The progress of our
settlements westward, supported as they are by a dense population,
has constantly driven them back, with almost the total sacrifice
of the lands which they have been compelled to abandon. They have
claims on the magnanimity and, I may add, on the justice of this
nation which we must all feel. We should become their real
benefactors; we should perform the office of their Great Father,
the endearing title which they emphatically give to the Chief
Magistrate of our Union. Their sovereignty over vast territories
should cease, in lieu of which the right of soil should be secured
to each individual and his posterity in competent portions; and
for the territory thus ceded by each tribe some reasonable
equivalent should be granted, to be vested in permanent funds for
the support of civil government over them and for the education of
their children, for their instruction in the arts of husbandry,
and to provide sustenance for them until they could provide it for
themselves. My earnest hope is that Congress will digest some
plan, founded on these principles, with such improvements as their
wisdom may suggest, and carry it into effect as soon as it may be
practicable.
Europe is again unsettled and the prospect of war increasing.
Should the flame light up in any quarter, how far it may extend it
is impossible to foresee.
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