New-York tribune., 1873-06-28
RECONSTRUCTING HISTORY.

tho discovery Of America by the Mortimer
will finally settle the debate as to who is en-
titled to the honor heretofore accorded TO
Columbus. 1t will not do to leave the credit
with Left, son of Eric the Red, who, follow
ing tho accidental track of Biarne, is alleged
to have discovered Labrador, Nova Scotia, and
New England. 1t is well that this bold young
Viking should have a monument from the
modern Scandinayians of our own North West;
but il we are to reopen the controversy
about the discovery of this continent
we cannot stop with Left Ericsson, his
brother Thorvald, and Thorfnn Karlsefne.
1t was in O85, we believe, that Biarne, son OF
Heriulf, losing his way to Greenland, found
himself coasting the unknown shores Of Mas
sachusetts and Nova Scotia. The wild sea-
rovers of the family of Eric the Red, who sub
sequenty used the Icelandic settlements in
Greenland as base of operations, and thence
established themselves on the coasts of New
England. waited until A. ID. 1000 before they
made much stir in that direction. All OF this
so-caled history finds its only record IN the
sagas or traditionary songs OF the Northmen.
Latterly, the most intelligent advocates OF the
claims of the Mortimer have abandoned the
Dighton Rock, the Monhegan Island runes, the
old tower at Newport and the Skeleton IN
Armor-immOrtaized in Longfellow's verse-
as of any worth in establishing the
truth of history. These are too doubt
full links to be of much value in a chain of
evidence. The main reliance Of the NOrthmen
is in the scattered sagas, some OF which are
of Icelandic and some of Greenland origin.
These, as c0lated under the authority OF the
Royal Society of Denmark, form valuable
record of what must have been actual Vents,
though mixed, like many authentic narratives,
with the mystic lore of the early times. They
are worthy of careful consideration, and dc:
mand something more than the cool sneer
with which at least one American historian
has dismissed them.
But we cannot tarry with the sons of Eric,
if we go beyond Columbus and his companions.
We have no special concern with Prince
Maaoc, son of Owen Gwynneth, for whom
the Welsh claim the credit of discovering
America He did not come, il he came at all,
until A. ID. ITO, long after the death of
ThOrfnn and the abandonment Of the slender
colonies of the Northmen. How do our
scandinavian friends propose to get rid of the
claims of the Phenicansf The NOrthmen
left no permanent traces Of their occupation I;
but not few eminent archBoOgists think
they see Phenician origin in tho ruined cities
or Palenque and Uxmal in Central America.
Whence came the builders OF these msgnii-
cent monuments of human skill and cultivated
arti Whittier have they gonei When did
the last man depart out of those glorious
hoh;t oh xuif fha No
growth of centuries These men left no trace
of their existence in the records of history !;
the nation has vanished as utterly as any that
lived before the flood. Yet the builders and
citizens of Palenque have an antiquity COM
pared with which that of the Northmen is
thing of yesterday. Possibly their monuments
in Brazil may yet be read and understood.
Jones' in bis "Tyrian Age of Amerca, y labQri.
0usly and floridly argues that the fhified cities
of Central America were built by Phenician
colonists long before the Christian era that
these hardy mariners, sailing beyond the Pill
lars of Hercules, discovered and redscOvered the
Fortunate Isles or Canaries; that they kept their
voyages national secret and that they made
lodgment on the American coast; that they
built cities, lost communication with the other
side of the globe, lived, died, and finally
faded quite away. The shallow book which
contains these conclusions is not the only wit
ness in the case nor is this first part of the
authors hypothesis altogether fantastic We
know that the ancients never lost sight of the
fact that somewhere in the Atlantic g. the Sea
"of Darkness'O existed vast continent girt
about with islands. The writings of many of
the learned men of the earlier age OF the
world abound in illusions which show that
that they had, at least, some CLEANS of
knowledge of this continent. Were these
rumors merely guesses at TRUTH
All of this speculation is useless, except AZ
ministering to the amusement of fanclful the
orists OF to stimulate historical research in
directions which no longer have any promise
of practical value. IL may be admitted that
the people of what we call the Old World
knew of the existence of the New; it may
be even agreed that they founded colonies
and psopled cities on this continent with a
race superior to that found here by Columbus.
Balboa, and Cortez. These admissions would
not affect the main question. Still. for all
practical purposes, Columbus discovered
America Tho colonies of the Phenicians
and the brief excursions of the Mortimer, or
the Cambrians, had nothing to do with bring
ing tho continent into the knowledge of the
civilized world. Only tho discoveries of Co
lumbus and his followers brought the Old
World to the New For the sake of the poetic
idea, the celebration of the American exploits
OF the Northmon is desirable. But it would
be unfair to call these tho discoveries of
America and 40 refuse to go to tho root of
tho matter. The busy, practical world. which
looks at the work actually ACCOMPLISHED by