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Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851

"Oak Openings"

"They have public worship on a
Saturday, as we do on a Sunday. Now, I did think I saw some signs of
Peter's privately worshipping yesterday, while we were all so busy
at our garrison. You may have observed how thoughtful and silent the
chief was in the middle of the afternoon."
"I DID observe it," said the bee-hunter, "but must own I did not
suspect him of holding meeting for any purposes within himself. That
was one of the times when I like the manners and behavior of this
Injin the least."
"We do not know--we do not know--perhaps his spirit struggled with
the temptations of the Evil One. To me he appeared to be
worshipping, and I set the fact down as a proof that the red men
keep the Jewish Sabbath."
"I did not know that the Jews keep a Sabbath different from our own,
else I might have thought the same. But I never saw a Jew, to my
knowledge. Did you, Margery?"
"Not to know him for one," answered the girl; and true enough was
the remark of each. Five-and-thirty years ago, America was
singularly not only a Christian but a Protestant nation. Jews
certainly did exist in the towns, but they were so blended with the
rest of the population, and were so few in number, as scarcely to
attract attention to them as a sect.


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