Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-04-18

lie worship, lest they might be murdered
by the savages at the very foot of the
divine altar. 1t was, therefore, the I'M
peratiVe custom of the men to arm them
selves when they went to the house OF
God, so that they would be able to pro
tect themselves and their families from
murderous attacks. Not unfequently
was the news carried to the church,
while the Worshippers were engaged in
! acts of devotion, that an individual
part Of family, or even a whole family,
/ had been butchered to death after hay
/ ing been put to the most cruel torture by
/ the Indians. AS soon as the news reach
ed the church all the able-bodied men
/ started Immediately IN pursuit Of the
I hellish muIdeEeTs.
4 In order to be ready for such emer-
Fgencies IS these, the men sat atthe head
or entrance Of the seats occupied by the
WOrshipers, so that they might be able
/ to meet an attack or start in pursuit
! without any delay. But although the
/ cause no longer exists, as the people can
now sit down under their own vine and
/ ig tree, and worship the God of all na-
| items, none daring to modest or put them
/ in fear, the custom Of men sitting at the
4 head of the pew still obtains quite gen
/ orally. Inasmuch as there is no reason
why it should be kept up, it would save
/ considerable confusion often, if ali would
I sit in the pew in the order they enter, no
matter whether they are males or females,
and ObViate great deal of ecclesiastical
marching and conference.-the into the
aisle and back again, which does any
| thing but add to the sOlemnity which
should at all times characterize an as
! sembly of protesting Christians in the
sanctuary.
In the days of the slavery excitement
F-SO
much and loudly about the "nOble red
man." Even a portion of the religious
| press demanded very imperiOusly that
| Justice should be done the noble Indian,
/ who was a native of the soil (although,
| for that part, the African is about as much
a native as he is) before we began to talk
of hberating the slave. This, of course,
was a hollow pretence in order to get rid
of the question that was pressing with
such tremendous force at the time. We
| have seen much of the Indian since the
war, but we have failed to discern any of
! that nobility of character or demeanOr in
them which those who favored the per
! petuatiOn of chattel slavery extOlled in
I such grand and eloquent terms. Besides
/ witnessing some of their filthy and brutal
/ habits in Kansas and Colorado towns, we
have the testimony of unprejudiced and
! creditable witnesses in those places, that
| they are anything but noble. Indeed we
would not 90 in search of true nobility in
/ that direction. A people who, since the
| days Of the dispersion, or a time subse-
quent, have been leading a life Of brutality
andignOrance,r roaming through unbrOken
Wildernesses and been impelled to deeds
of slaughter by the ferOciOus savageness
of unrestrained and unnatural nature
could not be expected to be noble in
| bearing or heroic in actions.
BUTCHERIEs OF CHRISTIANS.
But the pious pioneers of this region
had not the most exalted ideas of the no
bllity of the red man. and we fail to see
why they should have had. To them he
proved 10 be both treacherOus and COW
aIdly. The meek and humble fellow ers
of tie divine Savior, innocent and mot
fensive servants of the most high God,
helpless women and children, were alike
the indiscriminate victims of his blood.
thirsty rage. In the lonely home, in the
absence of male protectors, the weak and
defenCeless were cruelty put to death by
his guilty hands, and the horns Of the
altar afforded no protection from his ferO-
ciOus fury. No doubt many injuries were
causelessly heaped upon him, but they
were few and insignificant in comparison
of those he inflicted upon the unOHend-
ing and nOn-COm Blatant
The stories related of the dastardly
deeds of the Indians in the times to
which we refer are sOul-sickenIng even
yet. We have read of the butcheries in
the Puniaub, at Inkerman, Seba, tOpOl
and other places, but they were perpe-
trated in open war in which only the
advantage of superior tact and skill
could be taken. But the Indians in this
neighbOrhOOd, and many others in diff
fer5nt parts of the country, acted with
the most cruel treachery and for the
most part without plOvOcatiOn. The
very mention of their atrocities causes
the blood to curdle in our veins even at
this distant day.
One hundred years ago, in 1855, the
Rev. John COrbley wrote a letter to a
ministerial friend in Philadelphia in
which he gave a most thrilling account
of one of the most cold blOOded and IN
provoked murders on record. In the
month Of May, 1882, Mr.. Corbley set out
one Sabbath morning in company with
his wife and five children for one of the
meeting-hOuses in which he preached,
which was only about one mile distant
from his dwelling house. Desiring to
engage in silent meditation upon the
subject he was about to discuss to his
people, he walked a short distance be-
hind his wife and children. While en-
gagged in solemn meditation, carrying
hi Bible in his hand, he heard his fam
lily, about two hundred yards ahead Of
him, giving utterance to the most
piercing shrieks Of agony. He had no
idea that, within such a short distance
of his dwelling house and his church,
the Indians should have become so bold
and daring as TO attack his family on
the Sabbath morning when the people
were assembling for public prayers. He
soon discovered, however, that the wick
ed savages had attacked his unarmed
family with great determination. When
be got within about forty yards of his
family his wife called to him a. the top
of her voice to fly for his life. He was
also unarmed, and an Indian ran toward
him with his gun leveled to shoot him.