The Care and Labour of providing for Artificial and Fashionable
Wants, the sight of so many rich wallowing in Superfluous
plenty, whereby so many are kept poor and distressed for Want, the Insolence
of Office . . . and restraints of Custom, all contrive to disgust them
[Indians] with what we call civil Society.

Those words and what follows are by Benjamin Franklin.

The London Chronicle, August 13, 1761

A Narrative of the Late Massacres, in Lancaster County, of a
Number of Indians, Friends of this Province, by Persons Unknown

WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE SAME

These Indians were the Remains of a Tribe of the Six
Nations, settled at Conestogoe, and thence called Conestogoe
Indians. On the first Arrival of the English in Pennsylvania,
Messengers from this Tribe came to welcome them, with Presents of
Venison, Corn and Skins; and the whole Tribe entered into a Treaty of
Friendship with the first Proprietor, WILLIAM PENN, which was to last
"as long as the Sun should shine, or the Waters run in the Rivers."

This Treaty has been since frequently renewed, and the Chain
brightened, as they express it, from time to time. It has never
been violated, on their Part or ours, till now. As their Lands by
Degrees were mostly purchased, and the Settlements of the White
People began to surround them, the Proprietor assigned them Lands on
the Manor of Conestogoe, which they might not part with; there they
have lived many Years in Friendship with their White Neighbours, who
loved them for their peaceable inoffensive Behaviour.

It has always been observed, that Indians, settled in the
Neighbourhood of White People, do not increase, but diminish
continually. This Tribe accordingly went on diminishing, till there
remained in their Town on the Manor, but 20 Persons, viz. 7 Men, 5
Women, and 8 Children, Boys and Girls.

Of these, Shehaes was a very old Man, having assisted at the
second Treaty held with them, by Mr. PENN, in 1701, and ever since
continued a faithful and affectionate Friend to the English; he is
said to have been an exceeding good Man, considering his Education,
being naturally of a most kind benevolent Temper.

Peggy was Shehaes's Daughter; she worked for her aged
Father, continuing to live with him, though married, and attended him
with filial Duty and Tenderness.

John was another good old Man; his Son Harry helped to
support him.

George and Will Soc were two Brothers, both young Men.

John Smith, a valuable young Man, of the Cayuga Nation, who
became acquainted with Peggy, Shehaes's Daughter, some few Years
since, married her, and settled in that Family. They had one Child,
about three Years old.

Betty, a harmless old Woman; and her Son Peter, a likely
young Lad.

Sally, whose Indian Name was Wyanjoy, a Woman much
esteemed by all that knew her, for her prudent and good Behaviour in
some very trying Situations of Life. She was a truly good and an
amiable Woman, had no Children of her own, but a distant Relation
dying, she had taken a Child of that Relation's, to bring up as her
own, and performed towards it all the Duties of an affectionate
Parent.

The Reader will observe, that many of their Names are
English. It is common with the Indians that have an Affection
for the English, to give themselves, and their Children, the Names
of such English Persons as they particularly esteem.

This little Society continued the Custom they had begun, when
more numerous, of addressing every new Governor, and every Descendant
of the first Proprietor, welcoming him to the Province, assuring him
of their Fidelity, and praying a Continuance of that Favour and
Protection they had hitherto experienced. They had accordingly sent
up an Address of this Kind to our present Governor, on his Arrival;
but the same was scarce delivered, when the unfortunate Catastrophe
happened, which we are about to relate.

On Wednesday, the 14th of December, 1763, Fifty-seven Men,
from some of our Frontier Townships, who had projected the
Destruction of this little Common-wealth, came, all well-mounted, and
armed with Firelocks, Hangers and Hatchets, having travelled through
the Country in the Night, to Conestogoe Manor. There they
surrounded the small Village of Indian Huts, and just at Break of
Day broke into them all at once. Only three Men, two Women, and a
young Boy, were found at home, the rest being out among the
neighbouring White People,some to sell the Baskets, Brooms and Bowls
they manufactured, and others on other Occasions. These poor
defenceless Creatures were immediately fired upon, stabbed and
hatcheted to Death! The good Shehaes, among the rest, cut to
Pieces in his Bed. All of them were scalped, and otherwise horribly
mangled. Then their Huts were set on Fire, and most of them burnt
down. When the Troop, pleased with their own Conduct and Bravery,
but enraged that any of the poor Indians had escaped the Massacre,
rode off, and in small Parties, by different Roads, went home.

The universal Concern of the neighbouring White People on
hearing of this Event, and the Lamentations of the younger Indians,
when they returned and saw the Desolation, and the butchered
half-burnt Bodies of their murdered Parents, and other Relations,
cannot well be expressed.

The Magistrates of Lancaster sent out to collect the
remaining Indians, brought them into the Town for their better
Security against any farther Attempt; and it is said condoled with
them on the Misfortune that had happened, took them by the Hand,
comforted and promised them Protection. -- They were all put into
the Workhouse, a strong Building, as the Place of greatest Safety.

When the shocking News arrived in Town, a Proclamation was
issued by the Governor, in the following Terms, viz.

"WHEREAS I have received Information, That on Wednesday, the
Fourteenth Day of this Month, a Number of People, armed, and mounted
on Horseback, unlawfully assembled together, and went to the Indian
Town in the Conestogoe Manor, in Lancaster County, and without
the least Reason or Provocation, in cool Blood, barbarously killed
six of the Indians settled there, and burnt and destroyed all their
Houses and Effects: And whereas so cruel and inhuman an Act,
committed in the Heart of this Province on the said Indians, who
have lived peaceably and inoffensively among us, during all our late
Troubles, and for many Years before, and were justly considered as
under the Protection of this Government and its Laws, calls loudly
for the vigorous Exertion of the civil Authority, to detect the
Offenders, and bring them to condign Punishment; I have therefore, by
and with the Advice and Consent of the Council, thought fit to issue
this Proclamation, and do hereby strictly charge and enjoin all
Judges, Justices, Sheriffs, Constables, Officers Civil and Military,
and all other His Majesty's liege Subjects within this Province, to
make diligent Search and Enquiry after the Authors and Perpetrators
of the said Crime, their Abettors and Accomplices, and to use all
possible Means to apprehend and secure them in some of the publick
Goals of this Province,that they may be brought to their Trials, and
be proceeded against according to Law.

"And whereas a Number of other Indians, who lately lived on
or near the Frontiers of this Province, being willing and desirous to
preserve and continue the ancient Friendship which heretofore
subsisted between them and the good People of this Province, have, at
their own earnest Request, been removed from their Habitations, and
brought into the County of Philadelphia, and seated, for the
present, for their better Security, on the Province-Island, and in
other Places in the Neighbourhood of the City of Philadelphia,
where Provision is made for them at the public Expence; I do
therefore hereby strictly forbid all Persons whatsoever, to molest or
injure any of the said Indians, as they will answer the contrary at
their Peril.

GIVEN under my Hand,and the Great Seal of the said Province,
at Philadelphia, the Twenty-second Day of December, Anno Domini
One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-three, and in the Fourth Year
of His Majesty's Reign. JOHN PENN."

By His Honour's Command,
JOSEPH SHIPPEN, jun. Secretary.
GOD Save the KING.

Notwithstanding this Proclamation, those cruel Men again
assembled themselves, and hearing that the remaining fourteen
Indians were in the Work-house at Lancaster, they suddenly
appeared in that Town, on the 27th of December. Fifty of them,
armed as before, dismounting, went directly to the Work-house, and by
Violence broke open the Door, and entered with the utmost Fury in
their Countenances. -- When the poor Wretches saw they had no
Protection nigh, nor could possibly escape, and being without the
least Weapon for Defence, they divided into their little Families,
the Children clinging to the Parents; they fell on their Knees,
protested their Innocence, declared their Love to the English, and
that, in their whole Lives, they had never done them Injury; and in
this Posture they all received the Hatchet! -- Men, Women and little
Children -- were every one inhumanly murdered! -- in cold Blood!

The barbarous Men who committed the atrocious Fact, in Defiance
of Government, of all Laws human and divine, and to the eternal
Disgrace of their Country and Colour, then mounted their Horses,
huzza'd in Triumph, as if they had gained a Victory, and rode off --
unmolested!

The Bodies of the Murdered were then brought out and exposed in
the Street, till a Hole could be made in the Earth, to receive and
cover them.

But the Wickedness cannot be covered, the Guilt will lie on the
whole Land, till Justice is done on the Murderers. THE BLOOD OF THE
INNOCENT WILL CRY TO HEAVEN FOR VENGEANCE.

It is said that Shehaes, being before told, that it was to be
feared some English might come from the Frontier into the Country,
and murder him and his People; he replied, "It is impossible: There
are Indians, indeed, in the Woods, who would kill me and mine, if
they could get at us, for my Friendship to the English; but the
English will wrap me in their Matchcoat, and secure me from all
Danger." How unfortunately was he mistaken!

Another Proclamation has been issued, offering a great Reward
for apprehending the Murderers, in the following Terms, viz.

"WHEREAS on the Twenty-second Day of December last, I issued
a Proclamation for the apprehending and bringing to Justice, a Number
of Persons, who, in Violation of the Public Faith, and in Defiance of
all Law, had inhumanly killed six of the Indians, who had lived in
Conestogoe Manor, for the Course of many Years, peaceably and
inoffensively, under the Protection of this Government, on Lands
assigned to them for their Habitation; notwithstanding which, I have
received Information, that on the Twenty-seventh of the same Month, a
large Party of armed Men again assembled and met together in a
riotous and tumultuous Manner, in the County of Lancaster, and
proceeded to the Town of Lancaster, where they violently broke open
the Work-house, and butchered and put to Death fourteen of the said
Conestogoe Indians, Men, Women and Children, who had been taken
under the immediate Care and Protection of the Magistrates of the
said County, and lodged for their better Security in the said
Work-house, till they should be more effectually provided for by
Order of the Government. And whereas common Justice loudly demands,
and the Laws of the Land (upon the Preservation of which not only the
Liberty and Security of every Individual, but the Being of the
Government itself depend) require that the above Offenders should be
brought to condign Punishment; I have therefore, by and with the
Advice of the Council, published this Proclamation, and do hereby
strictly charge and command all Judges, Justices, Sheriffs,
Constables, Officers Civil and Military, and all other His Majesty's
faithful and liege Subjects within this Province, to make diligent
Search and Enquiry after the Authors and Perpetrators of the said
last mentioned Offence, their Abettors and Accomplices, and that they
use all possible Means to apprehend and secure them in some of the
public Goals of this Province, to be dealt with according to Law.

"And I do hereby further promise and engage, that any Person or
Persons, who shall apprehend and secure, or cause to be apprehended
and secured, any Three of the Ringleaders of the said Party, and
prosecute them to Conviction, shall have and receive for each, the
public Reward of Two Hundred Pounds; and any Accomplice, not
concerned in the immediate shedding the Blood of the said Indians,
who shall make Discovery of any or either of the said Ringleaders,
and apprehend and prosecute them to Conviction, shall, over and above
the said Reward, have all the Weight and Influence of the Government,
for obtaining His Majesty's Pardon for his Offence.

GIVEN under my Hand, and the Great Seal of the said Province,
at Philadelphia, the Second Day of January, in the Fourth Year
of His Majesty's Reign, and in the Year of our Lord One Thousand
Seven Hundred and Sixty-four. JOHN PENN."

By His Honour's Command,
JOSEPH SHIPPEN, jun. Secretary.
GOD Save the KING.

These Proclamations have as yet produced no Discovery; the
Murderers having given out such Threatenings against those that
disapprove their Proceedings, that the whole County seems to be in
Terror, and no one durst speak what he knows; even the Letters from
thence are unsigned, in which any Dislike is expressed of the
Rioters.

There are some (I am ashamed to hear it) who would extenuate
the enormous Wickedness of these Actions, by saying, "The Inhabitants
of the Frontiers are exasperated with the Murder of their Relations,
by the Enemy Indians, in the present War." It is possible; -- but
though this might justify their going out into the Woods, to seek for
those Enemies, and avenge upon them those Murders; it can never
justify their turning in to the Heart of the Country, to murder their
Friends.

If an Indian injures me, does it follow that I may revenge
that Injury on all Indians? It is well known that Indians are of
different Tribes, Nations and Languages, as well as the White People.
In Europe, if the French, who are White People, should injure the
Dutch, are they to revenge it on the English, because they too
are White People? The only Crime of these poor Wretches seems to
have been, that they had a reddish brown Skin, and black Hair; and
some People of that Sort, it seems, had murdered some of our
Relations. If it be right to kill Men for such a Reason, then,
should any Man, with a freckled Face and red Hair, kill a Wife or
Child of mine, it would be right for me to revenge it, by killing all
the freckled red-haired Men, Women and Children, I could afterwards
any where meet with.

But it seems these People think they have a better
Justification; nothing less than the Word of God. With the
Scriptures in their Hands and Mouths, they can set at nought that
express Command, Thou shalt do no Murder; and justify their
Wickedness, by the Command given Joshua to destroy the Heathen.
Horrid Perversion of Scripture and of Religion! to father the worst
of Crimeson the God of Peace and Love! -- Even the Jews, to whom
that particular Commission was directed, spared the Gibeonites, on
Account of their Faith once given. The Faith of this Government has
been frequently given to those Indians; -- but that did not avail
them with People who despise Government.

We pretend to be Christians, and, from the superior Light we
enjoy, ought to exceed Heathens, Turks, Saracens, Moors,
Negroes and Indians, in the Knowledge and Practice of what is
right. I will endeavour to show, by a few Examples from Books and
History, the Sense those People have had of such Actions.

HOMER wrote his Poem, called the Odyssey, some Hundred Years
before the Birth of Christ. He frequently speaks of what he calls
not only the Duties, but the sacred Rites of Hospitality,
(exercised towards Strangers, while in our House or Territory) as
including, besides all the common Circumstances of Entertainment,
full Safety and Protection of Person, from all Danger of Life, from
all Injuries, and even Insults. The Rites of Hospitality were called
sacred, because the Stranger, the Poor and the Weak, when they
applied for Protection and Relief, were, from the Religion of those
Times, supposed to be sent by the Deity to try the Goodness of Men,
and that he would avenge the Injuries they might receive, where they
ought to have been protected. -- These Sentiments therefore
influenced the Manners of all Ranks of People, even the meanest; for
we find that when Ulysses came, as a poor Stranger, to the Hut of
Eumaeus, the Swineherd, and his great Dogs ran out to tear the
ragged Man, Eumaeus drave them away with Stones; and

Unhappy Stranger! (thus the faithful Swain
Began, with Accent gracious and humane)
What Sorrow had been mine, if at my Gate
Thy rev'rend Age had met a shameful Fate?
------ But enter this my homely Roof, and see
Our Woods not void of Hospitality.
He said, and seconding the kind Request,
With friendly Step precedes the unknown Guest.
A shaggy Goat's soft Hide beneath him spread,
And with fresh Rushes heap'd an ample Bed.
Joy touch'd the Hero's tender Soul, to find
So_ just _Reception from a Heart so kind:
And oh, ye Gods! with all your Blessings grace
(He thus broke forth) this Friend of human Race!
The Swain reply'd. It never was our guise
To slight the Poor, or aught humane despise.
For Jove unfolds the hospitable Door,
Tis Jove that sends the Stranger and the Poor.

These Heathen People thought, that after a Breach of the Rites
of Hospitality, a Curse from Heaven would attend them in every thing
they did, and even their honest Industry in their Callings would fail
of Success. -- Thus when Ulysses tells Eumaeus, who doubted the
Truth of what he related, If I deceive you in this, I should deserve
Death, and I consent that you should put me to Death; Eumaeus
rejects the Proposal as what would be attended with both Infamy and
Misfortune, saying ironically,

Doubtless, oh Guest! great Laud and Praise were mine,
If, after social Rites and Gifts bestow'd,
I stain'd my Hospitable Hearth with Blood.
How would the Gods my righteous Toils succeed,
And bless the Hand that made a Stranger bleed?
No more. --

Even an open Enemy, in the Heat of Battle, throwing down his
Arms, submitting to his Foe, and asking Life and Protection, was
supposed to acquire an immediate Right to that Protection. Thus one
describes his being saved, when his Party was defeated.

We turn'd to Flight; the gath'ring Vengeance spread On all
Parts round, and Heaps on Heaps lie dead. -- The radiant Helmet from
my Brows unlac'd, And lo on Earth my Shield and Jav'lin cast, I meet
the Monarch with a Suppliant's Face, Approach his Chariot, and his
Knees embrace. He heard, he sav'd, he plac'd me at his Side; My State
he pity'd, and my Tears he dry'd; Restrain'd the Rage the vengeful
Foe express'd, And turn'd the deadly Weapons from my Breast. Pious
to guard the Hospitable Rite, And fearing Jove, whom Mercy's Works
delight.

The Suitors of Penelope are by the same ancient Poet
described as a Sett of lawless Men, who were regardless of the
sacred Rites of Hospitality. And therefore when the Queen was
informed they were slain, and that by Ulysses, she, not believing
that Ulysses was returned, says,

Ah no! -- some God the Suitors Deaths decreed,
Some God descends, and by his Hand they bleed:
Blind, to contemn the Stranger's righteous Cause,
And violate all hospitable Laws!
---------- The Powers they defy'd;
But Heav'n is just, and by a God they dy'd.

Thus much for the Sentiments of the ancient Heathens. -- As
for the Turks, it is recorded in the Life of Mahomet, the Founder
of their Religion, that Khaled, one of his Captains, having divided
a Number of Prisoners between himself and those that were with him,
he commanded the Hands of his own Prisoners to be tied behind them,
and then, in a most cruel and brutal Manner, put them to the Sword;
but he could not prevail on his Men to massacre their Captives,
because in Fight they had laid down their Arms, submitted, and
demanded Protection. Mahomet, when the Account was brought to him,
applauded the Men for their Humanity; but said to Khaled, with
great Indignation, Oh Khaled, thou Butcher, cease to molest me
with thy Wickedness. -- If thou possessedst a Heap of Gold as large
as Mount Obod, and shouldst expend it all in God's Cause, thy Merit
would not efface the Guilt incurred by the Murder of the meanest of
those poor Captives.

Among the Arabs or Saracens, thought it was lawful to put
to Death a Prisoner taken in Battle, if he had made himself obnoxious
by his former Wickedness, yet this could not be done after he had
once eaten Bread, or drank Water, while in their Hands. Hence we
read in the History of the Wars of the Holy Land, that when the
Franks had suffered a great Defeat
from Saladin, and among the Prisoners were the King of
Jerusalem, and Arnold, a famous Christian Captain, who had
been very cruel to the Saracens; these two being brought before
the Soltan, he placed the King on his right Hand, and Arnold on
his left; and then presented the King with a Cup of Water, who
immediately drank to Arnold; but when Arnold was about to
receive the Cup, the Soltan interrupted, saying, I will not
suffer this wicked Man to drink, as that, according to the
laudable and generous Custom of the Arabs, would secure him his
Life.

That the same laudable and generous Custom still prevails among
the Mahometans, appears from the Account but last Year published of
his Travels by Mr. Bell of Antermony, who accompanied the Czar
Peter the Great, in his Journey to Derbent through Daggestan.
"The Religion of the Daggestans, says he, is generally Mahometan,
some following the Sect of Osman, others that of Haly. Their
Language for the most Part is Turkish, or rather a Dialect of the
Arabic, though many of them speak also the Persian Language. One
Article I cannot omit concerning their Laws of Hospitality, which is,
if their greatest Enemy comes under their Roof for Protection, the
Landlord, of what Condition soever, is obliged to keep him safe, from
all Manner of Harm or Violence, during his Abode with him, and even
to conduct him safely through his Territories to a Place of
Security." --

From the Saracens this same Custom obtained among the Moors
of Africa; was by them brought into Spain, and there long
sacredly observed. The Spanish Historians record with Applause one
famous Instance of it. While the Moors governed there, and the
Spaniards were mixed with them, a Spanish Cavalier, in a sudden
Quarrel, slew a young Moorish Gentleman, and fled. His Pursuers
soon lost Sight of him, for he had, unperceived, thrown himself over
a Garden Wall. The Owner, a Moor, happening to be in his Garden,
was addressed by the Spaniard on his Knees, who acquainted him with
his Case, and implored Concealment. Eat this, said the Moor,
giving him Half a Peach; you now know that you may confide in my
Protection. He then locked him up in his Garden Apartment, telling
him, that as soon as it was Night he would provide for his Escape to a
Place of more Safety. -- The Moor then went into his House, where
he had scarce seated himself, when a great Croud, with loud
Lamentations, came to his Gate, bringing the Corps of his Son, that
had just been killed by a Spaniard. When the first Shock of
Surprize was a little over, he learnt, from the Description given,
that the fatal Deed was done by the Person then in his Power. He
mentioned this to no One; but as soon as it was dark, retired to his
Garden Apartment, as if to grieve alone, giving Orders that none
should follow him. There accosting the Spaniard, he said,
Christian, the Person you have killed, is my Son: His Body is now in
my House. You ought to suffer; but you have eaten with me, and I
have given you my Faith, which must not be broken. Follow me. --
He then led the astonished Spaniard to his Stables, mounted him on
one of his fleetest Horses, and said, Fly far while the Night can
cover you. You will be safe in the Morning. You are indeed guilty
of my Son's Blood, but God is just and good, and I thank him that I
am innocent of yours, and that my Faith given is preserved.

The Spaniards caught from the Moors this Punto of Honour,
the Effects of which remain, in a great Degree, to this Day. So that
when there is Fear of a War about to break out between England and
Spain, an English Merchant there, who apprehends the Confiscation
of his Goods as the Goods of an Enemy, thinks them safe, if he can
get a Spaniard to take Charge of them; for the Spaniard secures
them as his own, and faithfully redelivers them, or pays the Value,
whenever the Englishman can safely demand it.

Justice to that Nation, though lately our Enemies, and hardly
yet our cordial Friends, obliges me,on this Occasion, not to omit
mentioning an Instance of Spanish Honour, which cannot but be still
fresh in the Memory of many yet living. In 1746, when we were in hot
War with Spain, the Elizabeth, of London, Captain William
Edwards, coming through the Gulph from Jamaica, richly laden, met
with a most violent Storm, in which the Ship sprung a Leak, that
obliged them,for the Saving of their Lives, to run her into the
Havannah. The Captain went on Shore, directly waited on the
Governor, told the Occasion of his putting in, and that he
surrendered his Ship as a Prize, and himself and his Men as Prisoners
of War, only requesting good Quarter. No, Sir, replied the
Spanish Governor, If we had taken you in fair War at Sea, or
approaching our Coast with hostile Intentions, your Ship would then
have been a Prize, and your People Prisoners. But when distressed by
a Tempest, you come into our Ports for the Safety of your Lives, we,
though Enemies, being Men, are bound as such, by the Laws of
Humanity, to afford Relief to distressed Men, who ask it of us. We
cannot, even against our Enemies, take Advantage of an Act of God.
You have Leave therefore to unload your Ship, if that be necessary,
to stop the Leak; you may refit here, and traffick so far as shall be
necessary to pay the Charges; you may then depart, and I will give
you a Pass, to be in Force till you are beyond Bermuda. If after
that you are taken, you will then be a Prize, but now you are only a
Stranger, and have a Stranger's Right to Safety and Protection. --
The Ship accordingly departed, and arrived safe in London.

Will it be permitted me to adduce, on this Occasion, an
Instance of the like Honour in a poor unenlightened African Negroe.
I find it in Capt. Seagrave's Account of his Voyage to Guinea.
He relates that a New-England Sloop, trading there in 1752, left
their second Mate, William Murray, sick on Shore, and sailed
without him. Murray was at the House of a Black, named Cudjoe,
with whom he had contracted an Acquaintance during their Trade. He
recovered,and the Sloop being gone, he continued with his black
Friend, till some other Opportunity should offer of his getting home.
In the mean while, a Dutch Ship came into the Road, and some of the
Blacks going on board her, were treacherously seized, and carried off
as Slaves. Their Relations and Friends, transported with sudden
Rage, ran to the House of Cudjoe to take Revenge, by killing
Murray. Cudjoe stopt them at the Door, and demanded what they
wanted? The White Men, said they, have carried away our Brothers and
Sons, and we will kill all White Men; -- give us the White Man that
you keep in your House, for we will kill him. Nay, said Cudjoe;
the White Men that carried away your Brothers are bad Men, kill them
when you can catch them; but this White Man is a good Man, and you
must not kill him. -- But he is a White Man, they cried; the White
Men are all bad; we will kill them all. -- Nay, says he, you must
not kill a Man, that has done no Harm, only for being white. This
Man is my Friend, my House is his Fort, and I am his Soldier. I must
fight for him. You must kill me, before you can kill him. -- What
good Man will ever come again under my Roof,if I let my Floor be
stained with a good Man's Blood! -- The Negroes seeing his
Resolution, and being convinced by his Discourse that they were
wrong, went away ashamed. In a few Days Murray ventured abroad
again with Cudjoe, when several of them took him by the Hand, and
told him they were glad they had not killed him; for as he was a good
(meaning an innocent) Man, their God would have been angry, and
would have spoiled their Fishing. -- I relate this, says Captain
Seagrave, to show, that some among these dark People have a strong
Sense of Justice and Honour, and that even the most brutal among them
are capable of feeling the Force of Reason, and of being influenced
by a Fear of God (if the Knowledge of the true God could be
introduced among them) since even the Fear of a false God, when their
Rage subsided, was not without its good Effect.

Now I am about to mention something of Indians, I beg that I
may not be understood as framing Apologies for all Indians. I am
far from desiring to lessen the laudable Spirit of Resentment in my
Countrymen against those now at War with us, so far as it is
justified by their Perfidy and Inhumanity. -- I would only observe
that the Six Nations, as a Body, have kept Faith with the English
ever since we knew them, now near an Hundred Years; and that the
governing Part of those People have had Notions of Honour, whatever
may be the Case with the Rum-debauched, Trader-corrupted Vagabonds
and Thieves on Sasquehannah and the Ohio, at present in Arms
against us. -- As a Proof of that Honour, I shall only mention one
well-known recent Fact. When six Catawba Deputies, under the Care
of Colonel Bull, of Charlestown, went by Permission into the
Mohawks Country, to sue for and treat of Peace for their Nation,
they soon found the Six Nations highly exasperated, and the Peace
at that Time impracticable: They were therefore in Fear for their own
Persons, and apprehended that they should be killed in their Way back
to New-York; which being made known to the Mohawk Chiefs, by
Colonel Bull, one of them, by Order of the Council, made this
Speech to the Catawbas: --


"Strangers and Enemies,

"While you are in this Country, blow away all Fear out of your
Breasts; change the black Streak of Paint on your Cheek for a red
One, and let your Faces shine with Bear's-Grease: You are safer here
than if you were at home. The Six Nations will not defile their
own Land with the Blood of Men that come unarmed to ask for Peace.
We shall send a Guard with you, to see you safe out of our
Territories. So far you shall have Peace, but no farther. Get home
to your own Country, and there take Care of yourselves, for there we
intend to come and kill you."

The Catawbas came away unhurt accordingly.

It is also well known, that just before the late War broke out,
when our Traders first went among the Piankeshaw Indians, a Tribe
of the Twightwees, they found the Principle of _giving Protection
to Strangers in full Force; for the French coming with their
Indians to the Piankeshaw Town, and demanding that those Traders
and their Goods should be delivered up; -- the Piankeshaws replied,
the English were come there upon their Invitation, and they could
not do so base a Thing. But the French insisting on it, the
Piankeshaws took Arms in Defence of their Guests, and a Number of
them, with their old Chief, lost their Lives in the Cause; the
French at last prevailing by superior Force only.

I will not dissemble that numberless Stories have been raised
and spread abroad, against not only the poor Wretches that are
murdered, but also against the Hundred and Forty christianized
Indians, still threatned to be murdered; all which Stories are well
known, by those who know the Indians best, to be pure Inventions,
contrived by bad People, either to excite each other to join in the
Murder, or since it was committed, to justify it; and believed only
by the Weak and Credulous. I call thus publickly on the Makers and
Venders of these Accusations to produce their Evidence. Let them
satisfy the Public that even Will Soc, the most obnoxious of all
that Tribe, was really guilty of those Offences against us which they
lay to his Charge. But if he was, ought he not to have been fairly
tried? He lived under our Laws, and was subject to them; he was in
our Hands, and might easily have been prosecuted; was it English
Justice to condemn and execute him unheard? Conscious of his own
Innocence, he did not endeavour to hide himself when the Door of the
Work-house, his Sanctuary, was breaking open; I will meet them,
says he, for they are my Brothers. These Brothers of his shot him
down at the Door, while the Word Brothers was still between his
Teeth! -- But if Will Soc was a bad Man, what had poor old
Shehaes done? what could he or the other poor old Men and Women do?
What had little Boys and Girls done; what could Children of a Year
old, Babes at the Breast, what could they do, that they too must be
shot and hatcheted? -- Horrid to relate! -- and in their Parents
Arms! This is done by no civilized Nation in Europe. Do we come
to America to learn and practise the Manners of Barbarians? But
this, Barbarians as they are, they practise against their Enemies
only, not against their Friends. --

These poor People have been always our Friends. Their Fathers
received ours, when Strangers here, with Kindness and Hospitality.
Behold the Return we have made them! -- When we grew more numerous
and powerful, they put themselves under our Protection. See, in
the mangled Corpses of the last Remains of the Tribe, how effectually
we have afforded it to them! --

Unhappy People! to have lived in such Times, and by such
Neighbours! -- We have seen, that they would have been safer among
the ancient Heathens, with whom the Rites of Hospitality were
sacred. -- They would have been considered as Guests of the
Publick, and the Religion of the Country would have operated in their
Favour. But our Frontier People call themselves Christians! --
They would have been safer, if they had submitted to the Turks; for
ever since Mahomet's Reproof to Khaled, even the cruel Turks,
never kill Prisoners in cold Blood. These were not even Prisoners:
-- But what is the Example of Turks to Scripture Christians? --
They would have been safer, though they had been taken in actual War
against the Saracens, if they had once drank Water with them.
These were not taken in War against us, and have drank with us, and
we with them, for Fourscore Years. -- But shall we compare Saracens
to Christians? -- They would have been safer among the Moors in
Spain, though they had been Murderers of Sons; if Faith had once
been pledged to them, and a Promise of Protection given. But these
have had the Faith of the English given to them many Times by the
Government, and, in Reliance on that Faith, they lived among us, and
gave us the Opportunity of murdering them. -- However, what was
honourable in Moors, may not be a Rule to us; for we are
Christians! -- They would have been safer it seems among Popish
Spaniards, even if Enemies, and delivered into their Hands by a
Tempest. These were not Enemies; they were born among us, and yet we
have killed them all. -- But shall we imitate idolatrous Papists,
we that are enlightened Protestants? -- They would even have been
safer among the Negroes of Africa, where at least one manly Soul
would have been found, with Sense, Spirit and Humanity enough, to
stand in their Defence: -- But shall Whitemen and Christians act
like a Pagan Negroe? -- In short it appears, that they would have
been safe in any Part of the known World, -- except in the
Neighbourhood of the CHRISTIAN WHITE SAVAGES of Peckstang and
Donegall! --

O ye unhappy Perpetrators of this horrid Wickedness! Reflect a
Moment on the Mischief ye have done, the Disgrace ye have brought on
your Country, on your Religion, and your Bible, on your Families and
Children! Think on the Destruction of your captivated Country-folks
(now among the wild Indians) which probably may follow, in
Resentment of your Barbarity! Think on the Wrath of the United Five
Nations, hitherto our Friends, but now provoked by your murdering
one of their Tribes, in Danger of becoming our bitter Enemies. --
Think of the mild and good Government you have so audaciously
insulted; the Laws of your King, your Country, and your GOD, that you
have broken; the infamous Death that hangs over your Heads: -- For
JUSTICE, though slow, will come at last. -- All good People every
where detest your Actions. -- You have imbrued your Hands in innocent
Blood; how will you make them clean? -- The dying Shrieks and Groans
of the Murdered, will often sound in your Ears: Their Spectres will
sometimes attend you, and affright even your innocent Children! --
Fly where you will, your Consciences will go with you: -- Talking in
your Sleep shall betray you, in the Delirium of a Fever you
yourselves shall make your own Wickedness known.

One Hundred and Forty peaceable Indians yet remain in this
Government. They have, by Christian Missionaries, been brought over
to a Liking, at least, of our Religion; some of them lately left
their Nation which is now at War with us, because they did not chuse
to join with them in their Depredations; and to shew their Confidence
in us, and to give us an equal Confidence in them, they have brought
and put into our Hands their Wives and Children. Others have lived
long among us in Northampton County, and most of their Children
have been born there. These are all now trembling for their Lives.
They have been hurried from Place to Place for Safety, now concealed
in Corners, then sent out of the Province, refused a Passage through
a neighbouring Colony, and returned, not unkindly perhaps, but
disgracefully, on our Hands. O Pennsylvania! once renowned for
Kindness to Strangers, shall the Clamours of a few mean Niggards
about the Expence of this Publick Hospitality, an Expence that will
not cost the noisy Wretches Sixpence a Piece (and what is the
Expence of the poor Maintenance we afford them, compared to the
Expence they might occasion if in Arms against us) shall so senseless
a Clamour, I say, force you to turn out of your Doors these unhappy
Guests, who have offended their own Country-folks by their Affection
for you, who,confiding in your Goodness, have put themselves under
your Protection? Those whom you have disarmed to satisfy groundless
Suspicions, will you leave them exposed to the armed Madmen of your
Country? -- Unmanly Men! who are not ashamed to come with Weapons
against the Unarmed, to use the Sword against Women, and the Bayonet
against young Children; and who have already given such bloody Proofs
of their Inhumanity and Cruelty. -- Let us rouze ourselves, for
Shame, and redeem the Honour of our Province from the Contempt of its
Neighbours; let all good Men join heartily and unanimously in Support
of the Laws, and in strengthening the Hands of Government; that
JUSTICE may be done, the Wicked punished, and the Innocent protected;
otherwise we can, as a People, expect no Blessing from Heaven, there
will be no Security for our Persons or Properties; Anarchy and
Confusion will prevail over all, and Violence, without Judgment,
dispose of every Thing.

When I mention the Baseness of the Murderers, in the Use they
made of Arms, I cannot, I ought not to forget, the very different
Behaviour of brave Men and true Soldiers, of which this
melancholy Occasion has afforded us fresh Instances. The Royal
Highlanders have, in the Course of this War, suffered as much as any
other Corps, and have frequently had their Ranks thinn'd by an
Indian Enemy; yet they did not for this retain a brutal
undistinguishing Resentment against all Indians, Friends as well as
Foes. But a Company of them happening to be here, when the 140 poor
Indians above mentioned were thought in too much Danger to stay
longer in the Province, chearfully undertook to protect and escort
them to New-York, which they executed (as far as that Government
would permit the Indians to come) with Fidelity and Honour; and
their Captain Robinson, is justly applauded and honoured by all
sensible and good People, for the Care, Tenderness and Humanity, with
which he treated those unhappy Fugitives, during their March in this
severe Season. General Gage, too, has approved of his Officer's
Conduct, and, as I hear, ordered him to remain with the Indians at
Amboy, and continue his Protection to them, till another Body of
the King's Forces could be sent to relieve his Company, and escort
their Charge back in Safety to Philadelphia, where his Excellency
has had the Goodness to direct those Forces to remain for some
Time,under the Orders of our Governor, for the Security of the
Indians; the Troops of this Province being at present necessarily
posted on the Frontier. Such just and generous Actions endear the
Military to the Civil Power, and impress the Minds of all the
Discerning with a still greater Respect for our national Government.
-- I shall conclude with observing, that Cowards can handle Arms,
can strike where they are sure to meet with no Return, can wound,
mangle and murder; but it belongs to brave Men to spare, and to
protect; for, as the Poet says,

------ Mercy still sways the Brave.