d obtain an honour which Christopher Columbus
alone had deserved. But of the fame which is the natural right of him
whose courage and enterprise procured this unrivalled acquisition, no
one can deprive him. His gigantic discovery may always be known as
America, but the world acknowledges its obligation to Columbus, and
knows little beyond the name of his rival."

"Were the immediate results of so large an addition to geographical
knowledge, as beneficial to the entire human race as they ought to have
been?"

"I do not think they were. The vast continent then thrown open to the
advance of civilisation, may be divided into two portions,--the south
and the north. The former was inhabited by a harmless effeminate race,
who enjoyed many of the refinements of civilisation; their knowledge of
the arts, for instance, as shown to us in the ruins of their cities, was
considerable; they possessed extensive buildings in a bold and ornate
style of architecture; they made a lavish use of the precious metals, of
which the land was extremely rich, and they wore dresses which showed a
certain perfection in the manufacture of textile fabrics, and no slight
degree of taste and art in their formation.

"The Spaniards, who were led to this part of the continent by a desire
to enrich themselves with the gold which the earliest discoverers had
found in the new country in considerable quantities, invaded the
territories of this peaceful people, and, by their superior knowledge of
warlike weapons, and the ignorance of the intentions of their invaders
that prevailed amongst the natives of all ranks, by a series of
massacres, they were enabled, though comparatively but a small force, to
obtain possession of the vast empire that had been established there
from time immemorial, and turn it into a Spanish colony.

"The blood of this harmless race flowed like water; their great Incas or
Emperors were deposed and murdered, their splendid temples plundered of
their riches, their nobles and priests tortured to make them change
their faith, and the great mass of the people became slaves to their
more warlike conquerors. It was in this way the gold of Mexico and Peru
enriched the treasury of Spain; but every ingot had the curse of blood
upon it, and from that time the Spanish power, then at its height, began
to decline in Europe, till it sunk in the scale of nations among the
least important. The colonies revolted from the mother country, and
be