Whether any nations accepted the doctrine of metempsychosis, and thought
that "the souls of their grandams might haply inhabit a partridge," we
are without the means of knowing. La Hontan denies it positively of the
Algonkins; but the natives of Popoyan refused to kill doves, says
Coreal,[254-1] because they believe them inspired by the souls of the
departed. And Father Ignatius Chome relates that he heard a woman of the
Chiriquanes in Buenos Ayres say of a fox: "May that not be the spirit of
my dead daughter?"[254-2] But before accepting such testimony as
decisive, we must first inquire whether these tribes believed in a
multiplicity of souls, whether these animals had a symbolical value, and
if not, whether the soul was not simply presumed to put on this shape in
its journey to the land of the hereafter: inquiries which are
unanswered. Leaving, therefore, the question open, whether the sage of
Samos had any disciples in the new world, another and more fruitful
topic is presented by their well-ascertained notions of the resurrection
of the dead.
Pages:
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413