Note 3 — Chapter II

The priests of the Roman Catholic Church who visited Mexico at the time of and soon after the Spanish conquest were struck with the great resemblance of so large a number of the customs of the Mexican people to those of the ancient Israelites. To account for these resemblances they invented the theory that the devil had imitated the Lord when he delivered the Hebrews from their bondage in Egypt, by bringing the forefathers of the American races from their original home to this continent with many signs and wonders. Further, that Satan had revealed to these people a spurious or bastard gospel, as near to the true one as was possible, in order to lead their souls to eternal perdition. Based on this theory,—that the devil was the real god of the Indians, Torquemeda, in his "Indian Monarchy," and others, give the following as the translation of the opening portions of this chart:

"Although they were all of the same race and lineage, still they did not all compose a single family, but were divided into four tribes. * * The Azticas, therefore, quitted their country under the guidance of Zacpaltzin and Huitzon, in the first of the first circle; for they commenced the computation of their years from that period; and proceeded some stages on their journey, in which they employed the space of a year, at the end of which they arrived at a place called Hueycolhuacan where they remained three years. In this place (they say) the devil appeared to them in the form of an idol, declaring to them that it was he who brought them out of the land of Aztlan, and that he would accompany them, being their God, to favor them in everything. * * This being the beginning of the devil's proceedings among this people, they marched from one place to another, where there was a large and thick tree where he caused them to stop, at the trunk of which they made a small altar, upon which they placed an idol, for so the devil commanded, and they sat down under its shade to eat, but whilst eating, a loud sound proceeded from the tree, and it rent in the middle. The Azticas, terrified at this sudden accident, considered it a bad omen, and surrendering themselves up to affliction, terminated the repast."