SHADES OE CHARACTER. 
299 
the old continent very different races of men, the Lapland- 
ers, the Finlanders, and the Esthonians, the Germanic 
nations and the Hindoos, the Persians and the Kurds, the 
Tartar and Mongol tribes, speak languages, the mechanism 
and roots of which present the greatest analogy. 
The Indians of the American Missions arc all agricultur- 
ists. Excepting those who inhabit the high mountains, they 
all cultivate the same plants ; their huts are arranged in the 
same manner ; their days of labour, their work in the conuco 
of the community; their connexions with the missionaries 
and the magistrates chosen from among themselves, are all 
subject to uniform regulations. Nevertheless (and this fact 
is very remarkable in the history of nations), these analogous 
circumstances have not effaced the individual features, or 
the shades of character which distinguish the American tribes. 
We observe in the men of copper hue, a moral inflexibility, 
a stedfast perseverance in habits and manners, which, 
though modified in each tribe, characterise essentially the 
whole race. These peculiarities arc found in every region ; 
from the equator to Hudson’s Bay on the one hand, and 
to the Straits of Magellan on the other. They are con- 
nected with the physical organization of the natives, but 
they are powerfully favoured by the monastic system. 
There exist in the missions few villages in which the dif- 
ferent families do not belong to different tribes and speak 
different languages. Societies composed of elements thus 
heterogeneous are difficult to govern. In general, the 
monks have united whole nations, or great portions of 
the same nations, in villages situated near to each other. 
The natives see only those of their own tribe; for the 
want of communication, and the isolated state of the people, 
are essential points in the policy of the missionaries. The 
reduced Chaymas, Caribs, and Tamanacs, retain their natural 
physiognomy, whilst they have preserved their languages. 
If the individuality of man be in some sort reflected in his 
idioms, these in their turn re-act on his ideas and senti- 
ments. It is this intimate connection between language, 
character, and physical constitution, which maintains and 
perpetuates the diversity of nations ; that unfailing source 
of life and motion in the intellectual world. 
The missionaries may have prohibited the Indians from 
following certain practices and observing certain ccremo* 
