295 
outside envelope, seem to agree so well with those of the other. 
parts of the world as to give a strong argument, though they 
may not absolutely prove it, that, if they had no direct revela- 
tion from Heaven since they came here (and no one claims 
this, I believe), they must have descended from those who 
had direct intercourse with Heaven. 
Religion may naturally be divided into four parts: the 
Beings in the Spirit World more powerful than Man; Man asa 
Spiritual Being; the relations between Man and these Beings 
of the other world ; and Man’s future State. 
I.—Tue Brrnes of THE SPIRIT WokrRLpD. 
(a) The Supreme Being.—The Indians are generally sup- 
posed to have a belief in some such Being, not exactly the 
God of the white man, but some Great Being, superior to 
man and all other spirits. In a general way, almost any 
history of America makes this statement, though without 
perhaps speaking of the different shades of belief among the 
different tribes, or any apparent or real exceptions to it. 
Lossing, Wilson, Quackenbos, and others do so. 
But, beginning with the southern extremity of the conti- 
nent, the Patagonians pray to a Great Spirit, who is worthy 
of all veneration, and does not live in the world. The in- 
habitants of Tierra del Fuego have similar ideas, and the same 
is true of the Brazilian tribes and those about the Orinoco 
River.* 
Says Rev. W. H. Brett, for many years a missionary among 
the tribes of Guiana: ‘‘ There is a confused idea dwelling in 
their minds respecting the existence of one Good Spirit. They 
regard him as their Creator, and their ideas of his nature are 
in many points surprisingly correct. As far as we could learn, 
they regard him as immortal, omnipotent, invisible, and 
omniscient ; but, notwithstanding this, we have never dis- 
covered any traces of religious worship paid to him. They 
seem to consider him as a Being too high to notice them, 
and, not knowing him as a God who hears prayer, they con- 
cern themselves but little about him. Ages have elapsed 
since their ancestors gradually forsook God, yet still tradition 
has handed down a belief in the existence of a Supreme Being, 
which the observation of nature has confirmed, for lightning 
and thunder convinced them of his power, and the growth of 
their cassava and other food of his goodness.’’+ 
* Bradford’s American Antiquities. 
+ Brett’s Indian Tribes of Guiana, pp. 67, 283. 
