efforts to engage the Five Nations, in a treaty of amity and alliance, at a conference to be held at Albany in Sept. 1689. The parties met, agreeable to appointment, the treaty was held; the Indians agreed to co-operate with theEnglish against the French, but declined hostilities against the eastern Indians, and the sachem who was the orator of the day, (after having repeated verbatim the speech of the commissioners the preceding day,) closed his address in the following words : " We promise to preserve the chain inviolably, and wish that the sun may always shine in peace over all our heads that are comprehended in this chain. We give two belts ; one for the sun, and another for his beams. We make fast the roots of this tree of peace and tranquillity, which is planted in this place. Its roots extend as far as the utmost of your colonies; if the French should come to shake the roots of this tree, we would feel it by the motion of its roots, which extend into our country. But we trust it will not be in the governor of Canada's power to shake this tree, which has been so long, and so firmly planted by us." The success of this commission secured the neutrality of the Five Nations at least, and so far answered their expectations, and the New-England colonies were left (as has been noticed) to carry on the war with the eastern Indians. The success of the Five Nations in their late invasion of Canada, together with the failure of the grand expedition from France in 1689, for the reduction of New-York, together with Boston, and all the New-England colonies, gave great strength and confidence to the government of New-York, and led them to triumph over the defeat of their enemies. De Nonville, whose disgrace we have witnessed, returned to France, and carried out the black catalogue of disasters to that haughty and imperious court, and left the command of Canada in the hands of the Count de Frontenac. The character and conduct of this officer, we have had occasion fully to notice in the first volume, in the New-England wars with the Canada Indians. We will now pursue his character in connection with the colony of New-York, and the five confederate nations of Indians, who dwell upon the northwestern frontiers of New-York, and bordering upon Canada. But before we enter upon the scenes before us, it will not be uninteresting to insert a sketch of the history of these Five Nations. A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE FIVE NATIONS. We have already noticed the local situation of these nations, their relative connection with each other by their bond of union, or grand confederacy; and before we continue their history, it will be proper to observe, that by the Dutch they were called Maquaas, by the French Iroquois, and by the English, the Five Nations until they received into their confederacy the Tuscaroras; a tribe which was driven off by the English, from the frontiers of North-Carolina in the year 1712. After this union, the confederacy acquired the name of the Six Nations, by which name they continue to be known amongst the English. The Five Nations before they confederated into Cantons, dwelt in Lower-Canada, upon the waters of the St. Lawrence, not far from Montreal; but in their wars with the Algonquins, a powerful and warlike tribe, then the most numerous in Canada, they were driven from their habitations, to take shelter in the forests of the great lakes, and upon the waters of the small lakes, lying west of Albany. 1 When this revolution took place, and when they confederated under their present league, is not correctly known; but most probaly, at the time of their expulsion ; and for mutual aid, support, and defence. Each of these nations consists of three families, distinguished by the hieroglyphical name of the Tortoise, the Bear, and the Wolfe.* These Indians are noble draughts of nature; war and hunting are their chief employment; in these they possess great art, and stratagem, as well as fortitude, perseverance, and resolution. Such are their notions of military glory, that it is the chief idol of their homage; to acquire this, they are ready to make every sacrifice, to endure every fatigue, privation, and distress, and even to exult in the most severe and painful tortures their enemies can possibly inflict, and thus triumph over their ememies, by rehearsing in their songs their success in war, the scalps they have taken, the chiefs they have slain, and the captives they have tortured, and all this under the painful operations of being disjointed, having their nails and teeth extracted, being roasted or flayed alive, and their sinnews distended, and even twisted off with hot irons. All these, with many others too numerous as well as too horrid to relate, they endure, with the song of triumph and the smile of contempt and indignation; thus they express the high and exalted views they possess of fortitude and military glory. Wealth with these, as well as all other natives of North America, consists in being always happy with what they possess, and in having but few wants. Although they * Hieroglyphical names are common to the Indians, and when they trade by opening an account, as is common, every Indian sketches on a piece of smooth bark, (commonly birch,) the figure of the animal or object, expressive of his name, and marks down the sum of his account in the number of martin skins it contains, this being their standard coin; as the English count in pounds, guineas, or dollars, and thus he is always accurate, and the traders can never cheat him. 1 have no regular police, or system of government, yet their uniform habits form a strong bond of union, sufficient to defend their rights from an invading enemy, or to punish their enemies by carrying war into their own country and villages. The freedom of the chase gives an expanded energy to their minds, which perhaps is not known or enjoyed in any other society than that of the savage state, and hence the reason why the savage is more impatient under confinement, or controul, and even under labour, than any other class of people; the latter they will not submit to when free, and unrestrained, and perfectly at leisure; even to supply their own wants; but place the burthen of labour upon the squaws, as being below their dignity as men. Although they have no written laws, yet their customs that regard the regulation of their national affairs, are conducted with a degree of method and propriety, that would do honor to most civilized communities. Each tribe is governed by a chief or sachem, who exercises absolute power, by and with the advice of the elders, or old warriors of the tribe ; and yet he maintains this supremacy, by not only consulting the aged; but upon occasion, the young also, and thus his dominion is founded in the esteem, respect, and even affections of the tribe, and thus his power consists in his being able to unite and concentrate the strength of the whole at one time, and upon one object. This popularity is first acquired by great exploits, and then maintained by wisdom, prudence, and virtue alone. Thus the most valiant in war, and the most wise in council, and the most virtuous in life and conversation, become chiefs of these tribes, and in fact of all the other tribes. The glory of the father gives a preeminence to his son, and fixes a general partiality; but does not make him sachem by hereditary right, unless his other qualificatsons are equal to that high station'; it then gives him a preference; and the force of example in the father has a most powerful influence in fixing the character of his son; and inspires him with a noble emulation in pursuit of glory and fame, by his noble deeds. The chief of each tribe, with his council of ancients, compose the high court of the tribe, who hear and determine all complaints, and redress all wrongs; not by executive officers; but by the weight, or strength of public opinion; and to resist this would be deemed infamous. As merit is their only standard of preferment, and merit neither promotes, nor is ever seen at the head of factions; so they are always free from this general curse of civil society, whose main springs are, avarice, ambition, and power. Onondaga, may be stiled the capital, or seat of government in these cantons, because the great council of the confederacy always is held there; and the voice of this council alone has power to bind the confederacy. The French have for a long time used all their powers of art and intrigue, to subdue the Five Nations, by dividing their strength, and thus dissolving the confederacy; but they have never succeeded further than to draw off a few particular families, who have retired into Canada. The virtue, wisdom, and firmness of this confederacy, has hitherto withstood all the arts of French intrigue.* Their manner of constructing their villages, as well as their habits of life, shew that their wants are few, and like their government simple, and easily supplied. An Indian's house or wigwam is but little higher than his head, constructed by setting up barks in winter, and brush in summer, in a slanting direction, with the tops resting against an extended pole, and the bottoms upon the ground: this * Which of the civilized nations can say this? : |