Liberty advocate., 1837-12-19
AMES J. GRAVES, EDITOR.
From The Saturday Courier.
ESSAY


CAUSES OF THEIR DECLINE.
Whether Man was originally trans
nted from the East into the New World,
whether he was creation SUI gener,s,
lied to the peculiar climate IN which he
IA placed, are subjects that have often
IN investigated by the learned. The
ASTON is still held in considerable doubt,
,,a admits Of further inquiry. 1t is not
sSr nroyince, however in the present dis
ksion TO attempt to solve the problem
a lake it for granted that man has ex-
.spd IN the New World from a very early
Fiod. but how or in what manner he
2asnc here--being foreign TO us--we pro-
Nj in our inquiry.
n order to arrive at some data as to the
wal state Of the early Aboriglnes, we
& HI refer to the observations of the first
hypators who reached the American
Ares. These adventurers found the in
NNbitants of the Torrd Zone highly po-
ned in the arts of Society and govern
s'.bnts-skiful agricultursts-in the cul-
siFation of beautiful gardens, botanically
ranged. Their manufactures were car
|kd on to great extent, and their public
keiIdings were erected of marble, with eX-
SIsisite Workmanship. Atthis period, when
IN glories of Greece and Rome were de-
sArted. and the Middle ages in comparative
Iarbarism, it is extraordinary to lind cities
III the Western World enjoying the height
iii splendor and civilization.
The empires of Peru and Mexico were
ar;dentIy the Athens of this vast territory,
\ fran whence the Northern and Southern
countries were peopled; for there was
vide difference existing between those
IAboripnes, as between the barbarous ma
lions of Northern Europe and those eX,
;ss;np within the precincts of the Iorrld
gone In either case, hunting, fishing,
I ara the rudest manner of living. were the
soIp objects of their ambition, and conse-
a,lently those precarious modes OF llvelI-
Raod were not favorable to a dense popu-
laton. r
IL Kamschatka and Northern Iartary,
u The present day the population is limit
sd-the intense cold operating as bar 10
prccreation. Passing from thence 10
Greenland and the Esquimaux, we ind a
varv limited community. At Terra del
rnero and Australia, the same paucity OF
;,.h !. b;,onts exists; in fine, through every
ss,;on where civilization and the arts
,nye not been cultivated, man invarlaDy y
n, found few in numbers. On the contra
~. La Vaga tells us, that the PeruVlanS
ssnssessed immense treasures. Their edl-
ices are of an immense size, equal TO !he
hnildings of the Egyptians-be'n,9 81 iee5 5
III length and l8 in breadth lhey l'au
music, and acted comedies and tragedies
Thev understood geometry and other SCI
ances, betokening people descended from
"a ancient race. Their kings, the lhcuS'
anoanated from a remote stock, similar to
,she pharoahs of Egypt, and for any thing
"a know to the contrary, equally ancient
srhov maintained large standing armies
md from their perfection in architecture
Sgtronony, and other branches OF clVillzeo
life, there is every reason 10 pelio'o '""
lie population was then very great A.,
How long a time had elapsed from tn'
Afeation of the world to their advancement
IA the various sciences is moral lmPos
%;h;Iitv ever to be ascertalned, from tnei
sauor ba vino possessed the art OF wrltlli'
IN by hierogyphics Posterlty has nun
brto been in the dark as to their orlSlh,a
6rigin. In country, so subject to ear'h
makes, populous cities might have nee
# slestroyed; and those in question, as WI
sshessed by our navigators, have long alte
arisen from the wreck of previous NOR
hrchies.
The Mexican Empire at this period wa
un the same scale of grandeur and civil
alton. Their public edifces were hui
lof stone and polished marble. The roy'
palace had thirty gates, and the arch
iectural arrangement Of the rool OF MOI
tezuma's grand apartment might vie VIII
the celebrated roof Of Westminster LA
In London.
The city, like that of Peru, was suppl
Led with water by aqueducts, extending
"a considerable distance. Like the IL
mans, they seemed acquainted with Il
fact of water invariably finding its leve
Otherwise, the immense labor and c
pense, to which both nations were su
iected, might have been spared. II Il
historians of that day arc to be relied o
& and we have no reason TO doubt them, u
population Of these cities was immens
Mexico contained three hundred thousal
inhabitants, and their military force W
prodipious-the Emperor having thlr
aux,linries, who could each bring into
field one hundred thousand lighting me
Their astronomers divided the year III
365 days and 8 months, containing TWEEN
days each the remaining five intcrcula
days they devoted to festivals, accordl
to the custom Of their foreiathers :,
They had public schools and colIog
and their laws were framed upon the M n
lust and honorable principles In n
s nc.hing appears to the contrary but
ono period this ancient empire was