consists in linking phrases together, which are equal in their syllables, and rhyme together. These may be styled verses, and are either spoken or sung. By means of measure and rhyme, a consistency and permanency is given to meanings which they would otherwise want. To this rude and artless original may the divine art of poetry be traced, and hence its first and most ancient essays are, extravagant tales of gods and ghosts, of battles and princes, adventure and revenge. Such are the songs of the bards of Odin, Fingal, and Achilles; though the latter was superior to the former in genius and knowledge. Their stories accord with the spirit of that barbarous age, ignorant, ferocious, and superstitious, in which they were first compiled. It may however be said, that the Indians are not entirely without hieroglyphics, by which they transmit ideas to a distance.

Nothing in the history of mankind forms a stronger contrast than the cruelty of the savages towards those with whom they are at war, and the warmth of their affections towards their friends, who consist of all those who live in the same village, or are in alliance with it; among these all things are common, and this, though it may in part arise from their not possessing very distinct notions of separate property, is chiefly to be attributed to the strength of their attachment, because in every thing else with their lives as well as their fortunes, they are ready to serve their friends. Their houses, their provision, even their young women, are not enough to oblige a guest. Has any one of them succeeded ill in his hunting? Has his harvest failed, or is his house burnt? He feels no other effect of his misfortune than that it gives him an opportunity to experience the benevolence and regard of his fellow-citizens. But to the enemies of his country, or to those who have privately offended, the Indian is implacable. He conceals his sentiments, he appears reconciled, until by some treachery or surprise, he has an opportunity of executing a horrible revenge. No length of time is sufficient to allay his resentment; no distance of place great enough to protect the object; he Grosses the steepest mountains, he pierces the most impracticable forests, and traverses the most hideous bogs and deserts for some hundreds of miles, bearing the inclemency of the seasons, the fatigue of the expedition, the extremes of hunger and thirst, with patience and cheerfulness, in hopes of surprising his enemy, on whom he exercises the most shocking barbarities, even to the eating of his flesh. To such extremes do the Indians push their friendship or their enmity; and such indeed is the character of all strong and uncultivated minds.

Funerals among the Indians.-As this subject is connected with their religion, and goes to show the force of their attachment, I

will give a brief account of it. When any of their friends are cut off, he is lamented by the whole society to which he belonged; on this occasion a thousand ceremonies are practised, denoting the most lively sorrow. Of these, the most remarkable, as it discoyers the height and continuance of their grief, is what they call the feast of the dead, or feast of souls. The day of this cremony is appointed by public order; and nothing is omitted, that it may be celebrated with the utmost pomp and magnificence. The neighbouring tribes are invited to be present, and to join in the solemnity, which is renewed every ten years by some tribes, and every fifteen among others. The dead are taken out of their graves; those who have been interred at the greatest distance from their village are diligently sought for, and brought to the great rendezvous of carcasses.

It is not difficult to conceive the horror of this disinterment. It cannot be described in a more lively manner than it is done by Lafitau. Without question, says he, the opening of these tombs displays one of the most striking scenes that can be conceived. This humbling portrait of human misery, in so many images of death, wherein she seems to take a pleasure to paint herself in a thousand various shapes of horror in the several carcasses, according to the degree in which corruption has prevailed over them, or the manner in which it has attacked them. Some appear dry and withered; others have a sort of parchment upon their bones; some look as if they were baked and smoked, without any appearance of rottenness; some are just turning towards the point of putrefaction';, while others are all swarming with worms, and drowned in corruption. I know not which ought to strike us most, the horror of so shocking a sight, or the tender piety and affection of these poor people towards their departed friends; for nothing deserves our admiration more than that eager diligence and attention with which they discharge this melancholy duty of their tenderness, gathering up carefully even the smallest bones; handling the carcasses, disgustful as they are with every thing loathsome, cleansing them from the worms, and carrying them upon their shoulders, through tiresome journies of several days without being discouraged, from the offensiveness of the smell, and without suffering any other emotion to arise than that of regret, for having lost persons that were so dear unto them in their lives, and so lamented in their death.

They bring them into their cottages, where they prepare a feast in honor of the dead; during which their great actions are celebrated, and all the tender intercourses which took place between them and their friends are piously called to mind. The strangers who have come sometimes many hundred miles to be

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present on the occasion, join in the tender condolence; and the women, by frightful shrieks, demonstrate that they are pierced by the sharpest sorrow. Then their dead bodies are carried from the cabins for their general re-interment. A great pit is dug in the ground, and thither, at a certain time, each person, attended by his family and friends, marches in solemn silence, bearing the dead body of a son, a father, or a brother. When they are all conveyed, the dead bodies, or dust of those which were quite corrupted, are deposited in the pit; then the torrent of grief breaks out anew. Whatever they possess most valuable, is interred with the dead; the strangers are not wanting in their generosity, and confer those presents which they have brought along with them for the purpose. Then all go down into the pit, and every one takes a little of the earth, which they afterwards preserve with the most religious care. The bodies, ranged in order, are covered with entire new furs, and over these bark is laid, on which they throw stones, wood and earth. Then taking the last farewell, they return each to his own cabin.

It is mentioned, that in this ceremony the savages offer, as presents to the dead, whatever they value most highly. This custom, which is universal among them, arises from a rude notion of the immortality of the soul. They believe this doctrine most firmly, and it is the principal tenet of their religion. When the soul is separated from the body of their friend, they conceive that it still continues to hover around it, and to require and take delight in the same things with which it formerly was pleased. After a certain time, however, it forsakes this dreary mansion, and departs far westward into the land of spirits. They have even gone so far as to make a distinction between the inhabitants of the other world; some they imagine, particularly those who in their lifetime had been fortunate in war, possess a high degree of happiness, have a place for hunting and fishing, which never fails, and enjoy all the sensual delights, without labouring hard to procure them. The souls of those, on the contrary, who happen to be conquered or slain in war, are extremely miserable after death.

Their taste for war, which forms the chief ingredient of their character, gives a strong bias to their religion. Areskoui, or the god of battle, is revered as the great God of the Indians. Him they invoke before they go into the field; and according as his disposition is more or less favourable to them, they conclude they will be more or less successful.

Some nations worship the sun or moon. Among others, there are a number of traditions, which resemble the Grecian fables, but which are still more absurd and inconsistent...

But religion is not the prevailing characteristic of the Indians; and except when they have some immediate occasion for the assistance of their Gods, they pay them no sort of worship. Like all rude nations, however, they are strongly addicted to superstition. They believe in the existence of a number of good and bad genii, who invest them, most commonly in their dreams, with the knowledge of future events; they are called in to the assistance of the sick, and are supposed to be informed by the genii, whether they will get over the disease, and in what manner they must be treated. But these spirits are extremely simple in their physic, and, in almost every disease, direct the juggler to the same remedy. The patient is inclosed in a narrow cabin, in the midst of which is a stone, red hot; on this they throw water until he is well soaked with the warm vapour and his own sweat. Then they hurry him from the bagnio, and plunge him suddenly into the next river. This coarse method, which costs many their lives, often performs some very extrordinary cures.

CHAPTER LVI.

THE JEWS.

IN church history, the descendants of Judab, the son of Jacob, and of the Israelites, commonly denominated the twelve tribes of Israel. This name was first given to those Jews who returned from the captivity of Babylon, because the tribe of Judah made the most conspicuous figure among them.

Our accounts of this people must be confined to their modern history, and to a brief statement of their present improved condition on the continent, chiefly under the auspices of Bonaparte, one of the most extraordinary characters that ever appeared in the world.

From the reign of Adrian, emperor of Rome, to the present day, the people of the Jewish nation have often been the dupe of some pretender to Messiahship, who has risen up to promise them that restoration to their former dignity and importance, from which they have been driven by the imperious decrees of a rightcous Providence. It appears that about twenty-four false Christs have, at various times, excited the hopes and disappointed the expectations of this credulous and superstitious people. The most important of these Messiahs was one Zabathai Tzevi, who, in the year 1666, a year of great expectation by many, made a considerable noise at Smyrna, and other places. He was a man

of great learning, and promised fairly to realize their expectations of being restored to their ancient inheritances, and of becoming once more a great and prosperous nation. Thousands of the Jews listened to his pretensions. But all his schemes were rendered abortive by an unfortunate difference that arose between him and one Nehemiah, who pretending to be the son of Ephraim, and who, he said, was to be a kind of secondary Messiah, reproved his superior in the office of Messiahship, Zabathai, for his too great forwardness in appearing as the son of David, before the son of Ephraim had led him the way. Zabathai could not brook this doctrine, and therefore excluded his officious forerunner from any part or share in the matter. Nehemiah, mortified at his degradation, reported Zabathai to the Grand Seignor, at Adrianople, as a person dangerous to the government. Zabathai, dejected and fearful, appeared, according to a summons to that purpose, before the Grand Seignor, who requiring a miracle, which was, that the pretended Messiah should be stripped naked and set as a mark for the archers to shoot at, and if the arrows did not pierce his flesh, he would own him as the true Messiah. Zabathai's faith failed him; he sacrificed his pretensions to his life; and preferring the faith of the Musselmen to the arrows of the executioners, he furnished his disappointed followers with another proof of their foolish credulity, and the christian prophecies with additional confirmation.

The last of these pretended Christs, that made any considerable number of converts, was one Rabi Mordechai, a Jew of Germany. He made his appearance in the year 1684. It was not long before he was found out to be an impostor, and was obliged to fly from Italy to Poland to save his life. What became of him afterwards is not known.

After this, the most intelligent among the Jews seem to have turned their expectations towards a moral and political regeneration, rather than to their restoration as a people to the city of Jerusalem, and to the actual re-possession of Palestine, as their inheritance, though there are doubtless multitudes among them who still expect this local restoration, and live constantly looking for some person to be raised up as their king and deliverer. Whatever may be the ideas of the Israelites, in this country, it is certain their brethren on the continent look up to the French Emperor as their great promised deliverer and saviour. The time of our trial, say they, has expired; the period of our calamities is ended. All the persecutions we have sustained have only tended to unite us the more firmly together. We have remained at all times faithful to the commandments of God; for our recompense he has determined in his wisdom that we shall be received in