to all men and animals. I thought
myself happy, that I had been permitted to come into the world, in an age
when some vestige of the primitive men, and their manners of living, were
yet to be found. A few ages will totally obliterate the scene.

"I now determined to teaze the Indian, if possible--'But for a man of your
education,' says I, 'sachem Tomo-cheeki; to bury yourself in this savage
retreat, is to me inexplicable. You who have travelled on foot no less
than one hundred and seventeen leagues, till you reached the walls of
Havard college, and all for the sake of gaining an insight into languages,
arts, and mysteries; and then to neglect all you have acquired at last, is
a mode of conduct, for which I cannot easily account--What! was not the
mansion of a fat _clergyman_ a more desirable acquisition than this
miserable hut, these gloomy forests, and yonder savage stream?--Were not
the food and liquor belonging to the white men of the _law_ far superiour
to these insipid fish, these dried roots, and these running waters?--Were
not a _physician's_ cap, an elegant morning gown, and a grave suit of
black clothes, made by an european tailor, more tempting to your
imagination, than this wretched blanket, that is eternally slipping from
your shoulders, unless it be fastened with skewers, which are by no means
convenient?'

"Pardon me,' replied the Indian, 'if all those blessings and advantages
you have mentioned seemed nothing to my view, in comparison with these
_divine solitudes_: opinion alone is happiness. The _Great Man_,
who has chosen his habitation beyond the stars, will dispose of us as he
pleases. I am under an obligation of passing happily here that life which
he has given me, because in so doing I serve and adore him. I could not
but be sorrowful, were I to be removed for ever from this stream. Let me
alone, white man; others shall make laws, and pass sleepless nights, for
the advantage of the world; sachem Tomo-cheeki will leave all things to
the _invisible direction_; and, provided he can be contented in his
_wigwam_, the end of his existence is accomplished.

"But,' continued he, 'of what great value can that education be,
which does not inculcate moral and social _honesty_ as it's first and
greatest principle. The knowledge of all things above and below is of
inconsiderable worth, unconnected with the heart of rectitude and
benevolence.--Let us walk to the remains of an old indian town; the bones
of my an