346 Natural and civil 



as a crime committed against men, but as an 

 act of rebellion against God. The nobility of 

 course was nothing more than families of office. 

 Though a difference of rank had taken place 

 throughout the empire, all but the children of 

 the sun, were supposed to belong to the com- 

 mon race of men. The people were welL cloth- 

 ed, and fed ; every where distinguished for 

 their industry, economy, moderation, content- 

 ment, and happiness. Over this people, the 

 Incas, though absolute in power, established a 

 government the most mild and gentle, that has 

 ever taken place in any part of the earth. The 

 morals of the people -were so pure, that few 

 crimes were ever committed : The genius of 

 the government was so mild, that few punish- 

 ments were ever executed : And w-hen they 

 were, they were viewed as the necessary acts of 

 God, and not of men. Their government, the 

 dominion of prosperity and virtue, was esteem- 

 ed by the people the dominion of God and his 

 Inca. Their system of religion, like their gov- 

 ernment, was mild, gentle, and pacific. The 

 sun, the emblem of light, serenity, fertility, 

 beneficence, joy, and life, was the object of 

 their adoration. They offered to him a part of 

 those productions, which they derived from 

 cultivating the earth, enriched by his genial 

 warmth. They presented to him specimens of 

 those works of ingenuity, which they had per- 

 formed oy his light. And they brought to him 

 some of those animals, which were nourished 

 by his influence. But the Inca never stained 

 their altai's with human blood ; or admitted the 

 Ravage idea, that the source of beneficence could 



