So great was the pious zeal and exterminating fervour of the first 

 Bishop of Mexico,, that the most elaborate and beautiful works in gold 

 and silver were consigned to the melting pot, and even the valuable 

 gems and precious stones which had the least sculpture on their 

 surface were reduced to dust, although large sums were offered for 

 their ransom. Nay,- the mere possessor of any article of this kind was 

 liable to a severe penalty and personal punishment. When this is 

 considered, it will easily be conceived how great the difficulty of 

 procuring information on any subject connected with the history of 

 the country must have been ; insomuch that those who succeeded the 

 first Europeans, were more ignorant in this respect than the present 

 inhabitants. It ought, however, to be stated that, in the century 

 which succeeded that of the Conquest, several of the Clergy sent from 

 Spain, regretting the destruction of the historic writings, collected, 

 and preserved with much care, the few that remained, and even 

 studied the language for the sake of expounding them: and, about 

 eighty years since, the Chevalier Boturini, a learned Italian, visited 

 Mexico, for the purpose of obtaining materials for a general history 

 of the country, and enthusiastically devoted his time and fortune to the . 

 accomplishment of this object. Having made himself master of the 

 language, he procured, at considerable expense of time and research, 

 the largest collection of manuscripts and Azteck paintings that had 

 been made since the Conquest, and prepared to return to Europe with 

 these treasures, which, in his letter, he says exceeded, in his estimation, 

 all the mines of gold and silver in the country, when the whole were 

 seized by the rapacious hands of the jealous Government, and himself 

 sent to Spain, where in a short time he died broken hearted, and the 

 world lost the valuable information he had acquired at so much trouble 

 and risk. Of the five hundred maps, pictures, manuscripts, and other 

 valuable remains which he possessed, it is believed that scarcely any 

 are now in existence. 



In the year 1790, during the Viceroyalty of Count Reviilagigedo, 

 the workmen employed in making a subterraneous aqueduct in the great 

 square of Mexico (the space formerly occupied by the grand temple) 

 discovered a number of the enormous stone idols which had been 

 buried under the ruins by the Conqueror. Three of them were 

 removed, but one only, the great Kaiendar stone, was allowed to be 

 exposed. It was placed in the wall of the Cathedral. The great 

 statue of the Goddess Teoyamique, with all its horrible attributes, was 

 with difficulty saved from destruction. As it could not be trusted to 

 the public gaze, it was secretly conveyed to the court of the University, 

 and buried under the gallery. The superb sacrificial altar, of porphyry, 



