Page:Mexico as it was and as it is.djvu/175

130 it anew in every temple, whence it was again distributed to the dwellings of the people.

"When the sun arose above the horizon on the succeeding day, the shouting and joy were renewed by the people in the city, toward which at that moment the priests and crowd took up the line of returning march. It was the restoration of their gods to their deserted shrines!

"The imprisoned women were immediately released; the whole population clad themselves in new garments; the temples were purified and whitened, and everything that was requisite for domestic comfort, splendor or necessity, was renewed under the promise of renewed life and protection from the gods."

There is scarcely a country of the world, in which there are not or have not been traces of this adoration of the sun, the great source of life, light, fruition, and beauty; and, among the brutal rites of the Mexican priesthood, it is gratifying to observe a festival like this which has in itself something natural and dramatic.