovers that another person holds them,
in virtue of a purchase which he pretends to have made, although the
defendant is probably acting in the business as before. The plaintiff,
in order to prove this fictitious sale, contemplates a delay of several
years in another law process; he therefore submits to any terms that
may be offered him.
An instance was related to me of a Brazilian who owed an English
house eleven hundred pounds, and, being pressed for a settlement, he
disputed the delivery of a quantity of crockery-ware, amounting to nine
hundred pounds, but which, from their great bulk, and the circumstances
attending his receipt of them, afforded ample proof of the justness
of the charge. In the course of the law-process he demanded the
production of the plaintiff’s books, in which case every leaf of each
book is stamped, and pays a duty to government. The books afforded the
clearest testimony of the sale and delivery. The defendant then put in
a document, suggesting that the plaintiff might have two sets of books,
and this might be a false one; upon this the defendant was ordered to
produce his own books, for it is usual for this class of Brazilian
dealers to keep a receiving-book, in which all goods are entered when
delivered at their shops. He however evaded this order, by replying,
that he kept no books, but wrote the receipt of all goods upon the back
of the merchants’ invoices, and that he had never received the one in
question. This subterfuge produced an immediate _despatch_ in
favour of the plaintiff, which the defendant may perhaps yet frustrate,
by the dishonest proceedings mentioned. Hence, the laws appear to be
rather a temptation to fraud than a preventive.
The appointment of an English judge conservator, who is indeed a
respectable man, and disposed to act with promptitude and justice,
appears to be perfectly nugatory in cases of importance; and, although
his decisions may have some influence with the other courts, they are
by no means final or effectual; and the same delay takes place, under
such circumstances as have been described, as if this office did not
exist. The privilege of having a judge, whose salary of £500 a year is
paid out of the contribution fund, would appear to be conceded to the
English, without its producing any adequate advantage to them.
From the universal taste for British manufactures, the Brazil presents
a great and decidedly increasing field for their consumption; and,
although the merchants cannot get rid of the tedious practice in
the judicial proceedings, they may, by a system of caution, in some
instances, avoid it; and they have already adopted the plan of
taking bills from the Portuguese on delivery of goods, which is, at
all events, an acknowledgement of the debt. It is still farther to be
wished that the increasing demand for English goods would determine
the merchants not to part with their commodities under the real value.
Competition is, unfortunately, a great obstacle to any unanimity
amongst them in this respect, otherwise the Brazilians would have no
alternative but to take their merchandise at any fair profitable price
that might be determined upon. At present the importations of British
goods annually to the Brazil may be estimated at near three millions
sterling, one half of which may be computed to arrive at Rio, from
whence returns are made in bills, coffee, sugar, hides, &c. and some
cotton. Orders are sent to Bahia, Pernambuco, and Maranham, to ship
some part of the return, principally in that article, from thence, for
which they send specie, or bills upon the treasuries of those places,
received from the government for stores supplied. At present two or
three English houses at Rio de Janeiro furnish the government with the
great bulk of its military and naval stores; but, at different periods,
demands resulting from this connexion have met with serious delays
in the liquidation, and in cases where the treasury has been under
positive engagements by bills, great inconvenience has been sustained,
and the parties compelled at last to wait personally upon the King, who
has given directions for the payment of those overstanding securities.
The British merchants also labour under some inconvenience, originating
in the misconstruction of or non-compliance with the actual intent of
the convention for regulating the levying of the fifteen per cent. duty
upon that portion of English goods not embraced by the _pauta_,
and which latter instrument is additionally and injuriously partial in
its operations, not being a fair standard by which the real value of
the article the duty is to be paid upon can be designated. The avowed
object between the two governments in this arrangement is, that the
British merchant shall pay a duty of fifteen per cent. upon the fair
value of the thing imported; but the _pauta_ enumerates a fixed
value upon certain articles, without reference to the fluctuation of
price, and the tide having uniformly of late years flowed downwards
in this respect, goods have experienced a diminution from the average
valuation of that instrument, consequently, the duty may amount to
twenty-five or thirty per cent. in place of fifteen, upon their actual
worth. But this is not the only objection to it as an inefficient
medium for levying the duties. The _pauta_ determines the value
of certain goods at one, two, or three prices, at the same time
that a great variety of qualities exist in the same commodity, which
gradations of value are yearly increasing, by the introduction of
mechanical power and other improvements into our manufactures. Some
printed cottons are worth upwards of two shillings per yard, others
nine-pence or one shilling, with intermediate qualities. Cambric
muslins bear greater disproportions of quality, yet the duties are
exacted upon goods of this kind, worth one shilling per yard, at the
same rate as those bearing twice the value. At Rio, where more fine
goods are used, they pay the same duty as the merchants of Bahia and
Pernambuco, where more of the lower quality of the same articles are
imported; and, in consequence, the merchants of the latter place
have been entirely precluded, during the last eighteen months, from
despatching through the custom-house printed cottons and muslins of
a low price, as the valuation they hold in the _pauta_ would
have made the duty forty per cent. upon their real worth in lieu
of fifteen per cent. Mr. Lempriere, the consul of Pernambuco, did
not conceive it his duty to interfere in the matter; but it would
appear that the captain-general and the judge of the custom-house,
were either influenced by the diminution of customs collected, or
by the representations of the merchants themselves, to accede to an
arbitration. Messrs. Cockshott, Mitchel, and Todd, three very competent
and highly-respectable merchants, were selected, on the part of the
English, to meet three Portuguese merchants; and, in the month of
January, 1820, during my stay at Pernambuco, the matter was, for the
time being, amicably adjusted; but the nature of the _pauta_ will
ever present great difficulties, and can never embrace the intended
equitable duty upon the imports. The same objections have been raised
at Bahia and other places. The arrangement above alluded to did not
long continue in operation, in consequence of not receiving the
sanction of the Brazilian government. The difficulty is now greatly
augmented by the continued depression in British manufactures. Printed
cottons, rated in the _pauta_ at seven milreas four hundred reas
each piece, and upon which valuation the duty of fifteen per cent. must
be paid, were not worth more than from three milreas two hundred reas
to three milreas six hundred reas, in the Pernambuco market at the
close of 1820. This produces a result so manifestly against the British
merchant, that it must ultimately prove ruinous to him. Memorials have
been presented to the Hon. Mr. Thornton, relative to these injurious
consequences of the _pauta_, and the British merchants connected
with the Brazil are in expectation that the attention of their
government will be drawn to this important subject, when its wise and
enlightened policy will no doubt obtain the desired relief.
There can be but one opinion that the convention, if it applied
to imports generally, is the only just principle upon which this
matter should rest, provided it were divested of the grievances just
alluded to; for the accomplishment of which, the merchants of Bahia
have been the first to present a memorial to the Brazilian court. It
was understood, before I left Rio, that the measures which had been
practised for the benefit of individuals, and not of the government,
were ordered to be discontinued by his Majesty, as contrary to the
letter and spirit of the convention. Having, however, referred to those
practices, it may not be irrelevant to state one instance out of many
that were communicated to me by the merchants at Rio de Janeiro. The
obligations of the convention are, that the merchant shall give in an
attested invoice of the value of the article, and if the government do
not consider it a fair one, they have the option of taking the goods
by paying ten per cent. upon the price. A merchant received a quantity
of goods, which, had he despatched at the cost price, he would have
sustained a serious loss, in consequence of the low ebb at which they
then stood. In the course of twelve months, a demand arose for the
article, and he gave in an invoice at the cost price to pay the duties
upon. The _administratador_ of the custom-house finding, (no
doubt from his agents,) that he could obtain a good profit, informed
the merchant that the ten per cent. in addition to the price given
in, would be paid, and the goods kept; consequently the merchant was
deprived of any advantage he might have received from running the risk
of retaining the goods for so long a time, without mentioning the loss
of interest; besides, in those cases it has happened, that the goods
have been previously sold by sample to a dealer, who insists upon
their delivery, or a pecuniary allowance. The merchant above-mentioned
ascertained that the goods were actually despatched through the
custom-house by the very invoice he presented, and the duty paid only
upon the value he gave in; demonstrating that the government derived
no benefit from those proceedings, but that they were the result of
intrigue among inferior officers, for their individual gain. I cannot
conclude this important subject, without strongly recommending to the
British government the expediency of effecting, if possible, a change
in the levying the duty of fifteen per cent. as far as the _pauta_
applies, for it is obvious that an arrangement upon the principle of
the convention can alone embrace the infinite gradations of value
peculiar to every denomination of British manufactures sent to the
Brazil.
It may be here observed, that in all serious difficulties the English
prefer going direct to the King, rather than encounter the different
ramifications of intrigue publicly known to exist in many departments
of the state; and in all those applications his Majesty concedes a
ready hearing; and, as far as depends upon himself, the English have,
indeed, every reason to acknowledge his readiness to accede to all
justly founded requests.
The custom-house door at Rio de Janeiro, is the rendezvous of the
merchants, hitherto, not having the accommodation of an exchange.
An edifice, however, was commenced by the government, upon a
_prainha_, or small beach, behind the custom-house, and it was
anticipated that this _praca do commercio_, of which I obtained a
plan from the architect, would be completed early in the year 1820.
I was present when the foundation-stone of the first protestant church,
in South America, was laid at Rio de Janeiro on the 12th of August,
1819. It is for the use of the English, who at present assemble in a
room for divine service: the site is in the Rua dos Borbanes, near the
convent of Ajuda, and adjoining the house of the Spanish Ambassador.
Mr. Stevenson, the treasurer, and the committee for the management
of the contribution fund, attended, together with a great portion of
the resident English merchants, when a very animated and appropriate
address was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Crane. Some coins of Great
Britain, a glass bottle securely sealed up, and containing two or three
English newspapers of the latest date, (14th of June,) a gazette of
Rio de Janeiro, and a navy list, were deposited in the stone. This
main stone was dedicated to St. George and St. John, in honour of the
sovereigns of England and Brazil. Mr. Johnson, before-mentioned, is
the architect, and a Portuguese the builder. Judging from the plan,
the structure will be neat, and calculated to contain about five
hundred persons, and many more if galleries are added at any subsequent
period. The Spanish Ambassador, who was looking out of a window during
the ceremony, had made an offer of part of the ground upon which his
stables stood, it being deemed necessary to complete the ground-work,
which offer was considered highly honourable to him and no obstacle
was foreseen in forwarding this good work with all possible despatch.
Three months afterwards, however, nothing further had been done, in
consequence, I have heard, of the Portuguese dono of the ambassador’s
premises, objecting to the transfer of the small portion of ground
required, unless he was paid some exorbitant sum. I understand, that
an application is to be made, through the medium of the Hon. Mr.
Thornton, to the King upon the subject.
[Illustration:
_On Stone by C. Shoosmith from a Sketch by Jas. Henderson._
_Printed by C. Hullmandel._