BRAZIL. 



79 



islature various important bills still pending, 

 one of which is for the creation of a new prov- 

 ince out of the valley of the Upper Sao Fran- 

 cisco. 



Here follows the Emperor's message, read at 

 the closing of the third session of the Senate. 



Any list and most worthy Representatives of the Nation : 



I heartily thank you for the powers you have con- 

 ferred on the Government, for the law of estimates 

 and other special laws, to provide for the needs of 

 the public service, and to carry on the moral and 

 material improvement of Brazil. I expect that the 

 establishment of the new judiciary tribunals of sec- 

 ond instance will greatly facilitate the thorough ad- 

 ministration of justice, and give more efficacious pro- 

 tection to political and personal rights. 



The new National Guard law realizes one of our 

 sincerest wishes. 



Public instruction, much in need of a more perfect 

 regimen and larger appropriations, as in good time 

 will be proposed to you, has received some benefits ; 

 ami 1 doubt not you will continue the good work 

 begun. 



Electoral reform, which was brought forward in 

 the Chamber of Deputies, and studied by a special 

 committee, will doubtless be laid before you during 

 the next session. 



The conscription bill, on which the Senate commit- 

 tee have already reported, is another reform deserv- 

 ing of your particular attention. 



I congratulate you and myself upon the facility 

 and rapidity with which the Submarine Telegraph 

 Cable Company is carrying its engagements into 

 effect. The provinces of I'ura and Pernambuco are 

 already in communication thereby, and I. believe it 

 wi)l not be long ere a like event will be celebrated 

 here and at Bio Grande do Sul. The submersion of 

 the transatlantic line, which will place South America 

 in contact with Europe, is likewise proceeding with 

 rapidity. 



The greater number of the provinces could not pre- 

 pare in time for the industrial exhibition of Vienna ; 

 but, nevertheless, Brazil figures therein in a manner 

 to attract the observation of professionals. A notice 

 of our social state, written in various language*. 

 completes as far as Possible the manifestation of our 

 advancement and of the riches and fertility of Brazil. 



Thanks to God, our internal peace remains un- 

 disturbed, and our sanitary state, though not wholly 

 satisfactory, has in general improved. Our relations 

 with the other powers continue to bo friendly. 



August and most worthy Representatives of the 

 Nation, one of the longest and most laborious legis- 

 lative periods ends to-day ; but our task should not 

 cease, and I am sure that, when outside of these 

 precincts, you will not fail to animate the Brazilian 

 people to the conquests of labor, and to instruct it 

 in the sound principles of moral and political educa- 

 tion, the most solid foundation of free institutions. 



The All-Powerful will bless our faith and our ex- 

 ertions. 



The session is closed. 



A controversy arose between the ecclesias- 

 tical and temporal authorities in the matter 

 of freemasonry, and the validity of Protestant 

 marriages in the empire. In the first case, 

 the Bishop of Pernambuco issued an apostolic 

 decree against freemasonry, interdicting the 

 whole brotherhood, and refusing them burial 

 in consecrated grounds. The central Govern- 

 ment instituted proceedings against the bishop 

 for disobedience to a legal order of the Gov- 

 ernment and for publication of a papal brief 

 without the placet. Notwithstanding the pre- 

 cise and peremptory decision of the Govern- 



ment, the Bishops of Olinda, Para, and Rio 

 Grande do Sul, have openly affirmed that they 

 are not bound to obey the civil law in any 

 thing contrary to the canon law ; it was feared 

 that the conflict of authorities had not yet 

 reached its termination. 



The second year allowed for the registra- 

 tion of slaves, in compliance with the act of 

 September 28, 1871, ended on the 30th of Sep- 

 tember last in the municipality of Rio de Ja- 

 neiro, and the number of the slaves amounted 

 to 47,260. By a provision of that act, all 

 slaves not registered before the close of the 

 second year are presumed to be free ; and 

 only in exceptional cases, wherein the owners 

 establish inability to effect the registration 

 within that term, will they be permitted to 

 place their slaves on the register and thus re- 

 tain their ownership. 



Odorico Mendes's Portuguese translation of 

 the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" was sent by 

 his heirs to Rio to be printed and published, 

 the provincial treasury having donated the sum 

 of $2,450 toward the publication. It will be 

 the first Portuguese translation of Homer yet 

 published. 



The legacy left to the imperial family of 

 Brazil by the late Empress-Dowager, who died 

 in Portugal in the beginning of the year, con- 

 sisted of $32,000 in government stock, and a 

 jewel to each of its members. 



A large number of English emigrants ar- 

 rived at Rio in the early part of the year, and, 

 after the necessary delay to prepare a place for 

 them in the province of Parana, they refused 

 to accept the district allotted for them, and 

 many would not even consent to go and see it. 

 After having remained a long time in Rio de 

 Janeiro in' idleness, at the expense of the Gov- 

 ernment, they were sent back to England, the 

 Crown paying their passage. 



The forwarding of emigrants from England 

 was, by order of the Minister of Agriculture, 

 under date February 5th, suspended until 

 April. 



Some British immigrants, dissatisfied with 

 their prospect in Brazil, left for the United 

 States, February 24th, the imperial Govern- 

 ment paying their passage. 



On January 1st, his Imperial Majesty, Dom 

 Pedro II., inaugurated at Rio de Janeiro an 

 exhibition of national products, intended to 

 be sent to the exposition of Vienna. The ar- 

 ticles exposed to view comprised specimens 

 sent from all the different provinces ; and, for 

 the ultimate selection of those to be sent, there 

 was appointed a higher commission. In the 

 machine department were observable steam- 

 engines, sugar and other machinery, chiefly 

 from the works of Maylor & Co. ; stamping 

 nnd counting apparatus from the mint, etc. 

 Hundreds of specimens of wood for carpentry 

 and cabinet-works attest the boundless and 

 endlessly varying products of the Bi-azili.in 

 forests. In the ceramic department were dis- 

 played vases, pans, and other vessels of the 



