been partly dedicated to Christian worship, on condition that no human sacrifices should take place.[1] A festival of this prominence could not fail to recall with all its force to the natives the indignities to which they and their gods had been subjected. We have seen how narrowly an uprising on account of the occupation of the great temple by strange religious emblems was escaped, and how it was restrained only by the promise of the speedy departure of the Spaniards. Before Cortés had left the capital he saw the smouldering fire, and it was this that led him to strengthen the defences of the fort, to obtain extra supplies from Tlascala, and to enjoin the strictest watchfulness and moderation.
The hostile feeling was by no means diminished by the tidings of another larger host of invaders with doubtful motives. At a meeting of native leaders it was admitted that the promises and statements of the newly arrived Spaniards could no more be relied upon than those of the deceitful Malinche, and the deferred proposition to drive out or to kill the Spaniards was renewed with ardor. A better opportunity for carrying out such a measure could never again be found. The great Cortés with his cunning controlling mind was absent. There remained only a small force in charge of the city, and the troops on the seaboard were divided against each other. On the other hand a multitude of pilgrims were pouring in for the festival; and what better subjects to be worked upon for an uprising than these, and what better incentive than religion? Beside the appeal for vengeance on the desecrators of their altars came the patriotic call for the release of an oppressed sovereign, whose influence was still supreme with many, and the alluring prospect of securing the rich spoils in possession of the Spaniards and the Tlascaltecs, the latter still more detested as an inferior race which after years of contest had now assumed the
- ↑ For description of the feast, so as better to understand what follows, see Native Races, ii. 317-21, iii. 422-8.
