Mental Character of the Aborigines [pp. 466-467]

Mental Character of the Aborigines.
have been gathered to their fathers-some
adults remain whom I look upon as my
brethren-here they are clustering around
me to-day. But the far greater part
were children,-little children,-or have
come into the world since my public life
began. I know your grandfathers, and
men muster-free, who were boys at school
when I first took my seat in Congress.
Time, the mighty reformer and innovator, has silently and slowly, but s urely,
changed the relation between us; and I
now stand to you in loco parenitis, in the
place of a father, and receive from you
this day a truly filial reverence and regard. Yes, you are my children, who
have ever resented, with -the quick love
of children, all my wrongs real or supposed. I have come back to spend my
last days among you, —to retire to
my old patrimonial oaks, where I may
see the sun rise and set in peace; and
when God's time comes, to lay my body
down to rest in the b osom of my dear,
blessed mother, this venerated Commonwealth, who se unworthy son I am."
It woul d be impossible to d escribe the
effects of this exordium upon the people.
Perha p s there was not a dry e y e i n all the
crowd, while man y a hard-vis age d o ld
planter had his sun-burnt face all bathed
in tears, and his whole frame convulsed
with emotion. Of course I do not pretend to quote the very words of Mr.
Randolph, but only give the substance.
His voice, soft, mellow and rich as the
lower tones of a flute, was distinctly
heard by the most distant, while he. uttered every word and syllable slowly,
earnestly, solemnly, without removing
his hands from his cane, or making a single gesture.
MENTAL CHARACTER OF THE ABORIGINES.
mental developments in their character,
which have received but little notice.
The two great objects of f ame, i n all
our Indian tribes are bra very o r military renown and eloquence. Forest-life
left them but little beside. Achievements
in hunting were the every-day e vents and
topics of conversation, and of every-day
boasts. But triumphs in war, and oratory were the pec u liar prai ses o f thei r
great men —their chief warriors and
speakers. It is some amelioration of the
sever ities of forest-life to know that,
when the purposes of war and huntin g
are temporarily done, they assemble
around the evening lodge-fire, to listen to imaginative recitals of adventures of heroes, giants and dwarfs, or
pure creatures of fancy. It gives them
further claims on this score, to ascertain
that a particular season was appropriate
to the exercise of this story-telling faculty, and that it is the province of cer
The Algonquin family of tribes, under
their various names and dialects, occupied
at the period of discovery the greatest
part of the territorial area of the United
States, lying between the Atlantic and
the Mississippi River, north of a line
drawn from Pamlico Sound to the mouth
of the Ohio. The exceptions were chiefly
the Iroquois tribes of New York and
their cognate bands in Canada and Maryland, and in Virginia west of the Powhatans.
Of this wide-spread language, the Powhatans constituted a sub-group, marked
by t he use of the letter r; the Lenopees
of Pennsylvania another marked by the
interchangeable letter 1, and the Mohegans of southern New York, and of all
New England, in which the I is changed
to n. It is not, however, the object of
these remarks, to describe the ethnographical spread of this great stock of
language, but to call attention to some
466
[JUNF.
4....