pyramidal pile dedicated to
the patron war-god of the Aztecs, second only to the temple of Cholula
in size as well as sanctity." The present famous cathedral of modern
Mexico is built on part of the same site.

A palace built opposite the west side of the great temple was assigned
to Cortes. It was extensive enough to accommodate the whole of the army
of Cortes. Montezuma paid him a visit there, having a long conversation
through the indispensable assistance of Marina, the slave interpreter.
"That evening the Spaniards celebrated their arrival in the Mexican
capital by a general discharge of artillery. The thunders of the
ordnance reverberating among the buildings and shaking them to their
foundations, the stench of the sulfureous vapor reminding the
inhabitants of the explosions of the great volcano (Popocatepetl) filled
the hearts of the superstitious Aztecs with dismay."

Next day Cortes had gracious permission to return the visit of the
Emperor, and therefore proceeded to wait upon him at the royal palace,
dressed in his richest suit of clothes. The Spanish general felt the
importance of the occasion and resolved to exercise all his eloquence
and power of argument in attempting the "conversion" of Montezuma to the
Christian faith.

For this purpose, with the assistance of the faithful Marina, Cortes
engaged the Emperor in a theological discussion; explaining the creation
of the world as taught in the Jewish Scriptures; the fall of man from
his first happy and holy condition by the temptation of Satan; the
mysterious redemption of the human race by the incarnation and atonement
of the Son of God Himself. "He assured Montezuma that the idols
worshiped in Mexico were Satan under different forms. A sufficient proof
of this was the bloody sacrifices they imposed, which he contrasted with
the pure and simple rite of the mass. It was to snatch the Emperor's
soul and the souls of his people from the flames of eternal fire that
the Christians had come to this land."

Montezuma replied that the God of the Spaniards must be a good being,
and "my gods also are good to me; there was no need to further discourse
on the matter." If he had "resisted their visit to his capital, it was
because he had heard such accounts of their cruelties--that they sent
the lightning to consume his people, or crushed them to pieces under the
hard feet of the ferocious animals on which they rode. He was now
convinced that these were idle tales;