MEXICO. 



191 



Mni.-o. they consume must flow from the mother country. No 

 s ~" "Y"" ' foreigner can enter the colonies without express per- 

 >n ; no vessel of a foreign nation is admitted into 

 their harbours; and no inhabitant is permitted to trade 

 with them upon the pain of death. More liberal mea- 

 sures have been gradually adopted ; but much still re- 

 mains to be done, which w ill probably be delayed till 

 the colonies declare themselves independent, and con- 

 sult for their own prosperity. 



Hijtory. The ancient lii*tory and early institution* of Mexico 



are involved in almost impenetrable obscurity, and all 

 that has yet been advanced on the subject, rests on no 

 Ancient surer foundation than certain hieroglyphic*! paintings, 

 rccynU. which adroit of the most various interpretations. The 

 authenticity of these documents themselves is sutiicient- 

 ly questionable ; and it ii impossible to ascertain that 

 they are either original, or faithful copies of origi- 

 nals, and not the fabrications of the Spanish monks, 

 who are known (upon the usual principle of Human 

 Catholic missionaries) to have recommended the truths 

 of Christianity to their Indian subjects, by tra> 

 resemblance between the new doctrines and the old su- 

 perstitions of the native*. The knowledge of event* 

 among the ancient Mexicans, waa preserved by mean* 

 of thoae knot* and thread* of rariou* colours, called by 

 the Peruvians ifuipput, and said to have been found alo 

 among the Canadians and Chinese. The*e very imp* r- 

 fect and unintelligible records were superseded by the 

 use of writing and hieroglyphics only about A. 1 ' 

 from which period alone, therefore, any tangible docu- 

 ments can be dated. These symbolical figures, how- 

 ever, though of a more permanent character than the 

 knotted threads, are still of little service without the 

 principles of their interpretation, which are very doubt- 

 fully pre. .t supposing both the record and 

 the exposition to be undoubtedly established, there are 

 only a frw fragment* in existence upon which the in- 

 genuity of the antiquary can be exercised. These paint- 

 _ considered M monument* of idolatry deserv- 

 ing to Ivc destroyed, were ordered by Zummaraga, the 

 bishop of Mexico, to be carefully collected, and 

 committed to the flame*. Whatever knowledge of re- 

 mote events these rude monument* contained has thus 

 I ;fen almost entirely lost ; and the whole of our infor- 

 mation mn-t !> derived from traditions, and the few 

 : i.ints of those historical symbols which have escap- 

 Elections of these fragments have 

 Iwen deposited in the libraries of the Vatican, Veletri, 

 oa, Droden, Berlin, I'ari, and (a* some have 

 cturedj of Oxford ; but the most authentic an.l va- 

 luable are said to be those which an- printed in I'ur- 

 chaa's pilgrims. These paintings are done on *kins, 

 i cloth, a kind of pasteboard, or on the bark of 

 tree*. These manuscript* were neither composed of 

 separate leaves nor roll*, but generally folded in a sig- 

 zag manner like fans, with two tablet* of light wood 

 pasted at the end*. The manuscripts brought 

 rope bear a great resemblance to each other, and are 

 chiefly remarkable for great strength of colouring. The 

 figure* are mostly dwarfish in respect of the body, and 

 remarkably incorrect in jxjint of drawing. The head* 

 are of an enormous size, the bodies extremely short, 

 and the feet so Jong in the toe* as to resemble the claw* 

 of a bird. The head* are always drawn in profile, 

 while the eye i* placed as if the figure presented a full 

 view; and the nose* are of a most disproport 



" Every figure," in short, (in the words of Dr. 

 Robertson,) " of men, of quadrupeds, of bird*, a* well 

 tu every representation of ananimated nature, is ex 



tremely tude and awkward. The hardest Egyptian Mexico. 

 style, stiff and imperfect a* it wa, is more elegant. > ^"Y" 

 'I lif .-crawls of children delineate objects almost as ac- 

 curately." Their uncouth forms may be considered, in- 

 deed, with M. Humboldt, as equivalent to the bad 

 hand-writing of our literati ; or as necessarily retained, 

 as established symbols, in more civilized periods. But 

 the confusion and obscurity of the whole system defy 

 all explication ; and leave no other source of informa- 

 tion than those originally uncertain traditions in regard 

 to the history of the nation. 



According to these traditions, the Mexican empire 

 had not been of long duration previous to the Spanish 

 invasion. Their country, as they relate, was originally 

 possessed by small independent tribes, whose manners 

 and mode of life resembled those of the rudest savages. 

 But, at a period nearly corresponding with the l>rj_'iii- 

 niog of th 10th century of the Christian era, sevtral 

 tribes arrived by successive migrations from unknown 

 regions towards the north and north-west, and being 

 more civilized than the original inhabitants of Anahu- 

 ac (the ancient name of New Spain) began to introduce 

 the art* of social life. The Toultecs appeared first in 

 the year 6*8; the Chiehimecki in II TO; the Nahual- 

 tecs in 1 178 ; the Aculhueoi and Aatrcs in 1 1'Ci. These 

 nations, speaking the same language, and apparently 

 proceeding from the same quarter, described them- 

 selves a* expelled from a country lying to the north- 

 west of the river Gila, brought with them paintings, 

 which indicated the exent- of their migration; ant) 

 gave the name* of the cities which they hail left to 

 those which they lir-t Imill alter their arrival, namely, 

 I f in huetlapallan. Axtlan,Teocoll>'.Mcan, Aimquemacan, 

 Tehuajo, and Copalla. But their real origin still re- Ori _ in 

 main* an inexplicable enigma in history. They are the Mtxi- 

 conjectured by M. Humboldt to have preceded from can*. 

 Tartary or China, and to have been a portion of those 

 Hiongnoux, who, according to the Chinese historians, 

 emigrated into the northern parts of Siberia, and part of 

 whom pushed through A-iainto Kurope under the name 

 us. The era of the Toltec migration 5*4, about 

 100 yean before their arrival in Annhuac, corresponds 

 with the period when the ruin of the dynasty of Tain 

 occasioned great commotion* among the nations in the 

 east of Asia. But for all this, there is, in fact, no other 

 ground than mere conjecture ; and out of 83 American 

 languages, carefully examined by competent judges, 

 only 170 words have Iwen found which could be traced 

 to the language* of the old continent, namely to those 

 ofth< i Tartars, the Mongult, tlie (Ylt, the 



Biscayans, the Copts, and the natives of Congo. From 

 whatever quarter they proceeded, they are said to have 

 brought with them the arts of hieroglyphic painting, 

 of casting metal-, and cutting the hardest stones. They 

 introduced the cultivation of maize and cotton, buift 

 cities, made roads, and constructed pyramids. They 

 had a solar year more perfect than that of the (, recks 

 and Komans ; and had a form of government, which 

 shewed that their progenitors had experienced great vi- 

 cissitudes in their social state. The last mentioned 

 tribe, about die beginning of the 13th century, advan- 

 ced from the city of Aztlan to the plains around the 

 great lake of Mexico, where, after several years occu- 

 nation of the spot, they founded the city of Mexico ; 

 but were still unacquainted with regal government, and 

 were ruled in peace, or commanded in war, by such a* 

 were mo-t entitled to pre-eminence by their wisdom or 

 valour. But at length the supreme authority centered 

 in one person ; and, at the time of the conquest, Mon- 



