The American Indians Part 41

THE INFLUENCE OF ARDENT SPIRITS ON THE CONDITION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

AN ADDRESS READ BEFORE THE CHIPPEWA COUNTY TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, AT SAULT STE-MARIE, MAY 8th, 1832.

The effects of intemperance on the character of nations and individuals have been often depicted, within a few years, in faithful colors, and by gifted minds. "Thoughts that breathe and words that burn" were once supposed to be confined, exclusively, to give melody to the lyre, and life to the canva.s.s. But the conceptions of modern benevolence have dispelled the illusion, and taught us that genius has no higher objects than the promotion of the greatest amount of good to man--that these objects come home to the "business and bosoms" of men in their every day avocations--that they lie level to every capacity, and never a.s.sume so exalted a character, as when they are directed to increase the sum of domestic happiness and fireside enjoyment--

"To mend the morals and improve the heart."

It is this consideration that gives to the temperance effort in our day, a refined and expansive character--

"Above all Greek, above all Roman fame"--

which has enlisted in its cause sound heads and glowing hearts, in all parts of our country--which is daily augmenting the sphere of its influence, and which has already carried its precepts and examples from the little sea-board village,[36] where it originated, to the foot of Lake Superior. And I have now the pleasure of seeing before me a society, a.s.sembled on their first public meeting, who have "banded together," not with such mistaken zeal as dictated the killing of Paul, or a.s.sa.s.sinating Caesar, but for giving their aid in staying the tide of intemperance which has been rolling westward for more than three centuries, sweeping away thousands of white and red men in its course--which has grown with the growth of the nation, and strengthened with its strength, and which threatens with an overwhelming moral desolation all who do not adopt the rigid maxim--

"Touch not, taste not, handle not."

[36] Andover.

The British critic of the last century little thought, while moralizing upon some of the weaknesses of individual genius, that he was uttering maxims which would encourage the exertions of voluntary a.s.sociations of men to put a stop to intemperance. It was as true then as now, that "in the bottle, discontent seeks for comfort, cowardice for courage, and bashfulness for confidence." It was as true then, as now, that the "negligence and irregularity" which are the fruits of this habit, "if long continued, will render knowledge useless, wit ridiculous, and genius contemptible." "Who," he exclaims, "that ever asked succor from Bacchus, was able to preserve himself from being enslaved by his auxiliary?"[37] And is there a species of servitude more pernicious in its influence, more degrading in its character, more destructive of all physical and intellectual power, than the slavery of inebriation? The rage of the conflagration--the devastation of the flood--the fury of the tempest, are emblematic of the moral fury of the mind under the influence of alcohol. It is equally ungovernable in its power, and destructive in its effects. But its devastations are more to be deplored, because they are the devastations of human faculties--of intellectual power--of animal energy--of moral dignity--of social happiness--of temporal health--of eternal felicity.

[37] Dr. Johnson.

Intemperance is emphatically the parent of disease, mental and physical.

Its direct effects are to blunt the faculty of correct thinking, and to paralyze the power of vigorous action. Nothing more effectually takes away from the human mind, its ordinary practical powers of discrimination and decision, without which man is like a leaf upon the tempest, or the chaff before the wind. Dr. Darwin has aptly compared the effects of spirituous liquors upon the lungs to the ancient fable of Prometheus stealing fire from heaven, who was punished for the theft by a vulture gnawing on the liver.[38] A striking allegory: but one which is not inaptly applied to characterize the painful and acute diseases which are visited upon the inebriate. Dr. Rush was an early advocate of the cause. He likened the effects of the various degrees of alcohol, in spirituous drinks, to the artificial mensuration of heat by the thermometer, and took a decided stand in pointing out its poisonous effects upon the system, in the generation of a numerous cla.s.s of diseases, acute and chronic.

[38] Zoonomia.

If unhealthy food had been the cause of such disorders, the article would be rigidly shunned. No man would choose to eat twice of the cicuta; to use bread having a portion of lime in it; or to drink frequently of a preparation of sugar of lead. Even the intemperate would fear to drink of alcohol, in its state of _chemical_ purity, for its effects would certainly be to arrest the functions of life. Yet he will drink of this powerful drug, if diluted with acids, saccharine and coloring matter, water and various impurities, under the disguised names of wine, brandy, rum, malt liquors, whisky, cordials, and mixed potations, which all tend to pamper the natural depravity of the human heart, and poison its powers of healthful action.

Alcohol is one of the preparations which were brought to light in the age of the Alchemysts--when the human mind had run mad in a philosophic research after two substances which were not found in nature--the philosopher's stone, and the universal panacea. One, it was believed, was to trans.m.u.te all substances it touched into gold, and the other, to cure all diseases. The two great desires of the world--_wealth_ and _long life_, were thus to be secured in a way which Moses and the Prophets had never declared. A degree of patient ascetic research was devoted to the investigation of natural phenomena, which the world had not before witnessed; and modern science is indebted to the mistaken labors of this race of chemical monks, for many valuable discoveries, which were, for the most part, stumbled on. So far as relates to the discovery of the alcoholic principle of grains, a singular reversal of their high antic.i.p.ations has ensued. They sought for a substance to enrich mankind, but found a substance to impoverish them: they sought a power to cure all diseases, but they found one to cause them. Alcohol is thus invested with great talismanic power: and this power is not to create, but to destroy--not to elevate, but to prostrate--not to impart life, but death.

How extensive its uses are, as a re-agent and solvent, in medicine and the arts--or if its place could be supplied, in any instances, by other substances--are questions to be answered by physicians and chemists. But admitting, what is probable to my own mind, that its properties and uses in pharmacy and the arts are indispensable in several operations, in the present state of our knowledge--does this furnish a just plea for its ordinary use, as a beverage, in a state of health? No more than it would, that because the lancet and the probe are useful in a state of disease, they should be continued in a state of health. And do not every cla.s.s of men who continue the use of ardent spirits, waste their blood by a diurnal exhaustion of its strength and healthy properties, more injurious than a daily depletion; and probe their flesh with a fluid too subtle for the physician to extract?

The transition from temperate to intemperate drinking, is very easy. And those who advocate, the _moderate_ use of distilled spirits are indeed the _real_ advocates of intemperance. No man ever existed, perhaps, who thought himself in danger of being enslaved by a practice, which he, _at first_, indulged in moderation. A habit of relying upon it is imperceptibly formed. Nature is soon led to expect the advent.i.tious aid, as a hale man, accustomed to wear a staff, may imagine he cannot do without it, until he has thrown it aside. If it communicates a partial energy, it is the energy of a convulsion. Its joy is a phrenzy. Its hope is a phantom. And all its exhibitions of changing pa.s.sion, so many melancholy proofs of

"the reasonable soul run mad."

Angelic beings are probably exalted above all human weaknesses.--But if there be anything in their survey of our actions which causes them to weep, it is the sight of a drunken father in the domestic circle.

Instructed reason, and sound piety, have united their voices in decrying the evils of intemperance. Physicians have described its effects in deranging the absorbent vessels of the stomach, and changing the healthy organization of the system. Moralists have portrayed its fatal influence on the intellectual faculties. Divines have pointed out its destructive powers on the soul. Poetry, philosophy and science, have mourned the numbers who have been cut down by it. Common sense has raised up its voice against it. It is indeed--

"----a monster of so frightful mien, That to be _hated_, needs but to be _seen_."

Like the genie of Arabic fable, it has risen up, where it was least expected, and stalked through the most secret and the most public apartments. And wherever it has appeared, it has prostrated the human mind. It has silenced the voice of eloquence in the halls of justice and legislation. It has absorbed the brain of the scientific lecturer. It has caused the sword to drop from the hand of the military leader. It has stupefied the author in his study, and the pastor in his desk. It has made the wife a widow in her youth, and caused the innocent child to weep upon a father's grave. We dare not look beyond it. Hope, who has attended the victim of intemperance through all the changes of his downward fortune, and not forsaken him in any other exigency, has forsaken _here_. Earth had its vanities to solace him, but eternity has none.

"Wounds of the heart--care, disappointment, loss, Love, joy, and friends.h.i.+p's fame, and fortune's cross, The wound that mars the flesh--the instant pain That racks the palsied limb, or fever'd brain, All--all the woes that life can _feel_ or miss, All have their hopes, cures, palliatives, but _this_-- This _only_--mortal canker of the mind, Grim Belial's _last_ attempt on human kind."

If such, then, are the effects of ardent spirits upon the condition of civilized man, who has the precepts of instructed reason to enlighten him, and the consolations of Christianity to support him, what must be the influence of intemperate habits upon the aboriginal tribes? I propose to offer a few considerations upon this subject. And in so doing I disclaim all intention of imputing to one nation of the European stock, more than the other, the national crime of having introduced ardent spirits among the American Indians. Spaniards, Portuguese, Swedes, Dutch, Italians, Russians, Germans, French and English, all come in for a share of the obloquy. They each brought ardent spirits to the New World--a proof, it may be inferred, of their general use, as a drink in Europe, at the era of the discovery. Whatever other articles the first adventurers took to operate upon the hopes and fears of the new found people, distilled or fermented liquor appears to have been, in no instance, overlooked or forgotten. It would be easy to show the use made of them in the West Indies, and in the southern part of our hemisphere.

But our object is confined to the colonies planted in the North. And in this portion of the continent the English and French have been the predominating powers. It had been well, if they had predominated in everything else--if they had only been rivals for courage, wisdom and dominion. If they had only fought to acquire civil power--conquered to spread Christianity--negotiated to perpetuate peace. But we have too many facts on record to show, that they were also rivals in spreading the reign of intemperance among the Indians; in gleaning, with avaricious hand, the furs from their lodges; in stimulating them to fight in their battles, and in leaving them to their own fate, when the battles were ended.

Nor do we, as Americans, affect to have suddenly succeeded to a better state of feelings respecting the natives than our English ancestry possessed. They were men of sterling enterprise; of undaunted resolution; of high sentiments of religious and political liberty. And we owe to them and to the peculiar circ.u.mstances in which Providence placed us, all that we are, as a free and a prosperous people. But while they bequeathed to us these sentiments as the preparatives of our own national destiny, they also bequeathed to us their peculiar opinions respecting the Indian tribes. And these opinions have been cherished with obstinacy, even down to our own times. The n.o.ble sentiments of benevolence of the 19th century had not dawned, when we a.s.sumed our station in the family of nations. If they were felt by gifted individuals, they were not felt by the body of the nation. Other duties--the imperious duties of self-existence, national poverty, wasted resources, a doubtful public credit, a feeble population, hara.s.sing frontier wars, pressed heavily upon us. But we have seen all these causes of national depression pa.s.sing away, in less than half a century.

With them, it may be hoped, have pa.s.sed away, every obstacle to the exercise of the most enlarged charity, and enlightened philanthropy, respecting the native tribes.

Nationality is sometimes as well characterized by small as by great things--by names, as by customs. And this may be observed in the treatment of the Indians, so far as respects the subject of ardent spirits. Under the French government they were liberally supplied with brandy. Under the English, with Jamaica rum. Under the Americans, with whisky. These const.i.tute the fire, the gall, and the poison ages of Indian history. Under this triple curse they have maintained an existence in the face of a white population. But it has been an _existence_ merely. Other nations are said to have had a golden age. But there has been no golden age for them. If there ever was a state of prosperity among them, which may be likened to it, it was when their camps were crowned with temporal abundance--when the races of animals, furred and unfurred, placed food and clothing within the reach of all--and when they knew no intoxicating drink. To counterbalance these advantages, they were, however, subject to many evils. They were then, as they are now, indolent, improvident, revengeful, warlike. Bravery, manual strength, and eloquence, were the cardinal virtues. And their own feuds kept them in a state of perpetual insecurity and alarm. The increased value given to furs, by the arrival of Europeans, created a new era in their history, and accelerated their downfall. It gave an increased energy and new object to the chase. To reward their activity in this employment, ardent spirits became the _bounty_, rather than the _price_. A two-fold injury ensued. The animals upon whose flesh they had subsisted became scarce, and their own const.i.tutions were undermined with the subtle stimulant.

Historical writers do not always agree: but they coincide in their testimony respecting the absence of any intoxicating drink among the northern Indians, at the time of the discovery. It is well attested that the Azteeks, and other Mexican and Southern tribes, had their _pulque_, and other intoxicating drinks, which they possessed the art of making from various native grains and fruits. But the art itself was confined, with the plants employed, to those lat.i.tudes. And there is no historical evidence to prove that it was ever known or practised by the tribes situated north and east of the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Robertson, an able and faithful describer of Indian manners, fully concurs with the Jesuit authors, in saying that no such beverage was known in the north, until Europeans found it for their pecuniary interest to supply it. After which, intoxication became as common among the northern as the southern tribes.[39]

[39] Robertson's History of America.

Three hundred and forty years ago there was not a white man in America.

Columbus discovered the West India Islands; but Cabot and Verrizani were the discoverers of North America. Cartier and Hudson followed in the track. The first interview of Hudson with the Mohegan tribes, took place at the mouth of the river which now bears his name. It is remarkable as the scene of the first Indian intoxication among them. He had no sooner cast anchor, and landed from his boat, and pa.s.sed a friendly salutation with the natives, than he ordered a bottle of ardent spirits to be brought. To show that he did not intend to offer them what he would not himself taste, an attendant poured him out a cup of the liquor, which he drank off. The cup was then filled and pa.s.sed to the Indians. But they merely smelled of it and pa.s.sed it on. It had nearly gone round the circle untasted, when one of the chiefs, bolder than the rest, made a short harangue, saying it would be disrespectful to return it untasted, and declaring his intention to drink off the potion, if he should be killed in the attempt. He drank it off. Dizziness and stupor immediately ensued. He sank down and fell into a sleep--the sleep of death, as his companions thought. But in due time he awoke--declared the happiness he had experienced from its effects--asked again for the cup, and the whole a.s.sembly followed his example.[40]

[40] Heckewelder's Account of the Indians.

Nor was the first meeting with the New England tribes very dissimilar.

It took place at Plymouth, in 1620. Ma.s.sasoit, the celebrated chief of the Pokanokets, came to visit the new settlers, not long after their landing. He was received by the English governor with military music and the discharge of some muskets. After which, the Governor kissed his hand. Ma.s.sasoit then kissed him, and they both sat down together. "A pot of strong water," as the early writers expressed it, was then ordered, from which both drank. The chief, in his simplicity, drank so great a draught that it threw him into a violent perspiration during the remainder of the interview.[41]

[41] Purchas' Pilgrims, Part iv., book x.

The first formal interview of the French with the Indians of the St.

Lawrence is also worthy of being referred to, as it appears to have been the initial step in vitiating the taste of the Indians, by the introduction of a foreign drink. It took place in 1535, on board one of Cartier's s.h.i.+ps, lying at anchor near the Island of Orleans, forty-nine years before the arrival of Amidas and Barlow on the coast of Virginia.

Donnaconna, a chief who is courteously styled the "Lord of Agouhanna,"

visited the s.h.i.+p with twelve canoes. Ten of these he had stationed at a distance, and with the other two, containing sixteen men, he approached the vessels. When he drew near the headmost vessel, he began to utter an earnest address, accompanied with violent gesticulation. Cartier hailed his approach in a friendly manner. He had, the year before, captured two Indians on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and he now addressed the chief through their interpretation. Donnaconna listened to his native language with delight, and was so much pleased with the recital they gave, that he requested Cartier to reach his arm over the side of the vessel, that he might kiss it. He was not content with this act of salutation, but fondled it, by drawing the arm gently around his neck. His watchful caution did not, however, permit him to venture on board. Cartier, willing to give him a proof of his confidence, then descended into the chief's canoe, and ordered bread and wine to be brought. They ate and drank together, all the Indians present partic.i.p.ating in the banquet, which appears to have been terminated in a temperate manner.[42]

[42] Hackluyt's Voyages.

But like most _temperate_ beginnings in the use of spirits, it soon led to intemperance in its most repulsive forms. The taste enkindled by wine, was soon fed with brandy, and spread among the native bands like a wildfire. It gave birth to disease, discord, and crime, in their most shocking forms. Too late the government and the clergy saw their error, and attempted to arrest it; but it was too deeply seated among their own countrymen, as well as among the Indians. Every effort proved unsuccessful; and the evil went on until the Canadas were finally transferred to the British crown, with this "mortal canker" burning upon the northern tribes. Those who have leisure and curiosity to turn to the early writers, will see abundant evidence of its deep and wide-spread influence. It became the ready means of rousing to action a people averse to long continued exertion of any kind. It was the reward of the chase. It was the price of blood. It was the great bar to the successful introduction of Christianity. It is impossible that the Indian should both drink and pray. It was impossible _then_, and it is impossible _now_: and the missionary who entered the forest, with the Bible and crucifix in one hand, and the bottle in the other, might say, with the Roman soliloquist, who deliberated on self-murder,

"My bane and antidote are both before me: While _this_ informs me I shall never die, _This_ in a moment brings me to my end."

National rivalry, between the English and French governments, gave a character of extreme bitterness to the feelings of the Indians, and served to promote the pa.s.sion for strong drink. It added to the horrors of war, and acc.u.mulated the miseries of peace. It was always a struggle between these nations which should wield the Indian power; and, so far as religion went, it was a struggle between the Catholic and Protestant tenets. It was a power which both had, in a measure, the means of putting into motion: but neither had the _complete_ means of controlling it, if we concede to them the _perfect_ will. It would have mitigated the evil, if this struggle for mastering the Indian mind had terminated with a state of war, but it was kept up during the feverish intermissions of peace. Political influence was the ever-present weight in each side of the scale. Religion threw in her aid; but it was trade, the possession of the fur trade, that gave the preponderating weight.

And there is nothing in the history of this rivalry, from the arrival of Roberval to the death of Montcalm, that had so permanently pernicious an influence as the sanction which this trade gave to the use of ardent spirits.

We can but glance at this subject; but it is a glance at the track of a tornado. Destruction lies in its course. The history of the fur trade is closely interwoven with the history of intemperance among the Indians.

We know not how to effect the separation. Look at it in what era you will, the barter in ardent spirits const.i.tutes a prominent feature. From Jamestown to Plymouth--from the island of Manhattan to the Lake of the Hills, the traffic was introduced at the earliest periods. And we cannot now put our finger on the map, to indicate a spot where ardent spirits is not known to the natives. Is it at the mouth of the Columbia, the sources of the Multnomah, or the Rio del Norde--the pa.s.ses of the Rocky Mountains on Peace River, or the sh.o.r.es of the Arctic Sea? It is known at all these places. The natives can call it by name, and they place a value on its possession. We do not wish to convey the idea that it is abundant at these remote places. We have reason to believe it is seldom seen. But we also believe that in proportion as it is scarce--in proportion as the quant.i.ty is small, and the occasion of its issue rare, so is the price of it in sale, and the value of it in gift, enhanced.

And just so far as it is used, it is pernicious in effect, unnecessary in practice, unwise in policy.

The French, who have endeared themselves so much in the affections of the Indians, were earlier in Canada than the English upon the United States' coast. Cartier's treat of wine and bread to the Iroquois of the St. Lawrence, happened eighty-five years before the landing of the Pilgrims. They were also earlier to perceive the evils of an unrestrained trade, in which nothing was stipulated, and nothing prohibited. To prevent its irregularities, licenses were granted by the French government to individuals, on the payment of a price. It was a boon to superannuated officers, and the number was limited. In 1685, the number was twenty-five. But the remedy proved worse than the disease.

These licenses became negotiable paper. They were sold from hand to hand, and gave birth to a traffic, which a.s.sumed the same character in _temporal_ affairs, that "indulgences" did in _spiritual_. They were, in effect, licenses to commit every species of wrong, for those who got them at last, were generally persons under the government of no high standard of moral responsibility; and as they may be supposed to have paid well for them, they were sure to make it up by excessive exactions upon the Indians. _Courier du bois_, was the term first applied to them.

_Merchant voyageur_, was the appellation at a subsequent period. But whatever they were called, one spirit actuated them--the spirit of acquiring wealth by driving a gainful traffic with an ignorant people, and for this purpose ardent spirits was but too well adapted. They transported it, along with articles of necessity, up long rivers, and over difficult portages. And when they had reached the borders of the Upper Lakes, or the banks of the Sasketchawine, they were too far removed from the influence of courts, both judicial and ecclesiastical, to be in much dread of them. Feuds, strifes, and murders ensued. Crime strode unchecked through the land. Every Indian trader became a legislator and a judge. His word was not only a law, but it was a law which possessed the property of undergoing as many repeals and mutations as the interest, the pride, or the pa.s.sion of the individual rendered expedient. If wealth was acc.u.mulated, it is _not_ intended to infer that the pressing wants of the Indians were not relieved--that the trade was not a very acceptable and important one to them, and that great peril and expense were not encountered, and a high degree of enterprise displayed in its prosecution. But it is contended, that if _real_ wants were relieved, _artificial_ ones were created--that if it subst.i.tuted the gun for the bow, and shrouds and blankets in the place of the more expensive clothing of beaver skins, it also subst.i.tuted ardent spirits for water--intoxication for sobriety--disease for health.

Those who entertain the opinion that the fall of Quebec, celebrated in England and America as a high military achievement, and the consequent surrender of Canada, produced any very important improvement in this state of things, forget that the leading principles and desires of the human heart are alike in all nations, acting under like circ.u.mstances.

The desire of ama.s.sing wealth--the thirst for exercising power--the pride of information over ignorance--the power of vicious over virtuous principles, are not confined to particular eras, nations, or lat.i.tudes.

They belong to mankind, and they will be pursued with a zeal as irrespective of equal and exact justice, wherever they are not restrained by the enn.o.bling maxims of Christianity.

Whoever feels interested in looking back into this period of our commercial Indian affairs, is recommended to peruse the published statistical and controversial volumes, growing out of the Earl of Selkirk's schemes of colonization, and to the proceedings of the North West Company. This iron monopoly grew up out of private adventure. Such golden accounts were brought out of the country by the Tods, the Frobishers, and the M'Tavishes, and M'Gillvrays, who first visited it, that every bold man, who had either talents or money, rushed to the theatre of action. The boundary which had been left to the French, as the limit of trade, was soon pa.s.sed. The Missinipi, Athabasca, Fort Chipewyan, Slave lake, Mackenzie's and Copper Mine Rivers, the Unjigah and the Oregon, were reached in a few years. All Arctic America was penetrated. The British government is much indebted to Scottish enterprise for the extension of its power and resources in this quarter.