We shall then exhibit the rare example of a great nation, abounding in all the means of happiness and security, altogether free from debt.

"I would recommend to your consideration the propriety of so modifying the laws for enforcing the payment of debts, due either to the public or to individuals, as to restrict the imprisonment of the person to cases of fraudulent concealment of property. The personal liberty of the citizen seems too sacred to be held at the will of a creditor, to whom he is willing to surrender all the means he has of discharging his debt."

BRAZIL.-In South America, the last of the ancient governments-that of Brazil-has at length fallen. Don Pedro, the Emperor, was virtually deposed by his subjects. Unpopular changes in the administration were, it seems, the immediate causes of the revolution; but the disposition to bring about such an event had been long evident among all classes of Brazilians. The favour shown by Don Pedro to the Portuguese was one grand cause of discontent, and the expenses of the court formed another ground of complaint. The young Queen of Portugal was an object of jealousy to the whole empire. The pretence, however, was that the ministers were incompetent. Of this they were accused; and the Emperor, seeing his danger, at once dismissed the obnoxious members of his cabinet; but the new ministers were deemed as obnoxious as the old, and their dismissal was speedily demanded. This was peremptorily refused by Don Pedro: open tumult was the immediate result; the palace was attacked; the military were called on to protect the Emperor, and ordered to fire on the people; but they laid down their arms, and nothing remained to Don Pedro but flight. He repaired, with the empress and a scanty suite, on board the Volage frigate, commanded by Lord Colchester; and, on the 7th of June, he issued a proclamation, declaring that he abdicated the throne in favour of his son, a child of five years of age, whom he recommended to the care of the nation. On the 9th of June he reached Falmouth, whence he proceeded to Cherbourg, and subsequently arrived in London, where he assumed the title of the Duke of Braganza.

Meantime, and until the close of 1831, the government of Brazil continued in a very unsettled and precarious condition. Factions in the country were mumerous; and the infant emperor and his sisters were almost state prisoners.

Proceeding briefly to notice the events which have taken place in other parts of South America, the Colombian Republic

has sustained an irreparable loss by the death of the patriot General Bolivar, the founder of its independence, and the noble and disinterested advocate of its government and rights. Nearly ten years have now elapsed since the first establishment of the independence of the vast commonwealth recognized under the title of Colombia. For the first few years, under the wise councils of their Deliverer, as Bolivar was then universally acknowledged, its inhabitants exhibited an example of social order which is rarely to be found in an infant republic; and these first favourable indications inspired hopes, dilated upon with rapture by the admirers of free institutions, which, unhappily, have never been realized. Discontents, jealousies, and divisions, ensued-Bolivar was treated with the basest ingratitude and sold or transferred his property, quitted the country, and died among strangers, at the very moment when a return to sense would have induced, from the turbulent spirits who had caused his retirement, the amende honorable which was due to his wise and magnanimous conduct, and truly patriotic virtues! The equal of their deceased president will, it is much to be feared, be long sighed for in vain, ere the now distracted republic of Colombia shall have fixed institutions on a footing of permanence and security, approximating to that which it has lost.

Simultaneously with the insurrection in Brazil, and most probably in concert with it, though 500 miles apart, was a rising in Bahia, which ended, however, without any important consequences. This was repeated in September, when the troops turned out of their barracks, and, not meeting with any opposition, took possession of the fort. They were dislodged by a civic force; about 30 of the mutineers were killed, and the remainder returned to their duty.

At Pernambuco there was a serious revolt among the troops, in September, who in their outrages destroyed and carried away property to an immense amount. The number of the mutineers was about 1000, by whom the place was kept in the greatest alarm and disorder for three days, when the inhabitants, assisted by the National Militia, and the students of the College of Olinda, attacked them with great spirit, killed about 400 of them, and compelled the remainder to surrender. In Venezuela, also, anarchy and discord have predominated during the year, almost to distraction.

CHAP. XI.

Annual Obituary.*

Jan. 1.-At Calais, aged 92, the Hon. Philip Roper. He was born 13th October, 1739, at Linstead, Kent, the third son of Henry, the tenth_Lord Teynham, by Catherine, daughter of John Powell, Esq., of Sandford, Oxon. Jan. 2.-At Bonn, in Prussia, aged 53, M. Niebuhr, the eminent Roman historian.

At Buscar, in the East Indies, Lieutenant-General Sir Gabriel Martindell, K. C. B., commandant of the garrison there, and a distinguished officer of the Honourable East-India Company.

At his lordship's house in Grosvenor Square, Henrietta Maria, Marchioness of Aylesbury.

At Portobello, near Dublin, the Right Hon. Harriet Skeffington, Viscountess Massareene, and Baroness of Loughneagh, county of Antrim. Jan. 4.-At Kirkelby, near Thirsk, aged 80, Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. He was son of Admiral Sir Thomas Frankland, the fifth baronet, by Sarah Rhett, granddaughter of one of the chief justices of South Carolina. He took his degree of A. M. at Merton College, Oxford, in 1771; and subse. quently sat in Parliament for many years as member for Thirsk.

Jan. 5.-Aged 71, Lieutenant-General Robert Lethbridge, of the 60th regiment; formerly aid-de camp to Lord Amherst and the Marquess Townshend, in Canada. This officer served in the Canadas until the year 1813, when he returned to England with the rank of Major-General. He was made Lieutenant-General in 1825.

Jan. 9.-In Stratford Place, aged 60, the Right Hon. Charlotte Fitzgerald, Baroness de Roos. Her ladyship was the only surviving child and heiress of Captain the Honourable Robert Boyle Walsingham, by Charlotte, daughter of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, K. B. She married, August 4, 1791, the late Lord Henry Fitzgerald (uncle to the Duke of Richmond), who died on the 8th of July, 1829.

Jan. 10.-At the Palace, Cork, aged 55, the Hon. and Right Rev, Thomas St. Lawrence, D.D., Bishop of Cork and Ross. His lordship was the second son of Thomas, first Earl of Howth, by Isabella, daughter of Sir Henry King, Bart. He was made Dean of Cork in 1797, and Bishop in 1807. Jan. 12.-Aged 81, her Royal Highness Louisa Landgravine of Schleswig and Holstein; aunt and mother-in-law to the King of Denmark, and first cousin to his late majesty, George the Third, King of Great Britain.

Jan. 14.-In Portland Place, aged 30, Sir Charles Joshua Smith, Bart., of Sutton, in Essex. He was born May 31, 1800, and succeeded to the baronetcy, Jan. 22, 1816, on the death of his mother's uncle, Sir Drummond Smith, of Tring Park, Herts.

Jan. 15.-At Upton Hall, near Northampton, Thomas Samwell Watson Samwell, Esq., upwards of forty years one of his Majesty's acting justices of the peace. In early life Mr. Samwell was in the army, and was for several years on active service in America and the West Indies.

Jan. 19.-In the East Indies, his Excellency Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith, Bart., K.C. B., &c. He was a son of Major-General John Beckwith, who commanded the 20th regiment at the battle of Minden. He was appointed Lieutenant in the 71st Foot, 1791; Captain in 1795; Major

* See, also, ANNUAL BIOGRAPHY, p. 381,

and

in 1802; and Lieut.-Colonel in 1803. He was present at the battles of Vittoria, Busaco, and Corunna. In 1810, he served in Spain as Deputy-AssistantQuarter-Master-General; in 1812, as Assistant-Quarter-Master-General; afterwards in Canada, as Quarter-Master-General. He was knighted in 1812, and nominated K.C.B. in 1815; attained the rank of Colonel in 1811; of Major-General in 1814; and Lieut.-General in 1830, when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief at Bombay.

Jan. 20.-At Frognall, Kent, aged 66, the Right Hon. John Thomas Townshend, Viscount Sydney, Ranger of St. James's and Hyde Parks, &c. His lordship was born on the 21st of February, 1764, the eldest son of Thomas, first Viscount Sydney, Secretary of State, by Elizabeth eldest daughter of Richard Powys, Esq., of Hindlesham, Suffolk. He attained the degree of M.A. of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1784; in 1789, he was one of the Lords of the Admiralty; and at the elections of 1790 and 1796, he was returned to Parliament for Whitchurch. In 1793, he was transferred from the Admiralty Board to the Treasury, where he sat until, having succeeded his father in the peerage, June 13, 1800, he was, in July, appointed a Lord of the Bedchamber, which post he resigned in 1812.

Jan. 26.-In Portland Place, aged 85, Richard Paul Jodrell, Esq., D.C.L., F.R.S., and S.A., Deputy-Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for the counties of Oxford, Derby, Norfolk, and Middlesex. Mr. Jodrell was educated at Eton, and at Hertford College, Oxford. He was a dramatic writer of some note, and several of his pieces were performed with success : as "A Widow and no Widow," 1779; Seeing is Believing," 1786, &c. He was also the author of several other literary compositions; among which may be mentioned his "Illustrations of Euripides," 2 vols. 8vo., 1781. In 1784, Mr. Jodrell became a member of the club founded at the Essex Head, for the purpose of cheering the declining days of Dr. Johnson; and it is stated, that he and the late Mr. Chamberlain Clark were "positively the last" survivors of that celebrated literary fraternity. Mr. Jodrell was elected F.R.S. in 1772; F.S.A. in 1784; and he was created D.C. L. at Oxford in 1793. He also sat in Parliament for a short time as M.P. for Seaford.

Jan. 30.-In Burton Crescent, aged 66, Alderman Sir John Perring, Bart., for many years an eminent merchant and banker in the city. Sir John was born of a Devonshire family, of considerable antiquity and wealth. He was Alderman of Broad-Street Ward in 1798; Sheriff in 1800; and Lord Mayor in 1803. In 1806, he was returned to Parliament for Romney, and afterwards, in 1807, for Hythe, which place he represented until 1820. He was created a baronet on the 3d Oct., 1808. In his private character, Sir John Perring possessed the strictest integrity, with manners the most affable and obliging; and, in his capacity of city magistrate, he combined humanity with justice, and exhibited on all occasions a kind and conciliatory spirit.

Feb. 3.-Suddenly, at Skreens, near Chelmsford, Thomas Gardiner Bramston, Esq., M.P. for Essex, of which county his father had been the representative in Parliament from 1779 to 1802. It was only in the year 1830, however, that the deceased came forward as a candidate, professing himself a strong advocate for the maintenance of the church establishment and privileges. After a contest of five days, he was elected, with a majority of nearly 1200 votes beyond those of the opposing candidate; but the fatigues of his parliamentary duties, and the late hours of the House, were but ill suited either to his habits or constitution; and he therefore, in the ensuing election of August, 1830, relinquished his post. In his private character, Mr. Bramston was a man of benevolence and affability.

Feb. 5.-At Durham, aged 61, Lieut.-General Arthur Aylmer, of Walworth Castle; many years an acting magistrate for Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire. He was appointed Major in the Manx Fencibles, Nov. I, 1794; Lieut.-Colonel, 68th Foot, Jan. 1, 1800; Colonel in the army, 1810; Major-General, 1813; and Lieutenant-General, 1825.

Feb. 6.-At Geneva, aged 63, Rodolph Kreutzer, the celebrated violinplayer and composer. He was a native of Versailles, and, at a very early age, evinced extraordinary talent for music. At the age of 13, he played in public with great success; and at 19, he had composed two entire operas.

Subsequently, he established his fame as a violinist in Germany, Holland, and Italy, until he was at length appointed by Napoleon first violin to his chapel, chef d'orchestre at the opera, &c. It was of this performer that the Emperor observed, that "his time was too precious to listen to instrumental music, except when Kreutzer was playing a concerto on the violin." As a composer, he is well known by his operas of Lodoiska, Paul and Virginia, La Mort d'Abel, and Aristippe.

-

Drowned, in the river Chagres, in the Isthmus of Darien, aged 36, Henry Foster, Esq., F.R.S., commander of H.M.S. Chanticleer, and the companion of Sir Edward Parry in his voyages to the arctic regions.Captain Foster was commissioned, in 1828, on a voyage of scientific discovery in the Chanticleer, for the establishment of meridians. His exertions are said to have been so successful, as to render his duty comparatively easy to any future scientific adventurer-Captain Foster's life was unfortunately lost by the sail of a canoe accidentally giving way, while sedulously executing the duties of his honourable post.

Feb. 7.-Suddenly, at Edinburgh, the Rev. Andrew Thomson, D.D., Minister of St. George's Church. This gentleman was remarkable for his determined opposition to the British and Foreign Bible Society, in consequence of their disseminating, contrary to the letter of their constitution, the Apocrypha with the Bible, in some countries where that holy work would not have been received without such an accompaniment. On the representation of Lord Brougham, a pension of 1507. per annum was conferred by his Majesty on Dr. Thomson's widow.

Feb. 10.-At Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, aged 57, Capt. Peter Heywood, R. N. Capt. Heywood, at a very early age, took his first voyage, as a midshipman, on board the Bounty, ever memorable for Fletcher Christian's mutiny. When it occurred, Mr. Heywood, then only 16, was kept forcibly between decks, and was afterwards constrained to accompany the mutineers to the Island of Toofonai and Otaheite, at which latter place he availed himself of the first opportunity that offered, to deliver himself up to an English officer. The Pandora, Capt. Edward Edwards, having arrived in search, Heywood at once made himself known, and was conveyed to England, after enduring unheard of cruelties during the passage, and the most horrible privations and sufferings, a full and highly-interesting account of which may be found in Lieut. Marshall's "Royal Naval Biography." On his arrival, in June, 1792, he was brought to a court-martial, by whose adjudication he was sentenced to death, but subsequently obtained his Majesty's free and unconditional pardon. After this, he again commenced his naval career as a midshipman; and by his subsequent services, which were highly meritorious and spirited, he conciliated the esteem of many illustrious naval commanders, who have been members of his court-martial.

Feb. 17.-At Brighton, Mr. William Jones, of Islington, aged 68 (of the firm of W. & S. Jones, Opticians, Holborn), a gentleman of considerable scientific acquirements. He was a professor of astronomy, mathematics, and practical surveying; and published "Descriptions of the Orrery;"" of a Case of Mathematical Instruments;" and of "Hadley's Quadrant." He also re-published the whole of the late George Adams's works.

Feb. 18.-At Upper Southernhay, Essex, aged 72, Shirley Woolmer, Esq., formerly a bookseller at that place, an enlightened and indefatigable student in the sciences of mineralogy and geology.

Feb. 19.-At Ipswich, in his 81st year, the Rev. William Layton, A. M., a gentleman of considerable topographical and genealogical research.

Feb. 20.-Suddenly, at the Bedford Hotel, Brighton, whence he rode out on horseback two days before his death, the Right Hon. Lord Charles Henry Somerset, brother to the Duke of Beaufort, a General in the army, &c., aged 63. His lordship was the second son of Henry, fifth Duke of Beaufort, by Elizabeth, daughter of the celebrated Admiral Boscawen. He en tered the army, as Cornet in the 1st Dragoon Guards, in 1785; was made Lieutenant in the 13th Light Dragoons, 1786; Lieut.-Colonel in the army, 1791; Colonel, 1795; Major-General, 1798; Lieut.-Colonel,1803; Colonel 1st West India Regiment, 1814; and General in the same year. Meantime,