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BooK
VII.
Royal
Commentarie:r.
nnro their Subje&, and not be beholding to the Tongue of another; believing
alfo
that their Subje& with much more chearfulnefs received the grarious
S~ches
of their Prince from his own mouth, than when they were conveyed
to them by the breath of their Officers: but the chief Reafon and Ground of
this policy was in reference to foreign Nations, who for want ofcommon Speech
and Dialeet, were fubjetl: to mifunderll:andings, whence Enmities and cruel
Wars
arofe amongct them; for appealing which;· and reconciling thetr Affeetions, no–
thing feemed more P!obably conducing .than
a
communication
iil.
fpeech, where–
by all Mifuoder!landings nught be obvtated, and the People be induced to love
each other, as
if
they were of the fame Family and
Parentage~
With this arti–
fice the
InctU
reconciled different Nations in
a
fuiet
allianc~,
who had before been
divided
in
their Idolatry, Cuftoms and Manners of Living, and
fo
effectual hath
this Expedient been, that Nations who have hated each other, have thereby been
allured
into
amity and friend{hip by
it.
The which good
effeet
being obferved
by many Countries, who had not as yet.attained the happinefs of being Subjeets
to this Empire, was a means to invite them to the Study of
this
general Language
of
Couo;
the which they having learned, and thereby Nations
of
different
Tongues underfianding each other, their Affettions were reconciled by ir, being
£-om mortal Enemies become Confederates and Allies. Howfoever by this new
Government of the
Spani1trds
>
many of the Nations who affetted the
Co~
can
Tongue , have now forgotten
it,
the
which
Blllls Valera
,onfirms
in
thefe
words:
'' It
was the Command, fays he, of the
Incas,
that
all
Nations iliould
f
peak
«
the fame Language, though now
in
thefe days, by whofe fault
I
know not,
" the fame hath been lofi and forgotten in many
Provin~es;
the which hath
" pro
a great
interruption to
the
fpreading of the Gofpel,
which
hath much
" increafed
in
the adjacent parts of
Couo,
where that Tongue is ufed, and where
" that people are much more
civil>
and docible than in other
parts.
Thefe are
the words of
BlM f/alerA,
to which he adds
in
another
Chapre~
" That the
ge–
e'
neraI Language of Peru-ought not to
be
loft, but rather taught and kept up
" by
praetice amongft the people, fo that the Preachers of the Gof
pel
may have
" but one Tongue to learn , and not be forced for every Province to frudy a
" different
Speech, which would
be
a task and labour .not to
be
ov~rcome~
•
Kk~
·C H A
P.~
·.