HISTORY OF MEXICO. 349 



and not only the names of metaphyseal beings, but alfo 

 thofe of moral beings cannot be expreffed, unlefs imper- 

 fectly and by long circumlocutions. But M. Conda- 

 mine knew as much of the language of America as M. 

 de Paw ; and he certainly gained his information from 

 fome ignorant perfon, which is a ufual cafe with travel- 

 lers. We are perfectly fure that many American lan- 

 guages have not that poverty Mr. Condamine afcribes 

 to them; but without attending to that we fliall exa^ 

 mine the ftate of the Mexican. 



It is very true, that the Mexicans had no words to 

 exprefs fuch conceptions, as matter, fubftance, accident, 

 and the like ; but it is equally fo, that no language of 

 An* a, or Europe, had fuch words before the Greeks be- 

 gan to refine and abftract their ideas, and to create new 

 terms to exprefs them. The great Cicero, who knew 

 the Latin language fo well, and flouriflied in thofe 

 times when it '^as at its greateft perfection, although 

 he efteemed it more copious than the Greek, is often 

 at the greateft difficulty in his philofophical works, to 

 find words correfponding to the metaphyfical ideas of 

 the Greeks. How often was he conftrained to create 

 new terms equivalent in fome manner to thofe of the 

 Greek, becaufe he could not find any fuch in ufe among 

 the Romans ; but even at this day, after that language 

 has been enriched by Cicero, and other learned Ro- 

 mans, who, after his example, applied themfelves to 

 the ftudy of philofophy, many terms are wanting to 

 exprefs metaphyfical notions, unlefs recourfe is had to 

 the barbarous Latin of the fchools. None of thofe lan- 

 guages which are fpoken by the philofophers of Europe, 

 had words fignifying matter, fubftance, accident, and 

 other fimilar ideas ; and therefore it was neceffary that 



philofophers 



