In very deed, the dead Tepollomi
Stood up against the wall, by devilish art
Preserv'd; and from his black and shrivell'd hand
The steady lamp hung down.

My spirit rose
At that abomination; I exclaim'd
Thou art of noble nature, and full fain
Would I in friendship plight my hand with thine:
But till that body in the grave be laid,
Till thy polluted altars be made pure,
There is no peace between us. May my God,
Who, though thou know'st him not, is also thine,
And after death will be thy dreadful Judge,
May it please Him to visit thee, and shed
His mercy on thy soul. . . But if thy heart
Be harden'd to the proof, come when thou wilt!
I know thy power, and thou shalt then know mine.

VII.

THE BATTLE.

Now then to meet the war! Erillyab's call
Roused all her people to revenge their wrongs;
And at Lincoya's voice, the mountain tribes
Arose and broke their bondage. I meantime
Took counsel with Cadwallon and his sire,
And told them of the numbers we must meet,
And what advantage from the mountain-straits
I thought, as in the Saxon wars, to win.
Thou saw'st their weapons then, Cadwallon said;
Are they like these rude works of ignorance,
Bone-headed shafts, and spears of wood, and shields,
Strong only for such strife?

We had to cope
With wiser enemies, and abler arm'd.
What for the sword they wielded was a staff
Set thick with stones athwart; you would have deem'd
The uncouth shape was cumbrous; but a hand
Expert, and practised to its use, could drive

The sharpen'd flints with deadly impulse down.
Their mail, if mail it may be call'd, was woven
Of vegetable down, like finest flax,
Bleach'd to the whiteness of the new-fallen snow,
To every bend and motion flexible,

Light as a warrior's summer-garb in peace;
Yet, in that lightest, softest, habergeon
Harmless the sharp stone arrow-head would hang.
Others, of higher office, were array'd

In feathery breast-plates of more gorgeous hue
Than the gay plumage of the mountain-cock,
Or pheasant's glittering pride. But what were these,

first month, a hundred slaves were sacrificed: this done, they pluckt off the skinnes of a certaine number of them, the which skinnes so many ancient persons put, incontinent, upon their naked bodies, all fresh and bloudy as they were fleane from the dead carcases. And being open in the backe parte and shoulders, they used to lace them, in such sort that they came fitte uponn the bodies of those that ware them and being in this order attired, they came to daunce among many others. In Mexico the King himself did put on one of these skinnes, being of a principall captive, and daunced among the other disguised persons, to exhalte and honour the feast; and an infinite number followed him, to behold his terrible gesture; although some hold opinion, that they followed him to contemplate hls greate devotion.

Or what the thin gold hauberk, when opposed
To arms like ours in battle? What the mail
Of wood fire-harden'd, or the wooden helm,
Against the iron arrows of the South,
Against our northern spears, or battle-axe,
Or good sword, wielded by a British hand?

Then, quoth Cadwallon, at the wooden helm,
Of these weak arms the weakest, let the sword
Hew, and the spear be thrust. The mountaineers,
So long inured to crouch beneath their yoke,
We will not trust in battle; from the heights
They with their arrows may annoy the foe;
And when our closer strife has won the fray,
Then let them loose for havoc.

O my son,
Exclaim'd the blind old man, thou counsellest ill!
Blood will have blood, revenge beget revenge,
Evil must come of evil. We shall win,
Certes, a cheap and easy victory

In the first field; their arrows from our arms
Will fall, and on the hauberk and the helm
The flint-edge blunt and break; while through their
Naked, or vainly fenced, the griding steel [limbs,
Shall sheer its mortal way. But what are we
Against a nation? Other hosts will rise
In endless warfare, with perpetual fights
Dwindling our all-too-few; or multitudes
Will wear and weary us, till we sink subdued
By the very toil of conquest. Ye are strong;
But he who puts his trust in mortal strength
Leans on a broken reed. First prove your power;
Be in the battle terrible, but spare

The fallen, and follow not the flying foe:
Then may ye win a nobler victory,

So dealing with the captives as to fill
Their hearts with wonder, gratitude, and awe,
That love shall mingle with their fear, and fear
'Stablish the love, else wavering. Let them see,
That as more pure and gentle is your faith,
Yourselves are gentler, purer. Ye shall be
As gods among them, if ye thus obey
God's precepts.

Soon the mountain tribes, in arms
Rose at Lincoya's call: a numerous host,
More than in numbers, in the memory
Of long oppression, and revengeful hope,
A formidable foe. I station'd them
Where at the entrance of the rocky straits,
Secure themselves, their arrows might command
The coming army. On the plain below
We took our stand, between the mountain-base

After the sacrifice ended, the owner of the slaves did carry their bodies home to their houses, to make of their fleshe a solemne feaste to all their friendes, leaving their heads and heartes t, the Priests, as their dutie and offering: and the skinnes were filled with cotton wool, or strawe, to be hung in the temple and kyng's palayce for a memorie."-Conquest of the Weast India.

"After the Inga Yupangui had successfully defended Cuzco against the Chancas, he had all of them who were slain skinned, and their skins stuffed and placed in various attitudes, some beating tambours, others blowing flutes, &c. in a large building which he erected as a monument for those who had fallen in defending the city."— Herrera, 5. 3. 12.

Soon

And the green margin of the waters.
Their long array came on. Oh what a pomp
And pride and pageantry of war was there!
Not half so gaudied, for their May-day mirth,
All wreathed and ribanded, our youths and maids,
As these stern Aztecas in war attire!

The golden glitterance, and the feather-mail,
More gay than glittering gold; and round the helm
A coronal of high upstanding plumes
Green as the spring grass in the sunny shower;
Or scarlet bright, as in the wintry wood
The cluster'd holly; or of purple tint,..
Whereto shall that be liken'd? to what gem
Indiadem'd,.. what flower,.. what insect's wing?
With war songs and wild music they came on,
We the while kneeling, raised with one accord
The hymn of supplication.

Front to front,

And now the embattled armies stood: a band
Of priests, all sable-garmented, advanced;
They piled a heap of sedge before our host,2
And warn'd us, .. Sons of Ocean! from the land
Of Aztlan, while ye may, depart in peace!
Before the fire shall be extinguish'd, hence !
Or, even as yon dry sedge amid the flame
So ye shall be consumed... The arid heap
They kindled, and the rapid flame ran up,
And blazed, and died away. Then from his bow,
With steady hand, their chosen archer loosed
The Arrow of the Omen. 3 To its mark

1 Gomara thus describes the Tlascallan army: "They were trimme felowes, and wel armed, according to their use, although they were paynted so, that their faces shewed like divels, with great tuffes of feathers and triumphed gallantry. They had also slinges, staves, speares, swordes, bowes, and arrowes, skulles, splintes, gantlettes, all of wood, gilte, or else covered with feathers, or leather; their corslets were made of cotton woole, their targettes and bucklers, gallant and strong, made of woode covered with leather, and trimmed with laton and feathers; theyr swordes were staves, with an edge of flint stone cunningly joyned into the staffe, which would cutte very well, and make a sore wounde. Their instruments of warre were hunters' hornes, and drummes, called attabals, made like a caldron, and covered with vellum."- Conquest of the Weast India.

In the inventory of the treasure which Grijalva brought from his expedition are, a whole harness of furniture for an armed man, of gold thin beaten; another whole armour of wood, with leaves of gold, garnished with little black stones; four pieces of armour of wood, made for the knees, and covered with golden leaf. And among the presents designed for the king, were five targets of feathers and silver, and 24 of feathers and gold, set with pearls, both curious and gallant

to behold.

2" When the Spaniards discovered Campeche, the Indians heaped up a pile of dry sedge, and ranged themselves in troops. Ten Priests then came from a temple with censers and copal, wherewith they incensed the strangers; and then told them by signs to depart, before that pile, which they were about to kindle, should be burnt out. The pile was immediately lighted; the Priest withdrew without another word or motion, and the people began to whistle and sound their shells. The Spaniards were weak, and many of them wounded, and they prudently retired in peace."- Bernal Diaz, 3.

At the sacring of the Popes, when the new-elected Pope passeth (as the manner is) before St. Gregory's chapel, the Master of the Ceremonies goeth before him, bearing two dry

The shaft of divination fled; it smote Cadwallon's plated breast; the brittle point Rebounded. He, contemptuous of their faith, Stoopt for the shaft, and while with zealous speed To the rescue they rushed onward, snapping it Asunder, toss'd the fragments back in scorn.

Fierce was their onset; never in the field Encounter'd I with braver enemies. Nor marvel ye, nor think it to their shame, If soon they stagger'd, and gave way, and fled, So many from so few; they saw their darts Recoil, their lances shiver, and their swords Fall ineffectual, blunted with the blow. Think ye no shame of Aztlan that they fled, When the bowmen of Deheubarth plied so well Their shafts with fatal aim; through the thin gold Or feather-mail, while Gwyneth's deep-driven spears 4 Pierced to the bone and vitals; when they saw The falchion, flashing late so lightning-like, Quench'd in their own life-blood. Our mountaineers Shower'd from the heights, meantime, an arrowy storm, Themselves secure; and we who bore the brunt Of battle, iron men, impassable, Stood in our strength unbroken. Marvel not If then the brave felt fear, already impress'd That day by ominous thoughts, to fear akin; For so it chanced, high Heaven ordaining so, The King, who should have led his people forth, At the army-head, as they began their march,

reeds, at the end of the one a burning wax candle tied, and at the end of the other a handfull of flax, the which he setteth on fire, saying, with a loud voice, Pater Sancte, sic transit gloria mundi.'"- Camerarius.

3 "The Tlaxcaltecas had two arrows, which they regarded with great reverence, and used to augur the event of a battle. Two of their bravest Chiefs were to shoot them at the enemy, and recover them or die. If the arrow struck and wounded, it was held an omen that the fight would be prosperous; but if they neither struck, nor drew blood, the army retired.Torquemada, i. 34.

This is more] particularly noticed by Gomara. "In the warres the Tlascallans use their standerde to be carried behynde the army; but when the battyle is to be fought, they place the standerde where all the hoste may see it; and he that commeth not incontinent to hys ancient, payeth a penaltie. Their standerde hath two crossbow arrowes set thereon, whiche they esteeme as the relikes of their ancestors. Thys standerde two olde soldiers, and valiant menne, being of the chiefest Captaynes, have the charge to carrie; in the which standerde, an abusion of southsaying, eyther of losse or victory, is noted. In this order they shote one of these arrowes against the first enemies that they meete; and if with that arrowe they do eyther kill or hurte, it is a token that they shall have the victorie; and if it neyther kill nor hurte, then they assuredly believe that they shall lose the field."- Conquest of the Weast India.

4" Sunt autem his in partibus (Ardudwy) lanceæ longissima: sicut enim arcu prevalet Sudwallia, sic lanceis prævalet Venedotia, adeo ut ictum hic lancea cominus datum ferrea lorica tricatura minime sustineat." - Giraldus Cambrensis.

Thus also Trevisa, in his lame rhymes:

"The south hete Demecia,
And the other Venedocia
The first shoteth and arowes beres,
That other dealeth all with spere.

Polycronicon.

Was with sore sickness stricken; and the stroke
Came like the act and arm of very God,
So suddenly, and in that point of time.

A gallant man was he, who in his stead,
That day commanded Aztlan: his long hair,
Tufted with many a cotton lock, proclaim'd
Of princely prowess many a feat achieved
In many a field of fame. Oft had he led
The Aztecas, with happy fortune, forth;
Yet could not now Yuhidthiton inspire

His host with hope: he, not the less, that day,
True to his old renown, and in the hour
Of rout and ruin with collected mind,
Sounded his signals shrill, and in the voice
Of loud reproach and anger, and brave shame,
Call'd on the people... But when nought avail'd,
Seizing the standard from the timid hand
Which held it in dismay, alone he turn'd,
For honourable death resolved, and praise
That would not die. Thereat the braver chiefs
Rallied, anew their signals rung around,
And Aztlan, seeing how we spared her flight,
Took heart, and roll'd the tide of battle back.
But when Cadwallon from the chieftain's grasp
Had cut the standard-staff away, and stunn'd
And stretch'd him at his mercy on the field,
Then fled the enemy in utter rout,
Broken and quell'd at heart. One chief alone
Bestrode the body of Yuhidthiton;
Bareheaded did young Malinal bestride
His brother's body, wiping from his brow
With the shield-hand the blinding blood away,
And dealing franticly with broken sword
Obstinate wrath, the last resisting foe.
Him, in his own despite, we seized and saved.

Then in the moment of our victory,
We purified our hands from blood, and knelt,
And pour'd to heaven the grateful prayer of praise
And raised the choral psalm. Triumphant thus
To the hills we went our way; the mountaineers
With joy, and dissonant song, and antic dance;
The captives sullenly, deeming that they went
To meet the certain death of sacrifice,
Yet stern and undismay'd. We bade them know
Ours was a law of mercy and of love;

We heal'd their wounds, and set the prisoners free.
Bear ye, quoth I, my bidding to your King;
Say to him, Did the stranger speak to thee
The words of truth, and hath he proved his power?
Thus saith the Lord of Ocean, in the name
Of God, Almighty, Universal God,

Thy Judge and mine, whose battles I have fought,
Whose bidding I obey, whose will I speak ;
Shed thou no more in impious sacrifice
The life of man; restore unto the grave
The dead Tepollomi; set this people free,
And peace shall be between us.

On the morrow Came messengers from Aztlan, in reply. Coanocotzin with sore malady

Hath, by the Gods, been stricken: will the Lord
Of Ocean visit his sick bed?.. He told

Of wrath, and as he said, the vengeance came :
Let him bring healing now, and 'stablish peace.

VIII.

THE PEACE.

AGAIN, and now with better hope, I sought
The city of the King! there went with me
Iolo, old Iolo, he who knows

The virtue of all herbs of mount or vale,
Or greenwood shade, or quiet brooklet's bed;
Whatever lore of science, or of song,

Sages and Bards of old have handed down.
Aztlan that day pour'd forth her swarming sons,
To wait my coming. Will he ask his God
To stay the hand of anger? was the cry,
The general cry,.. and will he save the King?
Coanocotzin too had nurst that thought,
And the strong hope upheld him; he put forth
His hand, and raised a quick and anxious eye,..
Is it not peace and mercy?.. thou art come
To pardon and to save!

I answer'd him,
That power, O King of Aztlan, is not mine!
Such help as human cunning can bestow,
Such human help I bring; but health and life
Are in the hand of God, who at his will
Gives or withdraws; and what he wills is best.
Then old Iolo took his arm, and felt
The symptom, and he bade him have good hope,
For life was strong within him. So it proved:

The drugs of subtle virtue did their work;
They quell'd the venom of the malady,
And from the frame expell'd it,.. that a sleep,
Fell on the King, a sweet and natural sleep,
And from its healing he awoke refresh'd
Though weak, and joyful as a man who felt
The peril pass'd away.

Ere long we spake
Of concord, and how best to knit the bonds
Of lasting friendship. When we won this land,
Coanocotzin said, these fertile vales

Were not, as now, with fruitful groves embower'd,
Nor rich with towns and populous villages,
Abounding, as thou seest, with life and joy;
Our fathers found bleak heath, and desert moor,
Wild woodland, and savannahs wide and waste,
Rude country of rude dwellers. From our arms
They to the mountain fastnesses retired,
And long with obstinate and harassing war
Provoked us, hoping not for victory,
Yet mad for vengeance; till Tepollomi
Fell by my father's hand; and with their King,
The strength and flower of all their youth cut off,
All in one desolating day, they took

The yoke upon their necks. What wouldest thou
That to these Hoamen I should now concede?
Lord of the Ocean, speak!

Let them be free! Quoth I. I come not from my native isle To wage the war of conquest, and cast out Your people from the land which time and toil Have rightly made their own. The land is wide; There is enough for all. So they be freed From that accursed tribute, and ye shed The life of man no more in sacrifice, In the most holy name of God I say, Let there be peace between us !

Thou hast won Their liberty, the King replied: henceforth, Free as they are, if they provoke the war, Reluctantly will Aztlan raise her arm. Be thou the peace-preserver. To what else Thou say'st, instructed by calamity, I lend a humble ear; but to destroy The worship of my fathers, or abate

Or change one point, lies not within the reach And scope of kingly power.

Speak thou hereon

With those whom we hold holy, with the sons
Of the Temple, they who commune with the Gods;
Awe them, for they awe me. So we resolved
That when the bones of King Tepollomi
Had had their funeral honours, they and I
Should by the green-lake side, before the King,
And in the presence of the people, hold
A solemn talk.

Then to the mountain-huts,

The bearer of good tidings, I return'd
Leading the honourable train who bore

The relics of the King; not parch'd and black,
As I had seen the unnatural corpse stand up,
In ghastly mockery of the attitude

And act of life,.. his bones had now been blanch'd
With decent reverence. Soon the mountaineers
Saw the white deer-skin shroud1; the rumour spread;
They gather'd round, and follow'd in our train.
Before Erillyab's hut the bearers laid
Their burden down. She, calm of countenance,
And with dry eye, albeit her hand the while
Shook like an agueish limb, unroll'd the shroud.
The multitude stood gazing silently,

The young and old alike all awed and hush'd

Under the holy feeling,.. and the hush
Was aweful; that huge multitude so still,
That we could hear distinct the mountain-streami
Roll down its rocky channel far away
And this was all; sole ceremony this,
The sight of death and silence, . . till at length,
In the ready grave his bones were laid to rest.
'Twas in her hut and home, yea, underneath
The marriage bed, the bed of widowhood,
Her husband's grave was dug 2; on softest fur
The bones were laid 3, with fur were covered o'er,
Then heap'd with bark and boughs, and, last of all,
Earth was to earth trod down.

And now the day
Appointed for our talk of peace was come.
On the green margin of the lake we met,
Elders, and Priests, and Chiefs; the multitude
Around the Circle of the Council stood.
Then, in the midst, Coanocotzin rose,
And thus the King began: Pabas and Chiefs
Of Aztlan, hither ye are come to learn
The law of peace. The Lord of Ocean saith,
The Tribes whom he hath gathered underneath
The wings of his protection, shall be free;
And in the name of his great God he saith,
That ye shall never shed in sacrifice
The blood of man. Are ye content? that so
We may together here, in happy hour,
Bury the sword.

Hereat a Paba rose,

And answer'd for his brethren: . . He hath won
The Hoamen's freedom, that their blood no more
Shall on our altars flow; for this the Lord
Of Ocean fought, and Aztlan yielded it

"The Indians use the same ceremonies to the bones of their dead, as if they were covered with their former skin, flesh, and ligaments. It is but a few days since I saw some return with the bones of nine of their people, who had been two months before killed by the enemy. They were tied in white deer-skins separately, and when carried by the door of one of the houses of their family, they were laid down opposite to it, till the female relations convened, with flowing hair, and wept over them about half an hour. Then they carried them home to their friendly magazines of mortality, wept over them again, and then buried them with the usual solemnities. The chieftains carried twelve short sticks, tied together in the form of a quadrangle, so that each square consisted of three. The sticks were only peeled, without any painting; but there were swan feathers tied to each corner. They called that frame the White Circle, and placed it over the door while the women were weeping over the bones." -Adair.

"The Mosqueto Indians, when they die, are buried in their houses, and the very spot they lay over when alive, and have their hatchet, harpoon lances, with mushelaw, and other necessaries, buried with them; but if the defunct leaves behind him a gun, some friend preserves that from the earth, that would soon damnify the powder, and so render it unserviceable in that strange journey. His boat, or dorea, they cut in pieces, and lay over his grave, with all the rest of his household goods, if he hath any more. If the deceased leave behind him no children, brothers, or parents, the cousins, or other his relations, cut up, or destroy his plantations, lest any living should, as they esteem it, rob the dead."- The Mosqueto Indian and his Golden River, by M. W. Lintot and Osborn's Collection.

3" When the body is in the grave, they take care to cover

it in such a manner, that the earth does not touch it. It lies as in a little cave, lined with skins, much neater, and better adorned, than their cabins."- Charlevoix.

Adair was present at one of their funerals. They laid the corpse in his tomb in a sitting posture, with his feet towards the east, his head anointed with bear's oil, and his face painted red; but not streaked with black, because that is a constant emblem of war and death. He was drest in his finest apparel, having his gun and pouch, and trusty hiccory bow, with a young panther's skin full of arrows, alongside of him, and every other useful thing he had been possessed of, that when he rises again they may serve him in that track of land which pleased him best before he went to take his long sleep. His tomb was firm and clean inside; they covered it with thick logs so as to bear several tiers of cypress bark, and such a quantity of clay, as would confine the putrid smell, and be on a level with the rest of the floor. They often sleep over these tombs; which, with the loud wailing of the women at the dusk of the evening, and dawn of the day, on benches close by the tombs, must awake the memory of their relations very often; and if they were killed by an enemy, it helps to irritate, and set on such revengeful tempers to retaliate blood for blood."

4 Papa is the word which Bernal Diaz uses when he speaks of the Mexican priests; and in this he is followed by Purchas. The appellation in Torquemada is Quaquil. I am not certain that Bernal Diaz did not mean to call them Popes, and that Purchas has not mistaken his meaning. An easy alteration made it more suitable for English verse, than the more accurate word would have been.

I perceive by Herrera (3. 2. 15.) that the word is Mexican, and that the Devil was the author of it, in imitation of the Church.

In battle. But if we forego the rites
Of our forefathers, if we wrong the Gods,
Who give us timely sun and timely showers,
Their wrath will be upon us; they will shut
Their ears to prayer, and turn away the eyes
Which watch for our well-doing, and withhold
The hands dispensing our prosperity.

Cynetha then arose, between his son And me supported, rose the blind old man. Ye wrong us, men of Aztlan, if ye deem We bid ye wrong the Gods; accurst were he Who would obey such bidding,.. more accurst The wretch who should enjoin impiety. It is the will of God which we make known, Your God and ours. Know ye not Him who laid The deep foundations of the earth, and built The arch of heaven, and kindled yonder sun, And breathed into the woods and waves and sky The power of life?

We know Him, they replied, The great For-Ever One, the God of Gods, Ipalnemoani, He by whom we live!! And we too, quoth Ayayaca, we know And worship the Great Spirit, who in clouds And storms, in mountain caves, and by the fall Of waters, in the woodland solitude, And in the night and silence of the sky, Doth make his being felt.2 We also know, And fear, and worship the Beloved One.

Our God, replied Cynetha, is the same, The Universal Father. He to the first Made his will known; but when men multiplied, The Evil Spirits darken'd them, and sin And misery came into the world, and men

1 "The Mexicans had some idea, though a very imperfect one, of a supreme, absolute, and independent being. They represented him in no external form, because they believed him to be invisible; and they named him only by the common appellation of God, or in their language Teotl; a word resembling still more in its meaning than its pronunciation, the Otos of the Greeks. But they applied to him certain epithets, which were highly expressive of the grandeur and power which they conceived him to possess; Ipalnemoani, He by whom we live:" and Tloque Nahuaque, He who has all in himself."" - Clavigero.

Torquemada has a very characteristic remark upon these appellations:-"Although," says he," these blinded men went astray in the knowledge of God, and adored the Devil in his stead, they did not err in the names which they gave him, those being truly and properly his own: the Devil using this cunning with them, that they should apply to him these, which, by nature and divine right, are God's; his most holy Majesty permitting this on account of the enormity and shamefulness of their depraved customs, and the multitude of their iniquities." — L. vi. c. 8.

2" About thirty miles below the falls of St. Anthony, is a remarkable cave, of an amazing depth. The Indians term it Wakon-teebe; that is, the dwelling of the Great Spirit. The entrance into it is about ten feet wide; the arch within is near fifteen feet high, and about thirty feet broad. The bottom of it consists of fine clean sand. About twenty feet from the entrance begins a lake, the water of which is transparent, and extends to an unsearchable distance; for the darkness of the cave prevents all attempts to acquire a knowledge of it. I threw a small pebble towards the interior parts of it, with my

Forsook the way of truth, and gave to stocks
And stones the incommunicable name.
Yet with one chosen, one peculiar Race,
The knowledge of their Father and their God
Remain'd, from sire to son transmitted down.
While the bewilder'd Nations of the earth
Wander'd in fogs, and were in darkness lost,
The light abode with them; and when at times
They sinn'd and went astray, the Lord hath put
A voice into the mouths of holy men,
Raising up witnesses unto himself,
That so the saving knowledge of his name
Might never fail; nor the glad promise, given
To our first parent, that at length his sons,
From error, sin, and wretchedness redeem'd,
Should form one happy family of love.
Nor ever hath that light, howe'er bedimm'd,
Wholly been quench'd; still in the heart of man
A feeling and an instinct it exists,
His very nature's stamp and privilege,
Yea, of his life the life. I tell ye not,
O Aztecas! of things unknown before;
I do but waken up a living sense

That sleeps within ye! Do ye love the Gods
Who call for blood? Doth the poor sacrifice
Go with a willing step, to lay his life
Upon their altars? . . Good must come of good,
Evil of evil; if the fruit be death,

The poison springeth from the sap and root,
And the whole tree is deadly; if the rites
Be evil, they who claim them are not good,
Not to be worshipp'd then; for to obey
The evil will is evil. Aztecas!
From the For-Ever, the Beloved One,
The Universal Only God I speak,

Your God and mine, our Father and our Judge.

utmost strength; I could hear that it fell into the water, and, notwithstanding it was of so small a size, it caused an astonishing and horrible noise, that reverberated through all those gloomy regions. I found in this cave many Indian hieroglyphics, which appeared very ancient, for time had nearly covered them with moss. They were cut in a rude manner upon the inside of the walls, which were composed of a stone so extremely soft, that it might easily be penetrated with a kuife: a stone every where to be found near the Mississippi. The cave is only accessible by ascending a narrow steep passage that lies near the brink of the river."- Carver.

"The Prince had no sooner gained the point that overlooks this wonderful cascade (the falls of St. Anthony) than he began with an audible voice to address the Great Spirit, one of whose places of residence he supposed this to be. He told him he had come a long way to pay his adorations to him, and now would make him the best offerings in his power. He accordingly first threw his pipe into the stream; then the roll that contained his tobacco; after these, the bracelets he wore on his arms and wrists; next, an ornament that encircled his neck, composed of beads and wires; and at last, the earrings from his ears; in short, he presented to his God every part of his dress that was valuable; during this he frequently smote his breast with great violence, threw his arms about, and appeared to be much agitated.

"All this while he continued his adorations, and at length concluded them with fervent petitions that the Great Spirit would constantly afford us his protection on our travels, giving us a bright sun, a blue sky, and clear untroubled waters; nor would he leave the place till we had smoked together with my pipe in honour of the Great Spirit.” — Carver.