The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-24 00:00:00

SOUTH AMERICA.

The intelligence received from the River Plate
and Brazil is of more interest than it has been for
some months past.

The Allied army and fleet were ready to make the
" grand attack" on Paraguay, for which the public
has been anxiously waiting nearly a twelvemonth,
though this is perhaps the first time in history that
a grand and decisive engagement, if it takes place,
has been made known to the world through a set
programme printed by all the press of Buenos Ayres,
Montevideo, and Brazil. The plan of operations
seems nevertheless but vaguely defined. As near
as possible it is this :—The camp of Curuza has been
broken up, and the army was to move through the
Grand Chaco, a boundless desert, and pass Humaita;
the fleet to co-operate, and also pass up, and while one
part of the army executes a flank movement, the Chaco
expedition and fleet are to attack from the rear—a
most preposterous programme. For more than a
year the allies have been unable to take or pass the
outworks of Ilumaita Curupaity, and now in a day
they propose not only the taking or passing of the
strong work itself, but Humaita with its 200 cannon.
It is doubtful if even the attempt will be made.

The secret treaty of the triple alliance to bring

liberty and civilisation to Paraguay seems not to
have been condemned by all powers, for a force esti-
mated variously from 400 to 2,000 wild Chaco
Indians has been armed and equipped by Brazil to
aid this unholy undertaking. The probable result
will be their decamping at the first opportunity with
the horses, arms, and uniforms received. Marshal
Lopez, with his brave Paraguayans, is calmly await-
ing the result, which may probably decide a three
years' campaign so wantonly begun, and so disas-
trous to the allied forces. We hope the English
packet due on the 2d proximo will bring tidings
of the result of the expedition. At Buenos
Ayres trade was exceedingly dull, owing, not only
to the protracted war, but to the unsettled state
of the interior provinces, particularly in Catamarca
and Rioja, and, being so far distant from the seat
of Government, it has been difficult to take any
steps to subdue the revolutionary party. Na-
tional bonds had suffered serious depreciation,
chiefly from over speculating, and the Government
had been obliged to come into the market for a new
loan, which as yet has not been negotiated.
At Montevideo a very sensational affair has taken
place, a plot having been discovered to blow up the
Government buildings, and thereby make an end
of the Dictator, General Flores, a creature of Brazil,
and all his favourites. The most curious thing to
observe in this is, that all the parties implicated,
most of whom have been arrested, are of the same
party, and, as was thought, adherents to the Dic-
tator, none of his enemies being concerned therein.
From Rio Janeiro there is nothing important.
Trade dull. Several schemes for bringing out new
loans, and one for the emission of sBo,ooo,ooodols.
in paper currency, were under discussion. Messrs.
Man 6 and Co. has proposed a plan for the redemp-
tion of the whole Brazilian debt in the form of lot-
teries, which, if accepted, will, it is feared, greatly
damage Brazilian credit abroad, and meet with
great opposition from the Chambers.

2IIAXDLILIAN AND BENJAMIN L UNDY.

A writer in a contemporary says :
I have already observed that both Maximilian
and Lundy were bold, enterprising, determined
to persevere in the face of formidable difficulties,

and tenderly affectionate in their family relation-
ships. Nature, in these qualities, had endowed them

alike ; and though one was of royal and the other

of humble birth, the difference in their characters
was due chiefly to the difference of their circum-

stances and training. As every life has a mission
and teaches a lesson, as well as every nation, I pro-

cecd to trace the labours and characteristics of

Maximilian and Lundy, and to point to the
lesson which each life imparts. Maximilian from
his early years was accustomed to witness the
gorgeous ritual and splendid display of the ser-
vices of the Church of Rome. Lundy, from his
early years,
reverently worshipped in the meet-
ings of Friends, without book, or music, or priest,
waiting in silence for the direction of the Spirit.

The character of Maximilian was moulded by those
of his own order, and his liberal tendencies when a
ruler in Lombardy were checked by his recall. The
character of Lundy was moulded by his love to
God and man ; he was ready at any time to lay
down his life rather than yield up his anti-slavery
principles ; and he was thus enabled to mould the
character of all classes from the highest statesman
to the most despised slave. Each had faith
in his mission, and faith in the means he employed
to secure success. Maximilian, after much persua-
sion, and with the promise of a crown visited Mexico.
Lundy witnessed the agonies and despair of a
coffle of slaves as they departed to the South, and
voluntarily and silently vowed to God that his life
should be devoted to the abolition of slavery. Each
was steadfast in his purpose and earnest in his work.
Both alined to enlist the sympathies of others ;
both braved the perils of the deep ; both were in
journeyings oft; both jeopardised their lives, both
hoped even against hope. Maximilian entered
Mexico at the head of an army, conscious of
the sympathies of the aristocracies, and of some
of the crowns of Europe. Lundy entered Mexico
alone, on foot, conscious of the approval of the
Redeemer, of the persecuted abolitionists, and
of the despised free-coloured people. The Em-
peror, not understanding the Mexicans, imagined
that among them prevailed a latent love of
monarchy, and that if the opportunity were
given for its development and expression
a strong and general response would be made in
favour of the Empire. But the Mexicans were
under two classes of leaders, religious and political.
Being superstitious they clung to religious leaders,
who sought to establish despotism. Being desirous
of enjoying political liberty they clung to military
adventurers, who sought to make their own will
the law ; so That either despotism or anarchy pre-
vailed as the one or the other party gained the
ascendancy. Mexico was prostrate and bleed-
ing during a twenty years' struggle between am-
bition in the Church, and ambition in the
army, and the Empire afforded it no remedy.
Lundy, understanding the Mexicans, saw that
public sentiment needed to be regenerated by a
spread of Bibles, and the establishment of free
schools and free presses. Ile believed that
he should find sympathy for the coloured
people in a nation that had emancipated her
slaves, and he was not disappointed. An im-
mense tract of land was granted to him for an asy-
lum for the oppressed. Ilad Maximilian possessed
the anti-slavery intelligence of Lundy, or exercised
similar anti-slavery sympathy, he would have been
guarded from the dangers he incurred, and would
' have been saved from the death he died. The Con-
federacy of the Slave States hung suspended on
the chain of the slave. The empire and the Con-
federacy were united by a bond vital as that which
unites the Twin Siamese. When the chain of the
Confederacy was broken it fell, and when it fell it
dragged clown the empire with it. What sympathy
had the Empire shown to the Republic in its
struggle, or to the slave in his chains ? None
ivhatever ! It reprenuted the viri6tocratic