500 



CONCLUSIVE OBSERVATIONS. 



of the most magnificent and varied fields in the world, for his delightful 

 pursuits in Natural History. To the British merchant particularly an im- 

 mense augmentation of his commercial dealings will be opened, by a wiser 

 administration of the Brazilian government relative to the exchange of com- 

 modities with other countries, and by the increased industry and prosperity of 

 the Brazilian people. The well-wisher to the happiness of his fellow men 

 will be cheered with the prospect of the gradual if not speedy abolition 

 of the hateful slave-trade ; thus conferring the enjoyment of freedom not only 

 Upon their sable brethren in South America, but cutting off one of the main 

 sources of the wars, slavery, and misery of the people of Africa, The revered 

 names of Clarkson and Wilberforce will then sound as gratefully as they now 

 do odiously to the Brazilian planter and dealer, who at present, from a preju- 

 diced and narrow conception of what best contributes to the prosperity of indi- 

 viduals and of nations, and from an ignorant and ill-founded notion of the 

 faculties of the negro, misconceive the labours of those excellent men. The 

 picture which we have drawn of the future advancement of this country permits 

 us also to indulge the hope that the blessings of civilization will be carried with 

 Jesuitical earnestness among the numerous untamed Indians, and that the 

 envenomed dart, rudely-painted skin, and distorted features, will give place 

 to the customs of social life, thereby converting their native wilds into scenes 

 of fertility, such as formerly beautified the missions of Paraguay, where groves 

 of fruit trees, where sweetest plants and flowers, plantations of roots, of rice, 

 and Indian corn, numerous useful animals, together with a mild paternal 

 government, ensured plenty and prosperity to the inhabitants. 



The king sailed from Rio de Janeiro for Lisbon on the 26th of April, 1821, 

 and arrived at the latter city the beginning of July, accompanied by upwards 

 of four thousand persons, which will tend to produce a temporary depression 

 of the commercial spirit and consequence of the Brazilian capital. When 

 it is known, however, that a considerable portion of those individuals were 

 hangers-on upon the royal bounty, and that a great many others were not 

 permanent residents, but merely drawn thither from Portugal, for a certain 

 period, to obtain some object with the government, (and from the known par- 

 tiality of the king in detaining European Portuguese in the Brazil, the number 

 under those circumstances were always considerable,) the impression will be 

 diminished of any lengthened or serious check upon the prosperity of this city 

 by their removal. It will be gratifying to the Brazihans to have still amongst 

 them the Conde dos Arcos, who fulfilled the duties of viceroy, on the arrival 

 of the royal family at the Brazil, to the general satisfaction of the people, and 

 who is appointed prime-minister to His Royal Highness Don Pedro. 



