Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Wayne County, Ind.) 1831-1837, 1835-02-28

s. greedy press on the o,her,-,he fruits
Of bitterness, ths dcsolation Of poverty on
~, are her lot.
Bw ii this is tho situation Of things in
England and Ireland, the f,rmer Of which
many Of her writers describe as being the
only abode ofrefinement, peace and plenty
what must be said Of the MAJORITY OF ma
,ions ruled BY an absolute sovereign!-
The people Who live under his law are
necessarily bound up in the dark roles Of
superstition and ignorance, " hich the light
of science has never penetrated. They
xsovei in the dust and lick the feet Of their
oppre sos. Their minds are excluded
fr..m light, and are NJ dark az the bosom
of midnight. lf YOU ~i-h to- Know them
,nore fully, vi-U their affairs erected to
the worship Of the unknown God,-yaze
upon their self imm0lated victims to ap-
peas the anger Of their dsifies, visit their
fills, which perhaps once smiled in bsau-
~. but INV are barren and &esolate; and
then re,srn to your own happy land, and
view the smiling villages, the huus and
hustle IT cities. aud the green ver.iare &c
the valleys. Her hills run down with
gltdness. aud the sound Of ny from her
valleys echoes in music along her wind
Tug rivers.
! In our country, religious freedom j. one
Of the peculiar privileges we enjoy. Here
every man ererts such an altar to has God
- his conscience NAV direct. M res
trainfs are imp. sesl on his Understanding,
M dtsat!i les lie at his door on accoun,
of his religious opinions. Here too, the
elective f.a"ch'se Is in its purify and the
press, that Palladium Of Our liberties, fee.
! And III our smiling land, what f.cili'ies
t'f educa'ion? every hamlet and neighhor
hod, Is blest with ,ts schools. the arts and
sc,ences are on the advance, and in polite
literature, even now, our nation NAV we'll
| bear rivalship with the most polished M
ton in Europe. These are some Of the
blessings We enjoy over the other nations
oftte earth, and SO long as our constitu-
ton remains unisnpaired, SD long will
these blessings be guaranteed to Us, and
the generations that come after us.
But fellow citizens, happily az we are
situated, great az is our enjoyment, we
ought not entirely to forget the cost OF our
high and exalted station, to the original
inhabitants Of OUT land. Though they
were savages, rambling in the sol,tudes Of
their unbroken deserts, they nevertheless,
possessed the outlines Of humanity, of
patriotism, and Of honor.
| A few years ago, where now stands
villages, and cities and towns, the council
FIRE of The Indian might be seen glas,nG
upon the darkened night. Where rolls
our mighty rivers, bearing upon their DO
SONS Aoating palaces, the light canoe of
the red man alone SKINNED upon the wa
tiers. l4ord!y, and in the solitude Of his
own thoughts he traversed the vas, forest
Of North America. A child of nature,
and unseduced by the Injuries of Euro
pean life, has greatest pleasure was to
mingle with the elements, and invoke the
protection and aid of the Great Spirit
But where is he now?-In the language
Of ano;l,er, she Indian Of falcon glance
and lion bearing, the theme of tho touch
ing ballad, the hero Of the pathetic tale,
is gone; and his miserable offspring era y:
upon he soil to remind us how wre.ched
! is man when the foot Of the conqueror is
on his neck.n
Gas a race they have withe.ed from the
land: their arrows are broken, ,heir
springs are dried up, their cabins are in
the dust. The council fire has long since
gone out on the shore, and the war cry j.
fast dying to tho untrodden west" But
II is the order Of nature, that as wave fol
low > wave, 80 shall! one generation aud peo-
pie give place Z" another. Since the
anding Of the pilgrims on this Continent,
Hk.<, Al 80
white men, ~. has been The decrease Of the
red men. TIE mighty strength ofc,viii-
zaii"n hears them away, and son will
the last one among them stand upon the
top Of yOuder mountains. and gaze up,n
the distant Pacific, that is destined to en-
e"lph HIM forever. In this situation, ina
g'n. the poDderin2s Of hrs heart. With
iesrfnl eye. he turrs himself AMI takes q
last lr,k at the valley of bis ancestors.
Graves of my fathers! he cner, must YOU
be bandonet-nust the pi"ughshare of
the whit-man otli,erste those green
mounds unisr which rest the bones Of our
brothers. our sisters and our warriors?-
Can it be, Great Spirit can 1t lie? Fare
we'll thou rowing rivt.rs and lovely forests;
a few years viii roll away when those
VIII" have suppIan'ed ard succeeded us,
viii in ,heie turn he snpPlanted and suc-
ceeded by another nation, another people.
cannot forbcar, fellow citizens, at this
time, ad. er;ing for few moments to the
history and present situation Of your own
beloved state. Thirty years ago, this cx-I
tensive and delightful; portion ofonr conn
try contained a population Of but few
hundred sonls. aud excepting two OF three
,n;ris, not mark Of civilization was seen.
Blu, now fi,ere are spread over your soil
nearly il not quite 400. 600 inhabitants.
And where. within the memory Of nearly
all within the sosnd If my voice, the spoe-