The regular army consists of 1,500 men; the fleet of 3 vessels armed with 24 cannon. The receipts amounted to about 1,976,000, and the expenditures to 1,739,000 piastres. The imports in 1853 were valued at 6,897,925 francs. The movement of shipping of the port of Cobija during the year 1853 (arrivais and clearances), amounted to 126 vessels, of 20,745 tons, of which 70 vessels, with 10,450 tons, were English. The merchant navy consists of 38 vessels of 7,000 tons. On December 28th Gen. Melgarejo rose at Cochabamba against the Government of President Jose Maria de Acha. In February, 1865, the troops of President Acha were totally defeated at Ocaza, near Potosi, and almost the whole country recognized Gen. Melgarejo as Provisional President. On March 22d exPresident Belzu arrived at La Paz, the capital of the republic, and, during the absence of Melgarejo, caused himself to be proclaimed President. Melgarejo, however, soon took the city by storm, and Belzu was killed by one of his own soldiers. A new rising against the rule of Melgarejo began on May 25th, under the leadership of Castro Arquedas. At the date of the last advices from La Paz (November 16, 1865), this movement had not been suppressed. Gen. Melgarejo at that time was at La Paz, at the head of 2,500 men, and preparing to march against the revolutionists. BOWMAN, ALEXANDER H., LieutenantColonel Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, was born at Wilkesbarre, Pa., May 15, 1803, and died there November 11, 1865. He was the son of Captain Samuel Bowman, an officer of distinction in the Massachusetts line during the Revolutionary War. He entered as a cadet into the U. S. Military Academy, July 1, 1821. In June, 1825, he graduated third in his class, which numbered thirty-seven, and of which Maj.-Gen. Charles F. Smith, Professor A. D. Bache, Gen. Robert Anderson, and others alike distinguished, were members. Cadet Bowman was promoted second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1825, and after a few months service as an Assistant Professor of Ethics, at West Point, he was ordered (1826) to the Southern coast as an assistant engineer on the defences and improvements of the harbors in that quarter. For twelve years he was employed at New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, and other points on the Gulf, on these duties. In 1834 he was ordered to superintend the construction of a military road from Memphis, Tenn., into Arkansas, and further charged with improving the navigation of the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, until 1838. He was promoted a first lieutenant of engineers, January 21, 1835, and captain of engineers, July 7, 1838. Im mediately following the latter event, Captain Bowman was ordered to assume charge of the defences and improvement of the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; and for nearly thirteen years he was thus employed, his oper ations extending to the harbors of Georgetown, South Carolina, Pensacola, Florida, and the improvement of the Savannah River. In 1852, after a brief service at West Point, he was ordered to Washington as chief engineer, under the Treasury Department, for locating and constructing buildings designed for custom-houses, post-offices, marine hospitals, &c. For eight years he was thus employed, having been, meantime, promoted major of engineers, January 5, 1857. Immediately preceding the outbreak of the war, on March 1, 1861, Major Bowman was appointed the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, with the local rank of Colonel of Engineers, which position he continued to hold until July 8, 1864, receiving on March 3, 1863, his regular promotion as a lieutenant-colonel in the corps of engineers. While in the performance of his duties as a member of a board of engineers to improve and preserve the New England sea-coast defences, and after forty years of uninterrupted service, he was conveyed from Boston to his home in Wilkesbarre, where he died as above stated, aged sixty-two. BRAZIL. An empire in South America. The reigning emperor is Pedro II., born Dec. 2, 1825, ascended the throne in consequence of the abdication of his father, April 7, 1831; under guardianship assumed the reins of government on July 23, 1840. Heir apparent to the throne is Princess Isabel, born July 29, 1846, and married on Oct. 15, 1864, to Louis Philip, Count d'Eu, oldest son of the Duke de Nemours. The General Legislative Assembly consists of two houses, the Senate and the Congress. The Senators are chosen for life at electoral meetings, expressly convened, each of which has to nominate three candidates, leaving the choice between them to the sovereign or his ministers. The members of the House of Congress are chosen by indirect election for the term of four years. The property qualification of a Senator is 800 milreis, of a member of the House of Congress 400 milreis, and of an elector 200 milreis. All inscribed voters are bound to vote under a penalty. The annual session of the legislative assembly commences on May 3, and ordinarily, extends over four mouths. The ministry is divided into seven departments. A new ministry was formed on May 11, 1865, being composed of the following members: Interior, Marquis d'Olonda, President of the Council; Justice, Jose Thom. Nabuco de Arango; Exterior, Jose Antonio Saradra (appointed June, 1865); War, Angelo Moniz da Silva Ferraz; Finances, Jose Pedro Dias de Carvalho; Navy, Dr. Francisco de Paula da Silveira Lobo (appointed June 1865); Public Works, Commerce and Agriculture, Dr. Ant. Fr. de Paula e Souza. American Minister at Rio de Janeiro, J. Watson Webb (accredited Oct. 21, 1861); Brazilian Minister at Washington, J. M. N. d'Azambuja The empire has an area of about 3,004,460 square miles, and a population (in 1856) of 7,677,800 inhabitants. The budget for the year 1865-'66 estimates the expenditures at 58,875,183 milreis, and the receipts at 55,000,000 milreis; probable deficit, 3,875,183 milreis. The regular army, in 1865, consisted of 35,673 men. The fleet was composed of 52 armed and 7 non-armed vessels. Two of the warvessels are iron-clads, and three other iron-clads were in the course of construction. The exports of the year 1862 amounted to 122,479,999 milreis (to the United States 15,258,118); the imports of the same year to 99,072,713 (from the United States 6,044,134). The movement of shipping of the year 1862-'63 was as follows: The beginning of the year 1865 found Brazil involved in a war with the Governments of Uruguay and Paraguay. The war with Uruguay soon ended (February, 1865) by the overthrow of the Government and the elevation of Gen. Flores, the chief of the revolutionist party of Uruguay, and the ally of Brazil, to the Presidency. (See URUGUAY.) That with Paraguay continued to the end of the year. (See PARAGUAY.) The German emigration to Brazil has of late considerably decreased, but considerable attention was awakened, in 1865, by a scheme of immigration from the southern portion of the United States. The leaders of this movement represented the preliminary negotiations as an entire success, and the last advices from Brazil state that "the American emigrants, chiefly Southerners, represented by Col. Wood, have selected near Araraguara a site for a town, which lies between two small rivers, and can have railway connection with the capital." A vast tract of 8,000,000 acres of unoccupied Government land has also been selected, and it was the general expectation that soon a flow of emigration from the States composing the late Confederacy would set in. BREMEN, a Free City in Germany. The legislative power is vested in a Senate of thirty members, and, the General Assembly of citizens, called Bürgercouvent. The Senate is presided over alternately by two Burgomasters, the one elected for six years, and the other for four years. The Burgomasters in 1865 were C. F. G. Mohr (1863-1867), President of the Senate for 1866, and J. D. Meier (1861-1865), President of the Senate for 1865. The territory of Bremen comprises an area of 112 square miles. The population, according to the censu of 1854, was 104,091. The public revenue for the year 1864 amounted to 1,695,405 thalers, and the expenditures to 1,750,739 thalers; deficit 55,334. Bremen sustains a battalion of infan try, numbering 760 men. The cavalry and ar tillery are furnished by Oldenburg. The mer chant navy at the close of 1864, consisted of 298 vessels, including ten screw steamers. The foreign shipping engaged in the direct and indirect trade at the port in 1864, was as follows: Entered, 2,604 vessels, of 274,707 lasts. Cleared, 2,784 vessels, of 277,199 lasts. The imports in 1864, amounted to 67,113,930 thalers; the exports to 61,466,848 thalers. BREMER, FREDERIKA, a Swedish novelist and author, well known and highly esteemed both in England and America, born on the banks of the Aura, near Abo, in Finland, in 1802, and died Dec. 31, 1865, at Arsta, near Stockholm, Sweden, of pneumonia. Her family, which was wealthy, removed into Sweden when she was about three years' old. She was carefully educated, receiving instruction from able teachers both in Sweden and Norway, and spending a year in Paris, and on her return to Sweden became a teacher in a female academy in Stockholm. It was while thus engaged that she commenced her literary career, though she had from childhood been fond of writing, and at eight years of age had already begun to write verses. "The Neighbors," her first work, was published in 1824, and was, before long, translated into German, French, Dutch, and Russian, and in 1842, into English, by Mary Howitt, who also translated her subsequent works. Meantime Miss Bremer had been rapidly publishing other works, all of which had been received with equal or greater favor with the first. Between 1824 and 1840 appeared, "The Home," "The Diary," "The H. Family," "The President's Daughter," "Nina," "Brothers and Sisters," "Life in Dalecarlia," and "The Midnight Sun.” In 1835 her works appeared in Stockholm, in a collected form, under the title of "Tekneingar ur Hvardagslifvet," and these, with subsequent volumes, were published in German, in Leipsic, in twenty volumes-1841-53. Late in 1849 she sailed for the United States, where she was very cordially received, Miss Howitt's translations of her works having been largely circulated, and having obtained great popularity. She spent nearly two years in travelling through the United States, and everywhere was welcome. The visit of Miss Bremer to America was one of the grand events of her life, and has been duly recorded in her pleasant book, "Homes in the New World." No one who has ever read it-and but few Americans have failed to do so-can forget the genial good nature, homely tenderness, and beautiful pathos which pervade its pages, nor have failed to notice the almost absolute absence of acrimony or envy. The sunny nature of the little lady from the frosty northern climate of Lapland stands prominently forth in this volume; and it is not less interesting to us from the fact that it is evidently a true index to the gentle character of its gentle author than from its strongly but kindly drawn portraitures of our literary celebrities and the warm pictures of our American homes. Her reception here was so genial that she was, perhaps, betrayed into overlooking many of the rougher features of society in this country. Every American reader of "Homes in the New World" can point out where she has been too generous, but none can point out in her narrative a single stroke of the caricaturist. Miss Bremer also displayed, when in this country, a very clear appreciation of some of our then existing national difficulties; and some of her observations on the condition of the country show her in the light of a closely observing philosopher. Once, in describing South Carolina-her type of the whole South-she writes: "The splendor of her eye, the delicate crimson of her cheek, the pomp which surrounds her, cannot conceal the want of health and vigor, the worm which devours her vitals. This weak, luxurious beauty, is South Carolina." This internal weakness has since then been made apparent even to the beauty who would not see. Remarking on slavery and freedom, she also utters a truth now being daily and hourly confirmed: "This, however, is clear, that there requires a preparation for freedom, and that this has been too long neglected." Ón her return she spent some time in England, and published in 1852, at Altona, some account of her visit, under the title of "England in 1851." After her return to Sweden, she continued to write her novels of home life, publishing 66 Hertha in 1856, "Father and Daughter" in 1858. A tour of some length in the South of Europe was described in 1860, in "Two Years in Switzerland and Italy," and after a subsequent journey to the Holy Land, and return by Way of Turkey and Greece, was followed in 1863 by books on those countries, which were her latest published works. BRIDGES. (See ENGINEERING.) BRITISH NORTH AMERICA (comprebending Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island). His Excellency the Right Hon. Charles Stanley Viscount Monck, Governor-General of British North America, and Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Island of Prince Edward, etc., etc., etc. Denis Godley, Governor-General's Secretary; Lieut.-Col. Hon. Richard Monck, Coldstream Guards, Military Secretary; Captain Pemberton, 60th Rifles, aide-de-camp; Lieut.-Col. J. G. Irvine, Provincial aide-de-camp; Lieut.-Col. Duchesnay, Lieut.-Col. H. Bernard, and Lieut.Col. F. W. Cumberland, Extra Provincial aidesde-camp. The Canadian Cabinet.-Hon. Messrs. A. J. Ferguson Blair, President of the Council; Sir N. F. Belleau, Receiver-General and Premier; John A. Macdonald, Attorney-General for Upper Canada and Minister of Militia; George E. Cartier, Attorney-General for New Brunswick.-His Excellency Hon. Arthur Hamilton Gordon, C. M. G., Lieutenant-Governor. Governor, Commander-in-Chief, and Vice-Admiral. Newfoundland.-His Excellency A. Mulgrave, Esq., Prince Edward Island.-His Excellency George Dundas, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor. The Canadian Legislature assembled at Quebec on January 19, 1865. The GovernorGeneral in his speech from the throne alluded to the raids on territory of the United States, and said: "In order to prevent the organization of any such enterprises within this Province, and also to enable me to discharge in an effective manner my duties toward a neighboring power on terms of friendship with her Majesty, I have seen fit to organize a system of detective Police on the frontier line of the United States, and with the same design I have called out for permanent duty a portion of the Volunteer Force of the Province." Relative to the codification of the statutes of Lower Canada, he said: "The Commissioners appointed under the provisions of the second chapter of the Consolidated Statutes of Lower Canada to frame a Civil Code, and also a Code of Civil Procedure for Lower Canada, have completed the former part of their duty; the results of their labors shall be laid before you, and I am informed that the Code of Civil Procedure is in a very advanced state. The completion of the Codification of the Civil Law, in both French and English, cannot fail to be of great benefit to the inhabitants of Lower Canada, by enabling the people of all origins to read, in their own languages, the Civil Law under which they live, and which hitherto has only been accessible in a language which is not the mother tongue of a portion of the people whose civil rights are regulated by it." To the Assembly he stated that the revenue had largely increased, and there had been a cotemporaneous extension of the trade of the Province. To both Houses he presented a view of the state of the Confederation question. A conference had assembled and arrived at the conclusion "that a Federal union of the Provinces was feasible and desirable. A plan for the union was proposed (see Public Documents, ANNUAL CYCLOPÆDIA, 1864), and had received the cordial approbation of the Imperial Government. A bill will be introduced into the Imperial Parliament to give it effect so soon as the Ministers shall be notified that the proposai has received the sanction of the Provincial Legislatures." His view of the measure was thus expressed: "With the public men of British North America it now rests to decide whether the vast tract of country which they inhabit shall be consolidated into a State, combining within its area all the elements of national greatness, providing for the security of its component parts, and contributing to the strength and stability of the Empire; or whether the several Provinces of which it is constituted shall remain in their present fragmentary and isolated condition, comparatively powerless for mutual aid, and incapable of undertaking their proper share of Imperial responsibility." In reply to this address the Commons expressed deep regret that outrages had been committed on the commerce and territory of the United States by persons who sought refuge in Canada; they were gratified that a system of detective police had been organized on the frontier line, and at the zeal and activity displayed by the volunteer force when called upon for active service, and promised that the estimates for this expenditure should receive prompt attention. Other subjects of a local nature were also noticed. This address of the Commons was adopted by a vote of 71 to 17. On the 3d of February the then Premier, the late Sir E. P. Taché, moved in the Legislative Council, "That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying that she may be graciously pleased to cause a measure to be submitted to the Imperial Parliament for the purpose of uniting the Colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island, in one Government, with provisions based on the resolutions which were adopted at a conference of Delegates from the said colonies, held at the city of Quebec on the 10th of October, 1864" (see ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA), and on the 6th of the same month, the Hon. John A. Macdonald, Attorney-General of Upper Canada, as leader in the Legislative Assembly, also moved a similar resolution in a speech of great length and eloquence. He dealt with the question as a whole, entering into its history; the state of feeling and the balance of parties in the British American Provinces prior to the Conference; the Conference itself, and the feeling of unanimity which prevailed in its deliberations; the difficulties which met them, arising from the difference of nationality, religion, and laws, in the several colonies which were represented; the mutual advantages of union both in an economical point of view in saving the vast expenses of maintaining separate Governments with all their attendant machinery, and as a means of organization and strength for defensive purposes, and also for binding the colonies in closer connection with the mother country, the Constitution of the General Government, and going minutely into all the provisions on this latter point. The importance of the Provinces when united he thus describes : We find ourselves with a population approaching four millions of souls. Such a population in Europe would make a second, or, at least, a third-rate power. And with a rapidly increasing population-for I am satisfied that under this union our population will increase in a still greater ratio than ever before-with increased credit-with a higher position in the eyes of Europe-with the increased security we can offer to immigrants, who would naturally prefer to seek a new home in what is known to them as a great country, than in any one little colony or another-with all this I am satisfied that, great as has been our increase in the last twenty-five years since the union between Upper and Lower Canada, our future progress, during the next quarter of a century, will be vastly greater. And when, by means of this rapid increase, we become a nation of eight or nine millions of inhabitants, our alliance will be worthy of being sought by the great nations of the earth. I am proud to believe that our desire for a permanent alliance will be reciprocated in England. I know that there is a party in England-but it is inconsiderable in numbers, though strong in intellect and powerwhich speaks of the desirability of getting rid of the colonies; but I believe such is not the feeling of the statesmen and the people of England. I believe it will never be the deliberately expressed determinanies are now in a transition state. Gradually a diftion of the Government of Great Britain. The coloferent colonial system is being developed-and it will become, year by year, less a case of dependence on our part, and of overruling protection on the part of the mother country, and more a case of a healthy and cordial alliance. Instead of looking upon us as a merely dependent colony, England will have in us a friendly nation-a subordinate but still a powerful people-to stand by her in North America in peace or in war. The people of Australia will be such another subordinate nation. And England will have this advantage, if her colonies progress under the new colonial system, as I believe they will, that, though at war with all the rest of the world, she will be able to look to the subordinate nations in alliance with her, and owing allegiance to the same Sovreign, who will assist in enabling her again to meet the whole world in arms, as she has done before. And if, in the great Napoleonic war, with every port in Europe closed against her commerce, she was yet able to hold her own, how much more will that be the ing in power, in wealth, in influence, and in position. case when she has a colonial empire rapidly increas It is true that we stand in danger, as we have stood in danger again and again in Canada, of being plunged into war and suffering all its dreadful conse quences, as the result of causes over which we have however, did not intimidate us. no control, by reason of their connection. This, tion of the prospect of a war some time ago, how were the feelings of the people aroused from one extremity of British America to the other, and preparations made for meeting its worst consequences. Although the people of this country are fully aware of the horrors of war-should a war arise, unfortunately, between the United States and England, and we all pray it never may-they are still ready to encounter all perils of that kind, for the sake of the connection with England. There is not one adverse voice, not one adverse opinion on that point. At the very meɔ The debate, which was conducted in an excellent spirit, proceeded in the Legislative Council until the 20th of February, when the motion was carried by a vote of forty-five to fifteen. In the Assembly the discussion was not brought to a close until the 14th of March, and would, no doubt, have continued to a much longer date, but for the decisive conduct of the administration in laying aside almost all other important legislation to the furtherance of this grand ob ject. The address was carried by an overwhelming majority, ninety-one to thirty-three. Parliament was prorogued almost immediately after this event. Amongst the items voted during the session was one of over $1,000,000 for the permanent defences of the Province. The Governor-General dismissed the Legislature with a speech, in which he congratulated them upon having laid the foundation for a more intimate union of British North America. In accordance with the intimation conveyed in the latter portion of the speech, shortly after the rising of Parliament, four members of the Canadian Government (Messrs. Macdonald, Carter, Galt, and Brown) were appointed as a delegation to proceed to England, to confer with the Imperial authorities on questions affecting the interests of Canada, and of British North America generally. The reception of these statesmen by the Mother Country was of the most gratifying and satisfactory character, and showed the strong desire of the Home Government to perpetuate the connection between the Colonies and Great Britain. The proceedings of the Commissioners were reported to the Governor-General, to whom a despatch was also addressed by the Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, describing the Conferences of the Commissioners with the Imperial Government. This last document presents very clearly the views of the Home Government relative to British North America, as follows: DOWNING STREET, 17th June, 1865. MY LORD: I have the honor to inform your Lordship that several conferences have been held between the four Canadian Ministers who were deputed, and the Duke of Somerset, the Earl De Grey, Mr. Gladstone, and myself, on the part of her Majesty's Gov ernment. On the first subject referred to in the Minute, that of the Confederation of the British North American Provinces, we repeated on the part of the Cabinet the assurances which had already been given of the determination of her Majesty's Government to use every proper means of influence to carry into effect without delay the proposed Confederation. On the second point, we entered into a full consideration of the important subject of the defence of Canada, not with any apprehension on either side that the friendly relations now happily subsisting between this country and the United States are likely to be disturbed, but impressed with the conviction that the safety of the empire from possible attack ought to depend upon its own strength and the due application of its own resources. We reminded the Canadian Ministers that on the part of the Imperial Government we had obtained a vote of money for improving the fortifications of Quebec. We assured them that so soon as the vote had been obtained the necessary instructions had been sent out for the immediate execution of the works, which would be prosecuted with despatch; and we reminded them of the suggestion her Majesty's Government had made to them to proceed with the fortifications of Montreal. The Canadian Ministers, in reply, expressed unreservedly the desire of Canada to devote her whole resources, both in men and money, for the maintenance of her connection with the Mother Country; and their full belief in the readiness of the Canadian Parliament to make known that determination in the taost authentic manner. They said they had in erased the expenditure for their Militia from 300,000 to 1,000,000 dollars, and would agree to train that force to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State for War, provided the cost did not exceed the last-men tioned sum annually, while the question of confederation is pending. They said they were unwilling from the question of the works west of that place, to separate the question of the works of Montreal and from the question of a naval armament on Lake Ontario. That the execution of the whole of these works would render it necessary for them to have recourse to a loan, which could only be raised with the guarantee of the Imperial Parliament. They were ready to propose to their Legislature on their return a measure for this purpose, provided that the guaranty of the Imperial Parliament were given now, and that they were authorized to communicate to the Parliament of Canada the assurance that, the occasion arising, England will have prepared an adequate naval force for Lake Ontario. They thought that if the guaranty were not obtained now it was probable that the Canadian Government and Parlia defensive works should await the decision of the Govment would think it desirable that the question of ernment and Legislature of the United Provinces. On the part of her Majesty's Government we assented to the reasonableness of the proposal that if the Province undertook the primary liability for the works of defence mentioned in the letter of Lieutenant-Colonel Jervois, and showed a suflicient security, her Majesty's Government should apply to Parliament for a guaranty for the amount required; and we said that her Majesty's Government would furnish the armaments for the works. But we said that the desire and decision of the Provincial Legislature ought to be pronounced before any application was made to the Imperial Parliament. On the subject of a naval force for Lake Ontario, we said that, apart from any question of expediency, the convention subsisting between this country and the United States rendered it impossible for either nation to place more than the specified number of armed vessels on the lakes in time of peace. In case of war it would, as a matter of course, be the duty of any government in this country to apply its means of Naval Defence according to the judgment it might form upon the exigencies of each particular time, and the Canadian Ministers might be assured that her Majesty's Government would not permit itself to be found in such a position as to be unable to discharge its duty in this respect. This was the only assurance the Canadian Ministers could expect, or we could give. Upon a review of the whole matter, the Canadian Ministers reverted to the proposal which has been mentioned above, that priority in point of time should be given to the Confederation of the Provinces. To this we, on the part of her Majesty's Government, assented. In conformity, however, with a wish strongly expressed by the Canadian Ministers, we further said that if, upon future consideration, the Canadian Government should desire to anticipate the Confederation and to propose that Canada should execute the works, they would doubtless communicate to Her Majesty's Government that decision; and we trusted that after what had passed in these conferences they would feel assured that any such communication would be received by us in the most friendly spirit. On the third point, the Reciprocity Treaty, the Canadian Ministers represented the great importance to Canada of the renewal of that treaty, and requested that Sir F. Bruce might be put in communication with the Government of Lord Monck upon the subject. We replied that Sir F. Bruce had already received instructions to negotiate for a renewal of the treaty, and to act in concert with the Government of Canada. On the fourth point, the subject of the Northwestern Territory, the Canadian Ministers desired that that territory should be made over to Canada, and undertook to negotiate with the Hudson's Bay Company for the termination of their rights, on condition that the indemnity, if any, should be paid by a loan to be raised by Canada under the Imperial guaranty. |