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memorable by our great discoveries, by the fine arts of Italy, by the new sects of Germany, by the crimes of every country? The Portuguese, our neighbours, slaughtered the vanquished people on the coast of Malabar, on the shores of Ceylon, and in the peninsula of Malacca. The Dutch, who drove them out, were not less cruel, In Sweden, the Nero of the North* and the Archbishop of Upsal assassinated the senators and citizens of Stockholm. At London fires were lighted to burn the Protestants, and the Catholics; and the scaffold was raised on which the blood of four queens of England was to be shed. At Paris! You, doubtless, remember the name of the Guises, and the horrible night of the 24th of August, 1572! I will say no more. Let us cease to reproach each other; we were all barbarians. Let us leave to history the melancholy occupation of preserving the remembrance of the crimes of our ancestors; let us, if possible, recal to mind only their good actions; and let us frequently talk of those actions that we may be induced to imitate them. You have related to me the terrible events which occurred in the conquest of Peru; I was already but too well acquainted with them. Allow me, ir my turn, to inform you in what manner we obtained possession of Paraguay. This will be a less painful kind of narrative, and perhaps it will disclose to you some extraordinary circumstances, of which no mention is to be found in historians."

Not well knowing how to reply to this speech, I determined to lend an ear to the story of the Spaniard. He continued in the following manner :

"From the description which has been given of it by travellers, you know that extensive and beautiful country which is situated between Chili, Peru, and Brazil. The mines of gold and silver which it contains are the least of its riches. The mildest of climates, the most fertile of soils, noble rivers, immense forests, the productions of Europe joined to those of America, abundance of all kinds of fruits, and of all kinds of useful animals, enable the natives of Para* Christiern II. and Troll.

† Anna Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Jane Grey, and Mary Stuart.

guay to enjoy, almost without labour, the whole of those benefits which nature divides among the rest of the world. Sebastian Cabot, ascending the river called the Rio de la Plata, in 1526, was the first voyager who penetrated into this country. The bars of silver which the natives offered to the Spaniards, soon attracted other navigators. Buenos Ayres was built; some forts were erected in the interior; and a settlement was at length established at Assumption, on the river Paraguay.

"At the sight of our soldiers the natives quitted the country. The Guaranis, in particular, a numerous and powerful people, retired into inaccessible mountains, the roads of which were entirely unknown to us. Several detachments endeavoured to open a passage into these retreats: but our warriors perished either by hunger or by the shafts of the savages. There was no intercourse whatever between the Spaniards and the Guaranis. The lands remained in an uncultivated state, and the colony, being reduced to the necessity of drawing its subsistence from Europe, could not be brought into a prosperous condition.

"It was in this languishing situation, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, when Don Ferdinand Pedreras was sent out as its governor. His character was not of a kind to conciliate the Guaranis. Pedreras, haughty and despotic, wished to make every thing bend under his yoke. Jealously careful of his autho rity, and, above all, prompted by an eager desire to increase his fortune, his heart was filled with avarice and pride. He was soon hated by the colonists; and the few Indians who had hitherto supplied provisions, now speedily disappeared, and joined the Guaranis.

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66 Among the last missionaries who had arrived at Buenos Ayres was an old Jesuit, named Father Mal donado. Never was there a more worthy priest; never was the word of a God of mercy preached by purer lips. It was neither ambition nor remorse which led him to a cloister. Pious from his childhood, born with an amiable mind, which was ardent only for good, and desirons only of peace and virtue, Maldonado, that he might enjoy the one, and preserve the other, became a jesuit at the age of eighteen,

From that moment his life was spent in succouring the human race, and in seeking out the unfortunate with the same eagerness with which friends are sought for by an affectionate heart. Possessed of a considerable patrimony, which his family had left at his own disposal, he gradually exhausted it by sharing it with the distressed: he grew old in spreading his bounty; and when, at the age of sixty, he found that he had no longer any thing to bestow, he requested to be sent to America. I have no more to give,' said he, let me then quit a country where I must see those who are poor. In Peru every body has gold; but the Indians are destitute of the gospel, I will carry the gospel to them, and shall thus be the dispenser of the most valuable of all treasures.

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"When he arrived at Assumption, Father Maldonado was surprised to find, instead of Indians, whom he came to convert, only Christians who stood in need of consolation His zeal, however, was but the more excited. He hastened to visit the colonists; he succeeded in gaining their confidence; he listened to their complaints; he solaced their afflictions; and he became their advocate with the inflexible governor. The good jesuit was blessed by every one, and was respected even by Pedreras, who, after his arrival, began to act with greater mildness; for it is the nature of virtue, and perhaps its recompence, to render better every thing which approaches it.

"One day, when Maldonado was walking alone, along the bank of the river, at some distance from the city, he heard cries and sobs, and saw on the shore, a naked boy, who was manifesting all the signs of anguish over a man who was lying on the ground. Maldonado hastened to the spot. The child was about twelve or thirteen years old; his face was bathed in tears, and he sobbing embraced, raised with his feeble hands, and strove to warm by his kisses, the motionless body of a man who seemed to be between thirty and forty years of age, who was naked like the boy, soiled with slime, his hair drenched and in disorder, and his pallid coun tenance bearing the marks of long fatigue, and of a painful death.

"As soon as the boy saw the jesuit, he ran straight

to him, fell on his knees, clasped those of Maldonado, and, pressing them closely, and looking up to him with eyes which expressed filial piety, love, and despair, he uttered to him some broken words, which the jesuit did not understand, because he was ignorant of the language, but which did not the less inspire the compassion of the good father. He immediately raised the child, and allowed himself to be led towards the corpse, which he examined, touched, and found to be already stiff. The hapless boy looked attentively at the jesuit, watched all his motions, and continued to talk to him in his own language; but judging, at length, from the sad looks and the signs of Maldonado, that all hope was lost, he threw himself on the dead body, kissed it a thousand times, and then hastily jumping up, he ran to throw himself into the river.

"Notwithstanding his age, Maldonado, more quick and stronger than the boy, stopped his progress, and detained him in his arms. Forgetting that the young savage could not understand him, he strove to quiet him by consoling words. As he wept while he spoke, the child understood him, and returned his caresses, sometimes pointing to the corpse, and pronouncing the name of Alcaipa, and then pointing to the stream, and uttering the name of Guacolda. He laid his hand on his heart as he bent over Alcaipa; then stretched his arms towards the river, often repeating the word Guacolda. Maldonado, who tried to comprehend him, perfectly understood that the dead savage was the father of the boy, and that he was called Alcaipa; but he was at a loss to make out why the child turned so often to the river, and exclaimed "Guacolda'.

"After having for several hours fruitlessly tried to induce the boy to follow him to the city, Maldonado, who did not like to leave him, luckily saw a soldier passing by, and prevailed on him to go to Assumption, and obtain assistance. The soldier soon returned with the hospital surgeon, who examined the body, and agreed with the jesuit that life was extinct. In compliance with the request of Maldonado, the surgeon and the soldier dug a grave in the sand, and deposited in it the dead body, while the good father held the child, who redoubled his tears and cries.

"Maldonado at length succeeded in conducting home the young savage. He lavished on him the tenderest caresses, put food before him, and, with difficulty made him take a little nourishment. The boy seemed grateful for the kindness of Maldonado; he got up frequently to kiss his hands, gazed sorrowfully in his face, and then began once more to weep. He passed the night without closing his eyes. As soon as the day broke he expressed by signs his wish to go out. Maldonado went with him. The child bent his steps to the spot where his father was buried. When he reached it, he knelt on the grave, kissed it several times, and remained prostate there for a long while. He next knelt on the bank of the river, and performed the same ceremonies; then, returning to the jesuit, he raised his eyes to heaven, uttered in a melancholy voice the names of Alcaipa and of Guacolda, made a sign with his head that they no longer existed, and concluded by throwing himself into the arms of Maldonado, as if to tell him that, having lost all on earth, he resigned himself to his care.

"The affection of the youthful savage was soon won by the compassionate kindness of the good father. Not less sweet tempered than he was grateful, he delighted in obeying him; he endeavoured to find out what would please him, and that he immediately did. He consented to wear clothes; and, without much trouble, became reconciled to customs which he did not comprehend, and which were frequently repugnant to his ideas. But a single sign from his benefactor made every thing easy to him. Born with quick talents, and with an admirable memory, he speedily learned enough of Spanish to understand the Jesuit, and to be understood by him. The first word which he retained, and which struck him still more forcibly when he knew its meaning, was that of Father, which every body used when speaking to Maldonado. O my father!' said he to him, I did not hope ever to pronounce that name again, but I owe that happiness to you, and I see plainly that you must be the best of men, since every one calls you his father.'

"It was then that, being able to reply to the questions of the good Jesuit, he made him acquainted with

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