{*} [In the passages here referred to, the author has noticed various proofs of the existence of the cross as a symbol of worship among pagan nations both in the Old World and the New. The fact has been deemed a very puzzling one; yet the explanation, as traced by Dr. Brinton, is sufficiently simple: “The arms of the cross were designed to point to the cardinal points and represent the four winds,—the rain-bringers.” Hence the name given to it in the Mexican language, signifying “Tree of our Life,”—a term well calculated to increase the wonderment of the Spanish discoverers. Myths of the New World, p. 96, et al.—K.]
{**} Ante, p. 239.
[536] See the biographical sketch of the good bishop Las Casas, the “Protector of the Indians,” in the Postscript at the close of the present Book.
[537] “It may have been that the devil appeared to them as he is, and left these forms stamped on their imagination, so that the imitative power of the artist reveals itself in the ugliness of the image.” Solís, Conquista, p. 39.
[538] Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 13.—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 4, cap. 7.—Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 78.—Las Casas, whose enlightened views in religion would have done honor to the present age, insists on the futility of these forced conversions, by which it was proposed in a few days to wean men from the idolatry which they had been taught to reverence from the cradle. “The only way of doing this,” he says, “is by long, assiduous, and faithful preaching, until the heathen shall gather some ideas of the true nature of the Deity and of the doctrines they are to embrace. Above all, the lives of the Christians should be such as to exemplify the truth of these doctrines, that, seeing this, the poor Indian may glorify the Father, and acknowledge him, who has such worshippers, for the true and only God.” See the original remarks, which I quote in extenso, as a good specimen of the bishop’s style when kindled by his subject into eloquence, in Appendix, No. 6.
[539] “Muy gran misterio y milagro de Dios.” Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.
[540] [Not long ago, a history of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan, written in the Maya language, but in Roman letters, by a native chief, Nakuk Pech, about the year 1562, was brought to light. This account, the “Chronicle of Chicxulub,” was translated by Dr. Brinton, and was published by him in the “Maya Chronicles,” Philadelphia, 1882, pp. 187-259. This chronicle, from the pen of one who was almost contemporary with the Conquest, corroborates the accounts given by the Spanish historians in most particulars. It refers to Chichen Itza and Izamal as inhabited when the Spaniards descended upon the country. It is sometimes inaccurate as to details, as in this reference to Aguilar: “Thus the land was discovered by Aguilar, who was eaten by Ah Naum Ah Pat at Cuzamil in the year 1517.” We know, of course, that it was another Spaniard who was eaten by Ah Naum Ah Pat. The matter is of small consequence to us, though undoubtedly important to Aguilar.—M.]
[541] They are enumerated by Herrera with a minuteness which may claim at least the merit of giving a much higher notion of Aguilar’s virtue than the barren generalities of the text. (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 4, cap. 6-8.) The story is prettily told by Washington Irving, Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus (London, 1833), p. 263, et seq.
[542] Camargo, Historia de Tlascala, MS.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, MS., lib. 33, cap. 1.—Martyr, De Insulis, p. 347.—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 29.—Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.—Las Casas, Hist. de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 115, 116.
[543] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 31.—Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 18.—Las Casas, Hist. de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 118.—Martyr, De Insulis, p. 348.—There are some discrepancies between the statements of Bernal Diaz and the Letter from Vera Cruz; both by parties who were present.