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Show H I S ~ T 0 R Y 0 F M E X -I C1 0. DISSERT. bed a certain quantity of fruit or rnaize, permitted neceflltous travel~ lcrs to cat as much as was ~necefi:u·y to fupply prefcnt want. How much more reafonable and jnil: was this law than that of the Twelve !Tables, which condrunncd '(Vithout diftinC):ipn every.petfon to be hanged who fiole any thing fi·om th .field of anoth~r. · Lying, that pernicious crime to iociety, was left qnpuni!hed in mof.l: cpuntries of tb.e old -continent, ~ut itl Japan was frequently punia1ccl with death. The Mc:xicaus kept at an equ11l difiance from both extremes. Their legiflators, who difcerned the genius and turn of the bation, perceived, that if they d~d not prefcribe a he.a vy p. ain, agait il: aying and drunkennefs, .tnt.th would be wanting at trials of jufl:ice, und f.'1ith difr.egarded in contraCts. Experience has ihewn how pre~ u~licial impunity in thofe two crimes has be~n to ~hofl.: nations. . . But in the midfi of their feverity the Mexicans were cautious not to in:volve the innocent in puniihment with the guilty. Many laws of Eua- ope and Afia prefcribed the ft1me puniihmentagainfi thofe guilty of high trcafon, and their families. The Mexicans made the crime cap~tal; they did not, however, deprive the relations of the traitor of life, but only <>f liberty; and not all of them neither, but only thofe who, confcious of the treafon, had not made a difcovcry, and thereby made thtmfelves criminal. How much more hnmane is this than the law ot: Japan. '.' Thafe laws," ft1ys Montcfqueu, "by which they puniil1 ·" a whole family for a fl'ngle crime, or a whole difiriCl:; thofe laws ~" which do not difcriminatc the innocent where there are any guilty." ~.We do not know that the Mexicans prcfcribed any punilhment ngainil: thofe who fpoke ill of the government; it appears that they did not -pay much regard to that liberty of fpeech in the fubjeets, which is fo much feared in other countries .. . Their laws ·concerning marri<lge were unquefiionably more decent and becoming than thofe of the Romans, the Gr.eeks, t::e Perfians, .the Egyptians, and other people of the old continent. The Tartars. marry their daughters ; the ancient Perfians and Alfyrians· took their mothers to wife; the Athenians and Egyptians their fifl:crs. In Mexico every marriage was forb~d between perfons connec:ted. in the ~rft degree of confanguinity or affinity, except thofe between brothers. .and fi.fl:ers io. la~, .where .the brothe~; .in dying left a fan. That pro •. " 1 - l hibition HIST<YRY .. oF MEXIco: hibition !hews, that the Mexicans judged more jufily of m1trimony DISSERT. th an all the above mentioned nations. That exception demonfir.1tes '\o.-~,_ 1 ·-~ 'their humanity of fentiments. H a widow m.uried a f~cond time, (he had frequently the Jifpleafurc of feeing her children little belo.¥ed by a father who Jtd not give them birth: the new huili1n1i little refpeeted by h is chi ld ren, \vho confiJered him as a firanger; and the ch.i.Idren of each marriage :1s difcordant among themfclves, as if they were born of different mothers. What better meafure could thoie nations have adopt<.; !, than that of marrying widows with their brothers-in-law.: M;tny ancient nations of Europe, imitated by not a few of the modern people of Afia and Africa, bought their wives ; and, on tha.~ account, exercifed over them an authority g re,\ter than the Au thor of nature has intended, nnd treated them more like fiave than companionsr The Mexicans did not obtain their wives but by lawful and honourable prctenfions ; and though they prefentcd gifts to the parents, thofe were not given as a price for the daughter whom they courted, but merely a piece of civility to gain their good will, and difpofe the parents 't the contraCt. The Romans,. although they did not Jc ruple to lend their w ives( ~ ), had, notwirhihnding, a right by bw to take 'away their liv s whenever they found them out in adultery. This ioiquitous law, which made the hufband judge and executioner in his own caLtfe, infl:ead of hindering adulterie , inc t:c::tfed parricides. Among the Mexican~> , that ~nfamou & commerce with wives was not permitted; nor had they any au thority over th eir li ves . H e who took away his wife's life, was, although he caught her in adultery, ·puni{ hcd. with death. This, they fa id·, was- to ufurp the authority of the· magi_(l:rates, tp whom it belonged to take cogni fimcc of.crjmes, anci to cha.fiifc critl\inals according to law. Before that law 'Julia de //dl( /t crit's was m~1de by Auguft:us, we do not know, fays f/ives (a), th.lt a caufc of adultt i:Y was ever tried in Rome ; as nwch as to .ftly, that that cc.:lebrated natio1f fail d in juft:ice in a point of this importance fer feven ·centuries. . ( ~ ) In Rom , 0tys Monttfqulcu , b_hc ~ u fbnnd was pcrn ittcJ t'o ~cl\d hi.s wi ~ to anor l~cr )lCrfon. ~ti s known that Cntu l·:nt hts Wtft, to H•J rt<.:n luts, ~t li d c . ~(() wa Ill ;~p ablc of VII)• l:tting the laws of his count rr. ~ iv. xv • •ta ~ f.'Efvn(Ut Lot , liv, XXI. -ckl.lip. I{• • I ' v If |
