The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-05-17

0nce. ct the very head of American antjQua
Hans. The libraries Of Europe were thrown
him, naatssiai a.sissannes 50 sssA spe.isA
|jealhysE ull3clked it, we'll gnerdeA szchiyee
and Invited him to Madrd to extend hi6
researches. When the iII-starred Maxinilr
ian was seduced into taking the throne 0f
AexinQ, theAbbe was appointed chief II the
tory and antiquities Of the country. BeSort
the lamentab4e and bloody scene whi6l
closed the brief dynastyofl the smpixe, he
had visited many parts Of, the realm, hut
now, we believe, he is back again at Paris
+" Such has been his lie. Let us now Zee
4. Most readers doubtless suppose that the
last word on Aztec civilization may be found
in Prescott's Mexico. SO far from this, Mr..
Prescott hardly touched on the most i'm
portaat points Of all. When he wrote it
WAS supposed that the Aztec manuscripts
We're wholly undecipherable., -
NJ Aubin, whose name we have already
mentioned, was the hrst to break ground in
this new field of research. About ten years
ago he published Sc Memoir on the Didac-
tic Paintings of Ancient Mexicans,n in
which, following out some hints Of the older
historian, and drawing his illustrations from
his own unequaled collection of Aztec man
uscripts, he showed that they possessed 4
well defined method Of recording ideas by
figures Eepresenting sounds. 7fhii1ii' q hsi'
II OBut his discovery, interesting % it il, was
quite thrown in the shade by another of the
Able Brasseur. The latter had long been
persuaded thSt at least id Central America
:. real Phsastio.i alphabet iisa 5ieea sssi
and most luckily, by diAt of epdlass Fun-
1 manSscript written by Diego de Landa,
rfasss bisheF 6k Eueasaa,, containing d 4fsiith.
full transcript Of the lmg-sougAt-fora alpha
bet. r. It contains twepty7seyen distinct
letters totally unlike those of any othet
i Unfortunasely, the good bishop, who
looked 1T all such matters as vain articles
of the devil to amuse the heathen, not only
low the alphabet was used Sor f seems
that it corresponds less to our A, B, C's than
to the sigps used in tphOn0glaphy-but,
what is more to be regretted, made sure
that his successors should not puzzle their
brains over it to any serious extent, by de-
stroying every native manuscript he could
still, the chief point Of all Is now proven
beyond cavil, that both Mexicans and Yucca
tanese had, for centuries before Columbus, o
phonetic system of writing, which insured
the perpetuation of their histories and
legends independent of the shortness of
memories. A few of these, after remaining
for centuries in manuscript and forgotten,
the indefatigable Able found and brought
to Europe.
Another proof of this, for which we have
to thank the Able Brasseur, is a conplate
native drama, composed, acted, and set to
music by the ancient Guatemalians. This he
discovered while at his parish of Rabinal,
and had it rehearsed before him by the alb
original characters themselves Both words,
music and stage directions were taken down
on the spot, and have since been printed in
the .Abbe's i" Collection of Documents in the
Indigenous Languages of America" s,Dl,
These are the most important contribu-
tions of the Able Brasseur to the literary
history of the red race, but they are by no
means ALL He is even now engaged on one
not loss interesting. It is the publication of
a very ancient manuscript in the Aztec
tongue, called the History of the Suns, or
Four Ages of the World, embodying the
myths and historical traditions Of that
highly civilized nation from the earliest
date. Certainly it is high time that the
long study and unwearying ardor he has
devoted to the ancient history of our CONT
nent should be known and acknowledged
by the reading public of our land.