BRIGGS, CHARLES F. 



BUCK, GURDON. 



79 



The shipping movements at the various ports of the Empire, in 1875-"76, are exhibited in 

 the subjoined table : 



Entered ____ 



Cleared... 



I Foreign 8,017, with an aggregate of 85,185 tons. 



(Brazilian 1.770, " " 12,415 " 



Coasting vessels 7.923, " " 97,984 u 



Sea-<roimr vessels ) Foreign 8,585, " 72,864 " 



"* (Brazilian 1,067, " " 25,120 " 



Coasting vessels 7,654, " " 120,'241 " 



At the commencement of 1877 there were 

 27 railway lines, with an aggregate of 1,431 

 miles open to traffic. 



In April there were 3,893 miles of telegraph, 

 the number of offices being 104. 



The number of letters which passed through 

 the Post-office in the year 1875-'76 was 13,- 

 161,297, of which 7,200,000 were by the way 

 of Rio de Janeiro. 



The political condition of Brazil is, in many 

 respects, the most enviable in the South Amer- 

 ican continent. Peace and harmony at home, 

 and cordial relations with all other nations 

 such is the ruling state of affairs in the Em- 

 pire; and such has, with little interruption, 

 been the state since the termination of the 

 Paraguayan war. At no period of their his- 

 tory has a more friendly feeling existed be- 

 tween Brazil and the Argentine Republic, or 

 a lesser tendency to political complication. 

 The Paraguayan war, while it led Brazil and 

 the Argentine Republic to an enormous ex- 

 penditure of money, and a loss of life quite out 

 of proportion to the merits of the question at 

 issue, brought out, nevertheless, the true char- 

 acter both of Brazilians and Argentines, who 

 fought side by side in that struggle, and 

 learned to respect each other, a feeling that 

 had not previously existed. The extirpation 

 of the Lopez dynasty was essential to the wel- 

 fare of the Plate provinces. How terrible has 

 been the sacrifice, and how complete the pros- 

 tration of Paraguay, may be judged by its ab- 

 ject condition and inability to help itself toward 

 any practical solution of its difficulties. 



The return of the Emperor and Empress to 

 their capital, in September, was celebrated by 

 such special festivities as afforded a touching 

 proof of the genuine affection of the Brazilian 

 people for a monarch who, for more than 40 

 years, has reigned over a prosperous and con- 

 tented nation. The Hon. Mr. Hilliard, United 

 States Minister to Brazil, arrived at Rio de 

 Janeiro on October 14, 1877. 



BRIGGS, CHARLES FREDERICK, died in Brook- 

 lyn, June 20, 1877. He was born in Nantuck- 

 et in 1804, and early became a contributor to 

 the magazines. He also wrote several popular 

 novels, including "The Adventures of Harry 

 Franco," and "The Trippings of Tom Pep- 

 per." In 1844, with Edgar A. Poe, he began 

 the publication of The Broadway Journal, 

 which proved a failure. In 1853 he became 

 associated with George William Curtis and 

 Parke Godwin in the management of Putnam's 

 Magazine. He was afterward employed in the 

 custom-house, and in 1870 he joined the edito- 

 rial staff of the Brooklyn Union, of which he 



became chief editor in 1874. In the latter part 

 of 1874 he became a writer for the New York 

 Independent, where he continued till his 

 death. 



BROWNLOW, WILLIAM GANNAWAY, an 

 American clergyman, journalist, and politi- 

 cian, died at Knoxville, Tenn., April 29, 1877. 

 He was born in Wythe County, Va., August 

 29, 1805. Left an orphan at an early age, he 

 learned the trade of a carpenter. In 1826 he 

 entered the Methodist ministry, and labored 

 for ten years as an itinerant preacher. As 

 early as 1828 he began to take part in politics 

 in Tennessee, advocating the reelection of John 

 Quincy Adams to the presidency; and while 

 traveling a circuit in South Carolina, in which 

 John C. Calhoun lived, he publicly opposed 

 nullification. About 1837 he became editor of 

 the Knoxville Whig, a political newspaper. In 

 consequence of his trenchant mode of expres- 

 sion, he became known as the "Fighting Par- 

 son." In 1856 he published " The Iron Wheel 

 Examined, and its Spokes Extracted," being 

 a reply to attacks made upon the Methodist 

 Church. In 1858 he held a public debate in 

 Philadelphia with the Rev. A. Pryne, of New 

 York, which was published in a volume enti- 

 tled, " Ought American Slavery to be Perpetu- 

 ated ? " Mr. Brownlow taking the affirmative. 

 When the movement of secession took place, 

 he advocated the preservation of the Union as 

 the best safeguard for Southern institutions. 

 In December, 1861, he was arrested on charge 

 of treason against the Confederacy, and de- 

 tained till March, 1862, when he was sent 

 within the Union lines. After this he made 

 a tour through the Northern States, delivering 

 speeches in the principal cities, and published 

 a book entitled " Sketches of the Rise, Prog- 

 ress, and Decline of Secession," etc. In 1864 

 he returned to Tennessee, of which he became 

 Governor in 1865 ; and in 1869 he was elected 

 to the Senate of the United States for six years, 

 after which he resumed the editorship of the 

 Knoxville Whig. 



BUCK, Dr. GURDON, died in New York City, 

 March 6, 1877. He was born on May 4, 1807. 

 After pursuing his studies at Nelson's Classical 

 School, in New York, he engaged in business 

 for a time, but finally, after studying medicine 

 under the late Dr. Thomas Cook, he was grad- 

 uated from the College of Physicians and Sur- 

 geons in 1830. He first served the regular 

 term in the medical department of the New 

 York Hospital, and then went abroad to com- 

 plete his professional studies, whence he re- 

 turned in 1833, and began the practice of his 

 profession in New York City, where he after- 



