6
Such was the singular compact by which three obscure individuals coolly
carved out and partitioned among themselves, an empire of whose
extent, power, and resources, of whose situation, of whose existence,
even, they had no sure or precise knowledge. The positive and
unhesitating manner in which they speak of the grandeur of this empire,
of its stores of wealth, so conformable to the event, but of which they
could have really known so little, forms a striking contrast with the
general skepticism and indifference manifested by nearly every other
person, high and low, in the community of Panama.7
The religious tone of the instrument is not the least remarkable feature in
it, especially when we contrast this with the relentless policy, pursued by
the very men who were parties to it, in their conquest of the country. "In
the name of the Prince of Peace," says the illustrious historian of
America, "they ratified a contract of which plunder and bloodshed were
the objects."8 The reflection seems reasonable. Yet, in criticizing what
is done, as well as what is written, we must take into account the spirit of
the times.9 The invocation of Heaven was natural, where the object of
the undertaking was, in part, a religious one. Religion entered, more or
less, into the theory, at least, of the Spanish conquests in the New World.
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