R A S I L. 







staple commodity of the kingdom. Extending it to 

 p. .,..;!, l.. ,,,.IM,\ i.*l ii, .,,, c\.-h"ive company th 

 trade of the northern provinres of Maragnim, Paia, 

 and Fernambuco. The regulations of this company 

 were, in some respects, of a nature peculiarly prepos- 

 terous. Ignorant of the limits which bound the au- 

 thority of sovereigns in commercial affairs, tl : ' 

 of L sbon ordained, that the shares in this com; 

 stock should bear a certain price ; and, in order to 

 i-niuicc this regulation, it wa; 1 . t'.ecrtcd. that they 

 should be a legal tender of payment. To such of 

 our readers as are at all conversant with politic 

 jmmy, it is needless to point out the impossibility, 

 that such an ordinance sh.nild ever be executed. The 

 preposterous attempt, however, must no doubt have 

 lowered the credit of the company, and embarrassed its 

 transactions. This cause, and the radical defects 

 of such an establishment, soon induced a material di- 

 minution in the commerce of these provinces. The 

 number of vessels employed, sunk from thirteen or 

 fourteen, to four or five. The ministry, therefore, 

 who succeeded Pombal, being of themselves unfa- 

 vourably disposed to measures pursued by their pre- 

 decessor, hesitated not to reject one so unpopular and 

 injurious. The old arrangement was then restored, 

 though, there is reason to believe, with some abate- 

 ment of the rigour of the flota system. Upon the 

 whole, the sytem of commerce between Portugal and 

 Brasil has been on a much more liberal footing than 

 that between Spain and her colonies, and the pro- 

 ductions of other European countries more easily 

 admitted. This was owing, in a good measure, to 

 the intimate connection of the mother country with 

 England. Portugal, from its position with regard to 

 Spam, and its inferior magnitude, was in constant 

 danger of being swallowed up by a more powerful 

 neighbour; and from the establishment of the Bonr- 

 bon dynasty on the Spanish throne, no aid was to be 

 hoped from France in maintaining her independence. 

 She looked, therefore, to England as her natural pro- 

 tector ; and, in order to cement the alliance with that 

 power, was willing to grant some commercial privi- 

 leges which her colonial possessions rendered pecu- 

 liarly valuable. On the 20th December 1703, a 

 treaty was concluded between the two powers, by 

 which the manufactures of England were allowed to 

 be imported into Portugal on terms more advanta- 

 geous than those of any other European country. 

 England made a similar stipulation in favour of the 

 wines of Portugal ; so that it seemed to remain doubt- 

 ful, even according to the ideas then prevalent, on 

 which side the balance of advantage lay. The arti- 

 cle in the treaty, however, which excited the exulta- 

 tion of England, and the envy of Europe, was ra- 

 ther understood than expressed. It was fixed, that 

 an English packet boat should sail weekly from Lis- 

 bon to London. As this vessel belonged to govern- 

 ment, it was exempted from search ; and an opportu- 

 nity was thereby afforded, of eluding those strict pe- 

 nalties, which were imposed on the exportation of 

 gold. It was soon complained, that all the gold of 

 bnihii took the road of the Thames. Sounder views, 

 which have since opened, have shewn, that this en 

 vied advantage was wholly chimerical ; that all the 

 gold necessai y for our circulation, would, of itself, 



VOL. IV. PART IJ. 



have found its way into this i:ot:uti :, cvrn '' 



if Portugal could have rendered her prohibition c*'- * -v ' 

 fcctive, the injury would have been on her side, 

 on ours. The free introduction of British mam 

 tures, however, was a mutual advantage to boili na- 

 tions ; and it rendered the supply of many of tin t 

 forts and conveniences of life more copious in Brazil, 

 than in most of the Spanish colonies. They were 

 often supplied, on still easier terms, by means of con- 

 traband trade. British vessels, on their way to thr 

 East Indies, or to the South Sea, have been accus- 

 tomed to touch at the friendly ports of Brasil ; and 

 then- they often found means to introduce European 

 commodities at a cheaper rate than they could for- 

 sent from Portugal. Previous to the late emigia- 

 tion, however, the court had adopted very strict 

 measures for preventing this irregularity. No trade 

 of any kind was allowed between the natives and Bri- 

 tish ; though, as the persons who were employed to 

 enforce this regulation, found often their interest in 

 violating it, the intercourse could not be entirely 

 stopt. 



Such was the course of events in Brasil, while it Removal of 

 continued a subordinate part of the Portuguese cm- t ' lc Porlu - 

 pire. Recent events, by transferring to it the resi- fo^jrasiT" 

 dence of the court, have raised it to a higher impor- 

 tance. The connection of Portugal with England, 

 which had long been a source of security, ceased to 

 afford her protection, when the power of France be- 

 came predominant over the continent. On this very 

 account, the present rultr of France, as soon as he 

 had obtained a respite from warfare in the east of 

 Europe, selected Portugal as his first victim. Mea- 

 sures had been repeatedly taken to expel the Prince 

 Regent from his European territories, though they 

 were suspended, first by the peace of 1801, and af- 

 terwards by the war with the northern powers. But 

 when Prussia and Russia had successively sunk under 

 the French arms, Buonaparte no longer hesitated to 

 put his long-meditated design into immediate execu- 

 tion. In the autumn of 1807, he began his opera- 

 tions, by issuing to the Prince Regent a mandate, 

 that the English and their commerce should be en- 

 tirely excluded. The prince, though extremely un- 

 willing to renounce so long and faithful an alliance, 

 yet, overawed by the French power, determined to 

 yield. The British merchants were accordingly 

 warned to leave the kingdom, with all their effects ; 

 with which they lost no time in complying. The 

 prince, however, was soon given to understand, that 

 he must not only exclude the English from the king- , 



dom, but must seize the persons and property of all 

 of that nation who could be found within it. Sir Sid- 

 ney Smith, on the contrary, who commanded an Eng- 

 lish squadron at the mouth of the Tagus, declared, 

 that his government would not found any hostile 

 measures upon the exclusion of British commerce, 

 but that, if the regent proceeded a step farther, he 

 would immediately declare Lisbon under a state of 

 blockade. The prince, however, under the alarm of 

 impending danger, had the weakness to consent to 

 the conditions required by Buonaparte, and to issue 

 orders for confiscating all that remained of British 

 merchandize. He soon found, however, that this 

 humiliation would avail him nothing. Juuot, with 

 3 H 



