the United States agreed to pay $100,000, provided that party amounted to 3000; and so in proportion for a smaller number.

The improvements were to be estimated and paid for by the United States, and a tract of land beyond the Mississippi was to be provided, at their expense, for the accommodation of those who might choose to emigrate, and the expense of removal, and of the first year's subsistence, was also to be borne by the federal government. The chief difference between this treaty and the one declared void, was in the amount of territory ceded, of the consideration, and the manner in which that consideration was distributed. By the void treaty, the whole Creek territory in Alabama, as well as in Georgia, was ceded for the sum of $400,000, to be distributed by the commissioners who negotiated the treaty. By the new treaty, the Creeks retained all their land in Alabama, and received a more liberal compensation, which was to be paid to the representatives of the whole nation. Opposition, however, was made to the new treaty by the Georgia delegation, and by others unfriendly to the national administration. The committee on Indian affairs, in the senate, reported through (Mr. Benton) their chairman against the ratification of the treaty, but the senate ratified

the same by a vote of 30 to 7, of which latter number three had been placed on the committee, who reported against it. In the house of representatives, the unanimity was still greater. On the passage of the bill 'making appropriations to carry into effect the new treaty, the vote stood 167 to 10.

To the passage of this bill, the Georgia delegation offered a protest, in which having described the treaties, (which the protest styles contracts,) the delegation proceeds to declare that the first treaty partially fulfilled the obligations of the United States towards Georgia, and removed every difficulty interposed by the occupation of the Creeks to the full exercise of all the vested rights of the state over a large portion of her territority: that the government of the United States, nor any branch of it, could not invalidate nor interrupt, without the consent of Georgia, her right secured by that treaty, ratified with all due solemnity: that the new treaty differs from the old one in not providing for the removal of the Indians until 1827, and then not expressly providing for their removal from all the land occupied by them in Georgia; they "therefore protest against it as violating the rights of that member of the union of which they are the representatives, leaving it to the constitutional organs of the state

sovereignty to vindicate or wave those rights, as their own sense of propriety, their duty to the people of the state, and their reverence for the union of the states, under the federal constitution, may dic, tate." To the entry of this protest on the journal of the house, some objection was made; but on the ground that it was a protest on the part of a state delegation, as such it was permitted, by a vote of 82 to 61.

The unanimity with which the conduct of the executive, in the settlement of this intricate and unpleasant controversy, was approved by congress, was as unexpected as it was satisfactory to the people in every part of the country, except in the state of Georgia itself, where strong and excited feelings prevented a fair and impartial consideration of the question.

At the commencement of the dispute, governor Troup, in order to obtain support in other states, appealed to the peculiar sympathies of the citizens in the adjoining states, and in his first legislative message, accused the national government with an improper and unconstitutional interference with the slave property in the southern states. The facts he adduced in support of this charge were, 1st. A resolution, submitted by Mr. King, of New-York, pledging all public

lands which were not pledged for the redemption of the public debt, as a fund for the emancipation and removal beyond the limits of the United States, of such slaves as were allowed to be removed or emancipated "by the laws of the several states respectively."

2dly. Certain expressions which he imputed to the attorney general of the United States, as uttered in the argument of the case of certain Africans, who were captured, and brought into the United States, and whose freedom was claimed, as having been transported in contravention of the laws of this country, by American citizens. These expressions, which, if they had been used in a legal discussion, would not have warranted any charge against the general government, were magnified by governor Troup into deliberate opinions uttered by its official organ, and as showing its intention to divest the citizens of the south of their property without compensation. To avert this impending danger, he called upon them "to stand by their arms." This call, which in any other country would have been regarded as an indication of civil war, did not produce any general apprehension of serious consequences, although it was sanctioned by a report to the state legislature. In the United States, these ebullitions of lo

the boundary lines between the several tribes, consisting chiefly of water courses, were finally adjusted, though not without much discussion. After a fortnight's negotiation, a peace was finally concluded between the tribes, and the tomahawk formally buried, for the first time for nearly a century.

The total expense for presents and subsistence in accomplishing this benevolent work, did not exceed $40,000; and the dictates of sound policy towards our own citizens, in securing tranquillity upon the frontier, as well as motives of humanity, were both consulted in this expenditure.

Another object of the government was, to remove the tribes scattered through the several states, to a tract of country west of the Mississippi, and to concentrate them into one nation, with some plan for their government and civilization. This plan was fully developed in a message of the late president, 27th January, 1825, in which its advantages were strongly depicted. With the constant superintendence and protecting care of the federal government, this scheme might be put in practice, and the annihilation of the original inhabitants of the American forest prevented. Without that care, the policy of bringing tribes with savage habits and inimical

feelings into immediate contact, may be well doubted.

To carry this plan into effect, treaties were made with the Osages and the Kanzas, extinguishing their titles to the territory west of the Mississippi, excepting to certain reservations for their own use, and providing those tribes with domestic animals, blacksmiths, and persons to teach them agricultural employments. By these treaties, a tract was provided for those Indians, who might be induced to emigrate from the states on this side of that river. The Indians, however, were generally unwilling to remove, and, at a meeting with some of the tribes in Ohio, in May, 1825, they refused to do any thing to promote the views of our government. The Shawanee tribe, in Missouri, were not so reluctant to comply with that arrangement; and, in consideration of a sum of money, and an annual payment in iron, with a blacksmith to work it, at the expense of the United States, they exchanged their lands for a tract in the territory purchased from the Osages, and agreed to remove thither. Treaties of amity and protection were also made with most of the tribes in that vast tract between Missouri and Mexico, by which the Indians permitted the United States to lay out a road through their lands, for the traders

between those places, who had become numerous and entitled to attention. By all these treaties, the sovereignty of the United States was acknowledged, as well as their right to regulate the trade of the Indians with civilized nations.

It having been found impossible to carry into operation the system proposed by Mr. Monroe, for the preservation and civilization of the aborigines, on account of the reluctance of the Indians to dispose of any more of their territory; a modification was proposed by Mr. Barbour, the secretary of war, to the last congress. The outlines of this new plan were: to set apart the territory west of the Mississippi beyond the states and territories, and that east of the Mississippi lying west of lakes Huron and Michigan, for their exclusive abode, under a territorial government, to be maintained by the United States. 2dly. To induce them to remove as individuals, and not in tribes, and to leave those who do not wish to go, in their present possessions. 3dly. When circumstances should justify it, to amalgamate the tribes in one mass, and distribute their property among the individual Indians. Common schools to be established in the villages; assistance to be afforded them in commencing agricultural life; to furnish them with stock,

grain, and fences; and to commute the annuities now paid to them for a fixed sum, to be divided as individual property, were also recommended as the details of this system.

The plan of the secretary was reported to the house of representatives by the proper committee, and a bill brought in to carry it into effect. Common schools had already been established among the Caddoes, and at Michillimackinac, and were attended by nearly 1200 scholars; thus proving the practicability of introducing instruction among the savages. The other measures had been attended with the most beneficial consequences among the southern Indians, some of whom had attained a high degree of civilization. The zeal and energy with which this subject, so interesting to humanity and momentous to the character of the country, were now taken up, excited sanguine hopes that the condition of the aborigines would be permanently improved, and the remnant preserved, to fulfil the end of their existence as civilized beings. Enough had been done before to evince the sincerity of the government to meliorate their situation; but while Spanish and British agents were permitted to trade with them, and to excite them to hostility against the United States, all our efforts