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Prescott, William Hickling, 1796-1859

"History of the Conquest of Peru; with a preliminary view of the civilization of the Incas"


[Footnote 6: Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 1, lib. 3, cap. 20;
lib. 6, cap. 21. - Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms.]
[Footnote 7: Ulloa, Voyage to S. America, book 7, ch. 12.
"The Indian nuns," says the author of the Relacion del Primer.
Descub., "lived chastely and in a holy manner." - "Their chastity
was all a feint," says Pedro Pizarro, "for they had constant
amours with the attendants on the temple." (Descub. y Conq., Ms.)
- What is truth? - In statements so contradictory, we may accept
the most favorable to the Peruvian. The prejudices of the
Conqueror certainly did not lie on that side.]
The Fathers of St. Dominic, the Brethren of the Order of Mercy,
and other missionaries, now busied themselves in the good work of
conversion. We have seen that Pizarro was required by the Crown
to bring out a certain number of these holy men in his own
vessels; and every succeeding vessel brought an additional
reinforcement of ecclesiastics. They were not all like the
Bishop of Cuzco, with hearts so seared by fanaticism as to be
closed against sympathy with the unfortunate natives. *8 They
were, many of them, men of singular humility, who followed in the
track of the conqueror to scatter the seeds of spiritual truth,
and, with disinterested zeal, devoted themselves to the
propagation of the Gospel. Thus did their pious labors prove
them the true soldiers of the Cross, and showed that the object
so ostentatiously avowed of carrying its banner among the heathen
nations was not an empty vaunt.


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