The North American Reviewers speak of the fact, that the natives of our land acknowledged one supreme God, They inquire, "If the Indians in general have not some settled opinion of a Supreme Being, how has it happened that in all the conferences or talks of the white people with them, they have constantly spoken of the Great Spirit; as they denominate the Ruler of the universe?"

Lewis and Clarke informs us of the Mandans, (a tribe far toward the Pacific) thus: "The whole religion of the Mandans consists in a belief of one Great Spirit presiding over their destinies. To propitiate whom, every attention is lavished, and every personal consideration is sacrificed." One Mandan informed that lately he had eight horses; but that he had offered them all up to the Great Spirit. His mode of doing it was this; he took them into the plains, and turned them all loose; committing them to the Great Spirit, he abandoned them for ever. The horses, less devout than their master, no doubt took care of themselves.

Heckewelder (a venerable missionary among the Indians 40 years, noted in Doct. Jarvis' discourse before the New York Historical Society, and who had a great acquaintance with the wide spread dialect of the Delaware language,) says: "Habitual devotion to the great first cause, and a strong feeling of gratitude for the benefits he confers, is one of the prominent traits which characterize the mind of the untutored Indian. He believes it to be his duty to adore and worship his Creator and Benefactor."

Gookin, a writer in New England in 1674, says of the natives," generally they acknowledge one great supreine Doer of good.' Roger Williams, one of the first settlers of New England, says: He that questions whether God made the world, the Indians will teach him. I must acknowledge (he adds) I have in my concourse with them, received many confirmations of these two great points-1. That God is. 2. That he is a rewarder of all that diligently seek him. If they receive any good in fishing, hunting or harvesting, they acknowledge God in it."

Surely, then, the natives of the deserts of America must have been a people who once knew the God of

Israel! They maintained for more than two millenaries, the tradition of him, in many respects correct. What possible account can be given of this, but that they were descendants of Israel, and that the God of Israel has had his merciful eye upon them, with a view in his own time to bring them to light, and effect their restoration? The celebrated William Penn gives accounts of the natives of Pennsylvania, which go to corroborate the same point. Mr. Penn saw the Indians of Pennsylvania before they had been affected with the rude treatment of the white people. And in a letter to a friend in England,

he thus writes of those natives: "I found them with like countenances with the Hebrew race; and their children of so lively a resemblance to them, that a man would think himself in Duke's place, or Barry street, in London, when he sees them." Here, without the least previous idea of those natives being Israelites, that shrewd an was struck with their perfect resemblance of them; and with other things which will be noted. He speaks of their dress and trinkets as notable, and like those of ancient Israel; their ear-rings, nose jewels, bracelets on their arms and legs, rings (such as they were) on their fingers; necklaces, made of polished shells found in their rivers and on their coasts; bands, shells and feathers ornamenting the heads of females, and various strings of beads adorning several parts of the body.

Mr. Penn adds to his friend, "that he considered this people as under a dark night; yet they believed in God and immortality, without the help of metaphysics. For he says they informed him that there was a great king, who made them—that the souls of the good shall go to him." He adds: "Their worship consists in two parts, sacrifice and cantico, (songs.) The first is with their first fruits; and the first buck they kill goes to the fire.” Mr. Penn proceeds to describe their splendid feast of first fruits, one of which he had attended. He informs, "all that go to this feast must take a piece of money, which is made of the bone of a fish." "None shall appear before me empty." He speaks of the agreement of their rites with those of the Hebrews. He adds, "They reckon by moons; they offer their first ripe

fruits; they have a kind of feast of tabernacles; they are said to lay their altars with twelve stones; they mourn a year; they have their separations of women; with many other things that do not now occur." Here is a most artless testimony, given by that notable man, drawn from his own observations, and accounts given by him; while the thought of this people's being actually Hebrew, probably was most distant from his mind.

Their having a tribe, answering in various respects to the tribe of Levi, sheds further light on this subject.* The thought naturally occurs, that if these are the ten tribes, and they have preserved so many of their religious traditions, should we not be likely to find among them some tradition of a tribe answering to the tribe of Levi? If we should find something of this, the evidence of their being the tribes of Israel would indeed be more striking. Possibly this is furnished. The Mohawk tribe were held by the other tribes in great reverence; and the other tribes round about them had been accustomed to pay them an annual tribute. Mr. Boudinot gives the following account of them. "Mr. Colden

says, he had been told by old men (Indians) in New England, that when their Indians were at war formerly with the Mohawks, as soon as one (a Mohawk) appeared, the Indians would raise a cry, from hill to hill, a Mohawk! a Mohawk! upon which all would flee as sheep before a wolf, without attempting to make the least resistance. And that all the nations around them have for many years entirely submitted to their advice, and paid them a yearly tribute. And the tributary nations dared not to make war or peace, without the consent of the Mohawks." Mr. Colden goes on to state an instance of their speech to the governor of Virginia, in which it appears the Mohawks were the correctors of the misdoings of the other tribes.

Now, could any thing be found in their name which might have an allusion to the superiority of the tribe of Levi, we should think the evidence very considerable, that here are indeed the descendants of the part of that tribe which clave to the house of Israel. And here, too,

* Some of this tribe probably remained with the ten tribes.

evidence seems not wholly wanting.

The Hebrew word Mhhokek, signifies an interpreter of the law, superior. We have, then, a new view of the possible origin of the Mohawks!

Several prophetic traits of character given of the Hebrews, do accurately apply to the aborigines of America. Intemperance may be first noted. Isaiah, writing about the time of the expulsion of Israel from Canaan, and about to predict their restoration says, Isa. xxviii. 1 "Wo to the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, (Ephraim was a noted name of the ten tribes of Israel.) The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be. trodden under feet. For all tables shall be full of vomit and filthiness; so that there is no place clean."

In the course of the descriptions of their drunkenness, that of their rejection and restoration is blended; that the Lord by a mighty one would cast him down to the earth; and their glorious beauty should be like that of a rich flower in a fertile valley, which droops, withers and dies. But in time God would revive it. "In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of this people." None who know the character of the Indians in relation to intemperance, need to be informed that this picture does most singularly apply to them.

Doctor Williams, in his History of Vermont, on this trait of Indian character, says: "no sooner had the Indians tasted of the spirituous liquors brought by the Europeans, than they contracted a new appetite, which they were wholly unable to govern. The old and the young, the sachem, the warrior and the women, whenever they can obtain liquors, indulge themselves without moderation and without decency, till universal drunkenness takes place. All the tribes appear to be under the dominion of this appetite, and unable to govern it."

A writer in the Connecticut Magazine assures us of the Indians in Massachusetts, when our fathers first arrived there: "As soon as they had a taste of ardent spirits, they discovered a strong appetite for them, and their thirst soon became insatiable "

Another trait of Hebrew character which singularly applies to the Indians, is found in Isa. iii.

"The

bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet; their cauls, and round tires like the moon; their chains, bracelets, mufflers, bonnets, ornaments of the legs; head-bands, tablets, ear-rings, rings, and nose jewels; the mantles, the wimples, and the crisping pins." One would imagine the prophet was here indeed, describing the natives of America in their full dress! No other people on earth probably bear a resemblance to such a degree.

This description was given just before the expulsion of Israel. And nothing would be more likely than that their taste for these flashy ornaments should descend to posterity. For these make the earliest and deepest impressions on the rising generation. And many of the Indians exhibit the horrid contrast which there follows.

Mr. Pixley, of the Union mission, being out among the Indians over Sabbath, thus wrote in his journal:"I have endeavored to pay a little attention to the day, (the Sabbath) by building a fire in the woods, and there reading my Bible. In reading the third chapter of the prophet Isaiah, I found in the latter part of the chapter a striking analogy between the situation of this people, and the condition of the people about whom the prophet was speaking, which I never before discovered. They are represented by the prophet as sitting on the ground; having their secret parts discovered; having given to them, instead of a sweet smell, a stench; instead of a girdle, a rent; instead of well set hair, baldness; instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. In all these particulars, except that of baldness, the prediction of the prophet is amply fulfilled in this people. And even this exception would be removed, if we might suppose that their shaving their heads with a razor, leaving one small lock on the crown, would constitute the baldness hinted. And certainly if any women in the world labor to secure their own bread and water, and yet a number of them be attached to one man to take away their reproach, you will find it among this people, whether the prediction may or may not be applied to them."

The Indians being in tribes, with their heads and names of tribes, affords further light upon this subject.