NORTH AMERICAN INDIANSe            109

  L'Abbe' de la Fontaine says, that when they are
afraid of being conquered in battle, they send their sup-
plications also to an evil Spirit, that he may be pleased
to prevent their utter destruction; this they do with the
greatest hunulty and submission, accompanied with re-
solutions and promises never to incur his wrath for the
time to come. De la Fontaine admires and eulogizes
the sublime language which they make use of on these
solemn occasions: he compares their poetical and martial
ideas to the lofty strains of Ossian, the famous bard of
the ancient Celts.



THE RELIGION OF THE TONGUSI, CORIAKS,
             AND KAMSCHADALES.

  The most barbarous nations in the world believe in the
existence of a being who is superior to themselves. Na-.,
ture has never failed to indicate to the human mind, the ex-
istence of some Deity, who presides over the human race.
Although man sees not his superior, yet the various revolu-
tions which he sees take place around him inculcate the
idea that there exists a Sovereign Lords at whose control
the world revolves.
  The Mahometans, who borrowed their religious aotions
from the Jews. and Christians, pretend that they are the
great supporters of the doctrine of the unity of the Deity.
Under a pretence of improvement, they impeach both the
Jew and Christian with a plurality of Deities. But it is
well known, that the Jews and0 Christians make the unity
of the Deity a fundamental doctrine of their religion. From
these three sects, however, the doctrine of the unity of the
Deity has been imparted to almost every nation and tribe
with whom we are acquainted. We do not, however,
mean to say, that they have been solely the means of pro-
pagating this doctrine, for we are no less certain, that sev-
eral nations with whom we are utterly unacquainted and
                          10*