SOUTH AMERICA. 1S3 



solent and insulting deportment to the lower classes 

 of people, gave the most certain indications of a des- 

 potic government. Where the common soldier thinks 

 himself above the mechanic or artizan, and the officer 

 occupies a rank distinct from, and above the people, 

 civil liberty is scarcely more than a name. In the new 

 part of the city the houses are better constructed, but 

 the best have but an indifferent appearance when com- 

 pared to those in our cities; they seem also to be con- 

 structed on a plan calculated to insure a jealous seclu- 

 sion from every human eye. We visited the public 

 gardens so particularly described in Macartney's em- 

 bassy; but whether it was owing to the season, this 

 being the period of frequent rains, or whether attribu- 

 table to neglect, we found them in a very different 

 state from what we had been led to expect. We saw 

 but fev/ people in them, and these not of the most pre- 

 possessing appearance. In the shrubs and trees of 

 the garden, I saw but little to attract my attention, ex- 

 cept the coffee plant which grows here in great per- 

 fection, and which was at this time loaded with ber- 

 ries. As to much of what I had seen thus far, I 

 found that my residence in New Orleans, had made 

 me acquainted with many objects which a citizen of 

 our middle or northern states, who has never been 

 abroad, would contemplate with wonder; and if pos- 

 sessed with an over share of vanity, would ascribe to 

 his superior discernment, what was nothing more than 

 a proof of his ignorance. On our return towards the 

 quay, we stepped into the king's chapel where we 

 were told mass had just been said for the princess 

 Charlotte of England; the news of whose death had 

 reached Rio sometime before our arrival. There was 



