EXTERNAL EVIDENCE—MINOR COINCIDENCES—RACE UNITY  
I.
 
Central and Western New York an Ancient Battle Field.
 
According to the Book of Mormon the Hill Cumorah of the Nephites—the Ramah of the Jaredites—must be regarded as a natural monument overlooking ancient and extensive battle fields. Around it early in the sixth century B. C., the Jaredites were destroyed. Here, also, a thousand years later, at the close of the fourth century A. D., the Nephites met with practical annihilation in a battle which, whether judged by the importance of the changes it wrought in the affairs of one of the world's continents, or the number slain,[1] ranks as one of the world's great battles. In view of these Book of Mormon facts one would naturally expect to find some evidences in this section of the country for such wonderful historical events. Here one has a right to expect the evidences of military fortifications; for, though a thousand years had elapsed between the destruction of the Nephites and the discovery of America by the Europeans, still some military monuments would doubtless survive that length of time. Fortunately we are not without kind of evidences that may be reasonably expected. We find such historical monuments described in the "American Antiquities" of Josiah Priest, published in Albany, New York. Before quoting, however, I call attention to the fact that Mr. Priest regarded the fortifications and other evidences of great battles fought south of lake Ontario as marking the struggle between the descendants of Tartar races (our American Indians, in his view) and Scandinavians, whom he assumes had penetrated into middle New York during the first half of the tenth century A. D. Of course, I am of the opinion that both the Tartar theory of the origin of some of our American Indians, and Mr. Priest's assumption that Scandinavians had pushed their way into the interior of New York, are both improbable; but his theories do not vitiate the facts of which he is the compiler and witness; but these facts, I am sure, better fit the statements of the Book of Mormon than they do his speculations. The reader will therefore bear in mind that it is the facts of Mr. Priest that are of value to us, not his theories; and here are the facts:[2]
 
There are the remains of one of those efforts of Scandinavian defense, situated on a hill of singular form, on the great sandplain between the Susquehannah and Chemung rivers, near their junction. The hill is entirely isolated, about three-fourths of a mile in circumference, and more than one hundred feet high. It has been supposed to be artificial, and to belong to the ancient nations to which all works of this sort generally belong. In the surrounding plain are many deep holes, of twenty or thirty rods in circumference, and twenty feet deep—favoring a belief that from these the earth was scooped out, to form the hill with. It is four acres large on its top, and perfectly level, beautifully situated to overlook the country to a great distance, up and down both rivers; there is on its top the remains of a wall, formed of earth, stone and wood, which runs round the whole, exactly on the brow. The wood is decayed and turned to mould, yet it is traceable, and easily distinguished from the natural earth: within is a deep ditch or entrenchment, running around the whole summit.[3] From this it is evident that a war was once waged here; and were we to conjecture between whom, we should say between the Indians and Scandinavians, and that this fortification, so advantageously chosen, is of the same class of defensive works with those about Onondaga,[4] Auburn,[5] and the lakes Ontario, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida[6] and Erie. * * * * * * * In Pompey, [Onondaga county] [7] on lot No. 14, is the site of an ancient burying ground, upon which, when the country was first settled, was found timber growing, apparently of the second growth, judging from the old timber reduced to mould, lying round, which was one hundred years old, ascertained by counting the concentric grains. In one of these graves was found a glass bottle about the size of a common junk bottle, having a stopple in its nozzle, and in the bottle was a liquid of some sort, but was tasteless. But is it possible that the Scandinavians could have had glass in their possession at so early a period as the year 950 and thereabout, so as to have brought it with them from Europe when their first settlements were made in this country? We see no good reason why not, as glass had been known three hundred years in Europe before the northern Europeans are reputed to have found this country, the art of making glass having been discovered in A. D. 664. But in other parts of the world, glass had been known from time immemorial, even from the flood, as it has been found in the Tower of Babel[8] * * * * * * In the same grave with the bottle was found an iron hatchet, edged with steel. The eye, or place for the helve, was round, and extended or projected out, like the ancient Swiss or German axe. On lot No. 9, in the same town, [Pompey] was another aboriginal burying ground, covered with forest trees, as the other. In the same town, on lot No. 17, were found the remains of a blacksmith's forge; at this spot have been ploughed up crucibles, such as mineralogists use in refining metals. These axes are similar, and correspond in character with those found in the nitrous caves on the Gasconade river, which empties into the Missouri, as mentioned by Professor Beck's Gazetteer of that country. In the same town [Pompey] are the remains of two ancient forts or fortifications, with redoubts of a very extensive and formidable character. Within the range of these works have been found pieces of cast iron, broken from some vessel of considerable thickness. These articles cannot well be ascribed to the era of the French war, as time enough since, then, till the region round about Onondaga was commenced to be cultivated, had not elapsed to give the growth of timber found on the spot, of the age above noticed; and, added to this, it is said that the Indians occupying that tract of country had no tradition of their authors.[9] * * * * * * The hatchets or iron axes found here were likely of the same origin with the pieces of cast iron. In ploughing the earth, digging wells, canals, or excavating for salt waters, about the lakes, new discoveries are frequently made, which as clearly show the operations of ancient civilization here, as the works of the present race would do, were they left to the operations of time for five or six hundred years; especially were this country totally to be overrun by the whole consolidated savage tribes of the west, exterminating both the worker and his works, as appears to have been done in ages past. In Scipio,[10] on Salmon creek, a Mr. Halsted has, from time to time during ten years past, ploughed up, on a certain extent of land on his farm, seven or eight hundred pounds of brass, which appeared to have once been formed into various implements, both of husbandry and war; helmets and working utensils mingled together. The finder of this brass, we are informed as he discovered it carried it to Auburn, and sold it by the pound, where it was worked up, with as little curiosity attending as though it had been but an ordinary article of the country's produce: when, if it had been announced in some public manner, the finder would have doubtless been highly rewarded by some scientific individual or society, and preserved it in the cabinets of the antiquarian, as a relic of by-gone ages of the highest interest. On this field, where it was found, the forest timber was growing as abundantly, and had attained to as great age and size, as elsewhere in the heavy timbered country of the lakes. [11] * * * * * * In Pompey,[12] Onondago county, are the remains, or outlines, of a town, including more than 500 acres. It appeared protected by three circular or eliptical forts, eight miles distant from each other; placed in such relative positions as to form a triangle round about the town, at those distances. It is thought, from appearances, that this stronghold was stormed and taken on the line of the north side. In Camillus,[13] in the same county, are the remains of two forts, one covering about three acres, on a very high hill; it had gateways, one opening to the east, and the other to the west, toward a spring, some rods from the works. Its shape is eliptical; it has a wall, in some places ten feet high, with a deep ditch. Not far from this is another, exactly like it, only half as large. There are many of these ancient works hereabouts; one in Scipio, two near Auburn, three near Canandaigua,[14] and several between the Seneca and Cayuga lakes.[15] A number of such fortifications and burial places have been discovered in Ridgeway, [16] on the southern shore of lake Ontraio. There is evidence enough that long bloody wars were waged among the inhabitants. * * * * * * From the known ferocity of the ancient Scandinavians, who with other Europeans of ancient times we suppose to be the authors of the vast works about the region of Onondaga, dreadful wars with infinite butcheries, must have crimsoned every hill and dale of this now happy country.[17] * * * * * * In the fourteenth township; fourth range of the Holland Company's lands in the state of New York, near the Ridge road leading from Buffalo to Niagara Falls[18] is an ancient fort, situated in a large swamp; it covers about five acres of ground; large trees are standing upon it. The earth which forms this fort was evidently brought from a distance, as the soil of the marsh is quite another kind, wet and miry, while the site of the fort is dry gravel and loam. The site of this fortification is singular, unless we suppose it to have been a last resort or hiding place from an enemy. The distance to the margin of the marsh is about half a mile, where large quantities of human bones have been found, on opening the earth, of an extraordinary size: the thigh bones, about two inches longer than a common sized man's; the jaw or chin bone will cover a large man's face; the skull bones are of an enormous thickness; the breast and hip bones are also very large. On being exposed to the air they soon moulder away, which denotes the great length of time since their interment. The disorderly manner in which these bones were found to lie, being crosswise, commixed and mingled with every trait of confusion, show them to have been deposited by a conquering enemy, and not by friends, who would have laid them, as the custom of all nations always has been, in a more deferential mode. There was no appearance of a bullet having been the instrument of their destruction, the evidence of which would have been broken limbs. Smaller works of the same kind abound in the country about lake Ontraio.[19] But the one of which we have just spoken is the most remarkable. * * * * * * North of the mountain, or great slope towards the lake, [Ontraio], there are no remains of ancient works or tumuli, which strongly argues, that the mountain or ridgeway once was the southern boundary or shore of lake Ontario; the waters having receded from three to seven miles from its ancient shore, nearly the whole length of the lake, occasioned by some strange convulsion in nature,[20] redeeming much of the lands of the west from the water that had covered it from the time of the deluge." [21]
 
These described fortifications and burial mounds make it clear that Central and Western New York at some time have been the scenes of destructive battles; and the fact constitutes strong presumptive evidence of the statements of the Book of Mormon that great battles were fought there. The only thing which leads modern writers to ascribe a comparatively recent date to the wars whereof central and western New York was the battlefields is the discovery of glass, iron and brass within these fortifications. It is assumed that these metals and glass were unknown to the ancient Americans, hence Mr. Priest sets forth the theory that the battles were fought between wild tribes of Indians and Scandinavians. Instead of taking this view of the case, however, I shall rely in part upon the finding of these implements made of iron and brass as sustaining the statement of the Book of Mormon that the Nephites were acquainted with and used these metals; but of this I shall have more to say later, when considering the objections urged against the Book of Mormon. Meantime I merely call attention to the fact which here concerns me, namely, that central and western New York constitute the great battle fields described in the Book of Mormon as being the place where two nations met practical annihilation, the Jaredites and Nephites; and of which the military fortifications and monuments described by Mr. Priest are the silent witnesses.
 
II.
 
Miscellaneous Book of Mormon Historical Incidents and Nephite Customs Found in the Native American Traditions.
 
Besides what has already been set forth on the confirmation of Nephite historical incidents in native American traditions and mythologies, there remains several other Lamanite and Nephite historical incidents and customs, mentioned in the Book of Mormon, that are preserved in the traditions of the native Americans, and which ought to receive consideration here.
 
Blood Drinking.
 
One of the customs of the Lamanites, in the matter of eating raw flesh and drinking the blood of animals, is mentioned in the book of Enos, where a description is given of the barbarity of the Lamanites as follows:
 
And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors were vain; their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a bloodthirsty people; full of idolatry and filthiness: feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven, and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the axe. And many of them did eat nothing save it were raw meat.[22]
 
Jarom mentions substantially the same thing:
 
And they were scattered upon much of the face of the land; and the Lamanites also. And they were exceeding more numerous than were they of the Nephites; and they loved murder and would drink the blood of beasts.[23]
 
Such the statement of the Book of Mormon. And now the native American tradition bearing on this from Bancroft. Speaking of the Toltecs as an enlightened race of native Americans, who are credited with the first introduction of agriculture in America, our author says:
 
But even during this Toltec period hunting tribes, both of Nahua and other blood, were pursuing their game in the forests and mountains, especially in the northern region. Despised by their more civilized, corn-eating brethren, they were known as barbarians, dogs, Chichimecs, "suckers of blood," from the custom attributed to them of drinking blood and eating raw flesh.[24]
 
III.
 
Human Sacrifices. Cannibalism.
 
Another statement in the Book of Mormon with reference to a Lamanite custom concerning their treatment of prisoners taken in war is as follows. Speaking of an invasion of the Lamanites into Nephite territory the Book of Mormon says:
 
And they did also march forward against the city of Teancum, and did drive the inhabitants forth out of her, and did take many prisoners both women and children, and did offer them up as sacrifices unto their idol gods. And it came to pass that in the three hundred and sixty and seventh years, [A. D.], the Nephites being angry because the Lamanites had scattered their women and their children, that they did go against the Lamanites with exceeding great anger, insomuch that they did beat again the Lamanites, and drive them out of their lands.[25]
 
Later, referring to a second invasion of the Nephite lands, Mormon also says:
 
And when they had come the second time, the Nephites were driven and slaughtered with an exceeding great slaughter; their women and their children were again sacrificed unto idols.[26]
 
Some years later, Mormon, in an epistle to his son Moroni, speaking of the awful depravity which characterized both Nephites and Lamanites, says of them: "They thirst after blood and revenge continually."[27] Of the treatment of certain prisoners taken from one of the cities he also says:
 
And the husbands and fathers of those women and children they have slain; and they feed the women upon the flesh of their husbands, and the children upon the flesh of their fathers; and no water, save a little, do they give unto them.[28]
 
He describes how the Nephites defiled the daughters of Lamanite prisoners, and then continues:
 
And after they had done this thing, they did murder them in a most cruel manner, torturing their bodies, even unto death; and after they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts, because of the hardness of their hearts; and they do it for a token of bravery.[29]
 
This, doubtless, was the beginning—in the later part of the fourth century A. D., "not early in the fourteenth century," as held by Prescott[30]—of those horrible human sacrifices and acts of cannibalism found among the Aztecs at the time of the Spanish invasion of Mexico, and which so shocked even the cruel Spaniards. Bancroft, in telling of the treatment of prisoners taken in war among the Aztecs, describes an unequal battle for life that was sometimes accorded the male prisoners, and then adds:
 
Those who were too faint-hearted to attempt this hopless combat, had their hearts torn out at once, whilst the others were sacrificed only after having been subdued by the braves. The bleeding and quivering heart was held up to the sun and then thrown into a bowl, prepared for its reception. An assistant priest sucked the blood from the gash in the chest through a hollow cane, the end of which he elevated towards the sun, and then discharged its contents into a plume-bordered cup held by the captor of the prisoner just slain. This cup was carried round to all the idols in the temples and chapels, before whom another blood-filled tube was held up as if to give them a taste of the contents; this ceremony performed, the cup was left at the Palace. The corpse was taken to the chapel where the captive had watched and there flayed, the flesh being consumed at a banquet as before. The skin was given to certain priests, or college youths, who went from house to house dressed in the ghastly garb, with the arms swinging, singing, dancing, and asking for contributions; those who refused to give anything received a stroke in the face from the dangling arm.[31]
 
Prescott, referring to the chief object of war among the Aztecs, and the treatment of prisoners taken, says:
 
The tutelary deity of the Aztecs was the god of war. A great object of their military expeditions was, to gather hecatombs of captives for his altars. * * * * * * At the head of all, [i. e., all the Aztec deities] stood the terrible Huitzilopotchli. * * * * * * * This was the patron deity of the nation. His fantastic image was loaded with costly ornaments. His temples were the most stately and august of the public edifices; and his altars reeked with the blood of human hecatombs in every city of the empire. * * * * * The most loathsome part of the story—the manner in which the body of the sacrificed captive was disposed of—remains yet to be told. It was delivered to the warrior who had taken him in battle, and by him, after being dressed, was served up in an entertainment to his friends. This was not the coarse repast of famished cannibals, but a banquet teeming with delicious beverages and delicate viands, prepared with art, and attended by both sexes, who, as we shall see hereafter, conducted themselves with all the decorum of civilized life. Surely, never were refinement and the extreme of barbarism brought so closely in contact with each other.[32]
 
Such are the depths of depravity to which a people may sink when once the Spirit of God is withdrawn from them. It is not to excite reflections upon this condition of refined barbarism, however, that these quotations are made. I am interested here only in pointing out the fact that these revolting customs found among the native Americans confirms the statement made in the Book of Mormon, that such horrible customs had their origin among their Nephite and Lamanite ancestors.
 
IV.
 
Burying the Hatchet.
 
Doubtless the native American custom of "burying the hatchet" (that is, in concluding a war, it is the native custom, as a testimony that hostilities have ceased, and as a sign of peace, to bury the war-hatchet or other weapons of war), had its origin in the following Book of Mormon incident: Early in the first century B. C., a number of Nephites, sons of King Mosiah II., succeeded in converting a number of Lamanites to the Christian religion; and such became their abhorrence of war, which aforetime had been one of their chief delights, that they entered into a covenant of peace and determined no more to shed the blood of their fellow men. In token of this covenant they buried their weapons of war, their leader saying:
 
And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright. * * * * And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man's blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth; and this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for shedding a man's blood.[33]
 
This circumstance of burying weapons of war in token of peace is several times afterwards alluded to in the Book of Mormon.
 
V.
 
Hagoth's Marine Migrations Preserved in Native Legend.
 
Another historical event very apt to live in the native traditions is the first Nephite migration in ships after their landing in the western hemisphere. This event took place in the latter half of the century immediately preceding the birth of Christ. One Hagoth, described in the Book............