Conquest of Mexico
thousands of years distant from each other, which have swept away the races then existing, and given a new aspect to the globe.
Page 40 (1).—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva España, lib. 3, Apend.—Cod. Vat., ap. Antiq. of Mexico, Pl. 1–5.—Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 13, cap. 48. The last writer assures us, "that, as to what the Aztecs said of their going to hell, they were right; for, as they died in ignorance of the true faith, they have, without question, all gone there to suffer everlasting punishment!" Ubi supra.
Page 40 (2).—It conveys but a poor idea of these pleasures, that the shade of Achilles can say "he had rather be the slave of the meanest man on earth, than sovereign among the dead" (Odyss. A. 488–490). The Mahometans believe that the souls of martyrs pass, after death, into the bodies of birds, that haunt the sweet waters and bowers of Paradise. (Sale's Koran [London, 1825], vol. i. p. 106.)—The Mexican heaven may remind one of Dante's in its material enjoyments; which, in both, are made up of light, music, and motion. The sun, it must also be remembered, was a spiritual conception with the Aztec:—
"He sees with other eyes than theirs; where they
Behold a sun, he spies a deity."
Page 40 (3).—It is singular that the Tuscan bard, while exhausting his invention in devising modes of bodily torture, in his Inferno, should have made so little use of the moral source of misery. That he has not done so might be reckoned a strong proof of the rudeness of the time, did we not meet with examples of it in a later day; in which a serious and sublime writer, like Dr. Watts, does not disdain to employ the same coarse machinery for moving the conscience of the reader.
Page 40 (4).—Carta del Lic. Zuazo (Nov., 1521), MS.—Acosta, lib. 5, cap. 8.—Torquemada Monarch. Ind., lib. 13, cap. 45.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva España, lib. 3, Apend. Sometimes the body was buried entire, with valuable treasures, if the deceased was rich. The "Anonymous Conqueror," as he is called, saw gold to the value of 3000 castellanos drawn from one of these tombs.—Relacione d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. p. 310.
Page 40 (5).—This interesting rite, usually solemnised with great formality, in the presence of the assembled friends and relatives, is detailed with minuteness by Sahagun (Hist. de Nueva España, lib. 6, cap. 37), and by Zuazo (Carta MS.), both of them eye-witnesses. For a version of part of Sahagun's account, see Appendix, Part 1. No. 1.
Page 42 (1).—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva España, lib. 2, Apend.; lib. 3, cap. 9.—Torquemada Monarch. Ind., lib. 8, cap. 20; lib. 9, cap. 3, 56.—Gomara, Crón., cap. 215, ap. Barcia, tom. ii.—Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 4. Clavigero says that the high-priest was necessarily a person of rank. (Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 37.) I find no authority for this, not even in his oracle, Torquemada, who expressly says, "There is no warrant for the assertion, however probable the fact may be." (Monarch. Ind., lib. 9, cap.5.) It is contradicted by Sahagun, whom I have followed as the highest authority in these matters. Clavigero had no other knowledge of Sahagun's work than what was filtered through the writings of Torquemada, and later authors.
Page 42 (2).—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva España, lib. 1, cap. 12; lib. 6, cap. 7. The address of the confessor, on these occasions, contains some things too remarkable to be omitted. "O merciful Lord," he says, in his prayer, "thou who knowest the secrets of all hearts, let thy forgiveness and favour descend, like the pure waters of heaven, to wash away the stains from the soul. Thou knowest that this poor man has sinned, not from his own free will, but from the influence of the sign under which he was born." After a copious exhortation to the penitent, enjoining a variety of mortifications and minute ceremonies by way of penance, and particularly urging the428
