character of that descendant of the
Incas as a historian, it may only be here mentioned that the events to
be now related on his authority all occurred in his own time, and that
the relation of them which he has left would have been greatly more
valuable if he had been pleased to favour us more frequently with their
dates.

In the present eventful period, while Spain, once the terror of Europe,
seems in danger of sinking under the tyrannical grasp of the usurper of
France, a vast revolution appears about to elevate the Spanish American
colonies into extensive independent states; if the jealous collision of
rights, interests, and pretensions between the various races of their
inhabitants do not plunge them into all the horrors of civil war and
anarchy. The crisis is peculiarly interesting to all the friends of
humanity, and it is to be wished that the present commotions may soon
subside into a permanent state of peace and good government,
advantageous to all the best interests of the colonists, and beneficial
to the commerce and industry of the rest of the world.

Before proceeding to the abridged history of events in Peru, subsequent
to the departure of the president De la Gasca, the following reflections
on the state of manners among the early Spanish settlers in that opulent
region, during the period of which we have already given the history, as
drawn by the eloquent pen of the illustrious Historian of America, have
appeared most worthy of insertion[43].

[Footnote 43: Hist of America, II. p. 393.]

"Though the Spaniards who first invaded Peru were of the lowest order in
society, and the greater part of those who afterwards joined them were
persons of desperate fortune, yet in all the bodies of troops brought
into the field by the different leaders who contended for superiority,
not one acted as a hired soldier or followed his standard for pay. Every
adventurer in Peru considered himself as a conqueror, entitled by his
services to an establishment in that country which had been acquired by
his valour. In the contests between the rival chiefs, each chose his
side as he was directed by his own judgment or affections. He joined his
commander as a companion of his fortune, and disdained to degrade
himself by receiving the wages of a mercenary. It was to their sword,
not to pre-eminence in office or nobility of birth that most of the
leaders whom they followed were indebted for their elevation; and each
of their adhe