LOUISIANA.*

Within the limits of the ceded territory, we know of more than twenty independent tribes of Indians. As long as powerful nations of Europe had access to these untutored savages, the peace of our frontier settlements was exposed to a variety of contingencies. In the two last wars in which this country was involved with France and England, the blood of our inhabitants shed by savage hands flowed in a thousand streams. In every period of American history, the nations of Europe, regardless of morality and religion, have always availed themselves of the aborigines in destroying each other, and also the colonies of rival nations.

ago, were the subjects of the British king, are now the independent proprietors of this soil; and that portion of it which we originally possessed, is more than doubled by a recent cession of territory, in which are numerous tribes of Indians, whose ancestors owned this whole country from time immemorial, before any one of ours had set his foot on American ground. Trusting in the virtue of my countrymen, and warranted by the present and past exertions of our rulers, I am confident that these hapless natives will have no cause to regret, but abundant reason to rejoice in the change which has taken place.

In gaining the affections of the savages the French were pre-eminent. Figure to your-ed selves what would have been the situation of our frontier settlements on the western waters, in case of a war with France, while her emissaries had the numerous tribes of Indians in Louisiana firmly attached to her interests, and ready when called upon to make war upon our dispersed and defenceless inhabitants.

The voice of every good man should be raisin favor of our red brethren. The common Father of them, and of us, calls upon us to impart to them the superior blessings which we enjoy. The competition of rival nations, bidding against each other for their friendship, is now no more. We have the whole field to ourselves, and a glorious field it is: in which we may, and I trust will, sow the seeds of knowledge, of virtue, of useful arts, of civilization, and religion: and that these will grow up and flourish, till they yield a plentiful harvest of human happiness. To transform savage war

These Indians are now all our own-included within our limits, and so far dependent on us, that no other nation can interfere with them. The cession of Louisiana has wrested the scalping knife and tomahawk from their hands,riors to peaceful farmers-to convert their tomand laid the foundations of perpetual peace, by giving us every desirable opportunity for introducing among them the blessings of civil and social life. They are now thrown on our humanity and generosity.

Mysterious Providence! We, the people of the United States, who, less than thirty years

*This extract is taken from Doctor Ramsay's Oration on

the cession of Louisiana to the United States.

ahawks and scalping-knives into ploughshares and pruning-hooks-to turn them from the worship of evil spirits, to the worship of the true God-from the absurd rites of Pagan idolatry to the mild principles and practical virtues of Christianity, is a godlike work. For the execution of it, the extension of our boundaries gives us facilities we never had before, and which, I trust, will be improved for the best of purposes.

SAMUEL ADAMS.

SAMUEL ADAMS was born in Boston, Massachusetts, from an ancient and respectable parentage of the first settlers of New England, on the twenty-seventh day of September, 1722. The record of his early days is lost. Having passed through the primary branches at Master Lovell's school, he entered as a student at Harvard College, in the autumn of the year 1736. The time there allowed to lay the foundation of a future usefulness, was not lost to him or to his country. In accordance with the wishes of his parents, he decided to prepare himself for the duties of the Christian ministry, and to that end he directed his energies. He obtained the honors of his Alma Mater, not because he had been under her guardianship the usual term, but for his assiduous attention to literary acquirements, that rendered him worthy of them. On receiving his second degree, in conformity with the usages of the college, which retained many forms of the English Universities, he proposed as his thesis, and defended the affirmative of the question, Whether it be lawful to resist the supreme magistrate, if the commonitealth cannot otherwise be preserved? Thus early had his mind taken its bent, and formed that system of political opinions to which he uniformly and zealously adhered throughout life, and which he never for a moment hesitated to reduce to practice. Nor was this the only instance of his youthful devotion to the welfare of his fellow-men;-out of the stipulated sum allowed him by his father while in college, he saved a sufficiency to publish his masterly defence of "Englishmen's Rights."

Zealous in the support of religion-the church government and discipline of the early Independents of New England, and warmly attached to the doctrines they inculcated, be was led to a veneration of the champions of his peculiar creed, and predisposed to the adoption of their political as well as religious opinions. The quaint writings of Colman, of the elder John Adams, and of the younger Mather, charmed his senses. Of the latter, "upon whose childhood was heaped a mountain of learning and theology," and who went about "smelling out the odoriferous flowers of fancy, those jerks of the imagination"-he expressed the highest admiration. In such an atmosphere, surrounded by such examples, he pursued with an affectionate ardor the study of theology, and only resigned that profession to enter into the service of Freedom. Thus he became filled with enthusiastic admiration of the sturdy republicanism, the uncompromising principle, and the severe simplicity of manners which characterized the English Puritans of the reigns of James and Charles the First. Of these, and of his ancestors who landed at Plymouth, he never spake, but with reverence and respect. Their sufferings awakened a generous sympathy in his breast, and his holy gratitude for the "goodly heritage" they had bequeathed him and his posterity, never abated.

The period at which Mr. Adams began to take an interest in the public affairs, the provincial governments were continually agitated by contests between their governors and other officers, who were appointed by the Crown, and the Assemblies, which were the immediate representatives of the colonists. There could be no question in his mind, as to the side which he should embrace. The situation of his country in the incipient stages of the Revolution, opened a wide and important field for the display of his singular genius and extensive capacity. The

claim of Great Britain "to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatever," drew in its train consequences of vast importance. Without such an authority, it would be difficult to maintain the connection of a parent state, with provinces, with the exercise of it, the colonists were depressed below the grade of British subjects, and reduced to a state of slavery.

There were very few whose minds could comprehend the important distinctions which were then agitated, or whose reasoning could discern the approaching events of that controversy. Mr. Adams, buoyed up by a sense of the justice and righteousness of the colonists' demands, stood forth first in their defence, and heroically won his title The Father of the Revolution. In 1764, he was elected to prepare the instructions of the town of Boston to their representatives in the General Assembly. The document is now in existence, and contains the first public denial of the right of the British Parliament to tax the colonies, a denial of parliamentary supremacy, and a direct suggestion of the necessity of Union.

Mr. Adams seems to have been peculiarly formed for the eventful period of his life. His mind was singularly powerful in tracing the result of political principles. The firmness of his heart never failed to support his efforts, whenever he was convinced of the rectitude and propriety of the objects he pursued. He pressed his measures with ardor, because they were founded on calculations tending to the glory and independence of his country. His courage derided the bars thrown in the way of his career, while the sagacity of his mind pierced the clouds in which sophistry involved the subject before him. By this he was enabled to explain, in the most convincing manner, the depression of the colonies, unless a firm and noble stand was then made against the King and the Parliament. He met oppositions and threatenings with an intrepid firmness peculiar to himself; and, with an eye of careless indifference, looked upon the dangers that surrounded him, as mere incidents in the progress of great events.

At the time of the Stamp Act, Mr. Adams became a conspicuous favorite with the people, and a leader in all the popular proceedings of the day. Warmly engaged, both as a declaimer in town meetings, and as a writer in the public prints, his private affairs were neglected, and he became embarrassed with debts. His poverty attracted the attention of the British adherents, and he was approached with presents and bribes: but he could not be won from the cause of Liberty. "Such is the obstinacy and inflexibility of Adams," said a letter to England, "that he never can be conciliated by any office or gift whatever." Such honesty of purpose was looked upon in Great Britain with ludicrous incredulity, probably occasioned by a confusion of ideas at the anomaly of such a disposition, compared with the personal and daily experience in the British Court.

Mr. Adams was chosen one of the representatives from Boston to the General Court or Legislature of Massachusetts, in 1765. Here he remained until his election to the Continental Congress, being annually re-elected for nine years, a period which includes an eventful and interesting portion of the history of American liberty, during the whole of which he was remarkable as well for his political and parliamentary talents, as for his zeal in opposition to the claims, the acts, and the menaces of the royal government. While a member of this body, he was continually employed on committees to draft reports, protests, and other public papers, in which employment he evinced great rapidity and correctness of composition.

In 1768, after the death of Charles Townsend, Lord North entered the service of the king. Soon the effects of his administration were felt throughout the American colonies. New acts of taxation were established, and royal collectors sent from England to enforce them. Public feeling seemed unprepared for action, and averse to a rupture. The Massachusetts Assembly, adopting the sentiments of Samuel Adams, approached the king with a humble petition. To him they recounted the story of their wrongs, and besought him to alleviate them. Among themselves, they advocated the policy of union. "Let us all be of one heart and one mind,” said Adams. "Let us call on our sister colonies to join with us. Should our righteous opposition to slavery be named rebellion, let us pursue duty with firmness, and leave the event to heaven." The same year Mr. Adams prepared the letter from the Assembly of Massachusetts to their agent in England, and also the celebrated Circular Letter, addressed to the Speakers of the several Houses of Assembly in the other Colonies. The last production is one of the most