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savages, that it was left for one of the mothers of the party to ascend into the wagon, where it was deposited, break open the box with an ax, hand it out, and direct the men to return the fire of the enemy. This was done, and they dispersed.

11. The next incident I shall narrate, was communicated to me by one of the most distinguished citizens of the state just mentioned. I shall give it to you in his own words.

"In the latter part of April, 1784, my father, with his family, and five other families, set out from Louisville in two flat-bottomed boats, for the Long Falls of Green River. The intention was to descend the Ohio river to the mouth of Green river, and ascend that river to the place of destination. At that time there were no settlements in Kentucky, within one hundred miles of the Long Falls of Green river, (afterwards called Vienna.) The families were in one boat, and the cattle in the other.

12. When we had descended the river Ohio about one hundred miles, and were near the middle of it, gliding along very securely, as we thought, about ten o'clock of the night, we heard a prodigious yelling, by Indians, some two or three miles below us, on the northern shore. We had floated but a little distance farther down the river, when we saw a number of fires on that shore. The yelling still continued, and we concluded that they had captured a boat, which had passed us about midday, and were massacreing their captives. Our two boats were lashed together, and the best practicable arrangements made for defending them.

13. The men were distributed by my father to the best advantage, in case of an attack: they were seven in number, including himself. The boats were neared to the Kentucky shore, with as little noise by the oars as possible. We were afraid to approach too near the Kentucky shore, lest there might be Indians on that shore also. We had not yet reached their uppermost fire, (their fires were extended along the bank at intervals, for half a mile or more,) and we entertained a faint hope, that we might slip by unperceived. But they discovered us when we had got about mid-way of their fires, and commanded us to come to.

14. We were silent, for my father had given strict orders that no one should utter any sound but that of his rifle: and not that, until the Indians should come within powder-burning distance. They united in a most terrific yell, and rushed to their canoes, and pursued us. We floated on in silence,-not an oar was pulled. They approached us within less than a hundred yards, with a seeming determination to board us.

14. Just at this moment, my mother rose from her seat, collected the axes, and placed one by the side of each man, where

he stood with his gun, touching him on the knee with the handle of the ax, as she leaned it up by him against the side of the boat, to let him know it was there, and retired to her seat, retaining a hatchet for herself. The Indians continued hovering on our rear, and yelling for near three miles; when, awed by the inferences which they drew from our silence, they relinquished farther pursuit.

16. None but those who have had a practical acquaintance with Indian warfare, can form a just idea of the terror which their hideous yelling is calculated to inspire. I was then about ten years old, and shall never forget the sensations of that night; nor can I ever cease to admire the fortitude and composure displayed by my mother on that occasion. We were saved, I have no doubt, by the judicious system of conduct and defense, which my father had prescribed to our little band. We were seven men and three boys,-but nine guns in all. They were more than a hundred. My mother, in speaking of it afterwards, in her calm way, said, we had made a providential escape, for which we ought to feel grateful."

17. Although but few years have elapsed since that night of deep and disinal emotion, the war-fires which blazed beneath the white limbs of the sycamore, and gleamed upon the waters, have long since been superseded by the lights of the quiet and comfortable farm-house; the gliding bark canoe has been banished by the impetuous steamer; and the very shore on which the enemy raised their frightful death-yell, has been washed away by the agitated waters! No where, in the annals of other nations, can we find such matchless contrasts between two periods, but half a century apart.

18. In the year 1786, three brothers set out from a wooden fort, in which some families were intrenched, to hunt on Green river, in the state of Kentucky. They ascended the river in a canoe for several miles, when, finding no game, they determined on returning home. The oldest brother left the canoe, that he might hunt on his way back. As the other two slowly floated down the stream, and were at a point called the little falls, they discovered an Indian skulking towards them through the woods. He was on the same side of the river with their brother. After deliberating a moment, they decided on flight; and applying their paddles with great industry, soon reached the fort, but did not relate what they had seen. In about an hour, the brother arrived, and while ignorant of their discovery, made the following statement:

19. "That has happened to me to-day, which never happened to me before. I had not met with any game, and became tired of walking, and turned in towards the river, intending to meet my brothers at the little falls, and take a seat in the canoe; but

when I got near to that point, my dog sat down and howled in a low and piteous tone. I coaxed him, patted, and flattered him to follow me, but he would not; and when I would approach him, he would jump up joyously, and run off from towards the river, and look at me and wag his tail, and seem eager to go on. After endeavoring in vain to get him to follow me, I concluded to follow him, and did so. He ran briskly before me, often looking back, as if to be sure that I was coming, and to hasten my steps."

20. The brother was then told, that at the very point where the faithful dog had arrested his march towards the canoe, those who were in it had discovered an Indian. All who heard the story, believed that he had been perceived by the animal, and recognized as the enemy of his master; for as my respectable correspondent adds :

"The dog of the hunter was his companion and friend. They were much together, and mutually dependent upon and serviceable to each other. A hunter would much rather have lost his horse than his dog. The latter was the more useful animal to his master, and greatly more beloved by him.”

21. Nearly two years afterwards, another incident occurred at the same family fort, which displays the dangers which beset the emigrants of that period, and illustrates the magnanimity of the female character.

About twenty young persons, male and female, of the fort, had united in a flax-pulling, in one of the most distant fields. In the course of the forenoon, two of their mothers made them a visit, and the younger took along her child, about eighteen months old.

22. When the whole party were near the woods, one of the young women, who had climbed over the fence, was fired upon by several Indians concealed in the bushes, who at the same time raised the usual war-whoop. She was wounded, but retreated, as did the whole party; some running with her down the lane, which happened to open near that point, and others across the field.

23. They were hotly pursued by the enemy, who continued to yell and fire upon them. The older of the two mothers who had gone out, recollecting in her flight that the younger, a small and feeble woman, was burdened with her child, turned back in the face of the enemy, they firing and yelling hideously, took the child from its almost exhausted mother, and ran with it to the fort, a distance of three hundred yards. During the chase, she was twice shot at with rifles, when the enemy were so near that the powder burnt her, and one arrow passed through her sleeve, but she escaped uninjured. The young woman who was wounded, almost reached the place of safety, when she sunk,

and her pursuer, who had the hardihood to attempt to scalp her, was killed by a bullet from the fort.

24. I shall not anticipate your future researches into our early history, by narrating other incidents; but commend the whole subject to your keeping, and hope to see you emulate each other in its cultivation. You will find it a rich and exhaustless field of facts and events, illustrating the emotions of fear aud courage, patience and fortitude, joy and sorrow, hope, despair, and revenge; disclosing the resources of civilized man, when cut off from his brethren, destitute of the comforts of life, deficient in sustenance, and encompassed around with dangers, against which he must invent the means of defense, or speedily perish; finally, exhibiting the comparative activity, hardihood, and cunning, of two distinct races, the most opposite in manners, and customs, and arts, arrayed against each other, and, with their respective weapons of death, contending for the possession of the same wilderness.

CHAPTER·LIX.

EVILS OF WAR.-EXTRACT FROM A SERMON ON WAR, DELIVERED JANUARY 25, 1835.-BY

REV. DR. CHANNING.

But to whom

1. The idea of honor is associated with war. does the honor belong? If to any, certainly not to the mass of the people, but to those who are particularly engaged in it. The mass of a people, who stay at home and hire others to fight; who sleep in their warm beds, and hire others, to sleep on the cold and damp earth; who sit at their well-spread board, and hire others to take the chance of starving; who nurse the slightest hurt in their own bodies, and hire others to expose themselves to mortal wounds, and to linger in comfortless hospitals; certainly this mass reap little honor from war. The honor belongs to those who immediately engage in it. Let me ask, then, what is the chief business of war? It is to destroy human life, to mangle the limbs, to gash and hew the body, to plunge the sword into the heart of a fellow-creature, to strew the earth with bleeding frames, and to trample them under foot with horses' hoofs.

2. It is to batter down and burn cities; to turn fruitful fields into deserts; to level the cottage of the peasant, and the magnificent abode of opulence; to scourge nations with famine; to multiply widows and orphans. Are these honorable deeds? Were you called to name exploits worthy of demons, would you not naturally select such as these? Grant that a necessity for them may exist. It is a dreadful necessity, such as a good man

must recoil from with instinctive horror; and though it may exempt them from guilt, it cannot turn them into glory. We have thought it to be honorable to heal, to save, to mitigate pain, to snatch the sick and sinking from the jaws of death. We have placed among the revered benefactors of the human race, the discoverers of arts which alleviate human sufferings, which prolong, comfort, adorn and cheer human life; and if these arts are honorable, where is the glory of multiplying and aggravating tortures and death ?"

CHAPTER LX.

OF GOVERNMENT, LAWS, CRIMES, TRESPASSES, CONTRACTS, AND COURTS OF JUSTICE.

1. A republican government is one in which the right and power of governing proceeds from the citizens to be governed. As great communities cannot meet, deliberate, and enact laws, the citizens elect representatives to act for them, in making and executing laws.

2. A constitution of government is the fundamental statute or charter, framed by the representatives of the citizens, chosen for that purpose, and assembled in convention; and generally, such constitutions in this country have been ratified by the citizens, in cities, towns, or other local districts.

3. The constitution determines the manner in which the powers of the government shall be exercised; what officers shall be appointed or chosen, the manner in which they shall be elected, and what powers each shall exercise.

4. In the American constitutions, the legislature, which is the body to enact laws, consists of two houses, or branches; a senate, or council, and a house of representatives; the assent of both of which is necessary to make a law.

5. The supreme power of executing the laws is vested in an officer, usually denominated governor. The power of holding courts and determining controversies between citizens, is vested in judges. These three departments of the government are denominated the legislative, executive, and judiciary.

6. This is the most legitimate form of government; and if well administered, it is a far better form of government than a monarchy, in which laws or decrees are made by one man. Republican government is the best, while the citizens are honest, uncorrupt, and influenced in the choice of their rulers solely by a regard to the public good. If the citizens become corrupt, fall into violent parties, and each party is influenced by a regard to its own benefit, a republican government loses the spirit of freedom, or true liberty, and becomes tyrannical. A party or

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