ed the highest presumption, that it had been settled, although no voucher or memorandum to that effect, could be found in the Department. To counteract the alledged presumption of payment, the original vouchers, showing the purchase, the purpose to which the property was applied, and the payment of the money, were exhibited. It was, however, still insisted that as the transaction was an old one, and had taken place before the burning of the War office, in Philadelphia, the lapse of time furnished satisfactory evidence, that the claim must have been settled, and the vouchers destroyed in that conflagration.

The pride of the old veteran was deeply wounded, by the ground on which his claim was refused; and he was induced, from that consideration, as well as by the pressure of poverty and want, to persevere in his efforts to maintain the justice and equity of his demand; still hoping that presumption would give way to truth. For the purpose of getting rid of his solicitations, Congress passed an act, purporting to be an act for his relief; but which merely removed the technical objection, founded on lapse of time, by authorising a settlement of his demands, regardless of the limitation. This step seemed necessary, to preserve their own character; but it left the worn out veteran, still at the mercy of the accounting officers of the Department, from whom he had nothing to expect, but disappointment. During the same session, a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives, granting him an annuity, which was rejected on the third reading, by a vote of 48 to 50.

After spending the principal part of two sessions, in useless efforts, subsisting, during the time, on the bounty of his friends, he abandoned the pursuit in despair, and returned to the Legonier valley, where he lived several years in the most abject poverty, in the family of a widowed daughter, as destitute as himself. At length, Pennsylvania, his adopted state, from considerations of personal respect, and gratitude for past services, as well as from a laudable

feeling of State pride, settled on him an annuity of three hundred dollars, which was soon after raised to six hundred and fifty dollars. That act of beneficence gave to the gallant old soldier a comfortable subsistence, for the little remnant of his days, which then remained. The honor resulting to the State, from that step, was very much enhanced, by the fact, that the individual on whom their bounty was bestowed, was a foreigner, and was known to be a warm opponent, in politics, to the great majority of the Legislature and their constituents.

He lived, however, but a short time, to enjoy the bounty. On the 31st of August, 1818, that venerable officer of the Revolution, after a long, brilliant, and useful life, died of an injury occasioned by the running away of his horse, near Greensburgh, in the eighty-fourth year of his age; and it is somewhat remarkable, that on the 18th of the succeeding month, his widow, who had been many years afflicted, partially, with mental derangement, died suddenly, at about the same age.

It had been the lot of that highly distinguished man, from the commencement of his military career in America, till he retired from the office of Governor of the Northwestern Territory, to maintain a constant intercourse with the Indian tribes, sometimes as an enemy in war, but more frequently as a friend and counsellor in peace. He had learnt their character in the days of their greatest power and purity, and was, therefore, uniformly the friend of that unfortunate, oppressed people.

CHAPTER XXI.

Character of the North-western Indians.-Misrepresentations refuted.—Their intercourse with the white people.-Its contaminating influence.-Their degeneracy. Their final expulsion from the land of their nativity.

Ir is stated in a former chapter that a memorial was sent to the Legislature of the North-western Territory, by Governor St. Clair, at the instance of the missionaries of the church of the United Brethren, (Moravians,) who had formed establishments, under the authority of Congress, at Shanbrun, Gnadenhutten, and Salem, on the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum river; on which a law was passed, to prevent the introduction of ardent spirits into those towns. It was also stated that, for a short time, the law produced a good effect; but that, as the white population increased, and approached nearer to the villages, it was found impossible, any longer, to carry it into execution. The result was, that the Indians became habitually intemperate, idle, and faithless; the missionaries lost all their influence over them; and eventually were constrained to abandon the settlements in despair.

What a contrast between this picture and that which was presented to the pioneers, when they first visited the country. The natives who then occupied it, were untaught and unpolished; but they were brave and generous. The art of war had been their study. The chase constituted their business and amusement, and furnished the food on which they subsisted. The warriors were too proud to labor, and imposed that drudgery on their women, as is the custom of all nations, in which Christianity is not taught and prac

ticed. They claimed the entire country, alledging that it had been made by the Great Spirit for them and their children forever.

Being unconscious of danger, they met and greeted the pioneers as friends, when they first crossed the river and entered their territory; and they continued to treat them as such, till they began to apprehend hostile designs against themselves and their country; suspicions of which were instilled into their minds by British traders, very soon after the American settlements began. These children of the forest had some vague notions of a Deity, to whom they were responsible. They had a confused, undefined belief, in a future state of existence. They had a general impression, that after death, the Great Spirit would send them to some pleasant region, abounding with game, and fish, and fruit. That they would carry with them their rifles and their dogs, and enjoy the same gratifications they had been accustomed to in this life; but in a higher degree of perfection. With such crude notions as these, they lived and died, ignorant of any correct knowledge of the duties they owed to their Maker, and to their fellow men.

That unfortunate race, who seem to have been destined by Providence to utter extinction, have been misrepresented and slandered, no doubt to palliate the guilt of the outrages which have been perpetrated against them. Among other falsehoods, it has been asserted, confidently, but without a shadow of argument or fact, to sustain the assertion, that they cannot be brought to a state of civilization, or be induced to form communities, and engage in the pursuits of agriculture and the arts, in consequence of some physical difference between them and the Anglo-Saxon race. This hypothesis is contradicted by experience, which has abundantly shown, that the two races, when placed in the same situation, and acted on by the same causes, have invariably resorted to the same expedients, and pursued the same policy.

This averment is sustained by a reference to the white people, who have been taken prisoners in childhood, and brought up among the Indians. In every such case, the child of civilization has become the ferocious adult of the forest, manifesting all the peculiarities, tastes and preferences of the native Indian. His manners, habits, propensities, and pursuits have been the same; his fondness for the chase, and his reluctance to labor, the same; so that the most astute philosophical observer has not been able to discover any difference between them, except in the color of the skin; and in some instances even this distinction has been removed by long exposure to the elements, and the free use of oils and paints. There have been cases in which the children of white parents, who have been raised among the Indians from early infancy, have been taken home to their relatives in middle life, but have refused to remain, and have returned to the tribe in which they were brought up, whose habits, feelings, and mode of life they preferred.

One case of this kind occurred within the knowledge of the writer. A female, captured in infancy, and reared by the Indians, was brought in by them at the treaty of Greenville, and sent home to her relations in Kentucky. She soon became so discontented and restless, that in spite of all their efforts, she left them, returned to her former associates, and was again happy.

The attempts that have been made, at different times, to improve the minds and cultivate the morals of these people, have always been attended with success. Witness the Cherokees of Georgia, and the Wyandots, at Upper Sandusky. From 1821 to 1828, inclusive, the writer of these sketches passed through the latter settlement, almost every year, and occasionally twice a year, which gave him an opportunity to know, that they were devoting themselves principally, and almost exclusively, to agriculture and the arts; and were making rapid advances in civilization, when