Aboriginal Race of America. 173 
are now matter of history; yet, in the country itself they 
have not left a single indisputable trace of their sojourn. 
In fine, our own conclusion, long ago deduced from a pa- 
tient examination of the facts thus briefly and inadequately 
stated, is, that the American race is essentially separate and 
peculiar, whether we regard it in its physical, its moral, or its 
intellectual relations. To us there are no direct or obvious 
links between the people of the old world and the new; for 
even admitting the seeming analogies to which we have al- 
luded, these are so few in number, and evidently so casual, as 
not to invalidate the main position; and even should it be 
hereafter shewn, that the arts, sciences, and religion of Ame- 
rica can be traced to an exotic source, I maintain that the 
organic characters of the people themselves, through all their 
endless ramifications of tribes and nations, prove them to 
belong to one and the same race, and that this race is dis- 
tinct from all others. 
This idea may, at first view, seem incompatible with the 
history of man, as recorded in the Sacred Writings. Such, 
however, is not the fact. Where others can see nothing but 
chance, we can perceive a wise and obvious design, displayed 
in the original adaptation of the several races of men to those 
varied circumstances of climate and locality which, while 
congenial to the one, are destructive to the other. The evi- 
dences of history and the Egyptian monuments go to prove 
that these races were as distinctly stamped three thousand 
five hundred years ago as they are now; and, in fact, that 
they are coeval with the primitive dispersion of our species.* 
[We regret that want of space prevented us inserting in 
this Number the Appendix to Dr Morton’s truly excellent 
Memoir.—EDITor. | 
* I cannot omit the present oceasion to express my admiration of the 
recent discoveries of Mr Stephens among the ruined cities of Central 
America and Yucatan. The spirit, ability, and success, which charac- 
_ terize these investigations, are an honour to that gentleman and to his 
country ; and they will, probably, tend more than the labours of any 
other person to unravel the mysteries of American Archeology. Similar 
in design to these are the researches of my distinguished friend the Che- 
valier Friedrichthal, the result of whose labours, though not yet given 
to the world, are replete with facts of the utmost importance to the pre- 
sent inquiry. 
