Litchfield enquirer., 1876-11-02
From Harrer's Magazine.l MISSION EN- FAVOR.

'Is has been clearly proved. Richar,
 Herndon, that you have shed the blood 0 thls man. your comrade and friend. Tn Bible saith ,.s Whosn nshadda&h h.anan,a blood
 by man shall his blood be shed"
 A dark October evening in the north
 west; a circle of Indians seated on tn
 ground; an inner circle of white men, als,
 seated; shrouded something laid out il
 the centre of the inclosed space; and tn
 tail form of the elder confronting the ac cused, they two the only standing figures
 4 large Bible lay on a table. Behind it
 knot of women knelt, clinging together al
 if in horror Or grief One sat littl apart. and soothed slight young gir who with hidden face lay in her arms
 trembling. The glare of two log fires ont side the circle shone on the dusky figure of the Indians. the intent faces of tn, white men. all close shaved, thin, ant grave, and in the foreground on the white hair and piercing eyes of the elder an6 the stalwart outline of the accused. I left in the shadow the group of women the shrouded thing on the ground, the log walls of the Mission building behind, and the aisles of the pine forest stretching away in every direction, like spokes of { dark wheel around the hub this littl, point of human life and human interests in the solitude of the great forest and the night *@
 Endeavor Mission to the Indians owed it's existence to the iron faith and will o1 Ephraim Danvers. This old man had gathered to himself, by means of letters and written playcards posted on trees where horyes stopped to breathe while going mp long hills, men of like natures from all New England. These had he bound with VOW of brotherhood. and had then journeyed with them westward across the cool dark lakes, into the gate way of the Sault Sainte Marie, and out again and along the wild metal-ribbed shores of Superior. to thls far point, where he had made lodge, and raised the stand ard of God in the wilderness for the sav- ing of souls-the souls of the red men, pagans in the land, inconvenient and neg lected heather, spewed out and left to themselves, while missionaries iourneyed over oceans to far countries preaching sal vaiion. forgetting those of their own households outside their own door. En- deavor Mission had lived it's precarious life here for two long years. The breth- ren had worked faithfully. They learned the Chippewa tongue; they taught the dusky boys; they lived in careful peace with the braves, showing them by exam pie and instruction the white mans meth ods of sowing and reaping; and they pray ed with them and for them three times each day, and talked to them of God, the great Father, and of His written laws. With all this they lived sparingly, and toiled, as only the old Puritan obstinacy can toll, in hard and constant contest with the forest and the soil for bare food and life. The sisters made friends with the gentle-eyed squaws, and did good work among them; for there were eight white women at the mission, all wives of the brethren save two-Miriam,. a teacher, and fair little Ruth, the elders daughter.
 Endeavor stood alone; it owed allegi- ance to no one. Whatever feeble connec- tion it had had with the weak, struggling American Board of Missions was long since broken; too vast distance of forest naux outsaass af thas aeGfSSg eGfSSgland I1a Wnfss fs n the earlier part of this century mani ested itself in so many ways. Of like spirit Tn another age were the martyrs made. Into this life of the mission two strangers had drifted-Richard Herndon, he accused, and Edward Brown. once his friend, now his shrouded victim. This lay the brethren had found the slain body n the wood, and borne it homeward si ently. They had then returned to seek for the slayer, and found hlm coming in of his own accord.
 "'Whoso sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed,'" said the elder. Richard Herndon, what have you to say in defense ?"
 ''Defense ?" said Herndon "But I tell you there is no need of defense. He aim- ed at me before aimed at him. His bull let is deep in some tree out there, l SUD- pose. Mine was truer. It was all chance" ]"
 ''There is no chance," said the elder, gravely. s.. t--
 "But we were both drunk, old man." . Was it chance, too, that made you arlnk ?"
 "Of course it was. We had been hunt ing all night in the rain, and were wet and tired We took little, and took too much and fell to quarreling-a thing that might happen to any man. ..
 "No, not to any man, Richard Herndon. Such excuses avail you not Patiently have we weighed the evidence for this full hour past. There remains no door of es- cape for you. The penalty of your crime is death
 "Death P cried the accused. starting forward. You dare take to yourself the office of judge? Unbind me! You have taken away my arms; you are forty to my one. Unbind me!'7z e1 E .s~-
 Brethren, unbind him not" said the elder; Che is but one, yet is bis strength great. Richard Herndon, I have some what to say to thee"
 "And so have somewhat to say to you, old fanatic. Who are you that you take to yourself legal powers in this way? By what authority do you pass sentence upon mel" -- 4s-rf &. 2E
 By the authority of the Bible, poor sinner. "1 r9 @ f-a
 ''I acknowledge it not, cried Herndon. hotly. 'F
 The faces of the brethren grew stern; a trace of compassion visible in ene or two vanished: blaspaemy was the unpardon- able sin. s asft zz,s #-ssE E.s-g- sf z.;s E "Young man, said the elder, ''you came into our borders three months ago, you and your friend, and you have dwelt voluntarily with us these many days. We asked you not to remain, yet we gave you of our substance, and slackened not to provide you daily with all things needful. It was not that we loved you; your life, your aims, were different from ours. Yet we suffered you for hospitality's sake, all of us being, as it were, in the power oi the wilderness, with the hand of the cold and of famine and of death by violence ever over us. Then came the time when you took the entrance VOW of our society upon you. You sought me. by night, and asked to be admitted as a preparing mem Der. This was your own, doing; no ons urged you to take the VOW. No influence was cast around you to draw you to oul work or to our lifesa ,,su5as .a ..95s ,,
 ''Are you quite sure of that ?" .saif
 Herndon, surllly.
 The light of the fire fell on his face a.
 lie changed his position; his hands zwer, bound behind him, his brown ibeardo flow ed over his broad chest, his short, ,o crisl
 hair,1 1bronzed features. ands4angry eyel
 were full of strong ife.g He was like ruddy Samson among thoseb lean.s wir.
 New England men; and he too had fallel
 into danger through love of woman-