periodical rains, make the climate one of the most enjoyable on
the face of the earth.

The province is governed, like all others in the empire, by a
President, as chief civil authority. At the time of our arrival
he also held, exceptionally, the chief military command. This
functionary, together with the head of the police administration
and the judges, is nominated by the central Government at Rio
Janeiro. The municipal and internal affairs are managed by a
provincial assembly elected by the people. Every villa or borough
throughout the province also possesses its municipal council, and
in thinly-populated districts the inhabitants choose every four
years a justice of the peace, who adjudicates in small disputes
between neighbours. A system of popular education exists, and
every village has its school of first letters, the master being
paid by the government, the salary amounting to about £70, or the
same sum as the priests receive. Besides common schools, a well-
endowed classical seminary is maintained at Para, to which the
sons of most of the planters and traders in the interior are sent
to complete their education. The province returns its quota of
members every four years to the lower and upper houses of the
imperial parliament. Every householder has a vote. Trial by jury
has been established, the jurymen being selected from
householders, no matter what their race or colour; and I have
seen the white merchant, the negro husbandman, the mameluco, the
mulatto, and the Indian, all sitting side by side on the same
bench. Altogether the constitution of government in Brazil seems
to combine happily the principles of local self-government and
centralisation, and only requires a proper degree of virtue and
intelligence in the people to lead the nation to great