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206 he was informed that the Christians would no longer hold their worship in secret; they must have the use of the great temple. They wished to erect a cross on its lofty top and in the sight of all Mexico offer adoration to the one true God. Cortez writes that he then went with his men to the great temple, pulled down the idols by force, cleansed the foul and blood-stained shrines and mounted the saints therein, administering all the while a solemn lecture on the sin of idolatry. To do Cortez justice, however, he made quite a scriptural statement of his belief when Montezuma threatened him with the vengeance of his gods: "I answered through the interpreters that they were deceived in expecting any favor from idols, the work of their own hands, and that they must learn that there was but one God, the universal Lord of all, who had created the heavens and the earth, and all things else. He was without beginning and immortal, and they were bound to adore and believe him and no other creature or thing. I said everything I could to divert them from their idolatries and draw them to a knowledge of our Lord."

This last sacrifice of principle was too much for the Aztecs, who had borne all other innovations with comparative patience. Even the meek-spirited Montezuma told Cortez that the people could not be held in check much longer; the white men had better go while they could. Cortez received the chief's suggestion very quietly, replying that he was quite willing to leave the country immediately but for one thing: he could not go without ships, and those in which he came were now at the bottom of the sea. Others must be built, and of course that would take time. Montezuma answered that if this was all that hindered the Spaniards from going he