nation, it is no lefs difficult to account either for that improved state of fociety, or for the extenfive dominion to which their empire had attained, when firft vifited by the Spaniards. The infancy of nations is fo long, and, even when every circumftance is favourable to their progrefs, they advance fo flowly towards any maturity of ftrength or policy, that the recent origin of the Mexicans feems to be a ftrong prefumption of fome exaggeration, in the fplendid defcriptions which have been given of their government and manners.

Fa&s which prove their progrefs in civilization,

But it is not by theory or conjectures that hiftory decides, with regard to the ftate or character of nations. It produces facts as the foundation of every judgment which it ventures to pronounce. In collecting those which muft regulate our opinion in the prefent inquiry, fome occur that fuggeft an idea of confiderable progress in' civilization in the Mexican empire, and others which feem to indicate that it had advanced but little beyond the favage tribes around it. Both fhall be exhibited to the view of the reader, that, from comparing them, he may determine on which fide the evidence preponderates. L 2

The right of property fully established.

The right of private property was perfectly understood, and established in its full extent. A mong feveral favage tribes, we have feen, that the idea of a title to the feparate and exclufive poffeffion of any object was hardly known; and that among all, it was extremely limited and ill-defined. But in Mexico, where agriculture and induftry had made fome progrefs, the diftinction between real and moveable poffeffions; between property in land and property in goods, had taken place. Both might be transferred from one perfon to another by fale or barter; both might defcent by inheritance. Every person who could be denominated a freeman had property in land. This, however, they held by various tenures. Some poffeffed it in full right, and it defcended to their heirs. The title of others to their lands was derived from the office or dignity which they enjoyed; and when deprived of the latter, they loft poffeffion of the former. Both thefe modes of occupying land were deemed noble, and peculiar to citizens of the highest clafs. The tenure, by which the great body of the people held their property, was very different. In every diftri&t a certain quantity of land was measured out, in proportion to the number of families. This was cultivated by the joint labour of the whole; its produce was

depofited in a common ftore-houfe, and divid ed among them according to their respective exigencies. The members of the Calpullee, or affociations, could not alienate their share of the common eftate; it was an indivisible permanent property, deftined for the fupport of their families. h) In confequence of this diftribution of the territory of the ftate, every man had an intereft in its welfare, and the happiness of the individual was connected with the publick fecurity.

ties.

The number and greatnefs of their cities.

One of the most striking circumftances, which diftinguifhes the Mexican empire from thofe nations in America we have already described, is the number and greatness of its ciWhile fociety continues in a rude state, the wants of men are fo few, and they ftand fo little in need of mutual affiftance, that their inducements to crowd together are extremely feeble. Their industry at the fame time is fo imperfect, that it cannot fecure fubfiftence for any confiderable number of families fettled in one spot. They live difperfed, at this period, from choice as well as from neceffity, or at the utmoft affemble in fmall hamlets on the banks of the river which fupplies them with food, or on the border of fome plain left open by nature,

h) Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 15. Torquem. Mon. Ind. lib xiv. c. 7. Corita, MS.

or cleared by their own labour. The Spaniards, accustomed to his mode of habitation among all the favage tribes with which they were then acquainted, were astonished, on entering New Spain, to find the natives refiding in towns of such extent as resembled thofe of Europe. In the first fervour of their admiration, they compared Zempoalla, though a town only of the fecond or third fize, to the cities of greatest note in their own country. When, afterwards, they vifited in fuc ceffion Tlafcala, Cholula, Tacuba, Tezeuco, and Mexico itself, their amazement increased fo much, that it led them to convey ideas of their magnitude and populoufnefs bordering on what is incredible. Even when there is leisure for obfervation, and no intereft that leads to deceive, conjectural eftimates of the number of people in cities are extremely loose, ufually much exaggerated. It is not furprising then, that Cortes and his companions, little accustomed to fuch computations, and powerfully tempted to magnify, in order to exalt the merit of their own difcoveries and conquefts, fhould have been betrayed into this common error, and have raised their defcriptions confiderably above truth. For this reafon, fome confiderable abatement ought to be made from their calculation of the number of inha'bitants in the Mexican cities, and we may fix the ftandard of their population much lower than they have done; but ftill they will "ap

and

pear to be cities of fuch confequence, as are not to be found but among people who have made fome confiderable progrefs in the arts of focial life. i) Mexico, the capital of the empire, feems to have contained fixty thousand inhabitants.

The feparation of profeffions.

The feparation of profeffions among the Mexicans is a fymptom of improvement no lefs remarkable. Arts, in the early ages of fociety are fo few and fo fimple, that each man is fufficiently master of them all, to gratify every demand of his own limited defires. The favage can form his bow, point his arrows, rear his hut, and hollow his canoe, without calling in the aid of any hand more skilful than his own. Time must have augmented the wants of men, and ripened their ingenuity, before the productions of art became fo complicated in their structure, or fo curious in their fabrick, that a particular courfe of education was requifite towards forming the artificer to expertness in contrivance and workmanship. In proportion as refinement fpreads, the diftinction of profeffions increases, and they branch out into more numerous and minute fubdivifions. Among the Mexicans, this feparation of the arts necessary in life had taken place to a confiderable extent. The functions of the

i) See NOTE XXI,