[40] The American Naturalist, February, 1883.
[41] Voyage dans l'Amerique Centrale, Tom. II, p. 44.
[42] So little is understood about the system of the cofradias, and the point is one of so much importance in the study of the organization of Spanish ecclesiasticism in America, that it is worth while to explain it. They are created by the priest of a parish, in such number as he sees fit, and each bears the name of a saint or religious occurrence. Each should have, of male members, a major domo, a steward (prioste), and four or more appointees (diputados). They attend the priest, serve in the church, aid in the offices of religion, have a monthly mass, act as choristers, etc., at fixed periods. Of female members there should be the patroness (patrona or capitana), and the alguazila mayor, each of whom should have two special attendants, and there should be other members. Their duties are to sweep the church, deck it with flowers when necessary, and aid the male members in their duty. Each cofradia should have its strong box and financial resources, independently, and the major domo is expected to keep a book accounting for the funds. I have in my possession such a volume, in the Chapanec language, the Libro de Cuentas de la Cofradia del Rosario, 1796.
From ten to fifty cofradias were formerly attached to one church, but the modern curas complain that they can no longer be kept up. "Es verdad," exclaims the worthy presbyter Navarro, "que los Sres. Curas, mis antecessores, y yo, hemos procurado organizarlas de nuevo, pero es moralmente impossible."—Memoria de la Parroquia de Villa Nueva, p. 18. (Guatemala, 1868).
[43] See, for example, the Rabinal-Achi, ou le Drame-Ballet du Tun, in Kiche, published by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, and the translation of the song of the Uluas of Nicaragua given by Pablo Levy.—Notas sobre la Republica de Nicaragua, p. 307 (Paris, 1873).
[44] "Il y en a qui font les sourds, d'autres les aveugles. Ils rient, ils crient, et font en un mot toute sorte de singeries."—Voyages de François Coreal aux Indes Occidentales depuis 1666 jusqu'en 1697. Tom. I, p. 88 (Amsterdam, 1722). Borrowed, probably, from Benzoni, who says the same.
[45] "Habia un baile y canto de truhanes en el cual introducian un bobo que fingia entender al reves lo que su amo le mandaba, trastocandole las palabras."—P. F. Diego Duran, Historia de las Indias de la Nueva España, Tomo II, p. 231 (Mexico, 1880).
[46] As Mr. George Ticknor very pointedly says, in speaking of the Spanish drama:—"Above all, it was necessary that it should be Spanish; and therefore, though its subject be Greek or Roman, Oriental or mythological, the characters represented were always Castilian, and Castilian after the fashion of the seventeenth century,—governed by Castilian notions of gallantry, and the Castilian point of honor."—History of Spanish Literature, vol II, p. 539 (5th edition).
[47] Speaking of the comedy, he says:—"Ihr wahrer allgemeiner Nutzen liegt in dem Lachen selbst, in der Uebung unserer Fähigkeit das Lächerliche zu bemerken; es unter allen Bemäntelungen der Leidenschaft und der Mode, es in allen Vermischungen mit noch schlimmern oder mit guten Eigenschaften, sogar in den Runzeln des feierlichen Ernstes, leicht und geschwind zu bemerken."—Hamburgische Dramaturgie, 29 Stück.
[48] Tlatoani means, literally, "the speaker," from tlatoa, to speak, to ask, but it is translated by the Spanish lexicographers "gran señor." The chiefs were probably so called, from their right of speech in the assemblies. Benzoni gives something like this as the title of the Nicaraguan chiefs. "Chiamano li Signori Tutruane," which I suspect is a misprint for Tattruani.—Istoria del Mondo Nuovo, p. 103 (Venetia, 1565).