PAPERS OF MmAnEA.o BooNAPAnTE Luu.n 89 In momentary expectation of a reply to mine by Padillo, I have de- tained your express longer than I otherwise should, that I might ac- knowledge the receipt of it; but it has not arrived, and I shall now dispatch them. God and Liberty Yours Respectfully P. DIMITT r Addressed : l To .Gen. Stephen F. Austin Com. in Ch. of the Army of the People Head Quarters. [Endorsed:] Captn. P. Dimits letter Octr. 19th. ~o. 285. CONQUEST AND PROGRESS OF :MEXICO. LA~IAR [Richmond, Texas• 1835 ?] At the time Cortez invaded :Mexico, this vast and populous City sit- uated in the midst of a Lake, exhibited not the evidences of a savage and harberous race but on the Contrary the appearance of a people ndvanced in useful arts, govt. & Religion-:Mexico the city Capital of the Empire would bear a comparison with many cities of the most civilized nations- Its buildi[n]gs were of stone, erected with archi- tecurnl ski11, combin[in]g strength beauty & magnifisence, and few palaces of O:uy potentate of that period could vie in richness and splen- dor the palaces of :Montazuma. They knew, (but how they acquired the knowledge no one knows) "that the year was composed of 365 days" (the ,Julian year) They were a war-like people, hut fought with bows & arrows. Knowing nothing of gunpowder, they were easily subdued by it & fell a prey to the avaricious & cruel invaders- Tho' the mexicans could number troop:; as 11umerous as the leaves that strew the vale of Valentroria, they could not withstand the Spanish thunder, and the Horses which they had never before seen- Cortez after taking l\lontazoma the King, prisoner, soon became master of the country. The wealth caused tides of spanish emigration into the l'Ountry; and the intermariages be- twen spainish settlers nnd the natives, produced the present race of people called mexicans- Th~. Castillian language became the lan- guage of the Country; and the country a province of Spain under the name of Old :Mexico, to distinguish it from the provinces which were subsequently discovered and now known as New Mexico, among which Texas is a part- I have no books to refer to at this moment, but if I remember aright the invasion & r-ubjugation of ilexico was in the 16 century. It is uselesr- to my present purpose to pursue the history of the countfrh down to the period of which I propose to speak; suffice it to say that out of the conquest of that count[rJy & its connection with Spain, sprung the present rnce of people known as ~fE>xicans. They hnve always been suhject to Spanish authority from the days of Cortez down to the period of their revolution in ]821_. when they threw off the Spanish yoke and were recognized by civilized nations as an inclcp<.>rnlcnt people- 'l'he Spaniards pouring into )fE>xico, gave their laws & language to the countfr ]y, and intermaria~in_g with the nntivE'f;, the original chnr- a<·f <'r of the nati,·es was g-radually changed, and a new race of men
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