Horv Ancient America Wrote. 211 



Witliout pursuing further the speculations which the tradition 

 suggests, we may conclude by suggesting that while the Atlantic 

 theory is not, in the present state of our knowledge " so preeminently 

 well founded as to be generally accepted by scientific men," yet, iu 

 ^^iew of all the facts, no clue which has been offered, as leading to a 

 satisfactory explanation of the aboriginal civilization of this continent, 

 seems to promise more interesting results than this. While Professor 

 Owen and other Egyptologists already trace the original Egyptian 

 culture to a people far different from those known to us as Egyptians— 

 a race closely resembling the Australian type— we recognise in our 

 own archaeology, also, the traces of a foreign influence, exerted at 

 remote periods consistent at least with the explanation afforded by the 

 Atlantic tradition. 



How Ancient America Wrote. By G. Bruhl, M. D. 



Brilliant displays of force and courage dazzle more than the quiet 

 and unobtrusive labors of the mind ; the heroic deeds of great generals 

 and the foundation of vast empires by victorious conquerors, excite 

 more attention and admiration than the. intellectual achievements of 

 nations or the means by which these achievements are realized. 



But of what importance toward the advancement of mankind are 

 changes in the boundaries of states, or murderous wars which 

 men wage against each other for the aggrandizement of wicked 

 tyrants, in comparison with those actions of the mind, which calmly 

 and peaceably foster arts and sciences, and pave the way to civiliza- 

 tion ? 



Foremost among these mental labors ranks the invention and 

 development of writing — that magic power which embodies and per- 

 petuates the lofty thoughts of all countries and ages, that zealous 

 asent which collects and treasures the fruits of intellect for present 

 and future generations, that wonderful fountain from which streams 

 of wisdom and learning flow. It is an historical fact, that no 

 people destitute of written language has ever attained to a superior 

 state of mental culture or even to an elaborate system of divme 

 worship. 



The development of this beautiful art, whose origin is involved in 

 mystery, was surely not the act of a single moment nor the happy 

 thought of one individual, but the toilsome and tedious work of many 



