Cherokee phoenix, and Indians' advocate. [volume], March 04, 1829, Image 1

About Cherokee phoenix, and Indians' advocate. [volume] (New Echota [Ga.]) 1829-1834

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• T" v- W ' v '
CMEB#K.EE PEHENIX, A3il> MDIAM' ABV3SCAT2.
PRINTED UNDER THE PATRONAGE, AND FOR THE IJEKEFJT OF THE CHEROKEE NATION, AND DEVOTED T< THE CAUSE OF INi :ANS.
E. SJOITD LfOTT, Editor. JV£3W EC HOT A, WEDNESDAY MAStCH 4, 1829.
PRINTED WEEKLY BY
JISKO. P. WH3EH3C.BH,
At $2 50 if paid in advance, $8 in six
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To subscribers who can read only ,the
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Every subscription will be considered as
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ICJ* Vll letters addressed to the Editor,
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AGENTS FOR THE CHEROKEE
PHCENIX.
The following persons are authorized to
. seceive subscriptions and payments for the
• 'Cherokee Phoenix.
Messrs. Pkiuce &. Williams, No. 20
. Market St. Boston, Maff.
Gr.qRGE M. Tracy, Agent ofthe A. B.
-S-. F. M. N«® Yo.-l-
Rev. A. D. Eody, Canandaigua, N. Y.
Thomas Hastings', Utica, N. Y.
Pollard &. Converse, Richmond, Va.
Rev. .James Campbell, Beaufort, S. C
William Moultrie Reib, Charleston,
-S c*
C )i. Georgf. Smith, Statesville, W. T.
William M. Combs, Nashville Ten.
Rev. Bf.nnet Roberts—Powal M'.
Mr. Thos. R. GoLD,-(an itinerant Gen
tleman.)
Jeremiah Acstil, Mobile Ala.
REX.XOXOVS.
•
ITIE GOD OF NATURE.
Vift your views to that immense ;
-arcn of heaven which encompasses you
above —Behold the 68b in all its splen
dor, rolling over your head by day, and
4he moon by night, in mild and serene
majesty, surrounded with that host of
stars which present to the imagination
an innumerable multitude of worlds.
Listen to the awful voice of thunder.
Listen to the roar of the tempest and
the ocean. Survey the wondeie that
fiil the earth which you inhabit. Con
template a steady and powerful hand,
bringing round spring and summer, au
to mn and winter, in regular course—
decorating this earth with innumera
ble inhabitants—pouring forth comfort
■on all that live—and at the same time
overawing the nations with the violen. e
of the elements, when it pleases the
Creator to let them forth. After you
have viewed yourself, as surrounded
with such a-scene of wonders—after
you have beheld, on every hand, such
an interesting display of majesty, unit
ed with wisdom and goodness,
are you .not seized with solemn and se
rious awe?—is there not something
that whispers within, that to this Cre
ator homage anil reverence are due,
by all the rational beings whom he has
m ide? Admitted to be spectators of
hi.s works, placed in the midst of so
many great and interesting objects,
can you believe that you were brought
here for no purpose but to immerse
yourselves in brutal, or, at best, in
trifling pleasures, lost to all sense of
the wonders you behold; lost to all
•reverence to that God who ?ave you
• being, and who has erected this amaz
ing fabric of nature. 011 which.you look
on'v with stupid and unmeaning eyes?
—No—let the scene which you behold
prompt c rres 'ondent feelings. Let
hem awaken yon from the degrading iri-
toxication of licentiousness, into nobler
emotions. Every object which you
view in nature, whether great or
small, serves to instruct you. The
stars and insects, the lieiy meteor and
flowing spring, the verdant field ahd
the lofty mountain, all exhibit a Su
premo Power, before which you
ought to tremble and adore; all preach
the doctrine, all inspire the spirit of
devotion and reverence. Regarding,
r • •
then, the work of the Lord, let rising e-
in itions of aWe ,d gratitude call forth
from yc 'r s>>u.l& sui.h s.-» iroents a?
:V whore ver I m. ami
whatever I enjoy, may I never forget
thee, as the author of nature! May 1
never forget that I am thy creature
aAd thy subject! In this magnificent
temple of the universe, where thou
hast placed me, may I ever be thy
faithful worshipper, may the rever
ence and fear of God be the first sen
timent of my heart."—Blair.
GOD SEEN IN HIS WORKS.
FROM FENELON.
All nature shows the infinite skill of
its author. I maintain that accident,
that is to say, a blind and fortuitous
succession of events, could never have
produced all that we see. It is well
to adduce here one of the celebrated
comparisons of the ancients.
Who would believe that the Iliad
of Homer was not composed by the
effort of a great poet; but that the
characters of the alphabet bein<*
tli rown confusedly together, an acci
dental stroke had placed all the let
ters precisely in such relative situa
tions, as to produce verses so full of
harmony and variety; painting each
object with all that was uiost noble,
most graceful, and most touching in
its features; in fine, making each per
son speak in character, and with such
spirit and nature? Let any one rea
son with as much subtilty as he may,
he would persuade no man in his sens
es that the Iliad had no author but ac
cident. Why then should a man, pos
sessing his reason, believe with regard
to the universe, a work unquestiona
bly more wonderful than the Hind,
what his good sense will not allow him
to believe of this poein? But let us
take another comparison, which is
from Gregory Nazianzen.
If we heard 111 a room behind a cur
tain a swj-et and harmonious instru
ment, could we believe that accident
produced it? Who would doubt seri
ously whether some skilful hand did
not touch it?
Were any one to find in a desert
island a beautiful statue of marble-, he
would say, surely men have been
here. I recognise the hand of the
sculptor; 1 admire the.delicacy with
which he has proportioned the body,
making it instinct with beauty, grace,
majesty, tenderness, and life. What
would this man reply, if any one were
to say to him, No, a sculptor did not
make this statue. It is made, it is
true, in the most exquisite taste, and
according to the most perfect rules of
symmetry; but it isac ident (hat has
produced it. Among all the pieces of
marble, one has happened to take this
form of itself. The rains and the
wind detached it from the mountain;
a violent storm placed it upright upon
this pedestal, that was already prepar
ed and placed here of itself. It is an
Apollo, as perfect as that of Belvidere;
it is a Venus equal to that of the Me
dieis; it is a Hercules which resem
bles that of Farnese. You may be
lieve. it is true, that this figure walks
that it lives, that it thinks, that it is
going to speak, but it owes nothing to
art, it is only a blind stroke of chance
that has formed it so well, and placed
it here.
Mti.tox has (he following remarks
upon misspent time:—"Hours have
wines and fly up to the Author of time,
anil carrv new* of our usae;e. AH our
prayers ?annot intreaf one of'l'icm ei
ther to return or slacker: h s pa e.
The of every minu;e is a
n ew record agaiist us in heaven: sure
if we thought thus, we would dismiss
(hern with better report, and not suf
fer them to go away empty, or laden
with dangerous intelligence. How hof -
py is it, that every hour should convey
up not only (he message, but the fruits
oT good, and stay with the Ancient of
Days to speak for us before Iris glori
ous throne."
f a 11 Recorder.
Mr. Hastings—l present you, in
this communication, among o\ber
things, the copy of an Indian's sfteuih
—the principal chief of the Stock
bridge nation, located near Greffli-
Bay, addressed to myself and two or
three others, who had spent several
months at that jdace, but were then
about to leave it for New-York. If
you think it would do good, please to
give it a place in the Recorder.
A brief account, also, of this set
tlement of Indians, perhaps, would
hot be uninteresting. In 1818, a
band of about forty in number ol these
Indians, living in Now.Slockbridge,
were fitted out to go to White rivUr, e
in Indiana, tor the purpose of settling tl
in that place, and thus open the way a
for the removal of the remainder of .
Seven or eight ot this
the tribe.
number were professedly pious; and (
before leaving, they were organized
into a church. ,The chief, being pi- ;
ous, constituted a kind of leader or
deacon. As he could read and spettfc
the Englisti language, he was furnish
ed with some valuable hooks, particu
larly Scott's Family Bible. IJeuas
also directed to convene his church
and people on the Sabbath, and have
religious service. This consisted in
singing, prayer, and reading one chap
ter in the forenoon, and one in the af
ternoon, from' Scott's Bible, with the
notes and observations. This I be
lieve was their constant practice.
But ere they arrived at their place
'of destination, their lands, which were
owned in common with the Delawares
and Munsees. c\ere purchased by the
United States commissioners of the
Delawares alone. This was to them
a sore disappointment. After re
in .ining in an unsettled state three or
tour years, and making repealed
though unsuccessful applications to
the general government, for the res
toration of their country, or a part of
it, they removed to their present
place of residence. This they call
Satesburgh. It is situated on Fox
river, twenty miles above Green-Bay.
Others have since removed from
New-Stockbridge; making in all iii
this settlement, between two and
three hundred. They have here four
or five hundred acres of land, cleared,
fenced, & in a good state of cultiva
i tion. Most of them have comforta
ble log-houses, raise good crops of
corn, potatoes, and are beginning
to raise English grain. They have
also plenty of cattle, &c. They have
just begun to build framed barns—
have a saw-mill, and are now erect
ing a grist-mill. The soil here is fer
tile; the climate mild and pleasant,
and as healthy as in any part of the
United States. Could the Indians he
pei mit ted to enjoy this country, un
disturbed, and uncorrupted by the
whites, they would soon become an
industrious, intelligent, virtuous and
happy people.
The speech I send you, was deliv
ered at a religious meeting on Sab
bath evening. The meeting was un
usually solemn and inteiesting. It
was the last I expected to attend be
fore leaving them. After speaking
some time in his own tongue to his
people, in a very affecting and ap
propriate manner, hi* addressed in
English lliose of us who were about
to take our departure. While speak
i g of the wretched and perishing In
dians around them, he was so affected,
as frequently to pause,. to suppress
! his feelings before he could pro
i ceed.
SPEECH,
f ''My Friends You who are about
. to leave us, I have a word to say to
you. When you come here we were
glad—we felt rejoiced; and now you
■ are going away, we feel sorry. We
think we have been benefited by you.
We have been in the wilderness a
longtime; souie of us 10 years; some
six years; some less. We were like
sheep without a shepherd—scattered
in the wilderness, without a leader,
or any one to go before us.
"About a hundred years ago; the
white men, and onr forefathers in
New-England,formed a chain of friend
ship; it has been kept good ever since;
it has never been broken; has al
ways been kept bright. Eighty-three
years ago, they formed another kind
of friendship; this was spiritual friend
ship. The good people from England
sent us God's word—the bible—that
holy book, when we lived in Old-
Stockbridge,Massachusetts;and wliei
we left there, and come to New-
Stockbridge, New-Fork, this friend
ship continued. They sent us a teach
er —a spiritual father, to guide us
and to tell us what to do. Here we
enjoyed great many privileges—great
many blessings; but we did not care
about them; we mado light of them;
we despised theju. But when we
come away here, and God take all
these from us—then »e begin to think
—we think about what we had -lost;
and then we begin to tiy again. Some
times I did not know what we should
do. I thought this church would be
come extinct. I thought it,
1 die. I remember ivhcn we lived in
Neiv-Stoekbridge, Dr. Backus, presi
dent of Hamilton College, come (here:
He preached to us: We were brok
en—in a poor state. I then thought
we should be s altered and die: But
he said this church must not become
extinct; it must .not die; it could not
die. He said it would live. I could
not bcliove it. I did not trust God
enough. I feel that I was wrong—
for he is able to keep us; and now I
believe he will keep us—for he has
heard our prayers. When we had no
one to teach us, we cried unto God
our heavenly Father; we prayed that
he would send us one to guide us, to
be our spiritual father; and he has
answered our prayer. He sent us one
last summer, and we were clad to see
him; we rejoiced to take him by the
hand; and we thanked our heavenly
Father for it. He stayed with us
some time; and we begin to do bet
ter. He then left us. Last spring
lie come back again--eome to live
with us: and a number of others with
him. We were gald to see you all:
we feel you have done us good; we
have had many good meetings to
gether since you coma here; and we
hope many of us are trying to do bet
ter now. But it seems the time has
come when some of us must part.
'.'My Friends—l want to say one
thing to you. If God spare your life,
to go through that 10-g and danger
ous path, and you get home to your
friends again. I want you should tell
them how we live here, and what we
are doing. Tell them, many of us
poor Indians, liere in this wilderness
live like the beasts—live like the
brutes. They have no houses—hard
ly any clothes—go most naked—some
times have nothing to eat—go hun
gry a longtime. They are ignorant
as the brutes. They have no God—•
no Christ—no Lible—no Sablath
no one to tell them about these things
Tell your friends, the door is '-pen he,c
—they are white to the harvest. Tel'
them, we can look nil around us—to
the north, and to the south—to the
east, and to the west—and the fields
are all white to the harvest-, but the
labnwers are few. Tell them to come
and helri «s; tell them comf and teach
us. When you get home to your
f-milv and friends, \\p. want you
should pray for us. Tell thpjn to
[pray for us, poor Indians, who live
VOL. 1.--AO. cl.
here in the wilderness. Tell them io
pray that tlit: Lord, would send us inure
teachers. We hope you vvilj not for
get us: We shall never forget you;
we will pray for you. And inay the
Lord bless you. This is what 1 have
to say."
I also send you a copy of a pamph
let we have just published, relative to
the New-York Indians.* An agent is
now on his way to Washington, on this
business. O, that the Patriot, the
Philanthropist, and the Christian,
would speak out on this subject.
II the Lord will, 1 intend to return
to Green-B:ry, in the spring. ,
•It appears from this pamphlet, which is
in the form of a memorial to the govern*
ment of the U.iited States, ihat the In
ians who removed to Green-Bay froin
Oneida,are appiehensive of being turned
out of possession of a considerable portion
of the lands on which they are located, and
which they purchased of the Mennm'nle
and W nnebago Indians, by the permission
and with the sanction of tne genera; gov
ernment; a treaty having been recently
concluded b\ Gov. Cass- with the Meno»
iriniesand Wjnnebagoes, by which the
United States have obtained the title to a
great extent of territory, in wliich a large
port : on of the above mentioned lands are
included, without the consent ol the pre*
sent possessor, or any recognition of ihcir
previous claim.—Ed. Itec.
GEORGIA AND THE ABORIGI-
NES.
[Extract from the memorial of R,,
Campbell of Savannah to the Senate qf
Georgia.]
"T lie hostile feeling which is enter
tained towards the Indians, is made
UftO of ;»« nnmhor f/»n tKoif *•<?-
moval over the Mississippi, it being
asserted flint they will not be allowed 16
reside upon their lands here in peace
Upon this permit jour memorialist t6
say that if the Cherokees are to be
removed from their native country,
for fear ol hostilitits from their pres
ent neighbours who are the inhabit
ants of North Carolina, South Caroli
na and Georgia,-, three of the old thirteen
Stalls, who can pretend to entertriu
the opinion that I hey would he moie
secure, or would be allowed to lite
more peaceably, in that Arab cou try
spoken of for their residence; a ceun
tiy rertainly net as civilized, as the
States' mentioned & which in a few apei
mus; los most of that which she now
poss sse . from her extent & the spnie
ness of population? and ifthe-title of
the Cherokees to the lands which 1 ve
never been conquered from t! em;
which they have never ceded av av;
which they have from time immemo
rial occupied; which is fenced in uj on
a?l sides both by laws and trea'ies,
with those whonow claim it?—if their
title to these lands be by one of the old
ft tes deemed defective, how are
they to obtain an unquestionable title
to anv others? May not some new
reading of the constitution be brought
by their new neighbois to shew that
Congress had no power to bargain away
lie public lands, after the title
had been once vested in the IVtrd
States? May it not be contended,
that though the Indians may relinquish,
they cannot talc a title, wit! as
much force as that, because they
cannot understand English, they
s' onjd not be believed? May not the
same argument which is new with
many conclusive, again be. revived on
the west of the Mississippi, by their
then benevolent neighbors, that they
cannot permit them to live peaceably,
and that therefore it will be better for
! *hem that they should be removed per
u"s *o .the snow-clad Rocky Moun
tains."
Cherokee lanr!n —We enr>v from
the Journal of this place, vr'>at pur*
nortstobea synopsis of*' festin'i
ny lately collected in relation to ihs
ancient boundary between the Creel s
and Cberokees. Tt is designed to prov©
that Georgia, being deceived as to *.ba
exact amount of territory owned by
the former, brs not received her fust
measure—ln oilier wipr&; that tb«
J. D. S.