Life and Times of Sir William Johnson

Three Rivers
Hudson~Mohawk~Schoharie
History From America's Most Famous Valleys

The Life and Times of
Sir William Johnson, Bart.,
by William L. Stone
Vol. I
Albany: J. Munsell, 78 State Street, 1865.

Chapter 5. 1746. The period is now approached at which the long, arduous, and in many respects brilliant public career of Sir, William Johnson commenced. During the stirring scenes rehearsed in the two preceding chapters, Mr. Johnson had been pushing his fortunes as a private citizen, with a degree of discernment and energy that marked him as any common man. His removal from the south to the north side of the Mohawk river, has already been noted. In the year 1744 he erected a valuable flouring mill upon the brisk stream falling into the Mohawk about two miles west of the Chucktanunda creek, in the town of Amsterdam,-where he also built an elegant stone mansion for his own residence; conferring upon the estate the name of Mount Johnson. Not only thus early had he become known to Governor Clinton, but a correspondence was shortly afterward commenced between them which soon became close and confidential; and their acquaintance ultimately ripened into the relations of cordial intimacy. It is very probable that Johnson's introduction to the new governor at so early a period of his administration, was effected by Mr. DeLancey, the chief justice, whose daughter it will be remembered was the wife of Sir Peter Warren, and consequently the aunt, by marriage, of the young adventurer. Mr. Clinton, almost immediately on coming to the government, had resigned himself passively into, the hands of the chief justice;(1) and that sagacious jurisconsult, would scarce be slow to advance the fortunes of a family connexion, whose talents, sagacity, and enterprise

(1) Vide Mass. Hist. Collections, vol. xiii, p. 79.

pointed him out as a man who might one day be of importance in sustaining his own interests. Political friendships, however, are seldom constant or enduring; and it will he seen hereafter that the subsequent relations-at least for a time-between DeLancey and Johnson, form no exception to the remark. During the years 1744 and 1745, Mr. Johnson's attention must have been closely applied to his own commercial affairs, already widely extended. From his correspondence it appears that he was in both those years often shipping furs to London, and was likewise engaged in the flour trade with the West India, islands,-making shipments also to Curracoa and Halifax. (1) Still his time was not thus exclusively occupied, since it appears that in the month of April, 1745, he was commissioned one of his majesty's justices of the peace for the county of Albany, being the first official appointment conferred upon him.(2) He was moreover beginning to participate actively in the political concerns of the colony, his influence being put in requisition in the autumn of the last mentioned year, to aid in the return of his friend Mr. Holland to the general assembly for the township of Schenectady. The election of this gentleman was strongly desired by the governor,- a reason of itself sufficient to enlist the exertions of Johnson. Holland was returned ; but in order to annoy the governor, the assembly, upon a flimsy pretext, insufficient in law, and in every other respect entirely indefensible, excluded him from his seat, as has been mentioned in a note upon a preceding page. Justly indignant at this unjustifiable procedure toward his favorite, Mr. Clinton manifested his feelings by the acrimony of his message terminating the session. The rejection of Mr. Holland was nevertheless the making of his political fortunes, inasmuch as it procured for him the mayoralty of the city of New York and a seat at the council board.

(1) Private correspondence in manuscript.
(2) Manuscript letter of Edward Holland enclosing the commission.

As I have not been able to ascertain the date of Mr. Johnson's marriage, so likewise have I found it impossible to ascertain the time of his wife's decease. It has always been understood that she died young; but a few years after their union; and before her husband had acquired either civil or military renown; yet not until after she had given birth to a son,-afterward Sir John Johnson,-and to two daughters,-Mary and Nancy. But although the exact time of her death cannot be determined, there is reason to believe that it took place at least as early as the summer of 1745. It has already been noted, more than once, that it was Mr. Johnson's policy to cultivate an intimate acquaintance with the Indians. Being largely engaged in commerce with them, his facilities to that end were great; and no white man perhaps, ever succeeded in more entirely winning their confidence. He mingled with them freely; joined in their sports; and at pleasure assumed both their costumes and their manners, and cast them aside, as circumstances might require. He was consequently fast gaining an ascendancy over them upon which the French looked with exceeding jealousy. It became therefore an object with the latter either to cut, or to take him off-an object which it will presently appear was seriously meditated in the autumn of 1745. Among the private letters of Mr. Johnson escaping the ravages of time and chance, is one from Mr. James Wilson, of Albany, addressed to "William Johnson Esquire," and dated " November 26th, 1745," from which the following passage is extracted :-" Mother desires you to come down and live here this winter, until these troublesome times are a little over. They have kept a room on purpose for you, and they beg that you will send down the best of your things directly. There is room enough for your servants, if you will bring them down. I would not have you stay at your own house, for the French have told our Indians that they will have you dead or alive, because you are a relation of Captain Warren, their great adversary. Therefore I beg you -will not be too resolute and stay. If you will not come yourself, I beg you will send your books and papers, and the best of your things. The entire silence of this letter in regard to Mrs. Johnson, and the appropriation of only a single room for his occupancy, induces the supposition that she must have died previous to the time when it was written. Still this conclusion is merely conjectural; and to say the truth, but little can he ascertained respecting Mr. Johnson's domestic relations for several years of this portion of his life.

Resuming then, the course of public events: The views of Governor Shirley were comprehensive, and in planning the expedition against Cape Breton, they had by no means been confined to the reduction of that island. His design a comprehended nothing short of another effort for the entire subjugation of Canada,-an object that had several times been attempted, but always without success. The conquest of Louisburg by the provincials, aided by the fleet, afforded strong encouragement for attempting the larger enterprise. With this great design uppermost in his mind, Shirley made a visit to Louisburg after its fall, to confer upon the project with Pepperell and Warren. In the flush of their late brilliant success, his views were warmly seconded by those officers ; and such representations were made to the ministers at home as prevailed upon them to approve the undertaking. A circular was accordingly issued by the duke of Newcastle, on the ninth of April, 1746, directed to the governors of all the British American colonies, south to Virginia inclusive, requiring them to raise as many men as they could spare, and form them into companies of one hundred each, to be in readiness for taking the field. The design was to attack the enemy's territory simultaneously from two directions. The New England troops, to be first in motion, were to proceed to Louisburg, there to be joined by a squadron of ships of war with a large body, of land forces from England. These combined forces were then to proceed south and ascend the St. Lawrence against Quebec; while the provincial troops of New York and the other colonies upon which the requisition had been made together with the Iroquois Indians, provided they could be brought heartily into the service, after being concentrated at Albany, were to make a descent upon Grown Point and Montreal. The expedition from Louisburg was to be commanded by General Sir John St. Clair, acting in conjunction with Sir Peter Warren and Governor Shirley. The command of the other division was committed to Brigadier General Gooch, the lieutenant-governor of Virginia, who, six years before, had signalized himself in the unsuccessful expedition against Carthagena. Sir William Pepperell and Sir Peter Warren both visited Boston early in the spring, to confer jointly with Shirley upon the business of the enterprise ;(1) but Warren was shortly ordered home, where, on the fourteenth day of July he was advanced to the rank of rear admiral of the white.(2) His successor in the command of the American squadron, was Commodore Knowles. But this officer proposed remaining at Louisburg, so that all the preparatory arrangements devolved upon Shirley.(3)

The project of this formidable enterprise had been communicated to the government of New York by Mr. Shirley, as early as the second week in January, and was received with high favor.(4) The general assembly met again on the third day of June, in Brooklyn, being deterred from sitting in the city by the smallpox. A message from the governor informed them that during the recess such had been the alarming state of affairs at the north, that an additional force of three hundred men had been drafted from the several counties, and ordered to Albany for the protection of

(1) Belknap.

(2)Charnock.

(3)Belknap.

(4) Smith's History says it was approved by the general assembly on the twenty-fifth of February, for -which statement the author had the authority of a message from Governor Clinton of June six; but the legislative journals do not sustain the assertion.

the frontier. The exigency had fully warranted such an exercise of discretionary power on the part of the governor; for the records of the privy council disclose the fact that the most urgent letters for assistance had been received from the Indian commissioners at Albany, in consequence of the murders and scalpings perpetrated in that neighborhood ; and on the very day when the legislature reassembled, an account was transmitted from the commissioners of a skirmish between some of the northern settlers and a party of French and Indians, in which one of the latter was killed. The assembly readily voted the necessary supplies for the exigency, increasing the amount for the support of two hundred levies more than had previously been called into service, thirty of whom were to be stationed in Kinderhook, and the residue between Albany and Schenectady. Fifty Indians were likewise to be employed if they could be raised for the better security of the last mentioned town. But the assistance of the Indians was doubtful,- the commissioners having ascertained at an interview with several of their chiefs that they were reluctant to any belligerent action until after a grand council of their warriors could be held at Onondaga.(1)

On the sixth day of June, a message by the hand of Mr. Goldsborow Banyar, who, four days previously, had been appointed deputy secretary to the colony, required the presence of the assembly in the council-chamber, where the governor announced in a speech the receipt of the before-mentioned circular from the duke of Newcastle, and requested the cooperation of the legislature in all measures necessary for a prompt and efficient prosecution of the intended campaign. An outline of the plan of the intended double invasion of the French possessions, has already been given. All needful information was imparted to the assembly upon the subject, and a long letter from the duke of Newcastle was also laid before the council, stating that General St. Clair: would sail from England with five battalions

(1) Manuscript records of the council board.

of regulars, who were to be joined at Louisburg by two regiments more from Gibraltar, and urging it upon the colony of New York not only to put forth its utmost strength upon the occasion, but if possible to obtain the active cooperation of the Indians.

These communications were received in the best possible spirit, both by the legislature and the people. There was indeed universal rejoicing at the prospect of speedily crushing the power of France in America,-it being evident to all that there could be no permanent repose until that work should be accomplished. In the council, Mr. Justice Horsmanden moved the address, and Mr. Clarkson in the assembly, both of which breathed a dutiful degree of loyalty, and a lofty spirit of patriotism. Especially did the assembly pledge itself that hearts and hands should be employed in the great work proposed, and that its proceedings should be conducted with such unanimity and dispatch as should attest their duty, loyalty, and gratitude to his majesty. A kindred feeling prevailed in every direction, both with the local government, and the people. True indeed, the legislature of Massachusetts had in the outset manifested some disinclination to participate in the enterprise, burdened as she was with the debt incurred by the Louisburg expedition, not yet reimbursed by the parent government;2 but the arguments of Shirley, strengthened by the outbreaks of the Canadian Indians upon their frontiers, overcame their reluctance, and all was now enthusiasm among the people, the New England colonies directing their energies toward the eastern division of the expedition. Governor Hamilton, of New Jersey, wrote on the second of July, that that little colony had voted to raise five hundred men for the enterprise, and a contribution of two thousand pounds for the military chest. General Gooch wrote from Virginia, enclosing a bill of exchange of three hundred pounds, with

(1) Graham's History of North America.

(2) Manuscript records of the council board.

directions that it be applied to the purchase of presents for the Indians.(1)

Mr. Horsmanden, from a committee of the privy council, appointed to consider and report as to the best measures to be adopted in furtherance of the great enterprise, made an elaborate report on the thirteenth of June. The active cooperation of the Six Nations was regarded by the committee as an object of high moment; to secure which the commissioners at Albany were advised to dispatch an interpreter, with two assistants, into the Indian country, to dance the war dance among them by way of rekindling a military spirit, especially with the young warriors; and also to invite the chiefs and prominent warriors of the entire confederacy to meet the governor in a grand council, to beholden at an early day in Albany. Presents were likewise recommended upon a liberal scale, to be given, not as compensation, but as incentives to action,-the Indians always fighting for honor, and scouting the idea of going upon the warpath for pay.(2)

Four days afterward, the house of assembly asked of the council a committee of conference for the purpose of joint deliberation upon the condition of the colony. The request was acceded to; and every branch of the government united heart and hand in every possible measure for advancing the grand design.(3) An act was promptly passed the more effectually to prevent the exportation of provisions and warlike stores. In order to the descent upon Grown Point and Montreal, a fleet of bateaux was essential for the navigation of Lakes George and Champlain Stephen Bayard and Edward Holland, members of the council, were deputed to superintend the building of the bateaux. They reported on the sixth of July that the shipbuilders had all refused

(1) Manuscript council minutes.

(2) Ibid.

(3) The committee on the part of the council consisted of Chief Justice DeLancey, and Messrs. Van Courtlandt, Horsmanden, Murray, and More. The chief justice, however, seems to have acted no very efficient part during the whole year,-for reasons which will appear hereafter.

to perform the work, under the pretext that they were employed in the execution of prior engagements. This conduct of the naval architects formed an exception to the general disposition of the people; and a bill was forthwith introduced, and expeditiously passed into a law, authorizing the impressment into the public service, of all ship and house-carpenters, joiners, sawyers, and their several servants, and all other artificers and laborers whose assistance might be required for the state, together with horses, wagons, and whatsoever else might be required to forward the expedition.(1) Resolutions were adopted allowing a bounty of six pounds for the enlistment of each able-bodied man into the king's service, over and above his pay; six thousand pounds were appropriated for the purchase of provisions for the colony's levies; three hundred men were by law directed to be detached for the army from the city of Albany; and to cover the expense of these and other appropriations demanded by the exigence, a tax of forty thousand pounds was imposed upon the real and personal estate of -the colony, and an emission of bills of credit authorized to enable the government to anticipate the avails of the tax. Indeed the general assembly hesitated at no appropriation that was required, save for the Indian service, and for the transportation of troops and military stores. In respect to the latter, they refused to advance money to the crown, even upon loan, preferring to raise it by bills of exchange,-"a hint which Mr. Clinton improved greatly to his own emolument."(2) With respect to the Indian service, they conceived that inasmuch as the grand council which the governor had already summoned at Albany, pursuant to the recommendation of his privy council, was to be convened for the common benefit of all the exposed colonies, they ought all to contribute toward the heavy expenses to he incurred, not in presents only, but for their clothing, arms and subsistence. Toward these objects Virginia had

(1) Journals of the legislative council.

(2) Smith, vol. ii, p. 99.

already made a handsome remittance; but Connecticut and Pennsylvania had declined making any contribution; and by a message of the ninth of July, Governor Clinton informed the assembly that no answers had been received from the other colonies to the applications addressed to them upon the subject.

Nevertheless the means for holding the council were not wanting; and having in these matters discharged its duties to the public service, the assembly closed its session on the fifteenth of July. Not, however, until after a joint address of the two houses had been voted to the king, congratulating his majesty upon the defeat of the rebels engaged in the cause of the Pretender, by the army under the duke of Cumberland.(1) The mover of the resolution for this address was the chief justice; but the journals disclose the unusual circumstance, that he was not placed at the head of the committee, which was organized thus-Philip Livingston, Chief Justice DeLancey, and Mr. Justice Horsmanden. The active labor seems to have been performed by the latter.

Meantime great apprehension prevailed in New England at the inaction of the parent government, from which much had been promised, and more was expected, and without whose powerful cooperation an enterprise so vast as that

(1) The battle of Culloden. The young Prince, Charles Edward, called the Pretender, having defeated the royal forces tinder Sir John Cope at Prestonpans, had penetrated a short distance into England ; but finding the people unanimous against him, he was compelled to fall back rapidly into Scotland. On his return he routed General Hawley at Falkirk, but the approach of the duke of Cumberland put an end to his triumph. He retreated before the royal army, and at last the hostile forces met in the field of Culloden to decide the fate of the kingdom. The Scotch fought with accustomed bravery but the English prevailed, and the unfortunate youth escaped with difficulty from the battle where he left three thousand of his misguided adherents dead. Though a large reward was offered for the head of the illustrious fugitive, who had thus to combat against want and temptation, yet the peasants of Scotland pitied his misfortunes, and even those of his enemies who were acquainted with his retreat, kept inviolate the fatal secret, and while they condemned his ambition, commiserated his distresses. He at last escaped to St. Maloes, and never again revisited the British dominions,-dying at Florence, in 1788.

which had been projected, could not within themselves be carried forward by the colonies. It has been already stated that eight battalions of regular troops had been promised by the parent government, to rendezvous at Louisburg. The ministers had not specified the contingent of troops required from the respective colonies, contenting themselves by announcing the wish of the king that the total levies should not fall short of five thousand men; but, fired with ambition to preserve the laurels they had won at Cape Breton, the provinces vied with each other in putting forth their strength for the achievement of a yet greater exploit, and the forces embodied with alacrity exceeded by far the expectations entertained at home. New Hampshire voted to raise one thousand men, and more if they could be enlisted-with a bounty of thirty pounds currency and a blanket to each recruit. (2) Of this number eight hundred were ready for embarkation by the first of July. Massachusetts voted three thousand five hundred men; Connecticut one thousand; and Rhode Island three hundred. But such was the spirit of the people that a yet larger number were actually enlisted. These all were destined for Louisburg, and thence for the assault of Quebec. For the forces to be directed upon Crown Point and Montreal, New York raised sixteen hundred men; New Jersey five hundred ; Pennsylvania four hundred, though not by the act of its Quaker government, but by a popular act unsanctioned by its executive; Maryland three hundred; and Virginia one hundred;-making the grand total of provincials eight thousand two hundred. But of the promised assistance from England, two regiments only were sent; and these from Gibraltar, to relieve the New England men who had garrisoned Louisburg from the day of the conquest. Of other reinforcements none came; neither the general who was to command; nor fleet; nor orders. The New England

(1) Grahame.

(2) Belknap states the number thus ; but Hutchlnson, in a note, affirms that New Hampshire voted to raise only five hundred.

levies were mustered and prepared for embarkation, -- the transport vessels, moreover, being in readiness to receive, them. But their ardor, after weeks of cruel suspense,-was doomed to a sad disappointment by the inaction of ministers. Admiral Warren, after his visit with Pepperell to Boston for consultation with Mr. Shirley, had sailed for England. It was now midsummer, and neither troops nor tidings arriving from home, it was evident that the season was already too far advanced to allow the farther prosecution of that branch of the expedition destined against Quebec; since it was impossible that a fleet could now reach Louisburg from England in season to justify an attempt to ascend the St. Lawrence. Under these circumstances, although not without deep chagrin, that important feature of the enterprise was abandoned. The strange inaction of the parent government on that occasion, has been variously, though never satisfactorily accounted for. That a feeling of jealousy at the growing strength of the colonies, was awakened in England by the conquest of Louisburg, had been apparent almost from the moment of its fall; and cotemporary politicians were not wanting, who attributed the inaction of 1746 to a feeling on the part of ministers, that it might after all be as well to allow Canada unconquered to remain as a check upon its young and vigorous Anglo-Saxon neighbor. The excuse offered, has been, that ministers had reason to suspect that the armament which the French were ostensibly preparing for the reconquest of Cape Breton, and possibly for the invasion of some of the English colonies, was in reality intended for the invasion of Great Britain itself.(1) Be all this as it may, it was still believed that by uniting the Eastern levies with the forces collecting in New York for a descent upon Crown Point, a combined movement might be made in that direction which could not well fail of success. The New England forces were accordingly directed to hold themselves in readiness to concentrate upon Albany.

(1) Grahame.

But this scheme in its turn, -was disconcerted, and the anticipated march for Albany was arrested by serious alarms from the opposite direction. It was known that France had been making great preparations,-not, as some have affected to believe, for the invasion of England, but for the recovery of Louisburg, and the conquest of Nova Scotia,-with the ulterior design, as was apprehended, of ravaging the sea coasts of the English colonies, from Annapolis-Royal to Georgia.(1) The vigilance with which Rochelle, where the preparations were making, had been watched by the English, had not prevented the enemy's fleet from getting to sea, which it succeeded in accomplishing on the twenty-second of June. And although the English fleet, destined for the interception of the French, and also for Louisburg, had put to sea several times, it had been driven back as many, being utterly unable to get to the westward. It was commanded by Lestock, an admiral in whom, certainly, no great confidence ought to have been reposed. The fleet of the French was commanded by the Count D'Anville, numbering, as it was affirmed, seventy sail, fourteen of which were ships of the line; thirty were men of war of a smaller size; the remainder of the force, consisting of fire-ships, bombs, tenders, and transports for eight thousand troops,(2) "and a formidable apparatus of artillery and military stores."(3) In anticipation of D'Anville's arrival, accounts were received in Boston that a French officer named Ramsay, had collected a force of seventeen hundred Canadian troops and Indians, to cooperate with the French admiral, which force was even then threatening Annapolis-Royal, while the Acadians were also known to be rife for a revolt. In order, therefore, to prevent the loss of Nova Scotia, the orders for marching to Albany were countermanded, and the troops directed

(1) Hutchinson.

(2)bid.

(3)Grahame. This author greatly reduces the number of disciplined troops on board D'Anville's fleet, from the statement of Hutchinson and other provincial historians-making it no more than three thousand.

to embark for Annapolis. Before, however, the embarkation had actually taken place, news of D'Anville's arrival at Chebucto Bay in Nova Scotia was received, and the whole country was thereby thrown into a state of consternation. "England was not more alarmed by the Spanish Armada in 1588, than Boston and the other North American sea ports were by the arrival of the fleet in their neighborhood." (1) It was not supposed that so formidable an armament as that of D'Anville, to equip which the whole power of France had been exerted for many months, could be destined alone against Louisburg. A recapture of that important post would only be the prelude to a sweeping attack upon the entire seaboard; and feeling themselves neglected, if not deserted by the parent government, as though willing to see the colonies sacrificed, all thoughts of sending away any of their forces were at once abandoned. Shirley was a man of energy, enjoying in a high degree the confidence of the people; and he bore himself in the crisis in a manner worthy of his position and his character. The first intelligence of D'Anville's arrival upon the coast, had filled the public mind, wearied and discouraged by the disappointments of the season, with dismay. But the elasticity of the New England character was soon manifested by the return of all the courage and resolution necessary to enable its possessors to look danger in the face and to meet it. Under the lead of Shirley, therefore, inspired by his example, the whole energies of New England were immediately directed to the now paramount object of self-defence,-to which end all hands were at once engaged in putting the country in the most commanding attitude. The troops which had been destined, first for a descent upon Canada and next for the defence of Nova Scotia, found sufficient employment at home, as a matter of course, in strengthening the defences of the coast, by repairing dilapidated forts and building new ones. Nor were they left to labor with unaugmented numbers. The militia spontaneously left their homes, and their ripening harvests, seized their arms, and within a few days, to the number of more than six thousand, marched into Boston, while an additional six thousand more were promised from Connecticut in the event of an actual invasion.(1)

Governor Clinton had appointed the twentieth of July as the day for meeting ,the Six .Nations in council at Albany. He arrived there himself on the twenty-first; but as the city was afflicted with smallpox, and also at the same time with a malignant bilious fever, his excellency, not having had the former disease, deferred his landing until the following day,-not making it then in the town but at the fort. Whether the governor's quarrel with DeLancey, had or had not served to alienate from him any other members of the council, does not appear; and the fact that the latter could prevail upon none of its members to accompany him to Albany, excepting Doctor Colden and Mr. Livingston, is left unexplained. Major Rutherford of the council being already at Albany in the discharge of his military duties, enabled the governor, though with the smallest number allowed by his majesty's commission, to form a council board for the transaction of business.

The cause of DeLancey's quarrel with the governor, has been attributed to his own native arrogance; to an overweening family pride, engendered by the elevation of his brother-in-law, Sir Peter Warren; and also to his reliance upon the patronage of his former tutor, Doctor Harris, bishop of York, who was soon afterward elevated to the archbishopric of Canterbury.(1) On his arrival in the colony, Mr. Clinton had found the chief justice omnipotent with the assembly, and being himself fond of his ease, and caring more for the emoluments than for the glory of official station, the governor had to a great

(1) Hutchinson.

(2) Smith,-who makes Doctor Harris at this time archbishop of Canterbury, which is not correct. Dr. H. was not advanced to the primacy until the following year, 1747.

extent yielded the direction of the government to this ambitious minister. Every thing went smoothly enough between them, until after the governor in a moment of incaution, had renewed DeLancy's commission as chief justice, during good behavior,-or, in other words, for life. "He now began to dictate rather than to advise. Dining one day with Mr. Clinton, and insisting upon some favorite point with great imperiousness, the governor, who had so long suffered himself to be led, refused on this occasion to be driven. The chief justice then arose and left him; declaring, with an oath, that he would make his administration uneasy for the future. His excellency replied he might do his worst. Thus they parted, nor were they ever afterward reconciled."(1) The governor's confidence was immediately transferred to Doctor Golden, in whom it was reposed to the end of his administration.

But notwithstanding the preparations made in anticipation of his arrival, the governor found no Indians at Albany to meet him, save two straggling Onondagas, and one Oneida warrior; all three of whom had arrived on the same day with his excellency, from the north, bringing with them two French scalps which they had boldly taken at the very gate of Fort St. -- Frederick-Crown Point. On presenting these trophies to the governor, the leader of the party made a formal speech, as belligerent as could be desired, declaring that the murders committed by the French had been suffered to remain unavenged until his

(l) See Letter to a Nobleman, being a review of the military operations in North America from 1763 to 1756, the authorship of which was attributed to Governor Livingston, of New Jersey, and his friends Messrs. Smith and Scott, lawyers, of New York. Smith has since been known as the historian of New York; and the coincidences between portions of this letter and passages of his history, are so numerous and striking, as to warrant the conclusion that he must have shared in writing the former. The letter, which is long, may be found in the fourth volume of Mass. Hist. Collections.

Still in forming an estimate of the character of Mr. DeLancey, as well as of other individuals mentioned, in this letter, great allowance should be made for the intense political rancor which its authors cherished against the personages therein assailed.

heart could bear it no longer; and he had therefore himself determined to open for his brethren the path of revenge. The scalps had been taken at noonday, within two hundred steps of the fort. The report of their guns startled the garrison, and a party of soldiers sallied forth in pursuit; but having forgotten their arms in their haste, and being consequently obliged to run back after them, the Indians were enabled to make good their retreat. They were each rewarded with strouds and a laced hat,- the leader receiving in addition a fine laced coat and a silver breastplate. The governor at the chief warrior's suggestion favored him with a new name; signifying The-opener-of-the-path. Proud of his distinction, the warrior- then informed his excellency that his two associates, together with a River Indian, were going upon the warpath again; and were it not that he supposed he could render better service in the council, he should go against the enemy with them.(1) No other Indians having arrived to meet the governor, and the reports from the interpreters who had been sent to the cantons of the Six Nations being exceedingly discouraging, the Path-opener, who proved to be a very faithful fellow, volunteered upon an embassy to bring the Indians to the council himself, not doubting that he should to a considerable extent be successful.

For nearly a month the prospect of procuring a general attendance of the Indians, was discouraging. Within a day or two of the incident just recorded, another party of six or seven Indians, previously sent by the commissioners of Indian affairs to lurk about in the vicinity of Crown Point, returned without having met with any success, and with the loss of two of their number, made prisoners by the enemy. One of these, however, had been released through the interposition of the Caughnawagas in the service of the French. It was the impression of these spies that the enemy was strong at Fort St. Frederick, both in

(1) Minutes of the council board.

regular troops and Indians. This unpleasant intelligence was confirmed very soon afterward l)y the return from the same region, of a party of sixteen Mohawks, who had been sent thither to reconnoiter the enemy's works by Mr. Johnson,-whose active agency in the Indian department was now about first to he brought into requisition. These Indians added the expression of their belief, from the extent of the enemy's preparations at Crown Point, that an expedition was on foot against Schenectady and the white settlements farther up the Mohawk valley, and possibly against Albany itself. These reports were strengthened by letters from Mr. Johnson to the governor, and also by advices from the officer commanding the small English garrison kept in the Mohawk country. Mr. Clinton, however, attached less importance to these reports than those did who communicated them; believing them to have been sent abroad by the French to deter the Indians from gathering in the council at Albany. He thus wrote to Johnson; endeavoring at the same time, by the offer of liberal rewards, to persuade the last mentioned Indian party to return to the neighborhood of Crown Point, but without success,-the Indians insisting that they must return to their homes, to Inform their relatives and friends of what they had heard and seen. Mr. Johnson likewise thought there were serious grounds for alarm ; writing to the governor that the white settlers for twenty miles above him, and below to Schenectady, had deserted the country. Of his own property in jeopardy, he had eleven thousand bushels of wheat and other grain ; and he asked the favor of a small detachment of troops for his protection. A lieutenant and thirty men were immediately sent to him ; and a company of militia was likewise added to the upper Mohawk castle to assist the Indians in adding to the strength of that defence.(1) It will appear in the course of the present chapter that the apprehensions of an invasion from Fort St. Federick,

(1) Manuscript correspondence of Clinton and Johnson.

were not altogether idle, although it did not take exactly the anticipated direction.

But the Six Nations came not to the council, and the summer was wearing rapidly away; while, to increase the embarrassment of Mr. Clinton, the proposition from Governor Shirley for an immediate expedition against Crown Point had been acceded to on the fourth of August, and the information of a change in Shirley's purpose, rendered imperative by the threatened invasion of the seaboard by the French, had not been received at Albany. The prospect was indeed far from cheering in many respects. The storm of war lowered darkly in the northern horizon. A company of rangers, belonging to Albany, enrolled for the express purpose of traversing the frontier to watch the movements of the enemy, notwithstanding the danger that threatened their own firesides, refused to go again upon duty unless the governor would become personally responsible for their pay, at the rate of three shillings each per diem, and also for their subsistence. Indignant at their conduct, and believing that men thus mercenary, when even their own family altars were in jeopardy, could not be safely trusted, Mr. Clinton accepted the services, voluntarily tendered, of Captains Langdon and Tiebout, with their respective companies of new levies. A few of the reluctant Albanians were taken as guides for these generous volunteers ; but whenever any signs of hostile Indians were discovered, the heroic guides were sure, either by discharging their guns, or by making other noises, to give the alarm and enable the foe to escape ;-thus avoiding the danger themselves, but at the same time defeating the purpose in view. The temper of the Six rations, with a, few individual exceptions, was bad, and apparently growing worse. Notwithstanding the unwearied efforts of the English to

(1)Dunlop in quoting Colden, in regard to the discontents among the Six Nations at this time, says : " It was owing to the misconduct of those who were entrusted by the government with the management of Indian affairs; " adding: "The Indian agent was Mr. Johnson. " It was not so. Johnson's appointment to that agency took place afterward.

counteract the influence of the Jesuit missionaries among them, yet those crafty ecclesiastics had obtained a hold upon their aftections, which it seemed all hut impossible to break; and fresh evidences were received by the governor, almost daily, disclosing the unwelcome fact that the Iroquois, if not again balancing which side of the contest to espouse, were more strongly than ever resolved upon maintaining an attitude of neutrality. The messengers dispatched to the Indian country, to persuade them to attend the council, had met with very indifferent success. One of them had fallen sick by the way. Several of the influential chiefs had again been visiting Canada, and were in full communication with the Caughnawagas of the St. Lawrence. These were active in preventing the convocation. The messengers had passed thirteen days among the Oneidas without making any perceptible impression ; and the Cayugas met the governor's invitation at first with a flat refusal. The Mohawks, living in the closest proximity to the English, were for a considerable time equally reluctant to join in the council, and several of the chiefs at the upper castle peremptorily refused; nor in all candor can it be denied that their reasons at once attested their political sagacity and the soundness of their judgment. "It was," they said, "a war between the English and the French, in which the Indians had no interest. Those nations could at any time make peace; but it was not so with the Indians. Once involved in the war, they could not make up the quarrel among themselves, but must continue the contest until one or the other party was destroyed." These views were encouraged by the emissaries of the French, who, entertaining little expectation of being able to engage the Iroquois upon their own side, were content to urge them strongly to neutrality. " It is your interest," artfully said the Jesuits, "not to suffer either the French or the English to be absolute masters, for in that case, your slavery to one or the other, will be inevitable." Yet it was not doubted that some of the chiefs had been gained entirely to the French, and were even then ready to strike the heads of the English."

It was in this critical exigency that Mr. Clinton determined to avail himself, in the Indian department, of the services of Mr. Johnson,-services, for the discharge of which he was already exceedingly well qualified from the intimate knowledge he had acquired of their language, their character and customs, and also from the confidence they reposed in him, and his consequent extensive popularity among them. These qualifications of Mr. Johnson for that delicate branch of the public service were well known to Mr. Clinton ; and inasmuch as Colonel Schuyler, son of the celebrated Quider, and head of the board of Indian commissioners at Albany, had espoused the side of DeLancey in his opposition to the governor, while Johnson had manifested a disposition to sustain the latter, the road to preferment was already open.(1) Indeed there seems to have been a serious misunderstanding between the governor and the Indian commissioners several months before, the latter having written to his excellency on the seventeenth of the previous April, that as their proceedings give so little satisfaction to him, they beg to be excused from any farther trouble."(2) Mr. Johnson, therefore, already a correspondent and a favorite of the governor, now succeeded Colonel Schuyler in the management of the Indians ; although the sincere affection of the latter for the family of their old friend Quider, continued long afterward. It is from this point, that the long official career of the young Irish adventurer, William Johnson,-a career equally brilliant and honorable,-takes its date.

The commissioners having neglected to send messages to the AEsopus and Minisink Indians-tribes inconsiderable and not very reliable,-and also to the clans dispersed along the upper Susquehanna and its tributaries,-on the

(1) Smith.
(2) Manuscript letter preserved in the minutes of the council

fourth of August interpreters with suitable 'belts were dispatched to those scattered peoples. Meantime a change favorable to the wishes of the English had been produced among the Senecas from an unexpected quarter. It happened that while the messengers of the governor were among the Senecas, a party of twenty Chickasaws arrived at their castle, with a request "that the Senecas would show them the way into Canada." The Chickasaws had always been enemies to the French ; and an expedition of five hundred men sent against them from Canada, four years before, had been defeated in the Chickasaw country, almost to annihilation. These young envoys referred to - the subject in a manner characteristic of the race. Addressing the Senecas, they said:-"Four years ago the French had been so kind as to visit their country, and leave among them four hundred muskets. Those muskets however, by constant use, had been worn out; and as their friends the French had not thought proper to bring them any more, the Chickasaws had determined to go to Canada and bring away some new ones." It was their desire that the Senecas would show them the way, and if they would promise to do so, the young men said they would return home and bring back about four hundred of their stouthearted fellows to find the new guns and bring them away. Encouraged by this unlocked for alliance from the south, and also by assurances that other remote nations of the forest were in no good humor with the French, the Senecas, in considerable numbers, changed their minds, and determined to meet the governor in Albany.

Mr. Johnson was at the same time exerting himself with the utmost activity to dispel the clouds resting upon the moody brows of the Mohawks, and to revive their obviously waning friendship for the English. Familiar with their language and manners, he assumed their garb, and mingled among them as one of their own people. He entered readily into their athletic exercises, their games, and all the varieties of their pastimes,-prompted, it is likely, in part, by his love of the picturesque and of wild, adventure, and in part, it is but just to believe, by the sincere affection he had imbibed for the race. Flattered by his association with them upon terms of such generous equality,-- not for an instant dreaming that there could he ought of simulation in his conduct toward them, as perhaps there was not,-the Mohawks adopted him as a member of their nation, and invested him with the rank of a war-chief.(1) In this capacity he assembled them at festivals, and appointed frequent war-dances, by way of exciting them to engage actively in the war. His success, considering the sourness of their temper, and the spirit of uneasiness that had prevailed among them for so many months, was far greater than had been anticipated by the commissioners; for he not only persuaded numbers of the war-chiefs and sachems to repair to Albany and hear what the governor had to say, but he likewise engaged many of their young warriors unreservedly to join the army in the proposed campaign.

Thus stood matters at the Mohawk castles when the interpreters from the more distant members of the Confederacy arrived with such of the sachems and warriors of those nations as they had succeeded in bringing to attend the council. But here a new difficulty arose. A political feud had existed among the Confederates for a length of time, causing a division into two distinct parties, the Mohawks, Onondagas and Senecas forming one division, and the Oneidas, Cayugas and Tuscaroras the other, the last mentioned being numerically the weaker. On the arrival of the warriors and counselors of the latter, it appeared that they had by no means determined to espouse the cause of the English, and they censured the Mohawks for having committed themselves so far without the previous consent of the other Confederates. The Mohawks replied with warmth. They were less numerous than the other nations, it was true; but they declared that their warriors were all

(1) In connection with this custom of adoption, see Appendix, No. 1, to this volume.

men ; (l) and in the event of a trial of strength, the Mohawks might not be found in reality the weakest. Chafed at the rebuke of their fellows, they moreover now boldly avowed that their hearts were truly English ; and the contention at length became so sharp, that the opposing factions would not consent to move in company to Albany,-the Mohawks marching by themselves on one side of the river, while their opponents took the other. Both divisions entered Albany on the eighth of August,-the Mohawks in full panoply, at the head of whom marched their new war captain, Johnson, upon whom they had conferred the name of WAR-RAGH-I-YA-GEY, signifying, it is believed, Superintendent of affairs(2)-dressed, painted and plumed as required by the dignity of his rank. In passing Fort Frederick at Albany, salutes were exchanged, the Indians firing their muskets, and the fort its artillery. The chiefs and sachems were then received in the hall of the fortress, and served with refreshments.

All the Mohawk sachems but three, had been persuaded by Mr. Johnson heartily to engage in the cause. One of these dissentients was Aaron, of the Lower castle, who, with others, had made a visit in the preceding spring to the French governor in Canada. The two others were of the Canajoharie, or Upper castle. Both were sachems of influence, one belonging to the Bear tribe, and the other to the Tortoise,-the latter being first in dignity. Great pain were taken at private interviews with these sachems, to bring them into the cause of the English. The task, though difficult, was ultimately accomplished through the instrumentality of the Rev. Mr. Barclay, an English missionary residing among the Mohawks, and the exertions of Doctor

(1) The Six Nations reckoned all other Indian nations women in comparison with themselves.

(2) The signification of Johnson's Indian name is not known with certainty. Some authorities have given as its meaning-"one who unites two peoples together." The interpretation however given in the text, reasoning from the analysis or the supposed analysis of the word, appears to be nearer the truth.

Golden, who, during former visits to the Canajoharie castle, had contracted an acquaintance with those reluctant sachems. The doctor had indeed some twenty years before, been adopted into their clan, and invested with a new name. Still, there were other difficulties to be adjusted, and it was not until the nineteenth day of August that a public council could be safely opened. Meantime Governor Clinton had been attacked, by fever, and the duty of conducting the council devolved upon Dr. Golden. The commissioners in attendance from Massachusetts, were Colonel Wendell and Mr. Welles. Connecticut was not represented..

The opening speech delivered by Mr. Golden, had been prepared to be spoken by the governor. After announcing, in the usual form, that the council had been called to confirm the covenant chain, and all former treaties and engagements, it recapitulated the history of the war, referring to the cruelties of the enemy, and reminding the Indians of their stipulation the year before, that if satisfaction for those cruelties should not be promptly rendered, they would take up the hatchet and make immediate use of it. But the enemy, so far from having made the least reparation for their wrongs, had repeated their cruelties on the frontiers of New England, by the destruction and massacre of Saratoga, and by barbarous murders in the very precincts of Albany. Yet, knowing these facts, the Six Nations had not fulfilled their promises, an immediate compliance with which was now necessary, if they would show that those promises came when made from the bottom of their hearts.

The speech next announced the determination of "the king their father," to effect the subjugation of Canada, and informed the Indians of the preparations making for that object. They were assured in the most confident terms, that forces sufficient for effecting the conquest at a blow, had been levied and were already in motion. Those from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, .New Jersey and New York; destined to proceed to Montreal, they would soon see in Albany; while the governor was in the hourly expectation of hearing of the arrival of the promised, ships and troops from England;-" a great army of experienced soldiers,-who, with the New England levies, were to assemble at Cape Breton ;-after which the attack upon Canada would he made on all aides, both by sea and land."(1)

Yet, in order to complete the preparations for so great an enterprise, the Six Nations were required to join all their forces with the English, in doing which they would have a glorious opportunity of increasing their renown by aiding in the conquest of the French,-a perfidious people, who were even caressing the enemies of the Six Nations, desiring nothing so much as to see their name obliterated.

They were next reminded of the many injuries they themselves had received at the hands of the French, especially by their repeated invasions of their territory, as at Onondaga, and the Seneca country. The mischiefs inflicted by them upon the Mohawks in their successive invasions were recounted; the story of the massacre of their warriors at Cadaracqui, was rehearsed; while the cruel burnings of some of their braves at Montreal, was not forgotten. Having thus kindled a spirit of vengeance in their bosoms, as could be read in the flashing eye, and the distended nostril, the ambition of the warriors was next artfully excited by a recital of their own brave exploits when carrying their arms into Canada:-"If your fathers," said the speech, " could now rise out of their graves, how would their hearts leap for joy to see this day, when so glorious an opportunity is put into your hands to revenge all the injuries your country has received from the French, and be never more exposed to their treachery and deceit." As the true sons of such renowned and brave ancestors, animated by the same spirit for their country's glory, and the same desire of revenge, they were invited to share in

(1) So ignorant -was the governor of the true state of things at the moment In New England, where all expectation of the grand combined attack had been relinquished; Boston not more than two hundred miles distant, and yet the governor of New York was left in ignorance to make these fallacious promises to the Indians.

the honor of vanquishing the enemies alike of themselves and the English; provisions, arms, clothing, being promised in abundance, and ample protection for their wives and children during their absence. They were farther reminded of several murders of their white brethren by the enemy's Indians, committed even since their arrival at the council-fire. These additional insults they were called upon to avenge; and in conclusion a belt was given as an assurance of the intention of the English to live and die with their red brethren.

The speech was well received. At the end of each sentence one of the chiefs called out-"YO-HAY;"-"do you hear?" and the response of approbation was general. When, moreover, after its close, the war-belt was thrown down, the significant act was followed by a war-shout, unanimous and hearty. The council-fire was then raked up to give the forest counselors time for deliberation. Three days afterward they announced that their answer was ready; and on the following day, August twenty-fourth, the governor himself was able to meet them in council for its reception.

The fire having been rekindled at the appointed time; an Onondaga sachem spoke to the following effect-the speech of course abounding in the figurative expressions inseparable from Indian eloquence and diplomacy. It opened by informing the council that the Missesagues had united with them for the purposes immediately in hand, as a seventh nation. The Six Nations were rejoiced that the English were wiping away their sorrowful tears, opening their throats, and washing clean the bloody bed. They also spoke of the silver covenant chain formed of old, which both were holding fast. They acknowledged having received the hatchet the year before, and their pledge to use it in the event of farther provocations and murders by the French;-admitted that the bloody affair of Saratoga, and other acts of hostility, demanded the fulfillment of the pledge; and they farther declared their readiness "from the bottom of their hearts," to use their hatchets against the French and their children,-the Canada Indians meaning,-from that day forward. As an earnest of their sincerity in this declaration, the war-belt was thrown down with great emphasis both of attitude and expression. They assured the governor of the entire union of their clans in this declaration, and hoped the governors of the different English colonies would be as closely united in the prosecution of the war as themselves. In regard to the wiles of the French priests against which they had been admonished, they averred that their blood boiled at the manner in which they had formerly been treated by them, and being now at war with their nation, those priests would no more dare to come. The Six Nations would have no further use for them than to roast them. As to the Missesagues, whom they now commended to the English as their allies, they numbered eight hundred warriors, all being determined, to join in the common cause.(1) In conclusion the chiefs said they would leave some of their warriors with the troops of the governor, while they themselves returned to their castles to send down a greater number.

With this speech closed the proceedings of that day, and the next was appointed for the delivery of the presents sent to them from the king, and also by the governors of Virginia and Massachusetts. "When on the twenty-fifth the presents were brought forth for delivery, the Albanians remarked that they were much more valuable than any that had been previously given to the Indians. So, also, thought the recipients, a Mohawk chieftain, of his own volition, addressing his brethren thus :-" You see how you are here treated,-really like brethren. The governor of Canada treats not his Indians so, but sets them on like dogs, and they run without thought or consideration. You see what a noble present is made to you. If the governor of Canada should seize all the goods in that country, he could not

(1) The Misseasgues then lived at Detroit, between Lakes Erie and Huron.

make such a present."(1) In the division of the presents among the nations represented, two-eighths thereof were voluntarily assigned to the Misaesagues. On the day following, being the twenty-sixth, the war-kettle was put over the fire, and in the evening the solemn war-dance was performed, in presence of the governor and many other gentlemen. The warriors were all painted for the occasion, and the appropriate songs were sung with affecting pathos.

Before the Indians dispersed, the governor had private conferences with the leading chiefs, and rendered the covenant chain yet brighter by making further presents. The two Missesagues present were particularly friendly. One of them assured his excellency that among the Indians yet farther than themselves in the interior, there was a growing dislike to the French, reporting a transaction strongly corroborating his assertion. It was to the effect that a party of sixty Frenchmen had lately been sent to one of those distant nations to persuade them to take up the hatchet against the English. They accepted the hatchet,-and immediately put the whole party presenting it to death. In conclusion, the Missesagues promised on returning home to bring as many of those distant nations as they could upon the warpath. Unfortunately, however, both sickened of the smallpox and died,-one of them not being able to depart for the fair hunting grounds -with resignation until the governor had promised to send his mother the first French scalp that should be taken. His companion at the council died on his -way home,-the Six Nations at once providing for their -wives and children,-who bad accompanied them to Albany.

(1) this account of the Indian negotiations of 1746, I have drawn from the copious details of Doctor Golden. Smith, the historian, intimates that the presents actually given by the governor, were small and unsatisfactory and charges that Colden wrote a partial account for his patron's vindication-his excellency having been accused of embezzling large portions of the presents. This imputation is unwarrantable. Colden's account was published in the course of a few weeks after the council closed, and, had it been untrue, and the Indian's speech auction, the dishonesty would have been exposed at the time.

some time since, an express to Boston not yet returned, and I think he must be detained, on that account."(l) The governor also in the same letter informs Johnson that he has sent the fourteen Susquehauna warriors who had remained behind, against the enemy, attached to a company of sixty men under the command of Captain Staats, and from whom he hoped to hear a good account.

The Canadian governor had not been an inattentive observer of Mr. Clinton's preparations for meeting the Indians. He had indeed adroitly attempted to prevent the gathering, by sending a number of Caughnawaga emissaries among them, with pacific overtures.(2) The Onondaga captain, taken, as already related, at Crown Point, in July was to accompany them, charged with a message from the governor to the effect, that although the warriors of the Six Nations had killed some of his people, yet he was willing to overlook the past, and "as an evidence of his love for them, he had sent back one of their people instead of eating his flesh." At the same time the Caughnawagas were charged "not to spill any more blood from Albany upward, but to turn their arms toward their inveterate enemies in New England. " There," said the French governor, " There is the place for you to gain honor now." But much to the surprise of the governor, the Caughnawagas declined the honor of the proposed mission, either as the bearers of intelligence, or menaces. " Such a course," they replied, "would only stir up the Six Nations, and bring them and all their allies to destroy you at once. They are not to be bullied by your words or arms; wherefore, father, we must leave you to go through this work by yourself." These sudden scruples of his allies, but that the French governor was doubtless well acquainted with the unstable and impulsive character of the Indians, must well nigh have confounded him. But the Caughnawagas nevertheless dispatched one of their number in company

(1) Manuscript letter, Clinton to Johnson.
(2) Idem in reply to a letter from Johnson.

with the returning captain, as the bearer of a message, not from the governor, but from themselves, to, their former brethren, conjuring them by all their ancient ties of friendship, not to embark in a war against them, and begging them to give information of any plottings of Governor Clinton against them. They invited the Six Nations to visit them in council again at their seat on the St. Lawrence in the spring; and requested them to inform Governor Clinton that the French had eighteen hundred soldiers at Crown Point, ready for battle, but in which number were included eight castles of Ottawa Indians. It was on the return of the Mohawks from the council at Albany, that they were met by six of their own people as the bearers of this message, which they had received from the returning Onondaga prisoners,-the Caughuawaga messenger having ventured no farther than the confines of the Mohawk territory, But neither the message from their former brethren, nor the desires of the French governor, made the slightest impression upon the Six rations, since they communicated both to their new war-captain, Johnson, without reserve or delay,-giving every desirable evidence of the good faith in which they had revived their English alliance.

It was suggested by some contemporary writers, that as much as the governor of Canada asked only for the neutrality of the Six Nations, the dictates of humanity required an acquiescence on the part of the English. But whoever has studied the character of this remarkable variety of the human family,-especially of the Iroquois,-must be aware how difficult, if not how utterly impossible, it would have been to keep them neutral. The Iroquois were the aboriginals of all others, whose friendship and alliance was most ; strongly desired by both the principal belligerents, and whose possible hostility was anticipated with the greatest apprehension by both. Their position, stretching from the western shore of Lake Champlain to Lake Erie, placed them like a barrier between the French and English colonies, and enabled them to strike with sudden fury upon the borders of either, as they might elect. The most formidable in numbers, the most compactly disposed in their cantons, and the best governed of the savage race,-inured to war, and accustomed to conquest,-their name was a terror to the Indians from the country of the Natchez to the gulf of St. Lawrence. Their trade was war ; and although they had for a season evinced a strong reluctance to engage in the contest then raging) yet the French were continually tampering with them, and their clergy had for a long period exercised great influence over them. They were themselves by no means ignorant of the importance of their position, nor of the important fact, that, as between the French and English colonies, they held the balance of power. How desirous they might be of making the most of their position, the English could not tell; nor had they any warrant, in the event of neglecting to secure their services beyond a peradventure themselves, that when the contest should become fierce, and the Indians should scent blood upon the breeze, they might not, in a moment of impulse, throw off their neutrality and strike suddenly in behalf of the French. Hence it is maintained that the English were by no means bound passively to allow the French to secure the advantage of a neutrality on the part of the Iroquois, the maintenance of which would be so extremely uncertain, and the benefits of which would enure? (typo?) solely to the party proposing and so strenuously urging it.