John Williams

“ If Missionaries from different Nations, with cultivated understandings, and enlarged Minds, acquainted in some measure, at least, with the Languages of Europe, Asia, and Africa, were sent to the Western Inland parts of North America, they might be able, to a very considerable degree of probability, if not of certainty, from their Language, Customs, and Manners, to trace the Origin of many Tribes on that vast Continent. ”

“ That the original Inhabitants of America were descended from our common Parents, Adam and Eve, will admit of no doubt. In Form, Figure, and in the powers of the mind, we are the same. The only difference between the Europeans and Americans was, that the former were in a civilized state, the other uncivilized. ”

“ In those ages, before the Invention of the Compass, of the art of Printing, and of Gun-powder, the Welsh had very few advantages to boast of above the Native Americans: thence we may conclude that Madog and his Colony landed amicably, Page 33 and that they were received by the Natives with Cordiality.
That so extraordinary an Event should not excite either the English or the Welsh to attempt a Discovery of their hardy Countrymen, and their New Settlement, can only be accounted for by the Ignorance and poverty of the times. ”

“ To invade and wantonly destroy, or plunder, the Lands or the Houses of a quiet, inoffensive and peaceable people; to carry away or destroy their property, without any provocation on their part, only because they are not able to resist, are acts in themselves highly wicked and diabolical.
How Madog and his Colony behaved, when they landed, to the original Inhabitants of the Country, does not appear; not in a hostile, but in an amicable and affectionate manner, as may be supposed; for his memory was held in high esteem by the Mexicans when Cortez arrived there. ”

“ They object to, and call in question many facts which have been credited for Centuries, and which upon the whole are supported by very respectable Page 5 authorities. In reading History, I make in a strict rule to give every Writer a fair and candid perusal. While I reject old Women's Fables, monkish Tales, Absurdities, and pretended Miracles, I am disposed to receive as Truth, that which seems natural, reasonable, and well supported by evidence. Agreeably to this rule, I shall now consider the accounts we have of the Discovery of America by the Ancient Britons. ”

“ Jones's Narrative shews that the Descendants of Madog's Colony were, in some measure, a distinct people in the Year 1660. He not only conversed freely with them, but preached to them in his Native Tongue.
When the Spaniards conquered, or rather massacred the Inhabitants of Mexico, they found among them some traces of Christianity. The sign of the Cross was highly honoured, possibly worshiped by them. Having been so many Ages separated from other Christians, their Religion, more and more, degenerated into Superstition; as, notwithstanding superior advantages, it did in Europe and in Asia. ”

“ A cursory attention to the Figure of the Earth must convince every one, that on this Direction, he must have landed on that Continent: for beyond Ireland, no Land can be found except Bermuda, to this Day (about 1650) uncultivated, but the extensive Continent of America. As Madog directed his course Westward, it cannot be doubted but that he fell in with Virginia or New Page 19 England, and there settled. Nor is this contradicted by its being said that the Country was uninhabited and uncultivated, for that Country is very extensive, and in our Times, after Six Centuries, is but thinly Peopled. ”

“ By whom, how, and when that vast Continent was first peopled, are questions which have employed the thoughts and pens of learned Men for several Centuries. Hornius in his De Originibus Americanis, and Dr. William Robertson in his History of America, with great probability, were of opinion that they were descended from the Jews, Canaanites, Phœnicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, and Scythians; and that the Chinese, Swedes, Norwegians, the Welsh and the Spaniards, sent Colonies thither in later ages. ”

“ It must be confessed that there is nothing which absolutely fixes this Discovery of America, though it must likewise be owned that the Course before set down might very possibly carry him thither. The great point is to know how far the fact may be depended upon, and in relation to this, I will venture to assert that there are Authentic Records, in the British Tongue, as to this Expedition of Madog's, wherever he went, prior to the Discovery of America by Columbus, and that many probable Arguments may be offered in support of this Notion. ”

“ If Voyagers, by chance, fall in with a Continent, or Island, uninhabited and uncultivated, they have a right of possession by the Law of Nature, and or reason; because no human Being is injured or deprived of his right. But if they find any Inhabitants there, they can have no right. The Man who robs us on the High Way, or who breaks open, and plunders our Houses, hath as good a right to what he takes from us, as Conquerors to a Country, which they may be able to subdue by Force of Arms. ”

“ The American Forces are at Hand, ready to undertake Expeditions, and to accomplish any purpose, before the Spaniards, at so many thousands of miles distance, can be apprized of their Designs; and long before they possibly can send sufficient Reinforcements. Another Reason is, that the Native Spanish Indians, being in the most abject Slavery to the Prince and the Priests, will naturally and heartly join the late British Colonies, and assist them in subduing the Spaniards, in order to emancipate themselves from bondage, and to regain their long lost Liberties. ”

“ Jones's Visit to these Nations was near 500 Years after the Emigration of Prince Madog, 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. ”

“ Nations engaged in open Way may, perhaps, be justified in invading and subduing their Enemies' Territories, because it may be the happy means of hastening a Peace, and put an end to the shedding of human Blood. But, on such Occasions, the innocent Inhabitants should not be wantonly injured; because the quarrel, is not between private Individuals, but between their Governors, in which their real Interests are seldom consulted. Very few necessary Wars have ever disturbed the peace of the World: they generally are the consequence of Ambition, Pride, and Vanity. ”

“ No Credit can be given to those who are called Traders in the Country; for as their chief pursuits are profit, they can make but few discoveries. The Origin and Manners of Nations are not the objects which they have in View. ”

“ Hence some would derive the word Tartar, "Tartar," after the Hebrew manner. They also think that the British word "Tor or Torriad," "a breaking or cutting off," has the same Origin. Those who travel, may be said to "search." When they travel in foreign, unknown Countries, they may be said to be "cut off" from their Friends, as the Ten Tribes were from their native Land by Nebuchadnezzar.
But it is not at all probable that the Tartars derived their Name from this Hebrew word; for, omitting other reasons, the original Name of that People is Tatar. ”

“ That the Welsh contributed towards the peopleing of America is intimated by some good Authors, and ought to be considered as a Notion supported Page 37 by something more than bare Conjectures. Powel, in his History of Wales informs us that a War happening in that Country for the Succession, upon the death of Owen Gwyneth. A. D. 1170, and a Bastard having carried it from his lawful Sons, one of the latter, called, Madog, put to Sea for new Discoveries, and sailing West from Spain, he discovered a New World of wonderful Beauty and Fertility. ”

“ I know not of any Objection to the Account given by Humphry Llwyd and Dr. Powel, confirmed by Mr Jones's Narrative, but what is grounded upon the very low Estimation in which the Ancient British Writers are now undeservedly held.
Page 28 For Argument's sake, let us suppose that the Original Britons were, in general, a stupid, foolish race of Men, might there not have arisen, even, among them, in the space of 700, or 800 Years, one Man blessed with some sagacity and penetration? In early times the Saxons were a barbarous and savage people. ”

“ The British Colonies have set the example, when they thought themselves aggrieved. The Tyranny, Oppression and Extortion of the Spaniards in the higher Ranks, will dispose the Native Descendants of the original Inhabitants, and doubtless, many of the Native Spaniards, in the lower Ranks, to imitate their Example.
The Spanish Military Forces in the Country cannot defeat a general confederacy of the Indians and others; when strengthened by an Army from the associated American Colonies. ”

“ Private Persons are often chargeable with fraudulent Practices, in their dealings with the unsuspicious Natives of America. There is no doubt but that the English, as well as other Nations, are often guilt. ”

“ The right obtained by Conquest if admitted, will justify every Kind and every degree of oppression, even the slavery of our poor African Brethren. This principle will justify a Nation in wresting whole Countries out of the Hands of a Page 71 cultivated, well ordered and peaceable people. ”

“ In Confirmation of this, Peter Martyr says that the Natives of Virginia and Guatimala celebrated the Memory of one Madoc as a great and ancient Hero, and hence it came to pass that Modern Travellers have found several Old British Words among the Inhabitants of North America; Matec Zunga and Mat Inga as being in use among the Guatimallians, in which there is a plain allusion to Madoc, and that with the D softened into T, according to the Welsh manner of pronunciation. Nay, Bishop Nicolson seems to believe that the Welsh Language makes a considerable part of several of the American Tongues. ”

“ He adds, "But if we admit Powel's Story; (Humphry Llwyd's) it does not follow that the unknown Country which Madog discovered was any part of America: it is much more probable that it was Madeira, or some of the Western Isles." With submission, this is altogether improbable. It is very little farther from North Wales Page 66 to some parts of America, than to the Madeiras; and, upon the whole, it is more secure to sail in an open Sea, than among Shelves and Shoals on an unknown Coast. ”

“ A Society of public spirited Gentlemen have lately employed persons to explore the interior parts of Africa. It were to be wished, that they, or others would extend their plan, and carry on the like design, in the interior parts of America. ”

“ Page 2 That America was originally peopled by some of the above Nations seems most probable from the resemblance between the Inhabitants and Animals of the northern Regions of America, and the Inhabitants and Animals of the northern Regions of Europe and Asia. ”

“ Or, perhaps, the Book was written in the Ancient Greek Characters, of the same Form with those of the Alexandrian Manuscript in the British Museum. In that Case it is not at all surprizing that neither the Captain, nor the Welsh-man could read them.
[Footnote nn: A Welsh Gentleman observed to me that there may be found whole Parishes, in the principality, where there are more Persons who cannot read, than those who can; and as he very justly added, there is hardly any one in the whole Number, who can read a Manuscript of the twelfth Century.] ”

“ The other Western Isles were not, even, settled, for some Centuries after Madog's Voyages. [uu]
[Footnote uu: Dr. Robertson. ubi supra. Vol. I. p. 64. If the Country on which Madog landed was uninhabited, how could he have found the Customs and Manners of the People different from those of Europe? Where there were no Inhabitants, there could be no Customs.]
What the Doctor hath said, after Lord Lyttelton, concerning the Literature and Naval skill of the ancient Britons, hath been already animadverted upon. To add more on those particulars, is unnecessary. ”

“ Instead of conciliating the friendship and affections of these unhappy, uncivilized and savage people, they very often shamefully over-reach them, and impose upon them in Business; and when they are detected and chastised for their fraudulent Practices, they bitterly complain of ill treatment, though it often is much better than they deserve. ”

“ From this Extract we learn that in the Days of Queen Elizabeth a Tradition prevailed, that at some former Period, Britons went to America. But that this happened in the Days of King Arthur, and that he had knowledge of Foreign Countries, or any Dominion in them, is altogether in-incredible. The Knight of Wales, mentioned by our Author certainly was Prince Madog ”

“ Taliessyn, a Welsh Bard, who, as already observed, flourished about the middle of the 6th Century, and who by way of eminence was called Pen Beirdd y Gorllewin, "Head of the Western Bards;" some of whose works are come down to us; particularly, an Ode, in Welsh, translated into Latin sapphic Verre, by David Jones, Vicar of Llanfair Duffryn Clwyd, Denbighshire, in 1580. [bbb] Owen Cyfeiliog, and Gwalchmai, in the 12th Century; and many others, at different periods, of distinguished merit, have appeared in Wales. Some of whom have plainly alluded to Madog's Adventures. ”