The Arkansas advocate., 1830-11-03

content hlmsest with the applause of his felloW-citlzens and the Executive of
 the Union. He must fsaid the Govern
 or) be permitted to say, that, when he
 left homey he did not anticipate the hon. or of public dinner on his tour. It
 vas true, that he had, for some time,
 contemplated, visit to the different
 parts of the Territory with view to
 obtain 1ttst ii more accurate information of the
 situation condition and interests oif the
 people over whom he had the honor te
 preside. If seemed to him right and
 proper that the Governor should have
 some generalaeaaaibtance with ti1e peo- pie, as it tended to strengthen the rela- tions Of good feelings and confidence
 which ought to subsist between the peo-
 pie and those charged with the man. |agement oftheir public concerns; and it adds, besides, energy to public authori-
 ty, when an occasion occurs to require
 the exertion of the public force. x K The Governor said, that he had been led, by motives of public duty and pe- cullar circumstances, to order Regimen
 tai Masters, and to visit this section of the Territory. and coula only repeat
 here, the explanation he had given to
 the ffempstead regiment. on Friday last. The people in this country, dis persed as they are over so large sur face, may feel the burden of attending
 mustersat distance from their homes.
 but they ought 10 bear in mind that. in
 the economy of Providence, the alloy
 of trouble and sorrow is mingled with
 every good allotted to man. The far
 mer toilsan sweatsi in ploughing, plant.
 ing, and sowing his crops. with the hope
 of reaping the harvest of his industry.
 The tax which the free people Of this
 country impose on themselves, of bear ing arms and performing militia duty. is to secure their rights and liberties. 4 nation, armed and enlightened. can nev- CT be enslaved. Instead of consider ing it burden. to assemble together in large bodies, with arms in our hands. to acquire some knowledge Of the milita-
 ry art and the organization Of an army,
 we should Said the Governor) consider it a glorious privilege, which can never
 be surrendered but with the loss of lb-
 erty. 1t is privilege enjoyed bvhard-
 ly any nation on the globe 50 years ago.
 The people every where had been en-
 slayed by force or fraud. and the des-
 pots of the old world, to hold them in chains. deemed it necessary to disarm them, lest they might, with arms in their hands, reassert their lostlberties. %hey substituted regular standing army, in lieu of a body of armed subjects. So important has this right been held by the people of the American States, that, in the bill of rights in their several con stitutions, it is declared 10 be one of the sacred and essential rights of freemen,
 to carry arms for the defence of their
 rights and liberties. V No portion of the
 American people are more deeply inter-
 ested in having a we'll organized and effective militia, than those of Arkan- sas. In case of emergency. the aid 10
 be derived from the States is too remote
 to be relied on; and the military force stationed in our neighborhood, is not
 more than sufficient to maintain the gar rison. We are separated from most of the States by the great river Mississip-
 pi, and syamps of great extent, impas-
 sable nearly two thirds of the year. On
 our western frontier, we have an Indi- an force greater than ever before con-
 centrated on the borders of an infant
 settlement. No lakes. rivers. noun
 tains, or desert, separate them from us.
 We are secured by no natural barrier, and the history of every age and coun- try proves that alicnnations, ,fhussitnated, have frequent ssea :a IS $, and we have nc req son to hope that we shall for ever escape
 those scenes of blood and desolation
 which have fallen to the lot of every O. ther people. We are informed, besides, (continucd the Governor, that more
 than 60,O00 Indians are to be removed
 from the east side of the Mississip- pi and located in our neighborhood. Our whole population docs not exceed 30,O00souls, your militia cannot amount to moro than I, 1000 effective men, scat tered over country of more than 200 geographical miles square. We are exposed, also, to an alien people on our southwestern borders, ,and themovements
 in that quarter under the authority of the Mexican Government, constituted a
 strong motive for ordering the Regimen