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Show • 37+ HSSF.R"''. vt. ~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F · M E, Xi· l G 0. cher, that celebrated enquirer into,· and praifer of Egyptian antiquities, in his work entitled Oedtj;us Egyptiacus, and Adrian Walton in his preface ~o the Polyglott \Bible, are' of the fame opinion with M. de Paw; <but th~~r opinion has no other f~pport tl an the fane copy by Purchns : but Mbto1ini:l, Sahagun, Valadc.;s, Torqucmada, Arrigo, Martinez, 'sigucnza, and Boturini, who knew the Mexican language, convcrfcd with the Indians, iitw and diligently ftudied many ancient paintings, fay, that am.ong the difrerent modes prat:l:ifed by the Mexicans to reprdbnt objcCl:s, that of hieroglyphics was o~1e, and that of fymbolical pictures another. The fune point is a.ttdl:ed by A co O:a and Gumara, in their hiftor.ies ; by Egui;tra, in the le:trncd prefacc to the Mcxicana Bibli. otheca; and by thofe le.trncJ sp~miard s who publi!hed, with new additions, the work of c.m:ia on ti.Je 01 ·igin oft /.11! Jndiaw. Kircher W.lS firongly tefutl.!d by Siguenza ·u his work entit1 'U r:tl.n·atre of Political Virtut:s. It is certain that Kircher contradicts himidf openly'; for in the fidl: volume of. the Oedipus Egyptiacus, where he comp:trcs the religion of the Mexicans with that of the Egyptians. he freely confefi. es that the· p~rts of which the image of the God Huitzilopochtli _ was compofed, had many fecret and myfl:erious fignifications. Acofl:n, whofe hifl:ory is ju{Hy eft cmed by M. de P:-~w, in the dt:Ccrip tion which he giv.es of tb.at image, fctys, "all tbi ornament which ,...,c have . u mentioned, and the refi, which vV<1S confiuernble likcwi(e, had its ·" particubr fignifications, according ,to wbat the Mexicans decbred :~· .;md in the dcfcript-ion of the il;iol of Tezcatlipoca exprdies himfdf in thefe terms: " His hair was tied with a gohkn cord, from the .r.. , tremity of which hung an .car·-ring of the fame metal, with clouds of " fm0ke pain tell upon it, which fignified the prayers of the affi iClcd and. ": Jinners, wb0 were lifl:ened to by. that God when they re om mended "' themfelves to hirp. In his left hand he h<ld a f<ln of gold, adorned " with beautiful green, blue, and yellow feathers, fo bright that it [eemed " a min·our; by which they intimated, that in that mirrcm.r he faw e·very "' thing which happened in the world. .In his right hand h,e had four " arrows to fignify the puni!hmen.t he gave to criminals for their mif" deeds." What are all thofe, and other infignia of the Mexica11 idols~ of which ·w.e have made mention in the fixth . book of this hi- :fi.ory. • ' ' • 1H I s T 0 R. y 0 F M E X I c o. . . . ftory, but fymbo1s and l~ieroglyphics, very fimilar to thofe of the DISSVE.'lR. T.; Egyptiaps ? , ~ , M. de Paw L'lys, that the Mcxicm~s did nothing elfe t~ reprefent a tree bu.t paint a tree: but what did they to,rcprefent day and night, the month,, the year, the century, the names of perfons ? How could they rcprefent time and other things which have no figure, without making ufe ,,r fymbols or characters ?. "The Mexicans," f.'lys Acofta,. " had. •·' their figures ::mel hier0glY,phies,. by which. they reprefented things in " this manner; that is, thofc things which had ?. figure·werq reprefented: "' by their p[oper figures;., and for thofe which had no proper image '' they made ufc of other: ch.aratl:ers to fignify them;. thus they r~pre" fentcd whatever they \~ou ld j and to menti<m the· time in which " any event luppened, they employe.d p:tinted whc.els) each of which "comprehended a century ~f fifty-two yc:us; &c .. (.I)'' Dut here we h:iv.e another piece of infult from. the ignorance of. M. de P11w ~ H'e ridicules the fi::cular wheels of the Mexicans., the explanation of which he f.'lys arrcri ventured to give, in imit,ltion of a. Caftili:m profc!for called Congam, who did not dare to publifh the work which he had p,romifed on. this fn bje.a .: 'becaufe. his relations :mel friends . atTur~d him that it Ot1t<1it'l.cd many errors. It would appear that M .. de Paw C<mnot write without. committing errors. Th:H prc0feilor whom Can·eri or Gemelli imitates, was not a Caftilian; but a. reolc, . born ir1 . the city of Mexico; nor was he c·llled Congara,. but Siguenza and Gon-ora: he did not print his Mexican. ci 1ogntphy, which w·~s the work Gemelli made uJ.C of,, not bt"c::wfe he feared any cenfLlre from the pnbli , . but becaufe of the cxce!1ive e:JG.pences of printing in thofe conntries ;. which have alfo. prevented- the publication. of many otha excellent works,. not only of Sig~enza, bnt other moft learned authors. To fJ.y that the relations and friends of Siguenza di.fi'uaded him from the publication of that work bccaufc they found m~ny · errors in it, is not 3 mere mi!bke occaGoned by inattention,. bnt appe:1rs a fiction devi(e l. to abufe and 'miflead the public. Who has c;ommunicated to M. cle l)aw fo ftrange an anecdote which is altogether. unknown to New "',&:.~in, where the memory and fame of th:.tt great man is !o .celebrated,: (/) ,Stor. 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