Again, it is said, "They carried away women and children captive, and in
their long journey through the wilderness, they were subjected to
heartrending trials."

The wars of Christian men throw hundreds and thousands of women and
children helpless upon the cold world, to toil, to beg, and to starve.

This is not so bright a picture as is usually given of people who have
written laws and have stores of learning, but people cannot see in any
place that the coloring is too dark! There is no danger of painting
Indians so they will become attractive to the civilized people.

There is a bright and pleasing side to the Indian character, and thinking
that there has been enough written of their wars and cruelties, of the
hunter's and fisherman's life, I have sat down at their fireside,
listened to their legends, and am acquainted with their domestic habits,
understand their finer feelings and the truly noble traits of their
character.

It is so long now since they were the lords of this country, and
formidable as your enemies, and they are so utterly wasted away and
melted like snow under the meridian sun, and helpless, that you can sit
down and afford to listen to the truth, and to believe that even your
enemies had their virtues. Man was created in the image of God, and it
cannot be that anything human is utterly vile and contemptible.

Those who have thought of Indians as roaming about in the forests hunting
and fishing, or at war, will laugh, perhaps, at the idea of Indian homes,
and domestic happiness. Yet there are no people of which we have any
knowledge, among whom, in their primitive state, family ties and