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CHEROKEE PHflEIIX, 1X» INDIANS’ ADVOCATE.
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AGENTS FOR THE CHEROKEE
PHCENIX.
The following persons are authorized to
receive subscriptions and payments for the
Cherokee Phoenix.
Messrs. Peirce &. Williams, No. 20
Market St. Boston, Mass.
George M. Tracy, Agent of the A. B.
C. F. M. New York.
Rev. A. D. Eddy, Canandaigua, N. Y.
Thomas Hastings, Utica, N. Y.
Pollard & Converse, Richmond, Ya.
Rev. James Campbell, Beaufort, S. C.
William Moultrie Reid, Charleston,
S. C.
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Rev. Bennet Roberts, Powal, Me.
Mr. Tnos. R. Gold, (an itinerant Gen
tleman.)
Jeremiah Austil, Mobilp, Ala.
ltev.‘ Cyrus Kinosbury, Mayhew, Choc
taw Nation.
Capt. William Robertson, Augusta,
Georgia.
Col. James Turk, Bellefonte, Ala.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF A FU
TURE STATE.
BY TOBIAS DICK.
Moral Powers of J\lan.
“Even in the annals of the Pagan
world, we find many examples of such
illustrious virtues. There we read of
Regulus expo«ng himself to the most
cruel torments, and to death itself,
rather than suifer his veracity to be
impeached, or his fidelity to his coun
try to be called in question—of Pho-
eion, who exposed himself to the fury
of an enraged assembly, by inveighing
against the vices, and endeavoring to
promote the best interests of his coun
trymen, and gave it as his last com
mand to his son, when he was going to
execution, “that he should forget how
ill the Athenians had treated his fath
er”—of Cyrus, who was possessed o§>'
Wisdom, moderation, courage, magna
nimity, and noble sentiments, and who
employed them all to promote the hap
piness of his people—of Scipio, in
whose actions the virtues of generosi
ty and liberality, goodness, gentleness,
justice, magnanimity, and chastity,
shone with distinguished lustre—and
of Damon and Pythias, who were knit
together in the bonds of a friendship
which all the terrors of an ignominious
death could not dissolve. But of all
the characters of the heathen world,
illustrious'for virtue, Aristides appears
to stand in the foremost rank. An
extraordinary greatness of «oul. (says
Rollin) made him superior to every
passion. Interest, pleasure, ambition,
resentment, jealousy, were extinguish
ed in him by the love of virtue and his
country. The merit of others, instead
of offending him, became his own by
NEW ECHOTA, WEDNESDAY JULY 29,18*29.
NO. 17.
I the approbation he gave it. He ren
dered the government of the Atheni
ans amiable to their allies, by bis mild
ness, goodness, humanity and justice.
The disinterestedness he showed in
the management of the public treas
ure, and the love of poverty which lie
carried almost to an excess, are vir
tues so far_superior to the practice of
our age, that they scarce seem credi
ble to us. His conduct and princi-,
pies were always uniform, steadfast 1
in the pursuit of whatever he thought
just, and incapable of the least false
hood, or shadow of flattery, disguise,
or fraud, even in jest. He had such a
control over his passions that he uni
formly sacrificed his private interests
and his private resentments to the good
of the public. Themistocles was one
of the principal actors who procured
his banishment from Athens;—but, af
ter being recalled, he assisted him on
every occasion with his advice and
credit, joyfully taking pains to promote
the glory of his greatest enemy, thro’
the motive of advancing the public
good. And when afterwards the dis
grace of Themistocles gave him a
proper opportunity for revenge, in
stead of resenting the ill treatment
he had received from him, he con
stantly refused to join with his enemies,
being as far from secretly rejoicing
over the misfortune of his adversary
as he had been before from being af
flicted at his good success. Such vir
tues reflect a dignity and grandeur on
every mind in which they reside,
which appear incompatible with the
idea that it is destined to retire forev
er from the scene of action at the hour
ofdeath.
“But the noblest examples of ex
alted virtue are to be found among
those who have enlisted themselves in
the cause of Christianity. The Apos
tle Paul was an illustrious example of
every thing that is noble, heroic, gen
erous, and benevolent in human con
duct. His soul was inspired with a
holy ardor in promoting the best inter
cuts of mankind. To accomplish this
object, he parted with friends and re
latives, relinquished his native coun
try, and every thing that was dear to
him either as a Jew or as a Roman
citizen, apd exposed himself to perse
cutions and dangers of evdry descrip
tion. During the prosecution of his
benevolent career-, he was “injournev-
ings often, in perils of waters, in pei-
ils of robbers, in perils by his own*
countrymen, in perils by the heathen,
in perils in the city, in perils in the
wilderness, in perils in the sea, in
perils among false brethren; in weari
ness and painfulness, in watchings of
ten, in hunger and thirst, in fastings
often, in stripes above measure, in
cold and nakedness.” Yet none of
these things moved him, nor did lie
count his life dear to him, provided
lie might finish his course with joy, and
be instrumental in accomplishing the
present and eternal happiness of his
fellow-men. In every period of the
Christian era similar characters have
arisen to demonstrate the power of
virtue and to bless mankind. Our own
age and country have produced nu
merous philanthropic characters, whfc
>avc shone as lights in the moral world,
and have acted as benefactors to rtie
human race. -The names of Alfred,
Penn, Barnard, Raikcs, Neilde, Clark
son, Sharpe, Buxton, Wilberforce,
Venning, and many others are familiar
to every one who is in the least ac
quainted with the annals of benevo
lence. The exertions which some of
these individuals have made in the
cause of liberty, in promoting the edu
cation of the young, in alleviating the
distresses of the poor, in ameliorating
the condition of the prisoner, and in
counteracting the abominable traffic
in slaves, will he felt as blessings con
ferred on mankind throughout succeed
ing generations, and will, doubtless,
he held in everlasting remembrance.”
Punishment of the wicked in a future
state.
“Let us now suppose, for a moment,
a vast assemblage of beiigs cf tlx
description to which I hav< adverted,
collected in a dark and dieary region
Let us suppose many thou/ands of mill
ions of such characters as Nero, wh<
set fire to Rome, that he might amust
himself with the walings and lamenta
tions which this calimity inspired, anci
insulted Heaven b/ offering thanks
givings to the gods* after inurderin;
his wife and his mother—Tiberius.
who delighted in orturing his sub
jects, and massacieing them in the
most tormenting aid cruel manner—
Caligula, celebrate! in the annals ol
folly, cruelty, and inpiety, who mur
dered many of his subjects with his
own hand, and caused thousands who
were guilty of no crimes to he cruelh
butchered—Antiochus Epiphancs, who
butchered forty thousand of the inhab
itants of Jerusalem, in cold blood, and
rushed forward, like an infernal de
mon, with the intention of destroying
every inhabitant of Judea—Hamilcar,
who threw all the prisoners that came
into his hands to be devoured bv wild
beasts—Asdrubal, who put out the
eyes of all the Roman captives he had
taken during t wo years, cut off their
noses, lingers, legs, and arms, tore
their skin to pieces with iron rakes
and harrows, and thew them headlong
from the top ol his battlements—Jcn-
ghis Khan, who caused seventy chiefs
to be thrown into as many caldrons of
boiling water, and took pleasure in be
holding his army beheading a hundred
thousand prisoners at once—Tamer
lan-., who displayed his sportive cruel
ty in pounding three or four thousand
people in large mortars, or building
them among bricks and mortar into a
wall—Mustapha, who treacherously
murdered the Venetian officers, after
having entered into a treaty with them,
and who beheld with delight the no
ble-minded Bragadino, whom he had
cruelly tortured, flayed alive—Bona
parte, whose mad ambition sacrificed
so many millions of human beings, and
Lord Byron in whose breast “resent
ment, anger, and hatred,” raged with
violence, and who made his gall flow
out, “against individuals, his coun
try, the world, the universe, creation,
and the Creator:”--let. us suppose such
characters associated together in a
world where no pleasing objects meet
the eye, or cheer the heart and ima
gination; and let us likewise suppose
that the malignant principles and bois
terous passions which reigned in tlicii
minds during the present state, still
continue to rage with uncontrolled
and perpetual violence against all sur
rounding associates;—it is evident, that
in such a case, a scene of misery
would be produced beyofid the power
of the human mind either to conceive
or to describe. If so dreadful effects
have been produced by such diaboli
cal passions, even in the present world,
where Providence “sets restraining
bounds to the wrath of man,” and
where benigiiaut dispositions are blend
ed with the evil principles which so
( generally prevail, what must be the
effects where pure malignity, without
any mixture of benevolent feelings,
reigns universally, is perpetually tor
menting its objects, is ever increasing
in its fury, and is never controlled by
physical obstructions or by moral con
siderations! This is the society of hell;
this is the essence of future misery;
this is “the worm that never dies, and
the lire that is never quenched;” and
the natural effects produced by it is
universal anguish and despair—“weep
ing, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.”
If such be the end of the ungodly, and
the malignant despiser of God’s law
and the riches of his mercy, as mani
fested in Christ Jesus—how careful
should we be to counteract every evil
propensity and passion, and liovv fer
vently ought we to join in the prayer
of tho Psalmist, and in the resolution
of Jacob: “Gather not my soul, with
sinners, nor my life with bloody men.”
“0 my soul, come not thou into their
secret; unto their assembly, jyino
honor, be not thou united!”
indxAns.
see-quahyah.
TIIE CHEROKEE PHILOSOPHER.
Tile following account of Scc-quah-
•ah, [See-quo-yahJ the celebrated in- ,
ventor of the Cherokee alphabet, is !
from one of a series of lectures on
\ meric an literature delivered last
winter at the city of Washington, by
Samuel L. Knapp,Esq. ■
In the winter of 18:23, a delegation
•>f the Cherokees visited the city of
W ashington in order to make a treaty
with the United States, and among
them was Sce-quah-yah, the inventor
of the Cherokee alphabet. Ilis En
glish name was George Guns; lie
was a half-blood, but had never, from
his own account, spoken a single word
of English up to the time of his inven
tion, nor since. Prompted by my own
curiosity, and urged by several litera
ry friends, 1 applied to Sec-quah-yah,
through the medium of two interpre
ters—one a half-blood, Capt. Rogers,
ind the other a full-blood, whose as
sumed English name was John Maw,
o relate to me as minutely as pcssi-
ile the mental operations and all the
iicts in his discovery. lie cheerfully
complied with my request, and gave
very deliberate ami satisfactory an
swers to every question, and w as at
the same time careful to know from
tic interpreter if I distinctly under
stood his answers. No stoic could
have been more grave in lus demeanor
lien was Sce-quah-yah; he pondered,
according to the Indian custom, for a
considerable time after each question
was put, before he made his reply,
and often took a whiff of his calumet
while reflecting on an answer.
The details of the examination arc
toi long for the closing paragraph of
this lecture; but the substance cf it
was this—that he, Sce-quah-yah, was
now about sixty-five years old, but
could not precisely say—that in efirly
life lie was gay, talkative, and al
though he never attempted to speak in
council but once, yet was often from
lhe strength of his memory, his easy
colloquial powers and ready command
of his vernacular, a story-teller of the
convivial party. Ilis reputation for
talents of every kind gave him some
distinction when he was quite young,
so lung ago as St. Clair's defeat. In
this campaign or some one that scon
followed it, a letter was found on the
person of a prisoner w hit'll was wrong
ly read hy him to the Indians. In.
some of their deliberations on this
subject the question arose among them
whether this mysterious power of
l 'the talking IcaJ” was the gift of the
Gieat Spirit to the white man, or a
discovery of the while man himself?
Most of his companions were of the
former opinion, while he as strenuous
ly maintained the latter. This fre
quently became a subject of contem
plation with him afterwards, as well
as many other things w hich he knew,
or had heard, that the white man could
do; blit lie never sat down seriously
to reflect on the subject, until a swell
ing on his Luce confined him to bis
cabin, and which, at length, made
him a cripple for life, by shortening the
diseased leg.
Deprived of the excitements of war
and the pleasures of the chase, in the
long nights of his confinement his mind
was again directed to the mystery of
the power of speaking by letters, the
very name of w hich, of course, was
not to be found in bis language. From
the cries of wild beasts, from the tal
ents of the mocking-bird, from the
voices of his children and his compan
ions, lie knew that feelings and pas
sions were conveyed hy different sounds
from one intelligent being to another.
The thought struck him to try to as
certain all the sounds in the Clieiokec
language. His own ear was not re
markably discriminating, and be call
ed to his aid the more acute ears of
his wife and children. lie found
great assistance from them. When
j he thought Eat he had distinguished
| all the different sounds in their lan
guage, lie attempted to use pictorial
signs, images of birds and beasts, to
cunvey these sounds to others or tc
mark them iuliis ow n mind. He soon
dropped this method, as difficult or
impossible, and tried arbitrary signs,
without any regard to appearances,
except such as might assist him in
recollecting them, and distinguishing
them from each other. At first these
signs were very numerous; and when
lie got so far as to think his invention
was nearly accomplished lie had about
two hundred characters in his alpha
bet. By the aid of his daughter, uhc
seemed to enter into the genius of his
labois. lie reduced them, at last, to
eighty-six, the number he now uses.
lie then set to work to make these
characters mere comely to the eye,
and succeeded—as yet lie had not the
know ledge of the pen as an instru
ment; but made bis characters on a
piece of bark w ith a knit® or nail.-—
At this time he sent to the Indian a-
gent, or some trader in the nation, for
paper and pen. Ilis ink w as easily
made from some cf the bark of the
forest trees, whose coloring propertied
he had previously known—and after
seeing the construction of the pen, he'
soon learned to make one, but at first
lie made it without a slit; this incon*
venience was, however, quickly re
moved by bis sagacity.
His mxt difficulty was to make bis
invention known to his countrymen;
' lor by tins time he had become so ab-
! stracted from bis tribe and their usual
pursuits, that lie was viewed with a»
( ye of suspicion. Ilis former com
panions passed his wigwam without
entering it, and mentioned his name as
one who was practising improper
spells, for notoriety or mischievous
purposes, and lie seems to think that
he should have been hardly dealt with,
if his docile and unambitious disposi
tion bad not been so generally ac-
know lodged by his tribe—at length he
summoned some of the most distin
guished of his nation in order ti> make
Ids communication to them—and after
giving them the best explanation
bis discovery that he could, stripping
H of all supernatural influence, he
proceeded to demonstrate to them in
good earnest, that lie had made a dis
covery. His daughter who was now
liio only pupil, was ordered to go out
of hearing, while he requested his
friends to name a word or sentiment
which he put down, and then she was
cgllcd in and read it to them; then
the father retired and the daughter
wrote, the Indians were wonder-
struck; but not entirely satisfied.
Sce-quah-yah then proposed that
the tribe should select several youth?
from among their brightest young men,
that he might communicate the mys
tery to them This w as at length a*
greed to, although there was some
lurking suspicion of necromancy in
the w hole business. John Maw, (his
Indian name I have forgotten.) a full
blood, w ith several others, were se
lected for this purpose. The tribe
watched the youths for several months
with anxiety, and when they offered
tthemselves for examination, the feel
ings of all were wrought up to the
highest pitch. The youths were sep
arated from their master and from
each other, and watched with great
care. The uninitiated directed what
master and pupil should write to each
other, and these tests were viewed in
such a manner as not only to destroy
their infideliiv, but most firmly to fix
their faith. The writers on this or
dered a great feast and made Sec-
quah-yah conspicuous at it. How
nearly is man alike in every age?—
Pythagoras did the same on (lie dis
covery of an important principle itj
geometry.
Sce-quah-yah became at once school
master, professor, philosopher, and a
chief. Ilis countrymen were proud
of his talents, and held him in rever
ence as one favored by the Gictrt
