of the doors are of wood, and so hard is its character, that a sharp knife will turn its edge upon it, as if drawn vertically upon a bar of rough steel or iron. Therefore from the facts contained in this summary, together with the “event in the history" of the Chief Altar, and yet to be given, we have placed Copan as the most ancient, and, as far as discovered, the first architectural City built on the Western Continent.

There is one description at Copan which will be reserved for the purpose of refuting (in the subsequent pages) one of Mr. Stephens's conclusions, as expressed in his Reflections upon the collective Ruins of these Cities, "whose antiquity," in the language of the Prophet, "is of ancient days."

SECTION III.

THE RUINS OF PALENQUE.

Palenque is situated in the Province of Tzendales, Mexican America. At the distance of about eight miles from the modern village of Palenque, the now celebrated Ruins are located. They are called the Ruins of Palenque from the name of the nearest village, and not from any history of their own:-like the field of Waterloo—it has given renown to an humble village adjacent. The name, therefore, of "Palenque," can be of no assistance in unfolding the history of these Ruins, for the original name of the now desolate Temples and Palaces, has been for centuries lost and buried with its fate. Mr. Stephens writes

"At half-past seven we left the village. For a short distance the road was open, but very soon we entered a forest, which continued unbroken to the Ruins, and probably many miles beyond. All the wreck of Empires, nothing ever spoke so forcibly the world's mutations, as this immense forest shrouding what was once a great city. Once it had been a great highway, thronging with people who were stimulated by the same passions that give impulse to human action now; and they are all gone, their habitation buried, and no traces of them left. Fording this (river Otula) very soon we saw masses of stones, and then a round sculptured stone. We spurred up a sharp ascent of fragments, so steep that the mules could barely climb it, to a terrace, so covered, like the whole road, with trees, that it was impossible to make out the form. Continuing on this terrace, we stopped at the foot of the second, and through openings in the trees we saw the front of a large building, richly ornamented with stuccoed figures on the pilasters, curious and elegant; trees growing close against them, and their branches entering the doors; in style and effect unique, extraordinary and mournfully beautiful. We tied our mules to the trees, and ascended a flight of stone steps, forced apart, and thrown down by trees, and entered the Palace, ranged for a few moments along the corridor, and into the courtyard; and after the first gaze of eager curiosity was over, went back to the entrance, and standing in the doorway, fired a feu de joie of four rounds each, being the last charge of our fire-arms

But for this way of giving vent to our satisfaction, we should have made the roof of the old Palace ring with a hurrah! We had reached the end of our long and toilsome journey, and the first glance indemnified us for our toil. For the time, we were in a building erected by the Aboriginal inhabitants; standing before the Europeans knew of the existence of this Continent; and we prepared to take up our abode under its roof-the sole tenants of the Palace of unknown Kings."

The reader will excuse the preceding introductionits graphic style will find its own apology; and though not descriptive of the Ruins, yet the approach to them seems to form a part of this historical Romance of the Wilderness.

"As at Copan, it was my business to prepare the different objects for Mr. Catherwood to draw. Many of the stones had to be scrubbed and cleansed; and as it was our object to have the utmost possible accuracy in the drawings, in many places scaffolds were to be erected, on which to set up the camera-lucida. That the reader may know the character of the objects we had to interest us, I proceed to give a description of the building in which we lived, called the Palace. It stands on an artificial elevation of an oblong form forty feet high, three hundred and ten in front and rear, and two hundred and sixty feet on each side."

Here, then, is distinctly stated-a pyramidal elevation having four sides, and detached from any other structure. Its measurement around the base is 1140 feet!

"This elevation was formerly faced with stone, which has been thrown down by the growth of trees, and its form is hardly distinguishable. The building [we say Temple-not Palace,] stands (on this pyramidal elevation) with its face to the East, and measures two hundred feet front, by one hundred and eighty feet deep. Its height is not more than twentyfive feet, and all around it had a broad projecting cornice of stone. The front contained fourteen doorways, about nine feet wide each, and the intervening piers [i. e. square columns] are between six and seven feet wide. On the left (in approaching the palace) eight piers have fallen down, and as also the corner on the right, and the terrace underneath is cumbered with ruins. But six piers remain entire, and the rest of the front is open. The building was constructed of stone, with a mortar of lime and sand, and the whole front was covered with stucco and painted."

We believe this last manner (stuccoing) to have been ages after the original structure was erected, and for the purpose of promulgating a new Religion. This important point will be investigated in a subsequent volume. It is only remarked here, that the reader may not be perplexed at stone being covered with stucco, since in building, ancient or modern, it was only usual to cover bricks with plaister or stucco.

"The piers were ornamented with spirited figures [in stucco] in bas-relief. On the top of one are three hieroglyphics sunk in the stucco. It is enclosed by richly ornamented border, about ten feet high and six

wide, of which only a part remains. The stucco is of admirable consistency, and hard as stone. It was painted, [stained ?] and in different places about, we discovered the remains of red, blue, yellow, black, and white."

We have already called this edifice the Temple, believing it not to have been originally a palace. This distinction is nearly defined from the fact that hieroglyphics are found upon the edifice for hieroglyphics (i. e., sacred and symbolical writing) constitute the Religious language of nearly all the ancient nations,— but of Egypt especially. The language of Religion and the Hieratic (that of the priests) were placed upon the sacred edifices, and being so placed, proved them to be Temples. Those languages were, also, painted upon mummy-cloths and coffins, or sculptured upon the outward granite Sarcophagii,-the Egyptians holding the rights of Sepulture in the most sacred estimation; for those rights were only granted upon a public investigation of the character of the deceased, and a general verdict in his favour. This post-mortem examination of character even the king was not exempt from, and the poorest subject of Egypt could bring his accusation against the deceased monarch, with the privilege of sustaining his charges by facts and argument, for by the laws of Egypt every Egyptian was considered equal and noble with his countrymen, Character and Talent being the only distinctions to entitle the deceased to sepulture, and