5S Big Elk's Speech.- 



poetry, or endless endeavonrs at subli- 

 ir.ity of expression; but 1 would have it 

 exalted a little above prose in the most 

 luixiible species, and carry aa air of some 

 dignity and importaiice. 



'I'rivial as the remark may appear, it 

 is yery well for a boy of fourteen, who 

 was reading Cato, and cominj^ to that 

 part which is so highly celebrated by 

 some of the author's friends, 

 " So the pure limpid stream when foul 



with staias;" 

 the lad burst into a fit of laughing, and 

 cried, here is a bull — wlioevcr thought 

 that tiie stream could be pure and lim- 

 pid, yet at the same time foul with 

 stains? I could not iielp joining the 

 laugh at the archness of the boy's ob- 

 servation, though tlie crificism might 

 seem too low for judgments of more 

 experience and maturity. Hut why do 

 I entertain a fellow of your abilities in 

 this manner, who are so greatly a supe- 

 rior master of the subject. I am some- 

 how fond of scribbling, and become tri- 

 fling for the sake of spinning out a let- 

 ter. — If possible, I shall take an airing 

 down your way on Saturday, and pray 

 let me have a little leg of lamb, with 

 some spinnacb and plain butter, to re- 

 gale on. AVhere I ditie in town, they 

 starve me with luxury ; and I have sat 

 at many a table where I had not a bit 

 of any thing to eat, because I had too 

 much of every thing. You and I can 

 go down to the bottom of the garden, 

 aud manage a bottle or two of that ex- 

 cellent ale after dinner, and enjoy what 

 you are good-naturedly pleased to call 

 "The feai-t of reason, and the flow of soul." 



Farewell, dear Pope, and believe mc 

 lo be your own Bolingbroke. 



INDIAN ELOQUENCE. From the same. 



The following speech of the chief 

 Big Elk, is worthy of preservation in 

 the history of aboriginal American elo- 

 quence, for the liigh-miudcd feeling 

 and compass of intejlect which it ex- 

 hibits, we doubt if it be sin-passed by 

 any morsel of t!ie kind that has been 

 placed on record — llio rslebratcd speech 

 of Logan not excepted. 



" On the night of the 14tli Jnly, the 

 Black Buffaloc, principal chief of the 

 Teton tribe of Indians, departed this 

 life at Portage Des Sioux. The suc- 

 ceeding day he was solemnly interred 

 ■with the honours of war. Robert Wash, 

 esq. secretary to the commissioners, has 

 furnished the following speech, delivered 

 over the grave by the Eig Elk, Maha 

 chief. It is trnly eloquent, and is li- 

 terally jjiven." — Edit. West Journal. 



-'Speech of Logan. fAug. 1, ' 



Big Elk's Speech. 



Do not grieve. Misfortunes will hap- 

 pen to the wisest and best men. Death 

 will come, and always comes out of 

 season. It is the command of the Great 

 Spirit, and all nations and people must 

 obey. What is past and camiot be pre- 

 vented, should not be grieved for. Be 

 not discouraged or displeased, then, that 

 in visiting your father here you have lost 

 your chief. A misfortune of this kind 

 may never again befall you; but this 

 ■would have attended you, perhaps, at 

 your own village. Five times Lave I 

 visited this land and never returned 

 with sorrow or pain. Misfortunes do 

 not flourish particularly in our path. 

 They grow every wiicre. (Addressing 

 himself to governor Edwards and Col. 

 Millfv.) What a misfortune for m« 

 that I could not have died this day, in- 

 stead of the chief that lies before us. 

 The trifling loss my nation would have 

 sustained in my death, would have been 

 doubly paid for by the honours of my 

 burial. They would have wiped off 

 every thing like regret. Instead of be- 

 ing covered with a cloud of sorrow, mj 

 warriors would have felt the sunshine 

 of joy in their iiearls. To me it would 

 have been a most glorious occurrence. 

 Hereafter, when I die at home, instead 

 of a noble grave and a grand procession, 

 the rolling music and the thundering 

 cannon, with a flag waving at my head 

 • — I shall be wrapped in a robe, (an old 

 robe perhaps,) and hoisted on a slender 

 scaffold to the whistling winds, soon to 

 be blown to the earth — my flesh to be 

 devoured by the wolves, and my bones 

 rattled on the plain by the Mild beasts. 



(Addresses himself to Col. Miller.) 

 Chief of the Soldiers, 



Your labours have not been in vain. 

 Your attenton shall not be forgotten. 

 My nation shall know the respect that 

 is paid over the dead. — When I return 

 I will echo the sound of your guns. 

 Speech of Logan. 



I appeal to any white man to say, if 

 ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, 

 and he gave him not meat: if ever he 

 came cold and naked, and he clothed 

 him not. During the course of the last 

 long and bloody war, Logan remained 

 idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. 

 Such was my love for the whites, that 

 my countrymen pointed as they passed, 

 and said, ' Logan is the friend of whitff 

 men.' I had even Ihought to have lived 

 with yon, but for the injuries of ona 

 man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring. 

 Ml cold blood, aud lui^jrovokcd, mur» 



