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Les diagrammes sulvants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ) STAR IN THE WEST ; OB, A HUMBLE ATTEMPT TO BISCOVER THE lONG LOST I /> TEN TPIBES OF ISRAEL, PBEPARATOBt TO THBIB BSTTON TO THBIB K^^YEU CITT, JBttVSALEMi. i"'*) BY ELIAS BOUDOrOT, L L. D. fc J^K T^ ., *"" ">»«»«»tand these thing. ? Pnxdent. tod he shftU W them ? For aU the way. of the Lord are right, and the Mri.aU walL i. Item ; but the transgresso™ thOl m therein.-Hp5ea. «>*«»»«« And^the Lord answered me and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon a (wridng) ubie. that he may run who readeth it : for the Tisi^n is ^ for to appointed Ume but at the end it shall speak tod not lie , though it tanr, wait ftp It, becauie it will surely come. It will not tany-Habbak. '"^''""* TRENTON, N. J. ttBMSHBD BY D. FENTON, S. HUTCHINSOK, AND jr. DvnrHAM. George Sherman, Printer. 1816. District (f Mw- Jersey, ss. BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the thirteenth day of January, in the fortieth year of the Independence of the United States of America, Daniel Fenton, Sylvester Hutchinson, and Johnson Dunham, of the said District, have deposited in this Office the Title of a Book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit : "A Star in the West ; or, a humble attempt to discover the long lost Ten Tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their belov- ed city, Jerusalem. By EUas Boudinot, L L. D." In conformity to tlie act of theCongi-ess of the United States, enti- tled " An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, chaits and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned." And also, to the act entitled " An act supplementary to the act entitled An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing tlie copies of maps, charts and books, to the au- thors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mention- ed, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engrav- ing and etching historical and other prints." ROBERT BOGGS, Clerk of the District of New-Jersey, ■bis- /SfC CONTENTS. :%', vwvwvw Page - - , 1 * ^ - 23 Pkefacb, Intkoduction, CHAPTER 1. Of the state of the Jews, - ^ CHAPTER n. An enquiry iifto the question, on what part of the globe is it most likely, that these descendants of Israel may be now found, arising from late diseoF- eries and facts, that have not come to the knowl- edge of the civilized world, tUI of late yeara, CHAPTER HI. An enquiry into the language of the American In- dians, CHAPTER IV. The Indian traditions as received by their nations, CHAPTER V. Their general character and established customs and habits, CHAPTER VI. The known reUgious rites and ceremonies of the Indians, 33 81 89 109 125 187 iV. CONTEITTS^ CHAPTER VII. Their public worshi|> and religious opinions, 206 CHAPTER VIII. Or miscellaneous facts omitted, 229 CHAPTER IX. ^he testimony of those who had an opportunity of judging, from the appearance and conduct of the Indians at the first discovery of America, as well as of some who have seen them since, in a state of nature, 245 CHAPTERS. The Indians have a system of morality among them that is very striking.— They have teachers to in- struct them in it— of which they have thought veiy highly, tiU of late yeai-s, they begin to doubt its efficacy, ^59 CHAPTER XI. Separation of the Indian women, 577 CHAPTER XII. The conclusion, 379 Appendix, - . . , . 30^ c r 15 !9 THE PREFACE. A VERY bright and portentous Star Laving arisen in the East, making glad the hearts of God's people and urging the fnends of Zion to unusual and almost miraculous exertions in spreading the glad tidings of salvation among the distant na- tions of the earth; the compiler of the following sheets, ani- mated by this blessed eastern prospect, can no longer with- hold the smaU discovery that has been made of a rising Star in the West, from the knowledge of those who are zealous and anxious to behold the returning Messiah coming «in his own glory and the glory of the Father," attended by all the samts,- which star may in the issue, turn out to be the star of Jacob, and become a guide to the long suffering and despised descendants of that eminent patriarch, to find the once hum- ble babe of Bethlehem,- as the ^vise men of the east were of old directed in their distant course, to discover in the stable and the manger, the great object of their adoration, joy and Iwpe^ even him who «wa« bom king of the Jews" For more than two centuries, have the aborigines of Ameri^ ca engaged the avarice and contempt of those who are com, nionly called the enlightened nations of the old worid. These natives of this wilderness have been always considered by them as savages and barbarians, and therefore have given l*ll£IfAC!£. them little condern, further than to defraud them of their lands, drive them from the fertUc countries on the seashores, engage them in their wars, and indeed deatiov them hy thou- sands with ardent spirits and fatal disorders unknown to them before. But these enlightened nations have seldom troubled themselves to enquire into their origin, their real circum- stances or their future hopes. Great pains have been taken by traders and others to promote among them erery Europe. 9n vice, which h^s been enforced both by precept and ex- ample. Some exertions indeed, have been made of late years by private societies and individuals, to counteract these unchris- tian practices, by endeavouring to teach them the things that belong to their everlasting peace; but this was not attempted tUl they were di^usted and soured with the general diarac. ter and conduct of white men, by which they concluded, that no one bearing their name or appearance, could be actuated by any other principles, than those of misleading, deceiving ^n4 betraying them, for the sake of their lands and peltry. Wherever honest and upright intentions have prevaUed to convince their judgments and engage their corJdence, though these have, comparatively, been few and feeble, they have generaUy succeeded, notwithstanding the opposition they often met with from those, wlio from the worst motives, have thought themselves greatly benefited by their ignorance, humiliation and misery, and who feared that by theip reformatio?!, these opposers might be despoiled of their unjust gain. Blessed be Ck)d, that there is yet hope that the day of their visitation is near-^that the day-star from on high, begins to appear, giving joyful hopes that the sun of righteousness Vfi]\ nusFAcs. .^ soon arige upon them, with hcaVmg nndei> his wing8.*Ther« is a possibility, that these unhappy children of misfortune, may yet be proved to be the descendants of Jacob and the long lost tribes of Israel. And if so, that though cast off for their heinous transgressions, they have not been altogether forsaken ; and will hereafter appear t» have been, in all their dispersions and wanderings, the subjecta of God's divine pro- tection and giacious care. The following pages are an humble attempt to investigate this important subject, wliich has been the object of the wri- ter's attention for a long time. If he has cast but a mite into the common treasury, he hopes it will not be despised. If it shall lead abler hands and wiser heads t» engage as labourers in the master's vineyard, though it should b6 at the eleventh hour, he will rejoice, so that God alone may at last receive all the glory.— He claims no merit in this labour, but that of integrity, attention and industry, in searching after the truth, and preserving the facts which have come to his kitowledge, that others may have aU the aid he can afford them in the further pursuit of this interesting investigation. Yet though he is not entitled to any credit, but as a regis- ter of facts, yet he has been much gratified sirtce the comple- tioh of this work, to find that he is hot alone in his sentiments on this unpopular subject . The following publication taken out of the Ahalectic Maga- zine for February last, is written so much in the style and on the same principles of the following compilation, that the writer of it could not withstand the advantage that might be derived from inserting a copy of the publication in this little ,1 If rHEfACB. tract. ♦—He was rojoiccd Ut know tliat such despised suffercrsi, however degraded, had found compassion in other brcastH be- sides his own. Had these unfortunate out-casts from society, been favoured from the first discoveiy of their countiy by Europeans, with inquisitive, learned and disinterested his- torians, who wonhl have represented them and their cause fidly and fairly tx> p<«terity, they wouhl hav« been considered in a very diflei-ent point of ligl.t, from that in which they now nppcar. That some of their established customs and especial- ly their manner of carrying on war, must appear exceedingly barbarous, and even brutal at the present day, to civilized people, the writer cannot doubt, yet if compared with the conduct of the civilized nations of Eun)pe, Asia and Africa, in ten tliousaud instances, the balance would be greatly in' their favour.f Indeed it is an extraordinary fact, that in all the wai-s in this country between the English and French- Spaniards and Americans, every one in their turn, have uni- formly exerted every nerve to engage the Indians to take part with them, and fight in their own way, on their side. And thase who make .he greatest cry against their barbari- • This i, done by cxprear, penrJ.sion of the editor of that work, who very no- hlely cousuiited thereto. ' ' + Pluurch in his Morals. 1 vol. 96, snysthat the Lacedemonians murdered their chihUen who were deformed or ha.l a bud coastilution The Komans were allowed by Romulus to destroy all their female children, ei- cept the eldest. Human sacniices were ofte..d up in almost all the eastern eou». Chikhx^n were burnt alive by their own patents, and offered to Baal. Moloch ' a .d other pretended de.Ues. Mr. Hume says in his Essay on Politlea Scarce' "the most dlustnous period of the Roman history eonsidered. in a political vi "' that be ween the beginning of the firstand the e,.d of the lastpunL war; y I lus very tune, the horri.l practice of poisoning ...s so common.that during pr o « season a pr.tor punished capitally, for this c.-ime. above three thousand pJm. in » Vm 01 Cenhghtencd) Italy, and found informations of this nature still mlltipi; nL" rREPACB. ^ ty and inhumanity in carrying on war, arc the most forward to furnish them with tomahawks, scalping knives, muskct«, powder and ball, to increase their detestable mode of warfare Nay, they have employed cverjr mean in their power, by rum feasts, harangues, and every provocative, to ,.>„so their un- bndlcd passions, increase their thirst for bl,H,d, and force them on to the destruction of their fellow men. They have forgotten the conclusive adage, u^^ajadt per aliumfadtper «e. * Must not such people be answerable to the great judge of all the earth for this conduct. I shall not further detain the reader, but give him the pub- lication m the writer's own words. TRAITS OF INDIAN CHARACTER. « In the present times, when popular feeling is gradually be- coming hardened by war, and selfish by the frequent jeopar- dy of hfo or property, it is certainly an inauspicious moment o speak in behalf of a race of beings, whose very existence has been pronounced detrimental to public security. But it IS good at all times to raise the voice of truth, however feeble; to endeavor if possible to mitigate the fury of passion and prejudice, and to turn aside the bloody hand of violence. Lit- tie interest, however, can pi^bably be awakened at present, in favor of the misguided tribes of Indians that have been drawn into the present war. The rights of the savage have seldom been deeply appreciated by the white man-in peace he IS the dupe of mercenary rapacity; in war he is regarded as a ferocious animal, whose death is a question of mere pre- caution and convenience. Man is cruelly wasteful of life when • He who Joes a tluug by u»oth.r, does it by himself. , Tl PKEVACE. his own safety is endangered and he is sheltered by impunity —and little mercy is to be expected from him who feels the sthig of the reptUe, and is conscious of the power to destroy. «It has been the lot of the unfortunate aborigines of this country, to be doubly wronged by the white men— first, driven from their native soil by the sword of tlie invader, anj then darkly slandered by the pen of the historian. The former has treated them like beasts of the forest,- the latter has written vol.mics to justify lum in his outrages. The former found it easier to exterminate than t» civilize; the latter to abuse than *o discriminate. The hideous appellations of savage and pagan, were sufficient to sanction the deadly hostilities of both ; and the poor wanderers of the forest were perseeuted and dishonored, not because they were guiltj-, but because they were ignorant. "The same prejudices seem to exist, in common circula- tion, at the present day. We form our opinions of the Indian charactoi- fiom the miserable hordes that infest our frontiers. These, however, are degenerate beings, enfeebled by the vices of society, without being benefited by its arts of living. The independence oi thought and action, that formed the main pil- lar of their character, has been completely prostrated, and the whole moral fabric lies in ruins. Their spirits are debased by conscious inferiority, and their native courage completely daunted by the superior knowledge and power of their en- lightened neighbours. Society has advanced upon them liks a many-lieaded monster, breathing every variety of misery. Before it, went forth pestilence, famine and the sword ; and in its tiain came tlie slow, but exterminating curse of trade. What the former did not sweep away, the latter has gradually VSEFICS. va blighted. It has incpeased their wants, without increasing the means of gratification. It has enervated their strength, multiplied their diseases, blasted the powers of their minds, and superinduced on their original barbarity the low vices of civilization. Poverty, i*pi„i„g a„d hopeless poverty-a cank- er of the mind unknown to sylvan Ufe-corrodes their very heanB..-They loiter like vagrants ^hrough the settiements, among spacious habitations replete with artificial comforts, which only render them sensible of the comparative m-etch- edness of their own condition. Luxury spreads its ample board before their eyes, but they are expeUed from the ban- quet. The forest which once furnished them with ample means of subsistence has been leveDed to the ground-waving heWs of grain have sprung up in its place,- but they have no participation in the harvest,- plenty revels around them, but they are starving amidst its stores; the whole wilderness blossoms like a garden, but they feel like the reptiles that in- fest it. « How different was their case while yet the undispuf ed lords of the soil. Their wants were few, and the means of gratifying them within their reach. They saw every one around them sharing the same lot, enduring U.e same Imrd- slups, Imng in the same cabins, feeding on the same aliments, arrayed in the same rude garments. No roof then mso, but what was open to the houseless stranger; no smoke curled among the ti-ces, but he was welcome to sit down by its fire, and join tlie hunter in his repast. « For," says an old Iiis^ torian of New-England, *. their life is so void of care, and they iu-e so lo^ ing also, that they make use of those things tbey ^m as common goods, and are therein so compassionate tha^ ▼iii FBBFACE. rather than one should starve through want, they would stai-ve aU: thus do they pass their time nierrUy, not regarding our pomp, but are better content with their own, which some men esteem so meanly of." Such were the Indians while in the pride and energy of primitive simplicity : they resemble those wild plants that thrive best in the shaded of the forest, but v^hich shrink from the hand of cultivation, and perish beneath the influence of the sun. " - ' « In the geneial mode of estimating the savage character, we may perceive a vast degree of vulgar prejudice, and pas- sionate exaggeration, without any of the temperate discussion of true philosophy. No allowance is made for the dlfTererice of circumstances, and the operations of principles under which they have been educated. Virtue and vice, tlimgh radicaUy the satM, yet differ widely in their influence on hiiihan con- duct, according t» the habits and maxims of the society in Which the individualis reared. No being acts more r^idfy from rule than the Indian. His whole conduct is ^-egulated according to some general maxims early imphnUA in his mind. The moral laws that govern him, to be sure, are but few, but then he conforms to them aU. The white man abounds in laws of religion, morals, and manners; but how many does he violate? « A common cause of accusation against the Indians is, the faithlessness of their friendships, and their sudden provoca- tions to hostility. But we do not make allowance fpr their pecuUar modes of tlunking and feeling, and the principles by which they are governed. Besides, the friendship of the whites towards the poor Indians, was ever cold, distrustful, oppressive, and insulting. In the intercourse with our fron^ CRBFACE. IX tiers they arc seiaom treated with confidence, and^rfc fre quenUy subject to injury and encroachment. The solitary savage feels sUently but acutely,- his sensibilities ai« npt dif- fused over so wide a surface as those of the white man, but they run in steadier and deeper channels. His.pride, his af. feetions, his superstitions, are all directed towards fewer oh- jccts, but tlie wounds inflicted on them are proportionably se- vere, and furnish motives of hostiUty which we cannot suf- ficiently appreciate. Where a community is also limited in niiinber, and forms, as in an Indian tribe, one gi^at patri- archal family,4he injury of the individual is the injury of the whole; and as their body politic is small, the sentiment of vengeance is almost instantaneously diffiised. One council fire is sufficient to decide the measure. Eloquence and su- perstition combine to inflame their minds. The orator awak- ens aU their martial ardour, and they are wrought «p to a kmd of religious desperation, by the visions of the prophet and the dreamer. « An instance of one of these sudden exasperations, arising froih a motive peculiar to the Indian character, is extant in an oldrecord of the eaily settlement ^ Massachusetts. The planter of Plymouth had defaced the monuments of the dead at Passonagessit, and had plundered the grave of the sachem's mother of some skins with which it had been piously decorated Every one knows the haUowed reverence which tlie Indians entertain for the sepulchres of their kindred. Even now tribes that have passed generations, exiled from the abodes of their ancestors, when by chance they have been travelling, on some mission, to our seat of government, have been known to turn aside from the highway for many miles distance, «„d * ' PIlErACE. guided hy wonderful accurate tradition, have sought some tumulus, buried perhaps in woods, where the bones of their tribe were ancientJy deposited; and there have passed some time in silent lamentation over tlie ashes of their foi-efathere. Influenced by .this sublime and holy feeling, the sachem, whose' mother's tomb had been violated, in the moment of indignation, gatlicred his men together, and addressed them in the follow- ing beautifully simple and pathetic harangue~an harangue which has remained unquoted Xor nearly two hundred yeai-s— a pure specimen of Indian eloquence, and an affecting monu- ment of filial piety In a savage. ' « When last the glorious, light of all the sky was underneath this globe, and birds grew silent, I began to settle, as my custom is, t» take repose. Before mine eyes were fast closed, raethought I saw a vision, at which my spirit was much troubled, and, trem!,ling at that doleful sight, a spirit cried aloud-behold ray son, whom I have cherished j see the breasts that gave thee suck, tlie hands that lapped thee warm and fed thee oft! canst thou forget to take revenge of those wild peo- pie, who have defaced my monument in a despiteful manner, disdaining our antiquities and honorable customs. See now, the sachem's grave lies like the common people, deface^ by an ignoble race. Thy mother doth complain, and implores thy aid against thi? thievish people, who have newly intruded in our land. If this be suffered I shall not rest quiet in my everiasting habitation—This said, the spirit vanished, and I, all in a sweat, not able scarce to speak, began to get some strength and recollect my spirits that were fled, and deter- mined to demand your counsel, and solicit your assistance.'* • PRErACE. -^, XI »» « Another cause of violent outcry against the Indians, is their inhumanity to the vanquished. This originally arose partly from political and partly from superstitious motives. Where hostile tribes are scanty in their numbers, the death of several warriors completely paralyzes their power; and many an in- stance occurs in Indian history, where a hostUe tribe, that had long been formidable to its neighbour, has been broken up and driven away, by the capture and massacre of its principal 'fighting men. This is a strong temptation to tlie victor to be merciless, not so much to gratify any cruelty of i-evenge, as 'to provide for future security. But they had other motives, originating in a superstitious idea, common to barbarous na- tions, and even prev.^ent ahiong the Greeks and Romans— that the manes of their deceased friends, slain in batUe, were soothed by the blood of the captives. But those that are not thus sacrificed are adopted into their families, and treated with the confidence and affection of relatives and friends; nay, so hospitable and tender is then- entertainment, that they will often prefer to remain with their adopted brethren, rather than return to the home and the friends of their youth. « The inhumanity of tlie Indians towards their prisoners has been heightened since the intrusion of the whites. We have exasperated what was formerly a compliance with iwUcy and superstition into a gratification of vengeance. They cannot but be sensible that we ai-e tlie usurpers of their ancient do- minion, the cause of their degradation, and the gradual dc. stroyers of their race. They go forth to battle, smarting with injuries and indignities whicli they have individually suffered from the injustice and the ar r .ance of white men, and they ore driven to madness and des^m-, by tlie wide-sprcadij.g PRKFACB. 11 .lewlaao. awl the overwhelming ruin «f our warfare. We .et them an example of violence, by burning their vUlages and laymg wast» their dender means of snbsistenee; and then wonder that sav^e. wiU not show m«lerarf™, and magna- mmify toward men, who have left them notlung but mere ex- istenee and WTetchedncss. "It is a common thing to exclaim against new forms of crneify, whUe, reconctted by custom, we wink at long estab- hshed atrocities. What right does the generosity of our eon- duet g,ve us to rail exclusively at Indian warfare. With aU the doctrme. of Christianity, and the advantages of cultivated morals to govern and direct us, what horrid crimes disgrace the victoncs of christian armies. Towns laidin ashes; citie, g.ven up to the swoi^d ; enormities perpetrated, at which man- hood blushes, and history drops the pen. WeU may we ex- damiat the outrages of the scalping knife; hot whe«, in the record of Indian barbarity, can we point to a violated female i "We stigmati^ the Indians also as cowardly and treach. erons, because they use stratagem in warfare, in preference to open foree; but in this they are folly authorized by their rude code of honor. They are early taught that stratagem is pra«cwo.thy; the bravest wamor tlnnks it no disgrace to lurk .n silence and take every advantage of his foe. He tri- umphs in the superior craft and sagacity by which he has been enabled to surprise and massacre an enemy. Indeed, man is naturaUy more prone to subtlety than open valor, owing to his physical weakness in comparison with other animals. They are endowed with natural weapons of defence; with horns, w.th tust«, with hoofs and tolons; but man has to depend on ■ " ""'*"»' ""S^'Wy- to »« !"» e»cou«te«. therefore, wifl. PR£FAe£. xui these, his proper enemies, he has to rtsort to stratagem; and when he perversely turns his hastUity against his feUow man, he continues the same subtle mode of warfare. « The natural principle of war is <» do tl'ie most harm to our enemy, with the least harm to ourselves; ami this of course is to be effected by cunning. That chitalric kind of courage which teaches us to despise the suggestions of pru- dence, and to rush in the face of certain danger, is the off- spring of society, and produced by education. It is honorable, because in fact it is the triumph of lofty sentiment over an in- stinctive repugnance to pain, and over those selfish yearn- ings after personal ease and security which society has con. demned as ignoble. It is an emotion kept up b'y.pride, and the fear of shame; and thus the dread ofwal evils is over- come by the superior dread of an evil that exists hut in the mind. ^This may be instanced in the case of a young British ^ officer of great pride, but delicate nerves, who was going for the first time into battle. B6ing agitated by the novelty and awful peril of the scene, he was accosted by another officer of a rough and boisterous character-." What, sir," cried he "do you tremble ?»' «Yes sir," replied the other, « and if you were half as mrich afraid as I am you woultf run away « This young officer signalized himself on many occasions by his gallantry, though, had he been brought up in savage life, or even in a humbler and less responsible situation, it is more than probable he could never have ventured into open action. « Besides we must consider how much the quality of open and desperate courage is cherished arid stimulated by society. It has been the theme of many a spirit-stirring song, and chival- nc storr. The minstrel has sung of it to the loftiest strain xlr ill' I f PBEFACE. Of his lyrc-the poet has delighted to shed around it all the splendours of fietion-and even the historian has forgotten the fiohcr gravity of narration, and burst forth into enthusiasm and rhapsody in its praise. Triumphs and gorgeous pageants have been its reward-monuments, where art has exhausted ite skill, and opulence its treasures, have been erected to per- petuate a nation's gratitude dnd admiration. Thus artificial- ly excited, courage has arisen to an extraordinary and facti- tious degree of heroism,- and, arrayed in all the glorious «pomp and circumstance" of war, this turbulent quality has even been able to eclipse many of those quiet, but invaluable virtues, which silently ennoble the human character, and swell the tide of human happiness. " But if courage intrinsically consist in the defiance of dan- ger and pain, the life of the Indian is a continual exhibition of it. He lives ih a perpetual state of hostility and risk- Peril and adventure arc congenial to his nature, or, rather^ seem necessary to arouse his faculties and give an interest to existence. Surrounded by hostUe tribes, he is always equip- ped for fight, with his weapons in his hands. He traverecs vast wUdemesses, exposed to the hazards of lonely sickness, of lurking enemies, or pining famine. * Stormy lakes present no obstacle to his wanderings ,• in his light canoe of baric, he sports like a feather on their waves, and darts with the swift, ness of an arrow down the roaring rapids of the rivers- Trackless wastes of snow, rugged mountains, the glooms of swamps and morasses, where poisonous reptUes curi among the rank vegetation, are feariessly encountered by this wan- derer of the wilderness. He gains his food by the hardships Wd dangers of the chase ; he wrap himself in the spoils of TREFACE. IV the bear, the panther, and the buffalo, and sleeps among the thunders of the cataract. " No hero of ancient or modem days can surpass the In- dian in his lofty contempt of death, and the fortitude with AvhicFi he sustains all the varied torments with which it is fre- quently inBieted. Indeed we here behold him rising superior to the white man, merely in consequence of bis peculiar edu- cation. The latter rushes to glorious death at the cannon'* mouth ; the former coolly contemplates its approach, and tri- umphantly endures it,anfiathe torments of the knife and tho protracted agonies of fire. He even takes a savage delight in taunting bis pei-sccutors, and provoking their ingenuity of tor- ture; and as tlie devouring flames prey on his very vitals, and the flesh shrinks from the sinews, he raises his last song of triumph, breathing the defiance of an unconquered heart, and invoking the spirits of his fathers to witness that he diea without a groar.. « Notwithstanding all the obloquy with which the early his- tori^ns of the colonies have overshadowed the characters of the unfortunate natives, some bright gkams will occasionally break through, that throw a degree of melancholy lustre on their memories. Facts are occasionally to be met with, in their rude annals, which, though recorded with all the colouring of prejudice and bigotry, yet speak for themselves; and will bo dwelt on with applause and sympathy, when prejudice shall liave passed away. « In one of the homely narratives of the Indian wars' in New-England, there is a touching account of the desolation carried into the tribe of the Pequod Hians. Humanity shud- d«rs at the. cold-blooded accounts given, of indiscriminate xvi rjlEFACB. 'li butchery on the part of the settlers. In one place we read of the surprisal of an Indian fort in the night, when the wigwams were wrapped in flames, and the miserable inhabitants shot down and slain, in attempting to escape, " all being despatch- ed and ended in the course of an hour." After a series of - simUar transactions, « Our soldiers," as the historian piously observes, « being resolved by God's assistance to make a final destruction of them," the unhappy savages being hunted from their homes and fortresses, and pursued with fire and sword, a scanty but gallant band, the sad remnant of the Pcquod warriors, with their .wives and children, took refuge in a swamp. . «* Burning with indignation; and rendered sullen by des- paii^with hearts bursting with grief at the destruction of their tribe, and spirits galled and sore at the fancied ignominy of their defeat, they refused to ask their lives at the hands of an insulting foe, and preferred death to submission. " As the night drew on they were surrounded in their dis- mal retreat, in such manner as to render escape impracticable. Thus situated, their enemy « plied them with shot all the time, by which means many were kiUed and buried in the mire." In the darkness and fog that precedes the dawn of day, some few broke through the besiegers and escaped into the Avoods : « the rest were left to the conquerors, of which many were killed in the swamp, like sullen dogs who would rather, in their self-willedness and madness, sit still and be shot through, or cut to pieces," than implore for mercy. When the day broke upon this handful of forlorn, but dauntless spirits, the soldiers, we are told, entering the swamp, " saw several heaps of them sitting close together, upon whom they discharged POEFACEi IVU their pieces, laden with ten or twelve pistol buUets at a time • putting the muzzles of their pieces under the boughs, within a few yards of them, so as, besides those that wen, found dead, many more were killed and sunk into the mire, and never were minded more by friend or foe/» « Can any one read this plain unvarnished tale, without ad- minng the stern res.>luUon, the unbending pride, and loftiness of spirit, that seemed to nerve the hearts of these self-tauirht heroes, and to raise them above the instinctive feelings of hu- man nature ? When the Gauls laid waste the city of Rome, they found the nobles clothed in their «>bes, and seated witli stem tranquility in their eurule chairs ,- in this manner they suffered death without an attempt at supplication or resistance. Such conduct in them was applauded as noble and magnani- mous,. in the hapless Indians it was reviled as obsUnate and suUcn. How much are we the dupes of show and ciroum- stance ! How difl-erent is virtue, arrayed in purple and en- throned in state, from virtue, destitute and naked, reduced to the last stage of wretchedness, and perishing obscurely in a wilderness. « Do these records of ancient excesses fill us with disgust and aversion? Let us take heed thatwedonotsuffferoui^lves to be hurried into the same iniquities. Posterity Ufts «p m hands with horiw at past misdeeds, because the passions that urged to them are not felt, and the arguments that persuaded to them are forgotten,- but we ai-e reconcUed to the present perpetration of injustice by all the selfish moUves with which interest chills the heart and silences the conscience. Even at the present advanced day, when we should suppose that en- lightened philosophy had expanded our minds, «nd H-e ~« I'il.i m Ml m [ii ( li ill xviii I'AKlfACE. gion had warmed oar lioniU* into philantlii-oiiy— when we huve heen adinoniiilicd by a sense of past transgressions, and in- structt^d by the indignant censui-es of candid history— even iiow, we perceive a disposition breaking out to renew the per- secutions of these hapless beings. Sober-thoughted men, far from the scenes of danger, in the security of cities and popu- \mn iTglons, can coolly tallc of « exterminating measures,** and discuss the policy of extirpating tliousands. If such is tiie talk in tlie cities, what is tite temper displayed on the bottlers 2 The sentence of desolation has gone foi-th— <« the roar is up amidst the woods j" implacable wrath, goaded on by interest and prejudice, is i-eady to confound all rights, to trample ou all claims of justice and humanity, and to act over those scenes of samgninary vengeance which have too often stained the pages of colonial history. "These are not the idle suggestions of fancy j th.y arc wrung forth by recent facts, wluch stiU haunt the public mind. We need but turn to the ravaged countiy of the Creeks to be- ImjW a picture of exterminating warfai-e. « These deluded savages, either excited by private injury or piirate intrigue, or by both, have lately taken up the hatch- ct and made deadly inroads into our fiwitier settlements.— Their punishment hjis been pitiless and terrible. Ven ;eance I>as gone like a devouring fii-e through their countr-wthe smoke of their villages yet rises lo heaven, and the htm nl the slaughtered Indians yet reeks upon the earth. J. this merciless ravage, a» idea may be formed by a single exploit, honstfiilly set forth in an official letter that has darkened our piblio journals.* A detachment of soldiery had been sent un- tf f l.>-rV:' "' gcii. Colfee, dated Nov, 4, 1813. rnsyACE. xix der the command of one general CofTcc to destroy tlie Talhis- hatches towns, where the lumtile CicekM had assembled. The enterpi4se was executed, as the commander in chief* express- es it, in »/yte— but, in tlie name of mercy, in wliat st^Io ! The towns were surrounded before the break of day. The inhabl- tants, starting from their sleep, flew to arms, with beat of drjiiiH and hideous ycllings. The soldiciy pressed uixm them on every side, and met with a desperate resistance—but what was savage valour against the array and discipline of scientific warfare? The Creeks made, gallant charges, but wei« beat- en back by overwhelming numbers. Hemmed in like savage beasts surrounded by the hunters, wherever they turned they met a foe, and in every foe they found a butcher. "The ene- my retreated firing," says Coffee in his letter, " until they got around and in their buildings, where they made all the resistance that an overpowered soldier could do j they fought as long as one existed, but their destruction was very soon completed J our men rushed up to the doors of the houses, and in a few minutes killed the last warrior of them j the enemy fought with savage fury, and met death with all its horrors, without shrinking or complaining; not one asked to be spar- ed, but fought so long as they could stand or sit. In conse^ quence of their flying to their houses, and mixing with the families, our men in killing the males, without intention, kill- ed and wounded a Jew of ilie squav>8 and children." " So unsparing was the carnage of the aword, that not am of the warriors escaped to carry the heart-breaking tidings to the remainder of tlie tribe. Such is what is termed execut- ing liostilities in style .'—Let those who exclaim witli abhop- ♦Gea. Andrew Jackton. i.i 11 I *^ PHEPACE. rence at Indian inroads-those who nre so eloquent about the bitterness of Indian recrimination-let them turn to the hor- rible victory of general Coffee, and be sileiit. "As yet our government has in some measure restrained the tide of vengeance, and inculcated lenity towardo the hap- less Indians who have been duped into the present war. Sueh temper is worthy of an enhghtened govern nent-let it still be observed^-let sharp rebuke and signal punishment be inflict- CU on those who abuse their delegated power, and disgrace their victories with massacre andconfiagration. The cnormi ties of the Indians form no excuse for the enormities of white men. It has pleased heaven to give them but limited powers «f mmd, and feeble lights to guide their judgments; it be- ccmes us who are blessed with higher intellects to think for hem, and to set them an example of humanity. It is the na- ture of vengeance, if unrestrained, to be headlong in its ac- tions, and to lay up, m a moment of passion, ample cause for an age s repentance. We may roU over these miserable be- ings with our chariot wheels, and crush them to the earth • but when war has done its worst-when passion has subsided,' and It IS too late to pity or to save-we shall look back with unavaiUng compunction at the mangleU corses of those whose cries were unheeded in the fury of our career. -Let the fate of war go as it may, the fate of those igno- rant tribes that have been inveigled fi,>m their forests to min- gle m the strife of white men, wiU, be inevitably the same. I„ the colIis.on of two powerful nations, these intervening parti- des of pop^dation will be crumbled to dust, and scattered to the winds of heaven. I„ a little while, and they will go the way that so many tribes have gone before. The few horde. PREFACE. xxi that stUl linger about the shores of Huron and Supcriour, and the tributary streams of the Mississippi, will share the fate of those tribes that once lorded it along the proud banks of the Hudson ,• of that gigantic race that are said to have existed on the borders of the Susquehanna, and of those various nations that flourished about the Potowmac and the Rappahanoc, and that peopled the forests of the vast valley Shenandoah. They will vanish like a vapour from the face of the earth-their very historj' will be lost in forgetfulnes.-and « theplaces that now know them, will know them no more forever." «0r if perchance some dubious memorial of tliem should survive the lapse of time, it may be in the romantic dreams of the poet, to populate in imagination his?;ladcs and groves, like the fauns, and satyrs, and sylvan deities of antiquity. B-t should he venture upon the dark story of their wrongs and wretchedcss-should he tell how they were invaded, corrupt- ed, despoiled-driven from their native abodes and the sepul- chres of their fathers^hunted like wild beasts about the earth, and sent down in violence and butchery to the gravc-poster- ity will either turn with horror and incredulity from the talc or blush with indignation at the inhumanity of their forefath- ers.-" We are driven back," said an old warrior, « until we can retreat no further-our },atchets are broken-our boM s are snapped-our fires are nearly extinguished-a little Ion ger and the white men will cease to persecute us-^for we wiJl cease to exist !" f I J''^ INTRODUCTION. However despised the nation of the Hebrews were among the Greeks, Romans and others of their neighbours, during the existence of their civU gotemment, and by aU the nations of the cartii ever since, there can be no doubt now, that they have been and stiU are the most remarkable people that have existed since the first century after the flood. It does appear from their lustory, and from the holy scrip- tares, thattiie great Governor of the Universe, in his infinite wisdom and mercy to our fallen race, did select this nation, from all the nations of the earth, as his pecuMar people, not only to hand down to mankind at large, tiie great doctrine of the unity of his divine nature, with the primaples of the wor. ship due to him by intelligent creatures-the universal de- pravity of man by the faU of Adam, with the blessed means of his restoration to the favour of God, by the shedding of blood, without which there could be no forgiveness of sin. But also that through them tiio means and manner of tiie atone- ment for sin by the promised Messiah, who was to be sent in- to our world in the fulness of time, for this invaluable purpose, and who was to be a divine person and literally become the desire of all nations, should be propagated and made known to all mankind, preparatory to his coming in the flesh. And that^afterwards, this people should be supported and proved v.i a« a^us of the mmn, hy means of their miraculous prcser- "i;.i II ! hill '!!( ! 24 IlfTllQDUCTION. Vation against all the experience of other nations. For wluie dispersed through the world without a spot of land they could piH>pcrly call their own, and despised and persecuted in every pai-t of It, yet they have continued a separate people, known by their countenances, while their enemies and conquerors have wasted away and are, as it were, lost from the earth, in ful- fdmcnt of the declarations of their prophets, inspired by God, to the astonishment of all nations. " This peoiile was also a living example to the world of the dealings of Divine Providence towards the workmanship of his hands, by rewarding their obedience in a very extraordinary manner, and punishing their wilful transgressions by the most exemplary sufferings. Though he often ileclarcd them his peculiar^his clmefi^his electpeople^n^y that he esteemed them as the apple of Ms eye, for the sake of his servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their pro- genitors, yet he has fully shown to the world, that however dear a people might be to him as their governor and king, or by adoption, that no external situation or special ciroumstan- ces would ever lead him to countenance sin, or leave it unpun- ished, without a suitable atonement and deep repentance. They also answered, but in a stronger manner, the use of hieroglyphics and figures, as a universal language, to in- struct all mankind in the mind and will of God, before letters were in general use, and had this knowledge been properly improved, would have been more effectual, than instruction by word of mouth or personal address. God has acknowledged them by express revelation-by prophecies, forewarning them of what should befall them in the world, accordingly a.s they kept his commandments, or ' For wliile they could 5d in every , known by erors have rth, in ful- !cl by G(^, orld of the ship of his 'aordinary Y the most ^losen — Ms 'tis eye f for their pro- however king, or cumstan- it unpun- ice. le use of > to in- e letters properly etion by ion — by Item in Jnts, or ihtsoductiojv. g^ J^ero disobedient to them, untU their final restoration to the promised land. In short, their long dispersed state, with their severe persecutions, and still continuing a separate people among all nations, are standing, unanswerable and miraculous prodife of their sacred writings, and a complete fulfilment of the many prophecies concerning them, some thousands of years past. , ¥ Another essential purpose, in the course of God's providence with bis people Is also to be pitiduced. The restoration of this suffering and despised nation to their ancient city and their fi)rmer standing in the favour of God, with a great in- crease of glory and happiness, are expressly foretold by Christ, his prophets and apostles, as immediately preceding the se- cond coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to this our earth, with his saints and angels, in his own glory as media- tor, and the gloiy of the father, or of his divine nature, plainly distinguished from that humility and abasement attending his first coming in the flesh* Of course, whenever this restora- tion shaU come to pass, it wiU be so convincing and convict- ing a testimony of the truth and certainty of the whole plan and predictions of the sacred record, as powerfuDy to affect aU the nations of the earth, and bring them to the acknow. ledgment of the true God, even our Lord Jesus the Christ For, as Bishop Warburton justly asks, » Is the explanation of the (Economy of grace, in which is contained the system of prophecy ; that is, the connection and dependance of the pro- phecies of the several ages of the church of God, of no use ? Surely of the greatest, and I am confident nothing but the light which >^ill arise from tlience, wiU support Christianity under its present circumstances. But the contendinff for sin- E m M IRTSODVCTIOir. 111! gle prophecies only, by one who thinks the- relate to Christ in a secondary sense, only, and who jqipears to have no high opinion of secondary senses, looks very suspicious." Had all the great facts of revelation happened several thou- sand years ago, and the proof of their reality been ever so conclusive at the time, and nothing more done, hut barely to hand them down to posterity as then believed in the testimo- ny for their support at a given period from their fulfilment, would have loHt aU ite weight,- and the wurid might justiy have been excused for doubting of their credibility. But God ill his great mercy, has now left the children of men without excuse,- because he has so ordered it, in his infinite wisdom^ that the farther we recede from the facts, the more do the ev- idences increase upon us. And this existence of the Jews, as a separate people, under aU their afflictions and distresses, and that scattered among almost eveiy nation on earth, is not among the least conclusive,- but is like the manna, kept ia the ark in a state of purity, which was undeniable evidence of the facte related in their history to the succeeding generations, while the temple lasted. So that now, no reasonable man of common abilities, who studies that history, and their present cireumstonces in tiie world, with impartiality, care and close attention, attended by a real desire of knowing the truth, can long doubt the divinity of the sacred volume. To investigate then the present stete and circumstances of this extraordinary peoplc^to examine into their general his- tory, in as concise a manner as may answer our general plan -and to enquire after the ten tribes, which formerly constitut- ed the kingdom of Israel, that now appear to be lost from the earth, must be an undertaking (however difficult and unprom- INTBOOVCTIOir. fS iaing) worthy the time and labour, which may be necessari- ly expended therein. The writer vS these sheets must acknowledge himself une- qual to the task ,• but having been for years, endeavouring, but in vain, to urge more able hands to turn their attention to this important subject, he has at last determined to attempt it, under all his difficulties and deficiencies, on the principle, that he may possibly, by drawing the outlines, call the aid of some learned and more able pen into this service, being in his opin- ibn of the utmost consequence to the present generation in par- ticular, as that era in which the latter timeSf the last times of the scriptures, or the end of the Roman government, seem to be hastening with rapid strides. This subject receives great additional impwtance from its prophetic connection, as before mentioned, with the second ad- vent of the glorified Messiah, as son of God, to this our world, in fulfilment of his own gracious promises in his holy word : the signs of the approach of which, he has expressly command- ed us to watch, lest when he comes, as he will, in as unex- pected a manner as a thief in the night, we may be found sleeping on our post with the foolish virgins, without oil in our lamps. This subject lias occupied the attention of the writer, at times, fw more than forty years. He was led to the consider- ation of it, in the fii*st instance, by a conversation with a very worthy and reverend clergyman of his acquaintance, who, having an independent fortune, undertook a .journey (in com- pany with a brother clergyman, who was desirous of attend- ing 1dm) into the wilderness between the Alleghany and Mis- sisippi rivers, some time in or about the years 1765 or 6, be- *" INTRODUCTIOSr. fore the white people had settled beyond the Laurel Mountain. II.S desire was to meet with native Indians, who had never «cen a white man, tJ.at he might satisfy his enriosity by know- mg from the best source, what traditions the Indians yet pre- served relative to their own hist«ry and origin. This, these gentlemen accomplished Nvith great danger, ris,ue and fa- tigue. On their return one of them related to the writer the information they had obtained, what they saw, and what they heard. ^' This raised in the writer's mind such an idea of some for- mer connection between these aborigines of our land, and the Jewish nation, as greatly t« increase a desire for further in- formatum on so interesting and curious a subject. Soon after, reading (quite accidentally) the 13th chapter of the 2d apochryphal book of Esdras, supposed to have been written about the year 100, of the christian era, hisai-dour to know more of, and to seek further into the circumstances of these last tribes, was in no wise diminished. He has not ceas- ed smce, to impi-ove every opi^rtunity afforded him, by per sonal interviews with Indians-reading the best histories re- latmg to them, and earef.dly examining our public agents res- ident among them, as to fapts rejwrted in the several histories, without letting them know his object, so as not only to gratify Ins euriasity, by obtaining all the knowledge relating to them in Ins i)ower, but also to guard against misrepresentation as to any account he might thereafter be tempted to give of thorn His design at present is, if by the blessing of Almighty G,>d Ins l.fo, now far advanced, should be spared a little longer, to give some brief sketches of what he has learned, in this in,- iwrtant inquiry, lest the facts he has collected should be en- m IlTTHODrCTIOW, 2g tircly lost, as he feds himself culpable for putting off this bu- siness to so advanced a period of life, as to leave him but small hopes of accomplishing his intentions. He does not mean to attempt to solve all the difficulties, op answer all the objections that may very probably attend this investigation. It must be obvious to every attentive reader, ^vho considers the length of time since the first dispersion of the ten tribes of Israel-the wandering and destitute state of the Indian nations-their entire separation from aU eivUized socicty-their total want of the knowledge of letters or of writ- ing-the strange inattention of most of the Europeans, who first settled among them, to record facts relating to them, and the falsehood and deception of many of the few who did at- tempt it-the difficulties attending the obtaining a critical knowledge of their language, customs and traditions, arising from a prudent, tliough a violent jealousy and fear of the white people, from whom they have received little else but in-e- parable injuries, wanton destruction and extreme sufferings It must be allowed that under such untoward circumstances, many unsurmountable difficulties must arise, that cannot be avoided. In the prosecution of this compilation, the ^^Titer will avail himself of the best accounts given by the Spanish writers, he can meet with-the histories written by our own people who first visited this land, or have since made themselves acquaint- ed with the native inhabitants, and recoi-ded any thing rcla- tivc to their languages, customs, manners and habits, such as Colden, Adair, Brainerd, Edwards, jun. on the language of the Mohegans-also of the information received from the Rev i so I hi m ui m ur li'.l" ill ill!' INTHODUCTION. Dr. Beatty, Bartram, and others, of tlicir personal observa- tions, wliilc with the Indians. The writer is aware that sir William Jones, whose charac- ter stands so high in the literaiy world, has endeavoured to shew that he lias discovered the tribes of Israel in the Afghans of the eastern world, and he produces the account given by Es- dras in pi-oef of it— And although the writer would pay the utmost respect to the learning and judgment of that excellent man, and would not dispute the AfgMns being of Jewish de- scent,- yet sir William himself, in his abridgement of a Per- sian work, entitled The secrets of the Afghans, transmitted to him by Mr. Vansittart, informs us, that this people, in rela- ting their own story, pmfess to be descended from king Saul.' And they say, that JJghan lived in the time of David and Solomon, and finally retreated to the mountains, where his descendants became independent, and exterminated the infi- dels, meaning the heatlien. Now, in the first place, Saul was not an Israelite, but the son of Kish, a Bevjamite, and there- fore may well be found in the cast,- but not of the tribes of Is- rael.* Secondly.— If we look carefully into the account given by Esdras (and sir William has given authenticity to his ac count) we find that the ten tribes he speaks of, were carried away by Salmanazar, and it is agreed on all hands, that he sent tlicm unto the countries near the Euxine sea. And Es- dras says they determined to go to a place where they miglit keep their laws and remain undisturbed by the heathen ; but if they had gone eastward, they would have been in the midst of them. Thirdly.— They travelled a great way to an unin- liabited country, in which mankind never yet dwelt, and * Vid. I Samuel, 9th chay. T & 2. IWTEODUCTIOW, ,- passed a great water, but the eastern eountrK,even i. that early day, was well inhabited. These facts do not agi^e with the account given of the Afghans, who fi„m their own state- nicnt, belong to another tribe and lived in Peraia, from whence they can return to Jerusalem without passing by sea or from the coasts of t fie earth. STAR IN THE WEST. CHAPTER I. Of the state of the Jews. UnE would imagine, from reasoning on the importance of this nation to the world at large— from the many clear and precise histories of them from the time of Abraham their great progenitor, and from the many great and glorious promises made to them and their posterity by a God of truth and faith- fulness, on condition of strict obedience to his laws as contain- cd in the divine scriptures, that every person of leisure and observation would wish to become intimately acquainted vith the minute circumstances attendant upon them from age to age. But such is the nature of man— such his indolence and inattention to things, however important, that relate to distant objects and not present enjoyments, that judging from actual experience, the state of this people, and their hastening res- toration to their beloved city, and to more than their former celebrity and happiness, engages but (comparatively) few, oven of those whose constant business in propagating the gos- pel, ought to have led them, with pecuUar energy, to hav« made them their diligent study. F 31 A STAR IN THE WEST. i' Indeed, the delays the writer himself has made in tliis busi- ness, under a full conviction of the necessity of it, is pretty good evidence of the tendency of the human heart to avoid active usefulness. It is well known to all historians and read- ers of the old testament, that God brought this nation of the Jews from the land of Egypt in a miraculous manner, with many signs and wonders, through a barren and desolate wil- derness, in the space of forty years. That he went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. That he gave them laws, written by the finger of God, and prom- ised them glorious things in ease of obedience ; but pronounced the most awful threatenings of misery and destruction in ease of disobedience and forsaking his laws. That he became their jiolitical king and governor by express, personal consent, and mutual compact, in a different sense fi-om that in which he stood to the rest of mankind, by which they were put under a complete theocracy. This continued till ShUoh came, accord- ing to the prophetic declaration, when the government of the universal church of both Jews and Gentiles descended upon him. It may be said, that the Jews were long governed by judges and kings after their possession of Canaan. But these were not of their appointment, but of the appointment of God under him, as his substitutes or vicegerents See 2 Chron. ix. and 8— « Blessed be the Lord thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne to be king for the Lord thy God."— • 1 Sam. viii. and 7 — « And the Lord said unto Samuel, heark- en unto the voice of the people in all tlmt they say unto thee, for they have not rojcctcd thee; but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." Also Chi-on. xiii. and 8. A STAR IN THE WEST. SO I ** And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, in the hands of the sons of David." Yet such was their consti- tutional obstinacy and ha**dness of heart, that after experi- encing the most unbounded favors from God, by the fullest and most miraculous protection and signal interpositions in their favor, by driving out the Canaanites before them and placing them in the promised land, which is described as flowing with milk and honey, they continually broke their solemn cove- nant and opposed the express and positive commands of God himself, given and enforced in all the majesty of Jehovah, through the instrumentality of Moses and Aaron. Moses though the meekest man on eartli, became wearied out by their perversencss and rebellion. In the words of an excel- lent writer,* « there is nothing deserves more particular at- tention than the spirit and behaviour of the Israelites in the wilderness. A very remarkable instance of the wretched effects of servitude upon the human soul. They had been slaves to the Egyptians for about 140 years; their spirits were debased, their judgments weak ; their sense of God and religion very low; they were defective in attention, gratitude and generosity; full of distrust and uner:sy suspicions; com- plaining and murmuring under the most astonishing displays of divine power and goodness, as if still under the frowns and scourges of their unjust task-masters; could scarce raise their thougiits to prospects tlic most pleasing and joyous. They knew not how to value the blessings of liberty— of a taste so mean and illiberal that the fiesh and fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, garlic, and such good things of * Taj Id's scheme, Watsons Col. 1 Vol. 114. m I t ii: b. «6 A STAB IN THE WiST. m Egypt, weighed more M-lth them, than tl»o bread fix)m heaven, (Numb. xi. 4-0) And all the divine iiHsuianeea and demon- straUons that they should ho raised to the noblest privileges, the highest honour and felicity, as a iMUMiliur treasure to GckI ftbovo all people in the world. In short nothing would do. The ill qualities of slavery were ingnuned in their heai-ts-a Ifiwelling, thoughtless, sturdy, dastardly sjiint, fatigued the divine patience, counteracted and defeated all his wise and beneficent measures; they eould not be worked up to that sense of God,- that esteem of his highest favours j that grati- tude and genemus dutifuluessj that magnanimity of spirit which were necessary to their conquering and enjoying the pmmised land ; and therefore the wisdom of God, dctermin- ed that they should not attempt the possession of it, till that generation of slaves, namely, all above 20 yeais of age, were dead and buried. However, this did not lie out of the divine plan. It served a great purpase, namely, to warn that, and «U future ages of the church, both Jewish and Christian, that if they despise and abuse the g,K)dness of God, and the noble privdegcs and p«,speets they enjoy, they shall foifeit the benefit of them. And the apostle applicth it t« this very im- portant use, with great foix-e and p.^priety, in his episUe to «he Hebrews.''-ii. chap. 15, t» the end_iv. l-i^ Thus it was that Moses being thoi-oughly acquainted with their untoward disin^itions, and tendency to revolt to the wicked and ridiculous inventions of the nations around them, and being inspired with a spirit of pmpheey, he in very sub- lime language, warned them of their danger, plainly telling them, ,f they would obey the voice of the Lord their God in- deed, and keep his covenant, then they shonW be a peculiar A STAR m THE WEST. treasure to him above all people, for that the wliole earth hiH. And that although God had thus kindly chosen tl S7 was --^ - Jiem as his own people, yet their continuing to enjoy his p„,tcction and (avour, depended on their obedience to the laws he had given them. And after recapitulating the many special and unho.trd of mercies and extraordinary dealings of the I^rd God of their fathers towards them fmm the beginning, and then giving them many excellent rules for their conduct, he proer..ded-«Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the eovHiant of the Lord your Goil, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. When thou Shalt beget children and children's children, and sl.alt have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves and make a graven imago, or tlie likeness of any thing, and shalt «lo evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger; I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off tlie land where- "nto ye go over Jordan to possess it ; ye sl)all not pirj.mg your chiys upon it, but shall utterly be dosti-oyed. And the I^rd G(Ml shall scatter you among tlie nations; and ye shall be left few in mmiber among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. And ye shall serve other gods, the work of men's hands, W(K)d and st^me, which neither sec nor hear, nor cat, nor smell. But if /,Y,m thence, thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou Shalt f.nd him, if tliou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things arc come upon thee, crcn in the tatter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God. and shall be obedient to his voice : for the Lord 1 <." si J in i r^ I i I! t 1(1 88 A STAR IW THE WEST. thy God is a merciful God, he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which he swear unto them.*' Deut. iv. 23—32. And Moses after giving them a most excellent system of laws (as he had re- ceived them from God) in the 26th chap. 30th verse, enu- merates a number of extraordinary blessings that God would confer on them, in case of their hearkening diligently to the voice of the Lord their God, to observe and do aU his com- mandments, and then passes the following awful sentence upon them, in case « it should come to pass, that they would not hearken to the voice of the Lord their God," that the extra- ordinary and dreadful curses, mentioned in the 45th to the 66th verses, which he recapitulates, should come upon them, and then concludes in tlie 29th chap. 10th verse, <*ye stand this day, aU of you before the Lord your God — ymir captains of your tribes, your elders and your officers, with all the men of Brael, that thou sliouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath which the Lord thy God maketh with thee tliis day, that he may establish thee this day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I make tin's covenant and this oath; but with him who standetli here with us this day, before the Lord thy God, and also with him who is not here with us this day. Lest there sliould be with you man or woman, or family or tr >e, whose Iieart turneth away this day, from the Lord your ood to go and serve the gods of the nations ; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and Avorm-wood, and it come to pass when he hcareth the words of thia curse and he bless A STAR IN THE "WEST. S9 himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace though I walk in the stubbornness* of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst; the Lord wM not spare him j but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy • ill sm'oke against that man, and aU the curses written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shaU blot out his name from under heaven. And the Lord shaU separate him unto evil, out of all the tribes of Israel ac- wording to all the curses of the covenant that are written in the book of the law. And it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which 1 have set before thee, and thou shalt caU them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and Shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy chUdren, with all thine heart and with all thy soul; that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity and have com- passion on thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any €i thine be drivm unto the utmost parts of Iieaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and fi-om thence will he fetch thee. And the Lord thy God wiU bring th^e into the land -which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it: and he will do to thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and \vith all thy soul, that thou maycst live. And the Lord thy Ood xviU put all these curses on thine enemies, and on them who hate thee, wJio persecuted tliee. And thou slialt return and obey the voiQe of the Lord to do all liis commandiiienls, which I com- • As in the margin of tlie bihle, '£M Jilli!', *0 A iTAR IN T1I£ WEST. mand thee this day. And the Loi^ thy God will make the plenteous in every work of thine hand ; in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for gtKMlj fortheLoi'd will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers. I/thou shall /learken to Hie voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his comnumdrwvh a^J his statutes which are written in tlie book of the I I if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with aU thine heart am ..Uh aU thy sou/."— But these promises, and particularly that of being received by and placed under tlie particular and visible protection and government of Almighty God, necessarily required their separation from the nations round about them, who were one and all sunk in the most stupid idolatry. To increase the obligations of this peo- pie to God, he had actuaUy condescended (as before observed) to become their king and head, and promised to attend them through the wildeniess, during all their travels, as a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by niglit. Their govern- ment thus became a complete theocracy, both in their civU and ecclesiastic^ establishments. So that afterwards, whether they Irnd Moses and Aaron, Judges or kings for their immedi- ate rulers, they were but inferior magistrates in their govern- ment, appointed by and under him as their supreme head and sovereign. They were necessarily and expressly to be separated from aU the people of the earth, as a nation,- by which the nature of their political and religious institutions, thus united, was made known to the worid at large, and by tie exclusive na- ture of their principles and practices, however obnoxious and offensive to other nations, who universally held in an intercom- munion of gods and divine worship; yet their attention was A STAB IN THE W£8T. «l thereby strongly drawn to consider them as the peculiar char- acteristic complexion of the Jewish government. Thus Moses understood it when he said to God, "for wherein shall it bft known here, that I and tliy people h.ive found grace in thy eight? Is it not that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are dn the face of the earth." 'r^*>. After the death of Moses, and Joshua his successor, and ttie congregation of the Jews having partially enjoyed the land in tolerable peace and quietness, the succeeding generations with |heir kings and their princes^ forgot the covenant of the Lord their God, agreeably to the prediction of Moses, and went af- ter the inventions of the neighbouring nations. Yet God kind- ly sent his prophets from time to time, to refresh their memo- ries and to warn them of their danger, in case they persisted in their rebellion, and did not f«pent and return to the Lowi their God, with all their heart and with all their soul, but continued in their disobedience. About 700 years before the christian era, near the time of the invasion of Salmanazar, king of Assyria, Isaiah the prophet of God, was sent to them, with this solemn and awful message. « The liord sent a word onto Jaceb and it hath lighted upon Israel, and all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Sa- maria, who say in the pride and stputness of their heart, the bricks are fallen downj but we will build with hewn stones. The sycamore trees are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together: the Syrians before and the Philistines behind, and they shall de- vour Israel with open mouth; for all this his £^ger is not turn- fit:' *» A STAR IS THE WEST. > I ed away, but his hand is stretched out still. B'or the people turneth not unto him who smitctli them, neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts. Thercfoie the Lord wUl cut off from Israel, head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies, is the tail. For the leaders of this people make them to err, and they who are led of them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord shaU have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows. For every one is an hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For aU this his anger is not turned away, but his hand i| stretched out still. For wickedness burneth as the fire,- it shaU devour the briais and the thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest : and they shall mount up, like the lifting up of the smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire ; no man shall ^pare his brother. Isaiah ix. 8—19. « O Assyrian ! the rod of mine anger ,• and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him (the Assyrian) against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the street." Isa. x. 5—6. After grievous sufferings as above described, God in his great mercy, shewed that he would still be gracious to them in all their distress and apparent abandonment, in this con- solatory language-" And it shall come to pass in that day (the latter day) that Jehovah shall again, the second time, put forth his hand to recover the remnant of his people who re- maineth from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathra?* and • A-countT)- bordering ou Egypt A STAR IN THE WEST. 'M$ from Cushf and from Elamt and from Shinai^ and from Ha- mah5[ and from tlie 'western regionSf (as it sliould have be«n translated^ instead of the islands of the sea*) jfsaiah xi. 11 — ±B Lowth's translation. And he shall lift up a signal to the na- tions, and sliall gather the outcasts of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah shall he collect from the four, extremities of the earth. And the jealousy of Ephraim shall cease, and the en- mity of Judah sliall be no ;norc ; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not be at enmity with Ephraim. But they shall invade the borders of the Philistines, west- ward ; they shall spoil the children of the east together. They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammoii shall obey them. And « Jehovah shall smite with a drought, the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and he shall shake his hand over the river with his vehement wind, and he shall strike it into seven streams, and make them pass over it, dry shod, and there shall (also) be a high way, for the remnant of his people }' which shail remain from Assyria, as it was unto Israel, in the day when he came up from the land of Egypt." By this representation it plainly appears— 1st. That the people of the Jews, however scattered and lost on the face of tlie earth; are in the latter day to be recovered by the mighty power of Gfod,* and restored to their beloved city Jerusalem in the land of Palestine. 2d. That a clear distinction is m&de between the tribes, of Judah, in which Benjamin is indluded, and tlie ten tribes of + Op Arabia. J Meaning Persia. ff Where Babylon formerly stood. ■ t In Assyria, to the east of tlie moimtains forming the boundaries of i\r«^dia. * Lowth. f«' • 4 . M A STAB IN TUB VEST. Israel, agreeably to their particular states. The first is des- ' oiibed as dispersed among the nations in the four quarters of the world— The second ^ outcasts from the mtims of the earth, 8d. Thus they shall pass through a long and dreary wil- derness fi-om the north country, and finally ^nter into Assyria, (it may possibly be) by tlie way of some narrow strait, where they will meet together in a body and proceed to Jerusalem. *th. That this restoration is said to be accomplished a se- cond time. The first was from Egypt^thc second is to bft similar to it, in several of its remarkable circumstances. Sth. The places from whence they are to come, are ex- pressly designated. They are to come first from Assyrii and Egypt, where it is weU knoNvn, many of tlio tribes of Judah and Benjamin were carried captive, and are now to bp found in considerable numbers, and from Pathros bordering on Egypt -and from Cush and from Elam, different parts of Peraia, where the present Jews are undoubtedly of the same tribes, and perhaps mixed with a few of the ten tribes who remain- ed in Jerusalem and were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar. And from Shinar still more east and where some of the same tribes are now found. And from Hamah near the Caspian sea, where some of the ten tribes have rc.nained*ever since the time of Salmanazar; and ft-oni the ivesiern regims.* 6th. Thus we have the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin well known to be dispersed throughout the three quarters of the world-But as to the majority of the ten tribes, although every believer in divine revelation has no doubt of their be- ing preserved by the sovereign power of God in some un- known region j yet as the whole globe has been traversed by •SeeLowth. A iTAK IMT TMB WEST. §S one adventurer or another, it is a HtUe astonishing that they have not iiiitherto been discovered. By the representation above, it is clear that we must look for them, and they will un- doubtedly, at last be found, in the western regions, or some place answering this description as the place of their banishment. God proceeds in his encouraging prospects, in language of the greatest affection. « But now saith the Lord, who cre- ated thee Jacob, and he who formed thee O Israel. Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and ihrmtgh the rivers, they shall not over* flow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the holy one of Israel, thy saviour. I gave Egypt fqr thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou was precious in my sight, thou hast been honour- able, and I have loved thee, therefore will I give men for thee' and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am ^ith thee, I will bring tliy seed from the east and gather thee from the tvestf I will say to the north' give up, and to the south keep not back ; bring my sons from afar and my daughters/rom Vui ends of the earth" Isaiah xliii. 1—6. Again, « Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in a day of salvation helped thee, and I ^ preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heri- tages. That thou maycst say to the prisoners go forth: to tliem who are in darkness, show yourselves.* They shaU • Mr. Pnbertran8lntesthi8«to them whoarein darknfes." " Be ye discoTem!" I Ins IS peciilmi ly applicable te the we-sent «tot« ^f M-e »-— !' - - - -^ • " I i M *, f-;^ ;;i: in 40 A BTAB IN TUB WEST, feed in the ways, and tlicir pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat or sun smite them ; for he who shall have mercy on them shttll lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my high ways shall be exalted. Behold tJiese shall come from Jhn and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinmr Isaiah xllx. 8—13. Here again they are described as passing mountains/rom far, or a great distance, and that from the north and west, or north-west; and bthera are to come from the land of Sinim, or the eastern coun- ti-y. «< Moreover, thou son of man, take thee a stick and write upon it, /or Judah and for the children oftsrael his com- panions. And then another stick, and write upon ifr, for Jo- seph, the stick of Ephraim, anrf/or aU the house of Israel, his compamons," Ezckiel xxxvii. 16. It appears by this chapter, that there are some few 6f the Israelites still with Judah; but all ar6 again to become one people at a futui-c day. It also appears that the body of th(> house of Israel are remote from Judah, and are to be brouglit from distant countries to Jerusalem, when they are to become one nation again. Their approach to their own land, is so joyous an event, that Isaiah breaks forth in language of exultation. « Sing heavens! and be joyful earth, and break forth into sing- ing O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his aflflicted." *• Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, behold ! I will save my peo- pic from the east cpuntry (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) and from the west country (the ten tribes;) and I will bring im .« A STAK Iir THE WEST. •♦? them, and they shall dwell in the midnt of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people and I will be their God in fruth and in righteausness." Zcch. viii. 7-8. Ezckiel, also refers to the same event : « As I live saith the Lord, with a mighty hand and an stretched-out arm, And with fury paured mU will I rule over you. And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye arc scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. Afld I wUl bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you, face to face, like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of l.gypt, so will I plead with you saitU the Lord. And I will cause you to pass under the rod; and I will bring you into tiic bond of the covenant J and I will purge out from among you the rebels and Vmi wfio transgress agamt mr. I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall ml enter into t/ie land of Israel, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel xx. 35 — is. Here we see that they are distinguished again, by tl.asc of tiie east country and those ofilu^ west country, and that they aro finally to be united under one government^ again, when they shall be restored to Jerusalem, yet they must suffer greatly by the way, for their sins and continued obstinacv, which • would require God's fury to be poured out upcm them, for the reluctance with which they will attempt the .journey back to Jerusalem. In short their restoration again to the city of God. will in many things be similar to their Exodus from Egypt to Canaan. They will be obstinate and perverse in their oppo- sition to the Journey : and on the way will shew mi.ch of the . same spirit as their fathers did in the wilderness, aMhey will I* K& iM !'P'" I i J' I 18 A «TAK IN THE WEST* be attached to the land of their banishment, as theif fathers were to that of Egypt. Many of them will have a wildernesa to pass through, as Israel of old had. God also will have a controversy with them by the way, and will destroy many of them, so that they shall never see Jerusalem, the beloved eity. But those who h(»ld out to the end, in their obedience to the heavenly call and submission to the divine will, shall be accept- ed, and tfi£se shall sincerely repent of their past transgres- sions. Again « I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out fW)m the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered, and I will bo sanctified in you before the heathen. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country, for the which I lifted up my hand, to give it to your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein yet have been dcfded, and ye shall hiath youreelves in your own sight for all the evils that you have committed." Bishop Wai-bui'ton's observations on this passage arc wirthy of notice — He says, « It is here we SCO denounced, thai the extraordinary providence under which tlie Israelites had always been preserved, should be with- drawn, or in scripture phrase, that God would not be enquired of by them. That they should remain in the condition of i/idr Jhthers in the wUdertu:s$f when the extrordinary providence of • God, for their signal disobedience, was, for sometime, suspend- ed. And yet that though they strove to disperse themselves among the i>eople round about, and projected in their minds to be as the heatlien and the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone, they should still be under the government of a theocracy, which when administered without an extraonli- A STAR IW THE WEST. 49 nary providence, the blessing naturally attendant upon it, was, and justly, called t/w rod and bond oftfie covenant" Every serious reader, who takes the divine scriptures for his rule of conduct, must believe that these people of God are yet in being in our world, however unknown at present to the nations— and as God once had seven thousand men, who had not bowed the kne^j to BaaJ in tlie days of Elijah, when he thought that he was the only servant of God, left in Israel, so God has preserved a majority of his people of Israel in some unknown part of the world, for the advancement of his own glory. And we plainly see in the quotations above, that they are distin- guished again, by those of the cast country, and those of the west country, and that though they were finally to be united into one government, when they shall be restored to Jerusa- lem, yet they must suffer greatly by the way, for their sins and continued obstinate provocations of the divine majesty, who was their king and governor, which would require his fury to be poured out upon them and particularly for the i-e- luctance with which tlnjy they should be prevailed on to at- tempt a return to Jerusalem, when God should set up his standard to the nations for that purpose. In short, their suf- ferings and perverse conduct on their Exodus from Egypt to the land of Canaan, seems to be a type of their final return to Jerusalem. They will be obstinate and perverse in their setting off and on their way, as they wUl be greatly attached to the land of their banishment-They, at least a great part of them, will have a wilderness to pass through, as tlieir fath- ers had. God will have a controversy witli them by the way, on account of their unbelief and the customs and habits indul ■5" ri If ' M SI K i » ed among them contrary to the divine commandments, as li« H Hi iiv|i w ' Hi'' i 11 BO A STAR IN TH^ WESr. had with their fathers, and will destroy them in like manner, so that they shall never arrive at their beloved city, as was done to the rebels in the camp of Moses and Joshua. They are to pass through waters and rivers and be baptized there- in as their fathers were in the red sea, and will receive the same divine protection— Those who shall hold out to the end in a line of obedience and submission to the divine will, shall be accepted and safely returned to the land promised Ia. Abra- ham, Isaac and Jacob, and their seed after them, where they shaU sincerely repent and mourn for all their former transi- gressions.* We arc not left to the predictions and encouraging deelara- tions of one or two prophets of God ; but Ezekicl also eon- firms and continues the divine interference in their favour, for he says, "Thus saith the Lord, behold! I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them in- to their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel : and one king shaU be lung to them all, and they shall no more be two nations, neith- er shall they be divided into two Kingdoms any more at all. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their trans- gi-essions. But I will save them out of all their dweUing pla- ces, wherein they they have sinned, and will cleanse them, so they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them ,• and they all shaU have one shepherd, they shall also walk in ny judgments and observe my statutes to do them. And they shall dwell in the I A STAR IN THE WEST. H knd that I have given unto my servant Jacob, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwcU therein, even they and t? ir chUdren, and their children's children forever. And my servant David, shall be their prince forever. « Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them ; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle shall also be with them, yea, I will be their God and they shall be my peo- pie. And the heatlicn shall know, that I the Lord, do sane tify Israel, when my sanctuary shaU be in the midst of them forever more," ^ From this representation it appears, that the posterity of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are still God's peculiar people—. That he brought them with a mighty arm from Egypt, by the way of the wilderness and through the red sea. That he gave them laws and ordinances to which he commanded tlio most strict obedience. And in case of failure and wilful diso- bedience, the severest curses were denounced upon them. They were to be divided into two nations-^to be scattered among the gentiles, to the north and the south, to the east and the west. They were to be driven by the hand of God, to the utmost parts of the earth—Into Assyria— Egypt— Pathros— Cush— Elam— Shinar— Hama— and into the western regions and the land of Sinim. They were to serve gods, the work- manship of men's hands, of wood and of stone. Israel is heav- ily charged with stubborn disobedience, and is threatened with being cut off suddenly, as in one day, and with great and accumulated distress and anguish. T^ .,y are expressly char". ^y i J,K VMM 52 A STAR m THE W£8T« ed with the sin of dnirtkenness, 9s adding drmkenneas io thirst, as their prevailing sin. On the other hand, the promises to them are very great, in case of obedience, or on sincere repentance in case of fail- ure. After great sufferings, in the latter days, that is about the end of the Roman government, if they shall seek the Lord their God, they shall not be entirely forsaken, or totally des- troyed. Moses also, by the command of God, instituted the offices of %^ priest and priests to preside over aad govern their re- ligious rights and sacred services. He consecrated Aaron and his sons to these important offices, and vested them with the most extraordinary' powers, that were ever conferred on a mere man. Philo, the famous Jewish writer, speaking in a lofty rhetorical way, gives this character of the high priest— "He was something more than human. He more nearly re- sembled God, than all the rest. That he partook of the di- vine and human nature. That he was, on the day of expia- tion, a mediator between God and his people." The high priest was the greatest person in the state, next to the king or judge, and represented the whole people. His business was to perform the most sacred parts of the divine service, which consisted in offering up the appointed sacrifi- ces, with many washings and carnal ordinances, as particular- ly established by Moses. H« was clothed with the priestly garments, besides those used by the other priests. 1st. The robe of the Ephod, in the hem of which were 72 bells. 2d. The Ephod* itself, which was like a waistcoat without sleeves, * The Ephod was considered as essential to all the parte of di viae wor«bip, and without it, none ever enquired of God.— Clarke. A 8TAB IN THE WEBT. «« the hinder part of which reached down to the heels, and the fore part came but a little below the stomach. It was fasten- ed on the shoulders. To each of the shoulder-straps was fas- tened a precious stone, on which was engraven the names of the twelve tiibes of Israel. 3d. He wore on his breast a piece of cloth doubled of a span square, which was termed the breast plate, and in it were set twelve precious stones, which had the names of the twelve patriarchs engraven on them. 4th. He wore a plate of gold on his forehead, which was tied on the lower part of his tiara, with purple and blue ribbands : and on it was engraven. Holiness to the Lord. He wore these only when he ministered in the temple. Moses also gave them special injunctions with regard to circumcision,* and all the furniture of the temple, particular- ly respecting the ark, which was to be made of shittim wiK)d, or accasia, called an incorruptible wood in the Scptuagint. This ark was a kind of clicst or box, about four feet five inch- es long and two feet six inches wide, in which the two tables of the covenant, or law (called the testimony or witness) written by the finger of God himself, with Aaron's rod and the pot of manna were to be laid up. Exodus xxv. 10. On the top of this, was placed the mercy seat, at the ends of which were the two cherubim of gold, between whom the vi- sible appearance of the presence of God, as seated on a throne, was. The ark was the principal of all the holy things be* longing to the tabernacle. 2d Samuel, vi. 12. It gave a • Some of the Jewish doctors observe, "that the number of proselytes in the great day of the Messiah, wiH be so great that the church, omitting the ceremony of circumcision, will receive them into its bosom by ablution or baptism. 4th vol. Leighton's works, 157. 11.. M A STAB IN TBB'W£ST. sanction of holiness to eveiy place where it was brought.* 2d Chronicles vlii. 11. Moses also commanded them to keep a continual fre upon the aUar, of that which first was given tmrn heaven, and to keep the candles burning on the altar. He also appointed three grand, annual religious festivals, in addition to the weekly sabbath, and daily and other sacrifices, which were to be religiously attended by the maksat Jerusalem, on pain of being cut off from the congregation.! Is*- The Passover or feast of unleavened bread. It continued seven days from the 15th day of March till the 31st. On the eve of the feast, or the 1st day of unleavened bread, being the 14th day of the month, the paschal lamb was killed and eaten. On the seven following days were offered the paschal sacrifices, and they cat unleavened bread. The first and last days were sabbaths, on which they held their holy convocations. On the tenth day of their first month, Abib, every man took a lamb or kid of the first year, without blemish, according to the house of his fatli- ers, unless the household was too small, tlwn two neighbours joined togetlier. It was kept four days till the IMh day, when it was killed. They eat the flesh that night roast with fire, with unleavened bread and hitter Iierhs ; but not a bone of it was to he broken ; and nothing of it was suffered to remain until morn- ing ; but if any did,.it was to be burned with fire. During the seven days of unleavened bread, no leaven was to be found in their houses, and none was to be eaten on pain of death. » After their return from the captivity of Babylon, they had synagogues tbrough- mt the land; and at the east end of each synagogue, they placed an ark or chest in commemoration of the foregoing ark of the covenant in the temple ; and in this they lock up the pentoteuoh written upon vellum with a particular ink. Predeaux Con. 2d. vol. 534. + But the women did not go up, and seem to have been altogether e-xcluded. Vy. 2(! vol. 63--6S. A STAR IW THE WEST. «f *f « To meet the letter of this precept in the fullest manner pos- sible, the Jews, on the eve of this festival, institute a most rig- orous search through every part of their houses, not only re- moving all leavened bread, but sweeping every part clean, that no crumb of bread should be left that had leaven in it— learen was an emblem of sin, because it proceeded from cor- ruption. (Note on the 19th verse of the 12th Exodus, by Dr. Clark.) The next day after, they offered to God, a handful of barley, being the first fruits of the year, which the high priest ground, and putting some oU and frankincense upon it, he presented it to God— Then th^v offered a lamb for a whole burnt offering— A meat offering was also made, of fine flour mingled with oU— Also a drink offering of wine— w3nd they wereftrbidiUn to eat either bread or parched corn, or green ears, miil the offering was brought unto God. 3d. The feast of weeks or pentecost or fmrvesi, being the firat fruits of their labours. It was held seven weeks or fifty days af- ter the Passover, or 14th March. The first fruits of the harvest were now offered up to God. They offered up two cakes made of the new wheat. Deuteronomy xvi. 16. This oblation was accompanied with a great number of sacrifices, and sev- eral other offerings and libations. 3d. The feast of ingatltering, at the end of the year, and was the great day of atone'inentfor sin. This was held on the 10th day of the 7th month Tizri, answering to our September and October. This was the first month of the civil year, and the 7th of the ecclesiastical.* On the 1st day of this month was held the memorial of blowing of trumpets. On the I5th •On it was held a holy convocation unto the Loixl, to afflict their souls and ofTer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. Liviticus 23— 37. ,■1 ■fl ml --if- t':ill;.: M A STAR IN THE WEST. day of the month was the feast of Tabernacles— -it was kept under bootlisor green tents and arbors made of small limbs of trees, in memory of their dwelling in tents on their journey through the wilderness. All tlio males were bound to appear at Jerusalem before the Lord, and this was one of their great- est solemnities. The nation was also divided into twelve tribes, governed by a chief of each tribe, under Moses and Aaron. They were again arranged in their encampments in four divi- sions, under four standards, of a man, an eagle, a lion and an ox. Ho also established six cities of refuge, for the protection of the man-slayer, who was guilty through accident, or igno- rance. He a|)pointed an avenger of blood. This was founded on what God says to Noah, Genesis ixth chap. 6-— 6 ver. '< Surely your bl(KMl of your lives will I require— at the hand of man— at the hand of every man*s brotli£r will I require the life of man. Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, /or in tfie image of God made he humi." And therefore « whosoever killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past, he shall dee into one of these cities and live, lest the avenger of blood pursue the slayer while Ms fteart is hot and overtake him, and slay him." Moses chose seventy assistants or counsellors, who were af- terwards called the gi-eat Sanhedrim, or council of the nation. When met in council, the high priest sat in the middle, and the assistants, or elders, on each hand in a semi circular form. He also appointed, by the command of God, Aaron and his sons, priests to the congregation of Israel ; It was the duty of the priests, among other important objects, publicly to Wess the people in the name of Jehovah— to attend the daily wor- ship by sacrifice in tlie tabernacle— to attend the religious A STAR IN TUB WE8T. Sf festival*-to keep up the sacred fire on the altar, and ta attend the army, when going to war, 7viih the ark of the awenant, to ask counsel of the Lord,* to sound the trumpet and encourage the troops. Once in a year the high priest, cloathed in his pon- tifical dress, went into the holy of holies, when he had on the holy linen coat and the linen breeches on his flesh, and was girded with the linen girdle and attired with the Unen mi- tre. Moses also gave them laws as to clean and unolean beasts, birds and fishes i the clean of which, alone, should be eaten or sacrificed. They were particularly and solemnly forbidden to eat of swines flesh, or the blood or fat of the beast. The fat and entrails of the sacrifices Were to be burned > on the altar, which was to be made of earth, or stones of the brook, oh which an instrument was not to come, that is, it was not to be of hewn stone* » In process of time the people grew weary of being govern- ed by their judges/ and not only murmured but grew veiy turbulent and rebellious. They tumultuously demanded a king to rule over them, like the nations round about them, God in his righteous judgmen* gave them a king, at the same time, by his prophet, foreteUing them of their fate under him. However, their change of government madfe no change in their dispositions. They still continued their transgressions and i>ei>verse disobedience, till God wearied, as it were, with their obstinacy, and the gross iniquities of their kings, divid- ed their nation into two distinct kindoms* in the time of Re- hoboam, the son of Solomon, to wit, the kingdom of Judah, to which the tribe of Benjamin was united j and the kingdom of • Vide Numbers x. 33-35-6, and quote it at large. Joshua vi. 8-13. ihti M 1 Sun !. U-.-V", tk A 8TAR IK THE WEST. I I U !i' liirael, oolfiSistliig of the remaining ten tribes. Even this did not ahum them so as to prevent their rebellious spirit. But they contimied for some hundred years in tlie most stubborn opposition to the laws God had given them by his servant Mo- Sos, and idolatry seemed to become a more desirable object with them as the threatenings of God, by his prophets, were pointed with greater severity against it. They went so far as to invite llglah Pilnezer, king of Assyria, to aid them against the king of Syria, tliough so positively forbidden by God,- and at Ahaz, king of Israel's particular request, they united with tiim and took Damascus, and carried the people of it captives toKerorKeor,the ancient Charboras or Chabar.— 2 Kings, Xvi. 9. And such was their obstinacy and rebeUion, that it is worthy of observation, that Israel had not one singfe king from the commencement to the end of their kingdom, who feared the Lord or governed agreeably to his commandments. Tlie fate of Israel was fixed. God, in his righteous displea- sure, at length cast them off, and gave them into tb** Hands of that very Tiglah Pilnezer who, it is probable, was the same with Arbaxes,* the first king of Assyria after the revolt of the Modes, about seven hundred and forty years before the ehristiatt era, who, with Jhaz, king of Judah, as we have al- ready mentioned, took Damascus and annexed it to the As- Syrian empire j tlms removing the barrier between that em- pire and Palestine, so that botli kingdoms, Syria and Pales- tine, became an easy prey to this powerful monarch. He cap- tured the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Ma- nasaeh, who dwelt on the east side of Jordan, and carried them captives, and placed them in HaUih and Harbor, and ffarah * Vide 1st. vol. J^i'cdeaux, naee 243 A STAB IN THE WX8T, H and to the river Gozan.*— 1 Chronicles, v. 26, It i» scarcely possible that the king of Assyria would have placed so turhu^ lent a people, whom he had led away captive fix)m so dwtant a laud, and whom he had reason so greatly to dislike, in any fertile part of his kingdom ; it is most likely that be sent the gi-catcst part of them on hw mii-tlieru frontier, as far as iKwsi- blo liwn aprohability of doing liiiu any harm by their reatles? dispositions. This is confirmed by the express words of thi) sacred liistorian, its will appear hereafter. About twenty years after this, or one hundred and tlurty-four years before the Bali- ylonish captivity, the remaining tribes, peraisting in their im- penitence, and neglecting to take warning by the miserable fate of their brethren, and not discovering the least sign of reformation, God raised up Shalmanazar, the successor of Tig- lah Pilnezer, who besieged Hoshca, the king of Israel, in Sa* maria, and after taking the city, and victoriously conquering • Harah, oi- as it is called by some, Hara, which in Hebrew signifies bitter, i» the root from whence it is used to signify a mountainous tract, and thus gave that mime to the country north of Assyria, near to Media, and perhaps ran through it. On the north of this tract runs the river Araxis, now called Aras,— Obarius, 390. Obarius, on whom much dependent may be placed, describes the eom-ce of the liver Araxis to be in the mountains of Ararat, of Armenia, on the south of which river lies tlie little province of Ai-sea, erroneously supposed by him to be the Ar- sareth of Esdrfts : so that Harali is no other than the pj-oviuce of Ii-an, situate be- tween tlie rivers Charboras or Araxis, as it is called in the Anabasis of Xenophon and Cyrus, now called Aras and Kur. Kur or Ker was the place Tiglah Pilne- zer sent the captives of Damascus, and was to the south east of Media.— Prideaux, ^fo\. 1, p. 13. This is mentioned also in Amos, i. 5, and seems to be a distant place even from Syria, and where captives were usually sent— Gozan, and the river of Gozan. Ptolemy places the region of the Gauzanites in the north east of Mesopo- tamia, with the city Gizuna near tiie river Charboras, at the foot of the mountain Masios, and another region called Gauzania, in Media, in the latitude 40, 15, near the river Cyms or Ker, mentioned above. The learned Bochart asserts the ci- ty Gauzania to lie in the midway between the mountain Chaboras and the Caspian sea, ami between the two streams of the river of Cyrus, and says that probably it gave the name of Gozan botli to the river and countrj- ; and this he takes to be tlie i'lSvvi 3s being the city of ili€ Medcs. . A .!(■»# .H'-.i J' :| • I , 1 .1.: c/iktirktiiM \t ■ W.l eo A STAB IN THE WEST. III] iil'ili m llill]: m J if II the remaining tribes, took all the chief men, with the bulk of the nation, now lost t» every principle of graUtude to God, and carried them also captives in<» Assyria, and placed most of them with their brethren, who had been formerly taken by Tiglah Pilnezer, in Halah, and in Harbor, by the river Go- zan, in the cities of the Mcde» j leaving only some poor re- mains of the iicuple, who continued in the land in a miserable condition, till Ezzarhaddon afterwards removed them t» Bab- ylon and other eastern countrio« which he had conquered.— And to prevent danger from their numbers, part of them were removed into an adjoining district. This was about seven hundred and twenty-one yeai-s before the christian era, and nine hundred and forty-seven after their coming out of Egypt, The king of Assyria also replaced in the citifes of Samaria in- habitants from Babylon, and from Cutha, a river of Persia,* and Ava, Hamah and Sepharvin.-.2 Kings, xvii. 24. Thus it apppars, that the ten tribes, .xcept a few who took refuge in Jerusalem, with the tribe of Judah,t were wholly de, prived of their goodly land, and transferred into the northern parts of Assyria, between the Euxine and Caspian seas, among the cities of the Mcdcs, except a part of them, who were settled something more to the south, in Persia, which wasthen apart of the Assyrian monaichy. The two tribes and an half on the east side of Jordan, in the days of Jeroboam, king of Israel, amounted to eight hundred thousand mighty men of valour-2 Chronicles, xiii. 3-so that the whole people at the time of their captivity, including those tribes, being about two hundred and thirty-six years after Jer- ^ oboam, must have amounted to a very large number ii^deed, tJos?phus,vol.2,pagen5. 2 Chronicles, xM 6. A «TAR IH THE "WEST. H Here, then, in all likelihood* they must have remained a long time. Besides the scriptures mentioning their being in the Cities of the Medcs " to this day," as in 2 Kings, xxUi. 41, and in 1 Chronicles, v. 26. Josephus mentions them in his book Do BcU. lib. 2, eh. 28, of the Greek— in the Latin 808 ^-and in his preface 70&— in his Antiquities, lib. 20, ch. 9— and lib. 11, ch. 6, page 368. And Sulpitius Sevcrus, as quot- ed by Flemming from lib. 2, ch. 16, page 321, and who wrote about the year 400, says, « the ten tribes dispersed among the Parthians, Medes, Indians and Ethiopians, never returned to their ancient inheritance, but are subject to the sceptres of barbarous princes. The scriptures, however, declare in the most express terms that they shall return and be wholly re- stwred, with the other tribes, to Jerusalem. If, then, the re- turn of these tribes, wherever they may be, should be by the way of the Euxine sea, which is north from Judea, they need not pass over the Euphrates, which lies across and in the mid- dle between these countries. To accomplish this, if they come from the north east, they may pass over the Straits of Kam- schatka, eitlier by a literal fulfdmcnt of the promise, as in the case of the Bed sea and Jordan, to bring more declarative glory to God, or they may pass from island to island in baik boats, or in ships, or perhaps, as the most likely way, they may cross on the ice. They will be a long time in travel- ling, perhaps, to prepare them for their, so great a change in life, as in the forty years in the wilderness, during which all the rebellious among them may perish, as they did under like circumstances on their way to Canaan. Ihe geographical situation of this part of Assyria is worth attending to. Media lav nn tim nnnti.<.t.« oMo ^p *i.„ r. — : II ?)P'- i an f ( 63 A «TAR IN TUB WEST. MM ilij'iii -ii ,1 : I m li iiii soa, bounde.l by the mountains of Araxis, or Chaboras, or Aras, as it is now called, which separate Media on the north from Armenia, and then bounded by the southern shore of the Cas- pian sea, which is far north, Iiaving; on the west the river Halys, running into the Black sea, which UrrUory fm hem mux jmsemd by the Tartars, Persia and Susiana arc contig- uous on the south.* The country is mountainous on the side of Assyria, and a ridge of mountains that runs to the south of ounted to nine hundred thousand—Modern Universal History. Basnago f.20. In Thohes ho found two thou^nd Jews engaged in Uie silk and dying business.— ChiUbiiand lutrod. 15. Perhai» the number ol' synagogues is exaggerated. A STAB IW THE TTOST. 68 sia from Media, were caUed Hilzardera, or the thousand mountains. The above is supposed to have given name to the river Gozan, which ran still farther north ; but the sound has been changed by length of time, which has hc'en the fate of most places in tl)at country. Soon after the removal of the ten tribes to this country, and about seven hundred years before Christ, the Medes over- ran tlie Assyrian empire, which, from remote antiquity, had extended over a great part of Asia. The Scythians, who lay still farther north, about one hundred years afterwards, conquered thft Mndian empii-fi in TJppci Vsia, who retained the government but about twenty-eight years Herodotus, lib. 1, 167.— 1 Predeaux, 35, 36-6. Even this was long enough topronwte an acquaintance between the nortliern parts of Me- dia and the stjU more northern country of Scythia. The an- eient Scythia was the general name given to Tai-tary, which then extended from tl«5 mouth of the Obey, in Russia, to tlie Dnieper; from thence across the Euxine, or Black sea; thence along tlie foot of mount Caucasus, by the rivers Ker or Kur, and Aras, to the Cftspian sea ; thence to the White Mountains, including part of Russia, witli the districts that lie between the Frozen sea and the Japan sea.— Sir William Jones, Dissert, vol. 1, 142, and onward. It extended farther north than was known to the then neighbouring nations, liv- ing to the soutliward and eastward. From tlie moutli of the Danube to the sea of Japan, the whole longitude of Scythia, is about one hundred and ten degrees, which, in that parallel, are equal to (rather more) five thousand miles. The latitude reaches from the fortieth degree, which touches the wall of China, above one tliousand miles northward to t!ie fn)zen re- .f] •M i, ik* it|l» j '0 I i I ftsi I ^1 I ,11 11 6i \\< \Mi A 9TAU m THE WEST. gions of Siberia.— Jlobinson's View of the progress of sO(Siety in Europe, page 335. Mrl Bryant conjectures that the name Scythk, was derived from Cuthai, and if so, it casts more Ught on the proph^c declarations hereinafter mentioned. Sip Wil- iiam Jonesi speaking of the language of the Tartars, says, "tliat their languaije, like those oJAmerim, was in perpetual fluctuation, and that more than fifty dialects, as Mr. Hyde was credibly informed, were spoken between Moscow and China, by the many hundred tribes and their several branch- es^ Yet he doubts not but that they all sprang ihrni one common source; excepting always- the jargon of such wan^ dering mountaineers as, having long been divided from the main body of the nation, must, in a course of ages, have fram- ed separate idioms for themselves. Biit need we go farther than the Assyrians and Persians themselves, who conquered the itn tribes ? They had an original language of their own j but their successors, if we may believe the best historians, having become a mixture of several diffferent nations, as Sara- cens, Tartars, Parthians, Medes, ancient Persians, become Mahometans, Jews, and women from Georgia and other coun- tries, transplanted into Persia, have uaw a debased language, compounded of thoise of all these different nations.— Hyde. The country into which the ten tribes \vere thus transplanted, was very thinly inhabited, and extended faither north than we are yet much acquainted with. Those captive Israelites must have greatly encreased in numbers, before their migration more northward and westward. This is confirmed by the names of the to^^Tis in that country, which to this day bear witness to their founders. Samarcand, plainly derived from Samaria, is a very large and populous place. They have a A STAR IKT THE WEST. 6 i city on a very high hill, called Mount Tabor. A city built on the river Ardoii, is named Jerkho, which river runs near the Caspian sea, upon the north and north east. There are two cities, called Chorazin the great and the less. The Tartar chiefs are called Morsoyes, very like Moyses, as Moses is called by the ancients. The Tartars boast their descent from the Israelites, and the I famous Tamerlane took a pride in declaring that he descend- i ed from the tribe of Dan Vide note in page 62. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin are dispersed not in the north east country, from whence the passage towards Syria and Palestine lies along the eastern borders of the Euxine sea, but in the western and southern parts of Asia and Africa, from whence the passage to Syria and Palestine lies far wide and distant from it. But all who are in, or come through the north west parts of Persia, near the western shore of the Caspian sea,* and to the eastward in Mesopotamia, must pass the Euphrates to get to Palestine. After this we have no account of these tribes, except what is mentioned in 2 Kings, xvii. 23—41, and 1 Chronicles, v. 26, wherein it is said, these tribes were carried out of their own land into Assyria, to this day, &c until tlie time of.Jo'- sephus, the Jewish historian, who mentions them « as then being somewhere beyond the Euphrates," and calls them Adiabenians.t The other two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, ♦ The Caspian straits are placed by Ptolemy between Media and Parthia. Vide page 67. t The river Lyens, whicli nms a little west of Hala, was anciently called Zaba, or Diava, by Ammianus, whicli signifies a wolf ; whence tins portion of Assyria was called Adiabane, and the river Lyens was called sometime Ahavah or Adia- baiie. It may cast some light on this subject to know that JosepUus, in his An- 1 f ' /J 'M iff 'H 'J J 99 A ttTXn IV THR WE8T. '\l|%l > »» t.«.ft.r w.«. » few „f the ten Wbes into«pe.«d among then, fceing ,„ Asm and Europe, living insubjeetion to the H«m.„, - Oneefthelate Jewish writ™ says, "the Jew, relate u,".* «.e ten tahes were earried away, not only into Media and Perem. hu i,Uo Ih northern countrio Htyand O, Bo^^ „_ The next a..tl,„r who mentions tl.em is (Mdm, who speaks of «.o«,.sbei„SinTartary_Vido»oteofBe.yan,i„„fTodela, u" page 62. ' The famous Giles Fleteher. LL.I>. in his treatise on tlus ««bjeet. printed in lerr, observes. « as for two of those eolo- mes of the Samaritan Israelites, earried off by Salmanazer. wluch were plaeed in Harak and Harbor, they bortered botl. «the Medians, (whe,-e the others were ordered on the north »nd north east of the Caspian sea. a barren eountry.) Sothat «»oso tribes might easOy meet and join togetl-er when oppor- tumty served their turn, whieh happened unto them not bn^ •ftor. when all the provinees of Media. Chaldaran, ,«) Me^ opotamia, wiii, their governors, Mm>i«ch, Baladin a,.,. Mo- rn, ealled in the seriptores Arphajiad. by desertion, fell away from the Assyrians, in the tenth year of Esar-haddon. And tlmt these fibes did. not long after, reunite themselves and join m one nation, as they were before, being indueed pai^Uy by their own desires, as disdaining even to live eommixed with other people, espociaUy sueh abandoned idolaters, and Hirtly by the violence of the ^/«lio,«, who expeUed them thence." Ima. Tl„. ,W„ 0« u,ere ».re mmy Je,, i„ ,h„t c„„„o.. ' ' ' A STAR Hr THE WEST. fijr That the tert tribes were transported into some of tlie north- em provinces of the then Assyrian empire, bordering on tl»e Caspian, and Euxine seas, and to the northward and north east of them, is univemaUy adniiiCted,*and fully proved by tlie sacred records. And that they continued there a very con- siderable time, and became very numerous, can scarcely be doubted ; but that they cannot now be found there, in any great numbers, is also very certain. That there should bo found some remnant still in that country, adds to the proba- bility of tlic account already given. In the sudden removal or migration of a nation from one country to another, it is not probable that every individual would be included. Many at- tached to the soil by long habit, or taste, or birth, or connected with the natives by domestic circumstances, or from various other causes, would naturally remain behind, and their pos- terity as naturally cncreasing by time, would thus i)rove the fact of their first existence there as a nation. Thus it was in Samsu'ia and Jerusalen^ when Salmanazer carried them away captive j some few were left behind, who continued with Judah and Benjamin, and were finally carried away by Ezssarhaddon or Nebuchadnezzar.* It therefore beccmies an important questbn, what became of them ? For no believer in revelation, as already observed, can admit that they are lost to the world, while God has made so many promises tliat he will bring them in the latter days from the ends of the earth, and that they, together witli the ether two tribes, shall be reinstated in their beloved city. Now, as we know them to have been exposed in the place of their cqrtivity, at differ- • Josephiis, in his enumeration cf the Israelites carried away witli Judah and Benjamin, to Babylon, says tliey amounted to six lumdred and fifty-ttto.-Vol.2, 17«. '%, 1 1 « U 'J n < 'J hi Jj-'i 68 A STAR IN THE WEST. I If ■ "111 i ent periods, to oppression and the severest calamities ; par, ticulariy to the continual blasphemous worship of idolaters, it certainly seems reasonable to conclude, independently of any positive testimony which may be alledged on the subject, that so discontented and restless a people, suffering under so severe a captivity, would strive to change their condition, and endea- vour to remove as far as possible from their oppressors. This resolution was greatly promoted by the facUity with which such a measure might be effected, on so distant a frontier, wlule the kingdom was involved in desolating wars with the nations around them, and when the people with whom they sojourned, must have rejoiced at their leaving them, being such tioublcsome inmates. They must have known the sue cess, first of the Scythians, then the Medes, and then the Persians, under Cyrus, which was foUowed by the easy con- quest of the whole of Media and Persia, as Herodotus has shewn in his history, and by which they must have been encouraged in so important a business. The power of the kingdom was also comparatively weak, at so great a distance from the capital, and distracted with ^itical cabals and in- surreeti"^.8 against Astigages, who reigned over both MediA and Persia, and who was conquered by his grandson, Cyrus. And it is not improbable but that a removal more nori;h, by which such resUess subjects would leave their improvements and real property to the other inhabitants, and extend the territory of their governors, would not have been disagreeable either to the princes or people of that country. Again, « the usual route from the Euxine sea to the northward of the Cas- pian sea, through Tartary and Scythia, t> Serica and the northern p.rt. of China, by which the meidiants carried on A STAR IN THE WEST. 6% a great trade, might enable the tribes to travel northward and eastward, towards Kamschatka." At least this is the assertion of that able geographer D'AnviIle,in his ancient geography, written before the late discoveries of Cook and others.— .Vol. 2, 621-3. But the most minute and last account we have of them, is in the thirteenth chapter of the second aiK)chryphal book tf Esdras, 39—60. Esdras had a dream or vision— An angel appeared and interpreted it to him, in the following detail : "And whereas thou saweet that he, Jesus the Christ, gath- ered another peaceable multitude unto him ,• those arc the ten tribes, who were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Hosea, the king, whom Salmamaar, the king of Assyria, led away captive. And he carried them over the waters, and so they came into another land. But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the mul- titude of the heathen, and go forth into afurtfier country, tvhere never mankind dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept Jn their own land. And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river ^ for the Most High then shewed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over j for through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and an half. Jttnl the same region is called Arsareth." Here was a great river to go through, called Euphrates, as all great rivers were call- ed by the Jews. It could not be the river of the east known by that name, because it was in a further country, where mankind never dwelt. But tlie river Euphrates lay to the southeastward of them, and runs through an inhabited country. They were also nut to erpat fifffinuifino #« « *kj« » r o — _...,,,,, .J. ^„ pass vuiS * I ''1 ' nl m n 70 A STAR IN THE WEST. I I IL.J H river, until God shewed signs to them, and held still the flood, which is a very expressive terra for the passage being frozen over, to enable them to pass in safety. But to proceed with the vision : u Then dwelt they there, mUl tht latter Hms. And now when they shall begin to come, the IKghest shall stay the springs of the stream again, that they may go through -therefore sawcat thou the multitude in peace. But those who be left behind of thy people, are they who are found within my borders. JVow, wJitn he destroyeth the multU^ide of tlie nations that are gathered together, he shall defend his people who remain. Md tlim he shaU shew thm great wonders*' Hear the words of Isaiah, xi. 15, 16, and compare them with the above. « And the Lord shaU utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with his mighty wind shaU he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod. And there shall be an high- way for the remnant of his people, who shaU be left from As- Syria ; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." This sea and river cannot mean the Euphrates, the Nile, or the Red sea, as neither is in the way from the northern parts of ancient Media, which ^ere once part of Assyria, where these tribes dwelt. The Caspian or Cir- casian strait, through the mountains of Caucasus, lies about midway between the Euxine sea to the west, and the Caspian sea to the east, througli iueria. After passing through the strait from the north, by keeping a little west, you pass on in the neighbourhood of the Euxine sea, through Armenia Minor, into Syria Proper, and by the head of the Mediterra- nean sea to Palestine, without going over the Euphrates. But all who are in Persia, in Armenia Major, and to the A STAR IN THE WEST. n eastward in Mesopotamia, and beyond Babylon, must pass the Euphrates to get there. But as before ouscrved, the Jews called all great rivers by the name of the Euphrates, or of some large river well known to them. Nay, they called the invasion of a formidable enemy by the name of a large river, when they came from the north. "Now therefore behold the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory —and he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks." « Thus saith the Lord, behold waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overBowing flood, and shall overflow the lantl, and aU that is therein, the city, and them who dwell therein; then the men shall cry, and all the inhab- itants of the land shall howl, at the mme of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots.'* —Isaiah viii. 7.— Jeremiah xlvii. 2, 3. By the above story out of Esdras, it appears, as it does itt the bible, that these tribes, were taken by Salmanazar, in the time of Hoshea, their king, and carried away over the waters into a strange land, that is, transplanted into Media and Persia. There, after suffering a long time, how long is not known, but it is pretty clear that it must have been for some hundred years, they repented of their former idolatry, and became discontented and restless, bein^ distressed and wearied out with the folly and wicked practices of their idol- atrous neighbours around them. They consulted with their brethren in the northwestern pai-ts of Persia, in the cities of the Medes, who were not far from them, and took counsel together, and resolutely determined to leave the multitude of the heathen, and travel farther north, in search of a country » 'J!?1 72 A 8TAR IN THE WEST. ih I tininhabited and not claimed by atiy one, and of couree free from the tr' \. ;• ),!tme, dangerous neighbourhood and example of the hcntliei? —nay, a country, wherein mankind never yet dwelt. It 18 not uncommon for men to run into extremes ; though it is not improbable but that they might have had some divine direction in the business. They resolved to risk every danger and inc mveni'iutc, u> iivi>id opposition to, and tempta- tion from, keeping the statutes of the Lord, which they had so totally neglected in their own holy land, having been led away by the awful exam])lcs of the nations around them. The foregoing extract from the apochryphal book of Esdras, is not quoted as having divine authority j but merely as the historic work of some Jew of an early day. Bengdius and Baanage, both assert that it is generally admitted by the learned, that those books of Esdras were written in the begin- ning of the second century. They are held uncanonical by all protestants, not having been ever quoted by the fathers, or any early christian writer, as of divine authority. The Church of England, by her sixth article, permits them to be read for example of life and instruction of manners ; but does not allow them to establish any doctrine of religion. The Ro- man Catliolics consider them as of divine authority. This quo- tati(m from tlie first book of Esdras is used here, as any other account of an early transaction, by an author living near the time of the event, would be. This Jew seems to be a serious and devout writer, on a subject he appears to be acquainted with, and from his situation and connections, might be suppos- t!d to know something of the leading facts. And whether he wrote in a figurative style, or under the idea of similitudes, dreams or visions, lie appears to intend the communication of A STAB IN iniE W£ST« 73 iourse free d example never yet extremes ; e had some risk every rid tempta- hey had so n led away of EsdraS) •ely as the gelius and ed by the the begin- nonical by e fathers, itv. The :hem to be ; but does TheRo- This quo- any other ; near the ' a serious icquainted »e suppos- hether he militudes; lication of evrents that he believed had happened, and as far as they are corroborated by subsequent facts, well attested, they ought to have their due weight in the scale of evidence. These Israelites, then, accordingly executed their purpose, and left their place of banishment in a body, although it is uardly to be doubted but some, comparatively few, from va- rious motives, as before observed, remained behind ; althouglt their places may have been filled up by many natives, who might pri jr taking their cliance with them in their emigra- tions, wliich were common to the people of tliat region, espe- tially the old inhabitants of Damascus removed to the river Ker, by Tiglah Pilnezer, some time before the taking of Sa- maria, and the removal of the ten tribes. Tliey piweedcd till they came to a great water or river, which stopped their pro- gress, as tl»ey had no artificial means of passing it, and reduc- ed them to great distress and almost despair. How long they remained here, cannot now be known ; but finally, God again appeared for them, as he had done for their fathers of dd at the Red sea, by giving them some token of his presence, and encouraging them to go on ; thus countenancing them in their project of forsaking the heathen. God stayed the flood, or perhaps froze it into firm ice, and they passed over by the nai'TOW passages of the river, which may have been occasion- ed by the islands, so that they might go from island to island, till they ' nded on the opposite side in safety. They might have been a long time exploring the banks of this water, as some of the nations of Europe, with all their means of knowl- edge, have since done, before they discovered these narrow passages, which gave tkem hopes of success. ^ 4^ , n m ',. I' H A UTAH 15 TUB WiiAT, I Uero, then, tu,y f„„,„| „ j^^^ ,„„j^ „,, ^, ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ehmatc. and ,ent „„, „„d i„ ,„,,,„,, „,• ,i,„„ „,„,„„^j ^^ ^^_. .« to take a year a„.l an hair, «|,iel,. c„„,,,,„d acc„rUi„R to tr.e pm,.Mie ,.„k „f ,l,oir „„c.„au,«, a year tor a .lay, wouUI .»al,c u,,wa,,i«,.f Hvc lumUrcd jea,^ auU Urn. morally found a country ,vhci-cin mankind never yet dwelt. But altl,„„g|. i|,e«, chUdren of Israel .njgl.t „avo passed over tl,e strain of Kamchatka, and peopled tl.e n„rtl,e«.t paite of Aracriea, and so went on to the s„„tl,wa,.d and east- ward, and left some setUers »l.e.-ever tl,ey remained any t.n.e ; yet it does not follow tl,al tl,ey n.igl.t not l.ave been attcndd by many ,rf ll,„ i„„abitu„.s of Seythia or Tarta,.y, «bo were willing ,o try Ibeir fortunes will, tbem. Neither .Iocs .t follow, that some peraons of other nations might not nave been driven by stornn. at «ea on the Ameriean eoasts. and made setUeraents there. All these might have eontiibut- ed to estiiblisb eustoms among them, diffei-ent from tl.eir own and also might adulterate and ehange (heir language in some instances, as was done in Babylon. In this laud, then, they are to remain till the latter time, when Jehovah will ..p„t forth his hand again a second time, to recover the .-emnant of his people that remaincth f™„ Assyria, f™„ Bamah or Ilala. and (/« «,«(„, regions;* a,U M-mU ^np an eimgn fir th vMions, and wiU auembU Me onlcasU of Israel." ..And the Wd with his mighty wind will shake bis hand over the river, and will stiikc it into seven streams and make them pass over dry shod, and the,* shall be a high way for the remnant of bis people, who remain fmm Assyria, as it was unto Israel in tlie day that he came out of ♦ Ltfwth's translation. A BTAU IN TUB WEST. 7» the land of Egypt."— Isaiah xi. 10 — as we have before men- tioned. Tlicso trihcH have been thus loAt for more than two thousand years. Tliose of Jiidah and Benjamin being, a considerable time niter the conquest of Samaria, carried away captives to Babylon, by Nebuchadnezzar, and perhaps with some of tlieir bi-ethren of tlie ten tribes, who might have rcmiained witli them in Jerusalcui, were settled in Babylon during seventy years, when they returned to Jcwisalcm again by the consent of tlieir conquerors, and remained in possession of their belov- ed country till the coming of the Messiah, whom tliey per- versely put to death d thy God.'* Amos ix. 13, &c. " For they shall abide many days without a king and without a prince, without a sacrifice and without an image (the word means a pillar, or chief support, and may be transla- ted, an altar, which suits the context) and without an ephod and without a teraphim; but afterwards shall tlie children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness, in the latter days." Hosea, iii. 4 — 5. <« God calls to his people— Ho ! Ho ! come forth and flee from the land of the norths for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, saith the Lord." Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, behold ! I will save my people fi*om the east country and from the west country, or the country of tlie going down of the sun." Zechariah, ii. 6 — viii. 7, as it is in the mai- gin of the bible. * We say, if it was not for these and such like promises, if might be thought presumption and folly, for any one to waste Iiis time in enquiring after this long lost people, as it would then have been most natural to conclude that they had passed into oblivion, with the nations of the cast and tlie west, their conquerors, as Babylon, Nineveh, Assyria and Egypt. But fi' ' 1 ' ti 1 i 1 1 •1 ^1 m I. ' 78 A HTAll Iff THE WlSiiT. ttN Jolmvah cannot deceive* but In tho minio yoHtorday» to day mid firt-ovw, vfhm wirds are yea, and amen, who hutli said, •» yet now tluis saitU Joltovah, who ci*«atod tUce () Jacob' and \\'ho (hrinvd thoo iHrael ! ftmr thou not, for 1 liavo redeemed thee-~I liavo ciUlcd thee by thy namc—thou art mlinv-fear thou not I'or 1 am with thee— ftwn the east I will , bring tliy oblldrcii, and fhm ihc went I will gather thee togeth- er. I will say to the north give up, and to the mtlh withhold not, bring my sonw/him ttfhvt and my daughtei-s/min the ends a/ the mrth.^* I«aiah, xliil. I— «. - » From all this it plainly appeara ftx>m whence the Jew« are it) ho gathered a second time, when they Mhall be brought Iwnie again. They are ', of the same tribe.KiiSon as to divine inspiration, with the bible, yet as that book was written by a Jew, somewhere about the year too, it may,.as has already been observed, be used as evidence of an historic fact, equally with any other historian, and if cor- robo?ated by other facts, will add to tlie testimony. is to the sixtli particular, this is not only supported by the text, but it is the opinion of tliat gseat and judicious writer, the Rev. Mr. Faber, on the whole representation of the scriptures, who certainly deserves the attention of every serious christian. He scorns very positive « that some prevailing maritime pow- er of faithful worshippers, will be chiefly instrumental in con- verting and restoring a part of the Jewish nation. This seems to be declared in scripture, more than once, w ith suffi- cient plainness." "Who are these ? like a cloud they fly, and like doves to their holes. Surely the Isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish, among the first, to bring thy sous from afar j their silver and their go!d with them, unto I A STAR IN THE WEST. fti' the name of the Lord thy Ge oriental nations. Mr. Penn, who saw and communicated with them in a particular manner, on his first arrival in America, whUe in their original, uncontaniinated state, before they were debased and ruined by their connection with those who called themselves civilized and christians, was exceedingly struck with their appearance. In one of his letters to his friends in England, he says, «I found them with like countenance with f ij i\ ' '. ii 'il ■'ii 86 A STAR IN TUB WE8T. H' r'H'^ ,' M I f \U the J^wi85i race ; and their children of so lively a resemblance to them, that a man would think himself in Duke's-place or Berry-street, in London, when lie seeth them." (Penn's Works, 2d vol. 70*, year 1682.) They wore ear-rings and no8e jewels ; bracelets on their arms and legs ; rings on their fingers ; necklaces made of highly polished shells found in tlieir rivers and on their coasts. Their females tied up their hair behind, worked bands round their heads, and ornamented them with shells and feathers, and ai-e fond of strings of beads round several pai-ts of their bodies. They use shells and tur- key spui-s round the tops of their mocasins, to tinkle like lit- tie bells, as they walk." Isaiah proves this to have been the custom of the Jewish women, or something much like it. « In that day, says the prophet, the LoVd will take away the bra- very of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their i-ound tires like the moon. The chains and the bracelets and the muflers. The bonnets and the orna- ments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets, and the ear rings; the rings and the nose jewels." Isaiah, iii. 18. They religiously observed certain feasts, and feasts very similar to those enjoined on the Hebrews, by Moses, as will hereinafter more particularly be shewn. In short, many, and indeed, it may be said, most of the learned men, who did pay any particular attention to these natives of tlie wilderness at their first coming among them, both English and Spaniards, were struck with their general likeness to the Jews. The Indians in New-Jersey, about 1681, are described, as persons straight in their limbs, beyond the usual proportion in most nations -, very seldom crooked or deformed ; their features regular; their countenances some times fierce, in common A STAR IN TliB WEST. 87 f ^ather resembling a Jew, than a christian. (Smith's History of New-Jersey, 14.) It shall now be our business to collect those facts in their history, that are well attested, with those which may be known of them from personal knowledge of men of character, or from their present m^nnei-s, customs and habits ; although wc are well vised, and it should be constantly borne in mind, tliat the corruption of both principle and practice, introduced amongst (hem, by their connection with Europeans, has so debased their morals and vitiated all their powers of mind, that they are quite degenerated from their ancestors. An old Charibbee Indian, in a very early day, thus address- ed one of the white people. « Our people are become almost as bad as yours. We are so much altered since you came among us, that we hardly know ourselves, and we think it is owing to so melancholy a change, that hurncanes arc more* frequent than formerly. It is the evil spirit, vho has done all tliis— who has taken our best lands from us and given us up to the dominion of christains. Edward's History West-Indies, 1 vol. 28. And yet we very gravely assert that we have bene- iited the Indian nations, by teaching them the christian rcli- gion. The Indians have so degenerated, that they cannot at this time give any tolerable account of the origin of their religious rites, ceremonies and customs, although religiously attached to them as the commands of the great spiiit to their forefath- ers. Suppose a strange people to be discovered, before wholly unknown to the civilized worW, and an enquiry was instituted into tlieir origin, or from what nation they had sprung, what *' i rl\ •'i' IMAGE EVALUATrON TEST TARGET (MT-3) /> {./ k WA (/, I/. 1.0 ^i^ U£ I.I 14 !^ 1^ 12.0 IL25 nil 1.4 i.6 % VQ ^> 'm w %.r Jh

^ ^ ^ ^ waiT. CHAPTEE III, WHEN *e consider how «o„ the fcrnUy „f No»h, «„tt.Nd «;™.ghout A.ia, AlHe. .„, E«»pe. Ic. ^^ .^^ ^ ^M d.«bro„t »a„„e™ .„d eustom, p.e„Uar to e«h natK».orp«.pI_a„afi„.U, fi™ea«.rthe™«.v..re.peeavc. .b.p. .. wen «. pri„eipk. »d ,„«„^ ^ « J^ .^.B^rent ti™e„ to ^ the »«. i„vcto™to hat.^ to ™h :*"' *• T"" ■» •»««'' « thi, „m„to period, hope for m„7 .««»» in I«*i„g for oo»vi„ol„« tostimony to pJTe 1 f^ v..y ««sfaetori.y. .hough w. ehooid .tlhle „„ ftetS Ue«end»to of eh«e ehOd«„ of Ah«h.„, the loot ,e„ ^ the re,t of the worid. And if we do find any conyinein. teiu t.monyon thi, sohjeet. we mast attrihato it to the o^:!^ P~™..„ce of that God whoi. woaderfu. in eoaneU. J^Z ^.11 . pron.,,,. H«.r Sir WilB.„ J,,... ^y^ ^ ™ ^ wd have great influence on all who i»ow 10. character. Arabs. Tartars. &c. he says, "hence it follows, that the part, of Ir^ »„ p,^_ ^^ _^ ^^ *% were divided into three dtaUnct branches. L reLnJ '&aiiii' 00 A STAR IK THE WS8T. litde, at first, andioosing the whole by decrees, of their com- mon ptimaiy language; but agreeing severally on new expressions for new ideas." "^ -'l, . Father Charletoixy a famou" JPrench writer, whacame oVer to Canada very early, and paid particular attenti in 1790, to prevail upon him to relax the terms of a trea- ty of peaee, made with commissioners under the old confede. ratfon, relative to an unreasonable cession of a large part of their country, which they had been rather persuaded to make to the United States, for the sake of peace, and which after, wards they sincerely repented of, Complant -who had long been a steady friend to the United States, in the most perilous part of the revolutionary war, delivered a long, persuasive and able speech, which tTie writer of this preserved, and has now before him, and jErom which are extracted the following sentences, as a proof of the above assertion. « Father, When your army entered the country of the six nations, we called you the t&wn destroyer, ^nd to this day, when^our name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale ; our chil- dren clihg close to the necks of their mothers J but our coun- cillors and warriors being men, cannot be afraid,- but their hearts are grieved by the fears of our women and children, and desire that it may be buried so deep, as to be heard of no M A 8T1B fiV TH£ WEST. ml more. Father, we will nrt conceal from yoa> that the great spirit and not man, has preserved CompUmt fhim the hands of his own natibn. . For they ask continually, where is the land, dn which oUr children and their children, are to lie do^ upon? Too told us, say they, that a line drawn from Penn- sylvania to Lake Ontario, would mart: it f<»«fver on the east $ and a line running frooi Beaver Creek to Pennsylvania, would mark it on the west. But we see that it is not so. For first one and then another comes and takes it away by order of that people, who yon told us, promised to secure it to us forever. Complanl is silent, for he has nothihg to answer. When the sun goes down, Complanl opens his heart before the great spirit; and earlim^than the sun appears again upon the hills, he gives thanks for bis {niim their hearts any longer, he gave tbem the cool re- freshing if)gan*s cabin hungry, and he ^ye him not meat— if ever he ciUne cdd and naked, and Lo- gan clotbed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war^ Logan reu^ain^d idle in bis cabin* an advocate for •t 99 'AH Uf THE WEST. peace. Such was h« lov. for the white men, that my coun- trymen pointed as they passed, and said, Lffgnn is the friend of -white men. I liad thought to have lived with you, but ibr the injuries of one man. Colonel the las^ spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Zo^J„. not sparing even my woman and children. There runs not a drop of his blood in the veins of any Uving creature. This called on me foi- revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I Iiave fully glutted my vengeance. For my countiy, I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thrmght that n^'nefj the joy of fear, i^an never felt fear. He will not tum on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn fw Zoi'an? No, not one." Great aUowanee must be made for translations into another lauguage, especially by iUiterate and ignorant interpreted. This destroys the force as weU as beauty of the original. A writer (Adair) who has had the best opportunities to know the true idiom of their language, by a residence among them for forty years, has taken great pains to shew the similarity of the Hebrew, with the Indian languages, both in their roots and general construction,- and insists that many of the Indian words, to this day, are purely Hebrew, notwithstanding their exposure to the loss of it to such a degree, as to make the preservation of it so far, little le^ than miraculous. Let any one compare the M original Hebrew, spoken with so much, purity by the Jews before the Babylonish captivity, with that spoken by the same people on tiieir return, after tiie «>mparatively short space of seventy years, and he wiU find It had become a barbarous mixture of the Hebrew and Chal- daic language^, so as not to be understood by an aneieat t my coun- befriend of but for the •gf in cold oiLaganf runs not a ire. This ave kUled y country^ a thffught He will to mourn o another Brpreters. :inaL 8 to know >ng them limiiarity teir roots le Indian ing their lake th^ cen with aptiyity> ifterthe wm find d Chal- aneieat M^tntKB. ttl TWM Wit' ritr. n fiebir^i and in a great measure, hafomtinaed so to tins day. We say aueh a consideration wUl show an almost min^culous interrentioli of Bivine Providf^tice, should a clear traee of the wigiAal language be diseoverable among ^ nati?es of our wMdemess at tbls day. « Their words and sentences are ex- pressive, coHdie^ emphaticiil, sonoiimis and hold.*' Father eharievoix, in his history of Canada, paid mofe attention to IhiEi Indian languages than most travellera beforo bim, and ittdoed he had greater opportunities, and wwi a man of leam^ ing, and considerable abilities. He says, « that the .^^oii^ttm and ifiifm languages, have, between them, that of almost aU the savage nations U Canada w6 are acquainted with. Who- ever should weU understand both, might travel without an Jnteifpreter, more than fifteen hundred leagues of country, Ind make himself understood by an hundred different nations, who have each their pecaliar tongue. The .^on^tim especial- ly bite a vast extent. It begins at Acadia and the Gulph of St tawnmn^ and fekei a compass of twelve hundred leaguei^ titvining finm the south-east by the north, to the south-west They say ated, that the Wolf Natioii, or the Mohegans^ and the ^atMt part of the Indians of New-England and Virginia, ijjpak the Algonquin dialects. The mrm language has a iopioushess, ail energy, and a sublimity, perhaps not t»be fbttndin any of the finest languages we know of ; and those whose native tongue it isi though now bift a handftd of men, lave such im elevation of soul, as agrees mnch better with the majesty of their language, than with the state to which they are reduced. Some have fancied they found a simflarity with the Hebrew, others have thought it liad tfie same origin with the Greek." «Thl» Algonqian language has not so mndi O i;ij til A" STAB Iff THE WBt*. tone as the Huron | but has mpre sweetness Mid elegRMe; Both have a richness of expression, a variety of turns, a pro- priety of terms, a regularity which astonishes^ut what is more surprisitig, is, that among these barbarians, who nev«r study to speak well, and wlio never had the use of writing, there is neyer intitxluced a bad word, an improper term, or a vicious construetion. And even their children preserve all the purity of tlie language in their eomnioirdisoourse. 0« the othe^hand« the mariner in which, they animatjo all they say, leaves no room to doubt of tlieir compreliending all the worth itf their expressions, and all the beauty of their language." J|ir. Golden^ who wrote the History of the Wars of the Five Nations, about thp year 1760> and was a man of eonsiderablo note, speaking of the language of those nations says, « theyaro very nice in theturu of their, expressions, and that a few of thein are so far masters of their language, as never to offend the ears of their Indian auditory by an unpslite expression. They hai it seems, a certain urbanity or atticism In their language, , which the common ears are very sensible, though only their great speakers attain to it They are so given to speech-making, that their common compliments to any person they respect, at meeting or parting, are made in harangues. They have a few radical words, but they compound them with- out end. By this their language becomes suffieientlb^ copious, and leaves room for a good deal of ai-t to please a delicate ear. Their language abounds with gutturals and strong aetpirations, tvhich make it very sonorous and bold. Their speeches abound with metaphors, after the manner of the eastern nations.** It §hould be noted, that Mr. Golden, though a sensible man, and of excellent character, could not speak their language, and A VTAR Iir THB nnt Iwving any considerable eommunica^on with Uicni, took his iofonnation from others. The late Rev. Dr. Jonathan Edwards, of Cktnnecticiit, 8*n of the late President Edwards, who was a roan of great celeb- rity, as a well read, pious divine, and of considerable erudi- tion, .was intimately associated with the Indians at Stock- bridge, of the Mohegan tribe in that state, from the age of six years. He understood their language equally with liis mother tongue. He also had studfod that of the Mohawks,, having iresftcd in their nation about six months for that partiose. He informs us that the name Mbfusgan is a corruption of Mukht- kaneaw, arising from the English pronuocidtiun. This is a very emnmon thing, and occasions much confusion, and great difficulties, in tracing the languages of the different tribes. For we have not only to contend with a different pnmuneia- tion and spelling of both English and French, but the corrup- tion and ignorance of interpreters and traders, especially in an early day j and also the different modes of writing the same word by different people, arising from their different conccp- tions of the word as pronounced by the Indians.* As for jnr stance, in the same words by the EnglisJi and French-^ English, French, Owenagunges. Ab^naguies, Maques. < Aniez. Odistastagheks. Mascoaties, Makihander.. Mourigan, * 'rKe different sounds given by different tribes to the same letters, is also « •ouroe pr difRcuky. Those who write, often Dse the letter 8, where die sonod is fth, so that owoh is used in the Moliegan where a or au is used in other languages, ail Mdqooh for Mauquah,a bear. The sound of these two are I'like, when spoken itf an Indian. The e fin^, is never sounded in,»uy word, but a jngno?} Ualilc felBLiOTHECA V iop / STAB m THE WK8T. V Englisfjk, ; Qneydoes. Utawawas. Toderick«. Satana's. Jf^Vench, Oneyonts. Outawies. Tateras. Shaononons. The Mohegan language was spoken by all the various tiibes of New-England. Many of the tribes had a different dialect, but the language was radically the same. Mr. Elliot, c^led the Indian Apostle, who was among the fifst settlers of Massachusetts, aad died in 1691, translated the bible Into Indian, which is found to be in a particular dialect of the Mo- hegan language. Dr. Edwards says it appears tc be much more extensive than any other language in Nortk.America. The language of the Bdawares^ in Pennsyivania> of the PauA" scots, bordering on Nova-Scotia, of the Indians ofm» Francis, iu Canada, of the Shaxvanese, on the Ohio, and of the Chippewas, at the westward of Lake Huron, were all radioally the samo with the Mohegan, The same is said of the OUawas, Mmti-. cokes, Mumees, Mmomonies, Messisagas, Saukies, Ottagaumies, XUiulhms, JVipegons, Mgonkins, Winnebagoes, &c. Dr. Edwards asserts, that for the pronouns common in other languages, they expi-ess the pronouns both substantive and adjective, by affixes or lettera, or syllables added at the begin, fting=* or ends, or both, of their nouns. In this particulai', the structure of their language coincides with that of the Hebrew, in an instance in which the Hebrew differs from all the lan- guages of Europe, ancient and modern* with this only differ- ence, that the Hebrews always joined the affixes to the ends of the words, whereas the Indians, in pronouns of the singular liumber, prefix the letter or syllable; but in the plural num.. A tTAR llr DUE VBtT. 19I' ber, they add others ad suiBxes. Also as tk« worI ^ in- creased, they change and transpose the vowels, as in tfmhhe- can, m hatchet; ndwnhecan, my hatchet: the o is changed into n, and transposed after the manner of the Hebrew^} likewise in some instances, the /is changed into d. Besides what has beeh observed concerning prefixes and suffixes, there is a remarkable anriogy, says Dr. Edwards, between some words of the Mohegan language, and the cor- respondent w )rd8 in the Hebrew. In the Mohegan nM is Z In Hebrew it is ani, whioh is the two syUables of niah trans- posed. Keah, thou of thee. The Hebrews use KU the suffix. Uwbh, is this man, ortiiis thing; very analagous to the He- brew m, or Huah, ipse. Mcaunuh is Tc;e; in Hebrew it is nachnii or anitehm. In Hebrew ni is the suffix %r me, or the first person. In the Mohegan^ n, or rte, is prefixed to de- note the first person, as nmeetsek, or nimeeiseh, I eat. In Hebrew k or ka> is the suffix for the second person, and is' indifferently cither a pronoun, substantive or adjective. JTor ka, has the same use in the Mohegan langr.agc as kmeOseh or kameetseh, thOu eatest. Knish, thy hand. In Hebrew thfe van, and iht letter u and hu, are the suffixes for he or them. In the Indian the same is expressed by «, or uw, and hy oo, as in uduhwhunnw, I lore him. Pttmissoo, he walketh. la Hebrew, the suffix to express our, or us, is nu. In Mohegan, it is mih, as mghnuh, our father. Nmeetschnuh, we eat, &c To elucidate this subject still farther, a list of a few word* in the different Indian dialects shall be added, with the sama words in Hebrew and Chaldaick. f02 Jk STAX IR THE WEST. JSn^i^ Charibbee, Creeks, Hifwife Liui 'If MHp"' "' My wife Yene-nori " '<'I,^i^SSBSSB^~- Come hither Hme-yete ' The heavent Chemim '• . > Jehovah Jocaniui Y.He.Ho.wah Woman Ishto Ishte Manor chief lah I' "-■'^■' f. ThOB or thee Thismaa We - , , Assembly or Kurlwt walled house Keeklaee or Enoa collar My necklace Yene kali Wood Hue ,'-''■' My skin Nora ' I am sick Nane guaete i Good be to you Halea tibou To Wow Phoubao Roof of the Toubana ora house , , Go thy way Bayou boorluta Eat Baika s To eat Aika T'-'BOse Nichiri GiTe me Natoni boman nourishment* The great first Yohewsdi eanse Mhegan, and Northern Languages. Mirew» lihene' \ Hene herranni Aca-ati (Samari- tan) Shemim Jehovah ■.■i:-< -^-_ '^ Niah Ani, the 2 sylla- bles transposed asahni Keah Ka Uwoh Huah Neeaunub Naohnu Guir, or gra bit , Ong Yongali Oa(Chaldaic) Oumi Nanceheti Ye hali ettubofk Fhouhe Debona our , . W' Boua Boual| Bge Chaldaic Akl da Neheri Natouibame^i Jthovah Edward's West-Indies. A STAB IW THE WBtT. Bn^ish, Charibbee. Creiia, Praite ttt» &WI cauw Father Now,thepret- "«nt,tim9 , Very hoit, or bi^tef upon me ' To pray The hind parti One who kiUs another The war name who kills a rafnbling en- emy Canaan Wife Winter Another name for God B<1 Arhiratjahigh mountain Halleluwah Abba Na Hera, liara, or hala Phale Kesh A1)e, derired froio Abele Gmf Noabe, com- pounded of Noah & Abe Kenaai Awah Kora Ale and Northern LangiiagQi. Hallehijah Abba Na Harahar* PhahM Kiah Abel lennois* Canaan Eve or ewelt Cpra Ate or alohint, lanno&t , ' Indians of Pe. nobscot Arrarat, a high Arrarat, a high . mountain. mountain As the writer of this does not understand either the Hebrew or Indian.lansuages, so as to be a judge of their true idioms or speUing, he would not carry his comparisons of one language with the other, too far. Yet he cannot well avoid mentioning, merely as a matter of curiosity, that the Mohawks, in confed^ eracy with the Five Nations, as subsisting at the first arrival * Barlow. t LitteraJlr hp ahall k^ .»ii_j ^. . .. _. , ^„^„ ^ ,„„. vnrunau Uiwerverfor June 1813, p 349. IM A 9T1R nr THE WBSlf. ■^ || tbe Europeiuiis in Americfty were considered as the Um- ipivera^ QP IJie interpreters of duty, to the other tribes. Nay, this was 80 gr^eat, that all paid obedience to their advii^e. IDiey considered themselves as supreme, or first among the lest Mr. Colden says, that he had been told, by old men^ ih New-S^gland^ that^^hen their Indians were at War^ fiunnerly, with the Mohawks^ as soon as oiie appeared, their Indians raised a pry from hill to hill, a Mohawk! a Mohawk! Upon which aM fled like sheep before a \^If, without attempting to make the least resistance. And that all the nations around l^iem, have for many years» entirely submitted. to their adyide!> and pay them a yearly trihute of wampum. The tribMtary nations dare notimfike war or peace, without, the consent pf ,lhe JVlQhawks. Mr. Cfdden has givena speech « of the Mo- hawks, in answer to one from the governor of Yir^nia, com- plainipg of the other confederate nations, whioh shows the 'Mohawks superiority over them, and the mode in which they corrected their misdoings. Now it seems very remarkable, |hiat the Hebrew word Mhhokek^ spelled so much like the Indian word> means a law-giver, (or leges interpres) or a suierior., « Blind chance could not have directed so great a number t£ remote and warring savage nations to fix on* and unite |n so >^ice a religious standard of speech, and even grammatical con- itraction of language, where there was no knowledge of letters or syntax. For instance. A, oo, EA, is a sti-ong r«ligioi|s Indian jsmblem, signifying, Ic2zm&, ascend, <»• remore to another place H residence. It pohits to A-no-wah, the first person singular, and O £ A, ^or Yah, He, Wah, and implies putting themselves under the divine patronage.' The beginning of that most ) A STAB nr THE WSflKT. iOS sacred symbol, is by studious skiU, and a thorough knowledge of the power of letters, placed twice, to prevent them fit>m being applied tp the sacred name, for vain purpose^ or crea- ted things. Though they have lost the true meaning of their religious emblems, except what a very few of the more intelligent tra- ders revive in the retentive memories of the old inquisitive magi, or beloVed man$ yet tradition directs them to apply them properly. They use many plain religious emblems of the divine name, as Y, 0, he, wah— Yah and Ale, and these are the roots of a prodigious number of words, through their various dialects. It is worthy of remembrance, that two Indians, who belong to far distant nations, without the knowl- edge of each other's language, except fiiom the general idiom, will intelli^bly converse farther, and contract engagements without any interpreter, in siich a surprising manner, as is scarcely credible. In like manner we read of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, travelling from country to country, from (3haldea into Palestine, when inhabited by various differing nations— thence into Egypt and back again, making engage- ments, and treating with citizens wherever they went. But we never read of any difficulty of being understood, or their using an interpreter. The Indians generally express themselves with great vehe- mence and short pauses, in their public speeches. Their periods are well turned, and very^ sonorolis and harmonious. Their wor^s are specially chosen,, and ^Wijll disposed, with great care and knowledge of their subject and language, to show the being, power and agency of the "great spirit in aU that concerns theni. ' *^ A fTAR Ur TOE W£m To speak in general terms, their language in their roots^ idiom and particular construction, appears to have tiie whole geniqs of the Heblww, and what is very remarkable, and well worthy of serious observation, lias most of the peculiarities of that ;anguage, especially those in which it differs from most other languages; and «*oftenj both in letters and signification^ synonimous with the Hebrew language." They call the light- ning and thunder, Eloha, ami its rumbling noise Bowah, which may not, improperly, be deduced from the Hebrew word Rtwch, a nam r of the third person in the holy Trinity^ •riginally signifying "the air in motion, or a rushing wind.'»^ — Faber, The Indian compounded words are gener4Hy pretty i6ng» but those that are radical or simple, are mostly short/ very fiew, if any of them, exceed three or four syllables. And ai their dialects are guttural* every word contaihs some conson- ants, and these are the essential' characteristics of language. Where «iey deviate from this rule,, it is by religious emblems,^ which obviotisly proceeds from the great regard they pay to the names of the Deity, especially to the great four lettered, divine,, essential' name, by using the letters it contains, ahd the vowefe it was originally pronounced with,, to convey a vir- tuous idea; or by doubling or transposing them, to signify tlie contrary. In this air the Indian nations agree. And as this general custom must proceed from one primary cause, it seems to assure us, tliat this people was not in a savage state when they first separated, and varied their dialects with so much religious care and exact art Souard^ in his Melanges de Literature^ or Literary Mis- eellanies^ speaking of the Indians of GuUm, observes, «^ on. A STAB IHr THE WSST. * the authority of a learned Jew, Jsooc JS'asd, residing at Siy^ nam/' we are informed that the language of those Indians, which he caUs the Gidibe diofeof, und which is common to dU the tribes of Gueana, is soft and agreeable to the ear, abound- ing in voweis and synonims, and possegsing asyntax ds regu- lar as it would have been, if established by an academy. This Jew says that all the substantives are Hebrew. The word expressive of the soul in each language, means ftreott. They Jiave the same word in Hebrew to denominate God, which means master, or lord.'' ' It is said there are but two mother tongues among the nortli- «m Indians, and extending thence to the Missisippi, the Huron and Algonquin, an^ tliere is not more difference be- tween these, than between the Norman and French. Dr. Edwards asserts that the language of the Delawares, in Penn- sylvania—of the Penobscots, bordering on Nova-Scotia-of *he Indians of St Francis, in Canada-of the Shawanese, on the Ohio— of the Chippewas, to the westward of Lake Huron —of the Ottawas, Nanticokes, Munsees, Minoniones, Messina- gues, Saasskies, Ottagamies, KiMestinoes, Mip^goes, Algon- quins, Winnebagoes, and of the several tribes in New-Eng- land, are radically the same, and the variations between them are to be accounted for from their want of letters ^md m.»a bring down showc™ „f plenty on the beloved nted ' """ "" •"""' "^ ' *•"« "»" •-'.'"•"e-tire- who h«l taken « maeh paina in the yearlrai or 5, to travel % weatward to iind Indians who had never seen a whit« ■«...nformedthe,vriter of these m,m„i„, that far to tb, fe.nd the p«.pte he waa in ««rch,^_,,e convemd withthei, Moved n.an who had never seen a white n,a„ before, by the «1 hn,. hat one of their most ancient traditbns was, that a tte r,s,ng of the ,„n, and governed the whole worid. That twelve ^s, by whom he administered Jus government. That !.» a»thor.ty w«, derived torn the great spigot, by virtne «f A iVASL Uf TU£ W£8T. I •onie Rpecial gift fivm him. That the twelve sons behaved very bad and tyrannized over the peoj^e, abusing th^ pow- er to a great df^gree, ao aa to offend the great spirit exceed- ingly. That he being tibus angry with theni» suffered the white peo]rfe to introduce spirituous li^qiuors among them» made them drunky stole .the special gift of the great spirit from them, and by this means usurped the pqwer over them» and ever since the Indians heads were upder the white people's feet But that they also had a tradition, that the time woul^ con|e> when the Indians would regain the gift of the great spirit from the white people, and with it their ancient power, when the white people's hef ds^puld be again, under the In- dian's feet. Mr. M'Kcnzie in his History of the Fur Trade^ and lus journey through North-America, by the lakes, to the South- Sea, in the year , says, ** that the Indiana informed him, that they had a tradition among them, that they originally came from another country injiabited by vt^cked people, and had traversed a great lake, which was narrow, shallow a|id full of islands, where they had suffered great hardships and much misery, it being always winter, with ice and deep snows —at a place they called the Copper-mine River, where they made the first land, the ground wjis covert with copper, over which a body of earth had since berr collected to the depth of a man's heigbtls. They believe f»is ' -ti ancient times their ancestors had lived till their cic worn out with walking, and their throats with eating. They described a deluge, when the waters spread over the whole eai'th, ex- cept the highest mountain, on the top of wliich they wei-e pre- A STAR Ilf TBK WEST. ^/^ •enred. Tlwy also believe in a fttBrejudfrneBt." M'Ken- tie's history, page 115. ^ . . _^ The Indims to the eaatward say, that prvw'wm to tlie white people coming into the country, tlieir anccators were in the habit of using efarumcisiotf, but hitterally, not being able to assign any reason fbr so strange a practice, their young peo- ^!f ^iiSisted on its being abolished. M'Kenzie says tlie same of the Indians he saw on his route, erenatthisday. History, page 34. Speaking of the nations «f the Slare and Dog.rib Indians, very far to the northwest, he says, "whether circumcision be practised among them, I cannot pretend to say, but the appearance of it was general among those I saw" . ,^^.. The Dog-rib Indiana live about two or three hundred mUes Onm the straits (kT Kamschatka. Dr. Beatty says, in his journal of a visit he paid to the In- dians on the Ohio, about fifty years ago, that an dd christian Indian informed him, that an old uncle of his, who died about the year 1728, related to him several customs and tradition^ of former times,- and among others, that circumcision was practised among the Indians long ago, but their young men making a mock at it, brought it into disrepute, and so it came to be disused. Journal, page 89. The same Indian said, that one tradition they had was, that once the waters had overflowed all the land, and drowned aU the people then liv- ing, except a few, who made a great canoe and were saved in it. Page 90. And that a long time ago, the people went to build a high place. That while they were buUding of it, they lost their language, and could not understand one anoth- er. That whUe one, perha^, caUed for a sUck, another ii4 A STAR IN THE >V£ST. bi-ought him a stone, &c. &c. and from that time the Indians began to bpeak different languages. Father Charlevoix, the French historian, informs us that the Hurons and Iroquois, in that eariy day, had a tradition among them that the first woman came from heaven and had twins, and tliat *he elder killed the youngrsr. In an account published in the year 1644, by a Dutch min- ister of tlie gospel, in New-York, giving an accQuntofthe Mohawks, he says, « aii old wcman came to my house and told the family, that her forefathers had told her that the great spirit once went out walking with his brother^ and that a dispute arose between tlicm, and tiie great spirit killed his brother." This is plainly a confusion of the story of Cain and Abel. It is most likely from the ignorance of the minister in the idionf of the Indian language, misconstruing, Cain being represented as a great man, for the great spirit. Many mis- takes of this kind are frequently made. #«i Mr. Adair, who has written the History of the Indians, and who deserves great credit for his industry and improving the very great and uncommon opportunities he enjoyed, tells us, that the southern Indians have a tradition, tliat when tliey leff their own native land, they brought with them a sanctified rod, by order . f an oracle, whicli they fixed every night in the ground i and were to remove ft-om place to place on this con- tinent, towards the rising sun, till it buded in one night's time. That they obeyed the sacred oracle, and the miracle at last took place, after they ai'rived on this side of the Missisippi, on the present Mnd they possess. Tliis was the sole cause of their settling there—of fighting so fiimly for their reputed A STAR m THE WEST. m holy land and holy things— that they may be buried with their beloved forefathers." This seems to be taken from Aaron's rod. Col. James Smith, in his Joiii>nal of Events, that happened while he was prisoner with the Caiighncwaga Indiana, from 1755 to 1759, says, « they have a tradition that in the begin- ning of this continent, the angels or heavenly inhabitants, as they call them, frequently visited the i»cople, and talked with their forefathers, and gave directions how to pray, and how to appease the great being, when he was offended. They told them they were to offer sacrifice, burn tobacco, buflTaloe and deer's bones, &c. &c." Page 79. The Ottawas say, « that there are two great beings that rule and govern the universe, who arc at war with each other ; the one they call Maneto, and the other Matchemaneto. They sayithat Maneto is all kindness and love, and the other is an evil spirit that delights In doing mischief. Some say that they arc equal in power; others say that Maneto is the first great cause, and therefore must be all powerfid and supreme, an till he reaeh- ed the southern ocean. After being some time with the na- tions on the shores of the great sea> he proposed to proceed on his journey, and joined himself to some people who inhabit ted more westwardly on the coast. They trarelled a great way between the north and the sun setting, when they arriv- ed at the village of his fellow travellers, where he found the days long and the nights short. He was here advised to give over all thoughts of continuing his journey. They told him ** that the land extended still a long way in the direction afore- said, after which it ran directly west, and at length was cut by the gi*eat water from north to soutii. One of them added, that when he was young he knew a very old man, who had seen that distant land before it was eat away by the great water; and when the great water was low, many rocks still appeared in those parts." MmcadU-ape took their advice and returned home after an absence of five years. This account given to Du Pratz, in the year 1720, confirms the idea of the narrow passage at KUmsckaika, and the proba- bility that the continents once joined. It is remarkable that the people, especially the Ramschat- kians, in their marches, never go but in indian file, following one another in the same track. Some of the nations in this quarter, prick their flesh with small punctures with a needle in various shapes, then rub into them charcoal, blue liquid or some other colour, so as to make the marks to become indeli- b!e, after the manner of the more eastern nations. .. A iTAll IJf THE WBSTt 1^1 Bishop Lowth in his notes on the 16th veree of the xllxth chapter of fcaiah, says, "this is certainly an aUusionto some practice common amoilg the Jews at that time, of making marks on their hands ahd arms by punctures on the skin, with some sort of sign or representation of the city or temple, to shew their affection and zeal for it. They had a method of making such punctures indelible by fire of staining-and this art is practiced by travelling Jews all over the wotld at this day-.Vid. also his note on chap. xlv. 5th verse. Thus it is with our northern Indians J they always go in indian file, and mark their flesh just as above represented. The writer of this has seen an aged christian Indian Sach- em, of good character, who sat for his portrait. On stripping his neck to.the lower part of his breast, it appeared that the whole was marked with a deep blueish colour in various fig- ures^ very discernible. On being asked the reason of it, he answered, with a heavy sigh, that it was one of the follies of his youth, when he was a great warrior, before his conversion to Christianity; and now, says he,I must bear it, as a punish* ment for my folly, and carry the marks of it to my grave* The people of Siberia made canoes of bircli bark> distended over ribs of wood, nicely sewed together. The writer has seen this exactly imitated by the Indians on the river St. Lawrence, and it is universaUy the case on the lakes. CoK John Smith says, « at length wo all embarked in a large birch bark canoe. This vessel was about four feet wiBe and three feet deep, and about thirty.five feet long; and though it could carry a heavy burthen, it was so artfully and curiously con- structed^ that four m(?n could carry it several miles, from one landing place to another; or from the waters of the lake to th« '■I }} B}i% i^ii 4 8TAR IN TH£ M'BST. waters of the Ohio. At night they carry it on the land, and invert it, or turn it bottom up, and convert it into a dwelling- house.** It alsp appears from tbo history of Kamschatka, written by James Grieve, that in the late discoveries, the islands which extend from tlie south point of Kamschatka, amount to thirty- one or thirty-two. That on these islands are high mountains, and many of them smoaJking volcanoes. That the passages between them, except in one or two instances, w;ere but one or two days row, at the time of ilie authors writing that his- tory. They are liable to terrible inundations and earthquakes. The following is collected from Mr. Steller*s journal, as recorded in the above history. « Themain land of America lies parallel with the coast of Kamschatka, insoipuch that it may reasonably be concluded that these lands once jobied, especially at the Tcchukotskoi Noss, or Cape. He offers four reasons to prove it: 1st. The appearance of both coasts, wliich seem to be torn asunder. 2d. Many capes project into the sea from tliirty to sixty versts. 3d. Many islands are in the sea which divides Kamschatka from America. Uh. The situation of the islands, and the breadth of that sea. — The sea is full of islands, which extend from the north-west point of America to the channel of Anianova. One follows another, as the Kuruloski islands do at Japan. The Ameri- can coast at sixty degrees of north latitude, is covered with wood; but at Kamschatka, which is only fifty-one degrees, there is none fbr near fifty versts from the sea, and at sixty- two not one tree is to be found. It is known also, that the fish enter the rivers on the American coast, earlier than they do in the rivers of Kamschatka. There are also plenty of A STAB IK THB WIS8T. iU raspberries, of a large size and fine taste, besides lioncy suckles, cnm-berries and black-bcrrios in great plenty. In the sea there are seals, sea-beavers, whales and dog-fish. In the country and in the rivera on the American coast, red and black foxes, swans, ducks, quails, ptover, and ten kinds of birds not known in Europe. These particulars may help to answer the question, whence was America peopled; for though we should grant tliat the two continents never were joined, yet they lie so near to each other, that the possibility of the inhabitants of Asia going over to America, especially considering the nuttber of the islands, and the coldness of the climate, cannot be denied. From Bhering's Island, on ita high mountains, you can sec mountains covered with snow, that appear to be capes of the main land of America. From an which it appears deariy, here was a probable mean of a people passing from Asia to America, either on the main land before a separation, or from island to island; or on the ice after a scparatkm, by which the continent of America ttJight have been peopled, by the tribes of Israel wandering north^east, and directed by the unseen hand of Providence, and thus they entered into a country wherein mankind never before dwdt. It is not presumed tliat the ten tribes of Israel alone did this. Many of the inhabitants might have gone with them from Tartary or Scythia; and particularly the old inhabitants of Damascus, who were carried away in the first place by Tiglah Pilnezer, before his conquest of the Isi-aelites, and were their neighbours, and perhaps as much dissatisfied with their place of banishment, though for different reasons, as the Israelites, as well as from Kamschatka, on their way where f . .1 ., y 3 1 $9i> A STAB IN TH£ W£ST. they were stopped some time, as the Egyptians did with the Israelites of old. And indeed it is not improhable, as has be- fi)re been hinted, that some few of other nations, who traded qn the seas, might, in so long a course of time, have been driven by stress of weather, and reached the Atlantic shores at different places; but the great body of people settling in Nortli and South-America, must have originated from thi^ same source* Hence it would not be surprising to find among their de- scendants, a mixture of the Asiatic languages, manners, cus- toms and peculiaritios. Nay, it would appear rather extra- ordinary and unaccountable, if this was not so. And if we should find this to be tite case, it would greatly con'oborate the fact of their having passed into Amcricti from the north- east point of Asia, accoifUng to the Indian tradition. We, at the present day, can hardly conceive of the facility with which these wandering northern nations removed from one part of the country to the other. The Tartars at this time, wha possess that northern country, live in tents or covered carts« and wander from place to place in search of pasture, 6cc, A iTAB IN THM WK8T. ia$'*i^.. CHAPTER V. T/lrir gewral Charader and established Custom and BabUs, WE wiU now proceed to consider the general character of the people of whom ^e are treating, as preliminaiy to the enquiring into their customs and habits. It will be necessary to the fuU understanding our subject, to premise a few par- ticulars. When America was first discovered by Columbus, It was comparatively weU peopled by some hundreds, if not thousands of tribes of different nations, from the coast oppo- site to Kamschatka to Hudson's Bay. Their numbers have not been known, neither can they be known at this day. But to form some general idea of them, by reasoning on the sub- ject, we will give the numbers of the nations that have come to our knowledge at different times*— A Akamsians Arrowhatoes Assinnis Arathapescoas Avoyels Adaics Appomotackfi Accotronacks Accomacks Abenakias Algonkins Amelistcs Assinaboils Agones Arkanzas Aughquagclis Alebamons Attatramasues Amdustez Aiaouez Assanpinks Aurananeaus Appalachos Abeckas . Aquelou-pissasf Atacapas Andaslaka Attibamegues It: •Pike.E,prfi«„„. I,,.,tW„ri«,^ NotfWom™. N,.ofCl»ite,v T Men wto andentana and t^^. # -■.i fS» A STAB Iir TUB W£tT. B '^R^- Catsfwbaft CuRSutas Blanes Chocktaws Chukaws • Bayouc Ogoulas Creeks Colapissat C Chouanongsf Caseitas riiatkas* or flat Chiahnessou Chatkaa heads Canzas Conehacs Cuttatawomans Chitemaclias B ChickatiomtncA Caoneta;; BelawarcB Chickiacs Chatots Dog-rib Indians €hesapeak8 Cbacci Cumas, or E Connosidagocs red Cray fish Erics Coliunncwagocs ChaouchaH or Erigas Chalas t | Ouachas F Capahnakcs Cadodaquioux Foxes, 400, 500, 850 Coroas Conestogoes G Christinaux Caughnewagoes Grand Eaux CliiKans Chayennes Gakaos Canses Chappunisli, or Ganawoasc Caddoques pierced nose H Caoiiites Indians Hassiniengas Cayugas Cantanyans, on the Hurons Conoies Allegliany Houmas < Chippewas, or An- river I cbipawah, S\5, Ceneseans or Cenis Iroquoiis 619, 162^ Cahirmois Illinois Chen^ees Coosades Ictans Cbickasaws Cowetas Icbewas • They reckoned formerly 85000 warriors, but it is more likely to be only mc». Slid to be qmte peaceable. — Du Pratz. 'f A iMUBcrous natioh of ^8 villages, betow the Missouri^ on the Miniaippi. Toways, »oo, 400, 700. K Kecoughtons Kaskkasiea Killistiiiocs Kickapoos Kappas Ranoatinas Kans, 465, 500, 600. L Linnilinopes Lenais Les Puans M Afinataraea Messiasics * Menowa Kautong, or people of the lakes, 305, 600, 1200. Mantes Machecoua Mechimacks Mohiecons Munsees Manahoacs Mclotaukes Monaclians, now A STAR 121 THE WEST, • TuscaixMpas, wl- Manhattons Ued to Uio Five Mohcgans Nations in 1712. Muckhekanies Mandans Ministeneaux Monasiceapanoes Munscys Musqiiatiefl Minisinka Maheiins Ma8sawonae!) Minonioneca Mipegois Muskoghees Michigamiaa Maquas Maudans N ^^ Monahaasanoes Massinaguiti Mohemunsoea Mexicans Moraughtacunda Mattapomens Missinasagues Missouris Mohocs or Mohawks Mingoea Neshaminas Mohuccons Narragansetto Miamis Nepiseenicens Mjnonamies 300, Nassamonds ^50, 700. Nottoways Mascoiitons,orNa- Nanticokes tionofFire Natehes Messcothins Nantaughtacunds Meneamis Nepisscns Mobeluns, w Mou- Naudowessies villa Milowacks Mcrtowaeks Mohuceories Mahatons^ or Natehitochcs Nauataklias Naeunea or Greens Narauwings ■^ 1*1 hi I I ::• ill' i 128 A STAB IN THE 1V£ST. O Omana Onanikins Ousasons Outponies Onaumanients Oswagatches Orundacs Osages 1252, 1793, 97*. Oneidas Onondagoes Ouoatonons Ottowas Oniscousins Ottagamies or Foxes Outimacs Ousasoys Otters Oniyouths Othouez Oumas, or Red Na« tion Oufe Ogulasjorthe Nation of the Dog Oque-Loussas Oakfuskees Ouachibcs P Piorias Pequots Parachuetaus Prakiinines Pimitconis Piankishaws Patowomacks Pissassees Padoucas Pamunkies Payankatanks Powhatans Paspahegas Panis and White Panis, Black Panis Pouhatamies Penobseots 1 Panemahas Pacha Oglouas, or the Nation of Bread Pomptons . Pawnees, 1993, 2170, 2060. Pemveans Panoses Pandogas Quiocohanses Quadodaquees R Rappahanocks Round Heads Rancokas Ricoras S Sokulks SkiUooIs Seminoles Schactikook,or river Indians Sitons, 360, 700, 1100. Susquehannas Satanaif Sankihani Stegerakies Shackakonies Secakoonies Sivux Senccas Sapoonies Shawanese Souckelas Shakies Saaskies Shackaxons A STAB m THE WEgf* Sacs 700, 750, 1400 Tajwusoas Shosonees or Snake Tionontate* m Indians. T Teganatics Tauxilnanians Tauxinentes Tentilves Tuscaroras Twightwie? Thomez Taensas Tonicas Theouic Winnebagbes 45o> ^DO, 1000. Tsouonthousaas, on Wasbpelongorpeo- theOhio pie of the leaver Tetaiis 2700, flOOO, 180, 350, 530. 2500. V ', Vermijions W Wabingies Wapings Wighcocomicocs Wianoes Washpcoiite 90* 180,370. Y Youghtanunds Yajsous Yanetongs 900, 1600, 2700. Yatassces Otbcr bands gene- rally 1704, 2565, 4420. Wamasqueaks Tltones 2000, 3600, Wyandots 6000 Wcbings Tomaroaa ' Whonkenties Some nations divided and settled at a distance, from each otlier, and after many years, their language so changed, as to form different dialects,- as was in our days, the case with the Erigas. on the Ohio, who separated fmm the Tnscorora,, and formed a distinct dialect in tlie course of a few years. Here are then one hundred and ninety different nation., each having a king or .achem over them, of whom we have had some knowledge, though many of them are not now known * what then must be the number of the nations on this conti- nent could they all he known ? Although we cannot with any precision know the number of the nations, on the arrival of Columbus, and much less the number of souls, yet we may a. matter of curiosity i-ive tb^ humh«r. nf ;^.i:„m..„i ^_.5-^. - mni « .. li :~some might be absent treating on dis- putes with their noiglibours, or sickness, &c, &c. During the above war. in 1776—7, the British had in their service, according to the returns of their agent — Moliawks three hniidrcd, Oncidas one hundred and fifty, Tuscororas two hundred, Onondagoes three hundred, Cayugas two hun- dred and thirty, gSenceas four hundred— In the whole fifteen hundred and eighty. The Americans had about two hundred and twenty, making up eighteen hundred warrim^, equal to about six thousand souls. In 17113, Mrv iCirkland, missionary to the Oneidas, estima>< ted tlie number d^ tlie Seneca warriors at six hundred, and %b total niWober of the Six Nations, at mwe than four thousand. In 1700, he made the whole number of Indian inhabitants ^hen remaining, including in addition, those who reside on Grand River, in Canad% and the Stockbridge and Brother- A STAR m THE WEST, ISS town Indians, wJio had then lately joined them, to besixthou. sand three hundred and thirty, of which there were nineteen hundred warriors. In 1794, . . a division of an annuHy, by order of Congress, to be made among the Six Nations, the numbera appeared with considerable certainty, to be Inihe Umied States. In the British gavemmtnU Mohawks 3QQ Oneidas 628 460 Cayugas Onondagoes 450 7^0 Tiisc£U*oras Senecas Stpckbridge and Brathertown In- dians, about The above number of British 760 But what are these to the souUiern Indians, and especially those of Mexico and Peru. I wUl give one example. Mons. La Page D(i Pratz, in his History of Louisiana, written about the year 1730, assures us, "that the nation of the Natchez, from whom the town of that name on the Missisippi is called, were the most powerful nation in North America— 2 vol. 146. They extended from the river Manchas or IberviUe, which is about fifty leagues from the sea, to the river Wabash, which is about four hundred and sixty leagues fh)m the sea, and that they had five hundred Sachems in the nation." He further says, "that the ChatkasorFIat.heads,ncarthe 628 40 450 400 1780 2330 river Pacha Ojgvlaa, had twentv.fivft thnnoan.! «ro vt$.z fills a^ uiii M ''I !S '. e » IM A STAB Iir TUB WEST. in which number, he sapposes many were reckoned who had but a slight title to that name — ^Page 140. But a short estimate of the length and breadth of different parts of America, although not pretended to be perfectly accu- rate, yet having endeavoured to keep within bounds, it ilaay serve to answer the end ; ''»*:-our people have wasted away, and now we live miserable and wretched, ivliile you are enjoying our A STAR IX THE WEST. w fine and beautiful country. Tins makes me sorry brother J and I cannot help it.** But to proceed, the colour of the Indians, generally speak- ing, was rod, brown, or copper coloured, differing according to climate, high and low grounds. They arc universally at- tached to their colour, and take every mean in their power to increase it, preferingit to the white. They give a name to the white people, which is highly contemptuous; it is that of an heterogenous animal. Sometimes when they aim at greater severity, that of « the accursed people," The hotter or colder the country is where the Indians have long resided, the greater proportion have they of the white or red colour j this is asserted by Adair from personal experience. He has compared the Shawanoh Indians with the Chikkasaw, and found them much fairer, thougli their endeavours to cultivate the cow^er colour were alike. He thinks the Indian colour to bo the effect of climate, ait and manner of living. Their tradition says, that in the country far west, from which they came, all the people were of one colour; and they are ignor- ant which was the primitive colour. Adair has seen a white man, who, by his endeavors to change his colour, beciune aa deeply coloured as any Indian in the camp, after he had beeu in the woods only four years. The Indians to the Southward are often of a deeper hue than those to the northward; in a high country they incline to a lighter tinge; but then those to the northward are more ignorant, and less knowing in their traditions, rites, and religious customs. The like change is not unknown in Europe and Asia. The inhabitants of the northern countries, in many instances, are comparatively il^irer than those of the southern countries. 1 I- 'k .i i til 138 A STAR Iir THE WEST* In tho south the Indians are tally erect and robust — ^thetr limbs arc well shaped, so as generally to form a perfect human ligiire. They delight in painting themselves, especially with red 01' vermilion colour. They are remai*kably vain, and supiM)se themselves the first people on earth. The Five Na- tions called themselves < Ongue-honwe^ that is, mm surpassing all olliers, the oniy bebved people of tlie great spiritf and his pecidiar peoj^. But as to their common mode of living, they are generally all great slovens—they seldom or ever wash their shirts. It is a matter of fact, proved by most historical accounts, that the Indians, at our first acquaintance with them, gener- ally manifested themselves kind, hospitable and generous to the Eui-opeans, so long as they were treated with justice and humanity; but when they were, from a thirst of gain, over- i-eachcd on every occasion, their friends and relations treach- erously entrapped and carried away to be sold for slaves; themselves injuriously oppressed, deceived and driven from their lawful and native possessitms; what ought to have been expected, but inveterate enmity, hereditary animosity, and a spirit of perpetual revenge. To whom should be attributed the evil passions, cruel practices, and vicious habits to which they are now changed, but to those who first set them the ex- ample ; laid the foundation, and then furnished the continuitt means for propagating and supporting the evil. In a very early day, in the colony of Virginia, the first settlers, by their great imprudence, had soured the Indian temper, raised tiieir jealousies, and provoked their free and independent spirits, so as to lead them to determine on the extirpation of the whole colony— then few, weak and divided. A STAR IN THE WEST. ii59 I'he Indians naanaged tlieiiv intended attack with so mucii secrecy, that they surprised the colonists in every quarter, and destroyed near one fourtii of them. In their turn, the survivors waged a destructive war against the Indians, and murdered men, women and children. Dr. Robertson says, « reganlless, like the Spaniai-ds, of those principles of faith, honor and humanity, which regulate hostilities among civil- ized nations, and set bounds to their rage, the English deem- ed every thing allowable that tended to accojnplisli their de- signs. TJjcy hunted the Indians like wild beasts, rather than enemies; and as the pursuit of them to their places of retreat in the woods, was both difficult and dangerous, they endeav- oured to allure them from their inaccessible fastnesses, by offers of peace, and promises of oblivion, made with such an artful appearance of sincerity, as deceived the crafty Indian chief, and induced the Indians to return in tlie year 1623, to their former settlements, and resume their usual peaceful occupations. The behaviour of the two people seemed now to be perfectly reversed. The Indians, like men acquainted with the principles of integrity and good faith, on wliich the intercourse between nations is founded, confided in the recon- ciliation, and lived in absolute security, without suspicion of danger, while the English, witli perfidious craft, were pre- paring to imitate savages in their revenge and cruelty. « On the approach of harvest, when a hostile attack would be most formidable and fatal, the English fell suddenly on all the Indian plantations, murdered every person on whom they could lay hold, and drove the rest to tlie woods, where so maiiy perished with hunger, that some of the tribes nearest to the English, were totally extirpated."— History of North-Amer- ica, 96, 97. i' r if II ''^ 14 ■4 i rk no A ITAR IN TtIR VEST. 1 Robertson agaiu, speaking of the war in New-England, between Connecticut and Providence, In their fii-st attempt against the Pef|iio " you arc come into these ctmntries, with a force against whicli, were we inclined to resist, resistance would be folly. We are all therefore at your mercy. But if you are men subject to mor- tality like ourselves, you cannot be unapprised, that after this life, there is another, wherein a very different jwrtion is allot- ted to good and bad men. If therefore, you expect to die, and believe with us, that every one is to be re^vardcd in a f\iturc state, accoi*ding to his conduct in the present, you will do no hurt to those who do none to you." — Edw^i'ds' West-Indies, 1 vol. 72. De las Casas, bishop of Chapia, who spent much time and labour among the Indians of New Spain, trying to serve them, says, " I was one of the first who went to America. Neither curiosity, nor interest prompted me to undertake so long and dangci-ous a voyage. The saving the souls of the heathen was my sole object. Why was I not permitted, even at the expense of my blood, to ransom so many thousands of souls, who fell unliappy victims to avarice and lust. It was said that barbai"ou8 executions were necessary to punish or check the rebellion of the Americans. But to whom was this owing? Did not this people receive tl»e Spaniards, who first came among them, with gentleness and humanity ? Did they not shew more joy in proportion, in lavisliing treasure upon t-hem, A STAR IN THB WEST. Ijt3 «.». the Spamard, did greediness in «„eivi„g it. But „„r avar-ce „a, not yet satisfied. Th„.,gh they gave up ,„ „, the.r lands and their rlehes, we would take n«m them their >v.ve,, their ehildren and their liberty. To blaeken the ehar- acteraof these unhappy people, their enemies assert that they are searce human creatures. But it is «,. who ought to blush 6.r having been less men, and mo™ barbarous than they Ihey are represented as a stupid people, and addieted to viee! But have they not contracted most of their vices from the examples of christians. But it must be granted that the Indians still remain untainted with many vices usual amon, i-^peans. Sueh as ambition, blasphemy, swearing, trcaeh! cry. and many sueb monsters, which have not yet taken place among them. They have seai^e an i,lea of them. All na- tions are equally free. One nation has no right to infringe on the freedom of another. Let us do to the.e p«,plo, as wo would have them have done to „s, on a change of cii^um. stances. What a strange method is this of propagating tim gospel; that holy law of grace, which. (h.m being slam U, Satan, initiates os into the freedom of the ehildren of God." The Abbe Clavigcro, another Spanish writer, eonllrras this "lea of the Sonth-Amerieans. « VVe have had intimate eon- verse, says he, with the Americans; have lived some years m a seminary dcstiued f.u- their instruetion-attentively ob- served their eharaetei-their genius-their disposition and manner of tliinking; and have besides, examined with the utmost diligence, tlieir ancient history-their religion-fbeir Sovevnment-their laws and their customs. Afte; such long experiene, and study of them, we declai-e, that the pienti f ; ' '4 ±M> A STAR IN THE WEST. qualities of the Americans are not in the least inferior to those of the Europeans/' Among the many instances of provocation given to them by U»e white people, Neaf, in his History of New-England, page 21, says, "one Iluntf an early trader with the Indians of New-England, after a prosperous trade with the natives, en- ticed between twenty and tliirty of them on bocrd his vessel, and contrary to the public faith, clapped them under hatches, ^d took them to Malaga, and sold them to the Spaniards. This the remaining Indians resented, by revenging them- selves on the next English vessel that came on their coast*'* In the year 1620, a sermon was preached at Plymouth by the Rev, Mr. Cushman, from which the following extract is taken, relative to the treatment they received from the na- tives. « The Indians are said to be the most cruel and treacherous people in all these parts, even like lions, biit to lis thuy have been like lambs, so kind, so submissive and trusty, as a man may truly say, many christians are not so kind or sincere. Though when we came fii-st into this coun- try we were few, and many of us very sick, and many died by reason of the cold and wet,4t being the depth of winter, and we having no houses or shelter, yet when there were not six able persons among us, and the Indians came daily to us by hundreds, with their sachems or kings, and might in one hour have made despatch of us ; yet such fear was upon tliem, as that they never offered us the least injury in word or deed. And by reason of one Tisqtumlo, thg* lives among us, andean speak English, we have daily commerce with their kings^ and can know what is done or intended towards us among tlie savages." A STAR IN THE WEST. 14» The late goveraop Hutchinson, in his history of New-Eng. land, observes, '* that the natives shewed courtesy to the English at their first arrival ; were hc^^pitable, and made such «s would eat their food, welcome to it, and readUy instructed them in planting and cultivating the Indian corn. Some of the English who lost themselves in the woods, and must other- wise have perished with famine, they relieved and conducted home.'* Mr. Penn, also, at his first coming amongst them, spoke and wrote of them in high terms, as a kind and benevolent people. The history of Newjersey informs us, that "for near a century, the Indians of that state had all along maintained an intercourse of great cordiality and friendship with the inhabit- ants, being interspersed among them, and frequently receiv- ing meat at their bouses, and other marks of their good wDl and esteem."— Smith, page 440.* Father Charlevoix, who travelled early, and for a long time among the Indians, from Quebec to New-Orleans, and had great opportunities, which he made it his business and study to improve, teUs us, speakijig of the real character of the In- dian nations, « that with a mien and appearance altogether savage i and with manners and customs which favour the greatest barbarity, they enjoy all the advantages of sociely. At first view, one would imagine them without form of gov- ernment, laws or subordination, and subject to the wildest ca- price. Nevertheless, they rarely deviate from certain max- ims and usages, founded on good sense alone, which holds the place of law, and supplies in som- sort, the want of legal au- thority. They manifest much stability in the engageme?»tg f || > i" '^ i, I',' f iW A STAB IN THE WEST. tjiey have solemnly entered upon; patience in affliction, as well as submission to what they apprehend ti) be the appoint- ment of Providence ; in all this they manifest a nobleness of soul and constancy of mind, at which we rarely arrive, with all our philosophy and religion. They are neither slaves to ambition nor interest, the two passions that have so much weakened in us tlie sentiments of humanity, (which the kind author of nature has engraven on the human heart) and kind- led those of covetousness, which are as yet generally unknown among them." It is notorious, that they arc generally kinder to us, though they despise us, than we are to them. There is scarce au instance occure, but that they treat every white man who goes among them, with respect, which is not the case from us to them. The same author says, " the nearer view we take of our savages, the more we discover in them some valuable qualities. The chief part fif the principles by which they regulate their conduct; the general maxims by which they govern themselves; and the bottom of their characters have nothing which appears barbarous. .The ideas, though now quite confused, which they have retained of a first Being; the traces, though almost effaced, of a religious worship, which they appear formerly to have rendered to the Supreme Deity, and the faint marks which we observe, even in their most indifferent actions, of the ancient belief, and the primitive re- ligion, may bring them more easily than we think of, intl the way of truth, and make their conversion to Christianity more easily to be effected, than that of more civilized nations." But what surprises exceedingly, in men whose whole out- ward appearance proclaims nothing but barbarity, is, to see A STAR IN THE WEST. i4r them behave to each other, with such kindness and regard, that are not to be found rnimg the most civilized nations. Doubtless this proceeds, in some measure, from the words mim and thim, being as yet unknown to these savages. We are equally charmed with that natural arid unaffected gravity, whicli reigns in all their behaviour, in all their actions, and in the greatest part of their diversions. Also with the civili- ty and deference they shew to their equals, and the respect of young people to the aged. And lastly, never to see them quarrel among themselves, with those indecent expressions, ©aths and curses, so common among us ; all which are proofs of good sense and a great command of temper.* In short, to make a brief portrait of these people, with a savage appear- ance, manners and customs, which are entirely barbarous, there is observable among them, a social kindness, free from almost all the imperfections which so often disturb the peace of society among us. They appear to be without passion; but they do that in cold blood, and some times through prin- ciple, which the most violent and unbridled passion produces in those who give no car to reason. They seem to lead the most wretehed life in the world; and yet they were, perhaps, the only happy people on earth, before the knowledge of the objects which so work upon and seduce us, had excited in them, desires which ignorance kept in supineness; but which have not as yet (in 1730) made any great ravages among them. We discover in them a mixture of the fiercest and most gentle manners. The imperfections of wild beasts, and * Le Page Du Pi-atz, says, ««I have studied these Indians a considerable num- ber of years, and I never could learn that there ever were any disputes or bfixine^ matches among eithei- the boys or men. a vol. IC5. '\ fit 'U I i4 u$ A STAR IN THE WEST. the virtues and qualities of the heart and mind which do the greatest honour to human nature. Du Pjlitz, in his iiistory of Louisiana, says, « that upon an acquaintance with the Indians, he was convinced that it was wrong to denominate tltem savages, as they are capable of making good use of their reason, and their sentiments arc just. That th?y have a degree of prudence, faithftilncsc and generosity, exceeding tliat of nations who would be oflTcnded at being compait>d with them. No people, says he, are more hospitable and fi-ce than the Indians. Hence they may bo esteemed a happy people, if that happirtess was not impeded by their passionate fondness for spirituous liquors, and the fool- ish notion they hoW, in common with many professing chris- tians, of gaining reputation and esteem by their prowess in war." But to whom do they owe their uncommon attachment to both these evils ? Is it not to the white people who came to them with destruction in each hand, while we did but de- ceive ourselves, with the vain notion, that we were bringing the glad tidings of salvation to them. Instead of this, wo have possessed these unoffending people with so horrid an idea of our principles, that among themselves they call us the accursed people. And their great numbers, when first discov- ered, shew that they had, comparatively, but few wars before we came among them. % Mr. Willvkm Bartiam, a gentleman well known in the state of Pennsylvania, son to the late Jofm Bartram, Esq. so long Botanist to Queen Caroline, of England, before the revolu- tion, in the journal of his travels through the Creek countiy, speaking of the Siminoles or lower Creek nation, and of their being then few in number, says, «yet tlus handful of people A fTAB IH THE WBIf. 149 t^ a vast territory, all East Florida and the greatest part of West Florida, which being naturally cut and divided into thousands of islets, knolls and eminences, by the innumerable nvers, lakes, swamps, savannas and ponds, form so many sc- cure retreats and temporary dwelling places, that effectually guard them from any sudden invasion or attacks from their enemies. And being such a swampy, hamihoky country, fur- mshes such a plenty and variety of supplies for the nourish- ment of every sort of animal, that I can venture to assert, that no part of the globe so abounds with wild game or crca- tures nt for the M of man. Thus they enjoy a superabun- dance of the necessaries and conveniences of life with the se- curity of. person and property, the two great concerns of man- kind. They seem to be free from want or desires. No cruel enemy to dread; nothing to give them disquietude but the gradual encmchments of the white people. Thus contented and undisturbed, they appear as blithe and free as the birds of the air, and like them as volatile and active, tuneful and vociferous. The visage, action and deportment of a Siminole, bemg the most striking picture of happiness in this life~Joy, contentment, love and friendship without guile or affectation, seem inherent in them, or predominate i„ their vital princi- pie, for it leaves them but with the last breath of life." To exemplify their kindness to strangers, he says, that having lost his way in travelling through their towns, he was at a stand how to proceed, when he observed an Indian man at the door of his l»abitation, beckoning to him, to come to him. Bartram accordingly rode up to him. He cbeerf-ully wclc.n- ed him-to his house, took care of his horse, and with the most graceful air of respect led him into an airy, cool apartment. f ( ^.-t f ■ 1 s' ■k 150 A 8TAB IN THE WEST. ivhere be||g seated on cabins, his women brought in a ro- • frcsliing repast, with a pleasant Cdoling liquor to drink. Then pipes and tobacco. After an hour's conversation, and Mr. Bartram informing him of his business, and where he was bound, but having lost l»is way, he did not linow how to go on. *rhe Indian chcerfillly replied, that he was pleased that Mr, B. was come into their country, where \i» should meet with friendship and protection; and that he would himself lead him into tlie right path. Ho turned out to be the prince or chief of Whatoga. How long would an Indian have rode through our country, before he would have received such kindness fi-om a common farmer, much less a chief magistrate ef a country? Mr. Bartram adds to the testimony of father Ciiarlevoix, in favour of their goodcliaracters among them- selves. He says they are just, honest, liberal and hospitable to strangers ; considerate, loving and aifectionate. to their wives and relations ; fond of their children ; frugal and per- severing ; charitable' and forbearing. He was weeks and months ambng them in their towns, and never observed the least sign of contention or wrangling; never saw an instance of ah Indian beating his wife, or even reproving her in anger. Col. John Smith says, « when we had plenty of gi'cen corn and roasting ears, the huntera became lazy, and spent their time in singing and dancing. They appeared to be fulfilling the scriptures, beyond many of those who profess to believe them, in that of taking no thought for to-morrow, but in liv- ing in love, peace and friendship, without disputes. In this last respect they are an example to those who profess chris,- tianity — page 29. A UTAH IW THE WE8T. m The first and most cogent article in all their iate treaties with the white people is, « that there shall not he Sny kind of spirituoHs liquors brought or sold in their towns; and th« traders are allowed hut ten gallons for a company, which are esteemed sufficient to serve them on their journeyj and if any of this remains on their arrival, they must spill ii gn the ground." Mr B. met two young traders running about forty kegs of Jamaica spirits into the nation. They were discover- ed by a party of Creeks, who immediately struck their toma- hawks into every keg, and let the liquor run out, withont dnnking a drop of it. Here was an instance of self denial, seldom equalled by white men, for so fond arc they of it, that had they indulged themselves with tasting it, nothing could have prevented them from drinking the whole of it. Mr. B saw a young Indian who was present at a scene of mad in- temperance and folly, acted by some white men in the town He clapped his hand to his breast, and with a smile looking up, as If struck with astonishment, and wrapt in love and adoration of the Deity, lamented their conduct. We have thus endeavored to give some ideas of the Indian character, at the first arrival bf the Europeans among them, before they were debauched and demoralized by an.acquaint. ance with those who pretend to be their benefactors, by com! municating to them the glad tidings of salvation, through Jesus Christ. We have exhibited the testimony of the best writers, from various parts of the continent, acquainted with very dif- ferent nations, from the south to the north. It is given gen- erally in the authors own words, lest we might be charged with misrepresenting their meaning, by adopting our own language, or putting a gloss on theirs; and our design has i Ir ik'W'K 'lit I I'Jh hi I . ii' r. !< ( 152 ▲ stah in thb west. §mi' W been, that the reader may be made acquainted with the peo- ple of whom we treat. We must confess, that we have given the fairest part of their cliaracter, while at home and among tlieir friends, though a perfectly just one. The objects which engage tiieir attention, and indeed their whole souls, are war and hunting. Their haughty tempers will not condescend to labour-«this they leave to their women. Hence they put on rather a S()Iemn character, except when they divert themselves with their principal amusements, dan- cing and gaming. But in war, and while opposing the ene- mies of their nation, they are cruel and revengeful. They make war with unrelenting fury, on the least unatoned affront, equal to any European nation whatever. It is their custom and long continued habit. They kill and destroy their own species without regret. The warrior is the highest object of their ambition. They are bitter in their enmity, and to avenge the blood of a kinsman, they will travel hundreds of miles, and keep their anger for years, till they are satisfied."^ They scalp all the slain of their enemies (as many of the Asiatics did) that they get in their power, contrary to the usage of all other savages.| They usually attack their ene- mies with a most hedious and dreadful yelling, so as to make the wooi 156 A STAB IN THE WEST. Ncw-England—indiflTW and Mgroes in New- York, ahd tJ^ cruelty with wLich the aborigines were trei^ted in Virgijiia. These invaders of a country, (In the peaceable possession of a free and happy people, entirely independent, as the deer of of the forests) made war npon them, with all the advantage of fire-arms and the military knowledge of Europe, in the most barbarous manner—not obsening any rules of nations, ojf the principles of modern warfare, much less the benign in- junctions of the gospel. They soon taught the Indians by their fatal examples, to retaliate with the most inveterate malice and diabolical cruelty. The civilized Europeans, though flying from the persecution of the old world, did not hesitate to deny their professed religion of peace and good will to men, by murdering men, women and children— selling captives as slaves— cutting off the heads, and quartering the bodies of those who were killed, nobly fighting'for their liber- ty and their country, in self defence, and setting them up at vai-ious places, in ignoble triumph at tljeir success. Philip, an independent sovereign of the Pequods, who disdained to submit, but died figliting at the head of his men, had his heart cut off and carried on a pole with great rejoicings, to New- Plymouth, where, Wynne says, his skull is to be seen to this day.— Vide 1 vol. 106 to 108. This conduct produced greater violence and barbarity on the part of the other nation" of Indians in the neighbourhood, often joined by French Europeans who acted, at times, worse than the native Indians, and by this means, a total disregard of promises and pledged faith on both sides, became common. Ibid, l^t^6, A STAH IN TH& WE«T» isy I do not qnote these instances of Inhuman conduct to justify the Indians, but only to shew that they were not the only savages, and that the blame, as is t.x, common, ought not to faU all on one side, because they were vanquished, but should produce some commiseration and princi|)les of christian be- ncrolence towards these highly injured and suffering sons of the wilderness. In the beginning of the revolutionary war, •the Americans were constantly styled by their invaders a# rebels; and had we been conquered, I have little doubt but that wc should have been treated much as the Indians have been, with the difference of having been hanged, instead of ben.g scaJped and beheaded. But as we pmved successful, by the good providence of God, we are now glorious asserters of liberty and the freedom of man. The conduct of the Israelites themselves, while in a state of civilization, and under the government of a king, and with the prophets of God to direct and teach them, did not discover a much better spirit than these supposed Israelites, wretched and forlorn, in the wilderness of America, have done. « When Ahaz, king of Judah, had sinned against God, he delivered him mtothe hand of the king of Assyria; and he was also dehvered into the hand of Pekah, king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter, and slew in Judah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day, who were all valiant men- 2 Chron. xxviii. 5. And the children of Israel carried away captive, of their brethren, two hundrcl thousand won.en, sons and daughters; took also much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out before the host that camo into Samaria, ami sai»l w^r. ♦i.o.» «.i.-k-ij r t08 A STAR IN THE WEST. Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Jiidah> and hath delivered tliem into your hands, and ye have slain them in a rage, that reaclieth up to heaven — And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Jndah and Jerusalem, for bond- men and bond- women unto you; but are these not with you, even with you, sins a.^nst the Lord your God? Now hear me, therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren; for tli3 fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you." ^ " Her6 we cannot have the same Iiopcs of tracing the present practices of the natives of the woods to any certain source, as is in the case of tiieir languages. When a people change from a settled, tO a wandering state, especially, if thereby they be totally removed from any connection or intercourse with civilized countries, they must necessarily accommodate their actions to their then pressing wants and necessities. Their practices must change with their circumstances. Not so their language; for although it may greatly alter, and often degenerate for want of cultivation, or by separating into par.tics, far removed from each other ; yet the roots and principles of the language, may in remote ages, be traced in the different dialects, so as to afford tolerable proof of the original language. If a people, before their emigration, had any knowledge of the arts and sciences, although this might, and indeed would lead them, even in a wandering state, to discover more inge- nuity and method in providing for their wants, yet in after ages, as they separated from each otlier and colonized into distant parts, they would loose this knowledge, and finally, know nothing of tlicm but by tradition, except so far as should A frTAE IN Tip; WEST. ±39 fall within their means and absolute wants; which in the firet case must be. few, and in the other many and pressing. S» that we may reasonably conclude, that the first wanderers would leave much greater evidence of their original, as weU as of their knowledge of the mechanical arts, than their pos- terity could possibly do. And further, that the nearer to the place of their first permanent settlement, the greater would be the remains of those arts. However, we will endeavour to search into, and enumerate those few customs that we have any account of, which pre- vailed with tliem Avhen the Europeans first arrived among them, and some of which they still retain. We do not mean to take up the silly and ridiculous stories published by many writers on this subject, who either had particular, and often wicked ends to answer by their publica- tions, or they founded their narratives on information received on the most transient acquaintance of a few hours, with the vicious and wortldess among tlie Indians along our frontiei-s; nor shall we trust to accounts related by ignorant tradei-s, who did not comprehend either the idiom of tlieir language, or the strong metaphorical and figurative mode of expressing themselves. Tliis has led to. the most false and absui-d ac- counts of both Indian manners and language. To give one instance of this, tliough among the best of tlicm, the foUowin^sj fact is extracted fi-om an account given of the Mohawlcs in 1664, by a reverend gentleman ^vho ouglit to have known better, and must have had an education, and known the prin- ciples of grammar. « This nation, says he, has a very heavy language, and I find great difficulty in learning it, so as to speak and preach to tbem fluently. Tliere ai-e no cliriatian* I ir < I '21' f'1 ill #» ' fi t M 160 A. STAtt IN THE WEST. who understand their language thoroughly. When I am among them, I usk them how things are called. One will tell me a word in the infinitive mood, another in the indica- tive. One in the first, another in the second person. One in the present, another in the preterperfcct tense ; so that I stand sometimes and look ; hut do not know how to put it down. And as they have their declensions and conjugations, so they have their increases, like the Greeks; and I am sometimes, as if I was distracted, and cannot tell what to do, and there is no person to set me rigljt. I asked the commissa- ry of the (Dutch West-India comi)any) what tliis meant, and he answered he did not know, but imagined they changed their language every two or three years." He had been con- nected with them twenty years. The Indians are perfect republicans, they will admit of noi inequality among them but what arises from age, or great qualifications for either council or war. Althou.e'- this is the case in peace, yet in war they observe great discipline, and l)erfect subordination to their beloved man wlio carries the holy ark, and to their officers, who are appointed on account of the experience they have had of their prowess in war, and good conduct in the management and surprising of an enemy, or saving their men by a timely retreat,- but this subordina- tion ends with the campaign. As the Israelites were divided into tribes, and had a cliief over them, and always mareiied under ensigns of some ani- mal peculiar to each tribe, so the Indian nations are univers- ally divided into tribes, under a sachem or king, chosen by the pwiple fi-om the wisest and bravest among them. He has neither influence or distinction, but frgm his wisdom andpru- ▲ trkn w i*H£ W£§T. 161 dehce. Ite in assilstcd by a councU of oldf tvise and beloved men, as they call their priestis and councillors. Nothing is determined (of a public nature) but in this council whfere every one has an equal voiCCi The chief or sachem^ sits in the middle^ and the council on each hand; fbrming a semi-cirr ele, as the high priest of the Jews did in the Sanhedrim of that nation. Mr. Penn, When he first arrived in Pennsylvania, in thd year 1683, and made a treaty with them, makes the following observations, in a letter he then wrote to his friends in Eng- land. <( Every king has his council, and that consists of all the old and wise meii of his nation, which perhaps are two hunured people* Nothing of moment is undertaken, be it war, peace, selling of land, or traffic^ without advising with themi ^Tis admirable to consider how powerful the chiefs arc, and yet hdw they move by the breath of the people^ I have had occasion to be in council with them upon treaties for land, and to adjust the terms of trade. Their order is thusj the king sits in the middle of an half mooii, and hath his council, the did and the wise on each hand. Behind them^ at a little dis- tance, sit the young fry, in the same figure. Having con- Suited and resolved their business, the king ordered one of them to speak to me. He came to mc^ and in the name of his king, saluted me. Then took me by the hand, and told Ine that he was ordered by his king to speak to me| and that now it was not he, but the king who spoke, because what he iShould say was the king's mind. During the time this persoii "VVas speaking, not a man of them was observed to whisper oi' ^mile. The old were grave — the young reverend in their deportment. They spoke little, but fervently and with ele- ,\t ' >i .J I ( in ' v\i t \i • ; ' Hi ±62 A MTAR IW THE WEST. id n gance. He will deserve the name of wise, who oiit-wlts them in any treaty about a thing they understand. At every sen- tonce they shout, and say amen, in their way." Mr. Smith, in his history of New Jersey, confirms this gen- eral statement. « They are grave even to sadness, upon any common, and more so upon seiious occasions— observant of those in company, and respectful to the aged—of a temper ood and deliberate— never in haste to speak, but wait, for a certainty, that tlie person who spake before them, had finish- ished all ho had to say. They seemed to hold European vivacity in contempt, because they found such as came among them, apt to interrupt each other, and frequently speak alto- gcthci-. Their behaviour in public councils was strictly de- cent and instructive. Every one in his turn, was heard, ac- cording to rank of years or wisdom, or services to his country. Not a word, whisper or murmur, was heard while any one spoke : no interruption to commend or condemn : the younger sort were totally sUent. Those denominated kings, were sachems distinguished by their wisdom and good conduct. The respect paid them was voluntary, and not exactef*i or lookea for, nor the omission regarded. The sachems direct- ed in their councils, and had the chief disposition of their lands"— page 142, 144. Every nation of Indians have certain customs, which ihey observe in their public transactions witli other nations, and in tlieir private affairs among themselves, which it is scandalous for any one among them not to observ^. And these always draw after them, either public or privato resentment, whan ever they are broken. Although these customs may, in their detail, dttfcr in one nation, wlien com!;? red witli another,* y^t A STAB IN THE VftAT. 163 it is easy to discom that they have all had one origin. This is also apparent from every nation understanding them. Mr. Coldon says « their great men, both saohcms and captains, are generally poorer than the common people; for they affect to give away, and distribute all the presents or plunder they get in their treaties, or in war, so as to leave nothing to them- selves. There is not a man in the ministry .of tlio Five N^a- tions (of whom Mr. Golden was writing) who has gained his office otherwise than by merit. There is not the least salary, or any sort of profit annexed to any office, to tempt the covet- ous or the sordid ; but on the contrary, every unworthy action is unavoidably attended with the forfeiture of their commis- sion ; for their authority is only the esteem of the people, and qeases the moment that esteem is lost. An old Mohawk sachem, in a poor blanket and a dirty shirt, may be ^en issu- ing his orders, with as arbitrary an authority as a Roman dic- tator." As every nation, as before observed, has its peculiar stand- ard or symbol, as an eagle, a bear, a wolf or an otter, so has each tribe the like badge, from ^ which it is denominated. When they encamp, on a march, tliey always cut the repre- sentation of their ensign or symbol, on the trees, by which it may be known who have been there. The sachem of each tribe is a necessary party in all conveyances and treaties, to which he affixes the mark of his tribe, as a corporation does that of the public seal. If you go from nation to nation, you will not find one who doth not lineally distinguish himself by his respective family. As the family or tribe of the eagle, pantlierf (which is their Ron) tyger, hiffdo, (their ox or hull)-r.and also the bear, deer. V > ! 1 '■ i i, ' ^ 1-1 fl iH A HVAU IN THE WEST, 1?i racoortt &c. &c. So among the Jews, was the im of the tribe of Judah-^Ban was known by a strj^nt^hsachar by an when the first fruits become sanctified, by being annually offered upj and from this period they count their beloved or holy things. The number, and regular periods of the Indian public re- ligious feasts, (as will be seew Jj^fi^after) is a good historical A 8TAK III TKK WEST. l$i proof that thoyeotinted time, am) observed a weekly Sabbath, long after their arrival on the American continent, as thb is applicable io all the nations. TUl the seventy years captivity commenced, according t» Dr. Prideaux, the Israelites had only numeral names for the solar and lunar months, except two called Abib and Ethanaim. The former signifies a green ear of com, and the latter robust and valiant. And by the first name the Indians term their passover, as an explicative, and which the trading people call the green com-dance. These two months were equinoctial. Mb, or the present J^ism of the Jews, was the sixth month of the civil, and firet of the ecclesiastical year, answering to our March or April; and Ethanaim, which began the civil year, was the sixth of tlio ecclesiastical, the same as our September and October. Mr. Bartram says, whUe he was at Attasse, in tin; Creek nation, on a Sabbath day, he observed a great solemnity in the town, and a rpmnrkable silence and retiredness of the red inhabitants. Few of them were to be seen— the doora of their dwellings were shut, and if a child chanced to stray out, it was quickly drawn in doors again. He asked the meaning of this, and was immediately answered, that it being the white people's sabbath, the Indians kept it religiously sacred to the great spirit. The writer of this being present on the Lord's day, at the worship of seven different nations, who happened (accidentally) to be at the seat of government to- gether, he was pleased to see their orderly conduct. They were addressed by an old sachem, apparently with great en- ergy and address. An interpreter being present, he asked him to explain what the speaker had said. The intrepreter answered that the substance of wlifat he delivered, was a 1 1 ' IV I • ' 4 f! p y n<\i I I si 1S0 A STAB Ur THA WBST. 'warm repniieiitation to his audience, of the love the great i^iril 1<«- 'iv.v.'s manifested towards the Indians, more than tfj i\5iy ot>f . people. That they were in a special manner, under his government and immediate direction. That it was, therefore, the least return they coiUd make for so much good- ness, gratefully to acknowledge his favour, and to he obedient to his laws — ^lo do ias wiii, and to avoid every thing that was evil, and of course displeasing to him. Just before the service began, the writer of this observed an Indian standing at the window with the intreprcter, look- ing into a small field adjoining the house, where a great many white children were playing with the Indian children, and making a considerable noise. The Indian spuke much in earnest, and seemed rather displeased. The interpreter an- swered him with great apparent interest. On being asked t^e subject ci their convfo'sation, he said the Indian was lamenting the sad state of thoao -white children, whom he called poor destitute orphans. The interpreter asked why he thought them orphans? For he believed it was not true. The Indian, with great earnestness, replied, is not this the day on which you told me the white people worshipped the great spirit? If so, surely these children, if they had parents, or any persons to take care of them, would not be suffered to be out there, playing and making such a noise. No! no! they have lost their fathers and their mothers, and have no one to take care of them. When the Indians travel, they always count the time by sleeps, which is a very ancient custom, and perhaps may have been derived from the Mosaic method of counting time, mak- ing the evening and the morning to be the first day, &e^ A 8TAE nr THK WEIT. 167 They have also an ancient custom of setting apart 'certain houses and towns, as places of refuge, to which a criminal, and even a captive may fly, and be safe from the avenger of Wood, if he can but enter it. Mr. Bartram says, «« we arrived at the Apalachuela town, in the Creek nation. This is esteemed the mother town, sacred to peace. No capUvcs aio put to death, or human blood F -It here." The Cherokees, according to Adair, though now exceed- ingly corrupt, still observe the law of refuge, so inviolably, that tliey aUow their beloved town the privilege of protecting a wUful murderer J but they seldom aUow hini to return home from it in safety. The town of refuge called 'choaie, is situate on a large stream of the Missisippi, five miles above where fort Loudon formerly stood. Here some years ago, a brave Englishman was protected, after killing an Indian warrior, in defence of his property. He told Adair, that after some months stay there, he intended returning to his house in the neighbour- hood ; but the chiefs told him it would prove fatal to him. So he was obliged to continue there, tUl he satisfied the friends «f the deceased, by presents to their full satisfaction. In the upper country of the Miiskoge, there was an old beloved town caUed Koosah, now reduced to a small ruinous village, which is still place of safety for those who kill undesignedly. In almost every Indian nation, there are several peaceable towns, which are caUed old beloved, holy or white towns. They seem to have been formerly towns of refuge, for it is not within the memory of their oldest people, that ever human #i r|i, Hlf; i / *; ii w (i f n m t . t > !,■ ■■ ■■.!■ 168 A itah in tbe wsit. rm blood was shed in them 5 although they often force persons from them, and put them to death elsewhere. ''^ It may be tliought improper here, to say much of the war- like abilities and military knowledge of the Indians, as It is very popular, especially with Europeans, to despise them as warriors, by which means thousands of Europeans and Americans hare lust their lives. But as it may shew that they are not quite so ignorant as strangers to them have thought them, a short account €i their military conduct, may illiicidate our general subject. I am assisted by col. Smith, who lived long with them, and often fought against them, in what may bo said on this occa* sion. However despised, they are, perhaps, as well versed in the art of that kind of war, calculated for their circumstances, and are as strict disciplinarians in it, as any troops in Europe ; and whenever opposed by not more than two or three to one Indian, they have been generally victorious, or come off with snJall loss, while they have made their opponents repent their rashness and ignorance of war on their plan. And indeed, they were always victorious over European troops, till sad experience taught foreign officers to pay more respect to the advice of American officers, who, by adopting the Indian prin- eiples of war, knew how to meet them with advantage. It is not sufficient for an army to be well disciplined on their own principles, without considering those of the enemy they are to contend with. Braddock, Boquet, and several others of great celebrity in their own country, have been defeated or sur- prised, by a (comparatively) small number of these inhabit- ants of the wilderness, and greatly suffered from despising A hTAR IN THE WlSIIT. W * What they tliouglit untutored savages; and to save the honoi- and military character of tliose who commanded, have been led to give very false i-epojrts of the combats. The following facts will give force to tHese observaUons— « In col. Boquet^s last campaign of 1764, 1 saw, (says col. Smith) the official return made by the British officers, ^f the number of Indians that were in arms against us in that year, which amounted to thirty thousand. As I was then a lieuten- ant in the British service, I told them I was of opinion, that there were not above one thousand in arms against us, as they were divided by Broadstrcet's army, being then at Lake Erie. The British officers hooted at me, and said that they could not make England sensible of the difficulties they labour- ed under in fighting them; and it was expected that their tiwps could fight the undisciplined savages in America, five to one, as they did the East-Indians, and therefore my rejiort would not answer their purpose, as they could nof give an honorable account of the was-, but by augmenting their num- hers," • Smith was of the opinion, that fitdm Braddock's defeat, un- til the time of his writing, there never wei-e more than three thousand Indians, at any time iti arms against us, west of Fort Pitt, and frequently not more than half of that number According to the Indians' own account, during the whole of Braddock's war, or from 1765 to 1768, they killed and took fifty of our people for one that they lost. In the war of 1763, they kiUed, comparatively, few of our people, and lost more of theirs, as the frontier inhabitants, especially the Virginians, had learned something of their method of war; yet even in ■I' i' I! in .ft Is I '■I f'f i.n tto A STAR IN THE WEST. p J th\» war, according to tlicir account (which Smith believed to he true) they killed and took ten of our people for one they kwt. The Indians, thouj^h fow in nUmb*, put the government to immense expense of blood and treasure, in tlic war from 1756 to ±79iX' The following campaigns in the western country, « will be proof of this. General Braddock's in the year 1755-~eol. Armstrong's against the Cattaugau town, on the Alleghany, in 1757— gen. Forbes' in 1758— gen. Stanwix's in 1759— gen. Monckton's in 1760— col. Boquet's in 1761— and again in 1763, when he fought the battle of Brushy-Run, and lost above one hundred men; but by taking the advice and assistance of the Virginia volunteers, finally drove the Indians— eol. Armstrong's up the West branch of Susquehannah in the same year— gen. Broad- street's up Lake Erie in 1764-^ol. Boquet's at Muskingum at the same time— lord Dunmore's in 177*— gen. M*Intosh's in 1778, and again in 1780— col. Bowman's in 1779— gen. Clark's in 1782— and against the Wabash Indians in 1786— gen. Logan'9 against the Shawanese in the same year, and col. Harmer's in 1790— gen. Wilkinson's in 1791— gen. St. Claii''s in 1791, and gen. Wayne's in 179*, wllich in all are twenty-three campaigns, besides smaller expeditions, such as the French-Creek expedition, colonels Edward's, Loughrie's, &e. All these were exclusive of the numbers of men who wei'e internally employe* as scouting parties, in erecting forts, guarding stations, &c. &c. When we take the foregoing account into consideration, may we not reasonably conclude, that the Indians are the besj dis- ciplined troops in the world, especially when we consider, th?.t A STAR IN THE WEST. ^i-: the aitimutaition anil arms that they are ohligcd to use, are of tlic wcirst sort, without .bayonets or cartouch boxes. No arti- ficial means of carrying either baggage or provision* while their enemies have every wai'likc implement* and other re- sources* to the utmost of their desire. Is not that the be^ discipline* that has the greatest tendency to annoy an enemy* and save their own men ? It is apprehended that the Indian discipline is better calculated to answer their purpose in the woods of America* than tlic British discipline in the plains of FlanderSk British discipline* in the woods* is the way to have men slaughtered* with scarcely any chance to defend themselves. Privates. The Indians sum up their art of war thus — « The business of the private warrior is to be under command* or punctually to obey orders— 'to learn to march a-breast in scattered order* so as to be in readiness to surround the enemy* or to prevent being surrounded— to be good marksmen* and active in the use of their musket or rifle—to practice running«-^to learn to endure hunger or hardships with patience and fortitude — to tell the truth at all times to their oflicci's* more especially when sent out to spy the enemy." Concerning Officers. They say that it would be absurd to appoint a man to an office* whose skill and courage had never been tried— -that all officers should be advanced only according to merit — that no single man should have the absolute command of an army— that a council of officers should determine when and how an attack is to be made— -that it is the duty of officers to lay plars, and to take every advantage of the enemy— to ambush ,4 . t. - . H (¥. h 1* v'1 fffe ' '.r if "f ':'.' 1- * i - i-IM ii'lil 'I" 17%, A STAR IN THE WEST. •^' r V In and surprise them, and to prevent the like to themselvcB. It is the (iuty of officers to prepare and deliver speeches to the men, in order to animate and encourage them, and on a inarch to prevent the men, at any time, getting into an hud- dle, because if the enemy should surround them in that posi- tion, thby would be greatly exposed to the enemy's fire. It is likewise their business, at all times, to endeavour to annoy the enemy, and save their own menj and therefore ought never to bring on an attack without considerable advantage, or without what appeared to them to insure victory, and that with a loss of but few men. And if at any time they should be mistaken in this, and are likely to lose many men in gain- ing the victory, it is the ir duty < > retreat, and wait for a bet- ter opportimity of defeating tlieir enemy, without the danger of losing so many men." Their conduct proves that they act on these principles. This is the statcmeiit given by those who are experimen- tally acquainted with them, and as long as the British officers despised both Indians and Americans, who had studied their art of war, and formed themselves on tiie same plan, they were constantly beaten by those soldiers of nature, though seldom one fourth of the number of the British. But the Brit- isli officers had one advantage of them. That was the art of drawing up and reporting to their superiors, plans of their bat- tles, and exaggerated accounts of their great success, and the immense loss of tlie Indians, which were never thought of till long after the battle was over, and often while they were smarting under tlieir severe defeat or surprise. The writer of this could give some instances, if it would an- answep anj good encj^ that came under his own knowledge, *7 • A STAR IW THE WEST, When the Indians determine on war or hunting, they have stated preparatory, religious ceremonies, for purification, par- ticularly by fasting, as the Israelites had. Father Charlevoix^ gives an account of this custom in his time. In case of an intention of going to war, he who is to command does not commence the raising of soldiers, till he has fasted several days, during which he is smeared with blacks has no conversation with any one^invokes by day and night, his tutelar spirit, and above all, is very careful to observe hi^ dreams. The fast being over, he assembles his friends, and with a string of wampum in his hands,- he speaks to them after this manner. Brethren ! the great spirit authorizes my senti- ments, and inspires me with what I ought to do.* The blood of—- is not wiped away^his body is not covered, and I will acquit myself of this duty towards him," &c. Mr, M'Kenzie in some measure, confirms this account, though among different nations. « If the tribes feel them- selves called upon to go to war, the elders convene the people in order to cHtain the general opinion. If it be for war, the chief publishes his intention to smoke in the sacred stem (a pipe) at a certain time. To this solemnity, meditation and fasting are required as preparatory ceremonials. When the people are thus assembled, and the meeting sanctified by the •This shews the mistakes committed by writers who do not intimately under- stand the .d.om of the Indian languages. Above it is said, 'Hhat the warrior in- Tok^ h.s tutelar spirit," but by this address, it is plain that it was the great spirit. So the translator of Charievoix, calls a string of wampum, of which the war-Llts are made a collar of beads. Great allowance should be made for the ignorance of both ravcUers and writers. Tl>e secrecy of Indians, in keeping all their religio..s ntestromthe knowledge of white people, lest they should defile them by Lip presence, adds much to their difficulty. And Charlevoix being a religious Roman Catholic, easdy slid into the idea of an attendant spirit. In o ' M ■ '\i i 1 w A STAB IN THE WES'J*. * custom of smoking (this may be in imitation of the smoke of the incense offered on the altar of the Jews) the chief en- larges on the causes which have called them together, and'the necessity of the measures proposed on the occasion. He then invites them who arc willing to follow him, to smoke out of the sacred stem, which is considered as a tokm of enrolment.** A sacred feast then takes place, and after much ceremony, usual on the occasion, « the chief turning to the east, makes a speech to explain more fully the design of their meetingj then concludes with an acknowledgment for past mei-eies received, and a ^irayer for the cohtinuance of them, from the master of life. He then sits- down, and the whole company declare their approbation and thanks by uttering the word Ho .'" (in a very hoarse, guttural sound, being the third syllabic of the beloved name, « with an emphatic prolongation of the last letter. The^hief then takes up the pipe, and holdsit to the mouth of the officiating person," (like a priest of the Jews, with the in- eensi!:) « who after smoking three whiffs, utters a short prayer, and then goes round with it fi-om east to west, to every per- son present" The ceremony then being ended, « he returns the company thanks for their attendance, and wishes them, as well as the whole tribe, health and long life." Do not these practices remind the reader of the many direc- tions in the Jewish ritual, commanding the strict purification, or sanctifying individuals about to undertake great business, pr to enter on important offices. • Adair, who had greater opportunities of knowing the real i^haracter of the Indians to the southward, than any man that has ever written on the subject, gives the following account. <« Before the Indians go to war, tliey have ma^y preparatory A STAR IW THE WEST. "$ ceremonies of purification and fasting, Uke what is reicorilcd of the Israelites. When the leader hegins to beat up for vol- unteers, he goes three times round his dark winter house, contrary to the course of the sun, soundiiifif the warwhoo]^ singing the war song, and beating a drum.* He addresses the croud, who come about him, and after much ceremony, he proceeds to whoop again for the warriors to come and join him, and sanctify themselves for success against the common enemy, according to their ancient religious law. A number soon join him in his winter liouse, where thv.y live separate from all others, and purify themselves for the space of three days and three nights, exclusive of the first broken day. On each day t'aey observe a strict fast tiU sunset, watching the young men very narrowly (who have not been initiated in war titles) lest unusual hunger gliould tempt them to violate it, to the supposed danger of all their lives in tlie war, by de- stroying the power of their purifying, beloved physic, which they drink plentifully during that time. They arc such strict observers of their law of purification, and think it so essential in obtaining health and success in. war, as not to allow the best beloved trader that ever lived among them, knowingly, to enter the beloved ground appropriated to the duty of being sanctified for war, much less to associate with the camp in the woods, at such a time, though he is unite i with them in the same war design. They oblige him to walk and encamp sepa- rately by liimself, as an impure, dangerous animal, till the leader batl pfv fied him, according to the usual time and metli- «d, with tit ^ consecrated things of the ark." With tJic He- * The Indians have something in imitation of a dr-jm, ffiade of a wet deer skin drawn over a largs gourd or frame of wood. m !!■ !! I'J; m':' m " "-^^'i''',' -' «ii' 1 1 i, I 6 A 8TAK IN THE WEST. brews, the ark of J3en^^ (the purifier) was a small wooden chesty as has already been shewn in the first chapter, of three feet nine inches in length, and two feet three inches broad^ and two feet three inches in height, and overlaid with pure jgold. The Indian ark is of a very simple construction, and it is only the intention and application of it, that makes it wor-< thy of notice, for it is made with pieces of wood, securely fastened together in the form of a square. The middle of three of the sides extend a little out, but the fourth side is flat, for the convenience of the person's back who carries it. This ark has a cover, and the whole is made impenetrably close vith hickory splinters. It is about half the dimensions of the Jewish ark, and may properly be called the Hebrew ark im- itated. The leader and a beloved waiter carry it by turns. In contains several consecrated vessels, made by beloved, snperanuated women, and of such various antiquated forms, 7.S would hare puzzled ^Aavn to have given significant names to each. These two carriers are purified longer than the rest, that the first may be fit to act in tlie religious office of a priest of war, and the other to carry the awful, sacred ark, all the while they are engaged in the act of figftting. « And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, rise up Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered ; and let them that hate thee, flee before thee. And when it rested he said, return O Lord unto the many thousands of Israel"— Numbers x. 35, 36. « But they presumed to go up unto the hill top; nevertheless, the ark of the covenant of the Lord and Moses, departed not ou<; of the camp. Then' the Amale- kites came down and the Canaanites who dwelt on that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them even unto Hormah" — ibid xiv. \!i. _K STAB IS TBB WEST. 177 "*AnA David said unto theni) ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites; sanctify yourselves both ye and your brethren^ tliat ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God oi Israel unto the place that I have prepared for il"-^l Chron. xv. 12. Tlie IleiissUi or beluveJ waiter> feeds each of the warriors by an exact latated rule, giving them even the water they drink, out of his own hands, lest by intemperance they should spoil the supposed communicative power of their holy things, and occasion fatal disasters to tiie war camp. They never place the ark on the groumi, nor sit on the bai'e earth, while they are carrying it against the enemy* On hilly ground, where stones are plr nty, they place it on them ; but on land, where stones are njt to be had, they use short logs, always resting themselves i i like mannero The former is a strong imitation of the pedestal on which the Jewish ark was placed, a stone rising three fingers breadth above the Qoor, They have as strong faith in tbe power and holiness of their ark, as ever the Israelites had of theirs, ascribing the superi- or success of the party to their stricter adherence to the law, than the other. This ark is deemed so sacred and dangerous to be touched, either by their own sanctified w^arriors, or the spoiling enemy, that they will not touch it on any account. It is not to be meddled with by any but the war chieftain and his waiter, who are consecrated for the pur^iose, under the pen- alty of incurring great evil. Nor would the most inveterate enemy among their nations, touch it in the woods for the sam9 reason, which is agreeable to the religious opinion and cus- toms of the Hebrews, respecting the sacredness of their ark, as in the case of Uzzah and the Pliilistines. 3A I > 1/8 A STAB IN THE WEST* ' V 'i A gentleman who was at the Ohio in the year 1756, as- flured the writer that he saw a stranger there, very importu. nate to view the inside of the Cherokee ark, which was cov- ered with a dressed deer skin, and placed on a couple of short blocks of wood. An Indian sentinel watched it, armed with a hickory bow, and brass pointed barbed arron/; and he was faithful to his trust; for finding the stranger obtruding, with apparent determination to pollute the supposed sacred vehicle, he drew his arrow to the head, and would have shot him through the body, had he not suddenly withdrawn. The leader virtually acts the part of a priest of war pro tempore, in imitation of the Israelites, fighting under the divine military banner 6f old. The Indians will not cohabit with women while they are but at war; they religiously abstain from every kind of inter- course, even with their own wives, for the space of three days and nights, before they go out to war; and so after they re- turn home, because they are to sanctify themselves. So Joshua commanded the Israelites, the night befi)re they inarched, to sanctify themselves by washing their clothes, avoiding all impurities, and abstaining from all matrimonial intercourse. When the Indians return home victorious over an enemy, they sing the triumphal song to F. O. He. wah, ascribing the victory to him, like a religious custom of the Israelites, who were commanded always to attribute their success in war to Jehovah, and not to their swords and arrows. The Indian method of making peace, carries the face of great antiquity. When the applicants arrive near the town> they send a mossenger a head, to inform the enemy of their A STAB IH THE WEST. tm amicable intentions. He carries a swan*s wing in bis hand» painted with streaks of white clay, as an expressive emblem of his peaceful embassy. The next day, when they have made their friendly parade, by firing off their guns and whooping, they enter the beloved square. Their chief, who is a-head of the rest, is met by one of the old beloved men of the town. They approach each other in a bowing posture. The former says, Fo Ish k cher Mggona? « Jre you come a friend, in the mine of tfie great spirit!" The other replies, Fah Orahre Mggom. « Tfie great spirit is with mc, lam come a friend in his name." The beloved man then grasps the stranger with both his hands, around the wrist of Ids right hand, wliich holds some green branches; then again about the elbow; tlien about the arm close to the shoulder, as a near approach to the hearts Then he waves an eagle's tail over the head of the stranger^ which is the strongest pledge of good faith. The writer of this has been witness to this ceremony, performed by an em- bassy from the Creek nation, with his excellency general Washington, president of the United States, in the year 1789. The common method of greeting each other is analogous with the above, in a great measure. The host only says. Ish la dm? Are you a friend 9 The guest replies, Orahye-O, lam come in the name of 0, E, A. or Foltewah, ** They are very loving to one another, if several came to a christian's house, and the master of it gave to one of them victuals, and none to the rest, he would divide it into oqud shares amongst his compaiiions If the christians visited thera, they would give them the first .cut of their victuals. They never eat the hollow of tiie thigh of any thing they kill; Aod if a christian stranger came to one of their liouses in ilmr 'i ;' :■■■ -I 11^^ If '' ii • k MO ▲ STAR UK THE WEST. m if towns, he wts received with the greatest hospitality, aiid the best of every thing was set before him. And this was often repeated from house to house."— Smith's history of New-Jer- sey, page 130. The Indians are not only religiously attached to their tribe Tvhile living; but their bodies, and especially their bonca» arc the objects of their solicitous care, after they are dead. Among the Mohawks, their funeral rites show they have some notkm of a future state of existence. They make a large round hole, in which the body can be placed upright, or upon its haunches, which, after the body is placed in it, is covered with timber, to support the earth, which tliey lay over it, and thereby keep the body {h>m being pressed, they then raise the earth in a round hill over it. They dress the c(n*pse in all its finery, and put wampum and other things in the grave with it. The relations will not suJHbr grass, or any weed to grow on the grave, and frequently visit it with lamentations. Among the French Indians in Canada, as mentioned by Charlevoix, as soon as the sick person expires, the house is filled with mournful cries ; and this lasts as long as the family is able to defray the expense, for they must keep open house all the time. In some nations the relatives fast to tlie end of the fimeral, with tears and cries. They treat their visitors.~ praise the dead, and pass mutual compliments. In other na- tions, they hire women to weep, who perform their duty punc- tually. They sing—they dance— .they weep without ceasing, always keeping time. He has seen the relatives in distress, walk at a great pace, and put their hands on the heads of all tlipy met, pr«)bably to invite them to share in their grief. Thoao wlio have sought a resemblance between the Hebrews A ITAB IN THE WEST. IM and the Americani, have not failed to take particular notice of their manner of mourning, as several expressions in scrii>- ture give 1:00m to such conjectures, and to suppose them much alike to those in use with those people of God. Indeed, do not these customs and practices seem («> be derived from those of the Jews burying their dead in tombs hewed out of a rock, trhei 111 were niches, in which the dead were set in an upright posture, and often with much of their pr«>i)erty buried with them. Josephus tells us, that fi-om king David's sepulclirc, Hyrcanus, the Maccabean, took three thousand talents, about thirteen hundred years after his death, to get rid of Antioch- 11S, then besieging Jerusalem. The southern Indians, when any of their people die at liome, wash and anoint the corpse, and soon bring it out of dooi-s, for fear of pollution. They place it opposite to the door in a sitting posture. They then carry it thi*ee times round the house in which he is to be interred, for sometimes they bury him in his dwelling-house, and under his bed. The re- ligious man of the deceased's family, in this procession, goes before the corpse, saying each time, in a solemn tone. Yah — then Ho, which is sung by all the procession. Again he strikes Bp He, which is also sung by tlic rest. Then all of them sud- denly strike off the solemn chorus, by saying wah, which constitutes the divine, essential name, Vah-Ho-He-tvah. In the Choktaw nation, they often sing, Hal-k-lU'tjali, intermixed ^th their lamentations. They put the corpse in the tomb in a sitting posture, with his face towards the east, and liis head anointed with bear's oil. He is dressed in the finest ai*!^^!, having his gun, pouch, and hickory bow, with a youn.s, nan- ther's skin full of arrows, along side of him, and every other ' ' 'Hi-' ^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET {MT-3) Z 1.0 I.I 11.25 Si i£ IIM 1.4 1.6 V] <^ /a m ^^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation ^ ^ 1 fV \\ %. \ \> % !=lj^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (7*6) 872-4503 \ b|^^ afi enemy, they place the corpse on a scajDTold, secured tixm wild beasts and fowls of prey. When they imagine the flesh is consumed,' and the bones dried, they return to the placcn bring them home, and inter them in a very solemn manner^ The Hebrews, in like manner, carefully buried their dead* but on any accident, they gathered their bones, and laid them in the tombs of their fore-fathers. Thus Jacob ** charged his sons, and said unto them, I am to be gathered ynto my people bury me with my fatliers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite." This was in Canaan. « There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wifej there they buried Isaa^B and Rebeckah, his wife; and there I buried Leah." « Ami Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry my hones from hence.»lk « And Moses took the bones of Joseph with liirn."* And tlie hones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought m oat • Gen,xrijf.29, 81--1.25--Ex»d.xm.I9. * I»^ 1 fl^AB jtir THE WE8#1 «f tegypt, buried they in Shechem^ as above^lg^c£-^ Joshua «iir. 32. The JeW biiried near their cities, and ^eWmesoppositelb their houses, implying a si^nt iess4 of fhi^nd^hip, and a caution <» lire weH. They buried femilies together,- but strangers apart Iby themselves. ^ When an old Indian finds that it is prob^le that he must «e, he ^fends fUt m friends, and with them collects his chij* drenand family around bim; and then, with the greatest com- posure, he addresses them in the most affectionate manner, giving them his last councU, and advising them tosuch conduct ashe thmks fortheir best interests. So did the patriarch^ of dd, and the Indians seem to foDow their steps, and with as IBuehcoolness as Ja«ob did to his cliildren, when he was kbout to die. A very worthy clergyman, with whom the Wnter was wetf acquainted, and Who had long preached to the Indians, inforr«eil ftto, that many years ago, having Veached in the mornins taa considerable number of them, in the rece^ between the morning and afternoon services, ntws was suddenly brought, that the son of an Indian womab, one of the congregatton tHen present, had fallen into a miJl^am, and was drowned. Im. mediately the disconsolate mother retired to some distance in tieep distress, and sat down on the ground. Her female friends soon followed her, and placed themselves in like man- *er around her, in a circle at a small distance. They contin- ttcd a considerable time, in profound and melancholy silence, except now and then uttering a deep groan. AU at once the mother putting her hand on her mouth, fell with her face flat on the ground, her hand continuing on her mouth. This was followed, in like manner, by aU the rest, when all cried out. if ■ ^ h IM A 9' ■^te'^f^m^S^S^': mtti the most melancholy and dismal yellings ahd giwmJfiggir Thus tbey continued, with their hands on thdr moiiths, and their mouths in the dust a considerable time. The men also retired to ^distance fvm thi.ra» and went through the same ceremony, making the most dismal groanings and yellings. Keed any reader be reminded of the Jewish customs o^* o^asidnsofdeephdmili^tion, to in Job 21 and d^Markme aiid be astonished, and lay^your hand on ^our mouth. 29 a«d S—The priiiCes refraihed talking, and laid their hands of their mouths. *0 and *— Behold! I am vile, what shall I ainsWer thee ? I will lay my hand on my month. Micah 7 and 16— .The nations shall see and be confounded j they sh^ lay their hands on their mouth. Lament 3 and 9--He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be,* there may be hope. Prov. ^9 mi S^k thbtt hast thought evil, lay thine band upon thy moulth. The Choktaw Indiiinsliire ihoumers4» magnify the in«rit and loss of the dead, and if their tears do not flow, their sfaraU voices will be heard to cry, which answers' the solemn chorus miicV better. However, some of them have tlie art off shed- ding tears abundantly. Jcrem. ix chap. 17, 19^Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, consider ye, and call for the mourning \nh men, that they may come, and send for cttnning women, that they may come, for a voice of wailing is heard, &c. it By the Mosaic law, the surviving brt»ther was to raise up seed to a deceased brother, who should leave a widow child- less. The Indian custom resembles this in a considerable de» gree. A widow among the Indians is bound by a strict penal law or custom, to mourn the death of her husband, for tho space of three or four years. But if it be known that the dde? A STJLB IH THE WEST. brother «eher decseaaed husband has lain with her, she i$ ji.^ terwards exempt from the law of mouming-^has liberty t» tie up her hair, anoint and pamt herself, which she Could/not otherwise do, under pain of being treated as an adultiess. The Indians, formerly on the Juniata and Susquehaiinah riv- ers, placed their dead on close or coTer(?d cribs, made for the purpose, tUl the flesh consumed away* At the proper time they gathered the bones, scraped and washed them, and then' buried them with great ceremony. There is a tribe caUed Nanticokes, that on th(;ir removal from an old to a new town,, carry the bones of their ancestors with them* This also provailed in particular cases among the Canada Indians. An dficer of the regular troops at Qswego, upwards of sixty years ago, reported the folio . jg fact. A boy of one of the westward nations, died at Oswego— the parents made a regular pile of split wood, laid the corpse upon it and burnt it While tlie pUe -as bm-ning, they stood gravely looking en, without any lamentation, but when it was burned down they gathered up the bones, and with many tears, put thejii into a box, and carried them away with them.* The Indians are universally remarkable for a spirit of independence and freedom beyond any other people, and they generally consid- er death, as far preferable to slavery. They abhor covet- ousness, and to preyent.it, they bum all the little property an Indian has at the time of his death, or bury it with him in his grave. This necessarily tempts them to frugality and abstemiousness in their manner of li^ving. They are wholly ignorant of all kind of mechanicks, except so far as is pressed on them by necessity. They are free from hypocrisy or any • E;e<)d, Oiii. 19. Jo»h. xxiv. 12, SSain. xxi.l2— H. SB ' » -Pit wm nr 186 A STAB IS THE WMT, ibced civility or poHteness; but their general conduct, shows a frank and candid, bat plain and blunt hospitality and kind- ness ; with a degree of faithfulness in their dealings, exeept with their enemies, tiiat often astonishes white people; who although their pretensions are so much higher, cannot,, at least «io not, reach them in, thi»piuiicular. The gi^at authw of the Mviw legaUon ofMrns, in treating 9f the government of the Jews, both civil and religious, as ne- cessarily united under one great head, the Ood ^ Mraham, Jbaac and Jacob, states his subject clearly, and fully, and then says, ^but the poet Fottatre, indeed, has had a different rev- elation. The pride of every individual among the Jews, says he, is interested ip believing, that it was not their detesidbU |w2%, their ignorance in the arts or their unpoliteness, that destroyed them; but that it is God's anger that yet pursues them for their idolatries*" This detestable policy, (which I would not consider in the most obvious sense of the Mosaic institution, because that might tend to make the poet jiimself detestable) was a principle uf independence. This igiiorance in the arts prevented the entrance of luxury ; and this unpo- liteness, hindered tiie practice of it. And yet parsimony, frugality and a spirit of liberty, which naturally preserve oth- er states, all tended in the kleas of this wonderful politician to destroy the Jewish." How surprisingly does t^s obsei^ation ci bishop Warburton, apply in support of these untutored In- dians, and point out from whence they must have drawn their loinciples of conduct. ?..' ^ w4 • A ITAR IN THE WES importance of the gospel to them, have unwisely gone into the woods to them, without proper and preparatory education for so important an under- taking.— I mean, witliout understanding their language, or being, well acqu^nted with their manners, customs and habits —nay, not even making themselves acquainted with their re- ligious prejudices, or by taking sufficient time and using pn^ ermeans^to gain their confidence^ :. •yo. people so ignorant of what they ought first to have known, and wholly trusting to a heathen interpreter, unable ta feel or express the nature of spiiitual things, and having to deaj with a most jealous and artful people. Tendered so by the experience of more than a century, by the continued imposi-r tions and oppression of th^ nation to which their visitants be- longed— it is quite a natural, thing, that they were often at first despised by the Indians, and then majlea mere hutt, foe the most worthless to frighten and laugh at Hence the In- dians have often in a frolic dressed themselves in the most terrific. manner, and m^de the most frightful, images, with every kind of extravagant emblem about it, to alarm and ter- |ify their new eomers, of whom they thought so lightly. We «|>eak now principally of thejr light, bad people, who inhabit A 8TAB IW TUB WB8*. around or near our settlements. That, as a people, they are sensible of propriety, and are careful observers of chiiracters, is well known t» those who hare been long conversant with them. It is a fa»t well a:ttested, that a pr^cher went among them before the revolutionary war, and in a sudden discourses to them, began to tell them that there was a God, whtf crea- ted all things—that it Was exceedingly sinful and offensive t» him, to get drunk, or lie, or steal—all which they mustcarc- fuHy avoid. They answered him-^< Go about your business, you fool ! Do not we know that there is a God, as well as you ! Go to youi'own people and preach to them ; for who gets drunk, and lies and steals more than you white people?" In short, if the Indians form their ideas of us from the com- mon traders and land speculators, and common people, with whom they usually have to do, they wiU not run irtto a greater error than we do, when we form our ideas of the character of Indians from those who generally keep aboutiour settlements, ;C and traffic with the frontier inhnbitants. The Indians are filled with great spiritual pride— we mean their chiefs and best men. They consider themselves as undei- a theocracy, and thAt they have God for their governor and' head. They- therefore holjl all other people, comparatively, in contempt. They pay their religious worship, as Mr. Adair assures us,. (and he had a great opportunity of knowing) to Loak'MUiy HooUi-Abbaf or the great, beneficent, supreme, holy spirit of fire, who resides alcove the clouds, and on ^srth with uni^Uuted, holy people. They were never known (whatever some Spanish writers may say to the contrary, to cover thei]p own blood-thirsty and more than savage barbarity, to the natives they found in Mexico, jit their first arrival among iir, , Ai- fff-' M ^.N 4.90 A STAB lit TIUS WK«r. fhcm) to pay thb least percvMvable adoration tf» images or (lead persoNSy or to celestial luminaiiii-a, or cvM spirits, or to dny created being whaterer. Their religious eeremonies art more after the Mosaic in- stitution) than of pagan imitation. They do not belieye the sun to' be any larger than it appears to the naked eye. Not- Avithstanding the various accounts we have had fkvm differ- ent authors, greatly exaggerating the reports of the Indian'a irreligious conduct, they' have taken little or no pains to be well informed (for it is attended with considerable difficulty, frorii their known secrecy) and have theivfore grossly miar- rcprescnted them, without designing to mislead. Historians ought not to be trusted, as to detuled accounts of these peo- ple, with whom it seems tft have been previously agreed among themselves, to charge with being red savages and bar- barians, while the Indians, in return, consider as white sava- ges andaecurscdpeople, those who thus traduce them* Read- (»^ should carefully examine into their means of knowledge — their connections with the Indians, and the length oi time and opportunities they enjoyed iid a social intercourse with them. Difficulties, and those very great, have ^sen from the imm a tradition, that their ancestors received knowledge of future events from heaven by dreams— vide Job xxxiii. &c. Du Pratz had a particular intimacy with the chief of the guardians of the temple, in a nation near the Misdisippi— -2 vol. 17$. That on his requesting to be informed of the na-^ ture of their worship, he was told that they acknowledged H supreme being, who|m they called Coyo-cop-chill, or great spirit, or the SjptriMnfiaitely great — or the spirit by way of excellence. That the word cjiUl in their language, signifies the most su- perlative degree of perfection, and is added to make that ap- pear, as oua is fire, and oua cJall is tlie supreme fire, or the sun. ^ Therefor^ by the word Coyo-cop-chill, they mean a spir- it that surpasses other spirits, as much as the sun docs.com^ mon fire. The guardian sud, that the great spirit was so great and powerful, that iji comparison with him, all otiier things were as nothing. He had made all that we see — ^11 that we can se&— and all that we cannot see. He was so good that he could not do ill to any one, even if. he had a' mind tv> do it. They helieved that the great spirit had made all things" by. bfs will; that jievertheicss the little spirits who arc his I. fp 'M A STAB IIV TH^ WEST. servants, might by his orders, have made many excellent woriis in the universp, which we admire ; but tliat God him- self had formed man with liis own hands. Tlicy called the little spirits, frtA tervanis. That those spirits were always before tlie great spirit, ready to execute lus pleasure with an extreme diligence. ' That the air was filled with other spirits, some goo<1, some wicked, and that the latter had a chief, wlio was more wicked than all the rest. That the great spirit had found him so wick- (h1, that he had bound liim forever, sojtiiat the other spirits of the air, no longer did so much harm. , He was tlien asked, how did God make man ? he answer- ed that he kneadpd some clay, anJmade it into a little man — after examining it and finding it well formed, he blew on his work, and fortiiwith the little man had life — grew — acted— walked and found himself a roan, perfectly well shaped. Ho tlien was asked about the woman — he said, probably she was made in s same manner as the man, but their ancient speech made no mention of any difference, only that the man was made firsl—upge i74. The Indians also, agreeably to the theocracy of Israel, think the great spirit to be the immediate head of their state, and that God chose them out of all the rest of mankind, as his peculiar and beloved people. » Mr. Locke, one of the ablest men Great-Britain ever pro- duced, observes,' « that the commonwealth of tlie Jews, differ-r cd from all others, being an absolute theocracy. The laws established tliere, concerning tlie worship of the one invisible deity, were the ciiil laws of that people, and a part of their political government, in which God himself was the legislat«r,«f_ A ITAB IW Tm WBIT. m In this, tlie Indians profess the same thing prcciiel j. TMa ii the exact form of their government, which seems unao- countable, were it not derived from the same orignal souvce, and is the only reason that can, be assigned for so extraordina- ryaftict. ** The Indians are exceedingly intoxicated with religious pride, and hold the white people in inexplicable contempt-^ the common name they give us in their set speeches, literally means, nothings ; but in their war cpeeches, athtck ookproose, the accursed people. But they flatter themselves with the name Hottuk-ore-too^Ut the beloved people. This is agree- able to the Hebrew epithet JlmmU during the theocracy of Is- rael. When their high priest (if we may be allowed the term, for their most beloved man) addresses the people, he tsalls them, " the beloved or holy people.'* These addresses are full of flourishes on the happiness of their country, calling it a land flowing with milk and honey. When any of their beloved people die, they soften tlie thoughts of death, by saying, he is otdy gone to sleep wiVi their Moved forefatherst and usually mention a common proverb among them« **tieitak iniahah,** the days appointed, or allow- ed him, were finished. And this is their firm belief, for they affirm that there is a fixed time and place, when and where every one must die, without any^ possibility of averting it. They frequently say, « such a one was weighed on the path, and made to be light." They always ascribe life and death to God's unerring and particular providence. '*^ Contrary to the usage of all the ancient heathen world, they not only name Grod by several strong compounded appel- lations, expressive of many of his divine attributes, but Hke* 2- C fim :#' m A STAB l»r THF. WEST. Mrise say yah at, the beginning of their religious dances, with u bowing post Are (rf body — then thoy sing y, y, y, Ao, ho, hot he, he, and repeat those sacred notes (but not the whole name) on every religious occasion. The religious attendants calling to Tah, to enable them humbly to supplicate, seems to point to the Hebrew custom of pronouncing Jah, \,hich signifies the ditine essence. It is well known, what sacred regard the Jews had to the gi'eat four lettered name, scarcely ever to mention it in the whole, but once a year, when the high priest went into the holy sanctuary on the day of expiation of sins. Might not the Indians, have copied from them tliis sacred in- vocation, and also their, religious forbearance in never men- tioning the whole tname, but in their sacred soiigs (tf praise. Their method of invoking the great spiWt in solemn hymo9» with that reverend deportment, and spending a full breath on each of the first two syllables or letters of the awfid divine liame, has a surprising analogy to the Jewish custom, and such as no other nation or people, even with the advantage of written records, have retained. Charlevoix, speaking of the northern Indians, observes, that the greatest part of their feasts, their songs and their dances, appeared to him, to have had tlieir rise from religion, and yet preserve some trgces of it. I have met with some l)e»^ons, says he, who could not help thinking that our In- dians were descended from the Jews ; and found in every thing, some affinity between them and the people of God. There is indeed a resemblance in some things, as not to use knives at certain meals, and not to break the bones of the beast that they eat at the these times, (and we may add, that they never eat the part under the lower joint of the tliigh, A STAB IN TKB W£8T. i$B fcut always throw it away.) The separation of their >«)inen, at certain periods. Some persons hare heard th whose emblems in the congregational standards, were, ♦* the 6m«, the lion, the man and the eagkJ' So Ezckiel in- forms us the Cherubim were uniform and had these four com- pounded animal emblems. Every one had four faces (ap- pearances, habits or forms.)— .x chap. 14, 20, 22. Each of the Cherubim, according to the prophet, had the head and face of a man; the likeness of an eagle about the shoulders, with expanded wings ; their necks, manes and breasts re- sembled those of a lion, and their feet those of a bull or calf ; the soles of their feet, were like a calf's foot. Ezek. i. 4, 5, 6. « hi '>i 1 sirrrx tier v«v vusutll Ui aillUCI'i , ;i Ift6 ▲ i^iJl UX THE WEST. out of the midst of the fire-^alao out of the midst tliereof, the likeness pf four living creatm'es. And this was their appear* ance :-^they had the likeness of a man, and every one had four faces, and every one bad four wings," &c. &e.->loth ver. ** As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side ; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side 5 and they four also had the face of an eagle—vide ven 11. These are the terrestial cherubim, and the psalmist represents them as the charkit of divine majesty, and displays his transcendant and glorious title of King of Kings. Psalms xviii. 7, 11—** God sitteth between and rideth upon the cherubim" as a divine charfot^ ibid. xcix. 1, , . So the American Indians, particularly the Cherokees and Choktaws, have some very humble representation of these eherubimical figures, in their places of worship, or beloved square ; where, through a strong religiou? principle, they dance almost every winter's-niglit, always in a bowing pos- ture, and frequently singing, haUeluyah, yo, he, M-ah. They have in these places of worship, which Adair says he has seen, two white painted eagles, carved out of poplar wood, with their wings stretched out, and raised five fpet from the ground, standing in the comer, close to the red and white im- perial seats 5 and on the inner side of each of the notched pieces of wood, where the eagles stand, the Indians frequent- ly paint with a white chalky clay, the figure of a man, with buflFalo's horns,* and that of a panther, the nearest animal in America, to that of a lion, with the same colour. These ♦ It was an ancient custom amongst the eastern nations, to use horns as an etft,- blem of pow^, wbicb the lodiaus always do. A STAB nr THB WEST. %iP«i they paiDt a-freah at the tint fruit ofifering, or the an- nual expiation of sins. Yet it has never been known that the Indians ever substituted the eagle, panther or the siMi- tude of any thing whatever, as objects of divine adoration, in the room of the great invisible divine essence. Nay, they often give hii«e rewards for killing kn eagle, and they kiU the panther wherever they find him. m *HThe ideas which a people form of the supreme deity, will direct to the nature of their religious worship. Among the south- em Indians, Zsh-to-hoob is an appellation for God. It points at the greatness, purity and goodness of the creator, in form- ing man. It is derived as is said from Mto, great, which you find in all the prophetical writings, attributed to God. Also from the present tense of the infinitive mood of the active verb ahmb, «I love," and fronr the preter tense of the pas- sive verb Aooto, that is sanctifying, sanctified, divine or holy. Women set apart, they term hoolo, that is, sanctifying them- selves to M-to-hoob. So Netakhoolo signifies a sanctified or holy day. So Ofefai Aoo/o, water sanctified. Thus Ish-to-hoolo, when applied to God, in ite true radical meaning, imports the great beUrved hdy cause, which is exceedingly comprehensive and more expressive of the true natui-e of God, than the He- brew name Jdonai, which may be applicable to a human be- ing. When they apply the epithet, compounded, to any of their own religious men, it signifies, the great holy, beUrved, sanctified man of the hdy one. They make the divine name point yet more strongly to the supreme author of nature. For as abba, signifies father, so, to distinguish God, as the king of kings, by his atti-ibutes, trom their own Mnggo Mto, or i?reat chief, thev fnp„..«„.i^ i 'U IM A STlA IN THE WEST. naiiie God JitinggoMto ilStba, JbbioMha, MinggffMba, iua and When they strive ta move the passions, lihto Baob JSbbaj They have another morci sacred appellative, which in^itli them is the mysterious essential name of God. The tetragrammana- ton of the Hebrews, or the great four lettered name already mentioned, K 0. He, wah. This they, like the Hebrews,- never mention altogether in common speeeh. Of the time and place, when and where they mention it, they are vei*y particular, and always with a solemn air. The Indians have among them orders of men answering to pur prophets and priests. In the Muskohge language. Hitch LtUage, signifies cunning m6n, or persons prescient of futurity, much the same with the Hebrew seer. But the Indians in genera] call their pretended prophets, Zoo-cAe, men resem- bling the holy fire, or elohim. Their tradition says, that their forefathers were possessed of an extraordinary divine spirit, by which they foretold things future, and controled the com- mon course of nature; and this they transmitted to their off- spring, provided they obeyed the sacred laws annexed to it. They believe that by the communication of the same divine lire, working in their Loa-che, they can yet effect the like. But they say it is out of the reach of JS\ma Ookproo, or bad people, either to comprehend or perform such things, because the hdy spirit of fire will not co-operate with or actuate HoU tuch Ookproo, the accursed people. « A sachem of the Min^ tribe, being observed to look at the great comet which appear- ed the first day of October, one thousand six hundred and eighty, was asked, what he thought was the meaning of that prodigious appearance ? answered gravely, ** It signifies that we Indians shall melt away, and this country be inhabited by A 8TAK tN THE WZIT. iM another people/'-Smith's New Jersey, 136. in a notei How this Indian came by his knowledge, without the learned Whis- ton^s astronomical tables, or whether he had any knowledge, IS not so material. He will, however, be allowed as good a right to pretend to it, when the event is considered, as the other had in his conjectures concerning the cause of Noah's flood. At all events, this Indian must have reasoned well, and had pretty clear conceptions of the eflfects that would nat- urally follow such causes. * Mr.Beatty gives much the same account of their prophets among the Delaware nations or tribes, above forty-five yeara ago. They consult the prophets upon any extraordinary occa- sion-.as in great or uncommon sickness, or mortality, &c. This, he says, seems to be in imitation of the Jews of old, en- quiring of their prophets. Ishto Hoolo is the name of aU their great beloved men, and the pontifical office descends by inheri- tance to the eldest. .^.It cannot be expected but that the dress of the old Indian high-priest, or rather, their great beloved man, or the first and oldest among the beloved men, should be different from that of the high-priest of the Jews. The poverty and distressed con. dition of the Indians, renders such a conformity impossible ; but notwithstanding the traces of agreement are really aston- ishing, considering their circumstances, and their having no means of knowing what it was, but by tradition, being deprived of all records relative to it. Before the Indian Arehi-magus, or high-priest, officiates in making the supposed holy fire, for the yearly atonement for sin, as wLl soon be sht- he clothes himself with a white garment, resembUng the ephod of the Jews. hHn^ ,«nci. «f !5i I ki^ • 300 A %TAR Iir THE WSflV « finely dressed deer or doe skin, and is ft wiaistcoat witluHit eleeres. When he enters on that solemn Auty, a beloved at- tendant threads a white dressed bMckskin# on the white seat* whieh stands close to the suf^ioscd hdieat division of their jj^ace of worship, and then puts some white beads on it, that are oflTered by the people. Then the Archi-magus wraps round his shoulders a consecrated skin of the same sort, which reaching across under his arras, he ties behind his back, with two knots on his legs, in the form ci a figure of eight Instead of going barefoot, he wears a new pair of white buckskin moo- asins, made by himself, and stiched with the sinews of the animal. He paints the upper part of them across the toes, with a few streaks of red, made of the red root, which is their symbol of holy things, as the vennilion is of war. These shoes he never wears at any other time, a^d leaves them with the other parts of his pontifical dress, when the service is over, in the beloved place. ' ■^■ # In resemblance of the sacred breast-plate, the American priest wears a breast-plate, made of a white conck-shell, with two holes bored in the middle of it, through which he pulB the ends of an otter skin strap, and fastens a buckhom white button to the outside of each, as if in imitation of the precious stones of urim and thumim, which miraculously blazoned on the high- jM-iest's breast, the unerring words of the divine oracle. In- stead of the plate of gold which he wore on his forehead, with the words holy, or separated to God, the Indian wears around his temples either a wreath of swan's feathers, or a long piece of swanskin doubled, so as only the fine snowy down appears * "When the high-priest of the Jews •went into the holy of holies, on the day of expiation, he clothed himself in white ; and wheii the service was over, he left tlsnse clothes in the t3bernac!e.=Levit. xii, 4-23. A tffiB nr tmrn wbst. mt on «h*h aide* Aii4 in likeness of the tiara of the fottler, th* lattier tvears on tiie cniwti of hie head a taft of trhite ftolherty Which they eaO yatmfh but flie neaning of the ytord ift^^not iuitfwii. He abe fasCenfli a iMmjhek* ef Uonted ^d tnricay cock8» spun towaWs the titfes of his moeasliis, a* if in mem^ Blance of the beDs ^wMeh the Jewish high-priest wore on his eeatof Une. ^' Bartram assures us, « that there is in eteiy town oi* tribe, to high-priest, usually nick-named by the white people, the io^fitit or conjurer, becddes several of inferior rank- Bat thrtt the eldest high priest or seer presides always in spiritual thhtg^, and is a person of great eonsequencew He nmintaing and exereises great it^uenee in the state, particulariy in mil* ^uy^fSlufBi their s^Mteoi- great omweil never determ^ns on to expedition without Ms oouneil and assistnce. These people believe most firmly, that their seer or high priest has Mmmunion with powerful invlslHei^rits^-who^ they suppose haw some sharo in the rule and govermhent of hnnmn affiiirs^ as wett as in that of the element. He further adds, thai these Indians are by no mems idolaters, unless their puffing th© tobacce smoke Oowards the sun, and iwjoicing at the ap- pearance of the new moen, may be termed so.* So fer ftnn idolatry tte they that they have no images among llkein, nof any re^iouf rite « eeremony relatto^ to thett,^ that I «mkt ever perceive^ •« They adore tie great spirit, the giver and toket away of the breath of life, with the most profound and respectful faont» * It is rather suppo«ed that they use the smoke of the sacred stem or pipe, as the Jews «fid their ineoMe— and as m the new moon, aa they ndboit their titttf by it» they are «s careful observers of it, as the Jews were. 2D 'V ' ill i I" 30^ A STAB IN THE WEST. age. They believe in a future state, where the spirit existB, whieh they call the world of spirits, where they enjoy diflfer- ent degrees (tf tranf|uility and comforts agreeid>ly to dieir lifb spent here. They hold their beloved man or priest in gr^at respect, and pay strict obedience to what be directs;'* These religious beloved men, are idso supposed to be ih great favour with the deity, and able to proeure.rain when they please. In this respect also, we may observe a great conformity to the practice of the Je^vB. Hieir records inform us; that in the moon Abib or Ntsan, they prayed for the spring or latter rain, to be so seasonable and sufficient as to give them a good harvest; and the Indians have a tradition, that tbeir fore-fathers sought for, and obtained such seasonable rains, as gave them plentiful crops continually ; and they now seek them, in a manner agreeable to a shadow of this tradi- tion. In the year l747ra Natchez warrior told Adair, that while one of their prophets was using his divine invocations for rain, he was killed by thunder on the spot ; upon Which account the spii^t of prophecy ever alter subsided among them, and he became the last of Vidr reputed prophets. They believed that the hohf spirit ofjire had killed him with some of his an- gry darting fire, for wilful impurity 5 and by his threatening voice, forbad them tofenew the like attempt; and justly con- cluded, that if they all lived well, they should fare well and have proper seasons. This opinion coincides with that of the Hebrews, who esteemed thunder-struck individuals as under the displeasure of heaven, and they also observed and enforc- ed such rules of external purity as none of the nations obsen'- ed, except the Hebrews. A STAR IN r^ WEIi;. '"As the Jewish ]irophets had oracular answers to their pray- ers, so the Indian prophets, who kiroke yo-ht-iifak and medi- ate with the supreme hofy fire, that he migr gire seasoiiable rains, have a transparent stone of supposed great power in assisting to biding down the rain> when it is put in a basin oC Wt^ter agreeably to a reputed divine virtue impressed on one si the tike sort, in times of old, wh^h communicates it circu- larly. This stone would suffer great injury^ as they assert, were it even seen by their own laity ; but if by foreigners, it would J»e utterly despoiled of its divine communicative power. This looks something like a tradition of the blazing stones of Urim and Thumim. As the Jews had a sanctum sanctorum, or most holy place in their tabernacle and temple, so have all the Indian nations, particularly the Muskohge nation. It is par- titioned' off by a mud wall, about breast high, between the ,^^white seat, which always stands to the left hand of the red ^jaintcd war seat. There they deposit their consecrated ves- ,^Ms and Supposed holy utensils, none of the laity daring to .^lipprrach that sacred place for fear of particular damage to ^themselves, and a general hurt to the people, from the Sjtm- posed divinity of the place. ^, . According to Mr. Bartram, the great or public square of ;;the southern towns, generally stands alone, in the centre and (^highest Qart of the town. It consists of four square or cubical * buildings of one story high—uniform and of the same dimen- sions, so situated as to form an exact tetragon, encompassing an area of half an acre of ground, more or less, according to the strength and size of the town, or will of the inhabitants. One of these buildings is the council-house, where all public ' Mi t. §m A fTim ix no wiuT, bMtaiBM ii itoM. Another of th«M biiU4iiic» diffieni Crom the reft-^It is eloMljr •buCiip «ii three aUi% ^ hM a partitiwi w«U rua tfaioiigh it, kt^tadinaDf ftom «iid le end, #titUi^ it inte two apartmenti, the baclc pait is dari^ha?i«g eidy three imaO arohed apeituves or hole* opening ialo iit fktm the ftvnt apartmenty awl are but just soiBcient for a man to go in at» TMb sedaded place» appears to be demgned as a Monehttirff or sacred part oi the temple, as it is sud among them* to b9 death for any person* but the Bfico» or high priest* to enter into it* and none are ever admitted* vnless by pornissicai of the priests* who guard it night and day. Here are deposited all the saered things* as the physic-pot* rattles* chaplets» eai- gle's taU* calumet or sacred stem* the pipe oT peace* &c« But children and females are nerer admitted. At this time the people of the town were footing, taking ne^ine* and praying to aiv^rt a grievous calamily <^ sick* ness which then afflicted them. They fhsted seven or eigbt days* during which they neither eat or drank any thing* but » meagre gruel made of com flour and water* at the same time drinking dieir blaek drink or phyue^ which acts as a severf. emetic *■'■'' ' ' ■'■•:,Y . ■ ■ , ■ -Hii,-^- '^IMX,', •i.ai'fsi '.*»«,-,, A tTAR nr onkB writ. CHAPTER VII. TAeir TiMic Wmhip and Bdigitm OpiniMs, THE Indians, in general, Iceep tlie following reUgious fasts vad festivids — i. Their Feast of First Fruits, and after it, on the evening of the same day, one something like the Passover. ^^ a. The Hunter's Feast, like that of PentecofiL S. The Feast of Harvest and day of expiation of sin. *. A daily Sacrifice. ^. A Feast of Iiove. Sm Ut neir Feast of First Fruits md Passover. t^; Mr; Penn, who found them perfectly in a state of nature, and wholly a stranger to their mannerGi and characters, and who could not b«ve had any knowledge of them but from what he saw and heard for some months he remained with them, on his first visit to their country, informs his friends in England^ in one of his first letters, in 1683, « that he considered theso poor pec^le as under a dark night in things relating to religion ; yet that they believed in a god, and immortality, without the help of metaphysics, for they informed him that there was a great king who made them, who dwelled in a glorious country to the southward of them ; and that the souls of the good will go thither, where they shall live again. Their worship con- sists of two parts— socr^c and cantico. The first is with I SM A »TAM nr mK witi'. their first fruits. The first and fattest buck they kill goeth to the fire, where he is all burnt with a doleful dittjr uf him who performs the ceremony, but with such marvellous fervei»r cy and labour of body, that he will even sweat to a foam. The other part is their cantico, performed by round dances ^-sometimes words — sometimes 8ong;s — then shouts— two are in the middle, who begin, and by singing and druming on a board, direct the chorus. This is done with equal earnest- ness and labour, but with great appearance of joy. In the fall when the com cometh in, thoy begpin to feast one another. There have been two great festivals already, to which all come, who will. Mr. Penn was atone himself. — ^*« Their en- tertainment was at a great scat by a spring, under some sha- dy trees. It consisted of twenty bucks, with hot cakes made of new com, with both wheat and beans, which they make up in a square form, in the leaves of the com, and then bake them in the ashes—they then fall to dancing : But all who go to this feast must take a small present in their money, it might be but six pence, which is made of the bone of a fish. Tlie black is with them as gold, and the White as silver— they call it wampum.** Afterwards speaking of their agree- ment in rites with the Hebrews, he says that "they reckon by moons— they oflTer their first fruits— they have a kind of Feast of Tabemacles— they are s^id to lay their altars upon twelve stones— they n^oum a year — ^thej uiivo a .eparation of wtmien; with many other things that Y'> ; o v.w> #ccur. From Mr. Adair, the following account, or rather abstract, of his account of the feast and fast of what may be called their Passover, and Feast of First Fruits, is made. A STAS IW THE W«gT. On the day appointed (which was amon/^ the Jew8, generallj fai the spring, answering to our March and April, when their barley was ripe, heing the first month of their ecclesiasHcal, and the seventh of their civil year, and among the Indians, as soon as their first spring produce oomcN in) while the sanc- tified new fruits are dressing, six old beloved women come to tl.eir temple, or sacred wigwam of worship, and dance the beloved dance with joyful hearts. They observe a solemn procession as they enter the holy ground, or beloved square, carrying in one hand a bundle of small branches of various green trees ; when they are joined by the same number of beloved old men, who carry a cane in one hand, adorned with white feathers, having green boughs in the other hand. Their heads are dressed with, white plumes, and the women in their finest clothes and anointed with bear's grease or oil, having also small tortoise shells and white pebbles fastened to a piece of white dressed deer skin, which is tied to each of their legs. The eldest of the beloved men, leads the sacred dance at the head of the innermost row, which of courae is next the holy fire. He begins the dance, after once gtiing round the holy fire, in solemn and religious silence. He then in the next circle, invokes yah, after their usual manner, on a bass key and with a short accent In another circle, he sings ito, ho, which is repeated by all the religious procession, tiU they finish that circle. Then in another round, they repeat he, he, in like manner, in regular notes, and keeping time in the dance» Another circle is continued in like manner, with repeating the word wah, wah (making in the whole, tlw di- vine and holy name o^yah, ho, he, wah.) A little after this is fmished, which takes considerable time, tlioy begin again. tps m SOS A n»M m TfDB WXtTi ^Ding frefth rounds, suqpiBg hd-kd4e4e4im^j^im^^ ISte manner; and frequently the whdie train atiike vp kaUdu, kal- Idih haMwyah, hatiiiuyaMf with grea& eanies^iiess, fervour anA^ joy> while each strikes the ground with right and left feet s^S>' temately, very quick, but well timed, llibn a khid «f hd^ low sonv-ding dram, jtMns the sacred cfaoii', which excitei thi^' dd female Singero to chant forth their grateful hymns and praises to the divine sinrit, and to redouble their quick, joyfaF steps, in imitation of the leader of the beloYcd men, at tiieii^' liead. This appears rery similar to the dancer of the Hebrewsp and may we not reasonably suppose, that they forraeriy rnideri? stood the psalms and divine hymns, at least those which bc# gin or end with haUdujah j otherwises how comes it to pass|' that all the inhabitants of the extensivie regions of North and South America, have and retadn these very exjHpessive He* breiitr words, and repeat them so distinctly, applying theitf' after the manner of the Hebrews, in their religbus acelimii^^ tions. ' On other religions occasions^ and at their Feast of Lovie, th^ sing ale-yo, (Ot-yo, which is ihe divine name by the attribute ef omnipotence. They likewise sing he-wahf he^wah, whidk is the immOkM soul, drawn ftmn the divine ess^ential name,^^ as deriving its faculties from yo-he^wah. These words of their religious dances, they never repeat at any other tim^' which has greatly contributed to the loss of theh? meaning; for it is believed they have grown so corrupt, as not now to understand either the spiritual or literal meaning of what they sing, any farther than hy allusion to the name of the irreat stHHL A llTAB Iltr THB WtST. jh these cireiiitous dances, they frequently also sing on a bass key, a^uhe, aluhe, aluwah, duwah. Also shUu-yo, shtiu* yo, sMu-he, shilu-Iie, Mu-Tvah, skilu-wah, and shilu-Jmh^ shUu'lwh.* They transpose them also several ways, but with the very same notes. The three terminations make up the four lettered divine name. Hah is a note of glad- ness and joy. The word preceding it, sMtu, seems to ex- press the predicted human and divine Shiloh, who was to bd the purifier and peace inakcr. They continue their grate- ful divine hymns for the spaqp of about fifteen minutes, and then break up. As they degenerate, they lengthen their dances, ^nd shorten the time of their fasts and purifications; insomuch, that they have so exceedingly corrupted their prim- itive rites and customs, witliin the space of the last thirty years, (now about eighty years) that, at the same rate of de- clension, there will not long be a possibility Of tracing their origin, but by their dialects ^nd war customs. At thfe end of this notable religious dance, the old beloved women return home to hasten the feast of the new sanctified fruits. In the mean time, every one at the temple drinks plentifully of the ciissena and other bitter liquids, to cleanse their sinful bodies^ as they suppose. After which, they go to some convenient deep water, and there, according to the ceremonial law of tlie Hebrews, they wash away tlieir sins with waten They then return with great joy, in solemn procession, singing their note:^ of praise, till they again enter their holy ground, to eat of the new delicious fruits, which are brought to the outside of the * Cruden, in his Concordance, says—" AH christian commentatorE agr«s, thai the word Shiloh ought to be understood.of theMessiah, of Jesus Christ. Jerome translates it, by qui met bendus est-He who is to be sent ; and inanifesUy reads Shi. i\^¥ ,&■ kI !>^ 14 310 A STAR IV THE W£8T. square by the old beloved women. They all behave so mod- estly» and are possessed of such an extraordinary constancy and equanimity in pursuit of their religious mysteries, that they do not shew the least outward emotion of pleasure at the first sight of the sanctified new«fi'uits. If one of them should act in a contrary manner, they would say to him che-hakset<- Kanaba-r-You resemble such as were beat in Kanaha.-^ Formerly, on the north side of the Susquehannah rivci> in Pennsylvania, were some old Indian towns, called Kanaa, and now about eighty years ago, there was a remnant of a nation, or a subdiyided tribe of Indians, called Kanaai, which greatly resembles the Hebrew name Canaan. Mr. Smith, in his History of New-Jersey, iipeaking of the Indians in the year 1681, says — « Very little can be said as to their religion. They are thought to believe in a god and immortality, and seemed to aim at public worship, ^hen they did this, they sometimes sat in several circles, one within another. The action consisted of singing, jumping, shouting and dancing; but mostly performed rather as something handed down fcpm their ancestors, than from any knowledge or enquiry into the serious pai'ts of its origin. They said that the great king who made them, dwelt in a glorious country to the southward, and that the spirits of the best should go there and live again. Their most solemn worship was the sacrifice of the first fruits, in which they burnt the first and fattest buck, and feasted tc^cther on wiiat else they had col- lected. But in this saciifice broke no bones of any creature they eat. Wlicn done, they gathered the bones and buried them very carefully: these have since been, frequently ploughed lip."— -page 140. , . A STAR IN TH& VrBSTk Sil Ahioii^ tti€ Indians on the northwest side of the Ohio, the Feast of the First Fruits is tiius described by the Rev. Dr. Charles Beattjr, who was an eye witness of the ceremony : Before they make use of any of the first or spring fruits of the ground, twelve of tlieir old men meet, when a deer aud some of the first fruits are provided. The deer is divided into twelve parts, according to the number of the men, and the com beaten in a mortar and prepared for use by boiling or baking into cakes under the ashes, and of course unleavened. This also is divided into twelve parts. Then these men hold up the venison and first fruits, and pray with their faces to the east, acknowledging, as he supposed, the goodness and bounty of heaven towards them. It is then eaten 5 after which they freely enjoy the fruits of the earth. On the evening of the same day* they have another public feast, besides that of the First Fruits, which looks somewhat like the Passover j when a grc^ quantity of venison is pro- vided, with other things, dressed in the usual way, and dis- tributed to all the guests ; of which they eat freely that even- ing; but that which is left, is thrown into the fire and burned, as none of it must remain till sun-risb on the next day, nor must a bone of the venison be broken. ^• The writer of these sheets has made great use of Mr. Adair's history of the Indians, wliich renders it necessary that something should be further said of him. Sometime about the year 1774, or 1776, Mr. Adair came to Elizabeths Town, v/here the writer then lived, with his manuscript, and applied to Mr. Livingston, afterwards governor of the state of New-Jersey, a correct scholar, well known for Itis literary abilities and knoU-lpHs-n nf tho ItpIIp^laffme. KnonoDfinoi Iti -.; •i— '••"•a mm 212 A STAR IN THE WEST. 11.^ to correct his manuscript fw him. He brought ample recom-i mendations, and gave a good account of himself. Our p(4itioal troubles then increasing* Mr. Adair^ who was on his way to Great-Britain, was advised not to risk being detained from bis voyage, till the work could be critically ex- amined, but to get off as soon as possible. He accordingly took passage in the first vessel that was bound to England. As soon as the war was over, the writer sent to London and obtained a copy of the worki After reading it with care, he strictly examined a gentleman, then a member with him in Congress, of excellent character, who had acted as our In- dian agent to the southward, during the war, (without letting him know the design) and from him found all the leading facts mentioned herein, fa|ly confirmed^ by Ids own personal knowledge, " * » ,m The Feast of Weeks, or th^ Hunier'a Fea$t, or Pentecost, An ancient missionary, who lived a long time with the OutaowaieSf has written, that among these savages, an old man performs the office of a priest at the feasts. That they begin by giving thanks to the great spirit for the success of the chase, or hunting time. Then another takes a cake, breaks it in two, and casts it in the fire. This w^s upwards of eighty years ago. Dr. Beatty says, that once in the year, some of the tribes of Indians beyond the Ohio, choose from among themselves twelve men, who go out and provide twelve deer j and each of them cuts a small saplin, from which they strip the bark, to make a tent, by stickuig one end into the ground, bending A STAR IN TttE WiSST.' i^ the tops over one another, and covering 1k^ poles with blankets. Then the twelve men choose, each of themj a stone, which they make hot in the fire, and place them to- gether, after the manner of an altar, within the tent, and then bum the fat of the insides of the deer thereon.* At the time they are making this oflTering, the men within cry to the Indians without, who attend as worshippers, « we pray op praise." They, without, answer, « we hear." Then those in the tent cry ho-Jmh, very loud and long, wfaieh appeared to be something in sound like halle-lujah. After the fat was thus offered, some tribes burned tobacco, cut fine, upon the fame stones, supposed in imitation of incense. Other tribes olfNiie only ten men, who provide but ten deer, ten saplins, ofr poles, and ten stones. The southern Indians observe another religious custom of the Hebrews, as Adair asserts, by offering a sacrifice of grat- itude, if they have b6en successful, and have all returned safe home. But if they have lost any in war, they generally de- cline it, because, they imagine, by some neglect of duty, they are impure j then they only mourn their vicious conduct, which defiled the ark, and thereby occasioned the loss. Like the Israelites, they believe their sins are the procur- ing cause of all their evils, and that ^he divinity in the ark wai always bless the more religious party with the best suc- cess, This is their invariable sentiment, and is the sole reason tor mortifying themselves in so severe a manner while they ai'c out at war ; living very scantily, even in a buffalo range, • Thou Shalt sprinkle the blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for in offering; made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.— Numb. xTiii. 17. "* '•■ ■if 214 A STAR IN THE WEST. i m uhder ft fttriot rule, lest bj luxury, their hearts should grow evil, and give them occasion to mourn. The Rey. Dr. Beatty, who went into the Delaware nation so long ago, informed the writer of this, that he was present when there was a great meeting of the nation, consulting on a proposition for going to war with a neighbouring nation. At this time they killed a buck and itmsted it, as a kind of sabrifice, on twelve stones, on which they would not suffer any tool or instrument to be used. That they did not eat the mid- dle joint of the thigh. In short, he assured the writer, that he was astonished to find so many of the Jewish customs pre- vailing among them, and began to conclude that there was some aflBnity between them and the Jews.^ |. . The Muskohgee Indians sacrifice a piece of every deer they kill at their hunting camps, or near homo. If the latter, they dip their middle finger in the .broth, and sprinkle it over the domestic tombs of thtu* dead, to keep them out of the power of evil spirits, according to their myi^ology. This seems to proceed from a traditi(mal knowledge, though cor- rupt, of the Hebrew law of springling with blood. • Charlevoix informs us, that to be esteemed a good hunter among the northern Indians, a man must fast three days to- gether, without taking the least nourishment, having his face smeared with black all the time. When the fast is over, the candidate sacrifices to the great spirit a piece of each of the beasts he intends to hunt. This is commonly the tongue and muzzle, whicli at other times are the hunter's peculiar share, to feast his friends and strangers with. His family and rela- tions do not touch them ; and they would aji'soon die with hun-. ger as eat any of them. A 8TAS IN THE WEIT. itlS l^ou^h the Indians in general believe the upper heavens we inhabited by Ishto-booto Aba, and a great multitude of inferior good spirits, yet they aie firmly persuaded thi^t the divine omnipresent spirit of fire and light, resides also on earth, in their annual sacred fire, while it is unpolluted, and that he kindly accepts their lawful offerings, if their own con- duct is agreeable to the old divine law, which was delivered to tlieir forefathers. The former notion of the deity, is agree- able to those natural images with which the divine penmen, tlirough all the prophetic writing, have drawn of Fo. He, Wah, EUMm. When God was pleased with Aaron's priesthood and oflferings, the holy fire descended and consumed the burnt offering on the altar, &c. Throughout the Old Testament, this was an emblematic token of the divine presence, artd the smoke of the victims ascending towards heaven, is i-epre- sented as a sweet savour to God— and the incense from the altar is emblematic of the prayers of the saints. And God is said in scripture to he a consuming fire-lDeut. iv. 34. He shewed himself to the prophets David, Ezekiel, and his apos- tle John, in the midst of fire— Psalms civ. ^, Ezekiel i. 4, Daniel vu. 9 and 10, Acts ii. S. God also appeared sur- rounded by a flame of fire at the burning bush. And when descending on Mount Sinai, the mountain appeared enveloped in flaming fire— Expdus iii. a— xix. 18. The people who have lived so long apart from the rest of mankind, are not to be wondeied at, if they have forgotten tlie meaning and end ef the sacrifices. They are rather to be pitied for seeming to believe, like the ignorant part of the Israelites of old, that the virtue is eitlier in the foi-m of offering the sacrifice, or in the divinity, who they imagine resides on earth, in the sacred -1- m A STAB IN THE WEST. annual fire : likewise, for having forgotten that the blessing was not m the outward sign, but in the thing signified or typified by that sigm The Feast oj Harvest and Day qf Expiation afSiu, We shall now proceed to their most solemn and important feast and fast, answerable to the Jewish Feast of Ifarvest and ^Day of EJCpioHon of Sin. The Indians formerly observed this grand festival of the annual expiation of sin, and the offering of the first fruits of th6 harvest, at the beginning of the first new moon in which their com became fuU eared, as we learn from Adair. But for many years past, they are regulated by the season of their harvest. Yet they are as skilful in observing the revolutions of the moon, as ever the Israelites were, at least till the end of the first temple. For during that period, instead of mea- suring time by astronomical calculations, they knew it only by the phases of the moon. In like manner the Indians annually observed their festi- vals and Mctak':^a-ah, or days of afflicting themselves before the great spirit, at a prefixed time of a certain moon, AccoiHling to Charlevoix, the harvest among the Mtichex, on the Missisippi, is in common. The great chief fixes the day for the beginning of the festival of the harvest, which lasts three days, spent in sports and feasting. Each private person contributes something of his hunting, his fishing, and his other provisions, as maize, beans and melons. The great chief presides at the feasts— all the sachems are round him, in a respectful posture. The last day, the chief makes a A STAn IN THE WEST* ^r speech to the assembly. Ho exhorts every one to be exact in the performance of his duties, especially to liavc a great veneration for the spirit which iHisidcs in the temple, and to be careful in instructing their children. The fathers of families never fail to bring to the temple tlie first produce of their harvest, and of every thing that they gather, and they do the same by all the presents that are made to their nation. They expose them at the door of the temple, the keeper of wliich, alter presenting them to the spirit, carries them to the king, who distributes them to whom he pleases. The seeds are in like manner olTered be- fore the temple, with great ceremony. But the offerings which are made of bread and flour every new moon, are fur the use of the keepers of the temple. As the offerings of the fruits of the harvest precede a long strict fast of two nights and a day, they gormandize such a prodigious quantity of strong food, as to enable them to keep inviolate the succeeding fast. Tltc feast lasts only from morn* ing to sunset. As we have already seen, this feast with the Hebrews be- gan in the month Tizri, which was the first month of the civil year, answerable to our September and October. The feast took place previous to the great day of expiation, which was the tenth day of the month. So the Indian corn being gen^ erally full eared and fit to eat about this time, they are not far from the very time directed in the Mosaic api)ointment for keeping it. The feast being over, some of their people are carefully employed in putting their temple in proper order for the annual expiation, while others are painting the white cabin 3 F ■ ' f^H I' ^i■ll 218 A STAR III THE WEST, and the supposed holiest with white clay j fop it is a sacred aiid peaceable place, and white is its emblem. Others of an inferior order are covering all thq seats of the beloved square with new matrasses, made out of fine splinters of long canes, tied together with flags. Several are busy in sweeping the temple, clearing it of every supposed polluted thing, and car- rying out the ashes from the hearth, which, perhaps, had not been cleaned but a few times since tho last year's annual offering. E very thing being f hus prepared, the chief beloved man, or high-priest, orders some of his religious attendants to dig up the old hearth or altar, and to sweep out the remains, that by chance miglit either be left or dropped down. He then puts a few roots of the button-snake root, with some green leaves of an uncommon small sort of tobacco, and a lit- tle of the new fruits, at the bottom of the fire-place, which he oi-ders to be covered up with white marley clay, and wetted over with clean water. Immediately the magi or priests, order a thick arbor to be made over the altar with green branches of the various young trees, which the warriors had designedly chosen and laid down on the outside of the supposed holy ground. The women in the interim are busy at home, clear- ing out their houses, putting out all t!ie old fire, renewing the old hearths, and cleansing all their culinary vessels, that they may be fit to receive the pretended holy fire, and the sancti- fied new fruits, according to the purity of the law, lest by an improper conduct, they should incur damage in life, health, or future crops, &c. It is fresh in the memory of tlie old traders, as we are as- sured by those who have lived long with them, that formerly none of those numerous nations of Indians would cat, or even A STAa IN THE WEST. C!t9^ Sandle, any part of the new harvest, till some of it had been offered up at the yearly festival by the beloved man or high- priest, or those of his appointment at their plantations,* al- though the light liarvest of tlie past year sbouh! almost have forced them to give their women and children of the ripening fruits to sustain life. . But they are visibly degenerating more and more, both in this and every other religious observance, except what con- cerns war J yet their magi and old warriors live contentedly on such harsh food as nature affords them in the woods, rather tlian transgress the divine precept given to their forefathers. Having every thing in order for the sacred solemnity, tJie religious waiters carry off the remains of the feast, and lay them on the outside of the square. Othei-s, of an inferior order, carefully sweep out the smallest crumbs, for fear of polluting the first fruit offering ; and before sunset, the tem- ple must be cleared, even of every kind of vessel or utensil that had contained any tiling, or had been used for any kind of provision during the past year. Now one of the waiters proclaims with a loud voice, for all the warriors and beloved men, whom the purity of their lav^ admits, to come and enter the beloved square and observe the fast. He also exhorts the women and children, with those who have not been iniimted in war, to keep apart, according to the lam Four centinels are now placed, one at each comer of the holy square, to keep out every living creature as impure, • VideLuke, vi. 1, relating to the Recond sabbath, but not the seventh-day sab- bath, it was the day of offering up the first fruits, before which it was not lawful to t^t of tlie harvest. f A BTAR IN THB WIWT. except the religious order, and the warriora wlio are not known to have violated tlie law of tlio first fruit offerings an4 that of marriage, since the last year's expiation. They ob" serve the fast till the rising of the second sun ; and be they ever so hungry in that sacred interval, the healthy warriom deem the duty so awful, and disobedience so inexpressibly vi' cious, that no temptation would induce them to violate it.-— They at the same time drink plentifully of a decoction of the t)atton-snake rout, in order to vomit and cleanse their sinful bodies. When we consider their earnest invocations of the divine essence in this solemnity — that they never apply this root only on religious occasions — that they frequently drink it to such excess as to impair their health ; and take into consideration its well known property of curing the bite of the rattle snake, must not it be concluded, that this has some reference to the cure of the bite of the old sei^icnt in Eden, or to the serpent lifted up in the wilderness. |n the general fast, the children, and men of weak consti<< tutions, are allowed to eat, as soon as they are certain that the liun has begun to decline from his meridian altitude. This seems to be founded on the principle of mercy before sacrifice ^— and the snake root used by those in the temple, and the bitter green tobacco, which is eaten by the women and those too wicked to be admitted to the fast held therein, seem to point to eating of the paschal lamb with bitter herbs. Being great lovers of ripe fruit, and as yet only tantalized with the sight of them, this may, with justice, be said to be a fast to afflict their souls, and to be a sufficient trial of their religious principles. At the end of this solemn fast, the wo- A iTAB IH TH« WMT. men, by the voice of a crier, bring to the outside of the holy ■quarc, a plentiful variety of the old year's food newly dressed, which they lay down and immediately return home. The waiters then go, and reaching their hands over the holy ground, they bring in the provisions and set them down be- fore the famished multitude. They think it wholly out of order to show any joy or gladness for the end of their reli- gious duties. They are as strict observers of their set forms, as the Israelites were of those they received from divine appointment. As soon as the sun is visibly declining from the meridian, m third day of the fast, the chief beloved man orders a religious attendant to cry aloud to the crowded town, that the holy fire is to be brought out for the sacred altar- commanding every person to stay within his house, as becomes the beloved people, without doing the least bad thing; and to be sure to extinguish every spark of the old fire, otherwise the divine fire will bite them severely. Now every tiling 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 be- haviour, go into the beloved place, or holiest, to bring tliem out the beloved fire. The former takes a piece of dry jwplar, willow, or whlte-oak, and having cut a bore, but not so deep as to reach through it j he then sharpens another piece, and placing tliat in the hole, and both between his knees, he drills it briskly for several minutes, till it begins to smoke— or, by rubbing two pieces together for a quarter of an hour, he col- lects, by friction, the hidden fire, which they all consider as proceeding from the holy spirit of fire. ■:% i lih 222 A STAB IN THE WEST. They then cherish it with fine chips^ till it glows into a flume, by using a fan of the unsullied wing of a swan. On this the beloved man brings out the fire, in an old earthen vessel, and lays it on the altar, which is under the arbor, tisick wcaved on the top with green boughs.* They rejoice exceedingly at this appearance of the reputed holy fire, as it is supposed to atone for all their past crimes, except murder. AUhougl) tlie people without, may well know what is doing within, yet by order, a crier informs them of the glad tidings, and'Orders a beloved old woman to pull a basket full of the new ripened fruits, and bring them to the beloved fquarc. As she is prepared for the occasion, she readily obeys, and soon lays it down at tlie comer thereof. Then the fire-maker rises from his wliite seat, and walks northward three times round the holy fire with a slow pace, and in a sedate and gi'ave mannef, stopping now and then, and saying some old ceremonial words with a low voice and a rapidity of expression, which none un^ derstand but a few of the beloved old men, who equally secrete tlieir religious mysteries, that they may not be profaned. He then takes a little of each sort of the new fruits, rubs some bear*s oil over tliem, and offers them up, together with some flesh, to the bountiful spirit of fire, as a fruit offering and an annual oblation for sin. He likewise pours a little of a strong decoction of the button-snake root, and of the cusseena, into tlie pretended holy fire. He then purifies the red and white seats with those bitter liquid;:, and sits down. All culprits may now come forth from their hiding places, dressed in their finest dotiies, to pay their thanks, at an awful distance, to the forgiv^ ♦ Even among tlie Romans, if tlie sacred fire at any time Iiappened to be extin^ "Wished* it cQuld oiilv be li^htiid a^uin st the ravs of t!ie sua A STAR IW THE WEST. wg dhm: Jive. Orders are now given to can the women to come for the sacred fire-,They gladly obey. The great be- loved man, or high-pricst, addresses the warriors and women • giving all the particular positive injunctions and negative pre-' cepts they yet retain of the ancient law. He uses very sharp language to the women. He then addresses the whole multi- tudc. He enumerates the crimes they have committed, great and small, and bids them look at the holy fre which has for- given them. He presses on his audience, by the great motives of temiK)ral good and the fear of temporal evil, the necessity of a careful observance of the ancient law, assuring them that the fidyjire wiU enable their p«,phets, the rain^makers, to pro. cure them plentiful harvests, and give their war leaders vie tory over their enemies. He then orders some of the fire to be laid down outside of the holy ground, for all the houses of the various associated towns, which sometimes lay several miles apart.* If any are sick at home, or unable to come out, they are alloVed one of the old consecrated conch shells full of their sanctifying bitter cusseena,- carried to them by a beloved old thHti^putation. He owns cha. they ..e^.^ed 'chis fi.e as J 4"tre ^/Z .t ak.„cl of ,e.v.ce ; but he denies that they ever paid to it a p.-opl JZZ Oae of the.r pne8tssa.d.thatu.eydid not pay any divi„. .orshfp to mit^ which i! he sun ; or to ti>e „.oo., or the stars, but only turned towaiu the sun ^e L in-ayed. because the nature of it nearly resen.bled that of fire. They re«,l7j as an .mage of God, and some said God resided in it. and Othe,,. th k^St 1. 1 seat of the blessed 0„ the twenty-fourth March a'., the inhabit n ^^h ^ ersu* e.tK.gu.sh the fire in their houses, and go to light it .gain by a>e &l^7thl pnest. each paying bin. about slv shiUings and three iH.nc.,lhicl serve. 7r Z H-l'DOit. They must I,nve taker U;is cu.totr, from the Jc« I ri ; If i C'M 22). A STAK IN THE W£tir. man. This Is something like the second Passover of tlie Jews. At tlio conclusion, tlio beloved roan ordei-s one of his religious waiters to proclaim to all tlic people tliat the HRCi-ed nnnual solemnity is now ended, and every kind of evil avert- ed from the beloved people, aceoinling to the old straigiit be- loved speech. Tliey are then commanded to paint themselves, and go along with him, according t« ancient custom. They immediately fly about to gi'applo up a kind of chalkey clay to paint themselves white. Tliey soon appear, all over, as white as the clay can make them. Then tliey follow on, in an orderiy slow procession, to purify themselves in running water. The beloved man, or high-priest, heads the holy train— *his waiter next — the behived men according to their seniority — and the warrioi-s according to their reputed merit. The women follow in the same orderly manner, with all the children who can walk, ranged according to their height-- The very little ones, are earned in the mothers arms. lit this manner they move along, singing haUehiyaii to V. 0. He-ivah, till they got to the water, when the high-priest jumps into it, and all the train follow him.'K' Having thus purified them- selves, and wasbed away their sins, as they suppose and verily believe, they consider themselves as out of the reach of tem- poral evil, for their past vicious conduct. They now rctiuti * Tlic ludinn women never iiurfortn their religious nblutioi)> in presunac of the men, but piirlfy themselves, not at uppolnted times, with the men, but at their dis- oretion. I'livy urc also entirely excluded from their temples by unuient custom, except tlte six old beloved women, who are permitted to sing, dance, and rejoice at their annual expiation for sin ; but they must retire bcf«ro the oilier solcmiii' tics begin. So the Hebrew women performed their ablutions, separated from the men, by themselves. They also worshipped apart fVom the men, lest Uiey should «l- tract each others attention in vhile in the woods, the melt, or a large fat piece of the firal; buck they kill. They imt^ine that their temples have such a typical holi- ness, beyond any other place, that if they offered up the an- nual sacrifice elsewhere, :i ^^au'd not atone for the people, buf^ rather bring down the a - ' Ish-to-hoolo Aba, and utterly spoil the power of their holy place and holy things. They who sacrifice in the woods, do it only on particular occasions, allowed by their l»ws and customs. Their feast eg I/rve, ^c. Every spring season, one town or more, of the Missisippi Floridians, keep a solemn Feast of Love, to renew their old friendships. They call this annual feast Haauck Mmpa, HeeUt Ua Tanaa, that is, « the people eat, danee and walk, as twined together." The short name of the feast is, « Hottuk Impanaa^*^ that is, « eating by a strong religious and social principle.''? Impanaa signifies, as I am informed, several threads or strands twisted together. They assemble three nights before the feast. On the fourth night they eat together. During the interme- diate space, the young men and women dance in circles, from the evening till the morning. When they meet at niglit, it is professed to he to gladden and unite their hearts before Y. 0. He. wah. They sing Y. O. He. wah. shoo^Y. 0. He. wah. shoo— Y. 0. He. wah. shee—Y. 0* He. wah. shee— Y. O.He. wah. sbai—Y. 0. He. wah. shai— with great energy. The first word is nearly in the Hebrew characters, the name of Joshua or Saviour^ A STAB Uf TUB W»iT. Tp* CHAPTER VIII. Or Jmscdlaneofus Fads mitki. THE writer of these sheets was himself present at a religious dance of six or seven nations, accidentally meeting together, and having been hospitably entertained by the governor and inhabitants, they gave this dance to the governor and such as he should invite, by way of shewing their gratitude. The writer was invited, with a very large company of gen- tlemen and ladies. The following is an exact account of what passed j to every circumstance of which he was criticaUy at- tentive. After the company had assembled in a very large room, the oldest sachem of the Senecas, and a beloved man, entered, and took their place in the middle of the room, having something in imitation of a small drum, on which the old sachem beat time at the dance. Soon after, between twenty and thirty In- dians came in, wrapped in their blankets. These made a very solemn and slow procession round the room, keeping the most profound silence, the sachem sounding his drum to direct their motion. The second round, they began ir^ sing on a bass key y. y. y. till they completed the circle, dancing the whole time, to the sound of the drum, in a very solemn and serious manner. The third round, their ardor increased to such a degree, while they danced with a quicker step, and «ang he-he-hi so as to make them rerv warm. anA fh^v hooan Hi jv ill sso A STAR IW THE WEST. m to perspit'e fiecly, and to loosen their blankets. The fourth round they sang /w, /to, ho, witli great earnestness, and by dancing with greater violence, tlieir perspiration increased, and they cast off their blankets entirely, which caused some confusion. The next and last round put them in a mere frenzy, twisting their bodies, and wreathing like so many snakes, and making as many antic gestures as a parcel of monkies, singing the whole time, in the most energetic man- ner, waJi-wah'Wah, They kept time in their dancing, ag well as any person could do, who had been taught by a master. Each round took them between ten and fifteen minutes. They then withdrew in indian file, with great silence, except the two with the drum. The company had supposed that they were invited to a war-dance. The writer, desirous of ascer- taining the nature of the dance, went to the interpreter, and asked him if what they had seen was intended as a war- dance j he seemed much displeased, and in a pettish manner, answered, a war-dance, no! Indians never entertain civil people with a war-dance. It was a religious dance. In a slHKrt time, a considerable bustle being heard at the door, the eompany came to order, when the Indians re-entered in Indian file, and danced one round — ^then a second, singing, in a more lively manner, hal-hal-hal till they finished the round. They then gave us a third round, striking up the word, le-le-le. On the next round, it was the word lu-lu-lu, dancing naked, with all their might, having again thrown off their blankets. Dur- ing the fifth round, was sung the syllable yali-yah-yah. Then all jmning, as it were, in a general, but very lively and joy- ous chorus, they sang hal-le-lu-yah, dwelling on each syllable ^th a very long breath, in the most pleasing inanner, A STAB IN THB WEST. SSI There could be no deception in all this^-the writer was near them— paid great attention—and every thing was obvi* 0U8 to the senses, and discovered great fervor and zeal in the performers. Their pronunciation was veiy guttural and son- orouSf but distinct and clear. The compiler of these facts, tode in the stage to Elizabeth- Town, sometime about the year 1789, with an Indian sachem from the Creek or Chikkesah nation, and his retinue, who was going, under the care of col. Butler, to New- York, to establish or renew a peace with the United States. He was a strong, tall, well proportioned man, of great gravity in his appearance, and all his behaviour. He was well dressed, and a much better demeanor in his whole conduct, than any Indian the writer had ever seen. Neither he nor one of his attendants could speak English. From the extraordinary respect paid him by his attendants, he was certainly a sachem of high reputation. At dinner, though hard pressed by some of the gentlemen at table, he could not be jiersuaded to drink more than three glasses of wine, and he would not taste bran- dy. When in Philadelphia, he drank tea in company with a number of ladies, among whom was a Miss P— e, who painted minature pictures very well. She being prepared for it, took his face with a strong likeness, without his perceiving it. When it was finished, she gave it to the interpreter, who piit it into the hands of the chief. He appeared in perfect aston- ishment,- he looked wildly about him, and spoke to the inter- preter in Indian, in a very empliatical manner, asking him (as he said) where that had come from, and what was the meaning of it. The interpreter introduced the young lady to him* and tdd him that hHr had ilnnn if mhUo aininn. :.. *u^ i^^ 1 i!' I| sst A STAB tS THE VEST. room* He expressed Iiimself irery much gratified with it, oflfered to return it to her, but she desired the interpreter to inform him that she wished to present it to him. He made great acknowledgments for the favoui', saying, that he was a poor Indian, and had nothing to give her in return $ but that he often spoke to the great spirit, and the next time he did, he would remember her. When the stage drove up to the tavern at Frankfort, the stage-driver got out to get a dram, the horses took fright and ranaway with the stage and overset it, by which the chief, rteceived a large and very severe cut on his forehead ; and col. Butler, was also wounded, but all the rest got off unhurt. The chief jealous that it was done to injure him, seemed terri- fied and alarmed. But when he observed that col. Butler was also hurt, and that it was an accident, he seemed imme- diately to become calm and easy— A surgeon soon camte in, and sewed up the wound, in a manner that must have given the chief great pain ; but he would not acknowledge it, neith- er did he discover the least symptom of it. As soon as he was dressed, he arose up and addressed col. Butler, which the in- terpreter explained, saying, « never mind this brother— it will soon be all well. This is the work of the evil spirit— he knows we are going to effect a work oC peace — he hates peace and loves war— never mind it--4et us go on and accomplish our business— we will disappoint him.*' The writer of these sheets, many years ago, was one of the corresponding members of a society in Scotland, for promoting the gospel among the Indians. To further this great work, they educated two young men of very serious and religioas dispositions, and who were desut)us of undertaking the mis- A STAB IN THE WEST. liss fi tloiiy fbr this special purpose — wlien tliey were ordained and ready to depart, we wrote a letter in tlie Indian style, to tlie Delaware nation, then residing on the nortli-west of the Ohio, informing that we had, by the goodness of the great spirit, been favoured with a knowledge of his will, as to the worship he required of his creatures, and the means he would bless to promote the happiness of man, both in this life and that which was to come. That thus eryoying so much happiness our- selves, we could not but thinlt of our red brethren in tlie wil- derness, and wished to communicate the glad tidings to them, that they might be partakei*s with us. We had therefore sent them two ministers of tlie gospel, who would teach them these great things, and eanicstly recommended them to their care- ful attention. With proper passports the missionaries set off and arrived in safety at one of theii' principal towns. The chiels of the nation were called together, who answer- ed them that they would take it into consideration, and in the mean time they might instruct their women, but they should not speak to the men. They spent fourteen days in council, and then disGliissed them very courteously, with an answer to us. This answer made great acknowledgments for the favour we had done them. They rejoiced exccedin^y at our hapj»- ness in thus being flavoured by the great spirit, and felt very grateful that we had condescended to remember our breth- ren in the wilderness. But they could not help recollecting that we had a people among us, who, because they differed from us in colour, we had made slaves of, and made them suf- fer great hardships and lead miserable lives. Now, they could not see any reason, if a people being black, entitled us thus to deal with them, why a red colour would not equally iustify the 2JJ h 'i fi, t- 236 A STAB Iir THE 1VB9T. Men and children turn out of their warm houses, singing their usual sacred notesi at the dawn of day, F. 0. He-woh, and thus they (skip along, singing till they get to the river, when titey instantaneously plunge into it. The Hebrews also had various washings and anointings. They generally, after bathing, anointed themselves With oil. Their kings, prophets and priests, we^e anointed with oil, and the Saviour liimself is described as ** the ^mitded," The In- dian priests and prophets, or beloved men, are always initiated by unction. The Chickesaws some time ago set apart some of their old men. They first obliged them to Isweat themselves for the space of three days and nights, in a small hut made for the purpose, !at a distance from the town, for fear of. poUio tion, and from a strong desire they .all have of secreting their religions mysteries. Tliey eat nothing but ^^en tobacco leaves, and drink only of button-snake wood tea, to cleahse their bodies, and prepare them to serve in the beloved, h(^y office. After which, their priestly garments arc put on, with the ornaments before described, and then bear's oil is poured upon their heads. Like tlie Jews, both men and women fre- quently anoint themselves with bear's oil. It may not be amiss to mention, that Indians never prostrate themselves, nor bow their bodies to each other, by way of sa- lute or homage^ except when they are making or renewing peace with strangers, who come in the name of Fo/i ; then they bow their bodies in that religious solemnity. Also in their religious dances, for then they sing their hyihns address- ed to F. 0. ffe-toah. The Indians would not eat either the Mexican hog, or of the sea-cow* or the turtle, as GumiUa and Edwards inform us ; M STAB HT THE WEST. 237 Irat they held them in the greatest abhorrence. Neither ironW they eat the eelj nor of many animals and birds they deemed impure. It wajiforetoW by Moses, that the Israelites sliould « waUe intfie stubbornness of their own hearts, to add drunkenness to mm:' God, by his prophet, threatens them in the severest manner for this abominable crime : " Wo to the proud crown of the drmkards ofEphraim, And to the fading flower of their glorious beauty » To those that are at the head of the rich vafley, that ar« stupifled with wine ! ©ehold the mighty One ! the exceedingly strong One » tike a storm of hail, nice a destructive tempest ; Like a rapid flood of mighty waters pouring down ; He shaU dash them to the ground with his hand. They shall be trodden underfoot, - The proud crown of the drunkards (f EpJtraim. .-. In that day shall Jehovah, God of Hosts, become a beauteous crown. And a glorious diadem to the remnant of his people : * But even these have erred through wine, and through strong drink they have reeled ,• The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink i They are overwhelmed with wine, they have reeled through . strong drink; • They have erred in vision, they have stumbled in judg, ment. For all their tables arc full of vomit; Of filthiness, so that no place is free." , flsaiah Kxrliu ±.8 — Jjnvth's translation. M it » I > f. . f if* • Jii 1 238 A STAR IN THE WEST. This is one of the most terrible predictions denounced agdmat them, and has been most awfully verified, should it turn out that the Indians in truth are of the lost ten tribes of Israel. Among all their vices, this seems the most predominant, and destroys every power of soul and body. It is not of this na-" tion or that— ^f one tribe or another^— or of one rank or the other; but it is universal,. among men, women, and children^ In sliort, it is one, among a great number, of the unnatural retutn^ made them by the Europeans of every nation, for the Indian's kindness at first, and their giving up their lands after- wards, the bringing in ardent spirits among them for lucre of gain, and by this me^ns have reduced their numbers, and • driven them into the wilderness. They have themselves long seen their misery in this respect, and have long been struggling to get rid of it; but allin vain, till of late years, many inen of virtue and of real religion, have united with thetin, to aid them, without v/hich it seems impossible that they can withstand this all-conquering enemy* They will make laws against it— they will determine to expel all spiritdus liquors from their towns, and they will with philosophical firmness, destroy large quantities of it, brought in by the traders by stealth. But if they once taste it, all the reasoning of the most beloved man will not prevent them drinking as long as a drop lasts, and generally they transform themselves into the likeness of mad foaming bears. Mr. Colden says> « there is one vice which the Indians have fallen into since their acquaintance vith the christians, and of which they could not have been guilty befoi'e that time, that is drunkenness. It is strange how all the Indian nations, and almost every pei-son aihone: them, male and female, are infatu- A STAR IN THE WEST, 239 ated with the love of strong drink. They know no bounds (» their desires, while they can Swallow it down, and then, in- deed, the greatest men amongst them scarcely deserve the name of a bru(e> They complained heavily to the Rev. Mr. Brainerd, that before the coming of the English they knew of no such thing as strong drink. That the Eiiglish had, by these means, made them quarrel with, and kiU one another, and in a woixl, brought them t» the practice of all those vices, that then pre- vaUed among them. In an address, or rather an answer, made by the Delaware Indians in 1768, they say, «brothera» you have spoken to us against getting drunk. What you have said is very agreeable to our minds. We seeit is a thing that is very bad, and it is a great grief to us that rum or any kmd of strong liquor should be brought among us, as we wish the chain of friendship, which now unites us and our brethren the English together, may remain strong. Brothers ! the fault IS not aU in us. It begins with our b|x.the»^, the White people. For if they wiU bring us rum, some of our people will buy it J it is for that purpose it is brought. But if none was brought, then we could not buy it. Brother! we beseech you, be faithful and desire our brothers, the white people, to bring no more of it to us. Shew this belt to them for this purpose. Shew it to the great man of the fort (meaning the commandant at Fort Pitt) and to our brothers on the way as you return, and to the great men in PhUadelphia, and in other places, from which rum may be brought, and intrcat them not t- bring any more." There is a very early record in the history of New-Jersey, ^..,.- ..u„x. w uum Indians ana white inhabitants of that ,!•' i t^t' ■>»<• SM A STAB 117 TH£ VESIV dajr. At a eoitfei*elib^ lield with them> when ieight kings or sachems were present, the Indian speaker said, « strong liquors were iwld to us by the Swedes and by the Dutch. These people had no eyes. They did not see that it was hurtful to us. Nevertheless, if people will sell it to us, we are so in lore with it we cannot forbear. But now, there lit a people eome to live among us that have eyes. They see it to be for our hurt. They are willing to deny themselves the profit for our good. This people have eyes. We are glad such people have come. We must put it down by mutual con< senU We give these four belts of wampum to be witnesses of this agreement we make With you, and would have you to tell it to your children.** , Several nominal prophets have lately risen among them, and have be«)me very popular, by taking advantage of their su^ perstitkm, and declaring themselves mesRsengers from heaven. Whatever they may be in reality, they have done some good. The Onottdj^cs, greatly addicted to drunkenness, have, by the influence (tf the brother of Corn-Flanter, a Seneca chief, been i»revailed on to give up tlie use of spiritous liquors, and to become comparatively moral. Another of these prophets among the Shawaiiese and north-western Indians, has been equally successful. All the promises of a God of truth, to his faithful servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, must be strictly fulfilled, as well as the threatnings of his abused justice. God did make a solemn and special promise to Abraham, which was after- wanls repeated to Isaac and Jaoob, in very strong and ex- pressive terms. And Gtod said, «by myself have I sworn, isoifh flin T.nitl. for hp.nnii.QP. thnii htkfit Annp. this thincr. and A STAR IW THE WEST. ^m. hast not witliheid thy son, thine only son, that in blessing, I will Weiss thee, and in multiplying, I will multiply thy seed as thfi stars of heaven, and as the sand upon the sea shore, and thy ^ seed shall possess the gates of his enemies"--Gen. xxii. 16, 17. Yet this was on condition of their observing the com- mandments that he had given themj for in case of disobedience> the threatnings were as explicit as tho blessings. "Jehovah hath eont a word against Jacobj and it hath lighted upon Israel— because the people all of them, carry themselves haughtifyj Ephraim and the inhabitants of Sa- inaria, and Jehovah, God of Hosts, they hav^ not sought." Yet his mercy will not finally forsake them. For « it shall come to pass in that day, no more shall the remnant of Israel, and. the escaped of the house of Jacob, lean upon him who smote them, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the holy one of 'Israel, in truth. A remnant shall return, even a remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God, for though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them only shall return: the consummation decided shall overflow with strict justice"— Lowth's Isaiah, x. 23. The learned Dr. Bagot, Dean of Christ's Church, Oxford, translates the last clause of the verse thus, ** the accomrdishment determined, overflows with justice j for it is accomplishedi and that which is deter^ mined, the Lord of Hosts doth in the midst of the land"— ^vide Lowth's notes on Isaiah, page 81. Hosea also repeats the affecting fate of Israel. « And the Lord said unto him, I will cause to cease, the kingdom of the house of Israel, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. Yet the num- rber of the cluldren of Israel shall be as the sand of the cea a I ' '' ; i if 1 , Mr til ^a A STAR IN THE WEST. which cannot be measured or numbered; and it shsd! come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my peopk, there it shall be said unto them, ye are the som of tht living God, Then shall the children of Judah, and the chB- dren of Israel be gathered together, and shall oppoirrf fAem- selves one head, and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel." And St. John says, « and the sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates, and the waters thereof were dried up, that the way of the kings of H^e'east might be pre- pared." The Indian nations will answer, in a great measure, the description here given. That tliey have long been confined to wander in the wilderness of America, and that the con- sumption decreed has been awfully executed on them, cannot be denied. That they have been despised, and considered as barbarians,andchildrenof the devil, is too true. We have already enumerated one hundred and ninety na* tions within our scanty means of knowledge, and though, many of them are destroyed and done away, for the consump- tion was decreed, yet if we look at the maps of travellers, and attend to the account given of the nations from Green- land to Mexico, and from thence to the nation of the Dog- ribbed Indians; thenee to tlie Southern ocean, and along its coast northward to the Lake of the Woods, and thence to Hudson's Bay and Greenland, and estimate in addition, the nations of the interior, what nation or people in the world, can so literally answer to the strong figures, of tlie stars of heaven, and the sands of the sea. A STAR IN THI5 WEST. , 3^ Again, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, attended by a few of the Israelites among them, scattered thrwigliout Asia, Africa and Europe, have no pretensions to any king ainong them. But the Indians have a king to every tribe, and as we have seen, the Natchez had once five hundred kings in that one nation. Now if part of the nations to the north-west, «hould again return over the straits of Kamsohatka, and pass on from the north-eastern extremity of Asia, by the way between the Euxine and the Caspian sea, through ancient Media, which formerly extended west to the river Halys, on the Black or Euxine sea* and Asia Minor, into Palestine, then they must pass through the territory of the Grand Porte. Therefore that government must necessarily be destroyed, to make way for these kings from the east, as it is not likely that despotic power would consent to their passing thjrough in peace, to deprive her of the region of Palestine. Another remarkable circumstance attending the foregoing account is, that before the Babylonish captivity, the Jews bad but one temple for public worahip, whither the males assem- bled three times in the year. The Samaritans, after the cap- tivity, observed the same at Samaria, the capital of their kingdom. The ten tribes were carried captives into the north-west parts of Assyria, before the Babylonish captivity, and therefore had no idea of but one place of worship for a nation. • The different empires of the Lydians and the M^des, were divided by the river Haly's (which has two Lranches.) which rising in a mountain of Armenia, passing through Celicia, leaving in its progress the Matenians on the right, and Phrygia on the left; tUen stretching towai-ds the north, it separates the Cappado- cian Syrians from Paphlagonia, which is on the left of the stream. Thus the river Halys separates all the lower parts of Asia from the sea, which flows opposite t(> Cypruis, as far as tlie Euxine, a space over wluoh an active man could not travel ia less than five days— I Heredotus 1 1 2, 1 1 3. I' 1 i J' M' A STAB W THE WEST. The Indians have also but one temple, or beloved square for a nation, whither their males also assemble three times in the year, to wit: — at the Feast of First Fruits, generally the latter end of March and April, it being the beginning of their ecclesiastical year: at the end of which they have another, in imitation of the Passover, The feast for success in hunting, about the time of Pentecost, called tlie Hunter^s Feast; and their great feast for the Expiation of Sin, which is about the time of the ripening of their Indian corn and other fall fruit. These form a coincidence of circumstances in important and peculiar establishments, that could not, without a miracle, be occasioned by chance or accident. And though if considered individually, or each by itself, might be said, not to be con- elusive evidence, yet taken altogether and compared with many other peculiarities of the Jewish people, they carry strong conviction to the understanding, that these wandering nations have some how or other had intimate connection with those once people of God. ^ A ITAH IV THE WEST. 4 CHAFTEmx. ■ ■ ' ' ' •' Tilt Usiimtmy of those who had an oppcniumty tf judging, frm the appearaiux and conduct of the Jnduina at the first disarcery of America, as weU as ofsom who have seen ihm since, in a state of nature^ AND first, that of Spanish authors. And here proper allow- ance must be made for the prevaiUng intentions of the first Spanish visitors, in their coming to America, which (with some few exceptions) were principally from the mostcove<»us desires of amassing wealth, and obtaining immense riches at all risques, and by every means. Also it must be remember- cd, how few concerned themselves about the religions state of the natives, if they could but get their property; neither did they give themselves ^ny trouble to know tlieir history, their origin, customs, or future expectations,- but their gold, their sUver, their lands, and their furs, were the whole objects of their attention. We thank God, there were some favourable exceptions. The learned world are by this time pretty well acquainted with tlie degree of confidence that ought to be put in the Spanish historians in general, further than their accounts are confirmed and supported by after labours of historians of char- acter among other nations. Few of them conversed with the natives, in such a manner as to gain their confidence, or obtain any intimate knowledge «', iw V I. ;''l^' 246 A. STAB IW THE WEST. of their customs and manners, with any tolerable degree of certainty. They did not treat them as friends, but as the most inveterate enemies, and despised, hated and murdered them, without remorse qf compunction, in return for their kindness and respect. Aiid to excuse their own ignorance, and to cast a mantle over their most shocking, barbarous, cool and premeditated murders, they artfully described them as an abominable swarm of idolatrous cannibals, offering human sacrifices to their false deities, and eating ^k» un- natural victims. Notwithstanding, from even many of these partial accounts, we can trace a near agreement between tlie civil and martial customs, the religious woirship, traditions, dress, ornaments, and other particulars of Uie ancient Peru- vians and Mexicans, and tliose oS the Indians of North- America. ^costo telld us, that the Mexicans bad no pnqier name tav God, yet that they allowed a supreme omnipotmoe and prvoi- dence. His capacity was not sufScient to discover the former, however, the latter means that very being, and agrees with the religious opinion of their North-American brethren. Lope% de GamarUf tells us that the Americans were so de- vout as to offer to the sun and earth, a small quantity of every kind c£ meat and drink, before any of themselves tasted of it, and that they sacrificed a part of their com, fruits, &c i»Iike manner. |s not this a confused Spanish account of the imitation of the Jewish daily sacrifice, which we have befwe seen our more northern Indians, in the constant habit eS offering to the mipreme hcAj spirit of fire, whom they invoke in th«ir sacred A STAR IW THE WEiT. j^ mmg of F. flb. ^-woA, and loudly ascribe to him, haUle^u- itxih, for his continued goodness to them. The Spanish writers say, that when Cortes approached Mexico, Montezuma shut himself up, and oonUnued for the space of eiglit days, in prayer and fasting,- but to blacken him, and excuse their own diabolical conduct, they assert, that tae offered human sacrifices at the same time, to abominablo and frightful idols. These prayers and fastings, wero doubt, less the same with those of the northern Indians, who on par- ticular occasions, seek to sanctify themselves, and regain tho favour of the deity. Yet these same authors tell us, that they found there, a temple called ThmUi, or the house of the threat spirit, and a person belonging to it, called CA«c«/mu«, that is, a minister of holy things. They likewise speak of the hearth of the great spint-the continual fire of the great spirit~the holy ark, &c Acosta says, that the Peruvians held a very extraordinary feast, called Yin, which they prepared themselves for by fast- mg t^o days, not accompanying with their wives, or eating salt meat or gariic, or drinking chkca durmg that period That they assembled altogether in one place, and did not allow any stranger or beast to approacJi them. That they had clothes and ornaments which they wore only at that great festival. That they went silently and sedately in proceasion, with their heads veiled and drums beating; and that this con- tmued one day and night. But the next day they danced and feasted, and for two days successively, their prayers and praises were heard. This appears no other than our northern Indians' great , _ „,^„^ 4„^ 3j„^ uccurumg CO lue Mosaic system. II',S J' I' w.i% ■-I t\ '1 S48 ▲ STAB W TlIK WEST. Lerieus tells you, that ho was present at thb triennial feast of tlic Charibbeans, whei'c a multitude of inen» women and children, were assembled. That they soon divided themselves into three orders, a part from each other, the women and children being strictly commanded to stay within, and attend diligently to the singing. That the men sang in one house, he-he-he, while tlie otliers, in their separate houses, answered by a repetition of the like notes. Thus they continued a quar- ter of an hour, dancing in three rings, with rattles. They also tell us, that the kigh-priesU or hekrved marif was anointed "With holy oil, and dressed witli pontifical ornaments peculiar to liimself, wlien he officiated in his sacred function. BibmUt Landon describing the annual festival of the Flori- dians, says, that the day before it began, the women swept out a great circuit of ground, where it was observed with solemnity. That when the main body of tlie people entered tlie holy ground, they all placed themselves in good order, decked in their best apparel, when three beloved nien, or priests, with different painting and gestures, followed them, playing on musical instruments, and singing with solemn voices, the others answering them. And when they made three circles, the men ran off to the woods, and the women staid weeping behind, cutting their arms with muscle shells, and throwing the blood towards the sun. And when the men returned, the three days were finished. This is no other than the northern Indians' Passover, or the Feast of Love, badly told, attended with their universal custom of bleeding themselves after great exercise, which the Spaniards foolisWy supposed they offered up to the sun. #; A ITAH Iir THE WSIT. These SpanUih writers also assure us, that the Mexican* had a feast and month, which they called Hueitozolti, when the Indian corn was ripe. Ever/ man at that time bringing an handful to be offered at the temple, with a kind of drink made out of the same grains. This is no other than the first fruit offering of the nortlicrn Indians. Don Mtonio de UUoa informs us, that soqie of the South- American natives cut the lobes of their ears, and fasten small weights to them, in order to lengthen themj and others cut holes in their upper and under lips, in which they hang pieces of shells, rings, &c.* This also agrees with the practice of pvery nation of the ncHlihcm Indians. - Mr. Bartram says, " their ears are lacerated, separating the border or cartilagenous limb, which is first bound round, Tcry close and tight, with leather strings or thongs, and anoint- ed with fresh beai'^s oil, until healed. The weight of the lead which they hang to it, extends the cartilage, which after being craped or bound round with brass or silver wire, extends it semi circularly, like a bow or crescent, and it is then very elastic It is then decorated with a plume of wliite herons feathers. »acosia says, that the clothes of the South-Americans are shaped like those of tlie ancient Jews, being a square little cloak, over a little coat. Lact, in his description of South- America, as well as Escar- botus, assures us, that he often heard the South-Americans repeat the word haiklyjah. And Malvmda says that the na- ♦ Mr. Bruce in his travels, speaking of a sect of christians called Remmout, says, " theii- women pierce their ears, and apply weights to make them hang down and enlarge the holes, into which they put ear-rings almost as big as shackles, in the ■•me manner as do the Bedowise, in Syria and Palestine" — 4 vol. p. 27^5 a K m A STAB IN THE WEST. tived of St. Michael had tomb-stones with several ancient Hebrew characters upon them, as **why is Ood gone away?** and **heis dead, God knows." TUte Mkhuans, one of the original nations of Mexico, held; according to the Al^ Clavigero*s declaration, this tradition, that « there was once a great deluge, and Tepxi, as they call Noah, in order to save himself from being drowned, embarked in a ship formed like an ark, with his wife, his children, and many different animals, and several seeds and fruits. As the waters abated, he sent out the bird, which bears the name of aurOf which remained eating dead bodies. He then sent out other birds, which did not return, except the little bird caUed the jknoer smkhi which brought a small branch with it" — Panoplist for June 1813, page 9. From this family of Tejm, the Michvccans all believed they derived their origin. Both Malvenda and Acosta aflSrm that the natives observed a year of jubilee, according to the usage of the Israelites. Emanual de Moraez, a I^ortuguese historian, in his history' of Brazil, says, « America has been wliolly peopled by the Carthagenians and Israelites. As to the last, he says nothing but circumcfsion is wanting to constitute a perfect resemblance between them and the Brazilians." And we have seen, that some of the nations practice it to this day. Monsimr Poutrincourt says, that at an early day, when the Canada Indians saluted him, they said ho-Ito-ho. Mr. Edwards, in his history of the West-Indiies, says, *« that tlie striking conformity of the prejudices and customs of the Charibbee Indians, to the practices of the Jews, has not escaped the notice of Iiistorians, as OwneUa, Du Terire, and others.'* A STAR IN THE WEST. Adair, who was the most careful observer c)f the Indians* whole economy, both public and private, and had the best op- portunity of knowing it, without much danger of deception, beyond any other writer, gives his opinion in these words. « It is a very diflScult thing to divest ourselves of prejudices *nd favourite opinions, and I ejcpect to be censured for op- posing commonly received sentiments* But truth is my ob- ject, and from the most exact observations I could make in the long time I traded among the Indian Americans, I was forced to believe them to be lineally descended from the Israelites." .The Rev. Mr. Beatty says, "^ jj^ve before hinted that I •liave taken great pains to search into the usages and customs of the Indians, in order to see what ground there was for sup- posing them to be part of the ten tribes of the Jews, and I must own, to my no small surprise, that a number of their ,cu8toms appear so much to resemble those of the Jews, that it is a great question with me, whether we can expect to find ^mong the ten tribes (wherever they are) at this ddy, all things considered, more of the footsteps of their ancestors than . among the different Indian tribes. It is not forgotten that the Indians are charged, as a barbarous, revengeful, cruel and blood thirsty racer-..deceitful, ungrateful, and ever ready for . murder and rapine, Most of this will not be disputed. They are educated froip their infancy to make war in this cruel manner. They scalp their fallen enemy, and most cruelly torment and burn some of those whom they take prisoners. This thpy think lawful, and often plead the will of the great spirit for it. It is their habitual custom, and tliey make war on these principles. But they have their vii-tues too. They pay the greatest respect to female prisoners, and are never ¥'4 Ml iaiii m fri 292 A STAB IK THE W£ST. known to offbr them the least indecency. Whenever they de- termine to spare their enemies, which is (rfjten done, they not only make them free, but they adopt them into their families, and make them a part of their nation, with all the privileges' of a native Indian. This is an instance of mildness and gen- erosity known to very few savages in the World, but rather resembles the Bomans. They are generous, hospitable, kind and faithful to their , friends or strangers, in as great a degree as they are vindic- tive and barbarous to their enemies in war. Col. Smith, in his journal mentions, « that he went a great distance hunting with his patron Tontileaugo, along the shore of Lake Erie. Here we staid several days on account of the' high winds, which raised tl»e lake in great billows. Tonti* leaago went out to hunt. When he was gone a Wiandot came to the camp — I gave him a shoulder of venison well roasted. He received it gladly-^told me he was hungry, and thanked me for my kindness. When my patron came home, I tf Id him what I had done-^he answered, it was very well, and «?uppo8ed I had given him also sugar and bears oil to eati* with his venison— I told him I did not, as both were ctown in the canoe, and I did not go for them. He replied, you have behnved just like a Dutchman. Do you not know, that wheiii. * ttrevigers come to our camp, we ought always to give them the best that we have. 1 acknowledged my fault. He said that he would excuse this as I was but young; but 1 must learn to behave like a warrior, and do great things, and never be found in such little actions."— .Page 25, 26. fHiiith, in his history of New- Jersey, informs us, " that the Indians long remembered kindnesses families or Individual! A iTAB TSr TUB VTEST. ^5 had shewn them. This also must undoubtedly he allowed, that the original and more incorrupt among them, very seldom f(»r- got to be grateful, where real benefits had been received. And notwithstanding the stains of perfidy aiid (Cruelty, which lat- terly, in ±754,, and since, have disgraced the Indians on the frontiers of these provinces, (but which the writer well knows had been produced by the wicked and unjust oppression of these sons of nature, by the white people) even these, by the uninterrupted intercourse of seventy years, had, on many oc- casions, given irrefragable proofs of liberality of sbitiment, hospitality of action And impressions, that seemed to promise a continuation of better things. Witness their first reception of the English-their selling their lands to them afterwards- their former undeviating candor at treaties in Pennsylvania, and other ineidents.''^Page 14*. But however guilty these unhappy wandering nations may have been, neither Europeans or Americans ought to com! plain so heavily of Indian cruelties, particularly in scalping their enemies, which is one of their most habitual cruelties, and in which they glory. Tliey are too fully justified in this horrible pra<;ticc, by the encouragement and example of those who caU themselves dviUzed, and even christians. Herodotus informs us that the Scythians scalped their enemies, and used them as trophies of victory. Polybius says, in the war with the Mercenaries, Gisco, the Carthagenian general, and seven hundred prisoners were scalped alhe, Varrus, the Roman general, caused two thousand Jews, whom he had taken pris- onei-s, to be crucified at one time-^osephus, i vol. chap. iii. page 12. If, 'I 14 254 A STAR lir THE yfEST, Under the mild government of Oreat-Britain; aAd that of France; premiu.ns have been promised and given to the In- dians, by their governors and generals, for the scalps of their enemies. Nay, even in America, acts of assembly have been passed, giving rewards to the dvUixed inhabitants, for scalps and prisoners, even so high as one hundred pounds for an Indian scalp — 2d Golden, 120. If it should be said the gov- ernment of Great-Britain ought not to be charged Tft'ith this, it is answered that government not only knew of all this, but during our revolutionary war, the British secretary of state, in the House of Lords, supported its policy and necessity, as they ought to use every means that God and nature had put into their hands.-r-Bclsham. They had in their service at that time, at least fifteen hundred Indian warriors. Mr. Belsham says, that in the revolutionary war with America, the son of Sir William Johnson, << held a great war feast with the Indians, chiefly Iroquois, when he ''nvitedthem to banquet upon a Bostonian and to drink his ulood.'* And though I doubt not but this was mere hyperbolical language, yet did it not countenance and encourage the Indians in their customary cruelty and vindictive rage ?* • But are the United States, with all their boasted freedom and philanthropy, free fi-om blame on this subject ? The following is an extract from a report from Brigadier General Clayborne, to the Secretary of War, since these sheets have been prepared for the press, even so late as 1st January, 1814. " Sir, on the 13th ultimo, I marched a detachment from this post, with a view of destroying the itowns of the inimical Creek Indians, on the Alabama, above the roouth of the Cahaba. After having marched about eighty miles, I was within thirty miles of a town new- ly erected on ground called holy, occupied by a large body of the enemy." « About noon of the 23d, the right column, commanded by col. Joseph Carson, name, in view of the town called Eckanaohacu, (or holy ground) and was vigo- rously attacked"— "Thirty of the enemy were killed, and judging from ^rery ap- pearance, many were wounded." " In the town we found a large quantity of pro- Tisions, and immense property of various kinds, which jthe enemy, flying precipi- A 8TAH IN THE WEST. i&i In 1794, the six nations, including a late addition of those of Grand River in Canada, the Stockbridge and Brotherton Indians, consisted of about six thousand souls. They now do w^rlf'/r "^"^'!lf 'T ^'^'''^' ""•* "^''^ ''^S^'^^' *''»» t^o h"»dred housed Tr^ heTh ^'^^^*'f »»-'V time to remove their wom.n and childrea 13.J ^^"'""' "'^'"^ ™"* "'"•■ ^'"^'•^ '''^ *°*'" «^- The next day w« occupied ;» de«troy.ng a town consisting of sixty houses, eight mile, higher up tb« liver. The town ar,t destroyed, was built since the commencement of hostiU. ^ev and was .sublished as a place of security for the inhabiUnU of several vilU- ^L , «,r^ r'l!r?f r^'*''' "^"''"•^ '»'«'-«~United States Gazette. 15th Feb- Eoni *".^''!"'«!g*-'«'-, of September 26. 1812, we find this pleasing isS tit 'r^"T" "'^ "*' ^"""' ''^ "'^ ^•'■•' " I-^gination (say. the Keg w?u i^^ .^^"1 to the moment, when all the southern Indians [meaning i, *ell m Florida a. m Georgia] shall be pushed acros. the Miwisippi » And agaia Z^IT^ '"u"* "'■°"""«'''y '»>« "«tion [meaning the Creeks in Georgia] have JuppKed u. w.th a pretext for . dismembering their country." Now the Jthem Indian, had not at that time taken up the hatchet against the United States, la pr-,of of this we have the assertion of Governor Mitchel. wh« in his speech to the kpslature of Georgia, October 1812. (the next month after the above puWicatioa « U.e Register) said "as yet those [Indians] within the United States les. pr^ fe« peace and fnendship." Shortly after this speech the war with the southern Indmn. ww commenced. The radical cause of it is more than bro«lly hinted at fcli 12 ,8,7 r' ^r'^r °' "'• ^"Sustine. to Governor Mitchel. dated Decern. r«f L r„n. ; r°"^ "*"' '"'''" ^''P°"»'«''°"«. ••«S«rdi"S the conspira- "t1 T^ r'i^"' ^«^P«»<"- '^^'^y tl.e Indians, has the foIIowL; K«.t. nothing les, than extermination is to be their fate, but you deceive yom^ .elfsirrfyouUunkth, world is blind to your moUve. , it is not long since the A 1 r"'?" ^"•^ ■ "'""" """'""" '''""^«' «"'' «''« f^*^'- « »g«i« at Its height." M.s^y,^nni3,mie'sUe^,tor^nn,.,theu>csin forthdr exterminatil All these pleasing prospects, says he. are clouded by blood, and forever blasted by tliat treacherous people [meaning the Creeks] for whom we have done so much, so that mercy itself seems to demand their extermination. And afterward, the fighung continued, with some severity, about five hou.^. but we continued to' destroy many ofthem. "that is after die fighUng was over." who had conceal^ themselves under the hank of the river, until we were prevented by night 7^. Zj unV4 mi "''""' "'" '"" '"" <=o.icealed.»...Poulson's Daily Adverti- nJl r ^V^^ people who remonstrate with zealous warmth and loud «crim5 • aauon against the barbarism of the British army, in wantonly burning oar town, and injuring the defenceless inhabiUnts. contrar, to the rules of civilizil waKa«..! Lrr'\r" "^'^r'''""^'"'"''""'''"^^^' *hat a contradiction in express erms. Aks ! what has not our naUon to answer for at ti.e bar of retributive i«„ tioe. i he capitol of Washington, in flames, iustructi on this ooca^mn. Jiii ' ' ..t&fl use A STAB 117 THE WEfilV iiGt^ exoe«d half that number. They have not reanNr^cl tD them now* above two hundred thousand acres til land out of their immense territory of at least one thousand miles lori]^« and five hundred miles broad.— Clinton iB, 53. The famous capt. Cook, in his visit to the coast of Americaf, in the south seas^ without any reference to tiiis great question, barely gives you the facts that appeared to him during the ve- ry short intercourse he had with them— -2 vol. 266, 283. He says that ** the inhabitants met them, singing in slow and then quicker time, accompanying their notes with beat- ing time in concert, with their paddles, and regular motions of their hands, and other expressive gestures. At the. end of ci^ciii-song, they remained silent, and then began again pro- nouncing ho-ho-ahf forcibly as a chorus. The i^ip's crew list- ened with great admiration — the natives behaved well. > « The people of Nootka Sound, keep the exactest concert in tiieir songs, by great numbers together — they are slow and solemn — their variations are numerous and expressive, and the cadence or melody powerfully soothing-^their music was sometimes varied from its predominant solemnity of air, and 8Uiig in a more gay and lively strain — ^they have a weapon made of stone, not unlike the American tomahawk, they call it Ihaweesh and Tsuskuah. — Page 310. Their manufactures and mechanic arts are far more exten- sive and ingenious than the savages of the South Sea Islands, whether we regard the design or the execution. Their flan- nel and woollen garments, made of tho bark of a pine tree beaten into an hempen state, with vasious figures artificially inserted into them, with great taste, miH of difibrent colours of CMiuisite brightness. They ary also famous for painting A STAB IW THE WEST. isr tnd carving-^ibid 30*. Their common dress is a flannel gar- ment or mantie, ornamented on the upper edge by a narrow strip of fur, and at the latter edge by fringes or tassels. Over this, which reaches below the knees, is worn a small cloak of the same substance, likewise fringed at the lower part. Every reader must be reminded by this of the fringes an4 tassels of the Jews on their garments. In Prince William's Sound, the common dress is a kind of frock or robe, reaching to the knees, and sometimes to the ankles, made of the skins of animals,- and in one or two in- stances they had woollen garments. All are ornamented with tassels or fringes. A few had a cape or coUai-, and some a hood. This bears a great resemblance to the dress of the Greenlanders, as described by Crantz— ibid 367—8. The reader will find in Cranfz, many striking instances, in which the Greenlanders and Americans of this part of America re- semble each other, besides those mentioned by capt. Cocok"*- vol. 1, 136, 138. Father Joseph Gumella, in his account of the nations bor- dering on the Oronoko, relates that the Charibbee Indians of the continent, punished their women caught in adultery, like the ancient Jews, by stoning them to death before the assem- bly of the people—Edward's West-Indies, 1 vol. 39, in a note. •41 ij r '''-'SI lb. '-■■' . 2L A ItAB in TH« WBSt^ '969 CHAPTER X. TIa Indians have a system ofmoraliiy anumg them, that is vety itfiking.^They harce teachers id instruct them in it-^xvlnch th^ hAve thmght very highly, tUl of late years, tliey begin to ■■ dotiM its efficaay, •\ f-, ^i-' •;'% ^WE are indebted to Dobson's Eneycle^edia for the following testimony in favour of Indian morality^vol. 1, page 5S7. It is the advice given from a father to s^ son, it is believed, taken from a Spanish author. « My son, who art come into the light from the womb, we know not how long heaven will grant to us the eiyoyment of that precious gem> which we possess in thee. But however short the period, endeavour to live exactly^ praying to the great spirit continually to assist thee. He created thee— thou art his property. He is thy father^ and loves thee still more than I do. Repose in him thy thoughts, and day and night direct thy sighs to him. Reverence and salute thy elders, and hold no one in contempt. To the poor and distressed be not dumb, but rather use words of comfort." «< Mock not, my son, the aged or the imperfect Scorn not him who you see fall into some folly or transgression, nor make him reproaches ; and beware lest thou fall into the same er- ror, which offends thee in another. Go not where thou art not called, nor interfere in that which does not concern thee." ** No more, my son. Enough has been said in discharge of the duties of a father. With these councils I wisli to fortify •I I 1 .!» 900 A SITAH lU THE WEST. thy mind. Refuse them not, nor act in contfadiction.tothem ; for on them, thy life and all thy happiness depend." M' Jr (V vhen among tiie Indians on the Ohio, address- ed ihmi. in answer, the speaker said, ** that they believed that there was a great spirit above, and desired to serve liim in the best manner they could. That they thpught of him at their rising u> and lyiwg div^ ; and hoped he would look upon them, and be kind to them, and do them good." In the even- ing several cpune to their lodging. Among these was one called Neolin, a young man, who used for some time past to speak to his brethren, the Indians, about their wicked ways. He had taken great pains with them, and so far as Mr. Beatty could learn, he had bepn the means of reforming a number of them. He was informed by a captive, who had been adopted into Neolin's family, that he frequently used to boil a quantity of bitter roots, till the water became very strong- -that he drank plentifully of this liquor, and made liis family and relatives dnnkof it. That it proved a severe emetic. The end of which, as Neolin said, was to cleanse them from their inward t* $ms. The following is an account of heir evening entertaintnent at Altaase, one of the Creek tovns, in the year 1778. The. writer, after describing the council house, where the Indians met, says, « the assembly being now seated in order, and the house illuminated by their mystical canes Are in the middle ; two middle aged men came in together, each having a very large conck shell, full of black drink, advancing with slow, uniform and steady steps, their eyes and countenances lifted up, and singing very low, but s^^eetly, till they came within six or ei^ht step^ of the king^ and white people's seats, when A STAB IN THE WEST. Mi m thftjr stopped, and each rested his shell on a little table ; but soon taking it up again," advanced," and each presented his shell, one to the king, and the other to the chief of the white people^ and as soon as he raised it to his mouth, they uttered or sang two notes, each of which continued as lohg-a« he had breath, ai^d as long as these notes continufed, so long must the person drink, or at least keep the shell to his mouth. These long notes are very solemn, and at once strike the in ^inai.on wi , a religious awe and homage to the Supreme Bein.fi;, mmnd- ing somewhat like a-hoo.o.jah and a-h-yaL After this manner the whole assembly were treated, as long as the drink and light continued io hold out. Ah soon as the drink began, to. bacco and pipes were brought in. The king or chief smoked, first in the great pipe, a few whiffs, blowing it off ceremonious-' ly, first towards the sun, or as it is generally supposed, to the great spirit, for it is puffed upwards j next towsirds the four cardinal points j then towards the white people in the house. Then the great pipe is taken from the hand of the king, ^nd presented to the chief white man, and then to the great ivar chief, from whence it is circulated through the ranks of head men and warriors ; and then returned to the chief. After this, each one filled his pipe from his own, or his neighbour's pooch! Here a|l classes of citizens resort every night in the summer or moderate season. The women and children are not allow- ed, or very seldom, to enter the public square." , . lu this same year, the son of the Spanish govei-nor of St. Augustine, in East Florida, with two of his companions, were brought in prisoners, they being then at war with that prov- ifice. They were all condemned to be burned. The English traders in the town petitioned the Indians in their behalf, ex- . 'I 4;' -I rl; .'' .V u» A ilTAB IK tHUL WStf. pressing their wishes to obtain their pardon, ofTering a great ransom, acquainting thorn at the same time witli their ranlc. Upon this, the head men, or chiefs, of the whole nation, wer6 eonrened ; and after solemn and mature deliberation^ returned the traders their final answer, in the following address : - ** Brothers and fKcnds — we have been cmnsidering upon thid business concerning the captives, and that under the eye and fear of the great spirit. You know that these people are our cruel enemies — they save no lives of us red men, who fall in their power. You say that the youth is the son of the Spanish governor— we believe it. We are gorry that he has fallen into our hands, but he is our enemy. The two young men, his friends, are equally our enemies. We are sorry to see them here. But we know no difference in their flesh and blood. They are equally our enemies. If wet sate one, we must save ail three. But we cannot do this. The red men require their blood to appease the spirits of their slain relatives. They have entrusted us with the guardianship of our laws and rights— we cannot betray them. However, we have a sa- cred prescription relative. to this affair, which alloWs nd to ex- tend mercy to a certain degree. A third is to be saved by lot. The great spirit allows us to put it to that decision. He is no respecter of persons.'' The lots were cast. The governor's son and one of his friends were taken and burnt. • Tliis must certainly appear to some as the act of barba- rians, but how far is it removed from the practice of the Jews, when they so vociferously called out, crucify him, crucify him ? And Pilate said ye have a custom tJiat I should release a prisoner to you at the feast, but they cried more bitterly, not tills man, but Barabbas. f'lJ-M! A ITAB IK THE WEST, A minister prcaclvng to a congregation of christian Indians^ west of the Delaware, pbserved a stranger Indian, listening • with great attention. After the service, the minister enquir- ed who he was? It appeareil on enquiry, that he lived three hundred miles to the westward— that he had just arrived and gave this account of himself. " That his elder brother living in his house, had been many days and nights in great per- J»lexity, wishing to learn ta know the great spirit, tiU at length he resolved to retire into thp woods, supiwsing that he should succeed better in a state of separation from all mankind. Having spent many weeks alone in great affliction, he tliought fee saw a man of mj«e8tic appearance, who informed him that there were Indians living to the south-east, who were acquaint- ed with the great spirit and the way to eveilasting life; add- ing that he should go home and tell his people, what he had seen and heard. For this reason, as soon as he heard his brother speak, he determined to travel in search of the pco- pie he had described, tUl he found them j and since he luid heard what had been said that day, the words had been wel- come to his heart.'* A missionary made a journey to the Shawanesc country, the most savage of the Indian nations. He stopped at Uic first vUlage he came to, and lodged with one of the chief men. He informed the chief of his business, and opened some truUis of the gospel to him by means of an interpreter who ac- companied him. The chief paid great attention, and after sometime told him, that he was convinced that ibc mis- sionary'a doctrmes were true, pointing out the right road. That the ahawanese had been long striving to find out the way of life ,; but that he must own, with regret, that all their Nil I m viM U ;<:■- I'll M- i64 A Sl'AB IN THE W£lT. labour and resesirchcs had been in vain. That they, there- ' fore» had lost all courage, not knowing what they should do further, to obtain happiness. The chief accompanied the missionary to the next village and persuaded him to lodge with a heathen teacher. TL? missionary then preached to him, and told him that he had brouglit him the words of eternal life. This the In- dian said was wliat they wanted, and they would hear him \vith pleasure. After some days, tlie heathen teacher said, I have not been able to sleep all night, for I am continually medita'\ig upon your woitls, and will now open to you ray whole heart. I believe what you say is the truth. A year ago I became convinced, that vve arc altogether sinful crea* turcs, and that none of our good works can save us ; but I did not know wlmt to do to get relief. I have therefore always comforted my people, tliat some body would come and shew MS the true way to happiness, for we are not in the right way. And even but the day before you came, I desired my people to have a little patience, and that some teacher would certain- ly come. Now you are come, and I verily believe that tlie great spirit has sent you to make known his word to us." Mtnsieur De Lapoterie, a French autlior, speaking of. the Cherokee^ and other southern Indians, gives this account of them: "These Indians look upon the end of life, to be living happily ; and for this purpose their whole customs are calcu- lated to prevent avarice, which they think embitters life. Nothing is a more severe reflection among them than to say, Vud a man loves his oivn. To prevent the use and propaga- tion of such a vice, upon the death of an Indian, they burn %\\ that belongs to the deceased, that there may be no tempta- A STAB IN THE WEST. 968 tlon for the parent to hoard up a superfluity of arms or domes- tic conveniences for his children. They cultivate no more land than is necessary for their plentiful subsistence and hos- pitality to stranRcrs. At the feast of expiation, they also burn all the fruits of the earth and grain left of the past year's crops. Mr. Brainerd informs us, that at about one hundred and tliirty miles from our settlements, he met with an Indian, who was said to be a devout and zealous reformer. Ho was dres- sed in a liideous and terrifick manner. He had a house con- secrated to religious purposes. Mr. Brainerd discoureed With him about cliristianity, and some of the djscouree hp seemed to like, but some of it ho wholly rejected. He said that God fjiad taught him Ids religion, and that he would neyer turn from it; but wanted to find some who would heartily join him in it, for the Indians had gi-own very degenerate and corrupt. He said he had thoughts of leaving all his friends and travel- ling abroad in order to find some who would join with him, for l\e believed that, the great spirit had good people some where, who felt aj^ ho did. He said that he had not always felt as he then did, but had formerly been like the rest of the Indians, untU about four or five years before that tinie. Tlien he said, that his heart was very much distressed, so that he could not live among the Indians, but got away into the woods and liv- ed for some months. At length he said the great spirit had comforted his heart and shewed him what he should do; and since that time he had known the^ great spirit and tried to serve him, and loved all men, be they who they may, so as he never did before. He treated Mr- Brainerd with uncommon courtesy, and seemed to be hearty \^ it. 1 1 I I :¥ "' e]igioiis notions of his own, that he had looked into for him- self, and had jiot taken for granted upon bare tradition | and lie relished or disrelished, whatever was spoken of a religious ^ nature, according as it agreed or disagreed with his standard. He would sometimes say, now, tliat 1 like, so the great spirit hi\s tatigUt me, &c. Some of his sentiments seemed very Ju§t; yet he utterly denied the existence of an evil spirit, and declared there was no such a being known among tlie Indians of old times, whpse rcl-,^"ion he supposed he was attempting to revive. . He alao said that departed souls went southward, and that the difference between the good and bad was, that the former were admitted into a beautiful town with spiritual walls, 01' walls agreeably to the nature of souls. The latter would forever Isover round those walls, and in vain attempt to get in. He seemed to be sincere, honest and conscientious in Idi^ own way, and according to his own religious notions, which was more than could be said of most other pagans Mr. Brain- crd had seen. He was considered and derided by the other Indians as a precise zealot, who made an tmnecessary noise about religious matters, but in Mr. Brainerd's opinion, there was sometlung in his tpraper and disposition that looked more like true religion, than any thing he had observed among oth- er heathen Indrms. * Smith, in hh liistory of Nevz-Jei'scy, gives the following extract from a letter oii this subject, fi-om an Indian interpre- ter, the well kno". n Conrad Wiser— li5. A STAR IN THE WEST. 287 **I write this to give an account of what I have.ohserved amongst the Indians, in relation to their belief and confidence in a divint being, according to the observations I have made from the year 1714, in the time of my youth to this day. if by the word religion^ is meant an assent to certain creods, w tlie observation of a set of religious duties, as appointed pray- ers, singing, preaching, baptism, &c. or even heathenish wor- ship, then it may be said, the Five Nations have no religion ; but if by religion we mean, an attraction of the soul to God, whence proceeds a confidence in and an hunger after the knowledge of him, tlien this people must be allowed to have some religion among them, notwithstanding their some times savage deportment ; for we find among them some traits of a confidence in God alone, and even some times, though but seldom, a vocal calling upon him. ' In the year 1737, 1 was sent for the firet time to Ononda^ go, at the desire of the governor of Virginia. I sat out the lat- ter end of February, for a journey of five hundred English miles, through a wilderness where there was neither road nor path J there were with me a Dutchman and three Indians." He then gives a most fearful account of the distresses to which they were driven — ^particularly on the side of a mountain where the snow was so hard, that tliey were obliged to make holes in it with their hatclicts to put their feet in, to keep them from sliding down the mountain. At lengtli one of the In- dians slipped and went down the mountain, but on his May was stopped by the string of his pack hitching fast to a stump of a small tree. They were obliged then to go down into tlie valley, wlien they looked up and saw « that if tlie Indian had dipped four or five paces further he would Iiave fallen over a I' % :r ■■■' *lf': If iliip 2M A 8TAB IW THE WEST. riock, one Iiundred feet perpendicular, upon craggy pieces of rock below. The Indian was astonished and turned quite pale— then tvith out-stretched arms, and great earnestness, spoke these words, ItJumk the great TArrd and Girvenwr of this woHd tluit lie has fuid mercy upon me, and has been willmg t/iat I should live hnger; whicli words I at that time sat down in my journal. This happened on the 25th March, 1737." On the 9th April following, he was reduced so low that he gave up all hopes of ever getting to his journey's end. He stepped aside and sat down under a tree, expecting there to die. His companions soon missed him— they came hack and found him sitting there. « I told them that I would go no further, but would die there." They remained silent awhile, at last the old Indian said, my dear cmnpanion, thmi hast hitJi- erto encouraged us, wilt thou now quite, ^ve vp ? Remember iluit evil days are better than good days, for when we mj^ermuch, we do not sin ; and sin will be drove mit of m by suffering / Init good days cause men to sin, and God cannot extend his mercy to them, hit conirarywise, when it goeth evil with ns, God hath cmnpas- sim on us. These words made me ashamed ,• i i-ose up and * travelled on as well as I could." « Two years ago I was sent by the governor to Shamokcn, on account of the unhappy death of John Armstrong," after he had performed his er- rand, which was to make peace by tlie punisliment of the mur- derer. The Indians made a great feast for him ; and after they had done, the cldef addressed his people, and exhorted them to thankfulness to God— then began to sing with an aw- ful solemnity, but without expressing words, the others ac- companied him with their voices. After they had done, the same Indian, with great earnestness said, tluinks / thanks.' U A WAR IN THE WEST. 269 to thee, thou great Ix>rd of Vwivorld, in that thou hmt again cam- ed the sun to sfiine and hast dispersed the dark doiuL Tlie India^ts are thine.*' ' * The old king Ockanickon, who died in 1681, in Burlington, New-Jersey, just before his death, sent for ins brother's son, whom he had appointed to be king after him ; he addressed him thu|^ « My brother's son, this day I deliver my heart into your bosom—mind me. I would have you love what is good, and keep good company; refuse what is evil, and by all means avoid bad company." "Brother's son! I would have you cleanse your ears, that you may hear both good and evil ,• and then join with the good and refuse the. evil j and where you see evil, do not join with it, but join to that which is good." "Brotlier's son! I advise you to be plain and fair, with all, both Indians and christians, as I have been. I am very weak, otherwise I would have spoken more." After he stopped, Mr. Budd, one of the proprietors of West-Jcrsey, said to him, inhere is a great God, who created all things; that he had given man an understanding of v^ilat was good and bad ; and after this life rewarded the good with blessings, and the bad according to their doings." The king answered, « it is very true. It is so. There are two ways, a broad and a straight way ; tJiere are two path, a hroad and a straight path : the worst and Vie greatest number go in tlie broad, the best and fewest, in the straight path." —Smith's history New-Jeraey, 149. The Indians originally shewed great integrity in their dealings, especial! J ^vi h one another. Col S-Bsth informs us that going a hunting to a very great distance, and having got many skins and furs by tlie way, i;r; II* '"'I 270 A STAK I* THE WEST. very inconvenient to carry, they stretched them on Sicnffdicfe and left them till tlicir return. When they returned some considerable time after, they found their skins and furs all safe. « Though this was a pub- lic place and Indians often passing and our skins hanging up to view, yet there were none Stolen, and it is seldom that In- dians do steal afiy thing from one another ; and they say they never did, Until the white people came among them, and learn- ed some of them to lie, cheat and steal." — Page 42. He fuHJier infoims us that being in the woods in tlic month of February, there fell a snow and then came a severe frost that when they walked caused them to make a noise liy break- ir I' through the crust, and so frightened the deer that they eouM get nothing to eat. He hunted two days without food, and then returned fatigued, faint and wearj'. He related his want of success. Tontileaugo asked him if he was not hun- gry — he said he was — he ordered his little son to bring him somctliing to eat. He brought him a kettle with some bones and broth, made fi-om those of a fox and wild cat that the ra- vens and turkey buzzards had picked, and which lay about the camp. He speedily finished his repast and was greatly reft-eshed. Tontileaugo gave him a pipe and tobacco — and •when he had done smoking, he said that he had something of importance to tell him — Smith said he was ready to hear. He said he had deferred liis speech, because few men wei-e in a right humor to liear good talk when they are extremely hungry, as they are then generally fretful and discomposed ; but as you appear now to enjoy calmness and serenity of mind, i will now communicate the thoughts of my heai't, and those things which I know to be true. Brother ! — As you have A STAR IN THE WEST. 271 lived with the wliite people, you have not had the same ad- vantage of knowing that the great being above, feeds his peo- pie and gives tliem their meat in due season, as we Indians have, who are frequently out of provisions, and yet are won- derfully supplied, and that so frequently, that it is evidently the hand of the great Owaneeyo, (this in their language sig. nines the owner and ruler of all tilings) that doeth this. Whereas the white people have large stocks of tame cattle that they can kiU when they please, and also their barns and cribs fiUed.with grain, and therefore have not the same opjw- tunity of seeing and knowing that they are supported by the ruler of heaven and earth. Brother! I know that you are now afraid that we will iM perish with hunger; but you have no just reason t» fear tli is. Brother ! I have been young but am now old! I have, frequently been under the like circum- stances that we now are, and that, sometime or other, in al- most every year of my life,- yet I have hitherto been support- ed and my wants suppUcd in times of need. iJrother ! Owan- eeyo! sometimes suffei-s us to be in want, in order to teach us oup dependance upon him, and to let us know that we are to love and serve him j and likewise to know the worth of the favours that we receive anJ to make us more thankful." Was not this one of the great ends designed by a gracious God, in leading the Israelites through the wilderness for for- ty years— vide Lowtli's Isaiali, xli. 17, &e.— vide 2 Du Pratz, 172, for account of great spirit. « Brotlier ! be assured that you will be supplied with food and that just in the right time ; but you must continue diligent in the use of means—go to sleep and rise early in the morning and go a himting^be strong and exert yourself like a man, and the great spirit will direct l^iiSi 1. 1,' I- '\-' 'IT m 372 A STAB IN THE WEST. your way/' The next morning, Smith rose early and set off. He travelled near twelve miles and was just despairing, when he came across a herd of buffaloes and killed a large cow. He loaded himself with the beef, and returned to his camp and found his patron, late in the evening in good spirits and humor. The old Indian thanked him for his exertion and commanded his son to cook it — which he did, but eating some himself almost raw. They put some on to boil, and when Smith was hurrying to take it off liis patron calmly said, let it be done enough, as if he had not wanted a meal* He pre- vented his son from eatiiig but a little at a time, saying it would hurt him, but that he might sup a few spoonsful of the broth. When they were all refreshed, Tontileaugo delivered a speech upon the necessity and pleasure of receiving the ne- cessary supports of life with thankfulness, knowing that Owa- neeyo is the great giver. Sometime after they set off for home, Tontileaugo on the way, made himself a sweat-house and went into it, and put himself in a most violent perspira- tion for about fifteen minutes, singing aloud. Tiiis he did in order to purify himself before he would address the Supremo Being. He then began to burn tobacco and to pray — ^Hc be- gan each petition with Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!— He began his address in tlie following manner. O great being! I thank thee that I have obtained the use of my legs again — (he had been. ill with the rheumatism) that I am now able to walk about and kill turkeys, &c. without feeling exquisite pain and misery. I know that thou ai-t a hearer and a helper, and therefore I will call upon thee. Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh !— grant that my knees and ankles may be right well, and tliat 1 may be able not only to walk, hut to run and A STAR IN THE WEST. .S73 t4> jump logs, as I did last fall. Oh ! Oh ! Oh ! Oh ! grant that on this voystge we may frequently kill bears, as they Qiay be crossing the Sciota and Sandusky. Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh ! grant that rain may come to raise the Ollcntangy about two or three feet, that we may cross in safety down to Sciota, without danger of our canoe being wrecked on tlie i-ocks. And now, great being! thou knowest how matters stand-— thou knowest that I am a great Jover of tobacco, thougli I know not when I may get any more, I now make a present of the last I have unto thee, as a free burnt offering; therefore I expect thou wilt hear and grant these requests, and I thjr servant will return thee thanks and love thee tor thy gifts.'* During this time Smith was greatly affected with liispray- ei-s, until he came to the burning of tlie tobacco, and as he knew that liis ])atron was a great lover of it, wlien he saw him cast the last of it into the fire, it excited in him a kind of meriment, and lie insensibly smiled. The Indian observed him laughing, which displeased him and occasioned the follow* ing address — " Brother ! — 1 have somewliat to say to you and I hope you will not be offended, when I tell you of your faults. You know that when you were reading your books in town, I would not let the boys or any one disturb you j but now when I was praying, I saw you laugliing. I do not think that you look upon praying as a foolish thing. I believe you pray yourself. But pcrlmps you may think my mode or manner of praying, foolish. If so you ought in a friendly manner to instruct me, and not make spoi-t of sacred tilings." Smith ackn()wle^l^ 12.5 ^ m — ^ ^ lllllio 2.2 m U 11.6 % and eighty days (or a female child ; fhnn whieh law alone it appears that the Indians could have adopted this extraordinary custom, as they must have done all their numerous laws of purity— and more espe- dally as some of the nations observe the like distinction be« tween male and female children. The young women^ at our people's first coming among them were very modeat and shame-facedo-both young and old women would be highly offended at indecent expressions* unless corrupted by drink : They were very neat and clean* ly except in some instances when they negleeted themselves. Smith i38. A iTlB IN TUB WEST. i^ra CHAPTER XII. The Combisim, HAVING thus gone through with a collection cf facte, that hM taken much Umc, great attention and strict enquiry, in order to prevent the writer ta being deceived himself; or his being the innocent cause of deceiving others j he is now brought to draw some conclusions fmm the whole taken togeth- er. On a subject like this, where there is so much to hope, and so much to fear, he would use great modesty and diffi- dence. He would avoid all dogmatical assertions, or unrca- sonable confidence in any thing that hehas collected, or any observations he has made, as he considers this a subject fur the exercise of wisdom, research, enquiry and mature rcflec t.on. But nevertheless, while he uses every necessary mxj. caution, and wishes peifect freedom of imjuiry on the best evidence, yet he earnestly solicits the reader to keep in mind that his prim^ipal design, in these his labours, has been to in. v.te and tempt the learned and the industrious, as far as tliey can obtain opportunities, to enquire further into this impor. tant and useful subject. What could possibly bring greater declarative glory to God, or tend more essentially to affect and rouse the nations of the earth, with a deeper sense of the certainty of the prophetic declarations of the holy scriptures, and tlius cau their attention to the truU. of divine revelation. 280 ▲ STAR IN THE WEST. than a full discovery, thattlicse wandering nations of Indians are the long lost tribes of Israel; but kept under the special protection of Almighty God, though despised by all mankind, for more than two thousand years, separated from and unknown to the civilized world ? Thus wonderfully brought to the knowl- edge of their fellow men, they may be miraculously prepared for instruction, and stand ready, at the appointed time, when God shall raise the signal to the nations of Europe, to be res- tored to the land and country of their fathers, and to Mount Zion the city of David, their great king and head, and this in direct, positive and literal fulfilment of the numerous promises of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their pious progeni- tora and founders, near four thousand years ago. Would not such an event be the most ample mean of pub- lishing the all important facts of both the Old and New Testa- ment to all the nations of the earth, and thereby lead all men to the acknowledgment, that the God of Israel, is a God of truth and righteousness, and that whom he loves, he loves unto the end ? They woidd he convinced that his all seeing eye had been open upon them in all their wanderings; under aU their suffering, and that he had never forsaken them ; but had shewn his watchful providence over them, and that in the latter day, « it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in thd top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ; to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."— Isaiah ii. chap. 1, 3. A STAR m THB WEST* Ui St. faul certainly entertained some such views of this ex* traordinary event, when he so pathetically sets forth this glo- rious issue of the providence of God.—- Speaking of Israel, < and stUl do> to every industrious and intelligent enquirer. "This is not the first time> that the idea has been advanced, of the possibility of these tribes emigrating to America, over the straits of Eamschatka, and preserving the indelible marks that if a family were not suf- ficient tu eat the whole, a neighbour might be called in to par* j take with them ; and if any sliould be still left it must religious* ly be burned in the fire before the rising of the next sun. That their houses and temple, at one of these feasts, were to be swept with the greatest care, and searched in every part^ with religious scrupulosity, that no unhallowed thing should remain unconsumed by fire. And that; the altars for the sae? rifices were to be built of unhewn stone, or on stones on which a tool had not been suffered to come. That the entrails and fat of the sacrifice, were to be burned on the altar, and the body oi the animal only to be eaten ? When all these are com- piEu*ed with the Hebrew divine law, given by God himself from heaven, we find every article rigidly commanded and enforced by sovereign authority. < Then examine their other religious feasts of different kinds, and reflect on their conformity, in a surprising manner, in times, causesr and effects, to the Hebrew rites and ceremonies, and what rational man, of sound judgment, but must, at least acknowledge, that there is great encouragement to the inqui- sitive mind, to proceed farther, and make these people the subject of attentive and unwearied inquiry. Add to all this, their general appearance— .their customs and manners in pri- Tl^te life-.«their communion with each othei^— their cereni»» «ies and practices in society-^their common religious and moral observations^ their belief in a future statc-^their reli- fpmoi observfktioii of and most sacred respect to an ark In A STAB III TUB WSST. 296 going to war, and even their cruelties and barbarous customs in the treatment of their enemies, and ought they not u, b« in- dttded in the enumeration. ■^' The strong bearings that many of the foregoing traditions have on their origin ami desr.«nt— their manner of coming into this country and their future expectations, being so very sim- ilar to the experience of the Jews in their exodus from Egypt, should not be left out of the scale of testimony. Can it be probabIe~nay, if we judge from past experience^ may we not ask with propriety, can it be possible, unless a miracle is acknowledged, that so many Indian words should bo purely Hebrew, and the construction of what little we know of their language, founded on the same principles, if there never had been any intercommunion between the two people? There can be but little doubt, were their language well known to the learned in Europe and America, but that many more imp(Hi»nt discoveries miglit be made, convincing to eveiy judicious mind, that now lie in utter oblivion. Let it now be asked — What, then, is tlie use that should be made of the facts that »re thus brought to light, partial as they are ? It is answered^ Ought not the nations of Europe and America to make a ■ solemn pause, and consider the Jews, "now scattered and peeled, and expecting their Messiah," to use tlie phraseology of the bible, in a very different point of light, from that in which it has been customary to consider them ? This has beeir dark indeed. They have been treated by the civilized na- tions as the offscouring of the earth — despised, contemned and persecuted— abused, reviled, and charged with the most abom- inable crimes^ without evidence, unheard, and contrary to aU M0 A ITA.V IN THE WEST. probability. Nay, they have been treated !i!cc the wild beasta of the forest — have been proscribed, banislied, murdered, or driven from oric) nation to another, bnt found safety in none. It in asserted by the best writers, that after the destruction of Jerusalem, in the time of Domitian, multitudes of Jews who had survived the sad catastrophe of the destruction of their city and temple, sought an asylum* in various parts of the world. Many retired into Egypt, where a Jewish Colony had resided from the time of Alexander-Mothers fled to Cyrene— • a large number removed to Babylon, and joined their breth- ren, who had remained in that country ever since the captiv- ity — some took refuge in Persia, and other eastern countries. They became divided into eastern and western Jews. Tlio western included Egypt, Judea, Italy, and other parts cf the Boman empire. The eastern were settled in Babylon, Chal- dea, Assyria and Persia. This was about the second cen^- tury ; but previous to the destructir of the temple, those Jews who resided in the eastern countries sent presents to Jeru- lialem ; repaired thither from time to time to pay their devo-« tions, and aclinowledge the supreme authority of the high- priest. But after the ruin of their country, having no longer a^y IxHid of unity, which had before been formed by the high- priests and the temple, they elevated chiefs to preside ovei< them, wliom they styled princes of tM capRt th« bltMHl of the M«»minh. miRht i^at oii tlu'iu uiul tlit^li* vlilkU f«n* Yet In the rmU Uml will ctiUI tholr oppn'Miioi'N to d Me* ▼eiH^ aevount thr the wnchiiatlnn muniit'r in whiuh th»7 hiivo oMTied the illvlne jmlffnienta l«tt» exetMiiion, tittle <»!' it Ima been done ft>r the glory of UtMl, MtKm»i« ditl hoI^ nudy foi-e. wwn the Jewa» thwt nil thi« ni>ultl he the eonH(M|uent;e of tliHOi- bedienee to the Itiws »nd «itjitute» taMehovtth, tuid thwt ut the \try time tlmt he eneoui'nged them with a eoi'ltilHty u( hit •Het^ljil JU\*oui'si, in euie ol' theli* obedlenee. The inN|»iiT(l luu- t««Ke is exee^^lingly NtiHWK. ♦♦ And it tduUI eoi^e to \nm, if thon nhnlt hearken dlligiiUly untt» the Ttace «if the LohI tJiy Go«l» to oh»crve nod do tdl hit* eomnmndnientN whieli I otun* mand thee this d«}, tlmt the LoihI thy (Jod will sd thee on bigh ttbove hII nntlons or the rwrth, nntl oil those hleMnin^ (bel\vre enuwerattMl) aludl e«>me mjhui Um\** •» Hut it slmU Cui!^oJ «>»{# the voiue oi* the iM'il thy IUmI to observe und do nil Iuh i^inuiuuidnu iit« and hlM stututts, whieh I eoinnuuul thee this d«.v» thwt ull thoi«o wrses shall ovt^rtuke thee, forsed i«halt tluni be in the eity, and eui>sed shiUt thou be in the ftold,"-~l)«ut. xxvili. I, «, u, Jfl. The Untl shall hiin^j? thee and thy king into a nation, which neither thou nor thy l^ithei's have known, and there •halt thou serve other tlodN. mml and stone. AntI thou shalt become an as(unishnR»nt. a pniverb and a bye-wmnl among all nations, whither the Im\\ >\'(xtrr (»r n»r ages.>-.|bi«l 4(i. And thou sluUt serve thine enenues, whiili the Um\ shall send against thee, in hungtr mitthmt^umt in miht'dHm\andin vutnt of all things. A ITAll «f TIW WHT. tos And ho Nlinll put n ynke of Iron upon thy neck until he hnth dvntwiyod thets'*— Ibid 48. « If thou wilt not observe to do Hll thu woitln of thiH law. thftt «ih> wHtten lit thll book that thou muyeNt iViii', ihin Kiorioui und fem-ftil nMnie^ tM tdird thy Cited." — .IbUI AS. «• And tbn Loid nhtUI newtter thee ikinonK «ll l»o. plt^. hiMU one end «r the earth to the other."— Ibid fl*. And Mnunfi: theiie nntlunii thou sliiUt find no ease, neltlior Nlialt the wJe oi' thy ftwt have rost. but the Lord ihalt give thee a trom- Wing of heart and tViiling of eyca and nori-ow of mind."— -Ibid «6. " And Uiy im shall hang In doubt before thcc, and tltou Shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of tliy life." <• And It slialt come to pass, when all these things are eoine uprui thee, the blessing and the eurse. whioh I have set befui-e thee, and thou shalt call them to mind, among all the nations whither the LohI thy 0ml hath driven thee, and Shalt ivturn unt4» the Lord thy Gwl. and shalt obey his voice aeeoinUng to ail that I eomnmnti thee this tlay, thou and thy children, with all thy heart and with all thy »iul, that then the l^MHl thy (lod wilf tiirn thy captivity and have eompas. sion u|K»n thee and will it^turn and gather thee IVoni all tlio nations, whither the l^ird thy Gml hath seattcHMl thee. If any of thim^ be drivm out nuta the uttmnoHt jHtits nf hctivent ftsim i\mm> will the Lord (by t;od gather thee, and (Vom thciuo will fte Jl'teh ther. And the Lord thy 0i«i1 iUv flrul tuill itii^ all ,k<>uj. ..••>>».« ».»^tt 294 A STAB IW THE WBSf. thine enemieSf and on them who hate thee, who persecnted thee. And thou shalt return, and obey the voice of the Loi-d thy God and do all his commandments, which I command the© this day."— Ibid xxx. 1, 8. Thus the Lord in the midst of the severest judgments remembered mercy for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob : and these great encourage- ment's to obedience, he frequently repeated by his prophets, from time to time, as in Isaiah — ^"For Jehovah will have compassion on Jacob and will yet choose Israel, And he will give them rest upon their own land— and the stranger shall be joined to them and cleave unto the house of Jacob. And the nations shall take them and bring them in their own place ; and the house of Jacob shall possess them into the land of Jehovali, 4is servants and as handmaids ; and <^^ shall take tJi£m captiw, whose captives they were, and they shall rule ever their oppressors." — Lowth xiv. 1, 2, ** Ho ! land spreading wide the shadow ctf tfiy >Virigs,* which art beyond the rivers of Cush, accustomed to send mes- iscngers by sea, even in bulrush vessell, upon the surface of the waters — Go! swift messengers unto a nation dragged away and plucked ; unto a people wonderful from the begin- ning hitherto."— Chap, xviii. 1, 2. " At that season a present shaH be ler to tlie Lord of Hosts, a people dragged a[way and • TIic (ran lation of tliese verses, is taken from Mr. Faber, who quotes Bishop Ilorsley, in m )inj», " tlie shadow of wings is a very usual image in prophetic lan- guage, for tlie proteciion afibnled by the stronger, to the weak. God's protec. tion of his servants is descrihed by their being safe under the shadow of his wings. And in thi.s passage, the broad sliadowing wings may be intended to characterise some great iHiopIe, who shall lie famous for the protection they thali give to those •« hom they received into tlieir alliance." " It is not imposnble however, and cer- tainly not incongruous witli the figurative language of prophecy, that qince the messengers described in this prediction, are plainly a maritime nation, the shadowy •Kn^a here spoken -of may mean the s.".ils of their ships." A: STAR INT THE VrE«T# 2^» plucked, even of a people wonderful from the beginning hither- to j a nation expecting, expecting, and trampled under footy whose land rivers have spoiled, unto the place of the name of . the Lord of Hosts, Mount Zion."— Ibid 7. « For behold Je- hovah shall come as a fire ; and his chariot as a whirlwind j to breathe fortli his anger in a burning heat, and his rebuke in flames of fire. • For by f»re shall Jehovah execute judgment, and by his sword upon all flesh j and many shall be the slain of Jehovah."--Ibid Ixvi. 15, 16. Again in Jeremiah the sub- ject is taken up. «« For lo ! the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, and I will cause them to retuni to the liand that I gave to tbei(f fathers and they sliall possess it.'*--Jercm. xxx. 3. « Therefore fear thou not O my servant Jacob, saith tlie Lord, neither be c'-smaycd O Israel, for lo! I will save thee Jrom. afar, and thy seed from the land of tlieir captivity ; and Jacob . shall return and shall be in rest and be quiet and none sball make him afraid. For I am with thee saitli the Lord, to save thee J though I make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee; yet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished." « Therefore all tliey who devour thee sliail be devoured, and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shaHgo into captivity ; and they who spoil thee, shall be a spoil,* and ail xvho prey upon thee, will I give for a prey.^^Yerse 10, Remember this, and shew yourselves men : Reflect on it deeply, O ye apostates ! — I am God nor is there any thing like me. . From the beginning, making known the end ; * Anil fronn onrlv fimpq- flio tVj5«o.u iUnt- «»•.«» ■^^■t- -r„4. j,. -r*' — >--' — • ».»..i^ «>»>iv>7y \.ti\j tiiiu^a liiab ai.\i iiufc JV'' uOuc i< SM ▲ 8TAB IN TUB W£ST. Saying my counsel shall stand. And whatever I have willed, I Mill effcQt. Calling from the east, the eagle. And from a land far distant, the man of my counsel : As I have spoken, so' will I bring it to pass ; I have formed the design, and I will execute it. V (Lowth's Isaiah xlvi. 8, 11. « And this shall be the covenant that I will make with the liouse of Israel, after those days saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God and they shall be my people."— Vide also xxxi. 1, 14. Joel also is very express on this subject. « For behold, says he, in those days, and in that time, when t shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, /wiB flteo gather all nations, and will bring them down into the val- ley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there, for my people and /or my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.-— Chap. iii. 1, 2. From all this it a])pears, with the greajkest certainty, that in the latter day, the house of Israel shaU be discovered, and brought from the land :> ^..._ i j -.- jj ^ _^,, , ^yj^.^^^ ^„ L«t4I VTVI2 ioini* 2Q il i 40S A STAR IN TI1£ WEST. Wo ^t a mai'itime people— a nation of seafaring men. Our trade and commorco have greatly encreascd for yeai* jiast, except during our late troubles. We may, under Gud, bo ealled to act a great part in this wonderful and interesting drama. And if not alone, ^vc may certainly assist in a union with other maritime powers of Europe. The people ttf Great- jBritain are almost miraculously active in disseminating the gospel tllroughout the known world. - The same spirit wil^ carry them to accomplish the whole will of God. The time is hastening on, and if wc have any understanding in the pro- phetic dedaratiora of the Bible, it cannot be far off. ** And I said, how long, O Jehovah ! and he said, until cities be laid waste, so that there be no inhabitant and houses, so that there be no man; and the land be left utterly desolate, until Jeho.- vah remove man far away, and there be many a deserted wo- man in tlio midst of the land. And though there be ^ tenth part rempining in it, even this shall undergo a repeated de- struction. Yet as the ilex and t^e oak, though cut down^ hatl^ its stock remaining, a holy seed shall bo the stock of th|B nation.'' Have not these wonderful things come to pass, and them fore have we not reason to believe the time of the end is near at hand. When Tiglah Filnezer carried away the tribes from Samaria, he left about a tenth part of the common people be- hind. Salmanazcr, his successor, some few years after, less than twenty, came and carried the rest into captivity, except a few stragglers about the country, and ttiose who had taJi^en refuge in Jerusalem. Even this small remnant were after- wards taken by Esarrhaddon and Nebuchadnezzai*, and car- ried to Babylon, and the whole land left desolate^ in strict A STAB IN TnU WEST.' 29» fdlfiltncht of the divine vrord. And even yet a lioly seed shall still appear to become the stock of the nation. What, then, is the use that christians ouglit to malic of a dfecovcry of tliis nature, should they be convinced of tlio truth of the proposition ? First, To adore with humble reverence, the ifiHcnitablo riches of tlie grace of God, and his infinite wisdom in \m conduct towards his servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their posterity. Secondly, To rejoice in the absolute certainty of the fulfilment of the promises as well as the thrcathings of his holy word-l«For though heaven and earth may' pass away, yet not a tittle of his word shall pass away, but all shall be fulfilled." T^.irdly, To enjoy the pres, cht bencfitof the glorious hope set before them, even in the view of immediate death, knowing that when Christ shall come the second time, *« in his own glory, and the glory of the Father, his saints shall come witli him."-.Coloss. iii. *, «*For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so,; them als6 who sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him ; (bi^ the Lord himself shall descend from licavcn with a shout, with the voice of an areh-angel, and with the trump of God ,• and then shhW christians be forever witli the Lord."— i Thess. iv. 14—17. Fourthly, This makes tlic grave the christian's piiv- ilege and consolation. As the scriptures positively declare, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdoni of heaven; this would have greatly weakened their faith and hope, had they not been assured, th^t they would leave their flesh and bkwd in the grave, and rise immoi-tal and incorruptible tlirough ^he power of the Redeemer, who had previously sanctified the grave by his own presence. (I ,i || m •oo A ITAR IW THB WEST. But after all, suppose we shmild be wholly mistaken in all our conjecturos, and should treat these aborijpncs of this land with great kindness and compassion, under the mistaken opin- ion of their descent ? Would any people have reason to repent acts of humanity and mercy to these wretched outcasts of so- ciety ? Have not Europeans been the original cause of their sufferings ? Arc we not in possession of their lands ? Have wo not been enriched by their labours ? Have they not fought our battles, and spilt their bl«Kl for us, as well as against us ? If we speak as an European nation, has not a large propor- tion of their numbers pcrislted in our wars, and by our means 2 Ougiit not we, then, now, at this day of light and knowledge, to think much of hearkening to the voice of mercy and tho bowels of compassion in their behalf? But if it should turn out, that our conjectures are well founded, what aggravated destruction may we not avoid, by an obedient and holy tem- per* and exerting ourselves to keep the commands of the stat- utes of the God of Israel ? « Behold, at that time, I will undo all who afflict thee : and I will save her who haltcth, and gather her who is driven out. And I will get them fame and praise in every land, where they have been put to shame. At that time, I will bring you again, even in the time that I gather you, for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, sj^ith the Lord." — Zeph. iii. 19--20. ' P r^* We are very apt, and indeed it is a common practice, to blame tho Jews, and charge them with great perversencss, and call them an obstinate and stiff'-necked race, when we read of the grace and mercy of Jehovah towards them, in the mul- tiplied blessings promised v their obedienc?, and the awful A IT41t III THE W£8T. 501 eurars and severe thrcatnings in case of disobedience. We profess to be astonished at the hardness of their hearts and abominable witkedness of their conduct, committed in direct opposition to su mucli light and knowledge. Yet wouhl not any impartial person, under a just view of our conduct t« them since the discovery of this country, and tlic practices of a large majority of tliowo „lio call themselves christians, draw a pretty certain conclusion that we had not much to insist on, in our ftivour — That most certainly we have not done to them, as we yhoidd have expected from them, under a change of cir- cumstances. We go on, under similar thrcatnings of the same Almighty Being. We shew much the same hardness of heart, under the like denunciations of vengeance, that he will afflict and destroy, without mercy, those nations who join in oppres- sing his people, without regard to his lionour and glory. lie will be found no respecter of persons ; but will fulfil, not only his promised blessings, but will with equal certainty inflict all his threatened curses on obstinate offendei-s. " Who is wise, and he shall understand these things ? Prudent, and he shall know them ? For all the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them ; but the transgressors shall fall therein.*' — Hosea xiv. 9. « And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain uimn a table, that he may run who readeth it — For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at Ihe end it shall speak and not lie ; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come—It will not tarry."— Hab- akkuk ii. 2— -s. « I ' 1 < : ,1 !■; ; APPENDIX. Historical Skltdtts of LmUsiam, H THE famouH Ferdinand do Soto was sent by tho Spaniards to succeed Narvarz, as governor of Florida. " He attacked tho nativra cveiy wbci-e, and every wliere committed great slauj^hter ; destroyed tiicir towns, mid subsisted bis men on tbe provisions found in tbem. Ho crossed tb^ Missisippii». explored tbe regfens to tho west of it, and in 15*2 ended bis days on Red River."— -Page 8, |n 1662, tho French growing jealous of tlie succecss of tho Spaniards, admiral Coligni fitted out a fleet, with a oolony of French protestants, under Robaud. Tbcy landed in Florida, and planted the settlers about thirty miles from St. Augustine, where they erected ft fort for their protection, and called it Fort Charles, in honour of Charles tho 4tli. Astonishment seifBcd the Spaniards at this unexpected intrusion. However, the Spanish governor Menandcz, after recovering from the first shock, assembled his forces, attacked Fort Charles, and carried it by storm. Those miserable French who escaped the sword, were doomed to the linltcr, with tliis label on their l^reasts : « Not as Frenchmen, but as hcrcticH."--Pago 5. Of all tho Indians known to the Frencli, tho Natchez wero tlie m99t 9erTieeabl(, and at tho same time the most terrible. SOi> APPENDIX. Settlers at various times planted themselves among them, m as to become a large body. They were favourably received by the Natchez, who supplied them with provisions, assisted them in their tillage, and in building their houses, and indeed saved them from famine and death. They soon began to en- croach on the rights of the Indians, and excited their jealousy. The Natchez possessed the strongest disposition to ohlige, and would liavc continued eminently useful to the French settlers, if the commandant had not treated them with indignity and injustice. The first dispute was in 1723, when an old warrior owed a soldier a debt in corn. When payment was demanded, the warrior allcdged that the corn was not ripe, but it should be delivered as soon as possible. They quarreled, when the sol- dier cried murder. When the warrior leftliim to go to his village, a soldier of the guard fired at him and shot him. Thd commandant would not punish the offender. Revenge, the prominent passion of the Indians, drove, them to arms. They attacked the French in all quarters-^but by the influence of a noted chief, peace was restored, which prevented the utter extermination of the settlers. Peace was made and duly rat- ified by Mons. Branville ; yet he took advantage of it to inflict a sudden and dreadful blow on these innocent people. He privately brought seven hundred men—he attacked the de- fenceless Indians— slaughtered them ir. iheir huts, and de- manded the head of their chief,* with which they were obliged to comply. This wanton slaughter lasted four days. A l)eaee was then made, but confidence was destroyed. Shortly after, a French officer accidentally met a sachem, called the Sting- serpent, who appeared to avoid Jjim. Tlie officer said, why APPENDIX. 805 J^6 you avoid me, we were once friends $ are we so n6 longer ? The indignant chief replied-i-why did the French come into our coimtry ? We did not go to seek them^ They asked us for landf and we told them to take it where they pleased ; there was enough for them and for us. The same sun ought to en- lighten us both^ and we oUght to walk together as friends in the same path. We promised to give them food — assist them to build and to labour in the fields. W6 have done so* In 1729, the commandant of the fort had treated them so ill, that they obtained his being summoned to New-Orleans to answer for his conduct. This gave much joy to t*he Indians. The officer found means to be sent back reinstated in his commands He now determined to indulge his malice against the Indians. He suddenly resolved to build a town on the scite of a village belonging to one of the sachems, which covered a square of three miles extent. He sent for the sun or chief, and directed him to clear the huts and remove to some other place. The chief replied, that their ancestors had lived there for many ages, and tliat it was good for their descendants to occupy the same ground. This dignified language served only to exas- perate the haughty commandant. He declared^ that unless the village was abandoned in a few days, the inhabitants of it should repent their obstinacy ! The Indians finding a bloody conflict was inevitable, they laid tlieir plans accordingly^ They tried by the best excuses in their power to delay the execution of his plan ; but he treated all their proposals with disdain, and menaced immediate destruction if he was not gratified. The Indians ever fruitful in expedients, got per-* mission to wait till their harvest was got in. During this interval, short as it was, they formed their plan. They hel