lord Dundee were routed after a short but very bloody action.

A little beyond Selkirk, we came in sight of Ettrick, another of those classic streams which are the pride of the Lowlands. We next entered Tweeddale and drove for some miles along it, crossing the river in two places. Of the streams which subsequently met us, were the Gala, Lugate and Herist Waters, which contributed much to vary and beautify the landscape.

Our road at length brought us to Half Law Kiln;-a place which the Romans are said to have occupied, as a military station. Traces of a camp, I was told, are very visible:but not having Monkbarns at my side, nor his Essay of Castrametation' in my hands, I was not so fortunate as to distinguish them. Shortly however, a more interesting object appeared. This was Borthwick Castle, formerly a princely fabric, and venerable in decay. Once, it was a place of shelter to injured royalty, and opened its gates to the unfortunate Queen Mary after the battle of Carberry Hill; and cnce too, its walls imprisoned the same princess when Bothwell succeeded in intercepting her on her route from Dumbarton.

From this place during the remaining twelve miles of the journey, every object showed that we were approaching the proud metropolis of the north.-Cots and farm-houses, lodges and mansions, hamlets and villages crowded the landscape in every direction. Passengers also on horse and foot, and carriages of various descriptions,-post-chaises, gigs, sociables, barouches,-began to throng the way. Descending Dalkeith hill we entered Mid Lothian, the garden of Edinburgh; and to me its fertile fields and green parks and lordly manors seemed arrayed in new beauty. At length, Arthur's

* The Scotch apply the term Water, to express a second-rate stream: a third-rate, they call Burn; as Leith Water, Bannock Burn

Seat was descried towering above the Gude Town;' and to the left, appeared the gray ramparts of the castle. A nearer approach discovered Nelson's column crowning the summit of Calton:-St. Andrew's spire, and the towers of St Giles and the Tron next peered through the surrounding haze; and last, though not least, the turrets of Holyrood glanced on the eye as the coach drove into a suburb of the city. Emerging from the Old Town, we entered on the magnificent bridge which connects it with the New, and soon arrived in front of the Register office. Here I alighted, and having found a porter, proceeded on foot along Prince's street. A turn to the right brought me further into the centre of the city; and after a minute's walk, I had the satisfaction of reentering my lodgings at the corner of north Hanover and George Streets.

B.

ART. III.-A Discourse on the Religion of the Indian tribes of North America. By S. F. Jarvis, D. D. New York,

1820.

OUR literati whose taste for research leads them to investigate the state of our country, in ages that are long since gone by, have little on which to employ their attention. Our land has not, like some European countries been marked by the vestiges of Roman renown, or Gothick taste, and offers no revolutions in governments or monuments of literature. In the only subject which it presents, the Indian history, character, and manners, almost the sole information which can be obtained, arises from the personal observation of those individuals who have mingled with that singular race of men. In the pamphlet under review, Dr. Jarvis has attempted, by collecting and weighing the testimonies of different travellers relative to the religion of the Indians, to furnish some assistance towards the delineation of that most important feature of their moral character.

It would be well, perhaps, for the scientific, could rules of philosophizing, capable of an exact application, and, in

some measure, similar to those which Newton prescribed to the natural philosopher, be introduced into literary speculations. How many finely spun theories, and ingenious hypotheses, resting on facts, totally inadequate to support them, would then sink into nothing. Among them we think might be numbered the opinion, that the Indians of North America, are descendants of the ten tribes of Israel. This hypothesis Dr. Jarvis refutes, by adducing a comparison of the Hebrew language, with that of the Indians.

One of the principal objects of this discourse, is to prove that the religion of the Indians, exhibits traces of that primeval worship and belief, which existed among all mankind in the early ages, and thus to show that these remote wanderers, form a part of the family, by whom the earth was peopled. The veneration of one Supreme Being, attended with the corrupt worship of inferior divinities, marks the first departure of all nations from the true faith, and still prevails among the Indians, not only of the continent, but also of the West Indian islands. They have abstained from that grosser idolatry, which characterised the subsequent declensions of the inhabitants of the old world.

Another tie of moral affinity between the nations of the two hemispheres, is to be found in their common belief of a future state of rewards and punishments. On this subject, the ideas of the Indians are, certainly, not very elevated; and their expectations of future happiness are confined to the tranquil enjoyment of those pleasures, which are calculated to delight the senses.

It is easy to suppose, that the doctrines of the primeval religion might be distorted by tradition, while many of its external rites continued the same. Among the latter may be considered that of sacrifice, which prevailed in the early ages, among all nations, and is to be found among the Indians. The reasoning of Dr. Jarvis, as to the origin of this institution, has, we think, considerable force.

'That the practice of sacrifice, as an expiation for sin, formed a prominent feature in the religion of all the nations of the old world, is a truth too well known to require proof. That it formed a part of the patriarchal religion is equally evident; and that it must have been of divine institution will, I think, be admitted, after a very little reflection. The earliest instance of worship, recorded in the Holy Scriptures, is the sacrifice offered by Cain and Abel, at a period when no permission had yet been given to eat animal food, and no pretext could have possibly presented itself to the mind of man for taking the life of any of the creatures of God. It is equally inconceivable, that by any deduction of unassisted reason, the mind could have arrived at the conclusion, that to destroy a part of creation, could be acceptable to the Creator; much less, that it could be viewed as an act of họmage. The difficulty is still greater, when it is considered that this was intended as an expiation for the sins of the offerer. How could the shedding of the blood of an animal be looked upon as an atonement for the offences which man had committed against his Maker? This would have been to make an act at which nature would at once have involuntarily shuddered, the expiation of another act which might not in itself be so hurtful or so barbarous.

'This reasoning is further strengthened by the next instance of worship recorded in the Bible. When Noah had descended from the Ark, the first act of a religious nature which he performed, was to build an altar and to offer sacrifice. Human reason would have dictated a course of conduct directly opposite; for it would have told him not to diminish the scanty remnant of life; especially when the earth was already covered with the victims which had perished in the mighty waste of waters.

But if of divine institution, the question then arises, what was the reason of the institution? Every intelligent being proposes to himself some end-some design to be accom

plished by his actions. What, then, with reverence let it be asked, was the design of God?

'To the Christian the solution of this inquiry is not difficult. He has learned, that in the secret counsels of almighty wisdom, the death of the Messiah was essential for the salvation of man; that in his death, the first of our race was as much interested as he will be, who will listen to the last stroke of departing time; that it was necessary, therefore, to establish a representation of this great event as a sign of the future blessing; in order to keep alive the hopes and the expectations of men; and that this was effected by the slaughter of an innocent animal, whose life was in the blood, and whose blood poured out was the symbol of His death, who offered himself a ransom for the sins of men.'

'To find the same practice prevailing among all the Indian tribes of America, a practice deriving its origin, not from any dictate of nature, or form the deductions of reason, but resting solely upon the positive institution of God, affords the most triumphant evidence, that they sprang from the common parent of mankind, and that their religion, like that of all other heathen nations, is derived by a gradual deterioration from that of Noah. At the same time, it will be seen, that they are far from having sunk to the lowest round on the scale of corruption. With the exception of the Mexicans, their religious rites have a character of mildness which we should elsewhere seek in vain.'

The organization of society is so imperfect among the Indians, that we could not expect to find the priesthood established as a separate office among them, so distinctly as among ancient nations, who were more civilized; but, while each individual performs private sacrifices, we may trace the patriarchal form of the civil ruler being clothed with the public sacerdotal character.

The last feature of resemblance which Dr. Jarvis traces between the religion of the Indians, and that of the nations