Oh, had I but the wing this plume that flung,
Where wild Niagara tears his rocky way,
I would for thee, the cloudy years among,

A lofty and most potent theme essay.

Would that his quill might give the pinioned might
That bears the eagle on his onward flight.

Proud bird!-amid the mountain solitudes

He builds his eyrie, where the storms have birth— He tears his prey in depths of boundless woodsAnd if his gaze grow dim, too near the earth, Soaring through tempests to the far, calm sky, Rekindles at the sun his glorious eye.

But I am prisoned in my own sad mind,

With hardly strength to beat the dull close bars; And thus, by inward heaviness confined,

Forego communion with the earnest stars: Yet, though my skill be dead, my memory nought, hath utterance from prayer cloistered thought :

This

my

If pain and sorrow and most secret tears
Be e'er withheld from any child of light,

May these be kept from thy unclouded years;
And Time's dark waves no more a wrinkle write
On thy bright face and all unspotted hand,
Than fairy lake upon its silvery sand.

Knowledge is power-yet not for this we pray,
That thy fair mind be filled with deathless lore;

But, that the heavenly and Promethean ray
May light thee safer to the shadowy shore,
And, on the voyage that must eternal be,
Illume thy way o'er that immortal sea.

-

But most, oh! most, young Peri! we have prayed
Thy life a pure and sinless course may take,
As glides the sweet rill from its parent shade
And runs melodious to the still, deep lake,
Freshening green mead, and banks and flowery sod,
And murmuring softly in the ear of God!

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PARAGUAY: *

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE JESUITS.

BY E. A.

HOPKINS.

But

WITH the single exception of the dis- History of Paraguay, we may do some cursive narrative of MM. Humboldt and service to the cause, by a condensed comBonplaud, the scientific world is entirely pilation from the published, but obsolete, dependent upon the Jesuits for all the in- works of some of the Jesuit fathers; occaformation hitherto obtained of this region sionally using the advantages which we of the South American Continent, sur- possess over them, from the more modern charged as it is with every production and complete forms of classification. conducive to the comfort or luxury of man- even of the accounts of the Jesuits, we kind. For ourselves, we are convinced shall be obliged to reject much that is that there is no part of the earth where entirely fabulous, and depend upon our the omniscient providence of God has so own judgment and personal knowledge of bountifully displayed the glorious beauty the country, for the selection of those of his handiwork; for whether we study statements on which we can rely. For, any of the departments of animated nafrom an attentive study of the works of ture, or turn to the woods and forests, those extraordinary men, combined with teeming with the luxuriant vegetation of much information concerning them of a the tropics, we find that almost every ob- traditionary character, which we collected ject has been moulded in some superior on the spot, in propria persona, we are form for the higher enjoyment of man-compelled to adopt the conclusion, that, the noblest of His works, and the favorite of His creation.

Before we proceed, however, we must acknowledge our incompetency to do full justice to our topic. Our ambition is bounded by the hope that we may draw the attention of some one, more capable than we are, to the magnificent range of subjects which would so richly reward investigation in this almost unknown region of the world. To the scientific naturalist, or the adventurous traveller, better advice cannot be given than to say, "Go to Paraguay: there you will meet with governmental protection in the prosecution of your labors, and each citizen of the republic will be proud to offer you all hospitality and assistance."

Without being able, therefore, to add anything absolutely new on the Natural

Owing to the absence of the Editor from town, several typographical errors in the article on Paraguay, in the September number, were left uncor

rected. The name of the author, Mr. E A. Hop

kins, should also have been inserted.-ED.

finding themselves at one time in almost exclusive possession of the richest portion. of this continent, they sought to strengthen their influence with the court of Spain, by sending the most glowing accounts of its natural capacities and resources, in order to bring to their aid a larger supply of priests and treasure, and thus enable them to increase the establishments by which they expected to hold undisturbed possession. And when, at last, their schemes were detected, and they were swept from the scene of their labors in a single night, by the jealous government of Charles III., they then, for retro-active effect, published exaggerated details, not only of their own labors, but also of the country which they had been so anxious to retain. We say not this, because we feel the slightest inclination to detract from the wonderful deeds these men accomplished. The fact is too well established that, assisted by the combination of every talent, with every have gone forth to all parts of the world, means of education and discipline, they

other or

and effected far more than any
ganized body, whether religious or secu-
lar. But it is also an established fact that,
astute as they have been and are, the
growth of their ambition has been too
rapid and monstrous for concealment; and
hence they have never succeeded to the
full measure of their designs. And now,
wherever they go, their enemies far out-
number their friends, and the secrecy and
ability of their endeavors are no security
against their failure.

The prophetic eye of the great founder
of the Jesuits soon turned towards the
New World, as the best seat for their fu-
ture power and stability. For, only nine
years after the establishment of the order,
their pioneers, accompanying the Portu-
guese expedition under the command of
Don Tomas de Souza, governor of Brazil,
landed at the port of Bahia. This occur-
red in 1549. According to Father Martin
Dobrizhoffer, Francis Victoria, of the order
of St. Dominic, and first Bishop of Tucu-
man, "solicitous for the glory of God,"
called the first Jesuits into Paraguay from
Brazil and Peru, in 1581.* This early be-
ginning certainly has the merit of mani-
festing great ardor in the work before
them. The first steps taken to practice
upon the credulity of the simple-minded
savages were completely successful; and
wonderful stories are related of the mira-
cles performed by the cross of St. Thomas,
recovered from a lake near Chuquisaca,
after an immersion of fifteen centuries! In
about fifty years from their first landing,
the efforts of these fraudulently pious men
had collected thirty establishments of
neophytes, containing one hundred thou-
sand inhabitants, and located between the
rivers Paraguay and Uruguay, the most
delightful region of South America. From
this centre, their influence ramified over
an immense extent of country. The build-
ings erected by them were of the most
substantial kind, and upon the exact mod-
els which they have always used in Eu-
rope. Those that were intended to contain
their worldly goods were bomb-proof; but
the churches were by far the most splen-
did and elaborate. We have wandered
with astonishment over the ruins yet left
by the civil wars, which, in our opinion,

* Account of the Abipones, vol. I., p. 47.

their conduct first entailed upon nearly all
parts of wretched South America. At
San Borja, on the left bank of the Uru-
guay, we measured the remains of one of
these churches, and found it to be one
hundred paces long, and sixty wide.
Moreover, the sculptured stone and carved
wood-work were equal to anything of the
This mea-
kind which we had ever seen.
surement would make it one of the largest
buildings constructed on this continent;
and it is said to have been capable of con-
We
taining thirteen thousand persons.
also visited two of these churches in Para-
guay, which are kept in good repair.
They are located at Santa Rosa and Santa
Maria, and were passed by with contempt
by that universal robber, Francia, on ac-
count of their poverty. Yet they each
contain from thirty to fifty arrobas* of
gold and silver. The bells of these churches
bear the date of 1599; and not only these,
but also a small organ, and all the carved
gold and silver, adorned with precious
stones, which embellish the various al-
tars and images of the saints, were the
product of Paraguayan workmen.

These Jesuits affected to govern all their establishments on the principle of a community of goods. They instructed their to the precise extent Indian "brethren which rendered them most useful as slaves, and least rebellious as subject-members of their "Christian Republic." whilst their "godly preceptors "masters in Christ" erected churches and casas de residencia, with all the pomp and splendor which wealth could command, the simple-minded architects rested their weary limbs in mud hovels. Whilst the

and

ghostly comforters" luxuriated on the fat of the land, the Indian workmen tasted not the "milk and honey" which their toil had produced. Whilst the padres taught them to work the farms of the society; to raise sugar, maté, tobacco, corn, and sweetmeats; to watch the cattle, to tan hides and dye cotton, to make shoes, and manufacture garments; the former alone enjoyed the benefit, and the barefooted, half-clothed neophyte lived on yucca root, and such supply of hope as their corrupt Christian education may have left to them.

A Spanish arroba is twenty-five pounds. + Mate is the admirable tea-plant of Paraguay.