And then, by way of
favor, he, with his friendly tomahawk, put an end to all his pains:
though this merciful but bloody instrument was ready some minutes before
it gave the blow, yet, I was assured, the spectators could not perceive
the sufferer to change, either his posture, or his steady, erect
countenance in the least."
Some stories as fine, but longer, follow. In reference to which Adair
says, "The intrepid behavior of these red stoics, their surprising
contempt of and indifference to life or death, instead of lessening,
helps to confirm our belief of that supernatural power, which supported
the great number of primitive martyrs, who sealed the Christian faith
with their blood. The Indians have as much belief and expectation of a
future state, as the greater part of the Israelites seem to have. But
the Christians of the first centuries, may justly be said to exceed even
the most heroic American Indians, for they bore the bitterest
persecution with steady patience, in imitation of their divine leader
Messiah, in full confidence of divine support and of a glorious
recompense of reward; and, instead of even wishing for revenge on their
cruel enemies and malicious tormentors, (which is the chief principle
that actuates the Indians,) they not only forgave them, but, in the
midst of their tortures, earnestly prayed for them, with composed
countenances, sincere love, and unabated fervor. And not only men of
different conditions, but the delicate women and children suffered with
constancy, and died praying for their tormentors: the Indian women and
children, and their young men untrained to war, are incapable of
displaying the like patience and magnanimity.
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