The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1830-10-06
THE INDIANS.

~
dian question during the last session OF Con
press, that of Mr.. Bates, of this State, is con-
snicuous, both for the force of its arguments
and the beauty of its style. We extract the
following truly eloquent passages from '"is
speech:
Mr.. Speaker, there is not an act OF Geor-
uia since Oglethorp first planted his foot up
on the site of Savannah, when duly consld-
cred; there is not 4 resolve, ordinance OF
law of Congress; there is net treaty oil
the United States with the Indian trloes,
that does not tend to establish the tact, that
the Indians are the proprletors OF the Janus
and hunting grounds they claim, subject on
ly to the restriction upon their right OF allen-
to evory man in this nation, or child on the
frontier, and he would have told you so, IN
til the legislation of the States, aided by in
terest, instructed him otherwise. What
then becomes of the tenancy at will-at sui
ferance, as asserted by Georgia? Not one
act, law or treaty that does not establish the
fact that they are sovereign. Sir, when
were they otherwise In what field were
they conquered? Produce the proof. But
be it what it may, it is all controlled by
single, undisputed, admitted, fact-here Is
the nation,until this invasion of 1t, still sove-
reign. There is no tradition that has not
been lost in its descent, that it was ever 9th
erwise than sovereign. The Pyramids OF
Egypt, upon their own broad and solid toun-
dations are not better truth of themselves
than the Cherokee nation is of its sove-
reigutv. Sir, the emblems of it were spark
ling in the sun, when those who now lnhab-
it Georgia, and all who ever did, were IN
the loins Of their European ancestry and
the bird that bore them aloft in the skies
Al. IL
was not more the king of birds, than the
Cherokees were the lords of the country in
which they dwelt, a:knowledging no SUI
premacy but that of the Great Spirit, and
awed by no power but his; absolute, erect
and indomtable as any creatures upon earth
the Deity ever formed.
Sir, Won cannot take step in the argu-
ment towards the result contended for by
the friends of this bill, without blotting eut
treaty, or tearing a seal from yoar bond.
give TO the bill connection which 1t has
in fact, whatever may be said to the con-
trary, with the decision of the States to
which it is subsidiary, and with the decls-
ion of the President, that the Indians must
submit to remove. Now, Sir, say you are
bound to protect them where they are, II
they claim it at your hands. That you will
violate no right of the State in doing it; and
will violate the rights of the Indian nations
by not doing it. That when the United
States in consideration of the cession OF
land made by the Cherokees to this Gov
eminent, guaranteed to them the remain
der of their country for ever" you meant
something by it. Sir, it is in vain to talk
upon this question impossible patiently to
discuss it. IF you have honor, it is pledged /;
If you have truth, it is pledged; if you have
faith, it is pedged-a nations faith, and
truth, and honor And to whom pledg-
ed? To the weak, the defenceless, the de-
pendent. FTdem .4uglorum in foedere ele-
Finlus. they say TO you. Selecting your
faith and no other,-you would not have 1t
otherwise,-we reposed our confidence and
trust in you, and you alone. And for what
pledged? Wherever you open your eyes
you see il, and wherever you plant your foot
you feel it. And by whom pledged? By
nation in its youth-a Republic, hoastful
of its liberty; may it never be added, un-
mindful of its honor. Sir, your decision up
on this subject is not to be rolled up in the
scroll of your journal and forgotten. The
transaction of this day, with the events that
it will give rise to, will stand out upon the
canvass in all future delineations of this
quarter of the globe, putting your deeds OF
glory in the shade. You will see it every
where-you will meet it on the page of his
tory, in the essay of the moralist, in the
tract of the jurist. You will see it in the
vision of the poet; You will feel it in the
sting of the artist; you will encounter it in
the indignant frown of the friend of liberty
and the rights of man, wherever despotism
has not subdued to its dominion, the very
look. You will meet it upon the stage ;yov
will read it in the novel, and the eyes o
your children's children throughout all gen
erations, will gush with tears as they rur
over the story, unless the oblivion of anoth
er age of darkness should come over thu
world, and blot out the record and the mem
DRY Of it. And, sir, you will meet it at the
bar above. The Cherokees, if they are
men cannot submit to such laws and suci
degradation. They must 90. Urged by
such persuasion, they must consent to 90
If you will not interfere in their behalf the
result is ineyitable-the object will be &C.
complished. When the Cherokee takes the
last look of the cabin he has reared-of the
field he has cultivated-of the mound that
covers the ashes of his fathers for unknown
generations, and the bones of his family anC
friends, and leaves all TO be desecrated BY
the greedy and obtrusiye borderer-sir, /
will not venture upon a description of this
scene of a nations exit and exile. | will
only say would not encounter the secret,
silent prayer that should be breathed from
the heart Of one of these sufferers, armed
with the energy that faith and hope would
give it, if there be God that avenges the
wrongs oftbe injured, for all the land that
the sun has looked upon. These children
of nature will 60 to the stake, and bid you
strike without the motion of muscle but
if they can bear this; if they have reduced
whatever there is of earth about them, to
such a subsection to the spirit within, as to
h1nrrfess;; aua 'edr nts "a i yut4o u the
tiers.