to rely upon the energy of the officials charged with administering the law. Unfortunately, in so vast an empire, without roads, and covered with impenetrable forests, strict government is almost impossible. On the other hand, among a mixture of races so different, a very high order of social habits cannot be expected. The towns upon the coast, constantly vivified by European contact, present every appearance of civilization. An attentive eye can nevertheless detect through this exterior the signs of deep depravity. Looseness of manners seem so natural to the country, that the Creoles themselves confess the fault, and attribute it to the influence of the climate. Travellers repeat this excuse, and today, in the eyes of the respectable world, the warm climate of the equator is the cause of all irregularities of conduct between the tropics. These two facile conclusions ought to be rejected. Far from provoking the development of the passions, the extreme heat would rather tend to moderate them.

LICENTIOUSNESS.

The principal cause of the licentious character of South American life has always seemed to me to lie in the system of slavery. What, in fact, is likely to happen with an opulent man, whose prejudices of caste keep him from every occupation, surrounded by a seraglio of two or three hundred negresses or women of colour? Shamelessness attains its extreme limits on the plantations of the interior, where, the slave being accounted only as an animal, the Creole has no one to recal him to a sense of human dignity. Such examples naturally bear their fruit. The negro, proud of imitating the white man's vices, exceeds him in them, and transmits them to his children, of whom he is the only preceptor. The abhorrence of labour, and the scorn that would be visited upon one who descended to such an occupation, is the first lesson, and we might say the only one the Brazilian is taught from the time he leaves the cradle. The consequences may easily be imagined. The slave will work only under the rod of the feitor. As for the freed men, who wish to enjoy the privileges of the whites, they give themselves up to the most deplorable idleness.

EXAMPLES OF LAZINESS AND PRIDE.

A French traveller tells of a negro whom he had in his service, and who, being slightly unwell, he released from all duty, directing him to take some medicine. In the evening, upon inquiring as to the effects of the remedy, the sick man gravely replied that he was unable to follow his prescription, as the Indian Firmiano, who acted as servant to the caravan, had not been to the rancho, and he therefore could get no water. A small stream ran directly before the door. I regarded this anecdote as the best illustration of the prevalent disposition to idleness; but it was afterwards my fortune to witDess an instance no less singular. A negress

who had just received her freedom once chanced to be with us under the veranda of her former master. She was sitting upon her heels, waiting for her meal of feijão. A dog a little to her left annoying us with his whining, the fazendeiro asked her to turn it out."Si, senhor," she answered, rising, and, turning to her right, she started, to my astonishment, toward the room where the negro servants were. Thinking she had misunderstood the request, I stepped to the dog, and with a kick sent him away. The fazendeiro, who was used to the subtleties of the negro code, did not seem at all disturbed at seeing the freed woman move away from the animal. A moment after the negress returned, followed by two assistants of her own colour. Not seeing the dog, they supposed it had left of its own will, and all three returned to their places with the air of having done their duty.

FEUDAL CUSTOMS-PATRONAGE.

In spite of the constitution of Don Pedro I., and notwithstanding the efforts of enlightened minds, one meets at every step with some old feudal custom imported by the conquistadores. As in ancient Rome, every citizen of the lower classes attaches himself to a wealthy person who can aid him in misfortune, and protect him in the troubles that occasionally happen between him and the law. Prudent parents often choose a patron for their children in advance, by selecting him for their godfather. This title is obligatory, and there is not an instance of a Brazilian ever having refused such an honour, in view of the responsibility it entails. Such, however, are the deviations of human prudence, that this custom, so moral in its principle, since it has no other object than that of placing the weak under the protection of the strong, often degenerates into scandalous abuse and crying injustice. If the protector is a person of some importance, his wishes are above the law, and his recommendation assures impunity to the malefactor. Justice, being powerless, has then only to shut her eyes and allow things to proceed.

A HAUGHTY OLD MAN-A MALEFACTOR SET FREE.

A few years ago, an inhabitant of Rio Janeiro rendered himself culpable for some crime which I do not now recollect. The charge was a grave one, and condemnation inevitable. There remained for the criminal only one means of escaping either the gallows or the prison, and that was to obtain the influence of some powerful protector. Recollecting that the judge's grandfather was his godfather, he sent his wife to inform him of his situation. "Tell my godson to be more careful hereafter, and that he shall be released to-morrow," ," answered the old man without hesitation, and, taking his umbrella, he proceeded to visit his grandson. The request of an old man is not a prayer, but a command: as he had said, the request, exorbitant as it was,

encountered no opposition. Great, then, was his surprise, when, two days afterwards, the woman came and told him her husband was still in prison. Without allowing her time to finish her story, he left the room. Two days afterwards the judge was astonished to see his house visited by the notabilities of the city, dressed in full mourning. They had come, upon letters of invitation, to be present at his funeral! The master of the house was stupefied with surprise, and the wonder of the funeral guests was no less great. However, after a few words of explanation, and the establishment of his identity, the judge easily got rid of his visitors, making some apologies for a mystery of which he was himself the principal victim. He resolved to find out the authors of the trick, and bring them to punishment; but his efforts were useless. After all sorts of conjectures, he at last recollected the request of his grandfather, and his own forgetfulness, and thinking he now had a clue to the matter, he set out for his residence. He found him sitting in an easy chair, with a charuto, or cigar in his mouth, quietly waiting for his dinner.

"Good-day, grandfather," said he. The old man gazed at him without making any reply.

"I came to ask you, with all possible respect, if it was not by your direction that letters were sent a few days since to all my acquaintances, asking them to assist at my funeral ?”

"Ah, filho du―"instantly replied the irascible old man, 66 you at last remember me! Are you not aware that a child who forgets his duty no longer exists to his parents? I will teach you good manners!" And seizing his cane, he darted at the unfortunate judge, who, anticipating some hostile demonstration, had not left the neighbourhood of the door. The same day the criminal was set at liberty.

THE LAW OF THE WILDERNESS.

In the interior, justice is administered in a still more expeditious manner. Every one there acts for himself. If he has a personal affair to settle with one of his neighbours, he conceals himself near the road by which his adversary is to pass, sends a ball through him as soon as he gets within easy range, and returns to his cabin as quietly as though he had shot an armadillo. The urubus soon cause all trace of the crime to disappear, by picking the victim to pieces and scattering his bones. It sometimes happens that the dead man has relatives or friends who determine to avenge him. Divining, with the instinct of a wild animal, the source from whence the fatal blow proceeded, they in turn ambush their victim, and soon invite the urubus to another feast. The law of the wilderness is

always eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and blood for blood. Instead of one murder there are two. But people are not so particular in a country where slavery exists. Besides, murderers have charming euphuisms to justify their conduct: they tell you that it was necessary to appease

the angry soul of their unfortunate relative; that society demanded justice; and that they have only sent the murderer before the tribunal of the Sovereign Judge.

THE FREE NEGRO.

than the slave by that blind divinity called The freed negro is not much more considered justice. Nevertheless, the law gives him the right of voting at elections.

ELECTIONS.

Since we are upon the subject, the reader may be curious to know how elections are carried on in Brazil. A single example will suffice to give an idea of the political education of the great South American empire.

By the terms of the Brazilian Constitution, every free man who is not absolutely a beggar has the right, at certain periodical times, to cast into an urn, tastefully decorated with ribbons, a slip of folded paper. There, as everywhere else are found two parties classed under the denominations of Conservative and Opposition-the former earnestly defending the past, while the latter, with equal earnestness, talk of liberty and progress till at length they come into power, when they in turn defend the true ways of their predecessors with more zeal than even their former opponents. As everywhere else, too, the electoral multitude separates into camps, according as the word constituicão or oppositião sounds best to their ears. In one of their elections, which I now forget, a ministerial candidate asked one of his friends, a rich planter of the province, to give him the votes of all the free men upon his estate. The rendering of such services is never refused among the cultivated classes in Brazil, where the old traditions of chivalry seem to have taken refuge, being gradually driven out of the Old World by the incessant march of revolutions. It was therefore agreed that all the people of the fazenda should be invited to a banquet a few days before the elections, and that they should be reminded of the day fixed for voting, their quality of free

An anecdote taken from the Correio Mercantil of the twenty-sixth of October, 1859, is to the point:

"Ah!

"Are you excempt from military service?" inquired a fiscal in a menacing tone, of a poor black labourer at the arsenal of Rio Janeiro. The latter forthwith presented his papers, which dispelled all suspicion as to his character. While reading them, the official observed that the African, in his perplexity, had forgotten to take off his hat. this is a little too much. A negro standing with his hat on! Take him away!" And the poor fellow was dragged to prison for his forgetfulness. After relating his sufferings, the negro added as a commentary: "Now, I am only a negro, who must take off my hat to everybody, and whom everybody has a right to abuse. When the elections come, I shall be a free citizen and a voter, and all the candidates will take off their hats to me, and ask me for my vote."

Certainly," answered the candidate," and I am glad to see you are a man of your word; but where are you companions?"

"They are waiting for me at the gate. I came ahead of them, because I had something to say to you. The opposition candidate, who had heard of my promise, and who also knew of my liberal sentiments, has secretly offered me a hundred milreis (fifty dollars) if I would vote for him; but Mascarenhas is a man of honour, and if your excellency will pay me those hundred milreis, which a poor man with a family like me cannot conscientiously refuse, I will bring you my men right away."

"Here are your hundred milreis. Now make haste, lest those tricky liberals entice away your companions while you are absent."

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Your excellency may be easy on that point," answered the mulatto, carefully counting his milreis. "My comrades know only me and the senhor." Then, putting the bills in his pocket, he proceeded forthwith to the house where the opposition candidate was.

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Senhor," said he, addressing him, "you know my sympathy for you, and you also know the influence I possess over my neighbours. I have brought them here with the intention of voting for you. But I must tell you of one thing my master has promised a hundred milreis if I made them vote in favour of your rival; but Mascarenhas is a man of honour. I refused the money, much as I needed it, knowing that you would not refuse to pay it to me. You know my position; such a sum is a fortune to a poor man with a family on his hands."

"I expected as much of you. I had been informed how it was, but never felt uneasy about you. I have long known that you were a true patriot, devoted to the triumph of the liberals. Here are a hundred milreis; now hasten and bring your comrades. Those ministerial fellows are not so scrupulous but that they would lure your men away while you are here."

Mascarenhas took this second bundle of bills, carefully counted them, placed them along with the others, went out, and-proceeded home.

The next day the fazendeiro was raging, and would hear of nothing less than flogging Mascarenhas like a simple slave. He therefore despatched two stout feitors with orders to bring him, dead or alive, and made everything ready for his punishment. The mulatto came without any hesitation, and with all the serenity of a quiet conscience and a well-filled stomach.

"You miserable rascal," cried the master upon perceiving him, "you have cheated everybody, and kept your word with nobody! A good whipping shall teach you to play your tricks on me and my friends!"

"Your Excellency is wrong in being angry with me," answered the culprit, with imperturbable sang froid. "I have done my duty. Your friend gave me a hundred milreis in the hope that I would vote in his favour. The opposition candidate, who was my own, also gave

me a hundred milreis on condition that I should give the votes to him. If I had voted for one, I should have betrayed the other, and you know Mascarenhas is a man of honour. There only remained one thing for me to do, and that was to remain neutral. Would your excellency have done differently if you had been in my place?"

The fazendeiro in question was a man very fond of wit, and could not help laughing at this strange logic. The matter ended here; but the senhor made up his mind that in future he would take his men to the poll himself. As for the illustrious convives who, on the day of the banquet, wanted to go and vote in the middle of the night, it is needless to say that their electoral enthusiasm vanished with the last fumes of cachaça, and that not one of them went to the village. Mascarenhas, who knew whom he had to deal with, thought it best to keep the hog and other provisions of the fazendeiro for his own use.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.

Louisiana is

If we now cast a final glance upon the country taken as a whole; if we observe the results of the occupation of Brazil by the Portuguese race, what inferences are we to draw? It is painful for me to be severe upon a brave people, who have shown themselves for more than a century to be in the van-guard of the Latin races; but it is indeed hardly possible to eulogize the southern peninsula of the New World when compared with North-America. What a difference, for example, between the railroads that streak the United States, and the picadas of the South-American forests! What a contrast between New York and Rio Janeiro! On the one hand, human activity is carried to its utmost limits; on the other, is seen the most superb indifference, the people contenting themselves with producing a few hogsheads of sugar, and a few arrobes of coffee. Let not the influences of climate be invoked as an excuse. as enervating as Para, and the mouths of the Amazon. The causes lie deeper; they are to be Mississippi are as unhealthy as those of the found in the stolid genius of the Portuguesethat mixture of Arabic fatalism and Iberic asperity suited to the ages of chivalry, but incompatible with industry and science. As soon as the first fever of occupation was over, the conquistadores no longer thought of anything but to enjoy their promised land in peace. Their descendants went further. Abandoning the helmet of their stern ancestors for the sombrero of the planter, and their sword for the feitor's whip, they wrapped themselves in their hidalgo's mantle, and left the conquered tribes to accumulate wealth for them. Disdaining the tardy productions of the soil, so fertile under the tropics, they looked only for gold. To obtain a few ingots of this, they burnt forests, overturned the soil, exterminated Indian tribes, and condemned millions of negroes to slavery. They have as yet