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Brainerd Jan 30 1838

Very dear Sir,

 Your kind favour of the 5th Inst: came by the last mail. No apology was necessary on

your part, but I must beg leave, in the commencement of my reply to ask your forgiveness for proposing such a question as I did in my last. After you have fully expressed your wish that I would not send abroad into the world the information I had collected for yourself, the occasion of this was as follows viz. In conversation with a certain gentleman from the state of New York, now in the service of the U. States as a physician, I mentioned some interesting customs and traditions of the Indians. He requested me to furnish him with some information to communicate to his friends. I told him the obligation I was under to yourself, and could not make any communication to others at present. He desired to see one of my manuscripts This I could not return. He commenced writing. I repeated my obligation to you. He assured me he would take no extract, nor write any thing which would at all violate my engagement. I told him that if he would wait, I would write you, and in case you should not object, I would furnish him with whatever information he might need. To this he agreed, tho, he wrote perhaps half a sheet; making some general statements, saying for instance that the Indians had certain traditions resembling the historical records of scripture, concerning the flood, the tower of Babel, the journeyings of the Israelites &c and also that there was a great similarity between the ideas of the Indians and jews with regard to the sameness of the name jehovah. As far as I know, these are all the points he noted as he had no particular statements, I presume that nothing which he wrote or can write will in any way whatever affect your work.

 Mr. Featherstonhaugh, United ^states geologist, had the kindness to call on us last fall. He brought me under special

obligation to himself. On leaving the country, he sent me a very rare and excellent work, accompanied with a request that I would write to him this winter, giving him some instances of the most striking resemblance between jewish and Indian antiquities. But I have entirely deferred writing, even till the present time, lest attempting to oblige one, I should disoblige another to whom I was ? previous obligation. Now although there may be some general rumours respecting Indian antiquities, yet I do not apprehend that any definite information has gone abroad. Nothing which^can affect in any way your work.