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Show ... ~o .).) Dl SERT. v. ~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X 'I C 0. becaufe that facrament is the food of the perfect, but not bccau(c tbcy were efl:eemed weak of undedb.nding. This is clear from the fidl: provincial council vulgarly called the fecond, held in Lima in the year I 567, which ordered prie[ts to adminifier fuch facrament to alJ the Indians who found thcmfelves difpofed for it (y). But no.twithfl:andihg that order to make thofe ecclefiail:ics comply, of which Acoita juil:ly complained, the 1econd coun il of Lima held in I s8 3· at whi~h S. Toribio Mogrobejo prefided, endeavoured to remedy thofe diforders by the decrees which we here fubjoin (z), from which it is to he feen, that they for the f1me reafons equally denic::d the euch·:u·i{l: to the Indians and to the Moors, who were !laves brought from Africa : that the true reafons for denying it were, in the judgment of the council, the negligence or fioth, arid the indifcreet and mifaplicd • zeal of thofe ecclefiail:ics, and that the council found itfelf obliged to put a remedy to fo great a diforder by new decrees and fevcre punifllments. We know well alfo, that thofe refpctl:able decrees were not exactly executed, and it became neceilary for the dioceii:m fynod of Lima, PlatJ., Paz, Areq uip~ and Paraguay, to inculcate them afrefl1; ( y ) Ql!amqll am omnes ChrifHani adulti utriufquc fcxus tcneantur Santiffimum Euchari.frit1: Sa mmcntum accipcre fingulis annis faltem in Pafchatc, hujus tamen Provincia! Antiflitcs cum :utim:u.lvc.rtercut gentem h:mc Indorum & rcccntcm elfe & infantilcn in fide, atque id illorum fal.uti expcdire judicarent) ilatucrunt ut ufque dum fidem pcrfctl:e tencrcnt, hoc divino filcramento, quod eft pcrfcaorum cibus, non communicarentur, exccpto fi qi1is ei pcrcipicndo fatis idetlcus vidcrctur •••• Placuic huic Sancr:l! Synodo moncrc, prout feria monet, omncs Indorum Parochos, ut quos audita jam confc!lione perfpcxcrinc, huic csdcflem cibum a reliquo corporali difcc rncrc, atquc eumedem devote C1.1 pcrc & pol"cerc, quoniam line cauf.'l neminom divino .. Jiminto privare polfumus, quo temt>ore c:eteris Chriflianis folent, India omnibus admioi ilreu r. Cone. Lim. I. vulgo II, cap. 58. (z) C::clcfie viaticum, quod nulli ex hoc vita migrnnti negnt Mater Ecclclia, multis abhinc nnnis lndis ntque .IEthiopibus, c:rtcrifquc perfonis mifcrabilibus pr::ebcri debcrc Concilium Li.mcnfc conOiuit. Sed tamcn Saccrdoturn pil11i t1m vel neglige ntia, vel z.clo quodam pr:cpof· tcro atque intcmpefiivo illis nihilo magis hodie przbetur. Ql!o fit, ut imbccilles animre tanto bono, tamquc necelf<~rio privcntur. Volens igitur San ~a Synod us ad executionem perduccrc, qu:-c Chrifto ducc ad falutem lndorum ordinata funr, fcv erc pr::ccipit omnibus Parochis, ut extreme laboranribus Indis atque .IEthiupibus viaticum mini!l rare non pra!tCrmittan r, dum modo in eis dcbitam difpofitiooem 'agnofcanr, ncmpe fidem in Chri!lum, & prenitcntiam in Dcum fuo modo ••• , • Porro Parochos q1.1i a prima hujus decreti promulgationc ncgligcntcs fucrin r, novcrinc fe, pr:t!tcr divina: ultionis judicium, ctiam prenas Arbitrio 0rdinarionun, in quo coufci· c:tl4:i:e oncr:mtur, daturoa: atquc in Vifitationibus in illos de hujus !latuti obfcrvatione fjJtcinli· ter inquirendum. Cone. Lim. II. '!Julgo III. Att. 2. cap. 19. Jn Pafch:uc fillum euchar.illinm miniftrare Pnrochus non prretermittnt iis, <JUOS & f"ris .in; ,firuelos, & correttione vi~:r idoncos judicaverit : ne & ipfe :dioqui ecdetiatlici pr~ccpti viola· ti mu fit, Ibid, c~. zc, but HISTORY OF ME X I C 0. 351 but that demonftrates the obftinacy of of capacity in the Americans. the ecclefiall:ics, not the want DlSSERT. · VVith refpeCl: to the bull of Paul III. we have already !hewn that it was not intended to declare the Americans men, but, on account of their right to all the priyilegcs of men, to condemn their oppreifors. In regard to the third error of Dr. Robertfon which we have mentioned above, omitting at prefent what belongs to other countries of America as it is not neceifary here; it is certain and notorious, that in all New Spain the Indians are obliged as much as the Spaniards to receive the Eucharift at Eall:er, except thofe of remote countries, who are admitmitted or not to the facred table ·according to the judgment of the miffionaries. In the three audiences into which New Spain is divided, there are, fays Robertfon, at leaft two millions of Indians (a). We - are confident that this number is much inferior to the truth; but be it fo and no more. The Indians therefore, are not very few in number who poffefs [o great a portion of fpiritual difcernment as to be judged worthy of approaching to the facred table, unlefs two miflions appear very few to him, or he thinks thofc biihops and priefts raih, who not only admit but even oblige thofe Indians to communicate. But when we add to thofe the Indians of many provinces of South America who are equally obliged to receive the facred Eucharift, the nitrnber will be greatly increafed. His fourth error, in which · he affirms that no Indian is ever ordained priefi: is not lefs grofs, It is fubject of wonder, that a writer who colletl:ed [o great a library of writers on America, and for whom fo many accounts of the things of the New World were obtained from Madrid, G10uld have been [o ill informed on this as well as on other points. Dr. Robertfon will pleafe to know, therefore, that although the firft provincial council held in Mexico in the year I 55 5 forbid that the Indians fhould be ordained, not on account of their incapacity, but becauft: it was thought the lownefs of their condition might di-aw fome difcredit on the ecclefiaftical ftate, nevenhcle.fs the third provincial council, held in I 58 5, which was the moil: celebrated of a11, and whofe deci!1ons are ftill in force, permitted them to be o11dained priefts, provided there was great care taken· in admit- (a) Hi11ory of America, Book viii. ting v. ~ |