te links of title are chained to the
adamantine pillars of the law;--how much more glory belongs to them when
this eloquence, this learning, and this genius, are employed in defence
of their country; when they breathe forth the purest spirit of morality
and virtue in support of the rights of mankind; when they expound the
lofty doctrines which sustain and connect, and guide the destinies of
nations; when they combat popular delusions at the expense of fame, and
friendship, and political honors; when they triumph by arresting the
progress of error and the march of power, and drive back the torrent
that threatens destruction equally to public liberty and to private
property, to all that delights us in private life, and all that gives
grace and authority in public office.

* * * * *

=_Lewis Cass,[23] 1782-1866._=

From his "Report of the Secretary of War." December 1831.

=_91._= POLICY OF REMOVING THE INDIANS.

The associations which bind the Indians to the land of their forefathers
are strong and enduring; and these must be broken by their emigration.
But they are also broken by our citizens, who every day encounter all
the difficulties of similar changes in pursuit of the means of support.
And the experiments that have been made satisfactorily show that,
by proper precautions and liberal appropriations, the removal and
establishment of the Indians can be effected with little comparative
trouble to them, or us.... If they remain, they must decline, and
eventually disappear. Such is the result of all experience. If they
remove, they may be comfortably established, and their moral and
physical condition ameliorated....

The great moral debt we owe to this unhappy race is universally felt and
acknowledged. Diversities of opinion exist respecting the proper mode of
discharging this obligation, but its validity is not denied.

Indolent in his habits, the Indian is opposed to labor; improvident
in his mode of life, he has little foresight in providing, or care in
preserving. Taught from infancy to reverence his own traditions and
institutions, he is satisfied of their value, and dreads the anger of
the Great Spirit, if he should depart from the customs of his fathers.
Devoted to the use of ardent spirits, he abandons himself to
its indulgence without restraint. War and hunting are his only
occupations.... Shall they be advised to remain, or remove? If the
former, their fate is written