CHAPTER XII.
WELSH BLOOD IN THE AZTECS.
Mexico and Peru were the most civilized parts of the continent when the Spaniards arrived. If it had not been for the bigoted zeal of the Spanish priests, and most signally that of Zumarraga, the abundant and astonishing national picture-writings which were the historical records of the Aztecs might still be in existence, and serve to reveal the successive links in the mighty chain of migrations of the early peoples, so that much of the mystery that still lingers in regard to their settlement and civilization could be removed. But these priests looked upon those writings as the memorials of pagan idolatry, and, having collected them together, committed them to the flames, thus extinguishing in a day, as it were, the history of a once powerful empire. The historian is consequently forced to rely upon whatever fugitive pieces escaped the hands of those infamous ravagers, the study of the monumental remains, and the broken and scattered remnants of this people, scarcely recognizable, found on the Mexican plateau and in the various parts of the American territories.
According to the most authentic records which remain, the Aztecs came from the regions of the North, "the populous hive of nations in the New World, as it has been in the Old."
Clavigero, the patient and voluminous historian of New Spain, a.s.signs the following dates to some of the most important events in the early history of Mexico:
A.D.
The Toltecs arrived in Anahuac 648 They abandoned their country 1051 The Chichemecs arrived 1170 The Acolhuans arrived about 1200
The Aztecs or Mexicans reached Tula 1196 They founded the Mexican Empire 1325
Conquest by Cortez 1521
Zurita, a celebrated jurist, whose personal experience and observation among the Aztecs extended over a period of nineteen years, and who returned to Spain in 1560, was indignant at the epithet _barbarian_ as applied to the Aztecs,--an epithet, he says, "which could come from no one who had personal knowledge of the capacity of the people or their inst.i.tutions, and which in some respects is quite as well merited by the European nations."
Their high degree of civilization, their remarkable advance in the knowledge and practice of the arts and sciences, so wondrously displayed in their architecture, their causeways, their temples, their homes and their adornments, their agriculture and systems of irrigation, their floating gardens and beautiful feather-work, their strange religion and military displays, must have produced an impression upon the Spaniards which they never forgot. The vast wealth of the Aztecs so excited the spirit of avarice in them, however, that, for a time, each one planned how best to enrich himself.
In complexion they were much lighter than the common American Indians.
Their style of dress, which was often the most elaborate, and made from the finest materials of their own weaving, more nearly approached that of Europeans,--trousers, jacket, surtout, cloak, and cap or hat ornamented with fine feather-work. The same dress is worn by their descendants in Mexico at the present time. Their treatment of their women was not Asiatic, but resembled more that which is accorded to them by the civilized nations of the world. Their duties were domestic, and they were not degraded by servile bondage. Throughout the different cities were barber-shops, where the men a.s.sembled to have their beards shaved. No such thing was known among the American Indians.
"Quetzalcoatl, G.o.d of the air," says Prescott, "instructed them in the use of the metals, in agriculture, and the arts of government. It was the golden age. For some cause he was compelled to abandon the country.
On his way he stopped at the city of Cholula, where a temple was dedicated to his worship, the ma.s.sy ruins of which still form one of the most interesting relics of antiquity in Mexico. When he reached the sh.o.r.es of the Mexican Gulf, _he took leave of his followers, promising that he and his descendants would revisit them hereafter_, and then, entering his wizard skiff made of serpents" skins, embarked on the great ocean for the fabled land of Tlapallan [are there not here the Welsh words _lla_, place, softened into _tla_, and _pell_, distant, meaning "distant place"?] He was said to have been tall in stature, _with a white skin, long dark hair, and a flowing beard_. The Mexicans looked confidently to the return of this benevolent deity; and this remarkable tradition, deeply cherished in their hearts, prepared the way for the success of the Spaniards."
Their religion was a compound of Christianity and mythology, of spiritual refinement and ferocity. Indeed, so much was this the case that the most intelligent and judicious historians of the Aztecs could not resist the conviction that one part of their religion emanated from a comparatively refined people, while the other sprang from barbarians.
Everything pointed to the doctrine that their religion had _two distinct sources_.
Some historians have erred in supposing that they indiscriminately sacrificed human beings. Their sacrifices were criminals collected from all parts of the country, kept in cages, and slain upon the same day to make a religious exhibition. This ought to be stated, so that, if possible, there might be some mitigation of their dark and b.l.o.o.d.y practices.
They recognized the existence of one G.o.d, Supreme Creator and Lord of the Universe. In their prayers they addressed Him as their G.o.d, "by whom they lived, omnipresent, who knoweth all thoughts and giveth all gifts, without whom man is as nothing, the incorporeal, invisible, one G.o.d, of perfect perfection and purity, under whose wings we find repose and a sure defence."
They made confession but once, and that usually was deferred to a late period of life. The following was the language of the confessor for the penitent: "O merciful Lord, thou knowest the secrets of all hearts, let thy forgiveness and favor descend like the pure waters of heaven, to wash away the stains from the soul. Thou knowest that this poor man has sinned, not from his own free will, but from the influence of the sign under which he was born." He then teaches charity: "Clothe the naked and feed the hungry, whatever privations it may cost thee; for, remember, their flesh is like thine, and they are men like thee."
The ceremony of naming children shows a wonderful coincidence with what are called Christian rites. The lips and bosom of the infant were sprinkled with water, and "the Lord was implored to permit the holy drops to wash away the sin that was given to it before the foundation of the world, so that the child might be born anew."
Their prayers, too, inculcated Christian morality: "Wilt thou blot us out, O Lord, forever? Is this punishment intended not for our reformation, but for our destruction? Impart to us out of thy great mercy thy gifts, which we are not worthy to receive through our own merits."
"Keep peace with all." "Bear injuries with humility. G.o.d who sees will avenge you." "He who looks curiously on a woman commits adultery with his eyes." What parallels with Scripture teachings!
The Aztec n.o.bles had bards in their houses, who composed ballads suited to the times, and sang and played on instruments in honor of the achievements of their lord. In this is discovered a resemblance to the customs of Welsh minstrelsy.
They had also musical councils, held on special days in the presence of large public a.s.semblies, for the trials of historians, poets, and musicians, in their respective compositions, before the monarchs of Mexico, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan. These were exactly identical with the Welsh Eisteddfods,--bardic and musical contests, which have long been and are still held in Wales, and in other countries where the descendants of the people of that country reside. They had also a complete system of orders and badges resembling those in Europe. By a study of their stone calendars, they are known to have had regular divisions of time; and their years consisted of three hundred and sixty-five days. Historians relate that in the first interview of Cortez with Montezuma in his palace, the latter said that his ancestors were not the original proprietors of the land. They had occupied it but a few ages, and had been led there by a great Being, _who, after giving them laws and ruling over the nation for a time, had withdrawn to the region where the sun rises_. He had declared upon his departure that he or his descendants would again visit them and resume his empire. The wonderful deeds of the Spaniards, their fair complexion, and the quarter whence they came, led him to believe that they were his descendants.
It was this tradition, inflexibly maintained by all the natives, which enabled Cortez and his followers to secure such a complete conquest throughout the Aztec empire; and yet so cruel a monster was he that he put to death the two emperors, Montezuma and Guatemozin, and nearly four millions of their subjects, in the most cruel manner. At least, this is stated by historians; possibly the number is exaggerated. At any rate, he slew an immense number.
A gentleman who was in Mexico saw in 1748, in a Spanish ma.n.u.script there, the speech which Montezuma delivered to his subjects just prior to his death, and which is probably still in existence:
"Kinsmen, Friends, Countrymen, and Subjects: You know I have been eighteen years your sovereign and your natural king, as my ill.u.s.trious predecessors and fathers were before me, and all the descendants of my race since we came from _a far distant northern nation, whose tongue and manners we yet have partly preserved_. I have been to you a father, a guardian, and a loving prince, while you have been to me faithful subjects and obedient servants.
"Let it be held in your remembrance that you have a claim to a n.o.ble descent, because you are sprung from a race of freemen and heroes, who scorned to deprive the native Mexicans of their ancient liberties, but added to their national freedom principles which do honor to human nature. Our divines have instructed you of our natural descent from a people the most renowned upon earth for liberty and valor; because of all nations they were, as our first parents told us, the only unsubdued people upon the earth by that warlike nation [Romans] whose tyranny and ambition a.s.sumed the conquest of the world; but nevertheless our great forefathers checked their ambition, and fixed limits to their conquests, although but the inhabitants of a _small island_, and but few in number, compared to the ravagers of the earth, who attempted in vain to conquer our great, glorious, and free forefathers," etc.
In the above, Montezuma and his people looked upon themselves as the descendants of freemen and heroes who had not been subdued, who were the inhabitants of a small island in the north. The description very strikingly answers to the character, manners, and principles of the Welsh, and the place as the British Island. When Cortez came to their country, Montezuma was the eleventh emperor of Mexico in the Aztec line.
Now, allowing an average reign to each emperor of twenty years, it will be found that Prince Madoc"s arrival in this country will about coincide with the time of the establishment of this empire. This is also true with regard to the Peruvian empire. Atahualpa, who was treacherously and inhumanly put to death by the cruel and avaricious Pizarro, was the twelfth emperor of Peru in succession from Manco Capac. By the same method of calculation it will be seen that the dynasty of the Incas was established about the time of Madoc"s arrival. In consequence of this, with many other proofs which cannot be introduced here, it has been maintained that he also was the founder of the Peruvian empire and civilization. John Williams, an author of no small repute, in his "Natural History of the Mineral Kingdom," vol. ii. p. 410, maintains that not only Mexico but Peru also was discovered by Madoc; that the few fair and white persons found there by the Spaniards were the descendants of Madoc"s colony; and that Manco Capac and Mamma Ocello were Madoc and his wife. They are supposed to be the progenitors of the Peruvian Incas. As they were so different from the original natives in their complexions, they were thought to be the children of the sun; a sentiment which Manco might encourage for his own preservation. Mamma Ocello he thinks a corruption of Mamma Ichel, or Uchel, the Welsh for "high or stately mother." He gives it as his opinion that Madoc in his first voyage landed in the Gulf of Mexico, and that when he went back to his native country he promised those whom he left behind to return to them; but that in his second voyage he was driven by a storm from the north down as low as Brazil, and was shipwrecked near the mouth of the Amazon River; that he and his wife and the survivors sailed up that river; that after some time he arrived at Cuzco, the capital of the Peruvian empire; and that he never came to his first colony. He then a.s.signs many reasons for his belief. It cannot be denied that some of those reasons are ingenious. The fact of Madoc or some of his followers having reached Peru is not denied; but they reached that country from the _western_, not the _eastern_, side of the continent. They went down the sea-coast west of Mexico to make explorations, or were carried against their choice by a storm to Peru, where they settled. Such a theory is in harmony with the foregoing pages, while it does not in any way conflict with the founding of that empire by Madoc.
Three South American nations ascribe their civilization and religion to three white men who appeared among them.
Abbe Molina, in his "History of Chili," vol. ii. book i. chap. i., says that "there is a tribe of Indians in Baroa, Chili, whose complexions are a clear white and red."
Baron Humboldt, in his "Political Essays," remarks that "in the forests of Guiana, especially near the sources of the river Oronoco, are several tribes of a whitish complexion."
Captain John Drummond, who resided in Mexico for many years in a military capacity, as an engineer, geographer, and naturalist, favored Dr. Williams, the author of the "Enquiry," with his opinion on the subject. He said that he "was fully persuaded and convinced that Madoc was one of the confederate chiefs who went upon an expedition westward from Britain about the year 1170; and that he has heard of colonies of Welsh people now existing, who, he thinks, are descendants of Madoc"s people; that the emigrants were a mixture of Welsh, North Britons, and Irish, and that Madoc was naval commander."
This was not at all unlikely, since upon Madoc"s return from his first voyage he made his discoveries as public as possible. The North Britons and Irish were on friendly terms with the Welsh, and all were hostile to the English. Jeuan Brecva, a Bard who flourished about the year 1480, says that Rhiryd, an illegitimate son of Owen Gwynedd, and who, according to Powell, was Lord of Clochran, in Ireland, "accompanied Madoc across the Atlantic (Morwerydd) to some lands they had found there, and there dwelt." There can be no doubt, therefore, that some Irish went with Madoc to America.
It is probable, too, that some Scots were in the expedition; for Captain Drummond said that at one time he was accompanied by his servant, who was a Highlander, on a journey through the country, when they came to a Mexican hut where they heard a woman singing to her child. His servant began to show signs of astonishment, and turned to the captain and told him that the woman was using words from the Erse,--the language of the Highlands in Scotland.
The captain further observed, that Don Juan de Grijalva, a Spaniard, said that "he found the Celts of Mexico, some having little or no arms, but clothed in hides; and that the fierceness of their manners and their undaunted courage resembled the old Britons, as described by Henry II.
to the Emperor Emmanuel Commenes. He also found others with short-skirted vests of different colors, with targets and short black spears, and that these new men in Mexico were adored by the natives for their courage and dexterity, for that they never had seen ships till they came among them from afar."
Antonio Goluasco, a Portuguese author of great celebrity, mentions the expedition of a Captain Machan, a British adventurer, in 1344, who had been in Mexico, and had got store of wealth and silver from the native sovereign of that day, but who was cast away on his return to Europe, with all his treasure, near Madeira.
Also, from the negotiations of Sir John Hawkins, an English admiral, in the latter part of Queen Elizabeth"s reign, and from the speeches of various Mexican chiefs to Sir John"s officers who were sent from Vera Cruz to Mexico to negotiate with the Spanish Viceroy, is deduced strong proof that these chiefs looked upon themselves as descended from the Welsh.
The Tlascalans belonged to the same great family with the Aztecs. They came on the grand Mexican plateau about the same time with the kindred races, at the close of the _twelfth_ century. Their immense fortifications and walls, which extended for many miles, show the same methods of construction, in semicircular lines and overlapping one another, as those in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi.
Most of the historians say that the two great pyramids--teocalli--just northeast of the city of Mexico were constructed by an ancient people that came to Mexico from some country east situated on the Atlantic Ocean.
What, then, is the conclusion? That the Aztecs were the Alligewi, who were found in Virginia and the Carolinas by Madoc"s colony, and with whom the latter became amalgamated and moved westward. Being more and more pressed by the powerful Indian nations which subsequently gained control of the middle and eastern countries, they were at length obliged to abandon the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Some portions of these people had reached, as a sort of advance-guard, the Mexican plateau before those who were left behind entirely surrendered the country. The date of founding the Aztec empire--1325--necessitates this view, and Clavigero, whose table of dates has been given in another part of this chapter, places the first arrival of the Aztecs in Tula as early as 1196,--twenty-six years after the arrival of Madoc.
When this mighty migration took place, a portion, from necessity, convenience, or inclination, ascended the Missouri; and of these the Mandans are the descendants; while the main body moved in a southwest direction, leaving unmistakable traces of their progress from the Mississippi to Mexico. Some of these will be noticed in a subsequent chapter.
The Aztec empire became a controlling power on this continent, and exacted tribute for the Mexican kings from all the Indian tribes. But the Welsh element was no more in point of numbers, though they were in power, to the Aztecs than the Tartars were to the Chinese. The ships which are represented on Mexican monuments as crossing an ocean are Madoc"s vessels, floating on the Atlantic from Wales to America.
Abbe Bra.s.seur de Bourbourg, the most profound investigator in Mexican and Peruvian antiquities, says, "The native traditions generally attribute their civilization to bearded white men, who came across the ocean from the east."
CHAPTER XIII.