s, that their lives were but as a
vapour, which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away, and
that a quarter, and sometimes half of their time on earth, was spent in
those destructive pursuits. The superior being would unquestionably be
grieved at this account, because he would feel, that they really
frustrated their own happiness, or that they lost by their own fault a
considerable portion of the enjoyment of their lives.

In this impatience and anxiety for their future comfort, he would
probably ask again, if they had any notion of any generous end for which
they were born, for it is impossible they could suppose, that they came
into the world to destroy one another. It would be replied, that they
could not be ignorant of the true object or end; for the same religion,
in which they believed, and which was said before to have been given
them by a spirit sent from heaven, inculcated that they were sent there
on a life of trial, and that in a future existence they were to give an
account of their conduct, and were to be rewarded or punished
accordingly. The same religion, it would be replied, also inculcated,
notwithstanding their fightings, the utmost benevolence from one towards
another. It wished so much every one of them to live peaceably, that it
enjoined it as a duty rather to put up with an injury than to resent it,
and it carried its benevolence so far, that it made no distinction
between others of the same species, who spoke a different language, or
lived in other districts or parts of the same world.

But here the superior being would interrupt.--What, he would say! Are
they not to resent injuries, and yet do they go to war? And are they not
afraid of fighting in this manner, when they are to give an account of
their conduct in a future state? It would be replied, No: they have
their philosophers among them, and most of these have determined, that,
in this particular case, responsibility lies at the door of those who
employ them. But, notwithstanding this, there are others living among
them, who think otherwise. These are of opinion, that those who employ
them cannot take the responsibility upon themselves without taking it
from those whom they thus employ. But the religion of the Great Spirit
no where says, that any constituted authorities among them can take away
the responsibility of individual creatures, but, on the other hand, in
the most positive terms, that every individual creature is respon