The Port Gibson herald, and correspondent. (Port Gibson, Claiborne Co., Miss.) 1848-18??, 1850-06-14
AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.

The following account of an antique struc- |
ture in Newport, R, l., we have been permitted
to copy from letter written by lady of that |
place to one of her descendants in this town.
1t will doubtless interest and instruct others
besides her to whom it is addressed:
My dear lille Granddaughter:
/ enclose view
of the Newport Ruin, which your cousin Mary
copied for you. It is situated in the town, and
composed of unhewn stone, cemented with
pebblesl 1t now looks as if time and tempests
had in vain assailed it. 1t may be of as an
cient architecture as the pyramids in Egypt
1t has always been wonder to foreigners and
Americans, as has the inscription on the Digh-
ton rock; and both have been objects of great
interest and research to Antiquarians in Eu-
rope and America. The Dighton Rock is on
Taunton river, in the vicinity of your mothers
native town. 1t has recently been ascertained,
by publication of the Danish Antiquarian
Society, that the inscription is a memorial of
the discovery of New England by lcelanders
in the commencement of the eleventh century.
A tradition of this discovery-or rather of the
discovery of America, prior to that of Colum-
bus, has been extant for hundreds of years.
But that tradition was not authenticated until
the Society, before mentioned, published an
cient "Chroncles of Iceland" which were in
the possession of that Society. Those chron-
icles gave detailed account Of the discovery,
and of the persons who made it-and also of
the final abandonment of settlement, which
they called Wineland, on account of the null
titude of wild grape vines, but which the ag-
gressons of the Indians made untenable. No
living, nor dead language known by linguists,
was similar to the inscription But the Dam
ish work gives one on paradise rock" in lce-
land, of the same language-the old Morse
by means of which, that on Dighton is found
to give the name of the leader of the expedi-
ton, and the ber-thirty-one--of those
who accompanied him. Now, | suppose that
all, who have warm feelings and strong SYM
particularly, young persons-would
be grieved to find that one of the noblest
characters in history is despoiled Of his honors.
But the trophies of Columbus, both moral and
mental-of which, his perseverance, was the
consunnnlQtion, in his discovery of America
are vivid and perennial. Printing was recent
" discovered, and a printed book scarcely
known. Neither his character, nor his discoY-
ery, loses particle of its grandeur by the pre-
yious discovery, which has not lineament
W lllUSS WHICH eAS
terprise of Columbus, who never heard OF a
previous discovery or attempt. His own lofty
mind originated the philosophical belief OF an
other continent, and all its wonderful resources
were employed to confirm that belief. The
Observation-Disclosures of Scandinavia-were
not only the most vigorous characters, but the
greatest navigators in Europe. Alaric, the
: conqueror of Rome was a Northman. You
, know the Danes-who were Northmen-inva'
ded England. William, the Norman, who sub
dued England, was a descendant of Northmen
who conquered that part of France. which was
thence call Normandy. They discovered anc
colonized Iceland in S75, and Greenland, il
986. Probably Greenland, as well as Wine
land was discovered by accident, when vessel:
: were sailing from the western coast to Iceland
j and driven from their direct course by storms
D as the Iceland manuscripts relate Of the dis
coyery of New England. The manuscript
regarding this discovery had been locked up a
curiosities in Libraries in the north of Europe
: and they are sin a dialect, which is very sci
: dom studied where it is unknown" But tn
e Newport Ruin is beyond all tradition, and al
:. legends Itprobably is a relict of the people
5 who inhabited the country ages since, as sub
terranean and other memorials testify. Thi
:, :, ruin was perhaps the shrine of heather goc
} No evidence have we, my dear child, that
christian nation ever became extinct.