Besides the agency of the French, there were other reafons which the Indians gave for this war with the colonists. They alledged that the English refused to pay the yearly tribute of corn, agreed upon at the conclufion of the peace-that they hindered them from catching fish in Sago river, by the nets, which hindered the fish from coming where they were wont to come. They faid, though the colonifts had got their lands, they imagined the fishes in the rivers had been ftill their privilege. But the greatest grievance of all, was the giving patents for lands which belonged to them; this incenfed them greatly. And it must be allowed that neither the people of Old or New England had any right to give any persons patents to the lands of the Indians without their confent. is a strange method of reafoning, that is ufed by many selfish politicians, that European fovereigns, because fome of their fubjects take poffeffion of fome parts of a continent, that therefore they may portion out the whole to their friends, according to their good will and pleasure. Yet this is the force of all the arguments of either the French or the English for their right of poffeffion of many parts of the world.

It

What gave the firft and moft confiderable influence to the Indian war, was the behaviour of the French in Canada.-These ambitious Gauls had no fooner made a fettlement in thofe parts of the western world, than they began to make conquefts, and endeavoured to fubject the Indians to the French dominion. When these natives found themselves in a fituation to refist the power of France, they defended their own rights, and made reprifals upon the enemy; and frequently were fo fuccefsful, that notwithstanding the French having the advantage of fire arms, they were defeated by the Indians, with great lofs, and put in

fear

fear of losing their own dominions. The five nations as they are called, of Sinekas, Cayugas, Onoidos, Onadagues, and Mohawks, which lie fouth east of the lake Ontorio, and north west from New York and Albany, were zealous oppofers of the French dominion. Thefe tribes were united among themfelves upon the moft liberal principles of freedom and liberty, and abhorred all forts of flavery to fuch a degree, that they would not even enflave a captive. Such were their ideas of liberty and juftice, that when a certain man broke the jail of New York and fled to the five nations, that they paid his debt, but would not deliver up his perfon, but adopted him into their tribes, and made him free. Læçedemon, in the very height of its glory, did not excel the five nations in their ideas of liberty., It was no wonder that a people fo zealous for freedom fhould have had an hearty averfion to a nation which, for many ages, attempted to make flaves of all the world.

The Dutch who fettled at New York, 1609, about fix years after the French came to Canada, made no attempts of conqueft, but lived peaceably with the five nations, and carried on trade: between the Dutch and thefe Indians, there was a perfect friendship. The English, who fucceeded to the Dutch in the fettlement of New York, obferved nearly the fame plan, between whom and the five nations, there continued a good understanding for many years; though it muft be granted that the English did not fupport the principles of friendship with the fame ardour and zeal that the five nations fupported it, yet the alliance which the English entered into with the five nations was never broken on their part for the space of fixty years. This may plainly teach us, that had the European Christians been as honeft and faithful as the Indians

of

of the five nations, there would have been no occaon for fuch horrid wars, as have often happened in thofe parts of the world.

The colonists of New England, after many bloody fkirmishes with the French and eaftern Indians, wherein many lives were loft on both fides, entered into a treaty with the five nations at Albany, in the year 1689. The reafon of this treaty, upon the part of the New England colonists was, that they were informed that the eastern Indians, by the means of the French, were foliciting a confederation with the five nations, which they very wifely conjectured, would not be for the intereft of the English, nor be confiftent with their fafety. The five nations had been formidable to the French, even before they were in pof.. feffion of fire arms, and now that they were fupplied with thefe, fhould they be engaged against the Englifh, they would be very dangerous enemies. For this reafon it was confidered as a piece of needful policy, to have them, if poffible, united in one interest with New England, against the French, and the Indians in the French intereft. The agents on the part of New England were Colonel John Pynchon, Major John Savage, and Captain John Bull, and on the fide of the five nations was, Tahajadoris, a Mohawk Sachem. After the ufual formalities on fuch occafions, Tahajadoris addreffed the agents in the following man

ner:

"Brethren, you are welcome to this houfe, which is appointed for our treaties, and public bufinefs with the Chriftians: We thank you for renewing the covenant chain. It is now no longer of iron, and fubje& to ruft as formerly, but of pure filver, and includes in it all the King's fubjects, from the Senakas country, caftward, as far as any of the great King's fubjects

live, and fouthward from New England to Virginia. Here he gave a beaver..

"We are glad to hear of the good fuccefs our great King has had over the French by sea, in taking and finking fo many of their men of war. You tell us in your proposals that we are one people; let us then go hand in hand together, to ruin and deftroy the French, our common enemy. Gives another beaver. The covenant-chain between us is ancient, as you tell us, and of long standing, and it has been kept inviolably by us. When you had wars fometime ago with the Indians, you defired us to help you; we did it readily, and to the purpose, for we purfued them very closely; by which we prevented the effufion of much blood. This was a fign that we loved truly and fincerely, and from our hearts-Gives a belt.

"You advife us to purfue our enemies, the French, vigorously. This we affure you we are refolved to do to the utmost of our power; but fince the French are your enemies likewise, we defire our brethren of the three colonies to fend us an hundred men for the fecurity of this place, which is ill provided, in case of an attack from the French--The Chriftians have victuals enough for their entertainment. Gives one

belt.

"We patiently bore many injuries from the French, from one year to another, before we took up the axe against them. Our patience made the governor of Canada think that we were afraid of him, and durst not refent the injuries we had long fuffered; but now he is undeceived. We affure you that we are refolved never to drop the axe; the French fhall never fee our faces in peace; we fhall never be reconciled as long as one Erenchman is alive; we fhall never make peace, thougn our nation fhould be ruined by it, and

every one of us cut in pieces. Our brethren of the three colonies may depend on this-Gives a beaver. "As to what you told us of the Orvanagungas and Uragees, we anfwer: that we were never fo proud and haughty as to begin a war without provocation. You tell us that they are treacherous rogues. We believe it; and that they will undoubtedly affift the French. If they fhall do this, or fhall join with any of our enemies, either French or Indians, then we will kill and destroy them."-Gives a beaver.

t

Then the Mohawks offered five of their men to guard the agents home against any of their Indian enemies, who they were afraid might be lying in wait for the agents, and gave a belt. Then the fpeaker proceeded, and faid, "We have spoke what we had to say of the war, we now come to the affairs of peace we promise to preferve the chain inviolably, and wish that the fun may always fhine in peace over our heads, that are comprehended in this chain, We give two belts, one for the fun, the other for his beams. We make faft the roots of the tree of peace and tranquillity, which is planted in this place. Its roots extend as far as the outmost of your colonies. If the French fhould come to fhake this tree, we would feel it by the motion of its roots, which extend into our country. But we truft it will not be in the governor of Canada's power to fhake this tree, which has been fo firmly and fo long planted with us."-Gives two beavers.

Lastly, he defired the Magiftrates of Albany to remember what he had faid, and gave them a beaver. The New England agents were not fully fatisfied with all that the Sachem had faid; for the chief thing they wanted, was to know their difpofition concerning this point. The five nations answered, "We

cannot