The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1838-10-13
THE AMERICAN CADMUS.

In the winter Of 1928, delegation of the
Cherokees visited the city of Washington, ia
order to make treaty with the United States
and among them was See-quah-yah, the inven.
tor of the Cherokee alphabet. His English
name was George Guess; he was half
blood, but had never, from his own account
spoken single word Of English up to the time
of his invention, nor since. Prompted by my
own curiosity, and urged by several literary
friends, applied to See-quah-yah, through
the medium Of two interpreters, one half
blood, Capt. Rogers, and the other a ful-blood
chief, whose assumed English name was John
Nav, to relate to me, as infinitely as possible,
the mental operations and all the facts in his
discovery. He cheerfully complied with my
request, and gave very deliberate and salts
factory answers to every question; and was
at the same time careful to know from the in
terpreters if distinctly understood his an
swers. No stole could have been more grave
in his demeanor than was See quah-yah he
pondered, according to the Indian custom, for
considerable time after each question was
put, before he made his reply, and often took
a Whit of his calumet while rejecting on an
answer. The details of the examination are
too long for the closing paragraph of this
lecture; but the substance of il was this :
That he, See-quah-yah, was now about sixty
five years old, but could not precisely say !;
that in early life he was gay and laxative ;
and although he never attempted to speak in
council but once, yet was often, from the
strength of his memory, his easy coloquial
powers, and the ready command of his YER
nacular, story teller of the convivial party
His reputation for talents Of every kind gave
him some distinction when he was quite young,
so long ago as ST. Glars defeat. In this
campaign, or some one that soon followed it,
letter was found on the person of prisoner,
which was wrongly read by him to the Indians.
In some of their deliberations on this subject,
the question arose among them, whether this
mysterious power Of the talking leaf was the
gift of the Great Spirit to the white man, or a
discovery of the white man himselfl Most Of
his companions were Of the former opinion,
while he as strenuously maintained the latter.
This frequently became subject of contem-
plation with him afterwards, as well as man,
other things which he knew, or had heard, that
the white man could do; but he never sat
down seriously to reflect on the subject, until
a swelling on his knee confined him to his
cabin, and which at length made him cripple
for life, by shortening the diseased leg. De-
prived Of the excitements of war, and the plea
sures Of the chase, in the long nights Of his
confinement his mind was again directed to
the mystery Of the power of speaking by ict-
ters, the very name Of which, of course, was
not to be found in his language. From the
cries of wild beasts, from the talents Of the
hooking bird, from the voices Of his children
and companions, he knew that feelings and
passions were conveyed by different sounds
from one intelligent being to another. The
thought struck him to try to ascertain all the
sounds in the Cherokee language. His owr
ear was not remarkably discriminating, anc
he called TO his aid the more acute ears OF hi: