The Sun.
London, England, 1824-01-24 00:00:00

BRAZILS.

RIO DE JANEIRO, NOV. 19, IS23.—The poli-
tical occurrences which have lately taken place
here are of such vast importance, not. only to this
country, but to the commercial interests of Eu-
rope., that I apprehend a circumstantial relation
of the causes which led to the very extraordi-
nary measure of the Emperor dissolving the As-
sembly, will be anxiously desired by the mercan-
tile.interests of England. I shall therefore give
an account of these matters in the order in which
they took place.
Shortly after the distills:4ou or resignation of
-Joze Bonifacio d'Andrada e Silva, and of his
brother, Martin FranciscO Itibeiro d'Andrada,
from the Ministry, two new journals,the Sentinella
and Ow Tamoya, :were 'published. These jour-
nals laboured to vindicate the administration of
. the Andradas, and took every opportunity of at-
tacking' 'the measures of the new administration-
-of excitiiig feelings hostile to 'Portugal and the
European Portuguese settled in the Brazils, and
of reprobating the principle of employing Euro- •
pear officers or soldiers in the :limy. It is ge-
i erally. believed that many of-the articles in the,
Tomplia were written by Martin Francisco, and
his brother Antonio Carlos, both members of. the
Assembly.
In the thirtieth number of the Sentinella,
published on the 3d instant, there appeared an
anonymous letter, which, by certain officers of
the horse artillery, was considered as an attack
upon. -the whole of the captains of that corps ;
and they, believing that David' Pamplona, a
Brazilian apothecary, was the author, two of
these officers, Europeans, went to his shop on
the sth inst., and violently assaulted hiai ; and
had he not escaped into-the interior of his house,
would probably have murdered him.
On the 6th a petition from the apothecary was
presented to the Assembly, complaining of this
attack lty Europeans upon a Brazilian, and
placing the whole transaction in the light of
proceeding from the spirit of a party. Some
discussion took place upon presenting the peti-
tion, and ultimately the matter was referred to
;5e Commission of Criminal Justice.

.On the Bth instant the Commission reported
to the Assembly that the petitioner ought to pro-
ceed against the parties according to law (devil:
vsar dos meios ordinaries). .But the .more vio-
lent Members of the Assembly opposed the re-
port of the Commission, insisting that there was
more in this transaction than appeared at first
sight; and requiring that the matter should be
fully discussed in the following session, Mondry,
the 10th. During this interval, the Brazilian
party were not idle, and managed to have a con-
siderable number of. their friends to attend the
discussion—every part of the House assigned for
strangers was crowded ; when Senor Alencar,
vie or t. 4 Members for Pernambuco, pro-
posed that the people be admitted into the
body of the House, which was agreed to,
and presently : the whole of the space be-
hind the seats of the Members was filled.
The Audradas violent speeches ; and
white Martiii-rr'ancisco was speaking, a person
immediatel y.behh4lll(ti; supposed to be an Lero-
pan, exclain4;,",:„.,ood your tongue, yon fool!"
which caused the utmost confusion in the house
upon which the President rose, and declared the
session finished, although it was an hour earlier
thaft.the usual time. While these matters were
transacting in the Assembly, several of the Mem-
bers, dreading the result, retired. The Ministers
tendered to the Emperor their resignation, which
was accepted ; and a new Ministry was named.
In the afternoon of this day a number of the offi-
cers of the artillery (Europeans) went in a body
to the Emperor, and demanded satisfaction for
the alleged insults offered to them by the Senti-
nella and 'the Tamoya. During the evening the
Emprdr• 'Ordered the whole of the troops under
arms, and marched them to St. Christovao, where
lie commanded them in person.
It was truly unfortunate for the country that
the new Ministry, composed of Francisco Viliela
Berboza, for the Home and Foreign Affairs;
Clemente Ferreira Franca, for Justice ; Sebas-
tiao Luiz Tinoco, for Finance ; Joze d'Olivera
Barboza, for the War Department ; and Luiz
da Cunha Morreira, for the Marine, were not
men of sufficient talent and experience to take
charge of the State at so critical a period, and
controul a Prince with violent passions, which
have led him on various
.occasions to she w a per-
fect disregard for the counsels of his Ministers.
From what • had already taken place, every
one looked with anxiety to the deliberations of
the session of the 11th. A message was receiv-
ed from the Emperor, informing the Assembly
that the officers of the army required satisfaction
for the insults offered to them by certain public
Journals, and desiring that the Assembly take
the same into consideration : upon which Antonio
Carlos de Andrada Machado proposed that the
Assembly should declare their sittings perma-
nent ; that a deputation should be appointed to
require from the Government an explanation of
the motives for calling out the military ; and that
in the mean time the message of the Emperor
be remitted to a commission of 5 members) which
was agreed to.l.
_ _

The deputation returned with an answer from
the Government, informing the Assembly that
because of certain violent proceedings which had
taken place, the Emperor had deemed it pru-
dent to withdraw the troops from town, so as to
allow the Assembly to proceed with their dis-
cussions without interruption.
About two o'clock the Commission reported to
the Assembly that the House ought to require
from the Government information as to the num-
ber of officers who complained, and the names of
the journals referred to ; which report was ap-
proved, and two of the secretaries appointed to
present the same to the Emperor.
The session remained in the mean time per-
manent, and it was not till early in the morning
of the 19_th that the following ihessage was re-
ceived from the Government :—That as to the
officers, they were a body representing the
whole; that the Tamoya and the Sentinclla were
the publications complained -of ; and that the
three Audrudus were accused as the -editors of

the first, Dud assistants to the editor of the se-
cond, of these publications ; and generally that
these individuals were the chiefs of a seditious
party in the State. .
It was then protithed and agreed to that this
message be retniifsE4. to a special commission
be named. „At eight o'clock, Antonio Carlos
Andrada Miichada proposed that the Minister
of the Interior be called, which was approved of;
and about 10 o'clock the Minister • appeared and
submitted to examination, when he declared that
the assembling of the troops at St.Christovao was
to avoid commotions in the capital, and to pre.
serve the snbordination of the -troops ; that he
did not know- the number of the officers who
complained, but they were numerous ; that the
troops had required the dismissal of the Andra-
das, members of the House; that he had advised
the Emperor of the impracticability of such a
measure ; that he conceived it would not be pru-
dent to move the troops from the encampment un-
til the Assembly had decided upon the measures
to be taken ; that the Emperor had not given any
orders to the Minister of Justice respecting the
apprehension of the editors of the journals, but
he had given orders for proceeding against the
persons concerned in the attack on the apo-
thecary.
The Deputy Montezuma proposed, that the
interrogatories and answers of the Minister of
the Interior be remitted- to the Special Commis-
sion, which, after considerable discussion, was
approved of.
• The Commission were preparing their report,
when intelligence was received that the troops at
St. Christovao were on their march to•town ; and
about one o'clock a military
.officer arrived with
an open paper from the Emperor, to deliver_ to'
the Assembly, which was received at the door of

the house by two of the Secretaries, and bein.;
read, proved to be a decree di•solv-in; the As-
semhly. The house was now surrounded by the
military, and after a copy of the decree was taken
the members quietly retired ; but in going out,
Antonio Carlos Andrade de Machado, Martin
Fransisco Ribeiro de Andrada, Joze Joaquin] da.
Rocha, Fransisco Go Acayaba Montezuma, and
Nicolau Ferreira (le Campos Vergueiros, were
made prisoners. In the afternoon Jose Bonifacio
de Andrada e Silva and Belchior Pineir de Oli-
veira, who had previously retired from the house,
were also made prisoners, along with several in-
dividuals of less note ; the whole were sent in
the evening to the miserable prison of the Laga,
a small fort built upon a rock at the entrance of
the harbour.

After these scenes were concluded, the Em-
peror, accompanied by his staff, paraded the
principal streets on horseback ; and being attend-
ed by a due proportion of idle Negro boys, they
vociferated viva: as his attendants ordered, or
gave the signal. I remarked, however, that there
were very few respectable Brazilian inhabitants
at their windows: it seemed as if they had sent
only the Blacks and Mulattoes of their families
to compliment their Emperor with viva: on his
great victory.
In the evening there was an opera announced ;
but although the house was full, yet there were
very few respectable families present. The au-
dience was chiefly composed ,of the lower classes
of the European Portuguese. At night the ;no-
minations were general with the
med Europeans, %Ilia
see
highly delighted with the proceedings of
the day : so much so, that they
have continued
the rejoicings for three successive nights.
this As might be expected, very ill-advised
meacure has caused a very unprecedented sensa-
tion among the people of this place,
and it is im
possible to foresee ;villa will be the result. The
Europeans rejoice, and have not been sparing in
-
demonstrations of their satisfaction, which has
tended to make the Brazilians feel more acutely,
and has roused in them sentiments of revenge•

That the Emperor should have determined
upon such a measure, is the more extraor-
dinary, as he well knows that Bahia and
Pernambuco have, for some time past, been in a
very unsettled state; and I have no doubt that
when the intelligence reaches them, they will
declare at once for a republic, and a
general
massacre of the Europeans may be the conse-
quence. Although several days have passed
since the dissolution of the Assembly, the public
mind seems as unsettled as it was ou the 12th ;
and fears are entertained that the troops will not
long remain quiet. It is well known that great
discontent has already been manifested by the
Brazilian soldiers, who form more than seven
eighths of the whole army : and it is only in con-1
sequence of the measure adopted, of still keep-
ing them encamped at St. Christovao (leaving the
duty of the town to the militia), that a counter-
revolution has not been effected.

You may easily figure the situation in which
the Government is placed, wl►en I inform you,
that although the new Ministry named on the
10th was composed only of Brazilians, yet in
consequence of two of the Ministers having re-
fused to sign the decree for dissolving. the As-
sembly (which measure was, notwithstanding,
persevered in and carried by the signature of th►e
Ministers of Justice and the War Department),
they immediately tendered their resignation,
►chich was accepted ; and it was not till the 14th
when the Minister of War also resigned, that the
following Administration was formed :—Pedro
de A ranja Lima, for the Interior; Luiz Jose de
Carvalloe Mello, Foreign Affairs; Francisco
Villela Barboza, War ; Pedro Joze da Costa
Barros, Marine; Don Mariano Joze da Fonceca,
Finance ; and Clemente Ferreira Franca, Jus .
Lice. To these were added four Councillors of
State—Antonio Luiz Perreiro da Cunha, Manoel
Jacinta Nogueira da Gam, Jose Joaquin Car-
neiro de Campos, and Bara d Santo Amaro.—
Even this Adtninistration did not long continue
entire, for on the 16th the Ministers of the Inte-
rior and Marine gave in their resignation ; upon
which the Minister at War, Francisco Villela
Barboza was moved to the Marine Department,
and Joao Severiano Macial da Costa and Joao
Gornez da Silveira Mendonca appointed, the fQr-
mer for the Interior, and the latter for tl►e War
Department.

On the 13th, the Emperor published a procla-
mation, (which is annexed) wherein he says that
he has called another Assembly, to H hich he %lin

present a constitution for their approbation. But
after the difficulties which have already been ex-
perienced (arising- from want of confidence of the
people in the Government) before the deptities
composing the last Assembly were returned,
there is no hope that at any future period a
sufficient number of deputies will be 'sent
to Rio de Janeiro from the proiinces to con-
stitute another Assembly. It is much more
probable that the northern provinces will declare
for a republic, and _unite sending representa-
tives to a Congress at Bahia•or Pernambuco.—
So fearful is the Government of the proceedings
which may take place in the provinces, that all
the posts have been stopped, and an embargo
laid on all vessels, which is understood will con-
tinue till Sunday, the 23d instant, by which time
a vessel will have been dispatched to the northern
ports with the intelligence, and such documents
as the new Ministry may, in the interim, pre-
pare, for endeavouring to soothe the minds of the
people, and prevent the fatal results which will,
I fear, certainly take place.
These circumstances haVe put a stop to all
business : no one will sell to Europeans on credit,
and they cannot purchase largely for cash: The
situation of foreign merchants is very critical.—
The Europeans owe them large sums of money,
and every one calculates upon a.re-action by the
i3razilian troops; and should such an event take
place, it is feared a great deal of money will be
lost with the Europeans.
On the 9th inst.' Lord Cochrane arrived here
from Maranham, with the line of battle. ship
Pedro Prinwro: he very prudently has avoided
taking any part in the above. measures.

Count Gestas, the French Consul-General, ar-
rived here on the I,lth inst. He is the bearer of
the Grand Cross or .klie Holy Ghost and of St.
Miguel, sent to the'Empet or by Louis XVI If.,
accompanied with .an autograph complimentary
letter from tbat Monarch. Quwre.—h this with
the approbation of the Holy Potentates on the
Continent ?