In the most peaceable state of the country, a species
of warfare was carried on between the Indians, especially those of
the Canadas, and men of their caste; and the moment an actual and
recognized warfare existed, it was regarded as the means of lawfully
revenging a thousand wrongs, real and imaginary. Then, again, there
was some truth, and a good deal of expediency, in the principle of
retaliation, of which they both availed themselves, in particular,
to answer the objections of their juster-minded and more scrupulous
companion.
"You must fight a man with his own we'pons, Deerslayer," cried Hurry,
in his uncouth dialect, and in his dogmatical manner of disposing
of all oral propositions; "if he's f'erce you must be f'ercer; if
he's stout of heart, you must be stouter. This is the way to get
the better of Christian or savage: by keeping up to this trail,
you'll get soonest to the ind of your journey."
"That's not Moravian doctrine, which teaches that all are to be
judged according to their talents or l'arning; the Injin like an
Injin; and the white man like a white man. Some of their teachers
say, that if you're struck on the cheek, it's a duty to turn the
other side of the face, and take another blow, instead of seeking
revenge, whereby I understand-"
"That's enough!" shouted Hurry; "that's all I want, to prove a
man's doctrine! How long would it take to kick a man through the
colony- in at one ind and out at the other, on that principle?"
"Don't mistake me, March," returned the young hunter, with dignity;
"I don't understand by this any more than that it's best to do
this, if possible.
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