[Illustration: George Jones.
Drawn by F.S. Agate. Eng. by A.B. Durand.]
AN
ORIGINAL HISTORY
OF
ANCIENT AMERICA.
Founded upon the
RUINS OF ANTIQUITY:
_THE_
Identity of the Aborigines
with the People of
TYRUS AND ISRAEL:
and the Introduction of Christianity by
THE APOSTLE S^T. THOMAS.
_BY_
GEORGE JONES, R.S.I: M.F.S.V: &c.
[Illustration: Moses holding the Ten Commandments]
_DEDICATED TO HIS GRACE_
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.
Published by Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, London.
Harper & Brothers, New-York.
Alexander Duncker, Berlin.
& Frederick Kliencksieck, Paris.
1843.
THE
HISTORY
OF
ANCIENT AMERICA,
ANTERIOR TO THE TIME OF COLUMBUS;
PROVING
THE IDENTITY OF THE ABORIGINES
WITH
THE TYRIANS AND ISRAELITES;
AND
THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY
INTO THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
BY THE APOSTLE ST. THOMAS.
BY
GEORGE JONES, M.R.S.I., F.S.V.
=THE TYRIAN ÆRA.=
SECOND EDITION.
PUBLISHED BY
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, LONDON;
HARPER AND BROTHERS, NEW-YORK;
ALEXANDER DUNCKER, BERLIN; AND FREDERICK
KLINCKSIECK, PARIS.
1843.
C. WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE.
D e d i c a t i o n.
TO
HIS GRACE
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.
&c. &c. &c.
YOUR GRACE,
Upon the completion of the Tyrian Æra of this Work, I submitted the
outline to an Illustrious Prince, whose urbanity and amiability are
not the least of his high qualities claiming admiration; and in
reference to my desire of Dedication, replied: "* * * With respect to
the request preferred, His Royal Highness thinks,--especially with
reference to _the subject-matter_ of the present historic Work, that
it would be far better to select for the Dedication, _some Theologian
of high rank in the Sacred Profession, and eminent for his Learning
and Piety_, under whose auspices would more appropriately be placed,
than under his own, the Original History of Ancient America. * * *"
The suggestion and description thus expressed by His Royal
Highness--and from one in such an august station,--evidently
contemplate The Primate.
The answer of Your Grace to my letter upon the subject,--my sense of
obedience to the suggestion of His Royal Highness (who has honoured me
as his visitor and guest)--and my own feelings of profound veneration
for Your Grace;--together with the importance of historically
establishing the fulfilment of additional prophecies by ISAIAH,--the
Introduction of Christianity into the Western Hemisphere by one of The
Twelve Apostles--_in person_;--the Founding of Ancient America more
than three centuries previous to that Sacred event,--with the Identity
of the Aborigines, and thus unfolding additional Truths of The
Bible,--being of that Character to call forth attention from every
part of the Globe, where Civilization is known, or the Divine
Blessings of Religion are received and appreciated;--these
considerations all assure me that in Dedicating to Your Grace the
Original History of Ancient America, I but follow the dictates of an
imperative duty;--and shall cherish the hope that my literary labours
upon this novel subject, will receive the fostering protection of
one, whose Life, Learning, and Piety, are alike conspicuous,--and who,
by their triple power,--has been enabled to dare fearless comparisons
with the past,--to continue blessings to the present,--and to create
examples of faith and charity, that may be imitated, but cannot be
excelled, by those of a future age.
With the fervent prayer that The Almighty Father may long preserve the
life and faculties of Your Grace, that they may continue to cast their
benevolent and protecting influence around the Divine Institution of
Christianity;--I thus express my devotional duty,--
And remain, YOUR GRACE,
In Religious Filiality
Most faithfully,
GEORGE JONES.
_London, June, 1843._
"FOR INQUIRE I PRAY THEE OF THE FORMER AGE, AND PREPARE THYSELF TO THE
SEARCH OF THEIR FATHERS,--SHALL THEY NOT TEACH THEE, AND TELL THEE,
AND UTTER WORDS OUT OF THEIR HEART?"
HOLY-WRIT.
VOLUME THE FIRST,
OR
THE TYRIAN ÆRA,
IN
TWO BOOKS.
BOOK I.
THE RUINS OF ANTIQUITY
IN
ANCIENT AMERICA,
DESCRIBED AND ANALYZED;
AND
THE ORIGINAL ARCHITECTS IDENTIFIED,
_&c._
[Illustration: man sitting on rock]
BOOK II.
THE
SCRIPTURAL, POLITICAL, & COMMERCIAL
HISTORY OF TYRUS,
TO
THE DESTRUCTION OF THAT KINGDOM
BY
=ALEXANDER OF MACEDON=;
AND
THE TYRIAN MIGRATION
TO
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE,
IN
=THE YEAR 332 BEFORE CHRIST=,
_&c._
INSCRIPTION OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
TO HIS MAJESTY
F r e d e r i c k W i l l i a m t h e F o u r t h,
K i n g o f P r u s s i a.
&c. &c. &c. &c.
YOUR MAJESTY,
With feelings of enthusiasm, founded on the contemplation of a
peaceful and a patriotic King, do I inscribe to Your Majesty, the
first Volume of an effort to delineate the History of Ancient America.
If, in the following pages, Your Majesty should recognise Your own
portraiture in that of Hiram the Great, it is such as truth and
history have designed and coloured;--fawning flattery and false
adulation have not added even a thought to embellish, where Patriotism
has so nobly consolidated.
The Building of Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem, by Hiram of Tyrus, was
not more generous, and liberal in Religious sentiments, than were your
own,--as Protestant King of Prussia,--in laying the corner-stone of
the Catholic Cathedral of Cologne,--the fervent words at which
ceremony, Time will hallow within his Archives: nor was your own
branch of Christianity forgotten or neglected; for the Sacred City of
Jerusalem previously recorded your Majesty's munificence in
promulgating the Divine Faith of Salvation!
For the peace of Europe, and for the prosperity of Prussia,--for the
advancement of Religious and Civil Liberty,--Education, Literature,
the Arts and Sciences,--may the Disposer of Events prolong the life,
and intellectual vigour of Your Majesty, to the utmost verge of
venerable age; and when the monument shall enclose Your earthly
remains, may Your subjects feel, that Your Royal Ancestor,--Frederick
of Prussia,--was not the only Monarch of their father-land deserving
the time-honoured, and historic surname of "The Great." I am flattered
in the occasion which permits me to render this tributary offering,--
And to subscribe myself,
YOUR MAJESTY'S
Obedient and Obliged,
GEORGE JONES.
_London, June, 1843._
THE
ORIGINAL HISTORY
OF
=ANCIENT AMERICA=.
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.
B O O K T H E F I R S T.
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 _into_ TWO _distinct 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 _lex_ NON _scripta_ 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 _lex_ NON _scripta_
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 inquiry concerning
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 THE {SAVIOUR}, 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 _before_ THE
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 of_ CHRIST _cannot 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 TWO _distinct 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 inhabited_ ANTERIOR _to that of the North_.
4. _That the Aborigines of Mexican America, and the West India
Islands, were the ancient_ TYRIANS _of 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,
by_ ISAIAH, 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 sculpture, a Jewish
basilisk, for none of that nation dare pass beneath its gateway. The
arch of Constantine, robed in Sculptured history, records the battle
with Maxentius, the first victory beneath the Banner of the Cross, and
gained by the Christian Prince after his conversion by the vision of
the Holy-sign! The column of Antoninus still preserves the deeds of
the philosophic Marcus; and while the equestrian statue of the
Capitoline Hill presents the figure of Aurelius, the grouped trophies
of Marius make known the conquest of the Cimbri! The column of
Trajanus blazons forth the wars of the Dacii, thereby transmitting to
all ages the costume and weapons of the captives, and of the imperial
victors. The circular and columned edifice speaks of Vesta,--her
Virgins, and the heathen's perpetual altar-flame: the giant arches
near the Forum, of a Temple to the God of Peace, while the
earth-buried palace of the Esquiline contained the moving form of that
Son of War, who fell beneath the patriot blow of Brutus! The
Pantheon,--the Pyramid,--and the Tower,--perpetuate Agrippa, Cestius,
and Mætella's fame! The triple-monument of the Appian-Way, tells the
historic tale of the first victory that consolidated Rome in early
freedom,--it speaks of the Curiatian Brothers who fell for Alba,--of
the Horatii that fell for Rome:--the classic eye in viewing those
time-honoured tombs looks through a vista of near three thousand
years,--it gazes upon the Horatian triumph and his spoils,--it sees a
widowed sister's upraised hands in malediction,--it beholds that
sister's death from a brother's patriot sword! A sculptured frieze and
cornice upon a lone pilastered house, in the most humble street of
Rome, speak to the passer-by that within those shattered walls once
dwelt the "Last of the Tribunes," Petrarch's friend--renowned Rienzi!
Then the blood-cemented Coliseum! It is an history within itself!
Commencing with its founders, Vespasian and Titus, and its builders,
the poor captives from Jerusalem,--it encloses all the savage and
succeeding emperors whose mantles of coronation were there dyed in
human gore! Domitian, Commodus, Valerian, and the long line of
insatiate murderers of the early Christians! And even Trajan suffered
the sands of that arena to receive the mangled body of an Apostle's
Minister,--Ignatius of Antioch,--who died like Polycarp of Smyrna, for
that Faith which claimed death in cruel torments rather than
Apostacy,--from whose lips may have passed the same sentiment as from
his successor in martyrdom: "Eighty and six years have I served Him,
and He has done me no injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my
SAVIOUR?" Architecture erected the Coliseum, but Sculpture like a
funeral pall, mantles this human slaughterhouse of Rome;--not a stone
of which, from the base to the ruined cornice, but has an historic
voice that speaks, as from the Arimathean Sepulchre of our Religion,
of the final Resurrection of those early martyrs to the Faith of
CHRIST!
The humble gravestone of the village churchyard is received as legal
evidence of death,--it speaks a name, a date, and burial,--the
Acropolis, as the tomb of Athens, can do no more, save that it is the
record of a nation's downfall, and not a peasant's.
Sculpture can speak even of the Religious mind of the deceased,--bring
it to memory, and instruct us as to the means whereby the departed
attained his hope of Salvation,--it presents the transparent medium
through which he gazed upon futurity, and believed in his approach to
God: for the Cross or Crescent upon a tombstone, needs no other
language to inform the passer-by, that the departed was a follower of
Christ or Mahomet! If then the mind of a solitary corpse can, as it
were again be vivified, by merely contemplating the sculptured emblem
of the dead, and that from a single gravestone, may not entire nations
be historically resuscitated, when the human eye and mind are brought
to gaze upon, and investigate whole Cities of Ruins, with their
sculptured Temples, Tombs, and Palaces? Yes! though they should be
found amid the darkened forests of the Western Continent, where the
panther and beasts of prey were thought alone to dwell. Yes! Palenque,
Copan, Chiapas, and their muraled sisters, have historic voices for
posterity from their "cities of the dead," the Pompeii and the
Herculaneii of the Western Hemisphere,--yet more aged and venerable
than even those victims of Vesuvius!
Architecture and Sculpture then claim the right to be received as
undeniable evidences of historical record; and, as such, those two
branches of the Fine Arts will be admitted by the reader in support,
and in illustration of the Epoch now under investigation. Ictinus,
Phidias, and Praxiteles,--Bramante, Jones, and Wren,--Canova,
Chantrey, and Greenough, may justly be regarded as historians; for
from the volumes of their art, events and æras can be traced and
established.
SECTION II.
PAINTING.
Painting,--the most beautiful in the triumvirate of the Arts, proudly
follows Sculpture in her classic path,--the precedence only yielded as
to one of elder birth, who attired in her snow-white raiment marches
forward with majestic step, casting her shadow to the confines of
History; while her graceful follower, clad in the rainbow-tinted
garments, and having no shadow of herself, receives her coloured
brilliancy from the glowing Sun of Genius, and thence in gratitude
reflects back her pictorial light to illuminate the mind! This
delightful art may be defined to be a species of poetic and historic
writing, and subservient to the same ends--the expression of ideas and
events--of Nature and her children. It bears resemblance to the
diamond in the dark recesses of the earth, which by its own innate
quality emits sparkling rays of light, thereby not only discovering
its own splendour, but giving a lustre to obscurity.
Painting has her direct claims to be received as authority for past
events and records, and in illustration may be cited the Life and
History of the SAVIOUR. The pictorial art alone was for centuries the
only record whereby the mass of the people could read that Sacred
Life. The cross upon the banners, shields, and pennons of the
Crusaders, spoke to the Christian heart, even above the din of arms or
the yell of battle. When the Latin was the general tongue of prayer
and preaching, the pictorial art sprung into life with redoubled
power; and from the painting above the altar, representing the
Crucifixion, the people learned that Christ suffered,--it alone
reached the heart and understanding, while the Latin language reached
only the ears of the unlettered. Has not the Life of the Redeemer been
traced through every event by the painter's magic art? The
Annunciation, Nativity, Disputation in the Temple, Healing the Sick
and the Blind, Last Supper and Sacrament, Rejection by Pilate,
Crucifixion, and the Resurrection and Transfiguration, are the
pictorial Volumes of our religion. Angelo, De Vinci, Raphael, Murillo,
Rubens, and West, were as essentially historians of sacred events,--as
Plutarch, Livy, Tacitus, Gibbon, Hume, and Robertson, were those of a
national and political character.
Painting has traced upon the galleries of Versailles the chief events
of the French kingdom--of the Empire and its glory. And in the
present day, the new walls of England's Parliament are to be decorated
with her deeds of chivalry--sacred to her historic and undying fame!
The walls of the American capital contain the imperishable history of
Washington, and the Freedom of the Western Hemisphere! Paintings then
will not be rejected as evidences of events, or of religious and
national records.
SECTION III.
COINS AND MEDALS.
These are admitted species of historic evidence, and as lasting ones,
perhaps, beyond all others. A series of them is the most certain
method of arranging a chronological tablet, and thereby preserving the
data of history, mythology, portraits, customs, and art.
The reader will excuse the relation of an anecdote, to which may be
traced the production of the present work. At the early age of nine
years, a small ancient coin came into the accidental possession of the
writer; its stamp and character were enveloped in mystery, and
recourse was had to an antiquary to decipher them. The obverse of the
coin contained a profile head, and around it the letters {AVGVSTVS}: on
the reverse, a Temple with the doors closed, surmounted by the word
{PROVIDENTIA}. The explanation was as follows: viz.--A coin of Augustus
Cæsar--the Temple was that of Janus, the doors of which had been
_open_ for nearly two centuries, as emblematical of the continuance of
Roman warfare with foreign countries; but on the coin the doors were
_closed_, and with the word of thanksgiving, were symbolical of
universal peace, thus proving that the coin was struck the very year
in which the Saviour was born! Thus upon one coin were illustrated the
features of the second Roman Emperor,--Mythology, Cessation of
War,--the downfall of Brutus and Cassius,--the defeat of Anthony,--and
the Birth of Christianity! This simple incident made so powerful an
impression upon the boyhood of the relator, that to it he has always
traced the foundation of his Scriptural, Historical, and Poetical
studies, together with an enthusiastic devotion to the Fine Arts.
The description of the above coin will illustrate the historical
intelligence to be derived from their perusal. A medal is an especial
mode of recording tributary honour to individuals--literary, civil, or
military;--they become heirlooms in family possessions, and are
transmitted from sire to son, as absolute records of their ancestors'
fame. They are also struck in celebration of national events, and
thence become records of a people. So assured was Napoleon of this,
that a series of his medals are a complete history of his victories,
from his Consulate to his loss of the Empire; and that event at
Waterloo was recorded by Great Britain upon her medals, for even the
soldiers as well as officers. Denon of France, and Wyon of England,
are names as artists worthy to record the victories of Napoleon and
Wellington.
Architecture, Sculpture, Paintings, Coins, and Medals, from the
investigation contained in the previous pages (we submit to the
judgment of the reader), are established as authorities for historical
records.
SECTION IV.
ENGRAVED GEMS.
This is a branch of the Fine Arts, the most ancient in practice--or
that is mentioned in history, sacred or profane; and although gems are
not received like coins or medals, as conclusive proofs of events, yet
they cannot be rejected on the score of doubtful antiquity. Seals and
signet-rings are of course included in the term "engraved gems," and
they bear the heraldic arms of family honours, their names and actions
are traceable, and thus they illustrate the chivalric dignities of the
original owners. The style of ancient art (even without a date to the
gem) will carry the inquiring mind to the æra of the artist, and
thence establish at least the century in which they were engraved.
Of the antiquity of gem engraving, the Bible bears conclusive
evidence. In the graphic description of the priestly garments of
Aaron, [Exodus xxviii.] it states that the shoulder ornaments of the
Ephod are to be engraved stones, each containing six of the names of
the Tribes of Israel. "And thou shalt take two onyx stones and _grave_
on them the names of the Children of Israel: six of their names on one
stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone,
according to their birth. With the work of _an engraver_ in stone,
_like the engravings of a signet_, shalt thou _engrave_ the two stones
with the names of the Children of Israel," &c. (verses 9, 10, and 11.)
Aaron's "breastplate of judgment" was to contain twelve precious
stones or gems, each stone to have engraved upon it the name of a
Tribe of Israel. "And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even
four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius (_i. e._ ruby),
a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. And the second
row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row
a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and
an onyx, and a jaspar: they shall be set in gold in their enclosings.
And the stones shall be with the names of the Children of Israel,
twelve, according to their names, _like the engravings of a signet_:
every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes."
(v. 17--21.)
The gold mitre for the High Priest is thus described: "And thou shalt
make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like _the engravings of
a signet_--HOLINESS TO THE LORD"--(v. 36). From the triplicated
sentence in the above quotations--viz., "like the engravings of a
signet," it is proved that gem engraving was practised _anterior_ to
the time of Aaron, who officiated 1491 years before Christ. The great
antiquity, therefore, of sculptured gems, will not be questioned; and
their mottoes, ciphers, or style of art, may speak of a people, their
epochs, or their progress in civilization.
In the development of the present work, every branch of the Fine Arts
will be brought forward to uphold and substantiate this Tyrian
Æra--they having all obtained in the Western hemisphere previous to
the time of Columbus,--which period (anterior to the Genoese, 1492, A.
D.) is contemplated by the new historic term--_Ancient America_.
CHAPTER V.
THE DISCOVERIES OF THE RUINED CITIES IN MEXICAN AMERICA--THEIR
GENERAL CHARACTER AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCALITIES--THE DESCRIPTIONS
OF THE RUINS ANALYZED, &c.
SECTION I.
THE DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS OF THE RUINS--DATE AND
LOCALITY--PAINTINGS--MAPS AND CHARTS, &c.
In the preceding chapter, it is stated that the Fine Arts will be used
as strong evidences towards the development of this epoch, and that
they will be received as records. They represent what will be wanted
in illustrating the Aborigines of the North--viz., _the lex
scripta_--for Sculpture and Paintings must be regarded only as a more
concise and impressive manner of writing. Since, therefore, Sculpture
is one of the powers conjoined with Architecture to enable us to raise
our historical edifice, it is necessary to prove the existence of our
strength in the country illustrated--to prove that Ancient Cities have
been discovered--that temples and palaces have been recovered from the
depths of the forest, and that, too, in that part of America now
under consideration, having reference to the Aborigines _not_ of the
North. These investigations are required for the reader who may not
have read "The Incidents of Travel in Central America," and even those
that have, will expect an analysis or review of the discovered Ruins;
it is also demanded by the character of this work, for it is essential
to establish their existence before they can be produced as witnesses
to support an historic argument; and like a legal document, parole
evidence will not be received if the document itself can be produced.
Paintings also are a portion of the evidence to sustain our novel
history. The paintings of Mexican America, though rude, contain proofs
of progressive ages, whereby facts may be gathered, supported by
traditions, to authorize the formation of a chronological arrangement
of events. These pictorial efforts of art are on cloth of unusual
thickness, in order to secure stability--for the Mexicans had no other
written records--but, to which may now be added from the late
discoveries--Sculpture. The paintings, it has been stated, were rude,
and not unlike those of ancient Egypt; and like those of the Nile, a
symbol stood for whole sentences, or parts of history,--and does not
the same method exist with European art? A cross represents the
Crucifixion! It is in this manner that the paintings of ancient Mexico
must be translated. The colouring was far beyond the Egyptian in
regard to brilliancy and variety--an important point in proving a
Tyrian analogy.
The Spaniards, at their conquest of Mexico, burnt in the public
market-place, pyramids of paintings, the designs of which are even
lost to history; yet many others were subsequently preserved, and now
adorn the royal libraries of Bologna, Madrid, and the Vatican. The
National Library of England contains a vellum folio copy of the
splendid work by Lord Kingsborough upon these paintings, forming, in
the seven volumes, a collection of all the pictorial relics of ancient
Mexico.
The skill of the Mexican painters was extended to another branch of
writing, in which nautical science claimed a share--viz., Maps and
Charts. This important fact will be enlarged upon in the analogies.
These few remarks are only inserted in order to sustain a consecutive
arrangement of evidence, for the reader must already have known of the
existence of these paintings, though not of their novel application.
The several discoveries of the ruined cities will now be reviewed and
established. In the ancient capital of the Mexican Empire, it has been
stated, that the Spaniards acted the character of incendiaries. In
1520, every available specimen of Mexican art was consumed by Cortez
and the priests. Paintings, the only manuscripts of the Mexican
nation, were destroyed, and became a bonfire for the soldiery--every
palace and temple of the capital was levelled to the earth, and the
foundation of the first cathedral of the invaders was laid with
thousands of statues--the idols of the Aborigines. Every vestige of
the Mexican records was supposed to have been consumed, broken, or
buried.
After a lapse of 270 years, two statues were dug up in the grand
_plaza_ of the modern city of Mexico; but from the interest felt for
these religious relics by the poor descendants of the Aborigines, the
Spaniards secretly buried them, it was said, in the garden-court of a
Convent. At the same time (1790) was exhumed a circular piece of
sculpture, having reference to the astronomical calendar of the
ancient inhabitants. This is still preserved in Mexico, and is quoted,
and a drawing given by the illustrious Humboldt in his work upon that
country: it will be referred to in the analogies.
A brief review of the discovery of the Ruins and their locality will
now be required. From a record by Huarros of Guatimala, and that on
the authority of Fuentes, the ruins of Copan were known in 1700.
Palenque was visited by Del Rio; and by Dupaix about 1805. In the
beginning of the nineteenth century, the scientific Humboldt visited
Mexico; he obtained drawings of the ruins of Mitla, in the Province of
Oaxaca, and others of a similar character, but especially the
terraced-pyramid of Cholula, which he visited. The investigations were
published by the same scholastic traveller. At a later period, Uxmal
(Yucatan) was explored under a commission of the Spanish Government by
Waldeck; his work (folio) is most beautifully illustrated. In
compliment to the nobleman who published the great work on the Ancient
Mexican Paintings, he called one of the ruins, _The Pyramid of_
_Kingsborough_--an anachronism, perhaps, allowable when the motive is
considered. Copan was visited by Galindo in 1836; but he lacked the
perseverance necessary for a perfect exploration. This latter
desideratum was fully evinced by Stephens and Catherwood who, in
1839-40, visited and explored all of the above (excepting those seen
by Baron Humboldt), and several cities before unknown in general
history. As a geographical position, the localities of these dead
cities are between the capital of Mexico and the Isthmus of Darien,
but chiefly in Guatimala; on the borders of Yucatan, and on that
Peninsula; they therefore occupy the narrow part of the Continent
between the two great oceans. A reference to the map of Central
America, will aid the following remarks:
The river Montagua empties itself into the Bay of Honduras, at or
near, Omoa; approaching the source of this river, it branches off to
the South, which branch is called Copan River; above the rapids of
this branch-river, is situated on the banks the now celebrated ruined
City of Copan, over _two miles_ in extant, parallel with the stream.
Palenque is nearer Mexico. The ruins of Uxmal are in Yucatan. From the
Architectural characteristics of the edifices, we find no difficulty
in arranging the order of their being built, which, with all due
respect for the opinion of others, we submit to be as follows:
viz.--first, the city of Copan, then Cholula, followed by Quirigua,
Tecpan-Guatimala, Quiché, Gueguetinango, Ocosingo, Mitla, Palenque,
and lastly, Uxmal: and about the same period of building, the cities
of Chi-Chen, Zayi, Kabah, Espita, and Ticol,--these last being in the
Peninsula of Yucatan. Compared with these relics of past centuries, we
consider the City of Mexico to be of comparatively modern date, _at
the time of the Spanish conquest_ (A. D. 1520).
The Ruins necessary to be described for the illustration of our
present subject, will be those of Copan, Palenque, and Uxmal; and for
this purpose extracts will be quoted from the lately-published work on
Central America, by Mr. Stephens. These extracts will be given as
unquestionable authority, and the engravings in the work will be
received as accurate representation of the Ruins, and upon which many
of our results have been founded. On the subject of their accuracy,
the fascinating traveller writes as follows:
"I will only remark, that from the beginning our great object and
effort was to procure _true copies of the originals_, adding nothing
for effect as pictures. Mr. Catherwood made the outline of all the
drawings with the _camera lucida_ and divided his paper into sections,
so as to preserve the utmost accuracy of proportion. The engravings
were made with the same regard to truth, from drawings reduced by Mr.
C. himself--the originals being also in the hands of the engraver.
Proofs of every plate were given to Mr. C., who made such corrections
as were necessary: and in my opinion they are as true copies as can be
presented; and except the stones themselves the reader cannot have
better materials for _speculation and study_."
Though this candid traveller acknowledges not to know the principles
of Architecture, or the rules of Art, and when in Egypt amused himself
by mutilating a statue of Isis,[1] yet when he came in sight of buried
cities in his own country, before unknown to the history of the world,
the Sculpture of which is "as fine as that of Egypt,"--feelings he
must have had of which no man would rob him,--reputation by being the
explorer, of which an enemy would not attempt to deprive him,--and
although we are not selfish enough to covet his reputation, yet we are
candid enough to admit that we have, from the heart, envied him his
feelings!
[1] Vide J. L. Stephens's Travels in Egypt, &c.
He has given indeed by his pen, and the artist by his pencil, a
reflection of the Ruins, but it is from a mirror of polished ebony,
simply a _fac-simile_ resemblance,--light and shade only,--a specimen
of Daguerreotype! No one can mistake the rapid manner in which the
true copy is impressed upon the mind, and that by the most easy and
agreeable means--viz., the fascination of his style; but the
_colouring of life_ is not there,--_the Soul of History is wanting_!
The Promethean spark by which the flame of historic truth should
illuminate his work, and be viewed as a gleaming beacon from afar, to
direct wanderers through the dark night of wonders, has found no spot
to rest upon and to vivify! But this he has done,--he has brought the
timbers of the historic bark to view:--research must build, and
science place the rudder; the pilot, constant as the northern star;
enthusiasm must drive her before the wind, every sail set, fore and
aft, aloft, abroad and full, and it will be strange indeed if that
spark will not be found upon Truth's phosphoric sea!
If these Ruins can be identified with a nation of the ancient
world,--_ancient_ world?--the first word is superfluous now, for these
discoveries have destroyed the opposite phrase,--_new_ world;--that
expression will belong hereafter to England and parts of Europe, not
America; for the former date from the first Cæsar,--the latter, if we
err not, from an older and a greater conqueror! If, we say, these
Ruins can be identified with a country of Asia, and of "the olden
time," we shall have no regret for having turned shipwright to aid the
discovery of that nation; and if our classic galley should founder ere
we reach "the point proposed," we shall at least struggle in the
buoyant waves of hope and pleasure, our light heart floating above the
waters of disappointment; and with joyous pride will we hail those who
in passing by have found and steered a truer track!
First will be given a description of such parts of the great Ruins as
may be necessary in the author's own words, with such commentaries as
may be required by the narration: then will follow Mr. Stephens's
reflections upon all the Ruins; his arguments will be met, his errors
detected, his contradictions investigated, and thereupon we shall
endeavour (at least) to completely refute his deductions and
conclusions.
SECTION II.
THE RUINS OF COPAN.
"They are in the district of country now known as the state of
Honduras, one of the most fertile valleys of Central America." Their
precise locality was stated in the last section, with the exception
that their distance from the sea is about "three hundred miles."
"The Copan river is not navigable, even for canoes, except for a short
distance in the rainy season."
This is a description of the River now (1843), and not as it may have
appeared at the time of erecting the edifices.
"Falls intercept its course before it empties into the Montagua."
As a principle of military defence the site was well chosen, for the
barrier of the falls would prevent the approach of an enemy to the
city by the river from the Atlantic.
"The extent of the Ruins along the river, as ascertained by monuments
still found, is _more than two miles_. There is one monument (or ruin)
on the opposite side of the river, at the distance of a mile, on the
top of a mountain two thousand feet high. Whether the city ever
crossed the river, and extended to that monument it is impossible to
say; I believe not."
So do we,--and that belief instructs us in the seeming fact of another
means of military defence; for from the locality and height of the
mountain it is almost evident that the "monument" was used as a
watch-tower, and consequently from that elevated point a complete
view was obtained of all the approaches to the city. These facts
illustrate (seemingly at least) that the Aborigines had a knowledge of
military security as well as that of architecture; and as we believe
that Copan was the first city built in the Western Hemisphere, these
considerations will be of importance in identifying. The reader will
understand ("once for all") that no hint, even the most remote, is
derived from Mr. Stephens's work (or any other) towards the formation
of our Theory, or the establishing of this Epoch,--on the contrary, he
distinctly asserts (vol. ii., p. 442),
"I shall not attempt to inquire into the origin of this people, from
what country they came, or when, or how; I shall confine myself to
their works and their ruins."
Our artistical or historical comments, good, bad, or indifferent, are
our own, and accompany the quotations for the purpose of supporting
the Analogies in a subsequent chapter. The italicised and bracketed
words the reader will give especial attention to;--as we have so
expressed them for facility in illustrating.
"There are no remains in Copan of palaces or private dwellings, and
the principal part (of the ruins) is that which stands on the bank of
the river, and may perhaps with propriety be called the Temple. The
Temple is an oblong enclosure. The front or river wall ('stone and
nearly _one hundred feet high_,' vol. i., p. 95) extends on a right
line, North and South, _six hundred and twenty-four feet_, and it is
from _sixty_ to _ninety feet in height_." The difference in height
arising from several parts having fallen. "It (the river-wall) is made
of _cut stone_, from three to six feet in length, and a foot and a
half in breadth. In many places the stones have been thrown down by
bushes growing out of the crevices. The other three sides consist of
ranges of steps and _pyramidal_ structures, rising from _thirty, to
one hundred and forty feet_ on a slope. The whole line of survey (of
this Temple) is _two thousand eight hundred and sixty-six feet_, which
though gigantic and extraordinary for a ruined structure of the
Aborigines, _that the reader's imagination may not mislead him_, I
consider it necessary to say, _is not so large_ as the great
(Egyptian) Pyramid of Ghizeh."
We certainly do not desire to be misled, or _our_ readers
either,--therefore, at once, will be compared the measurements of the
pyro-temple of Copan, and the Pyramid of Egypt. Lee Bruyn gives the
base side of the great edifice of the Nile at 750 feet. Greaves states
it to be 693 feet; the difference between these computations is
fifty-seven feet, which divided for an average, and added to the
lesser sum, will shew one side to be 721 feet (and a fraction), which
multiplied by four, the sum total of the entire square base will be
2884 feet,--that of Copan--viz., 2866 feet, will leave only a
difference between the great Pyramidal Edifices in Egypt and Copan of
_eighteen feet_! but from diversity in measurement they may be viewed
as the fac-similes of each other in regard to the base. This cannot
be accidental. Taking Greaves's numbers, each side 693 × 4 = 2772
feet. Stephens's sum total of Copan is 2866, leaving an increase in
size over that of the Egyptian of ninety-four feet! Mr. Stephens may,
perhaps, have forgotten the measurements in Egypt, although he has
travelled there; but we shall have occasion to refer to the ingenious
manner in which he endeavours to stay the "imagination" of his readers
upon the subject of all the Ruins.
The comparative measurements have been brought forward, that the
reader may not be misled in reading this work.
Another singular coincidence (we may remark) occurs in the measurement
of the terraced-pyramid at Mexican Cholula; the base of that is 5760
feet!--now the base of the Egyptian, as shewn above, is 2884 feet
only; this sum multiplied by two, produces a sum total of 5768; a
difference only of _eight feet_, would make the Pyramid of Cholula
_exactly twice_ as large as that of Egypt. An error may have occurred
in reference to the eight feet--for in so large a measurement, and by
different authors, it is but natural that an error might arise, and
consequently these bases, as to size, cannot be viewed as accidental.
"Near the South-west corner of the river-wall, and the South-wall, is
a recess, which was probably once occupied by _a colossal monument_
fronting the water--no part of which is now visible. Beyond are the
remains of _two small pyramidal structures_, to the largest of which
is attached a wall running along the west bank of the river. This
appears to have been one of the principal walls of the city, and
between the _two pyramids_ there seems to have been a gateway or
principal entrance from the water. The South wall runs at right angles
to the river, beginning with a range of steps about thirty feet high,
and each step about eighteen inches square. At the South-east corner
is _a massive pyramidal structure_ one hundred and twenty feet high on
the slope. On the right are other remains of terraces and _pyramidal
buildings_, and here, also, was probably a gateway, by a passage about
twenty feet wide, into a quadrangular area two hundred and fifty feet
square, _two sides of which are massive pyramids_ one hundred and
twenty feet on the slope. At the foot of these structures, and at
different parts of the quadrangular area, are numerous remains of
_sculpture_, especially a _colossal monument, richly sculptured_,
fallen and ruined. Behind it _fragments of sculpture_, thrown down
from their places by trees, are strewed and lying loose _on the side
of the pyramid, from the base to the top_. 'Idols' give a peculiar
character to the ruins of Copan. One stands with its face _to the
East_ [_i. e._ to the Rising Sun] about six feet from the base of the
pyramidal wall. It is _thirteen feet high, four feet in front and
back_, and _three feet on the sides_ [_i. e._ four-sided column]
_sculptured on all four of its sides, from the base to the top_, and
one of the richest and most elaborate specimens in the whole extent of
ruins. Originally, it was _painted_, the marks of _red colour_ being
distinctly visible. Before it at the distance of about eight feet, is
a large block of sculptured stone, which the Indians call an altar.
The subject of the front [_i. e._ of the Idol-obelisk] is a
full-length figure, the face wanting beard, and of a feminine cast,
though the dress seems that of a man. On the two sides are rows of
_hieroglyphics_ [_i. e._ the sacred or religious language] which
probably recite the history of this mysterious personage. Following
the wall, is another monument or idol of the same size, and in many
respects similar. The character of this image as it stands at the foot
of the pyramidal structure, with masses of fallen stone [ruins]
resting against its base, is grand, and it would be difficult to
exceed the _richness of the ornament and sharpness of the sculpture_.
This, too, was _painted_, and the _red_is still distinctly visible.
The whole quadrangle is overgrown with trees, and interspersed with
_fragments_ of _fine sculpture_, particularly on the _East side_ [_i.
e._ to the Rising Sun.] At the North-east corner is a narrow passage,
which was probably a third gateway. On the right is a confused range
of terraces running off into the forest. Turning Northward, the range
to the left-hand continues _a high massive pyramidal structure_, with
trees growing out of it to the very top. At a short distance is _a
detached pyramid about fifty feet_ SQUARE, and thirty feet high. The
range of structures turns at right angles to the left, and runs to the
river, joining the other extremity of the wall, at which we began our
survey. The bank was elevated about thirty feet above the river, _and
had been protected by a wall of stone_, most of which had fallen
down."
The city-wall on the river-side, with its raised bank, and making
allowances for what had fallen from the top of the great wall, must
then have ranged from _one hundred and thirty, to one hundred and
fifty feet in height_!
"_There was no entire pyramid_, but at most two or three pyramidal
sides, and _then joined_ on to terraces or other structures of the
same kind."
The first line of this last quotation is distinctly contradicted a few
lines before it--for he says, "At a short distance is a _detached_
pyramid about fifty feet _square_." Therefore this is an "entire
pyramid." That of Cholula stands "solitary and alone" in a large
plain, and there, at least, is an "entire pyramid," so far as its base
and sides are considered.
"Beyond the wall of enclosure were walls, terraces, and pyramidal
elevations running off into the forest, which sometimes confused us.
Probably the whole was not erected at the same time, but additions
were made, and statues erected by different kings, or perhaps in
commemoration of important events in the history of the city. Along
the whole line were ranges of _steps_ with _pyramidal_ elevations,
probably crowned on the top with buildings or altars, now in ruins.
_All these steps and the pyramidal sides were painted_ [red], and the
reader may imagine the effect when the whole country was clear of
forest, and priests and people were ascending from the outside of the
terraces, and thence to the holy places within to pay their adoration
in the Temple.
"Within this enclosure are two rectangular courtyards, having ranges
of steps ascending to terraces. The area of each is about forty feet
from the river. On one side at the foot of the pyramidal wall is
another monument or idol, [_i. e._ sculptured obelisk]. It is about
the same height as the others (in all fourteen), but differs in shape,
being larger at top than below. Its appearance and character are
tasteful and pleasing."
We desire to call the particular attention of the reader to the
following piece of sculpture, as it will hold a conspicuous position
as we advance in this volume.
"Near this [idol last mentioned] is a _remarkable altar_, which
perhaps presents as curious a subject for speculation as any monument
at Copan. The altars, like the idols, are all of a single block of
stone. In general, they are not so richly ornamented, and are more
faded and worn, or covered with moss. All differed in fashion, and
doubtless had some distinct and peculiar reference to the idols before
which they stood."
Each of the idols, therefore, had an altar before it, and each of the
altars had its relative idol, _except_ the one about to be described.
"This altar stands on four globes (?) cut out of the same stone: the
sculpture is in _bas-relief_, and it is the _only specimen of that
kind of sculpture found at Copan_, all the rest being in bold
_alto-relievo_."
By a reference to the map for its locality, we find that it is
situated nearly in the very centre of the vast Temple. This, together
with its being alone, unassociated with an Idol--the sculpture being
entirely different, and "the only specimen" found there, all the
others being in _alto_, but this in _basso_--(a proof of its greater
antiquity)--the very stone seems to find a voice to proclaim that it
was the Chief Altar of Copan. It may be "a curious subject," but
certainly does not require much "speculation" to form a conclusion.
The description of the detail of the sculpture seems to furnish
another reason for believing it to be the principal Altar.
"It is six feet square, and four feet high; and the top is divided
into thirty-six tablets [or squares] of _hieroglyphics_, which beyond
doubt _record some_ EVENT _in the history_ of the mysterious people
who once inhabited the city."
This we distinctly believe; and that the _sculpture_ about to be
described, TRANSLATES THE HIEROGLYPHICS, and those being translated,
the "event in the history" is then arrived at. Whether we have
accomplished this or not, the reader will judge as he proceeds,--for
we have looked upon this Chief Altar as the "Rosetta-stone" of the
ruins--the Key-stone in the arch of mystery.
"Each side of the altar represents four individuals. On the West-side
are the two principal personages, chiefs, or warriors, with their
faces opposite to each other, and apparently engaged in argument or
_negotiation_. The other fourteen (figures) are divided into two equal
parties, and seem to be following their leaders. Each of the two
principal figures is seated _cross-legged_, in the _Oriental_ fashion,
on an _hieroglyphic_, which probably designated his name and office,
or character; and on _two_ of which the _Serpent_ forms part."
The description reads "three," the engraving shews only _two_
Serpents; the later will be received as correct, from the accuracy
ascribed to the drawings by Mr. Stephens, and already quoted.
"Between the two principal personages, is a remarkable cartouche,
containing two _hieroglyphics_, well preserved, which reminded us
_strongly of the Egyptian method_ of giving the names of the _kings
and heroes in whose honour monuments were erected_. The head-dresses
are remarkable for their curious and complicated form. The figures
have all breastplates, and one of the two principal characters holds
in his hand an instrument, which perhaps may be considered a
sceptre,--each of the others holds an _object_, which can be only (?)
a subject for speculation and conjecture."
We believe them to be (judging from the engravings) _spiral shells_;
the application will be found in the important chapter devoted to the
Analogies.
"It [the "object"] may be a weapon of war, and if so, it is the only
thing of the kind found at Copan. In other countries, battle scenes,
warriors, and weapons of war are among the most prominent subjects of
sculpture; and from the entire absence of them here, there is reason
to believe, _that the people were not warlike, but peaceable and
easily subdued_."
Are not the Sculptures, the Idols, and Altars, the ornaments of a
_Temple_?--and as a consequence, should be devoid of the weapons of
war. A false conclusion is arrived at by Mr. Stephens, when, from the
absence of battle-axes, shields, and helms, in a Religious Temple, it
must follow as a necessity, that those worshipping there, must be
devoid of courage. Our own Altars might be so regarded if his
reasoning was admitted, yet few persons would have the temerity to
say, because the Christian Altars are devoid of warlike weapons, that
the Anglo-Saxon race are "easily subdued."
The hands that built those Temples on the Western Continent, could
also defend them. The military position and strength of Copan, prove
the builders to be of a race far from cowards, and not easily to be
conquered. In these remarks we would not confound the previous
distinction drawn between the courage of these Aborigines and those of
the North. The Mexicans were courageous in quick assault, but had not
the indomitable endurance and persevering fortitude of the Northerns.
Enough has been quoted concerning the ruins of Copan; yet it should be
stated, that among those ruins was found a sculptured _Tortoise_,--this
will be referred to in the Analogies.
As a summary of the ruins of Copan, they are of sculptured _stone_,
with the _absence_ of _stucco_; but pyramidal structures and bases; no
circular columns, but square or four-sided obelisks, or Idols;
Sculptured Altars; flights of steps forming pyramidal slopes, but only
on three sides, excepting _in one instance_, and all these bearing
distinct testimony of having been painted or dyed with "a red colour;"
a perpendicular wall nearly one hundred feet in height; and the
sculpture is not only rich in detail, but finely executed. At Copan
there is no vestige of wooden beams or lintels in or about the ruins,
and no appearance of a roof of any description. The _arch_ is no where
found, or any thing indicating that its principle was known to the
Copanians.
The absence of all _metal_ is another singular feature. The quarry
from whence the stone was taken, is about two miles distant from the
Temple; and the supposition of Mr. Stephens seems probable--viz., that
from the discovery of _flint_-stone, and of the hardest description,
the softer stone composing the Altars and Idols, was cut with this
flint in lieu of metal. Every thing seems to denote the great
antiquity of these ruins over those of any of the other Cities; for it
will be shewn that they had a knowledge of the use of metal, and that
they had found it. At Ocosingo there is a wooden beam, and at
Palenque; and at Uxmal, all the lintels of the doors are of wood, and
so hard is its character, that a sharp knife will turn its edge upon
it, as if drawn vertically upon a bar of rough steel or iron.
Therefore from the facts contained in this summary, together with the
"event in the history" of the Chief Altar, and yet to be given,--we
have placed Copan as the most ancient, and, as far as discovered, the
first architectural City built on the Western Continent.
There is one description at Copan which will be reserved for the
purpose of refuting (in the subsequent pages) one of Mr. Stephens's
conclusions, as expressed in his Reflections upon the collective Ruins
of these Cities, "whose antiquity," in the language of the Prophet,
"is of ancient days."
SECTION III.
THE RUINS OF PALENQUE.
Palenque is situated in the Province of Tzendales, Mexican America. At
the distance of about eight miles from the modern village of Palenque,
the now celebrated Ruins are located. They are called the Ruins of
_Palenque_ from the name of the nearest village, and not from any
history of their own:--like the field of Waterloo--it has given renown
to an humble village adjacent. The name, therefore, of "Palenque," can
be of no assistance in unfolding the history of these Ruins,--for the
original name of the now desolate Temples and Palaces, has been for
centuries lost and buried with its fate. Mr. Stephens writes--
"At half-past seven we left the village. For a short distance the road
was open, but very soon we entered a forest, which continued unbroken
to the Ruins, and probably many miles beyond. All the wreck of
Empires,--nothing ever spoke so forcibly the world's mutations, as
this immense forest shrouding what was once a great city. Once it had
been a great highway, thronging with people who were stimulated by the
same passions that give impulse to human action now; and they are all
gone, their habitation buried, and no traces of them left. Fording
this (river Otula) very soon we saw masses of stones, and then a
_round sculptured_ stone. We spurred up a sharp ascent of _fragments_,
so steep that the mules could barely climb it, to a terrace, so
covered, like the whole road, with trees, that it was impossible to
make out the form. Continuing on this terrace, we stopped at the foot
of the second, and through openings in the trees we saw the front of
_a large building_, richly ornamented with _stuccoed_ figures on the
_pilasters_, _curious_ and _elegant_; trees growing close against
them, and their branches entering the doors; in style and effect
unique, extraordinary and mournfully beautiful. We tied our mules to
the trees, and ascended _a flight of stone steps_, forced apart, and
thrown down by trees, and entered the Palace, ranged for a few moments
along the _corridor_, and into the _courtyard_; and after the first
gaze of eager curiosity was over, went back to the entrance, and
standing in the doorway, fired a _feu de joie_ of four rounds each,
being the last charge of our fire-arms. But for this way of giving
vent to our satisfaction, we should have made the roof of the old
Palace ring with a hurrah! We had reached the end of our long and
toilsome journey, and the first glance indemnified us for our toil.
For the time, we were in a building erected by the _Aboriginal_
inhabitants; _standing before_ the Europeans knew of the existence of
this Continent; and we prepared to take up our abode under its
roof--the sole tenants of the Palace of unknown Kings."
The reader will excuse the preceding introduction--its graphic style
will find its own apology; and though not _descriptive_ of the Ruins,
_yet the approach to them_ seems to form a part of this historical
Romance of the Wilderness.
"As at Copan, it was my business to prepare the different objects for
Mr. Catherwood to draw. Many of the stones had to be scrubbed and
cleansed; and as it was our object to have the _utmost possible
accuracy in the drawings_, in many places scaffolds were to be
erected, on which to set up the _camera-lucida_. That the reader may
know the character of the objects we had to interest us, I proceed to
give a description of the building in which we lived, called the
_Palace_. It stands on an _artificial_ elevation of an oblong form
_forty feet high, three hundred and ten in front and rear, and two
hundred and sixty feet on each side_."
Here, then, is distinctly stated--a pyramidal elevation having _four
sides_, and detached from any other structure. Its measurement around
the base is 1140 feet!
"_This elevation was formerly faced with stone_, which has been thrown
down by the growth of trees, and its form is hardly distinguishable.
The building [we say _Temple_--not Palace,] stands (on this pyramidal
elevation) with its face to the _East_, and measures _two hundred feet
front, by one hundred and eighty feet deep_. Its height is not more
than twenty-five feet, and all around it had _a broad projecting
cornice of stone_. The front contained _fourteen doorways_, about
_nine feet wide_ each, and the intervening piers [_i. e._ square
columns] are between _six and seven feet wide_. On the left (in
approaching the palace) eight piers have fallen down, and as also the
corner on the right, and the terrace underneath is cumbered with
ruins. But six piers remain entire, and the rest of the front is open.
The building was _constructed of stone_, with a mortar of lime and
sand, and _the whole front was covered with stucco and painted_."
We believe this last manner (stuccoing) to have been ages _after_ the
original structure was erected, and for the purpose of promulgating a
new Religion. This important point will be investigated in a
subsequent volume. It is only remarked here, that the reader may not
be perplexed at _stone_ being covered with _stucco_, since in
building, ancient or modern, it was only usual to cover _bricks_ with
plaister or stucco.
"The piers were ornamented with _spirited figures_ [in stucco] in
bas-relief. On the top of one are _three_ hieroglyphics _sunk in the
stucco_. It is enclosed by a richly ornamented border, about ten feet
high and six wide, of which only a part remains. The stucco is of
admirable consistency, _and hard as stone_. It was _painted_,
[stained?] and in different places about, we discovered the remains of
_red_, _blue_, _yellow_, _black_, _and white_."
We have already called this edifice the _Temple_, believing it not to
have been originally a palace. This distinction is nearly defined from
the fact that _hieroglyphics_ are found upon the edifice: for
hieroglyphics (_i. e._, sacred and symbolical writing) constitute the
Religious language of nearly all the ancient nations,--but of Egypt
especially. The language of Religion and the Hieratic (that of the
priests) were placed upon the _sacred_ edifices, and being so placed,
proved them to be Temples. Those languages were, also, painted upon
mummy-cloths and coffins, or sculptured upon the outward granite
Sarcophagii,--the Egyptians holding the rights of Sepulture in the
most sacred estimation; for those rights were only granted upon a
public investigation of the character of the deceased, and a general
verdict in his favour. This _post-mortem_ examination of character
even the king was not exempt from, and the poorest subject of Egypt
could bring his accusation against the deceased monarch; with the
privilege of sustaining his charges by facts and argument,--for by the
laws of Egypt every Egyptian was considered equal and noble with his
countrymen,--Character and Talent being the only distinctions to
entitle the deceased to sepulture, and the hieroglyphical
inscriptions to perpetuate a name. The King of Egypt might (and it was
a custom) build his own monument and Sarcophagus, inscribe them with
his victories and virtues; but his body (after death) would not be
placed within, unless at the public ordeal upon his life and character
the _People_ should grant permission.
If such a custom obtained at the present day, how many lying
tomb-stones and monumental effigies would escape the charge of
falsehood; and how many unrecorded possessors of talent and character,
would breathe in marble for the imitation of their posterity!
The Enchorial language (_i. e._ the common or spoken) was not placed
(alone) on sacred edifices: therefore its absence on a building almost
demonstrates that building to have been erected and adorned for sacred
purposes. Upon this consideration we shall view the great edifice of
Palenque,--as the Temple, and not the Palace. And, it might naturally
be asked if this is a Palace, where is the Temple?--for in all ancient
nations the Temple of worship was always the grandest edifice of a
metropolis: the same custom is still continued in more modern
times,--Rome has its St. Peter's, and London its St. Paul's.
The hieroglyphics on the Altar and Idols of Copan (_vide_ last
Section) in a similar manner demonstrate those sculptures to be of a
Religious character, but that fact does not preclude the association
of Historical events,--they were so introduced and incorporated by
the Egyptians and the ancients, in order to _deify_ those events;--and
by thus rendering a sacristy of character to the hero, or the glory,
to give them both (in their belief) an earthly, or rather a celestial
immortality!
Herodotus states (ii. § 36) that the hieratic (priests) and the
demotic (common) were the two written languages of Egypt,--these two
were apart from the hieroglyphical or _symbolical_ language. Diodorus
Siculus (iii., § 3) supports his predecessor, and says that the former
(hieratic) was used _only by the priests_,--while the latter (_i. e._
the Enchorial or demotic) was used in common by all the
Egyptians,--_i. e._, that it was the _spoken_ language of the country,
and, as already shewn, not used upon _sacred_ edifices. From these
facts, derived from ancient custom, may be gathered why the ciphers of
the common language of the Mexican Aborigines are not found upon
_their_ Temples; and as a consequence, the absence of the spoken
language upon those Temples proves them (from the ancient custom) to
have been erected at a period when that peculiar custom was practised;
and therefore, (apart from other considerations) the time of their
erection must be viewed at a remote antiquity.
"It (the stucco) was painted, and in different places about we
discovered the remains of _red_, _blue_, _yellow_, black, and white."
In the language of the Fine Arts "black and white" are not received as
colours--they are merely accessories. Red, Blue, and Yellow, are the
three; and the only primitive earth-colours, and by their amalgamation
in certain proportions (aided by the subordinates, black and white)
all secondary colours--or _tints_ strictly speaking--are produced. The
Rainbow possesses but _three_ primitive colours; but by their
juxtaposition and refractions, the purple, orange, green, and violet
are produced.
Titian painted a picture in which he used only the three primitives;
but taking the Rainbow for his mistress in colouring, he so arranged
the juxtapositions of the original and "divine three," that the
cloud-created Iris might well be jealous of the triple tints of
Titian!
No greater proof could be given of antiquity, than the discovery that
the Mexican Aborigines were ignorant of the art of mixing colours--for
the three primitives only, and not the secondary colours--are found
upon the Temples. The "Tyrian dye" or purple, was not extracted from
the earth, but from the Sea, from a shell-fish, since called the
_purple murex_.
For ages it was believed that the Rainbow possessed _seven_ colours.
Science has proved that it contains but _three_. Nature has no more:
and without even alluding to other religious opinions--the Trinity is
even figured in the Rainbow: and the Divine Arch viewed in this
figurative manner, has indeed the Eye of the Almighty upon it--_the
Three in One_--it is not only the "Covenant," but the Type of
Salvation from the Father to his children!
The reader will pardon this slight digression, and the writer makes
the following assertion for the investigation of the curious, without
any fear of a negative being produced. The conclusion is from many
years of observation; viz., _That every thing in Nature of the Animal
or the Vegetable kingdom; the Rainbow and the Elements; that all the
works of Art embraced in the comprehensive term_, Architecture
(Edificial or Naval): _in the Arch itself, and even in Mechanics; that
in all these productions of Nature or Art there are_ ONLY THREE GRAND
PARTS! And many of those parts contain within themselves _three_
subdivisions. Those subdivisions are only accessories, holding the
same relation to the whole, that the secondary colours do to the
primitives of the Rainbow. We will give a few illustrations from
Nature and Art. For instance,--the Fruit-tree,--the three primitive
parts are the roots, trunk, and branches, these are composed of
fibrum, sap, and bark; the accessories are the leaves and fruit; the
leaf consists of the stalk, fibres, and the web; the fruit, of the
rind, the apple, and the core. The Human form will bear the same test;
viz., head, trunk, and limbs--nay, the very principles of life,
brain--lungs, and heart; and also the great combinations in Chemistry!
The sublime science of Astronomy also supports the conclusion. For the
illustration from Art--a Temple. The three grand divisions are the
foundation, body, and roof; the front of the edifice is in three
parts--viz., columns, entablature, and pediment; these being
subdivided, and three parts again appear: 1st, a Column,--the shaft,
capital, and abacus; 2d, the Entablature,--the architrave, frieze, and
cornice; 3d, the Pediment,--the apex, and the two corners, forming a
triangle. The triangle is, also, the facial characteristic of a square
Pyramid, and its square base contains two triangles; but the true
Pyramid contains only three sides, each, with the base, present
triangles. If man's efforts in Art have produced by accident the
TRIA JUNCTA IN UNO,--
we must feel that nothing in _Nature_ can be accidental, and
investigation will prove that the Divine "three" pervade all! We are
not aware that the above assertion has ever been made by any author,
but we are convinced from years of observation, that although original
and startling, it is no less the truth--for being founded in Nature it
could not be otherwise. In the third volume this subject will be
enlarged upon; for the present we claim the discovery of this great
philosophical principle--the true active one of Nature and of Art,
with the possession of which a man has the key to the _arcana_ of
both.
The Mexican Aborigines then had, apparently, no knowledge of the art
of mixing colours, from which fact a strong proof is gained of their
great antiquity.
"The piers (_i. e._ the square columns of the Temple) which are still
standing, contained other figures of the same general character, but
which unfortunately are more mutilated, and from the declivity of the
terrace it was difficult to set up the _camera lucida_ in such a
position as to draw them. The piers which are fallen were no doubt
enriched with the same ornaments. _Each one_ had a specific meaning,
_and the whole probably presented some allegory or history_, and when
entire and painted, the effect in ascending the terrace must have been
imposing and beautiful."
This "allegory or history" we have endeavoured to decipher in the
Analogies. The sculpture of this Temple, like the metopes of the
Parthenon, should not be viewed in separate parts, but as a whole; for
the parts, like single letters, are useless in themselves, but when
placed together in proper and consecutive localities, they instantly
express a word, or sentences, and thence convey to the mind the full
intelligence of the subject.
"The tops of the doorways are all broken. They had evidently been
square, and over one were large niches in the wall on each side, in
which the lintels had been laid. The lintels had been all fallen, and
the stones above formed broken natural arches [angles?]. Underneath
were heaps of rubbish, but there were no remains of lintels. If they
had been single slabs of stone, some of them must have been visible
and prominent, and we made up our minds _that the lintels had been of
wood_, and perhaps we should not have ventured the conclusion, but for
the _wooden lintel_ which we had seen over the doorway at Ocosingo,
and by what we saw afterwards in Yucatan (Uxmal), we were confirmed
beyond _all doubt_ in our opinion. I do not conceive, however, that
_this gives any conclusive data_ in regard to the age of the
buildings. The wood (lintels) if such as we saw in the other places
(_i. e._ Ocosingo and Uxmal) would be very lasting, its decay must
have been extremely slow, and _centuries_ may have elapsed since it
perished altogether."
The decaying of the lintels at Ocosingo and Palenque, and their
existence and _preservation_ at Uxmal enables a data to be formed in
reference to the order of their erection; for the _non-appearance_ of
any wooden lintels at Copan authorizes the placing of that city first
in chronological order, followed by the cities of Ocosingo and
Palenque, and from the argument, and the preservation of the wood,
Uxmal was built _after_ the foregone.
"The building has two parallel corridors running lengthwise _on all
four of its sides_. In front these corridors are about nine feet wide,
and extend the whole length of the building, upwards of two hundred
feet. In the long wall that divides them there is but one door, which
is opposite the principal door of entrance, and has a corresponding
one on the other side, leading to a courtyard in the rear.
"_The floors are of cement_, as hard as the best seen in the remains
of Roman baths and cisterns. The walls are about ten feet
high,--_plastered_,--and on each side of the principal entrance
ornamented with _medallions_, of which the borders only
remain,--these perhaps contained the busts of the Royal family. The
separating-wall had apertures of about a foot, probably intended for
purposes of ventilation. _The builders were evidently ignorant of the
principle of the_ ARCH, and the support (ceiling) was made by stones
(blocks) lapping over as they rose, as at Ocosingo, and as among the
Cyclopean remains in Greece and Italy." * * * * "From the centre door
of this corridor a range of stone steps, thirty feet long, leads to a
rectangular courtyard, eighty feet long by seventy broad. On each side
of the steps are grim and gigantic figures _carved on stone_ in _basso
relievo_, nine or ten feet high, and in a position slightly inclined
backward, from the end of the steps to the floor of the corridor. They
are adorned with head-dresses and necklaces, _but their attitude is
that of pain and trouble_. The design and anatomical proportion of the
figures are faulty, but there is a force of expression about them
which shews _the skill and conceptive power of the artist_. On each
side of the courtyard of the Palace (Temple) are divided apartments,
probably for sleeping. (?) On the right, the piers have all fallen
down. On the left they are still standing and ornamented with _stucco
figures_. In the centre apartment, in one of the holes, are the
remains of a _wooden pole_, about a foot long, which once stretched
across, but the rest had decayed. It was the only piece of wood
(worked) we found at Palenque, and we did not discover this until some
time after we had made up our minds in regard to the wooden lintels
over the doors. It was much worm-eaten, and probably in a few years
not a vestige will be left. At the farther side of the courtyard was
another flight of stone steps, corresponding with those in front, on
each side of which are carved figures, and on the flat surface between
are single _cartouches of hieroglyphics_." * * * * * * "In the further
corridor the wall was in some places broken, and _had_ SEVERAL
_separate coats of plaister and paint_. [Proofs of different periods]
In _one place we counted six layers, each of which had the remains of
colours_. This corridor opened to a second courtyard, eighty feet
long, and but thirty across. The floor of the corridor was ten feet
above that of the courtyard, and on the wall underneath were _square
stones_ with _hieroglyphics sculptured_ upon them. On the piers were
_stuccoed figures_, but in a ruined condition. On the other side of
the courtyard were two ranges of corridors, which terminated the
building in this direction. The first of them is divided into three
apartments, with doors opening from the extremities upon the western
corridor. All the piers are standing excepting that on the north-west
corner. All are covered with _stucco ornaments_, and one with
_hieroglyphics_. The rest contain _figures_ in _bas relief_." * * *
"There are several distinct and independent buildings. [Within the
confines of the Temple] The principal of these is the TOWER, on the
south side of the second court. This Tower is conspicuous by its
height and proportions: the base is thirty feet square, and it has
_three stories_. Entering over a heap of rubbish at the base, we
_found within another Tower, distinct from the outer one_, and a
stone staircase, so narrow that a large man could not ascend it. The
staircase terminates against a dead stone ceiling, closing all further
passage. _The whole Tower was a substantial stone structure_, and in
its arrangements and purposes about as incomprehensible as the
sculptured tablets. East of the Tower is another building, with two
corridors, one richly decorated with _pictures in stucco, and having
in the centre an elliptical tablet_. It is four feet long and three
wide, _of hard stone, set in the wall_, and the SCULPTURE is in _bas
relief_. Around it are the remains of a rich _stucco border_. The
principal figure sits cross-legged (_i. e._ orientally) on a couch,
ornamented with two leopards' heads: the attitude is easy, the
physiognomy the same as that of the other personages, and the
_expression calm and benevolent_. The figure wears around its neck a
necklace of pearls [beads of gold?] to which is suspended a small
medallion containing a face, perhaps for an image of the Sun."
From the positive radii around the medallion (as presented by the
artist) there can be no hesitation in distinctly stating that it was
intended for an "image of the Sun." This is essential in identifying
the analogy of Religious worship: it also gives further authority for
the belief that this edifice was a Temple, and not a Palace. The
_Tower_ of Palenque also aids this belief, for from its locality it
would seem to have been used as a modern oriental minaret, from which
the priests summoned the people to prayer.
"Like every subject of sculpture we had seen in this country, the
personage had earrings, bracelets on the wrists, and a girdle round
the loins. The head-dress differs from most of the others at Palenque
in that it wants the plume of feathers. Near the head are _three
hieroglyphics_. The other figure, which seems that of a woman is
sitting cross-legged [kneeling?] on the ground, richly dressed, and
apparently in the act of _making an offering_. In this supposed
offering is seen a plume of feathers, in which the head-dress of the
principal personage is deficient. Over the head of the sitting
personage are _four hieroglyphics_. _This is the only piece of
Sculptured Stone about the the Palace_ (Temple) except those in the
courtyard. Under it formerly stood a table [altar?] of which the
impression against the wall is still visible."
It will be observed that the above _Sculpture is the only one in
Stone_ in the interior of the Temple; and from the image of the Sun
suspended from the neck of the principal figure, whose countenance is
"calm and benevolent," and the richly-attired kneeling figure making
an offering, the Sculpture seems to represent the Apollo of the
Aborigines receiving a tributary gift. The "Table" underneath and in
front, is in the very position of an Altar-table, upon which may have
been placed the votive offerings of the living, in imitation of the
Sculpture above the Altar. In a similar manner the more modern altar
of the Christians is placed, for it is stationed beneath the
artistical object of worship or the tables of the Decalogue. A
painting over a Christian altar, of the Magii adoring the Infant
SAVIOUR, and thereby calling for similar worship from the living, will
completely illustrate the sculptured altar-piece of Palenque. We think
that this will be admitted, and being so it establishes that this
great edifice was one of the chief Temples of the Aborigines, erected
by them for the worship of their God of light and heat--viz., the Sun.
This may then have been the Mecca-shrine of the Kingdom, to which all
the nation made their annual pilgrimage; and especially do we believe
this to have been the case, from the fact of the _stucco_ being placed
upon the _stone_, and the former illustrating a later Religion than
that proved by the stone-sculpture; and the Religion being partially
changed (as will be shewn hereafter), still it was the chief Temple
for the assemblage of the people, and from which, perhaps, from the
Tower of the Temple, was promulgated not only any change in the form
of Religious worship, but also in the Laws of the country. Every thing
indicates that this edifice was the Aboriginal Temple of the Sun: if
it was the Palace, again would we ask, where is the Temple? for in all
ancient nations, the edifice in which was performed the Religion of
the country, was of more importance than any earthly residence.
Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome, possessed the Temple, the Parthenon, the
Capitol, and the Pantheon; Tyrus, Carthage, and Palmyra, their
gorgeous Temple to Apollo (_i. e._ the Sun); Italy, England, and
France, justly boast of their Churches sacred to St. Peter, St. Paul,
and the Mother of the Saviour!--and the great Mahommedan family point
with religious joy to the Shrine at Mecca; and why then should the
Aborigines of the Western Hemisphere be an exception?
The jewelled Temples of the Sun (_i. e._ of Apollo), that in Mexico
and Peru tempted the blood-stained feet of Cortez and Pizarro, were
but the types of the original at Palenque; for the latter was in ruins
when the Spanish pirates landed, and none of their historians even
allude to the desolation of past ages, so engrossed were they with
that of their own!
Another description of a piece of Sculpture (in stucco) upon a
building near the Temple of Palenque, will be reserved for
illustrating a powerful similitude to a Tyrian branch of worship. This
will receive a full investigation in the chapter devoted to the
national Analogies.
On the map of the Ruins of Palenque, and in the descriptions (as
furnished in Mr. Stephens's work), the Temple, and _five other_
edifices, all rise from a pyramidal base, having _four sides_; this
fact will again be brought forward in refutation of one of his
architectural conclusions.
SECTION IV.
THE RUINS OF UXMAL.
These monuments of antiquity are situated in Yucatan, the great
Peninsula of Mexican America.
"Emerging suddenly from the woods, to my astonishment, we came at once
upon a large open field strewed with mounds of ruins, and vast
buildings on terraces, and _pyramidal structures_, grand, and in good
preservation, richly ornamented, without a bush to obstruct the view;
and in picturesque effect, almost equal to the Ruins of Thebes.
[Egypt] Such was my report I made to Mr. Catherwood on my return, who,
lying in his hammock unwell, and out of spirits, told me I was
romancing; but early the next morning we were on the ground, and his
comment was, that the _reality exceeded the description_!"
It should be remembered that the above distinguished artist
(Catherwood) had visited and copied the Ruins of Thebes and Egypt
generally, and consequently his testimony is of more than common
authority.
"The place of which I am now speaking (Uxmal) was, beyond all doubt,
once a large, populous, and highly _civilized city, and the reader can
nowhere find one word of it on any page of history_. Who built
it?--why it was located on that spot, away from water, or any of those
natural advantages which have determined the sites of cities whose
histories are known, what led to its abandonment, no man can tell. The
only name by which it is known, is that of the Hacienda [_i. e._
farm-plantation] on which it stands. In the oldest deed, belonging to
the Peon family [_i. e._ the owners], which goes back a hundred and
forty years, the buildings are referred to in the boundaries of the
estate as _Las Casas de Piedra_ [_i. e._ the stone-houses]. This is
the only ancient document or record in existence, in which the place
is mentioned at all. The Ruins were all exhumed: within the last year
the trees had been cut down and burned, and the whole field of Ruins
was in view." * * * * "In attempting a description of the Ruins, so
vast a work rises up before me, that I am at a loss where to begin." *
* * * "Drawn off by mounds of ruins and piles of gigantic buildings,
the eye returns, and again fastens upon a lofty structure. It was the
first building I entered. _From its front doorway I counted sixteen
elevations_ [buildings], _with broken walls and mounds of stones, and
vast magnificent edifices_, which at that distance seemed untouched by
time and defying ruin. I stood in the doorway when the Sun went down,
throwing from the buildings a prodigious breadth of shadow, darkening
the terraces on which they stood, and presenting a scene strange
enough for a work of enchantment. This building [_i. e._ in which he
viewed the scene] is sixty-eight feet long. The elevation on which it
stands, is built up solid from the plain, entirely artificial. _Its
form is not pyramidal_, but _oblong_, and rounding, being two hundred
and forty feet long _at the base_, and one hundred and twenty feet
broad, and it is protected all around, _to the very top, by a wall of
square stones_."
The terms of the last sentence are in direct opposition to the
description,--for the elevation is distinctly _pyramidal_. It does not
require a square base only rising from their corners to a central
apex, to be essentially pyramidal,--for a _cone_ is pyramidal, or an
"oblong" rising and diminishing from a broad base; all walls on _an
inclined plane_--no matter at what degree of elevation or declivity,
possess the chief essential of a pyramid.
The cone, oblong, and square,--even a triple-sided or octagonal
pyramid, would be, one and all, correct phrases in the language of
Architecture, to express the character of the pyramid; and are so used
in contradistinction to walls (one or more) of a perpendicular
description,--and the instant such walls lose the facial of the
plumb-line, they become _pyramidal_, from the principle of the wall
rising from its base, and falling to a centre, which, we repeat, is
the chief essential of the pyramid. The number of sides, or none at
all (_i. e._ a cone), has no part in the pyramidal _principle_; as the
key-stone is to the Arch, so the apex is to the Pyramid; but if the
latter _is only half reared_, yet approaching by the inclined walls
_towards an apex_, it is as much a pyramidal structure as if the sides
had reached the apex itself. It is to be regretted that Mr. Stephens
should have been ignorant of the Fine Arts and their rules--(we make
this remark on his own honest confession[2])--because by the confusion
of terms he not only often contradicts himself, but misleads the
general reader in forming conclusions from his graphic descriptions.
[2] Vide J. L. Stephens's Travels in Egypt.
It will, however, be our duty not to pass any such contradiction, but
by the rules of art endeavour to translate the language of the Ruins.
Mr. Stephens has, however, a _motive_ in destroying all resemblance
between these edifices and those of Egypt, _or their neighbours_. In
the next chapter that motive will be unfolded in his own words.
"On the East side of the structure is a _broad range of stone steps_,
between eight and nine inches high, and so steep, that the greatest
care is required in ascending and descending: of these we counted _one
hundred and one in their places_. _Nine were wanting at the top_, and
perhaps _twenty_ were covered with rubbish at the bottom. At the
_summit_ of the steps is a _stone platform_ four feet and a half wide,
running along the rear of the building. There is no door in the
centre, but at each end a door opens into an apartment eighteen feet
long and nine wide, and between the two is a third apartment of the
same width, and thirty-four feet long. _The whole building is of
stone; inside the walls are of polished smoothness_; outside, up to
the height of the door, the stones are plain and square; above this
line there _is a rich cornice or moulding_, and from this to the top
of the building, _all the sides are covered with rich and elaborate
sculptured ornaments, forming a sort of arabesque_. The style and
character of these ornaments were entirely different from those of any
we had seen before, either in that country or any other; they bore no
resemblance whatever to those of Copan or Palenque, and were quite as
unique and peculiar. The designs were strange and incomprehensible,
very elaborate, sometimes grotesque, but often simple, tasteful, and
beautiful. Among the intelligible subjects, are squares and diamonds
(_i. e._ forms), with busts of human beings, heads of leopards, and
compositions of leaves and flowers, and the ornaments known every
where as _grecques_. The ornaments which succeed each other are all
different; the whole form an extraordinary mass of richness and
complexity, and the effect is both grand and curious; and the
construction of these ornaments is not less peculiar and striking than
the general effect. There were no tablets or single stones, each
representing separately, or by itself, an entire subject; but every
ornament or combination is made up of separate stones, on each of
which _part_ of the subject was carved [sculptured], _and was then set
in its place in the wall_. (?) Each stone by itself was an unmeaning
fractional part; but placed by the side of others helped to make a
whole, which, without it would be incomplete. Perhaps it may, with
propriety, be called a species of sculptured _mosaic_."
This last sentence cannot be entertained,--for _mosaic_ is an
arrangement of COLOURED stones, to represent a _painted floor_, wall,
or ceiling,--their shape is not material, but they must be possessed
of different colours. Now this does not appear upon the walls of Uxmal
[_i. e._ of the edifice now in review], and the absence of _coloured_
stones gives the negative to their being even "a species of mosaic."
Nor were the stones _first_ sculptured, "and then set in their places
in the wall;" that is entirely a modern custom; but by applying the
history of ancient sculpture to the preceding description, the means
whereby the accuracy of facial sculpture of the wall was obtained, is
at once defined and established. The Greeks placed the stones of their
friezes and pediments upon their Temples in their _rough
state_,--_they were sculptured afterwards_, and consequently the
greatest accuracy in the connecting lines from one stone to another
was obtained, and could be by that manner only. The fluting of a
column (of one or more blocks of marble) was always sculptured _after_
it had been erected in its rough state. This was the only practice in
that branch of art, and without doubt it was (it must have been) so
practised upon the beautiful and unique walls of Uxmal.
In perusing the foregone descriptions, the reader may almost ask
himself if his perceptive powers are not betraying him?--whether he is
reading of an Athenian display of Sculpture, or really of an ancient
edifice on the Western Continent! Well might it have appeared to the
bewildered traveller as "a work of enchantment." He then proceeds to
describe another building of the same character and sculpture: an
edifice supposed to have "some reference to the Vestals, who in Mexico
were employed to keep burning the sacred fire." It is thus sketched:
"It is situated on an artificial elevation about fifteen feet high.
Its form is quadrangular, and one side, according to my measurement,
is ninety-five _paces_ in length. It was not possible to pace all
around it, from the masses of fallen stones which encumbered it in
some places, but it may be safely stated at _two hundred-and-fifty
feet square_ [_i. e. one thousand feet_ in the entire measurement!].
It is built entirely of _cut stone_ [like the other buildings] and the
whole exterior is filled with the same rich, elaborate, and
incomprehensible sculptured ornaments. The principal entrance is by a
large doorway into a beautiful _patio_ or courtyard, grass-grown but
clear of trees, and the whole of the _inner façade is ornamented more
richly and elaborately than the outside_, and in a more perfect state
of preservation."
This may be accounted for from the apparent fact, that the interior
sculpture was executed _after_ that on the outward walls; for it
appears to be far more beautiful and elaborate, and thence more time
would be required for its completion, and as a consequence, it could
only be finished at a later date; added to this a greater protection
from the weather is given to the _inside_ of quadrangular walls than
on the outside, and that without any reference to roofs or coverings:
for a strong wind striking, for instance, an easterly wall on the
outside, the force of the wind is destroyed, and consequently reaches
the opposite wall _in the area_ with a greatly diminished power. The
same argument would apply to the wind from any quarter, blowing upon
unroofed quadrangular structures, and this these builders seem to have
completely understood by making the Sculpture more refined and
delicate upon the inside.
"On one side the combination [of the Sculpture] was in the form of
diamonds, simple, chaste, and tasteful: and at the head of the
courtyard _two gigantic serpents_ (with their heads broken and fallen)
were winding from opposite directions along the whole façade"--[_i.
e._ one thousand feet].
It will be remembered that the Chief Altar at Copan has sculptured on
it _two serpents_: in the Analogies we shall endeavour to read these
wily hieroglyphics.
"In front and on a line with the door of the preceding edifice, is
another building on a lower foundation of the same general character,
called _Casa de Tortugas_, from the sculptured _turtles_ over the
doorway."
That the reader may not be misled, these "turtles" are not as defined
in Scripture (_i. e._ young doves), but the _tortoise_, the well-known
shellfish; and in the splendid illustrations of these Ruins in
Waldeck's work (folio, 1838) the _tortoise_ is distinctly given, and
without doubt is so meant by Mr. Stephens. There are _four of them_ in
a group, their heads approaching to a centre, _each tortoise_ is in a
square, and in the two external angles of each square is an _Egg_. The
_tortoise_ and _the egg_, are both National emblems, and the Nation
claiming them will be proved in the Analogies.
"In the front was a broad avenue with a line of ruins on each side,
leading beyond the wall to a great mound of ruins: and beyond this a
lofty building in the rear. Between the two was a large _patio_, or
courtyard, with corridors on each side, and the ground of the
courtyard sounded hollow. In one place, the surface was broken, and I
descended into _a large excavation, cemented_, which probably had been
intended as a granary. [Rather as a _water_ reservoir] At the back of
the courtyard, on a high, broken terrace, which it was difficult to
climb, was another edifice more ruined than the others, but which from
the style of its remains, and its commanding position, overlooking
every other building [except the first described] and apparently
having been connected with the distant mass of ruins in front, must
have been one of the most important in the City, perhaps the principal
Temple. The whole presented a scene of barbaric (?) magnificence,
utterly confounding all previous notions in regard to the Aboriginal
inhabitants of this Country; and calling up emotions which had not
been wakened to the same extent by any thing we had yet seen."
"There was one strange circumstance connected with these ruins--viz.,
no water had ever been discovered, and there was not a single stream,
fountain, or well, nearer than the Hacienda, a mile and a half
distant. It is supposed that the face of the Country had not changed;
and that somewhere under ground must exist great wells, cisterns or
reservoirs [perhaps acquaducts] which supplied the former inhabitants
of the City with water." * * * * * "While I was making the circuit of
these ruins, Mr. Catherwood proceeded to the _Casa del Gobernador_; it
indicates the principal building of the old City, or _royal_ house.
(?) It _is the grandest in position_, the _most stately in
Architecture and proportions, and the most perfect in preservation_
of all the structures remaining at Uxmal."
The same argument brought forward in the last Section, to prove that
the chief edifice of Palenque was the _Temple_, and not the Palace,
will apply to this supposed "royal house." As to the phrase _"Casa del
Gobernador_"--or Governor's house,--it is the name by which it is
called in the neighbourhood, and can have no bearing upon the true
character of the edifice,--but the very superior preservation of the
building would point it to be one held Sacred from any rude assault by
the people; while its Architecture, importance of its position, and
magnitude, at once justify the name of Temple being given to this
edifice, and as such we shall view it. Mr. Stephens appears to be so
strict a Spartan Republican, that every large, or magnificent building
in the Ruined Cities, he considers to be a _Palace_,--he seems to have
thought less of mind, than of matter.
"This edifice [Temple] stands on three ranges of terraces. The first
terrace is _six hundred and forty feet long, and five feet_ high. It
is walled with _cut stone_, and on the top is a _platform twenty feet
broad_, from which rises another terrace _fifteen feet_ high. At the
corners this terrace is supported by cut stones, having the faces
rounded so as to give a better finish than with sharp angles. The
great platform is flat. At the south-east corner of this platform is a
row of {ROUND} _pillars eighteen inches in diameter_, and three or four
feet high, [_i. e._ broken pillars] extending about one hundred feet
along the platform; and these were the _nearest approach to pillars_
or _columns_ (circular) that we saw in all our exploration of ruins of
that country."
What "nearer approach" was necessary to prove the existence of
circular columns, than his own description? Of this hereafter,--again
he writes:
"In the middle of the terrace, along an avenue leading to a range of
steps, was a _broken round pillar_, inclined and falling, and with
trees growing around it. In the centre of the platform, at a distance
of two hundred and five feet from the border in front, is a range of
stone steps, more than a hundred feet broad, and thirty-five in
number, ascending to a third terrace, fifteen feet above the last, and
thirty-five feet from the ground; which being on a naked plain, formed
a most commanding position. The erection of these terraces alone was
an immense work. _On the third terrace_, with its principal doorway
facing the range of steps, stands the noble structure. [Temple] The
façade measures _three hundred and twenty feet_. Away from the regions
of dreadful rains, and the rank growth which smothers the Ruins of
Palenque,--it stands with all its walls erect, and almost as perfect
as when deserted by the inhabitants. The _whole building is of stone_,
plain up to the moulding that runs along the tops of the doorway, and
above filled with the same rich, strange, and elaborate Sculpture;
among which is particularly conspicuous, the ornament before referred
to, as _la grecque_."
By a reference to the illustrated folio of Waldeck, it is found that
this ornament is chiefly the meander, or the Grecian square border,
used in the embroidery of the mantles and robes of Attica.
"There is no rudeness or barbarity in the design or proportions; on
the contrary, the whole wears an air of Architectural symmetry and
grandeur; and as the stranger ascends the steps, and casts a
bewildered eye along its open and desolate doors, it is hard to
believe, that he sees before him the work of a race in whose epitaph,
as written by historians,[3] they are called ignorant of Art, and said
to have perished in the rudeness of savage life."
[3] Dr. Robertson and others.
In justice to those historians, it should be stated, that they did not
know of these architectural wonders; for if they did, no excuse can be
rendered in extenuation of such an "epitaph"--thence has arisen the
necessity of a New History of Ancient America; to, at least, the
landing of Columbus; and even that will now wear another aspect. Mr.
Stephens, in the last sentence quoted, justly reasons upon, and
correctly censures the false conclusions of those historians;--yet a
few pages before, he, himself, calls the _tout ensemble_ of the Uxmal
Ruins, with all the beautiful Sculpture, and Classical ornaments, "a
scene of _barbaric_ magnificence!" He seems afraid to combat with even
the assertions of those Historians, whose "epitaph" upon an entire
people, was written in ignorance of their works of Art. He says, "_it
is hard to believe_" that they "perished in the rudeness of savage
life,"--why, with such a gorgeous "scene" as that of Uxmal before him,
_it was an impossibility_ that they could so have perished, either in
the mind, or in history. The Ruins and Temple of Uxmal, he says,
present "a scene of _barbaric_ magnificence!" _if they do_,--either to
himself or his readers, then were Athens and the Acropolis barbaric,
and Pericles and Phidias barbarians!
"But there was one thing which seemed in strange want of conformity
with all the rest. I have mentioned that at Ocosingo [Ruins] we saw a
_wooden beam_, and at Pelanque, the remains of a wooden pole; at this
place [Uxmal] _all the lintels had been of wood, and throughout the
ruins, most of them were still in their places over the doors_. The
lintels were heavy beams, eight or nine feet long, eighteen or twenty
inches wide, and twelve or fourteen thick; the wood like that of
Ocosingo, was very hard, and rang under the blow of the machete."
From a further description, it appears that this peculiar wood was
brought from a distance of three hundred miles. Waldeck says, that it
is more durable than _lignum vitæ_, and is called by the natives
_jovillo_. The strength of this wood is thus shewn by Mr. Stephens:
"The position of these lintels was most trying, as they were obliged
to support a solid mass of stone wall, _fourteen or sixteen feet high,
and three or four feet in thickness_."
From a calculation of the measurements around the base of the
principal terrace, or pyramidal elevation, the entire distance is _two
thousand five hundred and sixty feet_. The Temple, which stands upon a
third terrace, is fronting to the East,--_i. e._ to the rising
Sun,--the chief object of Worship.
"In the centre [of the Temple], and opposite the range of steps
leading to the terrace, are three principal doorways. The middle one
is eight feet six inches wide, and eight feet ten inches high; the
others are of the same height, but two feet less in width. The centre
door opens into an apartment sixty feet long, and twenty-seven feet
deep [wide], which is divided into two corridors by a wall three and a
half feet thick, with a door of communication between, of the same
size with the door of entrance. The _plan is the same_ as that of the
Corridor in front of the Palace (?) of Palenque, except that here the
Corridor does not run the whole length of the building, and the back
Corridor has no door of egress. The ceiling forms a _triangular Arch_,
without the Key-stone, as at Palenque."
The term "triangular _Arch_" cannot be admitted by the language of
Architecture; he might as well have written _triangular semicircle_,
terms distinctly opposed to each other. It is essential to notice this
inaccuracy here, otherwise the reader may be under the erroneous
impression, that the _Arch_ does exist in the ancient Ruins in
America,--this is not the fact; but _the entire absence of the Arch,
or its principle_, enables us to form an Architectural conclusion in
reference to their identity; and the fact, _that the Arch does not
exist_ in any of the Ruins of Ancient America, cannot be too forcibly
impressed upon the reader's mind; for it demonstrates that these
buildings were erected _before the Arch was known_, and as a
consequence, is a direct proof of their great antiquity. Mr. Stephens
has already written in reference to Palenque, and previously quoted,
"The builders were evidently ignorant of the principles of the Arch."
"The ceiling, &c.: but, instead of the rough stones overlapping or
being covered with stucco, (as at Palenque) the layers of stones are
bevilled as they rise, _and present an even and a polished_ surface.
Throughout, the laying and the polishing of the stones are as perfect
as under the rules of the best modern masonry. In this apartment we
determined to take up our abode, and _under a roof, tight_ as when
sheltering the heads of its former occupants." * * * * * "We were not
buried in the forest as at Palenque. From every part of the terrace we
looked over a field of ruins." * * * * "From the centre apartment, the
divisions on each wing corresponded exactly in size and finish; and
the same uniformity was preserved in the ornaments. Throughout, the
roof was tight, and the apartments were dry. In one apartment, the
walls were _coated with a very fine plaister of Paris_, (?) equal to
the best seen on walls in this country. (United States) The rest were
all of _smooth polished stone_. There were no paintings, stucco
ornaments, Sculptured tablets, or other decoration whatever."
Mr. Stephens then relates the finding in a ruined Chamber, of "_A beam
of wood_, (_i. e._ the jovillo) about ten feet long, and very heavy,
which had fallen from its place over the doorway. On the face was a
line of characters _carved_ or stamped (?) almost obliterated, but
which we made out to be _hieroglyphics_; and so far as we could
understand them _similar to those at Copan and Palenque_. I cannot
help deploring the misfortune of not being assured of the safety of
this beam. _By what feeble light the pages of American History are
written_! There are at Uxmal no Idols as at Copan,--not a single
stuccoed figure, or carved tablet, as at Palenque. Except this beam of
_hieroglyphics_, though searching earnestly, we did not discover any
one absolute point of resemblance."
The _hieroglyphics_ of all the ruins bind them together as one People;
the difference in the finish of the edifices, and their varied states
of preservation, at once point to different ages in which they were
erected. A principal ornament at equi-distances in the outward cornice
is important, and is thus described by Stephens, and strictly agrees
with the folio work by Waldeck.
"It is the face of a death's-head, _with wings expanded_, and rows of
teeth projecting, in effect somewhat like the figure of _a
death's-head on tombstones with us_. It is two feet across the wings,
and has a stone staple about two feet long, by which it was fastened
to the wall."
In Waldeck's beautiful illustrations of these ruins, some feet below
this winged death's-head, are the cross-bones distinct, and below
these, is a human figure (male) in full maturity, and naked, except
the shoulders and head, standing with his arms _crossed_ "in sorrow's
knot." These Sculptures appear upon, what Waldeck calls the Pyramid of
Kingsborough,--so named, as before stated, in compliment to Lord
Kingsborough, for his costly work upon the Paintings of Mexico. [7
vols. folio.] Well may Stephens say, there are no "Idols" here as at
Copan. _Heathen_ language is not seen in the Sculpture of Uxmal; the
_Christian_ language alone can translate the above emblems of the
Resurrection! The translation of the above Sculpture seems as easy, as
if a DANIEL had already read the handwriting on the wall! as thus--The
human figure, in full life and maturity, together with the sex,
presents mortality; over the figure the _cross-bones_ are placed,
portraying the figure's earthly death; while the skull supported by
expanding wings, (and this Sculpture being placed above those of life
and death,) presents the immortal Soul ascending on the wings of Time,
above all earthly life, or the corruption of the grave! "On tombstones
with us" a better design could not have been formed by Art to enforce
the belief in the Resurrection. The beauty of this subject has led us
into digression, for it belongs to the third volume. Campbell will
apologize for us--
"Coming events cast their shadow before."
Mr. Stephens continues:--
"The reader will be able to form some idea of the time, skill, and
labour, required for making them [the edifices]; and more than this,
to conceive the immense time, skill, and labour required for carving
[sculpturing] such a surface of stone; and the wealth, power, and
cultivation of the people who could command such skill and labour for
the mere decoration of the edifices. Probably all these ornaments have
a symbolical meaning; [they certainly have] each stone is part of an
_allegory_ or _fable_ (?) hidden from us, inscrutable under the light
of the feeble torch we may burn before it, but which, _if ever
revealed, will shew that the History of the World yet remains to be
written_."
With all humility we have attempted to "reveal" one portion of the
Sculpture, (others will follow)--but the emblems of Christianity and
the Resurrection, can form no part "of an allegory or fable;" and
truly has the History of the World yet to be written, when historians
in ignorance of the Ruins, have traced the Aborigines, who built the
gorgeous edifices of Palenque and Uxmal, to have lived and perished in
a savage life! From the character of the Sculpture, and its devices,
Uxmal is placed by us as the last built of all the Ancient Cities as
yet discovered on the Western Continent.
Having made sufficient extracts from Mr. Stephens's work on "Central
America," in illustration of Copan, Palenque, and Uxmal, the principal
Cities of Ruins; the Traveller's reflections upon his explorations
will now be given, and his conclusions met and refuted. We desire,
before we commence the following Chapter of refutation, to impress
the reader's mind with the importance of a complete removal of the
conclusions, arrived at by Mr. Stephens in regard to these Ruins;--for
if he is right, we are stopped at the very threshold of our History.
We confess this with all honesty, and desire thereby to arouse the
minute attention of the reader to the several points of
refutation,--to analyze them critically, and to yield nothing,--but
from conviction of foregone errors and false conclusions.
In conformity with the rule of argument with which this volume was
commenced, we presume that the preceding Chapter completely
establishes in the mind of the reader, that Ancient Cities and Ruins
have been discovered in Mexican America; in this belief, the History
will be continued, and the Builders and Architecture identified.
CHAPTER VI.
A REVIEW OF THE REFLECTIONS OF MR. STEPHENS UPON THE RUINS OF
MEXICAN AMERICA--HIS CONCLUSIONS FOUNDED UPON FALSE PREMISES--HIS
ERRORS DETECTED BY HIS OWN CONTRADICTIONS--RESTORATION OF THE
TEMPLE OF UXMAL--HIS CHIEF MOTIVE APPARENT--HIS ARGUMENTS AND
CONCLUSIONS REFUTED--AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE RUINS IDENTIFIED
AND ESTABLISHED--REMARKS UPON ROBERTSON'S HISTORY OF AMERICA.
The interesting Traveller in his last chapter but one of his Second
Volume on "Central America," says--
"I have finished the explorations of ruins,--and here I would be
willing to part, and to leave the reader to wander alone, and at will
through the labyrinth of mystery which hangs over these ruined cities;
but it would be craven to do so without turning for a moment to the
important question. _Who were the people that built these cities?_ I
shall narrow down this question to a ground even yet sufficiently
broad,--viz., a _comparison of these remains with those of the
Architecture and Sculpture of other ages and people_."
It is upon this "ground" of his own choosing that we propose to attack
his manœuvring,--it is the only field of argument where the
necessary truth can be elicited; and he cannot object if his
apparently fortified positions should be attacked, and if not
sufficiently defended, he will not wonder that they should be
demolished or overthrown; and if we cannot succeed in so doing, we are
willing to admit, that his "Conclusions" will be to this work what the
heir-apparent of the Scottish throne was to Macbeth; and the same
words (except one) will speak our frank confession--viz.
"The Prince of Travellers! That is a step
On which I must fall down, _or else o'er-leap_,
For in my way it lies."
He writes:
"I set out with the proposition that they are not Cyclopean, and do
not resemble the works of Greek or Roman."
We admit the negative to the first and last proposition, but not to
the second,--for the sculpture at Uxmal is not only as fine, but
distinctly of a Grecian character: the meander, or square running
border, is essentially Grecian; and even his own description,--viz.,
"Composition of leaves and flowers, and the ornaments known everywhere
as _grecques_." Here is the distinct phrase of his own selection,
brought as evidence against his conclusion on the second proposition.
The engravings in Waldeck's folio work of the same Ruins,
substantiate every description by Stephens, as being correct: the
whole façades have, to the eye, an appearance in regard to the
character of the ornaments, which compels the looker-on to exclaim,
"_Grecian knowledge has been there!_"
"There is nothing in Europe like them. [the Ruins] We must then look
to Asia or Africa. It has been supposed that at different periods of
time, _vessels from Japan and China have been thrown_ UPON THE WESTERN
_coast of America_. [_i. e._ on the Pacific Ocean] The civilization,
cultivation, and science of those countries are known to date back
from a very early antiquity."
The latter sentence does not admit of question; but that the Chinese
or Japanese possessed navigation, with "its means and appliances," at
a period to meet these Ruins, or to cover "a very early antiquity,"
cannot for a moment be sustained by history or even tradition.
Mr. Stephens does not claim China and Japan as the nations building
these Cities, but rejects them upon the ground of Architectural
comparison. We instantly join in this decision, and to it add the
impossibility from the want of navigable means; but, says the
Traveller, the supposition is, that they (the vessels) were "_thrown
upon the Western_ coast of America," and thereby expressing that the
arrival of those vessels was _accidental_. We will prove the
impossibility of this,--for any vessel in the North _Pacific_ Ocean,
having left China or Japan, and becoming unmanageable from loss of
rudder, the prevailing _East-wind_ would not only _prevent_ the
vessel from reaching the _Western_ coast of America, _but actually
would drive the ship_ BACK _to China or Japan_! This last sentence is
not given to refute Mr. Stephens, but those writers who may have (as
he states) even "supposed" the possibility of vessels being
accidentally "thrown upon the _Western_ coast of America." Nature
would prevent it. This celebrated "East-wind" we shall have occasion
to analyze and explain, in the investigation of the first voyage
around the Continent of Africa by the Tyrians. In the _Pacific_ Ocean
the East wind would prevent _accidental_ arrival on the shores of the
Western Continent; but in the _Atlantic_ Ocean the same wind would aid
and expedite such an arrival, which, however, would be upon the
_Eastern_, and not the _Western_ coast of America!
"The monuments of India have been made familiar to us. The remains of
Hindu architecture exhibit immense excavations in the rock, either
entirely artificial, or made by enlarging natural caverns, supported
in front by large columns cut out of the rock, with a dark gloomy
interior. Among all these American Ruins there is not a single
excavation. The surface of the country abounding in mountain sides,
seems to invite it; but, instead of being under ground, the striking
feature of these Ruins is, that the buildings _stand on lofty
artificial elevations_; and it can hardly be supposed that a people
emigrating to a new country, with that strong natural impulse to
perpetuate, and retain under their eyes _memorials of home_, would
have gone so directly counter to _National and Religious
associations_."
The reasoning in the latter part of the foregone extract, is founded
upon Nature, and therefore just,--it cannot be shaken,--it cannot be
even assaulted;--we claim this admission, however, for our own
position also, when in the next chapter we bring forward the "memorials
of home," and the "national and religious associations,"--for upon the
Analogies, the corner-stone of this Epoch is founded.
"In Sculpture, too, the Hindus differ entirely. Their subjects are far
more hideous, being, in general, representations of human beings,
distorted, deformed, and unnatural,--very often many-headed, or with
three or four arms and legs thrown out from the same body."
The Hindu is rejected, and justly, from the want of similitude; the
field is now narrowed for the combat,--the argument is brought, in his
estimation, to _one nation_ only.
"_Lastly_, we come to the Egyptian. The point of resemblance upon
which the great stress has been laid, is the Pyramid. The pyramidal
form is one which suggests itself to human intelligence _in every
country_, as the simplest and surest mode of _erecting a high
structure_ upon a solid foundation."
We grant that the first suggestion of an habitation would be of a
pyramidal character, as instanced in the tents of wandering tribes,
formed by poles rising from a base, more or less broad, and meeting in
a common centre; but we deny that the "pyramidal form" is one
followed "in every country," as a principle for rearing "a high
structure." If it was so generally practised, why is Egypt the _only
country_ where it is found? Why did not China, Japan, Hindustan,
Greece, and Rome practise it? Egypt alone claims it as an
Architectural practice,--the principle of the Pyramid identifies her
amid the wreck of Empires,--it stands out on her _tableau_ of History
as the prominent characteristic,--it was, and is, nowhere found but in
the Nation of the Nile, and now in the Ruins of Ancient America! In
the latter country the Aborigines modified and improved upon the
original; but sufficient is shewn there, even in the base of the
pyramid, to proclaim the association of the builders with Egyptian
_knowledge_; nor does it follow that the Architects of Palenque should
have been, of necessity, Egyptians.
"The pyramidal form cannot be regarded as a ground for assigning _a
common origin to all people_, among whom structures of that
_character_ are found, unless the similarity is preserved in its most
striking features."
The Traveller says, "to all people." [_i. e._ nations]
Why, his own rejections prove that _no other people_ practised the
pyramid but the Egyptian,--upon that fact is he now arguing; for
having failed to find the pyramidal form in all the nations of the
earth, he says, "_Lastly_, we come to the Egyptian."
If in America _an entire_ pyramid, from base to apex, had been found,
he would not have rejected the useless mass, but instantly have
claimed it for Egyptian; _or of that nation only_, having intimate
knowledge of, and association with, that country. Why then reject,--or
rather why does he not bring forward the same reasoning when _the
essential part_ of the pyramid is found there? It will be shewn why he
did not advance it.
"The Pyramids [of Egypt] are peculiar and uniform, and were invariably
erected for the same uses and purposes, so far as those uses and
purposes are known. They are all square at the base, _with steps
rising_ and diminishing until they come to a point."
The general truth of the previous quotation is apparent; but that the
Pyramids of Egypt had "_steps_" in their _original_ construction,
cannot be supported by any History, or by the absolute facts visible
even at the present day. _All their sides were smooth_; and commencing
at the apex in placing the facial stones, the "_steps_" were used as
successive scaffolds from the base to the top. On the following page
to the above extract, Mr. Stephens contradicts his own reasoning, and
when that can be proved in the work of any Author, no other refutation
of a false conclusion is required. We have shewn that he says the
Egyptian Pyramids had "_steps rising_" and in the very next page he
writes--
"Herodotus says, that in his time [484 B. C.] the great Pyramid was
coated with stone, _so as to present a smooth surface_--[consequently
_no_ "steps rising"]--on all its sides from the base to the top. The
second Pyramid of Ghizeh, called the Pyramid of Cephrenes, _in its
present condition_ (1842), presents on the _lower_ part ranges of
steps, with an accumulation of _angular_ [triangular] stones at the
base, which _originally_ filled up the interstices between the steps,
but have fallen down. _In the upper part_ the intermediate layers are
still in their places, and _the sides present a smooth surface to the
top_. [Thus is Herodotus confirmed.] There is no doubt that
_originally_, every Pyramid of Egypt _was built with its sides
perfectly smooth_. _The_ STEPS _formed no part of the plan_! [This is
true, but a direct denial of himself.] It is in this state only that
they ought to be considered, and in this state _any possible
resemblance_ between them and what are called the Pyramids of America,
_ceases_!"
Now not only does the Traveller contradict himself in writing of the
original character of the Egyptian Pyramids, but worse,--a direct
denial of himself upon the ground that the American cannot be
Egyptian, because all "resemblance ceases" upon contemplating the
_sides_ of the structures of both countries in their original
character,--or in other words, if the American Pyramid (or any part of
it) had been derived from Egypt, the sides would have been faced with
stone, so as to present a smooth surface. Granted. Here follows, then,
his own description, where the fact of identity is established at
Palenque!
"The Palace [Temple] stands on an artificial elevation of an oblong
form, forty feet high, three hundred and ten feet in front and rear,
and two hundred and sixty feet on each side. _This elevation_
[pyramidal] _was formerly faced with stone, which has been thrown
down_ by the growth of trees."
We have here a distinct and an admitted analogy between the original
characteristic of the Egyptian and the American Pyramids,--proved upon
the very point [the sides] brought forward by him to negate the
proposition, and from his own words. Again; at the base of the Pyramid
of Cephrenes (Egypt), the triangular stones that formed the smooth
sides are still perceptible; so, also, are they to be seen at the base
of the Pyramid of Palenque,--each stone an oracular witness against
his "conclusive consideration." He objects to similitude upon another
ground, and again refutes himself,--viz.:
"The Pyramids of Egypt are all square at the base,--the nearest
approach to this _is at Copan_; but even at that place there is no
entire Pyramid standing alone and disconnected,--_nor one with four
sides complete_, but only _two_, or at most _three sides_, and
intended to form part of other structures."
At Copan (as we have shewn) the very measurement of the base is within
a few feet and (from errors in sum total by different authors) may
justly be regarded as identical in size with the great Pyramid of
Egypt. It has, it is true, but three sides (pyramidal); the fourth
being on the river, consists of a perpendicular wall, identical in
height to the sea-wall of Tyrus. In Egypt they had no river-walls that
were perpendicular. But why does he select Copan only, to prove
whether _four sides_ existed? Why not again review Palenque? His
_motive_ is not concealed with the proverbial ingenuity of his
country; for at Palenque the _four_-sided pyramidal structure is
found, both in his description and in his map of locality, where no
less than _five_ "Casas" (houses) are presented on pyramidal bases,
having distinctly _four sides_, and three of them square; nor is this
all, _the Temple of Palenque itself_ stands on a pyramidal elevation,
having distinctly _four sides_!
As he read a "Congressional" document in the Ruins of Palenque, by the
light of "fire beetles," it would almost appear that he formed his
"_conclusions_" by the same uncertain midnight lamps;--for from such
treacherous and deceptive flames has he illumined the historical
portion of his volumes; but yet the glimmering of the "feeble light"
is sufficient to discover his hidden motive.
We now bring forward a contradiction more astonishing than all the
preceding: and but that his volumes are before us, it would scarcely
be credited from the pen of any critic. Vol. ii., p. 439, he writes--
"Besides, the Pyramids of Egypt are known to have _interior chambers_,
and whatever their other uses, to have been intended and _used as
sepulchres_. These (American), on the contrary, are of solid earth and
stone. No INTERIOR CHAMBERS _have ever been discovered, and probably
none exist_!"
In the _first_ volume (p. 143), in writing of the pyramidal structure
rising from the centre of the Temple of Copan, is the following
description, and which was reserved from the details of that City, to
prove this contradiction.
"On each side of the centre of the steps is a mound of ruins,
apparently of a circular tower. _About halfway up the steps_ [of the
pyramidal base] on this side, is a pit [_i. e._ descent] five feet
square and seventeen feet deep, cased with stone. At the bottom is an
opening two feet four inches high, with a wall one foot nine inches
thick, _which leads to a_ CHAMBER (!) _ten feet long, five feet eight
inches wide, and four feet high_. _At each end is a niche_ one foot
nine inches high, one foot eight inches deep, and two feet five inches
long. Colonel Galindo first broke into this SEPULCHRAL VAULT
["chamber"] and found the niches and the ground full of red
earthenware, dishes, and pottery, [Egyptian again] _more than fifty_
of which, he says, _were full of human bones_, packed in lime. Also
several sharp-edged and pointed knives of chaya; _a small_
DEATH'S-HEAD _carved in fine green stone_, its eyes nearly closed, the
lower features distorted, the back symmetrically perforated with
holes, _the whole of exquisite workmanship_!"
This last sentence brings us to a specimen of _Gem engraving_, the
most ancient of all the antique works of Art. Not only is the death
"Chamber" identical with that of Egypt, _but also the very way of
reaching it_--viz., first, by _ascending_ the pyramidal base, and
then _descending_, and so entering the Sepulchre! This could not be
accidental,--the builders of that pyramidal Sepulchre must have had a
_knowledge_ of Egypt.
The foregone "self-denials" (so valued in man under other aspects),
lose all their virtue when exerted to sustain fallacious premises. It
might be thought that enough has been brought forward to refute his
conclusions; but we desire to operate upon this subject, as Tobin
says, "Like the skilful surgeon, who cuts _beyond_ the wound to make
the cure complete."
"Again," he writes, "columns [circular] are a distinguishing feature
of Egyptian architecture. There is not a Temple on the Nile without
them; and the reader will bear in mind, _that among the whole of these
ruins_, NOT ONE COLUMN _has been found_! If this Architecture had been
_derived from_ the Egyptians, so striking and important a feature
would never have been thrown aside."
We admit the force of the preceding extract, so far as relates to the
circular column being a feature in the Architecture of the Nile; and
that they would also be found in America, if the edifices in that
country were of, or "_derived from_," Egypt; while we admit this
reasoning, we at once deny the truth of the assertion, that the round
column _has not_ been found in the Ruins of Ancient America. This
denial is given upon the unimpeachable authority of Humboldt, who, in
his illustrations of the Ruins of Mitla, gives by writing, as well as
by pictorial description, the _circular_ columns distinct! The denial
is also founded upon the grave authority of Mr. Stephens himself,--for
he (as Baron Humboldt) testifies to the fact both by pen and pencil.
First, will be quoted from his pen. In vol. ii., p. 428, in writing of
the Ruins of Uxmal, he says--
"At the South-east corner of this platform [of the Temple] is _a row
of_ ROUND PILLARS, _eighteen inches in diameter_, and three or four
feet high [broken], extending about one hundred feet along the
platform; and these were the _nearest approach_ (!) _to pillars or
columns_ that we saw in all our exploration of the ruins of that
country."
Now in the name of Reason, and all its attributes, could there be a
"nearer approach" _to circular columns_, than "_round pillars_?" Are
they not identical? The proposition can only be answered in the
affirmative; and as a consequence, it becomes absolute from the
identity. Again--
"In the middle of the terrace, along an avenue leading to a range of
steps, was _a broken round pillar_, inclined and falling, with trees
growing around it."
We will now refer to his map, or ground-plan of the Temple of Uxmal,
drawn by his artist, the accurate Catherwood--(vol. ii., p. 428-9). On
that plan there are _two rows of circular columns_ in parallel
lines,--one row is perfect, and contains eleven columns, the other is
imperfect, and presents six columns; but, as dotted on the plan, and
when the parallel lines were not in ruin, contained twenty-two "round
pillars:" though from the appearance of the ground-plan, it is almost
demonstrated that the two rows of columns were continued around the
entire platform-terrace, forming a grand Colonnade, like those of
Palmyra, or that facing the church of St. Peter's at Rome, but a
square instead of a circular area. The columns at Uxmal are given as
"eighteen inches in diameter;" this multiplied by eight (the medium
calculation) would give each an altitude of twelve feet. On the plan
(by measuring from the scale given) the line of one row of the columns
extends one hundred and forty feet, its parallel the same; each column
is ten feet from its associate; the same distance exactly is between
the parallel rows, thus proving a perfect knowledge of Architectural
design! Pursuing the same scale of measurement (as the ground-plan
authorizes), the entire Colonnade of Uxmal contained originally, _two
hundred and thirty circular columns_! In the centre of the area in
front of the Temple (and holding the same locality as the single
Obelisk in front of St. Peter's, at Rome), is the ruin of the solitary
"broken round Pillar," and compared with the other columns on the Map,
is _six feet in diameter_, and this multiplied by _ten_ (for capital
and ornament on the summit,--perhaps originally an emblem of the Sun),
would give this single column an altitude of _sixty feet_! This is a
_circular_, not a square column. The foregone Architectural analysis
is not given by Stephens, but we have taken as a basis the rude
ground-plan given, and have thus resuscitated the Colonnade of Uxmal,
which formed the approach to the great Temple.[4]
[4] Upon the preceding principle, for the convenience of
reference, we have produced the following: and we predict, should
any other Cities or Ruins he discovered in Yucatan, that they will
possess the same general characteristics,--and consequently will
not injure this History,--but will rather tend to support it.
RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE OF UXMAL, YUCATAN: _viz._--
_First Terrace_, 640 feet long on each of the four sides, 5 feet high,
steps in centre on the several sides.
_First Platform_, 20 feet broad.
_Second Terrace_, 600 feet on each of the sides, 15 feet high, steps
also in centre.
_Second Platform_, 205 feet to base of third terrace.
_Third Terrace_, 400 feet at base; 35 steps, six inches tread; entire
depth 110 feet.
_Third Platform_, 30 feet, to the front of the Temple; all the
Terraces are cased with cut stone.
_Façade_ of Temple, 320 feet: walls to first Cornice 25 feet high.
_Three doorways_, centre, 8 feet 6 inches wide, 8 feet 10 inches
high; the two lateral doorways the same height as the centre, and 6
feet 6 inches wide.
_Colonnade_, or Second Platform, composed of 230 circular columns,
each 12 feet high, and 18 inches in diameter; in two rows; the
columns 10 feet apart.
_The Single Altar-Column_, 6 feet diameter, and 60 feet high, in
centre of area.
_Base of First Terrace_, 2560 feet!
_Sculptured walls of the Temple_, 40,960 superficial feet!
_The Three Artificial Terraces_ contain 72,800 cubic feet! G. J.
On the Map of the ruin now under consideration, and directly beneath
the "round pillars," is written the following sentence by Stephens
himself, to illustrate the meaning of the circular dots on the
plan,--the words are, "_Remains of Columns_!"
How can he then reconcile from his own descriptions, that "not one
Column has been found?" "If," says he, "this Architecture had been
derived from the Egyptians, so striking and important a feature [_i.
e._ circular Columns] would never have been thrown aside." Well then,
the "important feature" has _not_ "been thrown aside," and
consequently from his own reasoning, the Architecture was (conjoined
with the pyramidal bases) "_derived_ from the Egyptian." We believe
distinctly, that the Architecture was "derived from"--in other
words--_borrowed_ from,--the edifices of the Nile;--but, not built by
the Egyptians themselves. In regard to another branch of Art, he
commits himself in the same manner as when writing of Architecture.
"Next, as to Sculpture. The idea of resemblance in this particular has
been so often and so confidently expressed, that I almost hesitate to
declare the total want of similarity."
There should indeed be hesitation upon a subject, so capable of
denying a conclusion, directly opposed to occular demonstration.
"If there be any resemblance [to the Egyptian] at all striking, it is
only that the figures, are in _profile_, and this is equally true of
all good Sculpture in _bas-relief_."
Why does he select "_bas-relievo_" only,--why not bring forth
_alto-relievo_,--also,--for they are both found in Egypt and America.
The Altar at Copan, and the walls at Palenque present _profile_
figures and in _bas-relievo_,--so does the Vocal Memnon of Thebes,
and the walls of Egypt: at Palenque the two figures grouped at the
Altar (of Casa, No. 3) are in profile, and face to face, with the Mask
of Saturn between them, and holding the same general position as the
two figures of the Vocal Memnon,--who are also face to face, and in
profile,--but instead of the mask, they have the Egyptian Tau =T=
between them, and in the act of binding it with the lotus plant. But
he objects to similitude apparently from the want of analogy in the
physiognomy, or profile characteristics of the relative figures of
Egypt and America. This certainly then must prove that they were a
different people; this we distinctly believe;--but, that that people
had knowledge of Egyptian Architecture and Sculpture, _from commercial
intercourse with the Nile_. _Alto-Relievo_ Sculpture is in America and
Egypt:--in the former country, on the Idol-columns of Copan; in the
latter nation, upon the Capitals of the Temple Columns;--and in both
countries the faces are _not in profile_, but full front. The profile
figures being on Temples, were supposed to be _deified_, and
consequently the facial outlines were represented different from human
outline.
Again:--What are the Obelisks of Egypt? Are they not _square columns_
for the facility of Sculpture? and of what form are the isolated
columns at Copan? Are they not _square_, and for the same purpose of
facility in Sculpture with which they are covered, and with
workmanship "as fine as that of Egypt?" This is a point that Mr.
Stephens has passed over without even a comment! The Columns of Copan
stand detached and solitary,--the Obelisks of Egypt do the same, and
both are square (or four-sided) and covered with the art of the
Sculptor. The analogy of being derived from the Nile is perfect,--for
in what other Ruins but those of Egypt, and Ancient America, is the
_square sculptured Column_ to be found? He affects to despise the
Idol-Obelisks of Copan, because they do not tower in a single stone,
"ninety-feet" in height like those of Egypt,--that they could not "be
derived from" the latter country, because they are only one-sixth of
the altitude of their prototypes!
Has Mr. Stephens then travelled amid the giant Ruins of Memphis and
Thebes, and gazed upon the Pyramids of Ghizeh, unconscious of _their_
history, as of the Ruins in America? Has he yet to learn, that
captives and prisoners of war, numbering their thousands, by tens and
hundreds, built the former? _Freemen built the latter, and
consequently they are less in grandeur!_ Strange and original as this
assertion may appear, it is no less philosophically, than historically
true. What points out Egypt from the wreck of Empires, even at this
day?--her Colossal Pyramids and Temples! What preserves ancient Rome
amid all the Ruins of Italy, and in present grandeur?--her giant
Coliseum! Who built these wonders of even the modern world? Cheops and
Sesostris, Vespasian and Titus? They indeed commanded that they should
be erected as trophies of their power;--but, who were the _workmen_,
the actual builders and labourers? There is not a Pyramid, or Temple
of Egypt, upon which the hand of a Freeman aided in building!
_Millions of Captives_, made by the Egyptian kings, and especially by
Sesostris, during his nine years foreign warfare, were sent to Egypt,
from Arabia, Africa, and Asia,--his pride and vainglory were, that
posterity should know his Conquests _by the magnitude of his
Edifices,--for being built by his Captives_, modern art might easily
realize the extent, and to him, grandeur of his victories. The
useless, and unsupporting Pyramid of the Nile, may well serve for the
emblem of Cheops, or the vainglorious Sesostris! Who were the builders
and labourers of the Coliseum? _Ninety-seven thousand captives, and
believers in The Only God!_ That human slaughterhouse of Rome, is
cemented from its base to its cornice, with the sighs and blood of
Jerusalem! _When_ LIBERTY _lays the corner-stone_,--Utility is the
Architect,--Grace and Beauty the Sculptors,--and Freemen the builders
and artizans: these combined, useless Magnificence can never cross the
threshold, or Slavery breathe upon the Altar!
The absence of the Arch in all the Ruins of America will, also,
identify those ancient cities with a nation having a Knowledge of, and
contemporaneous with, Egypt,--for the Arch is not to be found in the
cities of the Nile--nor was it at Sidon or Tyrus. The Arch was
invented by the Greeks, but seldom practised by them, as they did not
think it graceful,--the Romans did, and consequently used it upon
nearly every occasion. Not only does the absence of the Arch point
out Egypt as a contemporaneous nation with the builders in America,
(this is omitted by Mr. Stephens) but the manner of forming their
ceilings is distinctly imitated at Ocosingo, Palenque, and Uxmal:--for
the ceilings there are formed by stones lapping over each other (like
reversed steps) till they reach a centre, or such small distance from
each other, that a single stone will bind them. At Uxmal the ceiling
is smooth-surfaced, like a pyramidal, or gable-end ceiling. In vol.
ii., p. 313, he says, "The ceiling of each corridor was in this form.
[Described above.] _The builders were evidently ignorant of the
principles of the Arch_; and the support was made by stones lapping
over as they rose, as at Ocosingo," &c. It will be remembered that at
Palenque, the principal part of the architectural ornaments are of
_stucco_ and as "hard as stone." "The whole front [of the Temple] was
covered with _stucco_ and _painted_." The reader who may be familiar
with descriptions of the wonders of the Nile by Legh, Wilkinson, and
Belzoni, will recognise at once that "painted stucco" is also
Egyptian:--but, this comparison is avoided by Mr. Stephens; as, also,
the following artistical fact and analogy, which is found at Memphis
and other cities of Egypt--viz., "On the top of one [_i. e._ stucco
figures at Palenque] _are three hieroglyphics_ SUNK IN THE STUCCO!"
The following will not serve to support his conclusions.
"And the most radical difference of all is, the Pyramids of Egypt are
complete in themselves: the structures in this country [America] were
erected to serve as _the foundations of buildings_. There is no
pyramid in Egypt _with_ a Palace or Temple upon it, [would he have it
on an apex?]--there is no pyramidal structure in this country
_without_."
From the foregone extract can any reader acquainted with the Arts,
fail to arrive at the conclusion, that the builders of Palenque and
Uxmal derived from the Egyptians all that was good of their great
edifices, and _improved_ upon the other parts? For what reader will
deny, that a Temple erected upon the lower portion of a Pyramid, is an
improvement upon the original, by the association of utility? And
being an improvement, _it must have been by those acquainted with the
Original_, and as remarked in the following pages, what Nation had the
facility of being so acquainted as the Tyrian? And as if in direct
copy of the Egyptian, we have shewn that the size of the pyramidal
base at Copan is identical with that of the great Pyramid of the
Nile,--while that at Cholula, in Mexican America, _is exactly twice_
the base measurement. It is scarcely possible that these dimensions
should have been accidental in construction.
"There is then," he says, "_no resemblance_ in these remains to those
of the Egyptians; _and failing here we look elsewhere in vain_."
His conclusions upon false premises, would indeed prove "no
resemblance:" but, truth and her all-powerful propositions are against
him,--his own descriptions, and those of his attendant artist crush
him at every step,--they both prove "_resemblance_" in every
Ruin;--at Copan, pyramidal structures, idol-obelisks, and sepulchral
chamber: at Palenque, profile figures, and square-based,
pyro-foundations: at Uxmal the same, with a Colonnade of circular
Columns,--and at the second city (Palenque) a stone _statue_ is even
found, and from the engraving, Egypt, or her Tyrian neighbour, would
instantly claim it. Of this statue he writes. (Vol. ii., p. 349.)
"We were at once struck with its expression of serene repose, _and its
strong resemblance to Egyptian Statues_. (!) In height it is ten feet
six inches, of which two feet six inches were under ground. The
head-dress is lofty and spreading: there are holes in [near] the place
of ears, which perhaps were adorned with ear-rings of gold and pearls.
Round the neck is a necklace: and pressed against the breast by the
right hand, is an instrument apparently with teeth."
In the wood-cut this "instrument with teeth" is no more or less, than
part of a muralled crown, and it may have been, therefore, the Statue
of the Guardian of the City. The Tyrian Coins have the muralled crown
on the head of the obverse profile, which represents Astartē, the
tutelary Goddess of the Tyrians and Sidonians.
"The left hand rests on a _hieroglyphic_, from which descends some
symbolical ornament: the figure stands on what we have always
considered a _hieroglyphic_ (plinth) _analogous again to the custom in
Egypt_ of recording the name and office of the hero, or other person
represented."
In the last quotation but one, he distinctly uses the word
"resemblance," preceded by that of "strong," to enforce the similitude
to the Egyptian; and in the last quotation he says, that the
hieroglyphical plinth is "analogous _again_ to the custom of Egypt!"
As he has visited, and written of the statues of the Nile, we will not
gainsay his judgment even by a suspicion. The statues on the building,
surmounting the pyramidal base at Uxmal, (Waldeck's folio) strongly
resemble the general character of the Egyptian,--the head-dress and
cape especially,--the difference is, that otherwise than the lappet,
hood, and cape,--the figure is entirely naked,--whereas the Egyptian
statues generally possess the additional costume of the loin-cloth.
"They [the Ruins] are different from the works of any other _known
people_, of a _new order_, and entirely and absolutely anomalous: they
stand alone."
Every people (he argues) and the nations known at the present day, by
history, _or by ruins_, have been searched in order to identify by
_fac-simile_ resemblance, but in vain,--though Egypt, we have shewn,
claims the bases and many attendant analogies. What Nation then ever
existed (possessing _navigable_ means) of whose works by Architecture
and Sculpture we have no knowledge?--"That is the question,"--and that
answered, it will aid the solving of the mysterious problem around the
_Ruins_. Then here is the answer, without any fear of contradiction
or denial. _The only nation is the Tyrian!_--that name is used in its
triple or Phœnician sense, and comprehends Sidon, Tyrus, and
Carthage,--not a remnant remains whereby the slightest form can be
traced, save the mere foundations of their former greatness! Egypt was
the neighbour of the Tyrian, and consequently imparted her knowledge
through commercial communion.
The inhabitants of Tyrus from their small locality [_i. e._ the
Island] were essentially a practical people,--they had no space to
build idle or useless edifices, like those of Egypt,--_they had no
captives_! The Tyrians were of all people of the ancient world, best
adapted to imitate what was of utility and stability,--thence their
selecting pyramidal bases, as _foundations_ for their Temples in
America, and which have preserved those edifices, and the judgment of
the builders, even to this day, through a period of time beyond two
thousand years! It also evinced that acuteness and skill, in applying
means to ends, for which, as a Nation, they were so renowned. In
Section 3, of the Analogies, we will establish from Scriptural History
the early Architecture (as to its style) of the ancient Tyrians.
The Ruins in Ancient America (and by that term we mean _anterior_ to
the re-discovery by Columbus) do indeed "stand alone:"--a "new order"
to the modern eye they may be--but over _two thousand years ago_, the
"order" might have been termed the _Egypto-Tyrian_:--and reason,
research, and analogies of Religious and National Customs, will prove
that the name now given to this newly-discovered _ancient_ order is
correct;--and that the moderns may not only repeat the term, but, even
aid the Science of Architecture, by the application of the rules and
principles of utility and solidity, now discovered in the Western
Hemisphere!
Our review of his "conclusions" has advanced sufficiently far for our
purpose; for it must be evident that a complete refutation of his
deductions has been given, and founded upon his own descriptions, and
illustrations,--apart from Baron Humboldt's and Waldeck's works, or
any humble commentaries of our own. It will naturally be asked--"What
could have been the _motive_ of such contradiction, and against
himself?" A hidden motive has more than once been hinted at in the
foregoing pages. O! love of Country! how inherent is thy power in the
human mind!--but, never before was it exerted to the same extent as by
our favourite Traveller, as evinced in the motive for rejecting all
Nations--_except his own_, as claimants for the builders of Copan, and
her muralled companions of the Western Continent.
Talk of the Dacii, and the Curtius, impaling themselves upon the
spears of the enemy, or plunging into a gulph to close it,--why, our
devoted Traveller does more than all this--for he _survives_ the shock
and fall!
The devotional lines _unfolding_ the long concealed _motive_ for
rejecting all other Nations, must not be withheld, he writes--
"I invite to this subject the special attention of those familiar with
the Arts of other countries;--for, unless I am wrong, we have a
_conclusion_ far more _interesting and wonderful_ than that of
connecting the builders of these cities with the Egyptians, or _any
other people_. _It is the Spectacle of_ A PEOPLE _skilled in
Architecture, Sculpture, and Drawing, and beyond doubt, other more
perishable arts; and possessing the cultivation and refinement
attendant upon these_,--NOT DERIVED FROM THE OLD WORLD, _but_
ORIGINATING AND GROWING _up here_, [America] _without models or
masters,--having a distinct, separate, independent existence_:--LIKE
THE PLANTS AND FRUITS OF THE SOIL--INDIGENOUS!"
Temples and Pyramids defend your rights! Pericles and Phidias protect
the Arts!--for in the Western Continent, without "models or
masters,"--Edifices, Architects, and Sculptors, as "plants and
fruit"--or like--
"Foul deeds _will rise_,
Though all the earth o'erwhelm them to men's eyes!"
He brings forward different Nations to _father_ the Architecture in
Ancient America,--he calls for "spirits from the vasty deep;" but they
will not come,--he calls to the Hindu, Chinese, and Japanese, to claim
the Child,--they reject it. Europe does the same.--Greece is not
claimed,--although the meander border is on the Sculptured drapery of
the offspring. It must then belong to Asia!--No?--well then certainly
to the great Nation of Africa--Egypt!--what! the negative again?--the
writ to find the Parent is about to be returned endorsed _non est
inventus_, and the Architectural Child to be declared fatherless,--for
he passes by the only Nation of all others that should have been
selected,--from their means of accomplishing the migration,--their
knowledge of art,--skill in imitation,--their neighbourhood and
communion with Egypt,--every circumstance proclaims--Tyrus:--but,--no,
--this would not answer the purpose of the fascinating Traveller,--his
"conclusion" had a peculiar end in view,--something National,--and
with that love of country so conspicuous (God be praised!) in the
Anglo-Saxon race, he discards Europe, Asia, and Africa as the
Builders,--to him there is a nobler idea,--that the Temples, Palaces,
and Altars,--Priests, Kings, and People,--Architects, Sculptors, and
Painters belonged _to America only_,--that they were as the "plants"
"indigenous to the Soil,"--or, that they sprung like Minerva, ready
armed and equipped, as the law of art directs, from the mental citadel
of Jove himself!
His "conclusion," which gives no distant antiquity to these Ruins (but
which is absolutely apparent), is somewhat in analogy with that which
may be supposed to have been offered to a travelling Astronomer, by a
homestead-loving Cottager,--who declared that the Moon could not be
_ancient_ and _inhabited_, because the _freshness_ would prevent both
propositions. "Freshness! How so, my good woman?" asked the Newtonian
disciple. "How so!" she replied. "How wise you gentlemen with long
telescopes are!--how so?--why because there is a NEW _moon every
month_, and, consequently, there would not be time enough for people
to be born,--or if they were to grow up like 'plants,' they would be
cut down every month!--and consequently they could not be
_ancient_,--any how!" But to be serious.--Our just pride of native
land! England,--as expressed in "The First Oration upon the Life,
Character, and Genius of Shakspeare,"[5] and our impartial love (as a
Citizen of the United States) for the Nation claiming Washington as
its founder, is too well known and recorded in our humble Oration upon
her History and Independence,[6]--and in public debate, discourses,
and speeches, both in England and America;--together with the feelings
of duty;--and gratitude founded upon hospitality and the Medallic
presentations received in both Countries, to admit even of a question,
as to our resolution to uphold their glory and amity, at home or
abroad,--and that without fear or favour, from foe or friend! It was
_the very spirit of that love_ for the country, which has graced us by
its Citizenship, that led us to detect the erroneous "conclusions" of
Mr. Stephens in reference to these Ruins:--for the errors must be
evident even to himself, should these fervent but honest pages, ever
meet his perusal;--and appreciating as we do, the valuable and
interesting volumes he has given to the Library of "Travels,"--good
nature,--knowledge of the Arts,--united with a justifiable, and a
necessary independence, called forth by the importance of the
subject,--have been the only means employed by us in criticising his
work.
[5] Pronounced at Stratford-upon-Avon, England, before, and at the
invitation of the Royal Shaksperean Institution, April 23, 1836.
[6] Pronounced in the Capital of Virginia, U. S. A., at the
invitation of the Franklin Society, and before the Municipal
Authorities, July 4, 1840.
In his last chapters, he seems to have forgotten what he had written
in his descriptions of the Ruins: and that his "Conclusion" was a
sudden thought,--and, as proved, not founded upon that which preceded.
It could not be otherwise, for
"A change came o'er the spirit of _his_ dream!"
It is scarcely a question, whether he adds to the fame of America so
much, by making the Architects and the Mexican Aborigines to rise up,
as "indigenous" to the land, and thence directly _opposing the
Bible_,--the first Parents, and the Diluvian Ancestors,--as if he had
traced, and proved them to be from scientific and accomplished
Tyrus,--or those of the North, from "chosen" and courageous Israel,
and following on their track--to trace principles derived from an
Apostle of Christianity, together with the fulfilment of the words of
a Sacred Prophet!
This question cannot contemplate the fame of the
United-States,--either as a Nation or a People,--although it does that
of the Western Hemisphere generally;--that of the Republic is
consolidated with the essential spirit and glory of the Anglo-Saxon
and the Norman race, and consequently has no association with the
great Tyrian family, or that of Israel,--although all the Nations of
the Western Continent feel the serene influence of the heaven-born
power--Christianity. That Faith (if we err not) was introduced into
the Western Hemisphere more than _five centuries_ before St. Augustine
preached it in England.
In volume ii. (p. 442), Mr. Stephens expresses himself in the
following ingenuous manner,--_after_ he had formed his "conclusion,"
and which at once proves, by his own words, that he did not
sufficiently investigate his subject. He writes--
"_I shall not attempt to inquire into the Origin of this people,--from
what country they came,--or when, or how!_"
With diligence and perseverance for our guides, we have for years
pursued the clue to this historical labyrinth, and when the end is
reached, we believe that the _nation_, the _time_, and the _means_
will be firmly established! In regard to the first proposition, we
conclude this chapter by recording the new, and apparent fact, founded
upon descriptions which we have artistically analyzed, together with
the Analogies in the following pages,--and beyond all, by the Bible
itself (as shewn in the next chapter), that the _Architecture_ of the
Ruins of Ancient America is EGYPTO-TYRIAN,--and that the original
builders were from TYRUS, and at a period now distant more than two
thousand years!
The subsequent proofs that will enable us firmly to establish this
proposition, will also announce the startling fact of another
accomplishment,--or fulfilment,--of a sacred and quintuple Prophecy by
ISAIAH!--and consequently we shall claim that Prophecy, as
unimpeachable evidence of the truth of the historical proposition of
this Work.
This novel application of Prophecies by Isaiah concerning Tyrus, will
be discussed in the Second Book of this Volume,--and in the concluding
Chapters of which, it will be employed as an absolute refutation of
Atheistical writings.
ROBERTSON'S HISTORY OF AMERICA.
A few words are required in reference to Dr. Robertson's History of
America. It was the present writer's original intention to have formed
a chapter upon that Historian's conclusions, in regard to the absence
of civilization by the Aborigines of the Western Continent,--or rather
that portion contemplated by Spanish history: but upon reflection, it
was considered unjust to his memory and well-merited fame, to prove
those conclusions were erroneous and false,--for Robertson and the age
in which he wrote (1770-80), were in total ignorance of the existence
of the now celebrated Temples of Copan, Palenque, and Uxmal, and the
many Cities of ancient days newly discovered in the Western
Hemisphere. Refutation is unrequired by argument, when the basis of
conclusions is founded in ignorance of all the premises necessary to
sustain the superstructure:--his conclusions must, therefore,
necessarily fall to the ground,--and consequently his Volumes upon
America cannot now be received either in the library or academy--(as
far as concerns the Aborigines, their works, or their ancestors)--as
the standard History of that Continent.
CHAPTER VII.
THE RELIGIOUS AND NATIONAL ANALOGIES BETWEEN THE TYRIANS AND
MEXICAN ABORIGINES--THE TRADITIONS OF THE LATTER, &c.
SECTION I.
ANALOGIES IN RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND IDOLS OF
WORSHIP--SATURN--APOLLO--ASTARTE, &c.--THE EMBLEM OF THE CROSS,
&c.
In investigating the important similitudes contemplated in this, and
the following Sections of the present Chapter, the word _Mexican_ (for
convenience) will be understood to comprehend all the Western
Continent in its ancient condition--not essentially _North_
America;--and by the words "ancient condition" we would be understood
to mean, that period of time, anterior to the landing of Columbus.
[1492 A. D.] The Tyrian customs will be brought forward, and then
compared with the Mexican. The history of Tyrus will not be required
here, that interesting branch of our subject is reserved for the
Second Book of the present Volume.
The Religious ceremonies of the Tyrians would have been lost, but for
their being preserved by the Carthaginians,--a colony from
Tyrus,--and between whom there existed the strictest union and
friendship,--and may justly be supposed to have practised the manners
and customs of the Parent country. The Tyrians, also, would follow the
customs of the Sidonians, and the Canaanites, their original
ancestors. Gathering, therefore, evidences of Religious ceremonies
from Canaan, Sidon, Tyrus, and Carthage,--for they were all of the
Phœnician family,--we shall include those nations under one general
term,--viz. _Tyrian_,--for the same convenience as the term _Mexican_
is used.
Not only will the Tyrian customs be gathered from the nations
mentioned, but from the Bible also,--so that the reader will perceive,
that the ground for sustaining our superstructure is not a light, or a
sandy one.
The Tyrians were essentially Idolators,--so were the ancient
Mexicans,--the former built Temples to their plurality of Gods,--the
latter did the same.
The Tyrians sacrificed human beings upon the unhallowed dedication of
their temples:--the Mexicans followed this horror of a false Religion
to its full extent; for at the dedication of the last chief Temple of
Mexico, nearly _seventy thousand captives_, taken during four years'
warfare, were sacrificed to propitiate their Deities!
The Tyrians devoted human sacrifices to the God of War upon slight
disaster or defeat,--the Mexicans had the same "remedy for
sorrow:"--and the many Altar-blocks discovered amid the Ruined Temple
of Copan (even now blood-stained) have been clotted with human gore.
A very important God among the Tyrians was that of _Saturn_--a
description is necessary, on account of the strong analogy to the
Mexican Deity,--and that proved by the Sculpture of the
newly-discovered Ruins. This strong similitude,--as a
Rosetta-stone,--led us to the first translation of the Architectural
wonders. Cronus--or the God Saturn,--among the Tyrians, was the deity
to whom were sacrificed the most beautiful infants and children, and
of the highest families;--it was insatiate, ever asking, always
receiving, and ever destroying! This sacrifice to the Moloch of the
Tyrians, was derived from the Canaanites, their original ancestors.
MOSES, in warning his people to beware of the false Gods in the
countries they might conquer, and referring especially to that of
Canaan, says--
"For every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they (the
Canaanites) done unto their Gods; _for even their sons and their
daughters have they burnt in the fire to their Gods_." [Deut. xii.
31.]
Again, in the third book of Moses,--the Lawgiver says--
"And thou shalt not let any of thy seed [offspring] _pass through the
fire to Molech_." [Levit. xviii. 21.]--and again GOD spake by his
Prophet, "Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the
strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth _any of his seed unto
Molech_,--he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land
shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man,
and will cut him off from among his people;--because _he hath given of
his seed unto Molech_, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy
Name." [Levit. xx. 2, 3.]
In the New Testament this same God of the Canaanites is called
Moloch,--a name generally used in poetry to express the demon of
blood.
"Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch." [Acts vii. 43.]
This was an ancient custom of the Canaanites, and followed by their
descendants, the Sidonians, Tyrians, and Carthaginians,--it was, also,
practised by the Mexican Aborigines.
The Tyrian God Saturn, was represented in Asia and Africa by a large
metal Statue,--the figure was bent slightly forward, with the hands
extended, as in the act of receiving, or soliciting:--the arms and
hands were in that position, that upon the child being placed in the
hands of the Statue, the weight of the smallest infant was sufficient
to displace its position, and consequently, it instantly slipped from
the hands of the Idol into a fiery furnace,--ever burning beneath this
God of Infanticide! In this manner were the most beautiful children of
the Phœnicians destroyed, as an offering to the insatiate Moloch.
This Canaanitish practice, which was feared by MOSES, was actually
practised centuries after by his People, for another Prophet speaking
of the impending downfall of Jerusalem, and of her accumulated sins,
says,
"Moreover _thou hast_ taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast
born unto me; and these hast thou sacrificed unto them [false gods],
to be devoured [by flames],--* * *--thou hast slain my children, and
delivered them to cause them to pass _through the fire_ for them."
[Ezekiel xvi. 20-21.]
Now the Sculpture of the Ruins in Mexican America illustrates this
very custom of the Tyrians,--and as it was one of the greatest
importance with that nation, so has it received more attention than
any other subject.
It can readily be imagined how many stages in the progress of this
infanticide would be in the Tyrian nation,--as thus,--the Mother
bringing the child;--the reception by the Priests,--the sorrow of the
Parent, and other incidents in analogy with the subject. The Sculpture
of the ruined Temples at Palenque, presents many of the progressive
steps towards a consummation of the sacrifice,--as thus,--Female
figures, erect, adorned with jewels and ornaments,--each figure with a
child in her arms, not in the attitude of receiving a Mother's
nourishment, but held by the Parent in such a manner, as if in
sorrowful contemplation of her infant victim:--the costume, also, is
essentially important, for the Tyrian Children were selected from
families possessing station, wealth, and power. Other female figures
are represented seated, and in the most melancholy postures, with
downcast heads and looks, as if mourning for that loss, which had made
them Motherless! In an inner apartment, believed to be the _sanctum_
of a Temple, is sculptured (in _basso_) the resemblance of the dread
Altar, portraying the entrance of the fiery furnace,--_for even the
bars and grating are distinctly visible_; a large and monstrous Mask,
or demoniac face is directly above the fire-grating,--presenting that
of the remorseless Deity. On either side of the Altar-furnace and Mask
of Saturn, is stationed a young and an elderly Priest of sacrifice,
both standing, erect, upon crushed and prostrate human beings: the
Priests have their hands and arms elevated, _and each holds an
infant_,--raised up towards the demon-deity, as if in the act of
presenting the victims. The ancients (from their Mythology) believed
that their God,--Saturn,--devoured its own children,--thence the
worship,--and those who sacrificed a child to him, were supposed to be
under his peculiar care and guidance:--this Sculptured Mask,--has a
hideous face,--distorted eyes, a ravenous and distended mouth,--and
its tongue hanging out, as if athirst for infant blood,--thus
presenting a perfect portraiture of the child-craving appetite of the
Demon. It must be evident that the above _analogy_ is a most powerful
one,--nor have the parallels been strained in order to prove their
equi-character;--the analogy is so strong,--and apparently so
convincing,--that it cannot fail to reach the mind of the reader with
a conviction of their identity.
The Sculpture described, having reference to the Tyrian
God--Saturn,--is, as we have stated, upon the stuccoed walls of
Palenque,--and, we believe, was placed there as a record of a
Religious custom, _practised anterior to the walls being
stuccoed_,--_for, another piece of Sculpture represents the perfect
overthrow of this worship, by a more sublime Religion_, which will be
shewn in the third Volume. This discovery by us, suggested the
apparent truth, that the Temple of Palenque was originally of stone,
and dedicated to the Sun (the elliptical _stone_ tablet will prove
that), and that its _second æra_ was the stuccoing of the walls,--this
fact we think can be established, to have taken place about 350 years
after the Temple was first erected. As this subject involves that
portion of our History, which embraces the introduction of
Christianity into the Western Hemisphere, all argument to prove the
second æra in the Temple of Palenque, is reserved for that Volume,
devoted to the interesting and important investigation.
The pictorial description given in the engraving, furnished by Baron
Humboldt, of the Mexican Calendar found in the _plaza_ of Mexico
(buried in the time of Cortez) has a direct bearing upon the
Tyro-Mexican Saturn, as represented at Palenque. The centre of the
sculptured Calendar-circle recorded by the great Traveller,--is a
horrid mask, or face,--nearly a likeness of that at Palenque;--and one
remarkable incident of identity is, that each face has the tongue
hanging out, and by the muscular action,--in the same blood-devouring
manner. Now these Masks of Saturn (as we have named them) were
discovered many hundred miles apart, which would seem to indicate that
the worship, or adoration of that heathen deity was a general one, and
practised by all the Mexican Aborigines. The several Idol-obelisks at
Copan, having the Altars in front, were the personation of deities of
less denomination than Saturn,--but to whom, without doubt, were
sacrificed devoted victims and captives;--the same also upon the
pyramidal Altars of Cholula and Quirigua. The Tyrians of Phœnicia
had many minor deities claiming human sacrifice.
Another analogy will now be produced equally as powerful--if not more
so, than that having reference to the Tyrian Moloch. The Phœnicians
had in their several capitals a Temple erected to a tutelary, or
National God,--and that became the chief object of worship. The Greeks
copied this custom,--but, in the Cecropian decision in the contest
between Neptune and Pallas, the Goddess was preferred,--and thus the
"rejected" on Mount Ida became the Guardian of the Acropolis. The
Daughter of Jupiter, in her character of Minerva, was not only
worshipped by Athens, but by all Attica,--and under the name of
_Intellect_, she is now worshipped by every Nation! The Tyrians, from
their remote ancestors, the Canaanites, selected Apollo, as their
favourite and protective God,--although Jupiter was the Chief of Gods
with all the Heathens,--and was worshipped under the name of Baal, or
Belus, by the Babylonians and Assyrians,--Ammon by the Egyptians,--Jupiter
by the Phœnicians and Greeks,--and as Jove by the Romans.
The Sun,--(_i. e._ Apollo,)--as the Eye of Heaven,--was worshipped by
the Canaanites, Sidonians, Tyrians, and Carthaginians as their
protective God,--it never left the great Phœnician family from the
time of Canaan the "cursed,"--the grandson of Noah,--to the
destruction of Carthage by the Romans,--a period of near two thousand
years.
The chief Games,--or public festivals, of the Tyrians were the
Heraclian,--_i. e._ those dedicated to Hercules-Apollo;--the name was
compounded by the Tyrians, in order to personify the _strength_ and
_power_ of their God of Fire.
Apollo in the mythology of the ancients had many attributes,--but the
chief was that of being regarded as the Symbol of the Sun, and as
such, was worshipped by the Tyrians, and had been from remote
antiquity, and even down to so late a period as the third century of
our own æra: for in 218, A. D., _a Priest of the Sun_, officiating at
Emessa, in _Phœnicia_, though a youth, was elevated to the Imperial
dignity at Rome, in the person of Elagabalus,--and who, upon his
arrival the following year in his Italian Capital, endeavoured to
establish the absolute Worship of the Sun as practised in
_Phœnicia_. In this he succeeded, but in the fourth year of his
reign he was assassinated, when the Romans returned to the adoration
of their Jupiter.
The Sun was, also, the chief worship at Palmyra, and upon the
conquest and captivity of the heroic Zenobia by the Emperor Aurelian,
in 272 A. D.,--the conqueror introduced the worship of Apollo at
Rome:--but, not as Elagabalus to the exclusion of Jupiter as the chief
Deity.
The celebrated Statue of the Apollo Belvidere, represents the God in
the attitude of having just discharged an arrow from his "unerring
bow,"--the attitude, look, and general action, embrace that moment of
time during the flight of the feathered shaft,--all this is merely
symbolical of the Sun,--for the Statue illustrates the triumph over
the Deucalion Deluge:--as thus.--After that Deluge the stagnated
waters created an enormous monster from the muddy slime, called
Python; (_i. e._ Pestilence)--Apollo (_i. e._ the Sun) killed the
monster with his arrows, (_i. e._ Sun-beams)--and the Statue of the
Sun-God represents, in his triumphant look and lip, the ease and
certainty of his unerring aim and victory!
Apollo, therefore, is the Sun, and as such was regarded and adored by
the Tyrians; and such was their devotion to the golden Statue of their
God, that at the last siege of their city (according to Plutarch),
they fastened it with chains of massive gold, and even nailed the feet
of the Statue, and thus doubly secured it to the Chief Altar in the
Temple of Hercules-Apollo,--who being the chief object of worship by
the Tyrians, (believing that it was the _flame of life_,)--it cannot
be a matter of surprise, that such an attempt to secure their "source
of existence," should have been made against their ruthless invader.
The reader need scarcely be reminded that the chief symbol of worship
among the Mexican Aborigines was Apollo, as viewed by the Tyrians.
There is not a schoolboy but is familiar with the fact (from the pen
of Kotzebue and Sheridan,) that the chief deity of their Temple,--_the
Sun_,--was "the God of their Idolatry!"
"The faith (_i. e._ worship of the Sun) we follow, teaches us to live
in bonds of charity with all mankind, and die with hope of bliss
beyond the grave!" [Pizarro, Act 2. Sc. "Temple of the Sun."] This
analogy in the chief worship of the Tyrians and Mexicans, in
illustrating their identity, is as powerful as a sculptured Crescent
upon a gravestone,--to impress the passer-by with the belief, that a
Mahommedan sleeps beneath!
There is no record of the Phœnician or Tyrian Banner,--but it may
have descended to the Peruvians,--their device being _an Eagle gazing
upon a brilliant Sun_!--it would not be an inappropriate Standard for
the Tyrians, considering their watchfulness of their favourite God.
The Apollo-worship of the Tyrian and Mexican (together with that of
Saturn) we might enlarge upon, did we not think, that the reader has
already formed his own affirmative conclusion of their identity.
As Apollo represented the Sun,--so did Astartē--the Moon,--and she
was the Chief Goddess of the Tyrians, and was worshipped by the
Mexican Aborigines. Dr. Robertson distinctly states that the natives
of Bogota and Natchez worshipped Apollo and Astartē,--but in so
stating he did not attempt to establish any National Theory. The fact
is, however, given, as will be seen in the following quotation,--viz.,
"Among the people of Bogota (South America) the Sun and Moon were,
likewise, the chief objects of veneration." "The Sun was the chief
object of religious worship among the Natchez," &c. [Vol. v. b. iv. p.
373-4.]
The latter, perhaps, were located upon the Mississippi, when the
Tyrian-Americans coasted the Gulf of Mexico, as the Tribe of Natchez
was the only one in that part of the Continent, that practised the
Tyrian Customs.
Upon an _emblem_ of this Goddess, will be established one of the
strongest analogies. The reader will be startled at the following
proposition,--but it is no less the fact,--and it is given with
peculiar force to sustain identity--viz., _that the emblem of the_
CROSS (as seen at Palenque) _proves the Mexican Aborigines to have
been Tyrians_!
In the first book of Kings [ch. xi.] it is recorded that SOLOMON among
his wives, had many Sidonians,--that they "turned away his heart after
other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his GOD, as
was the heart of DAVID his father.--For SOLOMON went after
[worshipped] _Ashtoreth, the Goddess of the Sidonians_." (_i. e._
Tyrians.)
It was in consequence of this departure from THE GOD of Israel, that
Ahijah prophecied to Jeroboam, that he should have _Ten of the Tribes_
of Abraham for his kingdom, in the time of Solomon's Son and
successor,--Rehoboam. Ashtoreth is Astartē: the Goddess of the
Sidonians and Tyrians,--they are one and the same.
Without attempting here a refutation of the assertion by atheistical
or deistical writers, that the _monogram_ of CHRIST (☧)
was known _six centuries_ before The Nativity,--it will be sufficient
for our present purpose to establish, that the _Cross_ was a Tyrian
emblem, _more than three hundred years anterior_ to the time of
Tiberius,--for of that period (332 B. C.) we must again remark, we are
illustrating. It was, also, known in the time of Solomon, for he
worshipped the Tyrian Astartē,--whose symbol was the Cross,--and
this was more than _one thousand years before the Crucifixion_!
Here then is a more remote period for a knowledge of the Cross, as an
emblem, than that assumed by sceptics;--it is brought forward because
it is the truth,--and why did not deistical writers trace it to the
time of Solomon?--they knew, if they did, that it would prove a strong
link in the chain of Christianity, and therefore, for their own
purposes they avoided it! We will shew this as we proceed.
In Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible, is found a pictorial
representation of the Coins of ancient nations. In the plates giving
those of Sidon and Tyrus (both must be viewed as one) is the figure of
Astartē, surrounded by the words "_The Sidonian Goddess_" in the
old Phœnician characters. She is standing on the fore part of a
galley (emblem of Tyrian navigation)--full robed,--the classic measure
on her head,--a _branch_ in her right hand (emblem of peace and
reward)--and in her left hand _a long Cross_ (emblem of war and
punishment)--the proportions are the same as the sacred one used at
Mount Calvary:--it is upright, and slightly inclines, like a sceptre,
across the inner part of the upper arm of the Goddess. The following
are Calmet's remarks on the Coins.
"No. 4. ASTARTE,--_holding the Cross_;--standing on a Ship (galley):
the measure on her head," &c.
"No. 12. ASTARTE standing in her Temple,--_holding the long Cross in
her hand_--the _shell_, supposed to allude to the Tyrian dye;--in the
exergue,--An Altar (_i. e._ of perpetual fire) burning before the
Temple," &c.
It will be observed that the above manner of alluding to the Cross of
the Tyrian Goddess, is too positive (and with the coins as witnesses)
to admit even of a doubt of its being an emblem of the Tyrians, and
many centuries before the period contemplated by this volume, viz. 332
B. C. They then possessed the Cross, and among the ancients they
appear to have been the only people,--with the exception of the
Egyptians, who probably _copied_ it from the Phœnicians, to
illustrate their own worship of the Moon,--the Egyptian emblem was
thus--(♀)--and this has been falsely called the sacred monogram,--for
the Moon is shewn by the circle--and the Cross was her general emblem.
Astartē carried a Cross merely as an emblem of _punishment_, as
her olive, or palm-branch was emblematical of _reward_,--Solomon
worshipped her, and _her attributes_, upon his leaving the ONE
GOD:--from David descended the husband of The Saviour's Mother, as,
also, the Virgin herself, and _after the Crucifixion, the Cross became
the emblem of Salvation_!--and was no more viewed as a Symbol of
Idolatry, as in the time of David's Son, or of a degraded death as in
the time of Tyberius:--may there not, in this very change of the
character of the emblem, in regard to its attribute of worship,--from
punishment to _atonement_, and by the converted disciples from the
same "chosen people," be a mysterious token of the great precept by
the Divine {GOD},--that from Evil cometh Good? We believe every thing
tending to the Glory of the {CREATOR}: and even if the _monogram_ used
by Constantine did exist centuries before the time of {CHRIST},--but
which we deny,--yet viewing that subject with an eye of faith it would
be found to illustrate the Prophets, and not detract from them or
their Prophecies. We have digressed,--the reader requires no
apology,--the subject will speak for us.
In the Mexican Ruins numerous instances are found of the Cross,--it is
in Sculpture and Stucco:--some small apertures bear the same form, as
thus, =+=:--the lower part being inconvenient for its specific
adaptation,--it was not, therefore, used. In one of the minor temples
at Palenque, _the Cross with the lower part is distinct_, and in full
proportion,--thus proving the "long Cross" of Astartē,--the Tyrian
Goddess,--to be upon those Ruins. But without that--(for we desire to
reserve the _sculpture_ containing the long Cross for a future
application)--the numerous Crosses, of a minor character upon other
Ruins are sufficient to testify to the worship, or knowledge of
Astartē, and her symbolical attributes being known to the Mexican
Aborigines.
Another analogy is in the Altars of perpetual fire,--and their being
watched by the Virgins of the Sun. This was practised by the Tyrians
as a branch of their worship of the God of Fire--Apollo. The Roman
Vestals were copied from those of Phœnicia. The same horrid
punishment attended the loss of virtue by a Virgin of the Sun, both in
Tyrus and Mexico,--this was also imitated by the Romans.
We have no history tracing the (to us) obscene worship of PRIÄPUS (_i.
e._ Baal-peor) to the Tyrians,--_nor was it found among the
Mexicans_,--though it was practised by the Egyptians,--and even by the
all-accomplished Greeks,--this was over 2000 years ago.[7]
[7] It will scarcely be believed that so late as 1780 A. D., the
votive worship was practised at Isernia, only fifty miles from
Naples;--and (upon the authority of Sir Wm. Hamilton) that three
days in September were given to this worship, which the Priests
called the fête of St. Cosmo; and at which, Maids, Wives, and
Widows, publicly joined in devotion. The King of Naples abolished
it, upon the proof by Sir William Hamilton.--G. J.
The _non-existence_ of this generative and religious worship by both
Tyrians and Mexicans,--although practised by other ancient
nations,--must be regarded as another proof of identity:--for identity
can be proved by a negative,--with equal power to an affirmative
custom. The strong analogies in Religion must be apparent to the
reader.
SECTION II.
NATIONAL AND POLITICAL ANALOGIES--HISTORICAL AND TRADITIONAL--A
TRANSLATION OF THE HIEROGLYPHICAL ALTAR OF COPAN, &c.
History proves the fact that the higher orders of animals and birds,
have been selected as the symbolical emblems of different nations,--as
for instance, the British Lion,--the Gallic Cock,--the Roman and the
American Eagle, and many others. The Dove was the bird of Babylon and
Nineveh,--this was natural, as those cities were the most ancient, and
nearest to the time of the Deluge,--and consequently the Dove became
the apparent emblem of safety; and it is a strong proof of the
historical fact of the Deluge and the "Dove." The next beautiful bird
of a peaceful character is the Swan, and this was selected by another
immediate branch of Noah's family--viz., the Canaanites. It has
already been shewn that the house of Canaan was the original of that
of the Tyrians. The antiquary, Jacob Bryant, says concerning this
emblem of the Canaanites, "that where they, or their descendants (_i.
e._ Tyrians) may have settled, there will a story be found in
reference to Swans." Now when the above learned writer penned that
general remark, he little thought that it would be brought to bear
upon the identity of the Tyrians in the Western Hemisphere; and
therefore, in its application, it is of greater authority, from that
very fact. He says--_that where the Tyrians may have settled, we may
expect to hear some story or tradition about a_ SWAN OR SWANS.
Admitting this to be truth, (and he is quoted as authority upon
antiquities,) _then is there proof that the Mexican Aborigines were
Tyrians_, as the following incident from acknowledged history will
shew. About two centuries before the Spanish Conquest,--the
Aztecas,--(Mexican proper) were oppressed by a neighbouring kingdom;
the latter demanded as a tribute, that the former should bring one of
their celebrated floating gardens from the Lake of Mexico,--this
tributary present was accomplished, with great labour and difficulty.
The next year this demand was repeated, and with this addition--viz.,
_that their emblematical bird_, THE SWAN, should, also, be brought
with it, and in the Garden, sitting on her eggs,--and that the present
should be so timed as to its arrival, that the eggs should be hatched,
when the Garden was presented to the King demanding the National
tribute;--this was actually accomplished, _and the Cygnets came forth_
as the imperious Monarch received the present. Now the substance of
the above was recorded by the Spanish Historian over three centuries
since, and with no idea to establish that those Aborigines were
Tyrians;--it may, therefore, be received as a record of fact,--at all
events it came to the Historian from the Mexicans as a "story" of
their race,--handed down from sire to son, as a "tradition" of their
ancestors. In those respects alone--"story or tradition"--the proof of
identity required by Bryant is completely established. "Where the
Tyrians are you may expect to hear some story or tradition about
Swans."--Well then, here is the "story" and "tradition" together with
the historical fact,--and Swans form the material:--but, they have
been dying in music for centuries yet unregarded;--they have been as a
symbolical record buried in a people's Sepulchre,--and which the
opening of a Nation's tomb has alone brought to light. The classic
reader will remember, that Jupiter assumed the form of the Bird of
Canaan, when he sought and won the love of Leda!
We will now endeavour to translate the Hieroglyphics, and Sculpture,
upon, and around, the Chief Altar of Copan. We commence with the
proposition that the hieroglyphics merely explain the Sculpture, and
that if the Sculpture can be explained, the sense of the
hieroglyphics, as a consequence, will be translated. If we shall read
the Sculpture aright, we believe that it will be found to record a
National Act of Friendship,--whereby the Tyrians had the power of
reaching America. We will not anticipate our History by now stating
the detail of that act of amity,--it will be sufficient for the
present purpose to mention, that the act occurred between the
Sidonians and the Tyrians,--it was an act of friendship in front of
death itself,--and death in its most terrific form, both of torture
and of infamy.
Mr. Stephens, in writing of the thirty-six compartments, or
squares,--of hieroglyphics on the top of the Altar, says--
"They without doubt record some _event in the history_ of the
mysterious people who once inhabited the City" (_i. e._ Copan).
We believe it,--and that the _basso_-Sculpture on the four sides, as
already stated, illustrates the hieroglyphics on the surface. The
_details_ of the Sculpture must be first reviewed, in order to
establish even analogy in the _accessories_ of the Altar. 1st. _The
"two Serpents"_--(and the same are around the walls of Uxmal).
The Serpent with the Tyrians (who copied it from their neighbours of
Egypt) was their Agatho-dæmon,--or _good demon_ of the country,--and
would naturally be used to illustrate any strong act of faith, or
friendship; and as a mutual act of amity had taken place between these
two nations,--the Mother and Child,--for Tyrus was "the Daughter of
Sidon,"--it follows that _two serpents_ were necessary to illustrate
the compound act. We have seen an ancient Tyrian Coin, on the reverse
of which is a Serpent entwining an Egg,--it may be translated
thus,--an Egg is the emblem of life, and it being very large upon the
Coin in proportion to the Serpent, represents the germ of the Nation's
life,--the Serpent by coiling around it, presents the _good demon_
(power or Spirit) of the Country protecting the Egg, or Nation, from
external injury by its numerous embraces,--the warmth of which would,
also, bring it into active life. The Altar is described as standing
"on four _globes_ cut out of the stone,"--now a globe conveys the idea
only of a perfect sphere, but from the drawings of the Altar these
"globes" are distinctly _oval_, and consequently represent the form
of _Eggs_ and not "globes!" On the Coin above alluded to, the Egg is a
principal emblem, and that of life,--and those symbols forming the
Corner-stones, or foundation of the Altar, seem to illustrate that the
story of the Sculpture represents the very _existence_,--or _rather
the birth of the Nation_ in its present locality, (_i. e._ Copan).
This we believe is the fact, and the warrant for the assertion we will
hereafter prove to be founded on the authority of Classical History
itself. This Altar we have ever regarded as the Key-stone to the Arch,
of these historical sepulchres, and architectural wonders of the
Western wilderness.
The Serpents and the Eggs then are essentially Tyrian emblems.
In the description of the Altar one of the two chief personages holds
in his hand an "instrument" or sceptre--but each of the lesser figures
an "object"--which in the engraving is a _spiral shell_. These shells,
also, illustrate the Nation of Tyrus, for the spiral shell is found
upon nearly all the coins of that ancient country! It was placed on
their coins in honour of the discovery of the secret of the celebrated
colour, called by the ancients,--the Tyrian Dye. That renowned colour
was not made from any earth or mineral, but from the purple murex,--or
the dye _shellfish_. It was first discovered by a Tyrian on the shores
of Tyrus,--who, wandering with his Dog, suddenly observed the mouth of
his faithful companion to be empurpled,--and upon investigation, he
found that it arose from the animal crushing between his teeth, _a
small shellfish_, just then thrown upon the Tyrian beach by the waters
of the Mediterranean. Improving upon the discovery, the Tyrians became
so renowned for their dye used in regal and costly mantles, that in
commemoration of the event, they placed upon their Coins the
_shell_,--nor was the original discoverer forgotten, for upon a Tyrian
Coin (Calmet, No. 16) the Dog is seen approaching the Shell! Some
writers have questioned the manner of the discovery,--but the
last-mentioned Coin confirms the historical account.
The Shell was also adapted to personify the marine character of
Tyrus,--and it being upon the Altar may be viewed as another emblem of
that country,--which, with the Serpents and Eggs, cannot have been
placed there by caprice or accident,--but rather with absolute intent,
having reference to an historical design in the Sculpture. The figures
are all seated "cross-legged in the _Oriental_ fashion." Their very
position then substantiates Montezuma's assertion to Cortez, that his
Ancestors many ages past, come from "_the East_."
One of the chief personages to the "negotiation," as Mr. Stephens
calls the group, has a "Sceptre" in his hand,--and there is none in
the hand of the other King or Cadmus,--(as the ancient Phœnician
Chiefs were called;)--this incident is another proof of the correct
reading of the Act of Amity; for at the time of its performance, Tyrus
had ceased to be a nation--but Sidon had not,--the former had lost all
her powers of safety,--the latter retained them,--and could, and did
extend them to her "Daughter," who is represented as presenting a
Shell,--perhaps the Secret of the "Dye"--as a tributary offering to
her Parent,--who appears on the Altar more elevated than the other
Chief figure. This still further illustrates the fact of the single
sceptre and its application.
Believing, from the general and early character of the Sculpture, that
Copan was the first built city in Ancient America,--we are still
further warranted in the belief from the definition of the Chief
Altar,--for it appears to illustrate in every particular, both by
incidents and emblems, the _last_ event of Tyrus in its Asiatic
history, but which was the _first_ event leading to the existence of
the Tyrians in the Western Hemisphere. This important fact will be
detailed in the History of Tyrus,--and at the present moment we will
observe (without anticipating the event) that there is nothing in the
Sculpture of the Altar, at variance with the illustration of that fact
of History; but, on the contrary, every particular of the Sculpture
completely defines the Nation and the incident. The _basso_ sculpture
of the Altar would, also, indicate an earlier erection than the
surrounding "Idols," which are in _Alto_.
An analogy is, also, found in the political divisions, and the
peculiar governments of the Mother-Country in Asia and Africa, and her
descendants in Mexican America. In each Hemisphere there was a mixture
of Monarchies and Republics;--as thus,--Sidon and Tyrus were governed
by Kings--while Carthage, after the death of her first and only
Monarch--Dido--became a Republic, and remained so,--and this fact
created the lasting jealousy of the Romans. The same was in the
Western Continent.--Mexico and other Nations were Monarchies, while
other portions of the country were Republics. This is proved from the
fact, that the most powerful war Montezuma the _First_ ever engaged
in, was that, in which the _three Republics_ joined as a common cause
against the brave, but despotic Monarch of Mexico.
As a National analogy may be viewed the Military character and
locality of Copan,--this, also, strengthens our belief that this city
was the first erected,--for although on the Altars no Sculpture is
found representing weapons of war,--and in a Temple to Religion there
should not be,--yet this Temple is but the centre, of what may be
termed the _Citadel_ of Copan. The entire Ruins (it will be
remembered) are traceable for a distance of "over two miles," along
the banks of the River,--and on the opposite side, at the distance of
a mile, and on an eminence two thousand feet high, (thus overlooking
every approach to the city,) is found _a ruined Stone Structure_, and
almost evident from its locality, to have been originally a signal, or
watch-tower. The city is, also, built on the banks of the River, _and
above "the falls,"_ thus forming a _natural_ defence against any
approach from the Sea,--while any attempt to reach the Citadel by
water from the Source of the River, was frustrated by the erection of
a high perpendicular wall ("nearly 100 feet"), forming a river façade
of "six hundred and twenty-four feet,"--(nearly the eighth of a
mile)--this is based upon an elevated embankment of about "thirty
feet,"--_and_ was formerly protected from any flooding of the river,
by a water-wall along the whole range of the Citadel-Temple. The great
wall is in ruins at the summit, therefore many feet may have fallen
down,--thus proving that its entire height with the embankment (as
before expressed) must have ranged from one hundred and forty, to _one
hundred and fifty feet_. Now there is nothing in Egypt (as a
plumb-wall) to be compared with this,--nor does the Nile of ancient
days, possess a perpendicular wall,--and there is no marine Nation of
antiquity that can lay the analogous claim to such a wall, equal to
_Tyrus_,--for her Citadel-city in Asia was bordered by the waters of
the Tyrian harbour,--and to secure its safety from human invasion, or
that of the Sea, the ancient inhabitants of that Island-mart _erected
perpendicular walls, one hundred and fifty feet in height_! Copan then
possesses an analogy to the capital of ancient Tyrus,--and as that was
the _last city_ left by the Aborigines in Asia, it appears but natural
that they should endeavour to imitate it, in building their _first
city_ in a foreign land. We submit that this is a strong analogy, and
founded upon justifiable reasoning.
The Wreck of an ancient Galley has been found in Mexican America,
deeply imbedded in the sands,--now this must have been (upon a minute
investigation) the remains of a Phœnician vessel,--for the Greeks
and Romans had no galleys on the Atlantic waters, or even the Indian
Ocean, until the time of Alexander,--but the Tyrians had,--and, as
will be proved (in the next Book of this Volume), nearly _one thousand
years before the Christian Æra_, and _again, six centuries_ before the
period of The Advent.
Circumcision was practised in Mexican America from two distinct
reasons. 1st. From a supposition that it was conducive to health; and
2dly, from a Religious custom; this last fact will be required for the
third volume,--the former only will be here brought forward, for the
purpose of proving another analogy. Circumcision was practised by the
Egyptians, Ethiopians, Tyrians, Colchians, and Cappadocians, upon the
belief that personal safety would be the result; and the custom might,
therefore, be viewed as a sacrifice to Hygeia,--the Goddess of
Health,--and in this sacrifice many of the _females_ of Egypt did not
exempt themselves. The custom, however, was _optional_,--_this is
proved by the Egyptian Mummies_!--There were no laws to enforce it
(except upon the _Priests_ of Egypt), as among the Israelites and
Jews, with whom, as an entire people, it was, and is, one of the most
sacred customs, established by a Covenant between The Father of the
Universe, and the patriarch of Israel. In the division of the Land of
Canaan between the Twelve Tribes, by JOSHUA,--the Tribe of Asher was
located on the confines of Sidon and Tyrus.--JOSHUA re-established the
Covenant of Circumcision, after it had been purposely laid aside by
MOSES during the "forty years" wandering in the Wilderness. It was,
therefore, practised by the immediate neighbours of the Tyrians, and
it is apparent to belief, that the custom was received among the
Phœnicians owing to their juxtaposition with a Tribe of Israel. The
Egyptians received the custom in a similar manner,--viz., during the
sojourn of Israel in Egypt. The Tribe of Asher,--and its customs,
gradually encroached upon the Idolatry and manners of the
Phœnicians,--for we find (upon the authority of Malte Brun) that
the members of that Tribe (Asher) were driven back from all the
sea-coast to the interior, by the Sidonians and Tyrians;--the custom,
however, in an _optional_ character, remained with the Tyrians,--and
in that manner it was practised by the Mexican Aborigines.
In viewing the above analogy, it must be evident to the reader,--that
in the fact of _optional_ Circumcision (no matter from what motive)
another proof is seen of the _two distinct races_ in Ancient
America,--for in the _North_, as stated heretofore, where it is
practised, it is only in the form of a _Religious_ rite.
The tradition of the ancient Mexicans as to _where they came from_, is
directly in favour of this work. Upon Cortez asking Montezuma the
Second, the origin of the Mexican race,--the Monarch answered,--that
many ages ago they came from "_The East_"--(_i. e._ from where the Sun
rises)--and as he then was speaking _in_ Mexico, "_The East_" is at
once defined to be across the Atlantic Ocean. The coast of Phœnicia
was always denominated "_The East_"--this is absolute on the authority
of Holy Writ, and in that definition, _Tyrus_ is distinctly spoken of:
viz.--
"All the nations have I destroyed before them: and in _the East_, I
have scattered the people of the provinces, even of _Tyrus_ and
Sidon." [Esdras ii. 12.]
Sahagun the Spanish historian, who lived nearly sixty years with the
Mexicans, and wrote about fifteen years after the Conquest by Cortez
(1520) relates, that, from their traditional history, handed down from
remote antiquity,--_the Aborigines of the Country, first_ TOUCHED at
Florida,--then_ COASTED _along, until they reached the Bay of
Honduras,--and they then_ LANDED.
It will be observed that the terms "touched" "coasted" and "landed"
are phrases belonging exclusively to Navigation,--this confirms the
reply of Montezuma, that his ancestors originally _came_ FROM _the
East_, for by Navigation only could they come from that quarter,--and
as a consequence they sailed _towards the West_, and across the
Atlantic Ocean!
The tradition of having "_first touched at_ FLORIDA," is as
remarkable, as the means of Nature whereby it was accomplished, which
will be investigated and established in the last pages of this Volume.
Cortez wished to sail around the Bay of Honduras, the Point of
Yucatan, and thence into the Gulph of Mexico,--and inquired if there
were descriptions of those coasts. Montezuma instantly presented to
the Spaniard _Maps and Charts of the entire Coast_, and from these,
Cortez steered, and sailed in his perilous voyage around Honduras, and
by the correctness of the Charts, he accomplished his expedition in
safety. This account he wrote home to his Emperor and Master, Charles
the Fifth,--it is consequently history:--no argument is, therefore,
required to prove their Knowledge, and that of their ancestors in the
Science of Navigation;--and what people in the Asiatic world were such
"pilots and mariners" as the ancient Tyrians? If the Mexican
Aborigines had sprung from a race (like the Israelites of the North)
having _no_ knowledge of navigation, it would have been impossible to
have had Maps and Charts from their remote ancestors, and to have
continued the scientific practice of that knowledge among themselves.
This is another strong proof of the _two_ races of Aborigines on the
Western Continent; and of the different means whereby their migrations
were accomplished.
Sahagun, also, relates that from testimony of tradition, and _their
historical Paintings_, that their ancestors, _as a Colony_--arrived on
the American coast (first touching at Florida) _before the Christian
Æra_! It should be observed that this account by the Spaniard was
written over three hundred years ago,--it was then laughed at,--but
the time was computed both by the Aborigines and Sahagun,--_the
former_, as well as the latter, had a knowledge of the Christian Æra,
as will be proved in the third volume,--That knowledge was conveyed to
them _after_ the arrival of the colony;--and nearly fifteen centuries
before the conquest by Cortez!
The Ruins in Ancient America, together with relative facts, prove that
Sahagun's account in regard to _time_ is correct; and that their
original ancestors _did_ arrive before the Christian Æra. The same
Historian says, that from their historical traditions, the Mexican
Aborigines were originally a Colony;--which term may be received as
explanatory of their small _number_, and that only,--for had they been
"a Colony" according to the modern and general acceptation of the
word, there would have been some Mother-land to claim her foreign
Children,--but, none appears upon the Books of History.
They then arrived "before the Christian Æra,"--this then places them
in a positive position,--for the Nation from whence they came, must
have existed before that sacred period,--and the Nation (as a people)
must have had knowledge of, and the means of Navigation, since it is
already established that they arrived in that manner. The "mind's eye"
must instantly glance at the Tyrians, as the people having those
means, and being in existence anterior to the Christian Æra. The
Tyrians did compose that "colony,"--not sent forth from their own land
by care and affection; but, driven forth (as we will prove) by terror
and despair!--They were the "pilots and mariners," and the "merchant
princes" of the desperate hazard:--their knowledge and skill in
navigation, were the champions daring the united powers of Neptune and
Boreas, and upon a Naumachian arena, where a prow had never cut
through a liquid track: Neptune permitted the refugees to pass on to
freedom,--for the Ocean-God remains now, as when he first received
from Creation upon his broad breast, the panoply of Light,--_scarless_:--
and for all the wild wars of Elements and Man upon that panoply,--the
lightning's rapid shafts,--the iron-tempest from earth's
artillery,--still that bright armour--reflecting Heaven on its
surface--retains no impress from the fierce battery of the
Storm-cloud, or from Man's weaker power, or ambition!
SECTION III.
ARTISTICAL ANALOGIES.
ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTINGS--THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT AND
AMERICA--THE ANCIENT TYRIAN DYE--THE TEMPLES OF JERUSALEM AND
PALENQUE, &c.
The Architecture and Sculpture of the Ruins, in order to support this
Epoch, must possess an undeniable existence, and founded upon data,
and strong analogy, of having a character traceable centuries before
the Christian Æra. Four Sciences are required to be possessed by the
original nation,--viz., Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, and
_Navigation_. If we view for these purposes Hindoostan, China, and
Japan, the characteristics of the first-named Sciences are totally
different, while the latter is wanting to the extent necessary. Rome
and Greece would present the marine power, but the _Architecture_ of
those countries would claim no affinity with that in America; for at
Copan, Palenque, and Uxmal, and all the Ruins, the Arch and Pediment
are wanting. Egypt claims at once the general character of the
Architecture, but not sufficient to establish that it is strictly of a
National order, as practised on the borders of the Nile;--but, enough
is shewn to prove, that a People built those cities in America, who
had a _knowledge_ of Egyptian architecture. If Egypt itself had sent
the "colony,"--(but from the want of the means of Navigation it was
impossible, and also a record would have been found in Herodotus or
Diodorus, who wrote of that country about 484, and 44 B. C.:--if it
had taken place prior to those periods, their accuracy would have
compelled them to notice it)--if, we say, Egypt had sent a "colony,"
the Temples would have been built like her own in every
particular.--Pronaos, Sphinx, and other characteristics,--but these do
not appear, or the slightest indication of them;--yet, where the
pyramidal structure and obelisk (square-column sculptured) and
circular columns are to be found, there Egypt may be traced as having
given _knowledge_ to the builders. The Pyramid of Caius Cestius at
Rome will illustrate this fact. No one will say that that Pyramid is
Roman architecture,--yet no one will deny that the builder had a
_knowledge_ of Egypt and her works,--and no Historian would claim Rome
to be Egypt, because a Pyramid was found there; so in Mexican America,
the Ruins partake of the Egyptian character sufficiently to give the
style of the Architectural foundations to that of the Nile,--yet they
must have been erected by another Nation;--yet that Nation must be
proved to have a knowledge of, and intercourse with, Egypt. What
nation of all the earth enjoyed this equal to the Tyrian? They were in
weekly intercourse with each other,--exchanging as men their
sentiments, and as merchants their merchandise, till one general
conquest overwhelmed both countries,--one nation remaining subdued
and tributary, and the other dispersed and annihilated.
It is proved (we submit) that the _Sculpture_ in many parts, and
especially at Uxmal, partakes of the _Grecian_ character, while the
_Architecture_ is that of the _Egyptian_. This is a nice
distinction,--but it enables us to strengthen our belief that Egypt,
as a Nation, could not have been the builders, but they must have been
a People (we repeat it, to impress it on the mind of the reader)
having a knowledge of the Nile and her edifices; to this may be
joined, a People having a knowledge, also, of the Greeks, since the
Sculpture at Uxmal is Grecian in design. The Tyrians possessed this
intercourse;--but, it is possible that some few Greeks may have been
of the Colony landing on "the American coast" before the Christian
Æra,--that they may have gladly embraced the occasion, as the only
means of escaping death at the fearful event which caused the
Migration. From the same cause a few Egyptians may have escaped, and
joined the colony in the same manner. The strangers on the Island of
Tyrus, would probably be those who had arrived by water from a
distance,--Egypt was one port of commerce, Ægina another, and
ambitious of maritime fame. Ægina is selected for more than one
reason. It was an Island in direct intercourse with Tyrus, and the
Ægineans were renowned for their general knowledge of the art of
ornamental Sculpture, but not on so grand a scale as that of Athens.
The Ægineans were called _myrmidons_, or _emmets_, from their patient
perseverance in the art of Agriculture and other employments,--and
thence the _Tortoise_ became their National emblem, the slow but sure
progress of that shellfish being a symbol of their industry; it formed
a double emblem; viz., of their industry and marine character. Now it
will be remembered that the Ruins of Uxmal display four _Tortoises_ in
stone Sculpture,--and one was found detached, and buried in the Ruins
of Copan.
Ægina was the first nation that coined Money, and issued
Medals,--Athens often applied to Ægina for the execution of both. The
Chief Symbol on the Coin of Ægina was the Tortoise, for the reasons
stated above:--now, in Mexican America, an ancient coin, or medal, has
been found with the Symbol of the Tortoise on it! It may have been
buried by a citizen of Ægina (one of the Colony), or by a Tyrian who
possessed a coin of the Island-rival,--but most probably the first
proposition is correct--viz., that it was possessed by a native of
Ægina,--for at Uxmal the _Tortoise_ is there in Sculpture, and the
entire façades, interior and exterior, are filled with ornaments _à la
Grecque antique_,--and especially that of the running square, or
meander border,--while the buildings themselves bear no analogy to
those of Attica;--thus proving almost to demonstration, that _Grecian
Artists_ were authors of the _Sculpture_, _Tyrians_ the Architects of
the entire edifices,--while those of _Egypt_ were authors of the
_Architectural_ bases. The reader may think that this is the
refinement of investigation,--but, it is such as truth and
perseverance have authorized, and the historic importance of the
subject demands.
The Tortoise is, also, the designation of the coins of Thebes in
Greece,--and from this fact, it is brought home at once to the
Tyrians, as a Symbol of their country, as well as of Ægina,--and in
all probability (consulting data) Ægina copied it from the Theban
coin. The Phœnician Chief, Cadmus--(all ancient Tyrian Chiefs were
so called) founded Thebes, and is well known to have introduced into
Greece, the letters, or Alphabet of his own country; and without
doubt, at the same time, he selected the Symbols of his Native land,
to represent the Coin of his new City. The Tortoise is, therefore, a
Tyrian emblem, and is found upon the Ruins in Ancient America.
Cadmus founded Thebes 1493 B. C., and was consequently contemporary
with the first Lawgiver. Euripides in his Drama of the "Phœnician
Virgins" thus alludes to his arrival, as uttered by Jocasta:
"Resplendent Sun
How inauspicious didst thou dart thy beams
That day on Thebes, when from the sea-wash'd coast
Of fair Phœnicia Cadmus on this land
Set his ill-omen'd foot!"
We have suggested that Grecians [_i. e._ of Ægina]
may have been the authors of the Sculpture, and Egyptians of the
Architectural bases of the edifices, because their respective styles
are traceable in the Ruins of Palenque, Uxmal, and Copan. This
suggestion is founded upon the possibility (and even probability) of
natives of those nations being at Tyrus, at the time of the departure
of the Tyrians:--yet, it does not follow, as a necessity, that all the
Architects, Builders, and Sculptors must have been of those
nations;--for although there does not exist in Asia or Africa any
Phœnician Architecture, whereby a comparison can be made, yet there
does exist the undying record that the Tyrians were builders and
Sculptors from their own practice, and that fact is founded upon the
authority of Scripture:
"And Hiram, King of Tyre sent messengers to David,--and cedar
trees,--and _carpenters_ and _masons_,--and they built David a
house"--_i. e._ Palace. [2 Samuel v. 2.]
Here then is a distinct and undeniable record of the Tyrians being,
not only carpenters (their Shipbuilding proves that) but
_Masons_,--and which in the original Hebrew text is defined to be
"_hewers of the stone of the wall_;" and consequently they were
_Sculptors_, as well as _Architects_. Their building and adorning of
Solomon's Temple (as will be shewn in the History of Tyrus) are
additional facts, with the building of the Palace of David, to put at
rest any suspicion, or question, whether the Tyrians themselves,
unassisted by others, could have built and Sculptured those edifices
in America. The _Israelites_ had no practical knowledge of
Architecture until ages after the building (by the Tyrians) of
Solomon's Temple. 1015 B. C.
The above quotation from Sacred History refers to the year 1043 B. C.,
and consequently centuries before the time contemplated by this
Epoch,--viz., B. C. 332.
Skilful knowledge, possessed, and existing for ages before, by any
nation, and upon any subject, would naturally be improved upon and
practised by descendants:--they would also improve upon the
Architecture of _any other nation_ with whom they had association and
communion,--and as Tyrus, as a People, of all the ancient nations was
a practical one, they produced in America an improvement (and a great
one) upon the Architecture of the Egyptians. This fact of
_improvement_, and _alteration_ of the original order of Egypt, is
another proof that the builders were not essentially of that nation;
but,--from a country having a practical skill, and minds daring enough
to innovate upon any precedent, when _improvement_ would be the
result.--That Nation was Tyrus.
We do not desire to advance one assertion, not capable of being
defended, and consequently will establish that an improvement upon the
Architecture of Egypt does exist in the Ruined cities of Ancient
America.
The first idea in building had its origin (without doubt) from the
Caverns of Nature, where Man would be protected from the raging
tempest:--and, from being shadowed from the beams of Apollo by the
spreading branches of the forest, he must have soon felt the necessity
of converting the latter into more commodious forms than those in
which Nature had left them. To huts made of trees and branches,
festooned together by their own foliage, succeeded more convenient
habitations, composed of upright and cross beams, the apertures closed
with leaves and moistened earth. From these humble pillars of the
forest, were derived those beautiful Columns composing the five
received orders of Architecture. That of Egypt is not admitted into
the Classic group.
The interior of a cavern with the walls rising pyramidally, gave the
natural instruction for the formation of a Tent,--poles rising from a
broad base to a centre,--or of a single one, with the canvass
outstretched by cords and fastened to the stakes driven in the
earth;--such were the Tents of Israel,--those of the Aborigines of
_North_ America, and of the wandering Gipsy, in the erection of their
culinary edifice even to this day. The Pyramids of Egypt are but
majestic examples of the same principle of construction,--viz., the
corners and sides of a broad base rising on an inclined plane, until
they meet and form an apex over a common centre. This construction has
given them that defiance against the whirlwinds and sands for which
they are so conspicuous. _Water_,--that "sore decayer of dead
bodies,"--be they of "flesh," wood, or stone, can have no effect in
Egypt; _for there the rains do not fall_, and consequently moisture
cannot exert her gradual but certain power;--in Ancient America this
safeguard to edifices is not granted by Nature,--but yet the principle
of the Pyramid has given duration, and proved the existence of Nations
in the Western Hemisphere, traceable to centuries before Egypt mourned
a Cleopatra, who, as the living emblem of her death, became the
venomed and fatal Serpent of her Country!
The Pyramids of Egypt (symbols of self-vanity) rise from a broad base
to an _unsupporting_, _useless_, and idle apex:--in Mexican America
_the lowest portion of the base is retained, and that only; and upon
this simple, but lasting foundation, are erected the perpendicular
walls of her sacred Temples,--Sculptured stone forming the façades of
the gorgeous edifices_! The point of grandeur of design, is far beyond
the useless masses of the Nile; for there can exist no grandeur of
design without the association of utility,--physical or mental. The
radiant Sun itself would cease to be Sublime, were it in design, or in
its powers, to be devoid of its manifold, and creative blessings! The
Architect of the Universe in forming the "image of Himself," and in
assigning to it the functions of physical power, so organized
them,--and the more subtle mechanism of the brain,--that they should
illustrate, that all action and thought (apart from Religious duty)
should be directed towards utility and excellence!
The fact of _improving_ upon the pyramidal Architecture of Egypt,
supports the apparent fact that Tyrians alone were the builders of the
edifices now under consideration; for (apart from the perpendicular
river-wall, which is identical with the sea-wall of ancient Tyrus) a
new and distinct order, or style of Architecture, is visible in those
Temples, traceable from the base to the Cornice or summit,--and from
the compound character, believe that we have correctly termed it
_Egypto-Tyrian_.
We will advance another reason for believing that Copan was the first
City built in Mexican America,--viz., the _square_ column (or
obelisk) _only_, is found there,--while in other ruins, excepting
Palenque, the _circular_ is perceptible,--the latter are found at
Mitla and Uxmal,--thus establishing (almost conclusively) that those
cities were of later erection,--for the square column is easier in
formation than the circular,--and the latter is produced from the
former,--and consequently _two columns_ are made in producing the
circular shaft. The square is, also, better adapted, from its facial
character, for the purposes of Sculpture; as illustrated in the
Idol-obelisks at Copan,--and that which would be the simplest in
construction, and giving the greatest facility for its peculiar
adaptation, would naturally be selected by a People for their first
Temple:--yet, reserving to themselves for practice at a future day,
the knowledge possessed in the more refined branches of the Art:--they
subsequently illustrated that superior knowledge at Palenque and
Uxmal. In the conclusion of this section, however, it will be shewn
that the _square style_ of Architecture was essentially Tyrian, and
that it is distinctly visible at Copan and Palenque. An analogy in
regard to antiquity is found from the stuccoing or plaistering of the
walls. This custom in Art is one of the most ancient on record. Mr.
Stephens would infer from the fact of stuccoing that they had a modern
origin, and actually calls it in one place--"_plaister of_ PARIS!" The
custom is mentioned by the first Lawgiver 1451 YEARS before the
Christian Æra!
"And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the
land which the LORD thy GOD giveth thee, _that thou shalt set thee up
great stones, and plaister them with plaister: and thou shalt_ WRITE
_upon them all the words of this law_." [Deut. xxvii. 2, 3.]
Here is not only the proof of the ancient custom of stuccoing, or hard
plaistering;--but, also, the fact of _Sculpture_, or _writing upon
Stucco_,--of course in its damp state, and when dry it became, as at
Palenque, "as hard as stone." Again,--It, also, covered the interior
of the palatial walls of Babylon, and was the surface upon which was
traced the handwriting at Belshazzar's Feast,--this was 538 B. C.
"In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over
against the candlestick,--upon the _plaister of the wall_ of the
King's palace." [Dan. v. 5.]
Another analogy is found upon this point of art, as being used by both
the ancient Tyrians and the Aborigines;--for the walls of Tyrus were
built of large blocks of stone--not very hard--but protected from the
weather by _hard white-plaister_,--or _stucco_;--the walls of Palenque
seem to be a direct imitation.
It was a custom of the ancient nations to paint their statues, or
figures on the walls, with the primitive colours,--but chiefly red or
vermilion. In so doing they believed that they approached the colour
of the Gods,--and in Rome, from the same feeling, a Conqueror granted
the honour of a triumphal entry to the Capital, was always painted
red, in supposed imitation of the God of War.
It is recorded in Scripture as being practised by the Chaldeans, and
as a consequence by their associates the Babylonians.
"For when she saw men pourtrayed on the wall,--the images of the
Chaldeans pourtrayed with _vermilion_, &c." [Eze. xxiii. 14.]
It was, also, practised by the Egyptians and Tyrians,--and is now
discovered in America:--for Mr. Stephens states that the sculpture,
and even the steps, had been painted,--that black and white,--red,
blue, and yellow are distinctly visible, but that the _Red_
(vermilion) is predominant. From the number of colours another analogy
is traceable, for of all the ancient nations that of Tyrus was the
most renowned for her knowledge of colours,--and when to the
"_primitive three_," she added by her discovery the celebrated tint,
or Tyrian Dye, her renown was increased, and spread throughout all the
Nations,--so much so, that they sent their royal mantles to Tyrus to
receive the costly dye--and from that fact, regal robes have continued
to be tinted, even to this day, with the gorgeous _Purple_,--which,
though originally intended for blood-stained Kings and warriors,--succeeding
ages have placed upon even the graceful forms of dove-eyed Queens;
(so strong is custom)--while the first and Heavenly colour--blue,--and
which from Scripture was the tint of Aaron's Robes of Peace,--has
passed unheeded by, although commanded by The voice of The King of
Kings.
"And thou shalt make the robe of the Ephod _all of blue_." [Ex.
xxviii. 31.]
The exact tint of the Tyrian Dye is not known, other than it was
_purple_.--There are several degrees of purple,--light or dark,--as
the _blue_ shall predominate in its mixture with the _Red_. The
original dye was derived from a shellfish (purple murex) as before
related;--and upon the occasion of its being discovered, the Tyrian
thought that his dog had been wounded in the mouth, for he
imagined that his faithful follower was _bleeding_:--here then the
tint is arrived at,--viz., that it must have resembled that of
_blood_,--consequently it was the _light purple_, or rather _crimson_
as it is now termed,--therefore, the _Red_ predominated over the Blue.
The Prophet of the Advent defines that in ancient days (760 B. C.)
scarlet, red, and crimson were esteemed the same,--they are with us
only different in degree,--but the two last are proved by Scripture to
have been identical.
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the _Lord_, though your
sins be as SCARLET, they shall be _as white as snow_: though they be
RED LIKE CRIMSON, they shall be _as wool_." (_i. e._ white as snow.)
[Isaiah i. 18.] The latter part of the verse is but a repetition of
the former,--a favourite style in Holy-Writ, to enforce the precepts
upon the mind of the reader or hearer.
Now the more ancient of the Ruins in Mexican America, are stained or
painted _Red_:--the Traveller, however, does not express the degree of
Red,--light or dark,--or whether it contained any other colour with
it;--it is enough that Red is distinctly stated:--and may not the
Aborigines have dyed their sculpture in remembrance of their past
celebrity at Tyrus? If at Copan (their first city) they had mixed
_Blue_ with _Red_ to produce the _blood-purple_, the lapse of centuries
would have extracted the minor colour--blue,--(minor from its proportion
in mixture),--and have left the major colour,--Red,--entire,--as it
now appears upon the Idols, Altars, and steps of these Egypto-Tyrian
monuments in Ancient America. Again; the knowledge of colours by the
Tyrians, (and those in which they excelled)--is distinctly stated in
the Bible. SOLOMON in sending to HIRAM, King of Tyrus (1015 B. C.) for
Artists to build and adorn the Temple of Jerusalem,--says--
"Send me now, therefore, a man cunning _to work_ in gold and in
silver, and in brass and in iron,--and in _purple_, and _crimson_, and
_blue_, &c." [2 Chronicles ii. 7.] "Blue" is directly expressed, and
by its mixture with "Crimson" (_i. e._ Red.--_Vide_ Isaiah i. 18.) in
certain proportions would produce "Purple."--Now in Mexican America we
have seen, that Blue and Red (and perhaps originally a Purple), are
found, and used by the Aborigines to adorn their first Temple at
Copan, as Solomon did his Temple at Jerusalem,--_through the skill and
knowledge of the_ TYRIANS!--who without doubt practised their art in
colours upon their own Temples at Tyrus,--and which Solomon, in
compliment to Hiram (with whom he was in the strictest bonds of
amity), was willing to, and did, imitate, in the Capital of Israel.
Had the Tyrians possessed _no knowledge_ of Colours, the discovery of
them upon the Mexican Ruins would have been useless in reference to
any analogy, and injurious against identity;--but, the Tyrians having
the knowledge of the three primitives, and of a fourth colour, and had
they not been discovered at Copan or Palenque, then the _want_ of a
similitude would be evident and material;--but, as both People,--the
Tyrians and the Aborigines,--possessed the same knowledge, and
practice of colouring their Temples,--the Analogy is not only
apparent, but absolute.
It will be remembered by the reader, that in the Sepulchral Chamber at
Copan, an Engraved Gem was found,--"_a small death's-head_ (skull)
CARVED _in fine green stone_." The antiquity of this style of
engraving has been shewn in alluding to Aaron's "breastplate of
judgment,"--but, we will now prove that another _Tyrian_ analogy is
found in the carved Gem of Copan,--That the _Tyrians_ were engravers
of Gem-stones is established upon the authority of Scriptural
history,--and from that Sacred Volume it is, also, proved, that the
_Tyrians_ were the builders of Solomon's Temple.--This will be
enlarged upon in the history of Tyrus.--Solomon wrote to Hiram for a
superior artist, in addition to the general workmen, "to work in gold,
and in silver, &c.--_and that can skill to grave_,"--the Hebrew text
is, "to grave gravings,"--or in modern phrase--to _engrave_,--_i. e._
cut, or carve metal or stones. The King of Tyrus answered,--
"And now I have sent a cunning (_i. e._ skilful) man; [of the same
name as the King, _i. e._ Hiram] * * * "skilful to work in gold, and
in silver, in brass, in iron, _in stone_;--also, _to grave any manner
of graving_." [2 Chron. ii. 13, 14.] That Solomon availed himself of
the skill of this Artist in Gem-engraving is proved by the following
verse:
"And he garnished the house [_i. e._ Temple] with _precious stones_
for beauty." [_i. e._ of workmanship.] [2 Chron. iii. 6.]
We shall conclude this Section with an analogy that may appear strange
to the general reader, but it is no less true than original, and from
which, Identity is apparent.
The Wisdom of Solomon (and inferentially his people also) did not
embrace the practical Sciences of Architecture, Sculpture, or
Navigation. He was compelled to apply for all these to the _Tyrian_
Monarch. Solomon's wisdom was of the philosophy of _Nature_, and not
_in the defined Arts or Sciences_.--This is shewn in the first Book of
Kings [ch. iv. 32, 33.]
"And he (Solomon) spake three thousand _Proverbs_, and his _Songs_
were a thousand and five. And he spake of _trees_,--from the _cedar
tree_ that is in Lebanon, even unto the _hyssop_ that springeth out of
the wall: he spake also, of _beasts_,--and of _fowl_,--and of
_creeping things_,--and of _fishes_." Five centuries before
Solomon,--the Hebrew artists,--Bezaleel and Aholiab,--were called by
The ALMIGHTY, and presented to Moses for a special purpose. [_Vide_
Exodus xxxv. 30--35.]
The _Tyrians_ were the Architects and Sculptors of the Temple of
Solomon, and in the description of that Edifice it will be found that
the _square_,--or four-sided,--columns and bases prevailed, to the
exclusion of the circular,--even the _door-posts of the Temple_ were
_square_:--the same are seen at Palenque!
"So also made he for the door of the Temple posts of olive trees,--_a
fourth part_ of the wall,"--[1 Kings vi. 33]--defined to
be--"four-square."
The two brazen Pillars of the Porch of the Temple _were square_,--and
_about five feet six inches on each side_,--(what are the Pillars at
Copan?)--and the capitals covered with carved "nets of checker work"
and "wreaths of chain-work,"--upon these were suspended "two rows of
pomegranates."
The celebrated "bases" were distinctly square,--and about _seven feet
on each side_.
"And he (the Tyrian Artist) made ten bases of brass,--_four_ cubits
(21 inches and a fraction each cubit, Scripture measure,) was the
_length_ of one base, and _four_ cubits the _breadth_ thereof" [this
is a perfect square]. "And there were four undersetters _to the four
corners of one base_,"--"And also upon the mouth of it (the laver)
were _gravings_ with their _borders, four-square, not round_."--"And
after this manner he made the ten bases [_i. e._ square columns]: all
of them had one casting [Hebrew: "_fashioning_"], one measure and one
size." [1 Kings, ch. vii.]
Now the square style of Architecture in Solomon's Temple may
distinctly be claimed as _Tyrian_ Architecture--for the Tyrians were
the Architects, Sculptors, and Builders, directed by Hiram the
Artist,--and it is self-evident, since they were so, that they
followed that style generally adopted in their own country;--here then
is a direct proof of the _Tyrian_ Architecture being in Ancient
America,--for the reader will instantly recognise that the
Square-columns form the "door-posts" also at Palenque,--and that the
Idol-Obelisks at Copan are "four-square, not round" and covered with
"gravings"--(_i. e._ Sculptures). The superficial measure of the
"square piers,"--or columns at Palenque, does not vary in a great
degree from the square Porch-columns and bases at Jerusalem,--while
the Hebrew "pomegranates" at the latter Capital, were varied,--yet the
florid style of Tyrian Sculpture imitated in the "compositions of
leaves and flowers" at Uxmal.
It is not necessary to prove that the _measurement_ of the Temple on
Mount Moriah, and that at Palenque, are identical, in order to
establish the analogy now under consideration, because local
applications of their respective dimensions would create essential
variations. In the previous reign (that of David) King Hiram sent his
Tyrian Architects to Jerusalem, and built a Palace for the Monarch of
Israel,--and in the reign of Solomon, (who resolved to erect the
Temple) the same King of Tyrus was applied to for artists to build the
great Mansion of Religion,--Solomon did not command _how it should be
built,--or in what order or style of Architecture_;--that he left to
the Tyrians, who were practical artists,--THEY _gave_ HIM _the
design_, upon his expressing to the Chief Architect the "wants" of the
edifice.
"Now these are the things wherein Solomon was _instructed_ for the
building of the house of GOD," &c. [2 Chron. iii. 3.]
We have expressed in the previous pages, that no Tyrian _Ruins_ in
Asia or Africa are found, whereby the style of that Nation's
Architecture could be identified,--none exist in Sidon, Tyrus, or
Carthage;--but, the never-decaying Volume of Religion, contains a
living picture of Tyrian art and style at Jerusalem, that never can be
in Ruins:--though the identifying marbles of Phœnician
architecture,--like the first stone-tablets of the Decalogue,--are
broken and lost "beneath the Mount" of Time,--yet upon the page of
Holy-Writ do they both appear as new,--as perfect,--as when first
erected by Tyrians for the Son of David,--or traced by the finger of
GOD for the instruction, and civilization of mankind!
The Temple of Solomon, upon the authority of the Bible, was of Tyrian
Architecture, (for the Israelites, we repeat it, had no knowledge of
the Arts at that time,) built and adorned by the Tyrians,--the same
Architecture is found in the Ruins of Ancient America, and
consequently Tyrian,--while the substructure being a portion of a
Pyramid, justly authorizes (we submit) the new term of Egypto-Tyrian.
We cannot dismiss this interesting discovery of an analogy between the
Architecture of the Temples of Jerusalem, Palenque, and Copan,--thus
proving the two latter to be Tyrian,--without the remark,--that if no
other similitude could be found in this volume in order to identify
the Mexican Aborigines as Tyrians, we think that the analogy of the
Temples alone, would satisfy the reader upon that point; as also, that
this History has not been written without that due regard to
testimony, and undeniable evidence, demanded by the importance of the
subject;--and which, being novel and surprising, requires more than
usual proof to convince the mind, that it is analyzing a proposition
of truth, and not one of sophistry.
The ignorance of the Israelites in reference to the practical arts
will be enlarged upon in the next volume.[8]
[8] While these pages devoted to the Analogies are passing through
the Press, Mr. Stephens has published his _second_ visit to
Yucatan. Upon an investigation of the engravings of the Volumes,
we find nothing to change any portion of this History; but, on the
contrary, as we predicted in this Volume (see note to page 120),
the additional Ruins and Cities discovered, actually support our
conclusions, and confirm, consequently, this Tyrian æra. This is
especially visible in the Ruins of Labnah, which are directly in
analogy with those of Uxmal. We feel some pleasure that our
artistical prediction has been literally fulfilled,--otherwise it
might have injured a portion of the present Work--yet so slight,
as not to have interfered with the principle of this History. The
time of their erection (_i. e._ the Temples in Yucatan) therefore,
still remains unchanged in the order in which we ventured to place
them; viz., that they were built _after_ the Temples of Copan,
Ocosingo, Palenque, &c. Up to this time (May 1843), there have
been discovered in Central America _twenty-six_ Ancient Cities,
Ruins, and Temples:--yet with these additional witnesses against
him, the persevering Traveller still clings to the belief, that
all the Aborigines of the entire Continent were _one_ People,--and
that they sprung up like the plants,--"indigenous" to that
land,--and no other! We have proved the fallacy of these
propositions in our first pages, and in the Chapter devoted to his
artistical Refutations.
Having stopped the Press to insert these remarks upon Mr.
Stephens's _second_ visit to Yucatan, we cannot refrain from
offering a few observations upon a paragraph by one of the most
learned and accomplished Reviewers of the present day,[9]--and
one who has the distinguished honour of having first brought the
Ruins of Ancient America to the general notice of Europe, through
the medium of his talented periodical. In reviewing[10] Mr.
Stephens's volumes upon "Incidents of Travel in Yucatan," (2d
Visit,)--the Editor writes as follows:--
"The difference in declension between Central and North America
offers a problem worthy of philosophical consideration. In the
former case, the Mexican Indian, notwithstanding massacres of
merciless atrocity, has been allowed to remain, albeit scattered
on the soil of his ancestors, and _to enter into a combination_
(_i. e._ Marriage) whence another race of mankind has sprung: in
the latter [the Northern] the white invader (Anglo-Saxon) has
chased him from his native possessions and driven him to limits,
_where utter extermination seems to be his doom_. The comparison
could hardly be made without indicating a conclusion highly
favourable to the iron-clad Spaniards of what we choose to call
an ignorant and a barbarous age (1520), and against the more
modern offspring (1620) of our country and enlightened times.
_Though the thirst of gold was the same in both instances_, it
does appear, and it is melancholy to reflect upon it, that
something of nobler impulses belonged to the elder (or Spanish)
æra."
[9] The Editor of the London Literary Gazette, William Jerdan,
Esq.
[10] Literary Gazette, Saturday, April 22, 1843.
We have quoted the entire paragraph to which attention is
desired, and shall now review the several parts,--and trust in a
few remarks to remove the unintentional stain upon the
Anglo-Saxon race, which the above extract has placed upon
them:--as also, affording an additional opportunity of supporting
our previous assertions, that the Aborigines were _two_ distinct
People.
"The difference in declension [_i. e._ of the existing Aboriginal
population] between Central and North America offers a problem
worthy of philosophical consideration." We had already solved
this problem in the first pages of this volume, before the above
was brought to our observation. The solution is founded upon
historic truth,--viz., that the Aborigines of the _North_ will
not _intermarry_, or cohabit, with any race but their own,--they
have a Religious abhorrence even at the supposition of such a
sacrilege,--for in their minds it is one. This principle of the
House of Israel is even followed in European Society by the
Jewish family,--and that after ages of intercourse with the
Christian. It seems impossible to eradicate the prejudice with
the Aborigines of the North,--and this has been one of the
greatest barriers to the propagation of the Christian Religion
among them. As a most convincing proof of the above, we offer an
historic fact not generally known even in America, and certainly
not in Europe,--but it is given upon the authority of the late
President of the United States,--General Harrison,--and it is,
therefore, unimpeachable. In writing the forthcoming Life and
History of that distinguished Patriot, it came under our
observation during the required researches,--and is found in a
document of his as late in date as 1838,--viz., At the
commencement of the American Revolution in 1775,--the government
of Great Britain (through the influence of her traders), engaged
all the North-western Aborigines in her cause, for the purpose of
laying waste the frontiers. The Continental Congress, most
anxious to destroy this junction and impending calamity,--sent
delegates to convince them that they were not a party to the
quarrel, and therefore should be neutral. The application met
with no success, for the Aborigines viewed the Colonists as their
enemies and invaders,--because they were the actual possessors
and occupiers of the land and homes of their ancestors. The
Congress knowing that from the time of the Pilgrims landing at
Plymouth, (1620) the Aborigines would never associate as a
community with the Anglo-Saxon race--by _the great family bond of
Intermarriage_;--the Congress then had recourse to the following
novel proposition,--and it was actually embodied in a treaty
concluded with the Delaware Tribes in 1778,--viz., _That the
Aborigines of the North_, by remaining neutral in the
War,--_should be consolidated into a State by themselves_, and
upon the achievement of National Independence, _should be
incorporated into the Republic of the United States_! The
following are President Harrison's words,--viz., "Nothing can
shew the anxiety of Congress to effect this object in stronger
colours, than the agreement entered into with the Delaware
Tribes, at a treaty concluded at Pittsburgh in 1778. By an
article in that Treaty, _the United-States proposed_ that a State
should be formed, to be composed of the Delawares and the other
Tribes of the North,--and contracted to admit them, when so
formed,--as one of the members of the Union."--[Historical
Discourse, Ohio, 1838.] The above fact of History certainly
proves the anxiety of the Congress, not only to avoid their
enmity, but to provide at a future day _for their continuance as
a People_, and not their "extermination." The same policy of the
United-States has now placed all the Tribes on the West of the
Mississippi,--(for they would form no community founded upon
intermarriage), and there to be protected by the Government of
the United-States against all invaders. In vain shall we search
the Spanish Annals for an instance (in their Mexican Conquests,)
of humanity like these acts of American commiseration and
Christian policy.
In the second sentence of the paragraph quoted from the Literary
Gazette, the Editor has given the identical cause why the Mexican
Aborigines are still found upon their lands,--not as owners, but
as Slaves,--viz., _that they did intermarry_--("enter into a
combination," &c.)--thence the _two_ races are apparent upon the
strongest ground of argument,--viz., Religious principles,--and
which, with all Aborigines are the guides to their actions.
Therefore, the Editor by his remarks upon the Mexican race,
actually solved, though unconsciously, the problem proposed in
his first sentence. In forming a "comparison" between the Spanish
invasion by Cortez, in 1520, and the landing of the
Pilgrim-Fathers in 1620, any writer must fail,--for without
_similitude_ there can be _no comparison_;--_contrast_ is the
word, and never in the history of nations was there a greater
contrast than between the Spanish and Anglo-Saxon races, in their
_motive_ in landing in Mexico and in New-England: but the Editor
has written "_Though the thirst of_ GOLD _was the same in_ BOTH
_instances_, it does appear, and it is melancholy to reflect upon
it, _that something of nobler impulses belonged to the elder_ (or
Spanish) _æra_!" Cortez and Pizarro, and their bands of pirates,
were alone possessed with an unquenchable "thirst of gold,"--it
was "the god of their idolatry,"--even the humane Columbus could
only hold his power with the Spanish Government by sending home
the precious metal,--and when it failed, so declined his
influence; and it at last compelled him to have recourse to
making Slaves of the natives of Hispaniola,--and each had
allotted to him a task of bringing a small bell full of gold from
the mountains, and if they failed, stripes were their punishment;
and of all the natives, not one acre of land was purchased, or
even attempted. The Spaniards found, _as we will prove_,
branches of Christianity!--and yet with the Crucifix in one hand,
and the brand or dagger in their other,--they sacrificed _eleven
millions_ of human beings to their unhallowed invasions, lust,
and thirst for gold:--but were the _English_ so possessed when in
the depth of dreary winter they braved the dangers of the broad
Atlantic?--What drove that band of Pilgrim-Fathers forth to seek
an unknown wilderness for a home and shelter? Was it gold?--would
they have dealt with money-changers in the Temple?--No!--One
thought alone throbbed within their hearts,--viz., To worship
their GOD and SAVIOUR according to the solemn dictates of their
conscience! They were Englishmen, and the first promulgators of
Religious and Civil freedom in the Western Hemisphere.--Upon
their landing did they enslave the Natives for
gold-finders?--No!--They offered the hand of amity,--and in it
_they gave gold_ for acres, and obtained the land by fair and
honourable purchase. Entering upon their pilgrimage upon the
principle only of Religious freedom,--the Northern-native has
been ever permitted to enjoy the same; and not a record of that
land will prove, that the English ever sacrificed a human being
upon the ground of Religious belief or disbelief. It is the very
_principle of the Contrast_ between the Spanish conquest and the
English landing on the Western Continent, that has made the
essential difference, even to this day, in the stability of the
Governments of the two European races, Spanish and Anglo-Saxon.
The former was based upon injustice, lust, and avarice,--thence
can be traced the eventual downfall of the Spanish principles in
South America; but the latter was Freedom-founded, and based upon
laws, virtue, equity,--and thence, as a consequence, the
Anglo-Saxon family still remain firm and secure. Their House
being built upon a Rock, and daring,--like the
Parent-Country,--the wild elements of tyranny even to approach
the foundation, they fear no "comparison" with a blood-stained
Mansion erected upon the Sands; and which the waves of Time have
so far swept from view, that even the false proportions would
have been lost, had not History placed them in her archives as a
warning to posterity! Apology, we trust, is not required for this
almost digressive note;--the just defence of the character of
England and the United-States has been our only motive;--and that
being our _rule of action_ through life, either in public or
private, we could not avoid it. G. J.
SECTION IV.
SEPULCHRAL ANALOGIES.
MUMMIES OF EGYPT, TENERIFFE, AND PERU, &c.
In the previous Sections of this important chapter, the customs and
analogies of the _living_ have been reviewed and compared,--those now
to be investigated have relation to the _dead_.
In all countries the peculiar customs observed at the interment of the
dead, have a distinct, and a National character:--those customs
proclaim the people of a nation with as much certainty, as the Ruins
of the Parthenon speak of Athens and the Athenians.
At the present day "the _ashes_ of the dead" is a strong, and a poetic
phrase, and used even by Christian writers,--whereas it is strictly
heathen in its application:--"_dust to dust_" is essentially
Christian, and the sentence belongs to, and identifies the modern
European family;--while,--"_ashes_ of the dead,"--indicating thereby,
_fire_ as the consuming quality,--points to India, Rome, and many
ancient Nations as authors of the pyro-ceremony.
Pompey's decapitated body, though thrown upon the shore of Egypt, was
consumed to "ashes" by the humble but honest follower of Cæsar's
Master, that the sepulchral custom of ancient _Italy_ should be
accomplished upon, and by, a Son of Rome. The self-immolation of the
widow upon the funeral pyre of her departed husband, points to the
nation following that inhuman custom to be Hindoostan;--while the
embalmed Mummies with their Sarcophagi, direct the antiquarian mind to
Egypt, with as much certainty, as her "starry-pointing Pyramids," or
her Sphinx-guarded Temples. Upon this accredited conclusion of the
identity of nations, from the manner of disposing of their dead, will
be claimed authority to establish a strong argument and analogy in
support of the present subject,--and founded upon the _fac-simile_
resemblance between the ancient Mummies of the Canary Islands, and
those in Mexican America.
The general reader may not be aware that Mummies have been found in
any other nation than Egypt;--they have, however, been discovered (but
without the Sarcophagi) at _Arico_, in the Island of Teneriffe, and at
_Arica_ in Peru,--a similitude is discernible even in the local name
given to the districts where the Mummy-pits are found. An analogy is
at once perceptible in analyzing the ancient word _Guanches_ (the
Aborigines of Teneriffe),--it is derived from _Guan_,--_i. e._
Man,--consequently in his natural and uncontrolled state,--therefore
Freemen,--this fact is sanctioned _by their escape from thraldom_ or
SLAVERY, when they first arrived on the Island, as will be shewn in
the Second Book of this Volume. Again, in Ancient America, the places
where Mummies are found are called _Guacas_,--_i. e._ the abode of Man
in his decayed state. The Reader will instantly perceive that in the
construction of the word, as used in both localities, there is a
direct similitude. The first land also rediscovered by Columbus in
the Western Hemisphere, was called by the natives--_Guanahani_,--the
Genoese named it St. Salvador.
The word "Teneriffe," in the original language of the ancient
inhabitants,--the Guanches,--signifies--White-Mountain,--(_Thanar_--
mountain,--and _Iffe_--white),--from the celebrated Peak being (from
its altitude) always covered with snow.
In the singular burial-cavern of the Capuchin Friars near Palermo,
there are over 2000 dead bodies,--they have erroneously been called
"Mummies;"--for the bodies are not in any manner embalmed, but dried
by a slow fire, (or furnace-oven) and then arranged in groups around
the subterranean galleries.
The word "mummy" was originally applied to a drug so called; and it
was probably used by the Egyptians as one of their ingredients in
embalming--or preserving--the dead. The Bard of Avon evidently so
understood it,--viz., that it was a drug possessing a _preserving_
quality. Othello's description of his "first gift" to Desdemona will
explain.--
"That handkerchief did an Egyptian
To my mother give.
* * * * *
The worms were hallow'd that did breed the silk:
And it was _dyed in mummy_ which the skilful
Conserved of maiden's hearts."
It may appear strange, at the first glance, that there should be any
connexion between the Mummies of Teneriffe and those of Peru, towards
establishing that the Mexican Aborigines were originally
Tyrians:--but there is a connexion, and as certain, as that a chain of
three links owes its utility to the connecting power of the central
one. Teneriffe forms that central link between Tyrus and the Western
Continent.
The natural and apparent question then is,--Were the Guanches (ancient
Canarians) originally from the Tyrian family?--this we distinctly
answer in the affirmative.
Mr. Pettigrew, in his valuable "History of Egyptian Mummies," has the
following remark upon those discovered at Teneriffe.
"That the inhabitants of the Canary Islands should have adopted _a
practice of embalming in some measure similar to that of the Egyptian
is rather singular_,--seeing they were separated from each other by
_the entire breadth of Northern Africa_." [p. 237.]
Now the above author assumes, as a necessity,--that the ancient
Guanches (Canarians) must have emigrated by _land_,--otherwise the
sentence "entire breadth of Northern Africa" is uselessly brought
forward to express the barrier between the Islands and Egypt. The
emigration by land cannot be sustained, but is absolutely rejected,
from the fact, that the Guanches must have had navigable means to have
reached the chief Islands even _after_ they had arrived upon the
Shores of the Continent,--which are nearly 150 miles from Teneriffe.
This fact then points to a nation having acquaintance with Egypt, and
the means of Navigation,--and also of one "advanced in civilization,"
for such were the now extinct nation of the Guanches, as related by
Spanish historians. Truth seems at once to point to the Tyrians as the
Aborigines of those Islands.
Mr. Pettigrew probably forgot that Herodotus has recorded the
celebrated Egypto-Tyrian expedition around the Continent of Africa,
and which occurred 609--606 years before Christ. It is apparent that
the _Fortunatæ Insulæ_,--as the Canary Islands were called by the
Ancients,--were discovered during the three years voyage related by
the Greek historian, for they were known to the Tyrians centuries
before the Christian Æra. This celebrated expedition, and the proofs
of its being accomplished, will be investigated and established in the
pages devoted to the History of Tyrus.
After the direful event which drove the Tyrians for ever from the
Mediterranean (which will be elucidated hereafter), we believe that
their first resting-place was among the Canary Islands,--and as the
Peak of Teneriffe arose as a welcome beacon,--that Island became to
them the chief place of temporary residence after their fortunate
escape. It appears almost evident that the group was then named by the
Tyrians,--for as _the Fortunate Isles_ they are known in ancient
geography. The name seems to allude to some "foregone conclusion," a
peculiarly happy circumstance (_i. e._ escape from foe or wreck) being
connected with the naming.
That the Aborigines of these Islands, and those of Ancient America
were the same, will be admitted from the Mummies discovered in the two
Countries. They are identical with each other, and they are not
Egyptian,--for they lack the stone Sarcophagi, the hieroglyphics and
the mummy Cloths. The mummies of Peru and Teneriffe are bound in skins
of animals,--(a custom no where else _found_, although it is
_recorded_ of the Scythians)--those of the former in the skin of the
lama,--those of the latter in the goat-skin, an animal with which the
Island abounded, and with the skins of which the original inhabitants
clothed themselves. The Mummies of both Countries are also, bound
within the skins by leather thongs and straps, made from the hides of
the respective animals. Such facts cannot be accidental,--they must be
identical.
The manner described above, may have been the custom throughout all
Mexican America;--that they are only discovered at Arica in _Peru_,
may arise from natural causes,--viz., at Arica the rain never falls
(as in Egypt) and the soil is calcareous,--and the dryness of the
atmosphere, with the saline qualities of the earth, produce natural
embalming; thus preserving the body for ages from decomposition,--while
in other portions of the Continent, from the moisture, and the absence
of the preserving qualities, the bodies would gradually decay, and
return and mingle with the undistinguishing dust of centuries. Many
analogies are found to the Tyrians, in the details and decorations of
the Peruvian Mummies,--both of the rich and the poor. Those of the
poor are invariably found resting upon beds of _broken fish-shells_;--
these beds are supposed to be placed there for "religious motives."
May not the purple murex (_i. e._ dye shellfish) of Tyrus (as on the
Altar of Copan) be here alluded to by this religious custom? In the
same Mummy-pits (and they extend over a mile) are found various
_models of _boats_, _lines_, _and fish-hooks_; these are buried with
the Mummies, and they are evident witnesses of the occupation,--or the
"religious motives" of the departed. Is not Tyrus here also?--her
fisheries were her National emblems. And that this custom (whereby the
means of sustenance were obtained) was practised in South America by
the Aborigines, is distinctly stated by Dr. Robertson, upon the
authority of Berrere. The statement, also, shews that the distinction
between those of the North and South, or Mexican America is
apparent,--those of the former depended upon hunting for their
sustenance,--those of the latter,--or the Tyrian descendants,--as did
their ancestors, upon their fisheries. Robertson says--"In this part
of the globe (_i. e._ South America) hunting seems _not_ to have been
the first employment of men, or the first effort of their invention
and labour to obtain food. They were _fishers_ before they became
hunters." [Vol. v., Book iv., p. 318.]
The _boat-model_ is directly emblematical of a Religious custom of
Tyrus,--copied from the Egyptian,--viz., the belief that the _Soul_
had to pass through various stages and translations, before it reached
its final destination or happiness. To accomplish this, the _body_ was
to pass over a River,--in a sacred-barge or boat:--the the helmsman
was called by the Egyptians in their own language,--_Charon_. The
Classic reader will instantly trace the mythological fable of Greece,
concerning the Ferryman of the River Styx,--probably introduced into
Grecian Thebes by the Tyrian Cadmus.
The Mummies of the rich discovered in Peru, are invariably wrapped in
cloth, _crimson_ (purple) _coloured_;--here then is the National
colour of Tyrus, (derived from the shellfish) and which made that
country so renowned. The _colour itself_ is found enveloping the
bodies of the rich,--while the useless and "broken shells" are found
beneath the Mummies of the poor,--_the same National tribute to
both_,--though in degree, according to the _wealth_ of the
deceased;--for the Tyrians, like the Egyptians, would not admit of any
distinction in the grave, as to rank or title;--but, believed that in
the great Republic of Death, all were equal,--and,--as in the Kingdom
of Kingdoms,--that good deeds alone constituted the true distinctions.
In a notice of the Ancient Mummies of Teneriffe, the Baron Humboldt
states, that they _differ from the Egyptians_ in physiognomy, and that
the ornaments resemble those used in Mexican America! Now when the
illustrious Traveller wrote those facts (as shewn in the following
quotation), there was no Theory in his mind in reference to the
Tyrians,--yet his remarks will support this present History, and they
are too important, as to undeniable authority, to be passed by
indifferently by the reader. Baron Humboldt says--
"On examining carefully the physiognomy of the _ancient Canarians_,
able anatomists have recognised in the cheek-bones, and the lower jaw,
perceptible _differences_ from the Egyptian Mummies. The corpses are
often decorated with small laces [necklaces] to which are hung little
_disks_ of baked earth [clay] that seemed to have served as numerical
[Religious?] Signs; and _resemble the quippoes of the Peruvians and
Mexicans_!" [Per. Nar., p. 278.]
Here then upon the high authority of Humboldt, is an analogy traced
between the ornaments of the Mummies of the Guanches (Tyrians) and the
ancient inhabitants of Mexican America.
Upon every consideration of the subject the Mummies discovered at
Teneriffe and in Peru are identical;--the same kind are not found in
any other parts of the world,--and Teneriffe (as chief of the
Fortunate Isles) was known, visited, and inhabited by the Tyrians.
SECTION V.
SUMMARY OF ANALOGIES BETWEEN THE ANCIENT TYRIANS AND MEXICAN
ABORIGINES.
To prove that the Mexican Aborigines were originally from the Tyrians,
we have established the following powerful Analogies, as being
practised, found, or in tradition among the People of both Nations,
and they are the only two countries where the same similitudes can be
found;--we will not say in a single instance, but _collectively_,--and
in that way only should they be viewed by the reader. The summary is
as follows: viz.--
Religious Idolatry:--the worship of, and sacrifice of human lives to
the God of War; the worship of Saturn, and consequent Infanticide to
propitiate the remorseless deity; the long Cross (and others) of the
Goddess Astartē, in the Sculpture;--the sacrifice to Hygeia by
_optional_ Circumcision;--the chief worship to Apollo,--or the
Sun;--the gorgeous Temples erected to his glory;--human sacrifice upon
the dedication of the Temples;--and the Sacred Fire,--guarded by the
Virgins of the Sun. The comparative Mummies of the Tyrian Isles and
Peru; the traditional story concerning Swans; the Tortoise and Serpent
in Sculpture; the dye-shell, or purple murex;--Navigation with its
attendant Maps and Charts;--the Aborigines coming from "the East," and
by Navigation;--their landing,--or "touching at Florida," and "before
the Christian Æra,"--then the discovery of the wreck of a Tyrian
galley. The knowledge of Painting, and the general application of
Colours; and Gem engraving. As the Sculpture contains only
hieroglyphics, and not one cipher or letter, consequently the spoken
language of Phœnicia is not found,--_nor is there any other
language discovered_,--and for a proof of its antiquity, the
Tyrian-Temple Sculpture should be _only_ hieroglyphical. The political
character in the formation of Monarchies and Republics, as shewn at
Tyrus and Carthage, Mexico and Toltecas:--Military character, and
knowledge of defensive locality, with analogous Architecture in the
sea and river-walls of Tyrus and Copan. The _last event_ in the
history of Tyrus, sculptured upon the Chief Altar of the most ancient
Ruin (Copan); and from the character of that event, it would naturally
become the _first subject_ of record in the country to which they had
emigrated,--every detail of that Altar is essentially Tyrian.
_Painted_ sculpture, and the stuccoing of the walls of Tyrus and
Palenque. The Architecture, as to its square-columned style,
identified as Tyrian, and proved to be analogous from the Temples of
Jerusalem and Palenque: and from the square Pillars of Copan;--while
the pyramidal base produced the compound term,--Egypto-Tyrian.
These absolute analogies have been traced from Holy-Writ, (and from
that source others are to follow) Histories, and Traditions,--from
Sculpture, Coins, and Architecture, and the entire range of the
Arts;--_Earth_ and _Ocean_ have rendered their records, to establish
that the same knowledge and customs were possessed by both
Nations,--nor will the proof of identity stop there;--their mutual
knowledge was also found in that science where _Heaven_ itself was,
and is, the illuminated map of study,--where the Stars, as letters of
fire, form the language of the Skies,--GOD HIMSELF being the Alpha and
the Omega!
The sublime Science of ASTRONOMY claims both Tyrus and Tyrian-America
for her children and pupils,--the latter viewed, and solved the
problem of the annual course of the glorious Sun (the chief worship),
with as much accuracy (save a diurnal fraction) as the later, and more
accomplished scholars and disciples,--Italy, Germany, and England.
In reference to historical evidence, and testimony, founded upon
analogies and coincidences, the acute observer, Dr. Paley, says--
"The undesignedness of coincidences is to be gathered from their
latency, their minuteness, their obliquity:--the suitableness of the
circumstances in which they consist to the places in which those
circumstances occur, and the circuitous references by which they are
traced out, demonstrate that they have not been produced by meditation
or by fraudulent contrivance; but coincidences from which these causes
are excluded, and which are too close and numerous to be accounted for
by accidental concurrence of fiction,--must necessarily have Truth for
their foundation."
As this History of Ancient America is founded upon the great principle
of the Baconian philosophy,--viz., Inductive reasoning,--_i. e._
_facts_, accumulated to prove a theory;--it therefore, follows, that
the novel secrets of this History, are _discoveries_, not
inventions,--and they essentially are upheld, and supported, by the
records of The Bible.
We submit to the opinion even of a sceptical reader, whether he does
not, with the foregone proofs, believe our historical proposition,--viz.,
_That Tyrians were the first inhabitants of Ancient America, and the
original builders of the now Ruined Cities and Temples_?--but should
he believe, or even waver, the subsequent Book of this Volume
(exemplifying the _cause_ and _time_) will confirm his thought, or
remove his doubt. Following our Scriptural motto, and instruction, we
shall still obey that voice of advice:--
"For enquire, I pray thee, _of the former Age_,--and prepare thyself
to the search of _their Fathers_; shall not they teach thee, and tell
thee, and utter words out of their heart?" [Book of Job, viii. 8 and
10.]
CHAPTER VIII.
THE INOVATIONS UPON THE CUSTOMS OF THE TYRIANS
IN AMERICA EXPLAINED.
A small space will be sufficient for this explanation. Any innovation
upon a National custom, demonstrates an anterior existence of that
custom; and that the innovation, as a necessity, must follow, or be
posterior in date to the custom innovated upon.
In ancient Mexican America (at the Spanish Conquest) there were
Religious customs and National usages not essentially of the Tyrian
character,--yet, through the vista of the innovations,--the "Daughter
of Sidon" was still discernible,--like the Statue of Minerva in her
Temple of the Acropolis, even after the Sons of Rome had innovated
upon the customs of Attica.
All the innovations upon the ancient Tyrian customs in Mexican America
are traceable to an Event, about three centuries and four score years
after the Tyrians first touched at Florida,--an Event not to be
investigated here, as it belongs essentially to the third Epoch, viz.,
_the introduction of Christianity_:--but, to that fact may be traced
the immediate _cause_, of many innovations upon the Idolatrous
customs of the Tyrians, in several parts of Ancient America,--it led
even to alterations of the ornaments on their Temples, as will be
shewn in establishing the Event so full of Religious veneration,
and,--as a learned divine justly said, in receiving _our proof_ of the
third Epoch,--so fraught with Christian Sublimity.
END OF BOOK THE FIRST, OF VOLUME I.
EPOCH THE FIRST.
B o o k t h e S e c o n d.
THE TYRIAN ÆRA;
OR,
THE FOUNDING OF ANCIENT AMERICA,
CONTINUED.
AND
HISTORICALLY ESTABLISHED,
AS BEING IN THE YEAR 332 BEFORE CHRIST.
H o r a t i o.
O DAY AND NIGHT,--BUT THIS IS WOND'ROUS STRANGE!
H a m l e t.
AND, THEREFORE, AS A STRANGER, GIVE IT WELCOME.
THERE ARE MORE THINGS IN HEAVEN AND EARTH, HORATIO,
THAN ARE DREAMT OF IN OUR PHILOSOPHY!
S h a k s p e a r e.
B o o k t h e S e c o n d.
THE SCRIPTURAL, POLITICAL, AND COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF THE
PHŒNICIAN NATIONS,--BUT ESPECIALLY OF THE KINGDOM OF TYRUS,
AND THE MIGRATION TO THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
CHAPTER I.
(2349--1600 B. C.)
THE NATIONS OF PHŒNICIA.
2349 BEFORE CHRIST.] In reviewing the history of the great
Phœnician family, an interest of a strong and peculiar character is
now given to it from the new and apparent fact, that the Nations of
that family were not annihilated--in its literal sense--by the
Babylonian, Macedonian, or the Roman, at the great capitals, Sidon,
Tyrus, and Carthage.
The Phœnicians as a people, will now possess an interest in the
mind of the English and American reader (and of all Europe) of no
common character:--for "all time" forward the History of Tyrus (and of
Israel) must be regarded as being blended with that of the Western
Hemisphere;--and as a consequence, with the Anglo-Saxon race: whose
colossal tread, ere a century shall have passed, will obliterate every
minor footprint on the Western Continent,--for the Institutions of
Alfred and of Washington--freedom-founded--tower, like sheltering
Palm-trees, over the desert sands of the previous Nations.
The Phœnicians claim with absolute certainty the most remote
antiquity for the foundation of their "house;" for as the history of
Nations requires no date antecedent to that of the Deluge,--that of
Phœnicia is traceable to that event--[2349 B. C.]--and as a
consequence, the first Book of MOSES is the fountain from which all
the channels of certain and early knowledge are derived. From the
Sacred Volume we learn that the three and only Sons of Noah "were
Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of _Canaan_." _Japheth_
was the eldest, and from him is supposed to have descended the family
of Europe. To Shem, the second son, is traceable the House of Israel,
and to that august family was granted by THE ALMIGHTY, the Sacred
Covenant, the Holy-laws, and the Nativity of the Blessed SAVIOUR.
The family of the youngest Son--Ham--is traceable with the same
certainty as that of his next elder brother: while that of Japheth,
the firstborn, is left in comparative obscurity.
The branch of our History now before the reader, contemplates the fate
and family of the last Son of Noah, and to those points only will
attention now be directed;--and at the conclusion the reader will not
fail to observe, that Noah's malediction upon the youngest offspring
of his last child, was not uttered by the insulted Patriarch in vain.
The cause of that curse is familiar to every reader, but for the
argument to follow, it is necessary to bring it forward in this place.
2218 B. C.] "And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a
vineyard: and he drank of the wine and was drunken: and he was
uncovered within his tent. And Ham, _the father of Canaan_, saw the
nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem
and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and
went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father: and their
faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And
Noah awoke from his wine, _and knew what his younger son had done unto
him_: and he said, _Cursed be Canaan_; a servant of servants shall he
be unto _his brethren_. And he said, Blessed be the LORD GOD of
_Shem_;--and Canaan shall be _his_ servant. GOD shall _enlarge
Japheth_, and _he_ shall dwell in the _tents of Shem_, and Canaan
shall be _his_ servant." [Gen. ix. 20-27.]
The _Prophetical_ part of the above, and its accomplishment, will be
proved in the last Chapter of this Volume, and in support of the
present Theory:--the _Malediction_ will here be especially noticed as
belonging to this history. It is singular that Noah's curse is not
cast upon the Son (Ham) who foully wronged his person, but upon that
Son's _youngest male child_,--viz., Canaan. Ham had four Sons only,
Shem five, and Japheth seven.
"And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, _and Canaan_."
The cause why the Curse was not bestowed upon _all_ the children of
Ham, and their descendants, may be as follows:--viz., Noah's last
_grandson_ was _Canaan_, and being born in the very dotage of Noah
(for he had no child of _his own_ after the Deluge), it is natural,
therefore, that his youngest grandson (and which was the sixteenth)
would be the object of his aged fondness,--(as Jacob loved Joseph,
being "the son of his old age,")--this must have been known to his
Sons and their children, and when his person was violated by _his own
and youngest son_--the Patriarch--to give greater power to his curse
of indignation, cast it upon the dearest object of his doting
love,--reasoning thus: viz., "_My_ youngest _son_ hath wronged
me,--therefore, _his_ youngest _son_ shall suffer." We do not say his
youngest _child_, for that might have been a Daughter,--and the
Daughters of Noah, or those of his three Sons are not mentioned in the
Bible, although Noah's "_Wife_" "and his Sons' _Wives_" are. The same
Sacred Historian has omitted any mention of the immediate Daughters of
Adam,--and it is evident they must have been born before the birth of
Eve's third son,--Seth,--for "Cain knew his Wife, and she conceived
and bare Enoch." Now the Wife of Cain must have been his own
_Sister_,--while the grandsons of Noah must have married their
Cousins,--or perhaps Sisters. Some sceptical writers have believed
that many "Adams and Eves" were placed simultaneously in different
parts of the globe:--if not, they say, "they (people) must have
married their Sisters." If such disbelievers had travelled through
even the paths of history, they would have found that such was
actually the custom, even after the Deluge. Abram's Wife,--Sarah,--was
his own Step-Sister. It was practised in Egypt, and thought no
crime,--from the monarch to the peasant:--but, the progress of
Religion and Civilization, with their attendant radiant blessings
dispelled the darkness, and destroyed the degenerating custom.
Intellect was, also, thereby rescued from gradual but certain decay:
for experience has proved, that the nearer the blood relationship of
man and wife, the more distant are children of such marriages from
intellectual or physical endowments. This slight digression is
introduced merely to shew that MOSES omitted, in more than the
instance of Eve (previous to the birth of her third son), to mention
the birth of Daughters,--they are _understood_ to have been
born,--attendant upon Nature,--like the bright beams from the
Sun!--but, the first Historian was anxious only to record the _Sons_
of Men,--as being the recognised founders of the several branches of
the human family. However unjust must be viewed Noah's curse upon an
innocent object,--viz., his grandson--Canaan,--most truly and terribly
has that malediction been accomplished.
The Arabs at the present day have an ancient law apparently founded upon
the above, though in a reverse position and partaking of a strong moral
obligation,--viz., If a descendant of "Hagar's offspring"--Ishmael--shall
commit a murder, _among his own race_, the _Father_ of the assassin is
given to the executioner,--upon the ground of argument, that the
Father had not educated his son correctly,--for if he had, the child
would not have committed the homicide! This law has a strong tendency
to prevent crime, for the Son would not only give his Father to the
sword, and thus become a parricide,--but, worse (in the estimation of
the Arabs), he would cast upon his Sire's memory, the lasting infamy
of having neglected his own offspring. To prevent this hazard, the
Spartan child was educated by the State.
Noah's sentence upon his youngest grandson, for the crime of that
child's father, has never been repeated from that day to the present
period, or imbodied in a code of laws,--yet has that sentence been
literally accomplished upon Canaan and his descendants. The scriptural
reader may, however, believe that the _principle_ of the above is
again repeated in the Decalogue;--it is true that a curse is there
placed in contrast to a blessing,--but (with humility we submit) that
is upon a point of Religious worship only.
"Thou shalt have _no other Gods_ before me. Thou shalt not make unto
thee any _graven image_ [statue], or any likeness of any thing that is
in Heaven above [Sun, Moon, or Stars], or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.--Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them [_i. e._ Idols], nor serve them: for I the LORD
thy GOD am a jealous GOD, visiting the iniquity _of the fathers upon
the children_ unto the _third_ and fourth _generation_ of them that
_hate_ me [_i. e._ worship other Gods], and shewing mercy unto
thousands [_i. e._ of generations] of them that love me, and keep my
commandments." [_i. e. not_ to worship Idols.] (Ex. xx.)
We repeat that the above sentence concerns _Religious_ worship only,
and not for any _personal_ act,--for that is covered by the after-laws
upon the same Tablets,--and in regard to the crime committed by the
father of Canaan, it is especially alluded to in Leviticus [xviii. 7].
Of the Sons of Ham:--_Cush_, the eldest, was the father of Nimrod, the
founder of the Babylonian and Assyrian families: the second son,
_Mizraim_, was the founder of the Egyptian empire,--thence the ancient
name of Mizraim being applied to that country.--_Phut_, the third son,
_apparently_ died without issue,--at least there is no scriptural
record of his descendants; but, as this would be very improbable in
that early date, immediately following the Deluge,--we will venture
the suggestion, whether the third Son was not the founder of the great
African family--known as Negroes; for this is the only race not
defined (apparently) by Moses,--and Phut is the only child of the
"accursed" branch of Noah's "house," whose descendants are not
mentioned. _Canaan_--the fourth and youngest son--was the founder of
the Canaanites. Canaan had eleven children, all of whom (except one)
established Nations known under one general name--Canaanites:--who,
as a people were subsequently conquered, and their lands possessed by
Moses, Joshua, and the Israelites. The _first Child of Canaan_,
however, was not included with his brethren in founding the
Canaanitish family.
"And Canaan begat SIDON, his firstborn." [Genesis x. 15.]
From that "firstborn" of Canaan sprung the great Phœnician
family:--for upon the authority of Justin, an earthquake compelled a
_portion_ of the family of Canaan to leave the country they had first
settled in, and they took up their residence upon the border of the
Assyrian Lake:--but which they afterwards vacated, and journeyed to
the Sea-coast, [2178 B.C.] where the leader of that portion,--viz.,
_Sidon_,--built a city bearing his name, and he thus became the
founder of the great maritime Nations of the Mediterranean; and being
divided from their brethren, the Sidonians became a separate and
independent people.
1689 B.C.] In the deathbed blessing of JACOB upon Zebulun, the country
of Sidon is mentioned. [Genesis xlix. 13.]
"Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an
haven of ships: and his border shall be unto _Sidon_."
1451 B.C.] MOSES wrote of them as a Nation in more than one
instance.--
"And the border of the Canaanites was from SIDON, as thou comest to
Gerar unto Gaza." [Genesis x. 19.]
"--* * * from the river of Arnon unto Mount Hermon, (which Hermon the
_Sidonians_ call Sirion; and the Amorites [Canaanites] call it
Shenir)." [Deut. iii. 8,9.]
In the last quotation the Sidonians are distinctly stated to be a
separate nation from the other branches of the Canaanites.
1444 B. C.] JOSHUA, also, defines them to be so, and a powerful one.
"And the LORD delivered them [the Canaanites] into the hand of Israel,
who smote them, and chased them _unto great_ SIDON," &c. [Joshua xi.
8.]
The early character of National Independence enjoyed by the Sidonians,
and the primitive character of justice among them, may be gathered
from the description of the people of Laish, who are compared to the
Sidonians; and the military prowess of the latter people is also
expressed.
1406 B. C.] "Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw
the people that were therein, how they dwelt _careless, after the
manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure_; and there _was no
magistrate in the land_,[11] that might put _them_ to shame for any
thing;--[_i. e._ for crimes]--and they were far from the Sidonians,
and had no business with any man." "And there was no deliverer,--_because_
it [Laish] was far from Sidon." [Judges xviii. 7, 28.]
[11] The increase of crime in any Nation is instantly ascertained,
by finding the ratio increase of Lawyers,--and the purity of a
People by their absence,--as at Laish,--of course having regard to
the relative increase of population. The same argument will
obtain, in reference to the increase of physical disease, by
observing the ratio increase of the members of the Medical
profession.--G. J.
In the course of time there were six Kingdoms or Nations of
Phœnicia,--viz., Sidon, Tyrus, Aradnus, Berytus, Byblos, and
Carthage. The inhabitants of the kingdoms in Asia bore one general
name--Phœnicians,--though each had its own name from its
derivative,--as Sidonians, Tyrians, &c. The great nation in Africa,
was not included in the general appellation, but from its Republican
character, possessed its own,--viz., Carthaginians.
HISTORY OF TYRUS.
ITS RISE AND FALL, AND THE MIGRATION OF THE TYRIANS TO THE WESTERN
HEMISPHERE.
CHAPTER II.
(1600-1046 B.C.)
THE FOUNDING OF TYRUS--EARLY NAVIGATION OF THE TYRIANS--FOUNDING
OF THE MONARCHY--THE FIRST KING OF TYRUS, &c.
The Nation of Sidon having increased in power and population, sent one
of the Cadmii with a Colony to found _Pæle Tyr_: this was on the
_Continent_, or main land of the Phœnician coast,--23 miles from
Sidon, and 80 from ancient Jebus (_i. e._ Jerusalem). The Mother-land
at another period sent a second Colony to aid the previous one, and
from which blended circumstance, it is found in the Bible that Tyrus
is called "The Daughter of Sidon." The year in which the first Colony
was sent, is not defined, but it must have been many years before the
Conquest of the Canaanites by JOSHUA;--for not only were there in
existence at that time the "great Sidon,"--but, in dividing the
subdued lands among the Tribes, that of Asher received certain
portions on the sea-coast of Phœnicia, and it is distinctly stated
that Tyrus at that period was a metropolis and fortified.
"And Hebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah even unto great Sidon;
and then the coast turneth to Ramah, and to _the strong City Tyre_,"
&c. [Joshua xix. 28-29.]
It is, therefore, evident that Tyrus was a "strong city" anterior to
1444 B.C., which was the time of JOSHUA, and the conquest of the "land
of promise;"--we have, therefore, and in reference to an event
previous to Joshua, placed the foundation of Tyrus as early as 1600
years B.C. Some authors have remarked that HOMER has not mentioned
Tyrus, and as a consequence, that that City was not in existence at
the period of the Siege of Troy. Homer mentions both Mother and
"Daughter" under one name; viz., Sidonians: it was a term applied by
the ancients to both Nations, and to every thing elegant in
Art,--until the Tyrians by their superior skill won their own, and a
distinctive appellation. Nor can Homer be charged with ignorance in
joining the two names;--he followed what appears from his own language
to have been a received custom. This is also proved by Solomon's
message to a subsequent King of _Tyrus_,--and the Tyrians in their
early days were flattered by being called Sidonians.
"For thou knowest that there is not among us [_i. e._ Israel] any that
can skill to hew timber like unto the _Sidonians_." [1 Kings v. 6.]
Then to assert that Tyrus did not exist at, or before the Fall of
Troy, because the Epic Poet does not mention it,--or that it is not to
be found recorded as a city, is to proclaim that which is not
sanctioned by the consentient voice of acknowledged history. We will
briefly review this point.
The Trojan war, consequent upon the rape of the Spartan Queen,
commenced in the year 1194 B.C. Now in the previous page it is proved,
that Tyrus was a "strong City" 250 years before the Siege of Troy, for
Joshua speaks of it as one of the boundaries for the Tribe of Asher,
and this event was 1444 B.C., and that upon the authority of
Holy-Writ.
Again.--Had such sceptics in the antiquity of Tyrus, given a moment's
consideration to the Grecian Fleet, employed to convey Agamemnon and
his troops to Troy, they would have found that the Knowledge of
Navigation was first introduced at Sidon, and was, as a practical
science,--established by the Tyrians,--and from them the Greeks
derived their nautical skill and knowledge.
Homer intended both Nations in the one term,--Sidonians:--but,
Euripides is more defined, for his subject demanded it;--and as it has
reference to this History, as being the first recorded event after the
founding of Tyrus, it will be mentioned more in detail.
1493 B.C.] Forty-nine years before the period in which Joshua divided
the lands of Canaan, a Tyrian Chief (_i. e._ a Cadmus) left Tyrus and
Sidon (apparently with a colony) and founded Thebes in Greece. He is
known in classic history as Cadmus, and has the reputation of
introducing into his new territory of Thebes, the ciphers of his
country, and from which were formed the letters of the ancient Grecian
alphabet,--the language in which Homer subsequently depicted the deeds
of Greeks and Trojans.
That the Theban Cadmus was a Tyrian, and not a Sidonian, is
established by Euripides;--as, also, the worship of Apollo, and the
Sacred Virgins. The Poet has made a singular local error, as will be
seen in the second line about to be quoted,--for though the _Isle_ of
Tyrus was inhabited in the time of Euripides, it was _not_ at the
period contemplated by his Tragedy. It is true that the Isle (previous
to Alexander) was "sea-girt," but it is evidently intended by the Poet
to have reference to the Island-Capital, and therefore an anachronism.
The following translation from the original Greek, will prove Cadmus
to have been a Tyrian.
VIRGIN CHORUS.
Bounding o'er the _Tyrian_ flood
From Phœnicia's sea-girt Isle,--
* * * *
Cull'd from _Tyre_, its brightest grace,
Worthy of the god, I came
To Agenor's high-born race,
Glorying, _Cadmus_, in thy name."
* * * *
Phœnicia is my country, gave me birth,
And nurtured me, till, captive by the spear.
Selected from the virgin train, the sons
Of _Cadmus_ led me hither, to Apollo
A hallowed offering.
* * * *
As yet Castalia's silver wave
These flowing tresses waits to lave,
Delicious stream, where bathes the virgin train,
Serving at Apollo's fane."
* * * *
When _Cadmus_ from the _Tyrian strand_
Arriving, trod this destined land."--[_i. e._ Thebes.]
* * * *
A dragon there in scales of gold
Around his fiery eyeballs roll'd,
By Mars assigned that humid shade,
To guard the green extended glade,
And silver-streaming tide:
Him, as with pious haste he came
To draw the purifying stream,
Dauntless the _Tyrian Chief_ repress'd,
Dashed with a rock his sanguine crest
And crush'd his scaly pride.
* * * *
Virgin queen, at whose command
_Cadmus_ crush'd the dragon's crest."
_The Phœnician Virgins._
There can remain upon the mind of the reader, (from the previous
quotation) not a doubt, that the celebrated Cadmus of Classic history
was of Tyrus,--and consequently it is the first name to be found
having reference to Tyrian history. The _chief events_ only of that
history will be enlarged upon in these pages;--for our aim will be to
obtain, and delineate the vital spirit of the Nation, and its
principle of action,--that _Instruction_ may not be forgotten, in the
contemplation of History's wild romance,--for her prerogative has ever
been, to prove that _truth_ is more strange than _fiction_!
1444 B. C.] This date has peculiar importance from the fact, that
from the words of JOSHUA, Tyrus was then "the _strong City_!"
consequently having its walls and means of defence; and by JOSHUA'S
not attacking either Sidon or Tyrus, it is evident that they were not
regarded as Nations of Canaan,--but as a separate and independent
people. It is, also, an important æra from the fact, that one of the
Tribes of Israel (Asher) was portioned to possess the land of Canaan
that approached "_to_ the strong City Tyre,"--thus were the Israelites
in juxtaposition with the Tyrians,--and consequently it is apparent
that the custom of Circumcision (optionally) must have been introduced
into the Phœnician family at this time; for it is recorded in the
Bible, that the great Covenant with ABRAHAM was _discontinued_ by
MOSES, during the period of forty years, while journeying through the
Wilderness, and that every warrior of Israel, who had left Egypt with
the Lawgiver, had ceased to exist: and thereupon, JOSHUA, as the
successor of MOSES, was commanded to renew the Covenant with the new
race of Israel _born in_ the Wilderness. This was accomplished in the
year 1451 B. C.--Now this was only _seven years_ before the Tribe of
Asher were located in the immediate vicinity of the Tyrians,--viz.,
1444 B. C. The Egyptians received the above custom of the Israelites,
while the latter people sojourned with the former, and consequently
previous to their Exodus from the Nation of the Nile. By the Egyptians
it was practised in the same manner (excepting their Priests) as by
the Tyrians,--viz., _optionally_. The Mummies establish this fact.
The facility of the Tyrians to receive this custom was not only given
by their vicinity to a Tribe of Israel, but from the apparent fact,
_that they both spoke the same language_;--the original language of
the descendants of Abraham was not lost while they were in bondage in
Egypt,--because the _Egyptians spoke the same language as the
Israelites_!--These novel and important points we shall endeavour to
establish, when reviewing the original languages of Phœnicia,
Egypt, Israel, and the two Aboriginal races in the Western Hemisphere,
all of which languages will be found to be the same!--and if this
present History is correct, those languages _must be radically
identical_. Startling as the above may appear to the classic or
general reader, we trust that his opinion will not be formed, until he
has investigated the argument of the present writer upon the subject,
and which will be found in the Second Volume.
From the facility then afforded by neighbourhood, and the means of
communication by speaking the same language,--not only was the custom
of Circumcision introduced, but probably many others of a minor
character. [1434 B. C.] The first war in which the Tyrians were
engaged was with this very Tribe of Asher, who by their juxtaposition
began to encroach upon the Tyrians, and probably upon their Religious
and National Customs. In this first conflict by the Tyrians, they were
completely victorious, and drove the Israelites (represented by the
Tribe of Asher) from all the sea-coast of Phœnicia. This event
probably occurred about ten years after the Tribe of Asher became
located upon the Tyrian borders,--we have, therefore, placed the date
at 1434 B. C. Malte-Brun states the fact, but gives no date, or the
causes that led to it. We have endeavoured to look beyond the effect,
and reach the cause; for it will be remembered that the Tyrians had
their "strong city" on the _mainland_,--the celebrated Island was not
yet occupied:--encroachment was therefore easily felt, and as quickly
resented;--and like their ancestors, the Sidonians, they were resolved
to live "quiet and secure."
There is an importance attached to this event, as regards the History
of Israel,--and to it may be traced the cause why the great Hebrew
family did not become Navigators; for, being driven from the
_sea-coast_ by the jealous Tyrians, all means of practising the art
were at once bereft them, and it was a position they never recovered.
All historians agree in according to the Phœnicians the honour of
being the first Navigators. Their locality being on the sea-coast
would naturally suggest to them the means of carrying on commercial
intercourse with their colonies or neighbours,--and they were the
first of the human family so located after the Deluge;--this is proved
by the third descendant from Noah,--viz., Sidon,--founding the first
sea-coast capital. The Tyrians, as the immediate branch of the House
of Sidon, may be believed to have practised the Science, in its simple
and elementary forms, many years before JOSHUA'S record, that Tyrus
was a "strong city;" or the founding of Grecian Thebes by the Tyrian
Cadmus,--for that Chief must have reached the Dragon-guarded shore by
means of a Galley. Euripides supports this position.--
"Bounding o'er the Tyrian flood
From Phœnicia's Sea-girt Isle,--
* * * *
Our _oars_ brush'd lightly o'er the Ionian brine
Along Cilicia's wave-wash'd strand."
The Tyrians were early renowned for their fisheries,--and the produce
from that toil became their chief object of export. This, and all
discoveries by voyages, they guarded with a monopolizing and constant
vigilance;--and their peculiar characteristics may be traced to the
coastwise and early maritime expeditions,--for they were acknowledged
by all nations to be the pilots and mariners of the ancient world.
They had for many ages no rivals upon the waters of the
Mediterranean;--but when by degrees other Nations were established
upon the opposite shores, or Islands of the great Inland Sea, and
availing themselves of the same means as the Tyrians to increase their
power or wealth,--then Tyrus, ever jealous of her original
strength,--instantly made war, or piratical crusades, against those
infant navies, and crushed them even in their cradled security. Thus
early in her history did the "Daughter of Sidon" put forth her hand
and power, against every encroachment upon her supposed prerogative,
until she was acknowledged as "Queen of the Sea;" and when Neptune had
placed the naval crown upon her brow, still so jealous was this
Ocean-Juno of her high station, that she would allow of no courtiers
or flatterers upon that element where she had resolved to reign
supreme:--nor could she fear any decision against her, for no Shepherd
of Ida existed to give, at that time, a marine preference to Athens or
Cyprus;--the Tyrian-Juno admitted of no argument, or comparison with
her beauty, intellect, or authority: she, therefore, cast the golden
apple beneath her imperious foot,--it withered upon her shores;--but
the seeds of discord were scattered by envious winds to distant lands,
and, in after ages, she found that her rivals in fame were firmly
planted, and thence enthroned at Carthage and Alexandria.
The only city permitted by the Tyrians to practise Navigation was
Sidon,--and that permission was founded upon the remembrance of their
Mother-land, and not for the purpose of promoting or encouraging the
Science. The same courtesy, founded upon blood-relationship, was
extended at a later period to Carthage,--(a colony from Tyrus). From
these family considerations were created the ever-existing friendship
between the Sidonians, Tyrians, and Carthaginians.
For about five centuries and a half, Tyrus was governed by Chiefs of
the People,--each succeeding Cadmus having the civil, military, and
naval power,--not granted to him as to a Dictator, but aided by a
Council, somewhat similar to the Judge and Sanhedrim of Israel. The
same causes may have led the People of Tyrus to demand a King as the
Israelites, and they may have used the same argument. Not only that,
but the Tyrians may have received the idea itself of a Monarchy from
their neighbours of Israel, who obtained it only _thirty-nine years_
before the Tyrians. There seems to be such a singular connexion in
regard to the periods of the commencement of the first Monarchies of
Israel and Tyrus; for, by tracing the causes of the former, a
conclusion may be arrived at for the latter. The following quotations
will be found in the first Book of Samuel [ch. viii.]:
"And it came to pass that when Samuel was old, that he made his Sons
Judges over Israel." * * * "And his Sons [Joel and Abiah] walked not
in his ways, but turned aside after _lucre_, and took _bribes_ and
_perverted judgment_. Then all the elders of Israel gathered
themselves together and came to Samuel unto Ramah; and said unto him,
Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways:--now _make us
a_ KING _to judge us like all the nations_."
SAMUEL'S celebrated remonstrance against the institution of an
unlimited Monarchy was useless.
"Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they
said, Nay!--but we _will_ have a King over us:--_that we also may be
like all the Nations_; and that our King may judge us, and go out
before us, and fight our battles." Saul was consequently anointed the
first King of Israel,--this was in 1095 B.C. Such an event could not
pass unnoticed by the Tyrians. Israel had passed from the flowing
robes of a chief Judge, to the gorgeous Mantle and Crown of
Sovereignty. The Tyrians had already received some of the customs of
the Hebrews,--that especially of Circumcision,--and they may have
felt that Monarchy was becoming, in the scale of Nations, as a test of
a People's power,--and it would naturally lead them to exclaim, "Let
_us_ be governed like all the nations." Whatever the arguments of the
Tyrians for a King, certain it is, that in a few years (39) after the
election of the first Monarch in Israel, the Tyrians threw off the
Cadmean Government, and elected their first King in the person [1056
B. C.] of ABIBAL,--who, according to Menander of Ephesus, and Dius of
Phœnicia, commenced his reign in the year 1056 B. C. This record is
sanctioned by the Jewish historian Josephus, who is supported by
Theophilus Antiochenus.
An additional impulse would naturally be given to the Tyrians in
regard to a Monarchy, from the fact, that in this very year the first
King of Israel (being defeated in the battle of Gilboa) committed
suicide, and DAVID (who was already in renown) was chosen to the
Sovereignty of the house of Judah: not over all Israel,--that followed
eight years after. Therefore the _second_ Hebrew King, and the _first_
Tyrian Monarch, ascended their respective thrones in the _same
year_--(1056 B. C.)--and between whom there commenced, and continued,
a lasting friendship. It would therefore seem that the ancient victory
obtained by the Tyrians, in driving from the sea-coast the Tribe of
Asher, had been acknowledged to the victors, without any resentment
from the united Tribes of Israel. As the conflict on the part of the
Tyrians was founded in justice against encroachment, the descendants
of Abraham, feeling keenly the bondage they experienced in Egypt,
could estimate and appreciate a victory, gained upon the very ground
of argument which they themselves had resolved to resent,--conquer or
die!
Abibal reigned apparently with satisfaction to his subjects, as he did
not die a violent death:--and the hereditary succession to the throne
was established by the People in the reception of his Son,--Hiram,--who
became the most celebrated of the Tyrian Monarchs.
Abibal reigned ten years and died in the year 1046 B. C.,--and from
Scripture seems to have borne the surname of Huram (_i. e._ Hiram),
which has led some authors to style his son and successor, Hiram the
Second. The following, however, is an extract from the letter written
by the Son of Abibal to Solomon, after the death of the first King of
Tyrus, wherein the father's name is distinctly stated to be Huram. The
letter has reference to the Temple.
"And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of
_Huram_ my father's."
The Phœnician writer, Dius, and others, style the first King,
_Abibal_, without any surname:--if it had been borne, it is likely
that it would have been mentioned. It appears, therefore, evident that
the National name of the first King was Abibal only,--Huram (_i. e._
Hiram) was perhaps the family name, and assumed by the Second Monarch
in remembrance of that fact, and in affection to his Parent.
CHAPTER III.
HIRAM THE GREAT.
(1046--990 B. C.)
BUILDING OF DAVID'S PALACE--THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN TYRUS AND
ISRAEL--BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE BY HIRAM--THE COMMERCE AND
FLEETS OF TYRUS--THE CAUSES OF HER WEALTH AND POWER--POLICY WITH
FOREIGN COUNTRIES, &c.--DEATH OF HIRAM--HIS CHARACTER.
1046 B.C.] DAVID had been King of Judah ten years, and Monarch over
all Israel two years, when Hiram ascended the throne of Tyrus. The
intimacy and friendship between DAVID and Abibal were continued upon
the death of the latter, by his son and representative, Hiram;--for it
is recorded that the Tyrian King sent to DAVID, at Jerusalem,
Messengers of Peace, Architects and Sculptors, and even materials to
erect a Cedar Palace for the Monarch of Israel:--a royal gift, as
magnificent as it was original, and (in our reading) we do not
remember that it was ever imitated. He was indeed "a lover of David."
1043 B. C.] "And Hiram king of Tyre sent _messengers_ to David,--and
_cedar trees_, [from Lebanon] and _carpenters_ and _masons_; and they
built David a house." (_i. e._ Palace.) [2 Samuel v. 11, 12.]
In the Hebrew the word "masons" is defined to be "_hewers_ of the
stone of the wall,"--_i. e._ Sculptors:--the common workmen are
identified by a term, as expressive as can be desired for illustrating
the rudiment of the art,--viz., stone-squarers. [1 Kings v. 18.]
"And Hiram's _builders_ did hew them, and the _stone_-SQUARERS."
For two years previous to the death of the warlike DAVID, he gathered
material for building the Temple of Jerusalem, which by Prophecy was
to be erected by his son SOLOMON, [_i. e._ the peaceable]--for no
Sovereign whose life had been passed in the battle-field, and amid
scenes of warfare and carnage, could erect (except in mockery) a
Temple to The Peaceful GOD. During this period _David_ commanded that
the Sculptors, who were "strangers" in the land of Israel, should be
gathered for the purpose of commencing the Sculpture for the great
edifice. These "strangers" were, without doubt, Tyrians. They had
furnished Cedar for the building, and they were, also, the skilful
artists to work in all kinds of metals. This calling forth of foreign
artists to build and decorate The Temple, is a conclusive proof that
the Israelites were not practical Architects or Sculptors. The Tyrians
had already built for DAVID his regal Palace at Jerusalem, and were,
therefore, naturally received with every courtesy by the Israelites,
and many probably remained in the country. In illustration of the
previous remarks, the following extracts are given from the 1st Book
of Chronicles [ch. xii.]:
"And David commanded to gather together the _strangers_ that were in
the land of Israel: and he set _masons_ to _hew wrought_ stones to
build the house of God" (_i. e._ The Temple).
From this quotation it would appear that the stones were "wrought," or
put into shape, by common workmen of Israel (_i. e._ the
"Stone-squarers"); and thus subsequently the "Strangers" (_i. e._
Tyrians) were to "hew" the stones--_i. e._ Sculpture them. DAVID
gathered material of all metals,--and the only wood he obtained
appears to have been the Cedar from Lebanon, and for this he was
indebted to the Tyrians.
"Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Sidonians and they of Tyre
brought much cedar wood to David."
The following is part of David's address to Solomon, and refers to the
accomplished Tyrians, as will be shewn hereafter.
"Timber [cedar] and Stone have I prepared: and thou mayst add thereto.
Moreover there are _workmen_ with thee in abundance, _hewers_ and
_workers_ of stone and timber, and _all manner of cunning_ [_i. e._
skilful] _men for every manner of work_."
1015 B. C.] Hiram of Tyrus had reigned 31 years when DAVID died.
SOLOMON having been anointed King during the last year of his father's
life, was already in possession of the regal power. Upon the ascension
of the "wise" Sovereign of Jerusalem, the Monarch of the Tyrians
instantly sent ambassadors to congratulate him on the event.
"And Hiram king of Tyre sent servants [ambassadors]
unto SOLOMON: for he had heard that they had anointed him King in the
room of his father; for Hiram was ever a lover of DAVID." [1 Kings v.
1.]
SOLOMON, appreciating the proffered friendship of Hiram, and having
resolved to build The Temple to the One God, sent the following
message to the Tyrian monarch, for artists and materials to erect the
edifice:
"As thou didst deal with DAVID my father, and didst send him cedars to
build him an house to dwell therein, even so deal with me. Behold, I
build an house to the name of the LORD my GOD, to dedicate it to him,
and to burn before him sweet incense and for the continual shew-bread,
and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and
on the new-moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our GOD. This
is an ordinance for ever to Israel. And the house which I build is
great, _for great is our_ GOD _above all gods_. But who is able to
build him an house, seeing the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot
contain him?--who am I, then, that I should build him an house, save
only to burn sacrifice before him? Send me now, therefore, a man
cunning to work in gold and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and
in purple, and in crimson, and in blue, and that can skill to grave
with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom
David my father did _provide_ [_i. e._ did bring from Tyrus.] Send me,
also, cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees out of Lebanon; and
behold my servants [labourers] shall be with thy servants [artists]
even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about
to build shall be wonderful great. And behold I will give to thy
servants the hewers [carvers] that cut timber, twenty thousand
measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty
thousand baths of oil." [2 Chron, ii. 3--10.]
In answer to these propositions for artists and material to build the
first Religious Temple in Israel, Hiram sent his acceptance of the
proposal in _writing_. Believing, as we do, that the spoken languages
of the two nations (Tyrus and Israel) at this period were the same
(with such slight variations as localities might produce), the answer
being in _writing_ confirms that opinion, for it is not probable that
the Tyrian monarch would send his autograph letter in a language not
to be read or understood by SOLOMON. Upon the elevation of SOLOMON to
the throne of his father, Hiram sent an _ambassador_ to congratulate
him. SOLOMON replied by an _ambassador_,--that was the ancient custom;
and if to foreign nations speaking a different language, an
interpreter attended the embassy,--but here none appears to have
attended, and so far from being necessary, Hiram sent his last
response in writing,--the Bearer of the Despatch, without doubt, was a
special Envoy. A full investigation of the dispersion of languages
will be given in the second volume.
"Then Huram king of Tyre answered in _writing_, which he sent to
Solomon," [as follows] Because the Lord hath loved his people he hath
made thee king over them. Blessed be the LORD GOD of Israel, that made
Heaven and earth, who hath given David the king a wise son, endued
with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the
LORD and an house for his kingdom. And now I have sent a cunning man
endued with understanding,--of Huram my father's--[_i. e._ his
father's especial artist],--the son of a woman of the Daughter of Dan
[_i. e._ of the Tribe of Dan], and his father was a man of
Tyre,--skilful to work in gold and in silver, in brass, in iron, in
stone, and in timber; in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in
crimson: also, to grave any manner of graving, and to find out [_i.
e._ to invent] every device which shall be put to him with thy cunning
men, and with the cunning men of my lord DAVID thy father. [Both
Father and Son gathered those artists from the Tyrians.] Now,
therefore, the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my
Lord hath _spoken_ of, let him send it unto his servants:--and we will
cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need; and we will bring
it to thee in floats [_i. e._, rafts] by sea to Joppa [a Tyrian
seaport], and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem." [2 Chron. ii.
11-16.]
The above artist,--the Tyrian Phidias,--whose genius seems to have
been universal, had been named in compliment after the reigning
monarch of his country,--viz., Hiram,--and the Tyrian love of the Arts
may be gathered from the fact that the "King's namesake was the
artist-ambassador from Hiram to the King of Israel. This special Envoy
might, also, have been selected in compliment to Solomon, for the
artist's widowed mother was an Israelite, of the Tribe of Dan [the 1st
Book of Kings states of the tribe of Naphtali], his father was a
Tyrian, and also, doubtless renowned for works of art,--as it was the
Tyrian, as well as the Egyptian custom, for the son to be of the same
profession or trade as the father; thence the numerous pilots and
mariners of Tyrus. The same custom prevails at this day in the ancient
institutions of China, upon the principle that as a king's son shall
be king, so shall every son be as the father.
For what the ambassadorial artist accomplished the reader is referred
to the Books of Kings and Chronicles,--a higher compliment was never
paid to the Arts than by the appointment of an Architect and Sculptor
to be a monarch's ambassador to a foreign King, and his representative
at the building of the chief Temple of a powerful potentate; and as if
to give peculiar character to the Tyrian Envoy's reception at
Jerusalem, SOLOMON deputed a delegation to proceed to Tyrus, for the
purpose of escorting him to Israel, that the chief artist of The
Temple should have those honours conferred upon him, which were alike
demanded by the solemnity of the occasion, the amity of the King of
Tyrus, and the intellectual character of the artist-envoy.
"And Solomon _sent and fetched_ Hiram [the artist] out of Tyre.
[1 Kings vii. 13.]
Hiram the King not only, through his artists, built The Temple of
Jerusalem for SOLOMON, but also his "house [cedar palace] of the
forest of Lebanon," and a palace for his Egyptian wife, the daughter
of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. For these services Hiram received the
promised gift of SOLOMON,--viz., 20,000 bushels of flour ("beaten
wheat"), 20,000 bushels of wheat, and of wine and oil 150,000 gallons
each,--for an "Epha" or "bath of wine," is a fraction more than
seven-and-a-half gallons. In addition to the above, which may be
received as for the Temple only, there was also, a Treaty of peace and
amity drawn up between the two neighbouring kings,--to the effect that
Hiram should receive an _annual_ payment,--that might have been for
the two Palaces erected after The Temple.
"And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to
his household, and twenty measures ("baths") of pure oil: thus gave
Solomon to Hiram _year by year_. And there was _peace_ between Hiram
and Solomon:--_and they two made a_ LEAGUE _together_:" [1 Kings v.
11, 12.]
The last line of the previous quotation,--viz., and Hiram and Solomon
"made a _league_ together," may have reference to a fact mentioned by
Tatian, who followed the records of three Phœnician historians,--viz.,
that Hiram gave his _daughter_ [we think his _sister_] in marriage to
King SOLOMON, and that it was through her influence that he was
seduced to worship Astartē, the Tyrian Goddess. This record by Tatian
is apparently supported by Scripture itself.
"But King Solomon loved many strange women together [besides] with the
daughter of Pharaoh [Egypt], women of the Moabites, Ammonites,
Edomites, and _Sidonians_" [Tyrians.] * * * "And it came to pass when
Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart after _other
gods_." * * * "_For Solomon went after Ashtoreth_ [Astartē] _the
goddess of the Sidonians_" [Tyrians.] "And likewise did he for all his
_strange wives_, which burnt incense and _sacrificed unto their
gods_." [1 Kings xi.]
The King of Israel having broken his nation's law by marrying out of
his kingdom,--as by his union with a daughter of Egypt,--it would
naturally appear to him to be no increase of the misdemeanor by
intermarrying with a Tyrian Princess; and believing that this event
must have been some years subsequent to the building of The Temple, we
have, therefore, hazarded the date at 1000 B. C.
The wealth expended by SOLOMON in the building The Temple,--his
Palaces,--and that attending his household, had greatly impoverished
the national treasury, and led to excessive taxation; and this was the
chief cause (after his death) of the Rebellion of the Ten Tribes from
their brethren at Jerusalem, when those taxes were to be continued.
It must have been upon the exhaustion of the national treasury by
SOLOMON, that he obtained from Hiram loans of money,--to be paid, not
in kind, but in _cities_;--and this borrowing by the magnificent
monarch must have continued for a score of years. The Tyrian King,
however, refused to receive the proffered cities or lands, as being
unworthy of the donor or the receiver, and he thereupon affixed upon
the gift a name, which is now as unpleasant to a Briton's ear, as it
must have been to the King of Israel. The Tyrian monarch, to prove
that he was not personally offended (and perhaps to shew his superior
wealth), sent to Solomon a present of gold, in value over 600,000_l._
at that period. [992 B. C.] "And it came to pass at the end of _twenty
years_, when SOLOMON had built the two houses,--the house of the LORD,
and the king's house (now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon
with cedar-trees and fir-trees, and _with gold according to all his
desire_), that then King SOLOMON gave Hiram _twenty cities_ in the
land of Galilee. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which
Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not. [Hebrew, 'were not
right in his eyes,'] and he [Hiram] said, 'What cities are these which
thou hast given me, my _Brother_?' And he called them the _Land of
Cabul_ [_i. e._ displeasing] unto this day. And Hiram sent to the king
six-score talents of gold." [1 Kings ix. 10--14.] From the expression
"my _brother_," it would seem (as we before hinted) that Solomon
married the _sister_, and not the _daughter_ of Hiram, although it may
be regarded as an expression of royalty. It scarcely admits of a
question which of the two monarchs exerted their royalty in the
greatest splendour,--whether it regards wealth or the arts and
sciences. Jewish historians have elevated Solomon, truly at the
_expense_ of Hiram,--for it is expressly stated in the Bible, that for
"_twenty years_" Hiram supplied Solomon not only with material and
artists for building his Temple and Palaces, but with money,--"with
_gold_ according to _all_ his desire,"--and added to this, (which will
be shewn in the next pages,) Hiram supplied a _navy_ for his
"brother," for the voyages to Ophir and Tarshish.
It should also be remarked that the liberality of Hiram's character,
and his toleration in matters of Religion, are without their parallels
in Ancient History. This was known to DAVID and SOLOMON, for no other
monarch but that of Tyrus is applied to for building and decorating
The Temple.
This would not have been unnatural, or unreasonable, had Hiram been of
the same practical Religion as that of Israel,--but he was essentially
an Heathen King, and erected in his own metropolis the most gorgeous
temples and golden statues to Jupiter, Apollo, and the minor gods, and
their splendour may be estimated by what he erected for his friend at
Jerusalem. The language of SOLOMON must have offended any mind less
liberal than that of Hiram's, for in his message to the Tyrian he
says:
"And the house which I build is great, for great is _our_ (my) GOD,
_above all gods_." [_i. e._ pluralities.]
This is a direct allusion to the worship of Hiram, who believed that
Jupiter and Apollo were the Gods of "all Gods,"--but, so far from
resenting the unintentional rebuke by SOLOMON, he actually bestows a
blessing upon the worship of his ally, though opposed to his own, for
in his letter he writes:
"BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL,"
and that his actions should be in keeping with his words, he forthwith
entered into a Treaty to build the first Temple to the ever-living and
the only GOD at Jerusalem.
Had not Hiram been king of Tyrus, he was worthy to have been monarch
of Israel; for the mind that could have acted as his own did, upon so
august and solemn an occasion, was already prepared to reject
plurality, and believe in The One GOD. What a contrast does Hiram's
character present to all the Roman monarchs, from Tiberius to
Maxentius, when in a similar position from the introduction of
Christianity!
From the foregone description of the Tyrian arts and artists (and for
details the Books of Kings and Chronicles will testify) it will not be
questioned whether from personal knowledge and skill, they could have
built the Cities and Temples lately discovered in the Western
Hemisphere; but more especially is the question now inadmissible, from
the fact, that the styles of the architecture of the Temples at
Jerusalem and Palenque, we have shewn to be analagous if not
identical.
Scripture does not warrant any Historian in writing that the
Israelites had a Knowledge of Navigation. It has, however, been often
stated that they had, because Solomon "made a Navy:"--but, the sense
is, that he _gathered_ a navy,--and this is proved from the fact that
Hiram furnished that identical "navy" for the King of Israel.
Navigation was the only point in Tyrian policy, in which they resolved
to have no rivals,--and to prevent it, they supplied expeditions for
other countries,--Galleys, Pilots, and Mariners;--they formed Treaties
for this purpose with nations with whom they were on terms of amity.
Hiram followed the National policy at this time with Solomon,--and the
Tyrians did the same subsequently with the Egyptian. Writers in
attributing to the Israelites a knowledge of Navigation, quote from
the first Book of Kings [ix. 26].
992 B. C.] "And King Solomon made a navy of Ships in Ezion-Geber,
which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of
Edom,"--but those writers avoid quoting the succeeding verses,--and
two in 2 Chronicles [viii. 17, 18].
"And _Hiram_ sent in the navy his servants,--shipmen [_i. e._ pilots
and mariners] that have a knowledge of the Sea,--with the servants
["common-hands"] of Solomon."
"Then went Solomon to Ezion-Geber, and to Eloth, at the Sea-side [Red
Sea] in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent him by the hands of his
servants,--_Ships_, and servants that had a knowledge of the
Sea"--[_i. e._ pilots and mariners]. Now this last quotation has
reference to the same voyage,--and it is there shewn that the Tyrians
actually _built_ the ships:--they were probably framed and fashioned
at Tyrus,--then taken in parts _over land_, (for Hiram "sent
them")--and that is the only way the timbers could have reached the
Red Sea, from the Mediterranean,--and then the ships were built or put
together, by the Tyrians at Ezion-Geber,--and from thence they
commenced their voyage to Ophir, (although some doubt the locality) on
the shores of India, and their return cargo was "420 talents of gold."
[_i. e._ two millions and a quarter sterling.]
We are anxious to establish the fact that the Israelites had no
Knowledge of Navigation, and that upon the authority of
Holy-Writ,--for the Aborigines of _North_ America (who are descendants
of Israel) have no nautical knowledge in its enlarged sense,--and,
therefore, an analogy will be proved by the absence of Commercial
Knowledge.
In concluding the reign of the most renowned of the Tyrian Kings, the
record of whom is placed beyond doubt, or question, in that Volume
which will endure until the world itself shall become a clouded
scroll,--a glance may be necessary to review the causes that led to
the exalted, and unrivalled character of Tyrus: for that Nation at the
completion of the Judæan Temples and Palaces [992 B. C.] was without a
rival in station or power,--and beyond those worldly points, it stood
unapproached (save by Israel) in the highest attributes of the
mind,--in the majesty of intellect,--the chief ministers being
Science, the Arts, and the long line of faithful followers, attendant
on every refinement and accomplishment.
The great secret of the enviable distinction was,--NAVIGATION. This
power led the Tyrians into foreign cities,--it enabled them to give,
or receive from, their Allies in the several parts of the then known
world, all that was useful or novel, _in exchange for their own
exports_, until Tyrus became the nucleus of all intelligence. Upon
this treasury of gathered knowledge she improved and increased her
power, by retaining what was good, rejecting what was useless. Tyrus
stood in the estimation of the world like a majestic Temple, which all
mankind had aided in building, but when erected and secure, none of
the builders were allowed to enter. If a foreign nation required a
naval expedition, Tyrus was the only power to furnish it in every
department,--material, shipwrights, pilots, and mariners:--this is
proved by the fleets loaned to the Kings of Israel and Egypt;--and the
Tyrians never made a voyage for another country, that they were not
the especial gainers by the expedition. All discoveries of islands
were their own, for they alone could keep or reach them afterwards,
for other countries were destitute of fleets. The Naval profession in
the minds of the Tyrians was (apart from Religion) elevated above all
others;--they regarded it as a peculiar gift from the Gods, bestowed
upon them as a National blessing. This was confirmed in their
estimation, because, as a necessity, it was associated with the
Sublime study of Astronomy. Religion itself was brought to enhance its
value,--thence their Temple to Neptune:--the highest attributes of the
mind were brought forward to support the science,--thence even her
philosophers were helmsmen:--for in the language of the Prophet
ISAIAH,--"Thy _Wise men_, O Tyrus, that were in thee, _were thy
Pilots_."
When a foreign Nation created a navy, without the sanction of Tyrus,
then, as before stated, the latter country made war, or crusades
against the vessels as they should appear upon the Mediterranean. The
"Daughter of Sidon" attempted no _inland_ conquests; she was content
that her throne should be on the Seas: and the means she took to
conceal her discoveries, and the secret of her ship-building from
foreign countries, were as ingenious and determined, as her resolution
to have no rival was indomitable.
To conceal the then secret of Ship-building, the Tyrians resorted to
the following means of commercial intercourse with all new, and even
with some of the surrounding nations,--ancient Iberia and
Etruria,--viz., A Tyrian Galley would approach for instance, Britain
or Hibernia,--_only by night_,--the goods were landed, and left
unattended upon the rocks or beach. The Galley would then be rowed to
such a distance, that the natives in the morning could make no
discovery of the manner in which it was built. The Galley, however,
from her high mast, served as a beacon to them, and thence conveyed
intelligence that a cargo had been landed. The natives would then
investigate the goods,--and in return, place by their side, metals and
other commodities supposed by them to be of equal value: _they then_
(from a previous treaty) _would retire out of sight_,--whereupon a
_small boat_ would leave the Galley and approach the shore; the
supercargo would compare the value of the metals or goods offered in
return, and if found to be of an equal barter, the Galley would then
be rowed to the coast, _but at night only_, the exchange-goods would
be placed on board, and having left before the dawn, the secret was
secure. If the natives placed in exchange _less_ than the value, the
Tyrian _boat_ would retire; the Aborigines would again approach and
increase the payment: if they should place _more_ than the value of
the cargo, the honour of the Tyrian merchant (truly 'Singer of the
Sea') was such, that he would not take the overplus, but leave
something of value, set apart, as a compliment to the generous
Islanders. This, without doubt, was the origin of commercial barter,
and founded upon the refinement of honour and honesty.
It may be remarked that a similar custom prevails even at the present
day at Constantinople,--for when a shopkeeper retires for his meals,
or even for a walk, he never closes his door or his windows,--every
article has its price marked, or affixed to it:--the passer-by wishing
to purchase, takes the article and puts in its place the amount in
money;--fraud is not known, for the merchant leaves it to honour, and
that never betrays honesty.
The Bard of Avon must have thought of this scene, and of the
impossibility of its universal application, when in reply to the
announcement "that the _world_ was grown _honest_" he states that the
day of doom must be at hand! What a Millennium will be achieved by
the human race, when every Metropolis shall practise customs in
analogy with that in the City of the Sultan, or those of the
merchant-princes of ancient Tyrus.
The determination of the Tyrians to keep the secret of their
discoveries was as desperate, as their method of concealing the secret
of shipbuilding was ingenious. To illustrate this point of National
Character, an historical anecdote will be given, as being required by
this work,--although the incident occurred some ages later.
The Romans having become a maritime power, and having intercourse with
Tyrus, ascertained that that Nation imported from a foreign country a
white metal, which the Sons of Rome imagined to be Silver, and that it
was brought from beyond the Pillars of Hercules,--now the Straits of
Gibraltar. The metal which had aroused the curiosity and avarice of
the Romans was _Tin_, and obtained by the Tyrians from the Isles of
Britain and Hibernia, but especially from the former,--and to the
Tyrians is that Island indebted at this day for her ancient
name--Britain,--and of her guardian Goddess--Britannia:--for the word
is derived from the Tyrian language,--viz., _Brit-tan-nack_,--_i. e._
_Land of Tin_,--so that there is actually a mysterious link in the
chain of history, between Tyrian-Britain and Tyrian-America, which has
existed for more than two thousand years!
But to resume:--The future conquerors of Britain resolved to find out
the secret, as to where the pseudo-silver came from,--and consequently
they, unknown to the Tyrians, placed a Galley in-shore on the coast
of Gaul, within the British Seas, and patiently watched the approach
of the vessel of their rival, known to be on a metal expedition with
the Islanders. The Roman allowed the Tyrian to pass on without
interruption (for the two nations were at peace) and then followed at
a great distance unperceived, by lowering the mast and sail, and
depending upon the rowers. As the owner of the secret approached
Britain, (thus discovering which of the Isles was the object of their
voyage,) the Romans hoisted sail, plied their oars, and followed on
their foaming track,--that _their_ chance for barter should be equal
to the Tyrians. The latter finding that they were discovered,
instantly increased their speed towards the Isle,--thus enticing the
former to follow;--all were silent on board the Tyrian Galley, as if
in sorrow at discovery,--the Romans gained upon them,--the Sons of
Sidon in apparent despair threw overboard their cargo and all useless
material, as in fear of losing the secret,--the Romans believing that
the Tyrians by sailing close in-shore, and from their loss of cargo,
were about to land in sullen silence, instantly renewed their energy
both by oars and sail; on sped the first Roman prow through British
seas,--dashing through the waves like a wild sea-bird;--and on the
silver track of ambition,--amid loud huzzas, and shouts of victory,
they were dazzled in their own eyes from danger,--on they flew like
the Eagle of their country,--imperious and as proud;--when--sudden as
the falling of a star--the Roman Galley struck upon the wave-covered
rocks,--the ship was rent asunder,--all were lost,--not one returned
to the Eternal city to betray the secret! The last Roman shout of
despair at the moment of the defeat, was caught, and echoed as one of
triumph by the ingenious and resolute Tyrians,--for they in the
_friendly_ chase, threw over the cargo not only to lighten their ship
for sailing, but to pass over shallows, rocks, and sands,--where the
pursuer (heavy laden) would be sure to strike;--and although the
danger of shipwreck was, also, apparent to the Tyrian himself,--his
vessel, "wise men" and mariners,--still to follow a national monopoly
according to the policy of his country, he dared the hazard of the
die, although life and wealth were in the desperate game!
It is not, therefore, to be wondered at, that Tyrus, from practising
such devices and courage upon the waters of the Mediterranean and the
Atlantic, should have gained and secured to herself the title of Queen
of the Sea; but the Policy was not founded in brotherly love, or
neighbourly intercourse; and as a consequence, the Tyrians were
against every rising maritime nation, which drew from those countries
in return, an unconquerable contempt for their pride and monopoly, and
compelled them to place so high a duty upon imports into Tyrus, as by
degrees to injure her prosperity, and the several nations thence (as a
necessity) became their own manufacturers.
The writer (or the reader) of history would pass his time uselessly,
if he did not draw strong conclusions for a nation's downfall,--when
built upon such an unjust foundation as that of absolute and
unconditional commercial monopoly. Nations of ancient days should be
viewed as beacons for the modern.
Although Tyrus visited every country, yet every nation at this time
(Sidon and Israel excepted) received her with wounded pride,--no home
or haven was given from love, but from fear,--every hand was ready to
be raised against her; and when the fatal moment arrived when it could
be done with safety, not a Nation, upon the surrounding shores of the
Mediterranean, but at once exerted the wished-for resentment;--and
this was but in accordance with Prophecy. [Ezekiel xxvi.]
"Many nations to come up against thee." [_i. e._ Tyrus.]
This just behaviour the Tyrians knew would be their doom; and in the
day when the Judgment of GOD and of Nations fell upon them, they acted
in the great emergency, in a manner perfectly in keeping with their
ocean-spirit of Independence. We will not anticipate events pertaining
to warfare,--for the reign now under consideration was one of peace
and happiness.
Of King Hiram we may justly write, that he was the original upon whom
the Athenian Pericles (in after ages) founded his own splendid public
character. For the love of the Fine-Arts, in all their branches, seems
to have been Hiram's dream by night, his reality by day. He gathered
around him the wise and the good, the gifted and the talented, to
illustrate his own conceptions,--for his brain was the casket, where,
for his Nation's service and that of his Allies, were gathered those
inestimable jewels of the mind, that wealth cannot purchase, and Death
itself cannot destroy,--for corroding Time has hallowed them to the
present day, and will to all posterity! The Temple of Jerusalem,
erected to The One living GOD, claims not _Solomon_ for its Founder,
with a greater certainty than it does _Hiram_ for its Builder. In
following the above course, from the direction of a superior and
elegant mind, Hiram but consulted the true glory of his People,--for
he encouraged not only Poetry, Music, and the Scientific Arts, but
enlarged his Commerce, enabling his kingdom thereby to pursue the
accomplishments and the intellectual adornments of life,--for the
Fine-Arts and Commerce are as essentially the instruments of Peace, as
swords and spears are the weapons of war! The country, guarded by her
feudal Towers and Banners, may be _physically_ secure in _parts_ of
the kingdom; but the Nation that points to the Walls of Artistical and
Scientific Galleries, to the Temples of the Muses, Literature, and
Education, and to _free_ swelling sails--for her Bulwarks and
Standards,--is _intellectually_ defended in _every_ quarter of her
domain,--for Peace is the Citadel, and the several branches of
Prosperity, her moated outworks!
Through the long life of Hiram (whom we have ventured to style "The
Great"), he continued the firm ally of David and Solomon,--was the
friend and promoter of peace, humanity, the arts and sciences,--was
the uncompromising enemy, as a consequence, to all warfare depending
upon, or emanating from, the bloody path of Conquest: and to these
high points of character may be justly added, that he was "the sworn
and covenanted foe" to Religious bigotry or intolerance! The reader
will not then wonder that, during his reign, that Tyrus reached the
highest point of intellectual grandeur in the estimation of antiquity;
and from united acclamation, her triumphant Statue was placed upon the
chief pedestal in the Temple of History.
While Hiram lived, his mind was as a Pharos, whose revolving light
illumined every point to guard his fellow-man from the rocks of
danger, and to ensure a peaceful haven--true Nature's harbour; but, at
his death [about 990 B. C.], the shade remained upon the Tyrian
quarter, and threw its shadow over the People; while other Nations
took advantage of the forecast gleams, and found for themselves a
brilliant track to power and safety.
Such was the patriotic, peaceful, and intellectual King Hiram of
Tyrus, whose reputation has descended with increasing splendour
through a period of nearly three thousand years! His elevated mind,
extensive knowledge, Religious toleration, the patron of Education,
Literature, Arts and Science,--the friend of oppressed humanity, and
the Patriot King,--are all again revivified amid the applause of
nations, in the person of the present William of Prussia; and may
posterity record his memory to the date of his Tyrian prototype, that
his example may be imitated by future Kings and Rulers!
CHAPTER IV.
(868--861 B. C.)
KING PYGMALION.
THE HIGH-PRIEST ACERBAS, AND THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH.
FOUNDING OF CARTHAGE, &c.
THE DEATHS OF THE QUEEN OF CARTHAGE AND CATO
COMPARED.
HEROISM OF THE BRITISH QUEENS BOADICEA, ELIZABETH,
AND VICTORIA.
As it is the intent in these volumes to glance over the ancient world
with an Eagle's far-reaching gaze, undazzled by its splendour,--and
not as the mole, to wander _beneath_ the Ruins of Empires, clouded in
darkness,--the chief events only, therefore, will be brought forward;
for they were the _causes_ of action, and when they are understood,
the _effects_ will appear not only natural, but unavoidable. Thence
Hiram's _character_ was a cause,--peace and prosperity were the
_effects_ of that cause,--so mighty are the deeds of one great mind in
the annals of a Nation! The Tyrant Pygmalion is a direct contrast to
Hiram,--and the effects from that cause are not without their
utility,--for from evil, good is to be derived.
The next event in the history of Tyrus, is the ascension of Pygmalion,
who possessed every essential of a cruel and avaricious
monarch,--viz., never virtuous by design, or guilty from accident.
This reign brings us also to contemplate the celebrated Tyrian
Princess, his Sister, whose virtuous life, heroic immolation, and the
genius of Virgil, have rendered immortal!
That the Poet did not follow History, must be apparent to every
classic scholar,--though the general reader's knowledge of Dido arises
from her association with Æneas; yet this hero, who, at the
destruction of Troy, rescued the "old Anchises," lived three hundred
and twenty-five years before the Tyrian Princess, who subsequently
became the foundress of Carthage. Virgil, in writing for the Romans,
had selected the renowned ancestor of their race as the hero; and as
the hatred between his country and that of Carthage was deadly, he
flattered the citizens of Rome, by making the Queen of the former
nation as the original cause of the malignant animosity. Although this
may be sanctioned by that saving clause in writing verse,--viz., "a
poetical licence," yet in this instance, it is at the greatest
sacrifice of truth to be found in the records of History.
868 B. C.] Pygmalion ascended the throne of Tyrus 868 years before the
Christian Æra, and from an after action against the life of a near
relation, and that relative even closer allied by marriage,--his
character must have been cruel, bloody, and treacherous.
Acerbas the near kinsman of the Monarch, was not only a Royal Prince,
but also High Priest of the Religion of the Country, and consequently
of superior knowledge and accomplishments. In addition to his station
by birth and intellect (for he was regarded as the wisest man of
Tyrus) he was, also, the richest person in the kingdom, and in default
of issue from the reigning family, was heir to the throne. These
circumstances combined were causes of jealousy to Pygmalion while
Acerbas was yet unmarried. His immense wealth may have been augmented
by the then novel and favourable results of Commerce; for, according
to the Prophet ISAIAH, the Tyrian "traffickers were the honourable of
the earth," and in "the crowning city" her "merchants were _Princes_."
The sister of the King was the renowned Princess, known in poetry and
general history as Dido; but whose name, while yet in Tyrus, was
Eliza,--or Elizabeth,--which name translated from the original
language means _an Oath_,--and as applied to its possessor may be
defined--_an Oath-taker_. It is therefore probable that the attachment
and devotion of the Princess for Acerbas must have commenced in her
earliest days,--because her death (as will be shewn) arose from an
_irrevocable oath_ taken by her of fidelity and widowhood to Acerbas,
should she in the course of nature survive her betrothed. She,
therefore, upon taking the Oath probably received the name of
Elizabeth, and from that circumstance, its definition, and final
consummation completely illustrate our supposition.
There was no Princess of antiquity endowed with more enlarged
attributes of the mind than the Tyrian Elizabeth:--her resolution,
active courage, intellect, and womanly devotion were alike
conspicuous, and consequently she was worthy of being allied to a
Prince possessing the exalted virtue and character of Acerbas. That
the Oath was taken before the marriage is apparent; for the Tyrant did
not prevent the union, but actually promoted it,--and from this
deceitful acquiescence on the part of the King, their nuptials must
have been solemnized amid the rejoicings of the Nation and of the
Throne. [861 B. C.]
The happy bride and bridegroom, in the consummation of their devoted
union, were blinded to the deep scheme revolving in the traitorous
brain of their King and brother.
The honourable, yet fatal Oath taken by the Bride, was to be continued
as the Wife,--but its sacredness could only be _proved_ by the Widow.
Upon the death of the Husband, it was easy for the King to seize upon
the enviable riches of the Prince and Priest; if this death should
occur before the Princess was blessed by the name of Mother, the
absence of an heir would place, by constructive law, all the wealth
(except the widow's dower) in the quiet possession of the avaricious
Tyrant. His Sister's oath formed a barrier against the existence of
any future heir,--and consequently the death of her first and only
Husband must be accomplished with expedition, otherwise Nature might
claim her prerogative and adorn the Wife with the title of Parent, and
thus place before the Nation, not only an heir to the Father's riches,
but to the Throne itself. In the foregone manner most probably the
envious King reasoned and reflected; and like the usurper of ancient
Scotia when contemplating the acquisition of wealth and power, and
when the virtuous means whereby they could only be accomplished, were
about to leave the citadel of conscience, his resolution was--
"If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly."
Thus resolved, the Royal assassin instantly carried into effect, the
demoniac murder of his Sister's newly married Husband. [B. C. 861.] It
is in trials of adversity that our natures are proved,--and Woman at
such a time stands pre-eminent,--she treads the steps of the fiery
ordeal triumphantly:--though blinded by the blow of fate, still her
after-resolution illumines her path, and proves to wondering Man, that
the ploughshares of cruelty have been heated in vain! Never was this
proved to a greater degree than by the Tyrian Princess. Scarcely had
Acerbas been thus basely deprived of life, when secret intelligence of
the deed was conveyed to the Wife,--as, also, the cause which led to
it, and by whose authority the murder was committed. Terrible indeed
must have been the triple-tongued intelligence that conveyed to her
the maddening truth, that one act had made her a widowed bride,--a
fond Husband murdered, and her Sovereign and Brother that cruel
Assassin! In the whole range of fiction, or poetry, there is not to be
found a tragic incident, equal to this fact from the romance of
History.
Rising superior to her fate, her resolution was instantly formed to
defeat the deep-laid scheme of her unnatural Brother: she felt that
the base mind which could encompass her Husband's death,--and in that
Husband the triune character of Prince, Brother, and High Priest of
their ancient Gods,--would not scruple to sacrifice the Wife and
Sister, but would rather accomplish it, if Nature had already ordained
that she should become a posthumous Mother:--for Avarice being the
motive which led to the murder, it would naturally lead to a further
and a greater crime,--therefore, in self-defence, and to preserve her
Brother from an increase of Sin, she resolved upon instant
flight,--and for that purpose a Galley was forthwith furnished, and
manned by her Countrymen. The faithful Tyrians, by her directions,
succeeded in placing on board the entire treasure of her murdered
Consort, together with her own wealth and jewels,--the Galley cleared
the harbour in safety, and gained the open Sea without detection,--thus
defeating the entire Scheme of the Tyrant, who had for his present
punishment, the assured conviction of his crime, the execration of his
Country, and the loss of the very object for which the murder was
accomplished. The perfection of retributive justice was here
accomplished.
This royal assassination, and the flight of the Tyrian Princess,
occurred in the seventh year of the Tyrant's reign. [B. C. 861.] These
events were the immediate cause of the founding of the Kingdom of
Carthage, which took place in the same year.
Upon the successful escape of the Royal and youthful Widow, she
coasted along the Asiatic Shores, and reached those of Africa, and
landed at Utica. There are several reasons for believing that Tyrians
had already reached this spot, as some Historians have suggested. The
following are the arguments here offered for such a conclusion: 1st.
That the general name given to the country at this time was Cadmeia
(_i. e._ Eastern), evidently derived from the word Cadmus, a name
borne only (as stated in the previous pages) by the ancient Tyrian
Chiefs. 2dly. The city, or town at which she first landed was Utica
[_i. e._ ancient], and she named the Capital of her own founding,
Carthage (_i. e. new_ city) apparently merely in contradistinction
to the previous, or "_ancient_" city built by Tyrians. And 3dly. The
fact of going at once to Utica, seems to indicate that her reception
would be certain, and from no people could her sorrows meet with such
sympathy as from her own countrymen. Upon her arrival, and her
misfortunes being made known, it can easily be imagined that every
Tyrian would swear fealty,--while her immense riches, that had been
fatal in one respect,--now enabled her to purchase lands, and build a
citadel and walls for future defence;--her own judgment, and the skill
of her companions, instantly laid the plans for an enlarged and
successful commercial intercourse, which should outrival (as it did
eventually) that enjoyed by her cruel Brother at Tyrus. In addition to
these plans, she formed a scheme of Political action, which, as
applied to the perfect government of a Nation, and which was
consolidated at her death, Aristotle boldly stated to be, the most
triumphant, and perfect, that had ever emanated from the human mind!
Thus the Tyrian Elizabeth founded the kingdom of Carthage, of which
she was at once created Queen:--from this period she is generally
named by Poets and Historians as Dido;--and Virgil, more than any
other writer, has for ages led the student into error in regard to her
true history.
So far as the chief events of Tyrus, or of founding Ancient America,
may be concerned, the future fate of the Queen of Carthage has no
connexion: but, it may be permitted for the pleasure of the writer
(and he dare hope the reader also) to follow this devoted woman to her
death.
It can readily be imagined that the Queen of Carthage, in her present
position, both as regards her regality and widowhood would not be
without suitors for her hand in a second marriage. Many surrounding
Princes approached her court to obtain that honour, but all were
respectfully rejected, not only in fulfilment of her oath, but from
her idolatrous devotion to the memory of her murdered bridegroom.
These Royal suitors received the refusal with the respect due to her
station, and without any desire to inquire into the cause, or motive
of her negative. There was one, however, who would not be satisfied
with the simple denial,--but resolved that if she could not be won by
the terms of peace, she should be conquered by the deeds of war;--even
if, as at a later period, that war should be carried into
Africa,--though the Catonian sentence "_Delenda est Carthago_" should
be the motto of his advancing banners.
This bold suitor was Jarbas, the powerful King of Getulia, who
threatened to declare war against her new nation, if she persisted in
refusing his solicitation of her widowed hand in marriage.
To violate her oath was impossible,--it would have been a double
perjury,--to the Gods and to the Dead: to have married in disregard of
her oath, would have merged her own kingdom into that of her proposed
husband's: if she suffered war to be made upon Carthage, her capital
might be entirely destroyed,--her people enslaved,--and herself the
violated victim of the Conqueror. In this dire extremity, she desired
time from Jarbas for full consideration of the alternative; and, also,
that the manes of her departed husband might be appeased by a
necessary sacrifice! The King of Getulia at once was softened, and
instantly yielded to her reasonable request. The Queen, however,
before she made the proposal, had formed her resolution. There was but
one way to save her name and people,--to keep her oath inviolate,--and
to prove the heroism of Woman's devotion:--it was indeed by a
Sacrifice to her Husband's departed Spirit,--but Death was to be the
Priest,--her Country the Altar,--and her own Life the Offering!
With this resolution she commanded a funeral pyre to be erected as for
a sacrifice: she then gathered the Ministers of State and her People
around her; and attired in her robes of Royalty, she ascended the
newly-erected Altar of her Nation's freedom! The surrounding
multitude, unconscious of her motives, listened with breathless
attention to her fervent and patriotic eloquence: she urged them to
perpetuate her laws,--to renew their energies for peace or war;--upon
her death to place the reins of government in the firm grasp of wise
men only, whether they now wielded a priestly sceptre or a peasant's
distaff;--as she had no child,--the offspring of her brain they must
receive as her successor! To these points of National glory she
demanded their oath. The vast assembly, gazing from their elevated
Queen to the azure Dome,--and, with one voice, called Apollo, and all
his host, to bear witness, and accept their united and sacred
Oath;--while Echo caught the sound, and bore it even to the
surrounding shores and walls of Carthage, and the People's eyes were
raised to Heaven,--the Queen,--sudden as the flash,--stabbed herself
to the heart! The high-reared Altar became the funeral pyre of
surrounding danger and desolation, for her heroic sacrifice appeased
the claims of the warlike king.
This act of the Queen of Carthage would be viewed in modern days as
madness; but to estimate it correctly, the mind must retire into the
Temples of antiquity, when self-immolation was regarded as the highest
test of pure and disinterested virtue! As without a _similitude_,
there can be no _comparison_, either of Institutions or
Nations,--therefore we can only _contrast_ our own with ancient days.
This difference in language--the mere instrument of truth properly
applied--has been the cause of great injustice to events and
personages of antiquity. We have no just right to _compare_ ourselves
with the ancients, or to measure _their_ morals or virtues by the
standard of our own supposed perfections; and our posterity would be
equally as unjust to themselves as to us, were they, twenty centuries
hence, to record our actions and institutions by their then received
ideas of increased and (truly so) advanced civilization. To be just,
they will in mercy to the faults and sins of their ancestors (_i. e._
ourselves) _contrast_, not _compare_ us.
The suicide--or rather in ancient phrase--self-immolation of the
Queen, was then regarded as the highest virtue; and Cato, the Man of
Rome, in after ages (and at the same Utica where the Princess first
landed), but _imitated_ the act of Woman at Carthage. A _comparison_
between these two acts _can be_ instituted, because, at the time of
their being committed, the ancient world regarded them both in
_similitude_ of virtue. The same as the suicidal deaths of the
Patriots--Brutus and Cassius,--after the fall of Freedom at Philippi.
The Queen of Carthage, and Cato of Utica, both died by their own
hands, in full possession of their minds and faculties,--both
sacrifices to the highest principles of national virtue; but how much
nobler was the Queen's than the Senator's! The former, by her death,
saved her People--the latter died uselessly, and his sword pierced
other bosoms than his own. Cato ceased to live, because he would not
survive the downfall of his country; but by his death did he save his
native land, or even wrench a link asunder from the enslaving chain of
Tyranny? No! but had he lived and returned to Rome upon Cæsar's
invitation, he might--he must--have rendered service to his groaning
country, and by his high character and talents have saved her from
suffering,--but by his falsely conceived destruction, they were both
lost to Rome and to posterity! The Queen, on the contrary, by _her_
death, rescued her young nation from a war of slavery--gave it
additional power by her farewell wisdom, pronounced from the Altar
destined to receive her ashes,--bound her tried and faithful Tyrians
to elect their Rulers from the scrolls of Intellect only,--the fulness
of patriotism was accomplished,--and as the steel pierced her heart,
Nature never received a last sigh from a nobler victim! Honoured in
life, she was idolized in death,--her last words were as from her
tomb, and consequently upon the fall of the Queen, ceased the
_Kingdom_ of Carthage; but from those Royal ashes arose, with
Phœnix power, the Tyrian and giant Republic, which, in after ages,
sent its victorious army across the Seas and snow-crowned Alps, even
to the Gates of Rome!
The Queen of Carthage died for her People--the over-applauded Cato for
himself alone; the former cast her far-reaching gaze along the deep
vista of posterity; the latter only looked within the narrow circle of
his own death-chamber. The former died to embrace the Public good--the
latter to avoid a selfish evil! Mankind have applauded man, because,
in so doing, they praise themselves. Thence Cato's immolation has
received undying praise from the pens of Poets and Historians; and
even the Tragic Toga has moved in mimic life to infold _his death_
amid Man's applause; but Woman, when she is heroic as the Queen of
Carthage, she falls from man's envy, upon her own Altar, never to rise
again; or, if she does, it is only to falsely move through the brain
of a sycophantic Virgil; or, for her true death to be given to adorn
the final fate of the Foundling youth of Argos, who, as ION, is to be
shrouded in a _Grecian_ mantle, and for _that_ people, and not the
Tyrian, received the wild applause of an enraptured audience!
Woman does not ask Man to be _generous_, but to be _just_,--the latter
will secure the former.
Every good or brave deed traced by the pen of History, should be for
the purpose of Justice to the original party, and for the effect of
virtuous example to posterity. Thence the self-sacrifice of the Queen
of Carthage was not without its effect (in the same land) upon the
mind of Cato, who, though he but imitated the Tyrian Elizabeth, and
failed to reach her high motive, still her example inspired him, and
secured his fame!
In like manner the glorious heroism of the first British
Queen,--Boadicea,--when she opposed at Battle-bridge the Roman army
under Paulianus, was not without its effect upon England's Elizabeth,
when she addressed her assembled knights upon the threatened Invasion
from the then haughty Spain. Elizabeth but _imitated_ Boadicea: but in
our own time it has been the peculiar felicity of England to witness
_an original act of heroism_, by the present and beloved British
Queen: for when Regicide, like a wild demon, stalked abroad
unsecured,--and when the Sovereign was within the arena of
assassination, then it was she threw aside the mantle of her own
protection, to shelter those faithful and dear to her; and to enjoy
that personal freedom, of which as Sovereign she is the chief
champion,--and companioned by her Royal and noble Consort
alone,--unguarded,--except by her GOD and People, she braved the demon
efforts of the assassin! The Almighty in His mercy cast His mantle
over both! This noble act,--this self-sacrifice of Queen Victoria to
the interest and dignity of her Nation, will live on to all ages, as a
patriotic example to all Sovereigns and Rulers; and for its true
Courage and Patriotism,--Religious dependence,--pure Heroism, and her
royal Mercy to the convicted regicide,--will bear a triumphant
comparison with any renowned record in the Annals of Antiquity!
CHAPTER V.
THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH,
CONCERNING
THE OVERTHROW, THE RISE, AND THE FINAL FALL OF
TYRUS.
(FORETOLD 712 B. C.)
The next circumstance claiming peculiar attention in order of datum,
is the foretelling of the destruction of Tyrus from the lips of that
Prophet, who announced the advent of THE SAVIOUR! The sacred writer
whose words are believed by both Jew and Christian, the _time only_ of
the Messiah's coming being the question at issue between them (apart
from His attributes) must be received as an evidence, inspiring both
awe and veneration; for it is founded upon one of the highest proofs
of Religion itself. Believing, as a Christian, that the Prophecy of
the miraculous Advent on earth of THE CHRIST-IMMANUEL, was
accomplished by the _Birth of_ JESUS,--any and every Prophecy of less
importance by Isaiah, we receive with absolute belief in its
accomplishment,--either past, present, or future. This was our
education in boyhood, received from the lips of a fond and pious
Mother,--it was continued in our youth,--reason and reflection have
produced firm conviction in our manhood: nor in arriving at this
conclusion have we rejected or forgotten the student's duty in solving
a problem or proposition,--viz., that all arguments should be
investigated, either in favour or against the question;--we,
therefore, have attentively read the writings of atheists, and all
that have endeavoured to refute the authority of the Bible,--the
result has been to increase and consolidate the belief first obtained
from Maternal eloquence, and to enable us to pass through the
Infidel-ordeal unscathed and scarless! Even as a book of historic
record relative to the house of Abraham,--either collectively or in
its separate branches,--it bears truth upon every page; for although
written by Hebrew Historians, the _vices_ of the Rulers and the People
are recorded, as well as the virtues,--the former, for their own fame,
they would have naturally concealed, had not _Truth_ been stronger
than any desire to obtain the applause of posterity through the means
of Falsehood.
When, therefore, a Prophecy of ISAIAH has not been (apparently to
human knowledge) accomplished, our religious belief teaches us that it
has been, or will be fulfilled; and if the Theory of this present work
is proved or admitted (from previous facts and analogies, and those to
follow), our faith will be still further increased,--for we shall have
lived to see another Prophecy accomplished, and (with the humility of
the most humble of GOD'S creatures we write)--ourselves to have proved
and established its fulfilment.
EZEKIEL and ZECHARIAH both prophesied the fall of Tyrus 124 years
after the time of ISAIAH,--but the latter Prophet foretold its first
destruction 140 years before its occurrence,--not only that, but that
it should be regenerated as a nation after seventy years,--_and then
be again destroyed_:--these remarkable Prophecies were accomplished.
There was, however, another portion of the last words of ISAIAH in
reference to the Tyrian kingdom, in themselves a perfect Prophecy,
which was, and is, as we firmly believe, fulfilled; but now for the
first time so contemplated. The words have been passed over even by
Christian writers, upon the supposed ground that they would prove a
negative in regard to the truth of Prophecy, and atheists have availed
themselves of that silence to advance their own wishes; but Time, the
chief champion of Heaven's children--Truth and Faith,--has now
established the affirmative in the Western Hemisphere.
The entire Prophecy, or rather Prophecies, regarding Tyrus will now be
given as uttered by ISAIAH, they having been predicted in the year 712
B. C., and consequently next in chronological order, in reference to
the History now under the contemplation of the reader.
We shall offer no minute analysis at this time, but such remarks as
may be required to explain the passages. The lines italicised have
peculiar reference to the present subject. The reader will observe
that the prediction was uttered forty years after the founding of
Rome, and 149 years after that of Carthage, as expressed in the
previous chapter; and from the savage deed committed by the tyrant
Pygmalion, it will be presumed (at least in argument) that every
principle of honour and exalted character, as possessed and practised
by Hiram the Great, had ceased to be exercised by the throne of Tyrus;
and probably so continued to the time of ISAIAH, who, thereupon--
God-instructed--uttered the following triple Prophecy concerning the
Metropolis of the World;--that it should be destroyed, but _that a
Remnant should be saved_!
It should be remembered in reading the Prophecy, that Tyrus was
originally colonized by, and from, Sidon; that the _Isle_ was only
partly inhabited, and that the Capital, at this time, was on the
_mainland_, which was distant from the Island about half a mile.
The celebrated Prophecy is as follows: viz.--
"The burden of Tyre! Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste,
so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land Chittim, it
is revealed to them. Be still ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom
the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. And
by great waters, the seed of Sihor [_i. e._ Nile], the harvest of the
river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. Be thou ashamed,
O Sidon! for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea,
saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children neither do I nourish
up young men, nor bring up virgins. As at the report concerning Egypt,
so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Pass ye over to
Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city
[Tyrus], whose antiquity is of ancient days? _Her own feet shall carry
her afar off to sojourn!_
"Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning [Royal] city,
whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of
the earth? The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of
all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
Pass through thy land as a river, O Daughter of Tarshish: there is no
more strength. He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the
kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant-city,
_to destroy the strongholds thereof_. And he said, Thou shalt no more
rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, Daughter of Sidon: arise, pass over
to Chittim; there, also, shalt thou have no rest. Behold the land of
the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian [Nimrod] founded
it for them, that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers [of
Babel] thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and He brought it
[Nineveh] to ruin. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for your strength is
laid waste.
"And it shall come to pass in that day [_i. e._ after the first fall],
_that Tyre shall be forgotten_ [as a Nation] _seventy years_,
according to the days of one king: after the _end_ of seventy years
shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about the city, thou
harlot that hast been forgotten: make sweet melody, sing many songs,
that thou mayst be remembered [_i. e._ as in her early days]. And it
shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the _Lord_
will visit Tyre [_i. e._ give her strength], and she shall turn to her
hire [_i. e._ merchandise], and shall commit fornification [_i. e._
have _commerce_] with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of
the earth. And her merchandise, and her hire, shall be _holiness_ to
the Lord [_i. e._ they shall _prove the Sabbath_:--they did so at
Jerusalem, _vide_ Nehemiah]: it shall not be treasured nor laid up;
for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD [_i.
e._ house of Israel], to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and
turneth it upside down, _and scattereth abroad the inhabitants
thereof_. And [so] it shall be, _as with the People so with the
Priest_; as with the servant, so with the master; as with the maid, so
with the mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the
lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the
gainer of usury to him. _The land shall be utterly emptied, and
utterly spoiled_: for the LORD hath spoken this word. When THUS it
shall be [_i. e._ at the second and last fall], in the midst of the
land among the people, _there shall be as the shaking of an
olive-tree, and as the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done_.
They [_i. e._ the remnant] shall lift up their voice, they shall sing
for the majesty of the LORD,--_they shall cry aloud_ [_i. e._ praise]
_from the Sea_!" [Isaiah xxiii. & xxiv.]
Some of the Prophet's reflections have been omitted, as not being
prophetical.
That the reader may not think that we have made an error in regard _to
a Remnant of the Tyrians being saved_, the following quotation from
the same Prophet is given, wherein the same figure of speech is used
concerning the fall of Israel, and the safety of a small portion.
"And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of JACOB shall
be made _thin_, and the fatness of his flesh [_i. e._ race] shall wax
lean. And it shall be as when the harvest-man gathereth the corn, and
reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth
ears in the valley of Rephaim. Yet _gleaning grapes shall be left in
it, as the shaking of the olive-tree, two or three berries in the top
of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches_
thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel." [Isaiah xvii. 4--6.]
The comparison of the remnant of a nation, to the few remaining grapes
upon the vine, or in the baskets, after a general gathering of the
harvest, is used also by JEREMIAH in prophesying the destruction of
Judæa,--the word "remnant" is distinctly used.
"Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my Soul depart from thee: lest
I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. Thus saith the LORD of
hosts,--They shall throughly _glean the_ REMNANT of Israel _as a
vine_: turn back thine hand as a _grape-gatherer_ into the baskets."
[Jeremiah vi. 8, 9.]
The same simile is found in the Apocrypha. [2 Esdras xvi. 29--31.]
The preceding figure of speech used by the Prophets ISAIAH and
JEREMIAH was evidently taken by them from the words of the first
Lawgiver, spoken over seven centuries before, in reference to the
stranger's, the widow's, and the orphan's right to the _remnants_ of
the field, and of the fruit trees. This law is practised and permitted
even to this day, by that class of harvest-followers, called
_gleaners_,--the modern Ruths,--from the original of whom sprang the
all-charity SAVIOUR! MOSES commanded that--
"When thou cuttest down thine harvest in the field, and hast forgot a
sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it:--it shall be
for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow,--that the
LORD thy GOD may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When thou
beatest thine _olive-tree_, thou shalt not go over the boughs
again,--it [the remnant] shall be for the stranger, for the
fatherless, and for the widow. _When thou gatherest the grapes_ of thy
vineyard, thou shalt not _glean_ it afterwards,--it shall be for the
stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow."
The _remnant_--or _gleanings_--of a Nation, as applied to the Tyrians
by ISAIAH must be apparent to the reader:--its application to the
present Work (together with other portions of the Prophecy), will be
proved, as we advance, from the records of Classic and acknowledged
History.
CHAPTER VI.
(609--606 B. C.)
KING ITHOBALUS THE FIRST.
[_i. e._ ETH-BAAL.]
THE FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA BY THE
TYRIANS, SCIENTIFICALLY INVESTIGATED AND ESTABLISHED, &c.
SECTION I.
THE CAUSE OF THE EGYPTO-TYRIAN EXPEDITION--HERODOTUS REVIEWED--THE
COURSE OF THE "EAST-WIND," &c.
The subject now to be considered is of peculiar interest in reference
to the history of early Science; and more so from the fact, that
doubts have been entertained by some Historians as to whether this
celebrated Voyage was accomplished, or even attempted. These doubts
have arisen from the silence of some of the early Roman writers upon
the subject, and subsequent authors have, thereupon rejected the
supposed expedition. It will be our object in this Chapter, to firmly
establish that the Voyage did take place, and to set the question at
rest. This will be done not only on the authority of the Greek
historian, Herodotus, but upon the higher authority of Scripture,--from
the words of the Prophets JEREMIAH and EZEKIEL,--which will now be
brought forward (as we humbly submit) for the first time to bear upon
the question.
The establishing of this proposition in the affirmative, and beyond
further dispute, has a material effect towards supporting the Theory
of this entire work, so far as relates to the Aborigines of Mexican
America being of Tyrian descent;--therefore, the interesting subject
calls for minute investigation in order to sustain the proposition. It
must also be of interest to the general reader, merely as an
elucidation of early Science, and especially the analysis of the
celebrated "East-Wind," so often mentioned in the Bible.
The suggestion by some writers that the circumnavigation of Africa
took place in the time of Hiram and Solomon [1000 B. C.] cannot be
supported by any proofs, or even probabilities, but, on the contrary,
is refuted from two causes; viz., 1st, From the motive why the
Egyptian, Pharaoh-Necho, undertook, or rather resolved upon the
expedition,--which establishes it to have been the first voyage; and
2dly, The _natural incident_ or fact, observed during the voyage (of
this hereafter), and which appeared so surprising not only to the
Tyrians and Egyptians, but even to Herodotus himself,--_proves_ that
the expedition did not take place before the time of Ithobalus, for
the same "incident" would have been noticed whenever the first voyage
was made, as it will be whenever the last voyage shall be accomplished
around the Continent of Africa.
This Expedition was at the _expense_ of the Egyptian King,
Pharaoh-Necho, who slew in battle Josiah, King of Judah, as recorded
in Scripture. [2 Kings xx. 3.] The Monarch of the Nile ascended the
throne 616 B. C.
The ships of the Expedition were built by the Tyrians;--piloted,
manned, and equipped by them, and consequently the voyage belongs to
their history conjointly with that of Egypt. Let us review the
circumstance which led to the Expedition, and the means of defraying
the expense:--the latter will be found to emanate from the coffers of
Judæa, and not from those of Egypt. Pharaoh-Necho possessed a mind of
no ordinary character, not only in regard to government, but for
scientific pursuits. Six years after his ascension to the throne he
declared war against the King of Babylon, and marched an army towards
the Euphrates. It was at this time that Josiah "the pious," King of
Judah, followed the Monarch of Egypt, for the purpose of making
warfare upon him and his army, and thus prevent his approach upon the
Babylonians. Pharaoh used every entreaty to Josiah to entice him to
return to his own nation, as he had no wish to make battle with Judæa,
but rather desired the amity of that country. Josiah, however, still
followed on the rear of the Egyptian army,--when Pharaoh suddenly
turned upon the Judæan force, before the approach of the army of
Babylon. The two enemies met in the plain of Megiddo. Josiah was
mortally wounded, carried from the field in his chariot, and shortly
after died at Jerusalem. His son Jehoahaz succeeded him, but reigned
only three months, when he was dethroned by the indignant Pharaoh, and
Josiah's eldest son crowned by orders of the Egyptian, and Judæa
placed under an annual tribute "of an hundred talents of silver, and a
talent of gold." [_i. e._ 41,425_l._] This event occurred 610 B. C.;
and returning victorious to Egypt, Pharaoh probably contemplated how
he might best employ the Judæan tribute, and make it available in the
paths of peace. From relative circumstances we are led to reason that
such were his thoughts,--for we now find that he resolved to attempt
the joining of the Red Sea with the Mediterranean, or with the River
Nile, by means of a Ship-Canal between either of the two waters. Egypt
would then receive merchandise direct from India, passing through the
Straits of Babelmandeb, and so through the Red Sea and the Gulf of
Suez; and by means of the proposed Canal to some harbour, or
commercial emporium to be erected on the banks of the Nile, at the
fork of the Delta, or at one of the mouths of the river on the
Mediterranean.
This policy of a commercial connexion between the Nile and Suez, and
so to India, is again revived at the present day, after a lapse of
nearly 2500 years! At this time, 610 B. C., Egypt had no commerce of
her own, and had always despised the merchant's pursuit. She had no
navy or vessels of her own,--except her river boats,--yet she was
willing to receive from other nations the rich commodities derivable
from their commercial energy, and in _exchange_ for her corn and linen
cloths; consequently the Egyptians were _merchants_ at the very time
they affected to despise the means whereby merchandise was acquired.
To the fact of the Egyptians really despising and rejecting
Navigation, may be attributed the _land_ wonders of the Nile,--the
Pyramids and Temples:--for not being engaged upon the Ocean, or the
Mediterranean in any manner (and to leave the river Nile for other
waters was esteemed a sacrilege), they of a necessity could turn their
attention only to the grandeur of the Earth,--naturally or
artificially,--_i. e._ to Agriculture, or the Arts,--and they were
content to leave the domain of Neptune to those who were willing to
become the bold subjects of his treacherous empire!
In the attempt to form a Canal from the Red Sea the King of Egypt
completely failed, probably owing to the drifting sands; and it was
this defeat in one path of Science, that led him instantly to pursue
another, in which he would not have the same difficulties of Nature to
contend with; and in this resolve he was actuated by the safety of his
reputation,--for the new idea had precisely the same object in view,
as that in which he had so signally failed;--viz., to bring the riches
of India and the Nile together by means of water communication. The
only way whereby this could be accomplished was by a circumnavigation
of the Continent of Africa. There seems to be truth upon the entire
subject of this Voyage, from the fact, as already expressed, that the
second scientific attempt, had for its object the same as the first.
This is a proof that the Voyage was not attempted or accomplished in
the time of Solomon and Hiram;--for if it had been, it would no longer
have been a question, but a repetition of a "foregone conclusion."
The primitive undertaking of Pharaoh did not require Pilots or
mariners,--the expedition now to be attempted not only demanded both,
but also Galleys and "all the appliances and means" of Navigation,--these
the Egyptians, like the Israelites, did not possess, nor had they any
practical Knowledge of the Science.
There was but one Nation in the world to which Pharaoh could apply,
for carrying into effect this bold and original undertaking,--that
Nation was Tyrus:--and with the Monarch of that country the Sovereign
of Egypt was on terms of amity.
Herodotus states that the Voyage did take place,--that the
Phœnicians (_i. e._ Tyrians) were the mariners, and of course the
Pilots,--that they were three years [609 to 606 B. C.] in
accomplishing this then extraordinary expedition. The glory of this
victory over the elements was claimed (and justly) by the
Tyrians,--for without them it could not have been even attempted: and
upon this occasion it was natural that both the King of Tyrus and his
subjects, would hail the opportunity for such an expedition with every
feeling of national enthusiasm,--and to that may be attributed its
consequent success.
The proofs of the successful termination of the Voyage will now be
established. The negatives will be first reviewed. These rest entirely
upon the _silence_ of several authors upon the subject during the time
of the early Cæsars: and because they were silent, subsequent writers
have taken upon themselves the responsibility of contradicting it
entirely: but that very silence of the Roman writers (who desired only
to advance themselves) should be received as a direct acquiescence,
since they did not _contradict_ it,--and they would have done so if
the negative truth had been on their side,--for they must have read,
or heard, the original statement of the occurrence as made by the
Greek Historian, written in his description of his visit to Egypt
nearly five centuries before:--by being the first Historian of the
Egyptian Nation, Herodotus, or his work, could not have been unknown
to the Romans.
Upon the absolute refutation of a negative, and proving the reverse,
an affirmative, as a necessity, is directly established. Here, then,
follows one upon that ground of reasoning: viz.--
Some writers have affirmed that the Fleet could not have been built
and manned by the Naval Architects and Pilots of Tyrus, _because_
their city was on the coast of the Mediterranean, and consequently
could not reach the Red Sea, except all the Galleys were transported
_over land_,--_i. e._ across the Isthmus of Suez to the place of
departure, and this, say they, would be impossible. Such annotations
upon the solemnity of History, only shew those authors' ignorance of
the First Book of record and Religion,--for in the Bible it is
distinctly written, both in the first Book of Kings (ix. 26, 27), and
2 Chronicles xiii. 17, 18, that Hiram the Great built a Navy for the
King of Israel, _at Ezion-Geber_, near Eloth, in Edom, "_on the shore
of the Red Sea_."
Here, then, is the fact of a fleet having been built by the Tyrians,
for a foreign king, on the shores of the Red Sea, and for a voyage to
India. Now this Navy was built for Solomon three hundred and
eighty-five years before the time of Pharaoh-Necho, the period now
under contemplation. Why should not the Tyrians build another Navy
upon the borders of the Red Sea, at a later period, for another
nation,--and especially when for an expedition calling forth every
energy of the renowned Navigators? We apprehend that this affirmative,
founded upon a refuted negative, will not now be further questioned
even by the most sceptical reader; and besides, it is more than
probable, that the Tyrians from the time of Solomon to Pharaoh, had a
fleet, or vessels on the Red Sea, and consequently could quickly
prepare for any expedition.
The affirmatives will now be established,--we shall then endeavour to
describe the voyage, the discoveries, and safe return; and then prove
that the entire document has the Seal of Holy-Writ, stamped by the
hands of two contemporaneous Prophets of Jerusalem--JEREMIAH and
EZEKIEL.
Herodotus says, that the Voyage was successfully accomplished,--that
the fleet, pilots, and mariners, were Tyrian.
Let us review the knowledge of this Grecian writer upon the subject.
The expedition is recorded to have taken place 607--604 B. C. This is
evidently an error, and should be 609 to 606,--for Pharaoh instantly
followed his first attempt by the second,--and the first was in 610 B.
C. This last arrangement is also supported by the words of JEREMIAH.
The Greek Historian visited Egypt, and wrote his History about 484 B.
C., deriving his knowledge from personal observation, and from the
Priests of Memphis. The date, therefore, of his writing, is only a
hundred and twenty-two years after the occurrence of the Voyage, and
consequently not at so late a period, that the antecedent truth should
have been lost. Again. He was writing of the Egyptians, to be read to,
and by the Athenians, who were always proud of every glory claimed by
the inhabitants of the Nile, because much of Grecian science and
knowledge had been derived from Egypt,--consequently Herodotus would
have given all the fame to the Egyptians concerning the enterprise, if
he could have done so with honesty; therefore, from the above
reasoning, the truth of his record is manifest,--for to another
nation, to the Tyrians, is he compelled to give the honour of
accomplishing the greatest Naval Expedition mentioned in classic
History.
We will now produce a proof (the most remarkable to be true) of the
accuracy of Herodotus as a writer, and which will establish his
authority to be believed, concerning the subject now under
consideration. In his second Book of History--the Euterpe--he gives
the reigns of the Egyptian Kings down to the Conquest, by Cambyses
the Persian. In the course of his writing, we find a minute
description of the three classes or manners of embalming the Egyptian
mummies.
In the highest class of embalming, he states, "_In the first place,
with a crooked piece of iron they pull out the brain by the_ [way of
the] _nostrils_!" [Book ii., sections 86--89.]
So extraordinary a statement might well originally have brought
suspicion upon his entire History; but, after a period of nearly 2500
years, his statement _is proved to be absolutely correct_!--for many
Mummies of Egypt examined by Mr. Pettigrew (and others) have been
found to have _no fracture_ or _incision_ in the skull: yet upon an
after-dissection of the skull by the same eminent surgeon, it has been
found that the _brain had been extracted_: thus proving to
demonstration, that it could only have been removed in the manner
described by Herodotus! When, therefore, the pages of an Historian are
established by scrutinizing Time itself, to have been traced by the
pen of Truth, and in such minutiæ,--he may well be believed when
recording so important an event as the first circumnavigation of the
African Continent.
We may here observe (although in digression), that from the accuracy
of the description of Embalming by Herodotus, and its late and
absolute proof, not a doubt can now be entertained as to the truth of
the unheard-of crime practised by the Egyptian Embalmers upon the
female bodies; and which led, he writes, to a custom, or law, that
the wives of the nobility, and the beautiful or celebrated women,
should not be even prepared for embalming until the third or fourth
day after decease. Here, then, is the secret why the Mummy bodies of
the men of the first class are in better preservation than the bodies
of the same class of the other sex. The men, instantly upon their
death, were prepared and forthwith embalmed, thus checking even the
first symptom of flesh decay; but with the superior or beautiful
women, a delay took place of three or four days, for the express
purpose of preventing the crime, which could only be done by the
commencement of decomposition; and which decay, all the art of the
Embalmers could never restore to that state when Death first made the
fleshy-walls his chosen habitation!
Another, and a conclusive proof of the truth of Herodotus in regard to
this Voyage, will be given at the conclusion of this Chapter.
This expedition was repeated, upon the authority of Pliny, by the
Egyptians _themselves_ nearly 500 years after the first expedition by
the Tyrians. This second undertaking was piloted by Eudoxus, at the
command and expense of Ptolemy Lathyrus. The Greco-Egyptians had,
during his reign (B. C. 116), become a powerful commercial
nation,--Alexandria having been founded 215 years before by the
warrior whose name was given to the emporium. The Voyage by Eudoxus
seems to have been but the _imitation_ of a previous one,--with this
exception, viz., that the pride of the Egyptians was called into
action, to equal the former glory achieved by the Tyrians; and
consequently in this voyage they had their own pilots, vessels, and
mariners. Even the cognomen of this Ptolemy,--viz., Lathyrus,--(by
simply omitting the letter-h,--or pronouncing it hard, as in thyme,--a
herb) would seem to have some hidden meaning in reference to that
pride. The nomen Ptolemy was a general name possessed by a long line
of Kings from the death of Alexander,--as Pharaoh had been ages before
the Macedonian,--but the cognomen, or surname was placed, or used, for
some great event connected with the history of the possessor. The
Romans practised this custom,--as instanced in the case of
Scipio,--surnamed Africanus;--one of their Emperors received the
cognomen of Germanicus,--and at an earlier period, Caius Marcius
received the surname of Coriolanus,--all these were given for
victories in the countries, of which their names of honourable
distinction were the derivatives. In reference, therefore, to the
surname Lathyrus,--by the omission, or hard sound of H, or by its
silence as the letter P,--in the original name,--it would read Ptolemy
Latyrus, and which might be easily rendered, in direct allusion to the
second great Voyage having equalled the first.--_Ptolemy the Tyrian._
Enough has been adduced in support of the Expedition, as mentioned by
Herodotus, to authorize a continuation of the subject.
In order to give a perfect illustration to the following remarks, and
to the extracts from Scripture, a full elucidation of the celebrated
"East-Wind" will be required, not only for the general reader, but for
the advancement of this work. To facilitate the explanations, the
reader should have before him a Map of the Atlantic Ocean (or a
terrestrial globe), and observe where the Equator, or the equinoctial
line, crosses the waters from the continent of Africa to that of
America. It will be found to cross the shore of Nazareth Bay (Gulf of
Guinea) on Africa,--and Jones' Land (at the mouth of the river Amazon)
on America. This line (of course) passes around the entire globe. The
reader will then trace 30 degrees of latitude from that line, both
towards the North and the South Pole. Towards the _North_ Pole the
line of 30 degrees (crossing the Atlantic) touches at the point of the
kingdom of Morocco on Africa, _enclosing within that line the
Fortunate Isles_ (_i. e._ the Canaries): on America it touches at St.
Augustine,--_enclosing within the same line all of Florida_. The two
sentences in Italics will be referred to in the subsequent pages.
Towards the _South_ Pole the line of 30 degrees touches at the minor
Namquois river on Africa, and at Tramaday on the American Continent.
Now between these 60 degrees,--the Equator forming the centre,--_there
is a_ PERPETUAL EAST-WIND _blowing_ FROM _Africa across the Atlantic_
TO _America_, and so around the Earth,--from East to West on our
diurnal, and West to East on our nocturnal hemisphere.
This current of air has been called in modern times--the _Trade_
Wind,--a name evidently derived from the facility given by it to
commercial intercourse, from Europe, Africa and India, with Central
South America, and the West India Islands. It is, however, in the
Bible always mentioned as the _East-Wind_, and as a proof of the truth
of Scriptural record, (apart from its Religion) wherever a city or
place is stated to have been effected by this East-Wind, _it will be
found to be within the 60 degrees_ (as detailed above) on Asia or
Africa! Thus Science will support Scriptural record, although some
writers have hazarded the contrary assertion. This ancient phenomenon
(which is now explained by Science) must have been encountered by the
Tyrians during this celebrated voyage, and is alluded to by the
Prophet EZEKIEL,--as will be shewn in proof that this expedition was
accomplished.
The reader will remember that this perpetual East Wind blows _from_
the African _to_ the American Continent;--any vessel, therefore, going
_to_ the Western Hemisphere (within the degrees specified) with its
sails set,--square before the wind, and its rudder secured on its
centre,--the ship would then reach America (tempests excepted) without
a single seaman or pilot to man or steer the vessel: and as a
consequence, therefore, any ship _from_ America to Europe or
Africa,--or from India, having doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and
coasting along the western coast of Africa (and being within the 60
degrees), would _meet_ that East-Wind,--and would have to encounter
what is technically called "a head wind,"--and consequently be in
great danger of being "broken in the midst of the Seas" and there
foundering; and especially in crossing in the line of the Equator;
for directly over that line is the Sun nearest to the Globe,--varying
(of course) according to the seasonal changes.
This constant current of air,--this Boræan Mercury, capped and heeled
with wings of Light,--passes from Africa over the broad
Atlantic,--crossing the Continent of America and the great Pacific, he
pursues his faithful flight over the vast lands of China, Australia,
and Hindoostan,--is borne across the waters of the Indian Ocean, the
Sea of Oman and the Gulf of Persia; the sands of Arabia, and the
wall-divided sea of Israel; avoiding Europe and the Mediterranean, he
reaches his fiery and cradled-home on Afric's burning deserts; but no
cessation is here given to his perpetual course, his energies are but
renewed, and on he speeds,--his "royal progress," commenced at
Creation's birth, and must continue until Nature ceases,--the glorious
Sun his mighty Parent,--Light itself his swift-speeding herald,--the
Breeze, Gale, Storm, and Hurricane his children and attendants,--the
golden eyes of Heaven, with their princely North-star, the witnesses
of his constancy,--Earth and Ocean his grand and gorgeous
kingdoms,--the central line of the entire Globe, and for two thousand
miles on either side, his broad and majestic pathway! Man, his only
opponent;--his only conqueror,--Science,--the imaged mind of that GOD,
who in the Eden of the Universe planted the undying Trees of Knowledge
and of Life.