to silence the voice of God speaking on earth through Christ; but he must beware of listening to any other exponent of the divine will, whether or not he refer his claim to St. Peter; whether or not he appeal to human wisdom, throned in the papal chair or attested by the unanimity of Councils; whether or not he entitle himself the Vicar of Christ on earth. 'It is not in the power of man to restrict the influences of the Gospel. What they have been, they will be; what they have done, they will continue to effect. They will bless the spirit in its wanderings and in its retirements, making the universe the record of its history, and its inmost recesses the dwelling-place of Deity. They will restrain the excesses, chasten the emotions, and ennoble the sympathies of humanity. They will bless life and hallow the grave. They will develope themselves perpetually as ages roll on, till it shall be their lowest office to still the sighings and subdue the conflicts of the spirit; while their highest shall still be, so to direct its pursuit of ultimate objects, so to invigorate its natural and moral powers, as to evidence to itself its ever-growing resemblance to its Maker. It is for man to beware lest he exclude himself from these influences or impair their operation by mistaking superstition for religion, and by supinely relinquishing the intellectual and spiritual liberty with which Christ has made him free.' pp. 87, 88. We can One more word before we leave these volumes. not resist the impression that they are auspicious signs of the advancement of a free, liberal, serious, rational, or, in short, pure Christianity among men. We feel sure, also, that they will contribute to that advancement which they so cheeringly betoken. ART. II. Notices of Brazil in 1828 and 1829. By Boston, To one who is acquainted with the history of South America, the very name of Brazil possesses a romantic charm. It carries him back to those early days when that vast region was inhabited only by hordes of wandering savages. It reminds him of the deep feelings of astonishment with which its shores were first surveyed by European eyes; of the spirit of adventure, the courage, the endurance, and the perseverance which animated the early adventurers who explored it; of their dreams of gold and their tales of wonder, of giants and pigmies, Amazons and anthropophagi. It calls up to his recollection the worse than savage cruelties which were perpetrated upon its native inhabitants; the slavery, more cruel than death, to which they were subjected; and the untiring exertions of the Jesuits to protect these persecuted tribes, and to bestow on them the blessings of civilization and Christianity. Nor is it merely on account of the past that Brazil is interesting. The country in its present situation possesses stronger and more direct claims on our attention. No one can cast even a hasty glance on the map of this continent without being struck with the vast extent of the Brazilian territory, embracing, as it does, two fifths of South America, and larger, it is said, than the whole of Europe. In richness and variety of natural productions it is perhaps exceeded by no country in the world. It is, in truth, what its historian has called it," the finest region of the whole habitable globe." Its plains, its rivers, its mountains, and its forests are prodigal in animal and vegetable life. Diamonds and gold, and the no less valuable mineral iron, are found beneath its soil in boundless profusion; and yet the nature and extent of its mineral resources are very imperfectly known. Its vast length of sea-coast, with its convenient harbours, give it great advantages for foreign commerce; while its numerous rivers apparently offer every facility for intercourse between the coast and the interior. The climate is in most parts healthy and agreeable. It is sufficiently obvious, that this country with which our commercial intercourse is rapidly increasing, and which already produces some of the staples of our states in great abundance, may hereafter become a valuable friend in some branches of trade, and a formidable rival in others. If the inhabitants of Brazil should ever become a moral, cultivated, and enterprising people, subject to a good government and good laws, they would soon be one of the most flourishing and powerful nations which the world has ever known. Dr. Walsh, we think, has performed a valuable service in * Southey. the information which he has given concerning Brazil. He is already known to the reading public by his "Journey from Constantinople," in which he gives an account of some countries which have not often been traversed by intelligent travellers. That work has been extremely popular, both in Great Britain and this country; and we think the present is likely to become so. Dr. Walsh seems to enjoy all those dispositions and powers of mind and body which fit a man for a traveller. He appears to be always in good health and spirits, and to possess strength to endure every fatigue which his curiosity prompts him to undergo. His mind is active and inquisitive; while his cheerfulness and sociability enable him to obtain freely that information which would be withheld from a traveller of a different temperament. He is a close observer of the manners and habits of the people among whom he travels, yet always judges them with candor and kindness. He has a keen relish for the beauties of nature and art, and describes them with judgment and spirit. In every thing which he presents to the reader, whether it be descriptions of natural scenery, accounts of his personal adventures, sketches of the modes of life of the inhabitants of the country, he possesses the rare talent of giving an exact representation of the impression made upon his own mind by the objects which attract his attention. This talent spreads a constant glow of life and spirit over his pages. Besides, his kind and benevolent feelings, which show themselves in every part of the work, in the most unaffected manner, render his volumes highly attractive. His speculations do not exhibit him merely as a cold political economist, but as an ardent and sincere Christian, who feels a strong interest in the welfare of his fellow creatures. The work throughout maintains a moral tone of sentiment, which is the more gratifying when contrasted with the disregard of all moral distinctions which pervades too many books of travels. or Dr. Walsh gives us sufficient of his personal adventures to preserve his reader's interest in him, and maintain the unity of the work, which a book of travels is too apt to lose when it becomes a mere series of unconnected disquisitions on different subjects. He is careful, however, on the other hand, not to disgust us by dwelling on petty circumstances which * A fourth edition of this work has lately been published in London. are of no consequence to any one but the writer. The details which he sometimes gives are not introduced because they relate to himself, but because they tend to illustrate the state of the country through which he is travelling, and the manners of its inhabitants. In the year 1828, Viscount Strangford went to Brazil as Ambassador Extraordinary from Great Britain. Dr. Walsh accompanied him as chaplain. It was on this occasion that the work before us was prepared. Besides the notices of Brazil, the volumes contain an account of the voyage to Rio Janeiro, some particulars respecting Madeira, at which island our author and his fellow voyagers landed on their passage, and an account of the voyage on their return to England. Dr. Walsh, from his situation in the British embassy, enjoyed peculiar advantages for obtaining information concerning Brazil. These advantages he has diligently improved. On many subjects his knowledge appears to be extensive, accurate, and well digested. The general appearance of the country through which he travelled, its climate, diseases, agriculture, and commerce, the amusements, education, literature, and religion of the people, the administration of justice, and the recent history of Brazil, all attract his attention, and all are rendered entertaining or instructive to the reader. We are not aware of any work which presents so full and clear, and at the same time so lively and agreeable an account of the moral and social condition of the Brazilians, and of their political opinions and prospects. Indeed, all former travelÎers in Brazil, whose works have fallen under our notice, have given very crude, superficial, and unsatisfactory representations on these subjects. Our author, on the contrary, appears to have studied and entered into the very spirit of the people, and that rather like a judicious and sympathizing friend and fellow-citizen than a heartless stranger. We shall not detain our readers with any further general remarks upon the work before us, but shall content ourselves with extracting from it a few passages, which will enable them to judge of its character better than any formal criticism. The principal cause of the low moral and political condition of Brazil, and of the little benefit which has hitherto been reaped from its vast natural resources, is the frightful system of slavery under which the country is groaning. This subject our author has examined with great attention. His re marks upon it, in various parts of his volumes, are highly judicious and instructive; and the facts which he relates cannot be read by the most careless without a deep and melancholy interest. No one, probably, who has not made slavery a study, with however much abhorrence he may regard the system in theory, can imagine the nature and extent of the evil which flows from this fountain of bitterness. When Dr. Walsh first landed at Rio Janeiro, he was very much struck with the appearance of the negro population. The whole labor of bearing and moving burdens is performed by these people, and the state in which they appear is revolting to humanity. Here was a number of beings entirely naked, with the exception of a covering of dirty rags tied about their waists. Their skins, from constant exposure to the weather, had become hard, crusty, and seamed, resembling the coarse black covering of some beast, or like that of an elephant, a wrinkled hide scattered with scanty hairs. On contemplating their persons, you saw them with a physical organization resembling beings of a grade below the rank of man ; long projecting heels, the gastrocnemius muscle wanting, and no calves to their legs; their mouths and chins protruded, their noses flat, their foreheads retiring, having exactly the head and legs of the baboon tribe. Some of these beings were yoked to drays, on which they dragged heavy burdens. Some were chained by the necks and legs, and moved with loads thus encumbered. Some followed each other in ranks, with heavy weights on their heads, chattering the most inarticulate and dismal cadence as they moved along. Some were munching young sugar-canes like beasts of burden eating green provender, and some were seen near the water, lying on the bare ground among filth and offal, coiled up like dogs, and seeming to expect or require no more comfort or accommodation, exhibiting a state and conformation so unhuman, that they not only seemed, but actually were, far below the inferior animals around them. Horses and mules were not employed in this way; they were used only for pleasure, and not labor. They were seen in the same streets, pampered, spirited, and richly caparisoned, enjoying a state far superior to the negroes, and appearing to look down on the fettered and burdened wretches they were passing, as on beings of an inferior rank in the creation to themselves. Some of the negroes actually seemed to envy the caparisons of their fellow brutes, and eyed with jealousy their glittering harness. In imitation of this finery, they were fond of thrums of many-colored threads; and I saw one |