INHABITANTS. 
223 
stances within the confines of the Isthmus, of those who have 
reached a comparatively high degree of mental culture, and who 
have evinced literary and military talent of no mean order. But 
to form a correct estimate of the indigenous people of the Isth- 
mus in their present state of degradation and misery, it is neces- 
sary to turn back to the thrilling and dramatic incidents of their 
history, and to consider the evil influences to which they have 
long been subjected. 
Everywhere on the Isthmus — even on the loftiest mountains, 
in the deepest dells, and in the most impenetrable forests — there 
are silent evidences of the history of a vast and powerful people, 
of which there scarcely remains now a tenth part, as the misera- 
ble consequence of their calamities. Indeed, throughout the 
whole record of their conquest and subjugation, their conversion 
to Christianity is the sole refreshing circumstance. This, though 
only nominal in some instances, has at all events released them 
from the bloody scenes of the sacrificial stone, and substituted 
for butchers and tyrants, priests of humanity and kindness, who, 
although not in all respects patterns of morality, and with whom 
the laws of nature have proved stronger than the obligations of 
celibacy, are, nevertheless, the friends and protectors of the 
Indians. 
An elegant writer on Mexico has justly remarked, in reference 
to the moral faculties of the natives, that u it is difficult to ap- 
preciate them with justice. The better sort of Indians, among 
whom a certain degree of intellectual culture might be expected, 
perished in great numbers at the commencement of the Spanish 
conquest, the victims of European ferocity. The Christian fanat- 
icism was particularly directed against the Aztec priests ; and 
the Teqpixqm, or ministers of the divinity, and of all those who 
inhabited Teocalli, who might be considered as the repositories 
of the historical, mythological, and astronomical knowledge of 
the country, were exterminated. The monks burned the hiero- 
glyphical paintings, by which every kind of knowledge was 
transmitted from generation to generation. The people, deprived 
of these means of instruction, were plunged in an ignorance so 
much the deeper, as the missionaries were unskilled in the Mexi- 
can languages, and could substitute few new ideas in place 
