HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



281 



<4 murdered without remorfe or reproach. At laft, in 

 " order to add infult to the oppreffion of thofe times, a 

 " pope made an original bull, in which he declared, that 

 " being defirous of founding bimopricks in the richeft 

 " countries of America, it pleafed him, and the Holy 

 " Spirit, to acknowledge the Americans to be true men : 

 " in fo far, that without this decifion of an Italian, the 

 " inhabitants of the new world would have appeared, 

 " even at this day, to the eyes of the faithful, a race of 

 " equivocal men. There is no example of fuch a deci- 

 " fion, lince this globe has been inhabited by men and 

 " apes." We fliould rejoice that there was no other ex- 

 ample in the world of fuch calumnies and infolence as 

 thofe of M. de Paw, but that we may put the complex- 

 ion of this paffage in its true light, we fliall give a copy 

 of that decifion, after having explained the occafion 

 of it. 



Some of the firfl: Europeans who eftabliflied them- 

 felves in America, not lefs powerful than avaricious, de- 

 firous of enriching themfelves to the detriment of the 

 Americans, kept them continually employed, and made 

 ufe of them as flaves ; and in order to avoid the re- 

 proaches which were made them by the bifliops and mif- 

 fiouaries who inculcated humanity, and the giving liber- 

 ty to thofe people, to get themfelves inflrucled in reli- 

 gion, that they might do their duties towards the church 

 and their families, alleged, that the Indians were by 

 nature flaves and incapable of being inftrucled ; and 

 many other falfehoods of which the Chronicler Herrera 

 makes mention againft them. Thofe zealous ecclefiaf- 

 tics being unable, either by their authority or preach- 

 ing, to free thofe unhappy converts from the tyranny of 

 fuch mifers, had recourfe to the Catholic kings, and at 

 Vol. III. O o lad 



