Travels In The United States Of America; Commencing In The Year 1793, And Ending In 1797. With The Author's Journals Of His Two Voyages Across The Atlantic By William Priest
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"I now determined to teaze the Indian, if possible - 'But for a man of your
education,' says I, 'sachem Tomo-cheeki; to bury yourself in this savage
retreat, is to me inexplicable.
You who have travelled on foot no less
than one hundred and seventeen leagues, till you reached the walls of
Havard college, and all for the sake of gaining an insight into languages,
arts, and mysteries; and then to neglect all you have acquired at last, is
a mode of conduct, for which I cannot easily account - What! was not the
mansion of a fat _clergyman_ a more desirable acquisition than this
miserable hut, these gloomy forests, and yonder savage stream? - Were not
the food and liquor belonging to the white men of the _law_ far superiour
to these insipid fish, these dried roots, and these running waters? - Were
not a _physician's_ cap, an elegant morning gown, and a grave suit of
black clothes, made by an european tailor, more tempting to your
imagination, than this wretched blanket, that is eternally slipping from
your shoulders, unless it be fastened with skewers, which are by no means
convenient?'
"Pardon me,' replied the Indian, 'if all those blessings and advantages
you have mentioned seemed nothing to my view, in comparison with these
_divine solitudes_: opinion alone is happiness. The _Great Man_,
who has chosen his habitation beyond the stars, will dispose of us as he
pleases. I am under an obligation of passing happily here that life which
he has given me, because in so doing I serve and adore him.
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