abundant light to the whole of the circumference. Under their auspices, the moral and philosophical sciences have, latterly, made an incredible progress, having found their way into all the schools, and thence diffused themselves rapidly into every order of the state. It is our earnest wish that this philosophical light may, by its permanence and efficacy, influence and ameliorate the common system of education. It is on that score alone, in the acceptation which embraces the whole extent of the kingdom, that Peru is in some measure defective. A good taste, urbanity, and a social disposition, are the hereditary qualities of every Peruvian.
We have thus fulfilled our promise, by giving an idea of Peru in general terms, not subject to a determinate point, either of history or of literature. It is a prefatory introduction; or, if we may be permitted to adopt the phrase, a leisure composition, which will give us a greater facility in treating of the different subjects that regard the kingdom of Peru, as they may occasionally present themselves to our notice.
VESTIGES OF THE
MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT PERU.
Scarcely does man begin to live, when every thing announces to him his approaching dissolution. The elements destined to his nourishment, conspire to his destruction; and the very globe he inhabits does not cease, by violent convulsions, to endeavour to shake off a load by which it seems to be oppressed. In the mean time, immortality is that which causes
