The whole art ok Government consists in the art of rcing honest. Jefferson.
STRO UDSBURG. MONROE COUNTY, PA., WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 1841.
No' 20.
VOL. 2.
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY
TltEOBOKE SCH-K.
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POETRY.
My Country's Flag.
The following spirited lines are from the ' Lo
well Offering," and were written by a 'Factory
Girl."
My Country's Flag! I love to gaze
Upon thee, bathed in Freedom's light!
I love the very breeze that plays
Among the folds on yonder height.
Thy Stars and Stripes! Hove them well
For all the high:born truths they tell
They o'er my spirit cast a spell,
That seems by angel-impulse given
It savors less of earth than heaven.
My Country's Flag? I love to think
Of thee as of a heaven-born thing.
And with thy every thought to link
A holier name than prince or king.
The Christian's God it was, who gave
The hand to rear thee, strength to save,
And made thy champions bold and brave,
To lift the Stars and Stripes on high,
And tell thy freedom to the sky!
My Country's Flag! a sight of thee,
Shall waken livelier gratitude
And many a youthful heart shall see.
That to be great is to be good.
That noble being all must love,
Who, rising in grandeur far above.
Meanwhile was genlle as the dove
And wrapt around his towering mind.
The cords that bound him to mankind.
My Country's Flag! wave on, wave on,
'Till aristocracy shall cease,
And every eye shall greet the dawn
Of liberty the morn of peace!
'Till every being on our soil
Shall eat the free reward of toil,
And every chain, and serpent coil,
Beforo thy silken folds shall flee,
And God's own image stand forth free!
ADDSES
On the Present Condition and Prospects of the
Aboriginal inhabitants of North America, with
particular reference to the Seneca nation. By
M. B. Pierce, a Chief of the Seneca nation,
and a member of Dartmouth College.
(concluded.)
With regard to mode of living tables, chairs ! agree upon,
and bedsteads and cooking apparatus have gen- "But the land company have the right of pur
rally been purchased of the whites or manu- chase," it is said granted; but they have not
iactured in imitation of them, and they are used the right, nor, we trust in God, the power, to
io a neater or less extent in almost everv fam- i force us to accept of their offers. And when
lv. "The habit of taking regular meals is gain-; that company finds that a whistle or a rattle, or
mr m-min.l. and the nrovision is luxurious. In ! one dollar or two per acre, will not induce us to
the care of the sick thevare more attentive and 1 part with our lands, is it not in the nature of
judicious, and rely loss' on notions and quacke-i hmgs that they should offer better and more1
'rv; thev employ Jkiilful physicians, and use ihe I attractive terms? If they could not make forty
medicine with less prejudice, and a great deal ! nine dollars on an acre of land, I know no rea
more confidence. j son wny ,nftV would fail of trying to make for-
Other evidences of improvement we hare in t ty-five, or thirty, or ten. So I see no obstacle
ihe increase of industry, and a consequent ad-jlr selling, when, and at such reasonable
vance in dress, furniture, and all the comforts I prices as we may wish, in lhe fact that the land
and conveniences of civilized life. The fields i company have the right of purchase: nor do I
of the Indians have never been kept in so good see any thing extortionate in us, in an unwilling
order, and managed with so much industry, as ! ness to part with our soil on the terms offered
for the few ears past. At nublic meetings and I "or eVR, thc desire, if our lands are sold, of
other large assemblies, the Indians appear com -
fortably and decently, and some of them richly I'neir value.
clad. The population is increasing gradually, J But the point of chief importance is shall we
except when visited with epidemics. The in- j 00 better off? If our object was to return to the
crease of general information is visible; there manners and pursuits of life which character
are many of them who keep themselves well j iseil our ancestors, and we could bo put in a safe,
'informed of what is going on in the country; sev- j unmolested and durable possession of a wilder
ral Tiewsnaners have been taken from the cities ne of Cime, whose streams abound in fish, we
.i)l w asningion, u. v., i iiuauuipuui, iuiv xuih.
and other cities in the Unjon, and two or three
copies of the Genesee Fanner. Some young
men have a choice selection of books and libra
ries. All these improvements are advancing at
a rapid rate, except when they are distracted with
cares and anxieties.
1 rWw. . r. . T .3 :.
y,v 1 - . t-v ft .1 iu vr Tr-..i.
I .
111 View Ol incse Old, 1 uuuiu iv iiuiiBi;r.t
cy so say say wiing lamier, a " u quuxuon,
whether or not the undertaking is feK-iMt- to
'-bring tiu' SeMocsK tip to tho standard which
. i ...i. . ... ..:
sh
3.11 entithi them lo be .called civilized and
Christianized.
The only question which 1 shall now con--sidcr,
included in lhe subject I am treating, h,
Jiota can this undertaking be carried into ope
ration most advantageously for securing its ui
ilimate object?
.Can it be by remaining where we now arc
local ed or by selling ourJauds and removing o
theafore-mentioned "lerra .incognita?" The
right and possession of our lands is undisputed
so with us ii i.s a question appealing directly
to our i:itcre.st; and how stauds4Sie matter in re-
lation to that? Onr lands are as fertile, and as
well situated for agricultural pursuits, as any
we shall get by a removal. The graves of our
fathers and mothers and kin are here, and about
them still cling our affections and memories.
Here is the theatre on which our tribe has thus
far acted its parts in the drama of its existence,
and about it are wreathed the associations which
ever bind the human affections to the soil,
whereon one's nation, and kindred, and self,
have arisen and acted. We are here situated
in the midst of facilities for physical, intellec
tual and moral improvement: ive are in the midst
of the enlightened; we see their ways and their
works, and can thus profit by their example.
We can avail ourselves of their implements and
wares and merchandise, and once having learn
ed the convenience of using them, we shall be
led to deem them indispensable; we here are
more in the way of instruction from teachers,
having greater facilities for getting up and sus
taining schools, and as we, in the progress of
our improvement, may come to feel the want
and the usefulness of books and prints, so we
shall be able readily and cheaply to get what
ever we may choose. In this view of facts,
surely there is no inducement for removing.
But let us look at the other side of the ques
tion. In the first place, the white man wants
our land; in the next place, it is said that the
offer for it is liberal; in the next place, that we
i shall be belter off to remore from the vicinity
of the whites, and stile in the neighbourhood
of our fellow red men, where the woods flock
with game, and the streams abound with fishes.
These are the reasons offered and urged in fa
vour of our removal.
Let us consider each of these reasons a little
in detail. The fact that the whites want our
i land imposes no obligation on us to sell it, nor
does it hold forth an inducement to do so, unless
I it leads them to offer a price equal its value to
j us. We neither know nor feel any debt of grat
' nude which we owe to them, in consequence of
' their "loving kindness or tender mercies" to
; wards us, that should cause us to make a sacri
fice of our property or our interest to their wont
ed avarice, which, like the mother of the horse
j leech, cries give, give, and is never sated.
And is the offer liberal? Of that who but
ourselves are to be the final judges? If we do
not deem one or two dollars an acre liberal for
the land, which will to the white man's pocket
bring fifteen to fifty, I dont't know that we can
be held heinously criminal for our opinion. It
is well known that those who are anxious to
purchase our reservations, calculate safely on
fifteen dollars the acre for the poorest, and by
gradation up to fifty and more, for the other
qualities. By what mode of calculation or rule
of judgment is one or two dollars a liberal oner
to us, when many times that sum would be on
ly fair to the avarice of the land speculator?
Since in us is vested a perfect title to the land,
I know not why we may not, when we wish,
dispose of it at such prices as we may see fit to
' putting into our own pockets a due portion of
, . I I. .! I ,1 . 1 .1 . t
luigm on netier on; ouunougn mat were ourou
ject, 1 deny that we could possess such a terri
tory this side of thc shores of the Pacific, with
safety, free of molestation, and in perpetuity.
" Westward the star of empire takes its way,"
and whenever that empire is held by the white
man, nothing is safe or unmolested or enduring
j against his avidity for gain. Population is with
: i .j : 1 .1.1. : 1
1 rapid sirniRs going ueyonu me Mississippi, ana
. even easting its eye with longing gazo for the
'woody p'viks of the Rocky mountains nay,
evfii for tno surf-beaten ahore of tho western
ocean. And in process of lime, will not our
territory there be as subject to the wants of lhe
whites, as that which we now occupy is? Shall
we not then be as strongly solicited, and by the
same arguments, to remove still farther west?
But there is one condition of a removal which
must certainly ronder it hazardous in the ex
treme 10 us. The proximity of our then situa
tion to that of other and more warlike tribes,
will expose us to cons'tant harassing by them;
and not only this, but the character of those
worse ihan Indians, those white borderers, who
infest, yes, infest the western border of the
white population, will annoy us more fatally
than even the Indians themselves. Surrounded
thus by the natives of the soil, and hunted by
such a class of whites, who neither "fear God
nor regard man," how shall we be better off
there than where we now are?
Haying said thus much as to our condition
after a removal, under the supposition that we
wish to return to and continue in the habits of
life which prevailed when the country was first
taken possession of by the Europeans, I pro
ceed now to say, that we do not wish so lo do,
and to repeat ii, that so far from it, we desire
to renounce those habits of mind and body and
adopt in their stead, those habits and feelings
those modes of living, and acting and thinking
which result from the cultivation and enlighten
ing of the moral and intellectual faculties of man.
And on this point, I need not insult your com
mon sense by endeavouring to show, that it is
stupid folly to suppose that a removal from our
present location to the western wilds would im
prove our condition. What! leave a fertile and
somewhat improved soil a home in the midst
of civilization and Christianity, where the very
breezes are redolent of improvement anq exal
tation where, by induction as it were, we must
be pervaded by the spirit of enterprise where
books and preaching, and conversation, and bus
iness, and conduct, whose influence we need
are all around us, so that wo have but to stretch
forth our hands, and open our ears, and turn our
eyes to experience in full their improving and
enlightening effects; leave these! and for what?
and echo answers for what? But methinks I
hear the echo followed by the anxious guileful
whisper of some government land company
agent for one or two dollars the acre and a
western wilderness beyond the white man's
reach, where an Eden lies in all its freshness
Of beauty for you lo possess and enjoy. But
ours, I reply, is sufficiently an Eden now, if but
the emissaries of the arch fiend, not so much in
the form of a serpent as of man, can be kept
from its borders.
But 1 will relieve your patience by closing
my remarks; it were perhaps needless, perhaps
useless, ior me to appear ueiore you wun tnese
t r t r i i l "
remarhs, ieeuiy anu uuu.y prepareu as uiey
were; but, as I intimated in the outset, the cri
sis which has now arrived in the affairs df our
people furnish the apology and reason for my
so doing. And now I ask, what feature df our
condition is there which should induce lis to
leate our present location, and seek another in
the western wilds? Dbes justice, does human
ity, does religion, in their relations to us, de
mand it? Does the interest and well being of
thc whites require it? The plainest dictates of
common sense and common honesty, answer
No! I ask then, in behalf of the New York In
dians and myself, that our white brethren will
not urge us to do that which justice, humanity,
religion, not only do not require, but condemn.
I ask then to let us live on, where our fathers
have lived let us enjoy the advantages which
our location affords us: that thus we, who have
been converted heathen, may be made meet for
that inheritance which the jFWicrhath promised
to give his Son, our Saviour: so that thc deserts
and waste places may be made to blossom like
the rose, and the inhabitants thereof utter forth
thc high praises of our God.
APPENDIX.
It has been repeatedly said, that "if thc In
dians had been left to the exercise of their own
judgment, they would have consented to have
sold iheir lands in this state; but the interested
white men opposed lo their removal, have in
fluenced them to reject the 'liberal offer' of the
government." ,
This allegation is without foundation; the In
dians know their interest very well: they ask
no questions, whether it is best for them to sell
out and remove; .they know that the moment
they leave these premises, then will troubles
commence; poverty, oppression, destruction,
and perhaps war and bloodshed, will fall upon
them at the western wilderness.
The policy of the general government is well
understood by them, and the country assigned
them west has been explored again and again,
so that they do not lack knowledge in these
respects. With all the light and information on
the subject which is necessary to form a correct
judgment upon it, they have a hundred times
repeated, in open council, and in the presence
of the United States commissioner, that they
cannot and will not sell out their lands and re
move beyond lhe Mississippi river. These are
the honest judgments of the Indians, and this
answer will the commissioner receive from the
I honest chiefs.
But w,hile porsuations and lawful inducements
have been held out lo them, and they fail to pro
duce the desired effect, the "Ogden Company,"
through their agents, lose no lime in buying
over the chiefs to aid in procuring the treaty.
Rewards hac been made to promote it, and to
induce our nation to consent to it. In the state
ments which follow, I shall confine myself prin
cipally to facts, that the public may be able to
judge for themselves as to tho correctness of
the above remark.
First, tho contract ofjohn Snow, a chief; it
was made a year ago, and may be known by
the date. This is one of the many contracts
entered into by the parties; we have them in
our hands.
Article of agreement made and concluded this 20th
day of July, 1 837, between Heman B. Potter,
of the city of Buffalo, of the first part, and
John Snow, a Seneca Chief of the Buffalo
Creek Reservation, in the county of Eric, of the
second part.
Whereas, in conformity with the declared
policy of the government of the United States,
the proprietors of the pre-emptive title of and
in the four several tracts of land, reserved by
the Seneca tribe of Indians, within the said
state of New York, are desirous to induce the
above-mentioned tribe of Indians to accept for
their future and permanent residence, a tract of
country in the territory west of the river Mis
sissippi, appropriated for Indians inhabiting the
Atlantic and other neighbouring states, and are,
also, desirous, by fair purchase, to extinguish
the right of the said Indians in and to the lands
in ihis state, so reserved by them.
And whereas, in furtherance of these objects,
and in order to a future treaty by which to effect
the same, the said proprietors have authorised
negociations to be opened with the chiefs and
other leading-men-of the said tribo of Indians,
and certain offers lo be made to them in money
as a permanent fund for the nation, and a com
pensation for their improvements: and have al
so deemed it advisable and necessary to em
plov the aid, co-operation, and services of cer-
lain individuals who are amo to lnttuonce tne
said Indians to accept of the offers so to be
made to them.
And whereas, the said Heman B. Potter, the
party of the first part, is empowered to act on
behalf of the said proprietors, and to contract
with any individuals, whose co-operation and
agency may bo necessary and efficient in ac
complishing the above-mentioned object; and
the said John Snow, the party of ihe second
pari, has agreed to contribute his influence and
services in the premises; and in case of the ex
tinguishment of the same Indian title to the said
reserved lands as aforesaid, to sell to the said
proprjetors all and singular his improvements,
r : and tQ lhe same
7
Now, therefore, it is mutually agreed by and
between the parties hereto, as follows:
First. Tho party of the second part under
takes and agrees to use his best exertions, and
endeavors to dispose and induce the said Indians
to adopt and pursue the advice and recommen
dations of the government of the United States,
in respect to their removal and future location,
and on such said terms as the party of the first
part, and his associates, in the name of the said
proprietors, shall propose to sell and release,
by treaty, their said reserved lands; and on all
occasions, to co-operate with and aid tho said
party of the first part, and his associates, as he
may be, from time to time, advised, in talks and
negociations with the chiefs and other influen
tial men of the said tribe; and in the active ap
plication of his whole influence at councils, and
confidential interviews, for the purpose of effect
ing a treaty between the said tribe and the said
proprietors, for the extinguishment of the Indian
title to the said reserved lands.
Second. The second party of tho second
part hath sold, and hereby doth sell to the said
proprietors, all and singular, his buildings and
improvements on the lands so to be released by
treaty, and agrees 10 accept compensation there
for, in the manner hereinafter mentioned; said
buildings and improvements in the mean time
not to be leased, or in any manner disposed of
by said party of the second part.
Third. In consideration of such efforts, co
operation, and services on the part of the said
John Snow, faithfully bestowed in the premises,
and of the sale and release of all and singular
his said buildings and improvements upon any
of thc lands aforesaid, without leasing qr other
wise disposing of the same, as herein above
stipulated, the said Heman B. Potter, on his
part, and that of his associates, agrees to pay,
or cause to be paid, to the said John Snow, the
stlm of tvro thousand dollars, within three months
after notico of the ratification by tho Senate of
the United States, of a valid treaty between the
said trib5 and the owners of the said pre-emptive
title, or their trustees, by which the right
and title of the said Indians shall be effectually
released and extinguished, in and to the said
reserved lands, subject, however, to the follow
ing qualification and understanding: that in case
the said treaty shall provide for the payment to
individual Indians for their buildings and im
provements, then, and in that case the said par-
lv nfthrt eornnil nnrt ib:i11 nncnnl rjml rurtMVP . '
'e ,r, ,v..t ,f ,l. .l,.,;n0,1 ..fi
two thousand dollars, such sum or compensation
as he shall or may be entitled to by and under
tho provisions of such treaty, for his said build
ings and improvements, and the balance of the
said two thousand dollars which shall remain,
after deducting therefrom such compensation as
aforesaid, and that only to bo paid by the said
party of the first part, as abovo specified,
within tho time above-mentioned, or as soon
thereafter as tho 3aid balance can bo ascer
tained; and in case said party of the second
part shall be entitled, 'by and under the pro-
vision of said treaty, to the sum of two thousand
dollars and upwards, he shall receive the same
as may be therein provided, and the said party
of the first part shall be discharged from paying
any part of the said two thousand dollars.
And the said John Snow shall also be enti
tled, at a nominal rent, to a lease from the own
ers of the pre-emptive title, or their trustees, of
and for the lot of land actually improved and
occupied by him called the Whipple farm, near
the old counctl-house, on the Buffalo reservation.
for and during his own natural life, determina
ble when and as soon as he shall cease to live,
on and occupy lhe same; said lease to be execu
ted by the lessors as soon after said treaty
as said lands shall have been surveyed and al
lotted, said lease having reference to said sur
vey. This agreement on the part ol said pariv ol
the first part, being expressly dependant upon
. m t
a treaty, to be made anu ratinea upon terms,
conditions and stipulations, to be proposed and
offered by said parly of the first part and his
associates.
II. B. Potter, l. s.
his
John i Snow, l. s.
mark.
Witness:.
hi" .
George X JniEso.Vj - .l
mark.
True copy.
In addition io the above stipulation, money
and brandy have been used for thc same pur
pose: and finally intimidation and discourage
ment are not wanting; for instance, they will
tell us, "Here, my friend, you have got to go,
there is no earthly doubt the policy of the
government is fixed, and your best course is to
get as much money as you can from tho pre
emption company, make you a contract, &c."
The object of the present council is, to give an
opportunity for the chiefs to assent to the amend
ments of tho last winter's treaty, or to refuso
them. The resolution of the senate is in tho
following words, to vt:
Provided always, and be it further resolved.
That this treaty shall have no force or effect
whatever, as it relates to any of the said trib,
nations, or bands, of New York Indians, nor
shall it be understood that the senate have as
sented to any of the contracts connected with
it, until the same, with the amendments herein
proposed, is submitted, and fully and fairly ex
plained by a commissioner of the United States
to each of said tribes, or bands, seperately as
sembled in council, and they have given their
free and voluntary assent thereto; and if one
or more of said tribes, or bands, when consult
ed as aforesaid, shall freely assent to said treaty
as amended, and to their contract connected
therewith, it shall be binding and obligatory
upon those so assenting, although other or oth
ers of said bands or tribes may not give their
consent, and thereby cease to be parties there
to: Provided further, That if any portion or part
of said Indians do not emigrate, the president
shall retain a proper proportion of said sum of
four hundred thousand dollars, and shall deduct
from the quantity of land allowed west of thc
Mississippi, such number of acres as will leave
to each emigrant three hundred and twenty
acres only.
Another "Mystery." The Rochester
Democrat is informed, by passengers from Buf
falo on thc canal, that as the packet boat passed
Field's tavern, about midway on the Tonawan
da Creek, a large collection of people was ob
served, who had come from all directions to
listen to a singular phenomenon at that place.
Every day between the hours of 4 and 7, P. M.
is distinctly heard in the canal, (or creek, which
is here used for the canal,) groans, as of a per
son in deep distress. A physician of Lockport
was one of a party who had chartered a boat
and paid a visit to the spot. Ho assured the
Democrat's informant that tho sounds were
there, and that the cause remained a mystery
Conjectures were so various as the intelligent
or superstition of those who witnessed it would
naturally suggest.
If the following aint from the Richmond Star
it ?night have been.
Streeier was skinning eels the other day.
"What am you doing to them things?" said
Bill.
"I'm dressing them."
"Undressing cm I guess vou moan, don't
you?" "
"Do you start for school, now, or I'll dress
you. ras there ever Mich a hoy?"
'Pa, is Pe misv 1 vatiia the father of nil the othor
'(Jertainly not, my child; why did you
ask that question!' 4 'Cause I see that the news
papers call it Pa.'
An exchange paper says that tho most dignified,
glorious, and lovely work of nature is woman, neit
to her is man, and then Berkshire pigs.
Dialogue at a Boarding House Table. "Dig
by, will you take some of this butler." "Thank
you, Quilp, I belong to a temperance" society,
and can't lake any thing strong," replied Digby,
Bo.stoii Slalcs?nan.