quence, so abounding in images, pictures, and symbols. It was this paucity of words and expressions suited to their use in moral and religious teachings that greatly impeded the work of missionaries among the savages. Doubtless, in many of the Treaty Councils with them speeches have been very erroneously conveyed, and covenants greatly mystified.
Of the power and graces of Indian oratory the evidences and the illustrations are abundant. The famous speech of Logan, even if apocryphal, is ranked among the gems of eloquence. When his fellow-chief Cornstock, in Cresap's war, 1774, held his interview with Lord Dunmore, Colonel Wilson, who was present, thus describes the scene: —
“When Cornstock arose, he was in nowise confused or daunted,
but spoke in a distinct and audible voice, without stammering or
repetition, and with peculiar emphasis. His looks while addressing
Governor Dunmore were truly grand and majestic, yet graceful and
attractive. I have heard the first orators in Virginia, — Patrick Henry
and Richard Lee; but never have I heard one whose powers of
delivery surpassed those of Cornstock.”
Among the efforts of labor and zeal which have been
spent by Europeans — generally, too, in unselfish and
self-sacrificing toils — for the benefit of the Indians, might well
be mentioned with special emphasis the task-work given to
the acquisition and comparison of Indian vocabularies, for
purposes of speech, instruction, and translation. It is one
thing to give oneself to the study of a difficult language for
the sake of being able to master the treasures of literature
which it may contain. It is quite another thing to catch
the words and modulations, the breathings and gruntings of
a spoken tongue without alphabet or symbol, to reduce it to
written forms, and to make it a vehicle for presenting the
literature of other languages. It is curious to note that the
earliest Europeans who undertook to put into writing the first
Indian words which they heard, seem to have aimed to crowd
