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;nen ; his official conduct, of which I have seen much, has secured 

 him the respect of all parties, and has done credit to the choice of 

 the Prince Regent, confirmed by the approval of His Excellency 

 Lord Strangford. Further to cultivate and extend the interests of 

 commerce, His Royal Highness has established a Board of Trade, 

 in which are some experienced and intelligent men, to whose consi- 

 deration every particular case, and every new regulation, is referred. 

 One of the members of this Board, Dr. Lisboa, has greatly distin- 

 guished himself by his zeal for the English nation, displayed in 

 various publications on commerce, par1.icularly in one dated May 

 .1810, which contains a fund of solid argument on the principles laid 

 4own and acknowledged by our most celebrated statesmen and po- 

 litical writers. It is to be hoped that the diffusion of views so liberal, 

 under the auspices of ministers, will banish that narrow-minded jea- 

 lousy with which certain opulent individuals of the Brazilian capital 

 regard the English merchants, whom they stigmatize as intruders ; 

 and that the general interests of commerce in this thriving colony 

 will gain, through fair competition, what they have heretofore lost 

 through overstocked markets. : 

 u:;The business of the custom-house, although still shackled with 

 jmany troublesome and tedious regulations, especially with regard to 

 small articles, has been considerably simplified ; and, in all cases 

 where a stranger finds himself at a loss how to proceed, he is sure to 

 have every difficulty^ explained, and every obstacle removed, by ap^ 

 pealing to the judge who presides over this department, o The liber 

 «aljty and disinterestedness of this excellent officer are the more ge- 

 nerally felt and acknowledged, from the inconveniences with which 

 his situation might enable him to embarrass the trade, if he were in- 

 clined to a more rigorous execution of the laws, ; i 



In mentioning the advantages Avhich have resulted to.the English 

 merchants from the liberality of the persons in office, I ought not to 

 omit stating that much has been effected through the exertions of the 

 British minister, who, while pursuing that conciliatory and moderate 



