7 DECEMBER 1889, Page 19

No further information of any importance has been received from

Brazil, where the embargo evidently laid by the Pro- visional Government upon messages by the cable has not yet been removed. There is an impression in Lisbon that a counter-revolution is still possible, the Blacks assisting the Loyalists to proclaim Dom Pedro, the popular son of the Emperor's second daughter. Any such movement is, however, most improbable until the Convention has met and has disgusted the country, and even then it is not certain that the Imperial family would care to return. An American throne is not a comfortable seat. The wealthy Brazilians in Portugal, who are numerous, express great apprehension as to the future of their country, believing that it will split into three ; and we see that doubts are entertained whether the Fleet and the Army will long hold together. We note also that Brazilian securities are slowly declining under constant sales ; but it is useless to form any opinion until the facts reach Europe, not only from Rio, but from the other provinces. Mr. Gladstone, at Manchester, quoted the bloodlessness] of the revolution as a proof of general

progress ; but it is also a proof that the most fundamental laws can now be broken with impunity. If all policemen run away, burglary will be a pacific operation ; but the fact that a burglar was never resisted would not be a proof of progress.