Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/467

Rh if this were refused they would forcibly remove the idols and kill the priests who resisted. "Malinche," exclaimed the monarch in alarm, "do you then seek the destruction of the city? Our gods are incensed against us, and the people imbittered. Even your lives will not be safe. Wait, I entreat you, till I call the priests for consultation."

Cortés saw that nothing more could then be attained, but with the indiscreet zeal for religion which often blinded him he determined that there should be no further delay. He apprehended no uprising among a people which had so patiently submitted to all exactions, yet he feared that the priests, if warned, might prevent an entry into the temple, and so he resolved to anticipate them, and to demonstrate the impotency of their gods. Giving orders for a strong force to follow after a short interval, he went forward with hardly a dozen men in order not to arouse suspicion. Entering the sanctuary, and finding that he could not draw aside the costly curtain with its golden pellet fringe which shielded the bejewelled idols from profane gaze, he had it cut asunder. The reason for the obstruction now became apparent. The idol showed traces of fresh human blood. At this evidence of broken promises and disregarded orders Cortés began to rave. "Oh God!" he cried, "why dost thou permit the devil to be thus honored in this land? Let it appear good that we serve thee."

Turning to the temple attendants, who had followed with apprehensive mien, he upbraided them for their blind adherence to a bloody worship, and compared the evil of idolatry with the saving rites of Christianity. He was determined, he said, to remove the idols and install an image of the virgin. They