"It were to be wished, that such of the American journals as have admitted the article in question into their columns, would apprize the public of its entire falsity.

"In 1837 I published, on behalf of our Society, the Old Northern Sources to the Ante-Columbian History of America in the work entitled, ANTIQUITATES AMERICANÆ. Taking the astronomical, nautical, and geographical evidences contained in the ancient records themselves for a groundwork, I have endeavored to prove that our Scandinavian forefathers in the tenth century discovered a portion of the eastern coast of North America, and in particular visited Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Inquirers of the greatest celebrity here in Europe, have looked upon the arguments used by me as conclusive, among whom I may mention Alexander Humboldt, in his recently published Kosmos, vol. 11, pages 269-272, where he considers the results of my investigations as historical facts fully demonstrated.

"At the time when I published the work above alluded to, I was not aware of the ancient structure in Newport, which, consequently, cannot have led in the remotest degree to the results deduced, nor is there a single word said about it in my work, which, moreover, is to be met with in most of the larger libraries in America, as well as in Europe; and thus opens an easier access to the study of the original written sources themselves.

"The right interpretation of the accounts in the ancient parchment copies, clearly proves that it was precisely Massachusetts and Rhode Island which the ancient Scandinavians visited, and where they established themselves. The agreement of the astronomical, nautical, and geographical evidences, leads in this respect to so certain a result, that doubtless nothing further is required.

"The early monuments which are met with in those regions, unquestionably merit the attention of the investigator, but we must be cautious in regard to the inferences to be drawn from them.

"Concerning the ancient structure in Newport, (of which we had no previous knowledge whatever,) we first received a communication on the 22d of May, 1839, from Thomas H.

Webb, M. D., (now of Boston, formerly of Providence,) which is inserted in our Memories des Antiquaires du Nord, 18361839, page 361, and I feel assured, that whoever reads that article, will therein discern all the caution which a scientific investigation demands, and all the respect due to an institution. which has acquired confidence in and out of Europe.

"From the drawings transmitted to us by a trust-worthy hand, our ablest judges skilled in the history of architecture, have pronounced the architectural style of the building to be that of the twelfth century, from which period a structure exactly corresponding has been pointed out, along with others in the same style. It is difficult, however, without being on the spot, to offer any decided opinion as to the period to which the structure itself is to be referred, nor has any one here ventured to do so. Here, in the North, no wind-mills occur of this construction, and a gentleman distinguished for his knowledge in the progressive history of the arts, and who has traveled much in Europe, has declared, that he never met with any such.* It would seem better, therefore, to leave the matter undecided, until further information can be obtained. But, even supposing that the origin of this and other monuments cannot be ascertained with precision, this in no way affects the stability of the historical facts deduced from the ancient manuscripts; that the Scandinavians in the tenth century, discovered and established themselves in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, in proof of which no other testimony is required than what is afforded by the ancient records themselves.

"Our Society would be glad to receive trust-worthy

* In the "Penny Magazine of the Society for the diffusion of Useful Knowledge, for November, 1836," p. 480, there is an engraving of a Wind-mill at Chesterton, Warwickshire, England, erected after a design of Inigo Jones, which. without the roof and vanes, shew an exact fac-simile of the Old Mill at Newport. An aged ship-master, late of this town, of the first respectability and of undoubted integrity, who has been many voyages to the North of Europe, informs me that he has seen there more than forty wind-mills, of the same material and construction as the old wind-mill here; and he had curiosity once to ask, at one of them, why they were built on pillars and open between them? and was informed that on this construction the wind having a free passage through, there was no eddy wind caused to make a back sail and lessen the power. Other authorities might be quoted, but we think it wholly unnecessary, for every sensible mind after reading the evidence adduced, must be convinced of the object for which the structure was intended.-Note by the Author.

communications on the subject of Ante-Columbian Monuments of America, to be preserved in the American section of the Society's Historico-Archæological Archives, and also for insertion in their Memories, in as far as they may be suited for the purpose. Such articles as the one you have made known to us, merits no place within the pale of science, and we are glad to observe that by you also, they are estimated according to their deserts.

"I have the honor to be, sir,

"Your obedient servant,
"CHARLES C. RAFN,

66 6

Sec'y, R. S. N. A.”

"David Melville, Esq., Newport, R. I.'

"It appears by the foregoing letter that the Royal College received a communication on the 22d of May, 1839, from Thomas H. Webb, M. D., (now of Boston, formerly of Providence,) which is inserted in their Memoirs des Antiquaries du Nort, of 1836-1839, page 361, in which Doctor Webb gives a description of the architectural construction of the ruin, and they received also drawings of the same, transmitted to them by trust-worthy hands, from which description, and the drawings referred to, their 'ablest judges,' skilled in the history of architecture, have pronounced the architectural style of the building to be that of the twelfth century. Upon this it is barely necessary to remark, that the description given by Dr. Webb, as well as the drawings which were transmitted, though in their general contour correct, are in their minutiæ visibly incorrect, so decidedly so, as to mislead the judgment of those best skilled in the history of architecture, and to render it impossible for them to determine with any reliable precision, the period to which the structure may be referred; there is no reliance, therefore, upon the opinions pronounced by the ablest judges skilled in the history of architecture, founded on date so incorrect as that submitted to their inspection.

"The Royal Society of Antiquarians, at Copenhagen, which is universally considered as the source of correct information, on facts relating to subjects of antiquity, have been imposed upon by unprincipled miscreants in this country. As an instance of their success in their attempts at deception, I would refer to the following: The inscription on the Dighton Rock, which is

undoubtedly an Indian inscription in commemoration of some great battle, and was so pronounced by General Washington, when a copy of it was shown to him at Cambridge, during the Revolutionary War, he having seen many similar to it in the Indian country; and is so considered by Henry R. Schoolcraft, Esq., Professor of Geology in the service of the United States, who visited the Rock the last summer, and who has seen many of the same description in various parts of the country, from Maine to the source of the Mississippi, and is acquainted with the meaning of many of the characters in the inscription. This inscription has been copied by some designing wretch, and forwarded to the Royal Society of Antiquarians, at Copenhagen, undoubtedly for deception, and published in the work alluded to by Prof. Rafn, entitled Antiquitates Americana. The version of the inscription published in that work, and distributed throughout Europe and America, was altered so as to make it appear to have been the work of the Scandinavians, by altering the characters, and adding in the body of the inscription, the characters, O RINX, which is said to be the name of one of their early navigators; such unwarrantable conduct is disgraceful to the authors, an imposition on that highly respectable institution and the world, and ought to be discountenanced and exposed by every admirer of the correctness of facts relating to ages past. The Society has, (from misrepresentations made to them in regard to the 'Newport Ruins,' as it has of late been called,) been drawn into an error in supposing that their Scandinavian forefathers visited in the 10th century the island of Rhode Island. At the remote period referred to, in the letter of Professor Rafn, they may have visited Massachusetts, and reported it by its true Indian name, and if they had visited this Island, it is reasonable to suppose they would have called it by the name it was called by the native inhabitants, which was Acquethneck. It was not called Rhode Island until 1644, as appears from the following extracts from the Old Colony Records, at a General Court held at Newport on the 15th day of the 1st month, 1644.'

"It is ordered by this Court that ye island commonly called Acquethneck, shall be from henceforth called ye Isle of Rhodes, or Rhode Island.'

"There is no doubt that the Northmen discovered in the tenth century, the eastern coast of this Continent, and visited that

part called by the Indian inhabitants, Massachusetts, but it is doubtful if they visited at that period the Island of Acquethneck, now Rhode Island. There does not appear from any history or tradition from our ancestors, that there was any tradition among the Indians of Acquethneck, ever having been visited by white men before the settlement of the country by our British ancestors. When the first white inhabitants settled on the Elizabeth Islands, there was a tradition among the Indians, that the Vineyard had been visited many ages before by a colony of white men, who came there in a vessel from the North, and remained there for a season, and returned to the North in the winter, with an intention of returning there again the next year, but never came back, and were supposed to have been lost, and the same tradition was rife among the Indians on the main, and remains to this day. It is very probable that these were the Northmen from the borders of the St. Lawrence, and that the Vineyard Island was the extent of their progress westward along the coast. From this circumstance, and from sinister motives, it has been endeavored to be shown that the Northmen visited this Island in the tenth or eleventh century, and called the island' Vinelant,' &c., and the Newport Ruin has been endeavored to be palmed upon the world through the Royal Society of Antiquarians at Copenhagen, as evidence of the fact of the visit of the Northmen, and the work of their hands,* but "Let Antiquarians say what they will,

It is nothing but an Old Stone Mill.

"ONE OF THE OLDEST INHABITANTS."

What better traditionary evidence than that of Gov. Arnold's grandson, Josiah Arnold, who died long since the Revolutionary war, and that of his great-grandson, Sanford Arnold, who has been deceased but a few years, who both spoke of it as the old Stone Mill, built by their ancestor Benedict Arnold, as has been heretofore stated, but disregarded? Why then dispute its origin, and the use for which it was erected, except it be for interested and unholy purposes?

In 1784, the harbor with the rivers, were all closed with ice, from Castle Hill to Providence; so that people crossed there from the Island to the main.

*The author of this imposition, as well as the report attributed to Scrobien, is supposed to be a foreigner, a few years since a resident of this town.