The moment was one of
action, and not of ceremonies. No pipe was smoked, nor any of the
observances of the great councils of the tribe attended to; the
object was merely to glean facts and to collect opinions. In all the
tribes of this part of North America, something very like a
principle of democracy is the predominant feature of their politics.
It is not, however, that bastard democracy which is coming so much
in fashion among ourselves, and which looks into the gutters solely
for the "people," forgetting that the landlord has just as much
right to protection as the tenant, the master as the servant, the
rich as the poor, the gentleman as the blackguard. The Indians know
better than all this. They understand, fully, that the chiefs are
entitled to more respect than the loafers in their villages, and
listen to the former, while their ears are shut to the latter. They
appear to have a common sense, which teaches them to avoid equally
the exaggerations of those who believe in blood, and of those who
believe in blackguardism. With them the doctrines of "new men" would
sound as an absurdity, for they never submit to change for change's
sake.
Pages:
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207