I could keep you longer than I ought telling you of the lights and shadows of missionary life.  The North American Indian is the noblest type of a wild man on the earth.  He recognizes a Great Spirit, he loves his home, he is passionately devoted to his people, and believes in a future life.  The Ojibway language is a marvel.  The verb has inflections by thousands.  If an Indian says “I love” and stops, you can tell by the inflection of the verb whether he loves an animate or inanimate object, a man or a woman.  The nicest shade of meaning in St. Paul’s Epistles could be conveyed in Ojibway, and I have heard a missionary say, “A classic Greek temple standing in the forest would not be more marvelous than this wonderful language.”

The Indians are heathen folk and will often come to the Christian life fettered by old heathen ideas, and some may stumble and fall; they did in St. Paul’s time; but I can say that some of the noblest instances of the power of religion I have ever known have been among these poor red men.  I can recall death-beds where an Indian looked up in my face and said, “The Great Spirit has called me to go on the last journey.  I am not afraid to go, for Jesus is going with me, and I shall not be lonesome on the road.”

I am happy to tell you that the clouds are breaking.  Thousands of this poor race are rejoicing in the light of the Gospel.  The heart of the nation has been touched, and thousands are laboring for their salvation.  The Indians are not decreasing.  It is due to the absence of internecine wars, to their protection from dangerous contagious diseases, to better medical care and a wiser administration.  In the future, Indians must have citizenship, but not until they are prepared for this precious boon.  The ballot cannot redeem humanity.  I was asked by President Cleveland what I thought of making the Indian a voter.  I said, “It has been tried.”  Under an old territorial law, any Indian who wore the civilized dress could vote.  I have heard of an election where a tribe of Indians were put through a hickory shirt and pair of pants, and we know how that election went.  The Indian must have the protection of law.  In his wild state he has the “lex talionis.”  He becomes a Christian.  A drunken wild man kills his cow or insults his wife.  He could punish the brute, but we have taught him that he must not revenge his wrongs, and so the Christian Indian is pitiably helpless.  I can take you to an Indian village where property and life are safe, where childhood, womanhood, and old age are cared for, and it is due to the Gospel of Christ.

While missionary work must be carried on in the native tongue, the schools ought to teach the English language—­if schools are conducted only in the heathen tongue, you not only have no Christian ideas, but when the child has learned to read, he has no books.  He should be taught in a language which opens to him the literature, the science and the Christian teaching of the Christian world.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ will do for the Indian what it has done for others through all the ages—­give him home, manhood and freedom.