196 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



sovereign as enlightened as he is humane. I must have 

 been blind to everything except my science, had I not a 

 word to say of Brazil as a nation, = — ^^of her present con- 

 dition and her future prospects. 



There is much that is discouraging in the aspect of 

 Brazil, even for those who hope and believe as I do, that 

 she has before her an honorable and powerful career. 

 There is much also that is very cheering, that leads me to 

 believe that her life as a nation will not belie her great gifts 

 as a country. Should her moral and intellectual endow- 

 ments grow into harmony with her wonderful natural 

 beauty and wealth, the world will not have seen a fairer 

 land. At present there are several obstacles to this pro- 

 gress ; obstacles which act like a moral disease upon the 

 people. Slavery still exists among them. It is true that it 

 is on the wane ; true that it has received a mortal blow ; 

 but the natural death of slavery is a lingering illness, 

 wasting and destroying the body it has attacked. Next 

 to this I would name, among the influences unfavorable 

 to progress, the character of the clergy. In saying this I 

 disclaim any reference to the national religion. It is of the 

 character of the clergy I speak, not of the church they rep- 

 resent. Whatever be the church organization in a country 

 where instruction is still so intimately linked with a state 

 religion as it is in Brazil, it is of infinite importance that the 

 clergy themselves should not only be men of high moral 

 character, but of studious, thoughtful lives. They are the 

 teachers of the people, and as long as they believe that the 

 mind can be fed with tawdry street processions, with lighted 

 candles, and cheap bouquets ; and as long as the people 

 accept this kind of instruction, they will be debased and en- 

 feebled by it. Shows of this kind are of almost daily occur- 



