mutual confidence will subsist between it and the Government. Upon that perfect harmony and mutual confidence, (which on the part of Government will be unalterable,) the stability of the Constitutional System, the regular march of the Administration, and the national prosperity depend; on which last, rests the glory of my Imperial Throne. The Session is opened.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL EMPEROR, AND PERPETUAL DEFENDER OF BRAZIL.

PROCLAMATION of the Emperor of Brazil to the Portuguese Nation, on the meditated overthrow of the Constitutional Charter of Portugal.-25th July, 1828.-(Translation.) PORTUGUESE!

Ir is not as your King that I now address you, for my Abdication is completed, but it is as the Father and Guardian of your lawful Queen, Donna Maria the IId.

The state of coercion in which my Brother the Infant Don Miguel, the Regent of the Kingdom, is placed, is clear and manifest to every one; to suppose the contrary would be to injure his honour, which I deem to be unsullied; it would be to consider him as a Traitor to the protestations which he made to me as his King, and a violator of the Oaths which he freely and spontaneously took at Vienna, in Austria, and ratified in Lisbon, in the presence of the Nation, lawfully represented, according to the Constitutional Charter which was offered to you by Me, and was by him and by you freely and solemnly accepted and sworn to.

A disorganizing Faction, under the pretext of defending the Throne and the Altar, is incessantly at work throughout unhappy Portugal, in defiance of every consideration, religious, civil, and political; it disputes the undoubted and imprescriptible rights by which your Queen has lawfully ascended the Throne of her Ancestors; it rules the Regent; it governs the Kingdom; it dissolves a Chamber of worthy and meritorious Deputies; it neglects to convoke another immediately, in compliance with the Constitution; and, in manifest violation of the Legislative Power, it appoints a Junta to draw up new Instructions for the election of Deputies, which they call lawful; these are not forthcoming; on the contrary, the Constitutional Charter is destroyed by a single blow, and the ancient Cortes, an Institution already abolished by the Oath taken to the same Constitutional Charter, are convoked; it praises and sanctions crimes committed against Citizens who are faithful to their Oaths; it consents to and even authorizes the perpetration of horrors in the very Capital, by the Troops who ought to watch over the publick safety, under the same pretext of defending the Throne and the Altar. To what lengths will not misfortune

lead Men who are weak and unwary? But this is not all; it praises the insubordination of Portuguese Soldiers against their Officers,against those Officers who have remained true to their Oaths, and all this is said to be grounded upon the two principal Institutions-the Throne and the Altar! What Throne is capable of permitting the perpetration of such deeds? What religion can command such proceedings to be carried on, even against the dignity and honour of worthy and distinguished Families?

Portuguese to what a wretched state is your Country reduced under the dominion of fanaticism, hypocrisy, and despotism! If it were possible for your Ancestors to arise from their tombs, they would suddenly fall dead again, on seeing that the cradle of their victories is transformed into a theatre of horrors.

You are worthy of a better lot; your happiness or your total ruin is in your own hands. Follow my counsels, Portuguese! they are given you by a philanthropic and truly constitutional heart.

It is time that you open your eyes, and unite to maintain the Oath which you have taken to the Constitutional Charter, and to the Rights of your Queen. By so doing you will not only save your Country, but also my Brother, by defending the real Throne, and the true Roman Catholick and Apostolick Religion, which you have sworn to maintain. Do not, Portuguese, give a victory to the Enemies of Constitutional Monarchical Governments, who desire to see Perjurers placed upon Thrones, in order to strengthen their arguments against such forms of Government; far be it from me to regard my Brother as guilty of perjury or treason; he is no doubt in a state of compulsion; as such I consider him, and shall continue so to do until the Leaders of this disorganizing Party shall have quitted Portugal.—Portuguese ! maintain the Constitutional Charter; it was never foreign to you, it was given to you by a lawful King; what evils has it brought upon you?- that liberty of which before you had only the promise.-Yes! Portuguese, moisten with your blood the Tree of Liberty, and you will see how it will flourish amongst you, bringing forth fruit in spite of intrigues and machinations. Do not allow it to suffer from the attacks of perfidiousness and treason to the Country, which lies oppressed under the yoke of the most ferocious despotism. You are a free People, and you form an independent Nation: what would you wish for? The European Governments recognize the legitimacy of your Queen; combat then for her and for the Constitutional Charter, fear no obstacles, recollect that the cause you are going to defend is that of justice, and that you are bound by your Oath to defend it. The truth does not reach the presence of your Regent; Fanatics, Hypocrites, Despoticks, and immoral Men conceal it from him; and the imminent danger in which his life is placed makes him submit to a Faction, the like of which has never been seen in the annals of

the Portuguese Nation, which from the beginning of the Monarchy has always been free, as the pages of history will prove. Imitate the example of the ancient Portuguese, approach the Regent, speak most clearly and respectfully to him, as they did to the King Alphonso the IVth, and say to him, "Sir, by the path in which your Highness allows yourself to be guided, you will unavoidably be precipitated into the deepest of abysses; govern us according to the Constitutional Charter to which your Highness and ourselves have sworn, and learn that in this lawful manner alone do we stand in need of you." If you do this, you will see that he, finding the Portuguese disposed to support him as Constitutional Regent, will escape from the shameful tutelage in which he is kept, and which is dragging him to the precipice from which he can never be extricated with honour, and that, throwing himself into your arms, in order that he may govern according to Law, your happiness will be ensured. Hasten to succour him, Portuguese, otherwise he and you will be the victims of anarchy. My conscience is free from remorse; I have laid the truth before you, if you choose to follow it you will be happy, if not, you will see the most obstinate despotism rear its crest amongst you, never again to be subdued.

Rio de Janeiro, 25th July, 1828.

Francisco Gomez da Silva.

PEDRO, EMPEROR.

SPEECH of the Emperor of Brazil, on the Closing of the Legislative Assembly.-20th September, 1828.-(Translation.)

AUGUST AND MOST WORTHY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BRAZILIAN

NATION.

THERE have been many Legislative Acts of the present Session; the Affairs of Finance have, nevertheless, not been duly taken into consideration, and those of Justice have not received the impulse which I anticipated. The patriotism which I cannot but consider as existing in a high degree in the bosoms of the Members who compose this Assembly, will, no doubt, cause matters of such importance, and which I have so often recommended to you, to be looked upon, as objects of the first consequence, and as being necessary and indispensable to the glory, security, consolidation, and stability, of the Empire, of the System of Constitutional Monarchy, and of my Imperial Throne. I do not doubt that the General Assembly will be fully aware of this truth, and I therefore hope to see the time of the next Session wisely employed. The Session is closed.

[1827-28.]

THE CONSTITUTIONAL EMPEROR, AND PERPETUAL DEFENDER OF BRAZIL.

4 F

MESSAGE of the President, to the Grand Convention of Colombia, on the state of the Republick.—29th February, (Translation.)

1828.

To the Representatives of the People assembled in National Convention. FELLOW CITIZENS !

I CONGRATULATE you upon the honour which you have obtained from the Nation, which has confided to you its high destinies. In representing the legitimate interests of Colombia, you are invested with the most sublime powers. I have also the greatest happiness in restoring to you the authority which had been placed in my wearied hands. To those who possess the affections of the People belong the attributes of Sovereignty, and the rights of Supremacy, as Delegates of that august omnipotent Authority to which I owe obedience as a Subject and a Soldier. To what higher power could I resign the baton of President, and the sword of General? Dispose freely of these symbols of authority and glory, for the general good, without regard to personal considerations, which might prove an impediment to a perfect reform.

Called upon by my duty to exhibit to you the situation of the Republick, I have the painful task of presenting to you the picture of its misfortunes. Do not imagine that the colours I make use of, derive a glow from exaggeration, or that I have sought for them in the gloomy mansion of mystery: they correctly reflect the glare of publick scandal, and the description of them, in the abstract, will not be found incorrect. Were it otherwise, would Colombia have called you together?

The evils of the Country will begin to subside from the moment that its Deputies commence the investigation of them. Your task is, indeed, as difficult as it is glorious, and although the difficulties have somewhat diminished, by the good fortune of finding Colombia united, and obedient to your decision, I must tell you that we are indebted for this inestimable advantage solely to the hopes reposed in the Convention, hopes which indicate the national confidence and the weight which you have to sustain.

To discover the causes of our misfortunes, it will be sufficient to cast a glance over our History. Colombia, which was enabled to raise herself into existence, is now feeble and declining. Occupied before with the publick cause alone, she no longer considers that duty as the only rule of safety. The same People, who, during the struggle, were contented in poverty, and were not indebted 3,000,000 of dollars to Foreigners, have, in order to maintain Peace, had to encumber themselves with Debts discreditable in their consequences. Colombia which, in face of the hosts of Oppressors, breathed only refined honour and virtue, endures with apparent insensibility the national discredit. Colombia, which thought only on painful sacrifices, and eminent services,

is now occupied in thinking of its rights,-not of its duties. The Nation must have perished, if a remnant of publick spirit had not impelled it to call for the remedy, and rescued it on the brink of destruction. Some horrible peril only would have made us determine upon the alteration of the Fundamental Laws; such a peril alone was capable of shewing itself superior to our devotion to legitimate Institutions of our own creation, the principles of which had procured for us the desired emancipation.

I would add nothing to this fatal picture, if the post I occupy did not compel me to expose to the Nation the practical ill consequences of its Laws. I know that I cannot do this without exposing my conduct to sinister interpretations, and my words to being construed into ambitious sentiments; but I, who have not refused to devote to Colombia my existence, and reputation, conceive myself bound to make this last sacrifice.

I must confess that our form of Government is essentially defective. Without considering that we have only just entered into political exist. ence, we have allowed ourselves to be dazzled by aspiring theories, loftier even than those which the history of all Ages has proved to be incompatible with human nature. At other times we have erred in the means, and ascribed the failure to the not having kept sufficiently close to the deceitful guide which was leading us astray; unmindful of those who were desirous of following the natural order of things, and of comparing the different parts of our Constitution with each other, and the whole with our education, habits, and inexperience, in order that we might not plunge into a troubled ocean.

Our respective powers are not distributed in the manner required by social order, and the good of the Citizens. We have rendered the Legislative the sole Sovereign Body, whereas it should be only a member of the Sovereignty. The Executive has been in a state of subjection thereto, and it has been invested with a much greater proportion of the general Administration than our legitimate interests permit. As the climax of error, all the strength has been placed in the will, and all the weakness in the movement and action, of the social Body.

The right of presenting Projects of Law has been left exclusively to the Legislative, which, from its nature, must have but an imperfect knowledge of the real state of the Government, and whose projects are, therefore, purely theoretical.

The power of objecting to the Laws, enjoyed by the Executive, is the more inefficacious, because the delicacy of Congress is offended by opposition. This power, moreover, when fully exercised, can carry its point with even the votes of less than one-fifth of its Members, which leaves no means of avoiding the evil.

The free admission of the Secretaries of State into the Chambers, to explain the motives of the Government, being prohibited, there is no