back to the inſtitutions of Woden and of Thor, as they are adviſed to do: if they had been counſelled to adopt a ſimple monarchy at once, it would have been leſs myſterious. Robertſon, Hume, and Gibbon have given ſuch admirable accounts of the feudal inſtitutions, and their conſequences, that it would have been more diſcreet to have referred to them, perhaps, without ſaying any thing more upon the ſubject. To collect together the legiſlation of the Indians, would take up much room, but would be well worth the pains. The ſovereignty is in the nation, it is true, but the three powers are ſtrong in every tribe; and their royal and ariſtocratical dignities are much more generally hereditary, from the popular partiality to particular families, and the ſuperſtitious opinion that ſuch are favourites of the God of War, than the late writers upon this ſubject have allowed.
- Groſvenor Square,
- January 1, 1787.
