expressive, his gestures animated, his diction was noble, and his voice incomparably sweet and sonorous. Then his intellect was of grand proportions, and his speech bore reading as well as hearing. BETTS, SAMUEL R., LL. D., one of the ablest of American jurists, born in Richmond, Berkshire County, Mass., in 1787; died at New Haven, Conn., November 3, 1868. He was the son of a respectable farmer; and, after a thorough early training in his native town, entered Williams College, where he graduated with honor in 1806. After a diligent study of the law in Hudson, N. Y., he was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Sullivan County, N. Y., where he was winning a fair reputation, at the outbreak of the War of 1812, when he entered the army, and soon after was appointed Judge-Advocate by Governor D. D. Tompkins. In 1815 he was elected to Congress for the district comprising Orange and Sullivan Counties. At the close of the term, he declined a reelection, and devoted himself with great assiduity to the study and practice of his profession. He was for some years District-Attorney of Orange County. At that time, the bar of the State of New York was remarkable for the numerous eminent legal minds who were engaged in the practice of the profession in the courts of the eastern counties. Martin Van Buren, Elisha Williams, Thomas J. Oakley, George Griffin, Ogden Hoffman, Prescott Hall, and Thomas Addis Emmet, were the great lights of the bar, and with all of them Mr. Betts was brought in almost constant contact, and, though younger than most of them, was soon recognized as their peer in legal attainments and intellectual acumen. After about eight years of this practice, Mr. Betts was appointed by President Monroe, in 1823, Judge of the United States District Court. This position he held for the long period of forty-four years, and throughout the whole term presided over it with a dignity, a courtesy, a profundity of legal knowledge, a carefulness of research, and a patience of investigation which made him a model jurist in all the great questions brought before him. To him belongs the high honor of having shaped and settled in a great degree the maritime laws of the United States. The whole subjects of salvage, general average, wages of seamen, freighting, contracts, charters, insurance, and prizes, owe the greater portion of their present condition to the honored Judge, who has made the law so perfect and complete on these points, that the best lawyers in New York regard it as a finished code. For the first twenty years of his connection with the District Court, there was never an appeal from his decisions, and his opinions in his own court on maritime questions, and in the Circuit Court on patents, have been uniformly upheld. Every kind of question arising out of the criminal law of the United States has been before him; he has tried cases of piracy and murder on the high-seas, and discharged the whole criminal business of a large district. The war brought before him an entirely new class of questions, affecting national and international rights; but although beyond the age of threescore-years-and-ten, the Judge bent himself to the new tasks imposed, and, with a vigor, a perseverance, and an ability rarely equalled, met the great demand of the most trying period of our history, in a manner which was creditable to himself, and reflected honor upon the country he so patriotically and faithfully served. His decisions upon the neutrality laws, and his judgments on the slave-trade, are fine specimens of constitutional reasoning and argument. As a judge, the lawyers who have had the best opportunities of forming an opinion say that Judge Betts never had a superior, and doubt if he had an equal. His bearing toward members of the bar was always gentlemanly and courteous. His judgments were regarded as the best considered on record. He conducted a case with coolness, clearness, and deliberation, allowing counsel every latitude that might tend to throw light on the matter at issue. And it may be well doubted whether any man on the bench in this country ever possessed the same amount of judicial ability. He held the place he vacated and honored for the lengthened period of forty-four years, and up to the day of his death he was still the revered and upright judge of that important court, where he pronounced numerous decisions, which are regarded as text-books of federal jurisprudence, and in after-years will be looked upon as the highest and soundest efforts of legal skill and research. In social and domestic life he was always highly esteemed and beloved; his conversational powers were unusually fine, his acquaintance with literature and men extensive, his manners courteous, and his treatment of all, especially of the young, such as to endear him to those with whom he came in contact. He did not outlive his interest in passing events, but his mind was bright and vigorous, even after the bodily frame showed signs of weakness and decay. In May, 1867, having entered upon his eighty-first year, and feeling the infirmities of age, Judge Betts retired from the bench he had so long honored, and passed the brief remainder of his life in the comforts and privacies of his home at New Haven. BOLIVIA, a republic in South America. Provisional President since the revolution of December, 1864, General Mariano Melgarejo. The limits of the republic have not yet been fixed, and the statements of the area therefore widely differ. A treaty concluded between Bolivia and Chili, on August 10, 1866, fixed the 24th degree S. latitude as the dividing line between these two republics. Another treaty for regulating the frontier between Bolivia and Brazil was concluded on March 27, 1867. By this compact Bolivia resigns her claims to the western bank of the river Paraguay, a territory of about 18,000 square leagues. Chuquisaca. .... 223,669 Oruro 110,931 Santa Cruz . 153,164 55,973 Tarija................... 88,900 Total.... 1,768,851 The capital, La Paz, has 76,372 inhabitants. The army formerly consisted of 2,000 men, but was, in 1866, in consequence of the war with Spain, raised to 3,000 men, 500 of whom were cavalry. In 1867 the revenue was 2,471,000 piasters, and the expenditures 2,435,000 piasters. The revenue in 1865 was estimated at about 3,000,000 piasters, nearly one million and a half being a tribute from the Indians, 450,000 import duties, 315,000 export duties, and the remainder the proceeds of mines, stamp duties, etc. There is neither a direct tax nor a public debt, nor paper money. The imports are valued at about 5,570,000 piasters. A new Congress was elected in 1868, the number of deputies elected by the several inces being as follows: Chuquisaca, 8; La Paz, 8; Cochabamba, 6; Potosi, 8; Oruro, 4; Santa Cruz, 4; Tarija, 4; Cobija, 2; Veni, 2; Tarate, 6; Mejillones, 2. The new Congress met on August 6th, and confirmed all the acts of President Melgarejo, inclusive of the treaty of Bolivia. As some deputies (especially Sefor Muñoz Cabrera) made, however, a violent opposition to the treaty, amidst the applause of the galleries, the Congress was dissolved at the point of the bayonet. which is to navigate by steamers and with other vessels the Bolivian rivers which are tributary to the Madeira, the principal affluent of the Amazon. The Government conceded in favor of the company the following privileges and rights: 1. In the populated ports it gives in property to the company one square mile of State lands, and at the points where new ports should be founded to facilitate commerce, according to the judgment of the company, a square of the same lands upon the river margins, which shall have two leagues front and two of depth, the company having the right to make that use of them which may be most to its interests. 2. The Government of Bolivia will pay to the company $10,000 gold, the day upon which the first steamer moves upon the waters of the Mamore, as a premium offered by the Government in supreme de cree of 1853. 3. The same Government concedes to the company other uses, in the forests which have no private the right to cut wood for burning, exportation, and owner, and that of collecting 8,000 head of horned cattle from the herds owned by the State in the department of the Beni-it being the obligation to make this collection in the method most to the advantage of the Government and the company. 4. The Government guarantees to the company the free exportation of the products of the country without paying duties or imposts of any class. The improv-portation of merchandise and foreign effects will only imported by Cobija. One and the other privileges pay half of the tariff of duties collected upon those will continue for ten years, counting from the day upon which the navigation of the Madeira may be free from impediment by the clearing of the rapids, it bethis time. This termover any class of imposts up to ernment can only levy upon the merchandise imof ten years ported by the Madeira a duty inferior by one-third part to that recovered by Cobija, until the twenty-five years mentioned in the following article have expired. In September, President Melgarejo issued a decree extending the rights of citizenship to Americans. The articles of the decree are: 1. No American shall be considered a foreigner in Bolivia. 2. Every American, of whatever nationality he be, can obtain Bolivian citizenship by alone declaring in writing, in the presence of any of the prefects, his wish to settle in the republic. His name being inscribed in the civic register, the same prefect will extend him his citizenship papers. 3. Americans may in like manner freely exercise in the republic their liberal, scientific, literary or artistic professions, in all cases, on presenting their respective diplomas, credentials, or titles extended to them by competent and legalized authority, in proper form for its examination and acceptation by the national government. 4. The present decree shall be considered as confirming that of the 18th March, 1866. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was directed to communicate both decrees to the governments of the American nations, soliciting at the same time the adoption of like measures to extend to the whole continent the privileges accorded. By a decree of August 27th, a contract was made with Colonel George E. Church, engineer of New York, for the establishment of a "National Bolivian Navigation Company," BRADBURY, WILLIAM B., a musical teacher and composer, and, since 1854, one of the most successful piano manufacturers in the United States, born in York, Maine, in 1816; died in Montclair, N. J., January 7, 1868. Both his parents were well known as excellent singers, and from them he inherited that musical taste, the development of which has rendered his teen, he had mastered every instrument that name a household word. Before he was fourcame in his way; but until 1830 he had never seen an organ or a piano. In that year he moved to Boston, where he formed the acquaintance of Dr. Lowell Mason and his coadjutor, George J. Webb, who at that time stood at the head of the musical celebrities of New England. In 1834 he was known as a practical organist, and six years later began teaching in New York under the most flattering auspices. His free singing-schools in this city and Brooklyn became very popular, and, on his concert nights, the old Tabernacle, between Franklin and Leonard Streets, on Broadway, was filled to overflowing. On these occasions, his performers, all children, numbered from five hundred to one thousand. These concerts gave Mr. Bradbury great notoriety, and secured him hosts of friends. He had many enemies, too, among members of his profession, and they made more than one futile attempt to destroy his popularity, going so far at one time as to organize an association to oppose him. About this time he published his "Golden Chain," which had an immense sale, but was mercilessly criticised by his rivals, on account of a few trifling errors which it contained. These were corrected by the well-known composer, Hastings, who assisted Mr. Bradbury in the preparation of several other deservedly popular musical works. Among these were "The Shawm" and The Jubilee." "The Key Note" and The Temple Choir," both very popular, were among his later publications. During these many years of labor, Mr. Bradbury had not neglected his studies in the art which he so passionately loved; but, feeling that there was still much to learn, he went to Leipsic in 1847, where he received instruction from the best German masters. He studied harmony and composition with Hauptmann, vocal music with Boehme, the piano with Wenzel, and, a firstclass teacher superintended his practice on the organ. In 1854 he began in New York the manufacture of pianos, and these soon acquired a very high reputation for their excellent tone and perfection of workmanship. Meantime he was bringing out with great rapidity those juvenile collections of music which have made his name a household word all over the land. Among them were the "Golden Chain," "Golden Shower," "Golden Censer," "Golden Trio," and "Fresh Laurels," his last work. No collection of religious music ever had so extensive a sale as these books. More than three millions of copies of his musical works have been sold. His excessive labors induced pulmonary disease, and for two years previous to his death he had been in very feeble health. BRAZIL, an empire in South America. Emperor, Pedro II., born December 2, 1825; succeeded his father, Pedro I., on April 7, 1831. The Emperor has no son. His oldest daughter, Princess Isabella, is married (since October, 1864) to Count d'Eu, grandson of the late king Louis Philippe of France. The second daughter, Princess Leopoldina, is married (since December, 1864) to the Duke Augustus of SaxeCoburg-Gotha. Duke Augustus has two sons: Prince Pedro, born March 19, 1866; and Prince Augustus, born December 6, 1867. A new ministry (Conservative) was appointed in July, 1868, composed of the following members: President and Minister of Finance, Senator Viscount de Itaborahy; Interior, Dr. Paulin Joseph Soarez de Souza; Justice, Dr. Joseph Martiniano de Alencar; Foreign Affairs, Senator Joseph Maria da Silva Paranhas; War, Senator Baron de Murityba; Navy, Senator Baron de Cotegipe; Public Works, Commerce, and Agriculture, Joachim Antão Fernandez Leao. Minister of the United States in Brazil, in 1868, was J. Watson Webb (accredited October 21, 1861); Brazilian M r at Washington, Dominic Joseph Gonzalvez de Magelhães, appointed in 1867. The area of Brazil is estimated at about 3,231,047 square miles. The population,* according to a recent work published by the Brazilian Government (L'Empire de Brésil, Rio de Janeiro, 1867), was 11,780,000, of whom 1,400,000 were negro slaves, and 500,000 Indians. The population of the capital, Rio de Janeiro, is estimated at 600,000. In the budget for the years 1869-'70, the expenditure is estimated at 70,786,927 paper milreis (350 paper reis, or 180 silver reis. are equal to about 19 cents [gold]; 1 milreis means 1,000 reis), the revenue at 70,000,000 milreis; the deficit at 786,927 milreis. The chief source for the revenue are the customs. The external debt, on December 31, 1868, amounted to 381,189,950 milreis; the internal consolidated debt, .on April 15, 1868, to 125,206,700 milreis. The standing army, in 1867, consisted of 25,844 men. The strength of the army employed in the war against Paraguay was esti mated, in April, 1868, at 42,998 men, of whom, however, 10,816 were reported sick. The total number of Brazilian troops forwarded to the war since the commencement was 84,219 (up to May 1st). The fleet, in 1868, was composed as follows: 1. Iron-clads, 17 afloat, 4 in course of construction. 2. Other armed vessels, 63. 3. Vessels not armed: 3 frigates, 2 corvettes, 1 brig, 1 transport. There are also (since the early part of 1868) twelve screw launches intended for the police of the Amazon. They are fifty feet long, draft three feet, and mount a thirty-two pound swivel forward. A fine steamer called the Arary had also come from England for the Amazonas Navigation Company, which steamer is 221 feet long, 26 beam, 10 hold, and of 739 tons burden. The imports and exports of Brazil during the three years 1865-1867 were as follows (value expressed in milreis): 1,496.274 47,703 1,543,977 642.799 The port of Santos, which is the only port of foreign trade allowed to the province of São Paulo, rose in 1868 to the fourth rank as regards exportation, being exceeded only by Rio Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco. In imports it would have the same rank, instead of the seventh, if it were not that six-sevenths of its imports of foreign goods come from Rio Janeiro, where the duties are paid, the bonded system not having been adopted in Brazil as yet. In the financial year of 1866–'67 the commerce of the port was as follows: Exports of produce.... $3,057,000 Exports of produce coastwise... Exports of foreign goods coastwise.. Imports from abroad, direct... Imports from abroad, coastwise.. Imports of produce coastwise... 2,900,000 30,085 773,380 4,477,680 Total....... 696,000 .$11,934,145 The duties on these exports and imports amounted to $490,000. The General Assembly of Brazil was opened by the Emperor, on May 9th. The principal points of the home and foreign policy of the empire were thus referred to in the speech from the throne: Public tranquillity has been maintained throughout the empire, an evident proof of the deep love of the people for the institutions which govern us. Brazil is at peace with the foreign powers, and seeks to cultivate their good relations. The war, to which we were provoked by the President of the Republic of Paraguay, is not yet ended. Since the successes announced in the speech with which I closed the legislative session of last year, glorious and important deeds, such as Potreira Ovelha, Tayi, the defence of Tuyuty, the passage of Humaita, and the taking of Estabelecimento, and also the repulse of the boarding of the iron-clads, and the attack and occupation of Curupaity, and of a great part of the enemy's lines, have proved still more the value of our sea and land forces and those of our allies, and promise a brief and honorable termination to the war. I have again the pleasure to acknowledge that the Government has been aided by every Brazilian in the defending of the national honor, outraged by the President of Para guay. I feel deep sorrow in telling you that small-pox caused so considerable losses to the expeditionary column from the capital of Matto Grosso as to force it to retreat, and that the disease reaped a harvest of very many lives in that city and its neighborhood. The retreat of the column was signalized by the brilliant feat of Alegre, showing that the diminished number of Brazilians fighting in that province-a province well worthy of respect for its constancy in adversity make up by courage and devotion for what is wanting to them in material resources. Cholera morbus, which, a short time ago, unhappily desolated Montevideo and the Argentine Republic, likewise made victims in our transports and stations, and some cases occurred also in our army. This plague reappeared at places in some of our provinces, but, thanks to Divine Providence, did not spread, and was in gen eral of a mild character, the public health returning in a little time to a satisfactory condition. The Government of the United States of America again offered its gracious mediation for the reestablishment of peace with Paraguay. While thanking that nation, the Government of Brazil declared, however, in agreement with the allied republics, that the same reasons existing, strengthened by the late triumphs, which prevented acceptance of the first offer, a different procedure could not now be taken. of March, 1867, a treaty of friendship, boundaries, The empire celebrated with Bolivia, on the 25th navigation, commerce, and extradition. An agreement as to the meaning of the 9th article of the consular convention with Switzerland has been signed at Berne, with the purpose of preventing any dispute regarding the collection, administration, and liquidation of inheritances. With the product of the new taxes the revenue of the empire exceeds the ordinary expenditure, and the estimates show a surplus. Notwithstanding this, economy is an unavoidable necessity, so much the more as the exigencies of the war require extraordinary expenditures, for which I hope you will empower the Government. The development of education and public instruction should be one of the principal objects of your watchfulness. The municipal institution requires a reform based on the dictates of experience. The law of elections urgently demands a modification, in order that it may assure the liberty of vote. A law of recruitment and a military penal and practice code continue to be much-felt wants in our legislation, as it becomes inof the national guard. Immigration calls for special dispensable to reform the law of December 3, 1841, solicitude, and the means of facile communications are equally worthy of particular care. The servile element has been an object of assiduous study, and at a convenient moment the Government will submit a suitable bill for your wisdom. On July 11th, a difference occurred between the Emperor and the (Liberal) Zacharias ministry upon the question of the Emperor's selec tion of a Conservative instead of a Liberal as senator for the province of Rio Grande de Norte; the ministry resolved to resign, and, as it persisted in its determination, the resignation was finally accepted upon the 14th. The Emperor then instructed the Visconde de Itaborahy, Conservative, to organize a ministry, and on the 16th the decrees of appointment were signed. (The names of the ministers have been given above.) On the 17th the programme of the new ministry was declared, acknowledging the need of some reforms, but postponing their consideration, and asking the Chamber of Deputies to proceed at once to vote the supplies, indispensable in the present condition of the Treasury. But a vote of want of confidence was at once proposed by Senhor José Bonifacio, and, after a short debate, in which the ministry declared that it would accept the motion as equivalent to a refusal to give supplies, it was carried in the same session by 85 to 10, all the Liberals uniting against the ministry. On Saturday, the 18th, the decree of dissolution was signed, and on Monday the Chamber of Deputies was formally dissolved. The new ministry dismissed all the Presidents (Governors) of States, Vice-Presidents, chiefs of police, and, in general, all public officers belonging to the Liberal party. Extraordinary efforts were made by the new ministry to carry the election, and, in September, they were successful, the result being an overwhelming majority for the Conservatives. General Caxias, the commander of the Brazilian troops in Paraguay, having refused to let the American gunboat Wasp go up the Paraguay River for Mr. Washburn, the American minister in Paraguay (see PARAGUAY), General Webb, the American minister in Brazil, on July 7th, demanded, first, an ample apology; second, a condemnation of the conduct of Caxias; third, free license for the Wasp to go up at once, threatening to close his diplomatic relations with Brazil if a satisfactory reply were not given by August 4th. The Brazilian Government complied with the demand, and friendly relations between the two Governments were restored. The repeated offer of the United States to mediate in the war against Paraguay was declined by the Brazilian Government. The Conservative party, which has been in power since July, being opposed to freeing slaves and to taking any steps toward such an object, no further advance was made by the cause of emancipation. The (Liberal) Zacharias ministry were in favor of declaring all the births after a certain future date to be free, so as to get rid of slavery entirely when the generation then existing should be extinct. This matter, however, it did not intend to take in hand until the war was over and the army returned, so that, in case of any troubles through the excitement of the slaves or slave-owners, the means might be ready to repress the turbulence. The war against Paraguay continued throughout the year. The levying of fresh troops led several times to riots, all of which were promptly suppressed. (On the progress of the war, see PARAGUAY.) BREMEN, a republic belonging to the NorthGerman Confederation. Burgomasters, Johann Daniel Meyer (1867-1871); President of the Senate for the year 1868, Arnold Duckwitz (1865-'69). Area, 74 square miles; population in 1867, 109,572 (in 1864, 104,091). Population of the city of Bremen, in 1867, 74,945 (in 1864, 70,692). In the budget for 1868, the revenue is estimated at 1,960,113 thalers, the expenditure at 2,286,557 thalers; deficit, 326,444 thalers. The public debt, in 1867, amounted to 12,066,394 thalers. In virtue of a convention concluded with Prussia, on June 27, 1867, the recruits of Bremen are incorporated with the Prussian army. The value of imports and exports of Bremen, in 1867 and 1866, as compared with the annual average of former periods, was as follows (value expressed in million thalers [gold]): BREWSTER, Sir DAVID, K. H., F. R. S. L. and E., LL. D., D. C. L., associate member of the Imperial Institute of France, etc., a distinguished British physicist and author, who had done more than any other man of his time to popularize science, born at Jedburgh, Scotland, December 11, 1781; died at Allerly, near Melrose, February 10, 1868. His father, who was rector of the Grammar School of Jedburgh, had destined him as well as his three brothers for the ministry, but his love for natural science was so strong, that he chose to devote himself to it rather than to theology, though all his brothers had followed the paternal wishes. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, where he enjoyed the society as well as the instructions of Robinson, Playfair, and Dugald Stewart. Early in his twentieth year he commenced those researches into the composition and influence of light which were continued for many years, and which were eventually to make his name so famous. In 1807 his remarkable researches had caused the University of Aberdeen. to confer upon him the degree of LL. D., and in 1808 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In that year also, at the age of twenty-seven, he projected and commenced that great work, the Edinburgh Cyclopædia, of which he continued the editor till its completion in 1830, and in which he first published the results of his researches on light, and kindred topics. In 1813, he published a "Treatise on New Philosophical Instruments," in which, after describing various optical instruments used in the arts and sciences, he detailed some of his important experiments in light and colors. He commenced also about this time his contributions of important papers to the Royal Society of London, two of which are particularly noticeable, that "On some Properties of Light," and that on "Polarization of Light by Reflection." The latter gained him the Copley Medal, and led to his election as a fellow of the Society. In 1816 he invented the popular scientific toy, the "Kaleidoscope," which brought him fame but no pecuniary reward. In 1818, he received from the Royal Society of London the Rumford Medal, for further "Discoveries relating to the Polarization of Light," and soon after twice received the Keith Medals from the Royal |