s. The
victim offered in sacrifice was bound immovably to the stone altar.
The officiating priest, with a sharp instrument constructed of
flint-like lava, cut open his breast, and tore out the warm and
palpitating heart. This bloody sacrifice was presented in devout
offering to the god. At times, in the case of prisoners taken in war,
the most horrid tortures were practiced before the bloody rite was
terminated. When the gods seemed to frown, in dearth, or pestilence,
or famine, large numbers of children were frequently offered in
sacrifice. Thus the temples of Mexico were ever clotted with blood.
Still more revolting is the well-authenticated fact that the body of
the wretched victim thus sacrificed was often served up as a banquet,
and was eaten with every accompaniment of festive rejoicing. It is
estimated that from thirty to fifty thousand thus perished every year
upon the altars of ancient Mexico. One of the great objects of their
wars was to obtain victims for their gods.

The population of this vast empire is not known. It must have
consisted, however, of several millions. The city of Mexico, situated
on islands in the bosom of a lake in the centre of a spacious and
magnificent valley of the interior, about two hundred miles from the
coast, was the metropolis of the realm.

Montezuma was king--an aristocratic king, surrounded by nobles, upon
whom he conferred all the honors and emoluments of the state. His
palace was very magnificent. He was served from plates and goblets of
silver and gold. Six hundred feudatory nobles composed his daily
retinue, paying him the most obsequious homage, and expecting the same
from those beneath themselves. Montezuma claimed to be lord of the
whole world, and exacted tribute from all whom his arm could reach.
His triumphant legions had invaded and subjugated many adjacent
states, as this _Roman empire_ of the New World extended in all
directions its powerful sway.

It will thus be seen that the kingdom of Mexico, in point of
civilization, was about on an equality with the Chinese empire of the
present day. Its inhabitants were very decidedly elevated above the
wandering hordes of North America.

Montezuma had heard of the arrival, in the islands of the Caribbean
Sea, of the strangers from another hemisphere. He had heard of their
appalling power, their aggressions, and their pitiless cruelty. Wisely
he resolved to exclude these dangerous visitors from his shores. As
exploring