American Opinions of English Performers. Braham, Butler . THE GREAT WESTERN MAGAZINE. APRIL, 1842. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS*. BY THE EDITOR. THE progress of colonies and conquests is scarcely marked by mankind until, having arisen into moral and political grandeur, the advancement boldly forces itself upon the attention by the presence of empires, kingdoms, and states. A new state springs to birth, not like Minerva, in complete armour, from the head of Jupiter, but gradually; for, increasing and extending its industry and enterprise, it soon freights every breeze with the din of its enginery, which, ever and ever augmented, at last "grates harsh discord" on the ear of the world. Anon, the solitary ships, with an addition to the heraldry of nations in their floating ensigns, challenge the prouder rivals on the unchartered sea; and then, as though by magic, under the same banner, careers toward many a clime and clusters in many a port, a new and, perhaps, powerful navy, respected by every potentate of the earth, because, through necessity, it is acknowledged as an armament of one of the family of nations. Thus it was in the days of the decayed kingdoms of the East, and thus is it found in our own times, when, in almost every part of the globe, are seen the results of the colonists of many a nation, and particularly those of Great Britain-to whom labour seems a luxury, and the cultivation of a generous soil an ample and satisfactory reward. It was a few years ago, comparatively, that the white-man had not looked upon the red inhabitants of the New World; and now, behold the encroachments of the descendants of the English Pilgrim Fathers, at the North, and of the Spaniards, at the South, fast extinguishing, and for ever, all traces of the originally powerful, and, even now, not wholly subdued aboriginal tribes of America. A few years ago, the red-man, or, as he is generally called, the Indian, trod his native hills a free-a happy being. Contentment was in his wigwam, and his hunting-grounds were safe. He neither knew "fire-weapons," nor "fire-water"-the former the white-man's ally for the annihilation of the Indian's body, and the latter the too deadly poison for the destruction of his native spirit and dignity, often used, we fear, with a recklessness which no christian can palliate, and much less excuse. The progress of civilization, the desire for gain both on the part of governments and individuals, and the concomitant circumstances, are driving back, step by step, the native tribes from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean; and that immense barrier, the Rocky or Shining Mountains, standing almost equi-distant from the two oceans, and stretching from one end of the American continent to the other, even to the Frozen Ocean, promises to prove only a slight wall in the presence of Mammon-although at an elevation of from seven to twelve thousand feet, its inferior peaks, even in the depth of summer, being encrusted with snow. The total destruction of the original owners of the soil seems certain. While, on the one hand, we behold them contaminated by intercourse with our own race, forgetting their ancient dignity and privileges, and falling into a state of semi * Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians. Written during Eight Years' Travel amongst the wildest Tribes of Indians in North America, in 1832, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39. By Geo. Catlin. 8vo, pp. 522. London, 1841. barbarism-that worst slavery; and, on the other, captured and condemned by the Mexican gold and silver hunters to work, in perpetual night, in the bowels of the earth, and removed wholly from the glorious light and air which were their natural elements, we shall delight, aided by the evidences of Mr. Catlin and our own investigations, to show what they may have been and what they might be, by exhibiting what they are, when uncorrupted, and unchanged from their pristine condition. It is a deplorable, yet a most imposing and grand spectacle to witness the exertions of these brave and noble men, still to hold their native soil, and manfully and energetically to cope with their victorious adversaries, aided only by stout hearts and their primitive instruments of warfare. Behold them, doomed tribes, roving over the almost boundless prairies, secreting themselves in mountain fastnesses, supplying their daily wants by the vigorous exercises of the chase, tracked and hunted by the remorseless soldiery of civilized nations, pressed back into the wilderness, deprived of their offspring, robbed of their lands, despoiled of their possessions, quiet and ease torn from them, the luxury of peace, wherever they may be, uncertain; and without confidence even in the treaties of their pursuers. Behold them as they are, not surpassed by any people in natural dignity of character, hospitality to the stranger, love of their kindred, veneration for their religion, wisdom in council, and bravery in battle-uncivilised, it is true, but still in proportion to their advantages of a moral and religious character, actually "an anomaly" in the natural history of man-noblemen all by nature, and, as it were, taught by the Great Spirit whom they worship, till their demeanour, in many respects, becomes even exemplary for those who boast of their opportunities for moral and religious elevation of character. While sympathy and pity are extended to these maltreated tribes, he who views them as they really are, should not fail to bestow his commisseration on those of christian nations, who, the devotees of Mammon, make their pilgrimages year after year into the territories of the red-man, and scruple not to carry with them means of destruction: for it is the desire of gain, of gain only, which furnishes the inferior causes for the not very distant annihilation of every tribe upon the vast North American continent. What the demoniacal alcohol does not accomplish, followed up by the bayonet, the introduction of the small-pox, particularly fatal as it is to these aborigines, is certain to ensure for thousands of men, women, and children are swept away by it every year. That the governments interested in these people, who now possess two-thirds of the soil, will so far lose sight of their own aggrandisement as to give a sincere and lasting protection to the children of the country, which they are now daily wresting from them, is "devoutly to be wished." All the eloquence of the pen, the statesman, and of the clergy, however, has been exerted in the United States in vain to raise the spirit of justice and mercy, while many a writer, one is forced to believe, has been employed to abuse the Indian character, and to pronounce sympathy for the 66 savages," foolish and wholly fruitless. For instance, the description of the author of "Astoria," and of the author of "Nick of the Woods," show anything but a desire to give the Indian the shadow of a plea for his position; nay, the misrepresentations of character are made by statements which seem to us wholly at variance with the truth, and wholly uncorroborated by impartial observation. It is to be regretted, at least, that Mr. Washington Irving has condescended to lend the influence of his popular, if not powerful name, to blazon the atrocious deeds of Mr. Astor's traders as worthy and full of enterprise, while the whole tenor of his observations is such as to blacken the Indian tribes, and to deprive them of the common indulgence due to untutored humanity. The hurried manner in which the author travelled, and the nature of his mission under the auspices of Mr. Astor, did not allow him, aristocratic as we esteem him to be, to do otherwise than to promote his patron's views, and to fail in his duty to picture Indian life and manners, which he would have easily witnessed had he gone into the uncivilized districts with a mind unbiased. In our opinion, the stories of traders and whiskey-sellers are not very authentic sources of information, or the exaltation of their murders of red-men, in cold blood, very creditable to their historian; consequently, if Mr. Irving's book be judged by the truth, and by a code of morals worthy of a christian community, the intelligent reader will pronounce a harsher verdict upon it than we are disposed to utter, although no one can regret more than we do that so able an historian has tarnished his reputation as a humane and high-minded man. The travels of Mr. Catlin have been conducted under no patronage whatsoever. He has visited the western half of the North American continent, now occupied only by the aborigines, with a truly benevolent spirit, self-advised, and determined, if |