200 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



venge, or policy, ever lead him to betray its in- 

 terests or councils, to desert to the enemy, or 

 to prove a traitor to the country and tribe, that 

 gave him birth. This principle connected to- 

 gether the members of the same tribe : It seems 

 to have taken the deepest root, to ha^e acted 

 with the greatest force, and to have been the 

 least corrupted, in the savage state. 



When the interests of their countrv were to 

 be considered, niiich prudence Mid ivisdom were 

 displayed in their councils. The chiefs and el- 

 ders consulted with c^reat deliberation, serious- 

 ness, and calmness ; and Vvithout any apptar- 

 ance of provocation, resentment, or impatience 

 at contradiction and opposition. Every propo- 

 sal was considered ; the probable efit-cts and 

 consequences, advantages and disadvantages, 

 were examined and weighed. No heat, anger, 

 ill nature, or reflections upon one another, but 

 perfect calmness prevailed : And that conclu- 

 sion was embraced, which appeared to be most 

 beneficial to the tribe. Those of the Europe- 

 ans Vvho have attended these councils of the 

 savages, have compared them to the accounts, 

 historians have given us, of the proceedings of 

 the senates in the ancient republics,* They 

 bore the appearance of solemnity, gravity, and 

 deliberation. In these councils, iutegr^itJj and 

 public virtue v/as ahvays preserved. Tlie ob- 

 jects they had to determine, were not of a trivial 

 or insignificant nature : they were those, which 

 involve all that is the most dear, valuable, and 

 important to man, in any stage of society : The 



* Cbarlevoix^ii. 36. Smith's Hist. Ncv,york,p.53.Piiil. Edit* 



