are the sources of information concerning especially the traditions of the uncivilised races :-(1) Indian interpreters, camp retainers, and private adventurers; (2) there are many persons who have occasionally come in contact with the Indians, as travellers or explorers, or as newspaper correspondents, who have furnished a small amount of information concerning these native traditions; (3) a few military officers, especially surgeons, have made a specialty of the subject, and these are generally very reliable: among the number we are happy to give the name of Dr. W. Matthews, U.S.A.; (4) the Ethnological Bureau and the Peabody Museum have employed certain parties who have made their home among the aborigines, and have taken pains to learn all their traditions, and to become acquainted with their customs and tribal organisms; among those who have succeeded in penetrating the mysteries two persons should be especially mentioned, Mr. Frank Cushing, of Washington, and Miss Alice M. Fletcher, of New York; (5) another source of information is represented by a class of educated gentlemen who have, by their circumstances, been thrown into contact with the natives, and who have taken up the study of tradition and have written monographs: among these should be mentioned Stephen Powers, of Ohio, and Judge Rose, of California; (6) the papal missionaries, who were formerly located among the Indians, have furnished many reports which are now very valuable; (7) the Protestant missionaries who are now labouring among the various tribes.

These authorities are remarkably agreed in their evidence, so that we are quite sure that we are getting the traditions into a reliable shape, and can speak intelligently as to the religious beliefs of the Aborigines.

On this subject there is much to say, but we shall be obliged to condense what we have to say into the smallest compass. I. There are some very remarkable coincidences. It is but a few weeks since I had the opportunity of listening to a gentleman who had spent forty years as a teacher and Indian agent among the Chippewas. He held exactly the same views that Rev. Mr. Eells does. He said that he had been surprised to find so much correspondence between the teachings of conscience, as exhibited by the rude savages before they had been trained or even affected by missionary labour, and the teachings of the Bible. He had noticed this among the pagans as often as among the Christian Indians.

The Chippewas hold the opinion that the "ancient people," the ancestors of the ancient tribe, were far advanced T 2

in their information, and a decline had taken place. It is a common custom with the chiefs to refer to the "ancient people.' The common response to the preaching and teaching of missionaries is, "This was the belief of our ancestors," and it is represented that they taught exactly the same doctrine and truths. This gentleman made the same division of the subject. that Rev. Mr. Eells does. There are four or five points on which both missionaries seem to be agreed. These are:-(1) The idea of the Great Spirit is a proof of the knowledge of the existence of God; (2) the view of the Indians concerning the future state is a proof of the belief in immortality; (3) the various superstitions of the Indians show that they all have the sense of sin; (4) the prevalence of sacrifice shows that the same doctrine of atonement or expiation for sin by sacrifice was common among these tribes. These four doctrinesthe existence of God; immortality of the soul; the sinfulness of man; and the necessity of sacrifice;-seem to be held in various modified forms by all the tribes in North America. The researches of Rev. Mr. Eells have been among the Nez Perces, those of Rev. S. L. Riggs among the Dakotahs, and those of Mr. Williams, the gentleman referred to above, among the Chippewas. These embrace three of the great aboriginal families of the North, mainly hunters. The testimony of these gentlemen shows what was common among the hunter races.

Other authorities might be cited to show that the same opinions were held by the agricultural races; and still others to show that similar opinions were held by the civilised tribes. The testimony which comes to us from so many different sources proves to a certainty that these ideas were prevalent with the native mind. It has been disputed whether the Indians really hold to the doctrine of a "Great Spirit," but the quotations by Mr. Eells are very numerous and from many different authors, and show that this was 'common. The term Great Spirit is not one which comes from "accommodation" to the whites, but is used by them to express a common belief. This idea seems to have been fundamental, and is a result of the teachings of nature. The clear apprehension of the character of God we should not expect, but the conviction that there was one great being whom the Bible calls God seems to have been universal with the American tribes. It is sometimes said that monotheism is a late product of thought, but here is another case where monotheism proves to be a primitive belief. It has also been doubted whether immortality was a primary doctrine. Some have said that it does not appear even in the Old Testament.

But a modified belief of immortality is very general among these rude tribes. So with the sense of sin and the doctrine of sacrifice. These are taught by nature. They are not the last products of Christian civilisation, but are found in the low stages of savagery. The ethnic conscience seems to point to the same beliefs and doctrines as fundamental in the Bible, and in the natural constitution.

II. The classification of the native religions is very suggestive. These religions may be divided by geographical districts into several classes. (1) Shamanism. This is the religion of the Eskimos, Aleutians, and many of the hyperborean tribes. It is peculiar to the fishermen of the north, and is seldom found among other tribes. (2) Next to this is Animism. This is more common among the hunters than any other class. It is found in its highest stage of development in the tribes which formerly inhabited the whole region which lies between Hudson Bay and the chain of the Great Lakes. It is a system which makes its abode in forests and amid rocks, and is a powerful superstition. (3) Animal-worship is another system. This prevailed among the people which were given to the mingled hunting and agricultural life. It was most powerful among

the tribes which formerly had their habitat between the chain of the Great Lakes and the Ohio River, and in the same belt of latitude as one goes farther west. (4) Sun-worship of an inferior kind was prevalent among the tribes south of this belt, including the Mobilian tribes on the Gulf Coast, and the Pueblo tribes of Colorado, Arizona, and Utah; also in Peru. It was also prevalent among the Mound Builders. (5) The Elemental worship, which included the rain, lightning, the god of death and of war. This was common in Mexico and New Mexico. (6) Anthropomorphism, a religion which gave human attributes to the divinities, but assigned to them supernatural powers. This prevailed in Central America.

These were the different religions which existed among the civilised and uncivilised tribes. Is it not surprising that, under such elaborate and well-organised systems, there should have been so much of the natural effect of conscience? most authorities agree on the point. Notwithstanding the superstitions. which prevailed, and which resulted in so intricate ceremonies and mysteries, the individual conscience maintained its force, and often asserted itself in expressions which are quite marvellous in their resemblance to the thoughts contained in revelation. These are not the results of education, nor are they taught by a priesthood, but they come from "primitive beliefs,"

III. The symbolism of America points to the same truth. This symbolism is worthy of study, because it reveals beliefs which prevailed among the prehistoric races. A remarkable and complicated system of symbolism was spread over the continent corresponding to the traditions of the later races, showing that there were many religious ideas among the prehistoric races which have survived to historic times. We trace in the symbols the various forms of religion which existed before America was discovered, but in the customs and tradition of the natives we recognise the very ideas embodied in the monuments. The symbols of Central America (and the Ohio valley and Mexico also) are most elaborate, and these are especially worthy of study. Here animal forms, elemental powers, human attributes are all combined in the idols, showing that the divinities had a very complicated character. We see sculptured tigers covering human faces; we see also sun-symbols attending serpent figures, and in the midst of both are human faces; we see also crosses wreathed with serpents, surmounted by birds, and before the crosses human forms offering sacrifices; we see human figures with animal skins and serpents twisted about them, but their faces are distorted, and every part full of a strange and mystic significance; we see columns or pillars elaborately decorated and sculptured, altars highly ornamented, temples with façades wrought into strange symbolic shapes, and many other forms of art and architecture all expressive of the religious thought of the people. The anthropomorphic character of the worship is seen in the human face, as every part of the face was made to express a thought and to symbolise a divinity. The tongue symbolises the sun, the eye symbolises the rain, the cheek symbolises the drought and famine, the hair and ornamentations on the head symbolise the lightning. A wonderful system of nature-worship, which combined personal attributes, animal figures, and elemental powers all in one, appears to have embodied itself in these symbolic shapes.

Take, for instance, the bas-reliefs of the Temple of the Cross at Palenque, and see how nature-worship expresses itself there. Here is the cross with its four points of the compass, or the four winds, with its arrow signifying the lightning; the thunder-bird surmounting it, and, before the cross, a priest offering a child, or the figure of a child, in sacrifice. Before the cross, on the façade of the temple, is the statue of a human figure finished in the round, but covered with symbols which are peculiarly significant and expressive. Take the Temple of