ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF AMERICA. 197 



in customs, in style of building, and especially by a peculiar skill 

 in the construction of works of masonry, in the manufacture of 

 pottery, and in ornamental decoration. That there were marked 

 local differences, and that this civilization was shared by inde- 

 pendent nationalities, is certain; but it is no less true that it 

 sprang from a common source, and was harmonized by constant 

 intercourse through hundreds and it may be thousands of years. 



Since a large population was found inhabiting the cities and 

 embodying this civilization at the time of the conquest, it would 

 seem that everything important could be easily learned about 

 this peculiar phase of human development. But it should be 

 remembered that the propagation of the Christian faith was a 

 motive only less strong than the thirst for gold in the Spanish 

 invaders, and a bigotry ferociously intolerant of all heresy made 

 it a cardinal virtue to destroy every representative of pagan 

 creeds and rites. 



Hence from religious as well as political causes the conquest 

 was followed by a destruction which soon swept away nearly all 

 traces of the literature, customs, and government of the con- 

 quered people, and did all that was possible to bury their history 

 in oblivion. Fortunately, among the numerous monks who at- 

 tended the invading armies were a few possessed of scholarly 

 tastes, who described what they saw, and, perhaps surrepti- 

 tiously, translated some of the ancient hieroglyphic records, and 

 preserved vocabularies of some of the dialects then in use. These 

 have furnished a clew to the interpretation of some at least of the 

 abundant inscriptions in Central America, and we can not doubt 

 that by the earnest following of this clew, and the patient appli- 

 cation of the methods which have revealed the secrets of the 

 Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Assyrian cuneiform characters, 

 we shall obtain from the Central American records much light 

 upon the history of the civilization we are considering. 



In Mexico and Peru few inscriptions are preserved, and yet 

 we know that the art of writing on paper, or its equivalent, was 

 practiced in both countries. 



Unfortunately, it was not the habit of these peoples, any more 

 than it is with us, to make enduring records on stone, and the 

 loss of the ephemeral manuscripts which existed at the time of 

 the conquest is an irreparable one. There is little doubt, how- 

 ever, that when the inscriptions of Palenque, Uxmal, Copan, 

 Chichenitza, etc., shall be translated, the mystery which has so 

 long hung over the origin and progress of all this phase of intel- 

 lectual culture will be dissipated. 



Those who believe as some do that the Peruvian civilization 

 is distinct from and totally independent of that of Central Amer- 

 ica and Mexico, will not share the hopes I entertain from the 



