

BEAZIL. 



167 



count of the difficulty between Brazil and Eng- 

 land was continued to Jan. 6th, 1863. The peo- 

 ple of Brazil showed with regard to this dis- 

 pute the greatest deterrainatioH. The Munici- 

 pal Chamber of Eio had an audience with the 

 emperor, in order to express to him their 

 thanks for the prompt and energetic conduct of 

 the Government, and to give him the assurance 

 that the people of Rio would be ready to 

 make any sacrifices which the honor of the 

 country might demand. The emperor replied 

 that the Brazilians might depend upon him in 

 the hour of danger. 



A committee appointed by the mercantile 

 community to solicit subscriptions in the even- 

 tuality of a foreign war met on the 1st of Jan- 

 uary, at the house of the Viscount Ipanema, 

 its chairman. Mr. Ottoni, the leader of the 

 ultra-Liberal party, was appointed secretary. 

 On the opening of the session a letter was read 

 from the major domo of the emperor, announc- 

 ing that the emperor had subscribed a month- 

 ly sum of 24,000 francs as long as it might be 

 deemed necessary, to put the country in a state 

 of defence ; the empress a sum of 15,000 

 francs, and moreover 3,000 francs every month, 

 and each of the princesses 3,000 francs a month. 

 The emperor repeatedly visited the forts situ- 

 ated at the entrance of the bay, and a great agi- 

 tation continued to exist in all classes of socie- 

 ty. Enlisting offices were opened, and a largo 

 number of volunteers enrolled themselves. 



It may be stated, to the honor of the English 

 press and people, that the conduct of Mr. 

 Christie, the British minister at Eio, was gen- 

 erally condemned. They declared it to be, 

 even from a commercial point of view, entirely 

 unpardonable to establish for a pecuniary 

 claim, amounting, according to Mr. Christie 

 himself, to only 5,525, and which the British 

 Government itself reduced to 3,200 a virtual 

 blockade of Eio for nearly a month, and make 

 reprisals to the value of more than 6,000. 

 From the correspondence laid before the Eng- 

 lish Parliament it appears, that Earl Eussell, in 

 issuing instructions to Mr. Christie, expressly 

 gave him authority to make another reference 

 to the British Government respecting the re- 

 sponse that might be made his ultimatum be- 

 fore resorting to reprisals, and that Mr. Chris- 

 tie, concealing that authority from the Brazilian 

 Government, preferred the abuse to the use of 

 those instructions. It also appears that the 

 discussion was conducted, on his part, with a 

 want of temper and discretion which rendered 

 a pacific solution impossible, without such a 

 sacrifice of principle and dignity, on the part 

 of Brazil, as would have been a source of dan- 

 ger to the stability of the empire. 



On February 26th, the Brazilian envoy, at 

 London, paid the indemnity demanded by the 

 English Government for the pretended pillage 

 of the English vessel Prince of Wales ; but, at 

 the same time, protested against the acts of 

 England. The further negotiations between 

 the two Powers led to no result. On May 



28th, the Brazilian minister at London left 

 that city, after having broken off diplomatic 

 relations, and on June 6th, the English envoy 

 was recalled from Eio. 



On June 18th, the King of Belgium, to whose 

 arbitration the two Powers had agreed to sub- 

 mit one of the two points of litigation, gave his 

 decision, which was entirely in favor of Brazil. 

 He declared that the arrest of two British offi- 

 cers and a British chaplain by the Brazilian 

 police was not intended to be an insult to the 

 honor of Great Britain, and that it could not be 

 so regarded. This decision only expressed the 

 opinion of all Europe, which, from the begin- 

 ning of the difficulty, looked upon the transac- 

 tion as an encroachment of England upon a 

 weak power. Even Portugal, generally the 

 steadfast friend of Englaud, was no exception, 

 and the whole press of the kingdom denounced 

 the unwarrantable conduct of the British Gov- 

 ernment. 



Subsequently the King of Portugal offered 

 his mediation, in order that the diplomatic re- 

 lations between Brazil and Great Britain might 

 be renewed. In reply to this, the Brazilian 

 Government declared that, much*as it wished 

 the successful issue of so benevolent a proof of 

 friendship and interest, it could not take ad- 

 vantage of that noble offer so long as there did 

 not exist on the part of the British Govern- 

 ment any explicit acceptance of that offer. 



When the news of a rupture of diplomatic 

 relations between the Governments reached 

 Brazil, it produced a profound impression. The 

 most perfect unanimity prevailed among all 

 political parties as to the duty of Brazil not to 

 submit to the demands of England. In Per- 

 nambuco the news of the rupture was received 

 just previous to the festival of St. Anthony, and 

 a printed handbill was immediately circulated 

 in the streets, demanding that the English flag 

 should be removed from the flags of friendly 

 nations, which were to be displayed on the oc- 

 casion, and that the flag of the United States be 

 substituted in its place. The request was com- 

 plied with. 



In^May, 1863, Mr. Webb, the American min- 

 ister at Eio, called the attention of the Brazil- 

 ian minister and Secretary of State for Foreign 

 Affairs, to a gross breach of neutrality perpe- 

 trated, and continued, on the part of the 

 representatives of his Majesty's Government in 

 the ports of Pernambuco and Bahia. The ports 

 of Brazil, he said, are made harbors of refuge 

 and places of resort and departure for three 

 piratical vessels the Alabama, Georgia, and 

 Florida avowedly designed to prey upon the 

 commerce of the United States. He asked the 

 Imperial Government to promptly visit upon 

 the offending governors the punishment they 

 so richly merited. He urged a right of the 

 United States to demand the capture of the 

 Alabama by Brazil, if possible, as a duty due 

 alike to itself, to the United States, to human- 

 ity, and to civilization. 



To this the Marquis d'Alvantis positively de- 



