NOTE XLII, p. 264.

A ftrong proof of this occurs in the teftament of Ifabella, where fhe difcovers the moft tender concern for the humane and mild ufage of the Indians. Thofe laudable fentiments of the queen have been adopted into the publick law of Spain, and ferve as the introduction to the regulations contained under the title of the good treatment of the Indians. Recopil. lib. vi. tit. x.

NOTE XLIII. p. 267.

In the feventh title, of the first book of the Recopilacion, which contains the laws concerning the powers and functions of archbishops and bishops, almoft a third part of them relates to what is incumbent upon them, as guardians of the Indians, and points out, the various methods in which it is their duty to interpofe, in order to defend them from oppreffion, either with respect to their perfons or property. Not only do the laws commit to them this honourable and humane office, but they actually exercife it.

Innumerable proofs of this might be produced from Spanish authors. But I rather refer to Gage, as he was not difpofed to afcribe any merit to the popish clergy, to which they were not fully entitled. Survey, p. 142. 192,

&c.

Henry Hawks, an English merchant, who refided five years in New Spain, previous to the year 1572, gives the fame favourable account of the popifh clergy. Hakluyt, iii. 466. By a law of Charles V. not only bifhops, but other ecclefiafticks, are impowered to inform and admonifh the civil magiftrates, if any Indian is deprived of his juft liberty and rights. Recopilac. lib. vi. tit. vi. ley 14; and thus were constituted legal protectors of the Indians. Some of the Spanish ecclefiafticks refused to grant abfolution to fuch of their countrymen as poffeffed Encomiendas, and confidered the Indians as flaves, or employed them in working their mines. Gonz. Davil. Teatro Ecclef. i. 157.

NOTE XLIV. p. 267.

According to Gage, Chiapa dos Indos contains 4000 families, and he mentions it only as one of the largest Indian towns in America, p. 104.

NOTE XLV. p. 267.

It is very difficult to obtain an accurate account of the ftate of population in thofe kingdoms of Europe where the police is moft perfect, and where fcience has made the greatest progrefs. In Spanish America, where know

ledge

ledge is ftill in its infancy, and few men have leifure to engage in refearches merely fpeculative, little attention has been paid to this curious inquiry. But in the year 1741, Philip V. enjoined the viceroys and governors of the feveral provinces in America, to make an actual furvey of the people under their jurifdi&tion, and to tranfmit a report concerning their number and occupations. In confequence of this order, the Conde de Fuen Clara, viceroy of New Spain, appointed D. Jof. Antonio de Villa Segnor y Sanchez, to execute that commiffion in New Spain. From the reports of the magiftrates in the feveral diftricts, as well as from his own obfervations, and long acquaintance with most of the provinces, Villa Segnor publifhed the refult of his inquiries in his Teatro Americano. His report, however, is imperfect. Of the nine dioceses, into which the Mexican empire has been divided, he has published an account of five only, viz. the archbishoprick of Mexico, the bishopricks of Pueebla de los Angeles, Mechoacan, Oaxaca, and Nova Galicia. The bifopricks of Yucatan, Verapaz, Chiapa, and Guatimala, are entirely omitted, though the two latter comprehend countries, in which the Indian race is more numerous than in any part of New Spain. In his furvey of the extenfive diocefe of Nova Galicia, the fituation of the different Indian villages is defcribed, but he specifies the numROBERTSON Vol. III. E e

ber of people only in a fmall part of it. The Indians of that vaft province, in which the Spanifh dominion is imperfectly established, are not registered with the fame accuracy as in other parts of New Spain. According to Villa Segnor, the actual ftate of population in the five diocefes above mentioned is of Spaniards, negroes, mulattoes, and meftizos, in the diocefes of

At the rate of five to a family, the total nu m

At the rate of five to a family, the total number is 1,471,955. We may rely with greater certainty on this computation of the num

ber of Indians, as it is taken from the Matricula, or regifter, according to which the tribute paid by them is collected. As four diocefes of nine are totally omitted, and in that of Nova Galicia the numbers are imperfectly recorded, we may conclude, that the number of Indians in the Mexican empire exceeds two millions.

The account of the number of Spaniards &c. feems not to be equally complete. Of many places, Villa Segnor observes in general terms, that feveral Spaniards, negroes, and people of a mixed race, refide there. without fpecifying their number. If therefore, we make allowance for thefe, and for all who refide in the four diocefes omitted, the number of Spaniards and of thofe of a mixed race, may probably amount to a million and a half. In fome places, Villa Segnor diftinguishes between Spaniards and the three inferior races of negros, mulattoes, and meftizos, and marks their number feparately. But he generally blends them together. But from the proportion obfervable in those places, where the number of each is marked, as well as from the account of the ftate of population in New Spain by other authors, it is manifest that the number of negroes and perfons of a mixed race far exceeds that of Spaniards. Perhaps the latter ought not to be reckoned above 500,000 to a million of the former.