USA > Ohio > Pioneer history : being an account of the first examinations of the Ohio valley, and the early settlement of the Northwest territory ; chiefly from original manuscripts > Part 41
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ANSWER TO THE GOVERNOR.
During the address of his excellency a profound veneration for the elevated station and exalted benevolence of the speaker; the magnitude of the subject; the high importance of the occasion; the immense consequences resulting; the glory, the grandeur of a new world unfolding; heaven and earth approving; called forth all the manly emotions of the human heart! At the close, peals of applause rent the surrounding air, while joyful echo reverberated the sound. Every citizen felt to the extent of humanity, and affection herself impressed upon the mind, in characters never to be obliterated; long live our governor !
The day following an answer was presented, in the name of all the people, to his excellency, of which the following substantially contains what respected him, personally.
May it please your Excellency:
The people of this settlement, to whom you have been pleased to make known the constitution, your own commission, those of the judges, and that of the secretary, beg leave to approach you with the warmest affection, and sincerest regard. If unreserved confidence in the talents, abilities, and paternal friend- ship of your excellency, can add to our felicity; if an almost enthusiastic ardor impelled us to form this settlement; if our efforts can succeed only under a wise government, equally and impartially administered; and if bowing the knee to heaven in humble thankfulness, that your excellency in particular hath been appointed to preside over it, can increase your satisfaction, then indeed are we mutually happy.
The constitution itself we consider as the result of a wise and most benevo- lent policy; and we look up with veneration to the fathers of their country, whose care and attention follow us wherever we go; but the constitution is now the more dear to us; as we behold your excellency, removing all your doubts and fears of your safe arrival; and mildly paving the way to regularity, order,
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and perpetual harmony. We can form some idea of the arduous task imposed upon the governor of so extensive a country as the western territory; but whatever dangers may intervene, whatever difficulties may oppose the progress of your noble and beneficent designs, we will, as far as in our power, share in the burthens, alleviate your cares, and upon all occasions render a full obedience to the government and the laws.
We are fully persuaded, with your excellency, "that all the nations of the earth will become the kingdom of Jesus Christ." And we exult in the firm belief that the great purposes of Heaven, in perfecting human reason, and attracting all mankind to the standard of one divine control, will be accom- plished in this new world. We are equally ravished with the thought, that the great Governor of the Universe hath raised up your excellency, as an instru- ment to open the way to this transcendently glorious event, and that in this life you will anticipate the joys of Paradise !
Great sir : we pray that heaven may grant to you, both in your public char- acter and private life, all the felicity that can meet your expectations, or warm- est desires. May you long enjoy the tranquility of a mind influenced by the principles of rectitude only. May the cold hand of death never arrest you, until you shall have accomplished all the objects which a great and a good man can embrace; and then when life shall lose her charms; when nature shall begin to sink beneath the weight of mortality, and when the mind impatient to be free, shall burst the brittle shell which holds it here, may you rise triumphant on cherub's wings to enjoy your God in realms of endless felicity!
A COTEMPORARY ACCOUNT OF SOME EVENTS.
Upon the twentieth, divine service was performed by the Rev. Dr. Brick, before a numerous, well-informed and attentive assembly. The sermon was well adapted to the occasion, and the first ever delivered in the Protestant style to a congregation of civilized people in the territory. The portion of divine truth selected for this occasion is contained in the nineteenth chapter of Exodus, and in the sixth and seventh verses : "Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation."
His excellency was present during the service, and afterward expressed much satisfaction. He particularly remarked, that the singing far exceeded any thing of the kind he had ever heard. Indeed it was enchanting! The grave, the solemn, the tender, and the pathetic were so happily blended, as to produce a most perfect harmony, and to melt the soul in sympathetic effusion of gratitude and adoration to the great Author of our religion, and had listen- ing angels tuned their harps, they would have paused for a moment at the melodious sound.
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Upon the twenty-eighth a law was published, regulating the militia of the county of Washington. The people were divided into senior and junior classes,/ and the first guard that mounted under this system, for watching and marching, was honored with five colonels, one major, and one captain, late of the army of the United States, in the ranks.
His excellency hath erected all the tract of territory, lying between the Pennsylvania west line, and the Scioto river, and between the Ohio and the north line, comprehending the lands in which the Indian titles have been extin- guished, into a county, by the name of Washington, and the judges, with his excellency, are assiduously employed in their respective stations, for completing, as soon as possible, an uniform administration of justice. It is expected they will proceed to Fort Vincent and the Kaskaskias as soon as the treaty with the Indians shall be finished, upon the important concerns of government.
From the first establishment of the Ohio company in this place, which was in April last, the Indians have frequently visited the settlement, and ever discov- ered a very friendly disposition. And saving the capture of a few boats near Limestone, and the falls of the Ohio, their depredations since the last year have been trifling, and their murders few in number. They have murdered some individuals in the Kentucky settlements, and have stolen horses from the Vir- ginians. But in most instances of the kind, they have professedly avenged some injury, which before they had sustained. There are, however, scattered settlements, interspersed among the nations and tribes, of renegado Indians, as well as clans of robbers and money makers, in some of the states. It is ex- tremely difficult to detect and bring to condign punishment, either; but upon a fair view of the matter, it will appear less injury hath been sustained, on account of Indian barbarity, than could rationally have been expected, consid- ering the cruel, perfidious, unjust, and barbarous manner in which in many instances they have been treated.
The principle of revenge seems to be a natural passion, and the most irre- claimable perhaps of any that is implanted in the human breast. In the rude state of nature, this passion must be the more outrageous, as the ideas of men are few and simple: and consequently, reflection upon any particular subject is the more in time, as the imagination is not busied about the variegated ob- jects which present themselves in civil, and much more so in polished society. It is, therefore, a matter of policy as well as humanity, to reclaim the natives, if practicable, from the savage state, and raise them at least, into a relish for pastoral life. In most instances wherein they have been kindly though not too familiarly treated, they have behaved peaceably, and seem to have acquired a degree of civilization. They have seldom or never been known to violate a professed friendship. The Ohio company, therefore, have it in their power to gratify their inclinations, by living peaceably with these, their distant neigh- bors; and of forming and extending the settlement upon the best principles that ever attended an emigration.
The accounts that have been transmitted to the eastern and the northern states, for several months past, of robbing, scalping, and murder, if really
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credited, would almost deter the bold and courageous from adventuring into this delightful country. But it should be considered that facts are augmented in a geometrical proportion to the distances in which they are related.
One fact is certain, that from the first settlement to this moment, no one of the settlers hath died or been killed, nor hath there so much as a horse been stolen.
The people are in great health, high spirits, and extremely happy; and they want nothing to complete their felicity, but their tender companions, whom they have left beyond the mountains, to participate with them in the rising glories of the western world.
١
AN ORATION, DELIVERED AT MARIETTA, APRIL 7, 1789,
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT FORMED BY THE OHIO COMPANY: BY SOLOMON DROWN, ESQ., M. D.
WORCESTER, MASS., PRINTED BY ISAIAH THOMAS, 1789.
CORRESPONDENCE.
At a meeting of the citizens of Marietta, April 7th, 1789, voted that Rufus Putnam, Griffin Greene, George Ingersoll, Winthrop Sargent, and Ebenezer Battelle, Esq., be a committee to wait on Dr. Drown, and thank him for his Oration delivered this day, and to request a copy for the press.
EBENEZER BATTELLE, Clerk.
SIR,-After our acknowledgments to the Governor of the Universe for the occasion of this anniversary festival, we, in the name of the citizens of Mari- etta, return you our most cordial and sincere thanks, for your pertinent, inge- nious, and elegant Oration, delivered this day, and request a copy for the press. RUFUS PUTNAM, GRIFFIN GREENE,
GEORGE INGERSOLL,
WINTHROP SARGENT, EBENEZER BATTELLE.
Dr. SOLOMON DROWN.
GENTLEMEN,-Gratitude to a generous and candid audience, for their favor- able reception of the Anniversary Oration, and the obliging manner in which you have imparted their resolve, render it impossible for me to decline a com- pliance with their request.
With sentiments of the most cordial respect and esteem, I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, SOLOMON DROWN.
GENTLEMEN OF COMMITTEE.
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AN ORATION,
DELIVERED AT MARIETTA, APRIL 7, 1789.
The expectation of so polite and respectable an audience, excited by the novelty of the occasion on which we are assembled, that of celebrating the first anniversary of the settlement of a new and widely extended territory, cannot fail to be productive of diffident emotions in him who has the honor to address you. Feeling his inability to perform, in the manner he could wish, the task allotted him in this day's solemnization, he will, however, strive to re-assure himself from the consideration of the candor he has already experienced, and this last mark of your favorable opinion; an honor to be cherished in his me- mory with the most affectionate gratitude.
Permit me then most cordially to congratulate you on the auspicious anni- versary of the 7th of April, 1788, a day ever to be remembered with annual festivity and joy; for then this virgin soil received you first; alluring from your native homes, by charms substantial and inestimable.
A wilderness of sweets; for Nature here Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will, Her virgin fancies, pouring forth more sweet. Wild above a rule or art,-the gentle gales Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole Those balmy spoils.
Hail glorious birth-day of this western region! On such a day, in the same beauteous season, ancient poets feigned the earth was first created.
" In this soft season let ine dare to sing The world was hatch'd by Heaven's Imperial King In presence of all the year and holidays of spring ; Then did the new creation first appear; Nor other was the tenor of the year;
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When laughing Heaven did the great birth attend, And eastern winds their wintry breath suspend. Then sheep first saw the sun in open fields; And savage beasts were sent to stock the wilds; Nor could the tender new creation bear The excessive heats or coldness of the year; But chilled by winter or by summer fired The middle temper of the spring regained
When warmth and moisture did at once abound,
And Heaven's indulgence brooded on the ground."
First, let us pay our grateful tribute of applause to that firm band, who, quit- ting their families and peaceful habitations, foregoing all the endearments of domestic life, in the midst of a severe winter, set out on the arduous enterprise of settling this far distant region. And here my inclination would lead me to paint their unexampled perseverance in that inclement season; their numer- ous toils and dangers in effecting the great business of unbarring a secluded wilderness, and rendering it the fit abode of man; did not the presence of their worthy leader* prevent me from indulging it.
But of these worthies who have most exerted themselves in promoting this settlement, one, alas! is no more; one whose eloquence, like the music of Or- pheus, attractive of the listening crowd, seemed designed to reconcile mankind to the closest bonds of society. Ah ! what avail his manly virtues now! Slow through yon winding path his corse was borne, and on the steepy hill interred with funeral honors meet. What bosom refuses the tribute of a sigh, on the recollection of that melancholy scene, when, unusnal spectacle, the fathers of the land, the chiefs of the aboriginal nations, in solemn train attended; while the mournful dirge was rendered doubly mournful mid the gloomy nodding grove. On that day even nature seemed to mourn. O Varnum ! Varnum ! thy name shall not be forgotten, while gratitude and generosity continue to be the characteristics of those inhabiting the country, once thy care. Thy fair fame is deeply rooted in our fostering memories, and,
Non imber edax, non Agnito impotens, Possit divinese. aut innumerabilis, Annorum series, et fuga temporum." t-HOR.
The origin of most countries is lost in the clouds of fiction and romance; and as far up as you can trace their history, you will find they were generally founded in rapacity, usurpation, and blood. It was not but by. means of wars, horrid wars! that the Israelites gained possession of their long sought promised Canaan; driving before them the nations who had occupied that charming
* General R. Putnam.
t The force of boisterous winds and moldering rain, Year after year, an everlasting train,
Shall ne'er destroy the glory of his name.
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country. Rome itself, imperial Rome, the mistress of the world, was founded by a lawless and wandering banditti, with Romulus at their head, who was continually embroiled with one or other of his neighbors, and war the only employment by which he and his companions expected either to aggrandize' themselves, or even to subsist. Singular, then, and before unheard of, are the circumstances of your first establishment, in this extensive territory; without opposition, and without bloodshed. How striking the contrast between such a manner of conducting an important enterprise, and the barbarism of the so much extolled heroic ages! The kind and friendly treatment of the Indians by the first settlers, has conduced greatly to the favorable issue of the late treaty. Such humane conduct, so easy to practice, cannot fail to have great influence, even on savage minds. Nor less the unwearied attention and pa- tient equanimity of his excellency, Governor St. Clair, amid the attacks of a painful disorder, and the delays naturally arising from the discordant interests of unconnected tribes. And here let us commemorate the virtues of the un- assuming and most benevolent Mr. John Heckewelder, Moravian missionary among the Delawares. Such is his ascendency over the minds of the chris- tianized Indians, that to his kind offices in striving to effectuate the above happy event, no small share of praise is to be ascribed. But to whom is this settlement more indebted tlian to the generous chieftain and other worthy officers of yonder fortress, distinguished by the name of Harmer. With what cheerfulness and cordiality have ye ever entered into every measure promotive of the company's interest. Important is the station ye fill in every respect, and not least in this, that you secm reserved to exhibit to mankind a specimen of that military splendor, which ornamented the arms of America, and would do honor to the troops of any potentate on earth.
The gentle influence of female suavity are ever readily acknowledged by all who make the least pretenses to civilization. Happy in this respect, if we see the least spark of ferocity kindling in our breast, from the wildness of our situation, we have only to turn our eyes on the amiable patterns of the milder virtues, to quench the savage principle, and restore us to humanity. Enough cannot be said in commendation of your fortitude and generous resolution, my fair auditors, who apparently made so great a sacrifice in quitting your native homes and endeared connections, to settle in this remote wilderness, while those connections, loth to part, were fondly urging every dissuasion from the enter- prise, and conjuring up a thousand difficulties that would obstruct your pro- gress, or meet you here. But your laudable perseverance and equanimity have surmounted them all, and instead of being surrounded with howlings of wild beasts, and horrid yells of savages, which ye were warned to expect, on the delightful banks of the Muskingum, ye are favored with the blandishments of polished social intercourse. Are we indeed in a wilderness ? The contempla- tion of the scene before me would almost lead me to distrust my senses. No wonder the gentle Spenser feigned such mingled beauty and elegance, by virtue brightened, could "make a sunshine in the shady grove."
It would take up too much time to detail minutely your progressions in thus
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far effecting an important settlement. The marks of industry observable on every hand since your arrival, particularly the buildings on Campus Martius (forming an elegant fortress), do you great honor, and lead the admiring stran- ger to entertain a very flattering opinion of your growing greatness.
All is the gift of industry: whate'er Exalts, embellishes, and renders life Delightful. Pensive winter cheered by him, Sits at the social fire, and haply hears The excluded tempest idly rave along ; His harden'd fingers deck the gaudy spring, Without him summer were an arid waste;
Nor to the autumnal months could e'er transmit The full, mature, immeasurable stores.
'Thus fair is the first page of our history, and may no foul blot hereafter stain the important volume which time is unfolding in this western world. But may it prove worthy, fraught with worthy deeds, to be rescued from the final con- flagration, by some bright cherub's favoring arm, and displayed to the view of approving spirits in the realms of bliss.
This country will afford noble opportunity for advancing knowledge of every kind. A communication with all nations will enable you to introduce the most useful and excellent scientific improvements, which are to be found in every kingdom and empire on earth. Effectual measures have been taken by con- gress for cultivating and diffusing literature among the people, in appropriating large tracts of land for the establishment of schools, and a university. The institution of a public library would be of great benefit to the community, not only by affording rational amusement, and meliorating the disposition, but by giving those who have not a liberal education an opportunity of gaining that knowledge which will qualify them for usefulness.
Let us not pretermit the inviting fields, which is opening in this country for her rising sons of science. The botanist and mineralogist may range here with increasing delight. The antiquary, too, will not be destitute of a subject for disquisition. Those ancient works, exciting the admiration of every be- holder, are the effect of great labor, and must have been built by a far different people from the present natives. They are undoubtedly of much higher anti- quity, than some have imagined. And he who could command the labor, or draw forth the resources, of his country for such purposes, must have been in- vested with powers that bears no comparison with that of modern Sachems. If they aught resembled the Natches in their customs and manners, those elevated squares must have been the bases of their temples. But for what purpose was that towering mound erected ! Is it the. mausoleum of some illustrious potentate, and the reputed offspring of yonder glorious luminary ? Or was it the altar on which they sacrificed to the bright God of day! Virgil relates the pious deeds of the Trojans, who renewed the funeral obsequies of Polydorus, and raised a large mound of earth for the tomb. Does not this render probable the conjec-
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ture, that those former inhabitants, descended from some nations retaining the same customs !
But that for which this country will ever be most estimable, is, that under the auspices of firmly established liberty, civil and religious, and the mild govern- ment of national laws, every circumstance invites to the practice of husban- dry, that best occupation of mankind, which is the support of human life, and the source of all its true riches. Delightful region ! bordering on the majestic Ohio, the most beautiful river on earth, watered also by other large and naviga- ble streams ; favored with an excellent climate and fertile soil, which well cul- tivated, is a rich treasure to every family that is wise enough to be contented with living nobly independent. It is in such charming retreats, at a distance from the tumultuous hurry of the world, that one relishes a thousand innocent delights, and which are repeated with a satisfaction ever new. In those exten- sive and delightsome bottoms, where are seen so many different species of ani- mals and vegetables, there it is we have occasion to admire the beneficence of the Great Creator. There it is, that at the gentle purling of a pure and living water, and enchanted with the concerts of birds, which fill the neighboring thickets, we may agreeably contemplate the wonders of nature, and examine them all at our leisure. It is amid such happy, rural scenes, fanned by gentle breezes, wafting fragrance o'er the blossomed vale, that health and rejuve- nescency of soul are indulged to mortals -the choicest of the favors of heaven. Nature's amiable bard, transported with the pleasures of a country life - ex- clams :
" O knew he but his happiness- of men The happiest he! who far from public rage, Deep in the vale with a choice few retired, Drinks the pure pleasure of the rural life. What though from utmost land and sea purvey'd For him each rarer tributary life Bleeds not, and.insatiate table heaps With luxury and death! what though his bowl Flames not with earthy juice; nor sunk in beds Oft of gay care, he tosses out the night, Or melts the thoughtless hours in idle state?
What tho' he knows not those fantastic joys, That still amuse the wanton, still deceive; A face of pleasure but a heart of pain ;
Their hollow moments undelighted all? Sure peace is his, a solid life estranged To disappointment and fallacious hope; Rich in content, in nature's bounty rich, In herbs and fruits: what ever greens the spring, When heav'n descends in showers and bends the bough,
When summer reddens, and when autumn beams ;
Or in the wintry globe whate'er lies
Conceal'd and fattens with the richest sap;
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These are not wanting; nor the milky drove Luxuriant spread o'er all the lowing vale; Nor aught besides of prospect, grove, or song. Here too dwells simple truth: plain innocence, Unsullied beauty ; sound unbroken youth: Health ever blooming, unambitious toil Calm contemplation and poetic ease. The rage of nations and the crush of states, Move not the man who from the world escaped In still retreats and flowering solitudes, To nature's voice attends from month to month, Admiring sees her, in her every shape; Feels all her sweet emotions at his heart; Takes what she liberal gives, nor thinks of more.
He when young spring protrudes the bursting gems, Marks the first bud and sucks the healthful gale Into his freshen'd soul; her genial hours He full enjoys, and not a beauty blows, And not an opening blossom breathes in vain - The touch of kindred too, and love he feels; The modest eye, whose beams on his alone Ecstatic shine; the little strong embrace Of prattling children twined around his neck, And emulous to please him, calling forth The fond parental soul; nor purpose gay, Amusement, dance or song, he sternly scorns; For happiness and true philosophy Are of the social still and smiling kind, This is the life which those who fret in guilt, And guilty cities, never knew; the life Led by primeval ages uncorrupt, When angels dwelt, and God himself, with man!"
Agriculture is a no less honorable than profitable art, held in the highest esteem among the ancients, and equally valued by the enlightened moderns. The Greeks ascribed its invention to Ceres, and her son Triptolemus, but the Jews with more reason to Noah, who immediately after the flood, set about til- ling the ground, and planting vineyards. Agriculture has been the delight of the greatest men. We are told that Cyrus, the younger, planted and cultivated his garden, in a great measure, with his own hands, and it is well known that the Romans took many of their best statesmen and generals from the plow. There is indeed something truly great in the employment; it gives a nobler air to several parts of nature, filling the earth with a variety of beautiful scenes, and has something in it like creation. Homer, Virgil, and Horace, those great- est geniuses of all antiquity - with how much rapture have they spoken on this universally admired art! Our own countryman, the illustrious Jefferson, declares: "Those who labor in the earth, are the chosen people of God -if he
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· has chosen a people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for sub- stantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth. Corruption of morals in the mass of cultivators, is a phenomenon of which no age, nor nation, has furnished an example. It is the mark set on those who, not looking up to heaven, to their own soil and industry, as do the husbandmen for their sub- sistence, depend for it on the casualities and caprice of customers. I repeat it again, cultivators of the earth are the most and independent citizens."
The Emperor of China, to encourage this most important and delightful of arts, goes forth annually attended by his principal officers, and holds the plow with his own hands-which ceremony, of first opening the ground in the spring, is performed with great solemnity.
An Emperor of Morocco, Mahomet II (if I mistake not), being engaged in a war, solicited aid of a neighboring prince, and promised in return to commu- nicate to him the philosopher's stone, which this emperor was imputed to pos- sess. On the restoration of peace, being reminded of the agreement, a plow was sent with this memorable message: "This is the genuine philosopher's stone, which properly used will be productive of the truest riches."
I mention these anecdotes that you may know in what high estimation agri- culture has ever been held, and that nothing hereafter will induce you to relin- quish the solid advantages resulting from cultivating the soil, for the flattering and too often deceitful prospects afforded by trade and commerce; but like Virgil's old Corycian, on your own well cultivated fields, in the placid enjoy- ment of the fruits of your labor, may you equal in contentment, the wealth of kings.
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