On this page
-
Text (1)
-
_ . rp TT -p. T. w ABEE, t No - 278, Sat...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Spanish Conquest In America. The Spa...
702 ^_ . ~ ss == « 3 ? = » m 5 S 3 S ^ 33 S ^ SS 2 t 5 S S ? i » t various in construction that have ever been seen in any SSiSrSS ^ KS - S 2 r £ l 3 ££ SBr * 5 S ££ sefts * . . * - « <* <* m ^ »« . SS ^ H fe .. ? te * ss-f « st issss- ^^ s SSSac ^ , s ac «? 5 = 3 ?_ SSS to indul-e in praise or in needless description , says that no human tongue coma ^ nlata fb e CT ^ ndeur and the peculiarities of thi s temple . Cortes uses tie word SSS ^^ l - ^ SM '^^ SSMg M st ^ ss- £ = £ & rr ^ js ^ g ^ r ^ "dL ^» sHii ^«| WMsS = S ^^ L tS ^^^^^ pate the admiration which a traveller—if we may imagine one preceding Corteswould , ^ to this moment , have felt for Mexico . The temples and palaces , the polish ^ listenmgtowers , ^ he aviaries ,. the terraces , the gardens on the house-tops < man ^ oloured , foVthey were not like those at Damascus where only the rose and the jLminrwere to be seen ) ; in a word , the bright , Hvely , andL 1 ™* «« J J , have been forgotten in the vast disgust that would have filled ^ the mind of the Slder , wherFhe saw the foul , blood-besmeared idols with theL ^ ^ ^ "g ° ± hat day ' s victims lying before them , and the black-clothed , filthy , unkempt pne * ts - Su ^ tering-to these hideous compositions of paste and human blood . » Let the stern Cortes enter , " is the cry which the amazed spectator would have uttered ^ when he saw these horrors , and thought of the armed men who were coming to destroy them . Andret this conjunctioa . which was to be met with at Mexico , of beauty and horror , is no new thing , and something very like it may be discovered m other guise throughout the world ! Civilisation side by side with the uttermost horrors ! Such is the contrast-to be found in -the present age too ; and such , perhaps , in each of ourselves . -And so ,-with some feeling of pity , even for a nation of cruel and bloodthirsty idolaters , w 4 may-contemplate the arrival of the Avenger as he makes his entry into * Mearico . Tke second shall "be from the visit paid by Cortes to the Temple of the War ^ CrOt Lin . eainpaay with Montezuma : — { This Tequest Montexuma granted with apparent pleasure . But , for fear lest the Spaniards should do any dishonour to his gods , as they had done in the provinces , he resolved to go himself to the temple ; and accordingly he repaired thither with his accustomed pomp . On their way , the Spaniards visited the great market-place , which , perhaps was the best means of learning , in a short time , the skill and riches of the people by whom thoy were surrounded . In this vast . area each kind of merchandise hod its own quarter , and it would be difficult to specify any . kind which was not to be seen thero . To begin with the noblest and the most shameful . merchandise , namely , that of human beings , there were as many to be found as " the negroes whom the Portuguese bnug from Guinea . Then every kind of eatable , every form of dress , medicines , perfumes , unguents , furniture , fruit , wrought gold and silver , lead , tin , brass , and copper , adorned the porticos and allured the passer-by . Paper , that great material of civilisation , was to be obtained in this wonderful emporium ; also every kind of earthenware , salt , wood , tobacco , -razors made of obsidian , dressed and undressed skins , cotton of all colours-in-skeins , painters ' colours , building materials , and manure ; wine , honey , w » x , charcoal , andHttle dogs . Convenience was well considered ; porters wore to be hired , and refreshments to be obtained . One carious thing , which Cortes noticed , was , that every commodity was sold by number or by measure , and not by weight . With regard to the regulations under which this vast bazaar was held , it may be noticed that the Mexicans had arrived at that point of civilisation , where fraud is frequant rn-the sale of goods ; but , superior even to ourselves in , this day , they had a counterpoise to this in a body of officers called judges , who Bat in a court-house on the-spot , and before -whom all causes and matters relating to the market wero tried , and < yrho commanded the delinquents to be punished . Thero were also office ™ who wentcontinually about the market-place , watching what was sold , and the measures which were used . When they found a false one , they broke it . This market was ho much frequented , that the busy hum-of all "the buying and selling might bo heaTd for a league off . Amongsfthe Spaniards there were soldiers-who had served In Italy and in'Che ( Bast ; and'tliey said , that a market-place so skilfully laid out , so largo , so -troll'managed , and-no full of people , -they had never seen . In considering the list of « ommoftities-which woroto be sold there , and which may serve to make life tolerable , I note only three deficiencies—* bllls of exchange , newspapers , and books ; but anyone of those things indicates a civilisation of a higher order than the Mexican , and was reserved for some of the -steadiest and subtlest thinkers of the great racoa of the Krom the -market-place the'Spariinrasmaved on towards the temple , or to -what , as before noticed , might have 'been justly called the nacred city , ftrr oven oro they veschod'the great enclosure , 'they came upon < urart 8 -and enclosures , which , doubtless , were the precincts of tho temple , and must have boon in some way connected -with fta nttribsfcrations . 'At last they reached'the pdllshetl wrrraco of tho groat court , wfcere a & ttnren 'a -nttmir ' or any porticlo of dhrt -rraa amTorod to remain . Amidst all
•^ s SSSSSt ^^^ ^^^ ^ XZ ^ SS = T ^ STEi K ^ ber , or . hapel , if wo „ ,, tTtt ; r ^ r ^^ temp k- BuTcortes replied fhat "he and his men were never tir ? hen th ^ K ^ took Cortes by the hand , and bade him look down upon the great inentne jviii o ^ iuu ^ ^ * . . th bor jer of the lake—those beautiful city , and upon the jarroanjng ¦ utu * " ^ fc Mcxkso > Corte 3 ? nowo doPs Sot tTui luy 1 Kt ° o f ue beauS and wonders which wero to bo seen in this view ? rom the suuiu it of the temple . It is the inherent curse of politic and foreseeing menthat th ™" enjoy , and even recognise , tho present so much less thau other men do The common soldiers looked down and gazed in all directions , noticing thimnles the omtories , the little towers , the floating garden , and those light an . l temples , tlie oraxor especially to be seen in the surrounding towns . gw ? the , that ^ a murn 7 ur n | tXaroJe amongst them about Rome and Constantino ,, ! , and all hat each L had seen of what was denied , till this moment , most beautiful ui the world Bui , as Cortes looked down , what other thought * were his ! A yon snelks rf " the cloudy foreheads of the great" The child and the rustic , in snu , 4 , envy of those above then , who seem to them all-powerful , little dream of the coinmandinVcares and hungry anxieties which beset the man who baa undertaken t ., Sav nv considerable part in the world . And , if ever there was a man who had undertaken a great part , without rehearsal , it was Cortes . The multitude of people lStoaX , Wlucll enlivened the beautiful prospect in the eyes of the con . ! , u . n BoUte * afforded matter of most serious concern to the man who Lad to « ive orders for the next step in this untrodden wilderness of act . on . tycii the hum of the marketplace was 1 no pleasant murmur in his ears , for he could readily translate , t into the fierce cries of thousands of indignant warriors . It is often hapm- for us that we do not know the thoughts of those who stand by us , or perLTps on ^ his occasion , the lofty politeness of the sovereign ami the warr . or mi-ht have changed into an instant death-struggle as to which of them should bo Wed doXn first from that platform , and complete the sacrifice of that eventful day . Cortes in whom Policy then only slumbered when Religion spoke to him , said u , Father doOlmedo , "It appears-to me that we should just make a trial of Montezama tfhe would let us set up our church here ? " TLe wiser priest replied , that it would be verv well to make that request if there were any likelihood of ite beuig succc ^ ful , bu 7 tnat the present did not appear to him the time for making it , nor did he see in MorteLna the humour to grant it . Upon this Cortes abandoned the idea and merely asked the King to allow the Spaniards to see his gods , lo this Montczuma . after having consulted hia priests , consented ; and the Spaniards entered those drca-1 ab TlSre f is a family Ukencss in all idols ; aud , when the Spaniards had advanced within the little tower where the hall of the " god of war" was they found two hideous creatures seated On an altar and under a canopy , large and bulky figures , the one representing Huitzilopoahtli and the other Tezcatlipuk . The god of war had a broad face , wide mouth , and terrible eyes . He was covered with gold , pearls aud precious stones ; and was girt about with golden serpents . In one hand he held a bow in the other arrows . A little idol , his page , stood by him , hiding a lance and a eolden « hield . On Haitzilopochtli ' s neck , a fitting ornament , were the faces of nieii wrought in silver , and their hearts in gold . Close by were braziers with incense , iinl on the braziers three real hearts of men who had that day been sacrificed . All around , the walls were black with clotted blood . On the left hand of the god of war was Tezcatlipuk , with a countenance like that or a bear , and with mirrors for eyes . A string of little demons encircled his waist . Five human hearts , of men that day sacrificed , were burning before this idol . A third false deity , the " deity of increase , " made half woman , half crocodile , giMea and jewelled like the rest , was to be seen , not in the same room with Iluitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipuk , but , as it were , inniched above , in a recess that was formed in tho highest part of the tower . . . . . In this recess , too , the vails and tho altar on which tho idol stood were covered witli blood . The smell of the great hall had been like that of some slaughter-house ; but in the recess , the crowning horror of this accursed place , the detestable odour was so overpowering , that tho only thought of the Spaniards who had ascended into this part of tho building was how most quickly to get out of it . Here was a great drum made ot serpents' skins , which , when struck , gave forth n molancholy hideous sound ; and hen : were instruments of sacrifice , nml many hearts of men . It might be prudent , or it might not be prudent , but Cortes must give sonic- utterance to his feelings ; and we may well wonder at tho reserve with which he Hpoko , rather than at his being able to refrain no longer . With a smile lie said , " I do not know , my Lord Montezunm , how ho great a King and so learned a man as you aro , can have avoided to perceive ( literally , should not have collected in your thought . *) that those idols of youre aro not gods , but evil things which nre called dovils ; ' « n < l that you and all your priests nmy be satisfied of this , do mo tho favour not to tnkt * it ill that we should put in the lofty recess of thin tower a crosn , and then in tho liall where your deities Iluitzilopochtli and Tctzcatlipuk urc wo will make a compartment where wo may put an imago of Our Lady ( th > a Montezuma bad already scon ) , und you will behold tho foar which those idols that keep you in delusion have of it . " But Montezuma and his priests wore troubled and grieved nt these words , and tin * King said , " My Lord TVIalinchd , if youbeliovo that it is your business to einy such dishonouruble things as you have said of my gods , I will not show tlicin to you . We hold them for very good gods , and they give us health and rain , harvests and Jiim weather , victories , and whatever wo desire ; it i » out buttincas to ndoro them , and to sacrifice unto them . I must request of you that no more words bo uttered to their dishonour . " To this speech , and to tho alteration of aspect in tho King , which Cortes noticed with tho swift appreciation of a courtior , tho Spaniard with an apparently gay countenance replied , "It is time that Your Highness and wo should go . " To this Montozuma answered that it was well , but that for bin part hv . must stay bohind , to pray and muko sacrifice * for tho nhi ho had committed in permitting the ¦ Spaniards to ascend tho great tomplo , and for his having boon the causo of injurious words having been uttered against his godn . Upon this , Cortes , with all duo courtesy , took loavo j and tho Spaniards , descending with dllUculty tho dcop stops of tho temple , marched back to their quarters , sickened , saddened , and somewhat enlightened ob to the nature of tho mont by whom they were surrounded . Coming into tho light of day , hearing tho bu « y tumult of tho markot-i ' tlnco and tlio merry-noise of children playing In tho nun j then catching bright gHmpHOBof tho water , antl looking at tho unnunibored boats which piled along tho streets ; all that they limi
_ . Rp Tt -P. T. W Abee, T No - 278, Sat...
_ . rp TT -p . T . w ABEE , t No - 278 , Satturpat , - —
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), July 21, 1855, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21071855/page/18/
-