to Jehovah by
the Hebrews," had associated with him two other gods, _Huitzlipochtli_
and _Tlaloc_; one occupied a place upon his left hand, the other on his
right. This was the Trinity of the Mexicans.[378:3]

When the bishop Don Bartholomew de las Casas proceeded to his bishopric,
which was in 1545, he commissioned an ecclesiastic, whose name was
Francis Hernandez, who was well acquainted with the language of the
Indians (as the natives were called), to visit them, carrying with him a
sort of catechism of what he was about to preach. In about one year from
the time that Francis Hernandez was sent out, he wrote to Bishop las
Casas, stating that:

"The Indians believed in the God who was in heaven; that this
God was the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that the Father
was named _Yzona_, the Son _Bacab_, who was born of a Virgin,
and that the Holy Ghost was called _Echiah_."[378:4]

The Rev. Father Acosta says, in speaking of the _Peruvians_:

"It is strange that the devil after his manner hath brought a
Trinity into idolatry, for the three images of the Sun called
_Apomti_, _Churunti_, and _Intiquaoqui_, signifieth Father and
Lord Sun, the Son Sun, and the Brother Sun.

"Being in Chuquisaca, an honorable priest showed me an
information, which I had long in my hands, where it was proved
that there was a certain oratory, whereat the Indians did
worship an idol called _Tangatanga_, which they said was 'One
in Three, and Three in One.' And as this priest stood amazed
thereat, I said that the devil by his internal and obstinate
pride (whereby he always pretends to make himself God) did
steal all that he could from the truth, to employ it in his
lying and deceits."[378:5]

The doctrine was recognized among the Indians of the Californian
peninsula. The statue of the principal deity of the New Granadian
Indians had "three heads on one body," and was understood to be "three
persons with one heart and one will."[378:6]

The result of our investigations then, is that, for ages before the
time of Christ Jesus or Christianity, God was worshiped in the form of a
TRIAD, and that this doctrine was extensively diffused through all
nations. That it was established in regions as far distant as China and
Mexico, and immemorially acknowledged through the whole extent of Egypt
and India. That it flourished with equal vigor among the snowy mountains