Secondly, We Have No Disciplin'd Men In Europe, But What Have,
At One Time Or Other, Been Branded With Mutining, And Murmuring Against
Their Chiefs.
These Savages are never found guilty of that great Crime
in a Soldier; I challenge all Mankind to tell me of one Instance of it;
besides, they never prove Traitors to their Native Country,
but rather chuse Death than partake and side with the Enemy.
They naturally possess the Righteous Man's Gift; they are Patient
under all Afflictions, and have a great many other Natural Vertues,
which I have slightly touch'd throughout the Account of these Savages.
They are really better to us, than we are to them; they always give us
Victuals at their Quarters, and take care we are arm'd against
Hunger and Thirst: We do not so by them (generally speaking)
but let them walk by our Doors Hungry, and do not often relieve them.
We look upon them with Scorn and Disdain, and think them little better
than Beasts in Humane Shape, though if well examined, we shall find that,
for all our Religion and Education, we possess more Moral Deformities,
and Evils than these Savages do, or are acquainted withal.
We reckon them Slaves in Comparison to us, and Intruders,
as oft as they enter our Houses, or hunt near our Dwellings.
But if we will admit Reason to be our Guide, she will inform us,
that these Indians are the freest People in the World,
and so far from being Intruders upon us, that we have abandon'd
our own Native Soil, to drive them out, and possess theirs;
neither have we any true Balance, in Judging of these poor Heathens,
because we neither give Allowance for their Natural Disposition,
nor the Sylvian Education, and strange Customs, (uncouth to us)
they lie under and have ever been train'd up to; these are false Measures
for Christians to take, and indeed no Man can be reckon'd a Moralist only,
who will not make choice and use, of better Rules to walk and act by:
We trade with them, it's true, but to what End? Not to shew them
the Steps of Vertue, and the Golden Rule, to do as we would be done by.
No, we have furnished them with the Vice of Drunkenness,
which is the open Road to all others, and daily cheat them
in every thing we sell, and esteem it a Gift of Christianity,
not to sell to them so cheap as we do to the Christians,
as we call our selves. Pray let me know where is there to be found
one Sacred Command or Precept of our Master, that counsels us
to such Behaviour? Besides, I believe it will not appear,
but that all the Wars, which we have had with the Savages,
were occasion'd by the unjust Dealings of the Christians towards them.
I can name more than a few, which my own Enquiry has given me
a right Understanding of, and I am afraid the remainder
(if they come to the test) will prove themselves Birds of the same Feather.
{Indians Aversion to Christianity.}
As we are in Christian Duty bound, so we must act and behave ourselves
to these Savages, if we either intend to be serviceable in converting them
to the Knowledge of the Gospel, or discharge the Duty which every Man,
within the Pale of the Christian Church, is bound to do.
Upon this Score, we ought to shew a Tenderness for these Heathens
under the weight of Infidelity; let us cherish their good Deeds,
and, with Mildness and Clemency, make them sensible and forwarn them
of their ill ones; let our Dealings be just to them in every Respect,
and shew no ill Example, whereby they may think we advise them
to practise that which we will not be conformable to ourselves:
Let them have cheap Penniworths (without Guile in our Trading with them)
and learn them the Mysteries of our Handicrafts, as well as our Religion,
otherwise we deal unjustly by them. But it is highly necessary
to be brought in Practice, which is, to give Encouragement
to the ordinary People, and those of a lower Rank, that they might marry
with these Indians, and come into Plantations, and Houses,
where so many Acres of Land and some Gratuity of Money,
(out of a publick Stock) are given to the new-married Couple;
and that the Indians might have Encouragement to send their Children
Apprentices to proper Masters, that would be kind to them, and make them
Masters of a Trade, whereby they would be drawn to live amongst us,
and become Members of the same Ecclesiastical and Civil Government
we are under; then we should have great Advantages to make daily Conversions
amongst them, when they saw that we were kind and just to them
in all our Dealings. Moreover, by the Indians Marrying with the Christians,
and coming into Plantations with their English Husbands, or Wives,
they would become Christians, and their Idolatry would be quite forgotten,
and, in all probability, a better Worship come in its Stead;
for were the Jews engrafted thus, and alienated from
the Worship and Conversation of Jews, their Abominations would vanish,
and be no more.
Thus we should be let into a better Understanding of the Indian Tongue,
by our new Converts; and the whole Body of these People
would arrive to the Knowledge of our Religion and Customs,
and become as one People with us. By this Method also, we should have
a true Knowledge of all the Indians Skill in Medicine and Surgery;
they would inform us of the Situation of our Rivers, Lakes,
and Tracts of Land in the Lords Dominions, where by their Assistance,
greater Discoveries may be made than has been hitherto found out,
and by their Accompanying us in our Expeditions, we might civilize
a great many other Nations of the Savages, and daily add to our Strength
in Trade, and Interest; so that we might be sufficiently enabled to conquer,
or maintain our Ground, against all the Enemies to the Crown of England
in America, both Christian and Savage.
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