GUATEMALA AND CHIAPAS.
1701-1800.
THE TZENDAL REBELLION—A NEW MIRACLE—ATROCITIES—A
NOVEL HIERARCHY—THE TZENDALES REPULSED—SEGOVIA'S
OPERATIONS—PRESIDENT COSÍO ASSUMES COMMAND—FALL OF
CANCUC—SPREAD OF THE REBELLION—ITS SUPPRESSION—DECADENCE OF
CHIAPAS—EARTHQUAKES—RIOTS—VENALITY OF THE CLERGY—ESTABLISHMENT
OF THE ARCHBISHOPRIC—HERESY—BOUNDARIES OF PROVINCES—ABOLITION
OF CORREGIMIENTOS—ANOTHER GREAT EARTHQUAKE—QUARRELS OVER
REMOVAL—EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS.
When the storm raised by the Berropistas and Tequelies had subsided,
a political calm appears to have prevailed for a period in Guatemala.
Unfortunately, in other respects the colonists were far from enjoying
repose, and the eighteenth century was the most calamitous epoch in the
history of the country. Nor was the freedom from strife between church
and state permanent, since humiliating contests for authority in time
sprang up afresh.
The first important event which disturbed the quiet order of affairs,
was the rising of the Tzendales[XXXVII‑1] in Chiapas during the
presidency of Toribio José de Cosío y Campa.[XXXVII‑2] In 1712 the
Tzendales formed an alliance with numerous kindred nations, and grafting
some Christian rites upon their paganism, followed the lead of an Indian
girl, who claimed inspiration from the virgin Mary.
[Sidenote: THE INSPIRED INDIAN GIRL.]
The first outbreak occurred at Diasolo, where Fray Pedro Villena was
beaten almost to death in the church while attempting to remove certain
ornaments which were to be conveyed to a neighboring town by the bishop.
This outrage was followed by the seizure of the Spaniards who resided
there. They were, however, released two days afterward. Somewhat later
the bishop visited the disaffected town, and was openly informed by the
Indians that it was their intention to rise in arms.[XXXVII‑3]
About the middle of the year Simon de Lara, priest of Cancuc, was
informed of the miraculous interposition, which was on the wrong side of
his orthodoxy, a miracle of Satan's; and that the natives had erected
a chapel near that town in consequence of the event. He immediately
convened the inhabitants, who promptly assembled, bringing with them
the Indian girl to whom the divine revelation had been made. Standing
in their midst she calmly told how the virgin had appeared to her, and
commanded that a chapel to her glorification should be built on the
spot where she had made her presence visible. Had this divine display
been free from the taint of aboriginal faith, much capital might have
been made of it by the fathers. Padre Lara addressed the Indians on the
matter and wished to destroy the chapel, but the Tzendales induced him
to allow it to remain, that it might serve as a place in which to make
bricks. In spite of the bishop's prohibition, religious rites continued
to be celebrated there, and owing to the inertness of the authorities
at Ciudad Real the hydra of rebellion grew apace. The neighboring towns
entered into a compact with the people of Cancuc, and the league spread
far and wide in the neighboring districts.
Thus passed the month of July. In the beginning of August the Cancucs
sent messengers to all the Tzendales, in the name of the virgin,
and with letters signed in her name, commanding them to bring to her
chapel at Cancuc all the silver and ornaments of the churches, and
all the money and books, for there was now neither God nor king of the
Spaniards. On receiving this summons the leaders of the rebellion in
each town artfully evoked the fanaticism of the low orders by calling
upon them to hasten to the assistance of the virgin, who they asserted
was going to be put to death.[XXXVII‑4] A multitude was gathered, and
on the 10th a great feast was celebrated at the chapel of Cancuc, where
a council of war was held in order to complete their plans for the
extermination of the Spaniards. The towns of Tenango and Chilun were
soon afterward attacked by a body of Tzendales, two thousand strong, who
were called the "soldiers of the virgin." Tenango fell an easy prey; the
fiscal Nicolás Perez was flogged till he died, and many others were put
to death with every ingenuity of torture.[XXXVII‑5] At Chilun the feeble
garrison defended itself for some time; but when their ammunition was
exhausted and they had no hope of escape or further defence, they gave
up their arms under assurances that their lives would be spared. Most
of them were immediately clubbed or stoned to death, and the remainder
died under the scourge.
[Sidenote: GROWTH OF THE NEW FAITH.]
In obedience to the commands of their prophetess the Tzendales then
proceeded against Ococingo, but the Spaniards retreated in time to
Comitán. Aware that neither woman nor child had been harmed at Chilun,
they unfortunately left their families behind. When the Tzendales
entered the town they were deceived by the women as to the direction
their husbands had taken. On discovering the deceit the Indians were
enraged, and returning to Ococingo they tore the children from the
mother's arms and murdered them before their eyes; then after beating
the women they sent them to Cancuc.
A high festival was held to celebrate their success, and over it
presided their prophetess, whose word was law. In the chapel at Cancuc
she issued her mandates. Before the spurious altar of the virgin hung
a screen of Indian matting, behind which the priestess would retire;
thence issuing forth she pronounced the commands of holy Mary.
The inventor of this imposture was a Tzendale, who henceforth assumed
the name of Sebastian Gomez de la Gloria. He asserted that Saint
Peter had taken him up to heaven and appointed him his vicar on earth,
with power to elect bishops and priests. And he went on to the full
completion of his holy mission. All the fiscals of the towns were
summoned to Cancuc and the elect ordained. The only qualifications
required were ability to read, and to perform the feat of kneeling for
twenty-four consecutive hours, candle in hand, reciting the rosary;
after which La Gloria sprinkled the priest-elect with holy water, and
the ordination ended.
The hybrid faith spread apace. Sebastian celebrated mass; and on the
first performance a great feast was held, bull-fights and games being
celebrated in honor of the event, while the church was converted into
a dancing-hall. The priestess also celebrated mass, and daily preached
to the natives, dressed in sacerdotal robes; in the surrounding towns,
too, the newly consecrated priests zealously plied their calling by
discoursing from the pulpit and administering the sacraments.
But ere long murmurings began to prevail. The natives had been led to
believe that the virgin had oracularly announced that there should be
no more tribute and no more priests.
By dint of flogging the new hierarchy maintained order for a time,
but as the discontent increased Nicolás Vasquez, styling himself
captain-general, in the name of Gomez de la Gloria, envoy of Saint
Peter, fulminated a proclamation against the malecontents.[XXXVII‑6]
The next action of the Cancuc ecclesiastics was the appointment of a
bishop, and the individual selected was offered the pleasant alternative
of accepting the bishopric or being hanged. The test of his ability
to fill the office is curious. For three days and nights he was kept
fasting in the chapel at Cancuc under threat of instant death at the
first display of weakness. Having passed this ordeal he was consecrated
by Gomez de la Gloria with appropriate solemnity and mummery.[XXXVII‑7]
A government was also formed, the head of which was Doña María Angel
the priestess. She was assisted by twelve of the principal Tzendales,
styled majordomos.[XXXVII‑8] Sessions were held in the chapel where
contributions were received with which to defray the expenses of
government, and to propitiate the virgin. Thither also were conveyed
the gold and silver taken from the different churches.[XXXVII‑9]
The new régime did not long give satisfaction. Discontent soon showed
itself among the multitude, and dissension among the members of
the government. The Tzendal angel took offence at one of her chief
supporters, and caused him to be flayed alive; other offending officials
were publicly scourged, and an Indian named Juan Lopez was hanged
for having in the division of plunder taken at the sacking of a town
appropriated the virgin's share. Disputes arose, and it was only by
dividing among the confederated towns the money in the chapel treasury
that the inhabitants of Cancuc avoided war with their neighbors.
[Sidenote: COMPETITION IN MIRACLES.]
At this juncture an opposition miracle was announced at Yajalon by
Magdalena Diaz, an aunt of Doña María Angel. Magdalena considered
that she had not received the attention to which she was entitled, and
denouncing the Cancuc miracle as false proclaimed herself a divinely
inspired agent of heaven. This apostasy and counterfeit imitation of
the original miracle was too criminal to go unpunished. The Cancuc
priestess therefore sent a strong force of the soldiers of the virgin to
Yajalon to bring the false prophetess to her. With some bloodshed this
was accomplished. Magdalena Diaz was hanged, and with her an Indian of
Tila who proclaimed that he was Christ. So perish all who oppose the
true faith!
Meanwhile the Spaniards were making preparations to suppress the
rebellion. When it first broke out there were not more than thirteen
hundred armed men in the province, and these were scattered in the
different garrisons. It chanced at this time that there was no one
at the head of the government as chief executive, and the alcalde's
ordinaries of Ciudad Real did not consider that they had the power to
act in such an emergency. One of them, however, despatched a message
to Pedro Gutierrez, the commanding officer in Tabasco, informing him
of the state of affairs and soliciting aid. Gutierrez at once hastened
to Ciudad Real, and having presently received from the president
and audiencia of Guatemala his appointment as lieutenant-general and
chief-justice of Chiapas, called the panic-stricken inhabitants to arms.
While Gutierrez was on his way to Ciudad Real the alcalde Fernando
del Monje had marched with one hundred and fifty raw recruits
to Huistlan—the nearest town in the direction of the revolted
districts. Here he had fortified himself, but was besieged by the
Tzendales in great force,[XXXVII‑10] under the leadership of Nicolás
Vazquez,[XXXVII‑11] who made several fierce assaults upon the place but
was repulsed with severe loss.
Gutierrez hastened to the relief of Huistlan with one hundred and forty
Chiapanecs and two hundred men of Ciudad Real. Forcing his way through
the Tzendales he united his troops with the besieged Spaniards, and a
sortie being made the besiegers were thrown into confusion and many
slain. The Tzendales abandoned the siege,[XXXVII‑12] and Gutierrez
at once prepared to pursue them, but the timidity of the people of
Ciudad Real fettered his movements. News had reached the capital that
Sinacantlan had revolted and that an immediate attack upon Ciudad Real
was determined upon by the Tzendales. This intelligence struck terror
into the pusillanimous inhabitants and Gutierrez was implored to return.
Meanwhile the parish priest of Sinacantlan, Padre José Monroy, who was
at Ciudad Real when these events occurred, went to his disaffected flock
and urged their return to allegiance. The news of the disaster before
Huistlan had so discouraged the Sinacantlans that the padre had little
difficulty in effecting his object.[XXXVII‑13]
[Sidenote: ASSAULT ON OCCHUC.]
Thus matters remained for some weeks, Gutierrez being unable to organize
any expedition against the insurgents, through want of means and the
lack of spirit in the people he had come to support. The magnitude
of the revolt was now realized by President Cosío, and in October
he appointed Nicolás de Segovia, an officer experienced in Indian
warfare, commander-in-chief of the operations against the Tzendales, and
despatched him with troops to Ciudad Real. This able officer was soon
prepared for an active campaign, and about the 20th of the month took
the field at the head of four hundred Spaniards, fifty-four negroes,
and one hundred and fifty Chiapanec warriors, accompanied by a number
of Dominicans, whose order had rendered great assistance in supplying
men, horses, and money. Segovia marched to Occhuc, while Gutierrez in
command of a strong force[XXXVII‑14] proceeded to San Pedro Chimalco.
A series of engagements followed. Segovia, who had divided his forces
by sending two detachments of one hundred men each to occupy towns in
the vicinity of Cancuc, was besieged in Occhuc by six thousand of the
enemy; but every assault upon his position was repulsed with heavy
loss to the Tzendales, who at last took to flight and were pursued with
great slaughter. This was on the 22d of October; and shortly afterward
a reënforcement of these men arrived under command of the maestre de
campo, Juan de Lozada.[XXXVII‑15] On the 26th the Tzendales, hoping to
effect a surprise,[XXXVII‑16] again assaulted Occhuc, but were beaten
off with heavy loss. They then sought for a parley, and endeavored
to induce the Spaniards to surrender their arms by the same specious
promises that had been so fatally alluring at Chilun. But the two
positions were not similar, and it was only through the efforts of the
fathers that the indignant Segovia was restrained from firing upon the
treacherous truce-seekers. The Tzendales were summoned to return to
their allegiance, and one hour's cessation of hostilities was granted.
The time of the armistice was occupied in burying their dead. They then
retreated in the direction of Cancuc.
President Cosío, deeming it necessary to march against the rebels in
person, on the 10th of November left Ciudad Real,[XXXVII‑17] in company
with the auditor-general, Diego de Oviedo, in charge of a strong
detachment destined for Occhuc. Though formidable intrenchments had been
thrown up by the enemy on the line of march, the Spaniards by a skilful
movement compelled the Tzendales to abandon them, and a juncture was
effected with Segovia. The combined forces then advanced against Cancuc
and encamped in front of the town. The enemy was strongly intrenched
and several assaults directed against the fortifications were repulsed
by the Tzendales, the officers being ill supported by their men. In one
of these Segovia was wounded; many of the soldiers were also severely
injured by the stones hurled against them with remarkable skill and
force.[XXXVII‑18] Success eventually crowned the Spanish arms, and
Cancuc fell into their hands.
Owing to the hiatus in García's manuscript, it is impossible to say
what were the military movements on both sides during the remainder
of the year; but it is certain that the rebellion spread widely, and
that even the native population of Ciudad Real rose in revolt. With the
exception of Chamolla, in fact, the whole province appears to have risen
in arms.[XXXVII‑19]
[Sidenote: END OF THE TZENDAL REBELLION.]
At the beginning of 1713 the Spanish army was stationed at Chamolla,
and the insurgents after a series of defeats had become dispirited.
Sebastian Gomez de la Gloria had fled; dissension was rife in the
ranks of the Indians; and the end of the struggle was drawing near.
Marching from Chamolla at night, the president with his forces advanced
against Ciudad Real. His approach was conducted with the greatest
precaution and in silence, for strong fortifications had been erected
by the enemy about three quarters of a league from the capital. These
he passed unnoticed, and about an hour after midnight Ciudad Real was
surrounded. The alcalde, who resided in the outskirts of the city,
was surprised and seized, and forthwith despatched to warn the people
to make no attempt at resistance. Bugles were sounded on all sides to
intimate to the inhabitants how closely the city was invested, and the
army moved silently on to San Pablo, where the Guatinpan female leader
was captured. Henceforth the Spaniards were everywhere triumphant; the
Indians returned to their allegiance; and about the month of March the
Tzendal rebellion was at an end. All attempts to capture Gomez de la
Gloria and Doña María Angel proved unsuccessful; they escaped into the
woods and nothing more is known of them.[XXXVII‑20]
The effect of the Tzendal rebellion was disastrous in the extreme;
and later in the century other causes tended to hasten the decline of
the Spanish settlements in Chiapas. In August 1785 Ciudad Real with
the surrounding country was flooded; numbers perished; houses were
swept away; the churches and convents were injured, and the growing
crops destroyed. The report of Intendente Sayas in 1800 represents a
lamentable condition of affairs. Roads were almost impassable, bridges
dilapidated, and churches falling in ruins; the country towns possessed
no decent municipal buildings, and even the jails were so dilapidated
that prisoners could not be securely confined. Sayas in fact describes
the province as in a state of decay.[XXXVII‑21]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: A SEVERE EARTHQUAKE.]
By a royal cédula of November 6, 1714, the term of Cosío's presidency
was extended for a period of two years in acknowledgment of his
able management during the Tzendal insurrection. He then meditated
an expedition against the Mosquito Indians, but while engaged in
preparations for the campaign was promoted to the presidency of the
Philippine Islands, and was succeeded by Francisco Rodriguez de Rivas
in 1716. This president continued in office until 1724. During his term
occurred a destructive earthquake. There were also violent eruptions
in 1702, 1705, and 1710 which occasioned much alarm and considerable
damage to buildings, and in 1717 the city of Santiago was almost totally
destroyed by shocks which continued for many days. Particulars of
some of the events of this year are preserved in the official report
of the licentiate Tomás Ignacio de Arana, oidor of the audiencia,
and an eye-witness of many of the scenes described. From August 18th
to September 27th, the Volcan de Fuego vomited fire and ashes, while
intermittent shocks of earthquake kept the people in constant alarm. On
the night of the last named date a shock more violent than any that had
ever shaken the city occurred, and not a building of any importance was
left uninjured. A scene of terrible confusion ensued. Men, women, and
children rushed from the doors, or threw themselves from windows into
the street in the wildest consternation. Even the ties of relationship
were forgotten in the awful belief that divine judgment was at hand. The
lamentations continued, as the people, carrying crucifixes and images
of the virgin, thronged the churches and public squares. The bishop,
holding aloft the host, solemnly exorcised the evil spirits of the human
race.
The following day was the feast of San Agustin, and both civil and
ecclesiastical authorities exhorted the people to prayer and confession;
but while thus engaged, about sunset an eruption took place, and from
the sides of the mountains sprung rivulets of fire. Again the people
resorted to the sanctuaries, and an image of the Christ was borne in
a procession to the church of Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, which
was thronged with an awe-stricken crowd, anxious to be near the sacred
shrine. The bishop in sacerdotal robes implored the divine mercy, and
when the flames died out there was the usual miracle attributed to the
bishop and the sacred image.
Next day, before sunrise, subterranean noises and fresh flames,
vomited from the mountain's crater, again struck terror to the
inhabitants;[XXXVII‑22] and on the 30th a tremendous convulsion shook
the earth,[XXXVII‑23] the sky being hidden by a dense black cloud, which
hung over the city like a funeral pall. The instinct of preservation
prompted flight, and the roads were covered with fugitives, even modest
nuns mingling with the frightened throng and hurrying away on foot from
the crumbling city.[XXXVII‑24]
The loss of life had been great; and when the convulsions had ceased the
appearance which Santiago presented was that of a city crushed by the
hand of omnipotence. The cathedral was in ruins, and the churches and
convents more or less shattered. The wrecks of demolished houses were
seen in every direction, and the few persons who remained were painfully
impressed by the silence which had now succeeded to the busy hum of a
populous community. Throughout all these distressing circumstances the
president and the bishop displayed unflinching courage, and strove to
alleviate distress and assuage alarm.[XXXVII‑25]
Many meetings of the audiencia were held to discuss the question
of again locating the city. It was finally left to the decision
of the king; but when a license for the removal at length arrived,
the inhabitants had recovered from their panic, returned to their
dilapidated dwellings, and repaired the greater part of the city.
On the 12th of April 1718 the cabildo of Santiago addressed a memorial
to the king,[XXXVII‑26] setting forth the pitiable condition to which
the city had been reduced, and the impoverishment of its citizens. His
Majesty was petitioned to take liberal measures for their relief, and
that the church edifices and public buildings might be restored or built
anew.[XXXVII‑27] Pedro Antonio de Echevers y Suvisa succeeded Rivas in
the presidency.[XXXVII‑28]
During his administration serious riots occurred, caused by the
assassination of the presbyter Lorenzo de Orozco, and the barbarous
murder of all his household for purposes of robbery. The evidence of a
widespread conspiracy was brought to light, and though no arrests were
made, many persons were implicated during the progress of the inquiry.
Grave disputes also arose between the president and two members of
the audiencia; and when the former attempted to banish them, they were
rescued by a mob and took refuge in the cathedral.[XXXVII‑29]
[Sidenote: RIGHT OF SANCTUARY.]
A more serious matter, involving the right of sanctuary and leading to
a civil and ecclesiastical conflict, arose from the conduct of one Juan
Manuel Ballesteros, who had fatally stabbed a man. The murderer sought
refuge in a convent church, whence he was dogged by a force sent by the
alcalde, García de Hijas. He sought refuge behind the grand altar; but
the sanctity of the place was not regarded, and despite his struggles
he was arrested. The prisoner was immediately put to the torture, and
died under its effect. The alcalde was promptly excommunicated, and the
ecclesiastics appealed to the king, petitioning for a royal declaration
of their rights in such cases. The monarch, by a decree of the 18th
of June 1720, decided that in this case the prelate was justified in
proceeding against the alcalde, but that all doubtful cases, as a rule,
must be decided by the king himself in council.[XXXVII‑30]
[Sidenote: CHURCH MATTERS.]
During the next twenty years no political event occurred that is
worthy of record. Several able prelates occupied the episcopal
chair,[XXXVII‑31] but their administration was greatly interfered
with by the improper action of the secular and regular clergy. So
flagrant were the abuses committed by the priests in the exercise of
their duties, that the bishops were embarrassed in their visits, and
the natives oppressed by the venal conduct of their pastors. The abuse
of this mock religion was carried to such an extreme that the sale of
the sacraments, the failure to visit the dying sick, and the charges
for the performance of funeral ceremonies[XXXVII‑32] brought on the
ecclesiastics the censure of the crown.
In 1729 Juan Gomez de Parada succeeded to the bishopric, and the reforms
which he effected were so beneficial that the cabildo ordered his
portrait to be painted and preserved, with an appropriate inscription—an
honor which had been paid to no prelate except Marroquin. In 1736
Parada was promoted to the see of Guadalajara, and the next bishop of
Guatemala, Pedro Pardo de Figueroa, took possession of the episcopal
chair.[XXXVII‑33]
The occasion of Figueroa's consecration was made memorable through the
action taken by the cabildo, the members of which deemed that their
right of municipal claim to seats of honor was not duly acknowledged.
The audiencia, the religious orders, and all the principal personages of
the city had convened in the cathedral at nine o'clock in the morning,
and for some time awaited the arrival of the municipal authorities.
These, however, after an ungracious delay, sent a message to the effect
that the day was not one on which they could be called upon for the
transaction of business. The audiencia attempted to negotiate, and after
a fruitless loss of time, without proceeding to their hall of sessions,
appointed in the cathedral other alcaldes and regidores, and notified
the contumacious cabildo that its members were to consider themselves
under arrest. Owing to this jealous claim for precedence on the part of
the municipality the enthronement of the bishop did not take place till
two o'clock in the afternoon.[XXXVII‑34]
Figueroa decorated the cathedral with sumptuous altars, rare paintings,
and exquisite works of art; restored the convent of the Carmelite
friars; enlarged the episcopal palace, and rebuilt the church of
Esquipulas, in which a so-called miraculous image of the crucifixion
was preserved.
During the seventeenth century the elevation of the see of Guatemala to
an archbishopric had been frequently brought before the notice of the
kings of Spain; and not without reason; the bishopric of Honduras was
a suffragan of Santo Domingo, while the far distant archbishopric of
Peru was the metropolitan of Nicaragua. In 1742 Pope Benedict XIV. at
the request of Felipe V. issued a bull conferring the pallium upon the
bishop[XXXVII‑35] of Guatemala.
The suffragan bishoprics were those of Chiapas, Nicaragua, and
Comayagua. The pallium was brought to Vera Cruz by Isidro Marin, bishop
of Nicaragua, and thence to Guatemala by Francisco Molina, bishop of
Comayagua, who arrived at the capital October 28, 1745. On the 14th
of November the archbishop was installed and formally invested with
the insignia of office by José Cabero, bishop of Chiapas. The event
was celebrated with great rejoicings. The archbishop died on the 2d
of February 1751, at Esquipulas, and was interred at the foot of the
grand altar of the cathedral, beside the remains of Alvarado and other
celebrities distinguished in the history of the country.
[Sidenote: PROVINCES.]
The suffragan sees of Honduras and Chiapas present little additional
material for history during this half century, the proceedings of the
church and regular orders being one uninterrupted continuance of labors
which year by year became less arduous and were less carefully attended
to.[XXXVII‑36] In the latter province the regular orders had become much
impoverished by the devastations caused by the Tzendal insurrection,
and the Dominicans in particular were so much reduced by the ravages
committed upon their sugar and cacao plantations that the proceeds of
those estates, together with the yield of their grist-mill, did not
supply the means wherewith to repair their church.[XXXVII‑37]
Whether owing to the increasing carelessness and indolence of the
ecclesiastics, or to the pertinacious adherence on the part of the
natives to the creed of their forefathers, heresy became so prevalent
during this epoch that the inquisition of Mexico in 1745 fulminated a
terrible anathema against offenders in Central America. In this edict
every curse, plague, or misfortune that could fall upon the greatest
sinners of mankind was invoked upon the head of apostates.[XXXVII‑38]
In the middle of the eighteenth century the captain-generalcy of
Guatemala included the territory lying between 7° 54' and 17° 49' north
latitude,[XXXVII‑39] being about six hundred leagues in length from
north-west to south-east, and varying in width from sixty to one hundred
and fifty leagues, making an approximate area of sixty-four thousand
square leagues.[XXXVII‑40]
At this time the ruler of Guatemala held control over the provinces of
Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Soconusco, San Antonio, San Salvador,
Chiapas, Sonsonate, and Vera Paz; and the districts of Huehuetenango,
Atitlan, and Tecpanatitlan, Quesaltenango, Chiquimula de la Sierra,
Escuintla and Guazacapan, Tegucigalpa, Sutiaba, Realejo, Sebaco, and
Nicoya.[XXXVII‑41] In 1787 the territory subject to the captain-general
included thirteen provinces—those of Soconusco, Chiapas, Suchitepec,
Vera Paz, Honduras, Izalcos, San Salvador, San Miguel, Nicaragua, Jerez
de la Choluteca, Tegucigalpa, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.[XXXVII‑42]
* * * * *
By royal cédulas of the 11th of March and 20th of June 1776, the office
of regent of the audiencias was created.[XXXVII‑43] Although little
is said about their doings in Guatemala, they were invested with great
powers, and their authority was greater than that of the president. In
January 1778 Vicente de Herrera was appointed regent, and between that
date and 1800 the office was held by six of his successors.[XXXVII‑44]
In no other respect does any change appear to have been made in the
officers composing the government.[XXXVII‑45] Important changes,
however, had been introduced in the system of government. Since
its organization the political divisions had been subject to many
variations. During the seventeenth century there were as many as
thirty-two, of which four were governments, nine alcaldías mayores, and
nineteen corregimientos.[XXXVII‑46]
[Sidenote: CORREGIMIENTOS ABOLISHED.]
About 1660 eight of the corregimientos were abolished and united to the
governments,[XXXVII‑47] and from the beginning of the eighteenth century
until about 1790 the corregimientos were further reduced, new alcaldías
mayores being formed and others abolished.[XXXVII‑48]
At about this latter date the intendencias[XXXVII‑49] were established,
reducing the number of provinces to fifteen, which embraced four
intendencias, thirty-nine subdelegaciones, four politico-military
districts, three corregimientos, and seven alcaldías mayores.[XXXVII‑50]
Between 1752 and 1773 eight governors ruled in Guatemala; but their
administrations were marked by no event worthy of special notice.
With the accession of Martin de Mayorga at the latter date,[XXXVII‑51]
however, began one of the most eventful periods in the history of the
country.
[Sidenote: MAGNIFICENCE OF THE CITY.]
Notwithstanding the disasters which the city of Guatemala had
experienced, it had continued to increase in wealth and importance,
until at this time it was noted for the number and elegance of its
private and public buildings and the magnificence of its numerous
churches and convents. It still maintained its rank as the second city
in North America, being inferior only to Mexico in its advantages of
location, scenery, climate, and varied resources. On every side of
its well watered and fertile valley extended villages and farms, where
cultivated fields and green pastures afforded a pleasing prospect; while
high above the hills and mountains, which flanked it on either side,
towered in majestic grandeur the three dreaded volcanoes.
In the centre of this beautiful valley, and nearly opposite the Volcan
de Agua, stood the city. Over a mile in width at its narrowest part, its
numerous streets were broad, well paved, and, excepting in the suburbs,
laid out at right angles. Every portion of the city was abundantly
supplied with water, and in the principal square there was a large and
handsome stone reservoir, fed by two streams. Facing on this square
were the governor's and archbishop's palaces, the city hall, mint, and
cathedral. The government buildings were remarkable for their solidity;
and within their spacious corridors, formed of columns and arches, was
displayed every variety of merchandise. The churches of Guatemala, of
which there were nineteen, were famed for their architectural beauty,
their size, and the richness of their ornaments. Besides the cathedral
and the churches, there were eighteen convents and eleven chapels. The
cathedral was over three hundred feet in length, one hundred and twenty
in width, and sixty-six feet high. It had three naves with eight chapels
on each side. Its interior was richly carved and gilded, and decorated
with rare and costly statues, paintings, and tablets, while it possessed
many precious relics, and numerous utensils of gold and silver. The
high-altar was of exquisite design.[XXXVII‑52]
The private dwellings were many of them of great beauty, solidly and
commodiously built, richly furnished, and with spacious gardens and
courts. The number of inhabitants at this time was little short of
twenty-five thousand,[XXXVII‑53] and from the neighboring pueblos,
the chief occupation of whose inhabitants was agriculture and various
industrial arts, Guatemala was supplied with all the necessaries and
many of the luxuries of life.[XXXVII‑54]
Such, in June 1773, was the fair city of Guatemala, destined for a
second time soon to be laid low by envious powers. During the past
twenty-three years the metropolis had experienced frequent disturbances,
some of a political nature, others in the appearance of that familiar
and dreaded visitant—earthquake. Two severe shocks, occurring March
4, 1751, did considerable damage, chiefly to the churches;[XXXVII‑55]
in 1757 a shock was felt to which the natives gave the name of San
Francisco. Two more were felt in 1765; the first, called the holy
trinity, was disastrous to the province of Chiquimula, and the second,
called San Rafael, desolated the province of Suchiltepeque, but neither
did any damage in the city of Guatemala.[XXXVII‑56]
About 1756 a riot occurred in the city on account of the prohibition of
the sale of certain liquors, but was soon suppressed by the personal
courage and prompt measures of President Arcos.[XXXVII‑57] In 1766 a
serious outbreak was threatened because of the establishment of the
tobacco monopoly, and was only prevented by reducing the price of that
article. The alarm and excitement caused by this danger was increased
by the atrocious murder of two friars.[XXXVII‑58]
The minds of the people were for a time diverted from their local
troubles by the funeral obsequies of the queen of Spain. The official
notification of her death was received in Guatemala March 25, 1759,
and on the 29th of the following June pompous funeral ceremonies were
celebrated.[XXXVII‑59]
[Sidenote: ANOTHER GREAT EARTHQUAKE.]
Two years later the oath of allegiance to Cárlos III. was
taken.[XXXVII‑60] In October 1762 the valley was flooded, and the
town of Petapa, and the portion of the city known as the Barrio de los
Remedios was inundated.[XXXVII‑61] But the crowning disaster was yet
to come. A few slight shocks of earthquake in the latter part of May
1773 gave no cause for apprehension and were almost forgotten, when on
the 11th of June they returned with such violence as to damage several
houses and churches, notably the Carmelite and Dominican convents, and
the hospital of San Juan de Dios. The shocks continued for several days
with diminishing force and frequency until they had nearly ceased. On
the 25th of July they were again renewed, but although frequent and
violent there was no serious damage until the 29th, when the people
had partially recovered from their alarm. Then they were startled by
a sudden shock, coming on about four o'clock in the afternoon, which,
though comparatively slight, seemed portentous of evil. So great was the
apprehension felt by the inhabitants that many instantly abandoned the
city, and those who remained were ready at the first indication of its
return to flee from their dwellings. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed
since the first shock when there was a second, and of such violence
that with the first vibration the work of destruction began. The motions
were as varied as they were sudden and destructive; now horizontal, now
vertical, the latter uplifting the earth with explosions, and compelling
man and beast to remain prostrate. On every side were heard the crash
of falling walls, the doleful clangor of the church bells as their
towers rocked under the impulse of unseen powers, and above all the loud
wailings of the terror-stricken people, who, collected in the squares
and streets, vainly implored divine protection.
[Sidenote: DESTRUCTION AND DEATH.]
Throughout the night the shocks continued at brief intervals, and the
horrors of darkness were increased by a severe rain-storm, accompanied
by thunder and lightning, to which the thinly clad inhabitants were
fully exposed, none daring to seek shelter from its fury lest a worse
fate should overtake them. When day broke they were enabled to realize
the full extent of the calamity. Of the magnificent cathedral nothing
was left but a heap of ruins. Not a house in the city had escaped either
destruction or serious damage. In many cases where the houses remained
standing their foundations had settled or their walls were shattered or
twisted. The greatest ruin, however, was caused in that portion called
the Barrio del Candelaria. Here every house, including the church and
the Dominican convent, was levelled to the ground. In many parts of the
city even the pavements of the streets and the tiled floors of private
dwellings were uplifted and shattered. The deaths, strange to say, were
comparatively few, not exceeding one hundred and thirty within the city,
and probably a smaller number in the surrounding country.[XXXVII‑62]
On the following day the duty of interment was begun under the direction
of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. Fearful of pestilence
the dead were buried wherever found, the grounds having first been
consecrated. Hunger and thirst next stalked about the ruins. Most of
the supplies within the city had been destroyed or buried beneath the
fallen houses, and none dared venture in those yet standing, as the
shocks still continued. The aqueducts had been destroyed, and but a
scanty supply of muddy water could be obtained. This distress, however,
was soon relieved by the prompt measures of the president, who caused
to be distributed a quantity of stores destined for the fortress of
Omoa. Vigorous measures were also taken to suppress the pillage of the
ruined houses, already begun. Thefts to the value of ten pesos or more
were made punishable by death, and for lesser amounts, the breaking-open
of any trunk, or the approach after evening prayers to the temporary
quarters of the nuns, two hundred lashes and ten years' penal servitude
was the penalty fixed. As proof of their determination to carry out
these measures the authorities caused a gallows to be at once erected in
the principal square. The presence of the militia, who had been summoned
from the neighboring town, also helped to keep the criminal classes in
check.[XXXVII‑63]
[Sidenote: THE QUESTION OF REMOVAL.]
Many had left the city for the adjacent villages, or had erected
temporary shelters in the outskirts, but more lingered near their homes
suffering from lack of food, clothing, and shelter. Within a few days
when the shocks had gradually diminished, and it was a question whether
the city should be rebuilt or removed to a new site, the president
convoked a meeting of the civil and church authorities and prominent
citizens, and it was finally decided to remove to the valley de la
Ermita, the portion known as the Rodeo being chosen, and the choice
approved by a decree of May 24, 1774. But finally, at the instance of
the new fiscal of the audiencia, the site was changed to the plain of
the virgin adjoining La Hermita, where were greater advantages.
Although a removal was favored by a majority of the prominent persons,
subsequent events showed that it was not the free expression of the
popular will. Many of the citizens were not in a condition to reason
calmly. The apprehension of fresh calamities was kept alive by the
continued shocks, which on the 7th of September and 13th of December
were unusually severe. Those of the latter date were said by some to
have equalled in violence that of the 29th of July, and caused further
damage to the remaining buildings. As time went on, however, the fears
of the people disappeared, and the opposition to a removal grew stronger
among all classes; but still the audiencia objected. This body, together
with the royal officials and the troops, had been established in the
Hermita since September; but few if any of the citizens appear to have
joined them, and not even a petechial fever, which appeared and raged
until May 1774 could induce them to abandon the ruined city.[XXXVII‑64]
The president would fain have compelled the removal, but the royal
decree which arrived in the latter part of 1774, made the selection
of the site subject to the approval of the viceroy of Mexico, and
ordered that until such approval was obtained the erection of permanent
buildings should not be made. The viceroy was duly informed of the
choice of site, but instead of approving it he reported the matter to
the crown.
The removal of the city to the plain of the virgin was confirmed by
royal decree of November 1775, and immediately following its receipt
President Mayorga issued decrees inviting the citizens to select their
lots in the new locality. But few responded to this invitation, and
none began the construction of houses, believing that this site would
be ultimately abandoned.
Toward the end of December a second royal decree arrived with
instructions as to the manner of removal, but forbidding the total
abandonment of the old city. Suppressing such portions of these
instructions as suited his design, the president continued his measures
of coercion, but apparently with little success, for on the 29th of
July, 1777, he found it necessary to decree that within a year the old
city must be abandoned and all buildings pulled down. The ayuntamiento
had been ordered to take up their permanent residence in La Hermita
at the end of 1775, and their protests, first to the president and
subsequently to the crown, appear to have availed nothing.[XXXVII‑65]
The archbishop, however, and the ecclesiastics still remained in the
ruined city.
[Sidenote: MORE QUARRELS.]
The archbishop had opposed the removal from the beginning, and in his
numerous representations to the crown had occasion to complain of the
minister Galvez. One of these letters fell into the hands of Galvez, who
determined on revenge. Through his influence secret and stringent orders
were issued for the total abandonment of the ruined city, and a former
resignation of the archbishop, made in 1769, and rejected by the crown,
was reconsidered and accepted. The orders issued by the president became
more and more stringent, but as he refused to show the royal decrees to
the archbishop the latter paid no heed to them.
Thus affairs continued until August 1778, when Don Matías Galvez,
a brother of minister Galvez, arrived in Guatemala with the rank of
inspector-general and acting president of the audiencia in the absence
or sickness of Mayorga. In the beginning of 1779 the entry to the ruined
city of all kinds of merchandise was forbidden; repairs on houses,
grounds, or streets were prohibited; music, bull-fighting, and all other
public diversions were interdicted; the temporary huts in the streets
and squares were ordered removed, and all artisans, militia, and others
of this class were ordered to transfer their residence to the new site
within a limited period.
On the 5th of April Galvez took temporary possession of the presidency,
Mayorga being promoted to the viceroyalty of New Spain, for which
place he set out toward the end of the month. The appointment of Galvez
arrived the 14th of May when he took formal possession of the office.
Through his subordinates he at once issued peremptory orders to all
seculars for the immediate abandonment of the old city under severe
penalties. This tyrannical measure could not be fully carried out, and
such was the suffering it caused among the poorer classes that many
were allowed to remain among the ruins. The principal cause of all these
troubles, however, was the archbishop. The civil authorities could not
compel him to leave the old city, and it was hoped that a systematic
course of annoyance would induce him to repair to Spain, and that during
his absence the new archbishop who had already been appointed would
quietly take possession. Having set out on a pastoral visit, August 21,
1778, it was supposed that he had departed for Spain; but in September
1779 he was again in Guatemala City, whence he issued an edict disputing
the validity of his successor's claims, this latter, Cayetano Francos y
Monroy, having arrived in Guatemala during the preceding month. From the
9th to the 30th the struggle between the archbishop and the audiencia
continued. To the former's threats of excommunication the latter replied
with demands for the recognition of the new archbishop, and this proving
ineffectual he was ordered to depart for Spain, and the recognition of
Monroy by the people enjoined under heavy penalties. It is uncertain
to what extremes the president might have proceeded had not Archbishop
Cortés secretly left for Spain at the end of the month. Monroy at once
took possession, and thus ended this scandalous affair.[XXXVII‑66]
Notwithstanding its want of resources the new city, aided by the cession
of the revenues for ten years made by the royal decree of 1774, was
soon rebuilt, and in 1800 had its paved streets, fine squares, public
buildings, and churches. The cathedral, of smaller proportions than that
of the old city, and the Jesuit college, were still unfinished.
Alarms and disaster still followed the people of Guatemala. On the
11th of July 1775 a violent though harmless eruption of the volcano of
Pacaya occurred; in 1776 the eruption of the volcano De Tormentos, near
Amatitlan, destroyed the village of Tres Rios, three leagues distant,
and filled with lava the rivers from which it took its name.[XXXVII‑67]
In 1780 the new city was visited by small-pox, which extended over the
whole country and carried off many victims. The use of vaccine was now
for the first time tried in Guatemala, and proved a success, as few if
any of those inoculated died.[XXXVII‑68]
[Sidenote: SALAZAR AND GALVEZ.]
Before these events had fairly passed, the declaration of war between
England and Spain in 1779, and the almost immediate invasion of Honduras
and Nicaragua, compelled the reorganization of the military force of
the kingdom. We have no information of the condition of either the
regular army or militia at this date, but it is hardly probable that
any material change in their condition had taken place since the report
of President Salazar in 1778-9. As therein shown the country was not in
a condition for war. The whole number of regular troops in the kingdom
consisted of two companies of dragoons numbering sixty men, and who were
stationed at the capital. The militia force included all the able-bodied
men in the kingdom, the majority of whom were mulattoes; but in the
rare event of their being called out for service a certain proportion
only was taken from each town, the remainder being indispensable to
the cultivation of the soil. Both infantry and cavalry were poorly
disciplined, and their arms, usually deposited in the principal towns,
would not suffice for one half of the troops, besides being for the
most part out of repair for want of an armorer. A few of the mulattoes
had rude side arms of home manufacture, but it was rare to find one
who had acquired any skill in the use of fire-arms. The regular force
was subsequently increased to two hundred, a detachment of one hundred
Spanish troops arriving in August 1777.[XXXVII‑69] At this same time
infantry and cavalry officers, artillerymen and engineers were asked
for by President Salazar to reorganize and instruct the militia and take
charge of the artillery and fortifications. The various fortresses and
principal cities were well provided with artillery and small arms, but
many of them in an apparently unserviceable condition.[XXXVII‑70] At the
first note of alarm President Galvez applied himself to the organization
of an army, and such was the energy and ability displayed in his conduct
of the subsequent campaign, that he earned merited fame and promotion
for himself, and, as we have seen, led his troops to victory.[XXXVII‑71]
The rule of President Galvez ended on March 10, 1783, when he was
transferred to the viceroyalty of New Spain. His administration was
an exceedingly prosperous one for Guatemala, and his departure was
greatly regretted by all classes.[XXXVII‑72] His successor was José
Estachería, who assumed office the 3d of April the same year. He was
brigadier-general and ex-governor of Nicaragua. His term of office
expired December 29, 1789. To him succeeded Bernardo Troncoso Martinez
del Rincon, lieutenant-general, formerly king's lieutenant of Habana and
ex-governor of Vera Cruz, who was in power until 1794, and José Domas
y Valle, a knight of Santiago, gefe de escuadra, who held office from
the latter date until the 28th of July 1801.[XXXVII‑73]
* * * * *
From May 13, 1753, until June 24, 1765, the archiepiscopal chair of
Guatemala was filled by Doctor Francisco José de Figueredo y Victoria,
who had been promoted from the see of Popayan.[XXXVII‑74]
[Sidenote: MISSIONARY WORK.]
The only event of importance during his rule was the partial
secularization of missions. The order was received from Mexico by the
audiencia sometime after the death of President Vazquez, but was not
made public until 1754, when the secularization of the missions in the
valley of Guatemala at once began.[XXXVII‑75]
On the arrival of President Arcos, a little over a month later,
the Dominicans, who had appealed to the crown against this measure,
prevailed on him to delay, under some pretext, the transfer of their
missions. This, however, proved only a temporary relief; for though the
provinces of Vera Paz and Quiché were left to these friars, Archbishop
Figueredo reported the conduct of the president to the crown, whereupon
the secularization was ordered continued, and Arcos was reproved. The
Dominicans redoubled their exertions, but succeeded only in obtaining
a cédula ordering that the transfer of the remaining missions should
be made only on the death of the friars in charge. Later, even this
concession was revoked by the archbishop of Guatemala.[XXXVII‑76]
At the time the missionary field in the province of Guatemala proper
seems, with the exception of the Lacandon territory, to have been
exhausted; for we find that the Franciscan college of Cristo Señor
Nuestro Crucificado, founded April 27, 1756, had missions in Veragua,
Costa Rica, Honduras, and Mosquitia, but there is no mention of any
in Guatemala.[XXXVII‑77] In 1790 the parish priest of Palenque made a
feeble attempt to reduce the Lacandones. Having obtained pecuniary aid
from the intendente of Chiapas, he founded a town, baptized several
natives, and won their good-will by numerous presents; but the advantage
thus gained does not appear to have been improved.[XXXVII‑78]
Some excitement was caused in Guatemala City in July 1772 by a
disturbance in the convent of the Recollets. Owing to violent dissension
among the inmates, the audiencia, at the request of the friar, caused
the arrest and remittance to Spain of two of the ringleaders. The
populace, ignorant of the cause of this interference, were with
difficulty quieted. This action of the audiencia was approved by the
crown, and the remainder of the turbulent friars were suspended.
[Sidenote: EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS.]
Having become blind from old age, being now in his eightieth year,
Archbishop Figueredo petitioned the crown to appoint a coadjutor.
Accordingly, Doctor Miguel de Cilieza y Velasco, a native of Guatemala
and chancellor of the cathedral, was selected; but the archbishop died
before he was consecrated, and he was nominated for the see of Chiapas,
whence he departed in October 1767. The archbishop's death occurred June
24, 1765. In accordance with his request his remains were deposited in
the church of the Jesuit college, to whose members he had been warmly
attached.[XXXVII‑79] The archiepiscopal chair remained vacant after
Figueredo's death until 1768, when it was occupied by Doctor Don Pedro
Cortés y Larraz.[XXXVII‑80] Preceding his arrival in 1767 the famous
decree of expulsion against the Jesuits was carried into effect in
Guatemala, but was unattended with any of the serious disturbances
which marked its enforcement in New Spain.[XXXVII‑81] The utmost secrecy
and despatch were observed. At 6 o'clock on the morning of the 26th of
June, troops having been stationed at certain points, the president and
audiencia with an escort of dragoons proceeded to the Jesuit convent.
It was the feast of the sacred heart, and service had already begun.
Awaiting a favorable opportunity the president requested the celebrants
to cease, and the sacrament having been covered and the doors closed,
in tears he notified the friars of the fatal decree. Silently and with
bowed heads they signified their submission. The convent was surrounded
by a guard of militia, and all communication with friends forbidden. On
July 1st they were conducted to Golfo Dulce and embarked on a Spanish
frigate, and a month later the members of their order from Chiapas
joined them. The decree was published on the 30th of July. The total
number of exiles was eleven. The rector and two lay brothers remained,
the former to deliver the church property, and the latter because they
were unable to travel.[XXXVII‑82]
Archbishop Cortés took possession of his office in February 1768. The
chief event during his rule was his difficulty with the audiencia,
owing to his opposition to the removal of the city, and which has been
related in connection with that event. These differences, however, were
evidently of an earlier date. Cortés, who had been appointed by the
king in opposition to his council, did not find matters to his liking in
Guatemala, and accordingly in August 1769 he tendered his resignation.
This was rejected by the king, who expressed himself as satisfied with
his conduct, and this rejection was considered final. In opposing the
removal of the city, however, he did not count on the influence of
President Mayorga, who was protected by the chief minister of the royal
council; and however justifiable in the beginning this opposition may
have been it was unwisely prolonged. Minister Galvez succeeded in having
the resignation of Cortés reconsidered, notwithstanding the protests of
that prelate. He caused his brother to be appointed Mayorga's successor,
had Cortés transferred to the bishopric of Tortosa, and, as we have
seen, a new archbishop nominated to Guatemala. The refusal of Cortés
to surrender his chair, it is claimed, was because he had not received
his bulls confirming his appointment to the bishopric of Tortosa. After
leaving Guatemala, as previously narrated, he proceeded to his new
bishopric, where he continued until his death, which occurred in 1786.
His interest in the welfare of Guatemala did not end with his departure,
for he subsequently donated sixty thousand dollars with which to found
a college for the education of the young.[XXXVII‑83]
Doctor Cayetano Francos y Monroy, his successor, was installed and duly
recognized after Cortés' departure;[XXXVII‑84] but not satisfied with
the manner in which he had been appointed he procured a confirmatory
bull from Pope Pius VII. in 1779. This irregularity was also recognized
by the council of the Indies, as is shown by the fact that they declared
that the revenues of the archbishopric of Guatemala until December 1779
belonged to Cortés, whose appointment to Tortosa was not confirmed until
this date.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: HISTORICAL REVIEW.]
Thus we have traced the history of Spanish conquest and colonization
in Central America from the time when Rodrigo de Bastidas first
touched Tierra Firme to the close of the eighteenth century. We have
seen the sword and the cross side by side, without a shadow of right
or recompense, enter in and take possession of the broad area from
Darien to New Spain; then sitting down to wrangle and to rest. During
the process of gradual extinction the natives broke out in occasional
rebellions; but for the most part they were docile, and submitted with
philosophic or Christian resignation to the inevitable, which was too
often infamous on the part of civilization and Christianity.
It was a period of repose, the two and a half centuries of Central
America's existence under Spain's audiencias and governors, a period
of apathy and stagnation as far as intellectual and moral progress
are concerned. Nor is there much to be said in the way of material
improvement. Neither God nor mammon could truthfully claim much higher
or nobler results from the country under European domination than under
American. The province and policy of rulers, civil and ecclesiastical,
were fixed, and the duties of subjects was determined. Although the
people did not know it, the grasp of the mother government upon the
country, however nervous and jealous it might be, was in reality weak,
for the parent herself was rapidly declining.
There was nothing to fight for, and nothing to work for. If we except
an occasional attempted subjugation of unpacified peoples, and the
descent of pirates, the greatest issues of the time were those affecting
precedence and place. It was easier to evade obnoxious laws than to
quarrel with them. The natives found it less burdensome to perform the
little labor necessary to the support of themselves and their masters
than to endure the penalties of opposition. Between the poor kings
of Spain and the pirates of England, France, and Holland, the wealth
of the people was far from secure; there was no great incentive to
enterprise in any direction, and had there been it is not certain that
men would have exerted themselves. Simple existence satisfied them; high
development and limitless wealth could do no more.
The appearance on their shores of legalized robbery and murder, in
the form of freebooters, was not generally regarded as retribution,
though their infamies were scarcely greater than those which had been
perpetrated by the Spaniards in this quarter a century or two before.
The buccaneers and Scotch settlers were right enough in looking upon
the Spaniards as intruders, having no more ownership in the country
than they, except such as priority in wrongs committed gave them; which
wrongs by no means made right the cruelties and injustice of the English
and French inflicted upon the Spaniards.
[Sidenote: APPROACHING REVOLUTION.]
In the third and concluding volume of the _History of Central America_
will be more fully presented the social, industrial, and political
condition of the country in the nineteenth century, particularly at the
transitional epoch following the achieving of independence from Spain,
and immediately afterward. Twice during the sixteenth century did Spain
narrowly escape the loss of her richest territories by rebellion. Twice
during the eighteenth did British armaments threaten to overthrow her
dominion in the New World. And now, at the close of the latter century,
the Spaniards of Central America, goaded by heavy and unjust taxation,
and by the vexatious restrictions imposed on the trade of the colonies,
stimulated, moreover, by the success with which the republic of the west
had thrown off the yoke of England, and by the brilliant career which
the great republic of Europe had achieved under the dazzling leadership
of the first Napoleon, were already ripe for revolution. Spain meanwhile
is about to reap the reward of nearly three centuries of misrule.
Through her indifference the commerce of the western hemisphere had long
since fallen into the hands of foreigners; and her colonies no longer
desired to maintain their connection with the mother country, from which
they had nothing to gain, and with whose interests they had little in
common.
* * * * *
For the history of the colonial period of the Central American
provinces, especially that portion immediately following the conquest,
when, a secure foothold having been gained by the Spaniards, gradual
exploration and settlement completed their subjugation, the data
supplied by the earlier Spanish chroniclers and official reports are
abundant; but the evidence from these sources is, in some respects, so
incomplete and contradictory, that it is only after an examination of
the numerous valuable collections of original documents brought to light
in modern times, that the student is able to fix with precision the
true character and sequence of events. The standard general historians
of the sixteenth century, such as Bernal Diaz, Gomara, Oviedo, and
Las Casas, give us but little information concerning Central America
after 1530; and in consequence the special accounts of individuals
like Gage, Benzoni, and Andagoya, not to mention the writings of the
buccaneers, with occasional special efforts of a time or place like
those of Reynolds, and of Fuentes y Guzman, followed by Juarros, and
all supplemented by documents, assume paramount importance, and become
the chief sources of historic material for this epoch.
The founding and subsequent progress of the church in this territory are
traced in a general way by its representative chroniclers, Motolinia,
Mendieta, Torquemada, and Fernandez, until Remesal and Vazquez,
chroniclers respectively of the Dominican and Franciscan orders in
Central America, profiting by the labors of the former, and adding
some original research, bring the history of the church down to the end
of the seventeenth century. Some attempt is also made by the last two
writers to follow the political history, but only in a desultory way.
The first special history to be written was that of Fuentes y
Guzman, containing much original matter, but not generally reliable.
The manuscript was never published, but was used by Juarros. Later
appeared the pamphlet of Cadena, devoted entirely to a description of
the destruction of Guatemala City, and about the same time Escamilla
compiled from official sources a list of governors and bishops and of
the more important historical events, and gave a special account of the
destruction of Guatemala City.
Without the valuable collections of Squier, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Cartas
de Indias, Ternaux-Compans, Arévalo, Icazbalceta, and Coleccion de
Documentos Inéditos, the result of modern research, the history of this
territory from 1531 to 1800 would be meagre indeed. These collections,
special notices of nearly all of which I have already given, contain
almost numberless official letters and reports, which were either
unknown or inaccessible to early writers. Prominent among them all
is what has been called the Squier collection, consisting mostly of
manuscripts, and which fell to my collection by purchase after the death
of Mr Squier. It consists of extracts and copies of letters and reports
of audiencias, governors, bishops, and various government officials,
taken from the Spanish archives at Madrid and from the library of the
Spanish Royal Academy of History, mostly under the direction of the
indefatigable collector Mr Buckingham Smith. Many rare and valuable
documents relating to Central America, including numerous letters and
reports of Las Casas, are also to be found in the voluminous collection
of Pacheco and Cárdenas, and, though fewer in number, in that of
Ternaux-Compans.
In the absence of any early local chronicler, and by reason of the
neglect of those who came later, many of the records have been lost.
The only portions of those published are to be found in the collections
of Arévalo, which are indispensable to the local history of Guatemala,
though evidently not complete, and containing some omissions owing
to the apparent illegibility of the originals. The second of these
collections, _Coleccion de Documentos Antiguos de Guatemala_, published
in Guatemala in 1857, contains, besides the grants of the coat of arms
and privileges to the city of Guatemala, and memorials and reports of
the city council from 1537 to 1782, a few letters of Alvarado and Bishop
Marroquin, some without date, not found elsewhere.
[Sidenote: REMESAL, VAZQUEZ, JUARROS.]
The work of Remesal, though published in Madrid, was the first one
written in Guatemala. In connection with the special history of the
Dominican order and a general account of the church, considerable
political history is given, though in a desultory manner. This author
was the first to make use of the archives of Guatemala, but in the
presentation of this original matter much carelessness is shown. Las
Casas, the Dominican order, and the natives are his favorite topics,
and events are colored accordingly. A century later, deeming his order
neglected by Remesal, the Franciscan chronicler Vazquez issued his
work. Borrowing much from Remesal and other writers for the earlier
epoch, he continued the history of the church down to the end of the
seventeenth century, giving also, as that author had done, the political
history in a disconnected form. With the same facilities as regards
original sources Vazquez makes better use of them than Remesal, but
while exposing the errors of his rival he falls into others equally
great, displaying a narrow-minded prejudice against the natives, while
fanatically defending their oppressors. Remesal and Vazquez are at
variance on many points of church history, but on none more than the
missionary labors of their respective orders. Each claims for his order
the honor of first entering the missionary field in this quarter, but
neither makes good his pretensions.
The next work to appear was that of Juarros, which, having absorbed that
of Fuentes y Guzman, was the first published of what might be called a
history of Guatemala. Notwithstanding his access to original documents,
Fuentes y Guzman committed many errors which were unwittingly copied
by Juarros. With the aid of subsequent research, however, these errors
are readily detected, Juarros still remaining the leading historian of
Central America, though owing to the greater importance of Guatemala as
the seat of government, the greater portion of the work is taken up with
the history of this province. In fact this is the only comprehensive
history extant of Guatemala and its adjoining provinces, while the other
portions of Central America make scarcely any pretext to the possession
of a history. From no other source can the writer obtain connected
accounts of their conquest and settlement, description of towns, early
resources, and lists of officials and biographies of prominent men.
Of the Spanish writers he is also one of the most impartial, even in
matters pertaining to the church, though he was one of its ministers.
Nevertheless, Juarros is in many respects incomplete. He has failed
in a lamentable degree to present anything like the true political,
social, and moral condition of the people, or the development of the
country during this period; and for the conquest and early colonial
epochs there is a manifest lack of study and research. Noting these
defects, Pelaez in his _Memorias_ attempted to supply them, and has
succeeded in a measure. Arranged in a clear concise form, under their
appropriate headings, and with corresponding references, the student
will find collected all the evidence presented on the different subjects
by nearly all of the earlier and modern authors of note; to which is
added the testimony from a large number of original documents overlooked
or neglected by his predecessors. But while the history of Guatemala
for the latter colonial period is comparatively complete, that of the
remaining provinces of Central America, as I have intimated, is but a
meagre outline, dependent for the most part on occasional documents.
Among the modern authorities composed chiefly of English, French, and
German, but a brief historical review is given of this period, a mere
compilation from well known works, which serve as an introduction to
narratives of travel, or books describing the different provinces and
their resources.
A peculiar feature of Central American bibliography is the buccaneer
literature, here being the principal scene of the piratical operations
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The total absence of any
Spanish work on this subject has left the field open to the English,
French, and Dutch, whose accounts of the exploits of their countrymen
on the Spanish main are not always impartial.
Preceding this class of literature and closely allied to it, owing
to the spirit of adventure and the geographical knowledge which it
diffused, are the numerous accounts of voyages made for the purposes
of trade, exploration, or discovery in this part of the world. Some of
these I will here notice; though in truth many of them relate as much
to other sections of my work as to Central America, or even more.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: GALVANO AND HAKLUYT.]
Complete as is the _Raccolta_ of Ramusio and like collections, in
reproducing the leading voyages up to its time, a large number of minor
narratives remained unnoticed, while others stood briefly recorded upon
mere hearsay in the writing of others. This deficiency had been observed
by Antonio Galvano in earlier collections, and his effort to repair it
gave rise to the first comprehensive history of voyages. Born at Lisbon
in 1503, Galvano left at the age of twenty-four for the Indies, where he
was intrusted with the conquest and government of the Moluccas. Of this
he remained in charge for six or seven years, distinguishing himself
both as a just and benevolent ruler, and as a zealous proselytizer. His
unselfish conduct served only to attract calumny and to reduce him to
poverty, so much so that he had to seek refuge in the royal hospital at
Lisbon, where he died in 1557. His undoubted talent had been fostered
by extensive reading, particularly of narratives of voyages. While so
employed he kept notes with a view to form an outline of the progress
of navigation and discovery, which should serve as introductory to a
collection. During the latter part of his life, while suffering under
the ban of royal displeasure, he found ample time to perfect these
researches, and at his death a friend, Francisco de Sousa Tavares, was
intrusted with the papers. Among these appears to have been a history
of the discovery and resources of the Moluccas, a manuscript in ten
books, according to Faria, of which Pinelo says: "Por no haverle visto,
duda, si permanece." _Epitome_, ii. 636. De Sousa caused the treatise
under consideration to be published at Lisbon in 1563, under the title
of _Tratado que compōs o nobre e notauel capitão Antonio Galuão de
todos os descobrimentos antigos e modernos que são feitos á era de mil
e quinhentos e cincoenta_, with a dedication to the duke of Aveiro,
wherein he records Galvano's many services, and comments on their poor
recognition. Mention has been made of a duodecimo edition of 1555, but
this must be a mistake, to judge by Sousa's preface to the edition of
1563. Of this only three copies are known to exist, one owned by Mr John
Carter Brown, of Providence, from whom the Hakluyt Society obtained
a copy, printed as a running foot-note to their reissue of Hakluyt's
version, under the editorship of Admiral Bethune. The latter is called
_The Discoveries of the World from their first originall vnto the
yeere 1555, by Antonie Galvano_, Londini, 1601, to be found also in the
reprint of _Hakluyt's Voyages_, and in _Churchill's Collection_, while
Purchas gives it in reduced form. The Portuguese copy was reprinted
at Lisbon in 1731. Hakluyt explains in the dedication to Sir Robert
Cecil that his publication thereof was intended as an introductory
to his own work, and was made from an old manuscript translated by an
English merchant. In order to modify the "manifold errours" therein,
Hakluyt took pains to consult Spanish works for the corrections and
additions which are to be noticed in this version. The treatise goes
back to the discovery voyages related by Chinese, Greek, and Latin
writers, and brings the concise record for every region of the globe,
in chronologic order, down to 1550. The East India voyages are partly
from his own notes, while other contemporary expeditions are derived
from the chroniclers. The pre-Columbian period occupies only a little
over one fourth of the text, and shows the want of access to material
revealed by subsequent investigations in different countries. The
later period is pretty complete for Spanish and Portuguese voyages,
considering the tardiness with which occurrences were published.
Hakluyt, while regretting that English voyages are "scarce fower times
mentioned," admits that at the time "there was little extant of our
men's trauailes." Muñoz speaks slightingly of Galvano, saying "compendia
infelizmente" what others have done more fully. Whatever its defects,
the treatise was certainly a most valuable contribution to the subject,
and is still highly important as one of the first essays toward a
history of voyages.
Among those who followed Ramusio's example of collecting and publishing
narratives of voyages and travels stands pre-eminent Richard Hakluyt,
whose work was remarkable not only as the first but as the most
valuable in English for the originality and rarity of its narratives,
particularly those relating to America. When Hakluyt began his studies
_Eden's Historie of Travayle_, containing translations from Martyr and
Oviedo, was the only English book extant on maritime discovery. Nor
was much known abroad of English voyages, partly because the traders
preferred to keep their own counsel. Hakluyt's perusal of foreign
collections, and his private researches, showed him, however, that the
English had performed deeds worthy of being recorded, and he was fired
with ambition to make them public.
Hakluyt belonged to a good Herefordshire family, settled at Yatton,
which had for centuries held a leading position in the county. After
passing through Westminster school as a queen's scholar, he was in
1570, at the age of 17, elected to Christ Church college, Oxford, and
took the degree of B. A. four years later; that of M. A. being obtained
after three years' further study. While yet a boy he had been directed
by a cousin to the study of geography and navigation, which henceforth
became his favorite pursuit. So well did he use his opportunity at
Oxford, where he also mastered several languages for his studies,
that he appears to have been appointed lecturer on cosmography. In the
dedication to Walsingham of the first edition of his collection he says:
"I in my publike lectures was the first that produced and shewed both
the olde and imperfectly composed and the new lately reformed mappes,
globes," etc. Between 1584 and 1589 he held the post of chaplain to
the embassy at Paris, and while there pursued actively his researches,
besides publishing narratives of voyages in French and English. In
1590 he obtained a rectory in Suffolk County, on the strength of
which he married four years later, and in 1605 he succeeded Dr Webster
as prebendary of Westminster abbey. Dying November 23, 1616, he was
buried in St Peter's of this abbey, leaving to his son a fair estate
which was soon squandered. Although interested in Raleigh's patent for
making discoveries, and forming one of the chief adventurers in the
company for the colonization of Virginia, he took no other share in
maritime projects than to promote them by his writings. His devotion
to researches was so great that he once rode two hundred miles to
meet the only survivor of Hare's disastrous voyage. He corresponded
with Ortelius and Mercator, and received the friendly encouragement
of Walsingham, Cecil, Admiral Howard, Drake, and others. His first
publication was _Divers Voyages touching the Discoverie of America and
the Islands adiacent_, London, 1582, dedicated to Philip Sydney. Of the
original only five copies are supposed to exist, from one of which the
Hakluyt Society issued a reprint in 1850, under the editorship of John
Winter Jones, of the British Museum, who prefaces it with a valuable
review of Hakluyt's life and writings. The several narratives refer to
the north-east and north-west passages, the East Indies, and the east
coast of North America. A curious map herein of conic projection shows
the North American continent extending to about latitude 46°, where
the California peninsula connects with a range called _Sierra Neuada_,
running latitudinally. Above 46° all is open ocean, bordered on the
east, however, by a strip of land connected with Florida by a narrow
isthmus, and extending to Cape Labrador. The northern part of California
bears the name Quiviri, the southern (Cape) California, and the central
part S. Croce (Santa Cruz). On the mappemonde the Tierra del Fuego forms
part of a great antarctic continent. While at Paris, Hakluyt caused to
be published in French an account of Florida, from a manuscript found
by him, and this was issued the following year, 1587, in English, as _A
notable historie containing foure voyages unto Florida_, both versions
dedicated to Raleigh, with an exhortation to prosecute the colonization
of Virginia. The same year he published at Paris an improved edition
of Martyr's _De orbe novo_ which some years later was translated into
English by M. Lock. In 1589 appeared the first instalment of the great
work _The principall navigations, voiages and discoveries of the English
nation made by sea or over land_, a folio, dedicated to Sir Francis
Walsingham. It is divided into three parts, relating respectively to
Asia and Africa, to the north and north-east of Europe and Asia, and
to America, including Drake's voyage. Nine years later he published
the first volume of a new edition of his collection, followed in 1599
and 1600 by two more volumes, in none of which reference is made to
the first issue. They are fine specimens of black-letter type, with
marginals and headpieces, but with the prefaced Latin text, headings,
and names in roman type and italics. The first volume is dedicated
to Lord Howard as a tribute to the patriotic services of the family,
and in recognition of the favors received by Hakluyt and his brother;
the others to Sir Robert Cecil, secretary of state. They are properly
a rearranged enlargement of the first issue, volume i. containing
voyages toward the north and north-east of England; volume ii. to
the Mediterranean and Africa; and volume iii. to America, including
several voyages by foreigners to parts not visited by the English.
The narratives are generally in the language of the narrator, and in
the first two volumes their order is chronologic; but in the American
section they are grouped under different geographic headings. This opens
with the dubious voyage of Madoc in 1170, and continues with expeditions
to the extreme northern parts of the continent, chiefly with reference
to the north-west passage. The region between Canada and Florida comes
next, followed by explorations toward New Mexico and California, and in
Mexico; then the Antilles and Central America, succeeded by a series of
groups for South America, the whole concluding with circumnavigations
and voyages directed to the South Sea. In the dedication to the third
volume Hakluyt says: "Now because long since I did foresee, that my
profession of diuinitie, the care of my family, and other occasions
might call and diuert me from these kinde of endeauors, I have for
these 3 yeeres last past encouraged and furthered in these studies of
Cosmographic and forren histories, my very honest, industrious, and
learned friend Mr Iohn Pory." Profiting by this training, Pory in 1600
issued a translation of _Leo's History of Africa_. Others were similarly
directed to geographical research, among them Parke who issued a
translation of a history of China, and Erondelle who published a part of
Lescarbot's _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_. Hakluyt himself continued
to devote to his favorite subject the little leisure remaining, and
left enough manuscript to have added a fourth volume to his collection;
but coming into Purchas' hands they were abridged for his _Pilgrimes_.
Some of them were evidently prepared for the guidance of the East India
Company, which had not failed to consult the renowned cosmographer,
without whose advice few maritime enterprises were then undertaken. In
1601 he issued a translation of _Galvano's Discoveries of the World_,
and in 1609 his last book, a translation of _Soto's Discoveries in
Florida_, with the main object of encouraging the Virginia colony.
Virginia is greatly indebted to Hakluyt, and the maritime enterprise
of England in general was much promoted by his personal application
and writings. Robertson adds that to him "England is more indebted for
its American possessions than to any man of that age." A reprint of
all Hakluyt's works was issued in five volumes quarto in 1809-12, by
R. Evans, only 325 copies being printed. The fifth volume, issued in
a larger edition, is entitled _A Selection of Curious, Rare, and Early
Voyages, and Histories of Interesting Discoveries, Chiefly Published by
Hakluyt, but not included in his Compilation_; London, 1812, 807 pp.,
and is really a supplement to Hakluyt and Purchas, offering reprints
of documents touching different parts of the globe, as _Galvano's
Discoveries_, _The Historie of the West Indies_ by Martyr, from Lock's
translation of Hakluyt's version, and several others, chiefly relating
to Asia. Hakluyt's works stand an enduring monument to well earned fame,
and his spirit, after influencing contemporary enterprise, continued
to animate the nation, and to assume embodiment in the Hakluyt Society,
which has for its aim to continue the labors that have done so much for
literature and science.
[Sidenote: DE BRY, ENS, GOTTFRIEDT, PURCHAS.]
Among foreign writers influenced by Hakluyt's exhortation and example
may be mentioned Theodore De Bry, the engraver of Frankfort. The
opportunity afforded him in his profession to become acquainted with
and to collect works relating to voyages and conquests, had not failed
to awaken an interest for the subject. But a visit to Hakluyt, then
engaged upon his collection, gave a decided impulse to his ideas, and
being a man of enterprise he forthwith engaged editors, and in 1590
began publishing, simultaneously in Latin, German, and French, the
famous _Collection des Grands et Petits Voyages_, referring respectively
to the new and old worlds, the larger size of the volumes for America
giving rise to the title. Under the supervision of his sons and other
members of the family, the collection was continued after his death,
in 1598, till completed in its fortieth year. The numerous reprints of
volumes and sets during this interval, with more or less changes, have
given no little trouble to collectors in search of the complete issue.
Formed without critique, it is remarkable rather as a convenient set
and as a bibliographic curiosity, wherein the engravings constitute the
main attraction, then for geographic value, since most of the narratives
had already been published in better form, and have been reproduced in
later works.
De Bry's set proved a fertile source in text and engravings for
compilers, and among them Gaspar L. Ens, the author of several
individual European travels, and one of the editors employed by De Bry,
who issued the _Indiæ Occidentalis Historia_, Coloniæ, 1612. On the same
plan as Ens', but on a larger scale, and partly based upon it, is the
_Newe Welt Vnd Americanische Historien_, Franckfurt, 1631, reprinted
1655, folio. The author, Johann Ludwig Gottfriedt, whose proper name
appears to be Jean Philippe Abelin, was also an editor of De Bry, and
wrote several works, one of them being the "_Archontologia Cosmica_, que
es Farrago de diversos Autores, sin distinguir lo cierto de lo dudoso."
_Pinelo_, _Epitome_, tom. iii. pp. 1288. It is also called a translation
of D'Avity's _Les etats_. Gottfriedt naturally sets up a claim for his
_Newe Welt_ to be compiled from leading writers, without referring to
De Bry, who no doubt supplied the material for the text as well as the
plates. De Bry, says Brunet, _Manuel_, tom. ii. p. 1674, "a abrégé des
douze premières parties de la collection." The plates, which are perhaps
the most interesting part of the volume, have been selected chiefly from
the nude and the curious, such as Indians driving whales, playing with
mermaids, or hunting semi-human beasts. The arrangement of the text
shows no improvement upon Ens, but the third section differs in being
more of a supplement to both the preceding parts.
Hakluyt's unpublished papers, failing to attain their destined object,
accomplished a wider result by giving rise to the larger collection
of Samuel Purchas; for it was their possession that gave impulse to a
work so much needed, both to fill the gaps of the former and to narrate
the numerous expeditions which had taken place since its date. The
precursor of the work was _Pvrchas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the
World and the Religions observed in all Ages and Places_, London, 1613,
dedicated to the archbishop of Canterbury. It was reprinted in 1614,
and soon reached several editions, the fourth, 1626, being dedicated
to King Charles, who had deigned to inquire for it, and whose royal
father had read it seven times, as the author proudly announces. This
object of kingly delight claims to be a compilation from over thirteen
hundred authors, which are decidedly well represented in the numerous
marginals, and gives a review in nine books of the social condition
and the institutions of the nations in Asia, Africa, and America,
particularly the religious feature, with some reference to political
history. Beginning with the Mosaic creation it takes up the nations
of south-east Asia, of the East Indies and China, and reaches Africa
in the sixth book. The last two are devoted to the New World, whose
physical and natural features receive two chapters, followed by the
general description of the region above Florida in five chapters, while
the eighth is given to the country west of this, and the next six
to New Spain. The fifteen chapters of book nine cover South America
and the Antilles, the last being an attack on Spanish cruelty and
maleconversion. Three parts similar to this volume were promised, the
second to relate to Europe, and the others to continue the subject for
the four divisions of the world; but the necessary aid was withheld, as
Purchas hints in an address to the _Pilgrimes_, and wherein he attempts
a pun upon his name by intimating that Europe cannot now be purchased.
The project had evidently to yield to others, as _Microcosmus, or
the History of Man_, 1619, and to the great collection which soon
engrossed his whole attention. Purchas was like Hakluyt a preacher,
but of the rival university of Cambridge, trained at St John College,
as he states in the dedicatory to volume iii. He attained the degree
of bachelor of divinity, conferred also by Oxford in 1615. In 1604 he
assumed charge of a vicarage in his native county of Essex, but was
soon called by his literary researches to London, where he fell into
difficulties, and had recourse to lecturing and to friends. Finally
Bishop King came to his aid with means to prosecute the publication
of his work, and by conferring upon him the rectory of St Martins.
Purchas expresses his gratitude for these favors in the opening address
to volume i., wherein he speaks of "my decessed Patron Doctor King,
... to whose bountie vnder God, I willingly ascribe my life, deliuered
from a sickly Habitation, and consequently (as also by opportunities
of a London Benefice) whatsoeuer additions in my later Editions of my
_Pilgrimage_; these present _Pilgrimes_ also." In the dedication of the
_Pilgrimage_ to the archbishop, he signs himself his chaplain, which
may be a figurative expression. He is generally supposed to have died
in poverty, and even in prison; but the title-page portrait of 1625,
at the age of forty-eight, presents him as a sleek, contented-looking
preacher, with a full though not large beard; and the several editions
of the _Pilgrimage_ would indicate that he had prospered up to that
time at least. According to Wood he died in his own house about
1628. In 1625 appeared _Haklvytvs Posthumus or Pvrchas his Pilgrimes.
Contayning a History of the World, in Sea voyages & lande-Trauells.
Imprinted at London for Henry Fetherston._ In four parts or volumes,
folio, each dedicated to a different personage. The first title-page
is filled with emblematic designs, and portraits of princes and great
men, among them Purchas, at the foot, between two hemispheres, with
his anagram of "Pars sva Celvm." The other title-pages are all headed
_Pvrchas his Pilgrimes_, and this quaint name the author sustains to
some extent by opening the dedication to Prince Charles with: "May a
poore Pilgrime salute Your Highnesse in the words of a better Samvel."
Directly afterward, however, he assumes another higher role in "hauing
out of a Chaos of confused intelligences framed this Historicall World,
by a New way of Eye-evidence;" and then he begins to lose himself in an
attempt at magniloquent phraseology, with no great promise for his power
to bring order out of chaos. Later he declares himself a mere laborer
"howsoeuer here a Masterbuilder also," doing everything with his own
hands, except where aided by his son. The manuscripts left by Hakluyt,
although forming a very small proportion of the book, "encouraged me
to vse my endeuours in and for the rest," he gratefully observes. The
printing of the work began in 1621, although not with volume i. The
first of the twenty books into which the set is divided, treats of
ancient navigation, progress of discovery, and religious phases. The
second begins with Portuguese and Columbian voyages, and continues with
circumnavigations, after which come the regular narratives of voyages,
chiefly by Englishmen, interspersed with extracts from notable journals
and histories, with a view to cover subjects and periods not otherwise
disposed of. Volumes i. and ii. relate almost wholly to Asia, Africa,
and the Levant, and also the next two books, while books iii. and iv.,
following, deal partly with north-west voyages, beginning with Zeno.
Book v. gives extracts from Herrera, Oviedo, Acosta, and Cortés, which
chiefly concerns Mexico, and a part of vi. touches the Isthmus, but the
main portion of this and the next book are occupied with South America.
Book viii. is divided between Mexico and the country northward to
Virginia, which latter takes up the whole of ix. The last book is shared
among New England, Newfoundland, and the English expeditions against
Spain. Altogether the arrangement is as confusing as the text, and in
both respects far inferior to Hakluyt's; nor is the work as complete
as might have been expected. In the attempt to introduce foreign
narratives the limits of space were overstepped, to the prejudice of
other accounts, which were often injudiciously condensed. Pinkerton
remarks, somewhat too severely, I think, that Purchas directed his
utmost attention to "selecting the most useless parts of the unhappy
authors." _Col. Voy._, vol. i. p. iv.
[Sidenote: THÉVENOT AND HARRIS.]
Purchas' labors found recognition abroad in the well known _Relation
de divers voyages_, Paris, 1663-96, 5 parts, by Melchisedech Thévenot,
formed mainly with a view to reproduce the best portions of Hakluyt
and his successor, while adding some unpublished narratives. Thévenot
appears to have been particularly well fitted for such undertakings. A
savant, and somewhat of a diplomatist, he was for eight years in charge
of the Royal Library at Paris, dying at his post in 1692, at the age of
71. The selection of his material gives evidence of good judgment; yet
the arrangement and other points may be questioned.
Another reproduction, and a continuation of the two great English
collections, was offered some years later by John Harris, _Navigantium
atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca: or, a Compleat Collection of Voyages
and Travels_; London, 1705, 2 vols, folio, with copper-plates and maps.
One of its chief aims being to repair the many omissions that had become
apparent in the original works, the first volume is devoted to the same
period as Purchas' collection, while introducing a number of additional
voyages. Its five books refer respectively to circumnavigation, to
Asia, to Africa, to the north and north-east parts of the globe,
and to America, the latter embracing one third more narratives than
Purchas. The mappemonde places the strait of Anian above the island
of California, but on the American map this is not marked. The second
volume, relating to voyages and travels after this time, chiefly by
Englishmen, is less distinct and careful in its arrangement. Books
i. and ii. cover Russia, Asia, and the Levant; book iii., Europe; and
book iv., America. The latter includes only the buccaneer expeditions,
Dampier's voyage, and explorations in the Mississippi and Canada
regions. A varied appendix concludes the volume. According to Green, of
the Astley collection, John Harris, who is styled an A. M., and Fellow
of the Royal Society, had little or nothing to do with the work besides
writing the introductory on the origin and emigration of races, and on
the progress of navigation. Four hundred authors are claimed to have
been included in the text, in abridged or compiled form. Rich, _Bib.
Amer._, vol. i. 9, remarks that "it appears to have been got up in
competition with Churchill's Collection;" but it is much more general in
its scope. Of undoubted value it was reissued in 1743-4, with numerous
corrections and additions, and reprinted in 1764.
[Sidenote: VAN DER BOS, VANDER AA, CHURCHILL.]
A book typical of its nationality is _Leeven en Daaden Der
Doorluchtigste Zee-Helden_, Amsterdam, 1676, by Lambert van der Bos
or Bosch, wherein are given the biographies of naval heroes from Zeno
down, but of course with particular prominence to those of Holland,
and foremost among them Admiral Ruyter, to whose son the dedication
is addressed. While entering into the biography and political events
connected with their lives the object is mainly to describe naval
expeditions and encounters in various zones, and to this end tend
also the plates. Columbus, Vespucci, Drake, Cavendish, and some of the
searchers for the north-west passage are those touching my field who
have been accorded a comparatively small space. Despite the laudable
object of the book, to place before the people their chief glories,
the author feels it necessary to bring forward the now well worn excuse
that to the solicitation of persons interested in the subject was due
the publishing of what his own inclination had led him to prepare. The
German translation of Nürnberg, 1681, is an abnormally stout little
volume, with an appendix by Erasmus.
_Naaukeurige versameling der gedenkwaardigste Reysen naar Oost en
West-Indien_, Leyden, 1706-7, is a black-letter book of 30 volumes
12mo, issued by Pieter vander Aa, and embracing voyages to all parts
of the globe from 1246 to 1693. Interspersed are compilations of minor
expeditions, and of political affairs, apparently with a view to cover
some of the many chronologic and geographic gaps in the regular series
of narratives, and to form a complete historic review; but this effort
is merely spasmodic and serves rather to expose the haste of the
editor in not consulting more authorities, or in doing so carelessly.
In addition to the incompleteness must be noted the lack of order in
chapters as well as divisions, distinct and disconnected narratives
being not unfrequently jumbled under inappropriate headings. The
matter relating to America is, in accordance with the original though
neglected plan, scattered throughout the set, in fair proportion for
the earlier periods at least. This applies particularly to the northern
Spanish colonies, for which the period from Columbus to Cortés is
pretty fully told, chiefly from Herrera. Acosta and Marquette are given
in abbreviated form. After 1526 this region receives little notice
beyond the relation of a few voyages from Purchas, such as Ulloa,
Chilton, Drake, and Cavendish, the latest date being 1595. The numerous
copper-plates and maps are an attractive feature as may be judged
from the fact that De Bry had been largely borrowed from. His text has
also been used to some extent, Meusel, _Bib. Hist._, tom. ii. pt. i.
336, going so far as to say that all belongs to De Bry; but this is an
exaggeration, for most of the text can readily be traced to Herrera,
Hakluyt, De Barros, and others. A revised edition of this work was
published in 1727 as _De Aanmerkenswaardigste en Alomberoemde Zee- and
Landreizen_, folio, 8 volumes bound in 4. The same black-letter type
and plates are preserved, but the arrangement differs, each set being in
chronological order, and each narrative in a separately paged section.
The first two volumes relate to Portuguese voyages toward the East India
region; the next two to Spanish voyages up to 1540, to both hemispheres
though chiefly to America; the two following to similar English voyages,
till 1696; and the last two volumes to those of other nations, and to
narratives supplementary to the preceding. The Portuguese division is
chiefly made up from De Barros and De Couto, and the following Spanish
from Herrera. Volume iii., bearing on the title-page the portraits of
Columbus, Vespucci, Magellan, and Ponce de Leon, opens with the voyages
of the great admiral, and continues with expeditions and events in
Tierra Firme, the Antilles, Nicaragua, and Florida, concluding with
Grijalva's discovery of New Spain. The next volume is almost wholly
devoted to Cortés, and events in connection with his conquest and
rule, alternating with sections on contemporary expeditions under
Magellan, Narvaez, Godoy, Loaisa, and Cabot. In the following set,
obtained chiefly from Hakluyt, Frobisher's voyages are the first to
touch America, followed by Drake's and other circumnavigations and the
settlement of the English American colonies. In volumes vii. and viii.
we find Verrazano, Pizarro, and Soto, Dutch and French expeditions to
South and North America, including P. Marquette, and extracts from
Benzoni and Acosta. On the title-page Vander Aa chooses to announce
that the collection is based on the German works of I. L. Gottfried,
but largely augmented with material from his originals and from later
authorities. This affectation can be regarded only as an advertisement.
_A Collection of Voyages and Travels, Some now First Printed from
Original Manuscripts, others Now First Published in English_, is
generally known by the name of Churchill, the publisher, who, in
connection with Awnsham, issued the first edition in 1704, in four
volumes. In 1733 it was increased by two volumes, and the reprint of
1744-7 by two more of the so-called Harleian Collection, culled from
the Oxford Library, and printed by Thomas Osborne. The whole eight were
reissued in 1752, and also used by foreign publishers, the introductory
discourse by Caleb Locke, on the progress of navigation, being
translated into French to form, with additions, two duodecimo volumes
known as _Histoire de la Navigation_, Paris, 1722. Although neither so
universal in its scope as Hakluyt's or Harris', nor so well translated
and arranged, yet it stands as one of the most valuable of collections
from its many rare narratives, such as the life of Columbus by his son,
in vol. ii.; Gemelli Carreri's much questioned yet interesting voyage,
vol. iv.; an account of the Mosquito kingdom, vol. vi., and Castell's
description of America, in the Harleian Collection. A number of other
pieces refer to America, as Monson's tracts, and Ovalle's history of
Chile, but they do not touch my field.
[Sidenote: PRÉVOST, GREEN, DIDOT, ROZET.]
The most famous collection of voyages published in the eighteenth
century is the _Histoire Générale des Voyages_, Paris, 1746, etc., 20
vols, 4to, edited by Abbé Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles. Provost
was one of those bright bubbling geniuses whose life and writings have
assisted in making the capital of La Belle France also the capital
of the literary and fashionable world. In the role of a dashing young
officer, he had at an early age sipped of all frivolities in that gay
city, till a misdirected Cupidian barb caused him in 1719, at the age
of twenty-two, to exchange the glittering uniform for the simple garb
of a Benedictine. His success as a preacher again drew him into the
whirl of society, and, tiring of the vows that held him bound, he cast
aside the robe and retired to Holland in 1729. Already famous as a
writer, he entered with ardor upon the career for which he saw himself
destined, producing a number of romances, histories, biographies, and
periodical works. The protection of Prince de Conti, whose almoner
he became, enabled him to return to France and to obtain the robe of
a secular ecclesiastic. In November 1763, while in the height of his
fame, he was seized with an apoplectic fit, and, regarded as dead, the
scalpel of an unskilful hand cut off the life that was just returning.
The most important of his many works is the _Histoire des Voyages_,
which might indeed be pronounced of English origin. In 1745 Astley, the
London publisher, began issuing with great flourish the weekly numbers
of _A New General Collection of Voyages and Travels_, edited by I.
Green. Planned on a large scale, it was intended to supersede all other
collections as a standard work. Every country was to be represented,
and every first and leading voyage to any region was to be narrated
in extenso. To avoid useless and uninteresting repetition, later and
minor expeditions were to be used merely for extracts and notes, as a
complement to those preceding. It was also proposed to form a compiled
description of the several countries. Hakluyt and his successors were
to be overhauled, and their mutilations and omissions repaired, while
later narratives would be supplemented with a proportion of foreign
voyages. The government was besought to grant aid to so valuable a work,
but failed to comply; and the cost proving too great, the collection
stopped in 1747 with the fourth volume, after covering nearly half
of the proposed field by its Asiatic and African narratives. The only
voyages relating to America are those by Captain Roberts, and I. Atkins,
in 1721, extending from Bermuda to Brazil.
No sooner had Green's first volume appeared than the French publisher,
Didot, resolved to be the means of giving France the benefit of so great
a project, and Abbé Prévost's skill as an English translator being well
known it was arranged that he should be the editor. Prévost did not
follow the English edition implicitly, but made several alterations in
text as well as arrangement, some of which were severely condemned,
and corrected in a supplementary volume. He also gave perhaps too
much play to the style of writing so much admired in his romances.
With his seventh volume the English set was exhausted, and Prévost now
continued the collection independently, introducing, with the aid of
French libraries and foreign ministers, more foreign narratives than
had been done by the English editor. He also improved the order by
allowing several travellers to the same region to succeed one another,
so as to form a continuous account. The conclusion of the set, so
far as he and Didot are concerned, came with the sixteenth volume,
containing the index. Soon after a seventeenth volume was added, with
further matter and corrections, chiefly from the Dutch edition. Among
the medley of narratives in volume xi., forming the sequel to Old
World voyages, is Gemelli Carreri's journey round the world, which
touches also New Spain. The New World division, covering volumes xii.
to xv., begins with Columbus' voyages, and contemporary and immediately
succeeding events in and round the Isthmus region, followed by the
conquest of Mexico, together with a compiled description of its social
and political condition under native and Spanish rule. After this
comes Charlevoix' history of New France at disproportionate length,
succeeded by narratives on the conquest and condition of the South
American countries. The region from Florida northward is treated in a
similar series, followed by north-west voyages, including those made by
Spaniards on the Pacific side, particularly under Aguilar and Fonte.
A description of the Antilles concludes the division, though several
additional pieces are given in the supplementary volume on Vespucci,
Pizarro, and Spanish South Sea voyages. This partial review shows that
faults have been committed both in the arrangement and in the selection
of material, due partly to haste, with a consequent confusion and
repetition, and a carelessness of facts, which greatly impair the value
of the work. The uniformity of style for the varying subjects and the
dissertations on trifles are also to be objected to. After Didot's death
the collection passed into the hands of Rozet, who caused three volumes
to be added by Querlon and de Leyre. They are the best edited part of
the set, according to La Harpe, and form a continuation of the voyages
to the north begun in vol. xv., with a full description of the northern
regions in the three parts of the world. The fine engravings, after
Cochin, have aided greatly to make the first edition in quarto esteemed
above others, and to make the fortune of the publishers. Two reprints,
one of eighty volumes duodecimo, were issued while the publication was
still progressing. The Dutch version of Hague, 1747-80, in 25 vols,
4to, begun from the English, but continued from Prévost, contains the
portions omitted by Prévost in his early volumes, and several additional
narratives, chiefly on the Dutch Asiatic possessions. A German
translation in 21 vols 4to was issued at Leipzig in 1747-74 by Arkstee
and Merkus. The editors, Kästner and Schwaben, begin with a round of
abuse on Prévost's faulty production, and announce that they will follow
the English original, while copying the superior French engravings.
With the stoppage of Green's labors, they suddenly discover Prévost's
superiority, but in adopting him as their guide for the remainder, they
maintain their former division of chapters and sub-headings. The last
three volumes cover Rozet's additions.
The plan of a general history of voyages outlined by Green had been
projected already by the academician Du Perier de Montfraisier in
his _Histoire Universelle des Voyages faits par Mer & par Terre dans
l'ancien & dans le nouveau Monde_, Paris, 1707, wrongly ascribed to
Abbé Bellegarde. Although dedicated to the duke of Burgundy, the king's
father, the patronage failed to give it popularity, and the first
duodecimo volume proved also the last. Beginning with an introductory
on the development of navigation, he opens the narrative with Columbus
and closes it with Cortés, giving in addition to the intermediate
voyages, a general description of resources and nations of tropic
America. The whole is brief and superficial, with particular attention
to the marvellous, as indicated also by the engravings. The English
hastened to give their approval by issuing a translation, but only to
be superseded like Prévost's collection. If this work had anything to
do with promoting Green's plan, it may be said not altogether to have
failed in its aim.
[Sidenote: DU PERIER, LA HARPE, WALCKENAER, BERNARD.]
The size and cost of Prévost's popular work induced the well known
litterateur and academician La Harpe to issue an _Abrégé de l'Histoire
Générale des Voyages_, Paris, 1780-1801, 32 vols, 8vo, the last eleven
by Comeyras. La Harpe was moved to this also by the numerous faults of
the original, in prolixity, dryness, and confusion, as he takes pains to
explain. His plan, while taking Prévost as a base, was to give a clear,
attractive review of voyages in all that is of interest to the majority
of readers, eliminating matter not to the point, as navigation notes,
accounts covered by preceding narratives, and superfluous details on
physical and other features. This plan is carried out by dividing the
set into four parts, on Africa, Asia, America, and circumnavigations,
arranged chronologically, and interspersed or prefaced with reviews
of natural geography, and by giving prominence to adventures, social
features, and whatsoever may prove attractive to the ordinary reader,
even at the risk of tampering with credulity. It is to be regretted that
La Harpe should have confined himself so much to a collection declared
incomplete and inexact, instead of expending a little more time and
trouble to provide a work of greater value. As it is he achieved his
declared object, a series of sprightly narratives, full of striking
incidents and graphic details, traits to which Irving among others have
paid the tribute of a borrower. The part by Comeyras exhibits far less
skill. To this edition has been added twelve volumes of a _Histoire
des Voyages en Europe_ poorly prepared. La Harpe's set passed through
several editions, one of 1816 being in 24 vols, 8vo. The similar set
of 1820 was revised by Eyriès, and subsequently enlarged to 30 volumes.
Eyriès in 1822-24 issued a continuation under the title of _Abrégé des
Voyages Modernes depuis 1780_, 14 volumes, 8vo.
About this time C. A. Walckenaer, the well known writer on Africa,
arranged with publisher Lefèvre to prepare the _Histoire Générale
des Voyages, ou Nouvelle Collection de Relations des Voyages_, Paris,
1826-31, which according to the prospectus was to excel Prévost's in
completeness and reliability, and to comprise not over sixty volumes.
But so badly did Walckenaer manage his material that twenty-one octavo
volumes had been printed long before the first division of African
voyages had been exhausted, and the publisher thereupon abandoned the
work.
Among less noted collections is _Recueil de divers Voyages faits en
Afrique et en l'Amérique_, Paris, 1674, 4to, which presents a few select
pieces, such as the history of Barbadoes Islands; de la Borde's account
of Carib customs and mission work; and a description of the Antilles,
besides African narratives.
_Recueil de Voiages au Nord_, Amsterdam, 1715-27, 9 vols, 12mo, is a
collection of entire and abridged narratives of voyages to northern
countries, including searches for the north-east and north-west
passages, and with the main object of displaying the resources of
those regions, with the routes of approach, so as to promote trade.
This laudable purpose is indicated by the dedication in which Bernard,
the bookseller, places the work under the patronage of the emperor
of Russia. The earlier volumes contain a number of valuable pieces
on America, extending as far south as Louisiana and the gulf of
California, among them the memoirs of De Lisle and Piccolo on Lower
California. The later volumes are confined to Asia and Europe, embracing
respectively Corea and the Scandinavian peninsula. The arrangement
is not quite satisfactory; but this was improved somewhat in a later
edition, increased to ten volumes. In one of the division prefaces the
editor enters a protest against the predilection shown by travellers
for describing the marvellous, and against the prevalent bigotry and
prejudice. Some able observations are also made on the character of the
narrative to follow, which are quite refreshing in face of the inane
remarks to be found in the introductions of this period.
Within the brief compass of three duodecimo volumes entitled _A New
Universal Collection of Voyages and Travels_, London, 1755, an effort is
made to present a synopsis of all celebrated voyages to different parts
of the world; but the result is a rather unequal medley of individual
narratives and compiled reviews, chiefly relating to Englishmen. America
is more or less referred to in the series of circumnavigations covered
by the first volume. In the second is given the history of trade with
the East India region, followed by the discovery and settlement of
American countries, New Spain being described in chapter vii. The
last volume relates almost wholly to Europe. The mappemonde outlines
California as an island.
Of wider scope is _The World Displayed; or, A Curious Collection of
Voyages and Travels_, London, 1760-1, 20 vols, 16mo, which devotes the
first seven volumes to America and to circumnavigation, leaving the
remainder to the other three continents. The material has been selected
apparently from one of the larger collections, with no attempt at
critical investigation or completeness, but mainly for its interesting
features. In the first volume are given the voyages of Columbus and
contemporary events, and in the second, the expeditions of Cortés.
In the appended map of North America "the supposed Str. of Annian" is
still retained in about 42° lat. Volume iii. opens with the conquest
of Panamá and passes into South America, while iv. and v. relate to
English and French discoveries, including Drake's voyage. Dampier and
Rogers share volume vi., leaving the whole of volume vii. to Anson's
circumnavigation.
_A Curious Collection of Travels_, London, 1761, 8 vols, 16mo, maps and
illustrations, treats of the different parts of the world, partly in the
form of voyages, partly in historical reviews of countries, including
discovery, explorations, and settlement. Of the three volumes devoted
to America, iv. and v. relate to English, Dutch, and French colonies,
and vi. to the Spanish and Portuguese.
Disgusted with bulky collections and their profuse 'rubbish' on winds,
currents, and log-book records, the editor of _A Compendium of Authentic
and Entertaining Voyages_, London, 1766, 7 vols. 12mo, resolves to
present only the useful and attractive, and further to carry on the
narratives, beginning with Columbus, in a chronologic order, so as to
give his readers the annals of navigation. The authorities consulted
are probably one of the larger collections, from which are culled the
interesting voyages. Thus volume i., the only one referring to my field,
presents simply those of Columbus, Cortés, Gama, and Cabral.
Another refuge from verbose and credulous collections is thrust before
the public in _A New Collection of Voyages, Discoveries, and Travels_,
London, 1767, 7 vols, 8vo, with maps and engravings, wherein the editor
promises to show none of the bad judgment and neglect to be found in
other compilations destined only for the vulgar. Whatever improvements
may have been introduced they are more than counterbalanced by
incompleteness, and want of proportion. Of the three volumes on America
for instance, vol. i. refers chiefly to Columbus and Cortés, with minor
accounts of Pizarro and Ulloa, and the regions touched by them. Volume
ii. contains extracts from Wafer, and descriptions of British and
Portuguese colonies, while iii. covers the circumnavigations of Drake,
Dampier, Rogers, and, chiefly, Anson; iv. v. and vii. concern Europe,
the last treating of England's navy and constitution, and in vi. are
collected odd travels in Asia, Egypt, and the Levant.
[Sidenote: DRAKE, PELHAM, HENRY, BERENGER.]
_A New Universal Collection of Authentic and Entertaining Voyages and
Travels_, by Edward Cavendish Drake, London, 1771, folio, with cuts,
consists of a number of abridged narratives, each forming a division by
itself, with special chapters, but without a defined arrangement. The
aim, while seeking to embrace all regions of the globe, is to please the
ordinary reader by exciting and curious accounts, including stories of
semi-human beasts, as shown by the illustrations, engraved by Grignon.
America, which covers fully one third of the text, is on the mappemonde
projected into two branches, the northward one connected with Greenland,
and the other with a land made to extend over all the pole. Beginning
with Columbus the editor takes up the circumnavigators to Anson, and
then returns to the conquest of the Isthmus, Mexico, and Peru. After
this come the Portuguese conquest, the English settlements, Wafer's
adventures in Darien, and the north-west and north-east searches. The
rest concerns the three old continents.
_New Voyages and Travels; Consisting of Originals, Translations, and
Abridgments_, 9 vols, 8vo, explain their appearance very correctly, and
the need of a periodical publication of recent voyages, to which they
are confined. Each original, or set of compiled narratives, forms a
separately paged part, but follows no order, the object being to give in
each volume pieces relating to several parts of the world, and America
is accordingly represented in every one. Kotzebue and Roquefeuil's
voyages, in vi. and ix. respectively, are the only ones relating to my
field.
_The World; or the Present State of the Universe. Being a General and
Complete Collection of Modern Voyages and Travels_, by Cavendish Pelham,
London, 1808-10, 2 vols, 4to, has in view not only to present the most
recent narratives, in abridged form, but to give a modern account of
every country, in a geographic, politic, and social aspect. Beginning
with a lengthy relation of La Pérouse's voyage and the search for him,
the editor continues with a tour in Kamchatka, and with Portlock and
Dixon's voyage, followed by a medley of narratives on Africa, Asia,
and particularly Europe. Toward the end is given an outline of physical
and political geography, whereof America receives seven pages; and last
comes a sketch of the leading voyages not already given.
An appropriate subdivision of voyages is presented in _An Historical
Account of all the Voyages round the World, performed by English
Navigators_. London, 1773-4, 4 vols, 8vo, maps and engravings. Volume
i. contains Drake, Cavendish, and Dampier, with briefer references to
Cowley and Roggewein, while Cook's voyages occupy not only the greater
part of iii., but part of iv., and the whole of a fifth and sixth volume
added in 1775 and 1781 by David Henry, the editor of the first two.
_Berenger_, _Collection de tous les Voyages faits autour du Monde_,
Paris, 1788-9, 9 vols, embraces circumnavigations by all nations, but
shows itself even more disproportionate in its arrangement than Henry's.
Magellan's all-important voyage is so hastily disposed of as to create a
belief that the work was never based upon a plan; nor have any prefatory
remarks been given to assist the wondering reader. Drake and Cavendish
are not shown much more favor, while the doubtful voyage of Carreri
occupies the whole of ii., and Cook's three voyages fill the last three
volumes.
_An Historical Account of the Circumnavigation of the Globe, and
of the Progress of Discovery in the Pacific Ocean, from Magellan to
Cook_, Edinburgh, 1837, 12mo, has for its chief aim the relation of
Cook's voyages, to which half the volume is devoted. It is claimed that
several original papers and points were obtained from the family of the
great navigator for the perfection of the narrative. The book opens
with a brief review of the progress of navigation till the discovery
of the South Sea by Balboa, and then begins the narrative proper with
Magellan's voyage, and with voyages that have assisted in opening
the Pacific Ocean. The freely sprinkled foot-notes indicate that,
although the work is small, considerable care has been bestowed upon
it. A continuation was issued under the title of _Voyages round the
World from the Death of Captain Cook to the Present Time_, Edinburgh,
1843, which gives even greater attention to scientific features and to
generalizations, than to details of voyages; yet a sufficient number of
curious and exciting incidents are introduced to attract the ordinary
reader.
[Sidenote: FORSTER, BURNEY, DALRYMPLE, DELAPORTE.]
The preceding work on circumnavigations shows the value of a subdivision
of the collections and histories of voyages, wherein the attempt to
embrace too much naturally leads to superficiality, to a neglect of
important points, and wherein the arrangement forbids a comprehensive
view of particular sections. A subdivision affords better opportunity
for the proper study of special subjects and regions in connection with
history and sciences. Such works as _Recueil de Voiages an Nord_ are
convenient for this purpose, to be used by scholars for the preparation
of more complete and critical works, as _Forster, Geschichte der
Entdeckungen und Schiffahrten im Norden_, Francfurt, 1785, translated
into English in 1786, and into French in 1789. The latter opens with a
review in books i. and ii. of the beginning of discovery voyages among
the ancients, and their progress during the middle ages, particularly
under the Italians, among them the brothers Zeno. In book iii. follows
at greater length the history of voyages to northern regions in modern
times, each nation engaged receiving a chronologically arranged
chapter. Most of the voyages are of course directed to the search
for a north-east or north-west passage, but they also include those
that have merely been directed northward, as Ulloa's and Alarcon's
in 1539 and 1540, which did not pass beyond Lower California. The
latter occur in the Spanish chapter, embracing the several American
voyages from Gomez in 1524 to Bodega in 1775, and including Fuca's
and Fuente's. The voyages close with the Russian entry into Alaska.
Like most German works of research it has received careful study, and
forms an authority for its field. John Reinhold Forster was one whose
talents and investigations had met with the recognition of membership
in several learned societies. He had made the geography of the north his
particular study, and had accompanied Cook round the world, in 1772-75,
as a naturalist, and with a view to prepare a philosophic history of
the voyage. He also wrote _Observations Made during a Voyage round the
World_, London, 1778, 4to, dedicated to the Royal Society of London,
and relating to geography, ethnology, and ethics. The journal kept by
him during this voyage, together with the reports to the government and
to societies, was elaborated by his son and voyage companion into the
_Reise um die Welt_, a work to which Humboldt gratefully ascribes the
first impulse to his love for nature. Besides several books on Egypt and
Africa, Forster issued the _Magazin von Reisebeschreibungen_, Berlin,
1790-1802, 24 vols, which is not prepared with the care due to his fame.
_A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea_, by James
Burney, London, 1803-17, 5 vols, 4to, owes its existence, like several
of Forster's works, to companionship with Cook. The later Admiral
Burney sailed as lieutenant with the great navigator during the last two
voyages, and having made geographic discoveries a particular study, his
attention was naturally directed to the Pacific. Stimulated by Forster's
example, he determined to write a history of voyages to cover this
field, a project which received the encouragement of Sir Joseph Banks,
who opened his library and lent his influence, receiving in return
the grateful dedication of the work. After some preliminary remarks
on attempts between 1492 and 1517 to find a passage to the South Sea,
the chronologic account of voyages therein is begun with Magellan's.
Amongst the earliest cruises are those in search of a route to the
Philippines, and of a passage to the Atlantic, north of Mexico, both
bearing good fruit in the extension of geographic knowledge. With Drake
is resumed the lengthy series of circumnavigations to which the second
volume is chiefly devoted, interspersed with minor expeditions, and
with cautious reviews of the doubtful narratives of Maldonado and Fuca.
Volume iii. gives considerable attention to the Asiatic coast, and to
the unfolding of the Australian group, and the following is swelled with
a full history of the buccaneers, which concerns chiefly the Antilles;
but after this Pacific voyages are resumed with Dampier, Shelvocke,
Roggewein, Anson, and minor local expeditions until about 1766, when
their increasing number called for a different treatment, and they
were therefore left for another pen. The whole forms an able digest,
not only of maritime expeditions, but of the progress and condition of
settlements along the coast. The author is not perhaps so consistent
with his plan of thoroughness and comprehensiveness as the very sensible
preface leads us to expect, nor is the lengthy account of the Antilles
quite relevant to the subject when so much matter to the point might
have been included. These objections are more than balanced, however, by
an evident research, and a study of the material, manifest also in the
sound comments and conclusions. As supplementary works may be regarded
_A Chronological History of North-Eastern Voyages of Discovery_; London,
1819; _A Memoir on the Geography of the North-eastern Part of Asia_,
London, 1818; _A Memoir of the Voyage of d'Entrecasteaux_, London, 1820.
The continuation of the work is supplied by Hawkesworth's collection,
Bougainville's voyage, and later publications.
It will be seen that a portion of the _Chronologic History_ had already
been covered by Forster's volume, for the north, while the southern
region had found an exponent in _De Brosses_, _Histoire des Navigations
aux Terres Australes_, translated into English with additions. This
work was rather a hasty preparation, having for its object chiefly
to demonstrate the advantages of the South Pacific for colonies; so
that there was ample room for _An Historical Collection of the several
Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean_, by Alexander
Dalrymple, London, 1770-1, 2 vols, 4to, which treats of Spanish and
Dutch voyages between South America and Papua. A French translation
appeared at Paris in 1774 by Fréville, who the same year issued in his
_Hydrographique_ what may be regarded as a continuation.
_Le Voyageur François, ou la Connoissance de l'Ancien et du Nouveau
Monde, Mis au jour par M. l'Abbé Delaporte_, Paris, 1767-72, 42 vols,
12mo, presents an historical and descriptive account of the world by
a fictitious French traveller who addresses himself to a lady in the
form of letters, dated at leading towns in different countries. While
describing the actual condition of the country in a politic, economic,
and social sense, he also gives lengthy reviews of the past history
and of the ancient customs of the people, as if related by a native
or culled from memory. The narrative is by this means rendered most
interesting, and assumes a freshness and a sprightliness of style which
condone greatly for its superficiality, incompleteness, and want of
critical discernment in adopting statements. The epistolary form, while
intended to court the public, doubtless adds to the flippancy, in which
respect La Harpe, among others, expresses himself rather like a jealous
rival. Beginning his tour in the Mediterranean, the author passes
through Asia Minor to India and China, and in volume ix. turns up in the
British American colonies. In the three volumes following he enters the
Pacific States, devoting to Mexico the greater part of x., describing
chiefly the conquest and the ancient customs of the Aztecs, and leaving
almost untouched the later history and condition; but then the object is
to interest the ordinary reader. Only the first 28 vols. are from the
pen of the abbé; the rest show the inferior style of De Tontenai and
Domairon. The success was such as to warrant a new edition in 1792-95.
A German duodecimo edition was issued at Leipzig immediately upon the
completion of the original, under the title of _Reisen eines Franzosen_.
A Spanish translation was begun as _El Viagero Universal ó Noticia del
Mundo_, Madrid, 1795-1801, 43 vols, including four supplementary. By D.
P. E. P. The editor soon tired of the faults of the original, and with
the 6th vol. began an independent work, in which much new information
is given, so that the book greatly surpasses the French in the value of
its material, while it falls behind in style and treatment. Volumes xii.
xxvi. and xxvii. relate to Mexico, Central America, and California, and
several adjoining volumes treat of other parts of America, including
searches for the north-west passage. So conscientious is the editor that
he devotes the supplementary volumes to complete and correct the first
five wherein he had followed Delaporte.
[Sidenote: D'URVILLE, DE LURCY, PINKERTON.]
_Voyage Pittoresque autour du Monde_, Paris, 1834-5, 2 vols, 4to, under
the direction of Dumont d'Urville, is also a voyage round the world by
an imaginary person, who starting from Toulon proceeds by way of Rio de
Janeiro to South Africa, coasts along the East Indies to China, visits
the Pacific groups and Australia, whence he returns to France with
barely a reference to America. The object is to fasten the attention
with a pleasing narrative, while imparting as much information as
possible on geography, political and social history, and curious facts,
illustrated by a profusion of neat cuts.
A work covering much of the same ground, and somewhat similar in
character, though written by the navigator himself, is _Voyages autour
du monde et Naufrages Célèbres_, Paris, 1844, 8 vols in 4, by Gabriel
Lafond de Lurcy, part of which had already appeared in 1840 as _Quinze
ans de Voyages_, 2 vols. The narrative begins with a voyage performed
during the Spanish American revolution from Manila to Mexico, to which
latter country and the adjoining dependencies the whole volume is
devoted, reviewing the political and social condition, the conquest,
the Spanish rule, and the insurrectionary war. In ii. to v. the author
relates several voyages along the South American coast to China, the
East Indies, and the Pacific groups, which are made the vehicle for
similar reviews, including Columbus' voyages and the conquest of Panamá
and the region to the south. The last three volumes relate to notable
voyages by others, and to adventures of shipwrecked crews in Africa
and in the Pacific groups. The easy narrative inclines to the romantic
style, and little attention is given to exactness or completeness.
Still, the account of revolutionary events deserves attention from the
fact that Lafond was an actual participant. He also wrote _Études sur
l'Amérique Espagnol_, 1848, and some other treatises.
_Curious and Entertaining Voyages_, London, 1790, 4to, consists of a
Portuguese and Spanish collection from Prince Henry's time to 1520,
given in chronologic order, and without repetition in later narratives
of matter already related; but there is little merit in the treatment,
and negligence is shown even on the title-page, where particular
attention is called to Columbus' conquest of Mexico! Of the four
books forming the division, i. and iii. relate to Portuguese, and the
others to Spanish voyages and expeditions, from Columbus to Cortés and
Magellan.
_A General Collection of the best and most interesting Voyages and
Travels in all parts of the World_, by John Pinkerton, London, 1808-14,
17 vols, 4to, is announced as "the most voluminous of the kind ever
published," next to the _Histoire_ of Prévost. After pointing out the
numerous defects of this collection, and of its prototype by Green, with
even more details than La Harpe, the accomplished Pinkerton, friend
of Gibbon, proposes not only to avoid their dryness, inaccuracy, and
repetition, but to embrace all the material of former collections,
together with many additional narratives. Dividing his subject into
five parts, corresponding to the five continents, he devotes volume
i. to the north and north-east, besides two or three southern voyages;
the two following to travels in Great Britain, and iv. to vi. to other
parts of Europe; while vii. to x. relate to Asia; xi. to Australasia;
xii. and xiii. to North America, beginning with Columbus; xiv. to
South America; and the two following to Africa. Volume xvii. contains
a retrospect of the progress of discovery, a catalogue of books on
each region, and a detailed index. In these groups he collects, with
little attempt at order, a mass of narratives which, however excellent
in themselves, often cover but a portion of the field already better
described in other works by several or more thorough narratives. Of the
conspicuous and absorbing conquest of Mexico and adjoining regions not
a word appears, and the only description of that country is from the
later incomplete and comparatively unimportant travels of de Menonville.
The north-west coast, with California, is only slightly referred to
under Drake's visits. In other instances, several voyages to the same
region are given with valueless repetitions, as Frobisher's three
searches for a north-west passage and the five voyages to Persia. A mass
of uninteresting extracts from log-books are also presented, besides
other verbose trivialities. Altogether the collection fails to realize
its promises, and is decidedly inferior in selection, arrangement,
treatment, and above all in completeness, to many less pretentious sets.
[Sidenote: KERR, LARDNER, DUMÉNIL, GOODRICH.]