"Quetzalcoatl, god of the air," says Prescott, "instructed them in the use of the metals, in agriculture, and the arts of government. It was the golden age. For some cause he was compelled to abandon the country. On his way he stopped at the city of Cholula, where a temple was dedicated to his worship, the massy ruins of which still form one of the most interesting relics of antiquity in Mexico. When he reached the shores of the Mexican Gulf, _he took leave of his followers, promising that he and his descendants would revisit them hereafter_, and then, entering his wizard skiff made of serpents' skins, embarked on the great ocean for the fabled land of Tlapallan [are there not here the Welsh words _lla_, place, softened into _tla_, and _pell_, distant, meaning "distant place"?] He was said to have been tall in stature, _with a white skin, long dark hair, and a flowing beard_. The Mexicans looked confidently to the return of this benevolent deity; and this remarkable tradition, deeply cherished in their hearts, prepared the way for the success of the Spaniards." Their religion was a compound of Christianity and mythology, of spiritual refinement and ferocity. Indeed, so much was this the case that the most intelligent and judicious historians of the Aztecs could not resist the conviction that one part of their religion emanated from a comparatively refined people, while the other sprang from barbarians. Everything pointed to the doctrine that their religion had _two distinct sources_. Some historians have erred in supposing that they indiscriminately sacrificed human beings. Their sacrifices were criminals collected from all parts of the country, kept in cages, and slain upon the same day to make a religious exhibition. This ought to be stated, so that, if possible, there might be some mitigation of their dark and bloody practices. They recognized the existence of one God, Supreme Creator and Lord of the Universe. In their prayers they addressed Him as their God, "by whom they lived, omnipresent, who knoweth all thoughts and giveth all gifts, without whom man is as nothing, the incorporeal, invisible, one God, of perfect perfection and purity, under whose wings we find repose and a sure defence." They made confession but once, and that usually was deferred to a late period of life. The following was the language of the confessor for the penitent: "O merciful Lord, thou knowest the secrets of all hearts, let thy forgiveness and favor descend like the pure waters of heaven, to wash away the stains from the soul. Thou knowest that this poor man has sinned, not from his own free will, but from the influence of the sign under which he was born." He then teaches charity: "Clothe the naked and feed the hungry, whatever privations it may cost thee; for, remember, their flesh is like thine, and they are men like thee."