M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1860-04-05
Nature Opposing the Progress Of
Man. ~

Nature Opposing the Progress OF
Man. "a
The following passage from Mr..
J Backle,s History Of Civilization in
d'catee, in glowing colors (says the
Providence JournaD the obstacles
which the prodi gality Of nature may
oppose to the progress of man: ~
Brazil, which is nearly as large "a
the whole Of Europe, is covered with
vegetation ofincredibe profusion.--
Indeed, so rank and luxuriant is the
growth, that nature seems to riot in
the very wahtonness Of power. Al
great part Of this country is filed with
dense and tangled forests, whose noble
trees, blossoming in unrivaled beauty,
and exquisite with a Thousand hues;
throw out theif produce in endless
prodigality. On their summit are
perched birds of gorgeous plumage,
which nestle in their dark and lofty
rcesseS. Below, their base and
trunks are crowded with brushwood,
creeping plants, innulnerable para.
sites, all swarming with life. There,
too, are myriads of insects of every
variety, reptiles OF strange and singu-
lar form serpents and lizards, spotted
with deadly beauty; all of which find
mean5 OF existence in this vast work.
shop and repository Of nature. And,
that nothing may be wanting in this
land of marvels, the forests are skirted
by enormous meadows, which, reelS.
ing with heat and moisture, supply
nourisbment to countless herds OF
wild cattle, that browse and fatten on
the herbqge; while tho adjoining
plains, rich in another form of life,
are the chosen abode OF the subt!cst
nd most feroci0us animals, which
| 1ey on each other, but which it might
jHanost seem no human power can
dope to eXtirpate. ~
inrBut amid this pomp and splendor
=" Nature no place is left for man.
Ie is reduced to insignifcance by the
majesty with which he is surrounded.
The forces that oppose him are so
'rmidable that he has never been
''le to make head against them, never
zen able to rally against their accu-
@ulated pressure. The whole of Bra:
u, Notwithstanding its immense ap.
aren't advantages has always remain:
d entirely mcivilized; its inhabi.
ianss wandering savages, incompetent
10 resist those obstacles which tho
very bounty of Nature had put In
'heir way. ln-their country the ply.
cal causes are so active, and 70
neir work on scale of such unr'ya,.j
magnitude, that it has hithert5 aasa
,ionLd impossible to escape from tha
effects OF their united action. Tho
progress Of agriculture Is stoppeI b.
impossible forests, and the harvests
are destroyed by innumerahle insects.
The mountains are too hilh to scale,
me rivers too wide to bridge; every
thing is contrived to repress the lid.
man mind, and keep back It's rising
ambition. 1t is thus that the energies
OF Nature have hampered the spirisof
man. And the mind, cowed by the
unequal struggle, has not only been
unable to advance, but without foreign
aid it would undoubtedly have rece-
ded. Brazil, the country where, of
all others, physical resources are most
powerful, where both vegetables aud
animals are most abundant, where
the soil is watored by the nobest riv-
ers, and the coast studded by the finest
harbors- this immense territory,
which is more than twelve times the
'lze Of France, contains a population
nos exceeding six millions of people.
Professor Anstcad adds to this his tes.
.imony to the effect that the native
Indians seem irredeemable and sunk
IN the most wretched barbarism; and
hat there appears 10 prospect what
'ver OF any improvement in the dis.
rict, since man can find no spot on
Fhich TO commence his operations"
MY son, haven't | told you three