156 k SYNOPSIS OF THE INDIAN TRIBES. [iNTROD. their moral feelings debased, this was the result of the circum- stances under which they were placed. I cannot persuade myself, that they were doomed to a transitory existence,, cor- responding with that of the flocks of deer and buffalo on which they fed. Their natural affections, though exclusive and im- properly directed, were not extinguished, and were still displayed within their own tribes, and often towards strangers. They have exhibited repeated proofs of intellectual powers appa- rently very superior to those of the African, and not very inferior to those of the European race.* If a correct view has been taken of the great obstacle to be surmounted, that of con- verting a purely hunting into an agricultural nation, it must be acknowledged to be one of the most difficult undertakings within the power of man. We read in the legends of those nations which had preserved a recollection of a previous barbarous state, that they were taught agriculture by a Triptolemus, or a Manco Capac. It is much to be apprehended, that necessity and compulsion were the deities that made men submit to the fatigue of agricultural labor. The annals of every nation, of which we have any ancient and authentic records, exhibit to us a state of society, of which slavery constituted a component and important part. Such was the case with the Romans, with the Greeks, and with the eastern nations, without excepting the Jews. It seems as if, after man had departed from the first ordinances given to him, conquest and slavery had become necessary ingredients in order to bring him within the pale of civilization. It may be, that it was on that account that slavery, or, upon the most favorable construction, a servitude of fifty years, was expressly allowed by the laws of Moses, and that it is not expressly forbidden by the Gospel. The great and fundamental moral principles of Christianity were left to produce their effect on man, according to his conscience and knowledge, by a religion, intended for all times and for all men without regard to
- Father Le Jeune, answering in one of his letters the objections
made to the prospect of converting and civilizing the Indians, says, that it was admitted on all hands, that they were superior in intellect to the French peasantry of that time. It is curious enough to see him at the same time advising that laborers should be sent from France in order to work for the Indians. The same sentiment is expressed in a letter written in the Indian language by an Algonkin, who had visited France.
