1830.] [ 513 ] 



ADVENTURES IN COLOMBIA REPUBLICAN PERFIDY. 



THE day had been sultry ; but the oppressive heat began now to 

 subside before the cool and refreshing sea-breeze, as it rippled the cur- 

 rent of the Orinoco river, upon the wide and transparent surface of 

 which was reflected the starry canopy above. Not a cloud dimmed 

 the brightness of the firmament. On such a night all nature seemed 

 invited to repose. Man, whilst contemplating its placid beauties, might 

 forego the indulgence of every baneful passion, and even ambition enjoy 

 a short respite from the fever of her restlessness. 



Such at least were the thoughts of Edward Winton, as he gazed on 

 the scene I have just described from a raised platform which overhung 

 the river, and supported six long-nines, intended as a defensive battery 

 to protect the town of San Tomas de Angostura, which rose with a gra- 

 dual ascent immediately in its rear ; and as he rested his arm against 

 one of the guns, his heart beat in unison with the calmness of the 

 scene. He forgot for a moment all his worldly speculations, and the 

 calculating merchant became absorbed in the reflective man. 



Edward Winton was born at , in the west of England, of 



respectable parents. His father had amassed a handsome property by 

 mercantile pursuits, and which (though possessed of ample means to 

 enjoy the otium cum dignitate) he still continued to follow, with the sole 

 intention of initiating his son into the mysteries of commerce. After 

 acquiring a competent preparatory knowledge of pounds, shillings, and 

 pence, from a pedagogue in his native town, young Edward was duly 

 inducted into his father's counting-house, where his constant assiduity and 

 laudable perseverance in accomplishing himself in the useful and pro- 

 fitable art of buying and selling, so endeared him to the old man's affec- 

 tions, that he fitted out a vessel with a valuable cargo for the Brazils, 

 which, with letters of recommendation to one of the principal houses at 

 Rio Janeiro, he presented to his son ; and thus young Ned, at the early 

 age of fifteen, found himself a trader upon his own account. Neither did 

 he deceive the confidence his father reposed in him, or swerve from his 

 former conduct. He arrived, after a prosperous voyage, at the place of 

 his destination, and by the aid of those to whom he had been addressed, 

 disposed of his merchandize to considerable advantage. The encou- 

 ragement which he felt at this first success induced him to settle at 

 Rio Janeiro ; and he continued to receive, at stated intervals, large con- 

 signments from his father, by the help of which, and his own industry, 

 he rapidly accumulated an independent fortune. Several years' resi- 

 dence added to his prosperity and renown ; and the wealthy Englishman 

 was courted by the highest, and respected by all classes of the Brazi- 

 lian people. His fame even reached the court, and the then reigning 

 sovereign, Don John of Portugal, condescended to intimate his intention 

 of favouring Mr. Winton with a visit at a villa which the latter possessed 

 a few miles distant from the capital, and which had been fitted up in 

 the true English style splendour and comfort combined. Edward 

 Winton would have willingly dispensed with the honour which the 

 Portuguese monarch designed to pay him ; but there was no visible 

 means of avoiding it, and he yielded to necessity, comforting himself 

 with the anticipated satisfaction of displaying to royalty the magnificence 

 of a British merchant. On the eve preceding the royal visit, he 



M.M. New Series.^- VOL. X. No. 59. 3 T 



