148 AN APPARENT ANOMALY. Some to think over and to realize to themselves the full horror of the accursed things which they had looked upon that day. Living in a Christian country and with every means of enlightenment, we feel it difficult to comprehend how so much civilization, or what looks very like it, could be found in company with barbarous human sacrifices; but this apparent anomaly is soon explained, when we come to look into some of the prime causes of movement in the human soul. In justice to the Mexicans, we should consider what can be said for them. We of this age must not share the blind sentiments of horror which occupied the minds of Cortes and his followers, and served to justify their subsequent proceedings. When we reflect upon the untoward, disastrous, and ridiculous aspect of human lifehow, for instance, little things done, or neglected to be done, in youth, have so fatal an influence throughout a life-time,-when we behold the success of iniquity, and contemplate the immense injustice, and the singular infelicity, which often beset the most innocent of men-nay, further, when we see the spitefulness of nature-for so it seems unless profoundly understood,-when we consider the great questions of human life, such as free will and the origin of evil, which are not explained now, but only agreed to be postponed in humble hopefulness, and which, in the earlier periods of the world's history, exercised to the full their malign discouragement, we cannot wonder at the belief in evil deities of great power and supremacy. And, then, what more natural than to clothe such deities with the worst attributes of bad men, and to suppose that they must be approached with servility, and appeased by suffering. Then, further, what more natural than to offer to such gods of the best upon earth, namely, our fellow men. It must not be forgotten that there was often a friendly feeling towards the persons sacrificed; and that in some cases they were looked upon as messengers to the gods, and charged with distinct messages. The idea of human sacrifice, as pleasing to the gods, being once adopted in moments of victory, doubt, or humiliation, is soon developed. The evil practice becomes a system, and partakes of the strength of all systems, taking root amongst the interests, the passions, and the pleasures of mankind; and, thenceforward, he will be a bold man, and, rarer still, an audacious thinker, not given to stop anywhere in thought, who shall lift himself above the moral atmosphere of his nation, and shall say, "This thing which all consent in, and which I have known from my youth upward, is wrong." Having thus stated something on behalf of the Mexicans, which does not however make the indignation of the Spanish soldiers less reasonable or natural, I take up the thread of the story, and return to the little garrison of Cortes in the midst of this splendid city of cruel and polite idolaters. I must call the attention of the reader to the fact, that a work which, for convenience, is constantly referred to in these pages as Lorenzana, is a collection of the letters of Cortes, made by Francisco Antonio Lorenzana, Archbishop of Mexico, and published, with maps and annotations of some value, in 1770. For an account of these letters, which, from their length, may more fitly be called despatches, see Stevens's "American Bibliographer." The first despatch is lost: the second contains the occurrences from 16th of July, 1519, to 30th of October, 1520; the third contains the occurrences from 30th of October, 1520, to 15th of May, 1522. The second and third despatches are those principally referred to in this biography. What course left for Cortes? CHAPTER V. Difficult position of Cortes-Capture of Montezuma. HE question as to what Cortes was to do next, was a most difficult one. If we put ourselves, in imagination, into his place, and lay down several plans of action, we shall find great difficulties inherent in any of them. Was he to play the part of an ambassador, and, after observing the nature of the country, and endeavouring to form some league of amity with the monarch, to return to Cuba or to Spain? He would but have returned to a prison or a grave; for the ambassadorial capacity which he assumed was a mere pretext. Was he to make a settlement in the country? For that purpose he must get safe out of Mexico, return through territories whose gods he had insulted, and whose people he had slaughtered, and |