The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-09-13
I 7

IT.
The A2tcCs were masters in working
stone They shaped this lasting ma
ter!al 10 the expression Of their thought.
they reared 1t in enduring pyramids.
thcy carved It in the round. in all
grades 81 rlltevu. they ornamented ia
HAT surfaces with the things they had
To tell. Prmitivcs tell a story as do
children the Aztccs overcrowded their
record surfaces and obscured rather
than clucidatcd An Aztec plaque with
It's emulation reminds us II nothing
quite so much a. Dame Quicklys mass
ing of proof In her suit against Sir
John tdlsiaH for the breach Of his
promise.
Thou didst swear to me upon a par
ccl-gilt goblet. sitting in my Dolphin
chamber at the round table. by a sea
coal fire on Wednesday in Whitsun
week, when the Prince broke thy head
FOR lljening him to a singing man OF
Windsor.
We lose tho force in the heapng up
Of the detail which only to the childish
mind seems important essential
! Sculpture in the round was largely
reserved 10y tho Aztecs for .ho gods Tho
| Figh L dS have their empire and To
every empire comes decline and fail
From the iCOCdHts Of an ornate sacri-
fetal system. which We have no reason
Ia suppose was regarded as orucl by its
victims who were at once its votaries.
we haV" the statues Of the great gods.
those which had risen to power with tho
might of the Aztec kings. From tho
roadside dust and in the ruined heaps
in which men once lived remote from
ambition We find the small gods once
equally in honor hut now presented 20
IL n figurines which bear the outward
mark If having been closer 10 the
spiritual life of the plain people WAC
followed into war the plumed headgen-
OF the great chiefs who led them to the
slaughter.
The great gods were grim; their
mOnstrOus statues are overloaded with
grim attributes. But to what extent
are We Justified in calling them grim
tigu"ss? We are not justified in ascrib-
- TO any savage race the same prin-
-Ciplcs Of life whereby we judge our own
conduct. ar least whereby in the fiXi.y
of our convictions we assume 10 judge
our neighbor not as ourselves. We can
not deny, We do not seek to avoid, the
fact that these gods high on the teocdNis
Of Mexico, vet higher in the hearts NJ
their wOrShippers than even the most
49, s,n,,r,od n,r,n,ids uore aods da,
iia,,,t,o ~ ,h' .i,.aJi,,,, 90 h,o-.a rh,,.
f.,,,nI dalioh, IN Inc lar, ,or, o,,i,or-
i,o, -, ,ha hra.s, af,ar ,ho s,ash ~,
Oh. ohsidi,r k,irc. I, uas ,boir higb
,Icas,,rc =, ,crrn, rho skin aaved firm
/ tbo man uhIle vol ~ lived each a
/ Ntors,.as ,.i,bou, a score 10 blame for
/ hi. c.tc Vb,t ro,,Id no more ,ruo,
thon a raligion kon, alive nv tho shed
dim. Of human blood? Yet TO it's
/ votary this was the road to heaven: II
was moi crucl. If SPARED his soul tho
ARMY IF rho wandering In trial after
dnath which came To those who died AZ
easc TIL, souls of those who died i'm
! war ar on the saCriNcial stone became
the Companions Of the sun from the
eastern horizon to the zenith: they bo-
came at once the servants and COM
panions of IitZilopochtli.
| or tho great gods presented in great
! statues we shall note only that of Coat
| Ncup. \ flock of down fell from heaven
| and rested on her breast. she gave birth
to Utailopochtn the sun god the SUI
preme war god of a folk supremey war
| like. In her colossal statue In the Ma
| tional Museum in Mexico she is figured
| in a skirt of serpents, with a monstrous
| head emerging at the navel, with two
groups of open hands extruded from her