CHAPTER XIII.
THE PORTUGUESE IN INDIA.
Son mui buenos Catolicos, pero mui malos Christianos;—They are very good Catholics, but nevertheless very bad Christians indeed.
Most of the countries in India have been filled with tyrants who prefer piracy to commerce—who acknowledge no right but that of power; and think that whatever is practicable is just.
Scarcely had Columbus made known the New World when the Portuguese, under Vasco de Gama, opened the sea-path to the East Indies. Those affluent and magnificent regions, which had so long excited the wonder and cupidity of Europe, and whose gems, spices, and curious fabrics, had been introduced overland by the united exertions of the Arabs, the Venetians, and Genoese, were now made accessible by the great highway of the ocean; and the Pope generously gave all of them to the Portuguese! The language of the Pontiff was like the language of another celebrated character to our Saviour, and founded on about as much real right: "All these kingdoms will I give unto thee, if thou wilt fall down
