AN UNJUST ACCUSATION.
Indians are said to be revengeful. They are. So are white men. They fight for their rights. So do white men. They are thieves and liars. So are white men. Quarrelsome, envious, jealous. So are white men. Experience teaches that according to their knowledge they compare favorably with Anglo-Saxons. Sin is none the better, nor less mischievous, for being civilized.
A missionary, a good man, too, he was, accused an innocent woman of stealing his shirts that were laid out on the snow to whiten. His wife, not remembering that she had brought them in early in the morning, asked him to go out and get them. But they were not to be found! "Who has been here this morning?" was asked. "Ekwazans; I don't remember any other." "Well, she shan't have those shirts. I'll overtake her before she gets home." He followed her four miles, determined to have his shirts. The woman declared her innocence, and told him to search the wigwam. He did so, but said himself that it was done rather roughly. In the meantime the wife espied the shirts just where she had put them. This affair was ever after a source of regret to them.
Some of the Indians laughed heartily; others made remarks rather sarcastic. The woman herself felt disgraced by the accusation, but never manifested signs of wanting to "pay back," or in any way to avenge the wrong.
INDIAN MAGNANIMITY.
An employe of the American Fur Company, a "green hand," was crossing a portage. The load on his back was topped off with a bag of flour. The hill was steep and long. Steps were cut in it like a flight of stairs. As he reached the top a mischievous Indian touched the bag, and it went tumbling to the foot of the hill. The Frenchman immediately sent the Indian tumbling after it. Some of the company advised the Frenchman to run away, for the Indian might kill him. He told them boldly that he would not run away. The Indian gathered himself up, came to the top of the hill, told the Frenchman he had done just right, offered his hand and they were firm friends. Magnanimous had it been a white man.
Rev. Frederic Ayer was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1803. When he was two years old the family moved to Central New York. His father was a Presbyterian minister, and they intended that their son should follow the same profession; but before he was prepared his health failed and he turned his attention to other business.
He commenced his labors for the Indians in 1829, by teaching the mission school at Mackinaw, under the superintendency of Rev. M. Ferry. The pupils of this school were not all Ojibways but were from many different tribes, and spoke different languages. Mackinaw was then a general depot of the North American fur traders. They brought not only their own children to the school but such others as parents among whom they were trading wished to send. They were gathered from Lake Winnipeg, British America north, to Prairie du Chien and the head of Lake Michigan south. They were taught in English only.
In the summer of 1830 Mr. Ayer went to La Pointe, Lake Superior, with Mr. Warren, opened a school and commenced the study of the Ojibway language. In 1831 he met at Mackinaw, Revs. Hall and Boutwell, who were sent out by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to the Indians, and he returned with Mr. and Mrs. Hall and their interpreter to spend another winter at La Pointe.
The next year, 1832, Mr. Ayer wintered with another trader at Sandy Lake. He opened a school there and completed a little Ojibway spelling book which was commenced at La Pointe. In the spring of 1833 he left Sandy Lake for Utica, New York, to get the book printed. Mr. Aitkin, with whom he had wintered, gave him eighty dollars, and with a pack on his back and an experienced guide, he started on his journey. Before they reached Sault Ste. Marie the ice on Lake Superior was so weak that Mr. Ayer broke through and was saved only by carrying horizontally in his hands a long pole to prevent his sinking.