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Show APPENDIX TO PAl{T 111. Cou l'ls martial, for the tl'ial of a commissioned officer, must !Jc formed of gcuc ral ofTtcet·s; but thi s c lause subj ects the ollice t·s of the provin ces to a !;t·cat species of tyran ny, fot· the command ing gcIJe ral has taken upcm himself to puni.., lt for all off ·nccs n0t capital, conseque ntly accordin g- to his own juclg·m cut and prejudiceg, from which th e re is only an appeal to the kin g-, and cliHicult is it indeed for the complaints of n subaltern to reach his m ajesty throu ~;h the Jtumc rous crowd of srcophallls who surrmHH1 him, one half of whom a rc probably in leag-ue '\ ith his opprcssot·: it likewise deprives an o fllcc r of the m o~ t sac red of all right::;, the being- t ried by his peers; for, should he be s nt to :\texico o t· Europe for t rial, it i<; possible he cannot take half the testim ony which i ::. nccessa1·y to complete his j ustifi cdtion . There is anot hc t· p rinciple de fin ed by the ordinances, which has ofte n been the cause of d isputes in the service of the United States :-Yiz. Tlte comnHHHiant of a post (in the S panish service), if barely a captain, receives no ord e rs from a ~enet·al , should one mTive at his post, unless that gcnc rul sh ould be supcriot· in authot·ity to the person who posted him, lot·, says the or·dinunce, he is respon~ i bl c to the king ulo t1C for his post. That principle, according to m y ideas, is \'e ry inju rious to any country which adopts it ; for ex· umple, we will say that a po~ t of g reat impor tance, containing imm ense military stores, is lik e ly to f,dl into the hands of the enemy; <m offi cer superior to the commo.nclant receives the i11formation, and r epairs to the post and ot·dc !'S him irnme dia tely to e vacuate it. T he commandant, feelin g- hi tn sl'lf only responsible to the authority who placed him iu that position, refuses to oucy, and the m agazines and I)lacc arc lost! ! ! The principle is also subversive of the ve ry root of military subordination and discipline , whet·e an inferior should in aiL ca.u•fl obe y a superior, who only should be responsible for· the e ffect at·ising- from the e xecution of his ot·dc t·s. It will readily be believed that, in my thus adrocating imjllicit obedience to the orders o f a superio1·, th at I do not suppose the ldg lu'st imjtrobabilitics or imjtossibiLitie.9, such as nn orde r to tum your arms against the C..fJIIStituted authority of your country, or to be the ensign of his tyranny or the fwnder of his vices: tho~c arc cases where a man's reason must ~lone direct him, and arc not, nor cannot ue subject to any human r ule whatcvct·. R f'ligiou .-Its forms is n subject with which I am ve r·y imperfectly acquainted, but having made some enquiries and observations un the religion uf the countt·y, I will freely communicate them• APPENDIX TO PAHT llf. fea r ful at the same time that I lay myself open to the severe Cl'llt cisms of pc t·sons who have, in any clcg- ree, <~ppli cd th emselves to the :,tudy of theology ot· the ri tual of the cathol ic church . T he king dom o f New Spain, is divided into fou t· archbishopricks, vi z : Mexico, G uadala xara, Durango, and St. L ouis P otoc;i ; undct· them again arc the sub-bis lw pricks- Deacons, Curates, &c. each of whom nrc subj ect and accou ntable to t hei r immedi-ate chief for the districts committed to t heir char g-e, nncl the whole is again subject to the cmlinances of the hi ~;h court of inquisition held at the capital or l\l c xico ; from whence is fulminated the cclicts of tlteit• censure ngainst the he resies, and im pious doctrines of the modern philosophy, both as to politics and religion ; and I am c redibly informed, that the in fl uence of that tribunal, is ~rente r in his C.:a. tholic majesty's Mexican dominions, than in any Cathol ic country in Europe, ot· perhaps in the wol'id. A few years since, they condemned a man to the flames, fo r asser·ting and main tain infl" some l . (') coctJ·mc which they clccmecl hct·c t icnl; and a J ew who was impn r-dcnt enou gh to take the image of Christ on tile c ross, and pnt it under the sill of his door. saying privately he would " m ake the dogs walk over th eir G od." They likewise examine and condemn to the fh•mes all books of a modern se ntiment, either as to re lig ion or· politics, and excommunicate any one in whose hands th ey m ay be found. I r e colle ct to hn ve seen a decree of the irs published in the Mexican Gazettes, condemning a num bc t· o f books, " as h ct·c~ " tical and contrary to the sacred principles of the holy Catholic "church, and the peace and durauility of the govcmment of his '' Chatholic majesty." Amongst \rhich were mentioned '' H e lvctius" on man, J. J. Rousseau's wo rks, V oltai t·e 's, Mirabcau's and a number of others of that d escription, and even at so g reat a di stance as Chihuahua; an oflicer dared not take " Pope 's Essay on Man," to his quarters, but used to come to mine to read it. The salat·ics of the arch-bishops are superior to any office rs in the kingdom. The bishops of Mexico, being- estimated at ~ 150,000 per annum, when the vice roy's is 8 80,000, and Sso,ooo allowed for his table, falling short of the bishop s ~o,ooo. Those incomes arc raised entirely from the peop le who pay no tax to the king, but give one tenth of their yearly iucome to the clergy; besides the fees of confessions , bu lls, bu r ial s, baptisms, m~niages, and a thousand impositions, which the COI'I'U p tions or ~t·testscraft has inu·oduced, and has been kept up by their superstitton and ig norance. Notwithstanding all this, the inferiot· clergy, Who do all the s lavery o f the office, a rc li b<' rnl anrl wrll informed |
