Acosta tells us, that though the Mexicans have no proper name for God, yet they allow a supreme omnipotence and providence: his capacity was not sufficient to discover the former; however, the latter agrees with the present religious opinion of the English-American Indians, of an universal divine wisdom and government. The want of a friendly intercourse between our northern and southern Indians, has in length of time occasioned some of the former a little to corrupt, or alter the name of the self-existent creator and preserver of the universe, as they repeat it in their religious invocations, YO He a Ah.[[90]] But with what show of truth, consistent with the above concession, can Acosta describe the Mexicans as offering human sacrifices also to devils, and greedily feasting on the victims!
We are told also that the Nauatalcas believe, they dwelt in another region before they settled in Mexico; that they wandered eighty years in search of it, through a strict obedience to their gods, who ordered them to go in quest of new lands, that had such particular signs;—that they punctually obeyed the divine mandate, and by that means found out, and settled the fertile country of Mexico. This account corresponds with the Chikkasah tradition of settling in their present supposed holy land, and seems to have been derived from a compound tradition of Aaron’s rod, and the light or divine presence with the Israelites in the wilderness, when they marched. And probably the Mexican number of years, was originally forty, instead of eighty.
Lopez de Gomara tells us, that the Mexicans were so devout, as to offer to the sun and earth, a small quantity of every kind of meat and drink, before any of themselves tasted it; and that they sacrificed part of their corn, fruits, &c. in like manner; otherwise, they were deemed haters of, and contemned by their gods. Is not this a confused Spanish picture of the Jewish daily sacrifice, and first-fruit-offering, as formerly observed? and which, as we have seen, are now offered up by the northern Indians, to the bountiful giver, the supreme holy spirit of fire, whom they invoke in that most sacred and awful song, YO He Wah, and loudly ascribe to him Hallelu-Yah, for his continued goodness to them.
The Spanish writers say, that when Cortes approached Mexico, Montezuma shut himself up, and continued for the space of eight days in {198} prayers and fasting: but to blacken him, and excuse their own diabolical butcheries, they assert he offered human sacrifices at the same time to abominable and frightful idols. But the sacrifices with more justice may be attributed to the Spaniards than to the Mexicans—as their narratives also are a sacrifice of truth itself. Montezuma and his people’s fastings, prayers, &c. were doubtless the same with those of the northern Indians, who on particular occasions, by separate fastings, ablutions, purgations, &c. seek to sanctify themselves, and so 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 sacrifice compounded of some of all the seeds of their country, grinded fine, and mixed with the blood of children, and of sacrificed virgins; that they plucked out the hearts of those victims, and offered them as first-fruits to the idol; and that the warriors imagined, the least relic of the sacrifice would preserve them from danger. They soon afterwards tell us of a temple of a quadrangular form, called Teucalli, “God’s house,” and Chacalmua, “a minister of holy things,” who belonged to it. They likewise speak of “the hearth of God,—the continual fire of God,—the holy ark,” &c. If we cut off the jesuitical paintings of the unnatural sacrifice, the rest is consonant to what hath been observed, concerning the North American Indians. And it is very obvious, the North and South American Indians are alike of vindictive tempers, putting most of their invading enemies that fall into their power to the fiery torture. The Spaniards looking upon themselves as divine embassadors, under the imperial signature of the Holy Lord of Rome, were excessively enraged against the simple native South-Americans, because they tortured forty of their captivated people by reprisal, devoting them to the fire, and ate their hearts, according to the universal war-custom of our northern Indians, on the like occasion. The Spanish terror and hatred on this account, their pride, religious, bigotry, and an utter ignorance of the Indian dialects, rites, and customs, excited them thus to delineate the Mexicans;—and equally hard names, and unjust charges, the bloody members of their diabolical inquisition used to bestow on those pretended heretics, whom they gave over to be tortured and burnt by the secular power. But it is worthy of notice, the Spanish writers acknowledge that the Mexicans brought their human sacrifices from the opposite sea; and did not offer up any of their own people: so that this was but the same {199} as our North-American Indians still practice, when they devote their captives to death; which is ushered in with ablutions, and other methods of sanctifying themselves, as have been particularly described; and they perform the solemnity with singing the sacred triumphal song, with beating of the drum, dances, and various sorts of rejoicings, through gratitude to the beneficent and divine author of success against their common enemy. By the description of the Portuguese writers, the Indian-Brasilian method of war, and of torturing their devoted captives, very nearly resembles the customs of our Indians.
Acosta, according to his usual ignorance of the Indian customs, says, that some in Mexico understood one another by whistling, on which he attempts to be witty—but notwithstanding the great contempt and surprise of the Spaniards at those Indians who whistled as they went; this whistle was no other than the war-whoop, or a very loud and shrill shout, denoting death, or good or bad news, or bringing in captives from war. The same writer says they had three kinds of knighthood, with which they honoured the best soldiers; the chief of which was the red ribbon; the next the lion, or tyger-knight; and the meanest was the grey knight. He might with as much truth, have added the turky-buzzard knight, the sun-blind bat knight, and the night-owl knight. His account of the various gradations of the Indian war-titles, shews the unskilfulness of that voluminous writer, even in the first principles of his Indian subject, and how far we ought to rely on his marvellous works.
The accounts the Spaniards formerly gave us of Florida and its inhabitants, are written in the same romantic strain with those of Mexico. Ramusius tells us, that Alvaro Nunes and his company reported the Apalahchee Indians to be such a gigantic people, as to carry bows, thick as a man’s arm, and of eleven or twelve spans long, shooting with proportional force and direction. It seems they lived then a sober and temperate life, for Morgues says, one of their kings was three hundred years old; though Laudon reckons him only two hundred and fifty: and Morgues assures us, he saw this young Indian Methusalah’s father, who was fifty years older than his son, and that each of them was likely by the common course of nature to live thirty or forty years longer, although they had seen their fifth generation. Since that time they have so exceedingly degenerated, in height of body, largeness of {200} defensive arms, and ante-deluvian longevity, that I am afraid, these early and extraordinary writers would scarcely know the descendants of those Apalahche Anakim, if they now saw them. They are at present the same as their dwarfish red neighbours; sic transit gloria mundi.
Nicholaus Challusius paints Florida full of winged serpents; he affirms he saw one there, and that the old natives were very careful to get its head, on account of some supposed superstition. Ferdinando Soto tells us, that when he entered Florida, he found a Spaniard, (J. Ortez) whom the natives had captivated during the space of twelve years, consequently he must have gained in that time, sufficient skill in their dialect to give a true interpretation and account—and he assures us, that Ucita, the Lord of the place, made that fellow, “Temple-keeper,” to prevent the night-wolves from carrying away the dead corpse; that the natives worshipped the devil, and sacrificed to him the life and blood of most of their captives;—who spoke with them face to face, and ordered them to bring those offerings to quench his burning thirst. And we are told by Benzo,[[91]] that when Soto died, the good-natured Cacique ordered two likely young Indians to be killed according to custom, to wait on him where he was gone.—But the Christian Spaniards denied his death, and assured them he was the son of God, and therefore could not die. If we except the last sentence, which bears a just analogy to the presumption and arrogance of the popish priests and historians, time and opportunity have fully convinced us, that all the rest is calumny and falshood. It must be confessed however, that none, even of the Spanish monks and friars, have gone so deep in the marvellous, as our own sagacious David Ingram—he assures us, “that he not only heard of very surprising animals in these parts of the world, but saw elephants, horses, and strange wild animals twice as big as our species of horses, formed like a grey-hound in their hinder parts; he saw likewise bulls with ears like hounds; and another surprising species of quadrupeds bigger than bears, without head or neck, but nature had fixed their eyes and mouths more securely in their breasts.” At the end of his monstrous ideal productions, he justly introduces the devil in the rear, sometimes assuming the likeness of a dog; at other times the shape of a calf, &c. Although this legendary writer has transcended the bounds of truth, yet where he is not emulous of outdoing the jesuitical romances, it would require a good knowledge of America to confute him in many particulars: {201} this shews how little the learned world can rely on American narrators; and that the origin of the Indian Americans, is yet to be traced in a quite different path to what any of those hyperbolical, or wild conjectural writers have prescribed.
The Spaniards have given us many fine polished Indian orations, but they were certainly fabricated at Madrid; the Indians have no such ideas, or methods of speech, as they pretend to have copied from a faithful interpretation on the spot: however, they have religiously supported those monkish dreams, and which are the chief basis of their Mexican and Peruvian treaties.
According to them, the Mexican arms was an eagle on a tunal or stone, with a bird in his talons,—which may look at the armorial ensign of Dan. And they say, the Mexicans worshipped Vitzliputzli, who promised them a land exceedingly plenty in riches, and all other good things; on which account they set off in quest of the divine promise, four of their priests carrying their idol in a coffer of reeds, to whom he communicated his oracles, giving them laws at the same time—teaching them the ceremonies and sacrifices they should observe; and directed them when to march, and when to stay in camp, &c. So much might have been collected from them by signs, and other expressive indications; for we are well assured, that the remote uncorrupted part of the Mexicans still retain the same notions as our northern Indians, with regard to their arriving at, and settling in their respective countries, living under a theocratic government, and having the divine war-ark, as a most sacred seal of success to the beloved people, against their treacherous enemies, if they strictly observe the law of purity, while they accompany it. This alone, without any reflection on the rest, is a good glass to shew us, that the South and North American Indians are twin-born brothers; though the Spanish clergy, by, their dark but fruitful inventions, have set them at a prodigious variance.