CHAPTER XVII.
Who will believe that, with a smile whose blessing
Would, like the patriarch's, soothe a dying hour;
With voice as low, as gentle, and caressing
As e'er won maiden's lips in moonlight bower;
With look like patient Job's, eschewing evil;
With motions graceful as the birds in air;
Thou art, in sober truth, the veriest devil
That e'er clinched fingers in a captive's hair?
--HALLECK'S Red-Jacket.
Although the arrival of the runner was so totally unexpected, it
scarcely disturbed the quiet of that grave assembly. His approaching
step had been heard, and he was introduced in the manner mentioned,
when the young chief resumed his seat, leaving the messenger
standing near the centre of the circle, and altogether within the
influence of the light. He was an Ottawa, and had evidently
travelled far and fast. At length he spoke; no one having put a
single question to him, or betrayed the least sign of impatient
curiosity.
"I come to tell the chiefs what has happened," said the runner. "Our
Great Father from Quebec has sent his young men against the Yankees.
Red warriors, too, were there in hundreds--" here a murmur of
interest was slightly apparent among the chiefs--"their path led
them to Detroit; it is taken."
A low murmur, expressive of satisfaction, passed round the circle,
for Detroit was then the most important of all the posts held by the
Americans, along the whole line of the great lakes. Eye met eye in
surprise and admiration; then one of the older chiefs yielded to his
interest in the subject, and inquired:
"Have our young men taken many pale-face scalps?"
"So few that they are not worth counting. I did not see one pole
that was such as an Indian loves to look on."
"Did our young men keep back, and let the warriors from Quebec do
all the fighting?"
"No one fought. The Yankees asked to be made prisoners, without
using their rifles. Never before have so many captives been led into
the villages with so little to make their enemies look on them with
friendly eyes."
A gleam of fierce delight passed athwart the dark features of Peter.
It is probable that he fell into the same error, on hearing these
tidings, as that which so generally prevailed for a short time among
the natives of the old world, at the commencement of both of the two
last wars of the republic, when the disasters with which they opened
induced so many to fall into the fatal error of regarding Jonathan
as merely a "shopkeeper." A shopkeeper, in a certain sense, he may
well be accounted; but among his wares are arms, that he has the
head, the heart, and the hands to use, as man has very rarely been
known to use them before. Even at this very instant, the brilliant
success which has rendered the armed citizens of this country the
wonder of Europe, is reacting on the masses of the old world,
teaching them their power, and inciting them to stand up to the
regularly armed bands of their rulers, with a spirit and confidence
that, hitherto, has been little known in their histories. Happy,
thrice happy will it be, if the conquerors use their success in
moderation, and settle down into the ways of practical reason,
instead of suffering their minds to be led astray in quest of the
political jack-o'-lanterns, that are certain to conduct their
followers into the quagmires of impracticable and visionary
theories. To abolish abuses, to set in motion the car of state on
the track of justice and economy, and to distinguish between that
which is really essential to human happiness and human rights, and
that which is merely the result of some wild and bootless
proposition in political economy, are the great self-imposed tasks
that the European people seem now to have assumed; and God grant
that they may complete their labors with the moderation and success
with which they would appear to have commenced them!
As for Peter, with the curse of ignorance weighing on his mind, it
is to be presumed that he fancied his own great task of destroying
the whites was so much the lighter, in consequence of the feeble
defence of the Yankees at Detroit. The runner was now questioned by
the different chiefs for details, which he furnished with sufficient
intelligence and distinctness. The whole of that discreditable story
is too prominent in history, and of too recent occurrence, to stand
in need of repetition here. When the runner had told his tale, the
chiefs broke the order of their circle, to converse the more easily
concerning the great events which had just occurred. Some were not
backward in letting their contempt for the "Yankees" be known. Here
were three of their strong places taken, in quick succession, and
almost without a blow. Detroit, the strongest of them all, and
defended by an army, had fallen in a way to bring the blush to the
American face, seemingly leaving the whole of the northwestern
frontier of the country ravished from the red man, exposed to his
incursions and depredations.
"What does my father think of this?" asked Bear's Meat of Peter, as
the two stood apart, in a cluster of some three or four of the
principal personages present. "Does the news make his heart
stronger?"
"It is always strong when this business is before it. The Manitou
has long looked darkly upon the red men, but now his face brightens.
The cloud is passing from before his countenance, and we can begin
again to see his smile. It will be with our sons as it was with our
fathers. Our hunting-grounds will be our own, and the buffalo and
deer will be plenty in our wigwams. The fire-water will flow after
them that brought it into the country, and the red man will once
more be happy, as in times past!"
The ignis fatuus of human happiness employs all minds, all
faculties, all pens, and all theories, just at this particular
moment. A thousand projects have been broached, will continue to be
broached, and will fail, each in its time, showing the mistakes of
men, without remedying the evils of which they complain. This is not
because a beneficent Providence has neglected to enlighten their
minds, and to show them the way to be happy, here and hereafter; but
because human conceit runs, pari passu, with human woes, and we are
too proud to look for our lessons of conduct, in that code in which
they have been set before us by unerring wisdom and ceaseless love.
If the political economists, and reformers, and revolutionists of
the age, would turn from their speculations to those familiar
precepts which all are taught and so few obey, they would find rules
for every emergency; and, most of all, would they learn the great
secret which lies so profoundly hid from them and their philosophy,
in the contented mind. Nothing short of this will ever bring the
mighty reform that the world needs. The press may be declared free,
but a very brief experience will teach those who fancy that this one
conquest will secure the victory, that they have only obtained King
Stork in the lieu of King Log; a vulgar and most hideous tyrant for
one of royal birth and gentle manners. They may set up the rule of
patriots by profession, in place of the dominion of those who have
so long pretended that the art of governing descends from male to
male, according to the order of primogeniture, and live to wonder
that love of country should have so many weaknesses in common with
love of itself. They may rely on written charters for their
liberties, instead of the divine right of kings, and come perchance
to learn, that neither language, nor covenants, nor signatures, nor
seals avail much, as against the necessities of nations, and the
policy of rulers. Do we then regard reform as impossible, and
society to be doomed to struggle on in its old sloughs of oppression
and abuses? Far from it. We believe and hope, that at each effort of
a sage character, something is gained, while much more than had been
expected is lost; and such we think will continue to be the course
of events, until men shall reach that period in their history when,
possibly to their wonder, they will find that a faultless code for
the government of all their affairs has been lying neglected, daily
and hourly, in their very hands, for eighteen centuries and a half,
without their perceiving the all-important truth. In due season this
code will supersede all others, when the world will, for the first
time, be happy and truly free.
There was a marked resemblance between the hopes and expectations of
Peter, in reference to the overthrow of his pale-face enemies on the
American continent, and those of the revolutionists of the old world
in reference to the overthrow of their strong-intrenched foes on
that of Europe. Each fancies success more easy of attainment than
the end is likely to show; both overlook the terrible power of their
adversaries; and both take the suggestions of a hope that is lively
rather than enlightened, as the substitute for the lessons of
wisdom.
It was some little time ere the council had so far regained its
calm, as to think of inviting the missionary to resume his
discourse. The last had necessarily heard the news, and was so much
troubled by it, as to feel no great disposition to proceed; but
Peter intimating that "the ears of his friends were open," he was of
opinion it would be wisest to go on with his traditions.
"Thus it was, my children," Parson Amen continued, the circle being
just as quiet and attentive as if no interruption had occurred--"the
Great Spirit, selecting from among the nations of the earth, one to
be his chosen people. I cannot stop, now, to tell you all he did for
this nation, in the way of wonders and powers; but, finally, he
placed them in a beautiful country, where milk and honey abounded,
and made them its masters. From that people, in his earthly
character, came the Christ whom we missionaries preach to you, and
who is the great head of our church. Although the Jews, or
Israelites, as we call that people, were thus honored and thus
favored of the Manitou, they were but men, they had the weaknesses
of men. On more than one occasion they displeased the Great Spirit,
and that so seriously as to draw down condign punishment on
themselves, and on their wives and children. In various ways were
they visited for their backsliding and sins, each time repenting and
receiving forgiveness. At length the Great Spirit, tired of their
forgetfulness and crimes, allowed an army to come into their land,
and to carry away as captives no less than ten of their twelve
tribes; putting their people in strange hunting-grounds. Now, this
happened many thousands of moons since, and no one can say with
certainty what has become of those captives, whom Christians are
accustomed to call 'the lost tribes of Israel.'"
Here the missionary paused to arrange his thoughts, and a slight
murmur was heard in the circle as the chiefs communed together, in
interested comments on what had just been said. The pause, however,
was short, and the speaker again proceeded, safe from any ungracious
interruption, among auditors so trained in self-restraint.
"Children, I shall not now say anything touching the birth of
Christ, the redemption of the world, and the history of the two
tribes that remained in the land where God had placed his people;
for that is a part of the subject that comes properly within the
scope of my ordinary teaching. At present I wish only to speak of
yourselves; of the red man of America, of his probable origin and
end, and of a great discovery that many of us think we have made, on
this most interesting topic in the history of the good book. Does
any one present know aught of the ten lost tribes of whom I have
spoken?"
Eye met eye, and expectation was lively among those primitive and
untaught savages. At length Crowsfeather arose to answer, the
missionary standing the whole time, motionless, as if waiting for a
reply.
"My brother has told us a tradition," said the Pottawattamie. "It is
a good tradition. It is a strange tradition. Red men love to hear
such traditions. It is wonderful that so many as ten tribes should
be LOST, at the same time, and no one know what has become of them!
My brother asks us if WE know what has become of these ten tribes.
How should poor red men, who live on their hunting-grounds, and who
are busy when the grass grows in getting together food for their
squaws and pappooses, against a time when the buffalo can find
nothing to eat in this part of the world, know anything of a people
that they never saw? My brother has asked a question that he only
can answer. Let him tell us where these ten tribes are to be found,
if he knows the place. We should like to go and look at them."
"Here!" exclaimed the missionary, the instant Crowsfeather ceased
speaking, and even before he was seated. "Here--in this council--on
these prairies--in these openings--here, on the shores of the great
lakes of sweet water, and throughout the land of America, are these
tribes to be found. The red man is a Jew; a Jew is a red man. The
Manitou has brought the scattered people of Israel to this part of
the world, and I see his power in the wonderful fact. Nothing but a
miracle could have done this!"
Great was the admiration of the Indians at this announcement! None
of their own traditions gave this account of their origin; but there
is reason to believe, on the other hand, that none of them
contradict it. Nevertheless, here was a medicine-priest of the pale-
faces boldly proclaiming the fact, and great was the wonder of all
who heard, thereat! Having spoken, the missionary again paused, that
his words might produce their effect. Bear's Meat now became his
interrogator, rising respectfully, and standing during the colloquy
that succeeded.
"My brother has spoken a great tradition," said the Menominee. "Did
he first hear it from his fathers?"
"In part, only. The history of the lost tribes has come down to us
from our fathers; it is written in the good book of the pale-faces;
the book that contains the word of the Great Spirit."
"Does the good book of the pale-faces say that the red men are the
children of the people he has mentioned?"
"I cannot say that it does. While the good book tells us so much, it
also leaves very much untold. It is best that we should look for
ourselves, that we may find out some of its meanings. It is in thus
looking, that many Christians see the great truth which makes the
Indians of America and the Jews beyond the great salt lake, one and
the same people."
"If this be so, let my brother tell us how far it is from our
hunting-grounds to that distant land across the great salt lake."
"I cannot give you this distance in miles exactly; but I suppose it
may be eleven or twelve times the length of Michigan."
"Will my brother tell us how much of this long path is water, and
how much of it is dry land?"
"Perhaps one-fourth is land, as the traveller may choose; the rest
must be water, if the journey be made from the rising toward the
setting sun, which is the shortest path; but, let the journey be
made from the setting toward the rising sun, and there is little
water to cross; rivers and lakes of no great width, as is seen here,
but only a small breadth of salt lake."
"Are there, then, two roads to that far-off land, where the red men
are thought to have once lived?
"Even so. The traveller may come to this spot from that land by way
of the rising sun, or by way of the setting sun."
The general movement among the members of the council denoted the
surprise with which this account was received. As the Indians, until
they have had much intercourse with the whites, very generally
believe the earth to be flat, it was not easy for them to comprehend
how a given point could be reached by directly opposite routes. Such
an apparent contradiction would be very likely to extort further
questions.
"My brother is a medicine-man of the pale-faces; his hairs are
gray," observed Crowsfeather. "Some of your medicine-men are good,
and some wicked. It is so with the medicine-men of the red-skins.
Good and bad are to be found in all nations. A medicine-man of your
people cheated my young men by promising to show them where fire-
water grows. He did not show them. He let them smell, but he did not
let them drink. That was a wicked medicine-man. His scalp would not
be safe did my young men see it again"--here the bee-hunter,
insensibly to himself, felt for his rifle, making sure that he had
it between his legs; the corporal being a little surprised at the
sudden start he gave. "His hair does not grow on his head closer
than the trees grow to the ground. Even a tree can be cut down. But
all medicine-men are not alike. My brother is a GOOD medicine-man.
All he says may not be just as he thinks, but he BELIEVES what he
says. It is wonderful how men can look two ways; but it is more
wonderful that they should go to the same place by paths that lead
before and behind. This we do not understand; my brother will tell
us how it can be."
"I believe I understand what it is that my children would know. They
think the earth is flat, but the pale-faces know that it is round.
He who travels and travels toward the setting sun would come to this
very spot, if he travelled long enough. The distance would be great,
but the end of every straight path in this world is the place of
starting."
"My brother says this. He says many curious things. I have heard a
medicine-man of his people say that the palefaces have seen their
Great Spirit, talked with him, walked with him. It is not so with us
Indians. Our Manitou speaks to us in thunder only. We are ignorant,
and wish to learn more than we now know. Has my brother ever
travelled on that path which ends where it begins? Once, on the
prairies, I lost my way. There was snow, and glad was I to find
tracks. I followed the tracks. But one traveller had passed. After
walking an hour, two had passed. Another hour, and the three had
passed, Then I saw the tracks were my own, and that I had been
walking, as the squaws reason, round and round, but not going
ahead."
"I understand my friend, but he is wrong. It is no matter which path
the lost tribes travelled to get here. The main question is, whether
they came at all. I see in the red men, in their customs, their
history, their looks, and even in their traditions, proof that they
are these Jews, once the favored people of the Great Spirit."
"If the Manitou so well loves the Indians, why has he permitted the
pale-faces to take away their hunting-grounds? Why has he made the
red man poor, and the white man rich? Brother, I am afraid your
tradition is a lying tradition, or these things would not be so."
"It is not given to men to understand the wisdom that cometh from
above. That which seemeth so strange to us may be right. The lost
tribes had offended God; and their scattering, and captivity, and
punishment, are but so many proofs of his displeasure. But, if lost,
we have reason to believe that one day they will be found. Yes, my
children, it will be the pleasure of the Great Spirit, one day, to
restore you to the land of your fathers, and make you again, what
you once were, a great and glorious people!"
As the well-meaning but enthusiastic missionary spoke with great
fervor, the announcement of such an event, coming as it did from one
whom they respected, even while they could not understand him, did
not fail to produce a deep sensation. If their fortunes were really
the care of the Great Spirit, and justice was to be done to them by
his love and wisdom, then would the projects of Peter, and those who
acted and felt with him, be unnecessary, and might lead to evil
instead of to good. That sagacious savage did not fail to discover
this truth; and he now believed it might be well for him to say a
word, in order to lessen the influence Parson Amen might otherwise
obtain among those whom it was his design to mould in a way entirely
to meet his own wishes. So intense was the desire of this mysterious
leader to execute vengeance on the pale-faces, that the redemption
of the tribes from misery and poverty, unaccompanied by this part of
his own project, would have given him pain in lieu of pleasure. His
very soul had got to be absorbed in this one notion of retribution,
and of annihilation for the oppressors of his race; and he regarded
all things through a medium of revenge, thus created by his
feelings, much as the missionary endeavored to bend every fact and
circumstance, connected with the Indians, to the support of his
theory touching their Jewish origin.
When Peter arose, therefore, fierce and malignant passions were at
work in his bosom; such as a merciful and a benignant deity never
wishes to see in the breast of man, whether civilized or savage. The
self-command of the Tribeless, however, was great, and he so far
succeeded in suppressing the volcano that was raging within, as to
speak with his usual dignity and an entire calmness of exterior.
"My brothers have heard what the medicine-man had to say," Peter
commenced. "He has told them that which was new to them. He has told
them an Indian is not an Indian. That a red man is a pale-face, and
that we are not what we thought we were. It is good to learn. It
makes the difference between the wise and the foolish. The palefaces
learn more than the red-skins. That is the way they have learned how
to get our hunting-grounds. That is the way they have learned to
build their villages on the spots where our fathers killed the deer.
That is the way they have learned how to come and tell us that we
are not Indians, but Jews. I wish to learn. Though old, my mind
craves to know more. That I may know more, I will ask this medicine-
man questions, and my brothers can open their ears, and learn a
little, too, by what he answers. Perhaps we shall believe that we
are not red-skins, but pale-faces. Perhaps we shall believe that our
true hunting-grounds are not near the great lakes of sweet water,
but under the rising sun. Perhaps we shall wish to go home, and to
leave these pleasant openings for the pale faces to put their cabins
on them, as the small-pox that they have also given to us, puts its
sores on our bodies. Brother--" turning toward the missionary--
"listen. You say we are no longer Indians, but Jews: is this true of
ALL red men, or only of the tribes whose chiefs are HERE?"
"Of ALL red men, as I most sincerely believe. You are now red, but
once all of your people were fairer than the fairest of the pale-
faces. It is climate, and hardships, and sufferings that have
changed your color."
"If suffering can do THAT," returned Peter, with emphasis, "I wonder
we are not BLACK. When ALL our hunting-grounds are covered with the
farms of your people, I think we shall be BLACK."
Signs of powerful disgust were now visible among the listeners, an
Indian having much of the contempt that seems to weigh so heavily on
that unfortunate class, for all of the color mentioned. At the
south, as is known, the red man has already made a slave of the
descendants of the children of Africa, but no man has ever yet made
a slave of a son of the American forests! THAT is a result which no
human power has yet been able to accomplish. Early in the settlement
of the country, attempts were indeed MADE, by sending a few
individuals to the islands; but so unsuccessful did the experiment
turn out to be, that the design was soon abandoned. Whatever may be
his degradation, and poverty, and ignorance, and savage ferocity, it
would seem to be the settled purpose of the American Indians of our
own territories--unlike the aborigines who are to be found farther
south--to live and die free men.
"My children," answered the missionary, "I pretend not to say what
will happen, except as it has been told to us in the word of God.
You know that we pale-faces have a book, in which the Great Spirit
has told us his laws, and foretold to us many of the things that are
to happen. Some of these things HAVE happened, while some remain TO
happen. The loss of the ten tribes was foretold, and HAS happened;
but their being FOUND again, has not YET happened, unless indeed I
am so blessed as to be one of those who have been permitted to meet
them in these openings. Here is the book--it goes where I go, and is
my companion and friend, by day and by night; in good and evil; in
season and out of season. To this book I cling as to my great
anchor, that is to carry me through the storms in safety! Every line
in it is precious; every word true!"
Perhaps half the chiefs present had seen books before, while those
who now laid eyes on one for the first time, had heard of this art
of the pale-faces, which enabled them to set down their traditions
in a way peculiar to themselves. Even the Indians have their
records, however, though resorting to the use of natural signs, and
a species of hieroglyphics, in lieu of the more artistical process
of using words and letters, in a systemized written language. The
Bible, too, was a book of which all had heard, more or less; though
not one of those present had ever been the subject of its influence.
A Christian Indian, indeed--and a few of those were to be found even
at that day--would hardly have attended a council convened for the
objects which had caused this to be convened. Still, a strong but
regulated curiosity existed, to see, and touch, and examine the
great medicine-book of the pale-faces. There was a good deal of
superstition blended with the Indian manner of regarding the sacred
volume; some present having their doubts about touching it, even
while most excited by admiration, and a desire to probe its secrets.
Peter took the little volume, which the missionary extended as if
inviting any one who might so please, to examine it also. It was the
first time the wary chief had ever suffered that mysterious book to
touch him. Among his other speculations on the subject of the manner
in which the white men were encroaching, from year to year, on the
lands of the natives, it had occurred to his mind that this
extraordinary volume, which the pale-faces all SEEMED to reverence,
even to the drunkards of the garrisons, might contain the great
elements of their power. Perhaps he was not very much out of the way
in this supposition; though they who use the volume habitually, are
not themselves aware, one-half the time, why it is so.
On the present occasion, Peter saw the great importance of not
betraying apprehension, and he turned over the pages awkwardly, as
one would be apt to handle a book for the first time, but boldly and
without hesitation. Encouraged by the impunity that accompanied this
hardihood, Peter shook the leaves open, and held the volume on high,
in a way that told his own people that he cared not for its charms
or power. There was more of seeming than of truth, however, in this
bravado; for never before had this extraordinary being made so heavy
a draft on his courage and self-command, as in the performance of
this simple act. He did not, could not know what were the virtues of
the book, and his imagination very readily suggested the worst. As
the great medicine-volume of the pale-faces, it was quite likely to
contain that which was hostile to the red men; and this fact, so
probable to his eyes, rendered it likely that some serious evil to
himself might follow from the contact. It did not, however; and a
smile of grim satisfaction lighted his swarthy countenance, as,
turning to the missionary, he said with point--
"Let my brother open his eyes. I have looked into his medicine-book,
but do not see that the red man is anything but a red man. The Great
Spirit made him; and what the Great Spirit makes, lasts. The pale-
faces have made their book, and it lies."
"No, no--Peter, Peter, thou utterest wicked words. But the Lord will
pardon thee, since thou knowest not what thou sayest. Give me the
sacred volume, that I may place it next my heart, where I humbly
trust so many of its divine precepts are already entrenched."
This was said in English, under the impulse of feeling, but being
understood by Peter, the latter quietly relinquished the Bible,
preparing to follow up the advantage he perceived he had gained, on
the spot.
"My brother has his medicine-book, again," said Peter, "and the red
men live. This hand is not withered like the dead branch of the
hemlock; yet it has held his word of the Great Spirit! It may be
that a red-skin and a pale-face book cannot do each other harm. I
looked into my brother's great charm, but did not see or hear a
tradition that tells me we are Jews. There is a bee-hunter in these
openings. I have talked with him. He has told me who these Jews are.
He says they are people who do not go with the pale-faces, but live
apart from them, like men with the small-pox. It is not right for my
brother to come among the red men, and tell them that their fathers
were not good enough to live, and eat, and go on the same paths as
his fathers."
"This is all a mistake, Peter--a great and dangerous mistake. The
bee-hunter has heard the Jews spoken of by those who do not
sufficiently read the good book. They have been, and are still, the
chosen people of the Great Spirit, and will one day be received back
to his favor. Would that I were one of them, only enlightened by the
words of the New Testament! No real Christian ever can, or does now
despise a son of Israel, whatever has been done in times past. It is
an honor, and not a disgrace, to be what I have said my friends
are."
"If this be so, why do not the pale-faces let us keep out hunting-
grounds to ourselves? We are content. We do not wish to be Jews. Our
canoes are too small to cross the great salt lake. They are hardly
large enough to cross the great lakes of sweet water. We should be
tired of paddling so far. My brother says there is a rich land under
the rising sun, which the Manitou gave to the red men. Is this so?"
"Beyond all doubt. It was given to the children of Israel, for a
possession forever; and though you have been carried away from it
for a time, there the land still is, open to receive you, and
waiting the return of its ancient masters. In good season that
return must come; for we have the word of God for it, in our
Christian Bible."
"Let my brother open his ears very wide, and hear what I have to
say. We thank him for letting us know that we are Jews. We believe
that he thinks what he says. Still, we think we are red men, and
Injins, and not Jews. We never saw the place where the sun rises. We
do not wish to see it. Our hunting-grounds are nearer to the place
where he sets. If the pale-faces believe we have a right to that
distant land, which is so rich in good things, we will give it to
them, and keep these openings, and prairies, and woods. We know the
game of this country, and have found out how to kill it. We do not
know the game under the rising sun, which may kill us. Go to your
friends and say, 'The Injins will give you that land near the rising
sun, if you will let them alone on their hunting-grounds, where they
have so long been. They say that your canoes are larger than their
canoes, and that one can carry a whole tribe. They have seen some of
your big canoes on the great lakes, and have measured them. Fill all
you have got with your squaws and pappooses, put your property in
them, and go back by the long path through which you came. Then will
the red man thank the pale-face and be his friend. The white man is
welcome to that far-off land. Let him take it, and build his
villages on it, and cut down its trees. This is all the Injins ask.
If the pale-faces can take away with them the small-pox and the
fire-water, it will be better still. They brought both into this
country, it is right that they should take them away.' Will my
brother tell this to his people?"
"It would do no good. They know that the land of Judea is reserved
by God for his chosen people, and they are not Jews. None but the
children of Israel can restore that land to its ancient fertility.
It would be useless for any other to attempt it. Armies have been
there, and it was once thought that a Christian kingdom was set up
on the spot; but neither the time nor the people had come. Jews
alone can make Judea what it was, and what it will be again. If my
people owned that land, they could not use it. There are also too
many of us now, to go away in canoes."
"Did not the fathers of the pale-faces come in canoes?" demanded
Peter, a little sternly.
"They did; but since that time their increase has been so great,
that canoes enough to hold them could not be found. No; the Great
Spirit, for his own wise ends, has brought my people hither; and
here must they remain to the end of time. It is not easy to make the
pigeons fly south in the spring."
This declaration, quietly but distinctly made, as it was the habit
of the missionary to speak, had its effect. It told Peter, and those
with him, as plainly as language could tell them, that there was no
reason to expect the pale-faces would ever willingly abandon the
country, and seemed the more distinctly, in all their uninstructed
minds, to place the issue on the armed hand. It is not improbable
that some manifestation of feeling would have escaped the circle,
had not an interruption to the proceedings occurred, which put a
stop to all other emotions but those peculiar to the lives of
savages.
