216 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [Vor 2Vvae 
many and so close. Where in the Old World did the civilization orig- 
inate, which, driven from its primeval seat, left its architectural traces in 
Java, and scattered them over the islands of the Pacific, which carried 
literature in its train to ornament the present savagery of Easter island, 
and to adorn the walls of Palenque, Copan and Chichen-Itza? It was 
the civilization of the oldest nations of the world, told. in many an 
ancient song and story. The writer has much to say on that subject, 
but reserves himself until the critics have begun to be critics indeed, that 
is, to drop preconceived notions, falsely termed those of science, which, 
in many fields of antiquarian research, have led to and will always lead 
to nothing, and to adopt a little real study of their subjects in the light 
of common sense. Misled by Landa’s spurious alphabet, the interpreters 
of the Maya codices are still floundering in obscurity, while the true 
method of interpretation is patent to any candid observer. The same is 
true regarding Sinaitic, Hittite, Susian, Lat Indian, Siberian, Mound- 
Builder American, Etruscan interpreters and many more, whose labours 
proceed upon a pin-head of worthless authority, as valueless to the 
interpreter as the traditional straw to the swimmer. Authority, in many 
cases of the mysterious at least, is a useful thing to discard. 
