Complete Works of Edmund Burke

by Edmund Burke

  “Long live the king! but let the traitor die;”

  and crossing the great square of Lima, made directly to Pizarro’s palace; the rest followed in different parties. The people being all the while suspended, and in that inactive amazement which the execution of a bold and sudden enterprise generally inspires, made no opposition. The conspirators secured the avenues; and Pizarro, not alarmed until he was surrounded by his enemies, fell under their swords, after having sold his life dearly.

  Thus died Pizarro, by an event extremely memorable. A great conqueror, in the city he had himself built, in his own palace, his guards murdered at noon day by •ands of a small number of fugitives. The Peruvians had the satisfaction to see the second of their conquerors cut off by the same sword that had afflicted themselves.

  CHAP. XVII.

  WHEN Pizarro had fallen in consequence of those cruel and ill-judged steps which he took for his security, the Almagrians, elate with their success, and growing into a formidable body, seized upon the city, and proclaimed the natural son of old Almagro governor; a youth not twenty years of age, but of a courage and capacity not absolutely unequal to a charge of such importance, undertaken in circumstances so critical. But though the Almagrians succeeded beyond their hopes, by the consternation caused by the suddenness of the attempt, and the general dislike to the cruel procedure of Pizarro; the major part of the Spaniards were far from acquiescing in this irregular nomination of a governor. A considerable number, and those of the best men, declared, that without interesting themselves in the quarrel of either party, they would wait for the emperor’s determination, which they expected hourly, and to which alone they were resolved to conform themselves.

  In this state of things the new governor Vaca di Castro arrived. This man was of a good family, and by profession a lawyer; but through a more rigid adherence to the strictest ideas of right and justice than is suitable to the coarseness of practice, he did not make that figure in his profession to which his great capacity entitled him. But what kept him backward at the bar, recommended him first to the knowledge, and afterwards to the esteem of his master the emperor Charles the Vth, who was a man of too much discernment not to be struck with a character so singular as was that of one who was a lawyer, without exercising the trade of law, and lived at court without being a courtier. Therefore, without any sollicitation of his own, without any recommendation from a minister or favourite, this man’s plain unostentatious virtue placed him in an employment of so great a trust▪ When he arrived in the Indies he still pre+served his character. He acted like one who came neither to make friends or a fortune, bu• solely to do his duty; and he shewed favour o• disapprobation to all in proportion as they performed their’s. Indian or Spaniard was entirely alike to the equality of his justice He flattered nobody, he threatened nobody, and whilst he lived with all the modesty of a private man, he supported all the dignity of a governor.

  He was hardly landed, when young Almagro sent him an embassy, explaining the reasons of his conduct, and proposing terms; but Castro answered him, that he was come under the emperor’s authority, solely to do him and every body justice; of which, if a good subject, he could have no room to complain; if a bad one, he must prepare to feel it: he knew no other terms. This was new language to governors in this part of the world, who almost forgot they had a superior. Almagro therefore was resolved to abide the fortune of war, rather than submit without such terms as might ensure him the government of his father’s province at least. On the other hand, Castro would hear of no terms between a king and his subjects, and therefore set himself at the head of his troops, which were composed of those who had refused to obey Almagro, and gave him battle. The victory was on his side, but not without a bloody dispute.

  Several of Almagro’s officers, in hopes of procuring favour for themselves, betrayed his cause in the battle; but Castro was far from thinking their treachery to their leader, could be reckoned a service to the crown, and therefore spared none of them in the numerous executions he found it necessary to make on this occasion. None of the sufferers was more pitied than Almagro, who behaved with the utmost gallantry in the engagement, as he had done with much humanity and honour upon most occasions. He was taken and beheaded.

  The severity of this procedure, whilst it terrified every body, drew no odium upon the governor, who acted clearly without prejudice, or self-interest. They looked on these executions like judgments from heaven which afflict us bitterly, but leave no room for murmur or complaint against the hand that inflicts them. To the followers of Pizarro, who valued themselves on their late service, and murmured that they were not rewarded better than he thought they deserved, he shewed little favour. He told them he could well distinguish between what was done out of a spirit of party, and what proceeded from a principle of loyalty to their sovereign; that they might look upon themselves as very happy that he suffered their last action to obliterate the memory of all their others. In short, he proceeded with such constancy, that the Spaniards were reduced to an entire subjection, and the Indians treated by them as fellow subjects and fellow creatures. The clergy he made to attend diligently to the duty of their function, and to the conversion of the Indians, rather than to the acquisition of their gold. He modelled the administration of justice in the exactest manner. He founded several towns, and established schools and colleges in them, and placed the royal revenues on such a footing, that the conquest of Peru became immediately a great public advantage, which formerly was little more than an object of private plunder. But whilst he remained himself poor among some of the richest confiscations that ever were made, and whilst he enriched the royal treasury with most prodigious remittances, the great men at court received no presents. This induced them to get a number of judges appointed, whose authority over-ruled that of Castro. The end was answered. Disputes arose; the colony was unsettled; appeals and complaints innumerable came home, and presents from all sides. But what answered the present end of the courtiers, was near stopping up the spring of bribery for the future. In the confusion that arose from such clashing jurisdictions, and the schemes of men intent upon their own interests, it was not hard for Gonzalo, the brother of the famous Pizarro, to avail himself of the general discontent, and to set himself at the head of a party.

  It was now no longer a dispute between governors about the bounds of their jurisdiction; Gonzalo Pizarro only paid a nominal submission to the emperor. He strengthened daily, and even went so far as to behead a viceroy who was sent to curb him. There was a fleet at this time in the South-Seas, and he had address enough to gain the admiral to his interests; by which means he was able to over-awe the coast of Mexico, and prevent any force coming against him from that part. He even entertained hopes of gaining the Spaniards there to join in his revolt. The court, justly alarmed at this progress, having felt the ill effect of sending men who were recommended to their posts by importunity and cabal, as they had experienced the beneficial consequences of employing persons whose character only pleaded for them, they sent a licentiate in divinity, called Peter de la Gasca, a man differing only from Castro, that he was of a milder and more insinuating behaviour, but with the same love of justice, the same greatness of soul, and the same disinterested spirit. This mildness of character suited the circumstances of the times, as well as the rigid justice of Castro did those in which he was appointed; for as the revolt was now almost general, he could find no friends but such as he should make; for though he was invested with the amplest authority from Spain, he neither carried men to enforce it, nor money; and the whole success of the expedition rested solely in his own capacity.

  When he arrived in Mexico, he declared that his was a peaceable profession; that he came not to exercise severities, but to heal by gentle measures the effects of those which were formerly exercised. He even wrote a very obliging letter to Pizarro, persuading him to submit, and offering him a free pardon for himself and his associates. In the mean time he was not wanting in more vigorous measures; but by his enga
ging address, and the reputation of his probity, raised large sums of money, and some hundreds of men. Pizarro, puffed up by his success, received the embassador with great haughtiness, and sent his answer, which was likewise that of his associates, by the admiral; which was in effect, that neither would he yield up his government, nor would they submit to have any other governor. The admiral had instructions to try what bribery would do, and if that failed, to fire the city of Panama, and bring off the new viceroy prisoner. However, during their conferences, the affair took absolutely another turn, and the admiral, instead of conveying Gasca a prisoner to Peru, transported him thither with all his forces, returning to his allegiance himself, and persuading all his adherents to be hearty in the royal cause. The viceroy did not at all alter the professions and behaviour he had used in Mexico, but every where proclaiming peace and pardon, at the head of a powerful force, he drew the cities of Lima and Cusco from the party of Pizarro; who finding himself obliged to evacuate the most considerable places of strength, with very unequal forces hazarded a battle, in which he was made prisoner. He was soon after condemned and executed, with those who had been the chief instruments of his rebellion.

  Such an ill star governed all those who had a share in the reduction of Peru: Almagro beheaded, his son sharing the same fate; Pizarro murdered in his own palace; his brother Ferdinand kept a prisoner twenty-three years; and his other brother Gonzalo, as we have just seen, suffering death as a traitor. The new governor having by necessary severities quieted his province, took effectual care to heal it’s disorders by the arts of peace, and to compleat what Castro had been obliged to leave unfinished. He settled the civil government, the army, and the mines, upon such a basis as made the province worth the plunder of future viceroys. He carried over two millions to the royal treasury, paid all his debts, and sate down as poor in Spain as he had left it.

  The reduction of the great empires of Peru and Mexico, makes almost the only thing very much worth insisting upon in the American history. A few skirmishes with a savage people, and some voyages and discoveries exactly resembling each other, changing only the names and situations, is the matter, which, in my opinion, unprofitably fills so many volumes, and contains very little of either curiosity or instruction. However, when I come to treat of the several European settlements particularly, I shall not omit to mention any thing in their history that contains either the one or the other.

  End of the FIRST PART.

  PART II. The Manners of the Americans.

  CHAP. I.

  THE Aborigines of America, throughout the whole extent of the two vast continents which they inhabit, and amongst the infinite number of nations and tribes into which they are divided, differ very little from each other in their manners and customs, and they all form a very striking picture of the most distant antiquity. Whoever considers the Americans of this day, not only studies the manners of a remote present nation, but he studies, in some measure, the antiquities of all nations; from which no mean lights may be thrown upon many parts of the ancient authors, both sacred and profane. The learned Lafitau has laboured this point with great success, in a work which deserves to be read amongst us much more than I find it is.

  The people of America are tall, and strait in their limbs beyond the proportion of most nations: their bodies are strong; but of a species of strength rather fitted to endure much hardship, than to continue long at any servile work, by which they are quickly consumed; it is the strength of a beast of prey, rather than that of a beast of burthen. Their bodies and heads are flattish, the effect of art; their features are regular, but their countenances fierce; their hair long, black, lank, and as strong as that of a horse. No beards. The colour of their skin a reddish brown, admired amongst them, and improved by the constant use of bear’s fat and paint.

  When the Europeans first came into America, they found the people quite naked, except those parts which it is common for the most uncultivated people to conceal. Since that time they have generally a coarse blanket to cover them, which they buy from us. The whole fashion of their lives is of a piece; hardy, poor, and squalid; and their education from their infancy is solely directed to fit their bodies for this mode of life, and to form their minds to inflict and to endure the greatest evils. Their only occupations are hunting and war. Agriculture is left to the women. Merchandize they contemn. When their hunting season is past, which they go through with much patience, and in which they exert great ingenuity, and their provisions once laid up, they pass the rest of their time in an entire indolence. They sleep half the day in their huts, they loiter and jest among their friends, and they observe no bounds or decency in their eating and drinking. Before we discovered them they wanted spirituous liquors; but now, the acquirement of these is what gives a spur to their industry, and enjoyment to their repose. This is the principal end they pursue in their treaties with us; and from this they suffer inexpressible calamities; for, having once begun to drink, they can preserve no measure, but continue a succession of drunkenness as long as their means of procuring liquor lasts. In this condition they lie exposed on the earth to all the inclemency of the seasons, which wastes them by a train of the most fatal disorders. They perish in rivers and marshes; they tumble into the fire; they quarrel, and very frequently murder each other; and in short, excess in drinking, which with us is rather immoral than very destructive, amongst this uncivilized people, who have not art enough to guard against the consequence of their vices, is a public calamity. The few amongst them who live free from this evil, enjoy the reward of their temperance in a robust and healthy old age. The disorders which a complicated luxury has introduced, and supports in Europe, are strangers here.

  The character of the Indians is striking. They are grave even to sadness in their deportment upon any serious occasion; observant of those in company; respectful to the old; of a temper cool and deliberate; by which they are never in haste to speak before they have thought well upon the matter, and are sure the person who spoke before them has finished all he had to say. They have herefore the greatest contempt for the vivacity of the Europeans, who interrupt each other, and frequently speak all together. Nothing is more edifying than their behaviour in their public councils and assemblies. Every man there is heard in his turn, according as his years, his wisdom, or his services to his country have ranked him. Not a word, not a whisper, not a murmur is heard from the rest whilst he speaks. No indecent condemnation, no ill-timed applause. The younger sort attend for their instruction. Here they learn the history of their nation; here they are inflamed with the songs of those who celebrate the warlike actions of their ancestors; and here they are taught what are the interests of their country, and how to pursue them.

  There is no people amongst whom the laws of hospitality are more sacred, or executed with more generosity and good-will. Their houses, their provision, even their young women are not enough to oblige a guest. To those of their own nation they are likewise very humane and beneficent. Has any one of them succeeded ill in his hunting? has his harvest failed? or is his house burned? He has no other effect of his misfortune, than that it gives him an opportunity to experience the benevolence and regard of his fellow citizens, who for that purpose have all things almost in common. But to the enemies of his country, or to those who have privately offended, the American is implacable. He conceals his sentiments, he appears reconciled, until by some treachery or surprize he has an opportunity of executing an horrible revenge. No length of time is sufficient to allay his resentment; no distance of place great enough to protect the object; he crosses the steepest mountains, he pierces the most impracticable forests, and traverses the most hideous bogs and desarts for several hundreds of miles, bearing the inclemency of the seasons, the fatigue of the expedition, the extremes of hunger and thirst with patience and chearfulness, in hopes of surprizing his enemy, on whom he exercises the most shocking barbarities, even to the eating of his flesh. To such extremes do the Indians push their friendship or their enmity; and such indeed in ge
neral is the character of all strong and uncultivated minds.

  Notwithstanding this ferocity, no people have their anger, or at least the shew of their anger, more under their command. From their infancy they are formed with care to endure scoffs, taunts, blows, and every sort of insult patiently, or at least with a composed countenance. This is one of the principal objects of their education. They esteem nothing so unworthy a man of sense and constancy, as a peevish temper, and a proneness to a sudden and rash anger. And this so far has an effect, that quarrels happen as rarely amongst them when they are not intoxicated with liquor, as does the chief cause of all quarrels, hot and abusive language. But human nature is such, that as virtues may with proper management be engrafted upon almost all sort of vicious passions, so vices naturally grow out of the best dispositions, and are the consequence of those regulations that produce and strengthen them. This is the reason that when the passions of the Americans are roused, being shut up, as it were, and converging into a narrow point, they become more furious; they are dark, sullen, treacherous and unappeasable.

  A people who live by hunting, who inhabit mean cottages, and are given to change the place of their habitation, are seldom very religious. The Americans have scarce any temples. We hear indeed of some, and those extremely magnificent, amongst the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians; but the Mexicans and Peruvians were comparatively civilized nations. Those we know at present in any part of America are no way comparable to them. Some appear to have very little idea of God. Others entertain better notions; they hold the existence of a Supreme Being, eternal and incorruptible, who has power over all. Satisfied with owning this, which is traditionary amongst them, they give him no sort of worship. There are indeed nations in America, who seem to pay some religious homage to the sun and moon; and as most of them have a notion of some invisible beings, who continually intermeddle in their affairs, they discourse much of demons, nymphs, fairies, or beings equivalent. They have ceremonies too, that seem to shew they had once a more regular form of religious worship; for they make a sort of oblation of their first fruits; observe certain ceremonies at the full moon, and have in their festivals many things that very probably came from a religious origin, though they perform them as things handed down to them from their ancestors, without knowing or enquiring about the reason. Tho’ without religion, they abound in superstitions; as it is common for those to do, whose subsistence depends like theirs, upon fortune. Great observers of omens and dreams, and pryers into futurity with great eagerness, they abound in diviners, augurs, and magicians, whom they rely much upon in all affairs that concern them, whether of health, war, or hunting. Their physic, which may rather be called magic, is entirely in the hands of the priests. The sick are naturally prone to superstition, and human help in such cases is generally found so weak, that it is no wonder that in all countries and ages, people have amused themselves in that dismal circumstance of human nature, with the hope of supernatural assistance.