The Indianapolis journal., 1883-05-19
AN oRAToRIcAL NEW DEPARTURE.

AN oRAToRICAL NEW DEPARTURE.
The graduating hcnors of Roanoke College
have just been awarded, and in the assign
ment of parts one of our noble red brothers
from the Indiana Territory is booked for an
Grafton in his native Choctaw. At last the
longdesired change has come. After eating
stewed veal for couple of centuries the
promise of having it fried is refreshing On
this occasion ancient Greece must stand back
and Rome must sit quietly on her seven
hills, while this young Indian regales us
upon pure Choctaw. The old masters,
for once in thousand years, will
not be disturbed and the philosophy
of the ancients will also be left
to the keeping of the cyclopedias. More
over, the problem of problems will not be
tackled; the destiny of the race will have to
take care of itself for few minutes, and the
future of the American Union shall not be
mentioned. We are to have Choctaw, pure
and simple, The migrate may raise the
question of the futility of the speech in
Choctaw unless the Choctaws are there to
hear it; that a Choctaw speech is for a
Choctaw audience, and that an Omaha dis
This objection is ungenerous and untena-
bic, and has no weight when viewed
in the proper light. This young
red man comes as a messenger
of mercy to long-suffering people. He
comes, figuratiyely speaking. with supply
of Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound in
one hand and st. Jacobs Oil in the other.
Our inability to understand the Grafton is
only an argument for the closer attention to
it. We have been surfeited with the subjects
named above and cry nightly for something
new. Besides, we can listen on this occasion
in sweet assurance that the production is not
a plagiarism. Another great advantage is,
it leaves each individual hearer free to pic
ture in his own fancy an Interpretation to
suit himself. Bill Nye would have the trans
lation to run as follows:
warriors, we stand in the moccasins of a
mighty nation. Our pirogue stands idle on
the shore. | don't know what pirogue is,
but it stands idle on the shore. When the
spring flowers bloom again and the grass is
green upon the plains, we will once more go
forth upon the war path. We will avenge
the wrongs OF our nation. l have not fully
glutted my vengeance. have seven or eight
more gluts on hand and will shout our war
cry once more, and mutilate some more
Anglo-Saxons. We will silence the avenging
cries of our people. We will spatter the
green grass and gray greasewood with the
gore of the pale face, and feed the white
livered emigrant to the coyote, We
will spread death and desolation
everywhere and fill the air with gum over
shoes and remains Let us yield up our lives
dearly while we mash the paleface beyond
recognition, and shoot his hired man so full
of holes that he will look like suspension
bridge. Warriors there is our hunting
ground. The buffalo, the antelope, the sage
hen and the jackass rabbit, are ours; ours to
enjoy ours to perpetuate ours to transmit.
The Great Spirit created these animals for the
red man.. Then we will ride down on the
regular army when he is thinking of some
thing else, and we will scare him into CON
vulsions, and our medicine men will attend
to the convulsions while we sample the sup
plies. Then we will take some cold-sliced In
dian agent and bay rum and go on a picnic.
Warriors, farewell. Think of what l
have said to you. We will not grumble
about the celuloid cracker and the cast-ron
odfish-ball, but in the spring time we will
have veal outlets for breakfast and peace
commissioners on toast for dinner. The
squaw shall have a new plug hat, and if the
weather is severe she shall have two of
them"
No matter whether the diagnosis of this
effort by Doctor Nye be true or false, the
important fact remains that we have been
relieved Now, if the Chinaman and the
South Sea Islander, who are students in this
country could be induced to render
their commencement exercises in native YER
nacular, a much-needed variety would be
infused into the vernal contests of American
colleges, and in the course of time the white
student might take it into his head to get out
of the rut and spare a patient and long
suffering people the infections they have
endured so long The trouble with the boys
lies in the fact of trying to do too much too
early Nothing short of complete recon-
struction of the universe is attempted on
commencement day. If the lads could be
impressed with the fact that a recipe for
the destruction OF the potato-bug or
the grub-worm, would be of infinitely more
value than their high-fown fancies about
things entirely out of their reach, there
would be some hope of beginning real life at
the commencement. The times are rapidly
ripening for general shaking up of the old
college systems. The impression is abroad
and well grounded that these institutions
have not kept pace with the general advance
ment in all things of practical life. Reform
is necessary. The sooner it is begun the bet
ter 1t is not flattering commentary on the