BRAZIL. 



BRIGHT, JOHN. 



is in a great measure due to the development 

 of the railway system of the empire. A seven 

 per cent, imperial guarantee is now given in 

 the case of all lines having a Government 

 sanction. Most of the lines have been con- 

 structed with British capital and by British 

 contractors, and the main offices of some are 

 situated in London. Some concessions have, 

 however, been obtained and the necessary 

 capital raised by local contractors ; and a new 

 line from the port of Paranagua to Coritiba, 

 the capital of the province of Parana, and in- 

 augurated in April last by his Majesty Dom 

 Pedro II, is due to the enterprise of a French 

 company, who also provided the required 

 capital. Many of the civil engineers engaged 

 on the native railways, and some of those on 

 the English-built lines, are Brazilians, engineer- 

 ing being a profession high in favor at present 

 in Brazil. 



An important event in Brazilian submarine 

 telegraphy was the concession, in October last, 

 to the Western and Brazilian Telegraph Com- 

 pany, to extend their cable from Para to Cay- 

 enne, their intention being to establish com- 

 munication at the latter point with the United 

 States cable. 



Among the more important improvements 

 during the past year may be mentioned the 

 construction of water-works for supplying the 

 city of Rio de Janeiro. 



Here follows the Emperor's speech on the 

 occasion of closing the legislative session ordi- 

 nary of 1880, and opening the session extraordi- 

 nary, on October 5th : 



AUGUST AND MOST WORTHY EEPRESENTATIVES OF THE 



NATION : The meeting of the General Assembly is al- 

 ways an event productive of lively satisfaction!" 



It is pleasant to me to inform you that good relations 

 of friendship continue between Brazil and the foreign 

 powers ; but I am unable as yet to have the pleasure 

 of announcing to you the cessation of the war between 

 the Republic of Chili and those of Peru and Bolivia. 



Public order has suffered no alteration. 



Thanks to Divine Providence, copious rains have 

 terminated the drought which devastated some of the 

 northern provinces. 



I thank you for the solicitude with which, while 

 diminishing the burdens of the nation, you have 

 adopted adequate measures for the production of an 

 equilibrium of the public expenditure and revenue. 



The imperative need of giving a definite solution to 

 electoral reform has induced the convocation of the 

 extraordinary session. 



August and most trustworthy representatives of the 

 nation : 



I expect from your patriotism the decretal of a law 

 securing freedom of voting. 



The ordinary legislative session is closed, and the 

 session extraordinary is open. 



The first clause of the long-discussed elec- 

 toral bill was adopted by the Senate in the 

 month above alluded to; it was regarded as 

 the most important, as being pregnant with 

 elements of much-needed reform, such as di- 

 rect election, instead of the obsolescent system 

 of indirect election ; but, unfortunately, it was 

 sent to the Senate shorn of its brightest adorn- 

 ments provision for the admission to Parlia- 

 VOL. xx. 5 A 



ment of naturalized citizens and citizens of all 

 creeds. 



BRIGHT, JOHN, the Chancellor of the Duchy 

 of Lancaster in the new Cabinet of Mr. Glad- 

 stone, was born November 16, 1811, at Green- 

 bank, near Rochdale. His father, Jacob Bright, 

 was a cotton-spinner and manufacturer of Roch- 

 dale, and belonged to the Society of Friends. 

 John entered his father's business at the age 

 of fifteen, and devoted his leisure hours with 

 great zeal to the study of the best works on 

 history, politics, and national economy. After 

 his return from a journey on the Continent of 

 Europe, he made his first appearance in 1831 

 as a political speaker in the agitation against 

 Church rates. He became widely known by 

 the prominent part he took in the Anti-Corn- 

 Law League, which grew out of an association 

 formed in 1838 to obtain the repeal of the corn- 

 laws. He won so great distinction as a politi- 

 cal speaker, that the League, which extended 

 its operations over all England, appointed him, 

 in 1839, one of its official agitators. In April, 



1843, he was the candidate of the League for 

 the city of Durham, but was defeated. In July, 



1844, he was, however, returned for the same 

 city, which he represented until 1847. In union 

 with Cobden, Milner Gibson, Fox, and others, 

 he was one of the foremost speakers of the 

 League until its victory was decided in 1846. 

 In 184V he was returned for Manchester, and 

 was now regarded in every respect as one of 

 the leaders of the Manchester party. He par- 

 ticularly cooperated with Mr. Cobden in the 

 movement which the latter sought to create in 

 favor of financial reform. He demanded effi- 

 cient relief measures for Ireland, an investiga- 

 tion of the condition of India, and a reduction 

 of the naval and military establishment of the 

 kingdom. He opposed, in 1850, Lord Russell's 

 Ecclesiastical Title Bill and Lord Palmerston's 

 Continental policy. When, two years later, the 

 Derby-Disraeli Cabinet threatened a restoration 

 of the protective system, he actively contrib- 

 uted to its overthrow. Thus far, Mr. Bright's 

 reputation and influence had steadily grown, 

 but the decided opposition which he made to 

 England's participation in the Eastern War 

 alienated many of his former friends, and in 

 the general election following Lord Palmer- 

 ston's appeal to the country, in 1857, both he 

 and Mr. Milner Gibson were rejected by a large 

 majority. When, a few months later, a vacan- 

 cy occurred at Birmingham, Mr. Bright was 

 invited to become a candidate, and he was 

 elected in August, 1857. He has continued to 

 represent Birmingham ever since. Mr. Bright's 

 name, during the last twenty years, has been 

 prominently identified with the extension of 

 the right of suffrage and the reform of the 

 electoral laws of England. During the civil 

 war in the United States, he warmly sympa- 

 thized with the North. He visited Ireland in 

 1866, and was entertained in Dublin at a pub- 

 lic banquet ; but, on the whole, his reception 

 was not as enthusiastic as his English friends 



