ant 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. The secrets of confession were held inviolable,
and penances were laid upon the penitents. There was one
peculiarity in the Aztec ceremony of confession--namely, that the
repetition of an offense, once atoned for, was deemed inexpiable--and
confession was therefore made but once in a man's life, and generally
deferred until a late period of it.

One of the most important duties of the priesthood was that of
education, to which certain buildings were appropriated, within the
enclosure of the principal temple of each city. Here the youth of
both sexes, of the middle and higher classes, were placed when very
young; the girls being entrusted to the care of priestesses, for
women exercised all sacerdotal functions except those of sacrifice.
In these institutions the boys were drilled in monastic discipline.
They decorated the shrines of the gods with flowers, fed the sacred
fires, and took part in the religious chants and festivals. Those
in the higher schools were initiated in the traditionary law, the
mysteries of hieroglyphics, the principles of government, and in
astronomical and natural science. The girls were instructed in all
feminine employments, especially in weaving and embroidery. The
discipline, both in male and female schools, was stern and rigid.

The temples were supported by the revenue from lands bestowed upon
them by successive princes. These were managed by the priests, who
were considered as excellent masters, treating their tenants with
liberality and indulgence. Besides this they were entitled to the
first fruits of all produce, and were constantly receiving rich
offerings from the pious. The surplus, beyond what was required for
the support of the priests, was distributed in alms among the poor,
charity being strongly prescribed by the moral code of the nation.

Thus the Aztec religion was a strange mixture of good and evil. The
moral discipline enforced by it was excellent. Many of its precepts
resembled very closely those of Christianity, and yet the whole was
contaminated by the wholesale sacrifices. It is supposed that this
dual religion was the result of the mixture of two peoples, the
mild and gentle tenets of the Toltecs being adopted by the fierce
Aztec invaders, who added to them their own super