104                 ORIGIN OF THE

expressions, sublimity of thought and sweetness; which
are so characteristic of some Asiatic languages. Aberne-
thy collated two hundred Indian words with the Coriack
language, - and the identity is so evident that every per-
son who is acquainted with the derivation and formation
of languages, will at once acknowledge the Asiatic ori-
gin of the Indian languages.



    RELIGION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN
                    INDIANS.

  Among the most savage nations in the world, the
opinion prevails, that there are beings superior to them-
selves, who manage by their power and wisdom, the af-
fairs of this world. The religion of the Indians is very
simple, for it consists of few doctrines and fewer ceremo-
nies. The Supreme Deity, they call the Great Spirit,
whose power they believe td be infinite; to him they as-
cribe their victories in the field of battle and their suc-
cess in the chase. They believe also in an inferior
Spirit, whom they consider as a malevolent being and
the author of all their nisfortunes. They more frequent-
ly adore him, that he may remove the evils by which
they are oppressed; still they are sometimes prompted
by gratitude to perform an act of devotion to the Great
Spirit, that he may continue his favours. They believe
in a future state, where they are to enjoy in a more com-
plete manner those pleasures in which they have here
delighted; a mild climate, a fertile soil, abounding with
game, whose tiesh never cloys the appetite, nor, surfeits
by excess; the intercourse of all their friends and rela-
lations, in short, all their temporal enjoyments unmixed
with any of their troubles.
  The following concise account of the religion of the
      9~~~
Indians as given by Jarvis, according to Charlevoix may
not perhaps be unworthy of attention.