WESTERN STATES. 



341 



20. Antiquities. There are many remains of renriote antiquity, such as might have been 

 raised by a rather numerous but rude people, who would carry to the work more labor than 

 art. They consist in part of mounds, varying in height from 10 or 20 to 50 and even 70 feet, 

 and commonly of a regular conical form, sometimes truncated and sometimes complete cones , 

 sometimes solitary and sometimes clustered together in great numbers ; and in part of spacious 

 enclosures, oval, circular, square, or polygonal, often connected with each other by long paral- 

 lel lines of embankments, and in some instances comprising an extent of from 20 to 30 acres. 

 In general the walls of circumvallation are composed wholly of earth, but sometimes consist 

 partly of stones loosely thrown together, and traces of bricks and cement are said, though 

 perhaps without foundation, to have been met with in some places. The mounds appear to liave 

 been used as places of burial, even if they were not constructed for this purpose ; the enclosures 

 for purposes of defence. The question as to the origin, authors, and objects of these works, 

 has, however, given rise to much speculation, and while some look upon them as proofs of the 

 former existence of a more civilized population in this part of the world, others see in them 

 nothing beyond what might have been executed by the naked savages, who have possessed 

 these regions ever since they have been known to Europeans, and others have denied that the 

 mounds were artificial works. The Indian tribes, who have been known to the whites, have 

 had no traditions relative to this curious subject. The works are found all over the Mississip- 

 pi valley, from the St. Peter's on the north to the delta of the Mississippi, and from the 

 western parts of New York and Virginia to the plains of the Missouri, and are almost, if not 

 quite, always situated on the alluvial flats or bottoms of the rivers. 



There is a group of remarkable mounds not far from Natchez, in the village of Seltzer- 

 town, from which pipes, weapons, utensils, &c. have been obtained. The principal mound is 

 35 feet in height, with a flat summit of 4 acres in extent, surrounded by a low rampart or bank 

 2 or 3 feet high ; upon this area rise G other mounds, one of which is 30 feet in height, or 65 

 feet above the level of the plain, and a collection of smaller hillocks are scattered around. 

 There is another and similar group of 12 or 15 mounds nearer to Natchez. The American 

 bottom in Illinois is remarkable for the number and size of the mounds, which are scattered, 

 "like gigantic hay-cocks," over its surface ; 20 of them may be counted near Cahokia, and 

 the largest, which is surrounded by a group of IG or IS smaller ones, is 90 feet in height, with 

 a base 600 yards in circumference. Among the fortifications, those of Chillicothe, of Circle- 

 ville, which gave its name to the town, and Newark, in Ohio, deserve notice. The first 

 mentioned consists of a square enclosure, surrounded by a rampart of earth 12 feet high, and 

 20 feet thick at the base, and covering more than 100 acres. That of Circleville was a simi 

 lar enclosure of a circular shape, but it has been mostly destroyed, although numerous burrows 

 or mounds still stand in the vicinity. At Newark there is also a circular rampart with lines 



the Mexican gulf, and ready to utter the words, the feel- 

 ings, and the experience, which they have treasured up 

 in a traveling ministry of 50 years, and whose accents, 

 trembling with age, still more impressively than their 

 words, announce that they will soon travel, and preach 

 no more on the earth, are there. Such are the preachers. 



" The line of tents is pitched ; and the religious city 

 grows up in a few hours under the trees, beside the 

 stream. Lamps are hung in lines among the branches; 

 and the effect of their glare upon the surrounding forest 

 is as of magic. The scenery of the most brilliant theatre 

 in the world is a painting only for children, compared 

 with it. Meantiine the multitudes, with the highest ex- 

 citement of social feeling added to the general enthusiasm 

 of expectation, pass from tent to tent, arid interchange 

 apostolic greetings and embraces, and talk jf the coming 

 solemnities. Their coffee and tea are prepared, and their 

 supper is finished. By this time the moon, (for they take 

 thought, to appoint the meeting at the proper time of the 

 moon) begins to show its disk above the dark summits of 

 the mountains ; and a few stars are seen glimmering 

 through the intervals of the branches. The whole con- 

 stitutes a temple worthy of the grandeur of God. An old 

 man, in a dress of the quaintest simplicity, ascends a 

 platform, wipes the dust from his spectacles, and in a 

 voice of suppressed emotion, gives out the hymn, of which 

 the whole assembled multitude can recite the words, — 

 and an air, in which every voice can join. We should 



deem poorly of the heart, that would not thrill, as the song 

 is heard, like the ' sound of many waters,' echoing among 

 the hills and mountains. Such are tlie scenes, tlie asso- 

 ciations, and such the influence of external things upon 

 the nature so ' fearfully and wonderfully ' constituted, as 

 ours, that little effort is necessary, on such a theme as re- 

 ligion, urged at such a place, under such circumstances, 

 to fill the heart and the eyes. The hoary orator talks of 

 God, of eternity, a judgment to come, and all that is im- 

 pressive beyond. He speaks of his ' expeiienres,' his 

 toils and travels, his persecutions and welcomes, and how 

 many he has seen in hope, in peace, and triumph, gather- 

 ed to their fathers ; and when lie speaks of the short space 

 that remains to him, his only regret is, that he can no 

 more proclaim, in the silence of death, the mercies of his 

 crucified Redeemer. 



" There is no need of the studied trick of oratory, to 

 produce in such a place the deepest movements of the 

 heart. No wonder, as the speaker pauses to dash the 

 gathering moisture from his own eye, that his audience 

 are dissolved in tears, or uttering the exclamations of pen- 

 itence. Nor is it cause for admiration, that many, who 

 poised themselves on an estimation of higher intellect 

 and a nobler insensibility, than the crowd, catch the in- 

 fectious feeling, and become women and children in their 

 turn ; and though they ' came to mock, remain to pray ' '— 

 Flint's Geogra2>hy. 



