About Cherokee phoenix. (New Echota [Ga.]) 1828-1829 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1828)
« for the difference of the 'guagyéf;#hg waters below. * Sde . This interesting subject is now ex cifing m%oh_”t'tep‘tim; at the west, a morg ilic people most concerned in the preservation of the present order of things. 'T'he shores of Lake: Superior are an embankment of rocks from 300 to 1500 feet high; and it is natural to suppose that they once enclosed a much more fomgfl?‘ble body of water than now composes the lake. Appre hensions, then, are not lightly enter tained, that this tremendeus reser voir (for in many places it is unfathom able) will one day suddenly break its bounls, and scatter death and desofa tion on every thing below. A chan nel of this kind is now evideatly mak ing, or has beea made withia the last three years: for this summer a schoon er of the largest class passed down the rapids from Superior inte Huron, in perfect safety. No vessel larger than a batteau had ever attempted the like before. It is impossible to imagine the confusion and ruin which a disaster, such as is here anticipated, would en _tail apon the fertile "and thickly set tled region of country between Supe rior and the Falls of Niarara. The sudden didcharge of a body of water of the size of Lake Superior, would carry with it the extermination of a deluze. InVermont, some years ago, very extensive damages was done by the sudden discharge of a lake two miles long, the barrier of which was cut through, to increase the water power of the mills below. Every thing, for mauy miles below—-houses, mills, and whole farms, were utterly destroyed.—Philadelphia Ariel. ABDUHL RAHHAHMAN, THE MOORISH --Pn'chi:‘;.'é;v,_ The history of this unfortune man, 40 years a slave at Natcheg, has ex cited much curiosity, as well as com passion. A respectable meeting was held for his relief at New-York on the _lsth ‘finst. at which Judge Platt was chosen Moderator, and Hugh Max well, Esq. Secretary. The meeting was addressed by Dr. Wainwright, and by the Rev. Mr. Gallaudet, of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Hartford. Mr. Gallaudet has made himself ac quainted with the prominent facts in Prince’s chequered life, and become much interested for his welfare and that of his family. The following isa part of Mr, Gallaudet’s Speech at this meeting. as reported for the New- York Jaurnal of Commerce. Prince’s family connexions were persons of powerand influence in Af rica; and their territories stretched from Tombuctoo to Teembo,. a dis tance of 1200 miles. At the age of 17 he was removed from Tombuctoo to Teembo, and at 19 he began to go to war. The king possessed a numer ous troops. This statement is confir med by the best geographer of the age, Malte Brun, who says that this nation, Footah Jalloh, of which Teem bo is the capital, possesses 16,000 cavalry. . il At this time a Dr. Cox, a native of the United States, and surgeon of a ship, arrived at Sierra Leone; and while on shore shooting, he got lost, “could not regain the coast, and the vessel sailed without him. He wan dered into the interior, and in crossing a shallow stream was bit in the leg by a poisonous worm peculiar to that cli mate, which got into his flesh and made him lame and sick. He wand ered into the territory of Tombuctoo, about 100 miles from Sierra Le- | one, & being the first white man who had ever been seen there, he was con sidered great curiosity. He was ta ken before the king who treated him ' with much kindness and hospitality.— Prince, being Heir apparent, had an establishment of his own, and Dr. €Cox ‘ became an inmate at his house. 'His! wound was cured and he and Prince became quite intimate. At length, being desirous of returning to the coast in quest of some vessel, the king fur nished him with gold, ivery, and clothes, and an armed escort. On] his arrival at Sierra Leone, he was so | fortunate as to find the very vessel to | which he belonged, which had return- ' ed to that place, and he took passage for the United States. ”' At the age of 24, Prince was com missioned a Colonel of Cavalry; and at 26 was sent with 2600 men to make . war with the Hebroos, who had. an noyed his father. They fled before him. As he was returning it became neeessary topass a narrow defile in the mountaivs, and the troops dis mounted, leading their horses, there heing about 300 helowging o his little o - " army. Here thefiere surprised by | somie of the other party who were ly ing in ambush. The first thing they knew, he sa{;s, his men yvere drepping like rain. Perceiving that they were greatly outnumbered, he bade his [ men ascend to the topof the moun | tain. Here they were unable to com bat sach a superior force. Prince ordered his men each to take care o himself, while he sat down to wait his doom, as a Moor disdains to turn his back to a negro. The enemy fired and wounded him in the shoulder.— As they drew near and saw his splen did dress, they concluded he was a king, or a king’s son, and reversed their muskets, as a signal to each oth er, and perhaps to him, that his life would be spared. But the first man who advanced was cat down by Prin ce’s sabre. This exasperated the rest, and they knocked him down. When he came to himself, he found they were dragging him from a pond where they had taken him for the purpose of recovering him. They stripped him and led him barefoot into the country 100 miles. He offered his captor as a ransom, 100 camels, 100 cattle, as many sheep as he could drive, and as much gold as he could carry. But his revenge was too great to accept the offer, and he finally sold him to the Mandingoes for two flasks of powder, some guns, eight hands of tobacco, and two bottles of rum. He was put on beard a slave ship with 700 unfortu nate fellow sufferers—4oo men, 200 women and 100 children. The na ture of this traffic has been so often before you, that it would be useless at the present moment to describe its horrors. Prince’s sufferings were very great, and after a tedious voyage the vessel arrived at Dominico. = e was transferred to an American ship; shipped to New Orleans, and from there sent to Natchez, where he was sold to Col. Foster for S6OO. His story of course was not credited, and he sank into a common slave. _Afterfhe had been in slavery 16 years, he went to the adjacent town of Washington, to market, with a fellow slave named Sambo, to sell sweet po tatoes for himself. He observed a gentleman on horse-hack, who rode in a very peculiar manner; and he said to his comrade ¢‘go see that man—if he has but one eye T've seen him before.” Sambo found this to be the case, when Prince went up to him, and asked him if he wished to purchase some pota toes. The gentleman scrutinized Prince closely, and at length asked him where he lived. T live with Col. Foster, said he. And were you rais ed in this country? No—ll came from Africa. Is your name Abduhl Rah hahman, asked the stranger. Yes, that is my name. Do you know me? ask ed the gentleman. Yes, said Prince, “I know you very well, you be Dr. Cox.” On this the Doctor alighted and embraced Prince. By this singu lar Providence, Dr. Cox was brought to recognize in the person of this slave the son of a king who had treated him with so much hospitality in Africa.— He went to governor Williams, rela ted to him the whole story; went te Col. Foster, and offered him #IOOO if he would set Prince free. But he was so valuable, not merely on ae count of his labour, but for his exam ple on the plantation, that he refused toliberate him. Dr. Cox often renewed his applica tion, but in vain. He died about e leven years since. Col. Trask, of Springfield, Mass. told me the other day, that when he lived at Natchez he was acquainted with Dr. Cox; that he was a respectable man and that his word might be relied upon. Here then we have the testimony of am A merican citizen, who knew Prince in Africa. Dr. Cox’s son after the de cease of his father, offered SI2OO for the liberation of Prince, but Col. Fos ter deemed his example so important that he declined parting with him. It is but justice to this gentleman to say, that after bemg satisfied of the pa rentage of Prince, he exempted him from field labor, treated him with kindness, and when the facts of his his tory were fully established, he gener ously set him free without any remu neration. Prince uniformly speaks of his late master with great respect. About a year ago a gentleman of Natchez interested himself for Prince, who, at the instance of this gentleman and young Dr. Cox, wrote an account of himself in Arabic, which was taken to Washington hy Mr. Reed. a mem ber of Congress, and thence forwarded to Mr. Maloney, U. S. Consul at Tan giers, as before stated. The Presi- dent of the United states directed an agent at Natchez to negotiate with Col. Foster for his freedom. Cheer ing as his situation now was in finding himself free, it is impossible for any of us to feel the emotion that must have thrilled in his breast. : N R e e e L { WEDNESDAY, DIIC. 3, 1828, Patrons of the Cherokee thni:* are in | formed by the Editor, that he has resigned, and expects soon, to take 4’ final leave of his readers. He tenders his thankfisto?se' of his Countrymen, and friends o]'llfx' ans ‘abroad, who have intérested themselves in ‘the pf‘o‘sperity of the paper, which he has had the homor of conducting. 'The task has been an arduous, nevertheless an infe}f’ esting, one, because the good of the Che rokees, and other Indians was its object; and nothing but imperious duty would now induce him to leave the field of his labours, For years, his health has been ‘precarious, and since the commencement of the Phe nix, it has been on a gradual decline, ow ing to the excessive confinement, which he has been obliged to endure. It was his hope that he would be relieved by the ap pointment of an assistant in the Cherokee department, by the late General Council, which however adjourned without reliev- | ing him in any way, An alternative was then left, whether to continue as formerly, | with increased duties, and with his present ‘ state of health, or fo resign, and make way | for another person, perhaps better calcula ted to fill the office of Editor of the Chero- | kee Pheenix? He has chosen the latter,— ‘ln leaving the paper, which has, since its ‘ commencement, lain near his heart, he | does}'by no means, forsake the interest of his €ountrymen. That will still be his favorite object. Though not acting pub licly, and undegrless responsibilities, he ex pects to be ergged for the moral improve ment of his kindred according to the flesh, - + There never was perhaps, in the history oflndians, a time, when instruction may be inculcated to better advantage, than at present. The introduction of letters a mong the Cherokees, which has progressed | with unparalleled rapidity, and the print ing press may do wonders here as it has done in other nations. The power of the press has been justly acknowledged. It is the safe guard of liberty, civil and reli gious—the medium of intelligence, and when under suitable regulations it is the scourge of vice, and the protector of virtue, An experiment is now making among us, whether the press cstablished in this place will have its ordinary effects, Let a fair trial be nade—let the Pheenix be fostered with care by the inhabitants of this Nation, and encouraged and patronized by friends of Indians abroad. Its past patronage has been too limited—we sincerely hope it will beincreased, and that the new Editor, who ever he may be, (if worthy of encourage ment) will receive better support from the public and the citizens of the Cherokee Na tion, than that with which the subscriber has been favoured. ELIAS BOUDINOTT. GEORGIA AND THE CHEROKEES. - From the extract of the Message of the Governor of Geo. published in our last, our readers will discover that the views of the leading men of that state in regard to Chero kee lands have not undergone any change, though the language and recommendations of the present Chief Magistrate are more temperate and becoming than we have been accustomed to hear. The members of the Legislature are now in session—what they will do in regard to the recommendation of Gov. Forsyth, we are unable to say; we ‘mean the extension of the civil jurisdiction of the state of Georgia, over that part of the Cherokee Nation lying within its char tered limits. The Governor thinks that it would be cruel to expel the Cherokees, yet recommends the extension of all the laws of _Georgia over them, which would in effect be expulsion, though perhaps of a more de cent nature. Al laws, including of course “the act inserted in another part of our pa per. What rights will the. Cherokees en joy? 2 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. "The long contest is over, and we shall soon ascertain, who is to be the next Presi-- dent of the United States. From returns of the elections received thus far,it is high 1y probable that Gen. Andrew Jackson will be the Chief Magistrate of the Union, ' From the New York Daily Advertiser, TURKEY AND RUSSIA. In the opinion of a writer in the For eign Quarterly Review, Mahmud the present Sultan, is one of the most ex traordinary men that ever swayed the Turkish sceptre; and he quotes the opinion of Count Avdreossi, Ambassa- dor from Franc%a‘ the Porte in & and 1814, in confirmation of his oywn. | He is laborious in his attention to the | duties of his station, is'the first Suitan, | for many ages, who has openly taken | his seat at the Divan. « He has been _represented as a sanguinary monster, ‘but he has exhibited more instances of clemency and generosity than most monarchs. 1t is a mistake to suppose that over any but his immediate ser vants he governs in an arbitrary man ‘ner. The meanest Turk has rights ' which are sanctoined by law and u sage, and of which the Sultan has no power to deprive him; the very at [ tempt to do so would raise up a storm, which not even the ‘vicar of the Prophet” could allay. But over all who fill offices, or receive wages at his hands, his power is boundless; and no appeal lies from his decision; wheth er of confiscation, life, or death. He is inflexible in his purposes, and care less alike of the thanks and promises of Christian powers. Conscious that he can at any time, by unfurling the sacred standard, rouse to dreadful en ergy all the true believers, he appears undismayed at the approach of the erisis, and his people share in his con fidence. ¥ The Reviewer closes this part of the subject with expressing his decid ed conviction, that although Russia may, and probably will triumph, if all her immense resources are brought forward, and she is not checked by foreign interposition, her triumph will be neither speedy, ner easy. ‘‘Riv ers of Muscovite blood must flow, and the strength of the empire be instant ly diminished, before the imperial ea gles spread their sanguinary wings o ver the ruins of Constantinople.” In considering the consequences which may result from the war, the Reviewer states it to-have been the policy of Russia, ever since the reign of Catharine 11. to extend as far pos sible the bounds of the empire to the south and west.—Although the Em peror Nicholas disclaims, i the pres ent case, all intention of territorial ag grandizement, he thinks his real poli cy is of the same description with that of his predecessors. - His present de mands, appear to be, the independ ence of Greece, and of the two prin cipalities on the left bank of the Dan ube-—a free passage of the Bosphorus for the vessels of all nations—a new demarcation of the boundaries on his Caucasian frontier—and an adequate indemnity for the expenses of the war. The concern which the Emperor takes in the affairs of Greece, the Reviewer thinks is of an interested character, that he has excited & kept alive the msurrectionary spirit among the Greeks,to give himself an ascenden cy among them, & to forward his views upon Russia. If Greece isto be placed under a protectorate, it should be En gland and France, and Russia should have nothing to do with it. As to Wallachia and Moldavia, they are so situated, that they are now but little better than Russian provinces; and that they will soon form part of the empire does not admit of a doubt. As for the free passage of the Bospho rus for all natiens, he considers that a mere cloak for ber ultimate designs. As Russia is so muchnearer the spot than England and France, if it were to be so agreed, upon the breaking out of the first war between those nations, Russia would take possession of every fort from Egean to the Euxine sea; and Constantinople weuld in conse quence fall an easy prey. And after all, the passage “of the Bosphorus would be of much greater advantage to Russia than any other country, as it would open a way to ready markets for her immense produce on the shores of the Black Sea. A new demarcation of her bounda ry on the Caucasian frontier, means only possession by Russia of all the strong places on the confines of the two empires, and may serve to aid her in extending her conquests in Asia. She has just gained possession of Errarum, the most important city in that quar ter;and it is not improbable that from that position, she may soon extend her dominion to the Persian Gulf; and e ventually threaten the British posses sions in India. i On the subject of an indemmity for the expenses of the war, the Review er thinks it impossible that it can be obtained in any way but by the cession of territory, for the Sultan has no mo ney to pay with; and if suffered to go on unchecked, Nicholas will think the whole of Turkey in Europe not too much toreimburse him in his expenses. On the question of what policy the other Euyropean powers, & especially. | England and France, wounid be wa "ranted inadopting in the present state of affairs, the Reviewer endeavors to - establish the position, that in ¢ase of great ‘danger from the ambition and power of amy individual nation; the: others ought to combine to eppose or - check its plans and policy. -He con siders the policy of the Czars to have been for a long time, and to be at the present time, of this deseription, and to call earnestly upon the other coun tries to umite in opposition to it. He would have them interfere to save Turkey. Themllied powers, he says, when they interferred on behalf of - Greece, should have confined their #xeasures, to that object alone, and not ave suffered Russia to make a war at the same time with Turkey, on her own account. He thinks, that as no subjects are better than rebellious ones, Turkey will be strengthened, rather than weakened, by the loss of Greece. ¢Still in wrestinggit from the Porte, the powers in question cemmitied an injury on the Turks, which nothing less than their inter ference on the present occaion can satisfactorily repair.” : We presume the article from which we have made this summary, was written by Dr. Walsh, who has resi ded in Constantinople several years; and whose Journey home from that place, over what is now the seat of war, has been recently published.—: It is a valuable article, and contains good deal of informationiwhieh, at the -~ present time, is particularly interest ing. Y The Lendon Morning Herald of the 2d Oct. states, that two or three sail of the line are preparing with all ex pedition for the Mediteranean, in or der to observe the . Russians in that quarter. : : The same paper has the following article under date of 5 Acram, Sept. 9. It is said that Field Marshal Witt genstein, has made the following pro posals to the Sultan: ; . ‘l. To pay old debts originating ia the time of Catharine; to the amount of 250 millions. - - 2. To pay the expense of the pres ent war. @ 3. To recognize the independence of Greeee. : % 4. To abolish-all the taxes of the— Greek subjects of the Porte. 5. The free navigation of men of war and merchant ships in both seas. 6. The termination of the Confer “ences of Akermann. ~ “The Sultan made mo reply, and \ . oy ~ordered prayers in all the mosques for ‘the maintenance of the throne.” ’ Liverpool and Manchester Railwny. - —The railway commences at the port of Liverpool, at a point in direct com ' munication with the King’s & Queen’s Docks. The line passes under the ’ town of Liverpool by a tunnel and in clined plane. This magnificient arch way, sixteen feet high and twenty two feet wide, is cut through the solid rock for the enormous length of 2248 yards ‘the inclined plane rising one foot in forty nine. li’he steep ascent of Liv erpool is thus avoided, and all inter ference with the general business of the streets is thus effectually prevent ed. The excavations of this stupen dous work have been going on at seve- - ral points at the same time; and the precision with which the junctions of the different parts have heen effected, in some cases not varrying two inches, offers a most remarkable example of the certainty of scientific arrangement. The road through the tunnel, which we thus see is about a mile and a quarter long, comes into the day-light at the: high hill (Edge Hill) looking down u‘p%i on Liverpool. A deep excavation through the elevated greund beyond this point offers an interesting exam ple of the triumph of man over physi cal difficulties. Several miles on ward, the roadway passes over a moss; and here, by a steady and ecautious system of cuttings and enbankments, the railway has been laid down suc cessfully upon a soil which appeared .as treacherous as the sands of the de sert.” The valley through yvhich the river Sankey runs is crossed by an ~enormous viaduct, consisting of em bankments and arches built upon piles of extraordinary magnitude. Hence, to Manchester, the line does not pre-’ sent any peculiar difficulties. The whole cost of this grand work will be about 600,000.— London Paper. Interesting Incident.—A letter from Paris, of recent date published in the Lendon Literary Gazette, contains
