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Show ' I • 404 DISSERT. VI. ~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0 •. tributed to g0od order; their attendance in the tribunals, from the or~aiC. of ooy until the evening a'lOrtened the procefs of caufes, and prevented many clandefrine praCl:i es which might have i~terefred their decifions. The capital punHhmellts prefcribcd againf(, prevaricators of juftice, the punCtuality of their execution, and the· vigilance of the fovereigns, kept the rnagifl:rates in check; and that care which was taken to fupply them with every nece1fary at the ex'pence of the king, rendered any rnifconduCl: in' them inexcufable. Thofe a1femblies which were held before the fovereign every twenty days, and particularly that general a1fembly of the whole bf the magifirates every eighty days, totermjnate a11 c!aufes then dependi·ng, 1befides avoiding all the evils occafioned by the delay of jufticc, were' 'produtl:ive of a communication between the magiilrates of their different lights, made' the king know thofe w)lom he had·iconftituted the delegates of his authority,. innocence had more refources, and the form of judicature rendered jufl:ice ftill more refpect~ble. That law which permitted an appeal from the tribunal of the Tlacatecatl to that of the Cihuacoatl in criminal but not in civil caufes, evinces that the Mexicans, refpeCting the laws of humanity, difcerned, that there was more required to prove a man guilty of fuch crimes than to declare him a debtor. In the trials of the Mexicans they admitted no other proof againfl: the accufed than that of witneffes. They never made ufe of the torture to make the innocent declare themfelves guilty, nor thofe barbarous proofs by duel, tire, boiling-water, and fuch like, that were formerly fo frequent in Europe, and which we now·rcad of in hiftdry with amazement and abhorrence. " There will be no perfon " who will not wonder," filys Montefquieu, fpeaking on this fubjeCl:, " that our anceftors made the fame, fortune, and property " of citizens depend on certain things which belonged lefs to law and u reafon than to chance, and that they lhould have ufed confrantly " thofe proofs which were neither conneCted with innocence nor •• .guilt: what we now fay of thofe proofs pofterity will fay of the " torture, and will never ceafe to wonder that fuch a kind of proof " wat~ generally in ufe, for fo many centuries, in the moil: enlighten" ed part of the world." An oath was of great weight in the trials af he Mexicans, as we have already faid: becaufe, as. they were con-vinced H I S T 0 R: Y 0 F M E X I C 0. vinced of the terrible puni!hments inflieled by the gods on thofe who perjured themfelves, they conceived no one, would dare to ofFend againft them; but we do not know that this kind of proof was permitted to the profecutors againft the accufed, but only to the accufed te) clear himfelf from tho crime imputed to him. The Mexicans puni!hed with feverity all the crimes which are particularly repugnant to nature, or prejudicial to a ftate, fuch as high troafon, murder, theft, adultery, inc:ell:, and other exce1fes of this. kind; facrilege, drunkennefs, and lying. So far they conducted themfelves wifely in puniihing mifdeeds ; but they erred in the meafure of the punilhment, which in fome cafes was exceffive and ctuel. We· do not attempt to palliate the failfngs of that nation, but neither can: we avoid obferving, that the moft famous people of the old continent. have afforded fuch examples of error and vice in their legiaature, as. make the laws of the Mexicans appear comparatively more mild and conformable to reafon. " The celebrated laws of the Twelve. " Tables are full," fays Montefquieu, "of the moft cruel ordinau tions; attend to the punia1ment of fire, and other fentences,... " which are always capital." Yet this is that moft famous compilation which the Romans made from the heft they found . among the· Greeks. If then the bell: laws of greatly polilhed Greece were: fuch, what mufl: thofe have been which were not fo good? What. fort of legiflature muft tbofe people have had whom they callcd1 barbarous ? What can be more inhuman and cruel than that law of the Twelve Tables which permitted creditors to divide the body of a, debtor w.ho did not pay, and each creditor to take a portion of in fatisfacl: ion of his debt ? This law was not publiihed in the rude be-. ginning of that renowned city, but three hundred years after its f.oundation. What could be more iniquitous than that law o£ the famous. legiOator Lycurgus, which permitted theft to the Lacedetn. onia-ns ? The Mexicans punilhed this pernicious crime, but nott. capitally, except where the thief was unable to pay for the offence. with his liberty or with his goods. But this law was not the fame in. ca~s of 1·obbery from the fields; becaufe, thefe lying more expofed tQ be plundered, required to be more guarded by the laws: but this very: law which prefcribed capital puniihment againft the perfon who rob-btd. 7 lJ.O) DISSERT. VI. ... '' • J |