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a®B3 &
FIREPROOF WARE HOUSE.
AUGUSTA,
THE undersigned take this method ofinform
ing his friends and the Planters of Georgia,
and Carolina, that he continues the Warehouse
and Commission Business at the same stand,
and have, in addition to the above large, com
modious and Fire Proof Ware-house, taken a
lease of the Fire Proof Ware-house on Mclntosh
street, convenient to the River, and the Geor
gia and Carolina Rail Roads, formerly occupied
by Heard & Cook, and recently by Gen. Daw
son. By this arrangement he will be enabled
to have room to place all cotton sent to be stor
edin secure Fire Proof Buddings, and ample
Fire Proof Close Stores for the receiving and
forwarding Goods to the country. W itha strict
adherence and punctuality, in all business con
fided to hie care, he hopes to merit a continu
ance of the very flattering support which he Las
met with for the two seasons past.
Sept. 7, 1837. EGBERT B. BEALL.
city papers,Recorder, Joun.al and
Standard of Union, Milledgeville ; Macon Mes
senger, Columbus Enquirer, Athens Whig,
Savannah Republican. Charleston Courier, and
Edgefield Advertiser will copy the above in their
respective papers, fsitil first November, and
forward their accounts for payment.
E. B .B.
Athens, Sept 16—20—tNI.
' NEW URYG dol)S
AN»
GROCERY STORE.
rpHE undersigned having removed to the up-
I per tenement of the New brick range, next
below the Ware-House of Stovall, Simmons,
Ac Co., are now receiving a fresh, and general
assortment of
Sfioes, and Groceries, recently purchased at the
North, chiefly for Cash, at reduced prices;—all
of which they offer low, and respectfully invite
a call from those who may be in market, believ
ing that such inducements will be offered, as to
secure a liberal share of the patronage of the
public.
STOVALL & HAMLEN.
Augusta, September 9,1837.
Wholesale Dry Good Establisment
is in the second story —over the Grocery.
Sept. 16, —20—2m
"COMMISSIONTIWESSr
AU&USTA, Ci A.
STOVALL, SIMMONS, & Co., in express
ing their gratitude to their patrons, for their
continued confidence, and generous support,
would renew the offer of their services in the
Factorage and Commission business, nt their Fire
Proof Ware-House, South side Broad street.
Liberal advances will be made on Cotton, &c
Ate, as heretofore.
Sept. 16,—20—2m
rACTOEAGD AND
sign
FTUIE undersigned having removed to Savan
nah, has opened in No. 5. Bolton’s Range, a
few doors above the Exchange, an extensive
WARE-HOUSE for the transaction of a general
FACTORAGE and COMMISSION business.
Expecting to devote his time exclusiveljßo this
business, he will attend to the selling of Cotton,
Rice and other produce—receiving and shipping
Goods, &c, and to such as may give him their
patronage, he pledges himself to the faithful
performance of his duties.
THOMAS 11. HARDEN.
Savannah, Oct. 14, —24—4t
N. B. Liberal advances on all Cotton and oth
er produce in store.
The Georgia Journal, Southern Whig,
Columbus Enquirer,Macon Messenger, Augus
ta Chronicle and Sentinel, Darien Telegraph, At
Charleston Courier, will give the above four
weekly insertions, and forward their bills to lhe
Republican office for payment.
STOVALL, Co.
WOULD inform the public, that in addition
to the FIRE PROOF WARE-HOUSE,
which they have for vears occupied, they have
taken the FIRE PROOF W ARE-HOUSE, re
cently in the occupancy of Messrs. J. W. & I.
T. Heard, but a short’distance above, on Broad
Street, and respectfully invite an increase of
patronage, as they are now prepared to store
with safety and convenience, a large amount of
Cotton.
They pledge their accustomed devotion to the
interest of their friends in all business confided
to them.
Augusta, Oct, 14, —23,—3t
x ——x /] o Fjzg ill ® . < A
*1 rijJr I‘M >9 IS >B
OX THE DEATH OFAFBIEKD.
1 The parted spirit--
Knoweth it not our sorrows ? answereth not
Its blessing to our tears ?’
The circle is broken —one seat is forsaken—
One bud from the tree of our friendship is shaken;
One heart from among us no longer shall thrill
With the spirit of gladness, or darken with ill.
Weep! lonely and lowly are slumbering now
The light of her glances 1 the pride of her brow;
Weep I sadly and long shall we listen in vain
To hear the sad tones of her welcome again.
Give our tears to the dead—for humanity’s claim
For its silence and darkness is ever the same;
The hope of that world whose existence is bliss
Mny not stifle the tears of the mourners of this.
For oh, if one glance the freed spirit can throw
On the scene of its troubled probation below,
Than the glow of the marble, the pomp of the dead,
Touhat glance will be dearer the tears which we shed.
Oh, who can forget the rich light of her smile,
Over lips moved with music and feeling the while?
The eye’s deep enchantment, dark, dreamlike, and
dear,
In the glow of its gladness, the shade of its tear ?
And the charm of her features, while over the wuole
Played the hues of the heart and the sunshine of seul;
And the low, mellow voice, like the music which seems
Breathed faintly and sweet in the ear of our dreams.
But holier and dearer, our memories hold
Those treasures of feeling more precious than gold;
The love and the kindness, the pity which gave
Fresh hopes to the living and wreaths for the grave.
The heart ever opened to Charity’s claim,
Unmoved from its purpose by censure and blame:
While vainly alike on hereye and her ear,
Fell the scorn of the heartless, the jesting and jeer.
For though spotless herself, she could sorrow for them
Who sullied with evil the spirit’s pure gem;
And a sigh or a tear could the erring reprove,
And the sting of rebuke was still tempered with love.
As a cloud of the. sunset, slow melting in heaven—
As a star that is lost when the daylight is given—
As a glad dream of slumber, which wakens in bliss,
She hath passed from the world of the holy from this.
She hath passed '. —but oh, sweet as the flow’rets shall
bloom
From her last lonely dwelling, the dust of her tomb,
The charm of her virtues, as Heaven’s own breath,
Shall rise like an incense from darkness and death.
From the Knickerbocker for October.
Aanerican Asatiquilaes,
three.
‘ Even in thy desert, what is like to thee ?
Thy very weeds are beautiful; thy waste
More rich than other climes’
Thy wreck a glory, and thy ruins graced
With an immaculate charm.’
If, as has been stated in previous numbers,
this coutinent is distinguished by the remains
of great cities, magnificent structures, and in
numerable other ingenious specimens of an
cient art; and if, as has likewise been shown,
these things existed at a period of time un
known to history or tradition, the inquiry,
■ Who were the people that inhabited these
cities, who constructed these edifices, and who
executed these varied arts ?’ becomes of intense
interest to ail men of curiosity and of learning.
The inqutry is also inseparably connected with
the description of these arts; and, as a con
sequence, demands attention, as we proceed
with the subject of American Antiquities.
For a long time, the majority of men were
satisfied with the reputed discovery of thiscon
tinent by Columbus, even though they were
acquainted with the fact that he found the
‘ new world’ thickly inhabited by different va
rieties of mankind, and though subsequent re
searches proved these inhabitants to nave ex
isted ages before, and from one end of the con
tinent to the other. So little reflection is still
manifested upon this subject by many, that,
they blindly assent to the opinion, that Colum
bus was, indeed, the first European discoverer
of America; forgetting, seemingly—to say
nothing of its repeated discovery by tin- 'North- ,
men,’ and probably by others, from, the ninth ;
( to the twJfth cent tty —that, according to the I
same popular idea, the primitive inhabitants I
must thems Ives have been the discoverers,
lime iriftu moriab'y past, and, like Columbus,
have sailed from the eastern continent, across a
wide and trackless ocean, to our far- famed ‘new
world.’ The truth is, men arc too prone to
consider that w hich is new to themselves, as
actual discovery ; and, during the novelty of
the occasion, and in their love of praise, are
very little inclined to reflect upon the eviden
ces of antiquity, though they stare them full io
the face. Should we concede the correctness
’ of the common opinion, as to the origin of these j
inhabitants, the discovery of America by them
must have been a much more eventful circmn- ■
stance in tin: history of man (han that by Co
lumbus. How many aid how exciting must
have been the incidents attending that, di-cov
cry I How bold the enterprise, how Jong aid
i how perilous the voyages I How starthog the
' hair.Ln adtli ’scapes, and how iniposi gto th. in
; must have been a ‘netrworZd’ indeed! Wh it
I strange objects, animate and inanimate, must
have been presented io them, on first reaching,
and while traversing, the great continent of
America! How little know ledge, in fine did
. Columbus possess of this continent, compared
with that acquired by the observations of the
, millions who had occupied it for time unknown!
• These w ere tneti, reasoning and feeling men,
■ like ourselves; why, then, should we not rea
son upon the times and the events which rnark
' ed their discovery of the ‘new world?’ We
might imagine, perhaps, stinielhiitg like those
events, or conceive of the records to which
they might have given birth, when, without
tho compass that guided Columbus, or the
means which safely protected him against the
fury of the elements, they made successive
discoveries of, and peopled, so vast a coutiiient.
It is not impossible that th j African, the Malay,
and the Tartar, found here by Columbus.
‘ monarchs of ail they surveyed,’ possessed such
a knowledge ofthe arts Ind sciences as to have
enabled them to navigate the boisterous ocea-i
with equal security, us certainly they had done
with eqii ’.l success. History, in fact, informs
us, that the remote knowledge of many ofihesn
people was of superior order. .It might have
equalled that of ths Caucassian, at tho time el
his discovery of America. The event proves
that it even did, it; many important p; rticulars,
“WHERE POWERS ARE ASSUMED WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN DELEGATED, A NULLIFICATION OF THE ACT 13 THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY.” lejferson.
notwithstanding our boasted preeminence.—
Let the records of the at.cicut Chinese, Ara
bians, and East Indians, the monuments of
Asia, and of the Peloponnesian Islands, and
the arts of Palnnque, speak for the early condi
tion of the human intellect. But a long night
of darkness has intervened; and, like men at
all ages of the world, ‘we reason but from
what we know.’
It cannot be inferred from evidences deriv
ed from the relics hitherto discovered in the
United States, that the primitive inhabitants of
onr country were not, for centuries, contempo
raneous with the Tultecans. That they were,
indeed, will appear extremely probable, in solv
ing the question ns to their ultimate destiny.
It is a verv common and a very important
question, ‘ What became ofthe numerous peo
ple who once populated our western valleys?’
Though we mny not give a conclusive answer
to the inquiry, yet it may be shown that, in
tho final overthrow ofthe Tultecan nation, and
synchronous with the desertion, and perhaps
destruction, of the city of Palenque, the bar
barous northern nations of Aztiqucs and Chi
chimecas, before alluded to, were none others
than the primitive inhabitants of the Mississip
pi valley; who, in the order observed in the
rise and fall of nations, were expelled from
their country by hordes of a still more north
ern and warlike nation of Tartars.
We find. to begin with the human family in |
Central America, and the earliest arts which
arc at present revealed to us, that the Tultecan
people, or a people analogous in their grts, cus
toms, etc., inhabited, at the period of their
glory, the provinces of Yucatan, Chiapa, and
Guatemala. Which ofthe two first named
portions of that delightful country was the
scene of their primeval history, does not clear
ly appear. Should it be determined that this
people actually traversed the great Atlantic,
agreeably to tho somewhat plausible and in
genous story of Votan, of which we shall here
after speak, the province of Yucatan may be
supposed to have been the snot where they first
established themselves, and reared their stone
edifices ; and, indeed, if the fact goes for any
thing in illustrating this position, the ruins of
their architectural monument are actually found
shewed along the province, from near its eas
tern point, toward the famous city we have
mentioned. But if the Tultecan metropolis,
situated cm an elevated paradisian plain, far
removed from any other similar ruins, was rZs
facto, the first residence of man in America,
we shall be at a loss to assign any other than
an indigenous origin for lha Tultecan people.
On a question thus undecided, there can ba no
cause of wonder, if there arc those who are
conscientiously Pre Adamites. But. without
designing to favor one opinion more than an
other, independent of the evidence actually of
fered, it may bo confidently affirmed, that there
does not appear any satisfactory proofs adduc
ed by thost who have attempted to trace the
origin of that people, that they partook more
of the character of one eastern people than
another. There has been, in truth, no distin
guished nation of people with whose ancient
history we are acquainted, who had not man
ners and customs resembling those ofthe Pa
lencians It is not strange, therefore, that
men, ii <ue r ced by preconceived opinions,
should have assigned various reasons to ac
count for 11k; commencement of human popu
lation itt America, and that, in the height of
their zoai to reconcile al! things with those
opinions, they should hive propounded their
own imaginings, and the sheerest invention;,
ns sober matters of fact. Such, melancholy
as is the fact for moral troth, has too often
been the ease, whenever favorite theories have
been in jeopardy, or have stood in need of op
portune evidence to render them plausible or
reconcile:! ble with popular dogmas. The sto
ry of Votan, though im/enious, and though ac
credited by many, for the same reason, is in
debted, wc may believe, to the same ideal source
for its origin. This story, however, claims
notice, and a mention of the circumstances on
which it is founded, in speaking of the begin
ning of our race on this continent. With his
tory, as with science, there have been at al!
times those who have stepped forth, and gra
tuitously proposed theories, probable and im
probable, in ai l of opinions involving individ
ual interests and sectarian views; but, in the
case before us, we are left alone with facts
and probability to cs'ablish cur conclusions,
which we are not at liberty to waip by pieju
dicc, or tho favor of others’ opinions.
There are found among tho ruins ofPalen
que, of Copan, and ofseveral places of ancient
grandeur in Centre.! America, specimens of
j arts so closely resembling the Egyptian the
1 Carthaginian, the I’emans, the Grecian, and
{the East Indian, that tn.my h ive thought the
people of each have, at different times, visited
America, tied instructed the Tultiques in use
ful and orinirner.ta! knowledge. Siime suppose t
that the Romans remained just long enough to |
afford the Tulteeims the knowledge of buiiding
their dykes, aqueducts, bridges, etc., and then >
'to have returned to the eastern comment. — |
The Hindoos must also, for the same reason, i
have instructed these Am rican people in their i
religion and th -ir arts; and so with those of j
some other nations. Tims it was, according j
i to this hypothesis, bat a trifling affiur for the ;
■ people of trai'.sntla’ tic finne to make visits to j
tb.is continent for the purpose of giving its an- ■
) cienl inh ibita :ts (he r quisite mturroatioii for j.
the constriicimn of Itieir edifices, etc. A sin -
giil.ir difficulty would, seem, however, to stand :
in the way of this siq.position ; and this is,
that ths ruins oflltese arts themselv.'S in-iietito
a greater a t qnity than those oi the eastern
world, in the ex< cution of which fli.'Se. s.ige *
school-mast- rs tire supposed to have acquired
all th. ir skill. May it not be equally preb.t
--' ble, from this view of the subject, that the
Americans instructed the people ot Asia in a
knowledge ofthe arts, sciences, and mysteries,
of which their history so much boasts ? The
fact is conclusive, that the Ttiitiques, were
highly proficient in both the arts and sciences,
at an immeasurably distant period of time;
even more so. as fir as we are enabled to learn,
than most natio >s of men on the other conti
nent. Tht: science of astronomy, by which
i this people was enabled to calculate, lime with
I a precision, which, tin is thought, it. is the
pride of modern science alone to claim, need
only b.‘ cited as evidence iti point. Their
• knowledge of the useful and ormuneatal arts
was not behind that of any other people ofthe ;
earliest tim s, as we sit ill ace by reference to
the ruins which, for thousands of years, have
survived them. Wm e we, iu fact, ‘o compare
that knowledge, aS i meated by those ruins,
with that ofthe Chaldeans, mid other remote
people, as evince 1 by th irs, we could not hes-
: itat. l to i lui:i a. u .if im’y iavmabla decision
for the great antiquity of the I tiltiques. Il is
• unhesitatingly -i.ltmited, that the Mexicans
derived ail ilmir knowledge cf art and of sci-
; mice from these people, whom they succeeded;
, and it is equ illy certai.!, that they were a bar-
ATS2SKB, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, 4, a837.
barons and ignorant race of men, lo ig after
the extinction 6f the Tultique nation. Admit
' ting the Mexican people,then, io have had their
origin in the northern nations, existing, as we
have reason to suppose, within the vast extent
of country between the ancient Tultiques and
the present south-western boundary lines of tim
United States, the lapse of a long period of
time must be supposed necessary f»r their ac
quirement of that extraordinary proficiency of
which they were found to be possessed by the
tyrant invader, Cortes.
The Tultecan people, it has been observed,
were completely isolated on a mountainous
plain, more than five thousand feet above the
level ofthe sea, where they enjoyed a climate
more temoerate and genial, an air more salu
brious, and natural productions more rich and
abundant, than it has been the lot cf any other
people ofthe earth to enjoy. It is therefore
from this paradisial location that we are to date
our knowledge of this people, since we are
provided with no facts which prove them, or
any other people, to have had an anterior ex
istence on this continent. The ruined arts of
Yucatan and of Guatemala do not satisfy us
that those provinces were inhabited previous
to that of Chiapa, and the delightful vale upon
tha.Cordil!era mountains, where we now find
the astonishing remains referred to. On the
contrary, their present condition shows them to
have been construct -d long pos’ermr. The
people whose they were, should bo considered
as colonists from the great Paleaci.iu city,
which must, have overflowed with population.
The arts nnd customs of these colonists arc
seen to have been precisely those ofthe parent
citv. as Wff’-I also as their religion. So late, tn
fact, was tho origin oi Copan, that we are led
to believe it to have been a ci’J' built subsequent
to the destruction of the Palenctitn capital.
Some of the edifices, and many of the m >(?’•
ments, still remain: the coloring matter used
in the drawings upon the obelisks is also as
fresh and as bright, apparently, as it was when
first, put on : notwithst? nding the m.itarials of
which the buildings, etc., are composed are
more exposed to moisture, and consequently,
more liable to disintegration, than those of Pa.
lenque. In these obelisks, we have a novelty
among the arts preserved for our admiration,
as relics of the ancient American people.—
Nothing resembling them has yet been found at
Palenque, though it is possible st;ch may have
existed, both in that city and in tho province
of Yucatan ; but they Long since crumbled in
the general wreck of ruins. It may ba in
place hero to introduce a .otice ot some of
these ancient structures, now existing m a state
of tolerable preservation in the city of Copan,
tn the Province of Honduras and on a river of
the same name.
From the bay of Honduras, the traveller pro
ceeds up the river Matayua, two hundred and
fifty miles, when he arrives at the mouth ofthe
rizer Copan, a tributary to the Matayua. En
tering this river, he ascends it for about sixty
miles, when the ruins of an ancient city are
presented to his vi.:w on its banks, ami run
ning along its course for several miles. Mas
ses of stone fragments and crumbling edifices
stretch along the river as far as it was explore !.
Otte of the principal objects of attraction, is a
temple of great magnitude, but partially in ru
ins. This magnificent biiildi .g stands imme
diately upon the bank, one hundred and twenty
feet above the river. Z? fs seven hundred, and
fftyfect in length, and six hundred fee' broad f
Stone steps conduct from the base of the rock
on which it is situated to an elevation, from
which others descend to a large square, in the
interior of the building. From this large
square you pass on and upward through a
small gallery to still higher elevations which
overhang the river. A splendid view of the j
extended ruins is h;re presented to ihe admit’-
mg observer, traversing the banks as far as they
can bo followed by the eye. Excavations
were here made, in order to lay open passages
which had been blocked up by the crumbling
fragments of the building. At. he opening of
the gallery into the square, a passage was dis- -
covered which led into a sepulchre, the floor
of which was twelve feet below the square.
This vault is ten feet long, six high, and five
and a half broad, and runs north and south.
It contains great numbers of earthen dishes
and pots, in good preservation. Fifty of these
were filled with human bones, closelv packed
in lime. Several sharp and pointed knives,
mades of a hard and brittle stone, called itzli,
were also found ; likewise a head representing
Death, the back part of which was perforated
with small holes; and the whole wrought with
exquisite workmanship, out of a fine green
stone. There were also found in this sepul
chre two other heads, numerous shells from
the sea shore, nnd stalactites from a neighbor
ing cave, all of which indicated the supersti.
tion of the people who placed them there. Tho
; floor was of stone, and strewed with moulder
l ing fragments of bones.
Great numbers of other rooms were entered,
.allot which, as fin as they could be traced,
j showed the most singular cu'-'toms of the peo
j pie, and 'he most grotesque specimens ofsculp-
I lure. Many monstrous figures were likewise
I found among these and neighboring ruins.—
i There was one representing the head of a huge
; alligator, having in its mouth a figure with a
■ humat: face, ai d paws like an animal. An
’ other was discovered of a gigantic toad, in an
I,erect position, with claws like a tiger, on hit
; man arms! Numerous obelisks w re seen m
'various directions, both standing and fallen.
These were gem-rally abo ’t ten fest high, nnd
three feet thick. Ono of h im, still standing,
is covered with repress -tntio s of human fi
»gures, sculptured in, r |>ef, all presenting a front
view, with their hands on their breasts, sandals
on their feet, caps on th ir heads, and other
wise richly adorned with garments. Oppo
site to this, and ten feet~ distant, were stone
altais, which are likewise covered with sculp
tured designs. The sides ofthe obelisks con
tained numerous phonetic hieroglyphics.—
1. here was one of these-curious obelisks in the
temple before mentioned, the top of w hich was
covered by forty-nine square tablets of hiero
gly| hies. The sides were occupied by six-j
teen human<gures in relief, sitting cross-leg
ged on cushions, carved in the stone, and
holding fans in their hands. Ona neighboring
hill stands two other obelisks, which were also
covered with hieroglyphics. These were
painted red, with a paint made of a rich deep
i colored stone, obtained from a neighboring
quarry. Unlike any usher pyramidal monu
ments of the kind arming the antiquities of the
eastern continent, these were both broader and
thicker at the tup than at tho base ; and the
colors with which they were richly' ornamen
ted, were still ofthe brightest titles.
Among the moiiniahious piles of stone ruins
which are to be seen in tfiq country round
about, tin very great difference is observable in
tho style of w’orkinatiship or of architecture,
so far as could be observed, from that noticed
among tlio relics at Falenqne. Thia similarity ■
is a striking feature, and is calculated at once
to induce the opinion, as we have before sug
gested, that the first inhabitants of this city
were colonists of the Tultiques, or that they
fled thence on the fall of their metropolis.
The name of Palenque, it would seem, had,
long before the cwnqitesf, passed into oblivion,
while a part of the.city of Copan, then offering
a shelter for the natives, was occupied- by them
at the time of Columbus’ discovery of America,
ihree hundred aud forty-five years ago. The
materials of the Copan edifices, were, howe
ver, evidently much fess durable than those of
Palenque. The former, being constructed of
sand-stone, disintegrated by exposure to the
action ofthe atmosphere, though not more rea
dily, perhaps, than ordinary building stane. of
the same geological character, yet obviously
more so than the materials of which Palenque
was built, which are remarkable for their in
durated quality. Hence our astonishment is
increased, on reflecting, that neither the Pa
lenquans northe Copanians, had any knowledge
of the use of iron tools, but nevertheless quar
ried, shaped, and planted, those massive blocks
and pillars of stones, which composed their
magnificent Teoculi, and all the great works
which adorned and defended their cities. But
one solitary hut, beside the fabrics mentioned,
now stands on the ruins ofCopen! The pie
sent natives deserted it only about seventy-five
years ago. Many of them, hereabout, were
engaged in the cultivation oftobacco, for which
the soil was very good ; and this ancient place
was celebrated as a depot forthat article, un
der the Spanish conquerors. It is worthy of
notice, that the water of this place is remarka.
ble for its great purity, and the climate is
equally distinguished for its healthfulness;
circumstances which the primitive inhabitants
of America would seem to have considered of
primary importance in the location of their
' cifies.
We have aii’?.atfy said that the people of
whom we are speaking’ enjoyed a felicity une
qualled by any other. This is attributable to
their peaceful character, their simple yet effec
tive government, their industrious habits, con
joined with their choice location, uniting as it
did al most every natural advantage of situation
and production. But the present period ex
hibits their successors the most wretched of
the human species. The Indian race, once
the most happy and numereusof mankind, may
be traced from the vigor ofyouth through the
strength of its manhood to the present decline
and decrepitude of old age. Total extinction,
in the usual course of events, will soon follow.
It is indeed fast approaching at the present
moment urged on as it is by the mad ambition
ot the Caucassian, who, in Zristura is rapidly
approximating the zenith of his power and
numbers. Throughout the world this miv
now be seen at a glance. The native of In
dia is rapidly falling before the gigantic pow
er, the cunning, and the oppression of England
now herself at the acme of her strength and
numerical force. Ignorance, superstition, and
imbecility, press the Indian forward to his last
hopes. Availing itself of these inevitable re
sults of old age, the power that is slowly but
effectually crushing him, rises elastic and
buoyant upon the dead body of the old native
Tiie tree Indian of United America, in like
m inner, is fast closing the scene of his glory
and the fulness of his manhood. He too is de
clining into old ago; and already are the
marks of death observable upon his withered
visage. He too was flushed with the hopes of
youth, and spread out his vigorous energies
like the green bay tree. He too realized the
measure of his glory, and proudly exulted in
his power and possessions. But, alas! he too
is fast wasting in the last stages of decline and
I d ath. So it is with the Indian of Central
! America. From the fruition es bis hopes and
I numbers, and the full consummation of his
glory, he has sunk to the deepest degradation,
to numerical insignificance, and to the most
abject wretchedness. A stronger contrast in
the relative condition of a people can nowhere
be found. Turni )g from the period of which
we have been speaki g, that saw the Tulte
cans the happiest people ofthe earth, to the
present, that reveals their miserable descend
ants tamely bowing their necks to the gulling
yoke of their Spanish masters, and how forci
ble are the marks of distinction ! Take this
people, amalgamated with the reputed barba
rous Aztiqucs, or Chichimecas, and constitu
ting the Mexican nation at the time of Cortes’
mad invasion, and how deplorable is their pre
sent situation, contrasted with what it then
was! VI here are the promised blessings of
ihe ‘ Chiisfian.’the boasted charms of civiliza
tion, etc. ? Away with the idle and supersti
tious fantasies, and the base schemes of the sel
fish and ambitious, under the garb of reason
and of philanthrophyy! Let truth and justico
speak for themselves. How much better, we
would ask, is the poor Indian ofCentral Amer
ica, how much more rational and how much
more numerous is he now, than when the proud
Caucassian, ‘the most honored ofthe free,’ first
cssayad his renovating influences? Let the
past- and tho present ansiver? Suffice it to
say, that like his native compeer of our own
states, he is rapidly disappearing under the
operation cf these cau'-cs, nnd oblivion, mean
while, closes over his history. Like the ill.
fated Indian, it will be in turn for the oppres
sor to yield to the force of recurring circum
stances. Yes ! time, ton, will bring along Zris
destiny, and it will be that of the oppressed,
the cheated, the extinct Indian !
Civilization, as some one has observed, is
and ever has been travelling westward. We
believe it. The relics of America go far to
prove if; and those of the pacific Islands, if
possible, still farther. Giving then to America
an indefinite antiquity, its earliest monuments
should have mingled with the soil on which
they were erected. They should have crum
bled before the all-crushing power of time.
And such is the fact. Its people should have
passed onward to Asia; and they should have
left other monuments by the way. Such ap
pears also to have been the fact. Remains of
magnificent structures are slili to be seen on
the isl :nd» which intervene, even those of
great and splendid cities. These, too, defy the
scrutinizing inquiries of mankind, at this so
distant date. Tho arts are those of ancient
America. To one conversant with the speci
mens now to be found in some of those islands,
ihe iutereoce will appear conclusive. It be
longs to the geologist to prove, that the inter
vening land has undergone extraordinary revo.
hitions. We are prepared to say. that he is
enabled to prove that man) of those islands
are of recent geologic?.! cpocha, and that most
of them are of volca ie origin.
By the way of these islands, then, it was
both easy and natural to h ive peopled India,
China, and those nations claiming with them
the most distant antiquity. The arts of those
times arc nearly the srnne in execution and
design. The Chinese Tartars, those wander
ing hordes that stretched along ths Pacific, in
t.me again found their way to this continent,
by means of the continuous chain of the Fox
Islands and Alaska, nnd across Behring’s
Straits. Farther notice of this fact will ac
company some remarks on the present race of
North American Indians, for they are the Tar
tars referred to. If wa are to do credit to a
recent philological work, published in London,
displaying great research and learning, we
shall be struck with the general proposition,
that man had a common ancestry, far east of
the hitherto reputed source of his origin. I'he
evidence adduced from the analogy of the Ara
bic, the Chinese, the Tartar, and generally the
Asiatic languages, with the Greek, etc., throws
much light upon the subject of our inquiry.
Late researches, also, among the Pacific Is
lands, nnd those more particularly bordering
on the Asiatic coasts, are replete with interest
touching Tae antiquity and former character
ot their inhabitants. Ruined walls, monu
meats, and sepulchres, of antique and massive
masonry, of which tradition has preserved no
memorial among the descendants ofthe people,
clearly prove the existence of a different state
and character of people at some very remote
period. But recently there have been discov
ered the buried walls of an extensive city, and
also u strange race of people in New Holland.
A colony hitherto unknown, speaking the Eng
lish language, with European countenances,
manners, etc., has quite lately been discovered
in the interior of that yet unexplored continent.
These facts are exciting no little inquiry and
astonishment among the curious M Europe. 1
Still farther, and it, is hoped and presumed still
more important, discoveries will, ere long, re
veal new truths upon this subject, and tend, in
a striking manner, to enlighten mankind in re.
lation to their early history. To effect this,
means more effective could not be devised
than ‘exploring expeditions.’ That now con.
templated by this government, if conducted in
part, with reference to this subject, cannot fail
to be highly fruitful of discovery.
The ancient Aztec cities, on the vast and
beautiful plains, and upon the southern banks
of tho Pio Gila, in New California, with nu
merous other remains of arts, and evidences
of former civilization, now to be seen among
what.have been denominated the ‘lndependent
Indians,’on the north.west coast of America,
from the thirty-third to the fifty.fourth parallels
of latitude, will bo seen to throw much light on
the original people, both of Mexico and of our
own country. For tho preset:?, attention is
still farther called to the origin of theTultiques,
the first and the most remarkable people, an
cient or modern, that have inhabited the Amer,
ican continent.
In reflecting upon the period at which the
Tultiques flourished, one cannot but smile at
the determination of some to give comparative
ly modern dates to the Palencian city, and its
ruined arts ; as if it were impossible that it
should have preceded a certain time to which
previously supposed data had limited their
faith or comprehension. Some give its origin
but about two hundred years anterior to the
conquest by the Spaniards. Others, again,
extend (heir views several hundred years be
yond this; but such are careful, at the same
time, to circumscribe their belief within a de
finite period, viz: the Christian era. The ma
jority. perhaps, derive their dates from the dis
persion of the tower of Babel. Again, there
are those who place entire confidence in the
theory given by Cabrera, derived from anoth
er source, and paraded with the utmost assur
ance as having been obtained from some ‘pre
cious documents,’ found in a cave, where they
had been hid by Votan himself! From the
tenor of the facts in this case, but more parti
cularly from the language used by the Bishop
of Chiapa, Don Francisco Nunez de la Vega,
whoso book was printed at Rome in 1702, we
are fercud to think that many, vary many, im
portant memorials, and those which would have
afforded us the means for discovering the his- ‘
tory of this people, were destroyed by the big
ots of his sect. In this superstitious crusade,
ho himself gave the most distinguished exam- ,
pie,by destroying, according to his own con
fession. the ‘precious documents’ in question.
It is important that the truth or falsity of this
‘memorial for future ages,’ as Cabrera calls it, ■
should bo inquired into; as it is either to be !
considered hereafter as settling the great '
question,‘who were theTultiques,’ or it is to
be thrown aside as an idle and credulous story,
got up by the bishop himself, for the purpose
of giving himself eclat, and of confirming
those who otherwise might be sceptical upon
so interesting a point in history, or, perhaps,
in his own peculiar faith.
The evidences already presented of the an.
tiquity ofthe Tuitecah monuments cannot, we
must suppose, but destroy all the statements,
(for they are mere statements, without one I
clear and rational fact to support them.) which )
have been mad ', giving a comparatively mod
ern date to the Tultique nation. It is true, '
that the monuments of Tultecan greatness bear I
a siriki :g resemblance to those of the Egyp- |
tions and Romans, not to say several other eas- i
tern natio. sos people. But what does this
prove ? Just nothing at all. If the relics
which so much astonish us at Palenque, give
evidence of age coeval at least, if not greatly
anterior, to those of Egypt, from which, it has
been affirmed they were copied, the Cyclops
cannot be supposed to have been their authors. I
A long period of time should have elapsed from <
that in which these ‘wandering masons,’ for j
such it is said the Indian traditions ol Central
America style tho builders of their ancient ed
ifices, were exterminated from Egypt, wan
dered to the Atlantic coast, prepared ihem
selves for a long voyage—totally uuacquaint.
ed. as they were, with marine navigation—and
actually traversed the unknown sea for three
thousand miles! How long, will it be suppos
ed, they were engaged in thus acquiring a taste
so unsuited to their habits, and in contriving
suitable vessels, which, in Upper Egypt, they
never could have seen, to embark on the track
less sea for America, without a compass to
guide them, and without the possibility of thetr
knowing whither they were going? Is it to
be presumed, that vessels ot theirs, nt that time,
if they built any at all, or were, in fact, in a
situation to build them, if they had a mind,
were furnished with the requisite materials,
provisioned etc., to navigate the Atlantic ocean?
Should we admit all this as probable, for the
sake of speculation, ii would appear remarka
ble ifthey, first and fortunately, touched upon 11
the coast of Yucatan, and located, at once, in
the finest country on the globe, and that, too,
in sufficient numbers to have built and peopled
even one ofits large cities. We shall not ven
ture to name the time required at that stage of
man’s history to have accomplished all these
things, or attempt to < yplain how the moulder
ing arts which this people have left from un
recorded time, could exhibit still greater anti
quity than those of tho Egyptians. This dis
crepancy between suppostH-on and Tier is bet
ter referred to thoge who, rather than doubt
Vol. V—Ye. 97.
, what they have previously believed, adopt a«
truth the must inconsistent theories.
i The Carthageuiaus, ahh- ugh more advec
turous, and more accustomed in their belligar
! ent prows to the dangers of the sea than any
. other ancient maritime nation of people, are
as little entitled te the credit of having first
, peopled America, as the native Egyptians. sr>
far as positive evidence is cot/cerned. The
, latter will not be supposed to have inspited
' their successors with the requisite information
: and skill, nor will it be presumed that they
were so far the masters of navigation them
selves. as to have accomplished voyages to
this continent. The reasons which apply to
these people, are equally applicable to all oth
ers during the early conditions of society.
Neither the Greeks nor the Romans, ambitious
as (hey were of fortune and of fame, can be
conceived capable of having executed voyages
of three thousand miles on an unexplored ocean
Nor will the colonies of the Carthaginians and
Romans, said to have been established by tbent
upon the sea-coast and on neighboring Islands,
be imagined to have afforded the parent pa,
tions the necessary impetus to embark in quest
of discovery on an ocean, ever considered by
them of boundless extent, or have prompted
them to plant colonies at the distance of four
thousand mil. s, admitting them to have con
ceived the existence of another continent.
W ere we so credulous as to believe this, wt;
should be driven to the admission, that they
not only made one, but numerous voyages
across the Atlantic; arid eventually reared a
great nation under their auspices. And if so.
why, we might very naturally inquin', is ai)
history silent upon the subject, and without
even a hint of its truth, or the possibility of the
performances ?
The wreck on our shores of some solitary
vsssel, a circumstance dwelt upon by all who
have attempted to get over the o’iffiaulties in
accounting for the origin of the American peo,
pie, is equally unsatisfactory; for it is but a
bare supposition at best. We might as r?a.
sonably suppose any other means of peopling
this continent. It is even less probable that
a female was upon such a wreck, and survive
the catastrophe,to constitute an American Eve,
Yet supposing even this to have been the cas>',
how' long a time would have been required,
from the earliest history of Carthaginian or
Roman prow navigation, for the luckless navi,
gators of their craft, wiih each a surviving
partner, a circumstance still less probable, to
have explored Central America, built nomer.
ous cities—one containing at least two millions
of people—reared the most stupendous and df,
rable edifices, and other monuments, and then
to have become extinct, or identified withother
species of me >, and all their monuments of
‘eternal rock’ to have crumbled into one gen,
eral wreck of matter? Could all this have
happened, we ask. even supposing, for the love
of conjecture, that all the rest actually did hap,
pe.i ? We leave reasonable men to answer
for themselves. But there is another reason
why the Tultiques are derived from no such
reputed stock, and one which every scientific
man will deem conclusive, if his prejudices
preclude all other sources of evidence. There
are physical peculiarities, we all know, by
which species of men, as well as all lower an,
imals, are contradistinguished. These in tho
Tultcque have so little resemblance in commo:,
with other species of mankind, ancient or mod,
ern, that no effort of the physiologist can give
him, according to distinctive criteria, a homo,
logons arrangement. He is completely alone
in this respect, and consequently could net
have been indebted to the people in questin’,
from whom he most of all differed, for hia orj.
gin.
The fact also, if it needs be, that the Car,
thaginiaua visited parts of the United States,
either from choice or necessity, as is believed
by many archaeologists, would go far to prove
/ that they were not the people of Tulteca. If
! this be still supposed, where, we would in.
I quire, are their descendants? They would
' have been as likely to bavff peopled this couu
! try as any other. The reasons why they did
i not flourish here, would answer alike for th'ir
rot peopljng Central America. The same
remains of great cities would appear here a <
i in Chiapa, Guatemala, etc., had they or their
' descendants been the authors of those in the
latter places. Faint evidences do exist, of the
preser.ee of a peculiar people in this country,
nt some distant period of time, other than those
who raised the tumuli of the western states
the Tartars, the Scandinavians, or Welch,
The mist remarkable of three—perhaps three
are the only evidences worthy of note —are in.
scriptions on rocks in various parts of tho
United States. The charactets are believed
to be Carth'ginian. In not less than twel e
places are they to be seen at ths present day.
' Bui whatever others may think, in relation to
1 the authors of these blind, though curious in.
scriptions, we are ourselves little inclined to
Ibi lieve them Carthaginian. 11 is quite as pro,
' bible, in fact, that they were the work of the
! original inhabitants of the western valleys, as
of any other people, for they are tbera to be
seen, as well as upon the Atlantic coast. Sim
ilar characters have been discovered on speci.
mens of arts left by ihat people. Confidenca
may have been obtained for the supposition
that they were Carthaginian, from the fact that
I the remains of a vessel, clearly Carthaginian
< in form and style, are said to have been dis.
covered imbedded in the soil n t far distant
from where inscriptions are now to be seen on
rocks, near our Atlantic coast. But at that
time, these supposed to be the only in.
scriptions to be found in our country; many
others, however, are now known to exist, as
far distant even as Georgia, and in the interior.
The walls of cities lately discovered at the
west, in Wisconsin, Arkansas, etc., prove no
thing in respect to the ruined cities of which
we have been speaking in Central America,
except that they are entirely unlike in every
particular, and were built by people as differ,
ent in their character and knowledge, as our
present India’s and ourselves. They prove
much, however, in relation to the remains of
cities on the north west coast, heretofore no.
ticed, also to the temples, ci'ies, e’c., of t|io
valley of Mexico. These with others equally
remarkable, will be Hilly discussed in subse.
quent numbers. -
Newspapers in. Schools.— - Newspapers
have been introduced as a part of the re
gular exercise of the scholars, in the aca.
demy of Plattsburgh. This cannot but
have a beneficial effect on the minds of
the scholars, and we have long wondered
that the practice has not generally obtain,
ed in our seminaries of education, ft cer
tainly must be as profitable to our youth,
to be informed of the events of the day,
both in our own country and in foreign
lands, as it is to spend their time in readin”
accounts of the quarrels of the gods, and
love ofthe goddesses of beathen