156 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



neiro, which has been received 

 at Paris :---" The French colony 

 which in the beginning of spring 

 left France lias safely landed here. 

 It consists of about 40 persons, 

 chiefly artists and mechanics. At 

 their head is M. Lebreton, late a 

 Member of the Institvite^and per- 

 petual secretary of the class of 

 fine arts. How little confidence, 

 in this world, is to be placed in 

 the duration even of what are 

 called perpetual things, may be 

 seen fiom his example : he lost 

 the perpetual secretaryship on 

 the new organization of the In- 

 stitute. The inhabitants of this 

 city call him the captain of the 

 Scavans. In the list of the new 

 comers is also the family of a 

 ]\Ionsieur Tonney, who is pos- 

 sessed of distinguished merit as a 

 landscape-painter. The govern- 

 ment has given a favourable re- 

 ception to these emigrants, and 

 expects to promote the benefit of 

 the country by their accpiirements 

 and industry. It has put them 

 into three liouses, MJiich it has 

 furnished for their reception. It 

 must here be remarked, that 

 though Rio Janeiro is veiy ex- 

 tensive, it has not yet houses 

 sufficient to receive natives and 

 foreigners ; a part of them have 

 therefore been under the necessity 

 of living in tents, which, how- 

 ever, in the warm climate of this 

 country, is not at all injurious to 

 healtli. When the government 

 chooses to favour a family and 

 assign it a liabitation, it selects 

 for it a bouse, and places this in- 

 scription above the door — ^t the 

 disposal, of guveriineiit. Tlie oc- 

 cupier is then under the necessity 

 of evacuating it ! ! — a law which 

 cannot long subsist, because it is 



incompatible with the European 

 Portuguese laws, which secure 

 to every citizen the undisturbed 

 possession of his property. The 

 government has hitherto provided 

 for the maintenance of these 

 emigrant Frenchmen. It has 

 given them a daily allowance of 

 fish, flesh, vegetables, Madeira 

 and port wine, and beer. It has 

 given them some Negroes to wait 

 upon them. M. Lebreton has a 

 carriage and horses at his disposal. 

 Men of business, who have mat- 

 ters to transact at different places, 

 cannot dispense with them, be- 

 cause the great and rich resort to 

 the shades of the country, and only 

 come into the town when urgent 

 business calls them. Every planter 

 receives a Portuguese square mile 

 for his settlement. The Tonney 

 family has eight of these at a dis- 

 tance of 50 miles from the city. 

 The cultivation of the land is ex- 

 ceedingly difficult, and therefore 

 very expensive. Wildernesses 

 must be brought into cultivation, 

 deep rooted thickets and trees 

 must be burnt or eradicated, be- 

 Ibre the earth is prepared for the 

 reception of the seeds of viseful 

 plants ; and there is a great want 

 of hands and tools. They are 

 Ijusyin erecting an academy here, 

 whose first object will be to cir- 

 culate the necessary information 

 respecting agriculture. The town 

 is also desirous of the establish- 

 ment of an university." 



Letters from Hamburgh of the 

 11th state, that the negotiation 

 Avith the French Government, re- 

 lative to the restitution of the pro- 

 perty of the Bank, has been 

 brought to a close. The amount 

 of the money and bullion seized 

 by Davoust was 16,000,000 f. 



The 



