blood at their gladiatorial shows; the Athenians of the age of
Pericles and Socrates offered up human sacrifices at the Thargelia,
like the veriest savages; and the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, the
most civilised commercial people of the world in their time, as the
English are now, gave their own children to be burnt alive as
victims to Baal. The Mexicans were far more civilised than the
ordinary North American Indians of their own day, and even in some
respects than the Spanish Christians who conquered, converted,
enslaved, and tortured them; but the Mexican religion was full of
such horrors as I could hardly even name to you. It was based
entirely on cannibalism, as yours is on Mammon. Human sacrifices
were common--commoner even than in modern England, I fancy.
New-born babies were killed by the priests when the corn was sown;
children when it had sprouted; men when it was full grown; and very
old people when it was fully ripe."

"How horrible!" Frida exclaimed.

"Yes, horrible," Bertram answered; "like your own worst customs. It
didn't show either gentleness or rationality, you'll admit; but it
showed what's the one thing essential to civilisation--great
coherence, high organisation, much division of function. Some of
the rites these civilised Mexicans performed would have made the
blood of kindly savages run cold with horror. They sacrificed a man
at the harvest festival by crushing him like the corn between two
big flat stones. Sometimes the priests skinned their victim alive,
and wore his raw skin as a mask or covering, and danced hideous
dances, so disguised, in honour of the hateful deities whom their
fancies had created--deities even more hateful and cruel, perhaps,
than the worst of your own Christian Calvinistic fancies. I can't