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AGENTS FOR 'THE CHEROKEE
PH@ENIX. :
The following persons are authorized to
receive subscriptions and payments for the
Cherokee Pheenix.
Messrs, Prirce & Wirriams, No. 20
Market St. Boston, Mass. 4
Grorce M. Tracy, Agent of the A. B.
C.F. M. New York, ~
Rev. A. D. Eppy, Canandaigua, N. Y.
Trovas Hastings, Utica; N. Y, ;
PoLuarp & Converse, Richmond, Va.
Rev. James Campeery, Beaufort, S. C.
g \(YILLIAM Movrtric Reip, Charleston,
Col. Groree SyitH, Statesville, W. T.
. WiLriam M. Couss, Nashville, ‘Ten.
Rev. Benser Roserts, Powal, Me.
Mr. 'T'Hos. R. GoLp, (an itinerant Gen
tleman.). :
. JEREMIAH Avustin, Mobile, Ala. ‘
Rev. Cyrus Kinessury, Mayhew, Choc
taw Nation. :
Capt. WiLLiam RoserTson; Augusta;
Georgia, '
Col. James Turxk, Bellefonte, Ala.
RELIGIOUS.
THE KARENS IN BURMAH.
The Karens, a remarkable people in
the interior of the Burman province,
arve described below. The leiter, as
it will be seen, is from one of our mis
sionaries in India, addressed to the
Reyv. Dr. Sharp, Boston.—We are
kindly permitted to copy it.— Colum
bian Star. A
Tavoy, Sept. 9, 1828.
Rev. and Dear Brother:—l have
lately been visited by a company of
XKarens, in whose histery I trust you
will feel an interest. The Karens
are a race of wild people, inhabiting |
the interior, dwelling on mountains
and in valleys, at a distance from cities,
and living in the most rural and simple
style. They have no written lan
guage, no schools, no religion, no tem
ples, mo-object of worship, no priests,
none who even profess to know the
way of truth. As were the fathers,
5o are the children: on the same pa
ternal estate, in the same style, with
the same dress and manners, the same
darkness and ignorance, and conse
quently the same vice. I am not
however aware that the Karens are
more vicious than their former oppress
ors the Burmans. Among my vifien'a
svere one or two who appeared some- |
what above the commonlevel of their
countrymen. One of them could
read as well as speak B&rman.” One
" was a chief and one a pretended sor
cerer. 'The chief was an interesting
young mamof thirty. His countenance
and air bespoke something noble,—
But O ’tis a sad thing to see. power
ful intellects immured in chains of
perpetual ignorance. This chief as
pired after knowledge, but the key of
knowledge had been denied him. He
NEW BEOHOTA, WEDNESDAY JULY 22, 1529,
had been taught that man’s great good
consisted in eating, drinking, sleeping,
chewing betel, and conversation. But
his soul was not satistied. He panted
for higher enjoyments. ‘“‘Give us
books in our own language, and we
will all learn to read. We want to
know the true God. We have been
living in total darkness. The Karen's
mind is like his native jungle.” 'The
fires of this. man’s intellect,. which
prejudice and a national degradation
had buried up and smothered, but
could not extinguish, demanded vent.
It could no longer lie like the unpol
ished marble i the quarry. ¢O,”
said I, ‘‘what a mournful thing is this.”
The generous soul, if nurtured with
useful knowledge, might have heen
allied to angels; but it has been
taught to seek a happiness mere
ly sensual, and but litile higher than
that of brutes.
The sorcerer was also a superior
man. Some 12 years since a Mussul
man joger had visited his village, and
imprinted on hfin the marlk of the false
prophet. = ‘“Take this book,”” said the
joger, ““and worship it. It will - se
cure you from evil, and in the next
state you will be a man, and not a
brute. “Touch not, taste not, handle
not’ the things forbidden in the koran,
and all will ‘be well.”? After a few
words of admonition concerning what
was to be eaten, and.what to be re
jected, he exhibited a few of his jug
gling tricks, and initiated the simple
Karen into the nefarious rites of the
order of fakeers, and left him in his
native darkness, coupled with foreign
wickedness. But this contact of
wickedness with darkness elicited
some scintillations of native, latent
light. Ambition was fired. To know
the contents of this book ‘has been for
12 years the Karen’s highest aim.—
The thought that he had been so much
distinguished above his fellow coun
trymen as to receive a book—a reve
lation, forsooth, fram some ‘‘unknown
God,” raised him, in his own estima
tion, into a superior order of beings,
and he became a conjurer! Like Si
mon, he has given out that he is some
great one, and to him many bave giv
en heed. Though ignorant of the
contents of the venerated book, not
knowing even in what language it was
written, he has assumed the charac
ter of a teacher and expounder of the
sacred volume. He has persuaded
several of his countrymen to join him
in the new religion, and to pay superi
or worship to the book. A pitched
basket of reeds in which that book,
wrapped in successive folds of muslin,
‘was deposited, has been to them what
the ark of the covenant was to the
Jews——an object of profound venera
tion.” ‘“A teacher will come, who
will ‘explain to us this book,” has been
their grand article of.belief; and as
soon as they heardsof our arrival,-they
sent a deputation to wait upon me,
and learn my doctrine. = “Let the
sorcerer come and show me his book,
and T will tell him whether it is sood
ornot. Meanwhile ‘pay no religious
veneration to it. Take these hooks
which contain a revelation from the
true God in a language which some of
you understand, and learn from them
the way to obtain cternal life. Wor
ship not these books, but the God who
gave them.” Such was my reply to
the deputation. According to my ad
vice, the sorcerer, with his train, af
ter a journey of three days, reached
my house two days since, bringing the
pitched basket of reeds with'its vene
rated contents. They hastened into
my presence, and the sorcerer, a se
rious well looking man of fifty, stood
up before me, while allhis train seat
ed themselves around us. “What is
your business, and what is your wish?”
““Your lordship’s humble servant has
come tolay a certain book before
your lordship’s feet, that your lord
'ship may loek at it, unfold its mean
ing, and inform your lordship’s humble
servants whether it is true or false,
good or bad. Your lordship’s servant
as heard the Christian Scriptures
read, and believes them. He is con
cerned to know whether this book
contains the Christian doctrine.” I
felt that it was a critical moment.—
Expectation was raised to the highest
pitch. Several had previously en
gaged that they should consider my
decision respecting the book as final.
A unost profound silence prevailed
throughout the hall. ¢Show me the
book.” The old sorcerer stood forth
with the basket at his feet. He un
covered the basket and unwrapped
the precious deposit, and.creeping
forward, presented to me an old, tat
tered, worn-out volume. It was no
other than the “Book of Common
Prayer,” with the Psalms, printed at
Oxford. *¢’Tis a good book,” said I;
“it teaches that thereisa God in
heaven whom alone we should worship.
You have been ignorautly worshipping
this book. - That is not good. I will
teach you to worship the God whom
the book reveals.” Every Karen
countenance was alternately lighted
up with smiles of joy, and cast ‘down®
with inward conviction of having erred
in worshipping a book instead of the
God it reveals. I took the book- of
Psalms in Burman, and read such pas
sages as seemed appropriate, and have
ing given a brief and easy explanation,
engaged in prayer. I then added,
“Your venerated book teaches no such
doctrine as you say the joger taught
you. Renounce his false instructions,
and attend to the doctrine which your
book contains.’” . The people listen
ed attentively to our instructions till a
late hour in the evening, when I left
them to tuke some repese. 'They
stayed with me two days, and would
have staid longer, but our Karen
Christian, whom I generally use as in
terpreter wben conversing with Ka
rens, had gone out into the wilderness
with the intention of making known the
gospel to his benighted countrymen.—
During their stay they listened con
tinually to our instructions, attended
our worship, and secmed pleased with
our doctrive and worship, Just be
fore leaving us, alter they had taken
leave of me this morning, the old con
jurer put on his joger dress, and in
the midst of his former disciples made
some show of his former grandeuy.—
There was surely something imposing
in his appearance. But 1 could not
regard it in a favourable light, and
desired one of the native Christigns to
go and gell him again that if he evo_uhl
‘be a Christian he must lay aside all his
former practices and airs. T listened
to hear the native Christian, who dealt_
with the old man ina very plain and
faithful nianner. ““If,” said the old
man, ‘‘this dress is not pleasing to
God, I am ready to send it aftoat on
yonder river.” .He then «disrobed”
himself and put on his. common dress, |
and presented to his reprover a large
cudgel which had been a badge of his
authority for many years. On leav
ing, they said, “We will no longer
worship any but the true God and his
Son Jesus Christ.” During their stay
they expressed a strong desire to re
ceive a written language and books.
They said all the Karens would then
learn to read, and would come to the
knowledge of God. ‘I pitied them
from my very heart. Having suffer
ed crael oppression from their Bur
man masters, they ave averse to eve
ry thing Burman, and wish for a writ
ten language which the Burman can
not understand. % ;
From an extensive acquaintance
with the Karens of this province L
judge that as a people they are pleas
| ed with their new .xfigrf,‘;he English,
| and have no prejudices against the
{ Christian religion. The; S‘eegt_t:o;be
expecting and\.wi'sbjn%;; r a religion
of some kind, andit appears to me
that the present is the time to iatro
duce letters and the gospel among
them. There arve more than two
‘thousand Karens in this province, and
Karen villages are dispersed all over.
the wildernesses of Burmah, Pega,
Arracon, and Siam, Is it not exceed
ingly desirable that at least one mis-
sionary should be sent unto them im
mediately? Snch a missionary should
be acquainted with the modern im
provements for forming a written lan
guage, and should be prepared to en
dure much privation and hardship
from which some of his brethren may
be exempted. He will, find that
that without a life of self denial and
toil he can accomplish but little
among these simple uncultivated for
esters. The Karen Christian will
form no inconsiderable aid, if he has
one todirect his labors; but he is not
competent to the worle alone.” The
two Karen boys now in the scheol,
and others who proposeé soon to enter,
will, if converted to the gospel, be in
due time powerful assistants. Let us
pray that God may prepare them for
the great work. Do not allthese;things
seem like so many intimations that
something should be dene immediate
ly for this people?
Yours in our dear Redeemer,
GEO. D. BOARDMAN.
INDIANS. .
THE CHEROKEES.
It will be seen from a subsequent
paragraph, that another slice has been
cut off from the territory of the Cher
okees by their neighbors the Georgi
aus, comprising 1824 square miles, or
1,167,360 acres. It is onlya few'!
months since the unfortunate discove
ry was made that the Georgians had
any right {o this land: but the hint be- '
ing once given, there was no difficulty
in making out the proof; for according J
to the laws of Georgia, no Indian or
descendant of an Indian can give testi-}
‘mony ina Court of Justice, and of
course the evidence was wholly ez
parte. i
'The new line, it is said, runs direct
ly through the estate of Joun Ross,
the Principal” Chief of the Nation,
who, at the time of the survey, was
absent on some public business. = Mr.
Mountgemery, the U. S. Agent, enter
ed a formal protest against the survey,
1. Because the Cherdkees positively
and unequivocally denied that any such
boundary ever did exist between them
and the Creeks. 2. Because the evi
dence taken by Georgia was .wholly
ex-parte. 3. Because the ‘dividing
line betwyeen the Cherokeesand Creeks
was definitely settled, and:the line run
between “them several /years before
the treaty of the Indian Springs, Under
which the State of Georgia. claims.—
4. Because it was the province of the
General Government to run all boun
dary lines claimed under Indian Trea
ties, and not of individual States. To
all this Col. Wales replied, that he:
was acting unde%_the authority of the
State of Georgia, and was bound .to
fulfil his instructions. WA
‘Whatever the Georgians may think
of such conduct, we venture to say
the decision of posterity will be, that
it was oppressive, cruel, and upjust.
Even in the dominions of the Sultan,
men are not - often proceeded against,
without being permitted to be heard
in their own defence; but here, in this
boasted land of liberty, a State ‘has
the impudence to act as ‘w vOCale,
| judge and jury inits own case, and
declare a verdict inits own favor,
without granting even an audience to
the victims of its oppression. Such
{ proceedings, we confess, awaken our
indignation, a%gfiqdus‘ almost to wish
that the Cherokees had the power to
vindicate their rights and chastise
| their persecutors.. Had Jefferson liv
ed to see this day, he might have said
in refeflence to such proceedings, as
he did on ¢ontemplating the horrors of
| slavery, I tremble when 1 think God
is just!”’—dJour. of Com, :
Prom the Lancaster (Mass.) Gazette.
We. have inserted on our first page
two interesting and important docu
meuts touching the lelation of our go
vernment with the Indians. . The first
of these documents is an Indian talk
of President Jackson to the Creeks,
demanding a surrender of the murders
ers of one of the whites, and recoms
mending to them a removal to the
westward of the Mississippi. The
other document is a letter from the
Secretary of War‘to the Cherokee
Delegation, in answer to a complaing
recently made by them of encroach
wrents upon their rights by the State
of Georgia. The Indians insist upon
being an independent State, and deny
the right of Georgia to ¢laim jurisdic
tion over them, and extend over them
her Legislative enactments. The
Secretary of War informs them, how~
ever, that-the government of the Unit<
ed States cannot deny to Georgia the
right which she claims; and pro;oses
to them as the only remedy for theiv
troubles, to remove beyond the Missis
sippi, where they will receive protec«
tion as an “independent government.—-
It is desirable that the uuhappy trou~
bles of the' remnant of the Indians of
this country should be terminated: but -
it is very evident that Georgia will
never manifest a more accommodating
spirit than she has done, and that the
Indians will neyer find any mercy af
her hands. - It may be -thejr policy,
therefore, where they cannot oblain
justice; to seek peace in a place more
remote from .their tormenters. Our
Indians have been oppressed, and
crowded, step by step, {tom the terri
tory of theiv fathers, till they have
dwindled from a powerful to an insio=
nificant race, and been reduced from
the possession of an'immense territo
ry to a spot barely sufficient to lay
the bones of the small number of .them
that remain, “like tiie lone column of
a fallen temple, exhibiting the sad
velics of their former strength.”’—
They command our sympathy, and
much is due from our government to
alleviate the distresses of their declin
mg race. o ST g
The following eloquent appeal is a
recent talk of an’ aged Chief of the
Creek nation to Gen. Jackson: Its
language goes to the heart:—
~“Brother! 'T'he red people werc
;_véry numerous. They covered the
land like the trees of the forest, froni
the big walers of the east to the great
sea, where rests the settingisun. The
whitepéople came—they drove them
from forest'to forest, from viver to
river—the bones of our fathers strew
ed the path of their wandering. © Bro
ther, you are now strong: we melt a
way like the snow of spring before the
rising - sun. . Whither must we now
go? . Must we leave (he home of our
fathers, aud go'to a strange land be«
yond the great river of the West?—
That lang is dark & desolate—we shall
have no pleasure’in it. . Pleasant are
the fields of our youth—We love the
woods where our fathers led us to the
chase—Their bones lie by the running
stream, where we sported in-the days
of our childhood—When we are gorre,
strangers will dig them up—The
Great Spirit made us all—you have
land enough—Leave us then the fields
of our youth, and the woods where our
fathers led us to the chase--Permit
| us to remain in peace under {he shade
| of our own trees——Let us watch over
the grasves‘ofo'mf fathers by the streams
{ of our childhood—May™ the Great
Spirit move the heart of our father,
the President, that he may open his
ear to the ‘voice of children, for they
| are sorrowfal.” * o »
Cherolee Improvements.—We under~
stand, that the Appraisers appointed
by the Secretary of War, have com
pleted the valuation of the improve
ments belonging to the ‘Cherokee In
dians, in the country recently ceded
by that nation to the United States,
under the_ late treat{. The total
value of all the impro €ments, agree
bly 1o their appraisement, we are in
formed, is between $43,000 and $44,-
000—which is $6,000 or $7,000
more than the appropriation by Con
gress for that object. The priacipal
part of the Cherokees have already
removed to the country to which they
N 16, ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᏅᎯ ᎯᎠ ᏂᎦᎥᏧᎬᏩᎶᏗ.
ᏭᎾᎪᏓᏖᏆᏍᏗ ᎢᎪᎯᏛ ᏌᏉ ᏧᏂᎴᏴᏁᏗ ᎨᏎᏍᏗ.
ᏴᏫᏁᎬ ᏗᏂᏬᏂᏗᏍᎩ ᏦᎢᏁ ᎠᏰᏢ ᎤᎾᎫᏴᏘ
ᏑᏎᏍᏗ - ᎢᏊᏃ ᎢᎬᏪᏅᏛ ᎠᎾᎫᏱᏍᏢᏍᏗ.
ᏙᏳᏃ ᏑᏬᏓᏢ ᎢᏯᎤᏅᎪ ᎢᏴ ᎠᎾᎫᏱᏍᎨᏍᏗ, ᏦᎢ
ᎠᏠᏎᎸ ᎤᎾᏮᎫᏴᏗ ᎨᏎᏍᏗ. ᎠᏕᏘᏱᏍᎬᏃ ᎢᏴ ᎩᎳ
ᎧᎾᎫᏱᏍᎨᏍᏘ, ᏅᎩᏁᎢ ᎠᏰᏢ ᎤᎾᎫᏴᏘ ᎨᏎᏍᏗ.
ᏣᎳᎩᏃ ᎤᏩᏒ ᏗᏂᏬᏂᏗᏍᎩ, ᏔᎵᏉ ᎠᎨᎸ
ᎧᎾᏮᎫᏴᏘ ᎬᏎᏍᏗ ᏑᏕᏗᏴᏛ; ᎢᏊᏃ ᎢᎬᏪᏅᏛ ᎠᎧ”
ᎫᏱᏍᏑᏍᏗ. ᏦᎢᏁᏃ ᎠᏰᎵᏢ ᎾᏍᎩᏉ ᎤᎦᏕᏘᏴ”
ᏌᏗᏒ ᎠᎾᎫᏱᏍᎨᏍᏗ. ;
