The Massachusetts Spy, And Worcester County Advertiser

"I cannot conclude this sketch of the population of Mexico, without remarking upon one great advantage which New Spain enjoys over her neighbors, both to the north and south, in the almost total absence of a pure African population. The importation of slaves into Mexico was always inconsiderable, and their number in 1793 did not exceed 6,000. Of these many have died, many have been manumitted, and the rest quitted their masters in 1810, and sought freedom in the ranks of the Independent army—so that I am, I believe, justified in stating, that there is now hardly a single slave in the central portion of the republic. In Texas, (on the northern frontier,) a few have been introduced by the North American settlers; but all further importations are prohibited by law, and provision has been made for securing the freedom of the offspring of the slaves now in existence."—Ward's Mexico.