hly father, and that
Father is in heaven; that he has a hope, far transcending every
earthly hope--a hope full of immortality--the hope, namely, that that
Father's kingdom may come; that he has a duty which, like the sun in
our celestial system, stands in the centre of his moral obligations,
shedding upon them a hallowing light, which they in their turn reflect
and absorb--the duty of striving to prove by his life and conversation
the sincerity of his prayer, that that Father's will may be done upon
earth as it is done in heaven. I understand, sir, that upon the broad
and solid platform which is raised upon that good foundation, we
invite the ministers of religion, of all denominations--the _de
facto_ spiritual guides of the people of the country--to take their
stand along with us; that, so far from hampering or impeding them in
the exercise of their sacred functions, we ask and we beg them to take
the children--the lambs of the flock which are committed to their
care--aside, and to lead them to those pastures and streams where they
will find, as they believe, the food of life and the waters of
consolation.

One more extract must be given from the despatch already quoted, because it
illustrates a feature in his character, to which the subsequent course of
his life gave such marked prominence--his generous and tender feeling of
what was due to subject or inferior races; a sad feeling in this case, and
but faintly supported by any hope of being able to do anything for their
benefit.

[Sidenote: Aboriginal tribes.]

It is painful to turn from reviewing the progress of the European
population and their descendants established in this portion of
America, to contemplate the condition and prospects of the aboriginal
tribes. It cannot, I fear, be affirmed with truth, that the difficult
problem of reconciling the interests of an inferior and native race
with those of an intrusive and superior one, has as yet been
satisfactorily solved on this continent. In the United States, the
course of proceeding generally followed in this matter has been that
of compelling the Red man, through the influence of persuasion or
force, to make way for the White, by retreating farther and farther
into the wilderness; a mode of dealing with the case which necessarily
entails the occasional adoption of harsh measures, and which cease