140 Don Pedro, and the Brazilian Revolution. [^August, 



world, St. Domingo will be the model ; and here it is that their powers 

 of imitation will be the most happily displayed ; for the elements of 

 society in Brazil are much more analagous to those of St. Domingo than 

 to those of any of the countries which, in their revolutionary career, had 

 served them as prototypes. When we reflect on the elements of anarchy 

 which exist in Brazil, we shudder at the frightful perspective which 

 awaits her. The proportion of the black and coloured population to the 

 white is as seven to one. The wrongs of the three centuries cry loudly 

 for redress. The veil which has so long blinded them has been suddenly 

 rent away ; and they at last open their eyes to a sense of their own 

 strength and importance. Opportunity, we fear, will soon be afforded 

 them of discharging the debt of deadly hatred they owe the whites. The 

 flood-gates of ambition are burst asuMer, and the seeds of the most 

 frightful anarchy are in full development. In the language of Napo- 

 leon, " Tous les elemens sent prets, il ne faut, qu'un point d'appui, qu' 

 mi homme." Brazil, like Naples, will have her IMassaniello. 



It has been acutely remarked, that a shot cannot be fired in any part 

 of the world without English interests suffering. Great Britain, by the 

 late revolution in Brazil, will be a loser of between six and seven mil- 

 lions, independent of the large capital employed in mining speculations 

 and the general purposes of commerce. The ephemeral monarchy which 

 exists will be of short duration J the republican flag will, on the first 

 news of the change which has taken place in the capital, be hoisted in 

 the northern provinces. This immense empire, hitherto held together 

 by the prestige of the emperor's name, will be dismembered, and formed 

 into so many independent republics. To which of these will then the 

 English creditor look for the payment of their dividends } The leaders 

 of the Brazilian revolution may be honest in their views, and may fondly 

 dream of still maintaining a monarchical form of government ; but we 

 fear that the experience of a few months will shew that, like Franken- 

 stein, they have raised up a demon which will work their destruction. 



For the sake of humanity, we sincerely hope that our forebodings may 

 prove unfounded, and that this richest portion of South America may 

 not, like the other parts of that vast continent, disappoint the sanguine 

 hopes which, at the outbreak of the revolution, led the commercial 

 adventurer to seek there an El Dorado, and the political theorist an 

 Utopia ! 



The fortunes of the young queen. Donna IMai-ia, in whose cause her 

 father has sacrificed so much, are on the beam. If Don Pedro, when 

 seated on the throne of Brazil, was unable to influence the policy of the 

 European cabinets in her favour, there at present exists but little 

 chance of his doing so, now that he is a dethroned and fugitive monarch. 

 The Portuguese const'tutionalists must now depend on their own 

 energies and resources. Accustomed to the protecting arm of England, 

 they dreamt of foreign assistance when they should have acted boldly 

 in the field — retreated ignominiously when they should have advancetl. 

 Let them look to Poland — to that Poland who, alone, armed with her 

 native fortitude, has broken the spear of the colossus of the north ; let 

 them, if possible, catch a ray of the noble inspiration whicli animates 

 that gallant people, and blush for their own pusillanimous conduct, which 

 has rendered them — may we not say.^ the contempt, of the civilized 

 world. 



