LON 
-that afforded a gloomy light were ufed. Superfine woollen 
cloths were equally ili-fuited to the market; no one thought 
them (efficiently ftrong. An immenl'e quantity of high- 
priced laddies, and thoufands of whips, were fent out to 
a people as incapable of adopting them as they were of 
knowing their convenience. They were aftoniffied to fee 
Englifiitnen ride on fuch fuddles; nor could they imagine 
any thing more infecure. Of the bridles fcarcely any life 
could be made, as the bit was not calculated to keep the 
liorfe or mule in fubordination : thefe articles were of 
courfe facrificed. Great quantities of the nails and iron¬ 
mongery were ufelefs, as they were not calculated for the 
general purpofes of the people. Large cargoes of Man- 
chefter goods were fent; and, in a few months, more ar¬ 
rived than had been confumed in the courfe of twenty 
years preceding. No difcrimination was ufed in the affort- 
ment of thefe articles, with refpect either to quality or 
finenefs; fo that common prints were difpofed of at lefs 
than a (hilling a yard, and frequently in barter. Fi(h 
from Newfoundland met with a fimilar fate; alfo porter, 
large quantities of which, in barrels, arrived among a 
people, of whom a few only had tailed that article as a 
luxury. How the ('nippers in London, and other Britifh 
ports, could imagine that porter would at once become a 
general beverage, it is difficult to conceive, efpecially 
when fent in barrels. Thefe cargoes, being unsaleable, 
were of courfe warehoufed, and of courfe fpoiled. Many 
invoices of fancy-goods, and fuch as do not conftitute a 
ftable trade, were lold at from fixty to feventy per cent, 
under cofts and charges, and others were totally loll. 
What mult have been the delufions of thofe traders who 
fent out tools, formed with a hatchet on one fide and a 
hammer on the other, for the conveniency of breaking the 
rocks, and cutting the precious metals from them, as if 
they imagined that a man had only to go into the moun¬ 
tains, and cut as much gold as would pay for the articles 
he wanted! 
This evil led to another of equal magnitude; a ruinous 
lofs by the Brafil produce received in.barter. The young 
men, who were fent out in fuch numbers from London 
as fupercargoes, found themfelves placed in a new fphere, 
and were obliged to take goods in return, of the quality 
of which they were unfitted to judge. Hides and Brafil- 
wood are principal articles of export from this part of the 
world ; but, with regard to hides, the London purchafer 
was ill-qualified to difcern the injury received in the dry¬ 
ing; and, as to wood, he learned, when too late, that the 
kind growing around Rio de Janeiro is greatly inferior to 
that ot Pernambuco, on which the favourable character of 
Brafil-wood has been founded. Other objects of fpecu- 
larion proved ftill more unfavourable. Precious (tones 
appeared to offer the mod abundant fource of riches ; the 
general calculation was made upon the price at which 
they fold in London; but every trader bought them, more 
or lefs, at the price at which they were offered ; invoices 
of goods were bartered for lome, which in London would 
fell for, comparatively, a trifle, as they were taken with¬ 
out difcrimination as to quality or perfection ; tourma¬ 
lines were fold for emeralds, ftained cryltals for topazes, 
and common Hones and vitreous palte were bought as 
diamonds to a confiderable amount. Both gold and dia¬ 
monds were well known to be produced in Brafil j and 
their being by law contraband was a fufficient tempta¬ 
tion to eager fpeculators, who had never before feen either 
in their native ftate. Falle diamonds were weighed with 
fcrupuloufnefs, and bought with avidity, to (ell by the 
rules (fated by Jefferies. Gold-du!t, as it is commonly 
called, appeared in no inconfiderable quantity, and, after 
being weighed with equal exaCtnefs, was bought or bar¬ 
tered for. But previous to this many Camples underwent 
the following eafy and ingenious procefs-. The brafs pans 
purchafed of the Englilh were filed, and mixed with the 
gold in the proportion of from five to ten per cent, ac¬ 
cording to the opinion which the leller formed of the Ca¬ 
pacity of the peribn with whom he had to deal j and 
DON. T?i 
thus, by a fimple contrivance, fome of our countrymen 
repurchafed at three or four guineas per ounce the very 
article which they had before fold at 2s. 6d. per pound. 
Amid this fcene of foil}' and misfortune, numerous li¬ 
tigations could not fail to arife ; and it is a confolation 
to refleff that, as far as the interference of the Portuguefe 
governor and the Britifli ambaffador could go, the evil 
was prevented from expanding in its courfe. A judge of 
great refpeCfability was appointed for the determination- 
of all cafes concerning the Englilh ; and the latter, in con- 
fideration of being (trangers, were allowed certain privi¬ 
leges fimilar to thofe of the nobility of Portugal. They 
were permitted to claim the occupancy of fuch houfes as 
could be fpared, exempted from rife of rent, and indulged 
with long delay in cafe of embarraffment in their affairs, 
Hence arofe a current faying among the Portuguefe, 
“That, to live comfortably in Brafil, it was necelfary to 
become an Englifhman.” So great was the over-flock of 
Britifli goods, and fuch the tniferable fall in their value, 
that, for one-fourth part of the quantity fent to Brafil, we 
fnould have obtained an equal return by keeping the mar¬ 
ket at a fair and fteady rate. A recurrence of this evil 
may be prevented by carefully attending to the articles 
which are adapted to the confumption of the country, 
and wh-ich may be thus enumerated : hard-ware, low- 
priced cotton goods, bats, boots, (hoes, earthen-ware, glafs, 
cheap furniture, (hot, drugs, fancy-articles, common wool-- 
len cloths, and fait either from Liverpool or the Cape de 
Verd illands. A time will arrive, and is probably fait ap¬ 
proaching, when the intercourfe of Rio de Janeiro with 
India will be greatly increafed. It may become a kind of 
half-way flation between Europe and Alia; and, if Brafil 
on the one hand be freed from the colonial reftri&ions of 
the Portuguele, while India, on the other, is laid open to 
the enterprife of Britifli merchants, vve may fafely conclude 
that the extenfion of trade would proceed with great ra¬ 
pidity. Maict's Travels in Brajil, 4to. 1S12. 
The Britifli parliament was opened by commiffion on 
the 31 (t of January, i 3 e> 8 . The fpeech from the throne 
turned, as ufual, on the great public queftions that would 
come under difcullion during the feffion ; the moft im¬ 
portant of which, was the expedition to Copenhagen. 
In the lioufe of peers, the addrefs was moved by the earl 
of Galloway, who recapitulated, with great (Length and 
clearnefs, the moft prominent features of the fpeech. 
But the duke of Norfolk, not completely fatisfied with 
the meafure adopted againft the Danes, and wifliing 
fome information as to the neceffity of the expedition, 
moved that the claufe in the addrefs refpedting the Baltic 
(hould be omitted. This amendment was l'econded by 
lord Sidmouth, and fupported by lord Grenville and the 
earl of Lauderdale ; but itrenuoufly oppofed by the earl 
of Aberdeen, lord Hawkeftniry, and lord Mulgrave ; and 
at length was rejeifed. A fimilar motion was made in the 
lvoiife of commons, and met with the fame fate. Perhaps 
thefe acrimonious debates were more peculiarly excited 
by the frelh and (till-bleeding wounds which the late ad- 
miniftration had received in leaving their places. Like 
the Parthians, they (hot their arrows as they retired, as 
a fort of confolation in their flight; but this condufl is 
not new, and we have witnefled it at almoft every change 
of the miniftry. The pofi'effion of authority and of the 
management of affairs has fuch charms, that the lofs of 
it is always accompanied with a bitter draught, which 
introduces into the mind of the lofers fome vindictive 
elements that they are always fure to combine in order 
to vex and perfecute their fuccelfors 1 however, to a phi- 
lofophical mind, thefe Rations and reasons appear to be 
ultimately ufeful to the people in general, fince they con¬ 
duce to preferve the balance of power between the go¬ 
vernors and the governed. 
The next interefting object which occupied the atten¬ 
tion of parliament, was the ftate of our relations with 
Ruftia, and the neceffity of producing on the table ('undry 
papers relative to that fubjeft. After this, Mr. Whit- 
1 bread,,. 
