The Scandinavian antiquarians make the “white-man’s land” (Hvitramannaland) extend down as far as Florida, on the very Gulf of Mexico.  It is curious to notice the coincidence between the remark of Bernal Diaz, that the Mexicans called their priests papa (more properly papahua), and that in the old Norse Chronicle, which tells of the first colonization of Iceland by the Northmen, and relates that they found living there “Christian men whom the Northmen call Papa.”  These latter are shown by the context to have been Irish priests.  The Aztec root teo (teo-tl, God) comes nearer to the Greek and Latin, but is not unlike the Irish dia, and the Norse ty-r.  The Aztec root col (charcoal) is exactly the Norse kol (our word coat), but not so near to the Irish gual.  It is desirable to notice such coincidences, even when they are too slight to ground an argument upon.

This seems to be the proper place to mention the many Christian analogies to be found in the customs of the ancient Aztecs.

Children were sprinkled with water when their names were given to them.  This is certainly true, though the statement that they believed that the process purified them from original sin is probably a monkish fiction.  Water was consecrated by the priests, and was supposed thus to acquire magical qualities.  In the coronation of kings, anointing was part of the ceremony, as well as the use of holy water.  The festival of All Souls’ Day reminds us of the Aztec feasts of the Dead in the autumn of each year; and in Mexico the Indians still keep up some of their old rites on that day.  There was a singular rite observed by the Aztecs, which they called the teoqualo, that is, “the eating of the god.”  A figure of one of their gods was made in dough, and after certain ceremonies they made a pretence of killing it, and divided it into morsels, which were eaten by the votaries as a kind of sacred food.

We may add to the list the habitual use of incense in the ceremonies:  the existence of monasteries and nunneries, in which the monks wore long hair, but the nuns had their hair cut off:  and the use of the cross as a religious emblem in Mexico and Central America.

Less certain is the recorded use of knotted scourges in performing penance, and the existence of a peculiar kind of auricular confession.

It is difficult to ascribe this mass of coincidences to mere chance, and not to see in them traces of connexion, more or less remote, with Christians.  Perhaps these peculiar rites came, with the Mexican system of astronomy, from Asia; or perhaps the white, bearded men from the East may have brought them.  It is true that such a supposition runs quite counter to the argument founded on the ignorance of the Mexicans of common arts known in Europe and Asia.  We should have expected Christian missionaries to have brought with them the knowledge of the use of iron, and the alphabet.  Perhaps our increasing knowledge of the ancient Mexicans may some day allow us to adopt a theory which shall at least have the merit of being consistent with itself; but at present this seems impossible.