nly defect in the
plot, which occurs to me, is, that Valerius, after his escape with
Athanasia from Ostium, should have been landed safely in Britain, and
thus completed the happiness of a disconsolate and affectionate mother,
whom he left there, and who is never afterwards mentioned.

_23d_. From the mention which is made of it in "Valerius," I this day
read the Gospel of Luke, and truly am surprised to find it so very
important a part of the New Testament. Indeed, were all the rest of the
volume lost, this alone would be sufficient for the guidance of the
Christian. Divines tell us that Luke was the most learned of the
evangelists. He is called "the beloved physician," by St. Paul. His
style is more descriptive than the other evangelists, and his narrative
more clear, methodical, and precise, and abounds equally with sublime
conceptions.[31]

[Footnote 31: This opinion was thrown out from mere impulse, on a single
perusal, and so far as it may be regarded as a literary criticism, the
only possible light in which it can be considered, is vaguely hazarded,
for I had not, at that time, read the other Gospels with any degree of
care or understanding, so as to be capable thereby of judging of their
style or merits as compositions. _Spiritually_ considered, I did not
understand Luke, or any of the Evangelists, for I regarded the Gospels
as mere human compositions, without the aid of inspiration. They were
deemed to be a true history of events, interspersed with moral axioms,
but derived no part of their value, or the admiration above expressed,
as revealing the only way of salvation through Christ.]

_24th_. Mr. Harman, from a long residence in the Indian country, in high
northern latitudes, was qualified by his opportunities of observation,
to speak of the comparative character of the Indian language in that
quarter. He considers them as radically different from those of the
Algonquin stock. The group which may be formed from his remarks, will
embrace the Chippewayans, Beaver Indians, Sicaunies, Tacullies, and
Nateotetains. If we may judge of this family of dialects by Mackenzie's
vocabulary of the Chippewayan, it is very remote from the Chippewa, and
abounds in those consonantal sounds which the latter studiously avoids.

Harman says, "The Sicaunies bury, while the Tacullies burn their dead."
"Instances of suicide, by hanging, frequently occur among the women of
all the tribes, with whom I have been acquainted; but the