however,
would probably stipulate that he should not count too many "thousands,"
nor claim a similar antiquity for the ruins now visible. It is not easy
to suppose that any of these old monuments, with their well-preserved
sculptures and inscriptions, represent the first period of the ancient
history they suggest, nor that they have existed as ruins many
"thousands of years," for the climate of Mexico and Central America does
not preserve such remains like that of Egypt.

Nevertheless, some of them must be very old. The forest established
since the ruin began, the entire disappearance of every thing more
perishable than stone, the utter oblivion which veiled their history in
the time of Montezuma, and probably long previous to his time, all these
facts bear witness to their great antiquity. In many of them, as at
Quirigua and Kabah, the stone structures have become masses of debris;
and even at Copan, Palenque, and Mitla, only a few of them are
sufficently[TN-4] well preserved to show us what they were in the
great days of their history. Meanwhile, keep in mind that the ruined
cities did not begin their present condition until the civilization that
created them had declined; and, also, that if we could determine exactly
the date when they were deserted and left to decay, we should only reach
that point in the past where their history as inhabited cities was
brought to a close.

Take Copan, for instance. This city may have become a ruin during the
time of the Toltecs, which began long before the Christian era, and
ended some five or six centuries probably before the country was invaded
by Cortez. It was built before their time, for the style of writing, and
many features of the architecture and ornamentation, show the
workmanship of their predecessors, judging by the historical intimations
found in the old books and traditions. We may suppose it to have been an
old city at the time of the Toltec invasion, although not one of the
first cities built by that more ancient and more cultivated people by
whom this old American civilization was originated. The present
condition of the monuments at Quirigua is still more suggestive of great
age.

"THE OLDEST OF CIVILIZATIONS."

Some investigators, who have given much study to the antiquities,
traditions, old books, and probable geological history of Mexico and
Central America, believe that the first civilization the world ever saw
appeared in this part of Ancient America,