d; and the old men seated by his side
gazed upon him enquiringly, and put themselves in a listening attitude.
The speaker observing this, sat silent for a few moments, as if
collecting his thoughts; and then related the following tale:

"There has come a mighty change over the face of this country since the
time when I first emigrated here. The spot where now stand your
prettiest towns and villages, was then a howling wilderness. Instead of
the tinkling of the cow-bells and the merry whistle of the farmer-boy as
he calls his herd to the fold, might be heard the wild cry of the
panther, the howl of the wolf; and the equally appalling yell of the
aborigines. These were "times to try men's souls;" and it was then the
heart of oak and the sinews of iron which commanded respect. Let me
describe to you some scenes in which such men were the actors; scenes
which called forth all the energy of man's nature; and in the depths of
this western wilderness, many hundreds of Alexanders and Caesars, who
have never been heard of. At the time I emigrated to Ohio the deadly
hatred of the red men toward the whites had reached its acme. The rifle,
the tomahawk and the scalping knife were daily at work; and men, women
and children daily fell victims to this sanguinary spirit. In this state
I found things when I reached the small village opposite the month of
Licking river, and now the great city of Cincinnati. Here in this great
temple of nature man has taken up his abode, and all that he could wish
responds to his touch. The fields and meadows yield their produce, and
unmolested by the red man whom he had usurped, he enjoys the bounties of
a beneficent Creator. And where is the red man? Where is he! Like wax
before the flame he has melted away from before the white man, leaving
him no legacy save that courageous daring which will live in song long
after their last remnant shall have passed away. At the time when I
first stepped upon these grounds the red man still grasped the sceptre
which has since been wrenched from his hand. They saw the throne of
their fathers beginning to totter. Their realm had attracted the
cupidity of a race of strangers, and with maddening despair, they
grasped their falling power; and daily grew more desperate as they
became more endangered. I among the rest had now a view of this
exuberant west, this great valley of the Hesperides; and I determined to
assist in extirpating the red man, and to usurp the land of hi