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Indians had not committed murder in what they had
done, had they not sinned in other ways? Allowing
that they were acting in mere self-defence, in killing off
the whites, yet, what could justify them in falling upon
them so treacherously, and then brutally mangling their
| vemains? Eyen supposing they were justified in mur-
dering the foreman, Brewster, was it becoming to eat
his heart? But, indeed, they were not justified in
destroying those men. The law was, “Thou shalt not
kill.” They said, “ They meant war, not murder.” But,
I put it to them, was it war to fall upon a man who was
at peace with you, to massacre him in his house, in the
night, to cut down his tent-pole, and break his head 2—
that was murder, surely—not war. No; they could not
justify themselves in any way. The feelings and
passions they had shown,—cowardice, treachery, hate,
revenge, and a fiendish thirst for the blood of their
fellow-creatures, were not such as their Great Father
liked to see in the breasts of Indians. The whites were
His children, too, and their behaviour to them was dis-
pleasing to the Great Father. And this was not all
their sin. Had they not often behaved ill to their own
countrymen? God's law was, “Do to others as you
would have others do to you.” Did they not know that
law? Yes; they knew it, for though they had no book
like the whites, and no teachers to explain it, still that
law was written in their hearts—they knew it. Well,
they had often disobeyed it; had maltreated their slaves,
‘stolen from Indians of other tribes, taken their neigh-
bours’ wives, told lies, broken their promises, put Indians
to death.

Day after day, and visit after visit, the reality of
Divine Law, and the offence of breaking it, were set before
| them, together with the stern facts of Divine displeasure
-on the disobedient, and punishment of the impenitent.

There was not time to impart to them full instructions
in religion; I had to confine myself to what was essen-
tial. St. Paul had enjoined repentance towards God, and
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ: and I felt that if they
_were only induced to acknowledge and regret their
misdoings, and if they could be taught enough about
our Lord to accept Him intelligently as their Saviour,
they might then honestly be baptized.

Of one of them I had good hope from the first. Per-
haps it may seem strange that it should have been the
' deepest dyed of all these ruffians, and ringleader in all
their crimes, who interested me most. Yet, so it was.
One could hardly look at Klatsassan without feeling that
there was about the man at once something awful, and
something winning,—in fact, something great. Here was
a man one felt for, whom, if one could do any thing for his
salvation, it would not be thrown away, but prove amply
worth any trouble taken. By degrees, finding how
deeply interested he was in all that was said, and how
ready to take it all in, I began to feel a strong and growing
sympathy for him (not, indeed, for his old bad self, but
for the new man that was taking a beginning within his
soul), and sincere was my desire that it should be well
with him at the last. Indeed, the image of this man
used to haunt me by night and day. I had forgotten
his crimes, and thought only of his inevitable doom.
The tones of his voice, as he repeated the Lord’s Prayer,
in the touching cadences of his liquid and musical lan-
guage, were ever present to my ear, and frequent were
my supplications that it would please the Great Dispenser

KLATSASSAN.

of all Grace to vouchsafe to him the blessing of a true
penitent heart.

When after several visits I came at length to the main
question, and asked if they were sorry for their evil deeds,
impressing upon them how indispensable this was to
their regaining the favour of the Great Father and
entering into life, Klatsassan, to my great joy, said he
was sorry. I asked if, supposing he were free and had
the chance, he would repeat these deeds and act contrary
to the will of the Great Father? He said, “No, he
would not.” What did he now feel towards the white
men? “ His heart was good,” he said. Did he see now
how the whites must punish them, not in revenge, but
in justice ?

“Yes,” he said, “it was all just and right.”

LT asked if the rest felt like this 2

“Yes,” the chief said, “ they were all sorry. They
hoped the Great Father would cease anger and be friends.
They never ceased praying, as Baptiste put it in his
Canadian French, “ Toujours,” said he, “ ils ne lachaient
pas la priére.’ The expression struck me; it seemed to
mean, they never let go their hold on prayer, but “ Prayed
without ceasing.” I told them that if they were truly
sorry there was full forgiveness for them. They must
look to Jesus Christ who hung upon the Cross. They
said, “Their heart was good towards Jesus Christ.” It
then seemed tome they had what was required—repen-
tance and faith—what then was there to hinder their
being baptized? I spoke accordingly of the blessings
of baptism, and prepared them to receive that holy
sacrament.

We got on much faster than I expected. Theyknew more
than I thought they did. Oneof them had been pretty fully
instructed by a Roman Catholic priest, and he had im-
parted what he knew tothe others. “They are disposed,”
(I wrote in my diary at this time) “to look on me with
suspicion as being not a right priest, but say nothing,
thank me for my visits, and for my promise to be with
them to the last. But they seem to notice how little I
say about the Blessed Virgin, who is, of course, the

great centre of the Roman Catholie teaching, and from

the omission they seem to suspect me. But all has gone
well hitherto, and I hope will to the end; though I
rejoice with trembling.”

One Saturday we had a long interview and instruction
on baptism. At last Klatsassan and Taloot expressed a
desire to be baptized. I urged them to make a clean
breast of their sins; which they did. Now in the
crimes for which they were condemned there were certain
extenuating circumstances. Those murders were perpe-
trated by savages, savages threatened with extinction and
eager to strike the first blow, savages who were under the
impression that they were making war with the whites.
So, some persons in the colony were of opinion that they
ought not to have been condemned to death. To such it
may be a grim satisfaction to learn that for other offences
they amply deserved their doom.

Without saying more I may state this much. They
professed such earnestness in their desire to be baptized,
and in the assurances of their penitence and faith, that I
accordingly came next morning and baptized Klatsassan
and Taloot, giving the former my own name, and calling
the latter after Baptiste. Their demeanour was most
grave and impressed, and convinced me still more of
the sincerity of their repentance.

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