Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-08-16
BY E. NJ. CARR.

lilduhlllu. lloN w hialii WV 'oi
ey of Mexico has been the problem
f the ages with the people who have i
this favored region,and this
anal was one of their attempts.
The subject interested me so much
hat ] made a study of the question
nd intend to write more about it
before concluding this series of arti-
lies.
AS stated by me last week, the
Valley of Mexico is only about six
lines as large as Delaware county,
but for more than twelve centuries
it has been the home of human be-
Ings possessing many of the elements
of civilization. Its first inhabitants,
Of which there is any record, were the
ToLTECs,
a mild and peaceful people, who
probably came to this continent from
the shores of eastern Asia. They
settled in this valley in tho year
64S, and for more than 500 years
cultivated its soil and the
soil of adjacent valleys, raised corn
and cotton, made roads, erected
monuments and built temples and
cities. They knew how to fuse
metal, cut and polish the hardest
kind of stones, weave numerous
fabrics, measure time by a calendar
year, which consisted of eighteen
months of twenty days each, will
five complementary days each year
and they employed hieroglyphics fol
the record of events. Their religion
was mild and they had just code
Of laws.
In the twelfth century the
AZTECs
made their appearance in Mexico
They, like the 'roltecs, probably came
from Asia, but unlike the Toltec'
they possessed fierce and sanguinar,
traits of character,w were queerl,
blended with kindness and amiabil
ity. Before their arrival in l196
most of the Toltecs had probabl,
emigrated to what is now known a
Central America. At any event TIN
Aztecs were the rulers Of the countr,
in and about the Valley of Mexico TO
. several seg hundred years previous t
the Spanish conquest in 1921.
In 1925 an Aztec ruler, Will
searching for a camping ground o.
he shores Of Lake Texcoco, behel
perched upon a stem OF prickly Gao
tus, golden eagle OF great beaut.
with serpent in his talons and wit
lwings outstretched toward the risin
sun. This was taken as a goo
,men, indicating a site for their cal
ital, and here they founded the
great city, which was at first Gale
renochtitlan, from tenal,' a cact,
IN a stone; but afterwards the nan
was changed to Mexico, from "Me
It'll" the great war god Of the Aztec
Previous to my tour through tn
ancient country l had always umde
stood that the Aztecs were defens
less, kind-hearted, civilized peopl
IS far removed from the savage pra
tees Of the average North Amcric;
races as was their country above Il
level OF the sea. No educated Me,
can will make any such claim 1
his distinguished forbears. Viii
it is true that the Aztecs were in
certain sense a civilized people, W
possessed all the learning and INC
If the good qualities of the Tolte
who preceded them, and whose wor
men were skilled in technical know
a edge sufficient to cntitle them to
~ place in the first rank among bull
. ers, manufacturers and decorator
vet they were by no means a kin
peaceable and defenseless race. TIL
made war upon neighboring trib
with a sanguinary lierceness al
cruelty never exceeded by Slol
u any other Indian. And it
doubtful if the cruelty Of some
their religions practices was ev
equaled by any other people. {
their sacriiicial stones the blood
tens of thousands of victims flow,
to the glory" and honor of the
leities. 1t is fairly well estal Ii sh'
that during the year which preced'
the coming of Cortcz and his fer
Spaniards, no less than 10000 hum;
beings suffered horrible and revo
ing deaths ir that way. exal
lned
A SACRlFICIAL STONE
in tho museum of the National Pa
ace. 1t was a large, circular stol
J about three feet high and eight
nine feet across. Its carvings clear
J indicated its uses. The figures
the rim show victorious chiefs dra
, ging their prisoners by the hair
: the place of sacrifice. A basin lar!
enough to receive the victims hei
, is followed near the center Of Il
top, from which a little canal lea
to a niche down the side. The can
$ and niche seem to have had the pu
g pose of catching the blood Of Il
n victims and carrying it away. !
/ supply victims for these sacrifc
the Aztec emperors made war on {
the neighboring and subsidia
: states, demanding men, women al
@ children as indemnities. And tho
|. cBenses against humanity were
d proNimate cause for The Downfall
T the empire Of the Bomezumas. 1t
$ true, of course, that Cortez, with fl
e Or six hundred Spaniards, invade
: Mexico in 1913, but it is equal
. true that the Aztecs would have d
g stroyed them had it not been for t
lsupport they received from t