the mother country:[1] amongst the rest, rank, as originating in a closer, or more remote, connexion with the master colour, was the subject of contention. Whiteness of the skin was the general criterion of nobility; hence the expression so frequent in a quarrel, "es posible que se crea V. mas blanco que yo?" (Is it possible that you think yourself whiter than I am?) But the King reserved to himself the power of conferring the honours of whiteness upon any individual, of any class, which was done by a decree of the Audiencia, comprised in the words, "let him be considered as white;" (que se tenga por blanco)—and the greatest pains were taken to impress the people with the importance of these distinctions, which, in fact, amounted to a patent of nobility. For a long time they, certainly, had the effect of keeping the different mixed breeds at variance with each other; each was afraid of losing caste by an alliance with his inferior, while the white Creole, proud of the purity of his own blood, was supposed to look down upon the rest of his countrymen, with a contempt, very similar to that which was entertained by the old Spaniard for himself.
So prevalent was this feeling in 1803, that Humboldt, a most intelligent and philosophical observer, expresses his apprehensions that a Creole govern-
- ↑ Vide 4th Section of this Book.
