CHAPTER II.

He for his bleeding country prays to heaven,

Prays, that the men of blood themselves may be forgiven.

CAMPBELL.

BURTON, who, till then, had kept himself unobserved, no longer able to refrain, stepped to a more conspicuous place, and addressing the company-" Friends," said he, with a calm countenance, though an agitated voice, "Is this the termination of our long peace with our brethren of the woods? Shall we here also see the blood of men shed by men? Are not the lives of our fellow creatures of sufficient value, to induce us to seek all means to restore peace, by persuasion and meekness? Think on it, these men, whom you pursue, have been accustomed, till lately, to look on you as friends, and to treat you as friends; granting that they have committed injustice, remember their ignorance and their custom, which is to seek redress only by retaliation. It is our duty to teach them other ways, not to slay them."

"That honey-flowered language is no more in season, my dear Sir," replied Tom Short, who had not suffered the bloody deed of Rogers to weigh long upon his mind. "Such silly meekness as you recommend towards your red brethren, has cost us many a white man's life, and many a fat pig's liberty; as you may judge from our friend Conrad's misfortune, who, with as conciliatory a disposition as could be found in this wide world, has been robbed of all his gear and cattle, and would have lost his life in the fray, had his cellardoor been constructed of less resisting materials.”

"Friend," replied Burton," at thy age, I might have thought and spoken like thee; but now that my eyes are open to a clearer light, I have enlisted under the banners of the Prince of peace,' and hope, firmly hope, not only to follow his divine commands myself,

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but to turn many wandering feet into the way of righteousness.' Look upon these hands of mine; see this bald head, bald indeed by age and care, touched by the scalping knife. These limbs have been, for thirty years, exposed to the mercy of those men, whom ye imagine to be so bloody; not a scar, not a blow, can indicate their rage."

"We are not all Quakers, unfortunately," interrupted Tom Short, with a twist of his mouth, 66 we are not all gifted with a square coat and a broad-brimmed hat, that will still the Indians as quickly as the tail of a spaniel will petrify the pheasant on the bough. We have learned by experience that these friends of yours can inflict a sound blow, and leave many a scar, to testify their amity, as well as spoil our stables of their inhabitants."

"These depredations, I repeat," said Burton, "are but the natural consequences of the injuries they have suffered. Not being able to express their wrongs, nor to obtain redress, they have had recourse to their usual mode of revenge. Far be it from me, however, to excuse cruelty in them; I wish thee only to bear in mind. their customs. I am assured we may correct their errors, and avoid the effusion of blood."

"Not unless we all turn Quakers," replied Tom Short; for your heathenish allies never seem to mind much the admonitions of a man, who does not wear a head-piece, in the shape of a handleless frying-pan."

"In this thou art likewise deluded by wicked ones,' said Burton. 'All men may obtain their confidence, provided truth be their guide; but the natives now must mistrust the cruel robbers, whose main object seems to be the destruction of their unhappy race; ¡cease to oppress them, and they will again extend to us a friendly hand. Remember Him, who has said, -the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground; for whatever thou mayest imagine, those swarthy savages are thy brothers, descended from the

same common parent, heirs of the same 'glorious in- heritance.' Cease to murder their unoffending babes and wives, and you will receive from them the wampum of peace, instead of the bloody scalps, which now float exultingly in the air, to record in the forests the barbarous necessity, to which our aggressions have now reduced our helpless brethren of the woods."

Rogers, who from the moment Burton had raised his voice, had fixed his nearest eye upon him, turned his head first, then an elbow, then raised one leg, and afterwards the other, and at last stood fronting the undismayed Quaker. His countenance, incapable of expressing aught but villany, was unmoved; but the accelerated motion of his lips seemed to bode the approach of a storm, the effect of the passions, which ever ruled in the breast of the ruffian.

"Are you very positive, sir Quaker," said he, "when you assert that they are wicked ones, who wish the extinction of the set of red dogs? And are you not aware, there are many men on this floor, who have such a plan in their brains, and who stand ready, to crack the skull of those who meddle too far in their concerns ?"

"Though our practice is to address men by the name of friend," said Burton, "I cannot use our wonted language with thee. Thy threats to me, are neither the cause of aversion, nor of fear; but thy bloody purpose, thy hands, more than once I fear, stained with innocent blood must be checked, if human persuasion, if unshaken perseverance have any avail on thee. Yet, not alone in human powers do I place my trust. I rely on the blessed promise of Him, who saith unto man,My strength shall be made perfect in thy weakness,' and he will not leave his work imperfect. Think on it; the blood still clotted on thy hand, once flowed in the veins, and obeyed the beatings of a heart like ours. The prayers of the departing spirit rose as high, perhaps higher than ours, at the throne of the Most High; for thy victim had a louder claim in his ear."

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"I have one claim in this world," cried Rogers, "I claim the right of shooting down every brute on the mountain top, as well as in the swamp, where the rattlesnake beats my drum, and teaches me to make no distinction between red and white, when they stand in my way."

"Not so, not so," exclaimed Burton, "thou art not speaking the language of thy heart, or thou hast indeed been fed upon the venom of the snake, that bites without provocation. But tell me, unhappy man, tell me what are the wrongs, which thou hast suffered; for I cannot suppose thy enmity arose without a cause.'

"My very koot and fenerable friend," ejaculated Conrad, "your chudgement will tell you at once, how this shentleman and hundred others, who hafe had tealings with the Indjans for many years, come to hate that race of salvages; when you shall comprehend, my charitable sir, how I, a sergeant in kreat king Frederick's army, that was, hafe already suffered efery sort of intignity from these fillains, my penefolent friend. All my pigs, my koats, and our mare, and my plankets, and all have gone away, stohlen by the thieves."

"Such loss is great indeed, my friend," said Burton; "and I repeat it, I wish not to countenance their plunder, but intreat thee to defer thy revenge, till thou hast obtained means to explain thy innocence of the vexation exercised over them. I am now the bearer of messages likely to promote the restoration of harmony between the natives and the whites. I beg of you all, brothers, be humane, be christians; or if you continue in your designs, be but slow in your preparations for vengeance; and in the meanwhile we may find measures, to unravel and dispel the error, which would lead those deluded men to certain destruction, if the execution of justice on our side devolve on murderers, who think it no violation of the divine or human laws to slay the unsuspecting and unprotected being, exposed to their undiscriminating passions.'

"Hark ye, sir," cried Rogers, stamping one foot on the ground," if you have a mind to spend a quiet night, "if let me advise you to be mum. We need no sermon here. If you want tractable hearers, go back to the lazy town of brother Penn, where you'll preach your cowardly doctrines to the easy-chaired, capon-fed friends of yours; but if you move again those jaws fitted only for the grinding of fat geese's back-bones, I swear, I'll unfit them to serve as any thing but Sampson's war-club."

"My mission is for peace," said Burton; "my labours, my hopes, my life, are devoted to this great object; and thou wilt learn that nothing human can alter my design, or arrest my endeavours. A Quaker will indeed obey the divine law that forbids strife and bloodshed d; but know that in his breast beats a heart, which cannot quail when his duty commands. He remembers the injunction given to the prophet of old, 'fear ye not the reproaches of men, neither be afraid of their revilings.' Now load me with outrages, mock iny language, deride the shape of my garment and the form of my hat; but spare thy enemies, spare the innocent blood, cease to mutilate thy fellow-creatures, and to wave in triumph the scalp of the weak, unoffending tenants of the forests."

Rogers, who, during this discourse had gradually drawn nearer to Burton, no longer able to restrain his rage, seized him by the collar; and clenching his other hand before his face, after giving vent to some inarticulate sounds, uttered these words, intersected with imprecations which we think preferable to omit.

"So you are determined to have me stop the passage of your cursed sermon, aye? D'ye think you are preaching to a pack of your monkish slaves of ease and plenty ? Out with ye, meddling old fool. I'll have ye clear from our presence, and every Quaker that'll dare raise his gabble above common whisper. And do ye mind this well, you fattened epicure, I never in my life