re to be raised. It
was deemed obligatory for each tribe to raise men according to its
strength. But each was left free to its own action, being responsible
for such action, to PUBLIC OPINION. All warriors were volunteers, and
were raised for specific expeditions, and were bound no longer. To take
up the war club, and join in the war dance, was to enlist. There was no
other enlistment--no bounties--no pay--no standing force--no public
provisions--no public arms--no clothing--no public hospital. The martial
impulse of the people was sufficient. All was left to personal effort
and provision. Self dependence was never carried to such height. The
thirst for glory--the honor of the confederacy--the strife for personal
distinction, filled their ranks; and led them, through desert paths, to
the St. Lawrence, the Illinois, the Atlantic seaboard and the southern
Alleghanies. Nor did they need the roll of the river to animate their
courage, or regulate their steps. Theirs was a high energetic devotion,
equal or superior to even that of ancient Sparta and Lacedaemon. They
conquered wherever they went. They subdued nations in their immediate
vicinity. They exterminated others. They adopted the fragments of
subjugated tribes into their confederacy, sunk their national homes into
oblivion, and thus repaired the irresistable losses of war. They had
eloquence, as well as courage. Their speakers maintained a high rank
along side of the best generals and negotiators of France, England and
America. We owe this tribute to their valor and talents. One thousand
such men, equipped for war as _they_ were, and led by _their_ spirit,
would have effected more in battle, than the tens of thousands of
effeminate Aztecks and Peruvians who shouted, but often did no more than
_shout_, around the piratical bands of Cortez and Pizarro.

5. I have left myself but little time to speak of the origin and early
history of this people--topics which are of deep interest in themselves,
but which are involved in great obscurity. They are subjects which
commend themselves to your attention, and offer a wide field for your
future research. There are three periods in our Indian history:

1. THE ALLEGORIC AND FABULOUS AGE. This includes the creation, the
deluge, the creation of Holiness and Evil, and some analogous points, in
the general and shadowy traditions of men, which our hunter race, have
almost universally concealed under the allegoric figures, of a creative