100 
Literary and Critical Proemium. 
[Sept. 1; 
shall Gease to elect and return Burgesses 
to serve in the High Court of Parliament. 
1L. If, during the present Parliament, 
the election of the two Burgesses now 
serving therein for the same Borough of 
Grampound, or either of them, shall by 
Death or otherwise become void, then and 
in every such Case an additional Knight or 
Knights shall be returned to serve in the 
High Court of Parliament for the Count} 7 
of York ; and that from the end of the 
present Parliament, and at all times there¬ 
after, the said County of York shall re¬ 
turn, to serve in the High Court of Parlia- 
ment, four Knights of the Shire instead of 
two Knights of the Shire. 
NEW BOOKS PUBLISHED IN AUGUST, 
With an Historical and Critical Proemium. 
Authors or Publishers desirous of seeing an early notice of their Works , are 
requested to transmit copies before the \§th of the Month. 
O WE of the most interesting publica¬ 
tions of the present month is A His¬ 
tory of the Brazil, by James Henderson, 
comprehending a very full and particular 
account of the geography, commerce, colo¬ 
nization, &c. of that important country. 
The author, it appears, on his arrival at 
Rio de Janeiro, in 1819, was disappointed 
in his views of immediate employment, 
and therefore resolved to devote his time 
to the acquisition of intelligence respecting 
these vast regions. He has succeeded in 
collecting a very considerable mass of in¬ 
formation on the past and present state of 
the Brazil, treating under distinct heads 
of the twenty-two provinces which it com¬ 
prises. The picture which is presented to 
us of the external aspect of the country is 
highly magnificent and rich; but this 
writer concurs with all his predecessors in 
deploring the state of society at Rio de 
Janeiro, which he represents as being’ cen¬ 
turies behind in the comforts and enjoy¬ 
ments of civilized life. Even hospitality, 
the virtue of an uncultivated people, is 
here unknown. Living is as expensive, or 
more so, than in London, with none of the 
comforts which the latter affords. A mo¬ 
derate sized house will let for two hundred 
and fifty or three hundred pounds per an¬ 
num; and provisions, with the exception 
of vegetables aud fruit, are neither cheap 
nor good. Books are prohibited, and the 
state of literature is consequently very 
low. Only two gazettes are published 
throughout the whole empire. Assassina¬ 
tion is frequent; the inhabitants carrying 
knives hid under the sleeves of their coats, 
which they throw aud use with great dex¬ 
terity ; and these knives, we are ashamed 
to say, are manufactured in England ex¬ 
pressly for that purpose. The deplorable 
state of the government has counteracted 
the advantages of nature, which would 
otherwise have rendered this nation one 
of the richest in the world. Even the dia¬ 
mond mines are not worked to advantage. 
The produce of these is selected, in the 
first instance, by the royal family; and it 
is said that the King possesses the best 
collection of gems iivthe world, worth up¬ 
wards of two millions sterling-. From the 
mine, the diamonds are conveyed by a 
strong military guard to the treasury, till 
dispatched for London, which is now their 
great mart. Agriculture is in a very de¬ 
graded state, and the present system of 
landed tenure is so bad,that the soil seems 
likely to remain covered with wild grass 
and forests till doomsday. When it is mo¬ 
derately cultivated, the returns are quick 
and bountiful. From the recent establish¬ 
ment of a free constitution in this colony, 
the warmest hopes of its speedy improve¬ 
ment, in every respect, may be entertained. 
And having escaped from political slavery, 
we may reasonably expect that the system 
of domestic bondage will not much longer 
be allowed to disgrace a nation calling it¬ 
self free. In an appendix to the volume, 
we find a zoological account of the ani¬ 
mals peculiar to the- country, amongst 
which the reptiles are the most formidable, 
being exceedingly numerous, and for the 
most part venomous. Clouds of insects 
people the air. A collection has been al¬ 
ready made of above sixteen hundred 
different sorts of butterflies. Perhaps no 
other region in the world equals the Brazil 
in the innumerable species of birds which 
it possesses, of incomparable beauty of 
plumage and variety of song. This Avork 
is illustrated with twenty-eight plates, exe¬ 
cuted with good effect upon stone, after 
sketches taken by Mr. Henderson on the 
spot, and with two maps. The style is 
plain and unaffected, and the author’s in¬ 
formation appears to be drawn from au¬ 
thentic sources. We think considerable 
credit is due to him for the judgment and 
ability with which he has embodied the 
result of his researches, which we regard 
as a valuable contribution to our stock of 
knowledge respecting this important and 
advancing country. 
Laurent’s Classical Tour through 
various parts of Greece, Turkey, and Italy, 
is a work in the perusal of which Ave have 
felt considerable interest. The author is 
very minute in his descriptions of the 
various 
