hey had hoped, from the magistrates or
people. His Royal Highness, therefore, entered Villa Rica on the 9th of
April, and on the magistrates and people attending to compliment him, he
addressed them thus:--

"Brave Mineros! The shackles of despotism, which began to be loosened on
the 24th of August in Porto, are now bursting in this province. Be
free,--be constitutional! Unite with me, and proceed constitutionally. I
rely entirely on you. Do you depend on me. Let not yourselves be deluded
by those who seek the ruin of your province, and of the whole nation.

Viva, The Constitutional King!
Viva, Our Religion!
Viva, All honest men!
Viva, The Mineros!"

[Note 95: On the 25th of May following a solemn mass was performed
for the souls of those who had fallen on both sides, at the expense of
the Bahians resident at Rio, in the church of San Francesco de Paulo.
The cenotaph raised in the church was surrounded by inscriptions, in
Latin and Portuguese; one of the most striking is, "Eternal glory to
those who give their blood for their country."

("He quha dies for his cuntre
Sal herbyrit intil bewyn be," says _Barbour_.)

The day was one of those Brazilian rainy days, when it should seem
another deluge was coming: but the Prince and Princess were the first at
the ceremony.]

The next day the Prince held a general court, and remained eleven days
at Villa Rica. The only punishment inflicted on the conspirators, was
suspension from their offices; and this royal visit attached this
province to him, as firmly as those of St. Paul's and Rio.

He returned to Rio de Janeiro on the 25th, where he was received in the
most flattering manner, and where he became daily more popular; and on
the 13th of May, King John's birth-day, the senate and people bestowed
on him the title of Perpetual Defender of Brazil, and thenceforward his
style was, CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCE REGENT, AND PERPETUAL DEFENDER OF THE
KINGDOM OF BRAZIL.

The impossibility of continuing united to Portugal had become daily more
apparent. All the southern provinces were eager to declare their
independence. Pernambuco and its dependencies had long manifested a
similar feeling, and the province of Bahia was equally inclined to
freedom although the city was full of Portuguese troops under Madeira,
and receiving constant reinforcements and supplies from Lisbon.

The Cortes seemed resolved on bringing matters to extremities; the
language used in th