Page:Margaret Fuller by Howe, Julia Ward, Ed. (1883).djvu/112

Rh And of the aspect of the Indian question in her day Margaret writes:—

“I have no hope of liberalizing the missionary, of humanizing the sharks of trade, of infusing the conscientious drops into the flinty bosom of policy, of saving the Indian from immediate degradation and speedy death. Yet, let every man look to himself how far this blood shall be required at his hands. Let the missionary, instead of preaching to the Indian, preach to the trader who ruins him, of the dreadful account which will be demanded of the followers of Cain. Let every legislator take the subject to heart, and, if he cannot undo the effects of past sin, try for that clear view and right sense that may save us from sinning still more deeply."

Margaret's days in Mackinaw were nine in number, She went thence by steamer to the Sault Ste. Marie. On the way thither, the steamer being detained by a fog, its captain took her in a small boat to visit the island of St. Joseph, and, on it, the remains of an old English fort. Her comments upon this visit, in itself of little interest, are worth quoting:—

“The captain," though he had been on this trip hundreds of times, had never seen this spot, and never would but for this fog and his desire to entertain me. He presented a striking instance how men, for the sake of getting a living, forget to live. This is a common fault among the active men, the truly living, who could tell what life is. It should not be so, Literature should not be left to the mere literati, eloquence to the mere orator. Every Cæsar should be able to write his own Commentary. We want a more equal more thorough, more harmonious development, and there is nothing to hinder the men of this country