And now we cannot but congratulate ourselves, that your coming fhould happen at a Time, when we are in daily Expectation of a War being declared between the King of England, and the • French King, well knowing that fhould fuch a • War happen, it muft very fenfibly affect you, • confidering your Situation in the Neighbourhood • of Canada. Your coming at this Juncture is • particularly fortunate, fince it gives us an Op'portunity of mentioning several Things that may be neceffary to be fettled, between People fo ftrictly and closely united as we are.-An Union not to be expreffed by any Thing lefs, than the • affectionate Regards which Children of the fame • Parents bear for each other, as conceiving our⚫ felves to be one Flesh and one People. The utmoft Care therefore ought mutually to ⚫ be taken by us on both Sides, that the Road between us be kept perfectly clear and open, and no Lets nor the leaft Obftruction be fuffered to lie in the Way; or if any should by Accident be found, that may hinder our free Intercourfe and • Correfpondence, it must forthwith be removed. To inforce this, we lay down a String of Wampum. • In the next Place, we, on our Part, fhall inlarge · our Fire that burns between us. We shall pro'vide more Fewel to increase it, and make it burn ⚫ brighter and clearer, and give a stronger and more lafting Light and Warmth. ، In Evidence of our fincere Intentions, we lay down this Belt of Wampum. 1 In the laft Place, confidering the Obligations we are mutually under by our feveral Treaties, "That we should hear with our Ears for you, and you hear with your Ears for us.' We fhall at • Times very willingly give you the earliest and ⚫ best Intelligence, of any Defigns that may be form'd to your Difadvantage.-And if you cover any Preparations that can hurt us, we de 3 dif • fire fire you will immediately dispatch some suitable • Perfon in whom we can place a Confidence, to give us a proper Information. To inforce this Request, as well as to brighten the t On the Governor's concluding the Speech, the folemn Cry by Way of Approbation was repeated by the Indians, as many Times as there were Nations prefent; and then Canaffateego rofe up and fpoke. BRETHREN, • We thank you for your kind Speech: What you have faid is very agreeable to us; and To• morrow when we have deliberated on the feveral • Matters recommended to us, we will give you ⚫ our Anfwer. We defire, as our Time will be • wholly taken up in Council, you will order the • Goods to be carried back to the Proprietaries to • prevent their being loft, and that they may continue there till we call for them.' At a COUNCIL held in the Meeting - House, July 7, 1742. PRESENT, The Honourable GEORGE THOMAS, Efq; Lieutenant-Governor. • BRETHREN, the Governor and Council, and all prefent, According to our Promife we now propose to return you an Answer to the feveral Things men ⚫tioned tioned to us Yefterday, and fhall beg Leave to fpeak to publick Affairs firft, tho' they were what you fpoke to laft. On this Head you Yesterday put us in Mind, firft, "Of William Penn's early and conftant Care to cultivate Friendship with "all the Indians; of the Treaty we held with one of his Sons, about ten Years ago; and of the "Neceffity there is at this Time of keeping the "Roads between us clear and free from all Ob"ftructions." We are all very fenfible of the kind • Regard that good Man William Penn had for all the Indians, and cannot but be pleased to find that his Children have the fame. We well remember the Treaty you mention held with his Son on his Arrival here, by which we confirmed our League of Friendship, that is to laft as long as the Sun • and Moon endure: In Confequence of this, we, on our Part, fhall preferve the Road free from all Incumbrances; in Confirmation whereof we lay down this String of Wampum. • You in the next Place faid you would enlarge the Fire and make it burn brighter, which we are pleased to hear you mention; and affure you, we fhall do the fame, by adding to it more • Fewel, that it may ftill flame out more strongly ⚫ than ever: In the laft Place, you were pleased to say that we are bound by the stricteft Leagues, to watch for each others Prefervation; that we 'fhould hear with our Ears for you, and you hear with your Ears for us: This is equally agreeable to us; and we fhall not fail to give you ' early Intelligence, whenever any Thing of Con-, fequence comes to our Knowledge: And to en'courage you to do the fame, and to nourish in 'your Hearts what you have fpoke to us with 'your Tongues, about the Renewal of our Amity and the Brightening of the Chain of Friendship; we confirm what we have faid with another Belt • of Wampum.' • • BRETHREN, • BRETHREN, • We received from the Proprietors Yesterday, fome Goods in Confideration of our Release of the Lands on the Weft-fide of Safquehannah. It is true, we have the full Quantity according to Agreement; but if the Proprietor had been here himfelf, we think, in Regard of our Numbers and Poverty, he would have made an Addition • to them.-If the Goods were only to be divided amongst the Indians prefent, a fingle Perfon • would have but a small Portion; but if you con• fider what Numbers are left behind, equally entitled with us to a Share, there will be extremely ⚫ little. We therefore defire, if you have the Keys of the Proprietor's Cheft, you will open it, and • take out a little more for us. • We know our Lands are now become more valuable: The white People think we do not • know their Value; but we are fenfible that the • Land is everlafting, and the few Goods we receive for it are foon worn out and gone. For the future, we will fell no Lands but when Bro⚫ther Onas is in the Country; and we will know • beforehand, the Quantity of the Goods we are to • receive. Besides, we are not well used with reYour Peofpect to the Lands ftill unfold by us. ple daily fettle on thefe Lands, and fpoil our Hunting-We must infift on your removing them, as you know they have no Right to fettle to the Northward of Kittochtinny-Hills.-In particular, we renew our Complaints against fome People who are fettled at Juniata, a Branch of Safquahannah, and all along the Banks of that • River, as far as Mahaniay; and defire they may ⚫ be forthwith made to go off the Land, for they ⚫ do great Damage to our Coufins the Delawares. • We have further to obferve, with respect to the Lands lying on the Weft-fide of Safquaban `nab, 6 nah, that though Brother Onas (meaning the Proprietor) has paid us for what his People poffefs, 6 yet fome Parts of that Country have been taken up by Perfons, whofe Place of Refidence is to the South of this Province, from whom we have never received any Confideration. This Affair was recommended to you by our Chiefs at our last Treaty; and you then, at our earnest Defire, promised to write a Letter to that Person who has the Authority over those People, and to procure us his Answer: As we have never heard from you " on this Head, we want to know what you have ⚫ done in it. If you have not done any Thing, ⚫ we now renew our Requeft, and defire you will inform the Perfon whofe People are feated on our Lands, that that Country belongs to us, in Right of Conqueft; we having bought it with our Blood, and taken it from our Enemies in fair War; and we expect, as Owners of that Land, 6 to receive fuch a Confideration for it as the Land is worth. We defire you will prefs him to fend a pofitive Answer: Let him fay Yes or No: If •he fays Yes, we will treat with him; if No, we are able to do ourselves Juftice; and we will do it, by going to take Payment ourselves. It is cuftomary with us to make a Present of 'Skins, whenever we renew our Treaties. We are afhamed to offer our Brethren fo few, but your Horfes and Cows have eat the Grafs our • Deer used to feed on. This has made them fcarce, and will, we hope, plead in Excufe for our not bringing a larger Quantity. If we could have spared more, we would have given more; 'but we are really poor; and defire you'll not 'confider the Quantity, but few as they are, accept them in Teftimony of our Regard.' Here they gave the Governor a Bundle of Skins. |