pletely evacuate the city of Monte Video.

Art. 13. The troops of his majesty the Emperor of Brazil shall evacuate the territory of the pro. vince of Monte Video, including La Colonia del Sacramento, in the precise term of two months from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention, and retire to the frontiers of the empire, or embark, with the exception of a force of 1500 men, which his said majesty may maintain within the city of Monte Video, until the installation of the provincial government of the province, under the express obligation of withdrawing this force, in the precise term of four months, first following the installation of said provisional government, at the latest, delivery, in the act of evacuation, the said city of Monte Video, in statu quo ante bellum, to commissioners competently authorized da hoc by the lawful government of the province.

Art. 14. It is understood that neither of the troops of the repub. lic of the United Provinces those of his majesty the Emperor of Brazil, which in conformity to the two foregoing articles, are to remain temporarily in the province of Monte Video, must in any wise interfere in the political affairs, government, institutions, &c. of the said province. They shall be considered as merely passive and on observation, kept to protect and guaranty public and individual liberties and property; and they cannot operate actively unless the lawful government of the province require their assistance.

Art. 15. As soon as the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention takes place, there shall be an entire cessation of hostilities

by sea and by land. The blockade shall be raised in the term of fortyeight hours, on the part of the imperial squadron; hostilities by land shall cease immediately after this convention and its ratifications are notified to the armies, and by sea, in two days to cape St. Mary, in eight to St. Catherine's, in fifteen to cape Frio, in twenty-two to Pernambuco, in forty to the Line, in sixty to the coast of Africa, and in eighty to the seas of Europe. All prizes made subsequently shall not be considered bona fide captures, and indemnification will be reciprocally made for them.

Art. 16. All prisoners taken by either party during the war, by sea or by land, shall be set at liberty, as soon as the present convention is ratified and the ratifications exchanged; but those who have not secured the payment of the debts contracted by them, cannot leave the country in which they are.

Art. 17. After the exchange of the ratifications, both high contracting parties shall proceed to appoint their respective plenipotentiaries for the purpose of adjusting and concluding the definitive treaty of peace which is to be celebrated between the republic of the United Provinces and the Empire of Brazil.

Art. 18. If, contrary to expectation, the high contracting parties should not come to an adjustment in the said definitive treaty of peace, through questions that may arise in which they may not agree, notwithstanding the mediation of his Britannic majesty; the repub. lic and the empire cannot renew hostilities, before the expiration of five years stipulated in the tenth article; nor even after this time can hostilities take place, with

to continue hostilities, and to continue them with redoubled energy; this is my immutable resolution. I rely upon the general assembly for the most firm and loyal co-operation in sustaining the national honour and glory, lest they suffer in this affair.

With respect to the internal affairs, I congratulate myself and this assembly upon the order and tranquillity which reign in all the pro. vinces of this empire, which convinces me in the highest degree, the monarchial constitutional regi. men is rapidly strengthening.

I again call the attention of the chambers to the administration of

finance and justice, which I so much

recommended to their cares in the late session.

The finances and public credit will receive a beneficial impulse from the law for funding the public debt: but very prompt and efficient legislative measures are necessary to harmonize the different branches of their administration. The judicial power has not yet received the least improvement, and it is urgently necessary that in the course of this session it should be regulated according to the principles of the constitution of the empire; that judgment may be awarded on con. stitutional principles, which, insuring to my subjects the security of property which the constitution guaranties to them under this head, will cause them to bless the sys. tem, and assist me to maintain it. The ministers and secretaries of state will present to the chambers, with the exactness compatible with the actual circumstances, the state of the various branches of the administration.

I expect from the loyalty and wisdom of this assembly, as well

as from every individual who composes it, the most perfect harmony and mutual confidence between it and the government. Upon this perfect harmony and mutual confidence, which on the part of the government will be unalterable, I boldly say, depends the welfare of the constitutional system, the orderly march of administration, and the national property, on which last rests the glory of my imperial throne. The session is opened.

Constitutional emperor and perpetual defender of Brazil.

MESSAGE TO ASSEMBLY, APRIL, 1829.

August and worthy Representatives

of the Brazilian Nation,—

"The depreciation of the notes of the Bank of Brazil, so injurious to the interests of the state, as well as detrimental to the developement of public wealth, has occupied the attention of the General Legislative Assembly, during the two last sessions. In both, the superabundance or excessive amount of notes in cir. culation was acknowledged as the cause of that same depreciation; or rather of the agio of metallic specie ; of the fall in the exchange; of the rise in all kinds of merchandise; of the increase in some branches of the national expenditure; of the afflictions endured by numerous families; of the shifts to which the public functionaries are driven, as well as of private misery.

"The law of the 15th November, 1827, by prohibiting new issues on the part of the bank, and authoriz. ing the calling in of 6,000 contos, at least, of the notes in circulation, most assuredly would have dimi. nished, if not removed, that cause, if the means pointed out for the buying up or exchange of those

notes had not failed when reduced to practice, it being found impos. sible to sell government securities at par, bearing an interest of five per cent., according to the terms of article 22 of the said law. As, therefore, the means of calling in the notes became impracticable, the prohibition of fresh issues could not of itself suffice to repress the influence of the superabundance already existing and acknowledged.

"During the last session, the General Assembly had occasion to observe that, notwithstanding for six or eight months the amount of notes in circulation had been stationary, the difficulty on that account was not the less aggravated. The value of the precious metals did not cease to rise, and the rate of exchange to fall; whilst, as no legislative measure was enacted before the close of the session, in order efficaciously to remedy the cause of the evil, it was consequent. ly to be expected and feared that it would go on increasing.

"The government, aware of the impending calamity, in time busied itself to adopt preventive measures. After hearing the opinion of the Council of State, it began to purchase notes of the bank, in order to withdraw them from circulation, agreeably to the 1st section of article 21 of the aforesaid law of 15th November, confirmed by the decree of the 20th of August in last year; and, as shown by document No. 1, it was able to sell, in December in last year, and January in the current one, as far as the amount of 1,934,600,000 reis of government securities, bearing an interest of 6 per cent., which, at the price of 65, produced 1,257,490,000 reis, which, already have, or shortly will

be, delivered over to the bank. At the same time the government endeavoured to interest the board of bank directors in the urgent operation of calling in the notes, by allowing, for that purpose, only the sale of the precious metals existing in its own coffers, and requiring the pledge of a real aid and intervention in the enterprise of calling in as far as four thousand contos of notes. Documents No. 2 to 6 contain the correspondence, which, on this subject, passed between the treasury and the bank.

Finally, from the month of October in last year, the government resolved not to issue, as in fact it has not done up to the present moment, any amount in bills of exchange from this place on London, or beyond the territory of the empire, at the same time taking every due measure for the exact and necessary payment of the Brazilian and Portuguese loans, contracted in England, in the manner that will be made known to the Assembly in due season.

Although these measures sustained the exchange at 30, during the two last months in the past year, they could not, nevertheless, any longer answer the end for which they were proposed, and the government beheld with regret the inefficiency of the means left at its disposal to dispel the torrent of discredit attending the bank paper. In a word, the agio which in January, 1828, was, in reference to copper, silver, and gold, 20, 48, and 100 per cent., now became 40, 110, and 190; whilst the exchange, which was then at 32, fell as low as 20, and scarcely has it, at this present time, attained 23, as may be seen from document No. 7; and this at a moment when the

amount of notes in circulation, far from having been increased, has, on the contrary, experienced some reduction, owing to the calling in of them, which had already commenced.

"In the opinion of the govern. ment, this phenomenon is no o her than the necessary effect of the cause itself, so long ago acknow. ledged, and at present aggravated by some excess of importation; by the late effort in the slave trade ; by the forced issue of copper money, and by the failure of speculations, encouraged by the war and spoiled by the peace.

"Document No. 8, exhibiting the annual revenue of the custom house in this city, from the month of January, 1825, to the 26th of March, in the current year, shows, in the year 1828, compared with 1827, an increase of revenue equal to 1,775,350,167 reis, which supposes an excess of imports amount. ingto 11,836,000,000 reis, calculating the duties at 15 per cent., and, at the same time, barring contraband and favourable valuations; whereas, on the other hand, document No. 9, exhibiting the annual revenue of the Export Board, during the same period, only shows in the year 1828, compared with 1827, an increase of 80,928,577 reis, which supposes an excess of exports amounting to 4,046,000,000 reis, duties being levied at 2 per cent. ; and it is not to be presumed that the contraband articles, including precious stones and metais, can scarcely amount to the difference of 7,990,000,000 reis resulting in favour of the importation.

"Document No. 10, containing a return of the slaves imported into this place from January, 1820, to the 26th of March in the current

year, attests that in 1827, 29,787 slaves entered this port; in 1828, 43,555; and that during the three. first months of the present year, not yet quite complete, we have received 18,459.

"Document No. 11, shows that the mint of the city, established in 1803, has coined, from the period of its opening to the 23d March in the current year, 7,875,184,413 reis in copper, viz., from its establishment to the end of December, 1825, 2,633,529,350, and from the commencement of January, 1826, to the 23d of the last month, 5,241,654,563.

"These are the circumstances, beyond all doubt, which have rendered the situation of the state more difficult than it was fifteen months ago. To private interest and time it belongs to remedy the evil which arose out of the excessive importations of goods and slaves; whilst on the legislative body alone it devolves to provide against that resulting from a prejudicial coin, by destroying the cause which rendered it necessary.

Even where any other proof were wanting to the government, the painful experience of two years would be sufficient to point out the urgent necessity of an heroic measure, in the crisis in which we are placed.

"The report of the committee of inquiry, instituted by the decree and instructions of the 3d June in last year, satisfying with every possible exactitude the queries of the chamber respecting the situation of the bank, furnishes at the same time the most clear data at once to show the necessity of the salutary influence of the legislative body in the administration and affairs of