Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1847-08-05


he was foreigner or native cittzen. The
had an iron bar and pickaxc with them, am
sounded with the iron bar 90 ascertain III
d,pth Of the top of the foundation below tn
surfacc--thcy removed few sods on the out
side, aud dug few hoSes near the pillars, non,
of them exceeding one foot deep, when they
were forbid proceeding further and desIsted :
This slight examination could not by any mean
bc considered an excavation, particularly q
the magnitude Of that stated in the report at
tribnied to Professor Scrobein TO have beer
made by him. I have heretofore stated tina
M such excavation as that represented in th'
report alluded 10 was ever made, nor could one
have beer made of such depth as TO endangeI
the foundation Of the structure, without
having been known To every man, woman and
child in this little town such is the inquIsitive
ness of ,ts people. Nor could any of the dis
covrries have been made rs represented in the
r port, such as the foundations of the palestri.
uu and Foceptimum, and that of the temple 10
which the baptstry was contiguous, &c. &c,
nor could he have received any information
hrfr either historical or traditonary, ON which
to erect the concave roof formed of boughs and
o-.rlaid with mats Of vines, leaves &c, or that
tir old ruin was an appcndaee To temple and
used Cor religious offices, as baptisiry or bap-
tismal font, as was the custom with the peo-
pie in the mother country IL there are such
apprndages to siinilar structures IN the mother
r0nairg, this must have been introduced into
The report To give greater plansbllty to ITS
correctness, and Ia complete the deception,
f,r ~ such thing ever existed here, or ever
cnirred the brain of the most visionary, but
the most absurd and ridiculous statement IN
The report is, that " the Island in this part was
much narrower than at present, the sea cbbng
aud flowing in close proximity to the temple,
Ii. II AT Inc
church erected in 1923, now the Cmtorian
church aud between that and the old ruin
Every body acqnainicd with the location knows
that il is about l2J rods from the present shore,
which bas never since the first settlement OF
the town, been extended more in any part than
one hundred feet from The original shore, and
the foundation of the pretended temple where
he lnraird II, is about seventy feet pcrpcndic-
uar height, above high water in the barbor
This alrne ought To satisfy every one who is
acquainted with the location, (and no one Is
better acquainted with it. as ] am Informed
than Antiquarian" himsclf,) that the whole
report alluded to is production bdScIy and
ri'tniIy false aud groundless, and intended fo'
deception. Notwithstanding my exposition
l,rS proved to every one here, who did know
from their observation, that there was 70 OK
cavaiinn around the old ruin, rs stated in the
rrI,nr, n the time therein named, or 10 the cx
irnt stitcd at any other time within the mem
orv uf any Of the eldest inhabitants in the i'm
mediate vicinity, and the cxposHre OF tire uttcI
ialsrho,d of every sentence of t!Ie report, with
out exception, to the satisfaction of every on,
WIN has gwen the published communications
u reading still Antiquarian" adhcrcs tcna
c.nu'l, to his first position, and ccnsurcs "ons
Of the oldest inhabitants for his cndeavors tt
prove that no excavations around The old run
were ever made by Professor Scroben, or by
any other person at any time, to the cxtcn
represented in the report attributed to him
aud iIa, the report s false in every particular
and was gross and palpablc imposition upon
the Royal : cirty Of Anlqunrians at Copenha
gen, which involved the Royal College in
gr'ss eFrcr.
Afrr the first publication Of the report now
uudcr discussion, some few years since, whicl
was represented Ia be report of Professor
Srr.hcin n relation to the old ruin nj New
port, it was generally supposed to be an absurt
legendary tale, too absurd to gain credit with
il" public, written by some TroIIopc Of th,
masculine gender, as hoax, not 80 much foi
derepf;cn, as To ipcr the Yankees for their ma
~ foolish prctcnsions in relation to origin, dis
crycrirs, birth, descent, &c. 1t was then
ems drrcd in this vicinity, to be so totally void
"ftrrth as not to require attempt to refute
IL, because IL was thought no one could believe
II genuine report, and the evil would correct
itself, as the misrepresentation of .n0ddm 1rOi-
hpr had uniformly been IL this could be
proved Ia have been the origin of the report
(and there is good ground to believe IL can,)
and that il was palmcd off upon Professor Scro.
helm ~ plausible manner by some miscre0at
whp' had gaincd his confidence, as to induce
han to believe IT correct in its details, and to
present il ~ the result Of his labors, it would
,X ncrIto h.m from the dssign to deceive the
Royal ColIrpc--and although his extreme Gre
dulity would ndd nothing To his merits, or cx.
all his character IN the opinion of the world,
il would prove the truth Of the adage that
"whcn great men err they err greatly; and
IN some degree relieve HIM from the dilemma
IN which he lras involved himself, which must
otherwise " 'aeritabig rcsp't IN degrGddtiOn
and Ssrdre." 1t would tend much more to
the credit of Antiquarian, whose object ought
b. be- To put down ialsehood and sustain The
truth. to take some p.snsiblc aud trnable means
IT, relieve the Professor from the uncnvablc
y sition in which he is involved, If he is de-
srrving of the character So vivIJiy portrayed
bv Antiquarian, (from which ! feel no desire
tp drtracD than To fasten upon report so evi-
IDENTIFY false in all its parts
Antqnarian," IN his communication pub
lishcd in the Newport Daily News of the 2lst
and 22d inst, which purports to he no anSrr
tn my cidL0r0fc article the Herald of the
Times of the 10th and l7th ultimo. an answer
Ia every position ] have assumed is in this, as
ii has been IN his former communications stu.
dionsly avoided, aud for this very good reason
Lccausc nay declarations cannot be- controvcrt-
ed. shall not attempt to follow " Antigua.
ran through all his sarCdSms, and inueHdOs,
which ] deem unworthy of notice-but re.
view the positions he has assumed with can.
dor, PROSTATE his arguments in dc,nil, with a
view only to convince him Of his error, and cs.
tablIsh the correctness Of facts have advanc.
ed. :" have never IN any instance denied the
the evidences by which the claims of his his.
tory have been positively asserted, and the
truth Of which has been maintained Nor dol
| acknowledge having cast caustic reflections
upon Antiquarian for citing indsputablc au-
ih,ritcs, or denounced, as .tabHIcus, establish
ed and authenticated matters of history. j.
may have, in the opinion of Antiquarian,
" BETRAYED limited knowledge Of the scien |
t'lic advances Of the agc--and an ncapacity {, |
cNcmpHly the subjects Of my own adoption by
correct chronological mcmorandas Of the early |
u st. ry Of my native State, rs is excmplifcd
by the learned ProfrsScr, who writes under
the Signature of" Antiquarian, Brown Unver.
sty, Providence, X l." Although have not
had the advantages Of a College education