Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1831-04-09
MIR. burgess sPEECH-rCoNrrsvED.

IN
S,.te I'VE have lowered our heads to foreign ma
t;ons abroad. who might call US to some account
for departure from etiquette, we have, under
the same councils, carried ourselves highly ana
bauohty enough, to those dependent "remnants
of once mighty nations" at home, placed. by the
fnrtune of war, and the inexplicable revolutions
of human events, in condition of pu7tidge and
Guardianship to the American people. How nave
these our wards and pupils been treated! no"
have the high and holy relations OF guardians.
and instructors to them, been kept, and preserved
nv uss We stand pledged to the whole christian
xyorIJ. by the declarations OF our ancestors, re-
peated by US. IN every the most solemn iofm' 10
ciyilize. and instruct the aborlSines M the great
principes of our benign religion. BY the oDl%a-
tons of the most sacred treaties, and Tor iuii,
and valuable consideration in broad lands, ceded
10 the United States, our government has, at va
nous times. coyenanted with these tribes and ma
lions. to pay them annuties; to guarantee to them
tbs;r respective governments, and laws, and terri
tories; and to defend them in the quiet possession
and neaceable enjoyment of all these, their great
orioinal and natural rights. From the commence
ment of our peaceable relations with them up 10
the close of the last administration, these covenants
had been fully and sacredly observed aud Kept,
by the government OF the United States. Me-
chanics. and farmers hare sojourned among them,
10 teach these people the great fundamental arts
Of civilized life. By holy men, who have taken
nm their abode among several of these nations.
thew have been taught letters and arts; and above
all, learned the divine precepts OF the christian
religion The annuites. due to each nation ana
and tribe by treaty, have, with good iairth, been
bald into their public treasures, 10 be dlsoursed
according to their own laws & customs. 80 early
as 1902, BY statute of the United States, anu
called. ever since, the Intercourse Law, line OF
demarcaton was drawn between their lands anu
territories and those Of the United, or the sever.
al states and territories. BY this law all mankind
were excluded from these lands. unless by con-
sent of the owners. and license for that purpose
first obtained How have these people proflted
by these benefits? will call your attention more
narticularly to the Ckerokees, because their ma
tion has been most improved, and their present
condition does most interest the sympathles OF the
world These people have abandoned the chace
for subsistence aud become cultvators OF the SOIL
They raise focks and herds; grow corn and cot
ton. and have established household manufacto-
ries for most of their own clothing. Such other
Kindred arts are cultivated among them as are
necessary fer this state Of improvement Under
the a.yisemcnt and instruction of MIR. Jefferson,
they have succeeded in establishing republican
form of government; and have enacted wise and
wholesome laws. A Bank, and treasury man
aecstheir currency and finances; press promul-
oates their constitution and laws. One native
Cherokee has invented an alphabet of their Ian
guage; and another, scholar, christian. edits
= public paper, printed in our and their language
and letter. published for the information of their
rcople and re ceived and read in most Ofthe States
m this Union. In half a century after letters
were brought to this people by pious and learned
missionaries. they have reduced their laws to
writing in their own alphabet and language
4 like achievement cost the Greeks not less than
600 years The school house and the meeting
house have been built by them in their villages,
as our NOUS ancestors reared the like buildings IN
ours. I'm the one their children are taught in our
language and their language; in the other, their
whole people meet together, on our Sabbath, IN
the name Of the Saviour of the world, to worship
the God of the whole earth
So were our trusts as guardians to them, re-
lisiously observed and kept; and SO have they
proitted and improved, as pupils and wards
10 US, under our teachings and protection. U.
how unlike, for oar glory. and Their prosperity
is the present to tue past. The President OF the
United States soon after his Inauguration, babe
the Cherokee Delegation, then in Washington,
assure their people from him. that he would pro-
tect them against the demands Of Georgia, and
the intrusions of all persons. Mr.. Van Buren,
had not then entered the Department of State,
or assisted the President by his advice. The
next winter they were told by the same high f,mc-
tionary. that the lands in their possession were,
beyond question, their own: but that he could not
interfere with the laws of sovereign State,
or secure them against the jurisdiction of Geor-
ola. That State had not then expressly laid
Claims to the lands Of the CherokeeS; but their
legislature had passed laws abolishiny their 60
4. -. L., a,,Ic athx. nrtnn
their national character. These laws went into
operation in June 1850. The Cherokee lands
are o,caed by the nation; and each individual
owns nothing but his improvements on the soil.
When the laws of Georgia had abolished the Che
rokee nation, the lands, as their politicians rea-
soned on the case, were left without an owner;
and, as they say, lying within the limits of that
state, became, at once, as thing derelict, the
property of that republic. Perhaps the gold, dis