As he was born towards the end of the first century of the Spanish domination when the two civilizations and peoples were fairly blended he got the fullest education that New Spain could afford. He was, as in his book he has occasion to mention, reared among the Indians, whose language, customs, and traditions he learned thoroughly. His studies were made at the Royal University of Mexico, in which he afterwards held different chairs of literature and science. Among his ecclesiastical and religious brethren he held, for more than thirty years, the position of Minister of Doctrine. Many fruitful labors are recorded of him; but, as things now appear, his greatest work was his elucidation and authentication of the Guadalupan history.
In writing he repeatedly feels called on to give his credentials; "not" as he ingeniously states, "to magnify his own littleness, but to give sufficient reason for what he is affirming and certifying." Having mentioned his various opportunities and obligations of learning thoroughly the native language, oral and written, he naively remarks: "To which may be added the more than common acquaintance I have with other languages, such as Latin, Tuscan, and Portuguese, as well as enough to read, write, and pronounce the Greek and Hebrew tongues."
As a redactor, Tanco certainly inspires confidence. Contemporary authorities, and his own writings, go to prove that he was a priest of the humblest piety, and, for the time, of very profound erudition. In his devout zeal he labored systematically, turning to account all the sources of tradition found among the Indians Having examined the maps and hieroglyphics, and listened to the various family chants, he was able to testify that this specially native evidence was in perfect accord with what the general public held concerning the Shrine and the Picture. He thus thoroughly verified and digested the beautiful Indian narrative.
When putting it into Spanish he held closely to the Mexican diction, both because he much revered the original, and because he had to swear to the authenticity of his version. It was the Apostolic Commission of 1667 that imposed the work on his willing zeal; and the ecclesiastical judges stood by, waiting to take his document as a sacred deposition.
With regard to the translation, Tanco complains of the difficulty of rendering the diffuse simplicity and affectionateness of the Indian speech into ordinary Castilian. But manifestly the difficulty is much greater in the case of our coldly masculine English. Yet I give the narrative word for word, in the belief that it will read none the less racy and authentic, for its divergence from our commoner modes of thought and expression.
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