HISTORY

The Portuguese in Brazil.

Brazil was discovered in February 1499 (o.s.) by Vicente Yanez Pinzon, a

companion of Columbus. He descried the land near Cape St Augustine, and

sailed along the coast as far as the river Amazon, whence he proceeded

to the mouth of the Orinoco. He made no settlement, but took possession

of the country in the name of the Spanish government, and carried home,

as specimens of its natural productions, some drugs, gems and

Brazil-wood. Next year the Portuguese commander, Pedro Alvares Cabral,

appointed by his monarch to follow the course of Vasco da Gama in the

East, was driven by adverse winds so far from his track, that he reached

the Brazilian coast, April 24, and anchored in Porto Seguro (16 deg. S.

lat.) on Good Friday. On Easter day an altar was erected, mass

celebrated in presence of the natives, the country declared an apanage

of Portugal, and a stone cross erected in commemoration of the event.

Cabral despatched a small vessel to Lisbon to announce his discovery,

and, without forming any settlement, proceeded to India on the 3rd of

May. On the arrival of the news in Portugal, Emanuel invited Amerigo

Vespucci to enter his service, and despatched him with three vessels to

explore the country. The navigator's first voyage was unsuccessful; but,

according to his own account, in a second he discovered a safe port, to

which he gave the name of All-Saints and where he erected a small fort.

Vespucci's narrative is, however, suspected of being apocryphal (see

VESPUCCI, AMERIGO).

The poor and barbarous tribes of Brazil, and their country, the mineral

riches of which were not immediately discovered, offered but few

attractions to a government into the coffers of which the wealth of

India and Africa was flowing. For nearly thirty years the kings of

Portugal paid no further attention to their newly-acquired territory

than what consisted, in combating the attempts of the Spaniards to

occupy it, and dispersing the private adventurers from France who sought

its shores for the purposes of commerce. The colonization of Brazil was

prosecuted, however, by subjects of the Portuguese monarchy, who traded

thither chiefly for Brazil-wood. The government also sought to make

criminals of some use to the state, by placing them in a situation where

they could do little harm to society, and might help to uphold the

dominion of their nation.

First organization in Brazil.

The first attempt on the part of a Portuguese monarch to introduce an

organized government into his dominions was made by John III. He adopted

a plan which had been found to succeed well in Madeira and the

Azores,--dividing the country into hereditary captaincies, and granting

them to such persons as were willing to undertake their settlement, with

unlimited powers of jurisdiction, both civil and criminal. Each

captaincy extended along fifty leagues of coast. The boundaries in the

interior were undefined. The first settlement made under this new system

was that of Sao Vicente Piratininga, in the present province of Sao

Paulo. Martim Affonso de Sousa, having obtained a grant, fitted out a

considerable armament and proceeded to explore the country in person. He

began to survey the coast about Rio de Janeiro, to which he gave that

name, because he discovered it on the 1st of January 1531. He proceeded

south as far as La Plata, naming the places he surveyed on the way from

the days on which the respective discoveries were made. He fixed upon an

island in 24-1/2 deg. S. lat., called by the natives Guaibe, for his

settlement. The Goagnazes, or prevailing tribe of Indians in that

neighbourhood, as soon as they discovered the intentions of the

new-comers to fix themselves permanently there, collected for the

purpose of expelling them. Fortunately, however, a shipwrecked

Portuguese, who had lived many years under the protection of the

principal chief, was successful in concluding a treaty of perpetual

alliance between his countrymen and the natives. Finding the spot chosen

for the new town inconvenient, the colonists removed to the adjoining

island of Sao Vicente, from which the captaincy derived its name. Cattle

and the sugar-cane were at an early period introduced from Madeira, and

here the other captaincies supplied themselves with both.

Pero Lopes de Sousa received the grant of a captaincy, and set sail from

Portugal at the same time as his brother, the founder of Sao Vicente. He

chose to have his fifty leagues in two allotments. That to which he gave

the name of Santo Amaro adjoined Sao Vicente, the two towns being only

three leagues asunder. The other division lay much nearer to the line

between Parahyba and Pernambuco. He experienced considerable difficulty

in founding this second colony, from the strenuous opposition of a

neighbouring tribe, the Petiguares; at length he succeeded in clearing

his lands of them, but not long afterwards he perished by shipwreck.

Rio de Janeiro was not settled till a later period; and for a

considerable time the nearest captaincy to Santo Amaro, sailing along

the coast northwards, was that of Espirito Santo. It was founded by

Vasco Fernandes Coutinho, who having acquired a large fortune in India,

sank it in this scheme of colonization. He carried with him no less than

sixty fidalgos. They named their town by anticipation, Our Lady of the

Victory (Victoria); but it cost them some hard fighting with the

Goagnazes to justify the title.

Pedro de Campo Tourinho, a nobleman and excellent navigator, received a

grant of the adjoining captaincy of Porto Seguro. This, it will be

remembered, is the spot where Cabral first took possession of Brazil.

The Tupinoquins at first offered some opposition; but having made peace,

they observed it faithfully, notwithstanding that the oppression of the

Portuguese obliged them to forsake the country. Sugar-works were

established, and considerable quantities of the produce exported to the

mother country.

Jorge de Figueiredo, _Escrivam da Fazenda_, was the first donatory of

the captaincy Ilheos, 140 m. south of Bahia. His office preventing him

from taking possession in person, he deputed the task to Francisco

Romeiro, a Castilian. The Tupinoquins, the most tractable of the

Brazilian tribes, made peace with the settlers, and the colony was

founded without a struggle.

The coast from the Rio Sao Francisco to Bahia was granted to Francisco

Pereira Coutinho; the bay itself, with all its creeks, was afterwards

added to the grant. When Coutinho formed his establishment, where Villa

Velha now stands, he found a noble Portuguese living in the

neighbourhood who, having been shipwrecked, had, by means of his

fire-arms, raised himself to the rank of chief among the natives. He was

surrounded by a patriarchal establishment of wives and children; and to

him most of the distinguished families of Bahia still trace their

lineage. The regard entertained by the natives for Caramuru (signifying

_man of fire_) induced them to extend a hospitable welcome to his

countrymen, and for a time everything went on well. Coutinho had,

however, learned in India to be an oppressor, and the Tupinambas were

the fiercest and most powerful of the native tribes. The Portuguese were

obliged to abandon their settlement; but several of them returned at a

later period, with Caramuru, and thus a European community was

established in the district.

Some time before the period at which these captaincies were established,

a factory had been planted at Pernambuco. A ship from Marseilles took

it, and left seventy men in it as a garrison; but she was captured on

her return, and carried into Lisbon, and immediate measures were taken

for reoccupying the place. The captaincy of Pernambuco was granted to

Don Duarte Coelho Pereira as the reward of his services in India. It

extended along the coast from the Rio Sao Francisco, northward to the

Rio de Juraza. Duarte sailed with his wife and children, and many of his

kinsmen, to take possession, of his new colony, and landed in the port

of Pernambuco. To the town which was there founded he gave the name of

Olinda. The Cabetes, who possessed the soil, were fierce and

pertinacious; and, assisted by the French, who traded to that coast,

Coelho had to gain by inches what was granted him by leagues. The

Portuguese managed, however, to beat off their enemies; and, having

entered into an alliance with the Tobayanes, followed up their success.

Attempts were made about this time to establish two other captaincies,

but without success. Pedro de Goes obtained a grant of the captaincy of

Parahyba between those of Sao Vicente and Espirito Santo; but his means

were too feeble to enable him to make head against the aborigines, and

the colony was broken up after a painful struggle of seven years. Joao

de Barros, the historian, obtained the captaincy of Maranhao. For the

sake of increasing his capital, he divided his grant with Fernao Alvares

de Andrade and Aires da Cunha. They projected a scheme of conquest and

colonization upon a large scale. Nine hundred men, of whom one hundred

and thirteen were horsemen, embarked in ten ships under the command of

Aires da Cunha. But the vessels were wrecked upon some shoals about one

hundred leagues to the south of Maranhao; the few survivors, after

suffering immense hardships, escaped to the nearest settlements, and the

undertaking was abandoned.

By these adventures the whole line of Brazilian coast, from the mouth of

La Plata to the mouth of the Amazon, had become studded at intervals

with Portuguese settlements, in all of which law and justice were

administered, however inadequately. It is worthy of observation, that

Brazil was the first colony founded in America upon an agricultural

principle, for until then the precious metals were the exclusive

attraction. Sufficient capital was attracted between the year 1531 (in

which De Sousa founded the first captaincy) and the year 1548 to render

these colonies an object of importance to the mother country. Their

organization, however, in regard to their means of defence against both

external aggression and internal violence, was extremely defective.

Their territories were surrounded and partly occupied by large tribes of

savages. Behind them the Spaniards, who had an establishment at

Asuncion, had penetrated almost to the sources of the waters of

Paraguay, and had succeeded in establishing communication with Peru.

Orellana, on the other hand, setting out from Peru, had crossed the

mountains and sailed down the Amazon. Nor had the French abandoned their

hopes of effecting an establishment on the coast.

The obvious remedy for these evils was to concentrate the executive

power, to render the petty chiefs amenable to one tribunal, and to

confide the management of the defensive force to one hand. In order to

this the powers of the several captains were revoked, whilst their

property in their grants was reserved to them. A governor-general was

appointed, with full powers, civil and criminal. The judicial and

financial functions in each province were vested in the _Ouvidor_, whose

authority in the college of finance was second only to that of the

governor. Every colonist was enrolled either in the _Milicias_ or

_Ordenanzas_. The former were obliged to serve beyond the boundaries of

the province, the latter only at home. The chief cities received

municipal constitutions, as in Portugal. Thome de Sousa was the first

person nominated to the important post of governor-general. He was

instructed to build a strong city in Bahia and to establish there the

seat of his government. In pursuance of his commission he arrived at

Bahia in April 1549, with a fleet of six vessels, on board of which were

three hundred and twenty persons in the king's pay, four hundred

convicts and about three hundred free colonists. Care had been taken for

the spiritual wants of the provinces by associating six Jesuits with the

expedition.

First Jesuit missions.

Old Caramuru, who still survived, rendered the governor essential

service by gaining for his countrymen the goodwill of the natives. The

new city, to which the name of Sao Salvador was given, was established

on the heights above the Bay of All Saints (Todos os Santos), from which

its later name of Bahia is taken. Within four months one hundred houses

were built, and surrounded by a mud wall. Sugar plantations were laid

out in the vicinity. During the four years of Sousa's government there

were sent out at different times supplies of all kinds. Female orphans

of noble families were given in marriage to the officers, and portioned

from the royal estates, and orphan boys were sent to be educated by the

Jesuits. The capital rose rapidly in importance, and the captaincies

learned to regard it as a common head and centre of wealth. Meanwhile

the Jesuits undertook the moral and religious culture of the natives,

and of the scarcely less savage colonists. Strong opposition was at

first experienced from the gross ignorance of the Indians, and the

depravity of the Portuguese, fostered by the licentious encouragement of

some abandoned priests who had found their way to Brazil. Over these

persons the Jesuits had no authority; and it was not until the arrival

of the first bishop of Brazil in 1552, that anything like an efficient

check was imposed upon them. Next year Sousa was succeeded by Duarte da

Costa, who brought with him a reinforcement of Jesuits, at the head of

whom was Luis de Gran, appointed, with Nobrega the chief of the first

mission, joint provincial of Brazil.

Nobrega's first act was one which has exercised the most beneficial

influence over the social system of Brazil, namely, the establishment of

a college on the then unreclaimed plains of Piratininga. It was named

Sao Paulo, and has been at once the source whence knowledge and

civilization have been diffused through Brazil, and the nucleus of a

colony of its manliest and hardiest citizens, which sent out successive

swarms of hardy adventurers to people the interior. The good intentions

of the Jesuits were in part frustrated by the opposition of Costa the

governor; and it was not until 1558, when Mem de Sa was sent out to

supersede him, that their projects were allowed free scope.

Settlement of Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro was first occupied by French settlers. Nicholas Durand de

Villegagnon, a bold and skilful seaman, having visited Brazil, saw at

once the advantages which might accrue his country from a settlement

there. In order to secure the interest of Coligny, he gave out that his

projected colony was intended to serve as a place of refuge for the

persecuted Huguenots. Under the patronage of that admiral, he arrived at

Rio de Janeiro in 1558 with a train of numerous and respectable

colonists. As soon, however, as he thought his power secure, he threw

off the mask, and began to harass and oppress the Huguenots by every

means he could devise. Many of them were forced by his tyranny to return

to France; and ten thousand Protestants, ready to embark for the new

colony, were deterred by their representations. Villegagnon, finding his

force much diminished in consequence of his treachery, sailed for France

in quest of recruits; and during his absence the Portuguese governor, by

order of his court, attacked and dispersed the settlement. For some

years the French kept up a kind of bush warfare; but in 1567 the

Portuguese succeeded in establishing a settlement at Rio.

Mem de Sa continued to hold the reins of government in Brazil upon terms

of the best understanding with the clergy, and to the great advantage of

the colonies, for fourteen years. On the expiration of his power, which

was nearly contemporary with that of his life, an attempt was made to

divide Brazil into two governments; but this having failed, the

territory was reunited in 1578, the year in which Diego Laurenco da

Veiga was appointed governor. At this time the colonies, although not

yet independent of supplies from the mother country, were in a

flourishing condition; but the usurpation of the crown of Portugal by

Philip II. changed the aspect of affairs. Brazil, believed to be

inferior to the Spanish possessions in mines, was consequently abandoned

in comparative neglect for the period intervening between 1578 and 1640,

during which it continued an apanage of Spain.

English and French aggressions.

No sooner had Brazil passed under the Spanish crown, than English

adventurers directed their hostile enterprises against its shores. In

1586 Witherington plundered Bahia; in 1591 Cavendish made an abortive

attack on Santos; in 1595 Lancaster attacked Olinda. These exploits,

however, were transient in their effects. In 1612 the French attempted

to found a permanent colony in the island of Marajo, where they

succeeded in maintaining themselves till 1618. This attempt led to the

erection of Maranhao and Para into a separate _Estado_. But it was on

the part of the Dutch that the most skilful and pertinacious efforts

were made for securing a footing in Brazil; and they alone of all the

rivals of the Portuguese have left traces of their presence in the

national spirit and institutions of Brazil.

Struggle with the Dutch.

The success of the Dutch East India Company led to the establishment of

a similar one for the West Indies, to which a monopoly of the trade to

America and Africa was granted. This body despatched in 1624 a fleet

against Bahia. The town yielded almost without a struggle. The fleet

soon after sailed, a squadron being detached against Angola, with the

intention of taking possession of that colony, in order to secure a

supply of slaves. The fall of Bahia for once roused the Spaniards and

Portuguese to joint action, and a great expedition speedily sailed from

Cadiz and Lisbon for Bahia. Once more, though strongly garrisoned, the

town was retaken without any serious fighting in May 1625. The honours

bestowed upon the Indian chiefs for their assistance in this war broke

down in a great measure the barrier between the two races; and there is

at this day a greater admixture of their blood among the better classes

in Bahia than is to be found elsewhere in Brazil.

Dutch settlement in Brazil.

In 1630 the Dutch attempted again to effect a settlement; and Olinda,

with its port, the Recife-Olinda, was destroyed, but the Recife was

fortified and held, reinforcements and supplies being sent by sea from

Holland. The Dutch were unable, however, to extend their power beyond

the limits of the town, until the arrival of Count John Maurice of

Nassau-Siegen in 1636. His first step was to introduce a regular

government among his countrymen; his second, to send to the African

coast one of his officers, who took possession of a Portuguese

settlement, and thus secured a supply of slaves. In the course of eight

years, the limited period of his government, he succeeded in asserting

the Dutch supremacy along the coast of Brazil from the mouth of Sao

Francisco to Maranhao. The Recife was rebuilt and adorned with splendid

residences and gardens and received from its founder the name of

Mauritstad. He promoted the amalgamation of the different races, and

sought to conciliate the Portuguese by the confidence he reposed in

them. His object was to found a great empire; but this was a project at

variance with the wishes of his employers--an association of merchants,

who were dissatisfied because the wealth which they expected to see

flowing into their coffers was expended in promoting the permanent

interests of a distant country. Count Maurice resigned his post in 1644.

His successors possessed neither his political nor his military talents,

and had to contend with more difficult circumstances.

In 1640 the revolution which placed the house of Braganza on the throne

of Portugal restored Brazil to masters more inclined to promote its

interests and assert its possession than the Spaniards. It was indeed

high time that some exertion should be made. The northern provinces had

fallen into the power of Holland; the southern, peopled in a great

measure by the hardy descendants of the successive colonists who had

issued on all sides from the central establishment of Sao Paulo, had

learned from their habits of unaided and successful enterprise to court

independence. They had ascended the waters of the Paraguay to their

sources. They had extended their limits southwards till they reached

the Spanish settlements of La Plata. They had reduced to slavery

numerous tribes of the natives. They were rich in cattle, and had

commenced the discovery of the mines. When, therefore, the inhabitants

of Sao Paulo saw themselves about to be transferred, as a dependency of

Portugal, from one master to another, they conceived the idea of

erecting their country into an independent state. Their attempt,

however, was frustrated by Amador Bueno, the person whom they had

selected for their king. When the people shouted "Long live King

Amador," he cried out "Long live John IV.," and took refuge in a

convent. The multitude, left without a leader, acquiesced, and this

important province was secured to the house of Braganza.

Revolt against the Dutch.

French expedition to Brazil, 1710.

Rio and Santos, although both evinced a desire of independence, followed

the example of the Paulistas. Bahia, as capital of the Brazilian states,

felt that its ascendancy depended upon the union with Portugal. The

government, thus left in quiet possession of the rest of Brazil, had

time to concentrate its attention upon the Dutch conquests. The crown of

Portugal was, however, much too weak to adopt energetic measures. But

the Brazilian colonists, now that the mother country had thrown off the

Spanish yoke, determined even without assistance from the homeland to

rise in revolt against foreign domination. The departure of Count

Maurice, moreover, had seriously weakened the position of the Dutch, for

his successors had neither his conciliatory manners nor his capacity.

Joao Fernandes Vieyra, a native of Madeira, organized the insurrection

which broke out in 1645. This insurrection gave birth to one of those

wars in which a whole nation, destitute of pecuniary resources, military

organization and skilful leaders, but familiar with the country, is

opposed to a handful of soldiers advantageously posted and well

officered. But home difficulties and financial necessities prevented the

West India Company from sending adequate reinforcements from Holland. In

1649 a rival company was started in Portugal known as the Brazil

Company, which sent out a fleet to help the colonists in Pernambuco.

Slowly the Dutch lost ground and the outbreak of war with England

sounded the knell of their dominion in Brazil. In 1654 their capital and

last stronghold fell into the hands of Vieyra. It was not, however, till

1662 that Holland signed a treaty with Portugal, by which all

territorial claims in Brazil were abandoned in exchange for a cash

indemnity and certain commercial privileges. After this, except some

inroads on the frontiers, the only foreign invasion which Brazil had to

suffer was from France. In 1710 a squadron, commanded by Duclerc,

disembarked 1000 men, and attacked Rio de Janeiro. After having lost

half of his men in a battle, Duclerc and all his surviving companions

were made prisoners. The governor treated them cruelly. A new squadron

with 6000 troops was entrusted to the famous admiral Duguay Trouin to

revenge this injury. They arrived at Rio on the 12th of September 1711.

After four days of hard fighting the town was taken. The governor

retreated to a position out of it, and was only awaiting reinforcements

from Minas to retake it; but, Duguay Trouin threatening to burn it, he

was obliged on the 10th of October to sign a capitulation, and pay to

the French admiral 610,000 crusados, 500 cases of sugar, and provisions

for the return of the fleet to Europe. Duguay Trouin departed to Bahia

to obtain fresh spoils; but having lost in a storm two of his best

ships, with an important part of the money received, he renounced this

plan and returned directly to France.

After this the Portuguese governed their colony undisturbed. The

approach of foreign traders was prohibited, while the regalities

reserved by the crown drained the country of a great proportion of its

wealth.

The important part which the inhabitants of Sao Paulo have played in the

history of Brazil has been already adverted to. The establishment of the

Jesuit college had attracted settlers to its neighbourhood, and frequent

marriages had taken place between the Indians of the district and the

colonists. A hardy and enterprising race of men had sprung from this

mixture, who, first searching whether their new country were rich in

metals, soon began adventurous raids into the interior, making

excursions also against the remote Indian tribes with a view to

obtaining slaves, and from the year 1629 onwards repeatedly attacked the

Indian reductions of the Jesuits in Paraguay, although both provinces

were then nominally subject to the crown of Spain. Other bands

penetrated into Minas and still farther north and westward, discovering

mines there and in Goyaz and Cuyaba. New colonies were thus formed round

those districts in which gold had been found, and in the beginning of

the 18th century five principal settlements in Minas Geraes had been

elevated by royal charter to the privileges of towns. In 1720 this

district was separated from Sao Paulo, to which it had previously been

dependent. As early as 1618 a code of laws for the regulation of the

mining industry had been drawn up by Philip III., the executive and

judicial functions in the mining districts being vested in a _provedor_,

and the fiscal in a treasurer, who received the royal fifths and

superintended the weighing of all the gold, rendering a yearly account

of all discoveries and produce. For many years, however, these laws were

little more than a dead letter. The same infatuated passion for mining

speculation which had characterized the Spanish settlers in South

America now began to actuate the Portuguese; labourers and capital were

drained off to the mining districts, and Brazil, which had hitherto in

great measure supplied Europe with sugar, sank before the competition of

the English and French. A new source of wealth was now opened up; some

adventurers from Villa do Principe in Minas, going north to the Seria

Frio, made the discovery of diamonds about the year 1710, but it was not

till 1730 that the discovery was for the first time announced to the

government, which immediately declared them _regalia_. While the

population of Brazil continued to increase, the moral and intellectual

culture of its inhabitants was left in great measure to chance; they

grew up with those robust and healthy sentiments which are engendered by

the absence of false teachers, but with a repugnance to legal

ordinances, and encouraged in their ascendancy over the Indians to

habits of violence and oppression. The Jesuits from the first moment of

their landing in Brazil had constituted themselves the protectors of the

natives, and though strenuously opposed by the colonists and ordinary

clergy, had gathered the Indians together in many _aldeas_, over which

officials of their order exercised spiritual and temporal authority. A

more efficacious stop, however, was put to the persecution of the

Indians by the importation of large numbers of negroes from the

Portuguese possessions in Africa, these being found more active and

serviceable than the native tribes.

Reforms of Pombal.

The Portuguese government, under the administration of Carvalho,

afterwards marquis of Pombal, attempted to extend to Brazil the bold

spirit of innovation which directed all his efforts. The proud minister

had been resisted in his plans of reform at home by the Jesuits, and,

determining to attack the power of the order, first deprived them of all

temporal power in the state of Maranhao and Para. These ordinances soon

spread to the whole of Brazil, and a pretext being found in the

suspicion of Jesuit influence in some partial revolts of the Indian

troops on the Rio Negro, the order was expelled from Brazil under

circumstances of great severity in 1760. The Brazilian Company founded

by Vieyra, which so materially contributed to preserve its South

American possessions to Portugal, had been abolished in 1721 by John V.;

but such an instrument being well suited to the bold spirit of Pombal,

he established a chartered company again in 1755, to trade exclusively

with Maranhao and Para; and in 1759, in spite of the remonstrance of the

British Factory at Lisbon, formed another company for Parahyba and

Pernambuco. Pombal's arrangements extended also to the interior of the

country, where he extinguished at once the now indefinite and oppressive

claims of the original donatories of the captaincies, and strengthened

and enforced the regulations of the mining districts. The policy of many

of Pombal's measures is more than questionable; but his admission of all

races to equal rights in the eye of the law, his abolition of feudal

privileges, and the firmer organization of the powers of the land which

he introduced, powerfully co-operated towards the development of the

capabilities of Brazil. Yet on the death of his king and patron in 1777,

when court intrigue forced him from his high station, he who had done so

much for his country's institutions was reviled on all hands.

The most important feature in the history of Brazil during the first

thirty years following the retirement of Pombal was the conspiracy of

Minas in 1789. The successful issue of the recent revolution of the

English colonies in North America had filled the minds of some of the

more educated youth of that province; and in imitation, a project to

throw off the Portuguese yoke was formed,--a cavalry officer, Silva

Xavier, nicknamed Tira-dentes (tooth-drawer), being the chief

conspirator. But the plot being discovered during their inactivity, the

conspirators were banished to Africa, and Tira-dentes, the leader, was

hanged. Thenceforward affairs went on prosperously; the mining districts

continued to be enlarged; the trading companies of the littoral

provinces were abolished, but the impulse they had given to agriculture

remained.

Portuguese royal family in Brazil, 1807.

Reorganization on Portuguese model.

Removed from all communication with the rest of the world except through

the mother country, Brazil remained unaffected by the first years of the

great revolutionary war in Europe. Indirectly, however, the fate of this

isolated country was decided by the consequences of the French

Revolution. Brazil is the only instance of a colony becoming the seat of

the government of its own mother country, and this was the work of

Napoleon. When he resolved upon the invasion and conquest of Portugal,

the prince regent, afterwards Dom John VI., having no means of

resistance, decided to take refuge in Brazil. He created a regency in

Lisbon, and departed for Brazil on the 29th of November 1807,

accompanied by the queen Donna Maria I., the royal family, all the great

officers of state, a large part of the nobility and numerous retainers.

They arrived at Bahia on the 21st of January 1808, and were received

with enthusiasm. The regent was requested to establish there the seat of

his government, but a more secure asylum presented itself in Rio de

Janeiro, where the royal fugitives arrived on the 7th of March. Before

leaving Bahia, Dom John took the first step to emancipate Brazil,

opening its ports to foreign commerce, and permitting the export of all

Brazilian produce under any flag, the royal monopolies of diamonds and

Brazil-wood excepted. Once established in Rio de Janeiro, the government

of the regent was directed to the creation of an administrative

machinery for the dominions that remained to him as it existed in

Portugal. Besides the ministry which had come with the regent, the

council of state, and the departments of the four ministries of home,

finances, war and marine then existing, there were created in the course

of one year a supreme court of justice, a board of patronage and

administration of the property of the church and military orders, an

inferior court of appeal, the court of exchequer and royal treasury, the

royal mint, bank of Brazil, royal printing-office, powder-mills on a

large scale, and a supreme military court. The maintenance of the court,

and the salaries of so large a number of high officials, entailed the

imposition of new taxes to meet these expenses. Notwithstanding this the

expenses continued to augment, and the government had recourse to the

reprehensible measure of altering the money standard, and the whole

monetary system was soon thrown into the greatest confusion. The bank,

in addition to its private functions, farmed many of the _regalia_, and

was in the practice of advancing large sums to the state, transactions

which gave rise to extensive corruption, and terminated some years later

in the breaking of the bank.

Thus the government of the prince regent began its career in the new

world with dangerous errors in the financial system; yet the increased

activity which a multitude of new customers and the increase of

circulating medium gave to the trade of Rio, added a new stimulus to the

industry of the whole nation. Numbers of English artisans and

shipbuilders, Swedish iron-founders, German engineers and French

manufacturers sought fortunes in the new country, and diffused industry

by their example.

In the beginning of 1809, in retaliation for the occupation of Portugal,

an expedition was sent from Para to the French colony of Guiana, and

after some fighting this part of Guiana was incorporated with Brazil.

This conquest was, however, of short duration; for, by the treaty of

Vienna in 1815, the colony was restored to France. Its occupation

contributed to the improvement of agriculture in Brazil; it had been the

policy of Portugal up to this time to separate the productions of its

colonies, to reserve sugar for Brazil, and spices to the East Indies,

and to prohibit the cultivation of these in the African possessions.

Now, however, many plants were imported not only from Guiana but from

India and Africa, cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden, and thence

distributed. The same principle which dictated the conquest of French

Guiana originated attempts to seize the Spanish colonies of Montevideo

and Buenos Aires, Portugal being also at war with Spain. The chiefs of

these colonies were invited to place them under the protection of the

Portuguese crown, but these at first affecting loyalty to Spain declined

the offer, then threw off the mask and declared themselves independent,

and the Spanish governor, Elio, was afterwards defeated by Artigas, the

leader of the independents.

Brazil declared an integral portion of the monarchy.

The inroads made on the frontiers of Rio Grande and Sao Paulo decided

the court of Rio to take possession of Montevideo; a force of 5000

troops was sent thither from Portugal, together with a Brazilian corps;

and the irregulars of Artigas, unable to withstand disciplined troops,

were forced, after a total defeat, to take refuge beyond the River

Uruguay. The Portuguese took possession of the city of Montevideo in

January 1817, and the territory of Misiones was afterwards occupied. The

importance which Brazil was acquiring decided the regent to give it the

title of kingdom, and by decree of the 16th January 1815, the Portuguese

sovereignty thenceforward took the title of the United Kingdom of

Portugal, Brazil and Algarves. Thus the old colonial government

disappeared even in name. In March 1816 the queen Donna Maria I. died,

and the prince regent became king under the title of Dom John VI.

Pedro proclaims the independence of Brazil, 1822.

Although Brazil had now become in fact the head of its own mother

country, the government was not in the hands of Brazilians, but of the

Portuguese, who had followed the court. The discontent arising among

Brazilians from this cause was heightened by a decree assigning a heavy

tax on the chief Brazilian custom houses, to be in operation for forty

years, for the benefit of the Portuguese noblemen who had suffered

during the war with France. The amiable character of the king preserved

his own popularity, but the government was ignorant and profligate,

justice was ill administered, negligence and disorder reigned in all its

departments. Nor was the discontent less in Portugal on account of its

anomalous position. These causes and the fermentation of liberal

principles produced by the French Revolution originated a conspiracy in

Lisbon in 1817, which was, however, discovered in time to prevent its

success. A similar plot and rebellion took place in the province of

Pernambuco, where the inhabitants of the important commercial city of

Recife (Pernambuco) were jealous of Rio and the sacrifices they were

compelled to make for the support of the luxurious court there. Another

conspiracy to establish a republican government was promptly smothered

in Bahia, and the outbreak in Pernambuco was put down after a republic

had been formed there for ninety days. Still the progress of the

republican spirit in Brazil caused Dom Joao to send to Portugal for

bodies of picked troops, which were stationed throughout the provincial

capitals. In Portugal the popular discontent produced the revolution of

1820, when representative government was proclaimed--the Spanish

constitution of 1812 being provisionally adopted. In Rio, the Portuguese

troops with which the king had surrounded himself as the defence against

the liberal spirit of the Brazilians, took up arms on the 26th of

February 1821, to force him to accept the system proclaimed in

Portugal. The prince Dom Pedro, heir to the crown, who now for the first

time took part in public affairs, actively exerted himself as a

negotiator between the king and the troops, who were joined by bodies of

the people. After attempting a compromise the king finally submitted,

took the oath and named a new ministry. The idea of free government

filled the people with enthusiasm, and the principles of a

representative legislature were freely adopted, the first care being for

the election of deputies to the Cortes of Lisbon to take part in framing

the new constitution. As the king could not abandon Portugal to itself

he determined at first to send the prince thither as regent, but Dom

Pedro had acquired such popularity by his conduct in the revolution, and

had exhibited such a thirst for glory, that the king feared to trust his

adventurous spirit in Europe, and decided to go himself. The Brazilian

deputies on arriving in Lisbon expressed dissatisfaction with the Cortes

for having begun the framing of the constitution before their arrival,

for Brazil could not be treated as a secondary part of the monarchy.

Sharp discussions and angry words passed between the Brazilian and

Portuguese deputies, the news of which excited great discontent in

Brazil. An insulting decree was passed in the Cortes, ordering the

prince Dom Pedro to come to Europe, which filled the Brazilians with

alarm; they foresaw that without a central authority the country would

fall back to its former colonial state subject to Portugal. The

provisional government of Sao Paulo, influenced by the brothers Andrada,

began a movement for independence by asking the prince to disobey the

Cortes and remain in Brazil, and the council of Rio de Janeiro followed

with a similar representation, to which the prince assented. The

Portuguese troops of the capital at first assumed a coercive attitude,

but were forced to give way before the ardour and military preparations

of the Brazilians, and submitted to embark for Portugal. These scenes

were repeated in Pernambuco, where the Portuguese, after various

conflicts, were obliged to leave the country; in Bahia, however, as well

as in Maranhao and Para, the Portuguese prevailed. In the agitation for

independence continued. The two brothers Andrada were called to the

ministry; and the municipal council conferred upon the prince regent the

title of Perpetual Defender of Brazil. With great activity he set off to

the central provinces of Minas and Sao Paulo to suppress disaffected

movements and direct the revolution. In Sao Paulo, on the 7th of

September 1822, he proclaimed the independence of Brazil. On his return

to Rio de Janeiro on the l2th of October he 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 2nd 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 Montevideo 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.

Constitution of 1824.

Republican movements now began to spread, to suppress which the

authorities made use of the Portuguese remaining 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, encountered great opposition in the

constitutional assembly, which had been opened in Rio 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 Aires

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 supported the emperor, on the other anarchy

if he fell. Knowing 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 the 25th of March 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 25th of

August 1825 a treaty was signed by which the Portuguese king, Dom John

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 Aires 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 he

abdicated that crown in favour of his daughter, Donna Maria; but his

line of policy was not altered, and commercial 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.

Abdication of Pedro I., 1831.

The year 1828 was a calamitous one for Brazil. It began with the defeat

of the Brazilian army by the Argentine 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 Aires.

Financial embarrassments increased to an alarming extent; the emperor

was compelled by the British government to make peace with Buenos Aires

and to renounce the Banda Oriental; and to fill the sum of disasters Dom

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 election everywhere of

ultra-liberals opposed to the emperor, and in the succeeding year people

everywhere exhibited their disaffection. During the session of 1830 the

chambers 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 party. 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 the capital, which 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, composed 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 legislative 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

to obedience, but in the latter, though the imperial troops occupied the

town, the country was ravaged by its warlike inhabitants. The regent was

now accused of conniving at this rebellion, and the opposition of the

chamber of deputies became so violent as to necessitate his resignation.

Araujo Lima, minister of the home department, who strove to give his

government the character of a monarchical reaction against the

principles of democracy, was chosen by a large majority in his stead.

The experiment of republican government had proved so discreditable, and

had so wearied the country of cabals, that men hitherto known for their

sympathy with democratic principles became more monarchical than the

regent himself; and under this influence a movement to give the regency

into the hands of the princess Donna Januaria, now in her 18th year, was

set on foot. It was soon perceived, however, that if the empire could be

governed by a princess of eighteen it could be managed better by the

emperor himself, who was then fourteen.

Majority of Pedro II., 1840.

A bill was accordingly presented to the legislature dispensing with the

age of the emperor and declaring his majority, which after a noisy

discussion was carried. The majority of the emperor Dom Pedro II. was

proclaimed on the 23rd of July 1840. Several ministries, in which

various parties predominated for a time, now governed the country till

1848, during which period the rebellious province of Rio Grande was

pacified, more by negotiation than force of arms. In 1848 hostilities

were roused with the British government through the neglect shown by the

Brazilians in putting in force a treaty for the abolition of the slave

trade, which had been concluded as far back as 1826; on the other hand

the governor of Buenos Aires, General Rosas, was endeavouring to stir up

revolution again in Rio Grande. The appearance of yellow fever in 1849,

until then unknown in Brazil, was attributed to the importation of

slaves. Public opinion declared against the traffic; severe laws were

passed against it, and were so firmly enforced that in 1853 not a single

disembarkation took place. The ministry of the Visconde de Olinda in

1849 entered into alliances with the governors of Montevideo, Paraguay

and the states of Entre Rios and Corrientes, for the purpose of

maintaining the integrity of the republics of Uruguay and Paraguay,

which Rosas intended to reunite to Buenos Aires, and the troops of

Rosa's which besieged Montevideo were forced to capitulate. Rosas then

declared war formally against Brazil. An army of Correntine, Uruguayan

and Brazilian troops, under General Urquiza, assisted by a Brazilian

naval squadron, advanced on Buenos Aires, completely routed the forces

of Rosas, and crushed for ever the power of that dictator. From 1844

Brazil was free from intestine commotions, and had resumed its activity.

Public works and education were advanced, and the finances rose to a

degree of prosperity previously unknown.

War with Paraguay.

In 1855 the emperor of Brazil sent a squadron of eleven men-of-war and

as many transports up the Parana to adjust several questions pending

between the empire and the republic of Paraguay, the most important of

which was that of the right of way by the Paraguay river to the interior

Brazilian province of Matto Grosso. This right had been in dispute for

several years. The expedition was not permitted to ascend the river

Paraguay, and returned completely foiled in its main purpose. Though the

discord resulting between the states on account of this failure was

subsequently allayed for a time by a treaty granting to Brazil the right

to navigate the river, every obstacle was thrown in the way by the

Paraguayan government, and indignities of all kinds were offered not

only to Brazil but to the representatives of the Argentine and the

United States. In 1864 the ambitious dictator of Paraguay, Francisco

Solano Lopez, without previous declaration of war, captured a Brazilian

vessel in the Paraguay, and rapidly followed up this outrage by an armed

invasion of the provinces of Matto Grosso and Rio Grande in Brazil, and

that of Corrientes in the Argentine Republic. A triple alliance of the

invaded states with Uruguay ensued, and the tide of war was soon turned

from being an offensive one on the part of Paraguay to a defensive

struggle within that republic against the superior number of the allies.

So strong was the natural position of Paraguay, however, and so complete

the subjection of its inhabitants to the will of the dictator, that it

was not until the year 1870, after the republic had been completely

drained of its manhood and resources, that the long war was terminated

by the capture and death of Lopez with his last handful of men by the

pursuing Brazilians. From its duration and frequent battles and sieges

this war involved an immense sacrifice of life to Brazil, the army in

the field having been constantly maintained at between 20,000 and 30,000

men, and the expenditure in maintaining it was very great, having been

calculated at upwards of fifty millions sterling. Large deficits in the

financial budgets of the state resulted, involving increased taxation

and the contracting of loans from foreign countries.

Notwithstanding this the sources of public wealth in Brazil were

unaffected, and commerce continued steadily to increase. A grand social

reform was effected in the law passed in September 1871, which enacted

that from that date every child born of slave parents should be free,

and also declared all the slaves belonging to the state or to the

imperial household free from that time. The same law provided an

emancipation fund, to be annually applied to the ransom of a certain

number of slaves owned by private individuals.

Character of Pedro II.'s reign.

Under the long reign of Dom Pedro II. progress and material prosperity

made steady advancement in Brazil. Occasional political outbreaks

occurred, but none of very serious nature except in Rio Grande do Sul,

where a long guerrilla warfare was carried on against the imperial

authority. The emperor occupied himself to a far greater extent with the

economic development of his people and country than with active

political life. Unostentatious in his habits, Dom Pedro always had at

heart the true interests of the Brazilians. Himself a highly-educated

man, he sincerely desired to further the cause of education, and devoted

a large portion of his time to the study of this question. His extreme

liberalism prevented his opposing the spread of Socialist doctrines

preached far and wide by Benjamin Constant. Begun about 1880, this

propaganda took deep root in the educated classes, creating a desire for

change and culminating in the military conspiracy of November 1889, by

which monarchy was replaced by a republican form of government.

At first the revolutionary propaganda produced no personal animosity

against the emperor, who continued to be treated by his people with

every mark of respect and affection, but this state of things gradually

changed. In 1864 the princess Isabella, the eldest daughter of the

emperor and empress, had married the Comte d'Eu, a member of the Orleans

family. The marriage was never popular in the country, owing partly to

the fact that the Comte d'Eu was a reserved man who made few intimate

friends and never attempted to become a favourite. Princess Isabella was

charitable in many ways, always ready to take her full share of the

duties falling upon her as the future empress, and thoroughly realizing

the responsibilities of her position; but she was greatly influenced by

the clerical party and the priesthood, and she thereby incurred the

hostility of the Progressives. When Dom Pedro left Brazil for the

purpose of making a tour through Europe and the United States he

appointed Princess Isabella to act as regent, and she showed herself so

swayed in political questions by Church influence that Liberal feeling

became more and more anti-dynastic. Another incident which gave strength

to the opposition was the sudden abolition of slavery without any

compensation to slave-owners. The planters, the principal possessors of

wealth, regarded the measure as unnecessary in view of the act which had

been passed in 1885 providing for the gradual freeing of all slaves. The

arguments used were, however, of no avail with the regent, and the

decree was promulgated on the 13th of May 1888. No active opposition was

offered to this measure, but the feelings of unrest and discontent

spread rapidly.

Establishment of the Republic, 1889.

Towards the close of 1888 the emperor returned and was received by the

populace with every demonstration of affection and esteem. Even among

the advocates of republicanism there was no intention of dethroning Dom

Pedro, excepting a few extreme members of the party, now gained the

upper hand. They argued that it would be much more difficult to carry

out a successful coup _d'etat_ when the good-natured, confiding emperor

had been succeeded by his more suspicious and energetic daughter.

Discontented officers in the army and navy rallied to this idea, and a

conspiracy was organized to depose the emperor and declare a republic.

On the 14th of November 1889 the palace was quietly surrounded, and on

the following morning the emperor and his family were placed on board

ship and sent off to Portugal. A provisional government was then formed

and a proclamation issued to the effect that the country would

henceforth be known as the United States of Brazil, and that in due time

a republican constitution would be framed. The only voice raised in

protest was that of the minister of war, and he was shot at and severely

wounded as a consequence. Dom Pedro, completely broken down by the

ingratitude of the people whom he had loved so much and laboured for so

strenuously, made no attempt at resistance. The republican government

offered to compensate him for the property he had held in Brazil as

emperor, but this proposal was declined. His private possessions were

respected, and were afterwards still held by Princess Isabella.

The citizen named as president of the provisional government, was

General Deodoro da Fonseca, who owed his advancement to the personal

friendship and assistance of Dom Pedro. Second in authority was placed

General Floriano Peixoto, an officer also under heavy obligations to the

deposed monarch, as indeed were nearly all of those who took active part

in the conspiracy.

Brazil under the Republic.

Though the overthrow of the imperial dynasty was totally unexpected

throughout, the new regime was accepted without any disturbances. Under

the leadership of General Deodoro da Fonseca a praetorian system of

government, in which the military element was all-powerful, came into

existence, and continued till February 1891, when a national congress

assembled and formulated the constitution for the United States of

Brazil. The former provinces were converted into states, the only right

of the federal government to interfere in their administration being for

the purposes of national defence, the maintenance of public order or the

enforcement of the federal laws. The constitution of the United States

of America was taken as a model for drawing up that of Brazil, and the

general terms were as far as possible adhered to (see above, section

_Government_).

General da Fonseca and General Floriano Peixoto were elected to fill the

offices of president and vice-president until the 15th of November 1894.

This implied the continuance of praetorian methods of administration.

The older class of more conservative Brazilians, who had formerly taken

part in the administration under the emperor, withdrew altogether from

public life. Many left Brazil and went into voluntary exile, while

others retired to their estates. In the absence of these more

respectable elements, the government fell into the hands of a gang of

military adventurers and unscrupulous politicians, whose only object was

to exploit the national resources for their own benefit. As a

consequence, deep-rooted discontent rapidly arose. A conspiracy, of

which Admiral Wandenkolk was the prime instigator, was discovered, and

those who had taken part in it were banished to the distant state of

Amazonas. Disturbances then broke out in Rio Grande do Sul, in

consequence of disputes between the official party and the people living

in the country districts. Under the leadership of Gumercindo Saraiva the

country people broke into open revolt in September 1891. This outbreak

was partially suppressed, but afterwards it again burst into flame with

great vigour. In view of the discontent, conspiracies and revolutionary

movements, President da Fonseca declared himself dictator. This act,

however, met with such strong opposition that he resigned office on the

23rd of November 1891, and Vice-President Floriano Peixoto assumed the

presidency.

Floriano Peixoto had been accustomed all his life to use harsh measures.

For the first year of his term of office he kept seditious attempts in

check, but discontent grew apace. Nor was this surprising to those who

knew the corruption in the administration. Concessions and subsidies

were given broadcast for worthless undertakings in order to benefit the

friends of the president. Brazilian credit gave way under the strain,

and evidences were not wanting at the beginning of 1893 that an outburst

of public opinion was not far distant. Nevertheless President Peixoto

made no effort to reform the methods of administration. Meanwhile, the

revolution in Rio Grande do Sul had revived; and in July 1893 the

federal government was forced to send most of the available regular

troops to that state to hold the insurgents in check.

Naval revolt and civil war, 1893.

On the 6th of September prevailing discontent took definite shape in the

form of a naval revolt in the Bay of Rio de Janeiro. Admiral Custodio de

Mello took command of the naval forces, and demanded the resignation of

the president. General Peixoto replied by organizing a defence against

any attack from the squadron. Admiral Mello, finding that his demands

were not complied with, began a bombardment of the city, but did not

effect his purpose of compelling Peixoto to resign. The foreign

ministers then arranged a compromise between the contending parties,

according to which President Peixoto was to place no artillery in the

city, while Admiral Mello was to refrain from bombarding the town, which

was thus saved from destruction. Shortly afterwards the cruiser

"Republica" and a transport ran the gauntlet of the government forts at

the entrance of the bay, and proceeded south to the province of Santa

Catharina, taking possession of Desterro, its capital. A provisional

government was proclaimed by the insurgents, with headquarters at

Desterro, and communication was opened with Gumercindo Saraiva, the

leader of the insurrection in Rio Grande do Sul. It was proposed that

the army of some 10,000 men under his command should advance northwards

towards Rio de Janeiro, while the insurgent squadron threatened the city

of Rio. In November Admiral Mello left Rio de Janeiro in the armoured

cruiser "Aquidaban" and went to Desterro, the naval forces in Rio Bay

being left in charge of Admiral Saldanha da Gama, an ardent monarchist,

who had thrown in his lot with the insurgent cause. All was, apparently,

going well with the revolt, Saraiva having invaded the states of Santa

Catharina and Parana, and defeated the government troops in several

encounters. Meanwhile, President Peixoto had fortified the approaches

to the city of Rio de Janeiro, bought vessels of war in Europe and the

United States and organized the National Guard.

Early in 1894 dissensions occurred between Saraiva and Mello, which

prevented any advance of the insurgent forces, and allowed Peixoto to

perfect his plans. Admiral da Gama, unable to leave the Bay of Rio de

Janeiro on account of lack of transport for the sick and wounded and the

civilians claiming his protection, could do no more than wait for

Admiral Mello to return from Desterro. In the meantime the ships bought

by President Peixoto arrived off Rio de Janeiro and prevented da Gama

from escaping. On the 15th of March 1894 the rebel forces evacuated

their positions on the islands of Villegaignon, Cobras and Enxadas,

abandoned their vessels, and were received on board two Portuguese

warships then in the harbour, whence they were conveyed to Montevideo.

The action of the Portuguese commander was prompted by a desire to save

life, for had the rebels fallen into the hands of Peixoto, they would

assuredly have been executed.

When the news of the surrender of Saldanha da Gama reached Gumercindo

Saraiva, then at Curitiba in Parana, he proceeded to retire to Rio

Grande do Sul. Government troops were despatched to intercept his

retreat, and in one of the skirmishes which followed Saraiva was killed.

The rebel army then dispersed. Admiral Mello made an unsuccessful attack

on the town of Rio Grande, and then sailed to Buenos Aires, there

surrendering the rebel squadron to the Argentine authorities, by whom it

was immediately delivered to the Brazilian government. After six months

of civil war peace was once more established, but there still remained

some small rebel groups in Rio Grande do Sul. These were joined by

Admiral da Gama and a number of the naval officers, who had escaped from

Rio de Janeiro; but in June 1895 the admiral was killed in a fight with

the government troops. After the cessation of hostilities, the greatest

barbarities were practised upon those who, although they had taken no

part in the insurrection, were known to have desired the overthrow of

President Peixoto. The baron Cerro Azul was shot down without trial;

Marshal de Gama Eza, an old imperial soldier of eighty years of age, was

murdered in cold blood, and numerous executions of men of lesser note

took place, among these being two Frenchmen for whose death the

Brazilian government was subsequently called upon to pay heavy

compensation.

General Peixoto was succeeded as president on the 15th of November 1894

by Dr Prudente de Moraes Barros. It was a moot question whether Peixoto,

after the revolt was crushed, would not declare himself dictator;

certainly many of his friends were anxious that he should follow this

course, but he was broken down by the strain which had been imposed upon

him and was glad to surrender his duties. He did not recover his health

and died shortly afterwards.

From the first day that he assumed office, President Moraes showed that

he intended to suppress praetorian systems and reduce militarism to a

minimum. This policy received the approval and sympathy of the majority

of Brazilians, but naturally met with bitter opposition from the

military element. The president gradually drew to him some members of

the better conservative class to assist in his administration, and felt

confident that he had the support of public opinion. Early in 1895

murmurings and disorderly conduct against the authorities began to take

place in the military school at Rio de Janeiro, which had always been a

hotbed of intrigue. Some of the officers and students were promptly

expelled, and the president closed the school for several months. This

salutary lesson had due effect, and no more discontent was fomented from

that quarter. Two great difficulties stood in the way of steering the

country to prosperity. The first was the chaotic confusion of the

finances resulting from the maladministration of the national resources

since the deposition of Dom Pedro II., and the corruption that had crept

into every branch of the public service. Much was done by President

Moraes to correct abuses, but the task was of too herculean a nature to

allow of accomplishment within the four years during which he was at

the head of affairs. The second difficulty was the war waged by

religious fanatics under the leadership of Antonio Maciel, known as

"Conselheiro," against the constituted authorities of Brazil.

The story of Conselheiro is a remarkable one. A native of Pernambuco,

when a young man he married against the wishes of his mother, who took a

violent dislike to the bride. Shortly after the marriage the mother

assured her son that his wife held clandestine meetings with a lover,

and stated that if he would go to a certain spot not far from the house

that evening he would himself see that her assertion was true. The

mother invented some plea to send the wife to the trysting-place, and

then, dressing herself in male clothing, prepared to come suddenly on

the scene as the lover, trusting to be able to make her escape before

she was recognized. The three met almost simultaneously. Conselheiro,

deeming his worst suspicions confirmed, shot and killed his wife and his

mother before explanations could be offered. He was tried and allowed to

go at liberty after some detention in prison. From that time Conselheiro

was a victim of remorse, and to expiate his sin became a missionary in

the _sertao_ or interior of Brazil among the wild Jagunco people. He

built places of worship in many different districts, and at length

became the recognized chief of the people among whom he had thus

strangely cast his lot. Eventually he formed a settlement near Canudos,

situated about 400 m. inland from Bahia. Difficulty arose between the

governor of Bahia and this fanatical missionary, with the result that

Conselheiro was ordered to leave the settlement and take away his

people. This order was met with a sturdy refusal to move. Early in 1897

a police force was sent to eject the settlers, but encountered strong

resistance, and suffered heavy loss without being able to effect the

purpose intended. In March 1897 a body of 1500 troops, with four guns,

was despatched to bring the Jaguncoes to reason, but was totally

defeated. An army comprising some 5000 officers and men was then sent to

crush Conselheiro and his people at all costs. Little progress was made,

the country being difficult of access and the Jaguncoes laying

ambuscades at every available place. Finally strong reinforcements were

sent forward, the minister of war himself proceeding to take command of

the army, now numbering nearly 13,000 men. Canudos was besieged and

captured in September 1897, Conselheiro being killed in the final

assault. The expense of these expeditions was very heavy, and prevented

President Moraes from carrying out many of the retrenchments he had

planned.

Soon after the Canudos affair a conspiracy was hatched to assassinate

the president. He was watching the disembarkation of some troops when a

shot was fired which narrowly missed him, and killed General Bitencourt,

the minister of war. The actual perpetrator of the deed, a soldier, was

tried and executed, but he was apparently ignorant of the persons who

procured his services. Three other men implicated in the conspiracy were

subsequently sentenced to imprisonment for a term of thirty years. The

remainder of the presidency of Dr Moraes was uneventful; and on the 15th

of November 1898 he was succeeded by Dr Campos Salles, who had

previously been governor of the state of Sao Paulo. President Salles

publicly promised political reform, economy in the administration, and

absolute respect for civil rights, and speedily made efforts to fulfil

these pledges.

Reform under President Campos Salles.

The difficulties in the reorganization of the finances of the state,

which Dr Campos Salles had to face on his accession to power, were very

great. The heavy cost involved in the suppression of internal disorders,

maladministration, and the hindrances placed in the way of economical

development by the semi-independence of the federal states had seriously

depreciated the national credit. The president-elect accordingly

undertook with the full approval of Dr Moraes, who was still in office,

the task of visiting Europe with the object of endeavouring to make an

arrangement with the creditors of the state for a temporary suspension

of payments. He was successful in his object, and an agreement was made

by which bonds should be issued instead of interest payments from the

1st of July 1898, the promise being given that every effort should be

made for the resumption of cash payments in 1901. President Campos

Salles entered upon his tenure of office on the 15th of November 1898,

and at once proceeded to initiate fiscal legislation for the purpose of

reducing expenditure and increasing the revenue. He had to face

opposition from sectional interests and from the jealousy of

interference with their rights on the part of provincial

administrations, but he was able to achieve a considerable measure of

success and to lay the foundation of a sounder system under which the

financial position of the republic has made steady progress. The chief

feature of the administration of Dr Campos Salles was the statesmanlike

ability with which various disputes with foreign powers on boundary

questions were seriously taken in hand and brought to a satisfactory and

pacific settlement. There had for a long period been difficulties with

France with regard to the territory which lay between the mouth of the

Amazon and Cayenne or French Guiana. The language of various treatises

was doubtful and ambiguous, largely owing to the ignorance of the

diplomatists who drew up the articles of the exact geography of the

territory in question. Napoleon had forced the Portuguese government to

cede to him the northernmost arm of the mouth of the Amazon as the

southern boundary of French Guiana with a large slice of the unexplored

interior westwards. A few years later the Portuguese had in their turn

conquered French Guiana, but had been compelled to restore it at the

peace of Paris. The old ambiguity attaching to the interpretation of

earlier treaties, however, remained, and in April 1899 the question by

an agreement between the two states was referred to the arbitration of

the president of the Swiss confederation. The decision was given in

December 1900 and was entirely in favour of the Brazilian contention. A

still more interesting boundary dispute was that between Great Britain

and Brazil, as to the southern frontier line of British Guiana. The

dispute was of very old standing, and the settlement by arbitration in

1899 of the acute misunderstanding between Great Britain and Venezuela

regarding the western boundary of British Guiana, and the reference to

arbitration in that same year of the Franco-Brazilian dispute, led to an

agreement being made in 1901 between Brazil and Great Britain for the

submission of their differences to the arbitration of the king of Italy.

The district in dispute was the site of the fabled Lake of Parima and

the Golden City of Manoa, the search for which in the early days of

European settlement attracted so many adventurous expeditions, and which

fascinated the imagination of Raleigh and drew him to his doom. The

question was a complicated one involving the historical survey of Dutch

and Portuguese exploration and control in the far interior of Guiana

during two centuries; and it was not until 1904 that the king of Italy

gave his award, which was largely in favour of the British claim, and

grants to British Guiana access to the northern affluents of the Amazon.

Before this decision was given Senhor Rodrigues Alves had been elected

president in 1902. Dr Campos Salles had signalized his administration,

not only by the settlement of disputes with European powers, but by

efforts to arrive at a good understanding with the neighbouring South

American republics. In July 1899 President Roca had visited Rio de

Janeiro accompanied by an Argentine squadron, this being the first

official visit that any South American president had ever paid to one of

the adjoining states. In October 1900 Dr Campos Salles returned the

visit and met with an excellent reception at Buenos Aires. The result

was of importance, as it was known that Brazil was on friendly terms

with Chile, and this interchange of courtesies had some effect in

bringing about a settlement of the controversy between Chile and

Argentina over the Andean frontier question without recourse to

hostilities. This was indeed a time when questions concerning boundaries

were springing up on every side, for it was only through the moderation

with which the high-handed action of Bolivia in regard to the Acre

rubber-producing territory was met by the Brazilian government that war

was avoided. Negotiations were set on foot, and finally by treating the

matter in a give-and-take spirit a settlement was reached and a treaty

for an amicable exchange of territories in the district in question,

accompanied by a pecuniary indemnity, was signed by President Alves at

Petropolis on the 17th of November 1903. During the remainder of the

term of this president internal and financial progress were undisturbed

save by an outbreak in 1904 in the Cunani district, the very portion of

disputed territory which had been assigned to Brazil by the arbitration

with France. This province, being difficult of access, was able for a

time to assert a practical independence. In 1906 Dr Affonso Penna, three

times minister under Pedro II., and at that time governor of the state

of Minas-Geraes, of which he had founded the new capital, Bello

Horizonte, was elected president, a choice due to a coalition of the

other states against Sao Paulo, to which all the recent presidents had

belonged. Penna's presidency was distinguished by his successful efforts

to place the finances on a sound basis. He died in office on the 14th of

June 1909. (K. J.; C. E. A.; G. E.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--History: Capistrano de Abreu, _Descobrimento do Brazil

e seu desenvolvimento no seculo xix_. (Rio de Janeiro, 1883); John

Armitage, _History of Brazil from 1808 to 1831_ (2 vols., London,

1836); Moreira de Azevedo, _Historia do Brazil de 1831 a 1840_ (Rio de

Janeiro, 1841); V.L. Basil, _L'Empire du Bresil_ (Paris, 1862); Caspar

Barlaeus, _Rerun per octennium in Brasilia ... sub praefectura

Mauritii Nassovii... historia_ (Amsterdam, 1647); F.S. Constancio,

_Historia do Brazil_ (Pernambuco, 1843); Anfonso Fialho, _Historia

d'estabelecimento da republica "Estados Unidos do Brazil"_ (Rio de

Janeiro 1890); P. Gaffarel, _Histoire du Bresil francais_ (Paris,

1878); E. Grosse, _Dom Pedro I._ (Leipzig, 1836); E. Levasseur,

_L'Abolition de I'esclavage en Bresil_ (Paris, 1888); J.M. de Macedo,

_Anno biographico brazileiro_ (3 vols., Rio de Janeiro, 1876); A.J.

Mello Moraes, _Brazil historico_ (4 vols., Rio de Janeiro, 1839);

_Chorographia historica, chronographica genealogica, nobiliaria e

politica do Brazil_ (5 vols., Rio de Janeiro, 1858-1863); _A

Independencia e o imperio do Brazil_ (Rio de Janeiro, 1877); B. Mosse,

_Dom Pedro II., empereur du Bresil_ (Paris, 1889); P. Netscher, _Les

Hollandais au Bresil_ (Hague, 1853); J.M. Pereira da Silva, _Varoes

illustres do Brazil_ (2 vols., Paris, 1888); _Historia da fundacao do

imperio brazileiro_ (Rio de Janeiro, 1877); _Segundo Periodo do

reinado de D. Pedro I._ (Paris, 1875); _Historia do Brazil de 1831 a

1840_ (Rio de Janeiro, 1888); J.P. Oliveira Martins, _O Brazil e as

colonias Portuguezas_ (Lisbon, 1888); S. da Rocha Pitta, _Historia da

America Portugueza_ (Lisbon, 1730); C. da Silva. _L'Oyapock et

I'Amazone_ (2 vols., Paris, 1861); R. Southey, _History of Brazil_ (3

vols., London, 1810-1819); J.B. Spix and C.F. von Martius, _Reise in

Brasilien_, 1817-1820 (3 parts, Munich, 1823-1831); F.A. de Varnhagen,

_Historia geral do Brazil_ (2 vols., Rio de Janeiro, 1877); _Historia

das luctas com os Hollandeses_ (Vienna, 187:); C.E. Akers, _Hist. of

South America, 1854-1904_ (1904); the _Revista trimensal do Instituto

Historico e Geographico do Brazil_ (1839-1908), one or two volumes

annually, is a storehouse of papers, studies and original documents

bearing on the history of Brazil.

Geography, &c.: Elisee Reclus, _Universal Geography_ (1875-1894), vol.

xix. pp. 77-291; J.E. Wappaus, _Geographica physica do Brazil_ (Rio de

Janeiro, 1884); A. Moreira Pinto, _Chorographia do Brazil_ (5th ed.,

Rip de Janeiro, 1895); Therese Prinzessin von Bayern, _Meine Reise

indenbrasilianischen Tropen_ (Berlin, 1897); M. Lamberg, _Brasilien,

Land und Leute_ (Leipzig, 1899); L. Hutchinson, _Report_ on Trade in

Brazil (Washington, 1906); F. Katzer, _Grundzuge der Geologie des

unteren Amazonegebietes_ (Leipzig, 1903); J.C. Branner, _A

Bibliography of the Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology of Brazil_

(Rio de Janeiro, 1903); J.W. Evans, "The Rocks of the Cataracts of the

River Madeira and the adjoining Portions of the Beni and Mamore,"

_Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc._, London, vol. lxii., 1906, pp. 88-124, pl.

v.