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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
In "The History of Ancient America, Anterior to the Time of Columbus," George Jones meticulously uncovers the rich tapestry of pre-Columbian civilizations, weaving together archaeological findings, linguistic studies, and ethnographic accounts. Jones employs a rigorous scholarly style, combining vivid narratives with critical analysis that reflects the zeitgeist of 19th-century America, during which there was a burgeoning interest in the origins and development of indigenous cultures. His comprehensive approach not only recounts the achievements of native societies but also challenges Eurocentric historical paradigms, positioning these civilizations within a broader historical context. George Jones, a notable historian and archaeologist of his time, was deeply influenced by the scientific advancements and cultural shifts occurring during the late 1800s. His extensive travels across ancient sites in the Americas equipped him with firsthand insights into the cultures he studied, providing a strong empirical basis for his arguments. Jones's commitment to uncovering the complexities of indigenous histories reflects a response to the prevailing notions of his era, advocating for a more nuanced understanding of America'Äôs past. This ambitious work is essential reading for scholars and enthusiasts alike, offering a sophisticated exploration of a largely overlooked chapter in history. In an age where the narratives of indigenous peoples are gaining rightful recognition, Jones'Äôs pioneering scholarship serves as a foundational text that invites readers to reconsider and appreciate the diverse histories that shaped ancient America before it became a focal point for European exploration.
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The History of Ancient America, Anterior to the Time of Columbus
Table of Contents
Preface
To the deep historic interest expressed by his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, concerning the Aborigines of America, may be traced the production of this Work:—it led the Author originally to write the Israel-Indian Tragedy of "Tecumseh,"—illustrative of the patriotic race of the North, and which composition has received the honour of being dedicated to the Illustrious Prince by Special permission. The publication has been delayed only from the fact, that it would anticipate this branch of the present Work, and might consequently be injurious.
The investigations necessary for writing of North America, called into action the study and observation of years in relation to South America: and in contemplating the newly-discovered Ruined Cities and Temples upon that moiety of the Western Continent, the very spirit of the Romance of Truth, seemed to find a voice in every Sculptured altar, column, stone, or pyramid: and when upon the enthusiastic pursuit of hidden knowledge, the sudden discovery of early Christianity and its Sacred Promulgator, were identified with the Western Hemisphere,—sanctioned as is the discovery by Holy-Writ,—History,—Tradition,—Customs,—and the oracular Sculptures of antiquity,—Language has no power to express the bounding feelings of the heart, when that original vision of the mind, became apparent, as the stern reality of historic truth.
Knowing from experience, that Works upon Antiquities, described in language cold as the marbles they illustrate, are not of deep interest to the general reader, the Author has, therefore, avoided the usual frigid style, and has consequently placed around them such fervent, and glowing words, as their novel characters have authorized and demanded. In delineating, also, the History of Tyrus, the chief events only are given; and being rendered, with the artistical pages,—con amore,—the Poetry of History,—and not its dry prosaic qualities will be received by the reader. This will be seen in the descriptions of the classic Remains,—Battles,—and Voyages,—and especially for instance, in resuscitating the Ruins of Rome, and in the celebrated Tyrian Siege by Alexander of Macedon,—but in this style of writing (it is submitted) the Author has not lost sight of that high solemnity demanded by the Philosophy of History; without which, memorials of past ages, or of our Fathers, would be useless.
To give a list of works consulted during fifteen years in America, and more immediately for the last two years in England, while writing the Tyrian Æra, would be pedantic: but no Author, sacred or profane, from the first Lawgiver to the present time, having even a remote reference to the Western Hemisphere, has been knowingly omitted; yet being professedly an Original Work, the volume of the brain has been more largely extracted from, than any writer whose works are already before that Public,—to whose final judgment (upon its merits or demerits) the present Author submits the first History of Ancient America with all humility; but he will yield to none in the conscientious belief in the truth of the startling propositions, and the consequent historic conclusions: and that the reader may not imagine that any undue motive dictated to the writer the publication of this Work, the following extract from the Messrs. Longman's letter upon their own, and their Reader's investigation of this Volume will justify him. "* * * We have fully considered the publication of your Work on America. It is undoubtedly a Work of great ingenuity and originality; and should it be considered that your conclusions are correct, it will be a work to confer on its Author a high rank in Literature. * * * We shall be happy to be your Publishers. * * * *"
The usual "Table of Contents" has been avoided, in order to prevent anticipation of the subject-matter and secrets of the History; but, at the same time, for after-reference, a copious Index has been placed at the end of the Volume.
THE AUTHOR.
London, June, 1843.
NOTICE
TO BOOKSELLERS, PROPRIETORS OF CIRCULATING LIBRARIES, AND THE PUBLIC.
———
This is to give notice that the "Original History of Ancient America" (of which this is the first volume) is copyright, and legally secured by the proprietor, both in England and America. The Penalties, therefore, for any infringement will be enforced by the Publishers, according to the New Act of Parliament and the Acts of Congress of the United States. By the former, especially as applied to England and her colonies, any person having in his possession, for sale or hire, any foreign edition of an English copyright, is liable to a heavy penalty; and any copy found in the possession of a traveller from abroad will be forfeited.
London, June, 1843.
THE TYRIAN ÆRA.
ORIGINAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT AMERICA.
———
BOOK THE FIRST.
CHAPTER I.
Introduction from the Preface to the Author's Historical Work upon the Life of Tecumseh—Name to be used for South or Central America—The Fundamental Error of the Historians of America—Essential Opposites in Character—Rules of Argument for illustrating the Theory—A sufficient Identity of the North to prove two Distinct People—The Aborigines wrongfully named "Indians" by Columbus—The Cause of his Error and its Effects.
In the prefatory remarks to the forthcoming work upon the chieftain, Tecumseh, the following language is used; and we avail ourselves of the privilege of extracting from our own storehouse, materials for the commencement of this new historical campaign.
"The courteous reader in tracing the fate of Tecumseh, as depicted in the pages of his life, will not fail to observe the strong analogy between the religious sentiments of the chief of the forest, and those of the ancient Hebrews. The language as uttered by Tecumseh is not written by the pen of fiction, merely to uphold a theory of the brain, but gathered from the archives of a people's history, to support a theory of apparent truth. The present writer will not yield to any man in the firm belief, that the Aborigines of North America (but North America only), and the ancient Israelites are identical, unless controverted by the stern authority of superior historical deductions. We, therefore, have formed an original theory in reference to the natives of the North, and those of South and Central America, together with the newly-discovered ruined Cities in and around Guatamala; and by that theory, have separated intoTWOdistinct races, or people, the Aborigines of the Western Hemisphere.
"The lately recovered Ruins, Cities, and Temples in Central America, and of which no ancient record is to be found, have shattered the chain of acknowledged History to atoms; and until that chain is again united by a firmly established theory,—Education herself must pause, ere she can with the wand of truth, point to her rising children the History of the World, or its inhabitants.
"Suspicion has asserted that all the natives of the continent of Columbus, might probably have been originally of Hebrew extraction; the assertion has been made in doubt and trembling; for writers have been confounded by essential contrasts in the Religious customs of North and South America; there were no analogies between them; which circumstance should have compelled Historians to pursue another path of inquiry, and so attain a conclusive truth; but they found a Gordian knot which they could not unravel, and assuming the impatient weapon of Alexander, they destroyed it. The Architecture, however, of the Ruins of Copan, Palenque, Uxmal, and their time-honoured associates, has furnished a 'rosetta-stone,' to aid the new translation of the hieroglyphical history of (now) ancient America; and if our theory is true, not only have the Israelites walked the land where the Sun bestows his last smile, but another nation (in which was retained the primitive language of the Diluvian world) previously trod that soil as Aborigines; and beyond all this, if our thread of Ariadne lead us faithfully, if not, the Almighty Father who gave the thought will pardon its application; yes, beyond all the bounding feelings leaping at events, at once classic and venerated, do we contemplate another branch of our theory; for, if we do not write in error,—and our perfect faith assures us that we do not,—then the trembling hand which sought in doubt The Saviour's wounds, has been outstretched in sacred oratory even in those southern wilds: the bold, yet conquered voice, which uttered in hallowed and confirmed faith, 'My Lord and my God!' has given forth its missioned eloquence even in the Western Hemisphere, and there, the sainted ashes of that Apostle may yet repose!"
The preceding extract may be viewed as the exordium of an original history to follow; wherein, "if we fail," it will be "the boldness of the attempt, and not the deed confounds us."
Taking as a basis for our illustration the rules of argument, we will first identify one race, and then prove that the existence of another is not only apparent, but absolute. For the convenience of the general reader, the word "Mexican," until the true name is established, will be applied throughout the following pages to all Central and South America;—for the word "south" may be confounded with that portion of the Republic of North America so denominated, and especially with the American reader. The fundamental error with all writers upon the Aborigines of America is, that they have viewed them as one people. Authors have, therefore, been confounded by the different customs and ceremonies of religion as practised in the two great divisions of the continent; they have seen that the natives were, to a certain extent, in one part of the vast domain, idolaters, and not in the other; that the North was essentially republican in every aspect of its political existence, while that of Mexican America was as essentially composed of kingdoms and empires, and governed by despotic monarchs, and that republics were interwoven with them; that each man in the North was a warrior, and an equal, acknowledging no superior but their leader in time of battle, and should he fall in action, there was not a member of the Tribe in which they politically lived, but could have taken his place, and filled it with similar courage and ability. In Mexican America they were not equal, but from the emperor they descended by degrees to the serf and slave; in that country, stone and stuccoed Temples and Palaces were, and still continue to be found, erected with costly magnificence, and in which were jewelled idols, to which they bent the knee; their rich dwellings were splendid mansions, adorned with sculptured and beaten gold, and graced with the works of art, and as a people, enjoying all the refined elegancies of life;—but in the North their Temple was the azure canopy of Jehovah, adorned with its myriads of golden stars, and when beneath that sublime dome, they bent the knee, it was to the Almighty God alone! Their palaces were the gorgeous vistas of the forest; the columns were the gigantic trees, each year increasing in their stateliness; their shadowy and painted roofs were the far-spreading branches, and nature's tinted foliage; their mansions were those of independent wanderers, even the simple tents of Israel; and as for jewelled idols and figures of beaten gold,—they presented the diamonds of the human eye, radiant with intellectual beams, and glancing from the living emblem of the first and priceless image, placed in Eden's garden by the Architect of the Universe!
Notwithstanding these essential opposites in character and policy, to which may be added that of physiognomy, writers have glanced at them as one race, sprung from the same branch of the human family, and without defining which; and when they could not reconcile such apparently unaccountable distinctions and diversities, they have thrown upon the shoulders of the Mexican, the mantle of manly virtue belonging to the North; and upon this race they have thrust the idolatrous vices and the festering robes of luxury justly claimed by the former people; and by this easy manner of disposing of a question, have seemingly satisfied themselves that by blending the crimes of both, to the exclusion of the virtues of either, that they were all "savages," and no matter from whence they came. Thus have they formed their conclusions concerning fifty millions of human beings, although directly in opposition to evidences of fact, to deductions by relative reasoning, and to all Christian feeling, which alone should have rejected so cruel a decision, founded as it is, not only on slight, but careless investigation.
A sufficient identity of the Northern native is now required, in order to establish the national distinction between the Aborigines of the two Americas.
In all civilized countries when the lex scripta fails to develope, or protect, the historical events and rights of a nation or of an individual, then the lexNONscripta is not only not rejected, but it is actually brought forward to establish, and support the customs and privileges of a by-gone day. This traditionary evidence, handed down from sire to son, is received in proof of "a foregone conclusion:" it gives an insight into the times, of which no written record is left for the investigation of Argus-eyed posterity; it carries us back to customs, civil, military, and religious, that otherwise might be lost to the archives of history. Admitting, therefore, this train of reasoning, we bring it to bear upon the present important subject;—important in the highest degree, for the time is now past when the Western Hemisphere is to be dated from the re-discovery by Columbus. His giant, but over-applauded name, like the ruins of Palenque, is but the lettering of a volume to indicate in the library of the universe that such a work was written—the work itself (i. e. the great continent) has yet to be read, and the historical authors identified; nor will the well-grounded supposition that the Welsh prince, Madoc, colonised in America two centuries before the Genoese; or that the Norwegian landed three centuries anterior to the Welsh, enable us even to unclasp the volume;—to accomplish this, and its translation, an historic Œiliad must be cast over a period of more than two thousand annual changes, of nature's revolving but faithful time-glass! Granting then, that when the lex scripta will not cover a subject, the lexNONscripta must be investigated to establish a position;—the first, then, will not apply to the Aborigines of the north, for it does not exist; the latter only, or the unwritten history of their race must be had recourse to, to prove their originality and identity; traceable back to time immemorial, from their present customs and traditions.
We think that it will instantly be admitted, that all religious ceremonies are the strongest proofs of the characteristics of a people or race, of which no written history exists; for there is something so indescribably sacred in the conscientious actions of man with the Supreme God, that none but the maniac-atheist could doubt, that those actions should be received as the living features of a nation, when seen to be recognised and acknowledged, with as much certainty of identity, as when a mother gazes upon her fondly-cherished child!
The customs forming the analogy between the Northern natives and the ancient Israelites, will now be reviewed with as much brevity as the subject will permit, in order to establish an essential point of the present theory—viz., the separation of the Aborigines into two distinct people. The reader, perhaps, will meet us at the threshold of argument by the question, "How can an Indian be of Israel?" We will answer this, and refute the misnomer before the analogies are investigated. The name Indian, as applied to the original inhabitants of either, or both the Americas, Canada, the islands in, or adjacent to, the Gulf of Mexico, has no authority founded upon truth. The name was given in error, and has been so continued from the time of the Genoese to the present day. Throughout this work no position will be advanced that cannot be defended. The wrongful appellation originated with Columbus; and for proof of the assertion the following is presented.
The shadow of the Earth upon the Moon during an eclipse, plainly testified that the planet upon which we live was round. The travels of Marco Paulo by land to the East Indies (about 1269), related that those lands stretched far towards the east. About two centuries after this, it occurred to Columbus, upon perusing those travels; but more especially from having obtained intelligence from the final conquest of the Canary islands in 1483; and information while resident in England (which circumstances will be investigated hereafter), that by a voyage towards the west—thus travelling, as it were, around the globe—he should meet the extremities of those lands; and as the discovery of a sea-passage to the East Indies was the great object of navigation in the fifteenth century, Columbus made the bold attempt (founded upon previous knowledge of migration), and discovered the island of St. Salvador and those adjacent, and thinking that he had reached the eastern extremity of the Indies according to his theory, he then named those isles the West Indies, because they were discovered by sailing west. The discovery of the Continent followed during his third voyage, and believing all the land to be of the Indies, the inhabitants of the isles and of the mainland were, as a natural consequence, called by Columbus under one general appellation, viz., Indians. Subsequent geographical discoveries have proved the great error of the Genoese; but the name of Indian was given at that time, and it has been continued although at variance with the truth; and it has had a material effect in checking inquiryconcerning the Aborigines, who having been called Indians, the name seemed at once to specify their origin: but, it would have been equally as just, if he had determined to sail for Britain, and an unforeseen gale having cast him upon the island of Sardinia, and then from believing that he had reached the intended object of his voyage, he should have called the latter inhabitants British. We, therefore, discard the name of Indian as applied to the natives of the Western continent (it will be retained in the Tragedy of "Tecumseh" for local purposes), and write of them as the Aborigines, until, as we advance in this History, they can be identified by a national name, founded upon facts and conclusions.
CHAPTER II.
Hebrew Analogies with the Tribes of the North—Contrasted with the Natives of Mexican America—Circumcision—Scalping—Its great Antiquity—The Crucifixion not known to the Natives of the North—Their Traditional Knowledge of the Deluge—Their Practice of the Laws of Moses—The conclusive Proofs of the two Races—The Formation of a new Epochian Table for the History of Ancient America—The announcement of the Historical Theory, and the First Epoch.
The Hebrew analogies now claim investigation; and as Woman is first in the affections and in memory, she claims by right upon this, as upon all occasions, the natural precedence.
The Northern mother, after childbirth, is secluded for a given number of days, varying according to the sex of the new-born infant. By the law of Moses, the mother's purification was to last 40 days for a male, and 80 days for a female child. All other seclusions are as strict as when the wife becomes a mother. When a wife becomes a widow, and is childless, her husband's brother marries her,—these were essential laws of the Hebrew, and especially the latter,—that a name should not be lost in Israel.
As a mother she considers it a religious duty, that the child should receive its nourishment from the breast that gave it life: and such is the feeling in the performance of this maternal duty, that she often nurses her offspring until it attains three or four years of age. From this fact an important problem is solved, viz., the apparent tardiness in the ratio increase of the Aborigines of the North:—for it is the rule in Nature's female code (and should there be an exception, it only proves the rule), that while that affection continues from the fond practice of the mother, no other shall arise to destroy that which already exists: but, as that ceases and the first-born is put away, Nature jealous of her supremacy, again bestows upon the mother a second joy, and so continues in her undeviating course. There is, also, a direct physical analogy between the Northern mothers and those of ancient Israel; if there were not, the negative might be brought against this theory: we therefore take advantage of the affirmative. The only cause of Pharaoh's political action against the Hebrews was, that from the rapid ratio in which they multiplied, they would eventually rebel, and with, or without the assistance of any other nation entirely subdue Egypt. The ease of childbirth by the Hebrew mother is distinctly stated in Holy-Writ, in contrast to the dangerous sufferings of the Egyptian parent; from which fact may be gathered the cause of the gradual, but certain increase of the Israelites over the Egyptian population. The same peculiar facility of childbirth is one of the chief characteristics of the Northern female, for in the Rocky Mountains, while journeying in cavalcade, and being taken in travail, the mother will leave her companions alone, and within an hour, will remount her horse, and overtake her associates, with the new-born infant in her arms! The cause why the population of the Aborigines of the North is not in ratio with the ancient Hebrews, has already been alluded to, in reference to the mother's belief and practice of extended maternal duty and fondness.
If, as we believe, the great ancestresses of these Northern women were Leah and Rachel—the "tender-eyed," the "beautiful and well-favoured,"—then have their daughters on the Western continent lost no features of the mothers of Israel;—for they might hang their harps upon the willows of their fate, as emblems of Jerusalem's children in captivity, and feel no shame in comparison of sorrow, grace, or beauty!
The Northern Aborigines have a traditional knowledge of the Deluge and the Dove of peace, which to them under the name of the "medicine," or "mystery bird," is sacred from the arrow of the hunter. They have their Ark of Covenant, in which is deposited some mystery, seen only by the priests of the Tribe,—it is said to be a shell, and supposed to give out oracular sounds: this is in analogy to the Book of the Laws placed in the Ark of Covenant by Moses, preceding his death on Mount Nebo,—the oracular wisdom of which has guided civilization to this day. The ark is never suffered to touch the earth, but is always raised on a stand of wood or stone; it is invariably carried by a Tribe when they march to battle,—a similitude is here to Joshua at the siege of Jericho. When it is in their peaceful encampment, it is surrounded by twelve stones, indicative of the original number of the Tribes of their ancestors;—this is strictly in analogy with the twelve statues (probably rude blocks of stone) erected by Moses around the Altar of the Covenant to personify the twelve tribes of Israel. Joshua, also, after the passage of the Jordan, erected twelve stones in his encampment at Gilgal, and the same number in the river at the place of the passage. They select their "medicine men" (i. e. priests or prophets) from among a portion of the tribe not warriors; here is the custom of the Levites, or descendants of Aaron being in the sacred office of priesthood, for with the Israelites they were not to be taken from the ranks of the soldiery. These Aborigines "dwell in booths," as when "brought out of the land of Egypt," for they are still wanderers. [Lev. xxiii.] They offer a flesh, or burnt-offering from the chase, which is first cast into the flames, before even a starving family may eat. They have their corn and harvest feasts; also, one in observance of every new moon,—another in festivity of the first-fruits,—and the great feast in direct analogy with the Hebrew Passover, even to the blood being stained upon the posts and lintels, and the mingling of the most bitter herbs! Then their fastings and purifications are practised with the greatest severity. The breastplate, or ornament worn by their religious prophets, containing twelve shells, or stones of value, is in direct imitation of the ancient Pectoral worn by the Hebrew high-priest, and which contained twelve precious stones, inscribed with the names of all the twelve original tribes of Israel. They have their cities of refuge, or huts of safety, where the most deadly foe dare not enter for his victim. They never violate a female captive, and upon the Hebrew principle, that their blood shall not be contaminated by interunion;—this has been strictly followed in all their wars with the Europeans. They also reject the savage practice of civilization upon the lofty principle of manly virtue!
The "medicine-bag" or pouch is carried by every member of the Tribe;—it is suspended to a bead-belt, which crosses the breast by passing over the left shoulder, and hangs on the right side; it contains, as they say and believe, preservatives to keep them from sickness or defeat. These are essentially the phylacteries referred to by THESAVIOUR, and previously condemned by Moses; for the word phylactery is derived from the Greek tongue, and denotes a preservative; and in the time of Moses they were worn by his people in great excess; and so by the Northern native. Moses checked the excessive use of the "preservatives" and changed the custom; for by his command the priesthood alone wore the phylactery, which was at last a frontlet of parchment for the forehead, upon which was written an extract from the laws, that "those that run might read."
Then the absence of all idols or symbolical devices, and the worship of the One God (i. e. Great Spirit); their never pronouncing the name, Jehovah, but in syllables, and those separated by long ceremonies, thus truly fulfilling the Hebrew law, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God in vain." The name with them sounds as if written, Ye-hoh-vah, and is only pronounced by the Aaron of the tribe. In their hymns of rejoicing, the word Hal-le-lu-yah is distinctly uttered. To the foregone analogies is to be added the general and firm belief in the Immortality of the soul! But beyond all this as proof of their origin, is the practice of the great covenant between the Almighty Father and the Patriarch Abraham—viz., Circumcision! And it does not exist, as in parts of Egypt and the Asiatic nations, for the purpose of supposed health, (in which belief it was practised in ancient Egypt by both sexes,) but as a religious custom, handed down from time immemorial! The custom now is not general, but it does exist; and we must be understood as referring back at least two hundred years in our review, to the period of the Pilgrim Fathers, when the Northern Aborigines numbered fifteen millions,—now they scarcely number two and a half! All the customs, however, noticed, are practised at the present period by the uncontrolled Aboriginal. If all other evidences were not received, that of Circumcision, as a religious ceremony, must be viewed by the most sceptical, as direct proof of identity between the Northern Aborigines and the ancient Hebrews. The custom we have written is not general, it is only found in the more settled tribes; this even supports our belief, for in this very fact is traced again the precedent ordained by Moses; for circumcision was discontinued by the great Lawgiver for forty years, during his journeying with his followers through the wilderness; the custom was re-established by Joshua. May not this innovation by Moses in the covenanted custom be imitated by these descendants? Are they not still wanderers in the wilderness in the western, as their ancestors were in the eastern hemisphere? The affirmative has existed for ages, and it even now continues. They have not yet returned to Jerusalem!
One fact is of great importance in proof of their great antiquity—viz., they have no knowledge or tradition in the North of the Life or Crucifixion of Christ, yet they have a knowledge of the Deluge, and actually practise the laws of Moses. Again we must repeat, that we are writing of these Aborigines as they were at the time of European colonization.
The above singular fact enables us at once to place them in a chronological position. It must be after Moses but beforeThe Savior; but another fact brings their circle of time still narrower—viz., they have no tradition of the destruction of the first Temple of Jerusalem. This event occurred 588 years before Christ, it must, therefore, be anterior to that national calamity, that they trace their origin. Of this, hereafter, when in the next volume the history of the Israelites will be given; but, even now, justice to this race compels us to offer a few words in their defence as a people, for being already sufficiently shewn that they are of the great Hebrew family, they may fall in the estimation of some readers upon religious principles. It has been shewn that they have no tradition of the Crucifixion, or of the desolation of the Temple. Is there no sentiment in the mind of the Christian reader as the first fact is unfolded, other than that of historical data? Upon a moment's thought it must be apparent that, the blood ofChristcannot be upon them or their children! Their ancestors never shouted in the streets of Jerusalem, "Crucify him! crucify him!" The Aborigines of the North are Israelites, and of the house of Jeroboam, not Jews, i. e., of the House of Judah; a distinction of all importance, as the pages of the subsequent volume will prove.
The custom of Scalping cannot be said with truth to be original with the Northern native: it has, however, been so asserted, as proof that they are more modern as a people than this theory would establish; but the declaration "melts into air, into thin air," from the fact, that both Herodotus and Polybius mention scalping as being practised among the most ancient nations of the world. The assertion, therefore, has only brought forward its refutation. Scalping was introduced originally by the ancients for the express purpose of counting and recording the number of the foe slain in battle: and especially was this custom practised by the Scythians: this is established upon the authority of the accurate Herodotus. For the same reason is the custom followed by the Aborigines of the North—viz., to number the slain of the enemy. Again, Scythia was the ancient name of the country now known by the modern name of Tartary. This is important, as will be shewn in the next volume, in tracing the encampments of the Israelites after their escape from captivity; for in the Scythian Tartary they will be found: and consequently the custom may have been derived from their own remote ancestors, who obtained it from the Scythians. The custom with both was (and in the North still is), only for a trophy of the dead, and, therefore the scalp is never taken from a living enemy. Polybius, however, has a Draconian record—viz., that upon the occasion of Gisco the Carthaginian being made prisoner, together with 700 of his soldiers, they were all scalped alive by the rebel mercenaries under Spondius. The ancients, also, wore the long scalp-locks as the flowing hair to their rude helmets and weapons: the natives of the North do the same as records of their personal victories. This subject has been dwelt upon, in order to prove its great antiquity.
We may here remark that the mutilation of the dead for the purpose of numbering, was nearly a general practice among all the ancients. The Scythian, it has been shewn, took the scalp and the hair-lock; but the Assyrian and the Egyptian had another method—viz., by the number of ears sent to the king or general. This is glanced at in Ezekiel xxiii. 25; but when imposition was practised by the soldiers of the latter nation (after a general rapine and massacre), by sending home the ears of their female victims in order to increase their reward upon the supposition that they had been taken from men,—an original custom of recording the slain warriors, was then introduced (to check the imposition) for proving the sex of the fallen. The latter proof of victory was a condition from David to Saul, for obtaining the daughter of the latter in marriage. [1 Samuel xviii. 25-27.] The Hebrew, therefore, followed the custom from the Egyptian, who practised it previous to David's victory over the Philistines, which was in the year of his marriage, 1063, B. C.; it is, therefore, probable that a knowledge of this Egyptian custom may have been obtained by the Hebrews during their bondage in that country—the Exodus took place 1491, B. C. The remote antiquity of these repulsive customs are, therefore, firmly established. Scalping is one of them, and is, and ever has been, practised in Northern America. While upon the subject of War, and its worst horror—viz., Rapine—it may be here mentioned again, and to the eternal honour of the Northern Aborigines, and as a stern reproof to the wars of civilization (?) that they have never been known to violate a female captive among their own race, upon the principle that it placed shame upon the warrior's glory. This noble manhood has also extended the same mercy to the white female prisoner, as to those of their own colour. Is there not the ancient Hebrew even in this? And is not their national abhorrence of interunion with any people but their own traceable in this custom? They, also, upon the same principle, will not marry or cohabit with the pale-face race, or with any not of their own blood. We write of the Aborigines as they were, and of the mass. There may be on the frontiers some solitary exceptions after their acquaintance with the Anglo-Saxon race; but oftener among the women than the men. This arises not from less virtue than in the opposite sex; but, and with shame be it written, from the seduction, treachery, and desertion by the European. Most truly might a chieftain reply to a missionary who endeavoured to convert a tribe. "Teach us? What? My son has been murdered—my daughter ravished by the white-man! Learn first yourselves to obey the mandates of humanity, and prove that we do not practise them; then come among us to preach, or teach, and we will receive you with open arms! When shall we meet again upon this condition? On Earth, white man, never!"
The marriage of the Virginian Aboriginal, Pochahontas, was, after her baptism in the Christian faith, and consequently cannot be brought to bear against the preceding remarks. Many other religious customs and ceremonies exist of a minor character, yet strictly in analogy with the race of Abraham; but enough has been brought forward in this volume to propose these (as we believe) unanswerable questions: "If they are not of the Lost Tribes of Israel, who are they?" "What nation of ancient history can claim and identify those customs and observances as their own, if not the Hebrew?"
Then in regard to the physique of the race, they possess the essential characteristics of the ancient Hebrew in regard to physiognomy—viz., the broad and elevated forehead, the acquiline nose, the high cheekbone, brilliant red countenance, and teeth pure as ivory; black hair, the dark and heavy eyebrow, the sunken but brilliant eye, like a diamond within a ring of pearl, and both deep-set beneath a brow of ebony. Their figures in youth (from their mother's care), are models for the Apollo; and should the Statue be lost (and with it all casts and engravings), it could be restored from a living archer; for the attitude of the Sun-God is daily assumed by them from the impulse of Nature, when they wing their arrows at the Pythons of the chase!
The reader must not imagine that our enthusiasm upon the subject has betrayed us into the language of poetic rhapsody; for we have the authority (apart from our own experience) of Benjamin West, who, when he first arrived at Rome to commence his studies, was regarded as "a Savage from the New World." In order to surprise him, the statue of Apollo was shewn to him with great ceremony by the Savans, who expected that he would be overwhelmed with wonder. His simple remark was, "Why, it is a model from a young North American Indian!" It was the highest compliment that could have been given to the grace and dignity of the statue.
The colour of the ancient Israelite must not be judged by that of the modern Jew—for various climates, local circumstances, and confined habitations, have given the latter a dark, heavy, swarthy countenance, and even in middle age they are bent in figure; but the ancient light-red tint may be but the original of the sunburnt features of the Aborigines, and they, from their forest life, reach at least three score years before old age compels them to see their shadows as they walk!
The words of "the good friend" William Penn, may be given as a peculiar and powerful authority. After his first and celebrated interview with the Northern natives, he wrote to England the following sentences in reference to them: "I found them with like countenances to the Hebrew race, and their children of so lively a resemblance to them," &c. At this, and no other time did the thought of their being of the Lost Tribes of Israel enter his imagination. The sentences, therefore, are of great importance, from the fact that they were not originally written by him to support any theory in reference to the Aborigines; but merely asserted in his letter from a strong impression of apparent truth, and which fact, to the Founder of Pennsylvania, was a subject of astonishment, and there it rested; for to him, were they Hebrew or Gentile, his kind and philanthropic heart, taught him to view them as a branch of the human family, and that to him was sufficient for forming a bond of amity! His memory is cherished by the Aborigines to this day—as "the good friend." The reader may remember the historical painting by West, of this celebrated interview, it is worthy of the subject represented.
The bold style and metaphorical character of their Oratory, is essentially Hebrew,—an attempt to illustrate their eloquence will be found in the historical tragedy of "Tecumseh."
Their undaunted and chivalric personal courage, is the very counterpart of that evinced upon the plains of Jericho, or in aftertimes before the walls of Jerusalem. Then their god-like love of perfect freedom,—the spirit of Jeroboam, did not die in the first rebellion and victory against tyranny,—it lives in his nation's descendants in the North; at invasions or encroachment, they rise as one man, to crush their oppressor, and which fact, every record from the Pilgrim Fathers to the present day, will testify. In all their battles (and their name is legion) they have disputed the ground, inch by inch, and even their women have fought and fallen in their ranks. Every chief was a Judas Maccabæus, or an Eleazer Savaran!
Now in every physical characteristic of the Northern, did the Mexican differ; they bore no analogy as being of the same race, either in feature, courage, endurance, or general religion. In Mexican America, Cortez, with only 500 Spanish soldiers, and those worn and dispirited, drove 50,000 Mexicans from the field of Otumba,—they fled like snow-flakes before the wind, when their standard was seized by a Spaniard; but, in the North, the fight was man to man, and no retreat—death or victory—Jerusalem or the grave! Every chieftain of the North, even upon a supposition of flight from a superior foe (either in number or prowess), may be imagined to have uttered the last words of Judas Maccabæus, when in his final battle he was opposed by twenty times his own force: "God forbid that I should do this thing, and flee from them; if our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and not stain our honour!"
Some of the Mexican nations worshipped idols, and knew not God!—for they sacrificed human beings to propitiate their savage Deities; not so the noble Northerns, they worship The One God, who declared to the first Lawgiver, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me," and their only human sacrifice is the invader of their lands and birthright.
The only two analogies that existed between the North and Mexican America, and which might apparently destroy or prevent the proof of this theory, are, first, Circumcision; and second, the similitude of Language. In the North, circumcision, as we have shewn, is a religious custom only; in the Mexican territories, it was both optional and religious. This strange and apparent stumbling-block in the way of proving that they are of a different race, will be removed as we proceed; for so far from injuring the proofs of the theory, it absolutely supports them, as does also the analogy in language. These important points—viz., Circumcision and Language, will be met in their respective places, and in an original manner of application; for they form two of the most substantial evidences, and were the primitive causes for our belief in the subject contemplated by this work, and especially in reference to that portion having Christianity for its basis.
As an essential contrast between the Aborigines, is the fact that in the North they have (as already stated) no tradition of the Crucifixion, while in the other portion of the Continent (and for centuries before the rediscovery by Columbus) they had a perfect knowledge of every particular of the Life and Death of Christ. Again;—in this part of the Continent there are Stone architectural Ruins:—in the North there are none; they possess there but embankments, Marathonian mounds or tumuli. These undeniable and characteristic opposites in Northern and Mexican America, increased by the late discovery of the Ruined Cities in Guatamala and the adjacent provinces, together with fifteen years of personal observation in America; to which may be added a practical knowledge of the Fine Arts, enthusiasm in research, and mature reflection upon the entire subject, have authorized the formation of (as we believe) an Original Theory, concerning the History of the Aborigines of the two great divisions of the Western Hemisphere; and for the unfolding of the present volume, we state,
1. That they consist of TWOdistinct races, or people. This will be, without doubt, admitted, from the facts in the previous pages.
2. That South America (nationally speaking) included what is at present called Central America; and, as a consequence, the Ancient Cities, now in Ruins, belonged to the same general Empire.
3. That South, or (as we have termed it in the preceding pages) Mexican America, was inhabitedANTERIORto that of the North.
4. That the Aborigines of Mexican America, and the West India Islands, were the ancientTyriansof Phœnicia, and that they landed on the Western Continent, from their native country, more than two thousand years ago! This is confirmed by Tradition, Analogies, History, and Prophecy!
Reasoning upon the causes that have led to the new Historical Theory, and the conclusions arising therefrom, a new Chronological or Epochian Table, as a necessity, is required for the History of the Western Hemisphere and its Inhabitants, at least to the time of Columbus. Not desiring, however, to anticipate any interest derivable from the investigation of this work, the progressive Epochs will be given in the volumes devoted to their illustration. The present volume contemplates the first Epoch only, and is announced in the following page, and the reader will do himself but justice (apart from the author) by not rejecting the startling Theory until (at least) the proofs and arguments have been received and analyzed. Upon which investigation the writer will submit with all humility to the decision of the public, and of their all-powerful champion—the Press.
CHAPTER III.
FIRST EPOCH.THE TYRIAN ÆRA;BEFORE CHRIST 332 YEARS. THE LANDING IN MEXICAN (i. e. Central) AMERICA
OF THE ANCIENT TYRIANS OF PHŒNICIA,AND THE BUILDING OF THE CITIES, TEMPLES, AND PYRAMIDS, THE RUINS OF WHICH HAVE LATELY BEEN DISCOVERED. ———Arrangement of Facts and Arguments FOR THE PRESENT VOLUME.
In the endeavour to establish this important Epoch recourse must be had to the same train of argument as that used in the preceding pages—viz., that where the written law does not exist, that which is unwritten must be brought forward as evidence to support and sustain conclusions, and to this must be added the powerful witness of strong and perfect analogy, for the essential purposes of identity. Believing that the reader is convinced that the natives of North America are of a distinct race to those inhabiting the other portion of the Continent, as already illustrated by the contrasts in their Religious and Political policies, and even by their physical analogies, the necessity now arises of completely identifying those of Mexican America, as we have slightly those of the North,—sufficient however for the division of the races. In the preceding title of the First Epoch of this History, is not only stated the Nation from whence they came, but even the Year in which they landed! To support these startling assertions, to make their truth apparent to the reader,—to convince his understanding and crush all doubts,—that even History may place the Volume within her archives, requires a basis of argument which shall be rock-built, that the superstructure about to be raised, while it invites, may yet resist (not defy) the storms and shafts of criticism; but, as a strong cemented edifice requires the warm influence of the Sun to secure the component parts,—so do we look for the sun-smile from the just and mild eye of the true critic, which will not glance upon only one part of the composition, but view each as required to form the consistency of the entire building; and when the edifice is finished, whether the entablature will remain blank, or bear our humble name, is not for us to determine or command; yet in reference to the latter and natural hope, the sentiment of the Senator of Utica will direct us,—that if we cannot "command success," at least we will endeavour to "deserve it."
The following investigation and arrangements of argument are required for the elucidation of this Epoch, and then from the summary of evidence and from that only, the reader, as a jury, will form his verdict: viz.—
1. Are the Fine Arts of sufficient authority to be received as evidence for establishing historical records or events?
2. The fact of the Discovery of the Ruined Cities in Mexican America—their description, locality, and character, established.
3. The Religious and National Analogies and Traditions, between the ancient Tyrians and the Mexican Aborigines will be investigated, and their Identity established.
4. The Mexican innovations upon the customs of the Tyrians will be explained.
5. The general History of Phœnicia, but especially the political and commercial History of the Kingdom of Tyrus:—its Rise and Fall analyzed.
6. The cause of the Tyrian migration to the Western Hemisphere—the means whereby, and the date wherein it was accomplished,—the means of concealing the secret of their Discovery of the Western Continent from the Asiatics and Europeans.
7. The building of their first Altars, Temples, Pyramids, and Palaces, and which have remained as unknown in the History of the World, for full two thousand one hundred and fifty years!
8. The new Discovery of the Fulfilment of five additional Prophecies, byIsaiah, identified and established by the proofs of the Tyrian Epoch of this History of Ancient America.
9. A Recapitulation of the entire subject, and summary of the various evidences of the truth of the Tyrian Theory, founded upon Analogies, Traditions, History, and Prophecy!
And LASTLY. The fulfilment of the Tyrian Prophecies of Isaiah in the Western Hemisphere, also establishes (with the division of the Aborigines into two races, Tyrian and Israelitish, and their conquerors) the actual accomplishment of Noah's Malediction, and his Prophecy of the Human Family! These astounding and new-discovered facts will form a concluding chapter for the complete annihilation of atheistical denial of Prophetic truths. These prophetic facts are not essential to the support of this History,—they are but the seals to the document.
CHAPTER IV.
THE FINE ARTS, AS AUTHORITIES FOR HISTORICAL RECORDS, INVESTIGATED AND ESTABLISHED.
SECTION I.
ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE.
If it were possible to place within an Ephesian Temple, every historic book, manuscript, and engraving in the world, and then the sacrilegious torch of a modern Erostratus should entirely consume them, whereby the only apparent knowledge to be obtained would be from tradition,—yet the marble and stone quarries of the earth have issued those volumes composed and fashioned by the hands of man, that would restore the progressive history of the arts and civilization.
Architecture has erected his lofty temples, palaces, and mansions; and Sculpture has, with her magic wand, charmed and adorned them with historic facts, legends, and romance: the former planned the porticoes, columns, and proportions; but the latter was the power whereby they were fashioned and embellished. Architecture by his peculiar characteristic gives intelligence as we wander amid his works, that we are on the land of Egypt, or the plains of Pæstum: on the Acropolis of Athens, or the land of Romulus and the Coliseum: and whether we gaze upon the sky-pointing Pyramid, the stern or the graceful Doric, the Ionic of the Ilissus, or the acanthus-crowned Corinthian,—they one and all have voices of oracular power, proclaiming to the classic scholar the Nation from whence they arose to life and beauty.
Even the horizontal and curved lines of Architecture have their especial records; for they state the time in the history of the Arts, when they were erected, even without a sculptured cipher;—for the level lines of the Cyclopean and Egyptian walls, with their attendant apertures, give certain knowledge that they were erected before the principle of the Grecian arch was known or practised.
Sculpture has a more harmonious voice than that of her stern consort;—the graceful bride, whose rock-ribbed cradle amid the Parian hills—whose virgin youth reposed upon the halcyon marble of Pentelicus, has a voice of warm, yet chaste simplicity,—her tones are as sweet, as from lips first nourished on Hymettus' Hill; yet at times they speak with all the solemnity of her consort, around whom she fondly clings, as the ivy around the oak; and like that plant and tree, the sculpture-vine preserves for ages the character of the marble monarch of the Arts, even after his broad-spreading authority has been broken and humbled to the earth by Time and Desolation; or these two destroying powers may be viewed as the Regan and the Goneril, while Architecture is the Lear, and Sculpture the Cordelia of the Arts!
Even as a note of music struck from a chord of Nature vibrates to the heart, in like manner does the voice of Sculpture reach and echo around the walls of Life: it is Poetry's diapason—it speaks of God and His works—of Man in his intellect and glory—of Woman in her charity and beauty: it speaks a language which the unlettered may translate, while to her more subdued or secret tones, the disciples of her heavenly power have but to listen, or behold her action of utterance, as developed in her free or drapered limbs, to give the history of her thoughts; nor have those thoughts or attitudes, chaste as the marble they inhabit, ever been conquered by lust or luxury,—that unworthy conquest was reserved for the false disciples of her faith, yet not over herself, but her fair handmaid—Painting. But Architecture and Sculpture have lived on—severe and chaste, stern and graceful, majestic and beautiful—as when they were first created from the Eden of the mind! No sword of wrath has driven them forth to wander as outcasts; but as Messengers of Peace they have visited every clime; they have raised their temples and cities in every land, subjected to one power only—the insatiate monster of the earth, Time—the twin-born with Creation, and who will be the last mourner of Nature and her name! Yet even when their children have been struck down—like Niobe's, by the shafts of fate—still how beautiful in Ruins! Although prostrate upon the earth, yet even in death, they have voices as speaking from the tomb:—but the Parents still live on, ever young and immortal, and can point to the proud remains of their fallen Children, and with the voice of historic truth proclaim their fadeless epitaph and character.
Egypt! My first-born and consort of the Nile!—while thy Pyramids and Temples shall remain—and they will even to the final tempest of the World—thou shalt be identified from among all the nations of the Earth!
Athens!—My favourite daughter! Until the Rock of the Acropolis shall fall,—thy classic beauties,—around which have gleamed the meridian splendour of the mind, will proclaim that Minerva, Plato, Pericles, and Phidias, were thy own!
Palmyra!—My third joy! Although the wild Arab sleeps within thy roofless dwelling, with the whirling sands for his nightly mantle—yet, while thy Porticoes, Arches, and Colonnades shall be seen, the City of the Desert will live in Memory; for the Spirits of Longinus and Zenobia will be there!
Rome!—My Warrior Son! Thy ancient glory lives in the recorded evidences of thy Parent's Art; for amid the ruined columns of thy Forum glide the spectral forms of Romulus, Junius, Virginius, Brutus, Cato, and of Cicero! Through thy Arches move those of Septimus, Vespasian, Titus, and of Constantine!—And dost thou not speak to all the world from the solemn historic voice of thy giant Coliseum? But beyond all this, from the ashes of thy former magnificence—like the Phœnix upon the spot of Martyrdom, thou hast risen in double splendour to the Glory of THE Saviour and the Faith of an Apostle; and to the triple-fame of Bramante, Raphael, and Angelo!
These are the still-living metropolitan records of by-gone days—from the Heathen to the Christian—they cannot be rejected—from them we trace and prove the æras of the world.
Sculpture has also her own prerogative, apart and separate from her Lord, as a dower-right, a jointure power of instruction; and what immortal pupils has she not produced? They stand as the models of art and intellect—each unapproached—solitary and beautiful,—the human eye contemplates them with the chaste wonder of Creation's daughter—Eve, when from the banks of Eden's limpid waters, she first gazed upon the mirrored image of herself! The Jupiter of Elias,—the Minerva and the Triple-Fates of the Parthenon,—the Medicean Venus and her sister of the Bath,—the gentle Antinöus,—the Athenian Phocian,—The Pythonian Victor—Sun-clad Apollo,—the Serpent-strangled Priest and Sons of Troy, all speak the intellectual power of their mistress: and even the poor Roman captive—the death-struck Gladiator—has been raised by her magic wand from the sandy deathbed of the Coliseum, to live on, unconquered to all posterity!
Sculpture is a title not only applicable to statuary, but to every kind of architectural stone-ornament, and in every stage towards its completion—from the rough-quarried block to the polished marbles of the frieze and pediment: this being admitted, how vast and almost unlimited is the field for historic contemplation! The Antiquary when he removes the trodden earth from the mouldering tomb to trace the deeds of heroes: or from an antique Gem or Medal, raises to light from beneath the dark dust of ages, the bold outline of an imperial head: or, when within the lava-coloured city, a hidden statue from beneath the veil of centuries bursts upon his bewildered sight, he still remembers that Sculpture was the creative power. The traveller who pauses in silent wonder as he views the Egyptian Pyramids (blocks of stone raised to perpetuate a nameless king), turns with redoubled pleasure to contemplate the sculptured marble of Tentyra—in the sight of whose shrines the followers of Napoleon felt amply repaid "for the dangers they had passed." Although the Assyrian Kings have for ages been covered with the sands of their desert, and the wandering Arab sleeps unmolested in the shade of Palmyra's columns, unconscious of his mighty mansion, yet her temples and porticoes speak loudly for the living truth of historic marble.
Greece!—the wonder of the classic age,—the key-stone in the arch of intellect,—owes her glory to Marathon and Salamis, but her living name breathes from the Sculpture of the Acropolis. The proportion given by Ictinus to the body of the Parthenon is fast falling to decay, while the sculptured mantle of Phidias which adorns it adds regality to splendour, and every stone that falls produces but another graceful fold to the gorgeous drapery! Sculpture still preserves Syracuse amid the wreck of time, as when Marcellus wept tears of joy at beholding his mighty conquest: it still points out Carthage, the fatherland of Hannibal, as when Marius upon a prostrate column mourned her desolation. Mysterious Pæstum has no other monument, for her deeds have perished with her records. From Istria to Dalmatia may be traced the historic progress of the art,—the gate of the Sergii, Theatre of Pola, and the Palace of Dioclesian, whose columned wall is mirrored in the Adriatic, all bear convincing testimony. And for ancient Rome!—it is her living history! The Statorian columns of the Forum, lifting high their leafy brows, proclaim the spot where Romulus checked the bold advance of the Sabine Tatius: the solitary shaft of Corinthian form and grace, gives fame to Phocas: the Ionic columns of Concordia's Temple, proudly point the place where Cicero impeached the blood-stained Catiline; while the triumvirate columns of the Tonans-Jupiter preserve the imperial name that witnessed the Redeemer's Birth! The arch of Titus (where the Composite first shone forth) heralds the Conquest of Jerusalem,—its
