If, in the course of this little volume, I have been obliged to use
language that seems harsh, I beg my readers to remember that it was in
defence of the character of the people under my spiritual charge and
of my own. The Marshpees have been reviled and misrepresented in the
public prints, as much more indolent, ignorant, and degraded than
they really are, and it was necessary, for their future welfare, as
it depends in no small degree upon the good opinion of their white
brethren, to state the real truth of the case, which could not be done
in gentle terms. The causes which have retarded our improvement could
not be explained without naming the individuals who have been the
willing instruments to enforce them.
For troubling my readers with so much of my own affairs, I have this
excuse. I have been assailed by the vilest calumnies; represented as
an exciter of sedition, a hypocrite and a gambler. These slanders,
though disproved, still continue to circulate. Though an Indian, I
am at least a man, with all the feelings proper to humanity, and
my reputation is dear to me; and I conceive it to be my duty to the
children I shall leave behind me, as well as to myself, not to leave
them the inheritance of a blasted name. In so doing, I humbly presume
to think, I have not exceeded the moderation, proper for a Christian
man to use.