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Show HISTORY Of.MEX ICO greater temple. Clofe to Tcotihuacan, where th · re were many temples, there w re allo innu mer:tble fcpukhrcs . The tomll of th (<; whofc bodies had been bu ried entire, agreeable to the tdl:imony of the anonymou conqueror who f1w them, were Jeep ditch , formed with il:o11c and lime, within which they placed the bodi<J:s in a fittin · poC ... tun..: upon t"cpal/i, or low feats, tog~ther with t 1e in{trumcnts of th ~ 1 r art or profe!lion. If it was the fepulchre of any military p~.!do n, they laid a !hicld and [word by him ; if of a WOlllall, a fpin c.ll.;, a we tve1 's ihuttlc, and a xicalli, which was a certain naturally fonm:d vdlcl, c,f which we 01nll f1y more hereafter. ln the tomb of the ric 1 th 'Y put gold and jewels, but all WL:re provided with eatables for the long jl)Lirney which they had to make. The, Spanifh conquerors, I ncJ .in ~ of the gold which was bnried with the Mexican. lords in thei r tombs, dug up fcveral, and found confidcrabk quantities of that precious metal. Cortes fay in his letters, that at one entry which he made in to the capital, when it was bdie red by his army, his fold icrs found fi fteen hundred Ct1)lt'/lanos(p), that is, two hundred and fo rty ounc s of gold, in one fepulchrc, which was in the tower of a temple. T he anonymous conqueror fays alfo, that he was prefent at the diggill "' up of another fepulchre, from which they took about three thou <lllU Cal._ telLmos. The caves of the mountains were the fepulchres of the ancient Chechemccas ; but, as they grew more civilized, they adopt d in tl is and other rites, the cufl:oms of the Acolhuan nation, which \~ere nearly the .G·une with thofe of the Mexicans. The Miztecas rr.tained. in part the ancient ufage of the Chcchemccas, but in fome things they were finguhr in their uftoms. When any of their lords fell f]ck, they offered pray~rs , vows, and f~1Crifices for the recovery of his health. If it was refiorcu, they m. d~ grc[lt rc. JO!cmgs. If he died, they continued to fpeak of him as if l1c w~1s H:i!l alive, and conducted one of his Daves to the corpfL', drcf1(:-d him in the habits of his mafier, put a mafk. upon his face, ancl for one whole day, paid him all the honou rs which they had nfl:d to r~nder to (f> ) The Spani!lt goldfJnirhs divide the pound weight of gold into two Mnrcbi, or into fixteen ounces, or a hundred Cn)lcllmtos; confcquently, an o'lncc containe 6! Caj/ellflltQs. the H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. the deccafed. At midnight, four prietl:s carried the corpfe to be buried in a wood, or in fame cavern, particularly in that one where they believed the gate of paradife was, and at their return they facrificed the Dave, and laid him, with all the ornaments of his tm.nfitory dignity, in a ditch; but withou t covering him. with earth . Every year they held a fcO:ival in honour of their laft lord, on which they c lcbratc 1 his birth, not his death, for of it they never fpoke. The Zapotecas, their neighbours embalmed the body of the principal lord of their nation. Even from the time of the firfl: Chechemecan kings aromatic preparations were in ute among thofe nations to preferve dead bodies from fpeedy corruption ; but we do not know that thefe were very frequent. We have now communicated all that we know concerning the religion of the Mexicans . The weaknefs of their wor1hip, the fuperll:ition 0f their ri tes, the cruelty of their facrifices, and the rigour of their aut1:erities, will the more forcibly manife!l: to their defcendants, the advantages which arc derived from a mild, cha11e, and pure reli gion, and will difpofe them to thank eternally the Providence whicli has enlightened them, while their anccfi:ors were le ft to peri{h in darknefs and error. nooK 327 BOOK VI. ~-~ |