Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-01-31

Mo,r Cu,RacrER OF THE BRAZILIANs.-Ne
avail ourselves of the permission oil lrlend 10
publish the following extract from letter,
written during his residence in Brazil, 10 gem
,Iemsn in this city.-Boston Courier.
"It i, Difficult, 10 speak with any accuracy Of
The mo, al sentiment Of The Brazllians. mere
| !, 50 much ob,rusive vice constantly OFFENDING
the stranger. ,hs, prepossession and preJuaice
i'm oercep,ibly fasten upon Us, with tenaci'y
ike the unalienablc impressions OF truth, ano
conclusions, drawn from false premises acquire
a currency due only to the result OF careiui ana
deliberate ANALYSIS. There is undoubtedly ex'
i.,ing among them, and they who best know
the brazilian people will lend me READY anG
confirmalory testimony, great deal Of eoco
| feeling, call il by what name we may; ano ibis
GOOD feeling frequently exhibits itself in torn
aud manner, admirably calculated 10 shame me
proud possessor Of much higher rank IN the
nicely graduated scale of human excellence
Possessing no literature and no scholastic
learning drawing nothing from their own :ich
springs of history and romance-their lnteiiee-
,ual thirst provoked rather than appeased oy
the cookie. shell draughts from their ancestral
founl ains,-no objects Of high and glorious
ambltion,-no incentives 10 stirring and dis-
ciplining amhitIou,-the Pulpit limited IN lis
influence and preoccupied by hireling exp"un'
ders,-the Bar closed BY bribery and intrigue
against every thing elevated In feeling, or no
bic in principle, -conmercial enterprise for a
long time moncpolized BY the stranger,-an IL
norart and beso,led priesthood. breeding upon
the soul, and contracting its operations to the
ma rrow ohser, ances Of debasing and pueriie SUI
pers,itions, looking to their God only through
The medium OF human invenions,-a'l that IS
sublime in Religion,-alI thai is grand in mo-
rails, frittered down 10 the tinsel hem upon the
robe of the saint or the wrought glrdle OF the
virein;-how Can such people possess re-
lieious feeling or a moral sentiment, uncontam'
mated by the grossness of foul and earthly pol
LUTON? 1t cannot be;-and he who in the ar
dour Of compassion, contrasts the moral condi'
ton of Brazil with thai Of his own thrice bless
ed country, is guilty OF an ethical solecisu..
and should be punished at that high court oil
apresl where truth is admitted in evidence, and
where verdicts are pronounced in proportion 10
the preconcrived malice o. the libel.
The curse Of slavery too is upon lhem,-sla'
verv which brcathes its poisoning influence up
on the community, paralyzng e1er'ion, and in
dueing sickly sensibility TO The rough contact
Of that busting independence, without whicn
society may anguish aud live, hut dives'ed OF
which, it can neither grow into the bone, nor
swell into the muscle Of manhood. Again: as
people they have no decided characteristics 8;
the c is nothing prominent, olhing peculiar in
their moral physiognomy; no remarkable &C.
cen,riciies, NO proverhial virtues, no aphorislic
vices,-,here is nothing tangible, nothing 'ha,
one can grasp, hold asd examine long enough
to decide what are the predominant virtues or
what are the prevalent vices which character
ize them as a nation. They have neither The
hauteur Of the Spaniard, the buoyancy OF the
IFrenchman. nor the perseverance Of the Ger.
|man;--neilher the self sufhciency Of the En-
g!ish, nor the self eraggeration Of the American
They are people OF .hreds and patches, Of
many colors and many looms; people that Il
would be impossible to describe, except by ne
cations. have told you what they are not; il
you demand what they arc, the deponent mus
be silent l shall be happy if have removed
any 2rejudices against people infinitely "mort
sinned against than SHINING" and pray you &c
rest satisfied in the assurance, that have dis
covered in them many excellent traits Of cha
rac,er sufficient in my mind, to counterfeit ,hs
gross exsggera,ions which are pouring in up
on you with every arrival"