OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 13
Upon a subject which has received the attention and elicited the observations of so many learned gentlemen, in our own country and in Europe, it may perhaps be deemed presumptuous to venture a remark or submit an opinion. The relic is, however, of so remarkable a char- acter, and must, if proved to be a genuine remain of the mound era, lead to so extraordinary results, that we are justified in submitting the question of its authenticity to the most rigid scrutiny. Whoever announces a discovery to the world, in any branch of research, must expect to have it subjected to every test sanctioned by the rules of evidence. Nor should it be a matter of complaint, on the part of those interested, if this scrutiny should be con- ducted with apparent severity towards themselves, particu- larly when, as in this instance, we have no collateral evi- dence to which appeal may be had in support of the pre- sumed discovery.
The inquirer cannot fail to be struck with the circum- stance, that, contrary to the rules which regulate philo- sophic research, in all the speculations to which this relic has given rise, its authenticity has been assumed, apparently without an eflort towards its confirmation. This is the more singular when we consider the conclusions which must follow the assumption. The inscription, it is con- ceded on all hands, is not hieroglyphical; the characters can be regarded only as the letters of an unknown alphabet, bearing a close likeness to those embraced in that large class of alphabets, of which the ancient Phenecian may be advanced as the type, and which were, at one period, extensively disseminated over the North of Europe. Re- garding it as alphabetical, we are forced to one of two conclusions, equally extraordinary ; either the race of the mounds possessed an alphabetical system, or the inscription is of European origin, and was transported to the Ohio valley by individuals of European stock, or by a course of exchange with nations or tribes bordering the sea coast,
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