American Border Wars by W. L. Stone

Three Rivers
Hudson~Mohawk~Schoharie
History From America's Most Famous Valleys
Life of Joseph Brant-Thayendanegea

Including the Indian Wars of the American Revolution

by William L. Stone. Volume II

Buffalo: Phinney & Co., 1851.

Chapter VIII.

The Treaty of Peace-Neglect other Indian allies by Great Britain-Brant's negotiations with General Haldimand for a new territory-The Senecas invite the Mohawks to settle in the Genesee Valley-Declined-The Grand River country granted to the Mohawks by Sir Frederick Haldimand-Indian policy of the United States-Views of Washington and General Schuyler-Treaty with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix-Corn-planter and Red Jacket take opposite sides-Peace with the Six Nations-Dissatisfaction of the Indians-Of Thayendanegea in particular-Letter of Brant to Colonel Monroe-Relinquishes his design of going then to England-Returns to Grand River-Differences of opinion with Sir John Johnson -Brant sails for England in the Autumn of 1785-His arrival-Glimpses of his ulterior designs-His distinguished reception-Enters upon the business of his mission-Letter to Lord Sidney-Speech of Brant to Lord Sidney-Letter of Lord Sidney in reply-Question of half-pay-Brant's Letter to Sir Evan Nepean -His associations with the great-Keen sarcasm upon a nobleman-Striking incident at a grand masquerade-Brant's attention to the moral wants of his people-His return to Canada.
THE treaty of November, 1782, restoring peace between the United States and Great Britain, and recognising the unconditional independence of the former, was such as to gratify every reasonable wish of the American people. In regard to questions of boundary and the fisheries, it was, indeed, more liberal than their allies, France and Spain, desired. Professedly, France had drawn the sword in behalf of the United States ; but the negotiations for peace presented the singular fact, that but for the diplomacy of the former, the treaty of peace would have been sooner completed. The negotiation was a work of intricacy, requiring skill, penetration, judgment, and great firmness on the part of the American commissioners-qualities which their success proved them to possess in an eminent degree. But, although the American treaty was first definitively concluded, less than two months elapsed before preliminary articles of peace were agreed upon and signed between Great Britain, France, and Spain; France having the satisfaction of seeing her great rival dismembered of the fairest portion of her American possessions, as she herself had been by that very power twenty years before.

In the treaty with the United States, however, Great Britain had made no stipulation in behalf of her Indian allies. Notwithstanding the alacrity with which the aboriginals, especially the Mohawks, had entered the service of the crown-notwithstanding their constancy, their valor, the readiness with -which they had spilt their blood, and the distinguished services of their Great Captain, Thayendanegea, the loyal red man was not even named in the treaty; while " the ancient country of the Six Nations, the residence of their ancestors from the time far beyond their earliest traditions, was included within the boundary granted to the Americans."* What with the descent of Colonel Van Schaick upon the Onondagas, and the expedition of General Sullivan into their territory farther west, their whole country had been ravaged with fire and sword; and the Mohawks, in particular, had sacrificed the entire of their own rich and beautiful country. It appears, however, that when the Mohawks first abandoned their native valley to embark in his Majesty's service, Sir Guy Carleton had given a pledge, that as soon as the war was at an end they should be restored, at the expense of the government, to the condition they were in before the contest began. In April, 1779, General Haldimand, then Captain General and Commander-in-chief in Canada, ratified the promise of his predecessor, pledging himself, under hand and seal, as far as in him lay, to its faithful execution "as soon as that happy time should come."+

At the close of the war the Mohawks were temporarily residing on the American side of the Niagara river, in the vicinity of the old landing-place above the fort. The Senecas, who had been in closer alliance with the Mohawks during the war than any other of the Six Nations, and who had themselves been chiefly induced by the former to take up the hatchet against the United States, offered them a tract of land in the valley of the Genesee. But, as Captain Brant long afterward said in one of his speeches, the Mohawks were determined " to sink or swim" with the English; and besides, they did not wish to reside within the boundaries of the United States. The generous offer of the Senecas was therefore declined, and the Mohawk Chief proceeded to Montreal to confer with the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, Sir John Johnson, and from thence to Quebec, to claim from General Haldimand, the Commander-in-chief, the fulfilment of his pledge. The General received the warrior with great kindness,
* MS. memorial of the Six Nations, presented to Lord Camden by Teyoninhokarawen, commonly called John Norton.
+ MS. order of General Haldimand, among the Brant papers.

and evinced every disposition to fulfil the pledge in the most honorable manner. The tract upon which the chief had fixed his attention was situated upon the Bay de Quinte, on the north side of the St. Lawrence, or rather of Lake Ontario ;-and at his request General Haldimand agreed that it should be purchased and conveyed to the Mohawks.

On the return of Thayendanegea to Niagara, the Senecas were disappointed at the arrangement, and pained at the idea that their friends were to be located at so wide a distance from them. They were apprehensive that their troubles with the United States were not yet at an end, and were, therefore, exceedingly desirous that the Mohawks should reside so near as to assist them in arms if necessary, or afford them an asylum should they be obliged to flee from the oppression of the United States. Under these circumstances Captain Brant convened a council of his people, and it was resolved that he should make a second visit to Quebec, and; under the peculiar circumstances of the case, request another and more convenient territory. The country upon the Ouise, or Grand River, flowing into Lake Erie some forty miles above the Falls of Niagara, was indicated to General Haldimand as a location everyway convenient, not only for maintaining a ready intercourse with the residue of the Six Nations, but also as affording facilities for corresponding with the nations and tribes of the upper lakes. His Excellency approved of the suggestion, and promptly ordered a second purchase to be made in conformity with the request. On inquiring the extent of the territory expected by the Mohawks, the Captain replied, " Six miles on each side of the river, from the mouth to its source." With assurances that the grant should be formally secured in fee, in due season, the chief returned once more to Niagara, and shortly afterward entered into possession of the lands allotted for the new home of his people.*

In the Autumn of 1784, having learned that General Haldimand was about returning to England, the vigilant chief repaired to Quebec a third time upon this business, in order to make sure of the title deed. The result of this visit was a formal grant by Sir Frederick Haldimand, in the name of the crown,
* This narrative of facts 13 derived from a long speech of Captain Brant, made in council, to Gov. Simcoe, in 1795, a copy of which is preserved among the Brant papers.

of a tract of land " upon the banks of the river Ouise, commonly called Grand River, running into Lake Erie, of six miles breadth from each side of the river, beginning at Lake Erie, and extending in that proportion to the head of said river; which the Mohawks, and others of the Six Nations who had either lost their possessions in the war, or wished to retire from them to the British, with their posterity, were to enjoy forever."* The course of the river Ouise is about one hundred Miles, so that the grant embraced a territory of that extent in length by twelve miles in width. " This tract, though much smaller than that which they had been obliged to forsake within the United States, amply satisfied these loyal Indians, who preferred living under the protection of His Britannic Majesty, (ready to fight under his standard again; if occasion should require,) to a more extensive country."+ The district of country thus granted, is said to be alike beautiful and fertile. The Grand River rises in the interior of the country toward Lake Huron, and winds its way to Lake Erie through a long and picturesque course. It is navigable for small vessels many miles upward, and for large boats a much greater distance still. The land along its whole course is uncommonly productive.

The policy to be observed by the United States toward the Indians residing within their borders, was a question of grave and weighty importance, and early arrested the consideration of American statesmen. Very soon after the English came into possession of the Colony of New-York, the Six Nations relinquished their own primitive right of absolute sovereignty, and placed themselves and their lands under the protection of the government of New-York,++ reserving to themselves a kind of qualified sovereignty. The immediate object of this act, on the part of the Indians, was to secure the alliance of the English in their wars with the French, and the Huron and Algonquin Indians in Canada. § Subsequently, during the Colonial administration, the Indians were considered as separate but dependent nations.ll Aside from this circumstance, however, by the treaty of peace the sovereignty of all the Indian countries within the
* Copy of the Grant, among the Brant papers.

+ Norton's Memorial to Lord Camden.

++ Rent's Commentaries, vol. m. p. 392. § Colden's Canada.

ll Kent's Commentaries.

prescribed limits granted to the United States by Great Britain, became vested in the former, to the same extent, of course, as it had been exercised by Great Britain. With that sovereignty, moreover, the exclusive right of pre-emption to all the Indian lands lying within the territory of the United States also became vested in them-subject to the possessory right only of the natives.* These rights had been acquired by England by discovery, which, under the practice of the European nations, was held to be equivalent to conquest; and although the natives were admitted to possess a just and legal claim, as the original occupants of the soil, to retain and use it according to their own discretion, still they were not allowed to dispose of the soil at their own will, except to the government claiming the right of pre-emption.+ Such was the practice of Spain, France, Holland, and England; and as early as 1782, Mr. Jay, then the American Minister at the Court of Madrid, in his correspondence with the Count d'Aranda, asserted the adoption of the same principle on the part of the United States.++ But while the right of sovereignty, as it had been exercised by England, passed over to the United States by virtue of the treaty, under the complicated system of the confederacy, the pre-emptive right to the soil became vested in the respective States within whose boundaries or grants they were situated-the States themselves being so many sovereign powers in all matters of national import which had not been specially conceded to the Government of the Union under the Articles of Confederation.

The treatment of the Six Nations by the Dutch Colonial Government had been kind and liberal. So, also, had it been under the Colonial Government of England-the Indians, in no instance, being dispossessed of a rood of ground, except by purchase. Immediately on the conclusion of the war, however, England having made no stipulation in behalf of the Indians, a disposition was manifested by the Legislature of New York to expel the Six Nations from all the country within the bounds of that state, which had not been ceded by them previous to the war.§ This disposition, which seems, likewise, to have been entertained to some extent in other states, was viewed with great
*Kent's Commentaries, vol. i. p. 257. +Idem, vol. iii. p. 379.
++ Life and Writings of John Jay.
§ Letter of Washington to James Duane, Sept. 7, 1783.

concern by Generals "Washington and Schuyler, who united in the opinion that such a line of policy would be alike injudicious, inhuman, and unjust. General Schuyler addressed a memorial to Congress upon the subject in July. Coinciding entirely in the sentiments of Schuyler, Washington followed up that communication by a long letter to James Duane, then in Congress, in September. The views of these gentlemen were, that the most liberal and humane policy should be adopted in respect to the Indians. True, they had taken up the hatchet in favor of the crown, and by a rigid construction of the laws of conquest, they might be dispossessed of their lands, and driven, with their allies, north beyond the lakes. But General Washington strongly urged, that while the Indians should be informed of the strictright of the United States to deal thus severely with them, and compel them to share the same evil fortune with those whom they had chosen for their allies, nevertheless, looking upon them as a people who had been deluded into the service of the crown, they should be allowed honorable terms of peace, and to retain the possession of lands and hunting grounds, to be designated by treaty, within the boundaries of which they should not be molested. It was the desire of Washington, that with regard to these children of the forest, a veil should be drawn over the past, and that they should be taught that their true interest and safety must henceforward depend upon the cultivation of amicable relations with the United States. In regard to the Six Nations, he thought the course which the Legislature of New York seemed desirous of pursuing would involve the country in another Indian war, since the Indians would never surrender their whole territory without another struggle ; while he justly held that all the territory that was actually wanted by the people of the United States might be obtained by negotiation and compromise. As a general principle, moreover, it was held that, in all time to come, it would be much cheaper to obtain cessions of land from the Indians, from time to-time, as they should be required for the extension of settlements, by purchase, than to acquire them by conquest-to say nothing of the sufferings, the evils, and the guilt of war. Upon this whole subject of Indian policy there was an entire coincidence of opinion between Washington and Schuyler. Most happily it prevailed, and the subsequent cession by the states of their Indian lands to the general government, facilitated the benevolent action of the latter under that system; the wisdom of which, irrespective of its justice and humanity, has become every year more apparent since.

It was while the Mohawk chief was occupied in making his final arrangements with the Canadian Commander-in-chief, as has been seen a few pages back, that the sachems and warriors of the Six "Nations were holding a treaty with the United States at Fort Stanwix. At this negotiation, the Mohawks, Ononda- gas, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, Tnscaroras, and Seneca-Abeal* nations were represented. The Commissioners on the part of the United States were Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee. The records of this treaty, containing the speeches interchanged on the occasion, seem not to have been preserved, as has been usual in diplomatic matters with the Indians. No thing appears upon the subject among the Indian state-papers at the seat of Government, save the naked result of the council, in the form of a very brief treaty, signed by the nations represented instead of the several chiefs. It is known, however, that among the leading chiefs who took an active part in the negotiations; were the Corn-planter and Red Jacket; and enough is to be gathered from the records of subsequent transactions with the Indians, to afford a general idea of the course of these proceedings. Beyond doubt the representatives of the Six Nations at that council were opposed to a separate negotiation with the United States. Their desire was, that no definitive treaty of peace and boundaries should be concluded, unless the whole ground was covered at once ; and, as a consequence, they strenuously urged that the Hurons, Ottawas, Shawanese, Chippewas, Delawares, Pottawattamies, the Wabash Confederates, and the Cherokees, should be represented, in order that the whole question of boundaries, on all the Indian borders, might be deterermined.+ But the Commissioners on the part of the United States would listen, to no such delay. The Six Nations, as such, had taken up the hatchet in favor of the crown, and it was determined to punish them by a dismemberment of their territory. Red Jacket, a somewhat younger chief than the
* The clan of the Senecas residing with the Corn-planter on the Alleghany.
+ Speech of the united Indian nations at a confederate council, held at the mouth of the Detroit River, November and December, 1786.

Corn-planter, was opposed to a burial of the hatchet, and spoke with great eloquence and vehemence in favor of a continuance of the war by the Indians on their own account. " His speech " was a masterpiece, and every warrior who heard him was " carried away with his eloquence."* The Corn-planter was a wiser man than his junior associate. He saw the folly of a war to be waged by the Indians single-handed against the United States, and he exerted himself with all his power in favor of peace. He saw that the only alternative of his people was the relinquishment of a portion of their territory by compromise, or the loss of the whole by force. His efforts were in the end successful, and on the 22d of October a treaty was signed, by which the United States gave peace to the Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagas, and Cayugas-the four hostile nations of the confederacy and received them under their protection on condition that all the prisoners, white and black, in the possession of the said nations, should be delivered up ; the Oneidas and Tuscaroras were secured in the possession of the lands then in their occupation ; the Six Nations at the same time relinquishing all claims to the country west of a line beginning at the mouth of the Oyonwayea Creek, flowing into Lake Ontario four miles east of Niagara; thence southerly, but preserving a line four miles east of the carrying path, to the mouth of the Tehoseroron, or Buffalo Creek; thence to the north boundary of Pennsylvania; thence west to the end of that boundary; and thence south along the Pennsylvania line, to the river Ohio. All the Six Nations were to be secured in the possession of the lands they were then occupying ; and six hostages were to be delivered to the United States, to remain in their possession until all the prisoners, whose liberation was stipulated, should be surrendered by the Indians.+ There was likewise a stipulation that the
* Drake, who translates from Levasseur's Lafayette in America. The Marquis de Lafayette was present at the treaty, and, when visited by Red Jacket at Buffalo, during his tour through the United States in 1824-25, the General was reminded by the venerable chief of the circumstance of their former meeting at Fort Stanwix. This is the earliest account given of the eloquence of the man of the woods who afterward became so renowned for his oratory.
+ Vide the treaty itself, American State Papers, Indian Affairs; vol. i. Originally the Five Nations claimed " all the land not sold to the English, from the mouth of Sorel River, on the south side of Lakes Erie and Ontario, on both sides of the Ohio until it falls into the Mississippi; and on the north side of these lakes, that whole

Indians should deliver up certain persons of their own people, who were considered very great offenders, to be tried by the civil laws of the United States. Two persons were surrendered under this stipulation; but the Indians afterward complained, that, instead of being tried according to law, they were wrested from the hands of the magistrate by some of the lowest of the white people, and immediately put to death.*

The result of this negotiation gave great dissatisfaction to the Indians generally; and the crafty Red Jacket afterward availed himself of the advantages of his position, in stealing the hearts of the Senecas from the Corn-planter to himself. The Mohawk chief, Thayendanegea, was likewise highly displeased with the conditions of the treaty, the more so, doubtless, from the circumstance that Captain Aaron Hill, a subordinate chief of the Mohawk nation, was detained as one of the hostages under the treaty. When he heard of the proceedings, the old chief was at Quebec. He had completed his business with Sir Frederick Haldimand, and was on the point of embarking for England, to adjust the claims of his nation upon the crown for their sacri fices during the war. The design of going abroad was immediately relinquished for that season, and Captain Brant hastened back to his own country, to look after the welfare of his own people at home. He arrived at Cataraqui on the 27th of November, and two days afterward addressed a long letter to Colonel James Monroe,+ in which, after expressing a wish that the letter may find the Colonel in health, and thanking him for some recent personal civilities, he says-

"I was at Quebec, getting ready to set off from thence for England (you know my business there perfectly well.) About the same time I received an account that our chief, Capt. Aaron Hill,++ was detained, and kept as a prisoner at Fort Stanwix by
territory between the Ottawa river and Lake Huron, and even beyond the straights between that and Lake Erie."-Smith's History.
* Speech of Big Tree, Corn-planter, and Half-Town, to President Washington, in 1790.
+ Whether the Colonel Monroe, to whom this letter was addressed, was the late President of the United States, the author has not ascertained: and if so, it does not appear how he was connected with the Fort Stanwix treaty.
++ This chief was connected with the family of Thayendanegea. Aaron Henry Hill married one of his daughters, and is spoken of by Captain Brant, fifteen years afterward, in his correspondence with Thomas Morris, Esq.

the commissioners of Congress, and understood that he was to be kept until all the American prisoners returned to their own places, from the different nations of Indians, who are still remaining amongst them. When I received this disagreeable news, I immediately declined going any farther from there. It did alarm me very much of hearing this, because it was me that encouraged that chief to come and attend that meeting at Fort Stanwix.

" I never did expect that it should be the cause of detaining chiefs in the matter; for I thought the affair was too far gone to happen any such things. The. Congress have past their words to us that they wish to be friends with all the Indians; and we likewise did the same to them. However, suppose the commissioners of Congress did find it necessary for them to detain some of the chiefs, I should have thought they could reasonably have excused our chief, and let him gone, and kept other right persons, who ought to be detained, because we are clear from keeping prisoners since peace. As soon as the word came, peace, we let all our prisoners go, except one or two children which could not help themselves. Captain Aaron Hill had no conveniences to take with him when he went to Fort Stanwix. We also all along advised the other tribes of Indians, since peace, that the prisoners should go to their homes ; and have during the war always favored the prisoners, especially women and children; and likewise did push the matter forward since, to promote peace, and to renew the friendship with you again as we formerly had, in honestly manner. We mean to go through with it and be done with it, that every body should mind their own business and be happy. This is our customs and manners of the Mohocks, whenever engaged any thing. They are allways active and true;-no double faces at war, or any other business. All this makes me think the commissioners should consider this, and our chief should [have] gone home, for we have been a generous enemy to you during the war, and very active in forwarding the matters of settling peace with you all last Summer. I believe the commissioners must have some spite against the Mohocks of using them so, through the advice of Priest Kertland and the Oneidas, and lie did likewise even to the Senekas, who were our friends. He tried all he could that they should themselves be against the Mohocks; all this I am well informed. Sir, these low-live tricks (it is very odd to me why it should be so,) confuses me very much. I believe we shall be at last prevented of becoming good friends with you. If it should be the case, the fault shall not be ours, which I hope you will find so. It would relieve me many points if you would be so kind as to answer me this letter, as far as you will understand my English, and please to explain me at once of your sentiments concerning this kind of complaint of mine, let it be what it will, because whatever must be done its no help for it, it must be so." If I could see you, and talk with yon, I could explain myself better than a letter half English half Indian. You remember I told you that I should be happy to be present if any council-fire of yours should be held in the Spring ; I mean about the Indian affairs; and I wanted to see you in New Jersies if I had time. But, my dear sir, I begin to be backward about going there, since my chief is detained. Perhaps I should be served the same, and be kept from my different sweethearts, which would be too hard for me. It is the very thing which will deprive me from having the pleasure to see you, and attending your council in the Spring-except the affairs change in different footing. But believe me this, let the affairs turn out what it will, I should be always very happy to see you. I shall winter here, myself and family ; early in the Spring I shall leave this, and go to my new country at Grand River.

" I am your well-wisher,
" And humble servant,
"JOS. BRANT, or
" THAYENDANEGEA.*
" To Col. James Monroe."

What effect was produced by this letter, or how just were the complaints set forth therein, is not known; but the probability is, that the difficulty in regard to the detention of Hill was satisfactorily adjusted. In any event, Captain Brant accomplished his purpose of visiting England at the close of the year following, (1785.) Before his embarkation, however, he seems to have
* The MS. of this letter, preserved among the papers of Capt. Brant, is probably the first rough draft. It was evidently written in great haste, and the author has made a very few corrections where the errors seemed clearly to be the effect of carelessness. Otherwise, it stands as it was written. Captain Brant improved in his English composition very much and very rapidly in after years.

formed a plan somewhat analogous to that entertained, and in part accomplished, twenty years before, by Pontiac-that of combining all the great north-western Indian nations into a single grand confederacy, of which he was to be chief. In furtherance of this design; he visited the country of the upper lakes, and held councils with the nations. It is not known whether, like Pontiac, he meditated war upon the United States, unless in the event of being attacked. Still, he could not but look upon hostilities; in the event of the formation of his confederacy, as more than probable. Ostensibly, his visit to England was undertaken for the purpose of adjusting the claims of the loyal Mohawks upon the crown, for indemnification of their losses, and sacrifices in the contest from which they had recently emerged. And such, probably, was the sole design of the visit, when originally projected, the preceding year. But the dissatisfaction existing in regard to the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and other indications among the Indians, had probably increased the objects of his mission. At all events, it soon appeared that, coupled with the special business of the Indian claims, was the design of sounding the British government, touching the degree of countenance or the amount of assistance which he might expect from that quarter, in the event of a general Indian war against the United States.

Sir John Johnson, who visited England immediately after the war, had returned to Canada during the Summer of 1785. He seems likewise to have been charged with the claims of the Mohawks, but accomplished nothing to their satisfaction. Still, he was opposed to the mission of Captain Brant, and wrote on the 6th of November, strongly dissuading him from undertaking the voyage. Sir John thought the claims in question might be adjusted to mutual satisfaction before the lapse of another year; and he hinted to his friend that his own interest required his attention at home. " I need not, I am sure," said the Baronet, " endeavor by many words, to point out to you the critical situation of your own affairs; I mean those of your confederacy; and how much the aid of every man of weight and influence among you is wanting at present, to guard against the designs of your enemies, who, by calling meetings at this time in every quarter, mean to spare no pains to divide and separate your interests, thereby to lessen your consequence and strength, and to answer their designs upon your country and liberty."*

But the chief was not to be diverted from his purpose. Embarking immediately, and having a short passage, he was received by the nobility and gentry with great consideration and inspect. His arrival at Salisbury was thus noted in a letter from that place, dated December 12, 1785, and published in London. " Monday last, Colonel Joseph Brant, the celebrated King of the Mohawks, arrived in this city from America, and after dining with Colonel De Peister, at the head-quarters here, proceeded immediately on his journey to London. This extraordinary personage is said to have presided at the late grand Congress of confederate chiefs of the Indian nations in America, and to be by them appointed to the conduct and chief command in the war which they now meditate against the United States of America, He took his departure for England immediately as that assembly broke up ; and it is conjectured that his embassy to the British Court is of great importance. This country owes much to the services of Colonel Brant during the late war in America. He was educated at Philadelphia; is a very shrewd, intelligent person, possesses great courage and abilities as a warrior, and is inviolably attached to the British nation."

What particular Indian council is referred to in the preceding quotation, is unknown. Most likely it was connected with the ambitious project of Thayendanegea already indicated; and it is, moreover, very likely that the discontents of the north-western Indians, chiefly in relation to questions of boundary, which ultimately produced the war of 1789-'95-may, even thus early, have been at work in the bosoms of the Indians, Undoubtedly, if such a council was held, " the Great Captain of the Six Nations" was present. Certain it is, that while prosecuting the just claims of the Mohawks at the British Court, he did not fail, with great adroitness; though indirectly, to present the other subject to the consideration of Lord Sidney, then Secretary for the Colonies. Indeed, it appears from a passage in the letter of Sir John Johnson, already quoted, that that gentleman had previously been sounding the government on the same question. " With
* MS. Letter of Sir John Johnson, among the Brant papers.
VOL. II.

regard to the assistance required or expected in case of war," said the Baronet in the letter referred to, " I think I explained that to you also, and shall more fully when I see you." The reception of the distinguished Mohawk in the British capital was all that the proudest forest king, not unacquainted with civilized life, could have desired. In the course of the war he had formed many acquaintances with the officers of the army, upon whom he must have made a highly favorable impression, since all who met him in London recognised him with great cordiality. Some of these he had met in the salons of Quebec, as well as been associated with them in the field. His visits to the Canadian capital had been frequent during and subsequent to the war. On one of these occasions the Baroness Riedesel met him at the provincial court, which gave her occasion to speak of him thus in her memoirs:-" I saw at that time the famous Indian chief, Captain Brant. His manners are polished; he expressed himself with fluency, and was much esteemed by General Haldimand. I dined once with him at the General's. In his dress he showed off to advantage the half military and half savage costume. His countenance was manly and intelligent, and his disposition very mild."* Aside, therefore, from the novelty of gazing upon an Indian prince in the British capital, his education and associations, his rank as a warrior, and his bravery, were so many substantial reasons why lie should be received with kindness and courtesy. Sir Guy Carleton, afterward Lord Dorchester, who was then on the point of embarking for America to relieve Sir Frederick Haldimand in the government of the Canadas, was well acquainted with the Chief, Earl Moira, afterward Marquis of Hastings, who had served in America as Lord Rawdon, had formed a strong attachment to Captain Brant, and gave him his picture set in gold.+ The late General Sir Charles Stuart, fourth son of the Earl of Bute, who, while serving in America, had often slept under the same tent with him, had the warmest regard for him,++ and cordially recognised him as his friend in London.
* Letters and memoirs of the Baroness de Riedesel.
+ Now in possession of the lady of Colonel William J. Kerr, the daughter of Thayendanegea.
+ Letter of Thomas Campbell to the late John Brant, or Ahyonwaeghs, the son.
++ Thayendanegea, of whom more hereafter.

With the late Duke of Northumberland, then Lord Percy, he had likewise formed an acquaintance in America, which ripened into a lasting attachment and was maintained by a correspondence, continued at intervals until his death. With the Earl of Warwick, and others of the nobility and gentry, he had become acquainted during his first visit, ten years before. His acquaintance was also sought by many of the distinguished statesmen and scholars of the time; among whom were the Bishop of London, Charles Fox, James Boswell, and many others. He sat for his picture for Lord Percy, as he had done for the Earl of Warwick and Boswell when first in England; and Fox presented him with a silver snuff-box, bearing his initials.* With the King and royal family he was a great favorite-not the less so on the part of his Majesty, for having proudly refused to kiss his hand on his presentation. The dusky Chief, however, in declining that ceremony, with equal gallantry and address remarked that he would gladly kiss the hand of the Queen. George the Third was a man of too much sterling sense not to appreciate the feelings of his brother chief, and he loved his Queen too well not to be gratified with the turning of a compliment in her Majesty's favor, in a manner that would have done no discredit to the most accomplished cavalier of the Court of Elizabeth-Sir Walter Raleigh.

Equally well did he stand in the graces of the Prince of Wales,+ who took great delight in his company ; sometimes inviting him in his rambles to places " very queer for a prince to go to," as the old chief was wont to remark in after-life. He was also, it is believed, an occasional guest at the table of the Prince, among that splendid circle of wits, orators, and scholars, who so frequently clustered around the festive board of the accomplished and luxurious heir apparent. It has been asserted, likewise, that these associations, and the freedom with which the leading Whigs were accustomed to speak of the King, had an unhappy effect upon the mind of the warrior, by lessening his reverence for the regal office, if not for his Majesty's person. But, amidst all the attractions of the metropolis, and the hospitalities in which he was called to participate, the Chief did not neglect the special object, or objects, of his mission. He had left his nation suffering from their losses of property and
* Still in the possession of Mrs. Kerr. + His late Majesty George IV.

other sacrifices, by which, as well as their arms, they had proved their loyalty, or rather their good faith to the King as allies, during the late war, and his first object was to obtain relief. The claims of his people had previously been presented to the consideration of his Majesty's Government, as already stated, by Sir John Johnson ; but, apparently receiving no attention, on the 4th of January, 1786, Captain Brant addressed the following letter to Lord Sidney, his Majesty's Secretary for the Colonial
Department:-

CAPTAIN BRANT TO LORD SIDNEY.
"MY LORD,

"The claims of the Mohawks for their losses having been delivered by Sir John Johnson, His Majesty's Superintendent General for Indian affairs, to General Haldimand, and by him laid before your Lordship, who cannot but be well informed that their sufferings, losses, and being drove from that country which their forefathers long enjoyed, and left them the peaceable possession of, is in consequence of their faithful attachment to the King, and the zeal they manifested in supporting the cause of His country against the rebellious subjects in America.

" From the promises made by the Governor and Commander-in-chief of Canada, that their losses should be made good, and that soon, when I left them, I was desired to put His Majesty's ministers in mind of their long and sincere friendship for the "English nation, in whose cause their ancestors and they have so often fought and so freely bled, of their late happy settlements, before the rebellion, and their present situation, and to request their claims might be attended to, and that orders may be given for what they are to receive to be paid as soon as possible, in order to enable them to go on with the settlement they are now making; in some measure stock their farms, and get such articles and materials as all settlements in new countries require, and which it is out of their power to do before they are paid for their losses.

" On my mentioning these matters, since my arrival in England, I am informed orders are given that this shall be done; which will give great relief and satisfaction to those faithful Indians, who will have spirit to go on, and their hearts be filled with gratitude for the King, their father's, great kindness, which I pray leave, in their behalf, to acknowledge, and to thank your Lordship for your friendship.

"JOSEPH BRANT, Captain, or" THAYENDANEGEA.
"London, 4 th January, 1786."
On the same day Captain Brant was honored by an interview with the Secretary, on which occasion he addressed his Lordship in the following speech, a copy of which was delivered in writing .-
SPEECH OF CAPTAIN BRANT TO LORD SIDNEY.
"MY LORD,
" I am happy at the honor of being before your Lordship, and having an opportunity of delivering the following speech to you, in behalf of the Five United Nations of Indians, and their confederates in North America.

" The cause of my coming to England being of the most serious consequence to the whole Indian Confederacy, I intreat your Lordship patiently to hear and listen to what I am going to say.

" We hope it is a truth well known in this country, what a faithful part we took in their behalf in the late dispute with the Americans: and though we have been told peace has long since been concluded between you and them, it is not finally settled with us, which causes great uneasiness through all the Indian nations.

" When we heard peace was made between his Majesty and the Americans, we made application to General Haldimand at Quebec, to know our situation, delivering him a speech at the same time, which we requested might be sent to the King-a copy of which I now deliver to your Lordship.

" Having in that speech, in as few words as possible, pointed out what friendship we had shown to the English from the earliest time of their arrival in America, and being conscious of the active part our forefathers and we had taken in their favor in every dispute they have had with their enemies, we were struck with astonishment at hearing we were forgot in the treaty. Notwithstanding the manner we were told this, we could not believe it possible such firm friends and allies could be so neglected by a nation remarkable for its honor and glory, whom we had served with so much zeal and fidelity. For this reason we applied to the King's Commander-in-chief, in Canada in a friendly and private way, wishing not to let those people in rebellion know the concern and trouble we were under. From the time of delivering that speech, near three years, we have had no answer, and remain in a state of great suspense and uneasiness of mind. This is well known to the officers who commanded at the upper posts in America, as is also our zeal for His Majesty's service during the war.

" Our trouble and distress is greatly increased by many things the Americans have said, to whom we have avoided giving any direct answers, or entering into any engagements with, before we have an answer. On the arrival of Sir John Johnson, our Superintendent-General, in Canada, we hoped to have received it; in full expectation of which, several of our first and principal chiefs came down the country to meet him and hear it, and were very much mortifed and sorry at being disappointed. It was then resolved that I should come to England, and I hope the necessity we are under of getting this answer will plead my excuse for the trouble I give your Lordship.

" It is, my Lord, the earnest desire of the Five United Nations, and the whole Indian Confederacy, that I may have an answer to that speech; and from our present situation, as well as that of the American States, who have surveyed and laid out great part of the lands in our country, on our side of the boundary line fixed at Fort Stanwix in 1765, the last time we granted any territory to the King, (at which time some of the governors attended in person, and where they did not, commissioners, vested with full powers, appeared on their behalf; so that we had all the reason to hope that the transaction was binding with respect to all parties,) but through their encroaching disposition, we have found they pay little regard to engagements, and are therefore apprehensive of immediate serious-consequences. -This we shall avoid to the utmost of our power, as dearly as we love our lands. But should it, contrary to our wishes, happen, we desire to know whether we are to be considered as His Majesty's faithful allies, and have that support and countenance such as old and true friends expect.

"I beg liberty to tell your Lordship, that your answer to these matters will be the means of relieving all our nations from that very troublesome and uneasy suspense they now labor under, and this they all hope for on my return.

" JOS. BRANT, Captain, or THAYENDANEGEA.
" London, 4th Jan. 1786.
" The Sight Hon. Lord Sidney."

The forest chief was not an unsuccessful envoy, as will appear by the subjoined communication from Lord Sidney-so far at least as relates to the indemnification claimed by the Mohawks and their allies of the Six Nations :-

LORD SIDNEY TO CAPTAIN BRANT.
" Whitehall, 6th April, 1786.
"SIR,

" The King has had under his royal consideration the two letters which you delivered to me on the 4th of January last, in the presence of Colonel Johnson and other officers of the Indian Department; the first of them representing the claims of the Mohawks for losses sustained by them and other tribes of Indians, from the depredations committed on their lands by the Americans during the late war; and the second, expressing the desire of the confederacy to be informed what assistance they might expect from this country in case they should be engaged in disputes with the Americans relative to their lands, situated within the territory to which His Majesty has relinquished his sovereignty.

" Were the right of individuals to compensation for losses sustained by the depredations of an enemy to be admitted, no country, however opulent it might be, could support itself under such a burden, especially when the contest happens to have taken an unfavorable turn. His Majesty, upon this ground, conceives that, consistently with every principle of justice, he might withhold his royal concurrence to the liquidation of those demands ; but His Majesty, in consideration of the zealous and, hearty exertions of his Indian allies in the support of his cause, and as a proof of his most friendly disposition toward them, has been graciously pleased to consent that the losses already certified by his Superintendent-General shall be made good ; that a favorable attention shall be shown to the claims of others, who have pursued the same system of conduct; and that Sir Guy Carleton, his Governor General of his American dominions, shall take measures for carrying his royal commands into execution immediately after his arrival at Quebec.

" This liberal conduct on the part of His Majesty, he trusts, will not leave a doubt upon the minds of his Indian allies that he shall at all times be ready to attend to their future welfare; and that he shall be anxious, upon every occasion wherein their happiness may be concerned, to give them such farther testimonies of his royal favor and countenance, as can, consistently with a due regard to the national faith, and the honor and dignity of his crown, be afforded to them.

" His Majesty recommends to his Indian allies to continue united in their councils, and that their measures may be conducted with temper and moderation; from which; added to a peaceable demeanor on their part, they must experience many essential benefits, and be most likely to secure to themselves the possession of those rights and privileges which their ancestors have heretofore enjoyed.

" I have the honor-to be;
" With great truth and regard,
" Sir,
" Your most obedient humble servant,
" SIDNEY.

" To Captain Joseph Brant,
" Thayendanegea."

It appears, that during his negotiations with the ministers, conversations had been held touching his claim to half-pay; but from the loss of papers, it is difficult to arrive at the precise circumstances of the case. Captain Brant held His Majesty's commission during the war as a Captain. But it was probably a special commission, not in the regular line of the army, and consequently there may have been doubts as to his title to half-pay on the reduction which followed the war. No matter, however, for the exact circumstances of the case, such doubts were entertained, and were the occasion of the following magnanimous letter from the chief to one of his Majesty's under Secretaries, a copy of which was preserved among the private papers of the warrior :-

CAPTAIN BRANT TO SIR EVAN NEPEAN. (No Date.)
" SIR:-
" Since I had the pleasure of seeing you last, I have been thinking a great deal about the half-pay, or pension, which you and I have talked about.

" I am really sorry that I ever mentioned such a thing to you. It was really owing to promises made to me by certain persons several times during the late war, that I should always be supported by the government, at war or peace. At that time I never asked any body to make me such a promise. It was of their own free will.

" When I joined the English at the beginning of the war, it was purely on account of my forefathers' engagements with the King. I always looked upon these engagements, or covenants, between the King and the Indian Nations, as a sacred thing. Therefore I was not to be frighted by the threats of the rebels at that time. I assure you I had no other view in it. And this was my real case from the beginning.

" However, after this, the English gave me pay and a commission from the Commander-in-chief, which I gladly received as a mark of attention, though I never asked for it; and I believe my trouble and risques was of equal value to the marks of attention I received: I am sure not too much in the eyes of the Indians, or I should not have accepted them, as I should be sorry to raise jealousies. My meaning for mentioning those things to you, is because I saw there was some difficulty on your part how to act on this head relative to half-pay or pension;- and when it does not seem clear, I should be sorry to accept it. Therefore I beg of you will say no more about it;-for was I to get it when there were doubts about the propriety of it, I should not be happy. For which reason I think it is best to go without it.

" I am now, Sir, to beg you will return my best thanks to Government for what they [have] done for me, and am, Sir,

" Your most obedient,
" Humble servant,
" JOSEPH BRANT.
" To Sir Evan Nepean, Under Secretary, at Home."

There are a frankness and manliness of tone and spirit in this letter, which will illustrate a striking feature in the character of the writer, and are -worthy of high approbation. It is the only paper of any consequence connected, with the Captain's mission I to England, in addition to those already cited, that remains.

The chieftain's visit must have been most agreeable, since, in addition to the success which crowned his labors in regard to the claims of the Indians, no pains were spared to render his residence in London one of uninterrupted gratification. He was caressed by the noble and the great, and was alike welcome at court or at the banquets of the heir apparent-who, with all his faults, was " the first gentleman in the realm',"-a fine classical scholar himself, and a lover of genius and intellect-of letters and men of letters-of sparkling -wit, as well as wine. Among his most frequent guests were Fox, Burke, and Sheridan, and others of that splendid galaxy of eloquence and intellect-the master spirits of the opposition in the House of Commons-who were at that time basking in the sunshine of the Prince's favor, and living in the hope of more substantial things to come. Though deficient in his literary acquisitions, Brant, with great strength of mind and shrewdness of observation, had, moreover, sufficient taste and cultivation to appreciate society, even of this elevated and intellectual character. The natural reserve of the Indian temperament he could assume or throw off at pleasure, and with a keen sense of the ludicrous, he could himself use the weapons of humor and sarcasm with a good share of skill and dexterity.

Several anecdotes have been preserved in well-authenticated, tradition, illustrative of these traits of character. One of these is the following:-Among the gentlemen of rank with whom Brant was acquainted, was a nobleman of whom it was scandalously reported that his place was purchased by the illicit favors bestowed upon another by his beautiful wife. On one occasion his Lordship undertook to rally the forest chief upon the subjects of the wild and rude manners and customs of the Indians, to which they pertinaciously adhered notwithstanding all the attempts made to improve them by the arts of civilization. Some of their absurd practices, of which the English, as his Lordship remarked, thought very strange, were particularised. Brant listened very patiently until it became his turn to speak, when he replied that there were customs in England, also, of which the Indians thought very strange. "And pray what are they?" inquired his Lordship. "Why," answered the chief, "the Indians have heard that it is a practice in England for men who are born chiefs to sell the virtue of their squaws for place, and for money to buy their venison!" The Mohawk occupied a position which enabled him to say what he pleased with impunity. But in the present instance the rebuke was doubly withering,-from the gravity and assumed simplicity with which it was uttered, and the certainty that the titled gentleman could not mistake the direction of the arrow, while he could neither parry nor avoid, nor appear to notice it.

During his stay in London, a grand fancy ball, or masquerade, was got up with great splendor, and numerously attended by the nobility and gentry. Captain Brant, at the instance of Earl Moira, was also present, richly dressed in the costume of his nation, wearing no mask, but painting one half of his face. His plumes nodded as proudly in his cap as though the blood of a hundred Percies coursed through his veins, and his tomahawk glittered in his girdle like burnished silver. There was, likewise, in the gay and gallant throng a stately Turkish diplomat of rank, accompanied by two houris, whose attention was particularly attracted by the grotesque appearance of the chieftain's singular, and, as he supposed, fantastic attire. The pageant was brilliant as the imagination could desire; but among the whole motley throng of pilgrims and warriors, hermits and shepherds, knights, damsels, and gipsies, there was, to the eye of the Mussulman, no character so picturesque and striking as that of the Mohawk; which, being natural, appeared to be the best made up. He scrutinised the chief very closely, and mistaking his rouge et noir complexion for a painted visor, the Turk took the liberty of attempting to handle his nose. Brant had, of course, watched the workings of his observation, and felt in the humor of a little sport. No sooner, therefore, had Hassan touched his facial point of honor, under the mistaken idea that it was of no better material than the parchment nose of the Strasburgh trumpeter, than the Chieftain made the hall resound with the appalling warwhoop, and at the same instant the tomahawk leaped from his girdle, and flashed around the astounded Mussulman's head as though his good master, the Sultan, in a minute more, would be relieved from any future trouble in the matter of taking it off. Such a piercing and frightful cry had never before rung through that salon of fashion; and breaking suddenly, and with startling wildness, upon the ears of the merry throng, its effect was prodigious. The Turk himself trembled with terror, while the female masquers-the gentle shepherdesses, and fortune-telling crones, Turks, Jews and gipsies, bear-leaders and their bears, Falstaffs, friars, and fortune-tellers, Sultans, nurses and Columbines, shrieked, screamed and scudded away as though the Mohawks had broken into the festive hall in a body. The matter, however, was soon explained; and the incident was accounted as happy in the end as it was adroitly enacted by the good-humored Mohawk.*

But neither the pleasures of society, nor the follies of the Prince of Wales, nor the special business of his mission, nor the views of political ambition which he was cherishing, made him forgetful of the moral wants of his people. "Notwithstanding the Ceaseless activity of his life, he had found time to translate the Gospel of Mark into the Mohawk language; and as most of the Indian Prayer and Psalm Books previously in use had been either lost or destroyed during the war, the opportunity of his visit was chosen by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, to bring out a new and superior edition of that work, under Brant's own supervision, and including the Gospel of Mark as translated by him. This was the first of the Gospels ever translated entire into the Mohawk language. The book was elegantly printed in large octavo, under the immediate patronage of the King. It was printed in alternate pages of English and Mohawk; and the volume contained the psalms and occasional prayers before published, together with the services of communion, baptism, matrimony, and the burial of the dead. It was embellished with a number of scriptural engravings, elegant for the state of the arts at that day; the frontispiece representing the interior of a chapel, with portraits of the King and Queen, a bishop standing at either hand, and groups of Indians receiving the sacred books from both their Majesties.+
* This incident was somewhat differently related by the British Magazine, which represented that the weapon was raised by Brant in sober earnest; he having taken the freedom of the Turk for a real indignity. But such was clearly not the fact. His friends never so understood it.
+ A handsome copy of this valuable book, in morocco gilt, has been loaned to

It is not known at what time of the year 1786 Captain Brant turned his back upon the gay metropolis of England, to bury himself once more in the deep forests toward the setting sun. It must, however, have been soon after receiving Lord Sidney's dispatch of April 6th, since, among the papers of the chief, there is a letter addressed to him after his return, by Major Matthews, who was attached to the military family of Sir Guy Carleton, dated at Montreal, July 24, 1786. Early in the month of December following he will also be found attending an Indian Council far in the country of the Great Lakes.

the author by Mrs. Kerr. It belonged to the widow of the old chief, and contains the record of his death.