The Indian is steady to that simple creed, which forms the basis of all this mythology; that there is a God, and a life beyond this; a right and wrong which each man can see, betwixt which each man should choose; that good brings with it its reward and vice its punishment.  Their moral code, if not refined as that of civilized nations, is clear and noble in the stress laid upon truth and fidelity.  And all unprejudiced observers 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 when he headed his gallant countrymen against them.  That, although he had