Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1830-02-08


n. other southern tribes, present many oil
the m exhibit spectaeles ss Disgusting a. '"e!
are depr aiding. Only three years SIN e. d" ap
preparation wa. made by Congress, upon 'ne
demonstrations of The au horities oil Fiorida' 10
relieve ,he indians there. from actual s'aiSauon'
We are as unwilling 10 undertake. as we
should be to overrate, The progress maoe w
these Indians in civilization and Improvement
We are well aware, ,ha; The consh'ut'oh " VII.
Cherok-es, their press, aud newspspe', an.
phabet, their schools and police, nave se"'
through all heir borders the glad u'inss, 'hs'
the long nigh, Of aboriginal ignorance wa emu
ed. and tina, the day Of knowledge had dawhea'
Would tina, i, were so. None would rrJ'i'e
moro sincerely than we should. Bu' 'his grea'
csuse can derive no aid from exaggerated re-
presen, a,ions; from promises never to o. KEPT
and from rxpec a ions never 10 he rraiiz"o.-
The truth must inally come. and II ~ii' co"'e
with powerful reaction We hope 'ha' OUT
opinion upon this subject may be erroneous
Blu, we have melancholy fore holdings. iha' a
few principal men, who can secure is"oraoie
cotton lands, and cultivate them win sia'fs,
will BIZ comfortable and satisfied, WE may wen
believe Ard SO long a. The large apnu'ifs re
ceive;i from the United States, are applied %
the support Of newspaper and 10 other ohjee's'
more important TO The rich than tne poor en-
rome US impressions upon these su'Jcets may
prevail.
Con This sub, ct the world has had enough
OF ROM n'ic description. II IS time Tor inc So
b-rness Of ruth and reality. Rousseau and the
disc iples in his school, with disiempered ima'
pinallons and unsettled rea Ion, may persuade
themselves OF The iufrrloriry Of civilized to sa-
wage life; bu, he who looks abroad over the tor
he hP
inps hat roam through them, will see how
NUT h thew endure, that we are spared. 1t is
difficu, to conceive that any branch OF he hu'
man family can be less provideni 10 arrange
meui, less frugal in enjoyment, less indus r.ous
| in acquiring more implacabe in their resent
men,s, more ungovernable IN their passions,
with fewer principles TO guide m, with few
er obligations 70 restrain them, and with less
know ledge to improve and instruct them. We
| speak of them as they arc, as we have found
them after long and intimate Acquaintance;
fully approaching our duties and their rights
all lhai they have suffered and lost, and all that
we have enjo,ed and acquired"
A few facts we conceive will place the high
prr,ensions Of hese people which have found
such favor among some OF our citiEens OF the Sc
sia,es, on proper foundation
| In the frs, place, then, their own additional
acc omit Of their se;,lemcn, is this tha they arr
! no, aborigines Of thr soil, bu conqnerors II
some former pos.essors Off: and i, will De con
coded that his is the only spcties OF title re.
gerdeh AS wholly unrxceptIonable IN the code
| Of savage international law.
| q For long time previous 10 the commence
mrnt Of he Revolutionary war, this people
avas regarded as mere uibu ary OF the BRUSH
government, and in every possible relation,
wh+ther tx ernal or in ernasl, completely con
troled by the agrn's Of that power: -insomurh
that when the conres, became serious, the
Cherokees were found arranged on the sidr
Of the mo her country, in The shape "f regular
e,ies Itch were attached 10 the notorious
Col. Browns regiment Of Florida Rangers, and
not according 10 the modes usual IN Indian
| tactics
8. In the year I776, the country was COM
| pe,ely overrun bv Virginia, the two Carol'nas
and Georgia; and in 1855, ., The close of tie
Revolution, hu, before tie adoption OF the Fed.
erAl Constitution, acc ording TO the Treaty OF
| Hopewell, they passed under the yok- and sur
re- dertd themselves as subj ec,s NJ rhr y 5 a,rs
| OF America, aud had in re urn 'he,e lands or Il
poI ion Of ,aeIn 'aln,ted for hunting grounds -"
merely. Now by comparison Of das, II will
| be ascertained a. this period OF lime,earh m'm-
| ished sovereignty, that did nni acknowledge
anv paramount power wihin her limits; thai
i, was an Article of he compact that none OF
the states should br deprived OF territory Tor
the ben, Il, oi the RESI-: nor should the L"gisla
u,r rgh's Of any be infringed or violated.
BY his chain of argumen then, we hold the
tile # Georgia 10 these Cherokee lands, 10 be
| cnmpl,,eiy made cnt; even il she had not the
higher g,"und TO stand upon, that SO soon as
independence was declared, she imms dat ly
became sovereign, and as such succeeded 20
all the prrroga:ives possessed bv the KING Of
Great B,itaIn;-and, 1t would be just as idle to
say ,ha, the S ate relinquished his attribute by
authorizing Congress TO regulate intercourse
with lhr Indian trisps, as to assert thar she had
abandoned he right to make laws for he or
binary government Of property because the
same body is empowered TO make similar or
ders respecting the commerce between iht dii
fr,en. ser,ion. Of tn UNION.
:. ID. Edison,
Having received by -chooners Velocity l.