INTRODUCTION. 41 



of any in South America, and cultivated with some 

 success the more elegant and refined branches of lite- 

 rature. These two universities influence the taste 

 throughout all Spanish America, and without much dis- 

 similarity of climate or population they produce very 

 opposite effects. It is observed by Guerra, that his 

 countrymen, the Mexicans, are remarkable for close 

 reasoning in their compositions, and destitution of orna- 

 ment in their style; while the South Americans, are as 

 remarkable for their rhetorical and declamatory writ- 

 ings, which are at the same time full of fire. We have 

 seen this exemplified in the manifesto of the Mexi- 

 can congress, when contrasted with the declaration of 

 independence of Buenos Ayres. Other universities, 

 or colleges, with very inferior privileges were at sub- 

 sequeut periods established at Santa Fee de Bogota, 

 at Quito, Cusco, Chuquisaca, Cordova, Paraguay, and 

 other parts of South America. To the efforts of the 

 Jesuits in the propagation of the lights of science, the 

 South Americans can never be too thankful. The 

 well known devotedness to learning of this extraordi- 

 nary society, was highly beneficial to those countries; 

 there is scarcely an university or college, to which 

 these enlightened men have not been benefactors. All 

 writers on South America bear testimony to the truth 

 of this remark; the seeds of learning planted by them 

 remained in the soil after their expulsion, and to them 

 the credit is in a great measure due for the stock of 

 information in America. Whatever may have been 

 the necessity or wisdom of suppressing their order in 

 Europe, too much praise cannot be given to their con- 

 duct in America. They were the explorers of the 

 trackless wilderness, the harbingers of peace and civi- 



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