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little frequency. A commander of sixteen or 

 eighteen soldiers wearied "the garrison" by 

 measures of safety, which were dictated "by 

 the important state of affairs f if he were 

 attacked, he hoped to " surround the enemy." 

 When we spoke of the indifference, with which 

 no doubt the Portugueze government regarded 

 the four little villages, that the monks of Saint 

 Francis had founded on the Upper Guainia, 

 the inhabitants were hurt by the motives, which 

 we alleged with the view to give them confi- 

 dence. A people, who have preserved in vigour 

 through the revolutions of ages a national ha- 

 tred, like occasions of cherishing it. The mind 

 delights in every thing impassioned, in the con- 

 sciousness of an energetic feeling, in the affec- 

 tions, and in rival hatreds, that are founded on 

 antiquated prejudices. Whatever constitutes the 

 individuality of nations flows from the mother 

 country to the most remote colonies ; and na- 

 tional antipathies are not effaced, where the 

 influence of the same languages ceases. We 

 know from the interesting narrative of Krusen- 

 sterns voyage, that the hatred of two fugitive 

 sailors, one a Frenchman and the other English, 

 was the cause of a long war between the inha- 

 bitants of the Marquesas Islands. On the banks 

 of the Amazon and the Rio Negro, the Indians 

 of the neighbouring Portugueze and Spanish 

 villages detest each other. These poor people 



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