Page:An essay on the origin and relative status of the white and colored races of mankind.djvu/26

 the untutored savage, guided by the light of natural reason and the instincts of nature, believes in their separate creations, as is aptly illustrated by the following curious tradition.

When Governor Duval of Florida, at an early day, proposed to send teachers among the Seminole Indians, to educate them, as a means of civilizing them; after deliberating, in council, on the subject, their Chief returned the following unsophisticated answer:

"My brother, we have been thinking over the proposition of our Great Father at Washington, to send teachers and set up schools among us. We are very thankful for the interest he takes in our welfare; but after much deliberation, have concluded to decline his offer. What will do very well for white men, will not do for red men.

I know you white men say we all come from the same Father and Mother, but you are mistaken. We have a tradition handed down from our Forefathers, and we believe it, that the Great Spirit, when he undertook to make men, made the black man; it was his first attempt, and pretty well for a beginning; but He soon saw that He had bungled; so He determined to try his hand again. He did so, and made the red man. He liked him much better than the black man, but still he was not exactly what He wanted. So He tried once more, and made the white man, and then He was satisfied. You see, therefore, that you were made last, and that is the reason I call you my youngest brother.

When the Great Spirit had made the three men, He called them together and showed them three boxes. The first was filled with books, and maps and papers; the second with bows and arrows, knives and tomahawks; the third with spades, axes, hoes and hammers. These, my sons; said he 'are the means