parchment, on which was engrossed the confirmation of the treaty of purchase and amity.c 4. As soon as he drew near the spot where the Sachems were assembled, the whole multitude of Indians threw down their weapons, and seated themselves on the ground in groups, each under his own chieftain; and the presiding chief intimated to William Penn, that the nations were ready to hear him. Having been thus called upon, he began: "The Great Spirit," he said, "who made him and them, who ruled the heaven and the earth, and who knew the innermost thoughts of man, knew that he and his friends had a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with them, and to serve them to the utmost of their power. 5. "It was not their custom to use hostile weapons against their fellow creatures: for which reason they had come unarmed. Their object was not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good. They were then met on the broad pathway of good faith and good will; so that no advantage was to be taken on either side, but all was to be openness, brotherhood, and love." d 6. After these and other words, he unrolled the parchment, and, by means of the same interpreter, a conveyed to them, article by article, the conditions of the purchase, and the words of the compact then made for their eternal union. Among other things, they were not to be molested in their awful pursuits, even in the territory they had alienated; or it was to be common to them and the English. 7. They were to have the same liberty to do all things herein, relating to the improvement of their grounds, and he providing of sustenance for their families, which the Engish had. If any disputes should arise between the two, they should be settled by twelve persons, half of whom should be English, and half Indians. He then paid them for the land, and made them many presents besides, from the merchandise that had been spread before them. Having done this, he laid the roll of parchment on the ground, observing again, that the ground should be common to both people. 8. He then added, he would not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call them Children or Brothers only; for often parents were apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes would differ; neither would he compare the friendship between him and them to a chain, for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree might fall and break it; but he should consider them as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts. He then took up the parchment, and presented it to the Sachem who wore the horn in the chaplet, a and desired him and the other Sachems to preserve it carefully for three generations, that their children might know what had passed between them, just as if he himself had remained with them to repeat it. 9. The Indians, in return, made long and stately harangues:-of which, however, no more seems to have been remembered but that "they pledged themselves to live in love with William Penn and his children, as long as the sun and moon should endure." And thus ended this famous treaty ;of which Voltaire has remarked, with so much truth and severity, "that it was the only one ever concluded between savages and Christians that was not ratified by an oath,—and the only one that never was broken!" с 10. Such, indeed, was the spirit in which the negotiation was entered into, and the corresponding settlement conducted, that, for the space of more than seventy years, and so long indeed as the Quakers retained the chief power in the government, the peace and amity which had been thus solemnly promised and concluded, never was violated; and a great and most striking, though solitary example afforded, of the facility with which they who are really sincere and friendly in their own views, may live in harmony, even with those who are supposed to be peculiarly fierce and faithless. Edinburgh Review. SECTION VI. Religion and Superstition contrasted. 1. I HAD lately a very remarkable dream, which made so strong an impression upon me, that I remember every word of it; and if you are not better employed, you may read the relation of it as follows;-I thought I was in the midst of a very entertaining set of company, and extremely delighted in attending to a lively conversation, when, on a sudden, I perceived one of the most shocking figures that imagination can frame, advancing toward me. 2. She was dressed in black, her skin was contracted into a thousand wrinkles, her eyes deep sunk in her head, and her complexion pale and livid as the countenance of death. Her looks were filled with terror and unrelenting severity, a Chap-let, a garland, a string of beads. b Ha angues', noisy speeches. c Rat-i-fi-ed, confirmed. d Ne-go-ti-a'-tion, treaty of business. e Con-tras'-ted, placed in opposition. g Un-re-lent-ing, feeling no pity. and her hands armed with whips and scorpions. As soon as she came near, with a horrid frown, and a voice that chilled my very blood, she bade me follow her. I obeyed; and she led me through rugged paths, beset with briers and thorns, into a deep, solitary valley. 3. Wherever she passed, the fading verdure withered beneath her steps; her pestilential breath infected the air with malignant vapors-obscured the lustre of the sun, and involved the fair face of heaven in universal gloom. Dismal howlings resounded through the forest: from every baleful tree the night-raven uttered his dreadful note; and the prospect was filled with desolation and horror. In the midst of this tremendous scene, my execrable guide addressed me in the following manner: 4. Retire with me, O rash, unthinking mortal! from the vain allurements of a deceitful world; and learn that pleasure was not designed as the portion of human life. Man was born to mourn and to be wretched. This is the condition of all below the stars; and whoever endeavors to oppose it, acts in contradiction to the will of heaven. Fly, then, from the enchantments of youth and social delight, and here consecrate thy solitary hours to lamentation and wo. Misery is the duty of all sublunary beings; and every enjoyment is an offense to the Deity, who is to be worshiped only by the mortification of every sense of pleasure, and the everlasting exercise of sighs and tears." 5. This melancholy picture of life quite sunk my spirits, and seemed to annihilate every principle of joy within me. I threw myself beneath a blasted yew, where the winds blew cold and dismal around my head, and dreadful apprehensions chilled my heart. Here I resolved to lie till the hand of death, which I impatiently invoked, should put an end to the miseries of a life so deplorably wretched. In this sad situation, I espied on one hand of me a deep muddy river, whose heavy waves rolled on, in slow, sullen murmurs. f 6. Here I determined to plunge; and was just upon the brink, when I found myself suddenly drawn back. Î turned about, and was surprised by the sight of the loveliest object I had ever beheld. The most engaging charms of youth and beauty, appeared in all her form; effulgent glories sparkled in her eyes, and their awful splendors were softened, by the gentlest looks of compassion and peace. 7. At her approach, the frightful specter, who had before a Soor'-pi-ons, reptiles having venomous stings. Pest-i-len'-tial, containing contagion. c Ex'-e-cra-ble deserving to be cursed. d Sub'-lu-na-ry, earthly, being under the moon. e An-ni-hi-late, to reduce to nothing. In-vo'-ked, addressed in prayer. Spec-ter, an apparition, a ghost. tormented me, vanished away, and with her all the horrors she had caused. The gloomy clouds brightened into cheerful sunshine, the groves recovered their verdure, and the whole region looked gay and blooming as the garden of Eden. I was quite transported at this unexpected change, and reviving pleasure began to gladden my thoughts, when, with a look of inexpressible sweetness, my beauteous deliverer thus uttered her divine instructions: 8. "My name is Religion. I am the offspring of Truth and Love, and the parent of Benevolence, Hope, and Joy.— That monster, from whose power I have freed you, is called Superstition; she is the child of Discontent, and her followers are Fear and Sorrow. Thus, different as we are, she has often the insolence to assume my name and character; and seduces unhappy mortals to think us the same, till she at length drives them to the borders of Despair that dreadful abyss into which you were just going to sink. 9. "Look around and survey the various beauties of the globe, which heaven has destined for the seat of the human race, and consider whether a world thus exquisitely framed, could be intended for the abode of misery and pain. For what end has the lavish hand of Providence diffused innumerable objects of delight, but that all might rejoice in the privilege of existence, and be filled with gratitude to the beneficent Author of it. 10. "Thus to enjoy the blessings he has sent, is virtue and obedience; and to reject them merely as means of pleasure, is pitiable ignorance, or absurd perverseness. Infinite goodness is the source of created existence. The proper tendency of every rational being, from the highest order of raptured seraphs to the meanest rank of men, is, to rise incessantly from lower degrees of happiness to higher. They have faculties assigned them for various orders of delights." 11. "What!" cried I, "is this the language of Religion? Does she lead her votariese through flowery paths, and bid them pass an unlaborious life? Where are the painful toils of virtue, the mortifications of penitents, and the self denying exercises of saints and heroes ?" 12. "The true enjoyments of a reasonable being," answered she, mildly, "do not consist in unbounded indulgence, or luxurious' ease,-in the tumult of passions, the languor of indulgence, or the flutter of light amusements. Yielding to immoral pleasures corrupts the mind; living to animal and a A-byss', a deep pit. Ex'-quis-ite-ly, nicely, completely. c Per-verse'-ness, crossness, untractable ness. d Ser'-aphs, angels of the highest order. e Vo'-ta-rics, persons devoted by vow to any service. Lux-u'-ri-ous, voluptuous, softening. trifling ones debases it: both, in their degree, disqualify it for its genuine good, and consign it over to wretchedness. Whoever would be really happy, must make the diligent and regular exercise of his superior powers his chief attention,— adoring the perfections of his Maker, expressing good will to his fellow-creatures, and cultivating inward rectitude. 13. "To his corporeal faculties he must allow such gratifications, as will, by refreshing, invigorate him for nobler pursuits. In the regions inhabited by angelic natures, unmingled felicity forever blooms; joy flows there with a perpetual and abundant stream, nor needs any mound to check its course. Beings, conscious of a frame of mind originally diseased, as all the human race have cause to be, must use the regimen of a stricter self-government. 14. Whoever has been guilty of voluntary excesses, must patiently submit, both to the painful workings of nature, and needful severities of medicine, in order to his cure. Still he is entitled to a moderate share, of whatever alleviating accommodations this fair mansion of his merciful Parent affords, consistent with his recovery. And, in proportion as this recovery advances, the liveliest joy will spring from his secret sense of an amended and improved heart.-So far from the horrors of despair is the condition, even of the guilty.Sludder, poor mortal, at the thought of the gulf into which hou wast just now going to plunge. 15. "While the most faulty have every encouragement to anend, the more innocent soul will be supported with still sweeter consolations under all its experience of human infirmiies-supported by the gladdening assurances, that every sincere endeavor to outgrow them, shall he assisted, accepted, and rewarded. To such a one, the lowest self-abasement is bu a deep-laid foundation for the most elevated hopes; since they who faithfully examine and acknowledge what they are, shill be enabled, under my conduct, to become what they desire. 16. "The Christian and the hero are inseparable; and to the aspirings of unassuming trust and filiale confidence, are set no bounds. To him who is animated with a view of obtaining approbation from the Sovereign of the universe, no difficulty is insurmountable. Secure, in this pursuit, of every needful aid, his conflict with the severest pains and trials, more than the vigorous exercises of a mind in health. His patient dependence on that providence which ity, his silent resignation,-his ready |