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Show H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. whom we praife their magnanit~ity ·in fpite of the vices with which it was blended." • ... The caufe of the rrlpidity with which the Spaniards conquel'ed America has been partly tneJ~tioned by M. de1 Paw: " I· eonfefs," he fays, " that ~he artillery was a oeftructive and all-powerful engine, which ncH cefiarily fubdued .the Mexican·s." If to the. a~tillcrywe add the other fnperior arms, horfes, and difcipline on the part of the conquer<?rs, and the divifion~ which ·prevailed arpong the conquered, it will be feen that there is no reafon ito charg'e the Americans· with pufillanimity, or to W{)nder at the violent convulfion of the new wodd. Let .M. de Paw imagine, that at the time of the noify and cruel faCtions of Sylla an.d :Marius the Athenians had invented artillery a11d other fire arms, and equipped only fix thoutmd men with them, · jo~rying themfelves not to the army of Marius, but only to fome part of his troops, and u1 dertaken the conqucit of .'ltaly; does not M. de Paw think that they would have fucceeded in fpite of all the, power of Sylla; the courage and difcipline of the.Roman troops, their numerous legions and cavalry,. the multitude of their armies, their machines and the fortifications ()f their city? What terror would the horrid found of the artillery, and the de!l:ruetive violence of the balls, not have :ll:ruck to the minds of the holdeft centurions, when they faw whole ranks of men carried· off by them ? What then muft the effeCt have been pn thofe nations of the new world who had no arms nor cavalry, no difcipline, ma~ hines, or fortifications like the Romans ? That, on the contrary, which is truly to be wondered at, is, that the brave Spaniards, with all their difcipline, artillery, and arms, have not been able, in two centuries,. to fubdl1e the Araucan warriors of South America, though armed onlJi with clubs and lances, nor the Apaches lin North America, armed with oows and arrows; and above all, what appears incredible, but is notwithftanding certain, five hundred men of the nation uf the Seris, have for many years been the f~ourg~ Qf the Spaniards of Sonora and Cinaloa. Laftly, omitting many other. abfurd opinions of M. de Paw againfbthe Americans, we iliall only now take notice of the· injury which be does them 0f the gwHeft kind in regard ·t~ their cufiJrns. · There are four principal vices with which he charges the Americans,, gluttony, drunkennefs, ingratitude, and pederafty. We ft l ·S ~ 0 R Y 0 F ME X I C 0. 1 We (never heard '- of· the Am·ericans being reproached with gluttony until 'we met with that paffage in Mr. Condamine, cited and adopted by M. Be'Ptaw. We have found no author, who was the leaft inftrutl~ d fn thb taffairsl of America, who did not praife the temperance of the An\erica.ns11in eating. W·hocver pleafes may on this point con• fult La§I•Cafas, 1 Garces, the anonymous conqueror, Oviedo, Gomara, Aco!l:a, Herrera, Torquema.da, Betancourt, &c. All hiftorians mention the wonder of rh~ Spaniards at the temperance of the Indians; and, on the contrary, the wonder of the. Indians to fee the Spaniards eat more in OIIl.e day tha-n they did·1n ,a,,week. ' In ibort, the fobriety of tHe Arnericaris ~s (o tnotorious,f •·thnt td defend them on this fubjecc would be fuperfluous. Mr. Condamin'e perhaps faw in his travels on the· river Maragnon; forhe familbed Indians eat very greedily, and Fro'n~ tht!tn wasl perfuaded, ·ms h'appens often to travellers, that all the ·Americans were ~gluhon~.l. •h is certain that Ulloa, who was in Ame-rica witih Mr. C01idamine, remained rthere a longer time, and got more' k11owledge of the cuftoms of the Indians, fpeaks of them in a manner quite ·contrary to that French mathematician. D·runltennefs• is the .prevailing vice of thofe nations. We confefs it fincerely in the firil: book of thio hiftory, explain its effeCts, and poi1H bilt the caufer of it; but we add aHo, that it did not prevail in the country of Anahuac before the Spaniards came there, on account of the great fevcrity with which that vice was puni!l1ed, though in the greater part of the countries of the old continent it is ftill incorreCted, and ferves as·.an cxcufc for more heinouS crimes. It is certain, from the inquiries made by authors into the civil government of the Mexicans; that there were fcveral ' laws againft drunkennefs in Mexico as well as Tezcuco, in Tlafcala, and other 11:ates, which we have feen re.prefented in their ancient paintings. The iixty-third painting of the colleCl:ion ma~e by Mendo~a reprefents two youths of ·both (exes condemned to death for having intoxicated themfdvcs, and at the fame time an ohl man of feventy, whom the laws permit, on account of his age, ·to drink as much as he pleafes. There are 'few ·fiaoos in the world whofe fovereigns have !hewn greater. zeal to prevent ' ~xceffes of this kiud. , fj r: . , , ,1{ 1 ; h lh .I In 357 DISSERT • . v. '-'v---J |