And it is not improbable, that,
astonished by the vestiges it afforded of an original
civilization, he became enamoured of his subject, and thus
exhibited it in colors somewhat too glowing to the eye of the
European. But this was an amiable failing, not too largely
shared by the stern Conquerors, who subverted the institutions of
the country, and saw little to admire in it, save its gold. It
must be further admitted, that Sarmiento has no design to impose
on his reader, and that he is careful to distinguish between what
he reports on hearsay, and what on personal experience. The
Father of History himself does not discriminate between these two
things more carefully.
Neither is the Spanish historian to be altogether vindicated from
the superstition which belongs to his time; and we often find him
referring to the immediate interposition of Satan those effects
which might quite as well be charged on the perverseness of man.
But this was common to the age, and to the wisest men in it; and
it is too much to demand of a man to be wiser than his
generation. It is sufficient praise of Sarmiento, that, in an
age when superstition was too often allied with fanaticism, he
seems to have had no tincture of bigotry in his nature. His
heart opens with benevolent fulness to the unfortunate native;
and his language, while it is not kindled into the religious glow
of the missionary, is warmed by a generous ray of philanthropy
that embraces the conquered, no less than the conquerors, as his
brethren.
Pages:
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222