Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1830-08-04


and waste Of human life II the act can be sustain
ed it is undou btedly desirable that it should be- But
this is not the first occasion which have express
ed opinion, that il left the whole matter ex-
oily where It founait II has once been my profess
sional duty examine that question in it's bearing
upon another case Pho sovereignty of the Senecas
is yet unimPeached. if it should be found that they
were not subject to the jurisdiction OF the state
when this act passed. That question yet re-
mains to be tried However benevolent the intentions
Of the Legislature may have been, yet II It should be
found that the consent Of the Seneca nation to the
exercise Of this power was necessary, the Courts
will pause before they assume jurisdicticn under It
am not aware that the act has ever been executea
1t shortly after it's passage and IN the hrst case
which up the question the condition OF
the Indians another form, that the Supreme Court,
relying on the differences to be drawn from that lag.
decided that they we're citizens, and subject like all
others, to the laws of the State But since the re-
versa Of this the opinion Of Chancellor Kent is
considered to be the law of tho State How much
aid them the doctrines of the Report of the Com
mlttee Indian Affairs, can be drawn from the
course of judicial decisions in New Yorh, even since
the passage of the act of 1922, leave you to de.
teine nd vl dismiss this part Of the subject with
the remark, that if, by the public or conventional
law of that State or the Union, whether arising from
treaties founded on any political principles OF our
system. the Senecc Nation held their sovereignty IN
l8aa that has not, and could not rightfuy take
it away
shall cheerfully concede that to look to the
acts ofthe Colonies and especially Of the States and
the Federal government to determine the rights oil
soil and sovereignty claimed by the Indian nations:
but shall be compelled to detain you longer than
should have done had the Committee on Indian At
fairs claimed with less confidence, and given us better
proof that the fundamental principle that the Indians
had right to either had never been abandoned ell
Their expressly or by implication. Whatever may
have been the public law before the Revolution, 1t
would be quite sufficient settle this question con-
cluRivey in favor of the Indian nations by showing
what the acts of the old Congress- the States and the
Federal Government, have been. from the Declare
ION Of nd lima
End upon tables collection Of colonial laws,
some or which passed nearly two centuries ago.
will trouble you with some reflections that have oc-
CURED to this mode of disposing OF the difficult
ties thrown in the way Of gentlemen by the history OF
later times. l cannot agree that we are to go oacE
quite far TO ascertain the public OF entlonai
law Of the Federal Government to look beyond
the Revolution for the political law OF the States -
Yhis collection of laws certainly contains some,
chiefly of an early date, which may now appear TO he
somewhat whimsical and there is no doubt that ma
ny could be found which would show less regard 10
Indian rights, and perhaps to the common claims OF
humanity, than some of these. There may be much
to lament in our early history l cannot say that
have found much instruction from the extracts laid
before of these early laws of the coonists, and
certainly feel no qualification that they have been
rescued from oblivion and placed among The docu-
nents of this house ] am sorry to them here
1t would however, be difficult to account for the
origin OF them, without st'rbutng them to spirit
unfavorable the claims of the native inhabitants
OF this continent as the Committee on Indian Affairs
seem to have assumed Ii would be rather remarka-
BILE if we could show that Indian rights always
held high respect or that Inde s s5Ga'sg were al
for the early coonis,s They we're settled here
at great distance from Europe They little
regarded, and altogether unprotected By the mother
country. Their vicinity TO these fierce and warlike
nations often produced dangerous collisions with
them. state Of ltion sprung up k.hich led
to ncerce "a. J, aAa litter and i.nRacSble ant,
mems. The French were OF tho other side OF the
Indians, and sometimes excited them to the eS-
tIrrstion Of the English coonisis. If we consider
what the state of society was. md how strongly the
principle of self preservation is implanted in the hu
man heart, should rather wonder that the Con-
mittee on Indian Affairs had not been able to end
much more in early history to sustain their po-
stions. Was to be expected that ia hers were
to be more than men, the critical and aff1ictrns
situations in which we kpog from history they were
often placed Would you look for calm philosophy
in men whose families were awakened from their pill
lows ut midnight ~ the yell Of the war hoop2--when
they fled naked in the depth of winter the nearest
thIcket for refuge rom the COMMUNICATION they
looked back upon the conaagration which lighted up
the painless forest around the'-when they return
ed 10 the burning ruins and saw tie door-posts of
their dwellings, sprinked With the blood of ther chill
dren, and the remnant Of their families swept inso
captivy!-or When they gathered sTo:l the scorcEing
ashes the calcned relics of all hey had held dear
earth! If justify that extremity of retail
iation 10 which human nature in such circumstances
could be tempted, let us be just enough to their
memory, to forbear to reproach the of their
ooCldI theCtiOu9. WY, w VIC 70 pdCB
and bring up for our examples at this day,
other laws Of our owo, other countries, more
gravely enacted. and quite vigorously enforced
We might perhaps be able to justify the practice of
making slaves of the Indians: or If we should be in
clined to 60 back still further, could Justify the
putting of prisoners of war to death L is not half
century since the African slave trade was generally
condemned by the laws Of christian goyernmen g.
should be very sorry to believe that the Govern
mcnt was driVen to Justify the passage Of this bill
under any examples like these, that we should be
forced TO confess that we and oil tn. Vorlj hcvs
made no advance for Eo centuries in political science
or the morality Of the code Of public law, by which
enlightened nations are willing to be governed /
hoPo that during that time our society has gone for
wards and not backwards. We boast much of our
improvement in other things, and why should we not
be viking to admit it in this? / protest, at least
against going back to the time when the fires of
Smithfeld were lighted up, and cannot consent To
take the expulsion Of the French from Acadia as a
Ct model to illustrate duties to the Cherokees
We had better down to later time -cher chris
tianity bod shed its pure light clearly upon the