and died without God and without
hope. Generation has followed generation, stumbling blindly downward
to the dust like the brutes that perish. And now their children,
bound in iron and sitting under the shadow of death, reach out their
hands from the wilderness with a blind cry to you for help. Will ye
hear?"

He lifted his hands to them as he spoke; there was infinite pathos in
his voice; for a moment it seemed as if all the wild people of the
wilderness were pleading through him for light. Tears were in many
eyes; yet in spite of the wonderful power of his oratory, there were
faces that grew stern as he spoke,--for only a few years had passed
since the Pequod war, and the feeling against the Indians was bitter.
The Governor now sat erect and indignant.

Strong and vehement was the minister's plea for missionaries to be
sent to the Indians; fearlessly was the colonial government arraigned
for its deficiencies in this regard; and the sands in the hour-glass
were almost run out when the sermon was concluded and the minister
sank flushed and exhausted into his seat.

The closing psalm was sung, and the audience was dismissed. Slow and
lingering were the words of the benediction, as if the preacher were
conscious of defeat and longed to plead still further with his people.
Then the gathering broke up, the congregation filing out with the same
solemnity that had marked the entrance. But when the open air was
reached, the pent-up excitement burst forth in a general murmur of
comment.

"A good man," remarked the Governor to his staff, "but young, quite
young." And they smiled approvingly at the grim irony of the tone.

"Our pastor is a fine speaker," said another, "but why will he bring
such unpleasant things into the pulpit? A good doctrinal sermon, now,
would have strengthened our faith and edified us all."

"Ay, a sermon on the errors of Episcopacy, for instance."

"Such talk makes me angry," growled a third. "Missionaries for the
Indians! when the bones of the good folk they have killed are yet
bleaching amid the ashes of their cabins! Missionaries for those red
demons! an' had it been powder and shot for them it had been a
righteous sermon."

So the murmur of disapprobation went on among those slowly dispersing
groups who dreaded and hated the Indian with an intensity such as we
now can hardly realize. And among them came the minister, pale and
downcast, realizing that he had dashed himself in vain against the