ent the noon-day blaze of the gospel; and the
terrible power of that heathen despot would have been softened, without
weakening it, into the consolidated colossal strength of an enlightened,
Christian, peaceful empire. Christianity propagated by fire and sword
consumes centuries, and wastes whole generations of men, in effecting a
revolution, which they who go with the olive branch in their hand, and
the gospel of peace in their hearts, require only a few years to
accomplish. Witness the recent triumphs of a peaceful Christianity in
the Sandwich Islands, as contrasted with the bloody and wasting Crusades
of Spaniards in all portions of the new world.

With the earliest dawn, the reveille was beaten in the Spanish camp, and
all the forces were mustered and drawn up in the order of their march.
Cortez, at the head of the cavalry, formed the advanced guard, followed
immediately by the Castilian infantry in solid column. The artillery and
baggage occupied the centre, while the dark files of the Tlascalan
savages brought up the rear. The whole number was less than seven
thousand, not more than three hundred and fifty of whom were Spaniards.
Putting on their most imposing array, with gay flaunting banners, and
the stirring notes of the trumpet, swelling over lake and grove, and
rolling away in distant echoes among the mountains, they issued forth
from the city, just as the rising sun, surmounting the eastern
cordillera, poured the golden stream of day over the beautiful valley,
and lighted up a thousand resplendent fires among the gilded domes, and
enameled temples of the capital, and the rich tiara of tributary cities
and towns that encircled it. Moving rapidly forward, they soon entered
upon the grand causeway, which, passing through the capital, spans the
entire breadth of the Tezcucan lake, constituting then the main
entrance, as its remains do now the principal southern avenue, to the
city of Mexico. It was composed of immense stones, fashioned with
geometrical precision, well laid in cement, and capable of withstanding
for ages the play of the waters, and the ravages of time. It was of
sufficient width, throughout its whole extent, to allow ten horsemen to
ride abreast. It was interrupted in several places by well built draw
bridges for the accommodation of the numerous boats, that carried on a
brisk trade with the several towns on the lake, and for the better
defence of the city against an invading foe. At the distance