Travels in Brazil

by Henry Koster

THE captaincies-general, or provinces of the first rank, in Brazil, of which Pernambuco is one, are governed by captains-general or governors, who are appointed for three years. At the end of this period the same person is continued or not, at the option of the supreme government. They are, in fact, absolute in power, but before the person who has been nominated to one of these places can exercise any of its functions, he is under the necessity of presenting his credentials to the Senado da Camara, the chamber or municipality of the principal town. This is formed of persons of respectability in the place. The governor has the supreme and sole command of the military force. The civil and criminal causes are discussed before and determined by the Ouvidor and Juiz de Fora, the two chief judicial officers, whose duties are somewhat similar, but the former is the superior in rank. They are appointed for three years, and the term may be renewed[18]. It is in these departments of the government that the opportunities of amassing large fortunes are most numerous; and certain it is that some individuals take advantage of them in a manner which renders justice but a name. The governor can determine in a criminal cause without appeal, but, if he pleases, he refers it to the competent judge. The Procurador da Coroa, attorney-general, is an officer of considerable weight. The Intendente da Marinha, port admiral, is likewise consulted on matters of first importance; as are also the Escrivam da Fazenda Real, chief of the treasury, and the Juiz da Alfandega, comptroller of the customs. These seven officers form the Junta, or council, which occasionally meets to arrange and decide upon the affairs of the captaincy to which they belong.

The ecclesiastical government is scarcely connected with that above mentioned, and is administered by a bishop and a dean and chapter, with his vicar-general, &c. The governor cannot even appoint a chaplain to the island of Fernando de Noronha, one of the dependencies of Pernambuco, but acquaints the bishop that a priest is wanted, who then nominates one for the place.

The number of civil and military officers is enormous; inspectors innumerable—colonels without end, devoid of any objects to inspect—without any regiments to command; judges to manage each trifling department, of which the duties might all be done by two or three persons; thus salaries are augmented; the people are oppressed, but the state is not benefited.

Taxes are laid where they fall heavy upon the lower classes, and none are levied where they could well be borne. A tenth is raised in kind upon cattle, poultry, and agriculture, and even upon salt; this in former times appertained, as in other christian countries, to the clergy[19]. All the taxes are farmed to the highest bidders, and this among the rest. They are parcelled out in extensive districts, and are contracted for at a reasonable rate, but the contractors again dispose of their shares in small portions; these are again retailed to other persons, and as a profit is obtained by each transfer the people must be oppressed, that these men may satisfy those above them and enrich themselves. The system is in itself bad, but is rendered still heavier by this division of the spoil. The tenth of cattle, as I have already said, is levied in kind upon the estates in the interior of the country, and, besides this, a duty of 320 reis per arroba of 32 lbs. is paid upon the meat at the shambles, which amounts to about twenty-five per cent. Fish pays the tenth, and afterwards a fifteenth. Every transfer of immoveable property is subject to a duty of ten per cent. and moveables to five per cent. Besides these, there are many other taxes of minor importance. Rum, both for exportation and home consumption, pays a duty of 80 reis per canada[20], which is sometimes a fourth of its value, but may be reckoned as from fifteen to twenty per cent. Cotton pays the tenth, and is again taxed at the moment of exportation 600 reis per arroba of 32 lbs. or about 1¼d. per lb. Nothing can be more injudicious, than this double duty upon the chief article of exportation from that country to Europe. The duties at the custom-house are fifteen per cent. upon imports, of which the valuation is left in some measure to the merchant to whom the property belongs. Here, I think, ten per cent. more might be raised without being felt. A tax is paid at Pernambuco for lighting the streets of the Rio de Janeiro, whilst those of Recife remain in total darkness.

Now, although the expences of the provincial governments are great, and absorb a very considerable proportion of the receipts, owing to the number of officers employed in every department, still the salaries of each are, in most instances, much too small to afford a comfortable subsistence; consequently peculation, bribery, and other crimes of the same description are to be looked for, and they become so frequent as to escape all punishment or even notice; though there are some men whose character is without reproach. The governor of Pernambuco receives a salary of 4,000,000 reis, or about 1000l. per annum. Can this be supposed to be sufficient for a man in his responsible situation, even in a country in which articles of food are cheap? His honour, however, is unimpeached; not one instance did I ever hear mentioned of improper conduct in him; but the temptation and the opportunities of amassing money are very great, and few are the persons who can resist them.

The only manufactory in Recife of any importance is that of gold and silver trinkets of every description, and of gold lace, but the quantities made of either are only sufficient for the demand of the place. The women employ themselves very generally in making thread lace and in embroidery, but the manufacture of these articles is not sufficiently extensive to allow of exportation.[21]

The public institutions are not many, but, of those that exist, some are excellent. The seminary at Olinda for the education of young persons is well conducted, and many of its professors are persons of knowledge and of liberality. It is intended principally to prepare the students for the church as secular priests, and therefore all of them wear a black gown and a cap of a peculiar form, but it is not necessary that they should ultimately take orders. Free schools are also established in most of the small towns in the country, in some of which the Latin language is taught, but the major part are adapted only to give instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Neither in these nor in the seminary is any expence incurred by the pupils. The Lazarus Hospital is neglected, but patients are admitted; the other establishments for the sick are very miserable. Strange it is, that fine churches should be built, whilst many individuals are suffered to perish from the want of a suitable building under which to shelter them. But the best institution of which Pernambuco has to boast, in common with the mother country, is the Roda dos Engeitados. Infants of doubtful birth are received, taken care of, reared, and provided for. Every person knows what the wheel of a convent is,—a cylindrical box open on one side, which is fixed in the wall and turns upon a pivot; near to this is placed a bell, to be rung when any thing is put into the box, that the inhabitants of the convent may know when it should be turned. One of these wheels stands ready night and day to receive the child—the bell is rung and the box turns. Thus the lives of many are saved—thus numbers are spared from shame. Never let it be imagined that births of a secret nature will be more frequent, from the consideration that this institution exists, but it removes all motives for unnatural conduct in a mother, and it may sometimes produce reform of future conduct, by the facility afforded of concealing what has already passed.

The friars are not numerous, though they are far too much so. These useless beings[22] amount to about one hundred and fifty in number at Olinda, Recife, Iguaraçu, and Paraiba[23]. But there are no nuns in the province, though of the establishments called Recolhimentos or Retreats, three exist. These are directed by elderly females, who have not taken any vows, and who educate young persons of their own sex, and receive individuals whose conduct has been incorrect, but whose characters are not notorious, and who are placed here by their relations to prevent further shame. The number of churches, chapels, and niches in the streets for saints, is quite preposterous; to these are attached a multitude of religious lay brotherhoods, of which the members are merchants, and other persons in trade, and even some are composed of mulatto and black free people. Some of these continually beg for a supply of wax, and other articles to be consumed in honour of their patron. Almost every day in the year, passengers are importuned in the streets, and the inhabitants in their houses, by some of these people, and among others, by the lazy Franciscan friars. A Portugueze gentleman refused to give money for any of these purposes, but after each application, threw into a bag, placed apart for the purpose, a 5 reis coin, the smallest in use, and in value the third part of a penny. At the end of a twelvemonth, he counted his 5 reis pieces, and found that they amounted to 30,000 reis, about 8l. 6s. He then applied to the vicar of his parish, requesting him to name some distressed person to whom he should give the money.

The Holy Office or Inquisition has never had an establishment in Brazil, but several priests resided in Pernambuco, employed as its familiars, and sometimes persons judged amenable to this most horrid tribunal, have been sent under confinement to Lisbon. However, the ninth article of the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, between the crowns of England and Portugal, signed at the Rio de Janeiro in 1810, has completely determined, that the power of the Inquisition shall not be recognised in Brazil. It will appear surprising to English persons, that in a place so large as Recife, there should be no printing press or bookseller. At the convent of the Madre de Deos, are sold almanacks, prints and histories of the Virgin and saints, and other productions of the same description, but of very limited size, printed at Lisbon. The post-office is conducted in a very irregular manner. The letters from England are usually delivered at the house of the merchant to whom the ship which conveyed them is consigned, or at the office of the British consul. There is no established means of forwarding letters to any part of the interior of the country, nor along the coast, so that the post-office merely receives the letter bags which are brought by the small vessels that trade with other ports along this coast, and sends the bags from Pernambuco by the same conveyances, and as there is not any regular delivery of letters, each person must inquire for his own at the office. When the commerce of Brazil was trifling, compared to its present state, a post-office managed in this manner was sufficient, but in consequence of the increased activity of the trade along the coast, and with Europe, some attention ought to be given to the subject, to facilitate communication. There is a theatre at Recife, in which are performed Portugueze farces, but the establishment is most wretchedly conducted.