no less formal and sagacious than those of the latter. Much address and eloquence are employed by the leaders, who aspire at acquiring such confidence with their countrymen as to have an ascendant in their assemblies. But among savage tribes, the field for displaying political talents cannot be extensive. They have neither foresight nor temper to form complicated arrangements with respect to their future conduct. The strongest feeling in the mind of a savage is a sense of his own independence. He has sacrificed so small a portion of his natural liberty by becoming a member of society, that he remains in a great degree the sole master of his own actions. In many of his operations he stands as much detached from the rest of his species as if he had formed no union with them. He pursues his own career and indulges his own fancy, without inquiring or regarding whether they may derive benefit or receive hurt from it. Hence the ungovernable caprice of savages, their impatience under any species of restraint, the scorn with which they receive advice, their high estimation of themselves, and their contempt of other men. Among them the pride of independence produces almost the same effects with interestedness in a more advanced state of society; it refers every thing to a man himself, and renders the gratification of his own wishes the measure and end of his conduct.

To the same cause may be imputed the hardness of heart and insensibility remarkable in all savage nations. Their minds, roused only by strong emotions, are little susceptible of gentle, delicate, or tender affections. Taciturnity and cunning are to be traced to the same cause. Impenetrably secret in forming their measures, the rude tribes of Ame

rica pursue them with a patient undeviating attention, and there is no refinement of dissimulation which they cannot employ in order to insure success. The natives of Peru were engaged above thirty years in concerting the plan of that insurrection which took place under the vice-royalty of the marquis de Villa Garcia; and though it was communicated to a great number of persons in every different rank, no indication of it ever transpired during that long period; no man betrayed his trust, or gave rise, by look or word, to any suspicion of what was intended.

But if there be defects or vices peculiar to the savage state, there are likewise virtues which it inspires, and good qualities to the exercise of which it is friendly. The bonds of society sit so loose upon the members of the more rude American tribes that they scarcely feel any restraint. Hence the spirit of independence and fortitude which are the pride of a savage, and which he considers as the unalienable prerogative of man. In no situation does the human mind rise more superior to the sense of danger or the dread of death than in its most simple and uncultivated state. Another virtue remarkable among savages is attachment to the community of which they are members, and perfect satisfaction with their own condition. On this account they have no inclination to relinquish their own habits, or to adopt those of civilized life. The transition is too violent to be suddenly made. Even where endeavours have been used to wean a savage from his own customs, and to render the accommodations of polished society familiar to him, he droops and languishes under the restraint of laws and forms; he seizes the first opportunity of breaking loose from them, and returns with

transport

transport to the forest or the wild, where he can enjoy a careless and uncontroled freedom.

Such are the manners and character of the uncivilized tribes scattered over the vast continent of America. In surveying these rude nations, a natural distinction is observable between the inhabitants of the temperate and torrid zones. They may be divided into two great classes. The one comprehends all the North Americans from the river St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, together with the people of Chili, and a few small tribes towards the extremity of the southern continent. To the other belong all the inhabitants of the islands, and those settled in the various provinces which extend from the Isthmus of Darien almost to the southern confines of Brasil, along the east side of the Andes. In the former, which comprehends the regions of the temperate zone, the human species appear manifestly to be more perfect. The natives are more robust, more active, more intelligent, and more courageous. They have defended their liberty with persevering fortitude against the Europeans, who subdued the other rude nations of America with the greatest ease. The natives of the temperate zone are the only people in the New World who are indebted for their freedom to their valour. The North Americans, though long encompassed by three formidable European powers, still retain part of their original possessions, and continue to exist as independent nations. The people of Chili, though early invaded, still maintain a gallant contest with the Spaniards, and have set bounds to their encroachments; whereas, in the warmer regions, men are more feeble in their frame, less vigorous in the efforts of their mind, more enslaved by pleasure, and more sunk in in

dolence.

dolence. Accordingly in the torrid zone the Europeans have most completely established their dominion in America.

Conspicuous as this distinction may appear between the inhabitants of those different regions, it is not universal. There are some tribes in the tórrid zone hardly inferior to the natives of more temperate climates. Thus this law of climate, more universal, perhaps, in its operation than any that affects the human species, cannot be applied, in judg ing of their conduct, without many exceptions.

СНАР.

CHAP. IV.

History of the Conquest of New Spain. Hernanda Cortes has the Command of the Expedition. Velasquez's Jealousy. Battle with, and Victory over, the Indians. Cortes lands at St. Juan de Ulua. Receives Officers from Montezuma. Presents brought from the Prince. Marches to Mexico. Tradition of the Mexicans, Grandeur of the City. Cortes makes Montezuma Prisoner. Cruel Death of his Son. Acknowledges himself Vassal of the King of Castile. Attempts to convert him to Christianity. Orders Cortes to depart. Narvaez sent to seize Cortes. Fights Is conquered and taken Prisoner. The Mexicans attack Cortes. Montezuma's Disgrace and Death. Spaniards retreat from Mexico with great Loss. New Resources arrive. March again to Mexico. Quetlavaca dies of the Small-pox. Cortes lays siege to and takes Mexico. Takes the King. Tortures him to find his Wealth. Cortes appointed Governor-General of New Spain. Lays the Foundation, of a magnificent City. His savage Cruelty to the conquered Mexicans. Returns to Spain. Ennobled. Goes back to America. Discovers California. Returns to Spain. Is neglected. Dies.

WHEN Grijalva returned to Cuba, he found

the armament destined to attempt the conquest of that rich country which he had discovered almost complete. Not only ambition but avarice had urged Velasquez to hasten his preparations; and having such a prospect of gratifying both, he

had