49 / 1060
'
.
BooK
II.
Royal
Commentaries.
e:&aet
the feverity of it>
for
being
ordain~d
by
the
Wifedom of the
lncas,
and
the
concutrence of Wife men,
it
ought neither to
be
controlled, or rendred
rn<?te
equitable by the fenfe and praetice of particular Judges, who are capable of
be-
ing
corrupted, or overcome by favour or affedion to a party.
...
And though it may feem very barbarous and unreafonable
~hat
every offence
{hould be punilhed with Death, and that there iliould be no
differen~e
between
the
crimes of a higher, and the faults of a le!Ier nature; yet confidenng the be-,
nefit
which the Publick received thereby, and chat the Ev11s,, rather than
t~e
Per–
fons, were taken away;
fuch
a confiitution ought .not to be efieemed un1µfi
ot
irrational ·: For in regard that men naturally love hfe, and fear and abhor death,
they fiudioufiy fled from the appearance of any thing which
~ight
bring them
within the danger of
it;
fo
chat in all this great Empire, which retrches
1300
Leagues
in
length conft{Hng of divers Nations and Languages, we fcarce have
heara
in the
fpa~e
of
a
wliole year,
fo
m~ch
as
of the
punifhme~t.
of a
fmgle
perf
0
n: and to this
obedien~e
and fubmiffi?n to
La~,
the
o~m1on
of the
Sanilicy of it did much avail; an
d the ~elie~, t~at i~
was
deliv~red
by the
Sun
who was their God , and by
revelat.J.onmfp1red mto the mmds of the
Inell;
his
children;
fo
encreafed the
venerationand honour they had
for
it, that
none could be efreemed a breaker of the Law, but who
alfo
therewith
was
guilty
of
facrilege or violation of the holy and divine Sanltion. Hence
it
was,
that many finding a remorfe of confcience within themfelves,
in
fenfe of
fomtt
fe~ret
faults they had committed, have often, without accUfation, prefented them·
felves before the Tribunals of
J
ufiice, confeffing publickly their offences ; by rea·
fon
of which ,
difeafes, deaths and diftreffes had befallen their People and
Na..
tion ; and therefore defired that their lives might be offered to their God, as an
~iation,
and an attonement for their
fin.
This
fort
ofconfeffion was the ground
of the mifiake of certain
Sp1tnifh
Hillorians, who report that Auricular confeffion
wa
p
~ctifed
amongft the
Indi1tm;
whereas
I
am certain, that amongfl: tho e of
Peru,
(for
I
treat of no other)
_it
was never accufiomary
to
make other Confeffions,
than
fuch
as
were
publick.
No Appeals
(as we
have
faid)
were allowable
in any
~[e
whatfoever, for every people naving
its
proper Judge,
no
Procefs was to
COfi.!.
t!nue longer than five days before
it
was
finally determined : onely
in
obfcure and
dllficult
cafes the matter was brought before the Superiour.Governour, who
refi~
ded in the capital
City,
rather dian before the common Judge of the Province.
The Inferiour Judges rendred every month an account to their Superiours of all
the
Law
fuics which were brought before them, and of the Sentences they gave
in
the determination thereof; co the end, that they migbt fee and judge whether
true Sentence were given, and the Laws rightly adminifued. This information
:from one to another came
at
length
co
the
Inta
;
and
in
regard they were not as
yet arrived to the knowle-dge of Letters, they gave tbefe Informations 'to the
1~
cas
and
his
fupreme Council
by
way
of Knots of divers colours tied in a
filken
twill, the colours being as
fo
many cyphers, denoting the crimes they had
puni–
fhed, and the bignefs of them , and manner of making them up fignified that
~w
.which
was
executed
(as
we fhall hereafter more particularly declare) and
m
this manner by way of
Kn<?ts,
they kept all their accounts
fo
exaCl:ly, and fum–
med them up with fuch readmefs, that to the great admiration of the
Sp11,ni1trd.r~
~heir
.bell:
Arithmeticians could not exceed them.
·
.
It is an opinion,
and
held for a certain
~uth
amongft them, that there
never
was
I~a
of
~he Roy~l
B!oud that was puniihed, or that: any of them did ever
CJ;>mttut
~
cnme,
wh1c~
incurred the penalty
of
the
Law: Fqr that
the principles
they
rec~1ved
-from their Parents, the example of their Ancefiours, and the
c<dflt–
m?n_
belief
of the World, that they were the Progeny of the Sun, born to in•
~~
others, to doe good, and to refrain the people from Vice were confidera.-.
ttons that made fuch irnpreffions
in
them, that they were rather the ornamen6
.than
the
fcandal
of Government, difdaining to fioop to fuch bafe and
mean
atti–
~ns,
as
~ere
tranfgreffions of their Law : The trutn
is,
they wanted the tempta–
uons which others had to offend ; for neithei: the defue of women or richnefs
or
r~v(:nge
could be motives to them: For
in
cafe
any
one of
the~
entertained
ao
paffion
fo~
the Beauty of a Woman, it was but to fend for
her ;
and fi1e could
not be denied, nay rather her Parents would receive the propofal
with
humble
~knowled~ments>
that
th~
Inca
would vouchfafe co caft
hiS
~ye
on
his
handmaid
t
was
hlS
Slave.
The like may be
faid
as
to the defire
of
Wealth,
they
had
no
F
~
ueceffities-