new world and of its inhabitants should be considered anew, after the curiosity which belongs to the mere narrative has been once satisfied.

Robertson, in his references and in his own very calm and intelligent observations, opens a wide field for meditation to a contemplative mind, and has neither declined nor treated unworthily this important part of his general subject.

But no observations upon it can be expected from me when it has not only been discussed by such a writer, but is in itself too extensive for a lecture.

On the whole, the distinction which Dr. Robertson has made between the inhabitants of Mexico and Peru and all the other more rude nations of America, will be found to contribute materially to a clear view of the whole subject.

With respect to these latter (the more savage nations), I would recommend, in addition to the pages of Robertson, the notes in Murphy's translation of Tacitus, " De Moribus Germanorum."

These will afford you a general idea of the uniform effect of natural and moral causes upon human beings, by the comparison which is there exhibited between the characters and manners of our savage ancestors in the woods of Germany with the savages in the woods of America.

But with respect both to these more savage nations and also to the Mexicans and the Peruvians, I may remark, on the whole, that in this new world, as in our own, it is still the same human nature which appears before us. The metaphysician will find the human being still furnished with ideas exactly in proportion to his sources of sensation and reflection, and the same pervading influence of the principle of association. The moralist will see, in like manner, the same original feeling of selfishness, modified more or less by the social feeling; the same hopes and fears, pleasures and pains, affections and passions. The naturalist will perceive the same influence of climate; and the statesman, of political institution. There are, no doubt, some very remarkable varieties in the Peruvian character, not only of a physical, but of an intellectual nature; more, indeed, than Robertson can entirely explain; but our knowledge of the political situation of the Peruvians, at the time of the conquest, is very imperfect,

and our knowledge of the effect and operation of climate not adequate to the discussion of the subject.

It may be added, with a reference to Robertson's account, that the difficulty is not how the Mexican superstition became ferocious and terrible, but how the Peruvian could ever have been mild and innocent; and he gives a description of the state of property in the Peruvian nation which is scarcely to be understood-not at all, but upon the supposition that the Peruvians, with respect to waste land, were still in the situation of the inhabitants of a new country.

On the whole, it may be observed, that after we have entered upon the history of this new world, and for some time accompanied the march of Cortez, we perceive that it is our own fellow mortals with whom we are still concerned, and that we might in many respects conceive ourselves to be still reading the history of Europe. We find a large tract of country divided into different states; we see different forms of government, republics and monarchies, a sort of feudal system, an aristocracy, different ranks and professions, wars and insurrections, conquests and rebellions, and the inhabitants of the new world not distinguishable in their principles of political action from the nations we are already acquainted with in the old.

The first impression, too, of wonder with which we hear of the conquest of a whole continent by a handful of Spaniards abates as we proceed. Cortez conquered the great empire of Mexico as much by his Indian allies as by his European followers. That empire, it appears, had spread its conquests far and wide, and had every where become an object of hatred or terror by its ambition and harsh government. The fall of Mexico is only one instance in the new world, to be added to all those in the old, of the impolicy of such harsh government, and of such unprincipled ambition.

When the Spaniards appeared, the superiority of their arms and discipline made them be considered, and indeed actually rendered them, for all purposes of war, superior beings. In the battles of Homer, the only difference between the celestial and terrestrial combatants is, that the former cannot be killed. The same was the difference between the Europeans and their opponents. For instance, there was

such a superiority of Indians in one of the engagements, that Bernal Diaz declares "they might have buried the Spaniards under the dust they held in their hands." But it appears, from the account of the same eye-witness, that when the field was afterwards walked over and examined, there were eight hundred Indians lying dead or dying of their wounds, and only two Europeans, one by a wound in the ear, and another by one in the throat.

The wonder is rather that the Mexicans defended their empire so well, when we consider the nature of the Spanish soldiery, and the unfortunate description of the character of Montezuma.

Pizarro, in like manner, had every necessary advantage over the Peruvians; a disputed succession, a civil war raging in the country, allies wherever he moved, and a people so inferior in the military art, that these new invaders were here also considered, and very naturally considered, as more than human.

One topic, among many others, connected with the discovery and conquest of the new world, is that of the cruelties which were exercised by the Spaniards upon the defenceless Indians. These cruelties, while they have left an eternal stain on the Spanish name, have consigned to immortality the virtuous labours of Las Casas, the celebrated bishop of Chiapa. His efforts in the cause of suffering humanity make a short but interesting portion of the history of Robertson. The bishop's own book will, I think, disappoint expectation. It is somewhat too declamatory and sweeping in its statements. This mode of writing and of statement, however, rather presupposes than invalidates the general truth of the account. It is natural for a man to write thus, who is full of his subject, and of the heinousness and extent of the crimes he is reprobating. Such a man feels calmness and detail and minuteness impossible, and a sort of insult on his feelings.

The empires of Mexico and Peru, their situation and conquest, are the great, and indeed the only subjects in the history of the Spanish achievements that deserve our study. But there are other subjects connected with the East and West Indies that must be attended to, and on which I must, before I conclude, refer you to some sources of information.

While the Spaniards were stretching away to the west, the

Portuguese, who had been for some time creeping down the coast of Africa, at length doubled the Cape, finding in Vasco de Gama and Albuquerque, the Columbus and the Cortez of the Eastern Indies.

On this subject, information will be found in a few pages of the fifty-seventh chapter of Russel; and a more elaborate account (though not more than should be read), in the first three sections of the eighth volume of the Modern History. Dr. Robertson's last work on India should be read, as a very complete introduction to the whole.

As the Spaniards went round the world in one direction, and the Portuguese in another, they at length met; and their concerns and conquests become extremely entangled. On this subject there is a great deal more than can well be read in the eighth volume of the Modern History. There is an account of the Brazils in Harris's Voyages. The Brazils had been seized upon by the Portuguese. When Portugal fell under the dominion of the Spanish crown, the Dutch made their appearance every where as the invaders of the possessions of their enemies. Of their conquests, settlements, and discoveries, a sufficient account is given in the thirtythird chapter of the Modern History.

A very tedious detail is also given of the history of the English East India Company, and all these subjects are shortly dispatched in the eleventh letter of Russel.

All these works refer to more elaborate accounts, which may be consulted, if necessary.

But the more interesting part of the English achievements in these new worlds was their attempt to establish settlements in North America. Of this very curious subject a very adequate idea may be formed from the beginning of a great work which Dr. Robertson did not live to finish, and which has been since very properly published by his son. The references will conduct you to the original, and more circumstantial histories of others.

The first half of the first volume of the life of Washington, lately published by Mr. Marshall, will be sufficient to supply what Dr. Robertson did not attempt to give.

The work of Raynal treats of every thing that can be sought for connected with these subjects. But as the author comprehended in his plan such an extensive field of inquiry,

it was not possible that he should not be often inaccurate; and as he does not cite his authorities (an unpardonable omission) he suffers the fate of Voltaire, and is seldom quoted but to be reprehended.

If, however, the student will pursue through the work all the great leading historical events, without troubling himself with the Abbé's exclamations and superfluous eloquence, and without depending on the minuter parts of his relation, there can be no doubt that these celebrated volumes, thus perused, will be found not only agreeable, but highly useful.

And now I must allude, in a few words, to a celebrated and somewhat singular work, of which the title is, "The Account of the European Settlements in America." I would recommend the perusal of this work before the details I have proposed have been begun; and again, after they have been gone through; i. e. I would recommend the perusal of it twice. It may be a map of the subject in the first instance, and a summary in the second.

This work has been always understood to be the work of Mr. Burke. Indeed, it could be attributed to no man of the period in which it was published, though a sort of Augustan age in England, but him. From the ease of the narrative, and the beauty of its observations, it might have belonged to Goldsmith. But there is a greater acquaintance with the commerce and politics of the European nations, than could well be supposed, even in an author whose pen could touch upon every thing, and upon every thing with success. Add to this, that the rapid and fine philosophy, the careless spirit, and all that affluence of mind which so uniformly distinguished the works of Burke, are all as clearly discernible in many. parts of this anonymous and unpolished production, as in any of the most regular performances of that extraordinary man. As the work proceeds, the subjects diminish in real interest; and the delight, though not always the instruction, of the reader, diminishes also. It has been said, and with much appearance of probability, that these volumes were written by Burke in conjunction with his brother, who had lived in the West Indies, and who must have had much local and valuable information to communicate; that the heavier parts were consigned by the orator to his more humble associate, and