The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-01-27


the structure of a tower in Europe. But
| it is in the south of Mexico that magnif.
ticent and beautiful ruins present them
iselyes in abundance. Ruins of majestic
tcities, magnificent temples and altars,
with beautiful works of sculpture, taste.
fully wrought, and palaces adorned with
paintings-coiors chiefly sky blue and
light greenwich show by their rich
mess and elegance, to be the work of a
highly cultivated people
/ These ruins, majestic and beautiful in
appearance, but oyergrown with thick
forests of mahogany and cedar of i'm.
mense dimensions and great age, prove
to the world that great empire existed
here at a very remote period of time, and
that this empire teemed with an immense
population of people, highly skilled in the
mechanical arts, and in an advanced state
of civilization. The most extensive ruins
are to be found at Uxmal and Palenque,
in Mexico At Uxmal are immense pyr-
lamids coated with stone. and quadran-
gular stone edifces and terraces. The
highest of these pyramids is 100 it., and
on the summit it supports temple. On
one of the facades of the temple are four
human figures, cut in stone, with great
Iexactness and elegance The hands are
lerossed upon the breast. The head is
covered with something like a helmet
About the neck is a garment made Of
/ the skin of an alligator, and over each
body is the figure of deaths head and
bones.
| AT Palenque are immense ruins
city of great extent, with the remains of a
| royal palace One temple, that of Copan,
was $50 #. by $50, supposedto to have been
as large as St. Peters at Rome. Another
temple of great dimensions is here, hav-
ling an entrance by a portico 100 #. long
and 10 broad. 1t stands on an elevation
of go feet. The pillars ofthe portico are
adorned with hieroglyphics and other de-
vices. Different objects of worship have
| been found-representations of the gods
who were worshipped in this country
These temples, with fourteen large build.
ings, and many other objects of curiosi.
ity, stand here as monuments of ancient
greatness, to remind us of the remote or.
igin of mighty empire. This city has
been described as the Thebes of America,
and travellers have supposed that it must
have been sixty miles in circumference,
and contained a population of 5000, 900
souls.
Centuries must have elapsed and dy-
nasties succeeded each other, before such
orders of architecture were introduced,
and length of time must have passed
away before an empire would become
sufficiently powerful to erect such tenn
Piles and possess city of such vast ex-
tent. In looking back to the past we feel
interested in the imagination that this
people was once in the MONDAY of glory,
enjoying all the fruits and luxuries of an
advanced civilization; but when we be-
hold these ruins, melancholy reflection
must at once seize upon our minds. On
the ground, where nations once met in
their strength and power, wild beasts now
roam, and venemous serpents wend their
way; and over these vast cities, where
once the busy hum of industry and the
voice of merriment resounded, grows the
vast cedar, on whose branches the owl
chatters his discordant notes, and the bat
sleeps at meridian. In this country is
exhibited the largest pyramid in the
world-that of Cholula, near Puebla. Ii
covers "A acres, and Is about 200 feet
thigh. On it's summit was originally a
temple, and in the interior has been dis
covered a vault, rooted with beams oi
wood, and containing skeletons and idols
| Several smaller pyramids surround this
largeone. 1t appears to have been formed
by cutting bill into an artificial shape
1t is divided into terraces and slopes, COW
cred with platforms, stages, and bastions,
! elevated one above the other, and all
formed with large stones skillfully cut
and Joined without any cement. In some
respects the style of architecture resem-
bles the Gothic, being massive and dura-
ble-in other respects it resembles the
Z Egyptian, yet the general construction,
manner, and style of architecture, is
differentfrom anything hitherto described
in the world. As in Egypt, hieroglyph-
: les on stone denote remarkable events,
) which no man hasyet been able to deei.
pher. Dark shades rest on the antigui-
: ties of America, and few rays of ligh
Eenfyen the gloom. We have ancien
history to inform us of the events o
Egypt--how that empire was founded
and how it prospered and fell-we has'
the same on record of Babylon and Min
. evah-of Greece, Rome, and Carthage
but not the least information have we rel
l atise to those who erected these cities
: what people, and from whence they came
: not ray of light todispel the dark gloon
: which seems to rest on the early histor!
of America. Architecture, sculpture
painting, and all the arts that adorn civ
: filized life, have ffourished in this eoun
I try at period far remote. THERE'S suffi
4 eient evidence 70 prove that these cite
were in ruins at least 1900 years ago
In Palenque is the remains of an altar
4 over which grows an immense cedar
: whose powerful roots enshrine it. Tn
!. whole city is'evergrewf with nahogan..
and cedar trees OF enormous size. III
: Icoacentric circles of some-of these trees
the wen known cycles for a year-hay
> been counted, which showed they wer
t more than 600 years old; and there wer
indications of another generation of tree
4 having sprung up before them. HOY
: few reflect on the fact that America Is a.
,, Iold dominion-the seat of an ancient
/, mighty empire. These facts are openin'
4 themselves every day to the eyes of .
> astonisbed world. and il is shoped that th
iIspirit of inquiry, which seems at presen
; 20 animate all classes of learned nea, ma
| throw light on the. early history of thi
remarkable region.
: EE There are only 34z, 5e5 slayeheld
3 [ers in the United States. of whom sonl
fitwo own over one thousand negroes, onl
4 mime own over Eve hundred. only ffty
D SIX own over three hundred, one hunSire
: and eighty-seven own over two hundred
and fourteen hundred and seYenty min
4 avr,, .,x-or, s,oa I,.ndrad