Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1860-05-11
MATURE OPPOSING THE PROGRESS or MAN.

The following passage from MIR.
Buckles History of Civilization indicates
in glowing colors the obstacles which the
prodigality of nature may oppose to the
progress. of man;
Brazil, which is nearly as large as the
whole of Europe, is covered with a
vegetation of incredible profusion. In
deed, so rank and luxuriant is the
growth, that nature seems to riot in the
very wantonness of power, a great
part Of this immense country is filed
with dense and tangled forests, whose
noble trees, blossoming in unrivalled
beauty, and exquisite with a thousand
hues, throw out their produce in endless
prodigality. On their summit are perch
ed birds of gorgeous plumage, which
nestle in their dark and lofty recesses.
Below, their base and trunks are crown
ed with brushwood, creeping plants,
innumerable parasites, all swarming
with life. There, too, are myriads 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 TO
this land of marvels, the forests are
skirted by enormous meadows, which,
reeking with heat and moisture, supply
nourishment to countless herds of wild
cattle, that browse and fatten on the
herbage while the adjoining plains, rich
in another form of life, are the chosen
abode Of the subtlest and most ferocious
animals, which prey on each other, but
which it might almost seem no human
power can hope TO extirpate.
But amid this pomp and splendor o.
nature, no place is left for man. He i:
reduced to insignifcance by the majesty
with which he is surrounded. The
forests that oppose him are so formidable
that he has never been able to make
head against them, never able It
rally against their accumulated pressure
The whole of Brazil, notwithstanding
its immense apparent advantages, ha'
always remained entirely uncivilized
its inhabitants wandering savages, incom
petent to resist those obstacles which th,
very bounty of nature had put in thei
way. In their country, the physica
| causes are so active, and do their worl
on scale of such unrivalled magnitude
that it has hitherto been found impossi
bic to escape from the effects of thei
, united action. The progress of agricu
/, ture is stopped by impossible forest
4 and the harvests are destroyed by il
! Vulnerable insects. The mountains ar
e too high to scale, the rivers too wide |
: bridge; everything is contrived to repre-:
e the human mind, and keep back its risin
q ambition. 1t is thus that the energies
e nature have hampered the spirit of ma
}. And the mind, cowed by the unequ
struggle, has not only been unable
d advance, but without foreign aid,
e would undoubtedly have receded. Br;
: zil, the country where, of all other
Y physical resources are most powerft
a where both vegetables and animals a
a most abundant, where the soil is watert
p by the noblest rivers, and the Goa
/. studded by the finest harbors-this il
+ mense territory, which is twelve tim
: the size of France, contains populatio
a not exceeding six millions of peopl
ID Professor Ansted adds to this his testim
ID ny to the effect that the native India
E. seem irredeemable, and sunk in Il
most wretched barbarism and that the
K appears no prospect whatever Of al
e, improvement in the district, since m
If. can find no spot on which to commen
re his operations.