Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1870-02-24

Us .&6 50
creased, reached the cabin, IN slsereasioe
ensusd. thea ! Eight. aud the whole rsr-
~ Of Indians. with three women who hed
accompaufsds them. were shot do.xnBs
the whites. . brosher Of Loean's beipe
khid With the rest sszst = -
susk was the whole AMIR. Nepbsi
Iogzn nor Crssap was preasnt The In
dian vas hnnsing or ssoaging e1ssvkere.
aad Crvsap Vas on visit q his family
IN Maryland. Thus, whstersr may have
been the asnonnt of blame Justly astribu-
table to whifs or Indian, that blame could
not attach to Logan or Cresap. U6tor.
suhasely. however. Logan possessed :
Wild and native eIoqueuce, shd the occas-
ION s9oe se8 8 <s1f to make fhxt a.
oquence tell against bis adversary. Bfs.
Jefferson followed in due time With bis
literary and sentimental admiration the
facts were quite forgotten or uucared for
Logan, the "poor Indian" became a
much injured man. and Crcs,p was glib
hctcd as an object Of disgus. and execra-
ton.
The "speech" was delivered, or rather
sent. under :te following circumstances.
The collisions in the Spring Of 1T74 be-
tween detached parties of whites and In
dams on the frontier, were followed in the
Autumn OF ths: year by "Duumore's
war" and the battle Of Point Pleasant,
where General Andrew Lewis broke the
Indian power. and compelled them to sue
for peace. A treaty followed between his
Excelleucy. Governor Danmore, aud the
chiefs, in Camp Charlotte and before
this was signed. a messenger was sent
frr Logan. who had absented himself from
:hc meeting. The messenger, Colonel
Sohn Gibson. returned, bat without the
.ticc. Logan refused to attend, bu. sent
b. Co!onc! Cihsun the celebrated "spocch"
as an explanation Of his absence OF the
crecch several copies exist.
In the Tiirginia Gazette for Februa-
r 4. 1II5, appeared the following Eng
lish version:
II appeal to any white man to say that
he ever entered Losan's cabin but gave
him meat that he ever came naked bu.
clothed him. In the course OF the last
war. Logan remained in his cabin en- ad-
vocate for peace. | had such an affection
for the white people that | was pointed
Mt ly the rest IF my nation. should
have ever lived with them had it not been
for C1Ioatl Crrsap, who, last year, GU
Oft in cold blood, nj tho relations Of Io-
-an, net sparing women and children.-
Thcre runs not a drop of my blood in the
veins OF any human creature. This call
al upon me for revenge. Ihave sou5ht
it. have killed many. and fally gtutted
my revenge. nm glad ttas there 10 a
prospect Tor peace on account of my ua-
tion but | beg YOU will not entertain 4
thought tina. any thing have said pro-
eeeds from fear. Logan disdains the
thought! Tie will not turn on his heel
to save his lite! Who is there to mourn
for Logan No one ]"
This, it must be confessed, was true
elcqacnce. Serious and pcffectly reason
able doubt may exist as to the au;henti-
=
justice be asked how ala logan, an iliit-
crate savage, express himself 50 correct
r"c'ly anu forcibly in French or English:
But conce,ling, as seems fair, that tue re-
Fly Ia substance was made by Logan to
Danm0rc's messenger. the moving elo-
quence" of the response must be acknowl-
edged. Calm dignity. heroic fortitude.
pathos, manly feeling, and melancholy
resignat:on-all are here, aud expressed
in words, which come from the heart and
speak to the heart. Is it to DO wonder
I'd that they mored all readers? The
fac. al ieast is certain that Logan secured
tremendous ally in the person of Taorn-
as Jefferson. the idolz~el apostle of de-
mocracy. All Paris. France, and Ea:oPe
shed tears over the poor Indian ani the
unfortunate Cresap, at home with his
family when the massacre took place, be-
came The object of universal seorn and
hatred. Mr.. jefferson put the finishing
touch to his fate by stigmatisiug him as
Infamous for his many Iniian murders
"a statement which seems utterly With
-bAs Aoui.GsticA W stftUAs ~ SaA ALVIN
that day to this, L,gan's eloqacncc aud
Mr.. Jeferson's popularity have combined
to consign Cresap's name to an infamous
immortality.
1t is not the object Of the present wri-
ter 10 do injustice to Logan in defence of
Cresap. The truth seems to have been
that both were braye, and living in q
trsueled spoch, frequently shed blood ''on
the war-path." Cresap was a pioneer,
Logan an tadian aud pioneers aud Ia
dams as that time fought to the knife
La the Summer Qf.,his same year Log an
and party Of savages cut of the family
OF John Roberts 20 the Youngest child.
This was the .'reveage' be referred to-
1t was natural perhaps. but it scarcely
conperts with the lofty ideal Of the "In-
dian Logan" presented by Air. Jefferson
in his Notes on Virgins" to the sympa-
shetic and adzniring game Of the old .xerld
aud the new.
4I k#|E E