ruins of Central America has perhaps so much contributed to the generally adopted ideas about lost generations of men, highly civilized, and altogether different from the actual American aborigines, as the conical heads of the sculptures at Palenque. But though the remains of Uxmal have nothing marvellous about them, they cannot but excite to the utmost the curiosity of every one who casts a look on the plan of the "casa del gobernador," and beholds those tasteful sculptures on the outer walls of the palace. Nor is it less extraordinary, that in so small a part of our continent, at so short distances from each other, there have been so many cities, bearing each of them a stamp of originality, while in all there is, however, some feature connecting them.

As so many theories have been published on the subject of the origin of the builders of the different ruined structures in Central America and the adjoining countries, varying according as their inventor's imagination was struck first by the pyramidal structures, or by the indications of astronomical knowledge, or by the shape of some animal, the reader may be anxious to know what impression the antiquities of our continent made upon Mr. Stephens, who may be considered as prepared, by his former travels, to compare the works of the ancient inhabitants of the new world with those of the old. Mr. Stephens is not one of those travellers who would sit down on the ruins, fall asleep, be visited, like Volney, by the spiritus loci, and receive from him the gift of second sight. That is doubtless a misfortune for those readers who wish to be surprised, and expect that the traveller will find means to open this tomb of a nation, and revive a gone-by society. But for those who wish to judge for themselves, and to arrive at truth, Mr. Stephens's opinions, or rather his impressions, will have great value, being the result of attentive examination and almost unconscious comparison, of numerous objects, visited, not with a view to prove any pre-conceived theory, but from a taste for travelling through countries little known, and giving a faithful description of the "incidents" on the road. These opinions may be gathered from the following passages:

"There is, then, no resemblance in these remains to those of the Egyptians; and failing here, we look elsewhere in vain. They are different from the works of any other known people, of a new order, and entirely and absolutely anomalous; they stand alone. . . .

"I am inclined to think that there are not sufficient grounds for the belief in the great antiquity that has been ascribed to these ruins; that they are not the works of people who have passed away, and whose history has become unknown; but opposed, as in my idea, to all previous speculations, that they were constructed by the races who occupied the country at the time of the invasion by the Spaniards, or of some not very distant progenitors.*

"And this opinion is founded, first, upon the appearance and condition of the remains themselves. The climate and rank luxu riance of the soil are most destructive to all perishable materials. For six months every year exposed to the deluge of tropical rains, and with trees growing through the doorways of buildings and on the tops, it seems impossible that, after a lapse of two or three thousand years, a single edifice could now be standing.

"The existence of wooden beams, and, at Uxmal, in a perfect state of preservation, confirms this opinion. The durability of wood will depend upon its quality and exposure. In Egypt, it is true, wood has been discovered sound and perfect, and certainly three thousand years old; but even in that dry climate none has ever been found in a situation at all exposed. It occurs only in coffins in the tombs and mummy pits of Thebes, and in wooden clamps connecting two stones together, completely shut in and excluded from the air."-Vol. ii. pp. 442, 443.

The author then gives extracts from various historians, purporting to establish that in Yucatan and Mexico there were flourishing cities.

Though we do not exactly agree with the author about the durability of stone buildings, in tropical countries, unacquainted as we are with the nature of the material, we are more than ever convinced that no higher civilization had ever existed in Central America, Mexico and Peru, than that which the first Spaniards found there. To the reasons quoted above from our author, we add, that notwithstanding the differences in the details of the ruins, both of cities anterior to history and those of which it makes mention, there is a general character of resemblance which unites them most closely, and indicates the same degree of civilization, or at least a similar social organization. At Copan, at Palenque, at Santa

*With regard to this opinion of the author, we think it proper to state that in a former article we tried to prove that the works which the Mexicans were building at the time of the arrival of the Conquistadores, were by no means inferior to those which were found in a ruined state afterwards, and that therewas no reason to believe that the actual inhabitants of that part of the continent are not the descendants of the inhabitants of the ruined cities.-N. Y. Review, vol. v. p. 204.

Cruz del Quiché and all other ruined places, there are found a few buildings, which are considered as temples and palaces, sometimes citadels, but never any remains of private dwellings. And such would be most likely now the ruins of Mexico, as described by Cortes, if the Spaniards had not accomplished in a few days what nature would have done in many centuries, if after the conquest of the city this had been abandoned by Indians and Spaniards. We find another proof against the high state of civilization attributed by some to former generations, and against all speculations in favor of an immigration from a civilized part of the old world, as deduced from the inspection of their remains in the great variety in architectural and sculptural works, in their local characters ; this seems to indicate the arts had not yet become a science in Central America, as they evidently have in the old world. The strongest objection against our opinion would be, the constant appearance of the pyramidal form. But this we do not consider as of any value, the pyramidal being the most natural form for any elevated structure, and certainly the one which requires less architectural knowledge and mechanical apparatus. Perhaps it was adopted in imitation of the volcanoes so numerous in that part of the continent. The pyramidal structure at Uxmal is rather a conical mountain with an oval base. Perhaps the sacrifices on the top of these pyramids were made with an intention to appease the volcanoes and prevent the earthquakes. In some parts of the country they actually threw "maidens" into the waters, in order to appease the internal fire, if the legend be

true.

In support of his views, Mr. Stephens compares a sculptured square tablet from Copan, with a copy from a hieroglyphical manuscript published in Humboldt's work. There is most evident resemblance between the two engravings, as well with regard to the general character, as to some of the details; there cannot be any doubt that both belong to a similar system of writing, and are as nearly related as the Gothic and Latin characters.

But the question, "whence came the first inhabitants of Central America?" and on which so many volumes have been written, still remains. To this we give the very excellent answer which the Indians gave to Mr. Stephens, when at Copan he inquired about the builders of the city: "Quien sabe 2"

In conclusion, though from the preceding pages the reader may derive an approximate idea of these "Incidents of Travel," we think it necessary to add a few remarks upon the general character of the work. Mr. Stephens, as already mentioned, is an uncommonly pleasant writer. He describes the most insignificant "incidents," as well as the most important, but with so much spirit that he never tires the reader, and always compensates for the want of interest in the subject by his manner of presenting it. He avows that he does not attempt to solve the great question of the history of Central America, but merely to furnish the as yet inexplicable and unexplained pages of that history; this task, we think, he has fulfilled more faithfully than any of his predecessors, aided, as he was, by the practised eye and the obedient pencil of Mr. Catherwood. The process followed by Mr. Catherwood is a guarantee of the exactness of his drawings. Making use of the camera lucida, he really copied the monuments and the sculptures, instead of copying the more or less accurate impressions made upon his imagination by these objects, as certainly most of the former travellers did. Our impression is, that all the drawings are faithful representations of the objects.

We should have had several questions to propose to Mr. Stephens, about things we think he should have observed, and of which he does not seem to have thought; but when we consider, that in less than twenty months he performed his whole journey, clearing the ruins where it was necessary; wrote and published a work of this extent, containing about seventy excellent engravings, we feel as if our questions were already answered. The style in which the work appears does honor to the publishers, and we are glad to see a specimen of typography from their press in all respects so highly creditable to them.

ART. XI.-Primitia et Reliquiæ. Londini: MDCCCXL. Typis Gulielmi Nicol. 8vo.

WE devote a few pages to this elegant little volume, not so much on account of the high rank of its illustrious author, the Marquess Wellesley, as because it furnishes a memorable instance of the enduring influence of a classical education

upo. the mind and taste. It is not published, but printed for private distribution only, and we are indebted for our copy to the kindness of a friend, into whose hands it chanced to come; the author's name does not appear on its title page, but we find it afterwards, affixed to a very beautiful dedication in Latin to his friend Lord Brougham. With the exception of a Greek piece or two, the volume is filled with short Latin poems, a few of which are translated; they are classed under the heads of "Primitiæ," including those written at Eton and Oxford between the years 1776 and 1781, and of "Reliquiæ," which were written after he left college. Of these, one, and as we think, the most beautiful of all, is dated August, 1839, when its author was nearly eighty years of age. That a man of Lord Wellesley's rank and character, whose whole life, and that a very long one, has been spent in his country's service, and so spent as to call forth from the present premier a declaration in the house of lords, that never were services rendered by subject to sovereign in any state equal to those of the Marquess Wellesley; that such a man should have preserved not only his fondness for the studies of his youth, but also his attainments in them undiminished to fourscore, is no inconsiderable proof, we think, both of the excellence of the system of instruction in the great public schools of England, in one of which he was educated, and of the pre-eminent adaptation of the studies themselves to create and fix in the mind a love for letters. A glance at the public career of the Marquess will serve to show that he could have enjoyed few opportunities for the quiet cultivation of the muses, and increase our astonishment at the success with which he has so long continued to invoke them. Immediately after leaving the university, in 1781, he took his seat in the Irish house of peers; in 1797, he was raised to the British peerage, and at the same time made governor general of India; from 1797 to 1805, he remained in India

66