" For
it does appear to us, that, if a great historical question is to be
opened,--if a series of extraordinary events, hitherto believed by the
world to have really happened, are to be denounced as fabulous,--if
numerous writers, whose statements and relations have been regarded
in the main as worthy of credit, are now to be rejected as liars
and impostors,--it is indispensable that the works containing these
relations should be carefully examined, that the statements should be
compared and subjected to the severest scrutiny, and that the refutation
should proceed, step by step, inch by inch, over the whole field of
debate. Has Mr. Wilson taken this course? Has he met with clear and
resolute argument the accounts which he denounces as "fabrications"? Has
he diligently and carefully examined the "standard Spanish authorities"?
Has he "conned musty folios innumerable"? Has he read all the works in
question? _Has he ever seen them?_
We may divide these works into three classes,--not with reference to
their different degrees of merit and importance, but as regards their
accessibility and the relative ease with which they may be consulted.
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