Page:Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs (Volume One).djvu/219

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183

that their memory will grow green with years and blossom through the flight of ages.

If to-day we have seen the bright side of Indian character contrasted with the few harsh features of the New England colonists, it is that this occasion, while it calls forth feelings of gratitude and reverence for the men and history of the Past may have somewhat of a practical value in the Present and the Future. The men of the forest have not disappeared entirely, though

“They waste—they shrink away;
And fast we follow, as they go
Towards the setting day.”

And if in the Providence of God the race is soon to be extinct, let not injustice, oppression, or war, increase their woes or hasten their decay.