Political Essay on the Kingdom of New-Spain

versions, however, appear only in the notes, the original having undergone no alteration.

The orthography of the names has been preserved in the translation with few exceptions. The Spanish names of persons and places have never been touched, but in a few names of Indian nations, such as Azteques, Tolteques, &c. the ques has been converted into cs, the corresponding termination in our own language. Clavigero uses the same freedom in the Italian, writing these words Aztecchi, Toltecchi, &c. This liberty is perhaps justifiable, though it might not be advisable to go all the length recommended by Volney, in whose work on North America we can with difficulty recognise the names most familiar to us. Who, for instance, could find out Washington in Ouachinnetone? The various sounds given to the same letters by the different European nations occasion a good deal of perplexity. The same name assumes quite a distinct appearance in the works of a French and an English traveller. Another source of perplexity peculiar to the Spaniards and Germans is the indiscriminate use of certain letters. The Spaniard, for example, confounds the b and the v; the and the Z; thej, the g, and the x; and they write the same word sometimes with one of these letters, and sometimes with another. It is necessary to give this caution to the reader, who, were he to meet with Xuan de Grixalba in one place, and Juan de Grijalva in another, might not at first perceive the identity. M. Pinkerton, who seems to plume himself not a little on his orthography, observes, that the Spanish, French, and Italian writers, write Motezuma ; the English alone Montezuma; and he of course must follow the Spanish, French, and Italian writers. Why the English are bound to follow the orthography of these nations it is not so easy to conceive, any more than

that they should follow the English, the proper orthography being neither Motezuma nor Montezuma, but Moteuczoma. M.de Humboldt sometimes inserts the n and sometimes leaves it out.

A considerable part of the Essay on New Spain has not yet arrived in this country; but, when it does arrive, no time will be lost in communicating it to the public, if the portion now presented shall meet with a favourable reception. The most important of the maps and drawings in the part which we have received appear in the present publication, but on a more economical scale. Of the maps and physical sections it is sufficient to say, that they have been executed under the care of Mr. Lowry, whose well known taste and skill so justly entitle him to the public confidence. It would have been foolish to attempt to imitate the magnificence of the original; but it will be found that nothing of essential importance has been omitted. The publishers wished to spare no necessary expense in the present publication; but they were averse from increasing the price of a book intended for general circulation by an ostentatious and injudicious splendour.

ΤΟ

HIS CATHOLIC MAJESTY

CHARLES IV.

KING OF SPAIN AND THE INDIES.

SIRE,

HAVING enjoyed in the distant regions subject to your sceptre the protection and kind offices of your Majesty during a long succession of years, I fulfil only a sacred duty in laying at the foot of your throne the homage of my profound and respectful gratitude.

I had the good fortune to be introduced to your Majesty in 1779 at Aranjuez. You deigned to applaud the zeal of a private individual, whom the love of science conducted to the banks of the Orinoco and the summits of the Andes.

It is through the confidence which your Majesty's favours have inspired in me that I venture to place your august name at the head of this work. It contains the description of a vast kingdom, the prosperity of which is dear to your heart.

None of the monarchs who have occupied the Castilian throne have contributed more liberally than your Majesty to the obtaining accurate information regarding the state of that valuable portion of the globe, which in both hemispheres yields obedience to the Spanish laws. The coasts of America have been surveyed by able astronomers with a munificence worthy of so great a sovereign. Accurate maps of these coasts, and even minute plans of several military positions, have been published at the expense of

your Majesty; and you gave orders that there should be annually published in a Peruvian journal at Lima, a state of the commerce, finances, and population.

There was still wanting a statistical essay on the kingdom of New Spain. I digested the great number of materials which I possessed into a work, of which the first sketch drew the attention of the viceroy of Mexico in a manner which redounded to his honour. I should be happy if I could flatter myself that my feeble efforts, under a new form, and more carefully digested, are not unworthy of being presented to your Majesty.

They breathe the sentiments of gratitude which I owe to the government who protected me, and to the noble and loyal nation who received me, not as a traveller, but as a fellow-citizen. How can we displease a good king, when we speak to him of the national interest, of the improvement of social institutions, and the eternal principles on which the prosperity of nations is founded?