2 MEXICAN HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY. 



slain. They are exposed to the rain and frost of winter, or the heat of summer, 

 and, after finding the forest boughs inadequate for protection, they learn to build 

 for temporary or permanent comfort. As the family grows into a tribe, and the 

 tribe multiplies its numbers, they congregate in villages or towns, which, through 

 fear or affection, become affiliated by the bond of nationality. During this process, 

 which often requires centuries, according to the grade of aggregate intellect, all 

 the wants and passions of society make themselves gradually known. They de- 

 velop gradually in the natural growth of a people. Municipalities and states beget 

 police, law, government. The changes of day and night are beheld; the regular 

 motion of sun, moon, and stars is noted; seasons are marked; and the simpler 

 portions of astronomy are developed in the scientific division of time, as chronicled 

 in the dial of the sky. The rivalry of neighboring states begets wars; and thence, 

 protection ensues in the shape of arms, soldiery, arsenals, military experience, and 

 fortifications. The inevitable conviction of a creative and preservative Power im- 

 presses the minds of all with a religious sentiment, which begets worship and builds 

 temples, either for adoration or propitiation, according as the national mind is 

 exalted or grovelling. And, finally, as the people observe the necessity of recurring 

 to the past for facts and principles, they advance from oral tradition to written and 

 monumental records, which modern civilization endeavors to ripen into history. 



Now, in the absence of explicit records in regard to American nations, the object 

 of antiquarian reseai'ch, at present, is not so much to penetrate, by fanciful guesses 

 or resemblances, the periods antecedent to the European occupation of our conti- 

 nent, as to fix the world's attention on the actual condition of the aboriginal nations 

 at the period of the conquest, and to endeavor, from their remains, to form a fair 

 estimate of their relative status at that time. I consider this the true and best 

 object to propose ; because, most of the records — legendary, hieroglyphic, or monu- 

 mental — concerning the antiquity of the chief centres of civilization on this continent, 

 which were rescued from destruction, have been deciphered as far as practicable, 

 ^and their valuable facts detailed by investigators. Of all things, the American anti- 

 quarian should, as yet, avoid- the peril of starting in his investigations with an 

 hypothesis, for the chances are very great that, in the mythic confusion of our 

 aboriginal past, he will find abundant hints to justify any ideas excited by his 

 credulity or hopes. In the present state of our archseology, all labors should be 

 contributions to that store of facts, which, in time, may form a mass of testimony 

 whence future historians shall either draw a rational picture of ante-Columbian 

 ^civilization, or be justified in declaring that there is nothing more to be disclosed. 



The ancient history of our own tribes, it is well known, is a matter of tradition 

 alone, for they had no written language ; or, if they had, their story was not en- 

 graved on monuments or transmitted on imperishable materials. Their wampum 

 and pictographs may scarcely be entitled to consideration for permanent or historical 

 purposes. Among the Peruvians, the quipo was only a species of memoria technica, 

 and served rather to aid arithmeticians and financiers, than to establish an inde- 

 pendence of individual recollection. The Aztecs, and perhaps their predecessors 

 in the valley of Mexico, possessed a "picture writing," which was chiefly used for 

 the recording of facts apart from abstract ideas; but the Spaniards who seized Peru 



