hus
put to death.

It was true that, as he was told, these captives were reserved for
this purpose, and had they not been slain on that night might have
been sacrificed on the next; but this was a small consolation. It
seemed to him that above the joyful cries of greeting he could hear
the screams of agony of the victims, and to such a pitch was he
wrought up that, had he seen any whom he could have recognized as
priests, he would have fallen upon them with his sword.

But the priests held aloof from the gatherings. They knew not, as
yet, how their chiefs would regard this stranger, and it was not
their policy to join in welcoming one who might, afterwards, be
denounced and sacrificed as an enemy of their religion; nor, upon
the other hand, would they commit themselves to hostility to one
who might be held to be a god.

From the summits of the teocallis they looked down upon the great
gatherings; angry that instead of, as usual, figuring in the chief
places in the procession, they were forced to stand aloof. As in
Egypt, the Aztec priests embraced within their order all the
science and learning of the nation. They were skilled in the
sciences of astrology and divination, and were divided into
numerous ranks and classes. Those best instructed in music took the
management of the choirs, others arranged the festivals conformably
to the calendar, some superintended the education of the young of
both sexes, others had charge of the hieroglyphic paintings and
records and of the oral traditions, while the rites of sacrifice
were practiced by the chief dignitaries of the order. They were
each devoted to the service of some particular deity, and had
quarters provided within the spacious precincts of his temple.

Here a certain number were always on duty, and men living there
practiced the stern severity of conventual discipline. Thrice
during the day, and once at night, they were called to prayers.
They mortified the flesh by fasting and cruel penance, drawing
blood from their bodies by flagellation or by piercing themselves
with the thorns of the aloe. When their turn of duty was over, they
resided with their wives and families outside the temples.

The great cities were divided into districts, placed under the
charge of a sort of parochial clergy. These administered the rites
of baptism, confession, and absolution, each of which strongly
resembled that of the Christian religion. In baptism the lips and
bosom of the inf