Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/211

 teftimonies of Spamfo writers,. 199

prayers and fading : but to blacken him, and excufe their own diabolical butcheries, they affert he offered human facrifkes at the fame time to abo minable and frightful idols. But the facrifices with morejuftice may be attributed to the Spaniards than to the Mexicans as their narratives alfo are a facrifice of truth itfelf. Montezuma and his people's fadings, prayers, &c. were doubtlefs the lame with thofe of the northern Indians, who on particular occafions, by feparate failings, ablutions, purgations, &c. feck to fanctify themfelves, and fo avert the ill effects of the divine anger, and regain the favour of the deity.

They write, that the Mexicans offered to one of their gods, a facrifice compounded of fome of all the feeds of their country, grinded fine, and mixed with the blood of children, and of facrificed virgins ; that they plucked out the hearts of thofe vidims, and offered them as firft-fruits to the idoij and that the warriors imagined, the lead relic of the facrifice would preferve them from danger. They foon afterwards tell us of a tem ple of a quadrangular form, called Teucall^ " God's houfe," and Chacal- mua, " a minider of holy things," who belonged to it. They likewife fpeak of " the hearth of God, the continual fire of God, the holy ark," &c. If we cut off the jefuitical paintings of the unnatural facrifice, the red is confonant to what hath been obferved, concerning the North Ame rican Indians. And it is very obvious, the North and South American Indians are alike of vindictive tempers, putting mod of their invading enemies that fall into their power to the fiery torture. The Spaniards looking upon themfelves as divine embaffadors, under the imperial fig- nature of the HOLY LORD of Rome,, were exceffively enraged againd the fimple native South-Americans, becaufe they tortured forty of their captivated people by reprifal, devoting them to the fire, and ate their hearts, according to the univerfal war-cudom of our northern Indians, on the like occafion. The Spanilh terror and hatred on this account, their pride, religious bigotry, and an utter ignorance of the Indian dialects,

rites, and cudoms, excited them thus to delineate the Mexicans;

and equally hard names, and unjud charges, the bloody members of their diabolical inquifition ufed to bedow on thofe pretended here tics, whom they gave over to be tortured and burnt by the fecular power. But it is worthy of notice, the Spanifh writers acknowledge that the Mexicans brought their human facrifices from the oppofite fea ; and did not offer, up any of their own people: fo that this was but the fame

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