Mexican Maize Fields 41 



Coatlicue, whose destroying fecundity they both worshipped 

 and feared, turned against them. 



The history of all peoples, as Buckle so ably pointed out, is 

 the story of the effect upon them of four forces which lie out- 

 side themselves: climate, food, soil and the general aspect of 

 nature. To the last, with its power to stir man's imagination, 

 we owe religion, superstition, poetry and art. The other three 

 are closely linked, and react upon each other. Their immediate 

 result is evidenced in the accumulation of a people's wealth 

 which forms the basis of society. 



In lands where a warm climate makes man prolific, and 

 where a rich soil gives an abundance of food which is also 

 cheap, it is inevitable that there shall be a wealthy leisure class 

 and a class of serfs. This had happened in Peru and in Mexico 

 long before Columbus opened the way to their shores. The 

 maize-fields of Mexico yielded from four hundred to eight 

 hundred fold. Coatlicue did well by her children. Too well. 

 Her gifts of increase enriched one class while it made millions 

 of peons. The Montezumas could afford dinner services of 

 gold and a menu of rare foods. What if the runners panted 

 their hearts out carrying fresh pompano from the Gulf fisher- 

 men's nets to the emperor's table? There were more runners. 

 And still more. In a land where corn was cheap, men were 

 cheap. Two hundred thousand laborers could be put to work 

 on a single palace in Tenochtitlan. Wages were next to noth- 

 ing, since maize was so plentiful. And what more did a slave 

 require than his daily ration of tortillas and chocolate; a blanket 

 to cover him, sandals woven of palmetto leaves and a palmetto 

 hat to keep off the rain and the sun? All of these Mother Earth 

 provided with lavish generosity. 



In the long list of national debacles, it is the societies which 

 are divided internally that go down under external pressure. 

 Foreign conquerors win when they have allies within the 

 allies of social decay and degeneracy. 



Though the Mexicans did not know it, Coatlicue was already 

 in league with the invaders. She threw wide the gates. Surely 



