THE PYRAMIDS. 



153 



tries of the north, and the south, and the west, then re- 

 ceived these allotted portions of the human family — and 

 the vast face of Asia became straightway peopled by the 

 scattered multitude — why should it be doubted, that the 

 varied countries of the extreme east also lay open to the 

 millions emigrating from the common cradle of the 

 second race of man on the plains of Shinar? It has 

 been strongly contested, that the deeper we pry into the 

 history and habits, languages and institutions of the Amer- 

 ican people, the less reason we discover to believe that 

 they are descended from any particular people of the Old 

 World : at the same time that a search into their early 

 traditions and religious superstitions appears to prove, 

 with undoubted certainty, that a connection once existed 

 between them and the mass of mankind, arid that, when- 

 ever and however isolated, there can be no doubt, from 

 the great analogies existing between them, of their hav- 

 ing a common origin and early history. 



The various hypotheses started again and again, at- 

 tempting to trace the origin of the American aborigines 

 to any particular people of the old continent,* whether 

 Jew or gentile, have all hitherto failed in carrying con- 

 viction to the minds of the world in general ; and it must 

 be admitted that many of the arguments made use of to 

 bolster up these theories, have only proved the ignorance 

 of their advocates to the true sources of the institutions 

 of pagan idolatry throughout the globe. Wherever you 

 direct your attention, to the barbarous tribes of the north 

 and south, or the derni-civilized people of the central por- 

 tions of the continent on both sides of the isthmus, you 



* How far those may be in the right who would prove that the king- 

 doms of Mexico and Peru were founded by the troops sent by the Khan 

 of Tartary, towards the close of the thirteenth century, to subdue Japan ; 

 that Mango Capac, the first inca of Peru, was the son of Kublai, the 

 grandson of the Mogul conqueror, Genghis Khan ; and that the ances- 

 tor of Montezuma was a Mogul grandee in his train, I am in nowise 

 able to determine : but it is certainly a most singular circumstance, that 

 suddenly, about that epoch, these two great powers sprung up simulta- 

 neously in different parts of the continent, and grew and increased, and 

 were in the end annihilated by the Spaniards, without having had any 

 connection, or being known of one another, as far as can be ascer- 

 tained. 



