greater portion of the poisonous juice is expelled, then placed over a fire or in a heated oven, where it is stirred continually till all the poisonous moisture is evaporated, when its appearance is white and beautiful, though its particles are rather coarse. From the fine substance deposited by the juice of the mandioc is made the tapioca of commerce, a substance in general use among us, and which is becoming an article of considerable export from Brazil.

The accounts with which we have long been familiar, respecting the richness of the soil and the luxuriance of the vegetation, have not, according to Mr. Kidder's observations, been exaggerated. On the borders of the Amazon the forests appear in their greatest strength and beauty. Some of the trees are decked from top to bottom with the most splendid flowers, and others are interlaced with innumerable parasites, or creeping vines, which twist around the trunks, and climbing to their tops, drop again to the ground, where they take root, spring up again, and crossing from bough to bough and from tree to tree, spread themselves, till the whole woods are hung with their garlanding. In the great province of Para, along the waters of the Amazon, thousands, and perhaps millions, of acres of the most fertile land in the world lie as wild and almost as useless as the sandy deserts of Africa. It is in this region that the caoutchouc, or gum-elastic, flourishes. The use of this plant was learned from the Omaguas, a tribe of Brazilian Indians. The improvements in its manufacture have, however, vastly extended its use, and made it essential to the health and comfort of the whole enlightened world. It now enters largely into the commerce of the country.

The tree from which this valuable gum is produced, grows to the height of eighty or a hundred feet, being quite straight, and without branches for half that distance. Its top is spreading, and ornamented with thick and glossy foliage. On the slightest incision the gum exudes, having at first the consistence and appearance of thick, yellow cream. The trees are tapped in the morning, and about a gill of the fluid flows from each incision during the day. It is caught in small cups of clay, moulded for the purpose with the

hand, and is immediately ready for use. It is poured over moulds of clay, to which a thin coating adheres, which is exposed to fumes of smoke, rendering it harder and giving it a deeper color. Coatings are thus added until the shoe or bottle has attained the desirable thickness. The export of shoes only amount to some three or four hundred thousand pairs annually.

The mineral region lies deep in the interior, being confined to the provinces of Matto Grosso, Goyaz and Minas Geraes. Goyaz and Matto Grosso abound in gold, diamonds and precious stones; but their distance from the seashore, and the lack of suitable means of communication, are great obstacles to the full development of their resources. The few inhabitants with which they are peopled have been lured thither in their pursuit of gain. The gold was formerly procured with such great facility, that each slave was required to return three or four ounces per day; and so greedy were the adventurers in their eagerness to secure the golden harvest, that they braved the dangers of a desolating pestilence, and even neglected the ordinary provisions of comfort and subsistence. They soon found, however, that food was more precious than gold, and that mountains of this precious metal could not purchase exemption from disease or death. A pound of gold was often given in exchange for a bushel of corn, and an ounce and a half was at one time the price for a pound of meat. The discoverer of all this vast wealth fell a prey to his avarice, and with many others, laid his bones in the wilderness, cut off prematurely by privation and disease.

Villa Bella, one of the principal towns of Matto Grosso, is in a direct line from the city of Para, at the mouth of the Amazon, about one thousand miles. But so difficult is it of access, that not less than two thousand five hundred miles must be traversed in making the usual passage by water.The Amazon and Madeira are navigable in this direction for 1500 miles, to the Falls of St. Anthony, above which there is a succession of falls and rapids for two hundred miles, around which the canoes and their burthens must be carried with immense labor by gangs of Indians or slaves. This portion of the route is seldom passed in less than

four months. For the remainder of the distance (700 miles) the navigation along the Mamora and Guapore is uninterrupted. But the ascent through the whole distance is slow and toilsome on account of the strong flowing cur

rent.

The trade is carried on by companies, and vast numbers of Indians and negroes are required as oarsmen and bearers of burdens.

The first printing-press in this province was established in 1838 by the government. The state of education, both in Govaz and Matto Grosso, may be inferred from the fact, that in the latter country there are only eight primary schools, and in the former eighteen, two of which are for girls.

But these are the most neglected portions of the empire. The other mining province, Minas Geraes, is much nearer the coast, and much more cultivated. Its name signifies the general or universal mines, which very well designates its inexhaustible mineral wealth. Gold, silver, copper and iron are all found within its borders, besides a great variety of precious stones. The most valuable of these mines are wrought by an English company; and the improvements which they have introduced, and the enterprise and intelligence which they have diffused through this portion of the empire, have shed new lustre on the Anglo-Saxon race. This province takes the lead in education as well as in other improvements. There are about one hundred primary schools for boys, fifteen for girls, and twenty-six Latin schools, with enrolled pupils amounting to about eight thousand, independent of those schools which have been established by private enterprise. Notwithstanding the great extent of Brazil, the temperature of the different portions appears to be pretty uniform. In the city of Para, at the mouth of the Amazon, and nearly under the equator, the thermometer ranges from 75 to 93. At Bahia, 13 degrees south, the changes of temperature are still less, the extremes being 74 and 86. At Rio de Janeiro, which is located near the tropic of Capricorn, the temperature in the course of the year varies from 54 to 108. If we except the far interior, the whole country must be regarded as remarkable for its salubrity. Mr. Kidder observes, that the plague and

Asiatic cholera have never desolated Brazil, and that although many causes exist in its cities to favor pestilential diseases, yet the general salubrity of the air and its equable temperature have proved a steady protection.

Brazil is not well advanced in the arts and improvements of modern times. Even in its large cities carriages are but little in vogue, and the roads are not constructed for their use. Maranham, Mr. Kidder thinks, is better built than any other city of Brazil, yet the rise and descent of the streets are very abrupt, and there is but one good carriage road in the place. Ladies in going about the city are usually carried by slaves in a rede or hammoc. Even at Rio a horse and dray are very unusual, most of the drudgery being performed by gangs of negroes. Docks are also wanting, and the loading and unloading of vessels is a work of double labor, performed by the intervention of small boats, which ply between the shore and the ship. Rail-roads, stagecoaches, and all other vehicles for public conveyance, are entirely unknown, and all who do not walk must be conveyed on horses or mules, and have their baggage transported by the same means.

The religious state of Brazil, as presented by Mr. Kidder, is well worthy to be studied by the Christian philanthropist, and demands the attention of the whole Christian world. That the religion of a country has a deep influence on its prosperity and well-being, no intelligent man can doubt. When the mind is fettered by superstition and bound up in the chains of religious bigotry, it is not to be expected that it should act with the directness and energy which it manifests when freed from such embarrassing restraints, and left to the full swing of its inherent powers.

The religion of Brazil was introduced contemporaneously with the settlement of the country, several centuries ago. Portugal and Spain, which were then among the most enlightened and enterprising nations on the globe, have since that time fallen into a state of degrading apathy, and have suffered the meanest of their neighbors to outstrip them in the race of improvement. Brazil, bound up in colonial chains, and since her emancipation, shut off as it were from the rest of the world,

in consequence of speaking a strange language, has continued to lean on the parent country, imbibing quite too much of the apathy and inertia which has so long governed its destiny.

Since the revolution of 1822 she has, however, made much progress towards casting off her dependence; and her present condition in regard to religion, shows the effect produced on her population by the new position which she has assumed. Having taken an honorable post among the nations, she cherishes a praiseworthy ambition to be their equal; she desires improvement; she directs an inquiring eye towards other nations; she compares their state with her own, and is willing to profit as far as possible by their knowledge and experience.

She has already discovered that a religion ingrafted on the state is exceedingly defective, and that the lives of its chief apostles and teachers but poorly correspond with the sacredness of their profession. In consequence of this state of public feeling, religion is gradually yielding to infidelity; churches are falling into ruin; parishes are deserted by their spiritual guides; ecclesiastics are turning into politicians, and monasticism is wearing out, while there is nothing better to take its place.

In Para nearly all the churches are going to ruin ;-out of 96 parishes only 37 are supplied with priests. In Maranham 25 churches had been advertised as open for applications, without securing a single candidate. In the diocese of Cayaba not a single church is provided with a settled curate; and in the rich bishoprick of Rio, embracing four provinces, only five or six priests are ordained annually. President Caelho declares that the clergy are ignorant, depraved in their habits, corrupt in their morals, involved in the concerns of the world, and totally forgetful of their heavenly mission. A distinguished ecclesiastic assured Mr. Kidder that Brazil was in darkness, and altogether behind the age. Feijo, Regent during a portion of the Emperor's minority, himself a priest, asserted that there was scarcely a priest in the province of San Paulo who did his duty as the Church prescribed it.

The constitution of Brazil provides that the Roman Catholic religion shall be the religion of the state, while it allows all modes of worship to be prac

tised, save in "buildings having the exterior form of a temple." This is the more remarkable when it is remembered, that for three centuries the Roman Catholic form of worship has held undisputed sway, and that no other faith has sought admittance to the Brazilian mind; "and yet," says Mr. Kidder, "it is my firm conviction that there is not a Roman Catholic country on the globe where there prevails a greater degree of toleration, or a greater liberality of feeling towards Protestants."

The truth of this proposition was abundantly established by Mr. Kidder's experience. He travelled openly in the character of a Protestant missionary; distributed tracts, Testaments and Bibles in the Portuguese language; made known his errand to statesmen, Church dignitaries and the lower grades of priests; and yet, though he thus openly visited every province, except the three mining provinces of the interior, he is not sure that a majority of the priesthood did not manifest towards him and his work both favor and friendship.

Some of the Bibles which he distributed from the mission-house at Rio he afterwards met with at San Paulo, 300 miles distant; and during his visit to that province, he, a Protestant missionary in a Catholic country, was entertained by one of its most distinguished ecclesiastics with marked hospitality, and invited to leave with his host copies of books for distribution, with the view of counteracting the manifest tendency of the people towards infidelity.

Another evidence, equally striking, that the Brazilian mind is becoming loosened from the shackles of that superstition which has so long bound it, may be found in the fact that a proposition to annul the order prohibiting the marriage of the clergy was discussed and received with marked favor in the House of Deputies at Rio.

This last movement was headed by no less a personage than Feijo, at one time Regent of the Empire, and one of the most remarkable men of his time. He was educated to the priesthood, but laid aside his "holy garments" for the more exciting theatre of political life. He had been a member of the Cortez of Lisbon, from which body he withdrew in disgust at the indignities cast on the Brazilian members; and having published a solemn protest

against the conduct of Portugal, returned to America. After the establishment of the independent government he became a prominent member of the House of Deputies, where he made his masterly report in favor of clerical marriages. Such a report, coming from an ecclesiastic of high standing, excited a great deal of attention. But that it was not prejudicial to his standing or popularity is evident from the fact, that he was afterwards appointed Minister of State, Regent of the Empire, and Senator for life. He was, moreover, elected by the imperial government Bishop of Moriana, a dignity which he saw fit to decline. He died in 1843.

The government of Brazil is a monarchy, limited in its powers by the provisions of a written constitution. The empire is divided into eighteen provinces, each of which has a separate local government. The governor or president of each province is appointed by the Emperor, and holds his office at his pleasure. Each province has a legislative assembly consisting of one house only, the members of which are elected by the people, and which is authorized to pass such internal local laws and regulations as the wants of the province may require.

The legislative power of the empire is vested in a Senate and House of Deputies, which hold their sessions at Rio de Janeiro. The deputies are the representatives of the several provinces, and their number is graduated by the population. They hold their seats for four years unless dissolved by imperial authority. It is not, however, necessary for a deputy to be a resident of the province which he represents, but he may be chosen from his own or any other province. The House of Deputies, as at present constituted, consists of one hundred and three members. Its presiding officer is elected from its own body.

The Senate is a more aristocratic body, the members holding their appointment during life. It consists, as at present organized, of forty-nine members, distributed according to population as follows:-Rio Grand do Sul sends one; Santa Catharina one; San Paulo four; Rio de Janeiro four; Espirito Santo one; Bahia six; Seregipe one; Alagoas two; Pernambuco six; Parahiba two; Rio Grande do Norte

one; Ceará four; Piauhy one; Maranham two; Para one; Minas Geraes ten; Goyaz one, and Matto Grosso one.

These senators are representatives of provinces, but it is not required that they should be residents of the provinces so represented. When a senator is to be made, the people choose a certain number of persons who are styled electors. These electors present to the Emperor three free-holders, either of whom they are willing to accept as their senator, and the Emperor selects one of them, who being regularly installed, holds his office for life. Every citizen having a revenue of $250 is qualified to vote for senatorial electors, deputies and members of the provincial assemblies, and is also qualified to be a senatorial elector.

It is a gratifying circumstance in the recent history of Brazil, that every change which has been made in the government has tended towards a more enlarged liberty. Since the commencement of the present century Brazil has passed from a state of abject colonial dependence to be the centre of Portuguese power and the residence of the royal court. Then, abandoned by her sovereign, she assumed her position as an independent empire, and adopted a constitution which secured to her citizens a liberal share in the conduct of their government. But this constitution, since its first adoption, has also undergone several changes, all of which have been in favor of popular liberty. Formerly the deputies were elected for an indefinite period, and the house continued, as in England, till it was dissolved by the Emperor; but by a recent change the term has been fixed to four years, by which means the representative is made responsible to the people, rather than to the sovereign, and is bound by his position to advocate the rights and liberties of his constituents.

We may, perhaps, safely say, that for the last twenty-five years Brazil has made as rapid advances as any nation on the globe. Much, however, still remains to be done; and we trust that she may continue to go on, acquiring additional strength, and light, and vigor, and that her statesmen may seek the glory of the "Empire"-not in giving" all possible splendor" to the ceremonies of religion, or the insignia of