morals of the people tinder that government than a
thousand instances of breach of faith which may occur in society; for a
people who have no aristocracy to set the example, must naturally look
to the conduct of their rulers and to their decisions, as a standard for
their guidance. To enumerate the multiplied breaches of faith towards
the Indians would swell out this work to an extra volume. It was a
bitter sarcasm of the Seminole chief, who, referring to the terms used
in the treaties, told the Indian agents that the white man's "_for
ever_" did not _last long enough_. Even in its payment of the trifling
sums for the lands sold by the Indians and resold at an enormous profit,
the American Government has not been willing to adhere to its agreement;
and two years ago, when the Indians came for their money, the American
Government told them, like an Israelite dealer, that they must take half
money and half goods. The Indians remonstrated; the chiefs replied,
"Our young men have purchased upon credit, as they are wont to do; they
require the dollars, to pay honestly what they owe."

"Is our great father so poor?" said one chief to the Indian agent; "I
will lend him some money;" and he ordered several thousand dollars to be
brought, and offered them to the agent.

In the Florida war, to which I shall again refer, the same want of faith
has been exercised. Unable to drive the Indians out of their swamps and
morasses, they have persuaded them to come into a council, under a flag
of truce. This flag of truce has been violated, and the Indians have
been thrown into prison until they could be sent away to the Far West,
that is, if they survived their captivity, which the gallant Osceola
could not. Let it not be supposed that the officers employed are the
parties to blame in these acts; it is, generally speaking, the Indian
agents who are employed in these nefarious transactions. Among these
agents there are many honourable men, but a corrupt government will
always find people corrupt enough to do anything it may wish. But any
language that I can use as to the conduct of the American Government
towards the Indians would be light, compared to the comments made in my
presence by the _officers_ and other American _gentlemen_ upon this
subject. Indeed, the indignation expressed is so general, that it
proves there is less morality in the Government than there is in the
nation.

With the exception of the Florida war, which