oceeding from the holy spirit of
fire.

"The great beloved man, or high priest, addresses the warriors and
women; giving all the particular, positive injunctions and negative
precepts they yet retain of the ancient law. He uses very sharp
language to the women. He then addresses the whole multitude. He
enumerates the crimes they have committed, great and small, and bids
them look at the _holy fire_ which has forgiven them. He presses on his
audience, by the great motives of temporal good and the fear of temporal
evil, the necessity of a careful observance of the ancient law, assuring
them that the _holy fire_ will enable their prophets, the rain makers,
to procure them plentiful harvests, and give their war leaders victory
over their enemies. He then orders some of the fire to be laid down
outside of the holy ground, for all the houses of the various associated
towns, which sometimes lay several miles apart."

Mr Bartram, who visited the southern Indians in 1778, gives an account
of the same feast, but in another nation. He says, "that the feast of
first-fruits is the principal festival. This seems to end the old and
begin the new ecclesiastical year. It commences when their new crops
are arrived to maturity. This is their most solemn celebration."

With respect to the sacrifices, we have had none since the destruction
of the temple, but it was customary among the Jews, in the olden time,
to sacrifice daily a part of a lamb. This ceremony is strictly observed
by the Indians. The hunter, when leaving his wigwam for the chase, puts
up a prayer that the great spirit will aid his endeavours to procure
food for his wife and children, and when he returns with the red deer,
whatever may be the cravings of hunger, he allows none to taste until he
has cut part of the flesh, which he throws in the fire as a sacrifice,
accompanied with prayer. All travellers speak of this practice among
the Indians, so clearly Hebrew in its origin.

The bathings, anointings, ablutions, in the coldest weather, are never
neglected by the Indians, and, like the Jews of old, they anoint
themselves with bear's oil.

The Mosaic prohibition of eating unclean animals, and their enumeration,
are known to you all. It would be supposed that, amidst the uncertainty
of an Indian life, all kinds of food would be equally acceptable. Not
so: for, in strict conformity with the Mosaic law, they abstain from
eating the blood of any animal, they ab