1833 the Cherokee lands were parcelled out to the inhabitants of Georgia by lottery, and those portions which had been cultivated by the Indians were eagerly sought after by speculators, and purchased of those who were so lucky as to draw these prizes. The extracts following describe the manner in which some of the Cherokees were driven from their homes and cultivated lands, to make room for these craven speculators. If there is one thing more than another for which this nation deserves the judgment of Heaven, it is for their cruel -their more than barbarous, treatment of the Indians.

"Mr. John Ross, the principal chief of the Cherokees, was at Washington city on the business of his nation. When he returned, he travelled till about 10 o'clock at night to reach his family; rode up to his gate; saw a servant, believed to be his own; dismounted, ordered his horse to be taken; went in, and, to his utter astonishment, found himself a stranger in his own house, his family having been some days before driven out to seek a new home. A thought then flitted across his mind that he could not, under all the circumstances of his situation, reconcile it to himself to tarry all night under the roof of his own house as a stranger; the new host of that house being a tenant of that mercenary band of Georgia speculators, at whose instance his helpless family had been turned out and made homeless. Upon reflecting, however, that 'man is born unto trouble,' Mr. Ross at once concluded to take up lodgings there for the night, and to console himself under the conviction of having met his afflictions and trials in a manner consistent with every principle of moral obligation towards himself and family, his country, and his God. On the next morning he arose early and went out into the yard, and saw some straggling herds of his cattle and sheep browsing about the place. His crop of corn undisposed of. In casting a look up into the wide-spreading branches of a majestic oak, standing within the enclosure of the garden, and which overshadows the spot where lie the remains of his dear babe and most beloved and affectionate father, he there saw perched upon its boughs the flock of beautiful pea-fowls, once the matron's care and delight, but now left to destruction and never more to be seen. He ordered his horse, paid his bill, and departed in search of his family. After travelling amid heavy rains, he had the happiness of overtaking them on the road bound for some place of refuge within the limits of Tennessee. Thus have his houses, farm, public ferries, and other property, been seized and wrested from him.

SA Mr. Richard Taylor was also at Washington, and, in his absence, his family was threatened with expulsion, and compelled to give two hundred dollars for leave to remain at home for a few months only. This is the "real humanity" the Cherokees were shown by the real or

pretended authorities of Georgia, 'disavowing any selfish or sinister motives towards them.'

"Mr. Joseph Vann, also a native Cherokee, was a man of great wealth, had about eight hundred acres of land in cultivation; had made extensive improvements, consisting in part of a brick house costing ten thousand dollars, mills, kitchen, negro-houses, and other buildings. He had fine gardens, and extensive apple and peach orchards. His business was so extensive, he was compelled to employ an overseer and other agents. In the fall of 1833 he was called from home, but, before leaving, made a conditional contract with a Mr. Howell, a white man, to oversee for him in the year 1834, to commence on the 1st of January, of that year. He returned about the 28th or 29th of December, 1833, and, learning Georgia had prohibited any Cherokee from hiring a white man, told Mr. Howell he did not want his services. Yet Mr. Bishop, the state agent, represented to the authorities of Georgia, that Mr. Vann had violated the laws of the state, by hiring a white man, had forfeited his right of occupancy, and that a grant ought to issue for his lands. There were conflicting claims under Georgia for his possessions, A Mr. Riley pretended a claim, and took possession of the upper part of the dwelling-house, armed for battle. Mr. Bishop, the state agent, and his party, came to take possession, and between them and Riley a fight commenced, and from twenty to fifty guns were fired in the house. While this was going on, Mr. Vann gathered his trembling wife and children into a room for safety. Riley could not be dislodged from his position up stairs, even after being wounded, and Bishop's party finally set fire to the house. Riley surrendered, and the fire was extinguished. Mr. Vann and his family were then driven out, unprepared in the dead of winter, and snow upon the ground, through which they were compelled to wade, and to take shelter within the limits of Tennessee, in an open log cabin, upon a dirty floor, and Bishop put his brother Absalom in possession of Mr. Vann's house. This Mr. Vann is the same who, when a boy, volunteered as a private soldier in the Cherokee regiment, in the service of the United States in the Creek war, perilled his life in crossing the river at the battle of the Horse Shoe. What has been his reward?

"The Memorial and Petition of the Cherokee Delegation of the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled, February 22d, 1837.

To the Honourable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled.

"The memorial and petition of the undersigned, a delegation appointed by the Cherokee nation in full council, respectfully showeth

*

"On former occasions we have in much detail laid before you the prominent facts of our case. We have reminded you of our long and intimate connexion with the United States; of the scenes of peril and difficulty which we have shared in common; of the friendship which had so long been generously proffered and affectionately and gratefully accepted; of the aids which were supplied us in promoting our advancement in the arts of civilized life; of the political principles which we had imbibed of the religious faith we have been taught.

"We have called your attention to the progress which, under your auspices, we have made; to the improvements which have marked our social and individual state; our lands brought into cultivation; our natural resources developed; our farms, workshops, and factories, approximating in character and value to those of our brethren whose example we had diligently imitated.

"A smooth and beautiful prospect of future advancement was open before us. Our people had abandoned the pursuits, the habits, and the tastes of the savage, and had put on the vestments of civilization, of intelligence, and of a pure religion. The progress we had made furnished us with the most assured hopes of continued improvement, and we indulged in the anticipation, that the time was not far distant when we should be recognised on the footing of equality by the brethren from whom we had received all which we were now taught to prize.

"This promise of a golden sunshine is now overspread. Clouds and darkness have obscured its brilliancy. The winds are beginning to mutter their awful forebodings; the tempest is gathering thick and heavy over our heads, and threatens to burst upon us with terrific energy and overwhelming ruin.

"In this season of calamity, where can we turn with hope or confidence? On all former occasions of peril or of doubt, the government of the United States spread over us its broad and paternal shield. It invited us to seek an asylum and a protection under its mighty arm. It assisted us with its encouragement and advice; it soothed us with its consoling assurances; it inspired us with hope, and gave us a feeling of confidence and security.

'But, alas! this, our long-cherished friend, seems now to be alienated from us this, our father, has raised his arm to inflict the hostile blow: this strength, so long our protection, is now exerted against us, and on the wide scene of existence no human aid is left us. Unless you avert your arm, we are destroyed. Unless your feelings of affection and compassion are once more awakened towards your destitute and despairing children, our annihilation is complete.

"It is a natural inquiry, among all who commiserate our situation,

what are the causes which have led to this disastrous revolution,—to this entire change of relations? By what agency have such results been accomplished?

"We have asked, and we reiterate the question, how have we offended? Show us in what manner we have, however unwittingly, inflicted upon you a wrong; you shall yourselves be the judges of the extent and manner of compensation. Show us the offence which has awakened your feelings of justice against us, and we will submit to that measure of punishment which you shall tell us we have merited. We cannot bring to our recollections anything we have done, or anything we have omitted, calculated to awaken your resentment against us.

"But we are told that a treaty has been made, and all that is required at our hands is to comply with its stipulations. Will the faithful historian, who shall hereafter record our lamentable fate, say the Cherokee nation executed a treaty by which they freely and absolutely ceded the country in which they were born and educated, the property they had been industriously accumulating and improving, and abandoning the high road by which they had been advancing from savageism, had precipitated themselves into worse than their pristine degradation? Will not the reader of such a narrative require the most ample proof before he will credit such a story? Will he not inquire where was the kind and parental guardian who had heretofore aided the weak, assisted the forlorn, instructed the ignorant, and elevated the depressed? Where was the government of the United States, with its vigilant care over the Indian, when such a bargain was made? How will he be surprised at hearing that the United States was a party to the transaction—that the authorities of that government, and the representives of that people, which had for years been employed in leading the Cherokee from ignorance to light, from barbarism to civilization, from paganism to Christianity,— who had taught them new habits and new hopes,-was the very party which was about to appropriate to itself the fruits of the Indian's industry, the birth-places of his children, and the graves of his ancestors !

"If such a recital could command credence, must it not be on the ground that experience had shown the utter failure of all the efforts, and the disappointment of all the hopes of the philanthropist and the Christian?—That the natives of this favoured spot of God's creation were incapable of improvement, and unsusceptible of education,-and that they, in wilful blindness, spurning the blessings which had been proffered and urged upon them, would pertinaciously prefer the degradation from which it had been attempted to lead them, and the barbarism from which it had been sought to elevate them?

"How will his astonishment be augmented when he learns that the Cherokee people almost to a man denied the existence and the obliga

M

tion of the alleged compact-that they proclaimed it to have been based in fraud and concocted in perfidy-that no authority was ever given to those who undertook in their names and on their behalf to negotiate it ; -that it was repudiated with unexampled unanimity when it was brought to their knowledge;-that they denied that it conferred any rights or imposed any obligation!

66 Yet such must be the story which the faithful historian must record. In the name of the whole Cherokee nation we protest against this unhallowed and unauthorised and unacknowledged compact. We deny its binding force. We recognise none of its stipulations. If, contrary to every principle of justice, it is to be enforced upon us, we shall at least be free from the disgrace of self-humiliation. We hold the solemn disavowal of its provisions by eighteen thousand of our people."

From the Philadelphia Herald and Sentinel.)

“THE CHEROKEES.-We had intended publishing, this morning, some extracts from the memorial of John Ross and other chiefs of the Cherokees, to Congress, remonstrating against the enforcement of what purports to be a treaty between the United States and the Cherokee nation, but which was never entered into by that nation, or by any individuals authorised to act for them; we are unable, however, to find room for them.

"We are extremely anxious to draw the attention of our community to the subject of this pretended treaty, and that they should become acquainted with the circumstances under, and the means by, which it was obtained, as well as the gross injustice of the government in insisting upon carrying it into execution; for we look upon this as a matter deeply affecting our national character, and, of course, a subject in which every citizen of the Union is concerned.

"It would doubtless be a matter of surprise to our citizens, were they informed that a treaty had been entered into between Great Britain and certain individuals, citizens of Pennsylvania, but obscure and unknown to their fellow-citizens, which ceded the whole state to that power, and stipulated that every citizen should abandon it within a given periodsay two years and a half, at the expiration of which, the whole should be quietly and peaceably given up; and that, in accordance with the terms of that treaty, Great Britain demanded their removal, and threatened, if they did not abandon their houses, farms, work-shops, and everything they possessed, and give her the quiet and entire possession of the state, to drive them off at the point of the bayonet, and take forcible possession!-We say that were our citizens informed of the existence of such a treaty, formed by such men, and containing such stipulations, it would strike them with the most profound astonishment,