rvers
bear testimony that the Indians, until broken from their old anchorage
by intercourse with the whites, who offer them, instead, a religion of
which they furnish neither interpretation nor example, were singularly
virtuous, if virtue be allowed to consist in a man's acting up to his
own ideas of right.

Old Adair, who lived forty years among the Indians; not these tribes,
indeed, but the southern Indians; does great justice to their religious
aspiration. He is persuaded that they are Jews, and his main object is
to identify their manifold ritual, and customs connected with it, with
that of the Jews. His narrative contains much that is worthless, and is
written in the most tedious manner of the folios. But his devotion to
the records of ancient Jewry, has really given him power to discern
congenial traits elsewhere, and for the sake of what he has expressed of
the noble side of Indian character, we pardon him our having to wade
through so many imbecilities.

An infidel; he says, is, in their language, "one who has shaken hands
with the accursed speech;" a religious man, "one who has shaken hands
with the beloved speech." If this be a correct definition, we could wish
Adair more religious.

He gives a fine account of their methods of purification. These show a
deep reliance on the sustaining Spirit. By fasting and prayer they make
ready for all important decisions and actions. Even for the war path, on
which he is likely to endure such privations, the brave prepares by a
solemn fast. His reliance is on the spirit in which he goes forth.

We may contrast with the opinion of the missionary, as given on a former
page, the testimony of one, who knew them as Adair did, to their heroism
under torture.

He gives several stories, illustrative both of their courage, fortitude,
and resource in time of peril, of which I will cite only the two first.

"The Shawano Indians took a Muskohge warrior, known by the name of "Old
Scrany;" they bastinadoed him in the usual manner, and condemned him to
the fiery torture. He underwent a great deal, without showing any
concern; his countenance and behavior were as if he suffered not the
least pain, and was formed beyond the common laws of nature. He told
them, with a bold voice, that he was a very noted warrior, and gained
most of his martial preferments at the expense of their nation, and was
desirous of showing them in the act of dying that he was still as much
their superior, as w