New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-03
ANCIENT AMERICA.
THE LAND AZ IT WAS IN The DAYS BEFORE
COLUMBUS.

Of Ancient America and the Spanish Conquest ny H
John fske In two voium Hr,, tam mo PIP AAA''
In a very interesting preface Mr.. Fiske gives
tome account of the purposes which shaped thls
work. In order" he says, "to view in their
true perspective the series Of events comprlsRo
in the discovery Of America, one needs to form
= mental picture Of that strange world Of savagery
and barbarism to which civilized Europeans were
for the first time introduced In the course OF
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. in tneir
voyages along the African coast, into the Ihoian
and Pacific oceans, and across the A'ian"o
Nothing that Europeans discovered durlns thao
stirring period was 20 remarkable as these an1que
phases of human society; the mere existence U,
which had scarcely been suspected. ana 'hc ied
character Of which IL has been left fof the PrcenV
generation to begin to understand. NowheIe ""'
this ancient society 40 full OF INSTRUCTIVE ".so.'
a. In aboriginal America, which had pul.ucu ~,
own course Of development. cut on ana iS'is'"
from the Old World, for probably more 'n'h
fifty thoueand years.
In order 70 understand what tho discovery oil
America really meant it is clearly necessary "
have some knowledge Of the Inhabitants sooic,S'
institutions and general state OF progress "a ',0
country, at The time Of the discovery Now ~
accept the statements and theories OF 'ne Va,
World explorers and conquerors. VINO maue auo
who developed the discovery, wlthouu re'i'i
and comparison, would be TO peipe'ua'" ~
grave errors which they fell into through 1sno-
rancs. for il mnst never be forgotten that they
themselves were little more than barbarlans'
almost destitute of science, and weighed down
with supentition. II is. therefore, enInehuy
desirable that our views Of Ancient America shouio
he readiusted in accordance with modern knowi'
edre; and that, moreover, our estimates OF 'he
exnlorers and their work should be reformed
upon the lines Of modern geographical anu
hixtorical science Upon these principles MI
Fiske has proceeded, with the most interesting
and satisfactory results, and IL at times ne ap'
pears inconoclastic attacking venerable uadltlonS
sturdily and denying conclusions long accepted
by the generality Of men, he never dlsputes an
apparently established position without giving
his reasons at length, nor without making out
o strong case for his own view OF the clrcuih-
stances
The preliminary chapters deal altogether with
the ancient inhabitants Of America, and here the
author is fully in accord with the most modern
opinions One Of the most important consequences
of recent research, archaeological and chronological
has been to resolve into fable the long-held
listing Of old in America. The civilizations OF
Mexico and Peru have been stripped Of nearly all
their glamor. The fancies concerning an ancient
and advanced race TO whom the building OF the
Indian Mounds was ascribed. are dissipated. The
probability that all the North American Indians
were of one stock. approaches certainty. The
wonders which the Spaniards Of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries went in quest Of, the magnih-
cent cities and lands of gold reports Of which had
reached them, commonly faded; when the realities
were approached, into insignifcance. So is it with
the story of ancient America Lewis Morgan In
deed was Mr. Fiste holds, unjust in his structures
upon the description Of Montezuma's dinner given
by the conQucrors II was quite possible and not
at all improbable that the Spanlards actually saw
what they said they saw. Such luxury is not
incompatible with the conditions Of barbaric life.
But the life Of the ancient Mexicans was barbaric
and in some respects even savage. The Peruvians
at the time of the Conquest were in some par
ticulars less advanced than the Mexicans, but
they We're in advance of them in amenity of man
ners, in humanity and in those things which are
Of the essence Of higher civilization.
fair test is human sacrifices and cannibalisln.
The Mexicans practsed both; the Peruvians
neither At the same time the Peruvian form
of keeping records and accounts by the "quipu,'
Q system of knotted strings, was clearly behind
the Aztec hieroglyphics. Again, the Peruvians
had arrived at nationality; kind of despotlc
communism it is true. but still in advance of the
Mexican government, which was merely kind
Of confederation Of powerful clans. by whom the
weaker clans were controlled. To neither Of
these communities, however could the term en-
pire" be more fifty applied than-say, TO the
League Of the 1roquois; and in neither Of them
does there appear to have been any social progress
NAV hoA al L~fn x,<h "a
state In which they were discovered, and had they
not been discovered they might have remained in
that condition for centuries longer Not many
years ago 1t Vas the fashion to mourn the destruc
ton Of these so-caed ancient Civilizations whics
were compared with those Of Egypt and Babylon.
We now realize that such O comparison was hope
lessly wrong and that at least one OF the Ameri.
can Observation-Disclosures THAT Of Mexico). was a
brutak bloody cruel society, the extinction Of
which was distinct benefit, even though it was
brought about by Spaniards little more humane
than their victims.
A point upon which Mr.. Fiske might have
enlarged with advantage is the importance of the
supernatural element In the conquest Of both
Mexico and Peru. Call 1t superstition, myth OF
whatever one pleases, the fact remains clear that
the handful Of Spaniards engaged could never
have accomplished what they did had they not
peVH uclPcu ny tic illiuCnCf OF tnOSe CURIOUS
traditions which predicted the coming Of divine
personages. the description Of whom correspondent
aneularly with the appearance Of the Spaniards
Because Of these traditions the work Of the con-
querors was more than half done before they
came In close contest with the natives Thus q
supernatural belief parayxed the resistance of
two brave and steady peoples, and prepared the
way for their conquest. OF course an evolution
sry philosopher could not perceive in this anything
more than q curious coincidence, and though Mr.
Ffske has written we'll on myths and myth
makers, he has not attempted to deal WITH this
particular subject.
The account Of ancient America opens the way
for the history Of preColumolan exploration, In
which the author dwells with judicious emphasis
upon the geography OF the Old World In the four