The Sun.
London, England, 1839-05-20 00:00:00

sovrni AMERICA.

(PROlkt A CORRESPONDENT.)
All
Rio de Janeiro, Feb. 24.
mind aro absorbed here by the declaration of
war agairist the tyrant Rosas, of Buenos Ayres, by the
P"rn'Avent of Uruguay. The manifesto may be well
tern'.. war, even to the knife, against Rosas ; you will
Precieive the wise distinction drawn between him and the
riample he misrules ; as, however, the manifesto accom-
panies this, I shall leave all remarks upon it to your
more practised pen° ; here it is considered most unique
in its kind, and speculation is rife as to the part Brazil
will take in the contest. It is rumoured, that previously
to taking the step, ,Rivera consulted this Government
and sounded the Regent upon the probability of the
amount of support—if necessary—that would be sent by
Brasil in fulfilment of some secret articles of a treaty
offensive and defensive. I have not been able to trace
this rumour to a positive source, or to learn such cer-
tainties as could be depended upon, although there is a
leak, somewhere, through which most movements of the
Government ooze. I have myself no doubt of the fact,
from the quarter in which I first heard it, though the
party became very costive when pressed as to par-
ticulars.

Rosas must have a remorselers and an iron soul ; his
bosom Mend, Lopez, walks pari pauu with him in the
path a outrage, tyranny and crime. I have just seen a
lettex from Montevideo, of the 14th of January, giving
th.e most frightful picture of the state of uncertainty and
alarm in which every man lives, whose respectability,
talent, or influence may draw upon him the hate of the
tyrant and his bosom friend. Among other things, it
contains a detail of the sufferings of six gentlemen,
whom Lopez, under the form of law, had condemned
to death, on pretence of being accomplices in some of
of the vain efforts made to shake Rosas from his seat. On
the day previoas to that destined for their execution
they were removed from the prison to the Misericorde,
anotherkind of a prison, under the direction of a religious
society, vvho prepare criminals for death, and attend
thstin to the place of execution. By the aid of friends,
Vtio assisted in wrenching away the bars of the win-
dows, the condemned escaped from the Church during
the night, and embarked in a boat ready to receive
' them, ha which, without food or shelter, they plied
about the river Parana for several days, fearful of land-
ing, on acceuat of the strict watch everywhere observed,
and their friends, from the same cause, unable to assist
them. At last, more like skeletens than human be-
ings, they reached the French vessels, blockading
Buenos Ayres, where they were received with all the
humanity and kindness their exhausted state demanded.
Our swn civil broil in the South lingers on—
Porto Allegro is still besieged. The President of the
province, according to the last accounts, has raised 2,000
men, and boasts that with them he will raise the siege.
I doubt it much ; vigour is requisite. Where judgment
to plan and energy to execute are wanting, little can be
expected. The Government are looking with anxiety
for the '3,000 men the Legislature has authorised them
to re;.se in Europe, to protect the empire and extinguish
a rebellion, which their own resources should have
'crushed in the bud. I trust, however, if aoy English
' officers or English subjects engage in the service, that
they will have such security for their pay or pensions
as can leave no doubt of an honourable liquidation
of both when due. If the Government mean honestly,
they cannot refuse it : Spain and Portugal have both
I proved to Englishmen what reliance is to be placed on
the word or honour of the ungrateful and faithless Mi-
nisters of foreign nations.
I draw particular attention to this subject from the
treatment received by the captains and part of the crews,
who came out from Liverpool in the steam-boats belong-
ing to the Brazilian Company, who have contracted
with this Government, at a thousand pounds per month,
to marry the mail from Rio to Bahia, Pernambuco, and
Para. The captain and mate of one have been dis-
missed, and a Frenchman, who cannot speak a word of
Elvilish, now commands her. The Captain of the St.
S :bastion has cast his mate adrift for wishing to be as
treat a man on board as himself ; and I understand he
l receive his own conge as soon as the Company can
find an individual well acquainted with the mystery and
polish of that very bssential requisite, in this country-
-1 " booing." Let Englishmen, then, make their bargain
sure before they start, more particularly the humbler
classes, or they ~rill be cast adrift here, like some of the
crew of these steani-boats, without a friend except the
Consul.
Speraling of these boats reminds me of an excellent

I Diee-e of legerdemain I witnessed the other day, Oh
I be,ard the St. Sebastian. Half the treat and influential
)1 this tewn had been invited by the Directors to enjoy
r the luxury of a o.la excursion at the expense of the
Company ; when, lo I after proceeding some hundred
yards, the boat stuck on a bank, where she remained
all day, the party enjoying themselves as they fancied.
During the morning I was surprised to see Senor Leo-
poldo, as he is termed, jump into his boat, and cut
.1 away. after a skiff steering up the harbour. In a short
tire's he returned in triumph, with two black slaves lately
nded, whom he had saught in the boat. This vigi-

.ante was the theme of praise for every tongue, and the
iSenor was obviously much gratified with the applause
showered on him. Would you believe that this Senor,
who is one of the heads of the Customs, and a leader
of a political party, has more shares in the slavers out
of this port than any man in Rio ? Why he thus acted
I before the Ministers and the principal gentry of the
country, it does not require the wisdom of Solomon to
divine, particularly as he captured the slaves only, and
tot the boat and those in it !!
Our Carnival—if it deserve the name—is over. It

i. ...my different to what I have witnessed in France an,
Italy. There the whole population throngs the streets
here, no man, that respects his clothes or his health,
dare leave home. The Brazilians amuse themselves by
thrgwing from their windows balls of wax, in the shape
of citrons or oranges, filled with dirty or clean water, or
'tau de Cologne, as the passer-by is either an object of
indifference, hate, or friendship. These waxen balls are
too expensive for the French residents, and they throw
either basics or buckets of water. John Bull, whose
bile is increased by the deluge poured upon him, goes
home enveighing against the practice as unmeaning, un-
becoming, and bararous, and then laughs away his
chagrin as he drowns some unfortunate imp beneath the
tub of dirty water he ordered to his balcony. And this
is the Carnival at Rio !
We have lately had some fine refreshing rains, that
were much wanted ; these, with the latest intelligence
from Bahia and Sergipe, which speak in the most fa-
vourable terms of the public tranquillity in both pro-
vinces, has spread cheerfulness over every countenance.
agriculture and commerce, which had withered beneath
the "dun hot breath of war" and broils, are thriving as
usual ; but the police of Sergipe is shamefully supine—
n=sassins and monsters of every kind laugh at the laws,
boast of their crimes, and roam about unmolested !
In Rio the people are contented with everything but
the countenance shown by the Regent to the Minister
of Justice, against whom there are general, and it would
seem, just grounds of complaint for incompetency,
avarice, want of conscience, and general delinquency in
the discharge of his important functions. The Brazi-
lians insist upon justice being fairly and honestly distri-
buted, not sold to the hmviest purse. The Regent's
popularity will fall to zero unless he dismiss this man.
I was asked yesterday whether I had ever seen the
Duke de Nemours, what kind of a young man he is,
what his general character, &c. &c. ? It is generally
thought here that the presents lately sent by the King
and Queen of France to the Emperor and his sisters,
were forwarded with an ulterior object, for, remarked
the querist, Louis Philippe has always shown that he
known, too well the value of a franc to waste it in un-
meaning presents. Have you, in Europe, heard any
whispers on the subject ? Those round the Palace
give most favourable accounts of the manners and gene-
ral character of the Princesses. They are very much
beloved by the people.
The Calliope is in harbour ; the Wizard starts for
Bahia with the mail to-morrow ; the Grecian is cruiz-
ing on the coast for slavers ; the Wizard has lately en
trapped two ; but a couple of cargoes, upon an average,
are landed every weak. If the trade were entirely im-
peded there would be a rebellion. The capture of the
two by the Wizard created a sensation, and people be-
gan to ask by what right English vessels cruised off their
ports to capture their vessels, &c. I shall not enter

farther on this subject at present.,
This letter and the manifesto against Roses, I for-
ward per Brougham, from Van Diemen's Land ; but in
case she should founder on her way home, I shall send
copies by the next vessel ; should she not go down, I
trust Lloyd's will make minute inquiries before they pay
any insurances for damage, &c. of her cargo. She came
in here leaky, and, as we understood, for repairs. She
sails to-morrow, and all that has been done to her was
to caulk her water ways, and send three divers and a
rope under her bottom ! I was at Ph&roux's Hotel the
Other night, and heard a very edifying conversation re-
specting her between the captain and one of the pas.
sengers. Do not think that I was an eaves-dropper on
the occasion. The captain was in a passion, and bel-
lowed loud enough to be heard in the middle of the har-
bour, and his passenger seemed to have equally as good
a pair of lungs. The latter was remonstrating upon
continuing the voyage, without any examination having
taken place of where she was leaky ; and stated that she
made four feet water in the least bobbing sea ; that the
pumps had been going every two hours from the day
they left land ; that her ropes were all rotten coir ; and
that not one of the braces would stand a storm, and
therefore she ought not to' leave the harbour without a
thorough overhauling ; particularly as, on the two dip;
previous to sailing to Rio, she had advanced in her
coarse only fourteen miles : that hitherto they had been
indebted for their safety to the very favourable weather
which they had had ; and concluded by saying, that un-
cehssassoezhetehishng
_more were done, and European rope pur-
car
aid consider himself justified, in self-preser-
vation,to
the lion in the eaturvtip. The mention of a survey roused
but the captain did and very high words followed ;
deny_ one word as to the state of
the ship. It appears, however, that an amicable ar-

( a The substance of this manifesto has already appeared
( is our columns.