the imagination is fed by the memory. The three most power-
fully influential circumstances which contribute to the formation
of character in a rude or savage state of society, are, the tra-
ditions of the country, its language, and the means of subsis-
tence. To the first and the last of these, the moral power of
scenery may be almost entirely referred. 'The pastoral life,'
Mr. Southey remarks, ' is necessarily unfavourable to civiliza-
' tion; but no where has it been found so completely to debase
' and brutalize man as in the grazing countries of South Ame-
'rica.' Agriculture, on the contrary, while it induces a most
important change in the domestic habits, and implies a certain
advancement in civilization, gives rise to new associations, the
elements of poetical feeling, and imparts a specific interest to
the landscape. Under the reign of Ceres and of Bacchus, the
face of Nature is first taught to smile. If, in the absence of this
civilizing art, the natives of some wild mountain territory, have,
in any instance, been found susceptible of the local enthusiasm,
it has been because tradition has consecrated the soil to their
imagination, and they have been possessed of a history and a
language. Such associations have, however, only an accidental
connexion with all that the geologist, the naturalist, or the artist
descries in the beauty and magnificence before him, and they must
be put out of the question in estimating the abstract effect of fine
scenery upon the human mind. An intelligent perception and s
genuine admiration of the beauties or the sublimer phenomena of
Nature, are, indeed, among the rarest endowments of civilized
and educated men. To suppose them to exist in the savage, is
an absurdity. Yet, destitute of these qualifications, it is incon-
ceivable what moral influence he can receive from the scenes
through which he passes, any more than the herd he drives be-
fore him, or what higher gratification he can receive from exter-
nal nature than the mere animal sensations produced by air and
sunshine. Neither consciously nor unconsciously can he be the
better for constantly witnessing material forms of picturesque
beauty or grandeur, which neither recal any visions of the past,
nor excite in his mind reflections stretching into the unseen and
the future. Failing to convey any salutary intimations of the
power and design of the Author of Nature, the whole stupen-
dous exhibition is absolutely lost upon the degraded beings
whose moral character is in so terrible discrepancy with the scene,
and in whom the destitution of religious feeling is attended
by a poverty of imagination which renders them insensible to
any thing above the wants and sensations of physical existence.
Such are the hapless beings who are found scattered over the
fairest portions of God's earth-the aborigines of the territory.
And the Christian intruders with whom they have been brought
into contact, how much higher do they rise in the scale of intel-

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lectual existence? In too many cases, the savage has seemed the more inoffensive, if not the more rational animal. The colonist is, in general, but an indifferent sample of the nation from which the love of gain, or the spirit of adventure, or stern necessity has detached him. And the mixed race which originate in old colonial settlements, too cominonly exhibit a mulish degeneracy, retaining the blended vices of both the indigenous and the foreign breed. Mr. Luecock's picture of the Brazilian charaeter, may be adduced in proof of this statement. The cities ⚫ for which Abraham interceded, Cyprus, Carthage, Crete, and • Sparta, had joined,' he says, ' at the period when my acquaintance with the country began, to form the social order of Rio ' de Janeiro.'

Depravity, too, was not there redeemed by any national qualities of a solid, nor even of a shewy kind; it was not, in general, thought necessary to maintain that shadow of virtue, hypocrisy. Vices which elsewhere men are the most careful to hide, were seen stalking abroad as publicly and unblushingly as the most abandoned could desire. Not negroes and the populace alone contemplated them with apathy: the moral taste and feeling of persons of a higher cast partook so much of the common taint that, when we mentioned with horror the worst of crimes which we were obliged to witness, they often advanced some thing by way of defence, and really appeared as much surprised at our mode of thinking as if we had broached a new religion, or foisted into the new one some scrupulous fancies... The life of an un distinguished individual was not worth two dollars; for a smaller sum, any coward could hire a bravo to take it away. p. 134.

The most profound ignorance and the extreme of filthiness in the habits of the people, complete the outline. And all these abominations are continually acted in the face of a scene of 'al' most unequalled magnificence and beauty.' 'The uniformly • serene, gay, and exhilarating prospect,' says Mr. Luccock, ⚫ seems to shew how happily man might have lived under the in'fluence of nature's God. But, that influence being intercepted by superstition and ignorance, the natural advantages of the elimate serve only to foster the seeds of depravity. Yet the Author of the present volume maintains, that,

• The cold and phlegmatic Northern politician has seldom calculated the effect of fine scenery upon the human mind, or he would not have expected the Court of Portugal to leave its new abode. This is a si lent but powerful agent: its operation is universal and perpetual, re newed by every rising sun, and aided by every refulgent moon. It has here often withstood the stimulus of interest, and destroyed the pithi, ness of argument; and is generally most effectual on minds the least aware of its influence. It has contributed to render the Court of Portugal almost ambitious to change its designation: and foreigners indulge the propensity, by speaking of the Court of Rio, and no longer of that of Lisbon.'

This is an unfortunate passage. Subsequent events have proved that the Court of Portugal preferred Lisbon after all; just as Mr. Luccock has probably, by this time, discovered, that the fine scenery of the Brazils is a poor equivalent for the social advantages of the British metropolis. And yet, he is susceptible of the influence of scenery, which the Court of Rio, we strongly suspect, were not. But this notion respecting the universal operation of a silent but powerful agency that is adequate to counteract the stimulus of interest and so forth, is, indeed, nothing better than a piece of harmless poetical nonsense, which is worth transcribing merely as an admonition against the extravagancies of fine writing.

Mr. Luccock writes, in general, like a highly intelligent and well informed man, and his work contains the most ample as well as the latest account which we possess, of the manners and customs of the Brazilians, the topography of the country, and its commercial and political prospects. It consists of descriptions, anecdotes, and passing remarks, selected from the Author's journal in the order of time; and the information is sufficiently multifarious and interesting. But, although there are but few instances of palpable repetition, this mode of arrangement is fatal to any thing like orderly connexion, and is in no small degree inconvenient to the reader who wishes to obtain a complete view of any one subject. A good index would have been the best remedy for this fault; and we regret that this has been omitted. A volume of such a description and magnitude is materially defective without one. The work is divided into seventeen chapters. The first four are occupied with remarks made during the Author's passage, and with a description of Rio de Janeiro as it was in 1808. The next three describe a voyage to the Plata, and travels in the interior, 1809-1813. The improved appearance of the capital on our Author's return to it in 1813, is described in the eighth chapter. Subsequent excursions into the interior afford materials for the following eight chapters. The last is devoted to general remarks connected with a final survey of the capital in 1818, and forms the most valuable portion of the whole. In an Appendix are given, the Signals by which vessels approaching the port of Rio Grande do Sul, shew to the pilot-boat what water they draw; Tables of Commerce; and a Glossary of Tupi words. The volume contains also a plan of the city, and maps of the Table Land and Southern Lowlands of Brazil.

The subject of most immediate interest is, the present state of the new Brazilian kingdom. Mr. Luccock affirms, that the rapidity with which improvement proceeds in the capital is wonderful. Some of the representations given in the early chapters must, therefore, be understood as relating to a past state of things. In 1813, a very large influx of inhabitants had taken

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place both from Europe and the Brazilian provinces, and the city had become greatly enlarged; the old streets were greatly improved in cleanliness, and the houses in neatness; the roads in various directions were cleared and widened; and villas and gardens began to adorn its vicinity.

An increase of domestic comfort had arisen from the establishment of a market for cattle without the city, and of several markets for vegetables and fruits within it; from a more abundant and regular supply of fish, and the more free use of mutton; from greater care with respect to the quality of meat, and the cleanliness of the places where it was slaughtered and exposed to sale. Craftsmen of different descriptions had made their appearance; among them so many smiths, that it was no longer difficult to get a horse shod. Mills for grinding corn had been much improved, and bread was come more into use. Charcoal was manufactured, and for cooking introduced into the houses. Nuisances were more readily removed, and even Scavengers were now and then seen in the streets." p. 254.

At court, there was now to be seen some resemblance to European magnificence; and the affability of the Prince Regent, who had on different occasions presented himself with confidence in the midst of his people, had rendered him deservedly popular. There is much truth in the reinark, that

' few persons are disposed to be disloyal, who are allowed to witness the ceremonies of a court, who know that they also may present themselves to the Sovereign, complying only with established forms, on appointed evenings of the week, and find the road to honours equally open to merit wherever it appears.'

A highly pleasing portrait is given of this prince, his present Portuguese majesty.

The Prince Regent has often been accused of apathy: to me he appeared to possess more feeling and energy of character than friends, as well as accusers, usually attributed to him. He was placed in new and singularly trying circumstances, and submitted to them with patience; when roused, he acted with vigour and promptness. Perhaps he was too often guided by the timid and insincere; he was certainly surrounded by such as are always dangerous to rulers, by cowardly sycophants and hypocritical priests: and it is no less certain that they possessed great influence over his mind. Yet the firmness with which he refused to stop at Bahia, in opposition to the wishes of some of his followers, ought not to be forgotten. Without pleading that he displayed any great degree of heroism and devotedness to his country, without denying that he congratulated himself on what has been called his escape, we are surely not obliged to coincide with those who charge him with insensibility and baseness; and it is well remem. bered, with respect to some who thus charged him, how lively and open their rejoicings were, that they also had placed the Atlantic be tween themselves and their invaders... He was truly kind and attenti

to all, and warm in his gratitude to the British nation. His tenderness towards his companions in banishment was unaffected and paternal.' p. 94.

When, in 1817, the tidings reached Rio, of an insurrection in Pernambuco,

⚫ the first exclamation of the king was so impassioned, uttered so openly, and flowed so directly from the heart, as fully to manifest the feeling of a benevolent man and a righteous ruler. "How is it," he said, "that my subjects revolt; -I have always tried to do them good;-I do not know that I have injured any one ;-what do they wish for?" Such feelings, however, before the next morning, gave way to vigour; the disaster was met with great firmness, and gave rise to unusual exertion in every department of the State. The King himself forgot his usual character and habits, ordered an expedition to be prepared when there was little hope of fitting out any thing formidable; visited, in his own person, accompanied by the Heir apparent, the Treasury, the Arsenal, and other offices of the State ; examined the Stores, the Storekeepers, and their books; saw what was at hand, and what must be procured. By a well timed severity to a few neg. ligent officers, and replacing them by humbler but better men, he created among the people a confidence, an alertness, a devotion which had never been witnessed in Brazil, and perhaps will never be exceeded. The palace soon became crowded with bodies of people, who went to offer either personal services or money for the occasion. The city of Rio alone produced full seven thousand volunteers, and 200,000,000 reis, or 60, 000 sterling. The performances at the Theatre were not merely interrupted, but absolutely suspended, by repeated and general bursts of loyalty and patriotism, and by singing in chorus a national hymn, hastily composed for the occasion. I confess that though a foreigner, and interested only in general with domestic politics, this burst of national sentiment thrilled to my very soul. I saw a whole people at once forget the execrable mode in which the administration of the country had been conducted, and the oppression under which almost every man had laboured. I saw them bury it all beneath the love of a Sovereign whom they knew to be benevolent, though inactive; deceived, but not personally cruel. p. 557.

Mr. Luccock has only to cross the Channel at this moment, in order to witness a similar explosion of national feeling. In this all-absorbing and all forgiving loyalty, our Hibernian fellowsubjects are determined not to be out-done by any other people. And really, so deeply rooted is an instinctive attachment to the persons of their rulers in the minds of the lower classes at all periods of civilization, so easily are their affections conciliated by a little affability set off with a little shew, and accompanied with some decent external homage to virtue, that it is their own fault if Sovereigns are not popular. Some powerful cause of counteraction must exist where the tide of national sentiment sets in an opposite direction. Easily excited and cheaply satisfied, how