council.

Brothers! you have come a long way from home to visit your white
brethren; we rejoice to take you by the hand.

Brothers! we have heard the names of your chiefs and warriors; our
brothers, who have travelled into the West, have told us a great deal of
the Sauks and Foxes; we rejoice to see you with our own eyes, and take
you by the hand.

Brothers! we are called the Massachusetts. This is the name of the red
men that once lived here. Their wigwams filled yonder field; their
council fire was kindled on this spot. They were of the same great race
as the Sauks and Misquakuiks.

Brothers! when our fathers came over the great waters, they were a small
band. The red man stood upon the rock by the seaside, and saw our
fathers. He might have pushed them into the water and drowned them. But
he stretched out his arm to our fathers and said, "Welcome, white men!"
Our fathers were hungry, and the red men gave them corn and venison. Our
fathers were cold, and the red man wrapped them up in his blanket. We
are now numerous and powerful, but we remember the kindness of the red
man to our fathers. Brothers, you are welcome; we are glad to see you.

Brothers! our faces are pale, and your faces are dark; but our hearts
are alike. The Great Spirit has made his children of different colors,
but he loves them all.

Brothers! you dwell between the Mississippi and the Missouri. They are
mighty rivers. They have one branch far East in the Alleghanies, and the
other far West in the Rocky Mountains; but they flow together at last
into one great stream, and run down together into the sea. In like
manner, the red man dwells in the West, and the white man in the East,
by the great waters; but they are all one branch, one family; it has
many branches and one head.

Brothers! as you entered our council house, you beheld the image of our
great Father Washington. It is a cold stone--it cannot speak. But he was
the friend of the red man, and bad his children live in peace with their
red brethren. He is gone to the world of spirits. But his words have
made a very deep print in our hearts, like the step of a strong buffalo
on the soft clay of the prairie.

Brother! I perceive your little son between your knees. God preserve his
life, my brother. He grows up before you like the tender sapling by the
side of the mighty oak. May the oak and the sapling flourish a long time
together. And when the mighty oak is fallen to the ground, may the