6DS 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



on misrepresentations and rival 

 envy; and in his letters home, he 

 lamented the delusion of so many 

 of his countrymen, to whom a 

 simplicity of manners hadbeen re- 

 presented as boorish coldness and 

 apathy; thedisuseof insincere and 

 gesticulated expressions of forced 

 friendship, awant of polish andcivil- 

 ity, and, in short that the portrait 

 generally held out to them, was 

 merely a blending of dark shades. 



A French author, speaking of 

 the dress and appearance of 

 Spanish youths, says, «' They have 

 gained the acme of perfection as 

 soon as they have acquired our 

 style of dress, manners, and ac- 

 complishments, and can act and 

 carry themselves a la Frangoise" 



The Creoles have certainly an 

 aptitude for the sciences and ge- 

 neral learning, but not for the deep 

 researches of the plodding Dutch 

 commentator. Their minds are 

 active, their imaginations lively 

 and penetrating, they easily re- 

 ceive an impression, though they 

 do not so long retain it as the 

 European, owing to the flexibility 

 of their corporeal structure, which 

 produces a correspondent vola- 

 tility of mind. 



The greatest part of their artists 

 and handicraftsmen are Creoles of 

 colour, descendants of Indians, 

 sometimes mixed with white and 

 black blood. Oviedo himself was 

 born in South America, and is the 

 best and most correct author that 

 has ever written on that country; 

 but many other men of equal 

 merit might be named. From 

 their most trustworthy records we 

 find, that thirty years after the 

 conquest there were Indians in 

 the colleges of Mexico, who were 

 preceptors of Greek and Latin, 



professors of painting ; and to 

 their ingenuity and address, the 

 missionaries owed a good compre- 

 hension of their language and his- 

 tory, derived from symbols, cha- 

 racters, and figures. 



In jurisprudence and civil law, 

 we find many illustrious charac- 

 ters ; hence we may easily infer, 

 that if their minds received a right 

 bias, and their education were 

 properly formed, their national 

 prejudices would subside, and 

 they would no longer look with 

 scornful disregard on the acquire- 

 ments of other nations. 



They begin, however, to pierce 

 with a steady eye the mist of fa- 

 naticism and prejudice, with 

 which they have been clouded and 

 obscured ; they assume a more 

 modified state of social existence ; 

 they gradually discover, that there 

 is something in other nations 

 worthy their adoption and imita- 

 tion ; they shake oft' that lethargy 

 which serves but to debilitate and 

 emasculate the human frame, and 

 it may be expected there will be a 

 happy change in their systems, 

 and that the generation now on its 

 decline, will be succeeded by one 

 possessing features of moral ame- 

 lioration, harmonized and illumi- 

 nated by the useful principles of 

 other nations. 



Anecdotes of the Mexicans, includ- 

 ing a Description of Mexico, its 

 Lakes, Sfc. [_From the same 

 Work, ' Vol. II.2 



Anahuac was the original name 

 given to the vale of Mexico, and 

 signifies near to the water. The 

 cityof Mexico wasanciently called 

 Tenochtitlan ; it was founded A. D. 



