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'JT I'iiio street. 1837. m^-^ im ^ m m B m )^h ■^wmmm^^mMm^mm^mm^^mmmmm^ V ^^ %. I ^4.' ri .1 i t .»' DISCOURSE on THE EVIDENCES or THE AMERICAN INDIANS BEING THE DESCENDANTS OK THE LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL. DEI.IVF.REl) HKFOIIE THK MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, CLINTON IIAUi. BY M. M. NOAH. NEW-YORK : JAMES VAN NORDEN, No. i!7 Piiic-strcm. J8;r/. .arotett i;^s."t»r«K^^^^^ jjiMiMI # DISCOURSE. • tho ew- .-J Those who study the Scriptures, either as a matter of duty or pleasure — who seek in them divine revelations, or search for the records of history, cannot be ignorant of the fact that the Jewish nation, at an early period, was divided into twelve tribes, and occupied their ancient heritage under geographical divisions, during the most splendid periods under the kingdoms of Judah and of Israel. Their early history— the rise, progress and downfall of the nation — the proud distinction of being the chosen people — their laws, government and wars— their sovereigns, judges and temples — their sufferings, dispersions, and the various prophe- cies concerning this ancient and extraordinary people, cannot be unknown to you all. For their history is the foundation of religion, their vicissitudes the result of prophecy, their restora- tion the fulfilment of that great promise made to the Patrir r. 1;^ Abraham, almost I may say in the infancy of nature. It is also known to you that the Jewish nation was finally overpowered, and nine and a half of the tribes were carried captives to Samaria ; two and a half, to wit : Judah, Benjamij^ and half Menassah, remained in Judea or in the transjordani*? cities. The question before us for consideration is, what has become of the missing or dispersed tribes— to what quarter of the world (lid they direct tlicir footsteps, and what arc the evidences of their exisitcnce jit this day 1 An oarlh(|nake may shalvo and overtnrn the fonndations of a city — llie avulanchi! may ovt'iwhchn the handct — and the cra- ter of a volcano may j)our its lava ov»m' fcrtih; [ihiins and popu- h)iis viUaircs, hut a whoUi nation cannot vanish from the sight of the worhl, without Icavinjjf sonje traces of its existence, Bonie marks of habits and cu:5toms. It is a singular fact that history is exceedingly confused, or rather I may say dark, respecting the ultimate dispersion of the tribes among the cities of the Modes. The last notice we have of them is from the second Hook of Esdras, which runs thus. *' Whereas thou sawest another peaceable multitude : these are the ten tribes which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea, whom Salmanazar King of As- syria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, so they came unto another land." " They took this counsel among themselves tluit they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go into a further country wherein ntver mankind dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their owri land, (Assyria,) and there was a great way to go, namely a year and a half." Esdras, however, has been deemed apochryphal. Much has been said concerning the doubtful character of that writer. lie wrote in the first century of the Christian church, and Tertulian, St. Ircneus, Clemens Alexandrius, Pico de Mi- randola, and many learned and pious men, had great confidence in his writings. Part of them have been adopted by Protes- tants, and all considered orthodox by Catholics. With all his old Jewish attachments to the prophecies and traditions, Esdras was nevertheless a convert to Christianity. He was not an in- ppired writer or n prophet, jdthough he assumed to be one, and :l foUowetl Ihc cour« ns well as the manner of Daniel. The Book of Esichaa, liowevcr, ih of great antuiuity, and as an his- torical record is douhtlcss entitled to great rc.sj)fict. The precise number whicli left Huhylou and other cities, and took to the desert, cannot be accurately known ; but they were exceedingly numerous, for the edict of Ahasherus?, which de- creed their destruction, embraced 127 provinces, and reached from Ethiopia to the Indies. Benjamin of Tudcla, who travelled in the eleventh century through Persia, mentions that in some of the provinces at the time of ihat decree, the Jews occupied 40 cities, 200 boroughs, 100 castles, which contained 300,000 people. I incline to the opinion that 300,000 of the tribes left Persia. There is no doubt that in the march from the Euphrates to the north-cast coast of Asia, many of the tribes hesitated in pursu- ing the journey : some remained in Tartary, many went into China. Alvarez states in his History of China, that the Jews had been living in that kingdom for more than GOO years. He might with greater probability have said IGOO years. He speaks of their being very numerous in some of the provinces, and having synagogues in many of the great cities, especially in that of Hinan and in its metropolis Kai-tong-fu, where he represents them to have a magnificent place 'o: worship, and a repository for the Holy Volume, adorned with richly embroidered curtains, in which they preserve an ancient Hebrew manuscript roll. They know but little of the Mosaic law, and only repeat the names of David, Abraham, Isaiah, and Jacob. In a Hebrew letter written by the Jews of Cochin China to their brethren at Amsterdam, they give as the date of their retiring into India, the period when the Romans conquered the Holy Land. It is clearly evident, therefore, that the tribes, in their progress to a new and undiscovered country, left many of their numbers 1 ' '^ I, .' \l $ w in China and Tartary, nnd finally reached th^traits of Behring, where no dinicuUy prevented their crossing to the north-west coast of America, a distance loss than thirty miles, interspersed with the Copper Islands, probably frozen over ; and reaching our continent, spread themselves in the course of two thousand years to Cape Horn ; the more hardy keeping to the north, to Labrador, Hudson's Bay and Greenland, the more cultivated fixing their residence in the beautiful climate and rich posses- bions of Central America, Mexico and Peru. But it may here be asked, could the scattered remnants of Israel have had the courage to p»'netratc through unknown re- gions, and encounter the hardshi|)s and privations of that inhos- pitable coimtry ? Could they have had the fortitude, the deci- sion, the power, to venture on a dreary pilgrimage of eighteen months, the time mentioned by Esdras as the period of their jour- ney ] Could they noti What obstacles had hitherto impeded their progress, that had broken down their energies, or impaired tlieir constancy and fidelity 1 They knew that their brethren had severed the chains of Egyptian bondage ; had crossed in safety the arm of the Red Sea ; had sojourned for years in the wilderness ; had encamped near Mount Sinai, and had possessed themselves of the Holy Land. They reni'^ nbered the kingdoms of Judah and Israel in all their glory ; they had witnessed the erection and destruction of their Temple ; they had fought and conquered with the Medes, tlie Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. They had encountered sufferings upon sufferings unmoved ; had bowed their necks submissively to the yoke. Kings, conquerors, nations. Christians, Mahometans, and Heathens, all had united in the design of destroying the na- tion ; but they never despaired ; they knew they Avere the elect 1 I and chosen of llie Lonl. The o.iih that he never wouUl ahun-' •Ion his pcopiti iiiul l)ecn fiilliMcd for 3.»00 years', ami, ihrrefor*;, with iho (loud l>y day and ihc piUar of fire hy nighf, they ahandoncd ihc IFt-al hens and the I'tTwian territory, passed the confines of Tarfary and China, and, no doubt through great suf- ferings), reached the norih-eastcrn coast of Asia, and came in sight of that continent, wherein, as they had reason to beUcve, "nmnlvind never before had dwelt." On the discovery of America by Columbus, and the disco- veries subsequent to his time, various tribes of Indians or sa- vages were found to inhabit this our continent, whose origin was unknown. It is, perhaps, diflficult for the human mind to decide on the character and condition of an extreme savage state. We can readily believe that children abandoned in infancy in a savage country, and surviving this abandonment, to grow up in a state of nature, living on herbs and fruits, and sustaining existence as other wild animals, would be stupid, \vitliout language, with- out intellect, and with no greater instinct than that which gov- erns the brute creation. We can conceive nothing reduced to a more savage condition ; with cannibal propensities, an ungov- ernable ferocity, or a timid apprehension, there can be but a link that separates them from other classes of animal creation. So with herds of men in a savage state, like herds of buffalo or wild horses on our prairies, they are kept together by sounds common amongst themselves, and are utterly unacquainted with the landmarks of civilization. This, however, was not the condition of the American In- dians when first discovered. They were a singular race of men, with enlarged views of life, religion, courage, constancy, hu- manity, policy, eloquence, love of their families ; with a proud and gallant bearing, fierce in war, and, like the ancients, relent- 8 J-! m f. fess ill victory. Their ho^pKality niiglii. be qnoted as examplcrf among the most liberal of the pics-ent day. Tliese w'ere not wild men — these were a dillcrent clays from those found on the Sandwich and Feegee Islands. The red men of America, bear- ing as they do the strongest marks of Asiatic origin, have for more than 2000 years (and divided as I hey are in upwards of 300 different nations) been remarkable for their intellectual su- periority, their bravery in war, their good faith in peace, and all the simplicity and virtues of their patriarchal fathers, until civili- zation, as it is called, had rendered them familiar with all the vices which distinguish the present era, without being able to enforce any of the virtues which are the boast of our present enlightened times. It is, however, in the religious belief and ceremonies of the In- dians that I propose showing some of the evidences of their being, as it is believed, the descendants of the dispersed tribes. This opinion is founded — 1st. In their belief in one God. 2d. In the computation of time by their ceremonies of the new moon. 3d. In their divisions of the year in four seasons, answering to the Jewish festivals of the feast of llowers, the day of atonement, the feast of the tabernacle, and other relifi 'is holydays. 4th. In the erection of a temple after the manner of our temple, and having an ark of the covenant, and also the erec- tion of altars. 5th. By the division of the nation into tribes with a chief or grand sachem at their head. 6th. By their laws of sacrifices, ablutions, marriages ; cere- monies i\ war and peace, the proliibitions of eating certain things, fully carrying out the Mosaic institutions ; — by their §. ■r. I i 9 lie or .A traditions, liistory, character, appearance, affinity of their lan- guage to the Hebrew, and fuiuUy, by that everlasting- covenant of heirship exhibited in a perpetual transmission of its seal in their flesh. If I shall be able to satisfy your doubts and curiosity on these points, you will certainly rejoice with me in discovering that the dispersed of the chosen people are not the lost ones — that the promises held out to them have been thus far realised, and that all (he prophecies relative to their future destination will in due time be strictly fuUilled. It has been the general impression, as before mentioned, that great resemblanceexisted between some of the religious rites of the Jews, and the peculiar ceremonies of the Indians ; and the belief in one great spirit has tended to strengthen the impression ; yet this mere resemblance only extended so far as to admit of the belief, that they possibly may have descejided from the dispersed tribes, or j)iay have been of Tartar or jNIalay origin. It was, however, a vague and unsatisfactory suspicion, which, having no tangible evidence, has been rejected, or thrown aside as a mere supposition. All the missionaries and travellers among the Indian tribes since the discovery of America — Adair, Heck- welder, Charliveux, M'Kenzie, Bartram, Beltrami, Smith, Penu, Mrs. Simon, who has written a very interesting work on this subject, &c., have expressed opinions in favour of their being of Jewish origin — the difliculty, however, under which they all laboured was simply this ; they were familiar wifh the religious rites, ceremonies, traditions and belief of the Indians, but they were not suftkiently conversant with the Jewish rites and cere- monies, to show the analogy. It is precisely this link in the chain of evidence that I propose to supply. It has been said that the Indians believing in one great Spirit and Fountain of Life, like the Jews, does not prove their descent 2 ! I 1> M' r 10 I i I' h if from the missing triljes, because in a savage state their very ignorance and superstition lead them to confide in the works of some divine superior being. But savages are apt to be idohiters, and personate the deity by some carved figure or image to whom they pay their adoration^ and not hice the Indians, having a clear and definite idea of one great Ruler of the universe, one great Spirit, whose attributes are as well known to them as to us. But if the continued unerring worship of one God like the Jews prove nothing, where did they acquire the same Hebrew name and appellation of that deity ? If tradition had not handed down to them the inell'able name as also preserved by the Jews, how did they acquire it in a wilderness wiiere the word of the Lord was never known 1 Adair, in whom I repose great confidence, and who resided forty years among them, in his work published in 1775, says, "The ancient heathens worshipped a plurality of gods, but these Indians pay their devoir to Lo-ak (Light) Ish-ta-hoola-aba, distinctly Hebrew, Avhich means the great supreme beneficent holy Spirit of Fire who resides above. They are, says Adair, utter strangers to all the gestures })rac- tised by the pagans in their religious rites — they kiss no idols, nor would they kiss their hands in tokens of reverence or willing obedience. These tribes, says Adair, so far from being Atheists, use the great and dreadful name of God which describes his divine essence, and by which he manifested himself to Moses ! and are firmly persuaded that they now live under the immediate government of the Almighty Ruler. Their appellative for God is Isto-hooloy the Hebrew of Esh-Eshjs, from Ishto, Great, but they have another appellative, which with them as with us, is the mysterious essential name of God, which they never men- tion in common speech, and only when performing their most 11 J their very he works of be idolaters, ge to whom s, having- a liverse, one em as to us. :e the Jews brew name mded down Jews, how )f the Lord 'ho resided 1775, says, ' godp, but ■hoola-aba, beneficent ures prac- s no idols, or wilUng s, use the lis divine ! and are Timediate e for God 'real, but ith us, ia i'^er men- lieir most sacred religious rites^ -vid then they most solemnly divide it in syllables, with int«.^, liiate word;?, so as not to pronounce the ineHablc name at once. Thus, in their sacred dances at their feast of the first-fruits, they sing Melmjnh and Mesheha, from the Hebrew of Masheach, Messiah, the anointed one. « Yo mesheha," " He mesheha," " Wah meshehah," thus making the Jllleluyah, the Meshiah, the Yehovah." Can we, for a moment, believe that these sacred well known Hebrew words found their way by accident to the Avilderness? Or can it be doubted that like the fire of the burning bush which never is extinguished, those words of religious adoration are the sacred relics of tradition, lianded down to them from generation to generation ? In the same manner, says Adair, they sing on certain other religious celebrations, ailyo ailyo, which is the Hebrew el for God by his attribute of omnipotence. They likewise sing hewah, hewah, He chyra, the "immortal soul." Those words sung at their religious rejoicings are never uttered at any other time, which must have occasioned the loss of their divine hymns. They on some occasions sing Sliilu yo—Skilu he — Shilu xmh. The three terminations make up in their order the four lettered divine name in Hebrew. Shilu is evidently Shaleach, Shi/olh, the messenger ; " the peace maker." The number of Hebrew words used in their religious services is incredible ; thus, in chiding any one for levity during a solemn worship they say, Che hakeel Kana, ''you resemble those re- proved in Canaan," and to convey the idea of criminality, they say Hacksct Canaha, "the sinners of Canaan." They call lightning eloah, and the rumbling of thunder rowah, from the Hebrew riiach, " spirit." Like the Israelites they divide the year into four seasons, with the same festivals ; they calculate by moons and celebrate « • Ij 't 12 as the Jews do the berachak halebunaf the blessing for the new iTioon. The Iiuhaiis have their prophets and higli-priests, the same as the Jews liad; not hastily selected, hut chosen with caution from the most wise and discreet, and they ordain tlieir high priests by anointing, and have a most holy place in their sanctu- aries, like the Holy of Holies in the Temple. The Archima- gus or High Priest, wears, in resemblance to the ancient breast- plate, a white conch-shell ornamented so as to resemble the precious stones on the Ur'im, and instead of the golden plate worn by the Levite on his forehead, bearing the inscription Kodlsh Ladonmje, the Indian binds his brows with a wreath of swan's feathers, and wears a tuft of wdiite feathers which he calls Yatira. The Indians have their ark which they invariably carry with them to battle well guarded. In speaking of the Indian places of refuge, Adair says, " I observed that if a captive taken by the reputed power of the holy things of their ark, should be able to make his escape into one of these towns, or even into the winter house of the ..Irchhnagus, he is delivered from the fiery torture, otherwise inevitable. This, when taken in connection with the many other faint images of Mosaic customs, seems to point at the mercy-seat of the sanctuary. It is also worthy of notice, that they never place the ark on the ground. On hilly ground where large stones are plenty, they rest it thereon, but on level p;airies, upon short logs, where they also seat themselves. And when we consider, continues Adair, in what a surprising man- ner the Indians copy after the ceremonial law of the Hebrews, and their strict purity in the war camps ; that opae, "the leader" obliges all during the first campaign which they have made witli the beloved ark, to stand every day they are not engaged in warfare, from sunrise to sunset, and after a fatiguing day's «. ■^ I ng for the ', the same 'ith caution their high leir sanctu- ! Archima- ieiit breast- senible the )l(Ien plate inscription . wreath of 3 which he carry with lian places ken by the be able to the winter ly torture, tion with IS to point of notice, ly ground t on level ves. And ing man- Hebrews, e leader" ive made engaged ng day's ,1 13 march and scanty allowance, to drink warm water embittered with rattle snake root very plentifully, in order to purification ; tluit they have also as strong a faith in the power of their ark as ever the Israelites had in theirs, ascribing the success of one party to their stricter adherence to the law, than the other, we have strong reason to conclude them of Hebrew origin. The Indians have an old tradition, that when they left their own native land, they brought with them a sanctified rod by order of an oracle, which they fixed every evening in the ground, and \vere to remove from place to place on the continent towards the sun rising till it budded in one night's time. I have seen other Indians, says the same writer, who related the same thing. Insiead of the miraculous direction to which they limit it, in their western banishment, it appears more likely that they refer to the ancient circumstance of the rod of Aaron, which in order to check the murmur of those who conspired agrinst him, was in his favour made to bud blossoms and yir'.d almonds at one and the same time. It is a well attested fact, and is here corroborated by Adair, that in taking female captives, the In- dians have often protected them, but never despoiled them of honour. This statement of Adair, in relation to the ark, is corroborated by several travellers. Major Long, a' more recent traveller, in his expedition to the Rocky Mountains, says in relation to the ark, " It is placed upon a stand, and is never suffered to (ouch the earth. No person dare open all the coverings. Tradition informs them that curosity induced three different persons to examine the mysterious shell, who were immediately punished for their profanation by instant bhndness." This is the Jewish punishment pronounced for looking on the holy of holies— even now for looking on the descendants of the high priest who alone have the privilege of blessing the people. 14 ■"*i. ,# a.: Tl\c most sacred fast day uniformly kept by the Jews is the day of Atont'inciit, usually falling- in the month of September or early in October. This is deemed in every part of the world a most solemn fast, and great preparations are made for its cele- bration. It is in the nature of expiation of sin, of full confession, penitence and prayer; and is preceded by ablution and pre- paraiion of morning prayer for some lime. It is a very sacred fast, which lasts from sunset on one day until the new moon is seen on the succeeding evening. It is not in the nature of a gloomy desponding penance, but rather a day of solemn rejoicing, of hope and confidence, and is respected by those most indillerent to all other festivals throughout the year. Precisely such a fast, with similar motives, and nearly at the same period of the year, is kept by the Indian natives generally. Adair, after stating the strict manner in which the Indians observe the revolutions of the moon, and describing (he feast of the harvest, and the first offerings of the fruits, gives a long ac- count of the preparations in putting their temple in proper order for the great day of atonement, which he fixes at the time when the corn is full eared and ripe, generally in the latter end of September. He then proceeds : " Now one of the waiters proclaims with a loud voice, for all the warriors and beloved men whom the purity of their law ad- mits, to come and enter the beloved square, and observe the fast. He also exhorts the women and children, with those who have not been initiated in war, to keep apart, according to the law. " Four centinels are now placed one at each corner of the holy square, to keep out every living creature as impure, except the religious order, and the warriors who are not known to have violated the law of the first fruit-olTering, and that of marriage, 3VVS is the September the world •r itscele- JJifession, and pre- I one day ?. It is rather a espected hout the y at the inerally. Indians feast of long- ac- i proper I at the le latter , for all aw ad- ve the I those wording of the except 3 have mage, 15 since the last year's expiation. They observe the fast till the rising of the second sun ; and bo they ever so hungry in the sacred interval, the ht-alfliy warriors deem the duty so awfid, and diricbedicnco so inexpressibly vicious, that no temptation would induce them to violate i(. Tliey at the same time drink plentifully of a decotion of the button snake root, in order to vomit and cleanse their sinful bodies. " In the geneial fast, the children and men of weak constitu- tions, are allowed to eat, as soon as they are certain that the sun has begun to decline from his meridian altitude, " Now every thing is hushed. Nothing but silence all around. The great beloved man, and his beloved waiter, rising up with a reverend carriage, steady countenance and composed beha- viour, go into the beloved place, or holiest, to bring them out the beloved fire. The former takes a piece of dry poplar, willow, or white oak, and having cut a hole, but not so deep as to reach through it ; he then sharpens another piece, and placing that in the hole, and both between his knees, he drills it briskly for several minutes, till it begins to smoke — or by rubbing two peices together for a quarter of an hour, he collects by friction the hidden fire, which they all consider as proceeding from the holy spirit of fire. " The great beloved man, or high priest, addresses the war- riors and women ; giving all the particular, positive injunctions and negative precepts they yet retain of the ancient law. He uses very sharp language to the women. He then addresses Uie whole multitude. He enumerates the crimes they have committed, great and small, and bids them look at the holy fire which has forgiven the.ii. He presses on his audience, by the great motives of temporal good and the fear of temporal evil, the necessity of a careful observance of the ancient law, assu- ring them that the holy fire will enable their prophets, the rain 16 • i "1 *i . ■ makers, to piocuie them pleiKiful harvests, and give their war leaders victory over their eneiuies. lie then orders some of the fire lo be laid down outside of (lie holy ground, for all the houses of the various associated towns, wliich sometimes lay several niiles apart." Mr. Hartram, who visited the southern Indians in 1778, gives an account of the same feast, but in another nation. He says, "that the feast of first fruits is the principal festival. This seems to end the old and begin the new ecclesiastical year. It conuncnccs when their new crops are arrived to maturity. This is their most solemn celebration." With respect to the sacrifices, we have had none since the destruction of the temple, but it was customary among the Jews, in the olden time, to sacrifice daily a part of a lamb. This ceremony is strictly observed by the Indians. The hun- ter when leaving his wigwam for the chase, j)uts up a prayer, that the great Spirit will aid his endeavours to procure food for his wife and children, and, when he returns with the red deer, whatever may be the ciavings of hunger, he allows none to taste until he has cut part of the fiesh, which he throws in the fire as a sacrifice, accompanied with prayer. All travellers speak of this practice among the Indians, so clearly Hebrew in Us origm. The bathings, anointings, ablutions, in the coldest weather, are neve: neglected by the Indians, and, like the Jews of old, they anoint themselves with bear's oil. The Mosaic prohibition of eating unclean animals, and their enumeration, are known to you all. It would be supposed that, amidst the uncertainty of an Indian life, all kinds of food would be equally acceptable. Not so : for in strict conformity with the Mosaic law, they abstain from eating the blood of any ani- mal, they abominate swine flesh, they do not eat fish without 3 17 tlieir war line of the lie houses [ly sevciul in 1778, tion. He ml. This year. It lily. This since the mong- the )f a hiiub. The hun- 3 a prayer, re food for red deer, s none to ows in the travellers lebrcw in weather, ws of old, and their osed that, od would nity with any ani- without sculeH, the eel, the turtle or neu cow ; and they deem many animals and birds to be impure. These facts are noticed by all writers, and i)arlicularly by Edwards in his History of the West Indies. The latter able historian, in noticing the close analogy between the religious rites of the Jews and Indians, says, " that the striking conformity of the prejudices and customs of the Caribbce Indians, to the practices of the Jews, has not escaped the noliceof such historians as Gamella, Du Tertre, and others;" and Edwards also statet', that the Indians on the Oioonoke, pun- ished their women caught in adultery, by stoning them to death before the assembly of the people. Among the Mosaical laws is the obligation of one brother to to marry his brother'^ widow, if he die without issue. Major Long says, " if the deceased has left a brother, he takes the widow to his lodge after a proper interval and considers her as his wife." This is also confirmed by Charleviux. It would occupy a greater space of time than I can afford, to trace a similitude between all the Indian rites and religious ceremonies, and those of the Jewish nation. In their births, in their separation after the births of their children, in their daily prayers and sacrifices, in their festivals, in their burials, in the employment of mourners, and in their general belief, I see a close analogy and intimate connection, with all the ceremonies and laws which are observed by the Jewish people ; making a '^lie allowance for what has been lost, and misunderstood, in the course of upwards of 2000 years. A general belief exists among most travellers, that the In- dians are the descendants of the missing tribes. Menassah Ben Israel wrote his celebrated treatise, to prove this fact, on the discovery of America. William Penn, who always acted righteously towards the Indians, and had never suspected that they had descended from 3 i II r' hi iH |:. i pi the inisHing iriltn^, Hayn, in a Inltei' to his iVioiKiH in F'iiigland, " I found tliein wiili like cuiiiUenanccH to tlie Ilebievv race. I conskler those people iiiulei a ihirk night, y(;t they believe in God and ininioriahly, willioul, \\n) aid oC molaphysics. They reckon l»y inoons, they i>lVei their first lipe IVnits, they have a kind of feat;! of tiil)ornaeies, they are yaid to lay their altars with twelve stones, they mourn a year, and observe the Mosaic law with reeen peu[)led by the Carlliagenians and Israelites, and as to the Israelites, he says, nothing is wanting but circum- cision, to constitute a perfect resemblance between them and the Brazilians. The Rev. Mr. Beatty, a very worthy missionary, says, " I have often before hinted, that I have taken great pains to search into the usages and customs of the Indians, in order to see what ground there was for supposing them to be part of the ten tribes, and I must own, to my no small surprise, that a number of their customs appear so much to resemble those of the Jews, that it is a great (luestion with me, whether we can expect to lind among the ten tribes wherever they are at ibis day, all things considered, more of the foolstej)s of their ancestors than among the dilVerent Indian tribes." Monsieur de Guignes, an old French historijm, in speaking of the discoveries made in America, before the time of Colundjus, says, "These researches, which of themselves, give us great insight into the origin of the Americans, lead to the determina- tion of the route of the colonics sent to the continent ;" and he proceeds to give reasons for his belief, that the greater part of them passed thither " by the most eastern extremities of Asia, where the two continents are only separated by a narrow strait, easy to cross." M 1 11 I'irigland, ebrew race. believe in ics. Tliey have a kind allais with Lhe Mosaic rehires that 1 Israelites, Jut circmii- tliem and f, say.s, " I Id to search Lo see what ) ten tribeti, ber of their \vs, that it ect to tind , all thini^H lan among fpeaking of Columbus, e us great determina- L ;" and he ter part of ■[ s of Asia, ■*5- row strait, I!) Beltrami, in his discovery ol ihe sources ol the Mississippi, after a full and inl«resiiiig account of the IiidiiUH, siiys, " Dif- ferent authors hav<'. brought, I hem liilluM' fritni nil parts of the world. I was at lirst induced to join with those wiio derived them from the IIebr(!\vs. ItHcemed iiiipossii)l(r for me to doubt, that by so doing, I shoidd be building on an impn^gnable foun- dation." lie then proceeds to prove their Asiatic origin by many interesting fjwls. The late Earl of Crawfoid and Lindsay, published his (ravels in America, in 1801. " It is curious and pleasing," says he, " in reading the travels of those who have Ijcen among these people, to fmd how their customs comport with the laws of Moses ;" and after descril)ing at length their religious rites and cere- monies, his lordship emphatically observes, " It is a sound truth, that the Indians are descended from the leti tribes ; and time and investigation will more and more enforce its acknowledge- ment." It is, however, in Mexico and Peru, that we must look for the most enlightened and the most wealthy of the Indian race. On the representations of Montesini, who travelled in South America, the learned Itabbi Menassah Ben Israel, as I have s^aid before, wrot<; his famous wprk La Esperanza de Israel, which he published in Amsterdam, in 16.50, endeavouring with great zeal to prove, that the Indians in North and South Ameri- ca were the descendants of the missing tribes ; and Cromwell to whom the work was dedicated, was greatly interested in the evidences produced on that occasion. Montesini, travelling through the province of Qui/, found that his Indian guide was a Jew, and pursuing his incpiiries, discovered that immense numbers lived behind the Cordilleras. Francis, the name of his guide, admitted to Montesini, that bis God was called t/Zcilona?', and that be acknowledged Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as his I i . •0 ancesioix, ami lluiy chiinieil lu have dcrtceiulod fioin the tribe ol Reuben. Acodlii conteiultf, i ol ibey have a Imditinn rehitive to the ;i I'lis comitiy are not tho nutiveis, ,)t stranp'rH who come from a j;u;(t di-^tance." IJon Alon/o Erecellii, in his hintory of Chih, snyn, iht! Aranca- nianH acknowledjje one Snj irnie Ueini;, and believe in the im- mortality of the soul; and the Al)be Clavifiero declares, that they have a tradition of the (rreat delujje. The lawa iind cerc- moniea of the Peruvians and Mt.:icans have, no doubt, been cor- lupt'jd in the course of many ages, both in their sacriliccs and worship. Their great and magnificent temple, evidently in imitation of that erected by Solomon, wan founded by Mango Capac, or rather by the Inca Yupan(|ne, who f lowed it witlu.gieat wealth. Clavagcro and De Vega in their very interesting ac- count of this temple, say, "what we called the altar was on the cast side of the temple. There were many doors to the temple, all of which were plated with gold, and the four walls the whole way round, were crowiK.'d with a rich golden garland, more than an ell in width. lioui'd the temple were live scpiare pavilions, whose (ops were in the form of pyramids. The fifth was lined entirely with gold, and w".s for the nse of the Royal High-Priest of sacrifices, and in which all the delilirrationa concerning the temple wci" held. Some of the doors led to the schools where (he Incas listen to the di^bates of the philoso- phers, sometimes (hcmsjlves explaining the laws and ordi- nances." Mexico and Central Anicrica ai)ound in curiosities, exemplifj'- ing the fact of the Asiaii • origin ol the inhabitants, and it is not many years ago, that ihc ruins of a whole city, with a wall nearly seven miles in circ iimference, with castles, palaces, and temples, ovi*lently of Hebrew or PhoMiician architecture, was found n ihe river Palenque. The 35th number of the f 1 i f •I Nil .t;| -f 'JIO! Foreign Qiiarfeiiy licviow contains an in(eiosting account of those antiquities. The luina of this city near Guatemala, in Central America, as described by Del Rio in 1782, when taken in conjunction with the extraordinary, I may say, wonderful antiquities spread over the entire surface of that country, awaken recollections in the specimens of architecture, which carry us back to the early pages of history, and prove beyond the shadow of doubt, that we who imagined ourselves to be the natives of a new world, but recently discovered, inhabit a continent which rivalled the splendor of Egypt and Syria, and was peopled by a powerful and highly cuUivated nation from the old world. When we speak of what is called Mexican antiquities, we must not con- found the rude labours of modern times, with the splendid per- fections which distinguished the eflbrts of those who reared the Egyptian pyramids, and built the temples of Thebes and Mem- phis. It is not Mexican antitiuities, but the antiquities of Tnltecan ; and in addition to the ruins of Palcnque, on this our continent, there are pyramids larger than those of Sachara in Egypt at Cholula, Otamba, Paxaca, Mitlan, Tlascola, and on the mountains of Tescoca, together with hieroglyphics, planispheres and zodiacs, a symbolic and Phonetic alphabet ; papyrus, metopes, triglyphs, and temples and buildings of immense grandeur ; military roads, aijueducts, viaducts, post- ing stations and distances ; bridges of great grandeur and massive character, all piosenting the most positive evidences of the existence of a powerful enterprising nation, which must have flourished two thousand years before the Spanish Con- quest. Take, for example, the description of the temple at Palenquc, which Lord Kingsborough, in his travels, not only declares loas built by Jews, and is a copy of Solomon's temple, but which, no doubt, is precisely the model of the temple de- J 23 scribed by Ezekiel. Travellers speak of it in the following terms : " It may be appropriately. called an ecclesiastical city, rather than a temple. Within its vast precincts, there appear to be contained, (as indeed was, in some measure, the case with the area that embraced the various buildinijs of fc^olomon's tem- pie,) a pyramidal tower, various sanctuaries, sepulchres ; a small and a large (juadrangular court, one surrounded as we have said, by cloisters; subterranean initiatory galleries beneath; oracles, courts of justice, high places, and cells or dwellings for the various orders of priests. The whole combination of the buildings is encircled by a cjuadrilateral pilastered portico, embracing a (juadrajignlar area, and resting on a terraced plat- form. This platform exhibits the same architectural model, which we have described as characterizing the single temples. It is composed of three graduated stuccoed terraces, sloping in- wards, at an angle of about seventy degrees, in the form of a truncated pyramid. Four central staircases, (one facing each of the cardinal points,) ascend these terraces in the middle of each lateral facade of the quadrangle ; and four gates fronting the same cardinal points, conduct from the top of eaclf'^tair- case into the body of the buikling, or into the great court. The great entrance, through a pilastered gateway, fronts the east, and descends by a second llight of steps into the cloister- ed court. On the various pilasters of the upper terrace are the metopes, with singular sculptures. On descending the second staircase into the cloistered court, on one side, appears the tri[)le pyraniidiil tower, which may be inferred, from the curious distribution of little cells which surround the central room of each story, to have been employed as a place of royal or private sej)ulture. It would be pronounced a striking and tasteful structure, accordinu to any architccturai rule. On ! I another side of llic same clois^lered couil, is llie detached tem- ple of the chief god, 1o whom the whole religious huikhng ap- pears to iuive heen devoted, who ajipears to have been the great and only Giod of the nalions who worshipped in this tem- ple. Bonealh the cloisters, entered by staircases from above, are what we believe to be the initiatory galleries. These opened into rooms, one of which has a stone couch in it, and others are distinguished by unintelligible apparatus carved in stone. The only symbol described as found within these sacred haunts is, however, perfectly Asiatic and perfectly in- telligible ; we mean two contending serpents. The remnant of an altar, or high place, occupies the centre of the cloistered (luadrangle. The rest of the edifice is taken up with courts, palaces, detached temples, open divans, baths, and streets of priestly cells, or houses, in a greater or less degree of dilapida tion." * * * " It is perfectly clear from the few records of their religious rites, which have come down to us, and which are principally derived from the extraordinary rolls of American papyrus,* on which their beautiful hicroglyphical system is preserved, (there is one of considerable extent in the Dresden museum,) that they were as simple, perhaps we may add with propriety, as innocent. Not only does i* appear that they had no human sacrifices, but no animal sacrifices whatever. Flowers and fruits were tlie only oil'erings made to the presiding divinity of their temples." But, who were the Tultequans and Azeteques, the founders of this empire in America ; who built the pyramids of Cholula and city of Palenque ? JV'.y. /' 3 Jews. Here we have a most singular diversion, from the path on which we originally set out — another extraordinary dis- * Formed of the i);Tj)art'd iihrcs of the INIaj^ucry. 4 ', » 25 [:overy, luuiked tou, by events no leas exiruordiimiy tliuii anuizin^. Tliey were the Canaaiiiles, llie sciiptuml Titaii;^, who, ac- cording to the sacred historian, bnilt cities with walls and towers caching to the heavens. The builders of the tower of Babel, the family of the shepherd kings who conquered Egypt, and built the pyramids, and were driven from Syria by Joshua. The men, who Ihially founded Tyre and Carthage, navigated round the continent of Africa, and sailed in theit small craft across the Atlantic, and landed in the Gulf of Mexico. The Plice)ucinns were the founders of Palenque, Mitlan, Papanthi, Quemada, Cholula, Chila and Antiqnerra. AVhen I studied the history of these people, on the ruins of Carthage, it svas said by anti(iuarians present, that the Cartha- genians had a colony at a considerable distance, which they secretly maintained ; and when 1 was at Tangiers, the Mauri- tania Tangitania of the ancients, I was shown the spot where the pillar was erected, and was standing in the time of Ibnn, the Moorish historian, on which was inscribed, in the PluBnician language "We arc the Canaanites who lied from Joshua, the son of Nun, that notorious robber." From that spot, then . . . the pillars of Hercules, now known as the straits of Gibraltar, they crossed to our continent, and founded a great empire of the Ophite worship, with Syrian and Egyptian symbols. Now, mark the issue. Fifteen hundred years after the expulsion of the Canaanites by Joshua, the ten tribes pass over the straits a of Hehring to the conlinonl of America, and poured down upon these people like the Goths iind Vandals. The descendants of Joshua a second time fell on the Canaanites on another continent, knowing them well as such, and barn their temples, and destroy their gigantic towers and cities. When Colmnbu? discovered America, he found an iimocent 4 J ! ' ■J ' J ; f • ■ '< S6 people in a deuii-savage btale, willi Jewish truditious, and the only reference to early times was a vague impression, that the ruins tliey saw were built by giants, and a people called wan- dering masons. I have the most settled conviction of this theory. The mag- nificent ruins which are to l)e seen at this day in Mexico and Central America, were the works of the Phcenicians, and the irruption of the wandering tribes from the north-west coast of America, swept that nation away, and have ever since main- tained possession of this country, until white men have thinned their ranks, and gradually encroached upon, and usurped a great part of their territory. The only opposition made to the general declaration of tra- vellers, that the Indians are of Jewish descent, is, that they are red men, and are beardless. Now, take the olive complexion of the Jews in Syria, pass the nation over the Euphrates into a warmer climate, let them mingle with Tartars and Chinese, and after several generations reach this continent, their com- plexion would undergo some shades of hue and colour ; and as to beards they cannot grow while they are continually plucked, as is the Indian custom. The colour proves noihing against their origin. Take our fellow-citizens on our eastern borders, and compare their florid colour with the sickly hue and sallow complexions of those living on the southern shores, in the palmettoes and everglades, and we shall see a marked distinc- tion, and yet they are members of the same family. Du Pralz, speaking of the tra^litions of the Natches tribe, relates, that in answer to the question, " whence come you?" their reply was, " All that wc know is that our fathers, to come hither, followed the sun, and came from the place where he rises. They were long in their journey, they were nearly perish- ing, and were brought to thi^ wilderness of the sun setting i I 27 ( ^ without seeking' it." .Suiiard sayss of tlio luiliixns of Suiitiam, on the authority of Nasci, a learned Jew lesidiiijjf there, that the dialect of tliose Indians common in Guinana is soft, aj;reeable and regular, and their sub^^tantives arc Hel)ro\v. Their lan- guage, in the roots, idioms, and particular construction, has the genius of tlic Hebrew language, as their orations have the bold, laconic and figurative style of the Hebrew prophets." The Rev. Mr, Chapman says of the Osages, "it is their uni- versal practice to salute the dawn of every morning with their devotion." A custom always prevailing among pious Jews. Malvenda and Acosta both af!irm, that the natives had a tra- dition of a jul)ilee, according to the jubilee of Israel. Dr. Beatty, in speaking of the festival of the fust-fruits by the Indians west of the Ohio, says, " at this ceremony twelve, of their old men divide a deer into twelve parts, and these men hold up the venison and fruits with their faces to the cast, acknowledg- ing the boiuily of God to them. A singular and close imitation of the ceremonies and sacritioes of the temple." The doctor further says, *' they have another feast which looks like the Passover." Sir Alexander MacKenzic, iti his tour to the north-west coast, says, that " the Chepcwyan Indians have a tradition among them, that they originally came from another country, inhabited by very v/icked people, and had traversed a great lake which was in one ])lace narrow and shallow, and full of islands, where they had sun'ercd great misery; and a further tradition has it that nine parts of their nation o\it often, passed over the river. The Mexicans affirm, that seven tribes nr houses passed from the east to the wilderness," Beltrami says, that the skeletons of the mammoths found in Kentucky and Missouri, and other parts of America, have been ascertained to resemble precisely those which have been 28 foMnd in Siberia and I ho casJern part ol Asia, showing the facility of communication between the two coasts. And here it may be well to state a fact, which is strongly corroborative of the view wo have taken, not only of the possibility of passing from one continent to trie other, but of the actual and probably constant commmiication between them. Charlevoix, says he, knew a Catholic priest, called Father Grillou, in Canada, who was recalled to Paris after his mission had been ended, and who was snbserpiently appointed to a similar mission in China. One day in Tartary, he suddenly encountered a Huron woman with whom he liad been well acquainted in Canada, and who informed him that she had been captured, and passed from nation to nation, until she reached the north-west coast, when she crossed into Tartary. Since delivering the present lecture, I have received a letter from Mr. Catlin, the celebrated painter, who for tlie last five years has been residing among the Indians. Mr. Catlin says, ill "The first thing that strikes the traveller in an Indian country as evidence of their being of Jewish origin, (and it is certainly a very forcible one,) is the striking resemblance which they gen- erally bear in contour, and expression of head, to those people. In their modes and customs, there arc many striking resem- blances, and perhaps as proof, they go nuich further than mere personal resemblance. Amongst those customs, I shall mention several that have attracted my attention, though probably they have never before been used for the same purpose ; and others I may name, which are familiar to you, and which it may not be amiss to mention, as I hnve seen them practised while in their country. " The universtd custom among them of burying their dead with feet to the east, I could conceive to have no other meaning 29 or object tliim a joiuney to the east after death — like the Jews, who expected to travel under ground after death to the land of Canaan. On inquiry, I found that thougl) they were nil going towards the 'setting sun,' during their lifetinico, Ihey ex- pected to travel to the east after death. " Amongst the tribes, the women are not allowed to enter the medicine lodge. As they were not allowed in Judea to enter • the court of Israel. Like the Jewish custom also, they are not allowed to mingle in worship with the men, and at meals, are always separated. " In their modes, fastings, feastings, or sacrifices, they have also a most striking resemblance. Amongst all the western tribes, who have not been persuaded from those forms by white men, they arc still found scrupulously and religiously adhering to, and practising them to the letter. The very many times and modes of sacrificing, remind us forcibly of the customs of the Israelites ; and the one in particular, which has been seen amongst several of the tribes, though I did not witness it myself, wherein, like the manner of the ' peace -onering,' the firstling and that of the male is oilered, and 'no hone is to be broken.^ Such circumstances alTord -the strongest kind of proofs. All the tribes have a great feast at the dawn of spring, and at those feasts their various sacrifices are made. At the approach of the season of green corn, a feast of the first ears are sacrificed, with great solenmity, followed by feasting and dancing: so at the ripening of difierent Iciuds of fruit. The first and best piece that is cut from a buffali) is always Deo Dante. *' Over the medicine hidge, and also over the lodges of the most disiuiguished chiefs, are hung on high poles large quan- tities of fine cloth, white bufii'alo robes, or other most costly arti- cles which can be procured, there to decay, an offering to the Great Spirit. 30 "The buiicli ol willow boughs with whirls each dancer in supphed, in the Mandan religious ceremonies, the sacrificing and otlier forms therein observed, certainly render it somewhat ann- lagouji to the Israelitish feast of tabernacles. " The universal practice of ' solus cum so/a' of the women, ablutio'i and anointing with bear's grease, is strikingly similar to the Jewish custom. Every family has a small lodge expressly for this purpose, and when any one of the family are ready for it, it is erected within a few rods, and meat is carried to her. where she dwells, and cooks and eats by herself, an object of s'.jpersfiiious dread to every person in (he village. " The absence of every species of idolatry amongst the North American Indians, alTords also a striking proof of the ceremonial law, and stamps them at once, in one respect, at all -.vents, differ- ing from all otjiersavasje tribes of which we have any knowledjie." What are, I may ask, the characters of these people 1 On the discovery of America by Columbus, nearly 2000 years after the dispersion of the Hebrew tribes, the whole continent is found peopled, not with a race of wild men, of cannibals, of savages, but with a race of intellectual, moral, innocent persons, divided into many hundred nations, and spread over 8000 miles of terri- tory. " I swear to your majesties," said Columbus, writing to Fer- dinand and Isabella, " that there is not a better people in the world than these ; more alTectionate or mild. They love their neighbours as theTiselves ; their language is the sweetest, the softest and the most cheerful, for they always speak smilingly." Major Long says, *' they are the genuine sons of nature ; they have all the v rtues nature can give, without the vices of civili- zation. They are artless, fearless, and live in constant exercise of moral and christian virtues, though they know it not," Charlevoix gives his testimony in their behalf. "They 31 manifest," says he, " much stabihiy in their cngiigemenls, pa- tience ill ailliction, and subnuBdive acquiescence what they apprehend the will of Providence. In all this, they display a nobleness of soul and constancy of mind, at which we rarely arrive, with all our philosophy and religion." Du Pratz contends, that they have a greater degree of pru- dence, faithfulness and generosity, than those who would be ollended with a comparison with them. " No people," says he, '* are more hospitable and frcn.-." Rartram, who lived many years in the Creek nation, says, "Joy, contentment, love and friendship without guile or affec- tation, seem inherent in them, or predominant in I heir vital prin- ciple, for it leaves them but with their breath. They are," says he, "just, honest, liberal and liospitablc to strangers; conside- rate and allectionate to their wives, children and relations; frugal and persevering, charitable and forbearing." Wlio are they ? Men do not grow up like stones or trees or rocks ; they are not found in herds like wild animals. God that made man in his own image, gave to the Indians an origin and parentage, like unto (he rest of the great family of mankind, the work of his own almighty hand. From whom then did our red brethren, the rightful owners of this continent, descend ? There seeins to be no difl'erence of opinion that they are of Asiatic origin, and not indigenous to our soil. Nearly all wri- ters and historians concur on this point — they are Asiatic — they crossed to the continent of America from Asia ; but who are they, and from whom have they descended ? Eldad, who wrote learnedly of the twelve tribes, in 1300, contends, that the tribe of Dan went into Ethiopia, and pretends that the tribes of Naphtali, Gad and Asher followed. That they had a king of their own, and could muster 120,000 horse and 100,000 foot. In relation to part of these three tribes, sa I here miglit Imve been hoiuc truth in it, (or Tiglcth PeUeser did compel them to go into Ethiopiii. I!i thickly popnintcd comitry, and hy kcepinii on the. hordi'is of China, they would, within the time prescribed, namely oiLrlitoiMi months, have reached cm- continent. At (his day, tlicre \- a constant intercoiirse between the continents, and a iii|) to the llocky mountains, once ho terri- fyinsr, is now a mere snnnner's juiirney. If the Indians of America are not the descendants of the missini;' tril)es, auain 1 ask, Iroin whom arr they descended ? From the l'^i:ypiiaiis ? Wherein in th prophetic Wiirniiij^s relative to the sins, the (leiuiiiciiitioiiH, the promises, the ilispcrHioit and redemption of the Jewish piropU;, which we find thronijhout the- liihlc. With that Rood hook you nil lire or should he fiimilinr — it is a delightful hook, vitiw it in any manner you please. Let the unhelievcr sneer and the philosopher douht, it in certain that the most im|)ortant events predicted hy the prophets have come to pass, giving an assurance which is stripped of all doubt, that what remains to be fulfilled, 10*7/ be fulfilled. In what direction are we to look for the mies- iuff tribes according to the prophets ? From Jeremiah we learn that they arc to come from a coiuUry north and west from Judea. From Isaiah, *' it is a country far from Juden," and answering also " from the ends of the earth." In Zcchariah we are told, it nuist he in the western regions, or the country of the going down of the sun ; and according to the historian Esdrass, it must be a land wherein maidvind never before had dwelt, and of course, free from the residence of the heathen. Our prophet Isaiah has a noble reference to the dispersed tribes and their redemption, which may be here appropriately ipioted, I use his language, the Hebrew, which from its peculiar associations should be always interesting to you. •)K^"-n^ niipS IT Wnp ♦n^? fi*DV Nirirr di;? ,tiii D^i^S bi Nirj') : D\i '^koi nbnai Sr:tJ'Di oS^roi -f! '(!f ' r?."i«D pp; r^y\r^\ ni^^^i '^J^.lt^'! '51^ ^^pNi ^t!'>? sm nxrS n^DD nn»ni :'r"i>5n nifliD })■; —■ - ■'■'•.• T • : jt: IT I ... |t t if- )nh^ D10 Sj^'ntr^S nn^n ncND iit^'ND iKtr* >• *: I: •• T ; • : t : it *v -: i- "^ Vp (."t ■ 35 " Ami ii nliall come lo pass in lliat day, iliiU tho Lord i^ihall set, his hand tli«i second liiiio to recoviM- (he remnaiit oC his peo|)h>, whicli shall l>t; if(l from AHsyriti, jiiid IVoni lyi?ypt, and from Pttthros, and from (Jush, and from Mlam, and from Shinur, ami from naiuiilh, and from lliu islands of the Hca. " And h«; shall sot np lui cnsi|j[n for tho naliona, and shall a8fjend)lc the outcasts of Inracl, and gather tofrother the dis- |)ersed of .ludah, from the four corners of the earth. "And there shall be a hiifhway, for the renmant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel, in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." May I not with propriety refer, among other evidences, to the cruel persecutions which have uniformly been practised towards the Indians of this continent, not unlike those which the chosen people have sullered for the last eighteen centuries ? " What makes you so melancholy 1" said General Knox to the chief of an Indian deputation, that he was entertaining in this city, at the close of the revolutionary war. '* I'll tell you, brother," said the aged chief; " I have been looking at your beautiful city — the great water full of . .ips — the fine country, and see how prosperous you all arc. Hut then, I could not help thinking, that this fine country loas ours. Our ancestors lived here. They enjoyed it as their own in peace. It icas the ^}Jt of the Great Spirit to tlicm, and their children. At last, white men came in a great canoe. They only asked to let them tie it to a tree, lest the water should carry it away. We consented. They then said some of their people were sick, and they asked permission to land them, and put them under the shade of the trees. The ice (hen came and they coidd not go away. They (hen begged a piece of land to l)uild wigwams for the winter. We granted it (o them. They then asked corn to keep them from starving. We furnished it out of our own scanty supply. 36 They promised to go ;i.\Viiy wiieii the ire melieil. When this happened, they, instead ol yoiny-, pointed to the big guns round the wigwams and .-Hiid, ' we shall stay Iiere.' Afterwards came more: they brought inluxicating drinks, of wiiicli the Indians became fond. They [)ersuaded them to sell their land, and, finally, liave driven us back, from lime to time, to the wilderness, far from the water, the lish, and tiie oysters. They have scared away our game — my peo[)le are wasting away. We live in the v.ant of all things, while you are enjoying abimdance in our fine and beautiful country. This makes me sorry, brother, and I cannot help it." These persecutions and repealed acts of cruelty and injustice appear to have no termination — the work of destruction, com- menced with the NarragansetLs, will extend to the Seminoles, and gradually to the blue waters of the Pacific. Look even now at the contest maintained by a handful of Indians in the everglades of Florida. Do they war against unequal numbers for a crown — for a part of that immense surplus which overflows from the coflers of a country, which was once tlu;ir own? No — they fight for the privilege of dying where (he bunes of their ancestors lie buried, and yet we. Christians as we call ourselves, deny them that boon, and drive the lords of (he soil into the den of the otter. In referring to the sj)lendid specimens of Indian oratory, where, I would ask, can you find such u'isdom, such lofty and pure eloquence, among the Chinese and Tartars, even at this day 1 The Indians, like the Hebrews, speak in parables. Of their dialects, there is no doubt, that the Algon(|uin and Huron are the parents of five himdred Indian tongues — they are copious, rich, regular, forcible and comprehensive; and although here and there strong Hebrew analogies may be found, yet it is reason- r i» 1* 37 able to suppose, l.liai the Iiidiiui languages aio a conipouud of all those toiiGfues bcloiijriii"' to the various Asialic nations, through which they passed during their pilgrimage. Firmly as I helieve the American Indian to have been de- scended from the tribes of Israel, and that our continent is full of the most extraordinary vestiges of antiquity, there is one point, a religious as well as a historical point, in which you may possibly continue to doubt, anudst almost convincing evidences. If these are the renmants of the nine and a half tribes which were carried into Assyria, and if we are to believe in all the promises of the restoration, and the fulfdment of the prophecies, respecting the linal advent of the Jewish nation, what is to become of these our red brethren, whom we are driving before us so rapidly, that a century more will find them lingering on the borders of the Pacific ocean 1 Possibly, the restoration may be near enough to include even a portion of these interesting people. Our learned Rabbis have always deemed it sinful to compute the period of the restoration; they believe that when the sins of the nation were atoned for, the miracle of their redemption would be manifested. My faith does not rest wholly in miracles — Providence disposes of events, human agency must carry them out. That benign and supreme power which the children of Israel had never for- saken, has protected the chosen people amidst the most appall- ing dangers, has saved them from the uplifted sword of the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Medes, the Persians, the Greeks and the Ronuins, and wliile the most powerful nations of an- tiquity have crumbled to j)ieces, we have been preserved, united and unbroken, (he same now as we were in the days of the patriarchs — brought froiu darkness to light, from the early and rude periods of learning to the bright reality of civilization, of arts, of education and of science. 88 The Jewish |)e()j)l(' iiiiisi now do something lor tliemselves ; they nuisi. move onwiiid lo the accompHshment of that great event long foretold — long promised — long expected ; and when tliey DO move, that mighty jHiwer which has for thousands of years rebuked the proscription and intolerance shown to the Jews, by a benign protection of the whole nation, will still cover them with his invincible standard. My belief is, that Syria will revert to the Jewish nation by purchase, and that the facilily exhibited in the accumulation of wealth, has been a providential and peculiar gift to enable them, at a proper time, to re-occupy their ancient possessions by the purse-string instead of the sword. We live in a remarkable age, and political events are pro- ducing extraordinary changes among the nations of the earth. Russia with its gigantic power continues to press hard on Turkey. The Pacha of Egypt, taking advantage of the im- provements and inventions of men of genius, is extending his territory and influence to the straits of Babclmandel on the Red sea, and to the borders of the Russian empire ; and the combined force of Russia, Turkey, Persia and Egypt, seriously threaten the safety of British possessions in the East Indies. An intermediate and balancing power is required to check this thirst of conquest and territorial possession, and to keep in check the advances of Russia in Turkey and Persia, and the ambition and love of conquest of Egypt. This can be done by restoring Syria to its rightful owners, not by revolution or blood, but as I have said, by the purchase of that territory from the Pa- cha of Egypt, for a sum of money too tempting in its amount for him to refuse, in the present reduced state of his coffers. Twelve or thirteen millions of dollars have been spoken of in reference to the cession of that interesting territory, a sum of no conside- ration to the Jews, for the good will and peaceable pos.^ession 39 of a land, vvliich to them is above all price. Under the co- opeialion and piotcction of Eiigland and France, this re-occu- pation of Syria within its old territorial limits, is at once reasona- ble and practicable. By opening the ports of Damascus, Tripoli, Joppa, Acre, &c., the whole of the connnerce of Turkey, Egypt, and the Mediterranean will be in the hands of those, who even now in part, control the commerce of Europe. From the Danube, the Dneisler, the Ukraine, Wallachia and Moldavia, the best of agriculturalists would revive the former fertility of Palestine. Manufacturers from Germany and Holland ; an army of expe- rience and bravery from France and Italy ; ingenuity, intelli- gence, activity, energy and enterprise from all parts of the world, would, under a just, a tolerant and a liberal government, present a formidable barrier to the encroachments of surroundinff powers, and be a bulwark to the interests of England and France, as well as the rising liberties of Greece. Once again unfurl the standard of Judah on Mount Zion, the four corners of the earth will give up the chosen people as the sea will give up its dead, at the sound of the last trumpet. Let the cry be Jerusalem, as it was in the days of the Saracen and the lion-hearted Richard of England, and the rags and wretchedness which have for eighteen centuries enveloped the persons of the Jews, crushed as they were by persecution and injustice, will fall to the earth ; and they will stand forth, the richest, the most powerful, the most intelligent nation on the face of the globe, with incalculable wealth, and holding iu pledge the crowns and sceptres of kings. Placed in possession of their ancient heritage by and with the consent and co-opera- tion of their Christian brethren, establishing a government of peace and good will on earth, it may then be said, behold the fidfilment of prediction and prophecy: behold the ' sen and 40 favoured people of Almighty God, who, hi defence of his unity and omnipotence, have heen fhe outcast and proscribed of all nations, and who for thousands of yens have patiently endured the severest of human sufferings, in the hope of that great advent of which they never have despaired : — and then when taking their rank once more among the nations of tlie earth, with the good wishes and allectionate regards of the great family of mankind, they may by their tolerance, their good faith, their charity and enlarged liberal views, merit what has been said in their behalf by inspired writers, " Blessed are they who bless Israel." IfeS ■