of construction and speech; thus, without doubt, occasioning many distinctions where there is no difference.

The Indian traditions are very vague, and apparently contradictory, some of them referring to an eastern, some to a western origin; while others trace their descent to the soil they inhabit, believing that their ancestors emerged from the earth. It is well known, however, that they communicated important events by belts of wampum, formed of strings of beads originally made of white clay by themselves, but now manufactured for them from shells.

At

"These beads were variously coloured, and so arranged as to bear a distant resemblance to the objects intended to be delineated. The belts were particularly devoted to the preservation of speeches, the proceedings of councils, and the formation of treaties. One of the principal counsellors was the custos rotulorum; and it was his duty to repeat, from time to time, the speeches and narratives connected with these belts; to impress them fully upon his memory, and to transmit them to his successor. a certain season every year they were taken from their places of deposit, and exposed to the whole tribe, while the history of each was publicly recited. It is obvious, that by the principles of association, these belts would enable those whose duty it was, to preserve with more certainty and facility the traditionary narratives; and they were memorials of the events themselves, like the sacred relics which the Jews were directed to deposit in the ark of the covenant. How far the intercourse between the various tribes extended, cannot be known."

Concerning the usages of the American Indians with regard to relics and phylacteries, we refer our readers to the review of Mr. Frey's "Jewish Intelligencer," in a previous article. When mentioning that gentleman's work, we cannot but again allude to a fact, which we noticed as forming an objection to the doctrine he laboured to establish, with regard to the identity of these Indians with the Ten Tribes, and the certainty of their return to the land of the Israelites, viz. that tribes of these red men, that were at one time formidable and great in respect of numbers, are now almost annihilated; and that should their decline continue at the rate it has done for a few generations past, they soon will be heard of no more, except in the records of history. Of the Iroquois, for example, we are told, that about six thousand individuals only now remain, although at one time they constituted a most powerful confederacy; whereas their tremendous enemies, the Wyandots, are said to have dwindled down to about seven hundred. A few paзsages from the life of one of the chiefs described and figured in the present pages of the highly finished work now before us, must conclude this article.

Of Red Jacket, a great orator of the Senecas, it is stated that he was the foe of the whiteman, and of Christianity.

"His nation was his god; her honour, preservation, and liberty, his religion. He hated the missionary of the cross, because he feared some

secret design upon the lands, the peace, or the independence of the Senecas. He never understood Christianity. Its sublime disinterestedness exceeded his conceptions. He was a keen observer of human nature; and saw that, among white and red men, sordid interest was equally the spring of action. He, therefore, naturally enough suspected every stranger who came to his tribe of some design on their little and dearly prized dominions; and felt towards the Christian missionary as the Trojan priestess did towards the wooden horse of the Greeks. He saw, too, that the same influence which tended to reduce his wandering tribe to civilized habits, must necessarily change his whole system of policy. He wished to preserve the integrity of his tribe by keeping the Indians and white men apart, while the direct tendency of the missionary system was to blend them in one society, and to bring them under a common religion and government. While it annihilated paganism, it dissolved the nationality of the tribe."

He saw that the arts of civilized life were restricting the hunting grounds, and that the deer, the buffalo, and the elk, were gone. He saw also that the professors of Christianity were often no better or worse than members of his own tribe. Even the discretion of the missionaries was not always proof against the observations of the orator. He was, from these and other causes, their uniform opposer. He refused to leave the land which had belonged to his ancestors, and the Christian party now outnumbering the pagans in that region, he was deposed on account of his hostility to the strangers, from the office of chief of the Senecas.

"He was greatly affected by this decision, and made a journey to Washington to lay his griefs before his great father. His first call on arriving at Washington was on Colonel M'Kenney, who was in charge of the bureau of Indian affairs. That officer was well informed, through his agent, of all that had passed among the Senecas, and of the decision of the council, and the cause of its displacing Red Jacket. After the customary shaking of hands, Red Jacket spoke, saying, I have a talk for my father. Tell him,' answered Colonel M'Kenney, I have one for him. I will make it, and will then listen to him.' Colonel M'Kenney narrated all that had passed between the two parties, taking care not to omit the minute incidents that had combined to produce the open rupture that had taken place. He sought to convince Red Jacket that a spirit of forbearance on his part, and a yielding to the Christian party the right, which he claimed for himself, to believe as he pleased on the subject of religion, would have prevented the mortifying result of his expulsion from office and power. At the conclusion of this talk, during which Red Jacket never took his keen and searching eye off the speaker, he turned to the interpreter, saying, with his finger pointing in the direction of his people, and of his home, Our father has got a long eye!' He then proceeded to vindicate himself, and his cause, and to pour out upon the black coats the phials of his wrath. It was finally arranged, however, that he was to go home, and there, in a council that was directed to be convened for the purpose, express his willingness to bury the hatchet, and leave it to those who might choose to be Christians to

adopt the ceremonies of that religion; whilst for himself and those who thought like him, he claimed the privilege to follow the faith of his fathers. Whereupon, as had been promised him at Washington, the council unanimously replaced him in the office of chief, which he held till his death, which happened soon after."

His conduct in prospect of death was consistent with his former character, and taken altogether, the account of it is affecting and melancholy in no ordinary degree. It is impossible, however, not to regard the memory of such a man with deep respect.

"To that event he often adverted, and always in the language of philosophic calmness. He visited successively all his most intimate friends at their cabins, and conversed with them, upon the condition of the nation, in the most impressive and affecting manner. He told them that he was passing away, and his counsels would soon be heard no more. He ran over the history of his people from the most remote period to which his knowledge extended, and pointed out, as few could, the wrongs, the privations, and the loss of character, which almost of themselves constituted that history. I am about to leave you,' said he; and when I am gone, and my warnings shall be no longer heard, or regarded, the craft and avarice of the white man will prevail. Many winters have I breasted the storm, but I am an aged tree, and can stand no longer. My leaves are fallen, my branches are withered, and I am shaken by every breeze. Soon my aged trunk will be prostrate, and the foot of the exulting foe of the Indian may be placed upon it in safety; for I leave none who will be able to avenge such an indignity. Think not I mourn for myself: I go to join the spirits of my fathers, where age cannot come; but my heart fails when I think of my people, who are soon to be scattered and forgotten.' These several interviews were all concluded with detailed instructions respecting his domestic affairs, and his funeral. There had long been a missionary among the Senecas, who was sustained by a party among the natives, while Red Jacket denounced the man in dark dress,' and deprecated the feud by which his nation was distracted. In his dying injunctions to those around him, he repeated his wishes respecting his interment. Bury me,' said he, 'by the side of my former wife; and let my funeral be according to the customs of our nation. Let me be dressed and equipped as my fathers were, that their spirits may rejoice in my coming. Be sure that my grave be not made by a white man; let them not pursue me there!' He died on the 20th of January, 1830, at his residence near Buffalo. With him fell the spirit of his people. They gazed upon his fallen form, and mused upon his prophetic warnings, until their hearts grew heavy with grief. The neighbouring missionary, with a disregard for the feelings of the bereaved, and the injunctions of the dead, for which it is difficult to account, assembled his party, took possession of the body, and conveyed it to their meeting-house. The immediate friends of Red Jacket, amazed at the transaction, abandoned the preparations they were making for the funeral rites, and followed the body in silence to the place of worship, where a service was performed which, considering the opinions of the deceased, was as idle as it was indecorous. They were then told, from the sacred desk, that, if they had any thing to say, they had now an opportunity. Incre

dulity and scorn were pictured on the face of the Indians, and no reply was made, except by a chief called Green Blanket, who briefly remarkedThis house was built for the white man; the friends of Red Jacket cannot be heard in it.' Notwithstanding this touching appeal, and the dying injunctions of the Seneca chief, his remains were taken to the grave prepared by the whites, and interred. Some of the Indians followed the corpse; but the more immediate friends of Red Jacket took a last view of their lifeless chief in the sanctuary of that religion which he had always opposed, and hastened from a scene which overwhelmed them with humiliation and sorrow. Thus early did the foot of the white man trample on the dust of the great chief, in accordance with his own prophetic declaration."

ART. XI.

1.-A History of England, from the First Invasion of the Romans. By JOHN LINGARD, D. D. Fourth Edition, corrected and much enlarged. Vol. I. London: Baldwin and Cradock. 1837.

2.-History of England, from the Peace of Utrecht, to the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. By LORD MAHON. Vol. II. London: Murray.¡1837. THE former of these works appears in the handsome and popular form that a number of our standard English authors have lately assumed, such as Southey's Cowper. It is to extend to thirteen volumes, one to be issued every month, five shillings per volume, and is embellished with portraits as well as views of picturesque scenes. It is unnecessary at this time of day to utter a single word in commendation of Dr. Lingard's elaborate history. It is proper to mention, however, that it has now received the most careful revision, and all those passages which have been the subject of animadversion in Histories, Reviews, &c., corrected, when found faulty; or, if the contrary, they have been fortified with additional authorities, and important observations. A considerable quantity of new matter has also been introduced wherever the author has made new discoveries, from national records or other sources; so that this edition, at least to the extent of one of its volumes, exceeds all that preceded it. In consequence of these various circumstances this standard work will find its way into hundreds of libraries from which it has hitherto been excluded, and thus will many popular prejudices be done away with, that have perverted truth and abused the public mind.

The latter of these histories is by an author whose religious and political creeds differ very considerably from those of Dr. Lingard; and were they both employed upon one era, or controvertible subject, their accounts and views, we have reason to believe, would sometimes be much at variance. We mention this merely to show how necessary it is for every reader to be cautious, ere pinning his

faith to the sleeve of any human authority, and how needful it is to compare and weigh for oneself all recorded facts, before deducing from them a fixed belief, either as to men or measures.

Lord Mahon is already favourably known as a historian; and by the first volume of the present work, he has lately added considerably to his reputation. Both in the former portion, and in the one now before us, his Conservatism has laid him open to the animadversions of certain political parties. It is not our office to enter upon such an arena ; but we shall do that which should be sufficient to recommend the performance to the regard of our readers, when we refer to two or three subjects as here handled, and allow his Lordship to appear in propria persona.

The volume begins in the year 1720, with a review of Lord Stanhope's administration, and comes down to 1737, closing with the death of queen Caroline, the consort of George II. Two chapters, besides an Appendix, are added, the one tracing the progress of Literature, and the other, the origin and growth of Methodism. Our first extract shall be from a part of the work, that at the present moment is particularly worthy of attention; viz., that which treats of the rage for speculation in certain bubble companies, about the period when the South Sea scheme turned the brains of the English people. The celebrated John Law is the subject which our extract more immediately regards.

"The example of these vast schemes for public wealth was set us from Paris. John Law, a Scotch adventurer, had some years before been allowed to establish a public bank in that city; and his project succeeding, he engrafted another upon it of an Indian Company,' to have the sole privilege of trade with the Mississippi. The rage for this speculation soon became general: it rose to its greatest height about December, 1719; and the actions, or shares of the new Company sold for more than twenty times their original value. The Rue Quincampoix, the chief scene of this traffic, was thronged from daybreak by a busy and expecting crowd, which disregarded the hours of meals, and seemed to feel no hunger or thirst but that of gold; nor could they be dispersed until a bell at night gave them the signal to withdraw. The smallest room in that street was let for exorbitant sums; the clerks were unable to register the growing multitude of claimants; and it is even said that a little hunchback in the street gained no less than 50,000 francs by allowing eager speculators to use his hump for their desk. Law, the projector of this System, as it was called, at once became the greatest subject in Europe 'I have seen him come to Court,' says Voltaire, followed humbly by Dukes, by Marshals, and by Bishops,' and even Dubois, the Prime Minister, and Orleans, the Regent, might be said to tremble at his nod. Arrogance and presumption, the usual faults of upstarts, daily grew upon him: he said publicly, before some English, that there was but one great kingdom in Europe, and one great town, and that was France and Paris. And at length he so far galled the pride or raised the jealousy of his countryman, Lord Stair, as to draw him into personal wrangling, and consequently interrupt the friendly correspondence