Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. 2 (of 2): being Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian CollectionCatlin, George
History
Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. 2 (of 2): being Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian Collection
Catlin, George
England -- Description and travel; France -- Description and travel; Indians of North America
confidence in you to take care of and protect them, and in return they
have solemnly promised to conduct themselves properly and soberly; and
as long as they adhere to that, you should not let them doubt your
confidence in them, by fearing to show them some parts of the shades as
well as the lights of civilization. They are here to learn the ways of
civilization, and I should deem it wrong to deny them the privilege,
if they ask for it, of seeing such parts of it as you and myself would
go to see. I have been to see the 'hells of London' myself, and would
much sooner take my son there, and there give him the most impressive
lesson in morality, than forbid him to go, expressing to him my fears
of his contamination. These people are like children in some respects,
and they are men in others; and while I fully appreciate all your noble
attachment to them, and your anxieties for them, with the knowledge I
have gained of the Indian character, I feel assured that as they are
brought here to be shown everything of civilization, to restrict them
in seeing the parts of it they desire to see, will be to exhibit to
them a want of confidence which would be apt to lead to worse and more
injurious results before you get home with them. I should have been
very far from mentioning such places to them, or the many other dens
of iniquity which exist in the great city of London and the cities of
our own country, and which I hope they may remain strangers to; but
they having heard of the hells of London, and expressed a desire to see
them, I should feel no hesitation in giving Jim and the Doctor a peep
into them, instead of representing them (as the means of keeping them
away from them) as being a much greater degradation of human nature
than they actually are."
Good, kind Melody looked so much distressed, that I finished my
arguments here, and told him to "rest quite easy; there was a way by
which we could get over it, and I not break my promise with Jim and
the Doctor. That a friend of mine who had been into them recently and
narrowly escaped with his life, would have a talk with them on the
subject in a few days, and all would be right.[24] As for the joke
they are on to-day, about the _gin-shops_, I don't see the least harm
in it. They must have something to laugh at, and while they are getting
their usual daily ride in the open air, they are passing one of the
best comments that ever was made upon one of the greatest vices of the
greatest city in the world."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account