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IV |
PREFACE. |
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eye of these savages, like that of the wolf or the tiger, though bright and glassy, had no such depth of expression, and seemed only to manifest a wary attention to visible objects and the passing scene. It bespoke no inward working, as if the mind were busy in weaving its woof of reflection, and unfolded no emotion, as if some seal were broken and a new page of revelation opened on the soul. It seemed indeed but a watchful sentinel to mark outward things, not a mirror imaging forth a spirit within.
Among the savages, in the scene I have described, was the wife of the chief; but she was a subdued and downcast slave, her humble place being ever in the rear of the train. On her shone no smile from the master, no gentleness from the husband, no tenderness from the father. His bronzed features could not reveal sentiments like these, for the bosom within was a stranger to them.
Such were the master spirits of the savage race. Compare them with the individual who addressed them on the occasion in behalf of the palefaces, and consider the difference between savage and civilized man. Consider the compass of thought, the vastness of knowledge, the power of combination, the richness of fancy, the depth, variety and refinement of sentiment, which belong to one, and the narrowness of mind, the poverty of soul, which characterize the other. And what is the mighty magic which thus makes men to differ ?
The easy answer to this interrogation is offered in a single word—Education. I know indeed that in common use this only means the instruction given at our seminaries. We speak of an English education, a liberal education, a fashionable education. In these cases, the word has a restricted and technical signification, and |
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