tory, and who love to investigate American antiquities, will not find in this capital those great remains of works which are to be seen in Peru, in the environs of Cusco and Guamachuco, at Pachacamac near Lima, or at Mansiche near Truxillo; at Cañar and Cayo in the province of Quito; and in Mexico, near Mitla and Cholula, in the intendancies of Oaxaca and Puebla. It appears that the teocallis (of which we have already attempted to describe the strange form) were the sole monuments of the Aztecs. Now the christian fanaticism was not only highly interested in their destruction, but the very safety of the conqueror rendered such a destruction necessary. It was partly effected during the siege; for those truncated pyramids rising up by layers served for refuge to the combatants, like the temple of Baal-Berith to the people of Canaan. They were so many castles from which it was necessary to dislodge the enemy. As to the houses of individuals, which the Spanish historians describe as very low, we are not to be surprised to find merely their foundations or low ruins, such as we discover in the Bario de Tlatelolco, and towards the canal of Istacalco. Even in the most part of our European cities, how small is the number of houses of which the construction goes so far back as the beginning of the 16th century! However, the edifices of Mexico are not fallen into ruins through age. Animated by the same spirit of destruction which the Romans displayed at Syracuse, Carthage, and in Greece, the Spanish conquerors believed that the siege of a Mexican city never was finished till they had rased every building in it. Cortez, in his third letter* to the Emperor Charles V. discloses himself the fearful system which he followed in his military operations. "Notwithstanding all these advantages," says he, "which we have gained, I saw clearly that the inhabitants of the city of Temixtitlan (Tenochtitlan) were so rebellious and obstinate that they wished rather to perish than surrender. I knew not what means to employ to spare so many dangers and hardships, and to avoid completing the entire ruin of the capital, which was the most beautiful thing in the world (a la ciudad, porque era la mas hermosa cosa del Mundo). It was in vain to tell them that I would never raise my camp, nor withdraw my flotilla of brigantines; and that I would never cease to carry on the war by land and water till I was master of Temixtitlan; and it was in vain I observed to them that they could expect no assistance, and that there was not a nook of land from which they could hope to draw maize, meat, fruits, and water. The more we made these exhortations to them, the more they show * Lorenzana, p. 278. ed us that they were far from being discouraged. They had no other desire but that of fighting. In this state of things, considering that more than forty or fifty days had already elapsed since we began to invest the place, I resolved at last to adopt means, by which, in providing for our own security, we should be able to press our enemies more closely. I formed the design of demolishing on all sides all the houses in proportion as we became masters of the streets, so that we should not advance a foot without having destroyed and cleared down whatever was behind us, converting into firm ground whatever was water, however slow the operation might be; and notwithstanding the delay to which we should expose ourselves*. For this purpose I assembled the lords and chiefs of our allies; and I explained to them the resolution which I had formed. I engaged them to send a great number of labourers with their coas, which are somewhat like the hoes which are used in Spain for excavations; and our allies and friends approved my project, for they hoped * Accordè de tomar un medio para nuestra seguridad y para poder mas estrechar a los enemigos; y fue que como fuessemos ganando por las calles de la ciudad, que fuessen derocando todas las casas de ellas, de un lado y del otro; por manera que no fuessemos un passo adelante sin la dejar todo asolado y que lo que era agua hacerlo tierra firme; aunque hubiesse todo la dilacion que se pudiesse seguir.-Loren zana, No. xxxiv. that the city would be laid in complete ruins, which they had ardently desired for a long time, Three or four days passed without fighting, for we waited the arrival of the people from the country, who were to aid us in demolishing," After reading the naif recital of this commander-in-chief to his sovereign, we are not to be surprised at finding almost no vestige of the ancient Mexican edifices. Cortez relates that the Indians, to revenge themselves for the oppressions which they had suffered from the Aztec kings, flocked in great numbers, even from the remotest provinces, whenever they learned that the destruction of the capital was going on. The rubbish of the demolished houses served to fill up the canals. The streets were made dry to allow the Spanish cavalry to act. The low houses, like those of Pekin and China, were partly constructed of wood and partly of tetzontli, a spongy stone, light, and easily broken. "More than fifty thousand Indians assisted us," says Cortez, "that day, when, marching over heaps of carcases, we at length gained the great street of Tacuba, and burned the house of King Guatimucin*. No other * The true name of this unfortunate king, the last of the Aztec dynasty, was Quauhtemotzin. He is the same to whom Cortez caused the soles of the feet to be gradually burned, after having soaked them in oil. This torment, however, did not induce the king to declare in what place thing, accordingly, was done than burn and demolish houses. Those of the city said to our his treasures were concealed, His end was the same as that of the king of Acolhuacan (Tezcuco), and of Tetlepanguetzaltzin, king of Tlacopan (Tacuba). These three princes were hung on the same tree, and as I saw in a hieroglyphical picture possessed by Father Pichardo (in the convent of San Felipe Neri), they were hung by the feet to lengthen out their torments. This act of cruelty in Cortez, which recent historians have the meanness to describe as the effect of a far-sighted policy, excited murmurs in the very army. "The death of the young king," says Bernal Diaz del Castillo (an old soldier full of honour and of naivety of expression), "was a very unjust thing. And it was accordingly blamed by us all, so long as we were in the suite of the captain, in his march to Comajahua."-Author. The Abbe Clavigero observes, on what authority I know not, that this cruelty made Cortez very melancholy, and gave him a few sleepless nights, una gran malinconia, ed alcune vegghie. Well indeed it might; but whether we are indebted for these vegghie to the native suggestions of his own conscience, or to the murmurs of his army, is not so easy to be determined; for heroes' consciences are made of stern stuff, as many can witness who have known several of them perform certain actions in a certain neighbouring country, and neither eat nor sleep the worse for it; at the bare recital of which other people's cheeks turn either pale or flushed as their different temperaments dispose them. We must not think that the Spaniards monopolized cruelty in foreign settlements. Mr. Orme, in his excellent History of Hindostan, celebrates some feats of our own countrymen, and those the bravest of our countrymen, which yield very little to any thing in the Mexican annals. Three or four hundred, I believe, of the brave grenadiers, who long distinguished themselves so gallantly on the plains of Trichino |