Evening star., 1926-03-14

IN that golden age of high en-
deavor, that sixteenth century Of
daring exploration in the un-
known New World. what chap
tere In sheer romance were pen
ned by those fearless men who, leav-
ing often rich estates in the sun
washed hills OF Spain, In "doublets
and cassocks of silk" in high Cordo
van boots. with handsome swords at
their sides. or else dressed all In
shining armor. searched through the
vine tangled forests and dismal
swamps that bordered the Gulf of
Mexico for. yes. for gold and silver
and precious stones. but chiefly for
the tabled fountain of youth. that
they might drink of those magic
waters and he assured OF an endless
youth with it's inherent and limitless
ambitions. Their dreams of untold
treasures were fashioned to sail the
sunny seas that are the morning
hours of life.
1t mattered not at all that the
brough them unsuessed hardships.
sufferings and disease. Always Just
beyond the trackless forest lay the
fountain. always over the next crest
Of mountains. Somewhere. it's hidden
oasis lay fair as palm -bordered
Spring in boundless desert. and some
one, some day. some where. would
make that last ultimate discovery.
that contamination that still haunts
the hearts of men.
So on and ever on. under burning
suns. through drenching rains. over
mosauito-infested swamps. the dream
Of cleaning youth led them, these
fearless pathfinders in an uncharted
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which came startling discoveries of
new territories. and waterways.
oceans and rivers, and bays all but
unknown. And for their monarchs a
dazzling gra ndeur from hoped for EN-
pires in the western ealms.
Thus IL came to be that south and
west Of the Gulf OF Mexico Spain
built her ever widening empire. the
center of whose authority was sta
toned in the Antilles. In the adven-
turous year 1919 the Governor of
Cuba dispatched the intrepid Cortez
like a fair god to conquer the rich
lands that lay north of the Tst.hmus
of Panama.
If the little expedition with white
winged towers" that carried them
across the water, with their horses
and their canndn. with their fair
faces and shining armor. filled the In
habitante OF that domain with awe
and wonder, the high state Of civiliza-
ton, the wealth, the courts of justice.
the agricultural and mechanical arts.
the sculpture and architecture OF the
people conquered was cause enough
for wonder on the part of the Tu.
ropeans.
Up to the time Of the conquest of
Mexico, the adventurere had found.
not the elaborate courts and the high
ly civilized peoples Of the Indies. but
ever and always the simple, rude In
dian. living in huts that gave at
best but a bare shelter. Cortez had
plunged into the heart Of the Aztec
civilization. for he captured their CAPT
tai, which was Mexico City, ruled over
by Montezuma in a fashion both opu-
lent and absolute. But he probably
never satisfied his curiosity concern
ing the people among whom he made
his conquest. That solution was to
be made in later centuries.
Cortez never knew that the people
whom he conquered had come A. cen.
tury earlier from somewhere north.
west Of the high tableland Of Mex.
leo where he found them and had
conquered the Indian race already in
possession there. They were all In.
dams possibly all OF the same race
or tribe. the Aztecs developing in less
than a century a civilization that sur.
prieed mon who had been accustomed
to a high state OF culture in the old
world.
The religion Of q people is an in.
dex Of that peoples progress. and
Cortes found, as always. some con-
fiicting facts. some rites and cere-
monies whose performance was less
noble than the highest conception of
the deity whom the Indians wor-
shipped. But IL the supreme god of
the Aztecs, he who liz spoken of as
he who 10 all in himself and ''he
by whom we live" and who had no
image, was sometimes offered bloody
sacrinces, he could be propitiated not
by such sacrifices but by incense and
flowers.
There were many gods whom these
surprising palace-building. justice.lov-
ing Aztecs held in high reverence,
and It is one Of the lesser of these
divinities that we wish to speak about,
for his altar place Is now In Wash
ington. far from the land of those who
paid their tribute to him. 1t IL
Xochipilli, god of flowers, OF whom
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