At The Present Day, From The Progress Of Civilization, There
Is Much Less Warfare, Except Among Some Of The Southern
Tribes.
I heard a characteristic anecdote of what took place
some time ago in the south.
A missionary found a chief and
his tribe in preparation for war; - their muskets clean and
bright, and their ammunition ready. He reasoned long on
the inutility of the war, and the little provocation which
had been given for it. The chief was much shaken in his
resolution, and seemed in doubt: but at length it occurred
to him that a barrel of his gunpowder was in a bad state, and
that it would not keep much longer. This was brought forward
as an unanswerable argument for the necessity of immediately
declaring war: the idea of allowing so much good
gunpowder to spoil was not to be thought of; and this settled
the point. I was told by the missionaries that in the
life of Shongi, the chief who visited England, the love of
war was the one and lasting spring of every action. The
tribe in which he was a principal chief had at one time been
oppressed by another tribe from the Thames River. A
solemn oath was taken by the men that when their boys
should grow up, and they should be powerful enough, they
would never forget or forgive these injuries. To fulfil this
oath appears to have been Shongi's chief motive for going
to England; and when there it was his sole object.
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