Cherokee phoenix, and Indians' advocate. (New Echota [Ga.]) 1829-1834, November 11, 1829, Image 2

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CHETtOKEE PHOENIX AND INDIANS’ ADTOCATEi \ Eio.n iuu National ilUeli^'.'Hcer. *>R€SKNT l RISIS IN I HE CONDITION OK THE AMERICAN INDIANS HO A1V. It has appeared, in the preceding discission, that the United States have entered into solemn engagements with the Gherokees, by which " c are bound, as a people, to defend their title and their sovereignty, and to pro tect them from every species ot en croachment and aggression. If this be not the obvious meaning of niimer- ous and express stipulations, it will be .imcossi 'le to frame articles in die English language, which shall express any meaning whatever. But . Georgia complains ‘ that the Government of the United States transcended its powers in making the-"', engagements, which are there to e * to be considered null ahd void. Toe reader most bear in mind, that this ' complaint of Georgia is not of l ing standing. Indeed 1 am not cer tain that the legislature has expressed it; hut 1 he leading men of that State, and some of the newspapers, aije loud In making and repeating it. Fill very re ently, as was mentioned in my 1 st the authorities of Georgia harp been u i/mg the United Slates to malfe trea ties with the Indians. ! In order to come to a full under stand'. !g of this case in all its bearing, let us inquire how the controversy would present itself, if the old thir teen States, after obtaining their in dependence, had never formed any sysi .m ol coniederation whatexer-. and each State were entirely, and in all respects, independent of every other State. The whole question'fit issue; would then lie between Georgia and "the Chcrokeos. Neither South Carolina, nor any other State, would hnve any right to interfere, liowcvei oppressively Georgia might conduct he.self toward the Indians; unless, indeed, South Carolina, or some other State, had made a treaty with the Gherokees, of the nature of a t alli ance offensive and defensive. On this'supppsition, both the allies would have a right, bv the laws of nations, to speak to Georgia and to he heard. But we will suppose, tint the Ghcro- kees had made no treaty with any ed out as jurymen. We do not hunt, Not a family within our bounds de rives its subsistence from the chase. As to our being savages, we appeal to the white men, who travel on our tnrnpikc roads, whether they receive any ill treatment. We have a legis lature and a judiciary, and the. judges of our supreme court are very rigid in punishing immorality. We have herds of cattle, farm* and houses, mills a nd looms, clothing and furniture- W« are not rich; hut we contrive, by our ndutry, to provide gainst huv ger and nakedness; and to lay up something comfortable tor winter. Besides thetse things. We have schools and places of public worship Judge ye* whether we are such a sort of people, as the writctS on the laws of nations had in their minds, when they talked of vagrants, huriterS, and sava ges To this the Georgians rejoin: “But you had no business to betake your- coratnunity upon earth, and were, as to their mode of living, precisely m their present condition; that is,,peace ably engaged in agricultural pursuits and providing for their own tamcc s by the labor of their own hands In these cireurast ores, the people of Georgia ask the Gherokees 1o le- move; who, in their turn, demand the reasons of so extraordinary requenst. A I here let me say, no good reasons can he given; no reasons which an honest, man would not he ashamed to give in any private transaction. But I v'-l'i fairly state all the reasons, Which have ime to my knowledge, and ild wish the reader to give them ■tide of weight to which thev a-e entitled. leorgians say to the Gherokees. >re a civilized people; you are Wo eve y T “W a v Bv w t; f»l v i Hinting and savage people, ip .e of this distinction, the lands : vou occupy, and which your s ailed their hunting grounds, he.lo.tg in reality to us; and we must take possession. The writers on the hi v of nations bear us out in the de mand.” To such a statement the Gherokees might justlv reply; “.We are not a- boui to dispute as to your being a Cn ilized people, though the manner of u ■ ng this demand of the houses and l a of your poor neighbors - , does not » mo great modesty or benevolence. W«e do not profess to he learned i>i4he Jitw ol nations; hut we read the Bible, and have learned there some, jilatn principles of right and wrong—The Governor of the world gave us this country—We are in peaceable pos session. We have never acknowledg ed any earthly lord, or sovereign. If Our Creator has taken away our land and given it to you, we should like to $a * some proof of i! 'beside your own assertion. We have read in the hook, which we understand y ou to acknowl edge as the word of God that to Opprvn a stranger wrongfully" is a mark of great national wickedness. “But we are not the sort of people that you take us to be. We are not vagrants, like some tribes of which we have heard; nor were our fathers. They always had a fixed place of re side ice. Vud as to our wandofi ig shout, we have not the lime. We ®re busv with ou>- cro .s; and manv of us do lie* r far ns our he*- *' eguntf court once u yejsr, unless cull- selves to an agricultural life. It js a dovvnrig't imposition upon us. 'Ibis is the very thing that we complain of. The more you work on land, the more unwilling you are to leave it. Just so it is with your schools; they only serve to attach you the more'strongly to your country. It is all designed to keep us. the people of a sovereign & independant State, from the enjoy ment of our just rights. We must refer you to the law of nations again, which‘ declares that populous coun tries, whose inhabitants live by agri culture, have a right to lake the lauds of hunters and apply them to a bet ter use. hi answer to this legal argument, the Gherokees have only to say, that, even if Vattel had the power, by a flourish of his pen, to dispossess a nation of its patrimonial inheritance, the present case does not come within the limits which he has prescribed — Georgia is not populous. She has many millions of acres of unoccupied land. The Gherokees arc not an “er ratic people, - ’ to use the phrase of Vattel, so that neither part of the ease answers to the description. When Georgia shall have a hun dred souls to the square mile; (and her soil is capable ol sustaining a lai- ger number than that;) the Gherokees m y have four times as many to the square mile as Georgia now con tains: If any one has the curiosity to toad what Vnttal has said on this subject, he will find it in section 81 and 209; where he will also find a commenda tion of the manner in which the Pu ritan settlers of Ncw-England, and the great founder of Pennsylvania, obtained possession of the lands of the natives, viz: by the consent ot the oc cupants and not by a reliance on the charters of kings. Thus stands the case on the law of nations; and if Vattel were admit ted as absolute authority, and the Gherokees were left to their naked right, undefended by any compact either with Georgia or the United Slates, they would hqve nothing to fear. No respectable lawyer, unless he is entirely deranged in his intellect, as a consequence of violent party feelings, will say that the doctrine of Vattel would take the lands ol the Gherokees, and give them to Geor- gia existing treaties? The treaties and laws are positive and peremptory in declaring that the Gherokees are not tinder die jurisdiction of Georgia, rior of any other State, nor of the United States; that citizens of the United States have no right to enter the In dian country, except in accordance with treaty stipulations, that it is a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment, for any such citi zen to attempt to survey Indian lands, or to mark trees, upon them; and that the Irdian title cannot be extinguished, except by the consent of the Indians, expressed by a regular treaty. Vet the Secretary of War seems never to have known that any such laws or treaties are in existence, Is he not awaro of all this? Or does he really think he has power to annul treaties and repcallaws, according to his sense of convenience and propriety ? But this is a degression., Having shown, as it seems to me. that Geor gia can gain nothing by an appeal to the law of nations, I propose to in quire, htiefly, what support she can derive from the chart er of the King of England. WILLIAM PENN- In the Eski-Sarai, at Adriantipje, Aug, 8, (20.) M. P. Ambassaduer. 1 have the pleasure to nnnouifce to you that the victorious troops;sf his — i -Tliiiif • »igjMWgtj S» 1 D mw neology* ___ FOI1BIGN. IMPORTANT RUMbUIt—IF TRUE. Capt. Whitall, of the ship Don Quixote, who arrived below on Satur day evening, in 37 days from Antwerp and 21 from the Isle of Wight, informs us that a few hours before he left Flushing the steamboat arrived from London, in twelve hours, bringing in telligence that ENGLAND AND FRANCE HAD DECLARED WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. Capt. Whitall saw some of the passengers, who told him that the report was gen erally believe, and a occasioned great sensation in London. The steamboat left London on the evening of the 9th of Sept, which is one day later than our accounts from that city by the packet ship Birmingham. Capt. W. further states, that the crops in Flan ders were nearly destroyed by the bad weather.—JV' Y. Jour, of Com. But it is added, that the Gherokees are in the chartered limits of Geor gia; and it is triumphantly asked “Cannot Georgia govern her own ter ritory? Is she not entitled to her own property? 1 But this statement ol the . case is a mere begging of the question. It is not admitted that the Gherokees are now, or ever were, in the State- of Georgia, in any su> h sense as is implied by the confident tone ot these questions. They I a never acknowledged themselves to he in the State of Georgia. The laws of the United States, and the Dlth arti ele of the treaty of Holston. declare that Indian territory is not within the jurisdiction of any State nor within the jurisdiction of any territorial d»s trict ol the United States. It seems however, that our national statule. hook is of very light authority, when compared with the svpp< sed conelu sions of a philosophical writer, whose theories are produced as the arbitci ot a people’s destiny. w Let me ask here, whenre did the Secretary of War derive the power of-repealing an pet of congress? This is ft plain question: and the peo jde of the T oiled States w ould lik r ei- e t ' .hi •. ) swet V ’ I did he derive the power to set aside rThe nr- Progress of the Russians. rivals yesterday put us in possession of news from the Russian army South of the Balkan to Aug. 23. Since the date of the previous accounts, the in vaders have captured Adrianoplc and Sltvno, (oGSelimnoj— the former the second town in European Turkey, and the latter “second next to Adriano- ple ” It stands at the foot of the cir cuit of hills which form the last heights of the Balkan. Add to these the town of Rodosto on the sea ot Mar mora, GO miles West of Constantino ple, besides various other places ol less importance. One of the Paris papers also announces the capture of Trebisond. in Asiatic Turkey. By looking at the map which w o publish ed a few days since, it will be seen that the Russians have formed a line of communication entirely around Const ntinople, so far as can be done by land, viz from Sizeboli, or per haps we should rather say, Inaida, to Kirk-kilssa and . Araba-Bur< os and ♦ hence to Rodosto. The distance f om Constantinople varies from 60 to 80, or 90 miles. As they ap proach the capital their movements w ill be sustained by ih- fleet of Ad miral Greig on th. Bh . k Sea. and by that of Admiral Riooid on the Sea of Marmora, if the latter . should suc ceed in forcing a passage through the Dardanelles. Thus the dominions of the Sultan, in Europe, with which he is able to.jhoJd c'qtnunication by land, are reduced to a corimass not much larger than the State of Rhode Island i ith a powerful ahd victorious army pressing forward to complete its sub jugation.—Jour, of Com. ( API l RE OF ADRIANOPLE. Munich, Sept, 28 P M.—The Russian Legation in this city has just received from the Russian hea l quar ters, under the head of 8th (20th) August, the news of the entrance of General Diebitseh into Adrianoplc! The Mahometan population has plac ed itself under the pretection of tt e Russia army, and not left the city. This important news is confumed by the following letter from General Count Diebitseh to M. de TatiscliafF, Russian Ampassador at Vienna, which was received at the office the Allge- meiiic Zeitung almost at the same .mo ment** Majesty the Emperor entered Adrian ople this morning at nine o’clock, without opposition. The Mahome tan population remains entirely under our protection.—?Accept, &c. (Signed) Duebitsch. Vienna, Aug. 31,-A Courier, who left Gonstantinople/on the 17th. arrived this morning at 'the Hotel of the French Legation, w ith the news that the Porte, after tlie'preceding declaration had been judged, unsatis factory, had now signified its acces sion to the treaty ofLonuoil of the 6th July, 1827, by a written declaration which was such as fully to answer the views of the Mediating Powers. In another declaration the Foyle declares itself ready to send Plenipotentiaries to the head quarters of Count Diebi- Is -h to treat of peace with Rus sia. Conrtantinofue, Aug. 17. (By express)—The whole city is in the utmost consternation at the rapid advance of the Russian army, and the Porte is all at once ready to made, peaie on any terrtis. The commis- « : mers are alifcady appointed who are fd go to the Russian h i ad-quarters to rn what conditions the Emperor of Russia now demands; for none of the foreign.diplomatic agents here are ac quainted with his intentions, not even Baron Muffling whrt was said to have t ome expressly to 1-ftt the Porte know on what terms the suspension of hosti lities might be obtained. General Diebitseh is approaching Adrianoplc. w hence lie threatens to march against Constantinople. General Pcskcwitch is said to have left Krzeroum, and to have divided his army into two corps; one of which is proceeding against Jo- kat; that is, on the road to -Sentari. This manoeuvre has Entirely discour aged the Sultan, who Recording to ac counts that deserve credit, has be o n ill for these three days, and plunged in deep melancholy. A ukase of the Empefior Nicholas, of 22d August, orders a new levy throughout his whole Entpirc, except ing Georgia and Bessarabia, of three recruits for every 500 souls. Bucharest, Aug. 20. A report has been in circulation since yesterday, that Turkish com missioners have come from Sctiupla ^to Gen. Krassowsky to propose an armistice, but that General refusing to listen to them, they asked a safe-con duct to the head quarters of Ben. Diebitseh to negoeinte a general ar mistice. It is added, that they Iliad failed in their application-to the Gen eral-in-Chief, because the first con dition he proposed was that Schumla should he evacuated, and given up to the Russians. This news, however, rests on the credit of private tom- munioations, & requires confirmation. All the Turks, however, wish for peace, for their affairs are in o had state. It is not improbable that Schumla may soon fall. The grand Vizier himself is said to be in des pair. The garrison of Nioopolis has ventured to make an excursion to the left hank of the Danube, but has paid dearly for it; for the Russian com mander before Ghiurgevo, learniug tlint Turkish cavalry had appeared near Tournoul, sent a detachment of heavy cava ry to drive ihem from the left bank, which was done without much trouble. Many of the Turks were k lied, aid several hundred ta- en prisoners. It is even affirmed that only a man returned to No • oJi to announce the misfortune. The* Wallachians are more q(jd more pleased with the new sclioo , in w hich th“ system of mutual instruc tion is chiefly followed. The p orer classes are eager to let their children enjoy the benefits of education, and the progress of the young peoplp in a country which, till now, had hardly any public schools, h equally surpris ing and satisfactory. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMDElt U. 1SZ0. THOS. L. M’KENNfifY AND TIIE, N TIOE. T O all whr it may concern, that, th« undersi *d having been appointed Administrators on the estate of Shoe Bools deceased, we hereby notify all persons in debted td the estate to come forward and make payment, and all persons having claims against the estate to present them for payment within twelve months, at the expiration of which time they will be de barred payment, on the claims, if any there be, as the law directs. TIIOS. WOODARD, JOHN RIDGE. Administrators. Oct., ,26th, 1.839, $».«. INDIANS. Under this head, we made remarks int our twenty fifth number,, touching the ad*' dress of Col. M’Kenney before the Indian Board in New York. It appears tho^-eJi marks have given him an undue decree o umbrage, as our readers will see froftf thc£ following communication: To he Editor of the Cherokee Phocnii Sir —I notice, and not without, regret, a spirit pervading your jour* * nal which, if not checked, cannot do- else than prove extremely injurious t« you. It is the spirit of personal, and ill nathred remarks against those who, do not lihppen to think with you. and your chiefs, upon the question of what is best, under all circumstances, for our red brothers to do9 It isnot unrea* sorxtble that two men equally youc friends, should indulge opposite,yiewsG of this question-the one might think, with you, the other not, But do you. esteem it just, to pronounce the ht-. ter your enemy, and write , or admit, articles into your paper, implicating his motives? and by a resort to every species of ill-natured remark, try and make him obnoxious? Do you think this is the way to gain friends^ orDo lose them? To carry your plhnsfor fail in them? Now I have remarked this spirit in' active operation in the columns of your paper, not against me only hut others. Think of it as you may you never have had, nor have you now, a warmer, or more devoted friend. I have been, for years, making myself acquainted with your interests, noti cing, with deep anxiety the clouds, and their directions, which have beci>' so often big, and block, with destruc tive elements.—I see them lowering over you now—the muttering of their Thunder is heard over the whole con tinent. In despite of every thing w hich* has been adopted jn all the past to re lieve them, by drawing off their destroying fires, they grow' larger, Su larger, and blacker and blacker-^* and at this very moment threaten to anihilate you as a people! If in thiat state of dread, I should tlllnh (uUd I judge from experience, and facts)i your safety was in removal, shall I bfi considered your enemy on that d,ccountE Would you 8Du>ri from you a man who sccmg you in trouble of any ether sort for humanely and kindly endeavouring . to relive you, altho ; he might happen to differ with you a§ tp the best means- of doing so? You may be able to withstand, and live under, the pour ing dow n upon your people of those elements to which I nave reference*' and flourish amidst them as Salaman ders arc said to live amids f fire, but if you do. I shall sec exemplified in yoii that, which lias been only fable in re gard to this ftnimal. I tell vou, you will have extended over you the laws, of the states within which you are; and 1 tell you, you cannot lire under them. Think of. it as you please —spurn iny counsels as you may—*• rely on your own superior w isdom nfi you seem resolved on doing—hut mark my words—-the day will arrive wheu you will see for yourselves, w ho are your real, and who your pretended friends; who your wise, and who your- unwise counsellors. The principal bearing of my remarks in my address, as quoted by you was upon the Creeks,but I know it—and so do you know it, the great body of your people,want to get awfiy from the evils, that threaten them, and go west—ryoft know it, and I know it, (and not froid secret agents either) that yaitr. influfi ence, and the influence of a very feit deter the body of your people fron* making terqis; and I say, whatever you may think of it, laying the founda tion for the future welfare, and pros* perity of your nation. It is for your sake&, and not mine^ that I deplore to see the vindictive quality of your spirit. I advise you —think of it as you may to treat per sons who are your friends, af least with civility, for you have need of all their counsels, and all their wisdom. Let your nation be convened-and let such as might he named, and a very limitted number they will be, rise up and proclaim to the whole that they are free to exercise their own discretion; and that such aq choose to emigrate will be at liberty to do so, and will be held in the same favour by the chiefs, and certain oth ers, as those who choose to remove