The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-07-01
EUROPE.
FROM THE PARIS ARGUS.
Extreet If letter ,srit.sa By French odieer
dated Lisbor, .Jdnuiry 18.


stats, and great number Of Portuguese Of the
first distinction, were invitetlto il. The CON-
nanler in chief Junot is 10 give q ball in . few
days to the Admiral and to allth officers of his
squadron.
The offices belonging to tie departments of
the colonies, which were under the direction of
the Ministry of the Treasury, have Just been
suppressed. This measure has made great
sensation among the merchants and politicians,
because it seems to indicate dat at least for the
present, there is no thoughtpf keeping up any
kind OF connection between thl Portuguese colo
MES and the mother country.
And why should the Frcnth dread the esta.
blishment of that empire of Brazil, of which
the English seem to have occasioned tie foanda-
ton .-Whatever be the success of this enter
prize, it must ultimately be favorable to the inter-
ests of France.
Shuppose that the Prince Don John and his ia
vorites continue at Rhode Jeneiro that indolcnt
and idle existence, that life mixed with bgotry
and debauchcry, that political conduct, by turns
weak and tyrannicai, which had rendered them
the object of public contempt at Lisbon. Then
the Brazs, exhausted by the etpenccs of the
court, oppressed by favorites aid mistrcsses,
will remain, what with all the Portuguese monar-
chy, they have hitherto been, an English colony
England will have gained nothing; she will re-
ceive directly from the Brazils tie gold and the
diamonds which she received nv The way of Lis
bon. The whole produce of the gold mines of
the Br2zils amount to Is or 80 millions OF Francs
q year, whereas, in Mexico PERI and Chill, the
King of Spain coins to the aIno, mt of ten MILL
ops in gold, and of one hundred millions offrancs
in silver.
None but the ignorant can asset that the mines
of the Brazils render England mistress of the
circulation of specie. II is probAnle, but not yet
certain, that the mountains contain real gold
| mines ; hitherto, the gold has been foanI there
only in the rivulets is, on the contrary, GER
tain that the mountains of Peru are crossed
throughout their whole length ny innumerable
veins OF gold and silver.
But how will weak government maintain it
self in the midst of an energetic people enter
pricing and impatient Of restraint ks are the in
habtants of Bra ils VIII eight Kindred t!,;i-
sand Europeans, endowed with courage and
| sense, and fifteen hundred Negroes warmly at
Tackled 10 their masters, with eight or nine hun
dred thousand Indians, dispersed throughout
country $50 leagues in length and 7S) in BREADTH
easily let themselves be kept slaves tb an idle and
yoiuptuous court, established upon The border of
that i;si;!icnse country
The Brazils have for this long time past com.
planned of their governors, of the late minister
of state of their department, and even of the
Prince. II have it from good authority that in
1902, the capitania of Bahia made propositions
to England to pass under her government. We
know of four reyolts which have happened with
in less than thirty years Revoits which have
hitherto been rather smothered really than cxtin-
guished.--The presence of the court, far from
increasing the respect and at achment ofthe peo-
PIE, viii break that kind OF attachment which
torones, placed at great distance, produce a.
mong nation endowed with very lively ina
gination.
squadron of six shipso the line, with four
or 5000 good troops, may take possession of the
island of tonnes, of Para and Macapa; it would
blockade and perhaps raise all the countries wa.
fa,a L. A y -. n
viz: Rio-Negro, Rio MADEIRA, the Xing1l and
the Tucantn, that is to say, all that geography
vulgarly calls the country Of the Amazons, aud
which form Ill reality the three Brazilian govern.
ments OF Para, Matagrosso and (partly) of Coy
e.
Another. vulnerable point of Brazil, is the
eastern point, Or the government of Fernambouc;
1t was there that the Dutch maintained them
selves during the first half of the 10th century
an European military force which occupies the
borders of Rio-San Francisco, would PERHAPS
brave all the troops which the sovereign OF Bra
I'll is able to set on foot.
Surprising now the chance; LET Us imagine
that there should arise in the councils of the
Prince Don John, great statesman that this
second Pombal, become the tutor of his soye.
reign, should develope by good system of DO
icy and administration the resources of the en-.
pre- OF Brazil, what favorable result would this
have for the interests of England.
In the hrst place, necessity alone would force
the Brazillans to rcdouble their ipjustrv. All
the manufactures, especially those of cotton.
hitherto prohibited in Brazil, and, however.
clandestineiy working there, would acquire fresh
vigor and greatly multiply They world at least
suffice tor the wants OF the colonists OF the inte
rior, who make use of hardly any objects of lux
ury. The English might furnish fcYv articles
to the principal towns on the coast such as Bo-
bal, Rhode Janeiro, Marhanhao, pernanbuco
and two Or three less considerable ones.
The population of all these maritime towns
will, perhaps, one day amount from 18o. coo 70
100000 souls. But would die English annually
take charge of the sails OF 10 or 2, 900 hoesheafs
of sugar, OF from so, 70 100000 bales of col
ton, of 10000 sacks of cocoa, of as MANY and
more of coffee, etc etc These Brazilian SooJs
finding no vent in Europe, would the Fporli II,
charge themselves with their consumption in p,re.
ference to those which they receive from their
own colonies
Aud who can calculate beforehand where fbc
energy of nation, as il were, raised from the
dead, viii stop Who will secure the Enolish
from the consequences Of the cIaslIing of fbe;r
colonial interests with the interests of Brazil ,
The new empire, by its competition, Iyould
crush the little sugar islands which form one nj
the two great resources Of British trade On
The other hand, the Brazils would command tine
highway to the East Indies the Braziis tvoulI
be IN want neither Of ships, nor of ports, nor nj
seamen ;--their forests are inexha,Istible even
their negroes arc become intrepid sailors. who
then could hinder The sovereign of the Braz;ls
from one day declaring himself tire absolute . ;.