10 INTRODUCTION. 



" pursues a different course, his disinterestedness is punished by a 

 " shameful poverty. If he is a subaltern, the reproach which his 

 " conduct draws on his superiors, or the attention he bestows to 

 " throw light on theirs, exposes him to hatred. He soon feels the 

 " effects, in the loss of his employments; for truth never reaches the 

 " king of Spain ; distance gives facilities for disguising it, and 

 " timely presents can always obscure it." 



Meanwhile, the ambitious and enterprising court of Louis XIV. 

 had turned its views to the advantages to be derived from a colony 

 on the western coast of South America, or, at least, an exclusive 

 right of commerce. Accordingly, having obtained the privilege of 

 supplying Peru and Mexico with slaves, instead of the Dutch, the 

 French ships began to trade thither ; and, as opportunity occurred, 

 men of science in different branches were sent to observe and report 

 on the state of the country. Father Feuille, to whom we are indebted 

 for the best botanical account of Chile, where he resided for three 

 years, was one of these ; and Frezier, whose " Voyage to the South 

 Sea" can never be sufficiently commended for its accuracy, was 

 another. But the consequences of this French commerce, as exclu- 

 sive as that of the Spaniards themselves, were far from beneficial to 

 Spain or the colonies. The French traders were formed into two 

 companies, which interfered with the rights of the Spanish merchants, 

 and excluded all others; and in 1709 we find the following remark- 

 able passage in the memorial on the state of Spain, transmitted by 

 the French minister, Amelot, from Madrid : — " The riches of Peru 

 " and Mexico, those inexhaustible sources of wealth, are almost lost 

 " to Spain. Not only are complaints made against the French mer- 

 " chants for ruining the trade of Cadiz and Seville, in spite of the 

 " regulations of the French court against those who infringe the 

 " established rules ; but the enormous abuses of the administration 

 " of the viceroys continue in full force. Avarice and pillage are un- 

 " punished ; fortresses and garrisons are neglected ; all things seem 

 " to portend a fatal revolution." At this period the viceroys were 

 recalled ; and an attempt was made to restrain the enormous profits 



