g? By abolishing the scourge, shall we do away
tyranny; _that_ tyranny which must ever prevail, where of two
essentially antagonistic classes in perpetual contact, one is
immeasurably the stronger? Surely it seems all but impossible. And as
the very object of a man-of-war, as its name implies, is to fight the
very battles so naturally averse to the seamen; so long as a man-of-war
exists, it must ever remain a picture of much that is tyrannical and
repelling in human nature.

Being an establishment much more extensive than the American Navy, the
English armed marine furnishes a yet more striking example of this
thing, especially as the existence of war produces so vast an
augmentation of her naval force compared with what it is in time of
peace. It is well known what joy the news of Bonaparte's sudden return
from Elba created among crowds of British naval officers, who had
previously been expecting to be sent ashore on half-pay. Thus, when all
the world wailed, these officers found occasion for thanksgiving. I
urge it not against them as men--their feelings belonged to their
profession. Had they not been naval officers, they had not been
rejoicers in the midst of despair.

When shall the time come, how much longer will God postpone it, when
the clouds, which at times gather over the horizons of nations, shall
not be hailed by any class of humanity, and invoked to burst as a bomb?
Standing navies, as well as standing armies, serve to keep alive the
spirit of war even in the meek heart of peace. In its very embers and
smoulderings, they nourish that fatal fire, and half-pay officers, as
the priests of Mars, yet guard the temple, though no god be there.

CHAPTER L.

THE BAY OF ALL BEAUTIES.

I have said that I must pass over Rio without a description; but just
now such a flood of scented reminiscences steals over me, that I must
needs yield and recant, as I inhale that musky air.

More than one hundred and fifty miles' circuit of living green hills
embosoms a translucent expanse, so gemmed in by sierras of grass, that
among the Indian tribes the place was known as "The Hidden Water." On
all sides, in the distance, rise high conical peaks, which at sunrise
and sunset burn like vast tapers; and down from the interior, through
vineyards and forests, flow radiating streams, all emptying into the
harbour.

Talk not of Bahia de Todos os Santos--the Bay of All Saints; for though
that be a glorious haven, yet Rio i