In the south-east of the Continent the struggle for liberty was far less prolonged than that in the districts of the centre, west, and north. It may be that the wide, open, agricultural plains had infused into the dwellers of Argentina an inherent sense of independence which had continued to flourish and grow, notwithstanding the dominion of the Spaniards. In any case, it was here that the revolt was, if not more enthusiastic, at all events more rapid.

Since 1776, moreover, the date when the provinces of the River Plate were exalted to the condition of a Viceroyalty, a certain freedom of intercourse had obtained which had been utterly lacking before. The trade of the country had expanded, and imports from Europe were now permitted access to the River Plate without first being subjected to the supervision of Panama or Peru. When the struggle began, it found the Argentine patriots enthusiastic and prepared.

On August 21, 1808, an act of fealty was sworn to Ferdinand VII. This, nevertheless, met with disapproval on the part of many Argentines, who desired the establishment of a junta similar to that of Seville. The party in favour of this increased rapidly in strength, and shortly afterwards the Viceroy, Liniers, resigned. Although he had to a certain extent the support of the patriot party, his position in the face of the complicated situation had become extremely difficult. He was succeeded on July 30, 1809, by Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros. The latter lost no time in giving proof of liberal intentions. He opened the ports to English vessels, and the commercial situation of the country, which had been deplorable, improved immediately.

In the meanwhile some revolutionary outbreaks at Chuquisaca and La Paz were suppressed by the Royalist troops with a brutality and wanton slaughtering which roused a storm of indignation in Buenos Aires. Cornelio de Saavedra, one of the patriot leaders in the capital, succeeded, however, in preventing an open rising, since this would undoubtedly have been premature.

A secret society was now formed in Buenos Aires, counting in its ranks Belgrano, Nicolas Rodriguez Pena, Manuel Alberdi, Viamonte, Guido, and others. From this nucleus the regiment of patricios was formed, and was commanded by Cornelio de Saavedra. The chief object of this society was the foundation of an adequate representative Government. To this end its members worked towards the abolition of the Viceroyalty and the formation of a new species of Constitution. On May 22, 1810, a great meeting was held at which it was resolved that the authority of the Viceroyalty had expired. On this it was proposed that a junta should be created. Confusion, dispute, and intrigue followed; but the mind of the people was made up, and its will was no longer to be denied.

The Viceroy, de Cisneros, reluctant to oppose the now strongly expressed popular will, on May 25, 1810, resigned his office in the presence of an immense multitude. From this day the independence of Argentina is officially counted, for on the spot a junta was established. Its members were Saavedra, Belgrano, Alberdi, Castelli, Azcuenaga, Matheu, Larrea, Paso, and Moreno.

While all this was occurring in Buenos Aires, strong Royalist sympathies continued to prevail in the provinces. Montevideo, too, showed itself hostile to the new Government. From this base the Royalists were able to strike at the new republican head-quarters at Buenos Aires, and on February 18 a Spanish fleet sailed to the spot and blockaded the capital. The patriots now made their first important move. A force of 1,200 volunteers, commanded by Ocampo and Balcarce, marched against Cordoba, where Liniers and Concha were in command of the Royalist forces. These latter were defeated and their leaders executed. Flushed by its success, the Argentine army then invaded Peru. A little later followed the victory of Suipacha, after which all the country in the neighbourhood declared itself openly for the revolutionists.

Belgrano, in the meanwhile, led an army into Paraguay. He had confidently expected the adherence of the inhabitants of that country. These, however, remained loyal to the Crown, and Belgrano, defeated, was obliged to retire.

Operations were now begun against the Spanish troops in Uruguay. These were conducted by Belgrano, and in a very short time practically the entirety of the province was in the hands of the revolutionists. Montevideo alone, held by its strong Spanish garrison, continued to resist. The town was closely invested on its landward side. Very soon after this, unfavourable news from Peru caused the Argentines to abandon their aggressive attitude; an armistice was declared so far as Montevideo was concerned, and the South American forces retired from Uruguay.

The news from the north, indeed, was sufficiently serious. After the victory of Suipacha a truce had been agreed upon by Castelli, who was in command of the patriot forces. This he had observed loyally, but Gueneche, the leader of the Spanish troops, had proved himself less scrupulous. Without warning, he had attacked the Argentine army at Huaqui, and had obtained a decisive and sanguinary victory, at the end of which the 800 Argentines who survived had been obliged to retire in some confusion to Potosi.

Gueneche now in turn took the aggressive, and, advancing, he crushed the revolution at Cochabamba, and now prepared his forces for serious invasion. These reverses of fortune were not sufficient to discourage the ardour of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires. For that the idea of independence had become too strongly engrafted in the young nation; and on February 18, 1812, the blue and white of the Argentine flag was decided upon to the sound of enthusiastic acclamations.

A month later Belgrano took over the command of the army in Peru in order to make a stand against the threatened invasion. In the first place he found caution necessary. The Royalists, flushed with victory, had recaptured the towns of Salta and Jujuy, and Belgrano retired for a while in the face of their advances. The forces under the Spanish General, Tristan, followed him.

This was Belgrano's opportunity. Falling upon the Royalist army, he completely defeated it in a battle at Tucuman, and the Spaniards suffered a heavy loss in men and munitions of war. Belgrano, then in turn advanced and made once again for Salta. In the neighbourhood of this town the Argentine flags were carried into battle for the first time, and their presence was welcomed as a favourable omen, for the victory remained with the patriot forces. Belgrano showed himself generous as a victor by liberating the great majority of his prisoners on parole, which, it is regrettable to state, large numbers of the Spaniards broke.

This victory completely changed the situation in the south-east. The patriots were enabled to resume the aggressive; their armies were sent across once more into Uruguay, and Montevideo was again besieged.

In the meanwhile a certain amount of rivalry had made its appearance among the intellectual patriot leaders in Buenos Aires. The rival parties were headed respectively by Saavedra and Mariano Moreno. Moreno eventually retired from the junta, and was offered the post of Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain. This he accepted, but died on his voyage to Europe. The party he had formed, however, continued in being after his death under the name of Morenistas. The period, of course, was one of experiment, and just at this moment numerous forms of government were essayed, and the pattern of the constitution frequently changed.

On March 9, 1812, occurred an important event in the history of Argentina. On that date Jose de San Martin arrived in Buenos Aires in the British frigate George Canning. With him came Carlos Alvear and Matias Zapiola, whose names were likewise destined to become famous in the annals of the Republic. On their arrival there was established in Buenos Aires a branch of the now important secret society originally founded in London, the "Gran Reunion Americana." This branch was christened the "Logia de Lautaro," and exercised much influence on the affairs of the revolution.

San Martin was empowered by the Government to raise a force of horse-grenadiers, which subsequently became famous. In this regiment was Alvear in the capacity of Sargento Mayor, and Zapiola as Captain. There was plenty of work for the newly-constituted forces. San Martin's regiment was employed, in the first place, in the endeavour to restrain the river-raiding expeditions which the Royalist fleet was undertaking from its base at Montevideo. The mischief effected by these incursions to the patriot forces was very great. On February 3, 1813, however, San Martin dealt the Spaniards a severe blow in the neighbourhood of Rosario. Here he surprised a landing-party and defeated it utterly. This was San Martin's first victory, and it very nearly proved his last, for he had his horse shot under him and all but lost his life.

While this was going on in Argentina, the fortunes of war in Peru had again veered from a favourable to a perilous condition. On October 1, 1813, the Argentine army was badly defeated at Vilcapuyo, and in the same year it was again defeated at Ayouma. On this the Spaniards, seeing that their star was again in the ascendant, resumed possession of Chuquisaca and Potosi.

San Martin was now sent to take charge of operations in Peru. On the Argentine side the campaign had in one sense degenerated, since the diminished numbers of the Republican forces now restricted them to guerilla fighting. This species of warfare, as a matter of fact, suited the hardy Argentines admirably, and under such brilliant leaders as Martin Guemes, Ignacio Warnes, and Juan Antonio Alvarez de Arenales, their feats had kept the Royalist forces fully occupied. San Martin, on his arrival, immediately realized the advantages of this species of resistance, and encouraged it to the utmost. By this means alone was an invasion staved off.

At the beginning of 1814 Montevideo was still in the hands of the Spaniards, who continued to command the estuary of the River Plate and the great river system generally. Ominous news arrived from Europe. An important Royalist expedition, it appeared, was being prepared in Spain. The outlook for the patriots was serious. A Council of State was called in Buenos Aires, consisting of nine members, of which Alvear was the most prominent. It was agreed that, so long as the Spanish fleet commanded the home waters, there was very little chance of driving their garrisons from the ports. It was resolved to establish a patriot fleet, which should sweep the seas clear of the Royalist vessels.

Three small vessels were in the first instance obtained—the Hercules, the Zefiro, and the Nancy. The command of these was given to an Irishman, William Brown, who lost no time in displaying his fitness for the post, and who, indeed, played the part of a lesser Cochrane. With his insignificant force he vanquished the Royalist fleet and captured the Island of Martin Garcia and blockaded Montevideo. On land General Alvear took charge of the investing patriot forces. Montevideo could now look for no assistance from the sea, and on June 20, 1814, after having suffered many hardships, the garrison capitulated, and with the collapse of its gallant defence ended the power of Spain in the River Plate.

San Martin was then appointed Governor of Cuyo, with his head-quarters at Mendoza. The situation in general was serious. Outside Argentina and Uruguay the Royalist cause had held its own, and in many districts had triumphed. It was said that the Spanish expedition of 15,000 men was on the eve of embarkation in Europe, and even in the victorious River Plate Provinces dissensions between Artigas, the Uruguayan leader, and rival Generals had resulted in civil war.

It was undoubtedly necessary to obtain some recognition of the Constitution in Europe. To this end Rivadavia and Belgrano proceeded to the Old World and sought the assistance of various countries, particularly that of England. On May 7, 1816, they arrived in Europe. The harassed statesmen of Argentina had, after consideration, decided that the best means of avoiding anarchy was to establish a monarchy. The emissaries of the New World offered the throne to Don Francisco Paulo, an adopted son of King Carlos IV. These negotiations and others which succeeded them broke down and Belgrano returned to Buenos Aires. Rivadavia went to Madrid, where he was not permitted to remain. A little later Belgrano became possessed of the somewhat extraordinary idea of crowning a member of the family of the Incas. This naturally enough met with ridicule, and was rejected.



But this is to anticipate. While all this was occurring, the struggle in Peru had continued to show the fickleness of the fortunes of war. Rondeau had been appointed General-in-Chief of the Army of Peru; he, however, had proved himself a General of slow movements, and suffered several defeats. He also fell out with Guemes, and a battle ensued between the two sections of the Argentine forces. In this Rondeau once again suffered defeat at the hands of the Gauchos. A belated peace was now made up between the leaders, and Guemes was suffered to continue his brilliant campaign unchecked.

In 1816 Puyrredon was elected dictator of Argentina, which now took its place as an independent State. The new Republic had now time to look beyond its own frontiers. Its eyes turned first of all to the west, where the Chileans were still struggling against the garrisons of Spain. Events had not favoured the patriots on the western side of the Andes, and a number of the most prominent men had fled eastwards to Argentina, O'Higgins and many others establishing themselves at the town of Mendoza for the time being. There, unfortunately, a certain amount of jealousy had broken out between the Chilean leaders, for the existence of much of which there is no doubt that the Carrera family was largely responsible.

The three brothers Carrera were very notable personalities in the war of independence in Chile. In 1811 Don Juan Jose Carrera, who had attained to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of Hussars in Europe, returned to his native country to take part in its defence. He appointed himself Colonel of the National Guards, made his eldest brother, Jose Miguel, a Colonel of the Grenadiers, and his younger brother, Don Luis, Colonel and Commander of the Artillery. In 1812 Bernardo O'Higgins joined Carrera, who at first made him Lieutenant-Colonel of the Line, and afterwards promoted him to the rank of Brigadier-General. In 1813 the three Carreras, with a number of other officers, were captured by the Spaniards, and O'Higgins assumed command of the army. When the three Carreras recovered their liberty a dispute occurred concerning the chief command, and the forces of the opposing parties actually came to blows on the Plain of Maipu, where an action was fought, and where O'Higgins was made prisoner. After this a reconciliation was brought about.

There is no shadow of doubt that a number of these patriot leaders may be ranked among the host of great men, sometimes on account of their qualities as leaders, sometimes for their statesmanship, but in almost every instance for their genuine patriotism. Nevertheless, there have been very few historical characters or temperaments which have been more difficult to estimate from contemporary accounts of their actions and motives. Jealousy entered very freely into the patriot ranks, and the various chroniclers, however honestly they may have written, and however deep their convictions may have been, were inevitably swayed to a very great extent by this.

Thus a partisan of the Carreras would have been a strange being, according to the lights of these times, had he been able to discern a spot of goodness in the personality of San Martin, and the admirer of the heroic Cochrane would have had no higher opinion of the Argentine Liberator. The reverse of the medal was, of course, shown by San Martin's adherents, who might safely have been trusted to miss no defect in Cochrane, or in any other of his party. This condition of affairs prevailed throughout, and extended for the length and breadth of the Continent. Bolivar, Sucre, and everyone of note, was a hero to his own followers, and more or less a villain to the rest of the allied, yet rival, parties. As a rule these prominent leaders suffered rather than gained from the situation, since the calumnies of the period are more abundant than the laudations. It is only now that the history of the early nineteenth century is beginning to be written calmly and dispassionately, and as a result the participants in the great deeds of that epoch appear, with justice, greater to the modern world than they did in the eyes of their contemporaries.



CHAPTER XVII

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE—II

It was at Mendoza that the famous Argentine General, San Martin, recruited the army destined for the campaign of Chile. In 1817 everything was prepared, and with an army of 4,000 men San Martin set out on one of the most extraordinary military marches that history has known. Indeed, his passage of the Andes is considered as unique by numerous military experts.

The advance of San Martin was not altogether unexpected by the Royalist forces, whose spies kept the Spanish commander informed of this latest move on the part of the patriot army. General San Martin, becoming aware of this, repaid these spies in their own coin. Taking them, as it seemed, into his confidence, he informed them of the route he was about to take, and when the time came chose another and a parallel pass. Hastening down the tremendous rocky walls of the western side of the Andes, San Martin engaged the Spanish forces and won an important victory at Chacabuco. The Royalists, under General Osorio, rallied and made a last desperate stand; but their forces were decisively and finally defeated on April 5, 1818, at Maipu, and this action resulted in the definite liberation of Chile.

San Martin was now the hero of Chile, and was begged to accept the protectorship of the new Republic. His deeds on land were rivalled by those of Admiral Cochrane on sea. The gallant Irish sailor was at the time busily occupied in sweeping the Pacific Ocean clear of the Spanish vessels, and in performing those extraordinary feats of valour for which his memory is famed. Unfortunately, misunderstandings between the pair eventually resulted in open enmity between Cochrane and San Martin. This became accentuated when the campaign was undertaken in Peru, when San Martin, not content with his victories in Chile, led his armies for the liberation of the north into Peru itself, and into the head-quarters of the remaining Spanish power.

It was in Peru, then, that the dispute between Cochrane and San Martin broke out in a public fashion. Its origin in this instance was a difference of opinion concerning the measures to be taken for the capturing of Callao Castle. The impetuous Irishman was for storming the place at once. The prudent San Martin, on the other hand, was desirous of bringing about the surrender without bloodshed. The latter had his way, but was subjected to some criticism, since a number of Royalist soldiers who escaped were enabled to carry on the campaign in the interior.

The second and more violent dispute broke out on San Martin's refusal to pay the fleet out of the funds in Lima. On this Lord Cochrane took forcible possession of a large sum of money at the Port of Ancon, thus widening still further the already grave breach between the two. Once or twice, indeed, it was a mere chance which prevented an outbreak of active hostilities between the sea and land forces. Fortunately for all concerned, matters were not destined to reach such a pass. This, however, is somewhat in advance of the period with which we are dealing, and it will be necessary to return for a short while to Peru in its colonial state.

In Peru, during the last few years of the Spanish regime, the Royalist authorities, bending to the urgent necessity of a concession to public opinion which might enable them to retain their power for a little longer, published some periodical papers, which, although of course strongly biased in their intelligence in favour of the Royalist cause, nevertheless gave a more or less accurate account of many of the events which had passed into hard and fast history. Thus the inhabitants of Lima were enabled to learn of the establishment of the Republics in Colombia, Buenos Aires, and Chile.

In 1812, moreover, the Inquisition had been abolished. Of this, Lima had been the head-quarters in South America from the day of its first institution. Here a similar stern and merciless procedure to that in other parts of the world was carried on. Indeed, the capital of the senior Viceroy was in every way the most reactionary spot in South America. In 1812, when it became known that the Cortes of Spain had abolished the Inquisition, a number of Peruvians entered the premises of the Holy office in order to inspect them. According to one who took part in it, the visit was unexpectedly exciting, for, on ransacking the documents, many of those present found their own names marked down as those of future victims. The sight of the torture-room inspired very different feelings in the breasts of the Limanians, and the sight of the iniquitous instruments enraged them to the point of destroying much within the building. Many trophies and relics were carried away as momentoes of the occasion. The following morning, however, the Archbishop proceeded in state to the cathedral, and declared all those excommunicated who had taken, and were retaining, any object belonging to the Inquisition. By this means a certain proportion of the objects were recovered.

Nevertheless, during its latter days—doubtless from a presentiment of the nearness of its end—the methods of the Inquisition had become comparatively softened. Thus, when at the beginning of the nineteenth century an old fortune-teller, accused of witchcraft, was made to stand penitent in the chapel of the tribunal, and one of the secretaries read out a list of the wretch's misdeeds, the result was very unusual for anything connected with so justly dreaded an organization. For the old fortune-teller, doubtless tickled by a recital of his feats, burst into loud laughter, in which he was joined by the majority of the spectators. It is said that the Viceroy Castelfuerte, when summoned before the Inquisition, obeyed the mandate; but he brought with him his bodyguard, and stationed two pieces of artillery outside the building of the tribunal. After this he entered, and, placing his watch on the table, told the Inquisitor that, unless they finished their business with him in an hour, the place would be battered to pieces. In the face of this information the interview terminated almost immediately.

It has been frequently brought against the inhabitants of Lima that, while in almost every other part of the Continent the Americans had already freed themselves, or were fighting with that object, they had remained in a more or less passive state. Yet this condition of affairs was practically inevitable when it is considered that Lima was the great stronghold of Spain, filled to overflowing with Spanish officials and military officers. It is certain enough that, had Lima been captured in the first place by the insurgents, the Royalist resistance in all the other colonies would inevitably have collapsed immediately; but it did not in the least follow that because Buenos Aires, Santiago, and other towns had become the seats of Republican Governments, that the movement should influence the mainspring of Spanish authority at Lima.

The Spaniards of Lima were reputed, for that reason, the haughtiest of any in the Continent, and their manner towards the Criollos continued as overbearing as ever during the first stages of the revolution. It is said that when the reinforcements came from Spain—as, for instance, when in 1813 the regiment of Talavera arrived—the behaviour of these Spaniards became more arrogant than ever. This attitude proved in the end to be possessed of a disconcertingly slender foundation. As a matter of fact, the troops which arrived from Spain during this period were for the most part composed of very indifferent material, both officers and men bearing the worst of characters, since every efficient soldier was urgently required in the Mother Country at that time.

Numbers of the Spanish troops themselves at this stage gave many signs of insubordination, more especially when, as occasionally occurred, their pay was delayed; and on two occasions a widespread mutiny was only staved off by the intervention of the Viceroy. Nevertheless, the exultation of the Spanish civilians reached its most fevered height in April, 1818, when the news of Spanish victories over the Chileans were succeeding each other at short intervals. According to contemporaneous historians, the Spaniards formed themselves into groups in the streets, and mocked and insulted every Criollo who had to pass them by. So arrogant was their conduct that no Criollo who valued his self-respect dared to enter a coffee-house in which a group of these Spaniards was assembled. The total news of the defeat of the Spanish General Osorio at Maipu came as a thunderbolt, and the shocked and humbled Spanish had to make the most of an altogether unexpected and painful situation.

W.B. Stevenson has an interesting account of the contrast which obtained at this period between the state of affairs in Lima and in Santiago:

"The contrast between the society which I had just quitted in the capital of Peru and that which I here found in the capital of Chile was of the most striking kind. The former, oppressed by proud mandatories, imperious chiefs, and insolent soldiers, had been long labouring under all the distressing effects of espionage—greatest enemy to the charm of every society—the overbearing haughty Spaniards, either with taunts or sneers, harrowing the very souls of the Americans, who suspected their very oldest friends and often their nearest relations. In this way they were forced to drain the cup of bitterness to the last dregs, without daring by participation or condolence to render it less unpalatable, except, indeed, they could find an Englishman, and to him they would unbosom their inmost thoughts, believing that every Briton feels as much interest in forwarding the liberty of his neighbour as he does in preserving his own. In Lima the tertulias, or chit-chat parties, and even the gaiety of the public promenade, had almost disappeared, and quando se acabara esto?—'When will this end?'—was constantly ejaculated.

"In Santiago every scene was reversed. Mirth and gaiety presided at paseos, confidence and frankness at the daily tertulias. Englishmen here had evinced their love of universal liberty, and were highly esteemed. Friendship and conviviality seemed to reign triumphant, and the security of the country, being the fruit of the labour of its children, was considered by each separate individual as appertaining to himself; his sentiments on its past efforts, present change and future prosperity, were delivered with uncontrolled freedom; while the supreme magistrate, the military chief, the soldier and the peasant, hailed each other as countrymen, and only acknowledged a master in their duty or the law."

As has already been explained, it was inevitable that the struggle which was taking place in Peru, the Viceroyalty, where was now centred all the remaining Spanish power of the Continent, should have been more prolonged than that in Chile, and far more so than had proved the contest in the provinces of the River Plate. So far as Lima was concerned, the result was not so long in doubt. Finding his hold on the capital no longer tenable in the face of the advance from the south of the victorious army, the Viceroy evacuated the town on July 26, 1821, and the patriot forces, entering the city, proclaimed from that place the freedom of Peru.

General Bolivar, in the meanwhile, having now cleared the northern countries of the Spanish troops, was marching down into Peru, and thus the stream of liberators from the south came into contact with those of the north. An historical interview was held at Guayaquil on July 26, 1822, between the two greatest men of the Continent of that time, San Martin and Bolivar. The details of this interview have never been made public, but what occurred may be surmised more or less accurately from the knowledge of the characters of the two men.

In one sense Bolivar's horizon was wider than that of San Martin. For practical purposes, indeed, there is no doubt that this horizon of the northern liberator had extended itself to a somewhat dangerous and impracticable degree. His dream was a federated South America—a single nation, in fact, which, save for the great Portuguese possession of Brazil, should extend from Panama to Cape Horn.

Bolivar's enthusiasm on this point refused to be curbed at any cost—at all events, at this period. It must be admitted that he did not take into full consideration the differences which climatic influences and the varying degrees of racial intermarriage had worked in the populations of the several provinces. Thus the ethics of the northern and equatorial countries had become widely different from those in the southern and temperate zones. Nevertheless, such was Bolivar's faith in the destiny of South America as a whole that he would have flung the entire mass together, and left it to work out its complicated will.

San Martin, as the representative of what might be termed, in one sense, the European States of the River Plate and Chile, was keenly alive to the defects of this plan. It is certain that the two theories were discussed in the course of the momentous interview between San Martin and Bolivar, and it is equally certain that San Martin realized that, holding such divergent views from those of his colleague as he did, friction between the leaders would in the circumstances become inevitable. He determined, therefore, on a piece of self-sacrifice which has few rivals in history. At the moment when he had achieved his triumph, and when the inhabitants of three powerful new countries were waiting to salute him with a thunder of acclamation, he laid down his office, unbuckled his sword, travelled quietly to Chile, and from there he crossed the Andes to Mendoza in a very different fashion to the one in which he had come on the occasion when he had commanded the army of liberation. From Mendoza he crossed the plains of Buenos Aires, and from there he took ship to Europe.

It is generally supposed that he never again returned to his native country. This, however, was not the case, since he once again sailed back from France with the idea of watching the progress of the land he loved so dearly. Perceiving, to his sorrow, that the country was temporarily lost in complete anarchy, he sailed to France again without having descended from the deck of the ship which had borne him out.

The remaining embers of the war had now become localized, and it was obvious that Spain was at her last gasp. Bolivar came down with his armies from Quito to Peru to complete the task of the destruction of the Spanish garrisons. In 1824 the Battle of Junin was fought, which resulted in a striking victory for the South Americans. The patriot forces on this occasion made a particularly gallant fight, and the brilliant cavalry charge made by Suarez is said to have been largely responsible for the victory.

Bolivar then gave over the command of the army to General Sucre, who on December 9, 1824, fought the Battle of Ayacucho, completely defeating the Royalist forces. This proved to be the final action of the war; the last shred of Spanish authority had been torn from the Continent, the last of the Spanish garrisons were now ploughing their sombre course back to Europe, and it was left to Spanish America to shape its own destiny.



CHAPTER XVIII

BRAZIL: FROM COLONY TO EMPIRE

Until the period of Napoleonic chaos which overwhelmed the two westernmost countries of Europe, the South American colonies of Spain and Portugal had continued their existence on similar lines. Both had been entirely subservient to the Mother Country. The laws which governed Brazil and the Spanish colonies were framed on the same model, and the disadvantages under which the colonists of either nation had laboured from the start had been practically identical.

With the upheaval which occurred at the beginning of the nineteenth century, a new order came into being, so far as the Spaniards and Portuguese were concerned. The parting of the ways was now marked. It is, indeed, curious to notice that, while Spanish South America was strenuously engaged in transforming itself from the status of a royal colony to that of a group of independent republics, an operation was being carried out in Brazil, the effect of which was precisely the reverse.

Brazil, in fact, in place of the neglect of centuries from which she had suffered, now underwent a sudden, dazzling, and altogether unexpected shower of honours and distinctions. That this did not come about spontaneously affected the colony but little; the fact remained that she was destined in a remarkably short space of time to rise from a colony to a kingdom, and from a kingdom to an empire. The circumstances which led to this transformation were sufficiently dramatic in themselves.

In order to preserve the thread of these rather complicated events, it is necessary to transfer the scene for a short while to Western Europe, where at the moment the armies of Napoleon were sweeping all before them.

In 1807, when the French troops under Junot were on the eve of entering Lisbon, the Portuguese Royal Family embarked on a Portuguese man-of-war, and, escorted by a Portuguese fleet, sought the protection of the British Fleet under Sir Sidney Smith.

The move was effected only just in time, and the Prince Regent's confidential servant, who embarked just after the rest, left his departure so late that he was obliged to forsake some of his papers, his money, and even his hat, on the beach. Sir Sidney Smith convoyed the fleet as far as latitude 37 deg. 47' north, after which he left them under the protection of the Marlborough, the London, the Monarch, and the Bedford. Almost at the same time Sir Samuel Hood and General Beresford took possession of the Island of Madeira, holding it in trust for Portugal.

The royal party landed at Bahia on January 21, 1808. So enthusiastic was their reception that they remained in the town for a month. While at Bahia the Regent gave promise of his future good-will and liberality by promulgating a carta regia, dated January 28, by which he opened the ports of Brazil to general commerce, levying on imports only a moderate duty, and permitting exports of all articles under any flag, with the exception of one or two articles which still remained royal monopolies.

The departure of the Royal Family from Bahia was rendered necessary by strategic considerations, for, owing to its peculiar situation, the town could easily have been cut off from the rest of the mainland by hostile forces. The royal party therefore sailed south, and arrived in Rio de Janeiro on March 7.

The joy in the port at the arrival of the Regent and his party manifested itself in an excitement approaching delirium on the part of the officials and populace. The mountains and the waters of the bay were illuminated night after night with Bengal fires, rockets, and similar fireworks, and every possible demonstration of joy known to the colonists was continued unbroken for nine days. In the meanwhile the inhabitants were preparing the beautiful site of the town for its promotion as a capital city of a kingdom and the residence of a King.

Indeed, in material advantages Brazil benefited almost immediately from the arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family. In the first place, as has already been explained, on January 28, 1808, the Prince Regent abolished the old exclusive system, and opened the ports of Brazil. A local writer, referring with enthusiasm to this, said the edict "ought to be written in letters of gold."

New desires, new habits, and new objects, were now introduced, and came crowding one after the other in haste into the wonderful tropical regions of the Bay of Rio de Janeiro. Printing was legalized with the arrival of the Prince Regent, who brought over with him his library, and this, in 1814, was thrown open to the public. The progress of science went hand in hand with that of the rest, and in 1811 vaccination was introduced. The pleasant arts were not left out in the cold, since, in 1813, the first regular theatre was opened. In 1814 the French were invited to come over as residents, and they accepted in numbers.

The old Criollo families now mustered about the royal representatives of Portugal, and rubbed shoulders with the nobility, who had come out in attendance, taking no little pride in the contact, and desirous only of exhibiting to the utmost possible extent the depth of their loyalty.

The character of the Regent was such as to warrant the fervent loyalty displayed by his American subjects. Although set free by the mental disease of Queen Francisca Isabel, his mother, to the exercise of almost despotic authority from his earliest years, he had developed very few of the vices usually resulting from such lack of control and training. He is described as having been "mild and just" in temper, and of comparatively pure moral character. He was, however, called to the exercise of authority in troubled times, and had not the balance which makes the perfect statesman. To Joao VI. the nearest trouble was always the greatest, and the courtier at hand, able to gain the royal ear, had far more chance of success with him than the one who proffered his request by letter. Joao found it difficult to refuse, disagreeable to inquire, and laborious to discuss. He was, in fact, an amiable man, but not a strong one.

Joao used the best measures at his command for the prosperity of his adopted kingdom, and he carried out reforms as far as he could or dared. Free trade was completely established; foreign settlers were invited, and artisans and mechanics encouraged in every way. English mechanics and shipwrights, Swedish ironfounders, German engineers, and French artists and manufacturers, crowded to this new field of action, so suddenly opened up. In the meanwhile schools and hospitals were founded throughout the country, and the new commerce, consequent on unrestricted trading, was watched and regulated. Inspectors of ports and customs were appointed to prevent fraud; Rio was made a bishopric, and the ecclesiastical establishments of the country were carefully regulated, while many new tribunals were established.

The vast increase of population and trade caused a corresponding increase in the buildings of the central and southern cities, more especially in those of the capital. New streets and squares and magnificent country houses rose up on all sides, while the presence of a brilliant Court necessarily altered many of the habits of the people. The fashions of Europe were introduced, and the Empire gained a breadth of outlook that no mere colony of the period could ever possess. The introduction of the Court brought to Brazil a new life and activity, new luxuries, increased and increasing trade, a vigorous and growing population, fresh public and private undertakings, and all the vigour of a rising community.

Rio de Janeiro was now the head-quarters, not only of Brazil, but of the whole Portuguese Empire. The Papal Nuncio had taken up his residence at the spot; Lord Strangford, the British Ambassador, and other diplomatic representatives of the various European countries, had arrived; while Sir Sidney Smith hovered about as a naval guardian angel. Rio, in fact, opened its astonished eyes to a world of fashion and to functions such as it had never known.

As could scarcely fail to prove the case in the circumstances, it was not long before jealousies arose between the Portuguese and the colonists; but it was some time before these appeared on the surface, and in the first place the atmosphere of feasting and rejoicing dissipated all other considerations.

One of the effects of the advent of the royal party in Brazil may easily be conceived. The Court had always been somewhat prodigal of its Orders and Decorations. The appetite in the Peninsula for these insignia had always been sufficiently keen; among the cruder Brazilians the greed for any distinction of the sort became quite overwhelming. The most popular Portuguese Order has always been—and remained so even until the recent ending of the Monarchy—that of Christo, and the effective state dress of this Order, the long white robe with the great cross, has always had a wide appeal. In Rio de Janeiro during this period this was only one of the Orders which were scattered broadcast, and which, after a short while, could be obtained at an increasingly cheap rate. Eventually every tradesman in Rio was wont to appear at the official gatherings, and, indeed, at the others as well, with his breast covered with a blaze of Orders, all of which had been paid for, if not in actual cash, in goods delivered.

The tremendous enthusiasm of the colonists bade fair to add an element of pure farce to the situation. At this period, moreover, various negro battalions were raised, and it is noted by travellers that the black faces of the negro officers were wont to mingle with those of the courtiers at royal functions—a very strange and new situation for those, many of whose relatives were undoubtedly slaves in the same country.

But in return for these advantages a bill—and a heavy bill at that—mounted up steadily. As a colony Brazil had been governed simply and inexpensively. After awhile the colonists found that a Queen, a Regent, and a Court, were expensive luxuries. In addition to the Royal Family there came over from Portugal more than 20,000 nobles, knights, and gentry, each expecting to be supported out of the revenues of the colony in the same state and circumstance as had been his own in Europe. In order to provide for these hosts of dependents, offices and places were created, and endowed with the most liberal salaries.

On the arrival of the Court there were already four Ministers, four offices, and four staffs of officials in existence. These were continued, and to them were added a Supreme Court of Law and Equity; a Board for the simultaneous management of the affairs and property of the Church and of the military Orders, with the power of suspending laws; a secondary Court of Appeal, but still a superior Court to those of Brazil; a general Board of Police; a Court of Exchequer and the Treasury; a mint, with a large staff of officials; a bank; a royal printing-office; large mills and factories for the manufacture of arms and ammunition; and a supreme military court.

These new posts and offices were filled throughout by European officials, and the expenses of the Court itself, added to them, made up a burden which the new trade and increased population failed to compensate. In order to meet the cost of these many new appointments the Government had imposed new taxes and duties. Tobacco, cotton, sugar, hides, and other exports, were taxed; and 10 per cent. was levied on house rent, on the sale of real property, and harbour dues.

All this, however, was insufficient, and as a last resort the expedient of tampering with the currency was tried. Dollars were sent into circulation at 20 per cent. above their commercial value. Money was borrowed from the bank, which was in close connection with the mint, and taxes were mortgaged in advance; while even the royal regalia was pledged as security. Notes were issued far beyond the amount of cash available for redemption, and a few years later the bank, its affairs brought to irremediable confusion, stopped payment.

While these things were occurring, public discontent was growing; and in order to divert the attention of the populace from internal troubles, a war was determined on. French Guiana was near, and provided an admirable object for the purpose. In 1809, when France was fully engaged in European struggles, Guiana was attacked and captured with little trouble. The colony capitulated, and remained Brazilian for six years, when the Treaty of Vienna restored it to French rule.

The conquest was of great indirect value to Brazil, in that it led to the introduction and free cultivation of agricultural products which had either been non-existent in Brazil up to that time, or extirpated by the crippling policy which Portugal pursued towards her colonies. Cinnamon, for instance, had hitherto been destroyed wherever found in Brazil, being regarded as a monopoly of the East Indies.



The easy victory over Guiana induced the Regent to make attacks on the Spanish colonies to the south and west of Brazil. Here, however willing the colonists were to shake off their subjection to Spain, they by no means desired to become subject to Brazil. It was just at this period that the War of Independence was raging, and the Spanish colonies were forming themselves into republics. Joao, fearing republicanism more than he hated Spain, aided Elio, the Spanish Governor of the Plate districts, with money and men in his attacks on the insurgents.



Elio was defeated, and the new Republicans made a hostile entry into Rio Grande and Sao Paolo. The Regent, fearing the result of this incursion, sent 5,000 Portuguese troops with a contingent of Brazilians to drive the enemy over the southern frontier. In this the Brazilian force was entirely successful, and the evacuation of Montevideo and occupation of Misiones were followed by the chasing of the Uruguayan patriot Artigas across the Uruguay River.

In spite of popular and successful war, the Brazilians refused to be entirely contented, and Joao had some reason to fear their discontent, since Brazilian money supported the Government and Court, and ruin would necessarily follow the withdrawal of this. In order to meet all objections Joao determined to make Brazil his kingdom.

On December 16, 1815, a decree was issued declaring that from the date of its publication the State of Brazil should be elevated to the dignity of a kingdom, and henceforth called the Kingdom of Brazil, and should form with those in Europe the United Kingdom of Portugal, Algarves, and Brazil. Immediately after this event the Queen, Dona Maria, died at Rio, and the Prince Regent delayed the ceremony of his succession until the expiration of a year of mourning. The arms of the new King consisted of an armillary sphere of gold, in field azure, and in a scutcheon containing the quinas of Portugal and the seven castles of Algarves. The sphere was surmounted by the royal crown.

On November 5, 1817, a vessel brought out the Archduchess Leopoldina, daughter of the Emperor Francis I. of Austria, who had been married by proxy to Dom Pedro, the son of Joao VI.

On February 6, 1818, Joao VI. was formally crowned at Rio, a ceremony which was emphasized—

"by bursts of music, peals of bells, explosions of artillery, deafening shouts, of discharges of fireworks, and such a universal display of extravagant joy that, as my worthy author, Goncalves dos Santos says: 'It would require the pencil of Zeuxis and the odes of Pindar to describe; and if anything on earth could be compared to the joys of heaven, it was that moment.'"

The following year Princess Dona Maria da Gloria was born, a circumstance which rejoiced the loyal colonists not a little. Nevertheless, in the remoter regions of the enormous colony of Brazil, where the influence of these joyous events had been less felt, all was not so tranquil.

In Pernambuco and Bahia local jealousies had fermented; the revolutions had been put down with a firm hand, and the leaders of the movements executed. This severity was much resented, both at the time and subsequently, and these provinces, in consequence, remained in a state of suppressed irritation.

In 1820 some territory was annexed in the south, when, Uruguay being convulsed by civil war, the troops of Brazil occupied Tacuarembo and the Arroyo-Grande.

After a while it became evident that Prince Pedro had gained more popularity than the King. The conservative methods of Joao VI. were in the end responsible for protests on the part of the populace, and the King at length was obliged to give way, and to promise more liberal constitutions than he had endeavoured to uphold. Dom Pedro swore in his father's name to respect these constitutions, and his example was followed by his brother, Dom Miguel. The enthusiasm which followed the concession was tumultuous, and the King himself found it necessary to come from his country seat, Boa Vista.

When he arrived at the capital his horses were taken from his carriage, and it was dragged to the palace by the people. Fireworks and illuminations followed, and a gala performance at the opera for the succeeding night was ordered; but King Joao VI. was unable to attend. The proceedings had really been adopted against the grain in his case, and thus, when the curtains in the royal box were drawn apart, it was seen to be occupied by the pictures of the King and Queen instead of by royalty in the flesh; but these pictures were received with the same enthusiasm and as hearty plaudits as though they had been royal humanity itself.

While all this was happening in Brazil, the French had been finally driven out from Portugal, and King Joao VI. determined to return once more to his native country. On April 24 he sailed with the Royal Family, leaving his son, Dom Pedro, as Governor of Brazil. Only a day or two before a disturbance had broken out in the capital. When the electors assembled, they were wantonly attacked by the Portuguese soldiery, and about thirty of them were slain, the majority in cold blood. The atrocity would have doubtlessly been more serious had not the popular Dom Pedro interfered.

With the departure of the King from Brazil it was inevitable that complications should ensue. Having once enjoyed the status of a kingdom, and having been granted those privileges which had so benefited the country during the past few years, it was only natural that Brazil should resent any attempt to place her once again in the neglected situation from which she had been rescued. It seemed, nevertheless, as though the policy of Portugal would now be directed towards this end. It was at this juncture that the influence of Prince Pedro began to be felt.

Prince Pedro possessed a personality essentially capable of commanding; his talents, moreover, were varied. He was a good horseman, a keen sportsman, and was addicted to music and many of the politer arts. The part he had to play was undoubtedly a difficult one. His sentiments were intensely Brazilian; at the same time, in the letters he wrote to the Court of Portugal he stated distinctly that the Mother Country alone possessed his loyalty, as was only just, and that he would make no move whatever that would prejudice the interests of Portugal. He even went the length of lamenting his presence in the far-away land he governed, and swore that he longed for the day when he might return and sit upon the steps of his father's throne.

In the meanwhile the jealousies between the Portuguese and Brazilians increased rapidly, the bitterness being more especially evident in the soldiery of the respective lands. King Joao himself had behaved with little consideration ere his departure. One of his last acts in Brazil had been to promise the soldiery of that country double pay, yet, though he had left the promise behind him, he had left no means whatever to carry it out, and thus disturbances arose in many places.

On December 9, 1821, the brig Dom Sebastiao arrived, bearing a decree to institute a provisional Government, which should again reduce the country to the condition of a province, and another which ordered the immediate return to Portugal of the young Prince Regent. A real crisis now arose. The Brazilians, devoted to Dom Pedro, implored him to remain; the Portuguese garrison spoke of removing him on a homeward-bound ship by force. The whole city was agog, and the excitement at fever-heat. In the midst of the turmoil the Brazilian troops surrounded the Portuguese, and, after obtaining a great strategic advantage, ordered them to march on board the vessels of the fleet bound for Lisbon.



The Portuguese were inclined to resist, when Dom Pedro himself appeared in their midst and ordered their commanders specifically to embark the next day and to sail for Portugal. He had now decided on his attitude, and was determined that his orders should be obeyed. To show that he was in earnest he even took a match in his hand and lit it, and swore that, did the Portuguese troops refuse, he would be the first man to fire a cannon at them. This ended the matter, and the next day the ship sailed and carried away the Portuguese garrison.



On May 13, 1822, a deputation from the Rio Chamber of Deputies approached Prince Pedro and persuaded him to assume the title of "Constitutional Prince Regent and Perpetual Defender of Brazil." Portugal, for its part, was now bitterly opposed to Brazil and to the Brazilians. Decrees were enacted towards the suppression of the independence of the great colony. One of these ran to the effect that Prince Pedro was to return to Europe within four months, and that any of the military who obeyed his orders, unless by compulsion, were to be deemed traitors to Portugal.

During all this time fresh troops were arriving to reinforce the garrison at Bahia, which had remained Royalist. The patriots, for their part, had collected strong forces and hemmed the Royalists in Bahia to such an extent that they could only retain communication by sea.

Matters grew more and more strained every day, for the Mother Country sought to put an end to the virtual supremacy of its great colony, while Brazil was utterly opposed to Portuguese rule. When Prince Pedro was ordered to return to Portugal, "in order to complete his education," the Brazilians, and especially the provincial Government of Sao Paulo, begged him to disobey and remain in Brazil. The soldiers threatened to mutiny if he went, and the people entreated him not to go, while every proof of his popularity was added cause for exasperation on the part of the Home Government, rendering his situation more dangerous.

If Dom Pedro went to Portugal, said the Brazilians, they must choose between an anarchical republic and the old state of dependence on Portugal. In the matter of Sao Paulo and the requests of its citizens, the brothers Andrada were most prominent, and they obtained a promise from the Prince that he would not go. Together with the Andradas he toured the States of Minas and Sao Paulo on a mission of pacification; but the people of the country felt that the present state of affairs could not continue, and in his absence it was determined to make him the ruler of the country, and he was declared Defender of the Empire. On September 7, 1822, he received a bundle of despatches from Portugal, and his staff watched while he read letter after letter. There was one which he read two or three times, and then destroyed. What its contents were was never known, but after pondering and a few minutes of thought, Pedro raised his hand and spoke his decision—"Independence or death!"

There was no doubt that he had carried out the wishes of his father, and probably the letter which he destroyed contained Joao's written directions. Some idea of this seems to have been general among the Brazilians, for both they and the Portuguese soldiers in Brazil always spoke of Joao with affection, and regarded him rather as a prisoner of the Cortes of Lisbon than as King of Portugal.

The Brazilians determined that the last doubt concerning the situation should be dissipated, and on October 12, 1822, Dom Pedro, who was at Piranga, was made constitutional Emperor of Brazil, and all relation and connection with Portugal was severed.

Dom Pedro had all this time kept up a correspondence with his father, King Joao, and in one of these letters he wrote:

"They wish, and they say they wish, to proclaim me Emperor. I protest to your Majesty that I will not be perjured ... that I will never be false to you; and if they commit that folly, it will not be till after they have cut me to pieces—me and all the Portuguese—a solemn oath, which I here have written with my blood in the following words:

"'I swear to be always faithful to your Majesty, to the Portuguese nation, and Constitution.'"

These latter words were apparently actually written in his blood, and the epistle is certainly a proof of the complicated state of affairs and of the strange influences which were at work.

Open warfare now broke out between Brazil and Portugal. At Bahia the Portuguese, although their garrison was hemmed in, were masters of the sea. The Brazilians determined to make a bold bid for the control of the waves, and to this end sent an invitation to Lord Cochrane, who had just freed the Pacific Ocean from the Spanish fleet, and was at the time in Chile.

An invitation of that kind was never refused by Cochrane. In March, 1823, he arrived and took command of the new Brazilian fleet, which was considerably inferior to that of Portugal. He sailed immediately for Bahia, but found his crews in no very anxious mood to fight their compatriots. A few skirmishes ensued, and the Portuguese fleet took refuge under the guns of the land forces. On the same day the Brazilians entered the city and took possession of it.

The Portuguese fleet now sailed to the north, and was pursued by Lord Cochrane beyond the Equator. He saw to it that their voyage was an eventful one, for he captured more than one-half of their transports, and completely dispersed the remainder. Cochrane then returned to Brazil, and was instrumental in releasing the north of that country from the remaining foreign forces.

On December 1, 1823, Dom Pedro was formally crowned. The ceremony was dramatic, and crowns and wreaths of laurels were showered down upon the hero of the nation, while patriotic airs were thundered out with tremendous enthusiasm.

Three years later (August 29, 1825) Pedro was acknowledged as Emperor of Brazil by the Mother Country, after the last Portuguese troops in the country had been withdrawn.



CHAPTER XIX

THE EMPIRE OF BRAZIL

Portuguese acquiescence in Dom Pedro's sovereignty was brought about largely by the instrumentality of Lord Cochrane, who, after harrying the deported garrison of Bahia when on its voyage to Europe, brought about the capitulation of Maranhao and Para, acting in concert with Grenfell, another ocean free-lance, second only to Cochrane in daring and versatility.

In Montevideo the General commanding the Portuguese garrison declared for independence, and left the soldiers to make their own choice; whereupon they followed the remainder of the Portuguese troops to Europe. Uruguay, left to its own choice, retained its allegiance to Brazil until Artigas, a famous leader and partisan of liberty, stirred up the people. The Brazilian troops entered Montevideo on January 20, 1817, and the Emperor sent his picture to the Cabildo Hall, an act which brought about the appearance of a most extraordinary document, drawn up by the officials of the town. When the portrait appeared they announced that—

"A mixed sensation of trembling and delight seized us, as if we were in the presence of the Lord."

In justice to the inhabitants of Montevideo in general, it must be said that this fulsome and despicable effusion was the work of only a few, and was hostile to the sentiments of, and strenuously condemned by, the general public.

The first Brazilian Assembly, as soon as convoked, set to work to frame its first Constitution, a matter which was found extremely difficult. The fact that Brazil had been an independent monarchy for some years helped to combat the views of those who shouted "Liberty!" too loudly, and would fain have abandoned practice for theory. It was understood that the first requisites were order and security, together with reasonable checks on authority. Further, it was realized that there must be sufficient elasticity to meet future needs and circumstances.

But for the Emperor, the forming of the Constitution would have been a failure. Almost immediately after his first opening of the Assembly he laid before it a sketch of the Constitution that they had to form. "The recent Constitutions," he said, "founded on the models of those of 1791 and 1792, had been acknowledged as too abstract and metaphysical for execution. This had been proved by the example of France, and more recently by that of Spain and Portugal. We have need of a Constitution where the powers may be so divided and defined that no one branch can arrogate to itself the prerogative of another; a Constitution which may be an unsurmountable barrier against all invasion of the royal authority, whether aristocratic or popular, which will overthrow anarchy and cherish the tree of liberty, beneath whose shade we shall see the union and the independence of the Empire flourish—in a word, a Constitution that will excite the admiration of other nations, and even of our enemies, who will consecrate the triumph of our principles by adopting them."

There was, however, too much of self-denial in the Emperor's views to meet with the approbation of the Assembly. At the head of the Ministry were the brothers Andrada—men who in earlier days had rendered great services to Dom Pedro, but who had grown somewhat arbitrary, overbearing, and impatient, and now presumed on their past services in establishing the Empire to tyrannize over both the Emperor and the Assembly. In the end the members of the Assembly forced the brothers to resign, at which the people rose and drew Jose Bonifacio in triumph through the streets of Rio to his official residence.

Fearing the people, the Assembly reinstated the Andradas for a period of eight months, after which they were again ejected. From this time on they became violent opponents of the Assembly and the Court, seemingly determined that if they could not rule, nobody else should. Their newspaper, the Tamayo, was a powerful organ in the capital, and proved itself as unsparing as it was libellous in its attacks.

It was owing to obstruction of this kind that for a long while no advance was made in the formation of a Constitution, for as the Emperor made suggestions, the Andradas caused them to be thrown out. Bills brought in by members were never read, and the brothers even went so far as to attack the Portuguese employes of the Emperor, and when one of these wrote a scathing article against them, they used personal violence toward him. He appealed to the Assembly, whereupon the Andradas insisted that he and all his fellows should be dismissed.

Week by week the Tamayo grew more virulent and threatening against the Emperor. Dom Pedro grew alarmed, for the Andradas were wealthy and powerful, and the Emperor felt that their disaffection might be a sign of general popular feeling—that the republican movement was gaining ground too much for his safety. His actions against the republican movement in various parts of the Empire, necessary though they were, had, nevertheless, forced him into connection with, and reliance on, the Portuguese residents and militia, a class almost as distasteful to the liberal Brazilians as the Portuguese whom they had driven out of the country. Thoroughly liberal in his own tendencies, Pedro yet felt that the Andradas might be expressing a general discontent with his rule.

The Andradas, at the head of the popular party, drove the Emperor to the use of extreme measures by their insolence and turbulent intrigues. He took the law into his own hands. The brothers had induced the Assembly to declare itself permanent, but, not unlike Cromwell in a different species of crisis, Pedro surrounded the Chamber with troops and guns, dispersed the Deputies, and captured the three Andradas, together with two of their principal friends. These five he deported to France without the formality of a trial.

At this the popular party took alarm, but the Emperor pointed out that he had no other course left; he had acted from no desire to impair the freedom of the people, but from necessity. The proclamation which he issued at this time stated that "though he had, from regard to the tranquillity of the Empire, thought fit to dissolve the third Assembly, he had in the same decree convoked another, in conformity with the acknowledged constitutional rights of his people."

With regard to the forming of the Constitution, he left it no longer to the Assembly, but appointed a committee of ten persons to settle the sketch he had drawn up.

The Republican and ultra-Liberal party, awed by the salutary treatment meted out to the Andradas, grew furious at the further energetic measures of the Emperor, for they saw in Dom Pedro's policy an attempt to gain absolute dominance. Open rebellion broke out all over the country, and a Republic was actually proclaimed in Pernambuco, Ceara, the northern provinces generally, and in the south. Uruguay for the last time revolted, and severed the tie which bound her to the Empire, having never since been subject to Brazil.



The moderate people wavered between the two sides. They saw in Republicanism only anarchy, while the Emperor's coup d'etat inspired them with fear of his government. He himself, seeing that a striking move was necessary, sought the assistance of the Town Council of Rio, and with their aid adopted the Constitution he had drawn up, without submitting it to the Assembly. On March 24, 1824, he swore to the Constitution in public, trusting to the freedom and fairness which it embodied to gain him adherence.

This move was perfectly successful, for wherever the Constitution was proclaimed the Republican party fell to pieces. The principles of the document were so simple, liberal, and practical, that the Republican party could not ask more than the Emperor gave. By this Pedro saved his throne, beyond doubt, and gradually the provincial authorities and the people of the country accepted the situation, and swore to observe the new Constitution.

In the meanwhile a species of minor maritime warfare was carried on in the River Plate between the Brazilian fleet and the Argentine vessels commanded by Admiral Brown, in the course of which the Brazilians suffered not a little, and the prestige of the Imperial fleet in consequence diminished.

On December 11, 1826, the Empress died in childbirth at the early age of twenty-nine. She had come out from Austria determined to make the ways of Brazil her own. On her first arrival she was considered lovely, and there is no doubt that her fair, clear complexion, blue eyes, and golden hair were immensely admired by folk themselves almost invariably possessed of raven locks. Some while after she had arrived in the country of her adoption the Empress is said to have neglected her personal appearance to a rather regrettable extent, adopting the ways of the Brazilian country-side rather than those of the capital. Thus she accustomed herself to large heavy boots adorned with enormous spurs, and would ride astride on a horse, her hair being suffered to hang loose about her face and shoulders. In fact, she paid not the slightest attention to those attractions with which Nature had endowed her. She was a being of intense charity and love, polished to a degree, an accomplished letter-writer, and a lover of the fine arts in general.

Had the Empress bestowed less care on others and more upon her own person, there is little doubt but that she would have led a happier life, for the Emperor, surrounded by the temptations which are always in the path of crowned heads, allowed his affections to stray. Indeed, so wrapped up was Dom Pedro in his liaison, that the unfortunate Empress, under pressure, found her rival attached to her Court as lady-in-waiting. Her meek and affectionate temperament does not appear to have resented this—at all events openly. When, however, this rival insisted on making her way to the death-bed of the Empress, it was felt by the attendants that all bounds had been passed. On their own responsibility they prevented the proposed entrance, and after the death of the Empress suffered for their pains at the instigation of the slighted favourite.

Towards the end of 1826 Colonel Cotter, an Irish officer in the Brazilian Service, undertook to bring over a number of his countrymen from their native land in order that they should become soldier settlers—that is to say, they were promised fifty acres of land a head if they would undertake to perform military service when needed. The result was a fiasco. The unfortunate Irishmen came out, but found nothing prepared for them. They were insulted, moreover, by the negroes, who took to calling them "white slaves" as a mark of contempt for the ragged clothes to which they found themselves reduced in the end.

Goaded beyond endurance, not only by neglect, but by periodical assaults on their numbers, the Irish, together with a number of Germans and other soldiers who found themselves in a similar situation, broke out into open mutiny, and a pitched battle took place between them and the blacks, who had now been armed by the authorities. In the end the Brazilians intervened, assisted by the French and the English Marines, who were landed from the fleets of their respective nations, and the mutiny was suppressed, but not before many foreigners quite unconcerned with the affair had been slain. After this the Irish returned to their native land.

The proclamation of the Constitution marked the zenith of Dom Pedro's popularity. The dangers he had gone through and the arbitrary measures he had been compelled to adopt seem to have altered his views to an extent which in the end alienated from him the sympathies of his people. He never again trusted the Brazilians, while the success of his arbitrary policy in connection with the Andradas, and in the troubled times which followed, gave him a taste for absolute rule. In the formation of the Constitution he saved his country, but ruined himself.

After the last sparks of revolution had been put out, the people looked for the convocation of the Assembly again, but the Emperor omitted to bring this about for such a length of time that the nation began to understand that he no longer viewed its claims in the same light. Soon his preference for the Portuguese began to attract notice, and the treaty with Portugal, into which he entered before the Mother Country recognized the independence of Brazil, caused general indignation by its extravagant concessions. The treaty was justly resented, for Pedro was Emperor by successful revolt and conquest, and yet by this treaty he forewent his just rights, and then bought them again from Portugal—with Brazilian money.

This error of diplomacy was followed by war against Uruguay, for the Emperor attacked the revolted province, and declared war against Buenos Aires for rendering assistance to the Uruguayans. The campaign was carried on so feebly and expensively that the people regarded it as folly, and at the same time resented the enlistment, already referred to, of regiments of German and Irish troops, aliens, who were never popular.

The people of Brazil were aggravated, in addition to these causes, by the increasing extravagance of the Emperor, and by the expense which his establishment entailed, while his policy had reduced the nation to poverty. There were numerous payments to be made to Portugal in connection with the senseless treaty into which Pedro had entered; there was the cost of the war, including the pay of the hired German and Irish troops; and then there was the personal expenditure of the Emperor to add to these, while the militia system of the country had developed into a sort of conscription, an utter grievance in the sight of people who wanted liberty and peace.

In 1828 Uruguay was declared independent, much to the dissatisfaction of a great number of Brazilians, who advocated the retention of the Banda Oriental as a province of Brazil.



On March 10, 1826, Dom. Joao died. As soon as the tidings reached Brazil the Emperor assumed the title of King of Portugal, in addition to that of Emperor of Brazil. On May 2, six days later, he abdicated the throne of Portugal in favour of his daughter, Dona Maria. It was resolved that Dona Maria should marry her uncle, Dom Miguel, in order that she should ally herself with a Portuguese of high rank. Nevertheless, a dispute arose between the adherents of Dom Miguel and those of the Emperor of Brazil, and a state of civil war obtained in Portugal for a time. Dona Maria, on her arrival in England on her way to Portugal, was received with royal honours. But Dom Miguel seized upon the throne and managed to hold it for a while.

Supported by the Portuguese or Absolutist party, Pedro went his way, and, even in his latter days of rule, refused to sign Bills for the development of the Constitution. There was undoubtedly much now to unsettle the Brazilian populace. Disadvantageous reciprocity treaties were concluded with various countries, while defeats of the Brazilian soldiers were experienced at the hands of the troops of the Argentine Republic. An indemnity was demanded by France and the United States of America for ships captured during the blockade of Buenos Aires, and large sums of money had to be paid to avert further war. Finally, the English Government persuaded Brazil to make a somewhat humiliating peace with Buenos Aires, and renounce all claim to the colony, which was henceforth to be known as the Republic of Uruguay.

By 1830 the policy which the Emperor pursued had alienated the national affection to such an extent that every member of the Assembly but the Ministers was in opposition. Wherever the Emperor went, he was treated with coldness instead of enthusiasm. A scheme on the part of the Republicans for adopting the Constitution of the United States, but retaining Pedro as hereditary President, caused him to dismiss his Ministers, and surround himself with men of the Absolutist party. At this an immense crowd assembled in the Campo de Santa Ana, demanding the reinstatement of the popular Ministers.

The Emperor sent a magistrate to read a justification of his conduct to the crowd, but the paper was snatched from the magistrate's hands and torn to pieces almost before he had finished reading it. In their turn the people sent messengers to the palace, insisting on the reinstatement of the Republican Ministers. The Emperor listened to the demand, and answered: "I will do everything for the people, nothing by the people."

This answer exasperated the crowd still further, yet no excess was committed. At two o'clock in the morning the last messenger of the people was departing with the Emperor's refusal to yield to their demands, when Pedro bade him stay, and, sitting down at his desk, wrote his last message to the people of Brazil:

"Availing myself of the right which the Constitution concedes to me, I declare that I have voluntarily abdicated in favour of my dearly beloved and esteemed son, Dom Pedro de Alcantara."

Having handed this to the messenger, Pedro burst into tears and retired to his private apartments.

Six days later he sailed from the harbour of Rio in an English man-of-war, leaving Brazil and his child for good.



CHAPTER XX

FROM EMPIRE TO REPUBLIC

Dom Pedro II. was but five years old when his father abdicated in his favour on April 7, 1831, and, during his minority, the government of the country was entrusted to Regents. In 1840, when he was fifteen years old, it was officially announced that he had attained his majority, and he was crowned in 1841. In 1843 he married Theresa Christine, sister of Ferdinand II. of the Two Sicilies. His sons died in their childhood, and his daughter Isabella became heiress to the crown.

Pedro II. came to the throne at a perilous time. The people were in a state of revolution, while the National Exchequer was practically empty, and the National Bank was bankrupt. With the abdication of Pedro I. the Ministry and official Service had disappeared.

Yet the crowd that had forced the abdication of Pedro I. drew the new boy Sovereign in triumph through the streets of the city, and, placed in a window of the palace, he watched the great multitude throng past, acclaiming him with immense enthusiasm. It was soon seen that, in spite of the national upheaval, the mass of the people were fully alive to the necessity for preserving order and preventing licence. There were riots and disturbances for a time, as was inevitable; but the patriotic, although turbulent, family of the Andradas again came to the front, and suppressed all signs of revolution. Thus the boy Emperor's position was secure.

Still, with a country nearly bankrupt, stringent measures were necessary to restore prosperity; official independence and peculation had to be suppressed, and the Regents, who succeeded each other with marked rapidity, had to be watched, while it was necessary at the same time to maintain the executive power. These exigences led to strenuous scenes in the Assembly, and the succession of Regents became still more rapid. In this capacity Andrada, Carvalho, Muniz, Feijo, and Lima, succeeded each other, while Ministers and Opposition squabbled and strove together, denouncing each other as the worst of tyrants.

Notwithstanding the confusion, a certain amount of progress was effected. Abuses were remedied, reforms effected, while the national tendency towards Republicanism strengthened the ultra-Liberal party, to whom the old-time Absolutists allied themselves. A reactionary party, desirous of seeing the Emperor recalled, came into being, and between these two was the moderate party, composed of the greater part of the population of the country, and represented politically by the Regency and the majority in the legislative chambers.

There was, however, sufficient strength in the Republican and ultra-Liberal party to accomplish revolt in the provinces of such extent as to call for military action in order to suppress it. Accordingly the provinces became, through the various reforms introduced, self-governing States, and, when the number of Regents had been reduced from three to one, there was little difference between the Constitution of Brazil and that of the United States of America.

The old Emperor, Pedro I., died in Portugal on September 24, 1834, and after that event a strong reaction set in among the Brazilians in favour of the Monarchy. The democratic party asserted that the Emperor's sister was, on attaining the age of eighteen, fully capable of exercising the duties of Regent. Having once granted this, the natural deduction followed that if a girl was fit to rule at eighteen, a boy was fit to rule sooner. In 1840 the Opposition brought forward a motion to the effect that the Emperor was of age, in spite of the article of the Constitution which declared that the majority of the Sovereign should be the age of eighteen.

By that time the nation was prosperous and at peace, while moderate men were tired of the faction struggles and the tumults caused thereby. Lima, Regent at the time, was extremely unpopular, and, when the debates began in the Assembly, there was a general wish that he should be defeated. The motion of the Opposition was made, and was met by the answer that the Constitution forbade this premature declaration of majority. The Opposition retorted that circumstances warranted the infringement, since in extreme evils the interests of the State required extreme measures.

Such a proposition as this implied that the Regent and Ministry were an extreme evil, and the scene in the Chamber grew animated as the speech grew more and more personal. Antonio Carlos de Andrada, one of the younger men of that great family, as fiery tempered as he was patriotic, led the attack, accusing the Regent and Ministry of usurpation and unconstitutional tyranny, since the Princess had attained the age of eighteen.

Then Galvao, one of the most prominent of the Ministerial party, turned against his own side, and urged the immediate proclamation of the Emperor. Another eminent member of the Assembly, Alvares Machado, declared "that the cause of the Emperor was the cause of the nation, and ought to receive the approbation of every lover of his country." The language of the Opposition grew violent and threatening. Navarro, a Deputy representing Matto Grosso, denounced Lima and all his acts, finishing his declamation by shouting, "Hurrah for his Imperial Majesty's majority!" The applause from spectators and the Opposition alarmed the Ministerialists, who tried to secure delay in bringing about the change. Limpo de Abreo moved that a committee be appointed to consider the matter at once, and, this being carried, the Opposition consented to an adjourning of the Assembly.

On the next day the Regent prorogued the Assembly until November, and appointed Vasconcellos, a man of great standing and political power, but factious, selfish, and immoral, as Minister of the Empire. These unpopular movements brought about actual revolt in the Assembly, for Antonio Andrada called on the members of the Assembly to follow him to the Senate. The two Houses conferred, and appointed a deputation to the Emperor himself, urging his consent to being immediately proclaimed. The deputation returned, bearing His Majesty's consent, and an order to the Regent to revoke his decrees, pronouncing the Chamber to be again in session. These powerful measures ended the controversy. In 1841 the coronation ceremony was performed, and Pedro II. assumed actual rule over Brazil.

He was in almost every sense an efficient ruler. His personality was viewed with confidence in Europe, and so long as he occupied the throne the very important question of foreign loans presented few difficulties. The influence of the Emperor was especially notable at the conclusion of the Paraguayan War, when the finances of Brazil were in an exhausted condition. Pedro II. was no autocrat; of a gentle and exceptionally unselfish character, he governed in a simple and most painstaking fashion, manifesting his patriotism in every possible direction.

Exterior events were of little importance during the first years of Pedro's reign. The chief happenings were a certain amount of civil war in the Rio Grande, and the partaking of the Brazilian forces in the battles between Uruguay and Rosas, the tyrant of Argentina, varied with occasional fights with Uruguay itself. In 1842 revolts broke out in the provinces of Sao Paulo and Minas Geraes, but these, together with similar insurrections in Rio Grande in 1845, and in Pernambuco in 1849, were suppressed. In 1851 Brazil espoused the cause of Urquiza, the Governor of Entre Rios, against that of Rosas, and the aid of the Brazilian troops was largely instrumental in bringing about the fall of the tyrant.

Dom Pedro's administration, moreover, was conducted with tact and good judgment. His presence acted as a check upon the experimental tendencies of the more effervescent of his subjects. He believed in slow and sure progress, and undoubtedly during his reign Brazil responded to the care and thought expended on her. Indeed, the policy of the Emperor was liberal to a degree, and as such very welcome to a populace whose ideas, if not instincts, had grown more or less democratic.

In 1865 the Five Years' War with Paraguay was commenced, a struggle in which, under the tyrant Lopez, the tiny Republic held at bay the armies of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, to the utter ruin of Paraguay itself, and the virtual destruction of its male population. The struggle terminated with the death of Lopez at the Battle of Cerro Cora in 1870, after exhausting the resources of Brazilian finance. Meanwhile, in 1867, Dom Pedro opened the Amazon to the commerce of all nations, and in 1871 passed a law for the gradual abolition of slavery.

Had Pedro been gifted with a child of a character resembling his own, it is reasonable to suppose that the Empire would have continued for far longer than was the case. Unfortunately, however, neither his daughter, the Princess Isabel, nor her husband, the Conde d'Eu, had succeeded in winning the sympathies of the Brazilians. Princess Isabel was markedly cold and restrained in manner, and these unfortunate traits appear to have been fully shared by her husband. The latter was somewhat deaf, which added to the apparent reserve of his manner; he was, moreover, credited with the possession of a miserly disposition.