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Show I. 288 .B...O._O_K_, ..v_r.., S B C T. XXLV. The age, cen. tll ry :111d ycnr of' the Mexicans. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. £landing the exceffive pain and ,lofs of blood which t?ey futfered, they blicred all the while to fing aloud fongs to their god, and every were o 0 Wh h fi 11: · 1 twenty days this cruel oper::~tion was repeated. en t e Ir eig .HY days of the fafi of the pri fis were elapfed, a general faft, from. whJd1 even the heads of the republic were not exempt~d, be~an w~th the peop le , and continued ::~n equally long time. Dunn·g this pen1o d, no perfon was allowed to bathe, nor to cat pep~er, which was .t 1e ufu~l icafoning of all their difhes. To fuch exccile and cruelty d1d f:ll1attcifin carry thofe nations. All that we have hitherto related docs not fo much make known the religion of the Mexicam, and the ~xtrav~gance of their ]~orrible ~u-er! l:ition as the number of their fe{hvals, and the ntes which wp ere obfl': rved at them; but before we enter more de ep 1y .m to t l1'1 s fubj eet, it is neccffary to give fame account of their mode of dividing time, and the method which they adopted to meafure days, mont1Js, years, and centuries. What we ha~e to com~nuni:ate on this head has been carefully inve!l:igated and certified by mtelligent men, who are worthy of. the utmofl: credit, who hav·e· applied with. the utmoil: afliduity to this !l:udy, and who have dilJgcntly exm~med the ancient paintings, and obtained information from the be!l: 11.1f1:rutl:ed. pcrfons among the Mexicans and Acolhuans. We are particularly mdebted to the religious miflionaries Motolinia and Sahagun, from whofe writings Torquemada has taken all that is valuable in his work, and to the very k1rncd Mexican D. arlo Seguenza, whofe opinions we have found to be ju!l: and accura te by th~ examination which we have made of .f( veral Mexican paintings, in whi h months, years, and centmies, nre dil1inCtly reprcfentcd by their proper figures. The Mexicans, the Acolhuans, and all the other nations of Anahuac, diftinguifhed four ages of time by as many funs. The .firft named Atonatiuh, that is the fun, or the age of water, commenced with the creation of the world, and continued until the time at which all mankind almoft perifhed in a general inundation, along with the .firft fun. The fecond 7'/a!tonatt'uh, the age of earth, lafted from the time of the general inundation until the ruin of the giants, and the great earthquakes, which concluded in like manner the fccond fun. ~rhe third, Eh~catonatiu/;,, the age of air, lafted from the deCtruCtion of HISTORY OF MEXICO cf the giants until the great whirlwinds, in which aU mankind perifhed along with the ~hird fun. The fourth 'T!etonatiub, the age of fire, began at the bfl: refl:om tion of the human race, and was to continue as we have already mentioned in their mythology, until the fonrth fun, atid the earth were deil:roycd by fire. This age it w~~s fu ppofc:d would end at the conclufion of one ?f their ccnturic ; and thus we rnay account for thefc noify fcftival s in h0nour of the god of fire, which were celebrated at the beginning of every centui·y, as a thankfgiving for his rc! l:raining his voracity, and deferring the termination of the world. T he Mexican s, and the other poli.01cd nations of Anahuac, ufcd the iltme method to compute centuties, years, and months, as the ancient Toltecas. T heir century confiil:ed of .fifty-two years, which were filhdivid~ d into four periods of thirteen y<.:ars each, and two cnturies formed an age, which was call d by them Huehuetiliztli, that is, old age, of a hundred and four years (t ). They gave to the end of the century the name of 'Toxiuhmolpia, which fi gnifies, the tying of our years; becaufe by it the two centuries were joined together to form an age. Their years had four names, which were 'I'ocht li, mbbet; A catl) cane or reed; 'Tecpat /, flint; and Calli, houfc; and of thefe with difft: rent numbers their centl1ry was compofcd. The firO: year of the century was r. T'oc!Jtli, the fecond, 2. Acatl, the third, 3· T~cpc!tl, the fourth, 4· Callt~ the fifth, 5. :tochtli, and fo on to the thirteen th year, which was I 3· Toc!Jt!i, and terminated the fir.fl: period. T hey b ·ga11 the fecond period with c. A catl, which' was fucceedcd by 2. 'I'ecpat!, 3· Ca!lt', 4· 'Tocht !t', until it was completed by 13. Acatl. In like manner the third period began with 1. Tt•cpatl, and .finiilJcd with I 3· Tecpatl; and the fourth commenced wi th r. Ca!!t~ ::md terminated to- · gethcr with the century in 13. Calli; {o that there being four names. and thirteen numbers, no one ye:1r could be confounded with another (u). All (t) Though lome au thors hav gi~ en the name of ;cntury to th ~i1· age, ~ n d th ~ t of .bal f, century to their ecntury, it is of li ttle confcql.lcncc, :ts their matter of .:omputing ycars.and <litlributing time is not in the -! carl al tered by it. r!t) Boturini aninns, j, conr rntli ctil,)ll tO the ~ncral opinion of authors, th :tt th r.y did not he!)in :ill th eir centuri es with 1. 7"od.Jtli, hut lomc1 imcs with 1. Aaul ; 1. 'li•l'patl, oi· ' I. .alii. De is lllinaJ<cn, however, for it appears IJorh.f.rom the IJcn informed i111Cicut ;llltbors, :md the paintings cxnrnin •d by Ollr l'· lvrs, that the Mexican century b~gan alwnys with '· <t'vcbt!i. 'J'bis author fi1ys all'o, th at iu thl' coudc of t~n1r centuries the fitmc unlllc or ch anH~c r was uc· VoL. I. P .P \'(r 289 HOOK Vl. '-----..---' |