Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1885-05-18

and other carving in stone nor were
poetry and music unknown to them.
Here too on the exact site of the
present one was city of 100000
population, built on an island in lake
TeXococo, now so subsided that it is
more than two miles away; the
buildings of which extending out
into the water and resting partly on
piles were of elaborately sculptured
stone and ornamented with balconies
of marble resting on columns of por-
phyry and jasper. AS seen from
the main land with which it was con-
nected by causeways, Prescott says
it appeared to Cortez on his ap-
proach ''more like fairy creation
than the work of mortal hands,
Both the city and civilization of
which it was the result were the won
der of the world. How to account
for that civilization was the problem
then and still unsolved. What was
the origin of this strange people and
what their early history are questions
still unanswered, though much dis
cussed by scholars and scientists from
that time till now. Siguenza made it
clear to himself, if not to others, that
they sprung from a grandson of
Noah who left Egypt soon after the
confusion of tongues. Lord Kingsbo-
rough published an elaborate work in
the early part of the present century
to show that they were the lost tribes
of Israel while Humboldt who spent
much time in Mexico maintains that
they are the same in race character
istics as the other Indian tribes of
North and South America, and of
the same origin viz. Asiatic.
However this may be one thing is
certain, they are still here. They
have not passed away at the ap-
| paoach of the blue eyed race like
other North American tribes, nor
has the white man in his contact
with them, shown himself distinctive
ly superior. He has shown his supe-
riority as a getter of money but
not in war or craftsmanship. The
| foremost men in Mexican officers to-
day are either partly or wholly of
Indian blood. Diaz, the present
president is one-third Indian; and
Jaurez whose name will always be
among the greatest in Mexican his
tory was an unmixed Aztec. Not
only is this strange race, of mysteri-
Gus origin still here, but here also are
the relics of their native history; the
ruins of temples and pyramids, of ac-
queducts and cities all indicating the
barbara splendor of their primeval
state. Here too are their ancient idols
and implements of heather sacrifice;
but these baubles have lost their
power over them. They are now
christians and their temples are dedi-
Gated to the one living and true God.
In fact upon the exact site of their
great heather temple to Mexitil,
chief of all their gods, now stands at
the head of the plaza the grand ca
thedral, which is actually the largest
and most imposing religious edifice
on this continent. That pagan
temples should be torn down and re-
built on the christian model is not so
strange; but it is something new in
history that race should do this for
itself. And though in the beginning
it was upon compulsion, the fact re-
mains that they did it and are still
the dominant race, in politics at
least.
AS rule, history shows that peo-
plies are never stronger than their civil
ization. If their civilization gives
place to another they generally
fade away or are absorbed by their
conquerors and lose their identity.
| But not so here. The Indian ele-
ment is still power in Mexico. 1t
is withal progressive. The Aztec of
to-day is not only christian but is
tolerant of every form of christian
worship. He believes in a govern
ment of the people and has his own
formed on that model. He welcomes
the railroad, the telegraph and tele-
phone as helps to a higher civiliza-
ton. Instead of going out with the
old, after the manner of other Indi-
an tribes, he proposes to stay and
reap the benefits of the new. In ra-
cial development he is an anomaly,
one of the strange products of this
strange land. From any standpoint
he is study. His past is like an
epic poem-full of heroism. His
present is full of pathetic interest.
What will his future be? G..