Speech of Captain Brant to Lord Sidney.
"My Lord,
"I am happy at the honor of being before your Lordship, and having an opportunity of delivering the following speech to you, in behalf of the Five United Nations of Indians, and their confederates in North America.
"The cause of my coming to England being of the most serious consequence to the whole Indian Confederacy, I intreat your Lordship patiently to hear and listen to what I am going to say.
"We hope it is a truth well known in this country, what a faithful part we took in their behalf in the late dispute with the Americans; and though we have been told peace has long since been concluded between you and them, it is not finally settled with us, which causes great uneasiness through all the Indian nations.
"When we heard peace was made between his Majesty and the Americans, we made application to General Haldimand at Quebec, to know our situation, delivering him a speech at the same time, which we requested might be sent to the King—a copy of which I now deliver to your Lordship.
"Having in that speech, in as few words as possible, pointed out what friendship we had shown to the English from the earliest time of their arrival in America, and being conscious of the active part our forefathers and we had taken in their favor in every dispute they have had with their enemies, we were struck with astonishment at hearing we were forgot in the treaty. Notwithstanding the manner we were told this, we could not believe it possible such firm friends and allies could be so neglected by a nation remarkable for its honor and glory, whom we had served with so much zeal and fidelity. For this reason we applied to the King's Commander-in-chief, in Canada in a friendly and private way, wishing not to let those people in rebellion know the concern and trouble we were under. From the time of delivering that speech, near three years, we have had no answer, and remain in a state of great suspense and uneasiness of mind. This is well known to the officers who commanded at the upper posts in America, as is also our zeal for His Majesty's service during the war.
"Our trouble and distress is greatly increased by many things the Americans have said, to whom we have avoided giving any direct answers, or entering into any engagements with, before we have an answer. On the arrival of Sir John Johnson, our Superintendent-General, in Canada, we hoped to have received it; in full expectation of which, several of our first and principal chiefs came down the country to meet him and hear it, and were very much mortified and sorry at being disappointed. It was then resolved that I should come to England, and I hope the necessity we are under of getting this answer will plead my excuse for the trouble I give your Lordship.
"It is, my Lord, the earnest desire of the Five United Nations, and the whole Indian Confederacy, that I may have an answer to that speech; and from our present situation, as well as that of the American States, who have surveyed and laid out great part of the lands in our country, on our side of the boundary line fixed at Fort Stanwix in 1765, the last time we granted any territory to the King, (at which time some of the governors attended in person, and where they did not, commissioners, vested with full powers, appeared on their behalf; so that we had all the reason to hope that the transaction was binding with respect to all parties,) but through their encroaching disposition, we have found they pay little regard to engagements, and are therefore apprehensive of immediate serious consequences. This we shall avoid to the utmost of our power, as dearly as we love our lands. But should it, contrary to our wishes, happen, we desire to know whether we are to be considered as His Majesty's faithful allies, and have that support and countenance such as old and true friends expect.
"I beg liberty to tell your Lordship, that your answer to these matters will be the means of relieving all our nations from that very troublesome and uneasy suspense they now labor under, and this they all hope for on my return.
"JOS. BRANT, Captain, or Thayendanegea.
"London, 4th Jan. 1786. The Right Hon. Lord Sidney."
The forest chief was not an unsuccessful envoy, as will appear by the subjoined communication from Lord Sidney—so far at least as relates to the indemnification claimed by the Mohawks and their allies of the Six Nations:—
Lord Sidney to Captain Brant.
"Whitehall, 6th April, 1786.
"Sir,
"The King has had under his royal consideration the two letters which you delivered to me on the 4th of January last, in the presence of Colonel Johnson and other officers of the Indian Department; the first of them representing the claims of the Mohawks for losses sustained by them and other tribes of Indians, from the depredations committed on their lands by the Americans during the late war; and the second, expressing the desire of the confederacy to be informed what assistance they might expect from this country in case they should be engaged in disputes with the Americans relative to their lands, situated within the territory to which His Majesty has relinquished his sovereignty.
"Were the right of individuals to compensation for losses sustained by the depredations of an enemy to be admitted, no country, however opulent it might be, could support itself under such a burthen, especially when the contest happens to have taken an unfavorable turn. His Majesty, upon this ground, conceives that, consistently with every principle of justice, he might withhold his royal concurrence to the liquidation of those demands; but His Majesty, in consideration of the zealous and hearty exertions of his Indian allies in the support of his cause, and as a proof of his most friendly disposition toward them, has been graciously pleased to consent that the losses already certified by his Superintendent-General shall be made good; that a favorable attention shall be shown to the claims of others, who have pursued the same system of conduct; and that Sir Guy Carleton, his Governor General of his American dominions, shall take measures for carrying his royal commands into execution immediately after his arrival at Quebec.
"This liberal conduct on the part of His Majesty, he trusts, will not leave a doubt upon the minds of his Indian allies that he shall at all times be ready to attend to their future welfare; and that he shall be anxious, upon every occasion wherein their happiness may be concerned, to give them such farther testimonies of his royal favor and countenance, as can, consistently with a due regard to the national faith, and the honor and dignity of his crown, be afforded to them.
"His Majesty recommends to his Indian allies to continue united in their councils, and that their measures may be conducted with temper and moderation; from which, added to a peaceable demeanor on their part, they must experience many essential benefits, and be most likely to secure to themselves the possession of those rights and privileges which their ancestors have heretofore enjoyed.
"I have the honor to be, With great truth and regard, Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, Sidney.
"To Captain Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea."
It appears, that during his negotiations with the ministers, conversations had been held touching his claim to half-pay; but from the loss of papers, it is difficult to arrive at the precise circumstances of the case. Captain Brant held His Majesty's commission during the war as a Captain. But it was probably a special commission, not in the regular line of the army, and consequently there may have been doubts as to his title to half-pay on the reduction which followed the war. No matter, however, for the exact circumstances of the case, such doubts were entertained, and were the occasion of the following magnanimous letter from the chief to one of his Majesty's under Secretaries, a copy of which was preserved among the private papers of the warrior:—
Captain Brant to Sir Evan Nepean. (No Date.)
"Sir:—
"Since I had the pleasure of seeing you last, I have been thinking a great deal about the half-pay, or pension, which you and I have talked about.
"I am really sorry that I ever mentioned such a thing to you. It was really owing to promises made to me by certain persons several times during the late war, that I should always be supported by the government, at war or peace. At that time I never asked any body to make me such a promise. It was of their own free will.
"When I joined the English at the beginning of the war, it was purely on account of my forefathers' engagements with the King. I always looked upon these engagements, or covenants, between the King and the Indian Nations, as a sacred thing. Therefore I was not to be frighted by the threats of the rebels at that time. I assure you I had no other view in it. And this was my real case from the beginning.
"However, after this, the English gave me pay and a commission from the Commander-in-chief, which I gladly received as a mark of attention, though I never asked for it; and I believe my trouble and risques was of equal value to the marks of attention I received; I am sure not too much in the eyes of the Indians, or I should not have accepted them, as I should be sorry to raise jealousies. My meaning for mentioning those things to you, is because I saw there was some difficulty on your part how to act on this head relative to half-pay or pension;—and when it does not seem clear, I should be sorry to accept it. Therefore I beg of you will say no more about it;—for was I to get it when there were doubts about the propriety of it, I should not be happy. For which reason I think it is best to go without it.
"I am now, Sir, to beg you will return my best thanks to Government for what they [have] done for me, and am, Sir,
"Your most obedient, Humble servant, Joseph Brant.
"To Sir Evan Nepean, Under Secretary, at Home."
There are a frankness and manliness of tone and spirit in this letter, which will illustrate a striking feature in the character of the writer, and are worthy of high approbation. It is the only paper of any consequence connected with the Captain's mission to England, in addition to those already cited, that remains.
The chieftain's visit must have been most agreeable, since, in addition to the success which crowned his labors in regard to the claims of the Indians, no pains were spared to render his residence in London one of uninterrupted gratification. He was caressed by the noble and the great, and was alike welcome at court or at the banquets of the heir apparent—who, with all his faults, was "the first gentleman in the realm;"—a fine classical scholar himself, and a lover of genius and intellect—-of letters and men of letters—of sparkling wit, as well as wine. Among his most frequent guests were Fox, Burke, and Sheridan, and others of that splendid galaxy of eloquence and intellect—the master spirits of the opposition in the House of Commons—who were at that time basking in the sunshine of the Prince's favor, and living in the hope of more substantial things to come. Though deficient in his literary acquisitions, Brant, with great strength of mind and shrewdness of observation, had, moreover, sufficient taste and cultivation to appreciate society, even of this elevated and intellectual character. The natural reserve of the Indian temperament he could assume or throw off at pleasure, and with a keen sense of the ludicrous, he could himself use the weapons of humor and sarcasm with a good share of skill and dexterity.
Several anecdotes have been preserved in well-authenticated tradition, illustrative of these traits of character. One of these is the following:—Among the gentlemen of rank with whom Brant was acquainted, was a nobleman of whom it was scandalously reported that his place was purchased by the illicit favors bestowed upon another by his beautiful wife. On one occasion his Lordship undertook to rally the forest chief upon the subjects of the wild and rude manners and customs of the Indians, to which they pertinaciously adhered notwithstanding all the attempts made to improve them by the arts of civilization. Some of their absurd practices, of which the English, as his Lordship remarked, thought very strange, were particularised. Brant listened very patiently until it became his turn to speak, when he replied that there were customs in England, also, of which the Indians thought very strange. "And pray what are they?" inquired his Lordship. "Why," answered the chief, "the Indians have heard that it is a practice in England for men who are born chiefs to sell the virtue of their squaws for place, and for money to buy their venison!" The Mohawk occupied a position which enabled him to say what he pleased with impunity. But in the present instance the rebuke was doubly withering,—from the gravity and assumed simplicity with which it was uttered, and the certainty that the titled gentleman could not mistake the direction of the arrow, while he could neither parry nor avoid, nor appear to notice it.
During his stay in London, a grand fancy ball, or masquerade, was got up with great splendor, and numerously attended by the nobility and gentry. Captain Brant, at the instance of Earl Moira, was also present, richly dressed in the costume of his nation, wearing no mask, but painting one half of his face. His plumes nodded as proudly in his cap as though the blood of a hundred Percies coursed through his veins, and his tomahawk glittered in his girdle like burnished silver. There was, likewise, in the gay and gallant throng a stately Turkish diplomat of rank, accompanied by two houris, whose attention was particularly attracted by the grotesque appearance of the chieftain's singular, and, as he supposed, fantastic attire. The pageant was brilliant as the imagination could desire; but among the whole motley throng of pilgrims and warriors, hermits and shepherds, knights, damsels, and gipsies, there was, to the eye of the Mussulman, no character so picturesque and striking as that of the Mohawk; which, being natural, appeared to be the best made up. He scrutinised the chief very closely, and mistaking his rouge et noir complexion for a painted visor, the Turk took the liberty of attempting to handle his nose. Brant had, of course, watched the workings of his observation, and felt in the humor of a little sport. No sooner, therefore, had Hassan touched his facial point of honor, under the mistaken idea that it was of no better material than the parchment nose of the Strasburgh trumpeter, than the Chieftain made the hall resound with the appalling war-whoop, and at the same instant the tomahawk leaped from his girdle, and flashed around the astounded Mussulman's head as though his good master, the Sultan, in a minute more, would be relieved from any future trouble in the matter of taking it off. Such a piercing and frightful cry had never before rung through that salon of fashion; and breaking suddenly, and with startling wildness, upon the ears of the merry throng, its effect was prodigious. The Turk himself trembled with terror, while the female masquers—the gentle shepherdesses, and fortune-telling crones, Turks, Jews and gipsies, bear-leaders and their bears, Falstaffs, friars, and fortune-tellers, Sultans, nurses and Columbines, shrieked, screamed and scudded away as though the Mohawks had broken into the festive hall in a body. The matter, however, was soon explained; and the incident was accounted as happy in the end as it was adroitly enacted by the good-humored Mohawk. [FN]
[FN] This incident was somewhat differently related by the British Magazine, which represented that the weapon was raised by Brant in sober earnest; he having taken the freedom of the Turk for a real indignity. But such was clearly not the fact. His friends never so understood it.
But neither the pleasures of society, nor the follies of the Prince of Wales, nor the special business of his mission, nor the views of political ambition which he was cherishing, made him forgetful of the moral wants of his people. Notwithstanding the ceaseless activity of his life, he had found time to translate the Gospel of Mark into the Mohawk language; and as most of the Indian Prayer and Psalm Books previously in use had been either lost or destroyed during the war, the opportunity of his visit was chosen by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, to bring out a new and superior edition of that work, under Brant's own supervision, and including the Gospel of Mark as translated by him. This was the first of the Gospels ever translated entire into the Mohawk language. The book was elegantly printed in large octavo, under the immediate patronage of the King. It was printed in alternate pages of English and Mohawk; and the volume contained the psalms and occasional prayers before published, together with the services of communion, baptism, matrimony, and the burial of the dead. It was embellished with a number of scriptural engravings, elegant for the state of the arts at that day; the frontispiece representing the interior of a chapel, with portraits of the King and Queen, a bishop standing at either hand, and groups of Indians receiving the sacred books from both their Majesties. [FN]
[FN] A handsome copy of this valuable book, in morocco gilt, has been loaned to the author by Mrs. Kerr. It belonged to the widow of the old chief, and contains the record of his death.
It is not known at what time of the year 1786 Captain Brant turned his back upon the gay metropolis of England, to bury himself once more in the deep forests toward the setting sun. It must, however, have been soon after receiving Lord Sidney's dispatch of April 6th, since, among the papers of the chief, there is a letter addressed to him after his return, by Major Matthews, who was attached to the military family of Sir Guy Carleton, dated at Montreal, July 24, 1786. Early in the month of December following he will also be found attending an Indian Council far in the country of the Great Lakes.
Difficulties between Great Britain and the United States after the Treaty—Refusal of the former to surrender the western posts—Mission of Baron Steuben to Canada—Indications of fresh Indian hostilities—Movements of Captain Brant—Grand Indian Council at the Huron Village—Address to the United States—Letter of the Secretary at War, General Knox, to Captain Brant—Letter of Sir John Johnson to Brant—Letter of Major Matthews to Brant, disclosing the views of Lord Dorchester respecting the retention of the western posts—Message from the Hurons to the Five Nations, proposing another grand Council—Preparations of General St. Clair for negotiating with the Indians—Brant begins to distrust them all—Letter of Brant to Patrick Langan, Sir John Johnson's Secretary—Letter of Brant to Sir John Johnson—Great Council at Miamis—Letter of Captain Brant to Patrick Langan—St. Clair's negotiations at Fort Harmar—The policy of dividing to conquer—letter of Captain Brant to Major Matthews—Jealousies of Brant among the Indians—Council against him at Montreal—Letter to him from Major Matthews—Letter of Brant in reply—Letter to Colonel McDonnell—Suspected plot against the English at Detroit, and Brant and his Mohawks, by the Hurons, Chippewas, and Pottawattamies—Letter to Brant from Sir John Johnson—Brant turns his attention to the cultivation of letters—Endeavors to obtain a stated Missionary—Resumes the preparation of Religious books—Letter from President Willard—John Norton—Land difficulties among the Indians in the state of New-York—Letter from Governor Clinton to Brant.
Unhappily the treaty of peace did not bring the United States and Great Britain immediately to so good an understanding with each other as could have been desired. Several important questions remained for subsequent arrangement. The treaty proposed a general restoration of confiscated property to all such loyalists as had not actually borne arms in the service of the King. The American Congress passed a resolution recommending the fulfillment of this clause of the treaty by the several states; but it was not considered binding, and South Carolina alone approached to a compliance therewith. There was, likewise, an explicit provision in the treaty, respecting the payment of debts due by Americans to British subjects, not resting upon a recommendation only; the fulfillment of which was sadly neglected. Indeed, the states in which those debts chiefly lay, showed but too plainly an indisposition to aid in carrying the stipulation into effect. On the other hand, the Negroes belonging to American citizens who were in the possession and service of the officers of the British army, were not restored; and, contrary to all expectation, Great Britain refused to surrender the military posts upon the American side of the great lakes. The surrender of those posts was expected with the utmost conscience, as one of the most immediate consequences of the ratification of the treaty. To this end, Congress instructed the Commander-in-chief to make all the necessary arrangements to receive and occupy the posts in the Summer of 1783; and in July of that season, the Baron Steuben was despatched by General Washington on a mission to Sir Frederick Haldimand at Quebec, to concert the necessary dispositions, and proceed along the frontiers as far as Detroit, to examine the different posts, and report in regard to their condition, and how many and which of them it would be expedient for the United States permanently to occupy. [FN-1] The Baron met General Haldimand at Sorel, on his way to visit the country of the lakes himself. But on making known his business, the British commander informed him that he had received no instructions for the evacuation of the posts, or for any other objects than a cessation of hostilities, with which he had complied. He did not consider himself at liberty to enter, into any negotiations with the Baron upon the subject, and even refused him the necessary passports for visiting Niagara and Detroit. [FN-2] In addition to this, under the pretext that the government of the United States had not sufficient power to enforce the observance of a commercial treaty, Great Britain refused to join in the negotiation of such an instrument. [FN-3] Thus situated—the government and people of each nation complaining of the other—crimination and recrimination ensued, until the public feeling became irritated almost to exasperation.
[FN-1] Letter of Washington to General Haldimand, July 12, 1783. Also, Instructions of the same to Baron Steuben.
[FN-2] Sparks.
[FN-3] The fact was but too true. After the common danger of the war had ceased to bind the States together, the articles of the Confederation were but a rope of sand. The government was, indeed, but a rickety concern until the formation of the Constitution of 1787.
The Indians, in the mean time, brooding over the real or fancied wrongs they had sustained at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and irritated at the onward current of the white population pressing in their own direction, were becoming restiff; particularly the more distant tribes at the south-west; and their movements indicated any thing but pacific intentions. Indeed, along some portions of the western frontier, particularly on the Ohio river, it could scarcely be said that they had been at peace. Both in 1785 and in 1786, acts of individual hostility were not unfrequent on the banks of the Ohio and on the Kentucky border; and in both of those years larger parties had repeatedly attacked the crews of boats descending the river. It was likewise certain that two years only had elapsed after the close of the war before a hostile combination of the great north-western nations was supposed to have been formed; and documentary proof has been adduced in the preceding pages that a powerful and influential messenger, in the person of Captain Brant, had been instructed by those nations to ascertain prospectively the measure of assistance they might, in the event of hostilities, expect to receive from Great Britain. It is true that Lord Sidney, in his reply to the message of Thayendanegea, had avoided committing himself either way upon this point. But the message of the Mohawk chief; and the reply of the minister, were alike unknown to the public at that day. Still, it was to the detention of the posts on the lakes that the hostile temper manifested by the Indians, and their frequent outrages on the frontier, were ascribed; with more justice, as will hereafter appear, than Great Britain would be willing to allow.
The conduct of Captain Brant, moreover, when illustrated by his private correspondence as well as his public actions, will presently appear very mysterious, if not equivocal. By retiring with his own nation into Canada, the Mohawks had not withdrawn from the Confederacy of the Six Nations, nor had Thayendanegea relinquished his official rank as the principal or superior chief of the whole, though five of them remained within the United States. The differences which thus early sprang up between the United States and the Indians, arose upon a question of boundary; the latter maintaining that the Ohio river was not to be crossed by the people of the former. Captain Brant espoused the cause of the Indians at large upon this question, and had early and strenuously exerted himself to compass a grand confederation of all the north-western tribes and nations, of which, it is believed, he intended to be the head. The incipient steps to the formation of such a confederacy, the reader has already seen, had been taken in 1785, previous to his departure for England. On his return in the following year, his efforts for that object were renewed. [FN] In December, 1786, a grand confederate council of the Indians north west of the Ohio, including the Six Nations, was held at Huron Village, near the mouth of the Detroit River. This council was attended by the Six Nations, and the Hurons, Ottawas, Twitchtwees, [Miamis,] Shawanese, Chippewas, Cherokees, Delawares, Pottawattamies, and the Wabash Confederates. On the 18th of that month, an address to the Congress of the United States was agreed upon, the tone of which was pacific—provided the United States made no encroachments upon their lands beyond the Ohio. After a declaration of their surprise that they were not included in the treaty of peace, they observed that they had nevertheless received a message from the King, advising them to remain quiet. They had likewise received two very agreeable messages from the thirteen States, from the tenor of which they had anticipated a period of repose. But while they were devising the best measures to secure this result and form a lasting reconciliation—while they had "the best thoughts in their minds, mischief had happened." Still, they were anxious to prevent farther trouble, as a principal means of which they recommended that no treaties should be formed by the United States with separate Indian tribes or nations; but that all treaties for lands should be negotiated openly and above board, in the most public manner, and by the united voice of the Confederacy. They attributed the "mischief and confusion" that had arisen, to the fact that the United States would have every thing their own way—that they would "kindle the council-fires wherever they thought proper, without consulting the Indians." At the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784, they had urged a different policy; and they believed that, had the course then recommended, of treating only in a general conference of the nations, been pursued, all would have continued peace and concord between them. Notwithstanding the mischiefs that had happened, the council professed their strong desire of peace. "This," they said, "is the determination of all the chiefs of the Confederacy, now assembled, notwithstanding that several Indian chiefs were killed in our villages, even when in council, and when absolutely engaged in promoting peace with you, the thirteen United States." In order to ensure this desirable result, they proposed a grand confederate council, to be holden at some half-way place in the ensuing spring—recommending to the United States, in the meantime to prevent their surveyors and other people from crossing to the Indian side of the Ohio. This important address concluded in the following words:—"Brothers: It shall not be our faults, if the plans which we have suggested to you should not be carried into execution. In that case the event will be very precarious, and if fresh ruptures ensue, we hope to be able to exculpate ourselves, and shall most assuredly, with our united force, be obliged to defend those rights and privileges which have been transmitted to us by our ancestors; and if we should be thereby reduced to misfortunes, the world will pity us when they think of the amicable proposals we now make to prevent the unnecessary effusion of blood. These are our thoughts and firm resolves, and we earnestly desire that you would transmit to us, as soon as possible, your answer, be it what it may."
[FN] Letter of General Knox, Secretary of War—11th May, 1786.
This address, the ultimatum antecedent to the general war that afterward arose, was not signed by individual chiefs, but by the nation, the name of the nation being written, and the bird or animal adopted as the national emblem rudely marked upon the paper. Thayendanegea was present and active at this council, as will appear by the annexed letter, found among his papers, from the American Secretary of War, General Knox:—
"General Knox to Captain Brant.
"War Office, July 23d, 1787.
"Sir:—
"On the 17th instant, and not before, I received the favor of your letter, dated 'Huron Town, Dec. 18th, 1786,' enclosing the original speech by the several nations of Indians met at the same time and place, to the United States in Congress assembled.
"It appears from the information of General Butler, the Superintendent, that the Shawanese neglected to forward the above despatches at the time it was expected they would; and it appears by a letter from Captain Pipe, of the Delawares, and the Half-King of the Wyandots, dated at Sandusky the 3d of June, that they forwarded the despatches finally to Fort Pitt—at which place, and at the same time also, your messengers arrived with your letters to General Butler, dated Buffalo Creek, the 16th of May, 1787, enclosing a copy, or translation, of the speech of the chiefs, transmitted by Captain Pipe and the Half-King of the Wyandots.
"I mention these circumstances, to convince you that the result of your council, at the Huron village, in December, has been a long time in traveling to this city.
"On the receipt of your papers, they were submitted to Congress, who have taken the same, into consideration, and will soon come to some decision thereon, which will be communicated to the Superintendent, in order to be transmitted to you.
"I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient, Humble servant, H. Knox.
"Colonel Joseph Brant, One of the Chiefs of the Mohawk Nation."
Neither the preceding letter, nor that in reply to which it was written, has been preserved in the archives of the American Department of War. The signature of "The Five Nations," however, stood at the head of the list, and from the rank and superior intelligence of Thayendanegea, there can be little doubt that the address to the Government of the United States was dictated, if not written, by him. That it was in entire accordance with his views, appears most fully by the following letter from Sir John Johnson. This letter is worthy of preservation, as affording the first authentic evidence of the equivocal attitude Great Britain was assuming in regard to the Indian relations of the United States.
"Sir John Johnson to Captain Brant.
"Quebec, March 22d, 1787.
"Dear Sir,
"I have received your letter of the 14th of February. I am happy to find things turned out as you wished at your several meetings in the Indian country near Detroit, and I hope it may have the effect you wish in preventing the Americans from incroaching on your lands. Your conduct, I hope, for your own sake, will always be such as to justify the good opinion that has been entertained of you by your friends the English, and such as will merit the continuance of their friendship. I hope in all your decisions you will conduct yourselves with prudence and moderation, having always an eye to the friendship that has so long subsisted between you and the King's subjects, upon whom alone you can and ought to depend. You have no reason to fear any breach of promise on the part of the King. Is he not every year giving fresh proofs of his friendship? What greater could you expect than is now about to be performed, by giving an ample compensation for your losses, which is yet withheld from us, his subjects? Do not suffer bad men or evil advisers to lead you astray; every thing that is reasonable and consistent with the friendship that ought to be preserved between us, will be done for you all. Do not suffer an idea to hold a place in your mind, that it will be for your interests to sit still and see the Americans attempt the posts. [FN-1] It is for your sakes chiefly, if not entirely, that we hold them. If you become indifferent about them, they may perhaps be given up; what security would you then have? You would be left at the mercy of a people whose blood calls aloud for revenge; whereas, by supporting them, you encourage us to hold them, and encourage the new settlements, already considerable, and every day increasing by numbers coming in, who find they can't live in the States. Many thousands are preparing to come in. This increase of his Majesty's subjects will serve as a protection for you, should the subjects of the States, by endeavoring to make farther encroachments on you, disturb your quiet. At present I think there is little to apprehend from any but the Southern States; those to the eastward are already opposed to each other in arms, [FN-2] and have shed blood, and the disorder seems to be spreading throughout. Men of character are coming in here to see if no assistance will be given them; and the people of New England, who were the most violent at the commencement of the war, are now the most desirous of returning under the British government, should Great Britain incline to receive them, which many think they would not."
[FN-1] Oswegatchie, Oswego, Niagara, Detroit and Mackinaw—withheld from the United States, as heretofore stated in tho text.
[FN-2] This allusion refers to the memorable insurrection of Captain Shays, in Massachusetts.
"Remember me in the most friendly manner to Mrs. Brant, all your family, and to all my brothers in your settlement, and tell them to be patient, and that they will find that all that has been promised them, coming within my knowledge, will be per-formed. I hope to see you in the course of the summer; in the mean time, I remain with truth,
"Dear Sir, Your friend and Humble servant, John Johnson." [FN]
[FN] Copied from the original, among the Brant papers.
The object of this communication will be seen at a glance. It is unfortunate, that the letter of Thayendanegea, giving the private history of the great Amphictyonic council of the Indians, has not been discovered. Still, enough can be learned from the scattered correspondence that remains, to show that Great Britain was by no means an indifferent observer of the storm gathering in the north-west. It is also evident that the officers of the crown in Canada were rejoicing in the insurrection of Captain Shays in Massachusetts; which, though at one moment of threatening importance, had been crushed but a few days before the Baronet's letter was written, of which result he had not then been apprised. That insurrection was a consequence, in the main, of the weakness of the government of the confederacy. Fortunately, however, instead of working farther detriment to the republic, its influence was not inconsiderable in binding the states more firmly together, by means of the Constitution, which arose from the ruins of the old Articles of Confederation in the course of the same year. There is another feature in the letter of Sir John deserving to be noted. It discloses the fact, that already, even so early as the year 1787, had the British authorities imbibed the absurd notion that the people of New England, who had been first in raising the standard of revolt, wearied with their freedom, were seeking a dismemberment of the Union, that they might throw themselves back into the arms of their former sovereign. Nor was this idea eradicated until after the failure of a miserable intrigue, under the Canadian administration of Sir James H. Craig, with a worthless fellow named John Henry, in 1810.
Great Britain not only continued to retain possession of the north-western posts, but added to their strength. Upon this subject, and the policy by which she was governed in regard to it, the following letter reflects additional light. It was addressed to Captain Brant by Major Matthews, whose name has already occurred as an officer in the suite of Sir Guy Carleton—who had now become Lord Dorchester. Matthews had been assigned to the command of Detroit, and was on his way thither when the letter was written:—
"Major Matthews to Captain Brant.
"Niagara, 29th May, 1787.
"My Dear Friend,
"A few days before I left Quebec, I had the pleasure to receive your letter of the 3d April, and was happy at the prospect I had of so soon answering it in person, and once more shaking hands together upon our old ground. On my arrival yesterday, I was much disappointed to hear that you had left this place, and gone by a route which, for the present, prevents our meeting; for though there is nothing I wish more than to pay you a visit in your settlement, and to have a conversation with you, the despatch which I am under the necessity of making to Detroit, renders it impossible. I therefore sit down to thank you for the information in your last, and to renew our old agreement of communicating freely to each other whatsoever we may know or think is for the mutual advantage and well-being of that cause, which has always been common, and which, I am persuaded, is equally dear to us both; and being better informed of what relates to the situation of affairs in this quarter than when I last wrote to you, I shall begin by informing you of what his Excellency, Lord Dorchester, desired I would, should I chance to fall in with you. His Lordship wishes you should be acquainted that, when he arrived at Quebec last fall, it was too late to forward any thing more than a few provisions necessary for the posts and Indians, a part of which even could not proceed on account of the ice; but that he did not forget the presents intended for the Indians; and had, as soon as the communication opened, ordered them to be sent up from Montreal. At the same time his Lordship was sorry to learn, that while the Indians were soliciting his assistance in their preparations for war, some of the Six Nations had sent deputies to Albany to treat with the Americans, who, it is said, have made a treaty with them, granting permission to make roads for the purpose of coming to Niagara; but that, notwithstanding these things, the Indians should have their presents, as they are marks of the King's approbation of their former conduct. In future his Lordship wishes them to act as is best for their interest; he cannot begin a war with the Americans, because some of their people encroach and make depredations upon parts of the Indian country; but they must see it is his Lordship's intention to defend the posts; and that while these are preserved, the Indians must find great security therefrom, and consequently the Americans greater difficulty in taking possession of their lands; but should they once become masters of the posts, they will surround the Indians, and accomplish their purpose with little trouble. From a consideration of all which, it therefore remains with the Indians to decide what is most for their own interest, and to let his Lordship know their determination, that he may take his measures accordingly; but, whatever their resolution is, it should be taken as by one and the same people, by which means they will be respected and become strong; but if they divide, and act one part against the other, they will become weak, and help to destroy each other. This, my dear Joseph, is the substance of what his Lordship desired me to tell you, and I request you will give his sentiments that mature consideration which their justice, generosity, and desire to promote the welfare and happiness of the Indians, must appear to all the world to merit.
"In your letter to me, you seem apprehensive that the English are not very anxious about the defence of the posts. You will soon be satisfied that they have nothing more at heart, provided that it continues to be the wish of the Indians, and that they remain firm in doing their part of the business, by preventing the Americans from coming into their country, and consequently from marching to the posts. On the other hand, if the Indians think it more for their interest that the Americans should have possession of the posts, and be established in their country, they ought to declare it, that the English need no longer be put to the vast and unnecessary expense and inconvenience of keeping posts, the chief object of which is to protect their Indian allies, and the loyalists who have suffered with them. It is well-known that no encroachments ever have or ever will be made by the English upon the lands or property of the Indians in consequence of their possessing the posts, how far that will be the case if ever the Americans get into them, may very easily be imagined, from their hostile perseverance, even without that advantage, in driving the Indians off their lands and taking possession of them.
"In regard to myself, I have to acquaint you, that in consequence of the reports which reached Quebec from the upper country respecting the intentions of the Americans against the posts, Lord Dorchester has been pleased to permit me to take the command of Detroit, which is garrisoned by the regiment I am in, and has ordered that another regiment be sent up for the protection of the posts in general, two companies of which, under the command of your acquaintance, Captain Malcolm, arrived with me in the Seneca, and I am to take two companies of the 53d from hence, to reinforce Detroit; so that I think we shall have but little to apprehend from any thing in the power of the Americans to attempt. I confess to you I have no idea they have any serious intention of the kind, the few troops they can muster not being sufficient to support their government; they are, besides, in rebellion, and cutting each others throats. A people in this situation are but ill able to march considerable armies with artillery and the necessary stores, (which they must have to be successful,) through a distant and difficult country.
"Inclosed I send you a letter from Sir John Johnson. It will probably inform you that the presents mentioned by Lord Dorchester are sent up; they crossed the lake in the ship with me, and are stored here, waiting the arrival of Sir John for the distribution of them.
"On your way to the Southern Council, I shall hope for the satisfaction of seeing you at Detroit; in the meantime I remain, with very sincere regard,
"My dear friend, Your faithful and obedient servant, R. Matthews.
"If Mrs. Brant is with you, I beg you will recommend me in the kindest manner to her."