Nothing can show more clearly how fallacious are those deductions of comparative etymology, which are founded upon a few words carefully gleaned here and there from languages having no common origin, and which are used by people who have neither connection nor intercourse. The common descent of two nations can never be traced by the accidental consonance of a few syllables or words, and the attempt must lead us into the regions of fancy.
The Sioux language is probably one of the most barren which is spoken by any of our aboriginal tribes. Colonel Leavenworth, who made considerable proficiency in it, calculated, I believe, that the number of words did not exceed one thousand. They use more gestures in their conversation than any Indians I have seen, and this is a necessary result of the poverty of their language.
I am well aware, that the subject of this letter is not within the ordinary sphere of official communications. But I rely for your indulgence upon the interest which you have shown to procure and disseminate a full knowledge of every subject connected with the internal condition of our country.
I am preparing a memoir upon the present state of the Indians, agreeably to the intimation in my letter of September last. I shall finish and transmit it to you as soon as my other duties will permit.
Very respectfully, sir,
I have, &c.,
LEWIS CASS.
Hon. John C. Calhoun,
Secretary of War.
XXI.
Inquiries respecting the History of the Indians of the United States. By Lewis Cass.
These queries were published at Detroit in separate pamphlets, about the era of 1822, and communicated to persons in the Indian country supposed to be capable of furnishing the desired information. The results became the topic of several critical disquisitions, which appeared in the pages of the North American Review in 1825 and 1826; disquisitions the spirit and tone of which created, as the reader who is posted up on the topic will remember, a sensation among philological and philosophical readers.
Whether we are most to admire the bold tone of inquiry assumed by Gen. Cass, the acumen displayed in the discussions, the eloquence of the language, or the general soundness of the positions taken, is the only question left for decision. Certainly, nobody can arise from the perusal of these papers without becoming wiser or better informed on the subjects discussed. The mere luxury of high-toned and eloquent language is a gratification to the inquirer. But he cannot close these investigations into a subject of deep historical and philological interest without feeling established in the principles of historic truth, or warmed in his literary ardor.