he tribe.
Of course the deteriorating effects of a race of less culture would
have a tendency to shorten the spiritual if not the physical life of
the race. Whatever conjecture we may have as to the past and the
probable future of such a race, it is evident that the Peruvians had
made a strong and vigorous attempt at civilization. Their limited
environment and simple life were not conducive to progressive ideas,
and gave little inducement for inventive genius to lead the race
forward. But even as we find them, the sum-total of their civilization
compares very favorably with the sum-total of the civilization of the
Spaniards, who engaged to complete their destruction. Different were
these Spaniards in culture and learning, it is true, but their great
difference is in the fact that the Spaniards had the tools and
equipment for war and perhaps a higher state of military organization
than the peace-loving Peruvians.

_Aztec Civilization in Mexico_.--When Cortez in 1525 began his conquest
of Mexico, he found a strong political organization under the Emperor
Montezuma, who had through conquest, diplomacy, and assumption of power
united all of the tribes in and around Mexico City in a strong
federation. These people were made up of many different tribes. At
this period they did not show marked development in any particular
line, except that of social organization. The people that occupied
this great empire ruled by Montezuma, with the seat of power {191} at
Mexico City, were called Aztecs. The empire extended over all of lower
Mexico and Yucatan. As rapidly as possible Montezuma brought adjacent
tribes into subjection, and at the time of the Spanish conquest he
exercised lordship over a wide country. So far as can be ascertained,
arts and industries practised by most of these tribes were handed down
from extinct races that had a greater inventive genius and a higher
state of progress. The conquering tribes absorbed and used the arts of
the conquered, as the Greeks did those of the conquered Aegeans.

The practice of agriculture, of the industrial arts, such as clothing,
pottery, and implements of use and ornaments for adornment, showed
advancement in industrial life. They built large temples and erected
great buildings for the worship of their gods. There was something in
their worship bordering on sun-worship, although not as distinctive as
the sun-worship of the Peruvians. They were highly developed in the
us