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tions of this division of the army south of this post to that date, and the arrangement which I had entered into with the chiefs Tuskeegee and Hallek Hago. The arrangement is, that they are to come in with their families and their people, and are to await the decision of the President whether they shall remain in the country or not. I promised to recommend that they be permitted to remain, and that a portion of this territory be assigned to them as their residence.

"Before presenting my views on that subject, and redeeming my pledge to the Indians, it may be proper for me to state my own position in regard to the question of emigration, so that in what I shall say in relation to the Seminoles, my views in regard to the general principle may not be mistaken. Believing, as I do, that Indians cannot, under our constitution, have a separate political existence within an independent state of this Union, without the consent of the state, I believe that it is due to the states in which they are congregated in large bodies, to remove them whenever they are pressed upon by the white population, and their lands become necessary to the agricultural wants of the community. And I hold that Congress, and not the Indians, are to determine the proper time for their removal. We, in our federal capacity, owe the Indians protection, secured to our own citizens by the equal operation of our laws, for that, in their condition, would be merely nominal protection; but we owe them, in their individual and collective capacity, that protection which the parent owes to the child, or the guardian to the ward; and to secure them that protection, we must place them beyond the operation of state laws. With the fullest conviction, therefore, not only of the policy, but of the justice and humanity of the measure, I am in favour of their entire emigration; and I have supported that policy under four successive administrations. But I believe we should not apply the principle until the white population are in contact with, or intermingled among them. The state of things at which I consider their removal imperative, actually existed when the tribes inhabiting Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, and South Alabama, were sent to the west; that state of things actually exists in relation to the Cherokees in Tennessee, North Alabama, and Georgia; and regardless of the opposition made to the measure they should be at once removed.

"In regard to the Seminoles, we have committed the error of attempting to remove them when their lands were not required for agricultural purposes-when they were not in the way of the white inhabitants, and when the greater portion of the country was an unexplored wilderness, of the interior of which we were as ignorant as of the interior of China. We exhibit, in our present contest, the first instance, perhaps, since the commencement of authentic history, of a nation employing an army to

explore a country, (for we can do little more than explore it,) or attempting to remove a band of savages from one unexplored wilderness to another.

As a soldier, it is my duty, I am aware, not to comment upon government, but to carry it out in accordance with my instructions. I have endeavoured faithfully to do so; but the prospect of terminating the war in any reasonable time is anything but flattering. My decided opinion is, that unless immediate emigration be abandoned, the war will continue for years to come, and at constantly accumulating expense. Is it not then well worthy the serious consideration of an enlightened government, whether, even if the wilderness we are traversing could be inhabited by the white man, (which is not the fact,) the object we are contending for would be worth the cost? I certainly do not think it would; indeed, I do not consider the country south of Chickasa Hatchee worth the medicines we shall expend in driving the Indians from it.

"If I were permitted, and it is with great diffidence I venture to make the suggestion, I would allow them to remain, and would assign them to the country west of the Kissimee, Okee, Chobec, and Panei Okee, and east of Pease creek, south to the extreme of Florida. That would satisfy them; and they might hold it on the express condition that they should forfeit their right to it if they should ever commit depredations upon the white inhabitants, or pass the boundaries assigned to them without the written permission of the military commander or agent.

"By placing an agency and authorizing trading-houses on Charlotte's Harbour, they could be soon concentrated; and stationing a competent military force there and at Tampa Bay, they might be readily controlled, and, if necessary, removed from the country, should they become troublesome, or fail to fulfil their engagements. I respectfully recommend the measure to your consideration and that of the President, as the only means of terminating, immediately, a most disastrous war, and leaving the troops disposable for other service. I desire a decision as soon as your convenience will permit, as by the middle of April, at farthest, the troops must be withdrawn from all the posts in the interior to preserve their lives.

"Should it be determined to remove the Indians by force, and to continue the war until they submit unconditionally, I desire that the communication be confidential, and that the matter be considered confidential at Washington, in order that I may have information of it before it can be communicated by letter-writers to others; for there can be but little doubt of their flying to the swamps again and renewing the war, should the decision be to remove them.

"If it be determined that the Indians now in Florida remain, it would

be better that those who are at New Orleans and Charleston, with the exception of one or two of the chiefs, be sent to the west; their force would thus be divided and weakened, and many of the relations of those sent west might soon be induced to follow,

"This communication will be delivered to you by my aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Linnard, a highly valuable officer, whom I earnestly recommend to your favourable consideration and attention. I have the honour to be, most respectfully, your obedient servant,

"The Hon. J. R. Poinsett,

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"TH. S. JESUP. "Major-General Commanding.

'Secretary of War, Washington city."

Copy of a letter from the Secretary of War to Major-General Jesup. "Department of War, March 1, 1838.

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SIR, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 11th of February, which was delivered to me by your aidede-camp, Lieutenant Linnard. The subject of it is one of deep interest, and I have given to it the most diligent and respectful consideration.

"In the present stage of our relations with the Indians residing within the states and territories east of the Mississippi, including the Seminoles, it is useless to recur to the principles and motives which induced the government to determine their removal to the west. The acts of the executive, and the laws of Congress, evince a determination to carry out the measure, and it is to be regarded as the settled policy of the country. "In pursuance of this policy, the treaty of Payne's Landing was made with the Seminoles, and the character of the officer employed on the part of the government is a guarantee of the perfectly fair manner in which that negociation was conducted and concluded. Whether the government ought not to have waited until the Seminoles were pressed upon by the population and their lands become necessary to the agricultural wants of the community, is not the question for the executive now to consider. The treaty has been ratified and is the law of the land, and the constitutional duty of the President requires that he should cause it to be executed. I cannot, therefore, authorize any arrangement with the Seminoles by which they will be permitted to remain, or assign them any portion of the territory of Florida as their future residence.

"The department indulge the hope, that, with the extensive means placed at your disposal, the war, by a vigorous effort, might be brought to a close this campaign. If, however, you are of opinion that, from the nature of the country and the character of the enemy, such a result is

impracticable, and it is advisable to make a temporary arrangement with the Seminoles, by which the safety of the settlements and the posts will be secured throughout the summer, you are at liberty to do so. In that event you will establish posts at Tampa, and on the eastern shore, and wherever else they are, in your opinion, necessary to preserve the peace of the country; and I would suggest the propriety of leaving Colonel Zadock Taylor, of the First Infantry, in command of them.

"In moving north with your forces, you may make similar arrangements with the other bands. I deem it, however, of great importance that every exertion should be made to chastise the marauding Indians, who have committed depredations upon the habitations of the people of Middle Florida. I beg you will address yourself to Colonel James Gadsden for information on this subject; and you may, if you think proper, yield to his suggestion of leaving a battalion for the protection of the people of that neighbourhood. It is hoped, however, that you will be able to put it out of the power of these Indians to do any farther mischief. They ought to be captured or destroyed. As soon as, in your opinion, it can be done with safety, you will reduce your force of mounted men from Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.

66

Very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

J. R. POINSEtt.”

Your Lordship will find in the Appendix a variety of other extracts from public documents and newspapers relative to the Indians and their treatment. You have seen, from the foregoing, that the Cherokees had in a great measure entirely shaken off their habits as aborigines, and that they exhibited to the world perhaps the only example of a savage race which ever attained a state of civilization. Alas! they exist no more as a civilized people. The Cherokees, as your Lordship knows, had the printing-press in full operation among them-that a native of that nation had discovered that the " talking leaf" was not a gift of the "Great Spirit" to white men alone-that the same individual had invented an alphabet of the Cherokee language, in which their newspapers and other works were printed, and that alphabet is, as I am informed, the most perfect in the world.

With the most profound respect, I have the honour to subscribe myself,

Your lordship's most obedient, and most humble servant,

THOMAS BROTHERS.

ON NULLIFICATION.

To Matthew Devenport Hill, Esq., Q. C., Recorder of the Borough of Birmingham, &c. &c.

SIR,

Bishop's Itchington, September 12, 1839. As a gentleman eminent in your profession;-as a person of irreproachable private character;—and as a liberal in politics, I take the liberty of addressing this letter to you, Sir, in order that it may draw your attention to the fallacy of the doctrine of self-government, and to the inherent defects of a national polity founded upon what is called the pure democratic or representative system. You will perceive that I write this letter as though I was in America, where I in fact was when it was composed.

The first newspaper that I saw in the United States had for its motto the following words, taken from Washington's valedictory address,"Whatever measures have a tendency to dissolve the Union, or contribute to violate or lessen the sovereign authority, ought to be considered as hostile to the liberty and independence of America." At that time it struck me as something remarkable that this motto should be so well adhered to, for there never came under my notice a single word in opposition to public authority, or to the principles of the Union. I know now that there had been out-breakings and disorder in America at earlier periods of its government, but about the time I arrived everything seemed to go smooth and agreeable; and this pleasant state of things was first disturbed by news from Georgia of the proceedings of Governor Troup in relation to the Indians' land; and from that time every kind of Lynching and disorder have been increasing.

That threat, to dissolve the Union, was soon followed by another which at first seemed to be of still greater importance,—it was what was termed the South Carolina Nullification; that is, the state of South Carolina refused to pay any more taxes to the general government, unless the general government would alter the laws, and make them agreeable to their wish. These high-minded, gallant, and honourable men, ever true to their purpose, made a protestation that they would perish to a man before they would longer submit to the tariff; and it was more to be expected, as they wished us to believe, for the sun to stand still upon the top of the mountain, than that South Carolinians should undertake

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