America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170 A.D.Bowen, Benjamin Franklin
History
America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170 A.D.
Bowen, Benjamin Franklin
America -- Discovery and exploration -- Welsh
They stated that their ancestors were Welsh. If the objection is made,
how they could have lost traces of European civilization so soon, it may
be recollected that the buccaneers of St. Domingo had in thirty years
forgotten all knowledge of Christianity. Such radical differences as
exist between the white and red races could not have been lost without
the lapse of centuries; while their languages would undergo, more or
less, some marked modifications. Dr. Williams, writing upon this subject
in his "Enquiry," published in 1791, says, "When it is considered that
Mr. Jones's visit to these nations was nearly five hundred years after
the emigration of Prince Madoc, it can be no wonder that the language of
both Mr. Jones and the Indians was very much altered. After so long a
period, Mr. Jones must have been obliged to make use of words and
phrases in preaching Christianity with which they must have been
altogether unacquainted. Besides, all living languages are continually
changing: therefore, during so many centuries, the original tongue must
have been very much altered, by the introduction of new words borrowed
from the inhabitants of the country. Though the language was _radically_
the same, yet Mr. Jones, especially when treating of abstract subjects,
was hardly intelligible to them without some explanations. We are told
that the religious worship of the Mexicans, with all its absurdities,
was less superstitious than that of the ancient and learned Greeks and
Romans. May we not conclude that the Mexicans derived some part of their
religious knowledge from a people enlightened by a Divine revelation,
which, though very much corrupted in the days of Madoc, yet was superior
to heathen darkness?"
Many of the names mentioned by Mr. Jones in his narrative seem to have a
Welsh origin, and bear a precisely similar sound to words in that
language.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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