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vti m m nation to another Utiles9 explained anil limited, it conreys the right of sovereignty. Thus, in cessions of small portions of land to the General Government, for Navy Yards, &c. the several Slates are in the practice of reserving certain rights; audit as the right of entering to apprehend • ’to? CHEROKElS PHOENIX AND INDIANS’ ADVOCATE. ‘. r'/-v ■IV ‘ m criminals, &c. implying that the word cede would, ex ti termini, convey to the General Government all the rights of sovereignty. But no party can convey what it does not possess; and it would have been absurd for the United States to ask and accept a Cession without admitting that the Cherokees had power to make one.— This artiple expressly declares that the agreement was entered into, the cessions made, and the compensation given “to extinguish forever all claims of the Cherokee'nation” to the lands thus ceded. The Cherokees are acknowledged, then, ;to have had claims, not cancelled by War, not •wept a way by the superior force of the Uuited States, never before sur rendered: claims which the solemn •auction of treaties was deemed neces sary to extinguish. “Art. 5. It is stipulated and a- greed that the citizens and inhabit ants of the United States shall have a free and unmolested use of a road from Washington district to Mero dis trict, and the navigation of the Ten nessee river.” This is another very curious pro vision, if wo arc to believe that the Chorokees are merely tenants at will, and the people of the United Stntes the rightful owners. But upon the only tenable ground, viz. that the Cherokees had a perfect title to the •oil, with undoubted sovereignty over it, the article is intelligible and rea sonable. The people of the United States wanted a free passage through . * particular part of the Cherokee territory; and, as the parties now sus tained amicable relations, such a passage was granted by a treaty stip ulation. “Art. 6. It is agreed on the part of the Cherokees, (bat the United States shall have the sole and exclu sive right of regulating their trade.” By the Constitution of the United uiale commerce “with the Indian tubes.” This policy had been pur sued in the treaty of Hopewell, and was doubtless chosen wisely, and with a view to benefit the Indians.— It was not binding upon them, how ever, till they voluntarily consented to it. “Art. 7. The United States sol emnly guarantee to the Cherokee na tion all their lands not hereby ceded.” This is the most important article »n the treaty. The Cherokees had yielded some important rights. They had agreed not to treat with any for eign Powerj They had committed the regulation of their trade to the United States. They had admitted the United States to participate in the navigation of the Tennessee; and had granted a free passage through a certain part of their country to the citizens of Jhe United Stales. They had ceded a portion, though not a ve ry important one, of their territory. • Pie other hand, the United States engaged to protect the Chero kees, to promote theif civilization, as will hereafter be seem, and espe cially to guaranty the integrity and in violability of their territory. Jo a world lull of outrage, fraud, and vio lence, it it a good advantage for a Weak State to obtain a solemn guar anty of a powerful neighbor, that its rights and sovereignty shall be safe. All this is implied by guaranty. The Uuited States solemnly engaged to preserve and defend tbe Cherokees against all foreign Powers, (a colony of Spain being then in the neighbor hood) against the States of Georgia and North Carolina, against the Uni ted States iu their confederate ca pacity, and against all whites who should commit aggressions upon the Cherokees. ‘ • ' - The word guaranty can mean no less, unless limited by the subject or context. ^ If Bonaparte guarantees Me integrity of Switterland, he enga ges to defend & preserve Switzerland from aggression & invasion, whether the danger arises from Austria, Prussia, or even France itself. It is word to States the Cherokees have relied, With unshaken constancy, since the year 1791. Within a few months their confidence hap boen shaken; artd they are now in a state cS great Soli citude and anxiety. It vemsms to he seen whether a treaty will bind the United States to a weak and depend ent ally, or whether force is to be^tBe only arbiter in the case. WILLIAM PENN. NO. VII. In the article of guaranty, which was the subject of discussion in mj last number, the country of tne Chon- •okee nation is called “th~ir lands ” an expression utterly at variance with the notion, that the lands belonged to tbe whites. Indeed, the recent inter- r relation of our compacts with the ndians, does great violence to the or dinary rules of language. The sev enth article is short, and will bear re peating. It reads thus. “The Uni ted States SOLEMNLY GUAR ANTY TO THE ChEROKEE/NaTION, ALL THEIR LANDS no? hereby ceded.” This seems to be, upon the face of it, a plain sentence. A man of moderate information would at least suppose himself to understand it. He would not suspect that there wiu a secret, recondite meaning, altogeth er incompatible with the apparent one. But it seems that there was such a meaning. How it was discov ered, or by whom, (he public are not informed. The present Secretary of War, however, has lately adopted it, and urged it upon the Cherokees as decisive of the whole question at is sue. The true meaning of the article, then, as explained by a public func tionary thirty-eight years afletf it Was made, would have been accurately expressed as follows: “TAe United States solemnly declare that the Chero kee Indians have no right nor title to any lands within the territory of the United States, as fixed by the treaty of 1783; but the United States permit the Chtro- kces to remain on the lands of North Carolina, South Carolina, aild Geor gia, (South and West of the above de scribed boundary) until the said States shall take possession of the same.” This is the guaranty of the Chero kee country! It is certainly the intCF.* pretation of the Secretary of War. How would other treaties bear a simi- lar explanation? The netvspapets tell us, that Russia, Great Britain, and r i nnce, have engaged to guaranty the territory of Greece within certain limits. Docs this mean that tbe creeks are to be„permitted to live, tor the present, on lands which belon- to the lurks; but that the Turks? whenever they please, may lake pos session of their own lands, and massa cre the Greeks? /A 1 ? e „r Federal Constitution mys ^u r n V ’ Sec ‘ 4 ') “ Thft United State shall guaranty to every State in this Union, a Republican form of govern ment; the true meaning of which may . a I , P ear t0 ^e ns follows: The United States shall permit each State to have a Rehuhlican form of government for the present; and until a monarchical form of government shall bejmppsed upon the people there- The true meaning of an instrument is that which was in the minds of the parties, at the lime of signing Can the Secretary of War prove that General Washington understood the treaty of Holston, according to the explaoatjon now given? Can he prove that the Cherokee chiefs and war riors understood it in the same man ner? Surely he would not have it signed and ratified in one sense, and carried into effect in a totally differ ent and opposite sense. He must therefore suppose, that the Cherokees intended to admit that they had no th?v f ° ,i th * ? 0VVn Iandi ’’ and that they stood ready to remove whenever requested. But he must allow, that ir this were the meaning of the par- " 08 v © r 7 strangely expressed; and however sincerely be may entcr- ■ Not to dwell longer on the words of the article, is it credible that the Cherokees would have signed a treaty in the year 1791, if they had been plainly told that the United Stales did not acknowledge them as a seperate people; that they had no rights, nor any lands; that they lived upon their ancient hunting grounds by tbe per mission of the whitoe; and that, when ever the whites-required it, they must remove beyond the Mississippi? At that very moment the Cherokees felt strong. They and the neighboring tribes could collect a formidable force. They had an illimitable forest in ivhich to range, with many parts of which they were perfectly acquainted. They could have driven in the white settlers, on a line of more than 500 miles in extent. Many a Braddock’s field, many a St. Clair’s defeat, many bottle of Tippacanoe, would have I • J «i«*T CIULT* tain the newly discovered opinion as io tne meaning, he mav mill u -~W' , ho s,in fin< l wrin^i ? , d, ® cu . lt t t0 convince the world that lie is right. Wil! the Secretary of War guaran. ty his country against any loss of char acter, as a consequence of adopting 1,8 interpretation? Whom will he ?” [ or *Pon*ors and compurgators? Can he engage that impartial end dU- interesied men will be satisfied? And if they will not, or if there is * t |i ey. will not. could he been witnessed, before they could have been expelled from their swamps and their mountains, their open woods and their impervious cane brakes, and fairly dislodged from the wide regions on this side of the Mississip pi. The people of the United States wanted a peace. We invited the Cherokees to lay down their arms. We spoke kindly to them; called them our brothers, at tho beginning of every sentence; treated them as e- quals; spoke largely of our future kindness and friendship; and shall we now—(I speak to the People of the United States at large)—shall we now hesitate to acknowledge the full force of the obligations by which we hound ourselves? • Having, in the days of our weakness, and at our own instance, obtained a peace for our own benefit, shall we now, merely be cause ho human powor can oppose an array of bayonets, sot aside the fun damental article without which no treaty could have been made? But I must proceed with other parts of tbe compact. Art. 8. If any person, not an In dian, shall settle on any of the Chero kees' lands, he shall forfeit the pro tection of the United States, and the Cherokees may punish him. Art. 9. No citizen of the United States shall attempt to hunt on the lands of the Cherokees; nor shall an r , such citizen go into t' ‘V,: * 1 / * • -K‘"»e Cherokee country wihiout 'a ;\'<ssport from the Governor ot. Slale, or Territory, „r such other person as the President of the United States may authorize to grant the same. Arts. 10 II. Reciprocal engage ments, in regard to the dcliveiy and punishment of criminals. Art. 12. No retaliation or repri- JWfPf injury, till after satis- refused ‘ “ ‘ aVe been dema '>ded and Art, 1$. The Cherokees to give notice of any hostile designs. Art. 14. That the Cherokee Nation inay be led to a greater degree of Civilization, and to become herds- men and cultivators, instead of re maining in a state of hunters, the United States will from time to time, H? ,sb ’ ^atuilously, the said Nation '?*, ‘mplements of husbandry; and further to assist the nation in so desirab'e a pursuit, and at the same tune to establish a certain mode of communication, the United State, vull send such and so many persons to reside in said nation as they may judge proper, notexceding four in number! who shall qualify themselves toact as interpreters. These persons shall have i a „d ? assigned by the Cherokee, or cultivation for themselves nnd their succfcssors in-office; but they shall he piecluded from exercising any kind of traffic.” gaD " „ } 5 * AI1 ani mosities to cease, faith ^ ,rea y 10 bcexeculed in good Art. 16. The treaty to take ef fect, as soon as ratified, by the P, e ,|. ft* t 1 ’®, United State., with late dV,0e and C ° nSent ** tbe Se * ofTh w^-^if l p n,tcd by William & ’r^ Ver r?ff the territory Sonlh of the Ohio, and by forty-one a?** | - «o r Lr. half of the Cherokee Nation; and was afterwards duly ratified by the Presi dent and Senate. A few remarks seem to he demand- f d Z 8 ® ver «l of these articles. In lie Cth the cuuqtiy of the Cherokee is again called * L ” ■ - ■ pie even enter the country without a passport. The tenth Article, which is barely mentioned in the preceding abstract, provides, that “if any Cherokee In dian, nr Indians, or person residing among them, or who shall take refuge in their nation, shall steal a horse from, or commit a robbery, or mur der, or other capital crime on any citizens or inhabitants of the United States, the Cherokee Nation shall be bound tS deliver him or 'them dpi, to be punished according to the laws of the United States.” Thus it appears, that if a party of Cherokees should commit murder in the white settlements, upon citizens of the United States, the murderers could not be pursued on foot within the Cherokee boundary. Nay, more, if one of our own people should.commit murder, or any other cOpitoUcriine, and should take refuge in the Chero kee Nation, he could not be pursued, however flagrant the case might be, and however well known the criminal. The Clierbkees must arrest him in their own way, and by their own au thority, and they were bound by this treaty to do, (what by the laws of Nations they would not have been bound to do,) that is, to deliver up criminals for punishment. Neither the United States, nor any particular State, had any jurisdiction over the Cherokee country. But the next ar ticle, which my argument makes it necesary to quote at large, is, if pos sible.still more decisive or the matter. Art. 1J If any citizen or inhabi tant of the United States, or of either of the territoi ini districts of the Uni ted States, shall go into any town, settlement, or territory belonging to the Cherokees, and shall there com mit any crime upon, trespass against the person or property of any peacea ble and friendly Indian or Indians, which, if committed within the juris diction of any State, or within the juris diction of either of the said districts, a- gainst a citizen or ony white inhabi tant thereof, would be punishable by the laws of such state or district, such offender or offenders shall bo subject to the’ same punishment, and shall be proceeded against in the same man ner as if the offence had been com mitted within the jurisdiction of the State ™ ;71 ' M ° which he or they may be- inn„ „ • . "or white mha- long, against a citize*. ; bitant thereof. If there is any meaning in language, G,!* h t' eirre8,8l,b ^ that the ^ r ® k ®f co «ntry, or “territory” i* not within the jurisdiction of any htate, or within the jurisdiction of f/‘ he I r I .® f territorial Districts of be United States.” Within what S d,C T 1S , ,t ’- tben? Doubtless u ithin Cherokee jurisdiction; for this territory is described as “belonging to the Cherokeesof the most for cible idiomatic expressions of our language to designate absolute pro perty. What then becomes 0 f the assumption of jurisdiction over the Cherokee, by ttie State of Gcoi 1 his question will be easily decide the man who can tell which is th^ strongest a treaty of the United States or an act of the Legislature of a State. The treaty says, that the Cherokee territory i, inviolable; and that even white renegadocs cannot be pursued thither. A recent law of Georgia declares the greater part of the Cher okee county.to be under the jurisdic- tion of that 'State; and that the laws l G ® 0rgia “ball take full effect upon the Cherokees within less than a year from the present time. TheConsti- ih. lhe jjgj Cherokees have been ltd toft greater] degree of civilization that) any otlr"“ tribe of Indians. So undeniable ... this fact, that C^orgia had repeatediyl complained of itpand the Government has been blamed for doitlg those thing* which the United States wire bound, to da by the most sedemn treety sti- [ In a word, the treaty of Holston if a plain document, having a direct ob ject. It f» consistent with itself. It does not pontain the mest distant Implication, that any portion of the human race, except the Cherokee* themselves, had even the shadow of it claim upon the Cherokee territory. It guaranties that territory to .it# possessors as their own absolute property; accepts some small grant* from them; and engages that tbe Uni ted States shall befriend them, their future effiorTrl! That the Ch'erokees haVe never for- l feited the benefit of these stipulation#I will appear in subsequent numbers. WILLIAM PENNr at some tomethir 1 f State shall be bound thereby?'any ■ All’s Alt ■ ^ AMaS toA. • _ V _ r th , e J aw * or Constirution’of any State to th» contrary notwtifatand- !X«r T,,e jurisdiction is, therefore eauly settled. But the full acknowledgment of the “,7 al oflbeCb.rolca., and of the sacreduefs of their territ 14ih i ?V * h ® ‘ r / a1 ^ c6fltai ° 8 - - 14th article was framed expressly Tor Jvr P?JP° 8e of preserving and perpetu- ating the national existence of ihe Cherokees. That thfev might led to a greater degree of civilisation” appears to have been a favorite de- ^‘e American With a vimv to th‘ * they might that been twi »> the :o :o :o :o :o .*o :o .* THE HIGH-MINDED SUVBf. The following anecdote, which copy from .the London Tract Ma zine for Juno, is a fine example noble feeling in an African slave. N. Y. Obs. A purchaser of slaves in Charleston, S. C. who intended to sell them again, observed a fine looking mao amoqst them, superior to the re»t, and felt disposed to retain him as his own ser vant. He was a little surprised soon after by tbe conduct of the negro, who said, “Massa! you no sell me.’ 1 “Not sell you, why not?”—“Me make good servant, massa!” Having before intended to keep him, this res' olutionVas now strengthened, andb told the negro if he behaved he would not sell him. The gro replied “Me make good sCrTant massa, you no tribe me.” Net strik you, scoundrel! but I will strike yo if you deserve it.” The rfcply i gain was, “Me* make good ter van massa, you no trike me!” / He behaved well until i casion his master took up to strike him wftiit backwards, and the posture of cried put lo jbis i him. His mast* | to refrain from f • execution, f % citement of the. i doubt was entertain* e unto death the h, S Uhe master soon forgoi n, stance but the slave" dk K ILi,, degradaUon °fbv to a blow operated on hi, bjk h* league, froml ao j, hee.LeV 1% c "Pt«« He l„M the that ho iva. a Chief in hi. mvn conn’ Si ri*” 10 ”* lli * <m ” people; an< which it w'ns applied was in' K, him S? f or W ?> 18 Woeo ^ ,}Zi W **** lo»a of his servic Christian! if then readest thiae evening, aAer the toil of the day' aftnded, and when thou art sitting be^on n the hin s pe on the Sabbath, when ahnni i, i" tiding, of aalvatioo; 01 if stretched on thy sick bed * friend should bagu.Ip the weary* by rB0d ' n * It to thee, put UP prayer for i * . diXr-nf/ h #t 8laV6 ^ tb® 1 dealer, that tbe word of Oed the influence of the W teach the one to endure and incline the other t and than both may be i the bondage of sin, and glorious liberty of the to mind thy peaceful , means of grace; and tby ry; snd while thou these invaluable b they m ilave, a may If l DO