Without laying claim to this country by right of conquest, without pleading even the mockery of cession, or the cheatery of sale, we have unhesitatingly entered upon, occupied, and disposed of its lands, spreading forth a new population over its surface, and driving before us the original inhabitants.

To sanction this aggression, we have not, in the abstract, the slightest shadow of either right or justice—­we have not even the extenuation of endeavouring to compensate those we have injured, or the merit of attempting to mitigate the sufferings our presence inflicts.

It is often argued, that we merely have taken what the natives did not require, or were making no use of; that we have no wish to interfere with them if they do not interfere with us, but rather that we are disposed to treat them with kindness and conciliation, if they are willing to be friends with us.  What, however, are the actual facts of the case; and what is the position of a tribe of natives, when their country is first taken possession of by Europeans.

It is true that they do not cultivate the ground; but have they, therefore, no interest in its productions?  Does it not supply grass for the sustenance of the wild animals upon which in a great measure they are dependent for their subsistence?—­does it not afford roots and vegetables to appease their hunger?—­water to satisfy their thirst, and wood to make their fire?—­or are these necessaries left to them by the white man when he comes to take possession of their soil?  Alas, it is not so! all are in turn taken away from the original possessors.  The game of the wilds that the European does not destroy for his amusement are driven away by his flocks and herds. [Note 42 at end of para.] The waters are occupied and enclosed, and access to them in frequently forbidden.  The fields are fenced in, and the natives are no longerat liberty to dig up roots—­the white man claims the timber, and the very firewood itself is occasion ally denied to them.  Do they pass by the habitation of the intruder, they are probably chased away or bitten by his dogs, and for this they can get no redress. [Note 43 at end of para.] Have they dogs of their own, they are unhesitatingly shot or worried because they are an annoyance to the domestic animals of the Europeans.  Daily and hourly do their wrongs multiply upon them.  The more numerous the white population becomes, and the more advanced the stage of civilization to which the settlement progresses, the greater are the hardships that fall to their lot and the more completely are they cut off from the privileges of their birthright.  All that they have is in succession taken away from them—­their amusements, their enjoyments, their possessions, their freedom—­and all that they receive in return is obloquy, and contempt, and degradation, and oppression. [Note 44 appears after note 43, below]

[Note 42:  “But directly an European settles down in the country, his constant residence in one spot soon sends the animals away from it, and although he may in no other way interfere with the natives, the mere circumstance of his residing there, does the man on whose land he settles the injury of depriving him of his ordinary means of subsistence.”—­Grey’s travels, vol. ii. p. 298.