Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1860-04-14
NATURE oPPosHNG THE PROGRESS OF
MAN.

The following passages from Mr. Buck
les History Of Ciyiligatiors indicate in
glowing colors, says the Providence Jour
nal, the obstacles which the ilf5aigalitE
OF nature may oppose to The progress 81
man:
! Brazil, which is nearly as large as tho
whole OF Europe, is covered WITH a Yegeta-
ton of incredible proiusion. Indeed. so
rank and mxuriant is the growth, that
nature seems to riot in the very wanton-
ness Of power. A great part Of this i'm
mense country is filed with dense and tan
gled forests, whose noble trees, blossominr
in unrivaled beauty, and exquisite with
thousand hues, throw out their produce IN
endless prodigality. On their summit ara
perched birds Of gorgeous plumage, which
nestle in their dark and lofty Tecesses:---
Below, their base and trunk are crowned
with brashwood, creeping plaDts, iuuunler-
able parasites all swarming with life.---
There, too, are inyriads of insects Of every
variety reptiles Of strange and singular
forms; serpents and lizards, spotted with
deadly beauty all Ct which ind means of
existence in this vast workshop and repos-
\ tory Of nature And, that nothing may
lbewanting to this land Of mavels, the forests
are skirted by enormous meadows, which,
reeking with heat and moisture, supply
lnourishment to countless herds of wild
cattle, that browse aud fatten on the herb
age; while the adjoining plains, rieh in an.
other form of life, are the chosen abode Of
the subtlest and most ferocous animals,
which prey on each other, but which il
might almost seem no human power can
hope to extirpate.
But amid this poinp aid splendor Of
nature, no place is left for man. Heis re-
duced to insignifcanceby the majesty which
surrounds him. The forces that oppose
him are so formidable that he has never
been able to rally against their accumula-
ted pressure. The whole Of Brazil, not
outstanding its immense apparent adyan-
tages, has ALWAYS remained entirely uncivi-
lied; its inhabitants wandering sayages,
incompetent to resist those obstacles \ hich
the very bounty Of nature had put in their
way.-In their country the physical causes
are so active and do their Tork ION scale
Of such unriyaled magnitude, that it has
hitherto been found impossible to escape
from the effects of their united action.--
The progress of agriculture is stopped by
impossible forests, and the haryests are des-
troyed by innunierable insects. Tie noun
tains are too high to scale, the rivers too
wide to bridge; everything is contriyed to
| Tepress the human mind, and keep back its
rising ambition. 1t Is thus the energies Of
nature have hampered the spirit Of man.
And the mind, cowed by theunequal strug-
Gle, has not only bsam unable to advance,
but without foreign aid it would undonbt-
edly have receded. Brazil, the country
where, Of all Others, physical resodfces are
most powerful, where both vegetables
and animals elnost abundsnt, where the
soil is watered by the noblest rivers, and
the coast studded by the finest harbors-
this immerse territory, which is more than
twelve times the size Of France, contains a
population not exceeding six millions of
people. Professor Anislead adds 20 this
his testimony, to the effect that the native
Indians seem irredeemable, and sunk ia
the most wretched barbarism; and that
there appears no prospect whatever Of any
improvement in the district, since man can
find no spot on which to commence his OPP
perations