Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1918-04-11
no small degree Of Achievement.


"Egypt and Babylon have yielded
up mass of very interesting data. In
America the ruins of Palenque show
1t to have been an immense city, the
equal of ancient Thebes in area. with
temples and public structures of
magnificence undreamed of among us
of today. 1t was accurately laid out
four square, with mathematical pre-
cision which ex' rs ones wonder
and admiration.
"The Spanish conquistadores found
among the Aztecs so many beliefs of
religion similar to their own that they
alleged the devil had given them a
parody of the Christian doctrines, in
order to confound the priests Of the
Mother Church. Their rites of mar
riage were sacred and holy; they
baptized their new born, and said
masses for their dead; they had
sisterhood of nuns, who gave their
lives to the service of mankind and
the gods; their judiciary was in some
respects more fair than ours of the
day, and was divided into district
courts and supreme courts, with the
right OF appeal from the lower deci-
sion to the higher.
"The rudimentary forms of our
own present alphabet are carved on
the Maya temples now in ruins, and
this image of which have spoken was
made by some artisan of that ancient
race which was overthrown by the in
YAdiRg whites. From the description
given by Mr.. Dayton it was very sim
liar to images recently found in
Egyptian tombs.
"And we must not forget that a
section of this continent where it was
created are literal descendants of the
nation which worshiped it once, de-
spite the years of slavery and subjec-
tion to the whites they have under
gone. In way there is pathos in
it all. They were so grand people
in the Western eyes.
"Then came the white, and disaster.
in a short time they were vanquished,
their gods o'erthrown, their lands,
their cities wrested from them; yet
clinging fanatically to belief in a
restoration by some miraculous
means. 1t must have been faith truly
fanatic which urged some body Of
priesthood to transport this little image
and the emerald temple jewel through
all the miles from there to here and
set up it's altar in the ruins of cliff
house in the mountains to the north.
Such a faith is sublime. Could 1t be
rekindled in the descendants of those
people, it might work the miracle they
have about forgotten to even dream
Of
1t struck me as rather odd sort
CT speech at such a time, and / could
see by the faces of my companions
that they shared my feelings in the
matter.
Just at first when l had heard his
soft, assured tones my heart had
leaped with the thought that now t
last the master hand had arrived and
things would begin to move. Even his
words had foreshadowed a certain
knowledge, which seemed to me to say
that his calculations alone in our
rooms had borne fruit.
Yet starting from the assertion he
| had first made he had run off into a
| dissertation on the ancient nations of
the earth, both Eastern and Western,
which, while proving the image of
Quetzal to be an object of interest to
the antiquarian, did not, SO far as !
could see, serve to throw any light
upon its present probable whereabouts
or that of its accompanying gem.
Yet Heffy seemed called upon to
| make some comment.
Il reckon, that's So" he remarked.
as though not quite certain of what he
was saying. Il always did feel sort
of pity for the under dog myself, but
| jes' what does it lead tO?"
Dual smiled.
| MERELY to the fact that there is
really nothing new under the sun, MI
Heffy. That has been said before, but
it was true even then. Human nature
changes but little after all; and it is
very much the same in its basal i'm
pulses and motives now as it was al
time of Moses and of the Aztecs
Like us they had their loves and hat
reds, their desires for wealth, self ag
grandizement, power.
Like us they planned and plotted
and struggled to win what they wish
ed, sometimes by fair means and
sometimes by foul. The things mer
do live after them, so tho things mer
make may live after them also, and af
feet other men hundreds or thousands
of years after the hands which formed
them in the first place have crumblet
back into And now, If you will
kindly let me ee the currency which
you discover on the Indians body
Mr.. Heify, perhaps we can determine
how recently it was made"
Heffy's face was puzzle as hi
passed over the bills.
Dual spread them out on the clotl
of the table, glanced at them brief!
and gave them back. "They were
| mnda nuita rapantIv ha rpm rlx ed