mexican hieroglyphics—manuscripts—arithmetic—chronology—astronomy

it is a relief to turn from the gloomy pages of the preceding chapter to a brighter side of the picture, and to contemplate the same nation in its generous struggle to raise itself from a state of barbarism and to take a positive rank in the scale of civilization. it is not the less interesting, that these efforts were made on an entirely new theatre of action, apart from those influences that operate in the old world; the inhabitants of which, forming one great brotherhood of nations, are knit together by sympathies that make the faintest spark of knowledge, struck out in one quarter, spread gradually wider and wider, until it has diffused a cheering light over the remotest. it is curious to observe the human mind, in this new position, conforming to the same laws as on the ancient continent, and taking a similar direction in its first inquiries after truth,—so similar, indeed, as, although not warranting, perhaps, the idea of imitation, to suggest at least that of a common origin.

in the eastern hemisphere we find some nations, as the greeks, for instance, early smitten with such a love of the beautiful as to be unwilling to dis{106}pense with it even in the graver productions of science; and other nations, again, proposing a severer end to themselves, to which even imagination and elegant art were made subservient. the productions of such a people must be criticised, not by the ordinary rules of taste, but by their adaptation to the peculiar end for which they were designed. such were the egyptians in the old world,[143] and the mexicans in the new. we have already had occasion to notice the resemblance borne by the latter nation to the former in their religious economy. we shall be more struck with it in their scientific culture, especially their hieroglyphical writing and their astronomy.

to describe actions and events by delineating visible objects seems to be a natural suggestion, and is practised, after a certain fashion, by the rudest savages. the north american indian carves an arrow on the bark of trees to show his followers the direction of his march, and some other sign to show the success of his expeditions. but to paint intelligibly a consecutive series of these actions—forming what warburton has happily called picture-writing[144]—requires a combination of ideas{107} that amounts to a positively intellectual effort. yet further, when the object of the painter, instead of being limited to the present, is to penetrate the past, and to gather from its dark recesses lessons of instruction for coming generations, we see the dawnings of a literary culture, and recognize the proof of a decided civilization in the attempt itself, however imperfectly it may be executed. the literal imitation of objects will not answer for this more complex and extended plan. it would occupy too much space, as well as time in the execution. it then becomes necessary to abridge the pictures, to confine the drawing to outlines, or to such prominent parts of the bodies delineated as may readily suggest the whole. this is the representative or figurative writing, which forms the lowest stage of hieroglyphics.

but there are things which have no type in the material world; abstract ideas, which can only be represented by visible objects supposed to have some quality analogous to the idea intended. this constitutes symbolical writing, the most difficult of all to the interpreter, since the analogy between the material and immaterial object is often purely fanciful, or local in its application. who, for instance, could suspect the association which made a beetle represent the universe, as with the egyptians, or a serpent typify time, as with the aztecs?

the third and last division is the phonetic, in which signs are made to represent sounds, either entire words, or parts of them. this is the nearest approach of the hieroglyphical series to that beautiful invention, the alphabet, by which language is{108} resolved into its elementary sounds, and an apparatus supplied for easily and accurately expressing the most delicate shades of thought.

the egyptians were well skilled in all three kinds of hieroglyphics. but, although their public monuments display the first class, in their ordinary intercourse and written records it is now certain that they almost wholly relied on the phonetic character. strange that, having thus broken down the thin partition which divided them from an alphabet, their latest monuments should exhibit no nearer approach to it than their earliest.[145] the aztecs, also, were acquainted with the several varieties of hieroglyphics. but they relied on the figurative infinitely more than on the others. the egyptians were at the top of the scale, the aztecs at the bottom.

in casting the eye over a mexican manuscript, or map, as it is called, one is struck with the grotesque caricatures it exhibits of the human figure; monstrous, overgrown heads, on puny, misshapen bodies, which are themselves hard and angular in their outlines, and without the least skill in composition. on closer inspection, however, it is obvious that it is not so much a rude attempt to{109} delineate nature, as a conventional symbol, to express the idea in the most clear and forcible manner; in the same way as the pieces of similar value on a chess-board, while they correspond with one another in form, bear little resemblance, usually, to the objects they represent. those parts of the figure are most distinctly traced which are the most important. so, also, the coloring, instead of the delicate gradations of nature, exhibits only gaudy and violent contrasts, such as may produce the most vivid impression. “for even colors,” as gama observes, “speak in the aztec hieroglyphics.”[146]

but in the execution of all this the mexicans were much inferior to the egyptians. the drawings of the latter, indeed, are exceedingly defective, when criticised by the rules of art; for they were as ignorant of perspective as the chinese, and only exhibited the head in profile, with the eye in the centre, and with total absence of expression. but they handled the pencil more gracefully than the aztecs, were more true to the natural forms of objects, and, above all, showed great superiority in abridging the original figure by giving only the outline, or some characteristic or essential feature. this simplified the process, and facilitated the communication of thought. an egyptian text has almost the appearance of alphabetical writing in its regular lines of minute figures. a mexican text looks usually like a collection of pictures, each one forming the subject of a separate study. this{110} is particularly the case with the delineations of mythology; in which the story is told by a conglomeration of symbols, that may remind one more of the mysterious anaglyphs sculptured on the temples of the egyptians, than of their written records.

the aztecs had various emblems for expressing such things as, from their nature, could not be directly represented by the painter; as, for example, the years, months, days, the seasons, the elements, the heavens, and the like. a “tongue” denoted speaking; a “footprint,” travelling; a “man sitting on the ground,” an earthquake. these symbols were often very arbitrary, varying with the caprice of the writer; and it requires a nice discrimination to interpret them, as a slight change in the form or position of the figure intimated a very different meaning.[147] an ingenious writer asserts that the priests devised secret symbolic characters for the record of their religious mysteries. it is possible. but the researches of champollion lead to the conclusion that the similar opinion formerly entertained respecting the egyptian hieroglyphics is without foundation.[148]

lastly, they employed, as above stated, phonetic{111} signs, though these were chiefly confined to the names of persons and places; which, being derived from some circumstance or characteristic quality, were accommodated to the hieroglyphical system. thus, the town cimatlan was compounded of cimatl, a “root,” which grew near it, and tlan, signifying “near;” tlaxcallan meant “the place of bread,” from its rich fields of corn; huexotzinco, “a place surrounded by willows.” the names of persons were often significant of their adventures and achievements. that of the great tezcucan prince nezahualcoyotl signified “hungry fox,” intimating his sagacity, and his distresses in early life.[149] the emblems of such names were no sooner seen, than they suggested to every mexican the person and place intended, and, when painted on their shields or embroidered on their banners, became the armorial bearings by which city and chieftain were distinguished, as in europe in the age of chivalry.[150]

but, although the aztecs were instructed in all the varieties of hieroglyphical painting, they chiefly resorted to the clumsy method of direct representation. had their empire lasted, like the{112} egyptian, several thousand years, instead of the brief space of two hundred, they would doubtless, like them, have advanced to the more frequent use of the phonetic writing. but, before they could be made acquainted with the capabilities of their own system, the spanish conquest, by introducing the european alphabet, supplied their scholars with a more perfect contrivance for expressing thought, which soon supplanted the ancient pictorial character.[151]

clumsy as it was, however, the aztec picture-writing seems to have been adequate to the demands of the nation, in their imperfect state of civilization. by means of it were recorded all their laws, and even their regulations for domestic economy; their tribute-rolls, specifying the imposts of the various towns; their mythology, calendars, and rituals; their political annals, carried back to a period long before the foundation of the city. they digested a complete system of chronology, and could specify with accuracy the dates of the most important events in their history; the year being inscribed on the margin, against the particular circumstance recorded. it is true, history, thus executed, must necessarily be vague and fragmentary. only a few leading incidents could be presented. but in this it did not differ much from the monkish chronicles of the dark ages, which often dispose of years in a few brief sen{113}tences,—quite long enough for the annals of barbarians.[152]

in order to estimate aright the picture-writing of the aztecs, one must regard it in connection with oral tradition, to which it was auxiliary. in the colleges of the priests the youth were instructed in astronomy, history, mythology, etc.; and those who were to follow the profession of hieroglyphical painting were taught the application of the characters appropriated to each of these branches. in an historical work, one had charge of the chronology, another of the events. every part of the labor was thus mechanically distributed.[153] the pupils, instructed in all that was before known in their several departments, were prepared to extend still further the boundaries of their imperfect science. the hieroglyphics served as a sort of{114} stenography, a collection of notes, suggesting to the initiated much more than could be conveyed by a literal interpretation. this combination of the written and the oral comprehended what may be called the literature of the aztecs.[154]

their manuscripts were made of different materials,—of cotton cloth, or skins nicely prepared; of a composition of silk and gum; but, for the most part, of a fine fabric from the leaves of the aloe, agave americana, called by the natives maguey, which grows luxuriantly over the table-lands of mexico. a sort of paper was made from it, resembling somewhat the egyptian papyrus,[155] which, when properly dressed and polished, is said to have been more soft and beautiful than parchment. some of the specimens, still existing, exhibit their original freshness, and the paintings on them retain their brilliancy of colors. they were sometimes{115} done up into rolls, but more frequently into volumes, of moderate size, in which the paper was shut up, like a folding screen, with a leaf or tablet of wood at each extremity, that gave the whole, when closed, the appearance of a book. the length of the strips was determined only by convenience. as the pages might be read and referred to separately, this form had obvious advantages over the rolls of the ancients.[156]

at the time of the arrival of the spaniards, great quantities of these manuscripts were treasured up in the country. numerous persons were employed in painting, and the dexterity of their operations excited the astonishment of the conquerors. unfortunately, this was mingled with other and unworthy feelings. the strange, unknown characters inscribed on them excited suspicion. they were looked on as magic scrolls, and were regarded in the same light with the idols and temples, as the symbols of a pestilent superstition, that must be extirpated. the first archbishop of mexico, don juan de zumárraga,—a name that should be as immortal as that of omar,—collected these paintings from every quarter, especially from tezcuco, the most cultivated capital in anahuac, and the{116} great depository of the national archives. he then caused them to be piled up in a “mountain-heap”—as it is called by the spanish writers themselves—in the market-place of tlatelolco, and reduced them all to ashes![157] his greater countryman, archbishop ximenes, had celebrated a similar auto-da-fé of arabic manuscripts, in granada, some twenty years before. never did fanaticism achieve two more signal triumphs than by the annihilation of so many curious monuments of human ingenuity and learning![158]

the unlettered soldiers were not slow in imitating the example of their prelate. every chart and volume which fell into their hands was wantonly destroyed; so that, when the scholars of a later and more enlightened age anxiously sought to recover some of these memorials of civilization, nearly all had perished, and the few surviving were jealously hidden by the natives.[159] through the indefatigable labors of a private individual, however, a{117} considerable collection was eventually deposited in the archives of mexico,[160] but was so little heeded there that some were plundered, others decayed piecemeal from the damps and mildews, and others, again, were used up as waste paper![161] we contemplate with indignation the cruelties inflicted by the early conquerors. but indignation is qualified with contempt when we see them thus ruthlessly trampling out the spark of knowledge, the common boon and property of all mankind. we may well doubt which has the stronger claim to civilization, the victor or the vanquished.

a few of the mexican manuscripts have found their way, from time to time, to europe, and are carefully preserved in the public libraries of its capitals. they are brought together in the magnificent work of lord kingsborough; but not one is there from spain. the most important of them, for the light it throws on the aztec institutions, is the mendoza codex; which, after its mysterious disappearance for more than a century, has at length reappeared in the bodleian library at oxford. it has been several times engraved.[162] the{118} most brilliant in coloring, probably, is the borgian collection, in rome.[163] the most curious, however, is the dresden codex, which has excited less atten{119}tion than it deserves. although usually classed among mexican manuscripts, it bears little resemblance to them in its execution; the figures of objects are more delicately drawn, and the characters, unlike the mexican, appear to be purely arbitrary, and are possibly phonetic.[164] their regular arrangement is quite equal to the egyptian. the whole infers a much higher civilization than the aztec, and offers abundant food for curious speculation.[165]

some few of these maps have interpretations annexed to them, which were obtained from the na{120}tives after the conquest.[166] the greater part are without any, and cannot now be unriddled. had the mexicans made free use of a phonetic alphabet, it might have been originally easy, by mastering the comparatively few signs employed in this kind of communication, to have got a permanent key to the whole.[167] a brief inscription has furnished a clue to the vast labyrinth of egyptian hieroglyphics. but the aztec characters, representing individuals, or, at most, species, require to be made out separately; a hopeless task, for which little aid is to be expected from the vague and general tenor of the few interpretations now existing.{121} there was, as already mentioned, until late in the last century, a professor in the university of mexico, especially devoted to the study of the national picture-writing. but, as this was with a view to legal proceedings, his information, probably, was limited to deciphering titles. in less than a hundred years after the conquest, the knowledge of the hieroglyphics had so far declined that a diligent tezcucan writer complains he could find in the country only two persons, both very aged, at all competent to interpret them.[168]

it is not probable, therefore, that the art of reading these picture-writings will ever be recovered; a circumstance certainly to be regretted. not that the records of a semi-civilized people would be likely to contain any new truth or discovery important to human comfort or progress; but they could scarcely fail to throw some additional light on the previous history of the nation, and that of the more polished people who before occupied the country.[169] this would be still more probable, if any literary relics of their toltec pre{122}decessors were preserved; and, if report be true, an important compilation from this source was extant at the time of the invasion, and may have perhaps contributed to swell the holocaust of zumárraga.[170] it is no great stretch of fancy to suppose that such records might reveal the successive links in the mighty chain of migration of the primitive races, and, by carrying us back to the seat of their possessions in the old world, have solved the mystery which has so long perplexed the{123} learned, in regard to the settlement and civilization of the new.[171]

besides the hieroglyphical maps, the traditions of the country were embodied in the songs and hymns, which, as already mentioned, were carefully taught in the public schools. these were various, embracing the mythic legends of a heroic age, the warlike achievements of their own, or the softer tales of love and pleasure.[172] many of them were composed by scholars and persons of rank, and are cited as affording the most authentic record of events.[173] the mexican dialect was rich and expressive, though inferior to the tezcucan, the most polished of the idioms of anahuac. none of the aztec compositions have survived, but we can form some estimate of the general state of poetic culture{124} from the odes which have come down to us from the royal house of tezcuco.[174] sahagun has furnished us with translations of their more elaborate prose, consisting of prayers and public discourses, which give a favorable idea of their eloquence, and show that they paid much attention to rhetorical effect. they are said to have had, also, something like theatrical exhibitions, of a pantomimic sort, in which the faces of the performers were covered with masks, and the figures of birds or animals were frequently represented; an imitation to which they may have been led by the familiar delineation of such objects in their hieroglyphics.[175] in all this we see the dawning of a literary culture, surpassed, however, by their attainments in the severer walks of mathematical science.

they devised a system of notation in their arithmetic sufficiently simple. the first twenty numbers were expressed by a corresponding number of dots. the first five had specific names; after which they were represented by combining the fifth with one of the four preceding; as five and one for six, five and two for seven, and so on. ten and fifteen had each a separate name, which was also combined with the first four, to express a higher quantity. these four, therefore, were the radical characters of their oral arithmetic, in the same manner as they were of the written with the ancient romans; a{125} more simple arrangement, probably, than any existing among europeans.[176] twenty was expressed by a separate hieroglyphic,—a flag. larger sums were reckoned by twenties, and, in writing, by repeating the number of flags. the square of twenty, four hundred, had a separate sign, that of a plume, and so had the cube of twenty, or eight thousand, which was denoted by a purse, or sack. this was the whole arithmetical apparatus of the mexicans, by the combination of which they were enabled to indicate any quantity. for greater expedition, they used to denote fractions of the larger sums by drawing only a part of the object. thus, half or three-fourths of a plume, or of a purse, represented that proportion of their respective sums, and so on.[177] with all this, the machinery will appear very awkward to us, who perform our operations with so much ease by means of the arabic or, rather, indian ciphers. it is not much more awkward, however, than the system pursued by the great mathematicians of antiquity, unacquainted with the brilliant invention, which has given a new aspect to mathematical science, of determining the value, in a great measure, by the relative position of the figures.

in the measurement of time, the aztecs adjusted{126} their civil year by the solar. they divided it into eighteen months of twenty days each. both months and days were expressed by peculiar hieroglyphics,—those of the former often intimating the season of the year, like the french months at the period of the revolution. five complementary days, as in egypt,[178] were added, to make up the full number of three hundred and sixty-five. they belonged to no month, and were regarded as peculiarly unlucky. a month was divided into four weeks, of five days each, on the last of which was the public fair, or market-day.[179] this arrangement, differing from that of the nations of the old continent, whether of europe or asia,[180] has the advantage of giving an equal number of days to each month, and of comprehending entire weeks, without a fraction, both in the months and in the year.[181]

as the year is composed of nearly six hours{127} more than three hundred and sixty-five days, there still remained an excess, which, like other nations who have framed a calendar, they provided for by intercalation; not, indeed, every fourth year, as the europeans,[182] but at longer intervals, like some of the asiatics.[183] they waited till the expiration of fifty-two vague years, when they interposed thirteen days, or rather twelve and a half, this being the number which had fallen in arrear. had they inserted thirteen, it would have been too much, since the annual excess over three hundred and sixty-five is about eleven minutes less than six hours. but, as their calendar at the time of the conquest was found to correspond with the european (making allowance for the subsequent gregorian reform), they would seem to have adopted the shorter period of twelve days and a half,{128}[184] which brought them, within an almost inappreciable fraction, to the exact length of the tropical year, as established by the most accurate observations.[185] indeed, the intercalation of twenty-five days in every hundred and four years shows a nicer adjustment of civil to solar time than is presented by any european calendar; since more than five centuries must elapse before the loss of an entire day.[186] such was the astonishing precision displayed by the aztecs, or, perhaps, by their more polished toltec predecessors, in these computations, so difficult as to have baffled, till a comparatively recent period, the most enlightened nations of christendom!{129}[187]

the chronological system of the mexicans, by which they determined the date of any particular event, was also very remarkable. the epoch from which they reckoned corresponded with the year 1091 of the christian era. it was the period of the reform of their calendar, soon after their migration from aztlan. they threw the years, as already noticed, into great cycles, of fifty-two each, which they called “sheafs,” or “bundles,” and represented by a quantity of reeds bound together by a string. as often as this hieroglyphic occurs in their maps, it shows the number of half-centuries. to enable them to specify any particular year, they divided the great cycle into four{130} smaller cycles, or indictions, of thirteen years each. they then adopted two periodical series of signs, one consisting of their numerical dots, up to thirteen, the other, of four hieroglyphics of the years.[188] these latter they repeated in regular succession, setting against each one a number of the corresponding series of dots, continued also in regular succession up to thirteen. the same system was pursued through the four indictions, which thus, it will be observed, began always with a different hieroglyphic of the year from the preceding; and in this way each of the hieroglyphics was made to combine successively with each of the numerical signs, but never twice with the same; since four, and thirteen, the factors of fifty-two,—the number of years in the cycle,—must admit of just as many combinations as are equal to their product. thus every year had its appropriate symbol, by which it was at once recognized. and this symbol, preceded by the proper number of “bundles” indicating the half-centuries, showed the precise time which had elapsed since the national epoch of 1091.[189] the ingenious contrivance of a periodical series, in place of the cumbrous system of hiero{131}glyphical notation, is not peculiar to the aztecs, and is to be found among various nations on the{132} asiatic continent,—the same in principle, though varying materially in arrangement.[190]

the solar calendar above described might have answered all the purposes of the people; but the priests chose to construct another for themselves. this was called a “lunar reckoning,” though nowise accommodated to the revolutions of the moon.[191] it was formed, also, of two periodical series, one of them consisting of thirteen numerical signs, or dots, the other, of the twenty hieroglyph{133}ics of the days. but, as the product of these combinations would be only 260, and as some confusion might arise from the repetition of the same terms for the remaining 105 days of the year, they invented a third series, consisting of nine additional hieroglyphics, which, alternating with the two preceding series, rendered it impossible that the three should coincide twice in the same year, or indeed in less than 2340 days; since 20 × 13 × 9 = 2340.[192] thirteen was a mystic number, of frequent use in their tables.[193] why they resorted to that of nine, on this occasion, is not so clear.[194]

this second calendar rouses a holy indignation in the early spanish missionaries, and father sahagun loudly condemns it, as “most unhallowed, since it is founded neither on natural reason, nor on the influence of the planets, nor on the true course of the year; but is plainly the work of necromancy, and the fruit of a compact with the devil!”[195] one may doubt whether the superstition of those who invented the scheme was greater than that of those who thus impugned it. at all events, we may, without having recourse to supernatural agency, find in the human heart a sufficient explanation of its origin; in that love of power, that has led the priesthood of many a faith to affect a mystery the key to which was in their own keeping.

by means of this calendar, the aztec priests kept their own records, regulated the festivals and seasons of sacrifice, and made all their astrological calculations.[196] the false science of astrology is{135} natural to a state of society partially civilized, where the mind, impatient of the slow and cautious examination by which alone it can arrive at truth, launches at once into the regions of speculation, and rashly attempts to lift the veil—the impenetrable veil—which is drawn around the mysteries of nature. it is the characteristic of true science to discern the impassable, but not very obvious, limits which divide the province of reason from that of speculation. such knowledge comes tardily. how many ages have rolled away, in which powers that, rightly directed, might have revealed the great laws of nature, have been wasted in brilliant but barren reveries on alchemy and astrology!

the latter is more particularly the study of a primitive age; when the mind, incapable of arriving at the stupendous fact that the myriads of minute lights glowing in the firmament are the centres of systems as glorious as our own, is naturally led to speculate on their probable uses, and to connect them in some way or other with man, for whose convenience every other object in the universe seems to have been created. as the eye of the simple child of nature watches, through the long nights, the stately march of the heavenly bodies, and sees the bright hosts coming up, one after another, and changing with the changing seasons of the year, he naturally associates them with those seasons, as the periods over which they hold a mysterious influence. in the same manner, he connects their appearance with any interesting{136} event of the time, and explores, in their flaming characters, the destinies of the new-born infant.[197] such is the origin of astrology, the false lights of which have continued from the earliest ages to dazzle and bewilder mankind, till they have faded away in the superior illumination of a comparatively recent period.

the astrological scheme of the aztecs was founded less on the planetary influences than on those of the arbitrary signs they had adopted for the months and days. the character of the leading sign in each lunar cycle of thirteen days gave a complexion to the whole; though this was qualified in some degree by the signs of the succeeding days, as well as by those of the hours. it was in adjusting these conflicting forces that the great art of the diviner was shown. in no country, not even in ancient egypt, were the dreams of the astrologer more implicitly deferred to. on the birth of a child, he was instantly summoned. the time of the event was accurately ascertained; and the family hung in trembling suspense, as the minister of heaven cast the horoscope of the infant and unrolled the dark volume of destiny. the influence of the priest was confessed by the mexican in the very first breath which he inhaled.{137}[198]

we know little further of the astronomical attainments of the aztecs. that they were acquainted with the cause of eclipses is evident from the representation, on their maps, of the disk of the moon projected on that of the sun.[199] whether they had arranged a system of constellations is uncertain; though that they recognized some of the most obvious, as the pleiades, for example, is evident from the fact that they regulated their festivals by them. we know of no astronomical instruments used by them, except the dial.[200] an immense circular block of carved stone, disinterred in 1790, in the great square of mexico, has supplied an acute and learned scholar with the means of establishing some interesting facts in re{138}gard to mexican science.[201] this colossal fragment, on which the calendar[202] is engraved, shows that they had the means of settling the hours of the day with precision, the periods of the solstices and of the equinoxes, and that of the transit of the sun across the zenith of mexico.[203]

we cannot contemplate the astronomical science of the mexicans, so disproportioned to their progress in other walks of civilization, without astonishment. an acquaintance with some of the more obvious principles of astronomy is within the reach of the rudest people. with a little care, they may learn to connect the regular changes of the seasons{139} with those of the place of the sun at his rising and setting. they may follow the march of the great luminary through the heavens, by watching the stars that first brighten on his evening track or fade in his morning beams. they may measure a revolution of the moon, by marking her phases, and may even form a general idea of the number of such revolutions in a solar year. but that they should be capable of accurately adjusting their festivals by the movements of the heavenly bodies, and should fix the true length of the tropical year, with a precision unknown to the great philosophers of antiquity, could be the result only of a long series of nice and patient observations, evincing no slight progress in civilization.[204] but whence could the rude inhabitants of these mountain-regions have derived this curious erudition? not from the barbarous hordes who roamed over the higher latitudes of the north; nor from the more polished races on the southern continent, with whom, it is apparent, they had no intercourse. if we are driven, in our embarrassment, like the greatest astronomer of our age, to seek the solution among the civilized communities of asia, we shall still be perplexed by finding, amidst general resemblance of outline, sufficient discrepancy in the details to{140} vindicate, in the judgments of many, the aztec claim to originality.[205]

i shall conclude the account of mexican science with that of a remarkable festival, celebrated by the natives at the termination of the great cycle of fifty-two years. we have seen, in the preceding chapter, their tradition of the destruction of the world at four successive epochs. they looked forward confidently to another such catastrophe, to take place, like the preceding, at the close of a cycle, when the sun was to be effaced from the heavens, the human race from the earth, and when the darkness of chaos was to settle on the habitable globe. the cycle would end in the latter part of december, and as the dreary season of the winter solstice approached, and the diminished light of day gave melancholy presage of its speedy extinction, their apprehensions increased; and on the arrival of the five “unlucky” days which closed the year they abandoned themselves to despair.[206] they broke in pieces the little images of their household gods, in whom they no longer trusted. the holy fires were suffered to go out in the temples, and none were lighted in their own dwellings. their furniture and domestic utensils were destroyed; their garments torn in pieces; and every thing was thrown into disorder, for the coming of{141} the evil genii who were to descend on the desolate earth.

on the evening of the last day, a procession of priests, assuming the dress and ornaments of their gods, moved from the capital towards a lofty mountain, about two leagues distant. they carried with them a noble victim, the flower of their captives, and an apparatus for kindling the new fire, the success of which was an augury of the renewal of the cycle. on reaching the summit of the mountain, the procession paused till midnight; when, as the constellation of the pleiades approached the zenith,[207] the new fire was kindled by the friction of the sticks placed on the wounded breast of the victim.[208] the flame was soon communicated to a funeral pile, on which the body of the slaughtered captive was thrown. as the light streamed up towards heaven, shouts of joy and triumph burst forth from the countless multitudes who covered the hills, the terraces of the temples, and the house-tops, with eyes anxiously bent on the mount of sacrifice. couriers, with torches lighted at the blazing beacon, rapidly bore them{142} over every part of the country; and the cheering element was seen brightening on altar and hearthstone, for the circuit of many a league, long before the sun, rising on his accustomed track, gave assurance that a new cycle had commenced its march, and that the laws of nature were not to be reversed for the aztecs.

the following thirteen days were given up to festivity. the houses were cleansed and whitened. the broken vessels were replaced by new ones. the people, dressed in their gayest apparel, and crowned with garlands and chaplets of flowers, thronged in joyous procession to offer up their oblations and thanksgivings in the temples. dances and games were instituted, emblematical of the regeneration of the world. it was the carnival of the aztecs; or rather the national jubilee, the great secular festival, like that of the romans, or ancient etruscans, which few alive had witnessed before, or could expect to see again.[209]

m. de humboldt remarked, many years ago, “it were to be wished that some government would publish at its own expense the remains of the ancient american civilization; for it is only by the comparison of several monuments that we can succeed in discovering the meaning of these allegories, which are partly astronomical and partly mystic.” this enlightened wish has now been realized, not by any{143} government, but by a private individual, lord kingsborough. the great work published under his auspices, and so often cited in this introduction, appeared in london in 1830. when completed it will reach to nine volumes, seven of which are now before the public. some idea of its magnificence may be formed by those who have not seen it, from the fact that copies of it, with colored plates, sold originally at ￡175, and, with uncolored, at ￡120. the price has been since much reduced. it is designed to exhibit a complete view of the ancient aztec mss., with such few interpretations as exist; the beautiful drawings of casta?eda relating to central america, with the commentary of dupaix; the unpublished history of father sahagun; and, last, not least, the copious annotations of his lordship.

too much cannot be said of the mechanical execution of the book,—its splendid typography, the apparent accuracy and the delicacy of the drawings, and the sumptuous quality of the materials. yet the purchaser would have been saved some superfluous expense, and the reader much inconvenience, if the letter-press had been in volumes of an ordinary size. but it is not uncommon, in works on this magnificent plan, to find utility in some measure sacrificed to show.

the collection of aztec mss., if not perfectly complete, is very extensive, and reflects great credit on the diligence and research of the compiler. it strikes one as strange, however, that not a single document should have been drawn from spain. peter martyr speaks of a number having been brought thither in his time. (de insulis nuper inventis, p. 368.) the marquis spineto examined one in the escorial, being the same with the mendoza codex, and perhaps the original, since that at oxford is but a copy. (lectures, lect. 7.) mr. waddilove, chaplain of the british embassy to spain, gave a particular account of one to dr. robertson, which he saw in the same library and considered an aztec calendar. indeed, it is scarcely possible that the frequent voyagers to the new world should not have furnished the mother-country with abundant specimens of this most interesting feature of aztec civilization. nor should we fear that the present liberal government would seclude these treasures from the inspection of the scholar.

much cannot be said in favor of the arrangement of these codices. in some of them, as the mendoza codex, for example, the plates are not even numbered; and one who would study them by the corresponding interpretation must often bewilder himself in the maze of hieroglyphics, without a clue to guide him. neither is there any attempt to enlighten us as to the positive value and authenticity of the respective documents, or even their previous history, beyond a barren reference to the particular library from which they have been borrowed. little light, indeed, can be expected on these matters; but we have not that little. the defect of arrangement is chargeable on other parts of the work. thus, for instance, the sixth book of sahagun is transferred from the body of the history to which it belongs, to a preceding volume; while the grand hypothesis of his{144} lordship, for which the work was concocted, is huddled into notes, hitched on random passages of the text, with a good deal less connection than the stories of queen scheherezade, in the “arabian nights,” and not quite so entertaining.

the drift of lord kingsborough’s speculations is, to establish the colonization of mexico by the israelites. to this the whole battery of his logic and learning is directed. for this, hieroglyphics are unriddled, manuscripts compared, monuments delineated. his theory, however, whatever be its merits, will scarcely become popular; since, instead of being exhibited in a clear and comprehensive form, readily embraced by the mind, it is spread over an infinite number of notes, thickly sprinkled with quotations from languages ancient and modern, till the weary reader, floundering about in the ocean of fragments, with no light to guide him, feels like milton’s devil, working his way through chaos,—

“neither sea,

nor good dry land; nigh foundered, on he fares.”

it would be unjust, however, not to admit that the noble author, if his logic is not always convincing, shows much acuteness in detecting analogies; that he displays familiarity with his subject, and a fund of erudition, though it often runs to waste; that, whatever be the defects of arrangement, he has brought together a most rich collection of unpublished materials to illustrate the aztec and, in a wider sense, american antiquities; and that by this munificent undertaking, which no government, probably, would have, and few individuals could have, executed, he has entitled himself to the lasting gratitude of every friend of science.

another writer whose works must be diligently consulted by every student of mexican antiquities is antonio gama. his life contains as few incidents as those of most scholars. he was born at mexico, in 1735, of a respectable family, and was bred to the law. he early showed a preference for mathematical studies, conscious that in this career lay his strength. in 1771 he communicated his observations on the eclipse of that year to the french astronomer m. de lalande, who published them in paris, with high commendations of the author. gama’s increasing reputation attracted the attention of government; and he was employed by it in various scientific labors of importance. his great passion, however, was the study of indian antiquities. he made himself acquainted with the history of the native races, their traditions, their languages, and, as far as possible, their hieroglyphics. he had an opportunity of showing the fruits of this preparatory training, and his skill as an antiquary, on the discovery of the great calendar stone, in 1790. he produced a masterly treatise on this, and another aztec monument, explaining the objects to which they were devoted, and pouring a flood of light on the astronomical science of the aborigines, their mythology, and their astrological system. he afterwards continued his investiga{145}tions in the same path, and wrote treatises on the dial, hieroglyphics, and arithmetic of the indians. these, however, were not given to the world till a few years since, when they were published, together with a reprint of the former work, under the auspices of the industrious bustamante. gama died in 1802, leaving behind him a reputation for great worth in private life,—one in which the bigotry that seems to enter too frequently into the character of the spanish-mexican was tempered by the liberal feelings of a man of science. his reputation as a writer stands high for patient acquisition, accuracy, and acuteness. his conclusions are neither warped by the love of theory so common in the philosopher, nor by the easy credulity so natural to the antiquary. he feels his way with the caution of a mathematician, whose steps are demonstrations. m. de humboldt was largely indebted to his first work, as he has emphatically acknowledged. but, notwithstanding the eulogiums of this popular writer, and his own merits, gama’s treatises are rarely met with out of new spain, and his name can hardly be said to have a transatlantic reputation.