Southey wrote this famous history of “the geat labour of his life” (Borba). Brazil, partly to secure an appointment in the consulate in Portugal. It was began after a similar work on Portugal was stillborn. Using material from the remarkable library assembled by Rev. Herbert Hill, chaplain in Lisbon, Southey was able to write a history that was to remain the standard work for many years. In his own words “ I shall be regarded there as the first person who ever attempted to give a consistent form to its crude, unconnected and neglected history.“
Borba, 823.
