Union and American. [volume] (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1875-1877, 1876-07-27

\ prooIemS Wllcn stlll awaits SOLUTION
Doubtless the pyramidial form Of
certsin earthworks is but a vague
index of relationship, since the
same architectural type is encoun-
tered in the Nile valley at the
dawn of another ciqilization. And
again, if all the primitive races of
North America were of one stock,
how does it happen that the inter,
mediate territory of Arkansas,
Louisiana and Texas reveals no
traces Of migration.
The origin and history Of the
fourishing nation which confront.
ed Cortes on the plateau Of Mexico
have hitherto remained impen etra>
bic to amateur and ftful research.
1t is yet questionable whether the
cradle Of the race may be detected
in the casas grandes, or the abodes
of the Pueblo Indians of New
Mexico and Arizona. 1t seems,
however, that about the fifth cen4
tury of our era Anahuac, or the
the Gland of waters" was occupi-
ed by the Toltecs, branch of the
Nahua stock, to whom Aztec ira
dition ascribed the finest Mexican
monuments. The Toltecs were
prosperous, rich, and in many re-
spects enlightened. At all events
the civilization which they be-
queathed to succeeding races was
little inferior to that of the Span
ish conquerors. Gradually ex-
hausted by repeated famines and
destructive civil wars, they proved
unable to resist incursions from
the north, and accordingly in the
eleventh century the Chichimecs,
and four centuries later the Aztec
acquired preponderance in Ana
huac. 1t is to be noted that Mon
tezuma shared the supreme power
with the sovereigns of Tezcuco.
Tlacopaa, and TlaScala, and that a
main lever of Spanish conquest
was the address with which tae
Cortes contrived to combine the
petty potentates against the Aztec
monarch. We may add, although
the significance Of such legends has
been disto, ted, that popular fa>
ble foreshadowed the subJugation
Of the country by a white race
coming by sea from the quarter of
the rising sun @
Between the Nahuas the Mayas
who are supposed to have reared
the cities Of Honduras, Yucatan,
there are differences so decisive
that it appears impossible to assign
them common origin. In the ed>
i6ces of Copan, Uxmal, and Pal
enque the rules of art and of sol
idity are carefully preserved, and
tins doubtless explains their durs-
bility. The vaulted arch, indeed,
seems to have been unknown, but,
it was approximated, as in the So
called cyclopean works of Europe,
by horizontal stones jutting one
above another. The general as
pect Maya architecture is not want
ing ia grace, and the sculpture of
thus people the human figure is re.
presented in just proportions. Yu-
catan has been termed the Egypt
of the New World, and there is no
reason to donbt that the same des
gree of ingenuity and of severe
consecutive study, which since the
beginning Of the century has been
directed to the Nile. valley. might
unravel most of the mysteries
which still enshroud American
archaeology.
The congress of Americahistes
at Nancy seems to have been con.
trolled by strictly scientific spirit
The we'll known theories os Phm-
niclan, of Norwegian, and Of Chi
nese colonization, we're touched
upon, but it was recognized that
all discussions respecting the gem
esis of our native civilization must
bepostponed untilS more thorough
collation., and analysis have been
brought to bear upon the extant
monument and records. Compre.
hensive and critical exploration,
such as Bayard applied to Nine
veh, is seen to be INDISPENSABLE, !
and this must be supplemented by |
a mastery of the Aztec language
and of the hieroglyphics inscribed
on the struc ures of Uxmal and
Palenque, Such a task can pre-
sent no insuperable difficulties in |
an age which has witnessed the de.
ciphering of the Egyptian picture
writing, of the cuneiform charac.