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NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



towards the man to whom they were principally attributed. 

 They closed his career by poison, and published a song of triumph when 

 he fell. Though they gained not the point which they had in view, and 

 could not overthrow what had been effected, nor altogether hinder the 

 progress of improvement, they fancied themselves possessed of the vantage 

 ground, and proposed the establishment of the Inquisition ; they ventured 

 even to nominate the members of the Holy Com-t, and to fabricate some 

 of its insignia. These and similar proceedings occasioned great confusion, 

 and made way for an extended system of espionage, both in civil, in 

 political, and religious matters. Better spirits however ruled the storm ; 

 yet many were alarmed at the dangers of the State, and their anxiety 

 was increased by the general progress of revolutionary principles, by the 

 condition of the Spanish Provinces, where the Priesthood had lost nearly 

 the whole of its influence, by the vacillation of the Royal Family, 

 whose return to Portugal was expected, by the rancorous freedom with 

 which the black part of the population expressed itself, and by the 

 deplorable consequences which must ensue, if either the abandoned or 

 the superstitious should obtain an exclusive influence in public affairs. 



An increase in the Police Guard took place during this period, it 

 was invested with more power and exercised greater vigilance. This 

 body, though composed of soldiers, performs all the duties of our Con- 

 stables, Overseers, and Justices of Peace. The troops of the line, and 

 the militia corps of the different provinces, were placed on a better 

 footing ; and the latter description of force belonging to the City was 

 obliged, at least once a month, to do the duty of the town. A stock of 

 arms and ammunition of every description had been provided, and the 

 manufacture, the sale, and the possession of gunpowder, placed exclu- 

 sively in the hands of Government. Colleges and Schools had been 

 opened, Professors appointed in various branches of science, and a 

 Botanical Garden laid out, where many exotic plants were collected, and 

 seemed to thrive. The Misericordia was enlarged and much improved, 

 and Infanticide in a great measure prevented, by the establishment of a 

 Foundling Hospital, The proceedings of Justice were in many points 



