Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-30

A news story from Mexico tells OF
the alleged discovery in the Nations
Library OF that country OF three
ma nuscripts containing some 900 Az
tee poems. ~ metricsl fables q nd 200
songs All this pre-Columbian litera-
t,re is "a id to be written in Aztec. in
the "metricsl form of Longfellow =
.fia VIZ tina" and the report is given
out with all the veriSimiiitude OF r
ma rveIous discovery.
The find may not be apprecia ted
without acouainta nceship with archie
ology. chronology, the history OF Cor
teZs conquest and the action or the
Spa nish priests following the bsp-
tism of the conquered AZters. No
explanation appears Of how the AZ
tees acquired knowiedse Of an. alpha
bot. much less OF the meter OF "Hia :
waths" The marvel gains interest.
TOO. in considering how the Aztecs--
or their modern reporter-fvins In
the tropics. could become familiar
with the peculiar style of the New
cany of the Indian hunter Of Mime
sofa. Perhaps they learned about
'Hia wa tha's Mittens.
This is the Chicago version of The
meter used before Columbus made IL
possible for Cortez TO convert the sub
iects Of Montezuma:
And the noble Mudiikiwm
With the skin, ne maoe han n,ttsns.
:s: s: Win wh -. c ~icn .s sds
He 10 keep the warm side, Inside.
9' ,si s. .sn ne sd: so sos sd sd' ssas
Put fhs warm side. fur side Inside:
4, "e ssd +: e .t x. .a. ,S:
why he turned them inhde. outside.
\ y +
The Aztec ma nuscripts were made
on cotton cloth. skins like parchment,
or sort of paper made OF mssuey
fiber. folded like fan. Prescott de-
scribes their destruction:
AT the time Of the arrival Of the
Spaniards. great quantities VI these
ma nuscripIh we're treasured ap In the
country Numerous persons we're en-
plOyed In painting and rhe dexterit>
II their operations excited the aston
ishnent of their conquerors. Unfor.
tunately, this was mingled with other.
unworthy feelings. The strange. I'M
known cha ia ciers inscribed on Them
extited suspicion. They were looked
upon as magic scrolls and were re
sar6ed In the So me light With the idols
and temples. az the symbols Of pesti-
lent superstition. thai must he extir.
pated. The first Bishop OF Mexico
Zummargo- collected these paintings
from every quarter. especially from
Tezcuco. the most cultivated ca pital in
Anahuac and thu great depository of
the ns tional archives. He then caused
them to be piled in mountain heap
as it Ia called by the Spa nish writer's
Themselves and reduced them all to
ashes!
1.-The nnlettersd soldiers were not
slow In initiating the example Of their
prelate. Every chart and volume
which fell into their hands was wan
tonly destroyed: so that when the
scholars of a ater, more enlightened
age anxiously sought to recover sOme
Of these memorials Of ciyiiizs tion
nearly all had perished. and the few
surviving were jealously hidden by the
ma tives.
Through the indefs tisa BILE isbors
Of a private individual. however. a
considerable collection was svsntuali.
deposited in the archives Of Mexico,
but was 40 little needed there that
some were plundered. others decayed
piecemesI from the damps and mil
dews and others. again, were used up
~ waste paper"
The few relics Of the Aztec liters
tire YET surviving are counted most
precious, but the learned doctors will
be surprised was DIR. Judd Of the
Smithsonian Institution-to discover
that Aztec poetry had pla CARRIED
"Hiawatha."
Prescott referring to the hero.
Slyphics. a. "mapa," further records
Some few of these maps have in
terpretations annexed 10 them, which
were obtained from the natives after
the contest. Tho Ereatey part are with
out any, and cannot now he slnPid-
died. = y !,