The same aspiring fictitious writer tells us, the Peruvians worshipped the Creator of the world, whom he is pleased to call Viracocha Pachuyacha ha hic: any person who is in the least acquainted with the rapid flowing manner of the Indian American dialects, will conclude from the wild termination that the former is not the Peruvian divine name. Next to this great Creator of the universe, he affirms, they worshipped the sun; and {209} next to the solar orb, they deified and worshipped thunder, believing it proceeded from a man in heaven, who had power over the rain, hail, and thunder, and every thing in the ærial regions; and that they offered up sacrifices to it, but none to the universal Creator. To prefer the effect to the acknowledged prime cause, is contrary to the common reason of mankind, who adore that object which they esteem either the most beneficent, or the most powerful.

Monsieur Le Page Du Pratz tells us, he lived seven years, among the Nachee Indians, about one hundred leagues up the Missisippi from New-Orleans; and in order to emulate the Spanish romances of the Indians, in his performance, he affirms their women are double-breasted, which he particularly describes: and then following the Spanish copy, he assures us, the highest rank of their nobles is called suns, and that they only attend the sacred and eternal fire; which he doubtless mentioned, merely to introduce his convex lens, by which he tells us with a great air of confidence, he gained much esteem among them, as by the gift of it, he enabled them to continue their holy fire, if it should casually be near extinguished. According to him, the Chikkasah tongue was the court language of the Missisippi Indians, and that it had not the letter R.—The very reverse of which is the truth; for the French and all their red savages were at constant war with them, because of their firm connection with the English, and hated their national name; and as to the language, they could not converse with them, as their dialects are so different from each other. I recited a long string of his well-known stories to a body of gentlemen, well skilled in the languages, rites, and customs of our East and West-Florida Indians, and they agreed that the Koran did not differ more widely from the divine oracles, than the accounts of this writer from the genuine customs of the Indian Americans.

The Spanish artists have furnished the savage war-chieftain, or their Emperor Montezuma, with very spacious and beautiful palaces, one of which they raised on pillars of fine jasper; and another wrought with exquisite skill out of marble, jasper, and other valuable stones, with veins glistening like rubies,—they have finished the roof with equal skill, composed of carved and painted cypress, cedar, and pine-trees, without any kind of nails. They should have furnished some of the chambers with suitable pavilions {210} and beds of state; but the bedding and furniture in our northern Indian huts, is the same with what they were pleased to describe, in the wonderful Mexican palaces. In this they have not done justice to the grand red monarch, whom they raised up, (with his 1000 women, or 3000 according to some,) only to magnify the Spanish power by overthrowing him.

Montezuma in an oration to his people, at the arrival of the Spaniards, is said by Malvendar, to have persuaded his people to yield to the power of his Catholic Majesty’s arms, for their own fore-fathers were strangers in that land, and brought there long before that period in a fleet. The emperor, who they pretend bore such universal arbitrary sway, is raised by their pens, from the usual rank of a war chieftain, to his imperial greatness: But despotic power is death to their ears, as it is destructive of their darling liberty, and reputed theocratic government; they have no name for a subject, but say, “the people.” In order to carry on the self-flattering war-romance, they began the epocha of that great fictitious empire, in the time of the ambitious and formidable Montezuma, that their handful of heaven-favoured popish saints might have the more honour in destroying it: had they described it of a long continuance, they foresaw that the world would detect the fallacy, as soon as they learned the language of the pretended empire; correspondent to which, our own great Emperor Powhatan of Virginia, was soon dethroned. We are sufficiently informed by the rambling Missisippi Indians, that Motehshuma is a common high war-name of the South-American leaders; and which the fate he is said to receive, strongly corroborates. Our Indians urge with a great deal of vehemence, that as every one is promoted only by public virtue, and has his equals in civil and martial affairs, those Spanish books that have mentioned red emperors, and great empires in America, ought to be burnt in some of the remaining old years accursed fire. And this Indian fixed opinion seems to be sufficiently confirmed by the situation of Mexico, as it is only about 315 miles from south to north; and narrower than 200 miles along the northern coast—and lies between Tlascala and Mechoacan, to the west of the former, and east of the latter, whence the Mexicans were continually harassed by those lurking swift-footed savages, who could secure their retreat home, in the space of two or three days. When we consider the vicinity of those two inimical states to the pretended puissant empire of Mexico, which might have easily crushed them to pieces, with her formidable {211} armies, in order to secure the lives of the subjects, and credit of the state, we may safely venture to affirm, from the long train of circumstances already exhibited, that the Spanish Peruvian and Mexican empires are without the least foundation in nature; and that the Spaniards defeated the tribe of Mexico (properly called Mechiko) &c. chiefly, by the help of their red allies.

In their descriptions of South-America and its native inhabitants, they treat largely of heaven, hell, and purgatory; lions, salamanders, maids of honour, maids of penance, and their abbesses; men whipping themselves with cords; idols, mattins, monastic vows, cloisters of young men, with a prodigious group of other popish inventions: and we must not forget to do justice to those industrious and sagacious observers, who discovered two golgothas, or towers made of human skulls, plaistered with lime. Acosta tells us, that Andrew de Topia assured him, he and Gonsola de Vimbria reckoned one hundred and thirty-six thousand human skulls in them. The temple dedicated to the air, is likewise worthy of being mentioned, as they assert in the strongest manner, that five thousand priests served constantly in it, and obliged every one who entered, to bring some human sacrifice; that the walls of it were an inch thick, and the floor a foot deep, with black, dry, clotted blood. If connected herewith, we reflect, that beside this blood-thirsty god of the air, the Spaniards have represented them as worshipping a multitude of idol gods and goddesses, (no less than two thousand according to Lopez de Gomara) and sacrificing to them chiefly human victims; and that the friars are reported by a Spanish bishop of Mexico, in his letters of the year 1532, to have broken down twenty thousand idols, and desolated five hundred idol temples, where the natives sacrificed every year more than twenty thousand hearts of boys and girls; and that if the noblemen were burnt to ashes, they killed their cooks, butlers, chaplains, and dwarfs^[LII]—and had a plenty of targets, maces, and ensigns hurled into their funeral piles: this terrible slaughter, points out to us clearly from their own accounts, that these authors either gave the world a continued chain of falsehoods, or those sacrifices, and human massacres {212} they boastingly tell us of, would have, long before they came, utterly depopulated Peru and Mexico.

I shall now quote a little of their less romantic description, to confirm the account I have given concerning the genuine rites, and customs, of our North-American Indians.

The ornaments of the Indians of South and North America, were formerly, and still are alike, without the least difference, except in value. Those superficial writers agree, that the men and women of Peru and Mexico wore golden ear-rings, and bracelets around their necks and wrists; that the men wore rings of the same metal in their nose, marked their bodies with various figures, painted their faces red, and the women their cheeks, which seems to have been a very early and general custom. They tell us, that the coronation of the Indian kings, and installment of their nobles, was solemnized with comedies, banquets, lights, &c. and that no plebeians were allowed to serve before their kings; they must be knights, or noblemen. All those sounding high titles are only a confused picture of the general method of the Indians in crowning their warriors, performing their war-dances, and esteeming those fellows as old women, who never attended the reputed holy ark with success for the beloved brethren.

Don Antonio de Ulloa^[96] informs us, that some of the South-American natives cut the lobes of their ears, and for a considerable time, fastened small weights to them, in order to lengthen them; that others cut holes in their upper and under lips; through the cartilege of the nose, their chins, and jaws, and either hung or thrust through them, such things as they most fancied, which also agrees with the ancient customs of our Northern Indians.

Emanuel de Moraes and Acosta affirm, that the Brasilians marry in their own family, or tribe. And Jo. de Laet. says, they call their uncles and aunts, “fathers and mothers,” which is a custom of the Hebrews, and of all our North-American Indians: and he assures us they mourn very much for their dead; and that their clothes are like those of the early Jews. {213}

Ulloa assures us, that the South American Indians have no other method of weaving carpets, quilts, and other stuffs, but to count the threads one by one, when they are passing the woof;—that they spin cotton and linnen, as their chief manufacture, and paint their cloth with the images of men, beasts, birds, fishes, trees, flowers, &c. and that each of those webs was adapted to one certain use, without being cut, and that their patience was equal to so arduous a task. According to this description, there is not the least disparity between the ancient North-American method of manufacturing, and that of the South Americans.

Acosta writes, that the clothes of the South-American Indians are shaped like those of the ancient Jews, being a square little cloak, and a little coat: and the Rev. Mr. Thorowgood,^[97] anno 1650, observes, that this is a proof of some weight in shewing their original descent; especially to such who pay a deference to Seneca’s parallel arguments of the Spaniards having settled Italy; for the old mode of dress is universally alike, among the Indian Americans.

Laet, in his description of America, and Escarbotus, assure us, they often heard the South American Indians to repeat the sacred word Halleluiah, which made them admire how they first attained it. And Malvenda says, that the natives of St. Michael had tomb-stones, which the Spaniards digged up, with several ancient Hebrew characters upon them, as, “Why is God gone away?” And, “He is dead, God knows.” Had his curiosity induced him to transcribe the epitaph, it would have given more satisfaction; for, as they yet repeat the divine essential name, Yo He (ta) Wah, so as not to prophane it, when they mourn for their dead, it is probable, they could write or engrave it, after the like manner, when they first arrived on this main continent.

We are told, that the South American Indians have a firm hope of the resurrection of their bodies, at a certain period of time; and that on this account they bury their most valuable treasures with their dead, as well as the most useful conveniences for future domestic life, such as their bows and arrows: And when they saw the Spaniards digging up their graves for gold and silver, they requested them to forbear scattering the bones of their {214} dead in that manner, lest it should prevent their being raised and united again^[LIII].

Monsieur de Poutrincourt says, that, when the Canada Indians saluted him, they said Ho Ho Ho; but as we are well assured, they express Yo He a Ah, in the time of their festivals and other rejoicings, we have reason to conclude he made a very material mistake in setting down the Indian solemn blessing, or invocation. He likewise tells us, that the Indian women will not marry on the graves of their husbands, i. e. “soon after their decease,”—but wait a long time before they even think of a second husband. That, if the husband was killed, they would neither enter into a second marriage, nor eat flesh, till his blood had been revenged: and that after child-bearing, they observe the Mosaic law of purification, shutting up themselves from their husbands, for the space of forty days.

Peter Martyr writes, that that Indian widow married the brother of her deceased husband, according to the Mosaic law: and he says, the Indians worship that God who created the sun, moon, and all invisible things, and who gives them every thing that is good. He affirms the Indian priests had chambers in the temple, according to the custom of the Israelites, by divine appointment, as 1 Chron. ix. 26, 27. And that there were certain places in it, which none but their priests could enter, i. e. “the holiest.” And Key says also, they have in some parts of America, an exact form of king, priest, and prophet, as was formerly in Canaan.

Robert Williams, the first Englishman in New-England, who is said to have learned the Indian language, in order to convert the natives, believed them to be Jews: and he assures us, that their tradition records that their ancestors came from the south-west, and that they return there at death; that their women separate themselves from the rest of the people at certain periods; and that their language bore some affinity to the Hebrew.^[98]

Baron Lahontan writes, that the Indian women of Canada purify themselves after travail; thirty days for a male child—and forty for a female: that during the said time, they live apart from their husband—that the unmarried brother of the deceased husband marries the widow, six months {215} after his decease; and that the outstanding parties for war, address the great spirit every day till they set off, with sacrifices, songs, and feasting.

We are also told, that the men in Mexico sat down, and the women stood, when they made water, which is an universal custom among our North-American Indians. Their primitive modesty, and indulgence to their women, seem to have introduced this singular custom, after the manner of the ancient Mauritanians, on account of their scantiness of clothing, as I formerly observed.

Lerius tells us, that the Indians of Brasil wash themselves ten times a day; and that the husbands have no matrimonial intercourse with their wives, till their children are either weaned, or grown pretty hardy; which is similar to the custom of these northern Indians, and that of the Israelites, as Hos. i. 8. He says, if a Peruvian child was weaned before its time, it was called Ainsco, “a bastard.” And that if a Brasilian wounds another, he is wounded in the same part of the body, with equal punishment; limb for limb, or life for life, according to the Mosaic law;—which, within our own memory, these Indian nations observed so eagerly, that if a boy shooting at birds, accidentally wounded another, though out of sight, with his arrow ever so slightly, he, or any of his family, wounded him after the very same manner; which is a very striking analogy with the Jewish retaliation. He likewise tells us, that their Sachems, or Emperors, were the heads of their church: and according to Laet. Descrip. America, the Peruvians had one temple consecrated to the creator of the world; besides four other religious places, in resemblance of the Jewish synagogues. And Malvenda says, the American idols were mitred, as Aaron was. He likewise affirms, as doth Acosta, that the natives observed a year of jubilee, according to the usage of the Israelites.

Benzo^[99] says, that the men and women incline very much to dancing; and the women often by themselves, according to the manner of the Hebrew nation; as in 1 Sam. xxi. 11. especially after gaining a victory over the enemy, as in Judg. xi. 34.-xxi. 21, 23, and 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7. Acosta tells us, that though adultery is deemed by them a capital crime, yet they at the same time set little value by virginity, and it seems to have been a bewailable condition, in Judea. He likewise says, they wash their {216} new born infants, in resemblance of the Mosaic law; as Ezek. xvi. 9. And the Spaniards say, that the priests of Mexico, were anointed from head to foot; that they constantly wore their hair, till they were superannuated; and that the husband did not lie with his wife, for two years after she was delivered. Our northern Indians imitate the first custom; though in the second, they resemble that of the heathen by polling or trimming their hair; and with regard to the third, they always sleep apart from their wives, for the greater part of a year, after delivery.^[100]

By the Spanish authorities, the Peruvians and Mexicans were Polygamists, but they had one principal wife to whom they were married with certain solemnities; and murder, adultery, theft, and incest, were punished with death.—But there was an exception in some places, with regard to incestuous intercourses: which is entirely consonant to the usage of the northern Indians. For as to incest, the Cheerake marry both mother and daughter, or two sisters; but they all observe the prohibited laws of consanguinity, in the strictest manner. They tell us, that when the priests offered sacrifice, they abstained from women and strong drink, and fasted several days, before any great festival; that all of them buried their dead in their houses, or in high places; that when they were forced to bury in any of the Spanish churchyards, they frequently stole the corpse, and interred it either in one of their own houses, or in the mountains; and that Juan de la Torre took five hundred thousand Pezoes out of one tomb. Here is a long train of Israelitish customs: and, if we include the whole, they exhibit a very strong analogy between all the essential traditions, rites, customs, &c. of the South and North American Indians; though the Spaniards mix an innumerable heap of absurd chimeras, and romantic dreams, with the plain material truths I have extracted.

I lately perused the first volume of the History of North America, from the discovery thereof by Sylvanus Americanus, printed in New Jersey, Anno 1761, from, I believe, the Philadelphia monthly paper—and was not a little surprised to find in such a useful collection, the conjectural, though perhaps well-intended accounts of the first adventurers, and settlers, in North America, concerning the natives: and which are laid as the only basis for inquisitive writers to trace their origin, instead of later and more substantial observations. Though several of those early writers were undoubtedly {217} sagacious, learned, and candid; yet under the circumstances in which they wrote, it was impossible for them to convey to us any true knowledge of the Indians, more than what they gained by their senses, which must be superficial, and liable to many errors. Their conjectural accounts ought to have been long since examined, by some of that learned body, or they should not have given a sanction to them. However, they are less faulty than the Spanish accounts.

I presume, enough hath been said to point out the similarity between the rites and customs of the native American Indians, and those of the Israelites.—And that the Indian system is derived from the moral, ceremonial, and judicial laws of the Hebrews, though now but a faint copy of the divine original.—Their religious rites, martial customs, dress, music, dances, and domestic forms of life, seem clearly to evince also, that they came to America in early times, before sects had sprung up among the Jews, which was soon after their prophets ceased, and before arts and sciences had arrived to any perfection; otherwise, it is likely they would have retained some knowledge of them, at least where they first settled, it being in a favourable climate, and consequently, they were in a more compact body, than on this northern part of the American continent.

The South-American natives wanted nothing that could render life easy and agreeable: and they had nothing superfluous, except gold and silver. When we consider the simplicity of the people, and the skill they had in collecting a prodigious quantity of treasures, it seems as if they gained that skill from their countrymen, and the Tyrians; who in the reign of Solomon exceedingly enriched themselves, in a few voyages. The conjecture that the aborigines wandered here from captivity, by the north east parts of Asia, over Kamschatska, to have their liberty and religion; is not so improbable, as that of their being driven by stress of weather into the bay of Mexico, from the east.^[101]

Though a single argument of the general subject, may prove but little, disjoined from the rest; yet, according to the true laws of history, and the best rules for tracing antiquities, the conclusion is to be drawn from clear corresponding circumstances united: the force of one branch of the subject ought to be connected with the others, and then judge by the whole. Such {218} readers as may dissent from my opinion of the Indian American origin and descent, ought to inform us how the natives came here, and by what means they formed the long chain of rites, customs, &c. so similar to the usage of the Hebrew nation, and in general dissimilar to the modes, &c. of the Pagan world.

Ancient writers do not agree upon any certain place, where the Ophir of Solomon lay; it must certainly be a great distance from Joppa, for it was a three years voyage. After the death of Solomon, both the Israelites and Tyrians seem to have utterly discontinued their trading voyages to that part of the world. Eusebius and Eupolemus say, that David sent to Urphe, an island in the red sea, and brought much gold into Judea; and Ortelius reckons this to have been Ophir: though, agreeably to the opinion of the greater part of the modern literati, he also conjectures Cephala, or Sophala, to have been the Ophir of Solomon. Junius imagines it was in Aurea Chersonesus; Tremellius and Niger are of the same opinion. But Vatablus reckons it was Hispaniola, discovered, and named so by Columbus: yet Postellus, Phil. Mornay, Arias Montanus, and Goropius, are of opinion that Peru is the ancient Ophir; so widely different are their conjectures. Ancient history is quite silent, concerning America; which indicates that it has been time immemorial rent asunder from the African continent, according to Plato’s Timeus. The north-east parts of Asia also were undiscovered, till of late. Many geographers have stretched Asia and America so far, as to join them together: and others have divided those two quarters of the globe, at a great distance from each other. But the Russians, after several dangerous attempts, have clearly convinced the world, that they are now divided, and yet have a near communication together, by a narrow strait, in which several islands are situated; through which there is an easy passage from the north-east of Asia to the north-west of America by the way of Kamschatska; which probably joined to the north-west point of America. By this passage, supposing the main continents were separated, it was very practicable for the inhabitants to go to this extensive new world; and afterwards, to have proceeded in quest of suitable climates,—according to the law of nature, that directs every creature to such climes as are most convenient and agreeable. {219}

Having endeavoured to ascertain the origin and descent of the North-American Indians—and produced a variety of arguments that incline my own opinion in favour of their being of Jewish extraction—which at the same time furnish the public with a more complete Indian System of religious rites, civil and martial customs, languages, &c. &c. than hath ever been exhibited, neither disfigured by fable, nor prejudice—I shall proceed to give a general historical description of those Indian nations among whom I have chiefly resided.^[102] {220}