Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1847-06-03
nUmAs SACRIFICES AsD cAsEIBALs.

THE ANCIENT MEAlCANs, UR AZlESs.
HUMAN SACRIFICES AsD cAsEIBALs.
Human sacrifices were adopted by the Az
tees early in the 18th century, about 200 years
before the Conquest Rare at first. they be-
came more frequent with the wider extent OF
their empire; I'LL at length almost every iest-
val was closed with this cruel aboml1alion.-
These religious ceremonies were generally ar
ranged in such a manner as TO afford type
Of the most prominent circumstances IN the
character or history Of the deity who was the
object Of them A slight example will suffice.
One of the most important festivals was
that in honor of the god Tozcathpoca, whose
rank was inferior TO that of the Supreme Be
ing He was called the "soui Of the world"
and supposed 70 have been its creator He
was depicted as handsome man, endowed
with perpetual youth. A year before the In
tended sacrifice. captive, distinguished for
his personal beauty, and without bemIsh on
his body, was selected TO represent this deity.
Certain tutors took charge oil him and instluc-
ted him how to perform his new part with be-
coming grace and dignity. He was arrayed
in splendid dress, RECALLED with incense and
with profusion of sweetscented flowers, Of
which the ancient Mexicans were as fond as
he went abroad, he was attended by tram Of
royal pages, and as he halted in the street to
! play some favorite melody, the crowd prostra-
ted themselves before him, and did him no
mage as the representative Of their good deity
/ In this way, he led an easy, luxurlant life, ul
within month OF his sacrifice. Four beauti-
I lul girls, bearing the names OF the four primer
pal goddesses, were then selected 10 share the
{ a Ill h..
ued to hive in idle dallianee, Toasted at the ban.
quets OF the principal mobiles, who paid all the
hunors Of deny. 4
AT length the fatal day Of sacrifice arrived
Theterm his shortlised glories was at an end
He was stripped of his gaudy apparel and bd
adieu TO the fair paItners OF his revelrles. One
of the royal barges transported him across the
lake TO temple which rose on its margin
about league from the city. Hilher the In
habitants OF the capital iiocked 10 witness the
contamination oil the ceremony. As the sad
procession wound up the sides oil the pyra-
ind, the unhappy victim threw away his gay
chaplels of flowers, aud broke in pieces the
musical instruments with which he had solacec
tie hours OF captivity. On the summit be
was received by SIX priests, whose long and
matted locks flowed dIsordery over their sable
robes, covered with hierogly HE scrolls OF mys
TIC import. They led him to the sacr6cIa
stone. huge block of jasper, with its uppel
surface somewhatconvex. On this the pris
oner was stretched. Five priests secured his
! head ans, limbs, while the sixth clad IN scar
F., let mantle, mathematical OF his bloody Office
dexterously opened the breast Of the wretchet
victim with sharp razor OF it-th, volcanic
substance as hard as flint, and Inserting hi
+ hand in the wound, tore out the palpitatins
heartia The minister of death, trst holding
this toward the sun, an object of worship
throughout Anahuac, cast i; al the feet of tn,
deity to whom the temple was devoted, while
the multludes below Frustrated themselves IL
alteration. The tragic story of this prlsone
was eypounded bY the priests as the type o
human destiny, brilliant IN its commencement
too often closed in sorrow and disaster.
such was the form Of human sacrifice emu
su,tlly peaelised by the AZtecS 1t was th'
same that often met the indignant eyes OF III
Enropcans in Their progress through the coun
try, and from the dreadful doom from which
they themselves are not exempted. Their
were, indeed some occasions when prehmlna
~ tortureS, OF the most exquisite klnd-wltl
! which it is unnecessary 10 shock the reader
were inflicted, but they always terminated witt
the bloody ceremony beloye described |
should be remarked, however, that such tor
lures were not spontaneous Suggestions OF cru
city, las with the North American Indians bu
/ Were all vigorously prescribed IN the Aztec n
tual, and doubtless were oiien inflicted viii
the same compunctlous visiting which de
vout familiar OF the Holy Office might at times
experience in executing It's stern decrees.--
| Women, as well as the other sex, were some
times reserved for sacrifice. On some occa
sions. particularly in seasons OF drought, a
the festival Of the Unsuitable Tlaloc, the god o
ran, children, for the most part infants, wert
offered up. As they Were borne along in oper
/ ilters dressed in the fesial robes, and decket
with the fresh blossoms of spring, they moved
the hardest heart 10 pity, though their cries
were drowned in the wild chant of the priests,
/ who read in their tears favorable augury ioI
/ their petition. These Innocent victims Were
generally bought by the priests, oil parents who
were poor, but who stuffed the voice OF nature,
probably less at the suggestions Of poverty
than Of neutrality-suspicious..
The most oahsome part OF the story--the
manner in which the body of the sacrificed
captive was disposed of---remalns yet 10 be
told. It was delivered 10 the warrior who had
taken him in battle, and by him, after being
dressed, was served up in an entertainment TO
his friends This was not the coarse repasi
Of iamished cannibals, but a banquet teeming
with the delicious beverages and delicate
viaads prepared with art and attended by both
sexes, who, as we shall see hereafter. conduc-
ted themselves with all decorum oil civilized
life. Surely, never Were refinement and The
extreme OF harharism brought so closely in
contact with eaoh other.
Human sacrifices have been practiced by
many nations, not excepting the most polish
ed nations of antiquity but never by any on a
scale 10 be compared with those OF Anabuac.
The amount OF victims inundated on its aceur-
sed alters would stagger the faith Of the least
scrupulous believer Scarcely any author
pretends 10 estimate the yearly sacrifices
throughout the empire at less than twenty
thousand. and some carry the numbers as high
as fifty thousand.
On great occasions, as the coronation of a
king OF the conservation ola temple, the mum
her becomes still more appalling AT the ded-
iealion OF the great tempe of Hutzllopotchli,
in l4S6, the prisoners, who for some years
had been reserved for the purpose were drawn
from all quarters TO the capital. They were
ranged in files forming procession nearly
two miles long. The ceremony consumed
several, days, and seventy thousand capuyes
are SAID 10 have persisted al The Shrine OF TINS