1>80
Rio de paaneim
EMBASSY TO CHEKA.
mat with an elastic pillow were placed upona platform,
raised somewhat from the floor; and: there the guests
. reposed-, with no covering but night-gowns.
Several districts of the. government of Rio produced
cotton, sngan. coffee, and naeao. or chocolate, fice,! pepper,
and tobacco, in |§reat abundance. ^Thdt of Rid
Grande yielded plenty of excellent wheat. The vine
grew in great perfection; hut the grape is not suffered: t©
he pressed f@r wine, as such a process."might interfere
with the sale of the same article, from Portugall The
whole of the brazils was divided into eight independent
governments, beside that of Rio de Janeiro, of which- the
goYejeaor leXained the; name, only of vieen»y«i the Bara-
zih, The others, were those of Para or Amazons, Ma>
ragnon,, Fernambueea, Bahia, Santo Paulo, Matto Grosso,
Minas Gcjae.s, and Minas Goyaves:. Formerly Bahia dos
Todos, qs Santos was the* principal seat ©if government
and; chief m.a«t. for commerce in the Brazils ; hut the
discovery and improvement of the gold and diamond
mines, within ahouit one b.uadbted leagues« ©f Rio dejar
nei?n, and communicating immediately with ifeyc ga^se a
decided preponderaney to the latter. But all the pro;
vinces were growing fast iarto opulence ;and importance:
They manufactured» of late, several of the most necessary
articles, ft® their qwn consumption:; and: their produce
was. $0 eonsidex=ahlo, that the balance: of trade hegan to
be already in their tfavohr; and remittances of balHon
were made to them-from EpEope, in return far thtovem;^
plus^hthehr exparts beyond their imphrtsi. .
. In the^administration -of the Marquis db Pombal, so
kmg -prime minister; in Boitugal, these dofanies were dbf>
livered from some monopolies and restraints which had
Contributed to .depress them.:' The parent state was agaitt
'accused by thbm .of,jealousy, atijtbieir-present, .progress:
towards wealth,:..and consequent power and independence;
which iowds endeavouring to smother and re,*-
press by new restrictive and1 injurious*regulations. But
the peopl® began ,td -consider themselves jas>-children: 'too?
. robust to be straiigled in the chadle; and that the »crown
. p f:Portugal'must either transfer sthe sehfoofits empirei©
the Brazi-hvor leave them to take their .changq^to unfold
and: exert thsir natiifepowers, uninfluenoed^y the authority,
and unrepressed hy^the terror, ofa'distant seep»
t e ; They seemed to cnquire, with an uncommon dfcgree
of interesty into the progressed the FTerich reyolution, as
if »they fhrCsaw the possibility of a similar esfrint among
theniselves:. jg This was; how.ever, bafOre tte';accounts of
the sanguinary horrors, which.took placedmthh progress
of it, had disgusted e v e r y * feeling mind from any im
elimtidn to follow its, example-.
The project of removing the sfeat .of the Portugueze
government ts the Brazils wasswee,-,i» fa c titiou sly in
conjbemplataan with 'the Marquis de Pombal, when that
Rio de