rows, and other weapons used in hunting or war : they deposit in their tombs also whatever is reckoned necessary for their simple mode of life.

VIII. To form a complete idea of the uncultivated nations of America, we must not pass unobserved some singular customs which, though universal and characteristic, could not be reduced to any of the foregoing articles: such as dancing, for which savages in every part of the globe have an unbounded passion. This is not merely a pastime, but a serious and important occupation, which mingles in every occurrence of public and private life. If any intercourse be necessary between two American tribes, the ambassadors of the one approach in a solemn dance and present the calumet, or emblem of peace; the sachems of the other receive it with the same ceremony. If war is denounced against an enemy, it is by a dance, expressive of the resentment which they feel, and of the vengeance which they meditate. If the wrath of the gods is to be appeased, or their beneficence to be celebrated; if they rejoice at the birth of a child or mourn the death of a friend, they have dances appropriated to each of these situations, and suited to the different sentiments with which they are then animated. If a person is sick, a dance is prescribed as the most effectual means of restoring health; and if he cannot endure the fatigue of such exercise, the physician or conjurer performs it in his name, as if the virtue of his activity could be transferred to his patient.

All their dances are imitations of some action; but the war dance is the most striking. It is a perfect representation of a complete American campaign the departure of the warriors from their village, their march into the enemy's coun

try, the caution with which they encamp, the address with which they station some of the party in ambush, the manner of surprising the enemy, the noise and ferocity of the combat, the scalping of those who are slain, the seizing of prisoners, the triumphant return of the conquerors, and the torture of the victims, are successfully exhibited.

An immoderate love of play, especially at games of hazard, which seems natural to all people unaccustomed to the occupations of regular industry, is likewise universal among the Americans. The same cause which so often prompts persons in civilized life, who are at their ease, to have recourse to this pastime, renders it the delight of the savage. The former are independent of labour, the latter do not feel the necessity of it; and as both are unemployed, they run with transport to whatever is interesting enough to stir and to agitate their minds. Hence the Americans, who at other times are so indifferent, and animated with so few desires, as soon as they engage in play, become rapacious, impatient, noisy, and almost frantic with eagerness. Their furs, their domestic utensils, their clothes, their arms, are staked at the gaming table; and when all is lost, high as their sense of independence is, in a wild emotion of despair and hope they will often risk their personal liberty upon a single cast.

From causes similar to those which render them fond of play, the Americans are extremely addicted to drunkenness. It seems to have been one of the first exertions of human ingenuity to discover some composition of an intoxicating quality, and there is hardly any nation so rude as not to have succeeded in this fatal research. The most barbarous of the American tribes have been so unfortunate as to attain this art. Accordingly,

whatever be the occasion or pretext on which the Americans assemble, the meeting always terminates in a debauch. Many of their festivals have no other object; and they welcome the return of them with transports of joy. Their eagerness for present enjoyment renders them blind to its fatal consequences; and when their passions are inflamed by drink they are frequently guilty of the most enormous outrages, and the festivity rarely concludes without deeds of violence or bloodshed.

It were endless to enumerate all the detached customs which have excited the wonder of travellers in America: one more, however, must be mentioned. When parents and other relations become old, or labour under any distemper which their slender knowledge of the healing art cannot remove, the Americans cut short their days with a violent hand, in order to be relieved from the burthen of supporting and attending them. The same hardships and difficulty of procuring subsistence, which deter savages in some cases from rearing their children, prompt them to destroy the aged and infirm. This is not regarded as a deed of cruelty, but as an act of mercy. An American broken with years and infirmities, conscious that he can no longer depend on the aid of those around him, places himself contentedly in his grave; and it is by the hands of his children or nearest relations that the thong is pulled, or the blow inflicted, which releases him for ever from the sorrows of life.

IX. After contemplating the rude American tribes in such various lights, it only remains to form a general estimate of their character, compared with that of more polished nations. A human being, as he comes originally from the hands of his maker, is every where the same. The capacity for

improvement seems to be the same, and his future talents and virtues depend, in a great measure, upon the state of society in which he is placed. To this state his mind naturally accommodates itself, and from it receives discipline and culture. In proportion to the wants which it accustoms a human being to feel, and the functions in which these engage him, his intellectual powers are called forth. According to the connexions which it establishes between him and the rest of his species, the affections of his heart are exerted. It is only by attending to this great principle, that we can discover what is the character of man in every different period of his progress. In savage life, of course, the intellectual powers of man must be extremely limited in their operations. They are confined within the narrow sphere of what he deems necessary for supplying his wants. But the knowledge to which he does attain he possesses completely; it is the fruit of his own experience, and accommodated to his condition and exigencies. While employed in the active occupations of war and hunting, he often finds himself in difficult and perilous situations, from which the efforts of his own sagacity must extricate him. He must rely solely upon his own penetration to discern the dangers to which he is exposed, and upon his own wisdom in providing against them. Hence in deliberation and action he rests on himself alone.

As the talents of individuals are exercised and improved by such exertions, much political wisdom is said to be displayed in conducting the affairs of their small communities. The council of old men in an American tribe deliberating upon its interests, has been compared to the senate in more polished republics. The proceedings of the for

mer are often no less formal and sagacious than those of the latter. Much address and eloquence are employed by the leaders, who aspire at acquir ing such confidence with their countrymen as to have an ascendant in their assemblies. But among savage tribes, the field for displaying political talents cannot be extensive. They have neither foresight nor temper to form complicated arrangements with respect to their future conduct. The strongest feeling in the mind of a savage is a sense of his own independence. He has sacrificed so small a portion of his natural liberty by becoming a member of society, that he remains in a great degree the sole master of his own actions. In many of his operations he stands as much detached from the rest of his species as if he had formed no union with them. He pursues his own career and indulges his own fancy, without inquiring or regarding whether they may derive benefit or receive hurt from it. Hence the ungovernable caprice of savages, their impatience under any species of restraint, the scorn with which they receive advice, their high estimation of themselves, and their contempt of other men. Among them the pride of independence produces almost the same effects with interestedness in a more advanced state of society; it refers every thing to a man himself, and renders the gratification of his own wishes the measure and end of his conduct.

To the same cause may be imputed the hardness of heart and insensibility remarkable in all savage nations. Their minds, roused only by strong emotions, are little susceptible of gentle, delicate, or tender affections. Taciturnity and cunning are to be traced to the same cause. Impenetrably secret in forming their measures, the rude tribes of