The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1860-05-02
WHOLE NO. 1856.


Mature Opposing the Pregress of NEan,
The following passage from Mr.. Buckles
History Of Civilization indicates, in glow.
ing colors (says the Providence Journal,
the obstacles which the prodigality of ma.
ture may oppose to the progress of man:
Brazil, which is nearly as large as thu
whole Of Europe, Is covered with vegeta.
ton of incredible profusion. Indeed. Sc
rank and luxuriant is the growth, that ma.
ture seems to riot in the very wantonness OF
power. A great part of this immense coun.
try is filled with dense and tangled forests.
whose noble trees, blossoming in unrivalcd
beauty, end exquisite with thousand hue,
throw out their produce in endless prodi.
gality. On their summit are pcrched birds
Of gorgeous plumxge, which nestle in their
dark and lofty recesses. Below, their base
and trunks are crowned with brushwood,
creeping plants. innumerablc parasites, eli
swarming with life. There, toe, arc nyr-
lads Of insects of every variety, reptiles of
strange and singular form; serpents and
lizards, spotted with deadly beauty, all of
which find means Of existence in this vast
workshop and repository of nature. And
that nothing may be wanting in this land of
marvels, the .orests are skirted by enormous
meadows, which, reeking with heat and
moisture, supply nourishment to countless
herds of wild cattle, that browse and fattcn
on the herbagc; while the adjoining plains.
rich in another form of life, are the chosen
abode of the subtlcst and most ferocious
animals, which prey on each other, but
which itmight almost seem no human power
can hope to extirpate."
but amid this pomp and splcndor of Ma
ture no place is left for man. He is reduced
to insignificance by the majesty with which
he is surrounded. The forces that oppose
him are SO formidable that he has never
been able to make head against them. never
been able to rally against their accumulated
pressure. The whole of Brazil, notwith.
standing its immense apparent advantages
mas always remained entirely uncivilized;
its inhabitants wandering savagcs, incompc-
tent to resist those obstacles which the very
bounty of Failure had put in their way. In
their country the physical causes are so &C.
tive, and do their work on q scale Of such
unrivaled 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 for
ests, and the harvests arc destroyed by in
Vulnerable insects. The mountains arc too
high to scale, the rivers too wide to bridge:
everything is contrived to rcpress the human,
mind, and keep back its rising ambition
1t is thus that the energies of nature have
hampered the spirit of man. And the mind,
cowed by the unequal struggle, has not only
been unable to advance, but without foreign
aid it would undoubtedly have reccded.
Brazil, the country where, of all others,
physical resources are most powerful, where
both vegetables and animals are most abun.
dant, where the soil is watcrcd by the no.
blest rivers, and the coast studded by the
finest harbors--this immense territory.
which is more than twelve times the size of
France, contains population not exceeding
81 millions of people. Professor Anstead
adds to this his testimony to the effect that
the native Indians seem irredeemable and
sunk in the most wretched bsrbarism and
that there appears no prospect whatever of
any Improvement in the district, since man
can find no spot on which to commence his
operations"