Brazil and the River Plate in 1868 - Hadfield William

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future.

      2. The Bank, Exchange, Custom House, and Arsenal (of late years greatly extended) are in the Rua Direita. Besides these, the chief public edifices and the Imperial Palace, a plain brick building; the Old Palace, on the shore, used for public offices; a public hospital, alluded to elsewhere, erected in 1841; a national library, with 800,000 printed volumes, and many valuable MSS.; and a well-supported opera house, which has supplied Europe with some very popular performers, especially in the ballet line, as witness that general favourite, Madame Celeste, who came from Rio, in 1830, with her sister Constance, another danseuse, and appeared for the first time in England at Liverpool, in the divertissement in Masaniello, Sinclair being Auber's hero. The educational establishments are the Imperial College of Don Pedro II.; the College of St. Jose; Schools of Medicine and Surgery; Military and Naval Academy; and many public schools. It has also many scientific institutions; a museum rich in Ornithology, Entomology, and Mineralogy; and a fine botanic garden. Of churches there are upwards of fifty, not of much external elegance, but most sumptuously decorated in the interior.

      3. The inhabitants of Rio Janeiro are fond of carriages, but the specimens generally seen would hardly do for Hyde Park, being chiefly old-fashioned coaches, drawn by four scraggy mules, with a black coachman on the box, and a postillion in jack-boots on the leaders, sitting well back, and with his feet stuck out beyond the mule's shoulders. The liveries are generally gorgeous enough, and there is no lack of gold lace on the cocked hats and coats; but a black slave does not enter into the spirit of the thing, and one footman will have his hat cocked athwartships, the other fore and aft; one will have shoes and stockings with his toes peeping through, the other will dispense with them altogether. But the old peer rolls on unconscious, and I dare say the whole thing is pronounced a neat turn out. The Brazilians are great snuff-takers, and always offer their box, if the visitor is a welcome guest. It is etiquette to take the offered pinch with the left hand. Rapé is the Portuguese for snuff, hence our word Rappee. They do not smoke much. The opera was good, the house very large, tolerably lighted, but not so thickly attended as it might be. The ladies look better by candle light, their great failing being in their complexions, the tint of which may be exactly described by the midshipman's simile of snuff and butter. The orchestra was good, many of the performers being blacks or mulattos, who are excellent musicians. The African race seem to like music and generally have a pretty good ear. Both men and women often whistle well, and I have heard the washerwomen at their work whistling polkas with great correctness. I was amused one evening on going out of the opera when it was half over: offering my ticket to a decent-looking man, he bowed, but refused it, saying that men with jackets were not allowed in the house.—Elves.

      4. The population of Rio, on the arrival of the royal family, did not amount to 50,000, but afterwards rapidly augmented; so that in 1815, when declared independent, the number had nearly doubled, and now is estimated at about 400,000 with the suburbs and the provincial capital of Nitherohy, on the opposite shore of the Bay. This increase is partly to be ascribed to the afflux of Portuguese, who have at different times left their country in consequence of the civil commotions which have disturbed its peace, as well as of English, French, Dutch, German, and Italians, who, after the opening of the port, settled here, some as merchants, others as mechanics, and have contributed largely to its wealth and importance. These accessions of Europeans have affected a great change in the character of the population, for at the commencement of the century, and for many years afterwards, the blacks and coloured persons far exceeded the whites, whereas now they are reduced to less than half the inhabitants. In the aggregate population of the empire, however, the coloured portion is still supposed to be treble the white.

      5. The difference between reporting proceedings of the Brazilian and English legislatures is that the latter appear daily, whilst it takes many days before speeches in the Brazilian Chambers are published, and frequently a large double sheet is issued to make up for arrears.

       Table of Contents

      Leaving for the moment the narrative form, I devote a chapter to this lamentable struggle, which has entailed such serious consequences on Brazil, and which at the time I am writing is yet undetermined. Writers have differed much as to the origin of the war, but none have shown how it could have been avoided. I may observe en passant that so far from having entertained any prejudices against Paraguay, my sympathies have always been in favour of that country as evinced during my visit to the River Plate in 1853, at which period the elder Lopez was alive, and there appeared to be dawning in the future, not only an era of internal development for a very fine, fertile territory, but also a relaxation of the iron rule under which the people had so long groaned, by encouraging, to a limited extent it might be, commercial relations with other countries. Lopez had joined Brazil in putting down the tyranny of Rozas and in restoring a free government to the Argentine provinces; the rivers were to be opened by treaty to all nations, and an era of peace and prosperity appeared to be the natural result of these arrangements. The visit of the younger Lopez to Europe, it was thought, would have instilled into his mind the fact that all the wealth he saw there emanated from commerce, and that his first object would be to render Paraguay a commercial country. Unfortunately, however, he seems to have become more enamoured with the martial attitude of France than anything else, and determined on his return home to develop the military instead of the commercial resources of Paraguay. His ambition was centered in organizing a large army, fortifying the river approaches to Asuncion, and creating a small but efficient steam fleet. The experience of the past was thrown away, and on succeeding his father in the dictatorship, it became evident that his policy was to be one of aggrandisement, if it meant anything at all, and that, in other respects Paraguay was to continue isolated from her neighbours, and to stand aloof from participation in the business of the world. Paraguay had no enemies, nor was there any desire to trouble her; her territorial position secured her safety from attack, and it is impossible that all this military and naval preparation on the part of Lopez could have been merely intended for purposes of self-defence. The truth is, that Lopez had always coveted that portion of territory called the Missions, formerly a great stronghold of the Jesuits, but now part of the Argentine Confederation; and the possession of this would bring him close upon Uruguay, where the sea port of Monte Video afforded a tempting prize. At the same time, all this involved the prospect of a collision with other Powers, against which it was necessary to provide, and this I believe to be the true reason for the great military preparations of Lopez. I have already said that Paraguay joined with Brazil in putting an end to the tyranny of Rozas, and entered into a treaty by which the navigation of the upper rivers was to be free and the independence of Uruguay to be recognised. If ever Brazil had any sinister design on the latter State this was the time when she would have been most likely to assert it, but no such disposition was evinced. On the contrary, it was the wish as well as the interest of Brazil to keep Monte Video a free port, and the rivers open to the flags of all nations. Unfortunately for the peace of South America, Monte Video has never had a strong and independent Government, and during the presidency of Berro disorders broke out on the frontier. The persons and properties of Brazilian subjects were exposed to the inroads of lawless marauders from Uruguay, until at length the patience of the people of Rio Grande was exhausted, and they threatened to take up arms in their own defence, if the Imperial Government did not at once interfere for their protection. This statement has been personally confirmed to me by large landed proprietors who were themselves on the spot and suffered from the causes here referred to. Brazil was, therefore, compelled to send troops to the frontier and to follow the marauders into Uruguay, until such time as she could obtain fresh guarantees from a Government which had proved itself totally incompetent to deal with the matter. Then came the Colorado movement, headed by Flores, and further complications ensued, which might have been settled by the timely intervention of foreign Governments, but the men in power were quite deaf to all friendly remonstrances. The flag of Brazil was grossly insulted, trampled on in the streets of Monte Video, and the treaty with her

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