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Show H I S T 0 R y 0 F M E X I C 0. more than a chimera formed in the ahfu rd imaginations. of mi~ ~form· ed perfons. The inll:ances of a few mountaineers are not fuffictent to jull:ify a genen\1 afpedion upon the whole people'(u) .. To conclude, the character of the Mexicans, like that .of every other nation, is a mixture of g od and bad ; but the bad 1s eafy to·. be correCted by a proper education, as has been frequently demon: fl:rated by experience ( x). It would be difficult to find, any where, a youth more d-ocile than the prefent, or~ body~of ~e~ple more r ady than their anceftors were to receive the lights or rehg10n. . . I muft add, that the modern Mexicans are not in· ~tll' refpetl:s fimllar to the ancient; as the Greeks of thefe days have httle refemblance of thofe who lived in the times of Plato· and of Pericles. The-ancient Mexi~ans fbewed more fire, and were more fenfible to the mlpreffions of honour. They were more intrepid, more. nimble, more aCtive, more indufirious; but they were, at the fame tlme, more· fuperftitious and cruel. (u) The few examplea that are to be found of.idotatry arc not altogether .inexcufable, wh~n we confider how naturally rude and unenlightened men may confound the 1dola~rous worflltp of fome unfhapely figure of fione or wood, with that which is due to the facr~d una~cs alone. And our own prejudices againG them have often been the caufe of o.ur treatmg as 1dols ~hat. were really the imagea, though rude ones, of the faints. In tlie year 1754, ~ faw fomc II~de imagea which had been found in a cave in a m?untain, :md were confidered as 1d?l~, but wluch' 1 had no doubt w.ere a£\ually images rcprefenung the myficry of the facrcd natiVIty. (x) To be fenfible of the influence of education upon the Mexicans, we need only to be made acquainted witli the wonderful life led by the Mexican women of the Royal ~allege or Guadaloupe in MeJ:ico, and thofe of the monafieries of Capuchlns in .the fame capital, and ~ Valladolid in Michuacau. 'BOOK B 0 0 K II. Of t!Je r'o!tecas, C!Jechemecas, Acolhuas, O!mecas, and other Na ... tiom that inhabited the Country if Anahuac before t!Je Mexicans. · '!'he Expedition of the Aztecas, or Mexicans, from their Native Country of Azt!an. '1'/u Events if their Journey into the Countty if Anahuac; and their Settlements in Chapoltepec and Colhuacan. The Foundation of Mexico and 'l'la/telo!co. Inhuman Sacrifict oj a Co/buan Girl. T HE hiil:ory of the firil: peopling of Anahuac is fo involved in fable, like that of other nations, that it is not merely difficult but altogether impoffible to difcover the truth. It is certain, however, both from the tefi:imony of the facred writings, and from the confi:ant and univerfal tradition of thofe nations, that the inhabitants of Anahuac are defcended of thofe few mortals whom the Divine Providence £wed from the waters of the deluge, in order to prcferve the race of man, upon earth. At the fame time them~ cannot be a doubt, that the men who fir{l: peopled that country, came originally from the more northern parts of America, where their anc:efi:ors had been fi ttled for many ages. All the hiil:orians 1 Toltecan, Chechemecan, Acolhu:111, Mexican, and Tlafcabn, are agreed upon thefe two points : but who thofe ftrfl: inhabitants were, the time of their emigration, the events of their journey, and their firfi: eftabliibments, are entirely unknown. Several authors have ende< lvoured to pierce that chaos; but trui1:ing to flight conjectures, fanciful combinations, and certain piCtures of very ambiguous authenticity; and having recourfe in their difficulties, to puerile and romantic narrations, have utterly loft themfclves in the thick darknefs of antiquity. There have been wr:tcrs, who, buildir'l.g upon the .tradition of SEcT. r. the natives, and upon the difc:overy of bones, fC.uJls, and entire ikeletons of prodi~ious fize, whi ·h have been dug up, a.t different. times, Of ·the To! .. tec;~ s . ]i(.f 2 ill |