religion according to our understanding; the Great Spirit does right; he knows what is best for his children; we are satisfied.

"Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion, or take it from you; we only want to enjoy our own.

"Brother, you say you have not come to get our lands or our money, but to enlighten our minds. I will now tell you that I have been at your meetings, and saw you collecting money from the meeting. I cannot tell what this money was intended for, but suppose it was for your minister; and if we should conform to your way of thinking, perhaps you may want some from us.

"Brother, we are told that you have been preaching to white people in this place; these people are our neighbors; we are acquainted with them; we will wait a little while and see what effect your preaching has upon them. If we find it does them good, makes them honest, and less disposed to cheat Indians, we will then consider again what you have said.

"Brother, you have now heard our answer to your talk, and this is all we have to say at present. As we are going to part, we will come and take you by the hand, and hope the Great Spirit will protect you on your journey, and return you safe to your friends."

The chiefs and others then drew near the missionary to take him by the hand; but he would not receive them, and hastily rising from his seat, said, "that there was no fellowship between the religion of God and the works of the Devil, and, therefore, could not join hands with them." Upon this being interpreted to them, "they smiled, and retired in a peaceable manner."

The Indians cannot well conceive how they have any participation in the guilt of the crucifixion, inasmuch as they do not believe themselves of the same origin as the whites, and there being no dispute but that they committed this act. Red-Jacket once said to a clergyman who was importuning him on this subject,

"Brother, if you white men murdered the Son of the Great Spirit, we Indians had nothing to do with it, and it is none of our affair. If he had come among us, we would not have killed him; we would have treated him well. You must make amends for that crime yourselves."*

Red-Jacket took part with the Americans in the war of 1812, but was not distinguished for that prodigality of life which marked the character of Tecumseh, and many others, but on all occasions was cool and collected. He had become attached to Colonel Snelling during the war, and when he heard that that officer was ordered to a distant station, he went to take his farewell of him. At that interview he said,

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Brother, I hear you are going to a place called Governor's Island.

*This occurred in a conversation between Red-Jacket and the Rev. Mr. Brackenridge; Tommy-Jemmy, Jack-Berry, and myself were present. I heard the remark, and will vouch for it."-W. J. Snelling.

you white

I hope you will be a governor yourself. I understand that people think children a blessing. I hope you may have a thousand. And, above all, I hope, wherever you go, you may never find whiskey more than two shillings a quart.'

Grand Island, in Niagara river, just above the famous Niagara falls, is owned by the Senecas. When it was rumored that the British had taken possession of it, in their last war with the Americans, RedJacket assembled his people to consult with Mr. Granger, their agent. After having stated to him the information, the old chief made the following profound speech:

"Brother, you have told us that we had nothing to do with the war that has taken place between you and the British. But we find the war has come to our own doors. Our property is taken possession of by the British and their Indian friends. It is necessary now for us to take up the business, defend our property, and drive the enemy from it. If we sit still upon our seats, and take no means of redress, the British (according to the customs of you white people) will hold it by conquest. And should you conquer the Canadas, you will claim it upon the same principles, as (though) conquered from the British. We therefore request permission to go with our warriors, and drive off those bad people, and take possession of our lands." Whereupon such of the Senecas as had an inclination were permitted to join the American army.

In one action Red-Jacket acted a conspicuous part, and is most honorably mentioned by the commanding general. The action took place near Fort George on the 17th of August, 1813, between about three hundred volunteers and Indians, supported by two hundred regulars. These surprised the British and Indian camp at daylight, killed seventy-five and took sixteen prisoners. The success of the expedition was almost entirely owing to a stratagem of the Indians, who, when they had formed their plan of attack, decoyed their brethren on the British side into an ambush, by giving a war-whoop which they mistook for that of their friends. General Boyd, who commanded here, says, "The principal chiefs who led the warriors this day were Farmer's-Brother, Red-Jacket, Little Billy, Pollard, Black Snake, Johnson, Silver-Heels, Captain Half-Town, Major Henry Obcal;⚫ (Corn-Planter's son,) and Captain Cold, chief of Onondaga, who was wounded. In a council which was held with them yesterday, they covenanted not to scalp or murder; and I am happy to say that they treated the prisoners with humanity, and committed no wanton cruelties upon the dead.” "Their bravery and humanity were equally conspicuous. Already the quietness in which our pickets are suffered' to remain evinces the benefit arising from their assistance."

Governor De Witt Clinton, in his most valuable discourse before the Historical Society of New York, thus notices Red-Jacket: "Within a few years an extraordinary orator has risen among the Senecas; his real name is Saguoaha. Without the advantages of illustrious descent, and with no extraordinary talents for war, he has attained the first distinctions in the nation by the force of his eloquence."

Red-Jacket having by some means lost the confidence of his countrymen, in order, as it is reported, to retrieve it, prevailed upon his brother to announce himself a prophet, commissioned by the Great Spirit to redeem the miserable condition of his countrymen. It required nothing but an adroit and skilful reasoner to persuade the ignorant multitude, given to the grossest superstition, of his infallibility in the pretended art or mystery. If good ever came out of evil, it did at this time. The Onondagas were, at that period, the most drunken and profligate of all the Iroquois. They were now so far prevailed upon as almost entirely to abstain from ardent spirits, became sober and industrious, and observed and respected the laws of morality. This good effect was not confined to the Onondagas, but shed its benign influence through the nations adjacent. But as this reform was begun in hypocrisy, it necessarily ended with its hypocritical author. The greatest check, perhaps, which can be thrown in the way of imposture is its own exposition. In this case, like witchcraft among us in former times, it was stayed by its own operations. Many were denounced as witches, and some would have been executed but for the interference of their white neighbors. RedJacket was denounced in a great council of Indians, held at Buffalo creek, as the chief author of their troubles. He was accordingly brought to trial, and his eloquence saved his life, and greatly increased his reputation. His defence was near three hours long. And, in the language of Governor Clinton, "the iron brow of superstition relented under the magic of his eloquence: he declared the prophet (his brother) an impostor and a cheat; he prevailed; the Indians divided, and a small majority appeared in his favor. Perhaps the annals of history cannot furnish a more conspicuous instance of the triumph and power of oratory, in a barbarous nation, devoted to superstition, and looking up to the accuser as a delegated minister of the Almighty. I am well aware that the speech of Logan will be triumphantly quoted against me, and it will be said, that the most splendid exhibition of Indian cloquence may be found out of the pale of the Six Nations. I fully subscribe to the eulogium of Mr. Jefferson, when he says, I may challenge the whole orations of Demosthenes and Cicero, and of any more eminent orator, if Europe has furnished more eminent, to produce a single passage superior to the speech of Logan.' But let it be remembered that Logan was a Mingo chief," that is, an Iroquois.

The time is not far distant, if not already arrived, when the name of Red-Jacket will be heard, in the most august assemblies, to give weight to the mightiest efforts of eloquence. In the debate on the Indian bill, in 1830, in Congress, Mr. Crockett,* of Tennessee, said, "I am forcibly reminded of the remark made by the famous RedJacket, in the rotunda of this building, when he was shown the panel

The pitiful crusade in which this brave man lost his life, will as long be remembered for its unjustifiable origin, as the many valuable but inisguided men who have been sacrificed in it. Having joined the army of Texas, Colonel Crockett was there murdered with the rest of a garrison which fell into the hands of the Mexicans in 1836.

which represented in sculpture the first landing of the Pilgrims, with an Indian chief presenting to them an ear of corn, in token of friendly welcome. The aged Indian said, 'That was good.' He said he knew they came from the Great Spirit, and he was willing to share the soil with his brothers. But when he turned round to view another panel, representing Penn's treaty, he said, 'Ah! all's gone now.' There was a great deal of truth in this short saying."

Red-Jacket and his council, in 1821, made a formal complaint to the Governor of New York, of the arbitrary conduct of some teachers among his people, and of their undue influence generally. Considering it to contain a most important and valuable piece of information, we will give it entire:

"Brother Parish, I address myself to you, and through you to the governor. The chiefs of Onondaga have accompanied you to Albany, to do business with the governor; I also was to have been with you, but I am sorry to say that bad health has put it out of my power. For this you must not think hard of me. I am not to blame for it. It is the will of the Great Spirit that it should be so. The object of the Onondagas is to purchase our lands at Tonnewanta. This and all other business that they may have to do at Albany must be transacted in the presence of the governor. He will see that the bargain is fairly made, so that all parties may have reason to be satisfied with what shall be done; and when our sanction shall be wanted to the transaction, it will be freely given. I much regret that, at this time, the state of my health should have prevented me from accompanying you to Albany, as it was the wish of the nation that I should state to the governor some circumstances which show that the chain of friendship between us and the white people is wearing out and wants brightening. I proceed now, however, to lay them before you by letter, that you may mention them to the governor, and solicit redress. He is appointed to do justice to all, and the Indians fully confide that he will not suffer them to be wronged with impunity. The first subject to which we would call the attention of the governor, is the depredations that are daily committed by the white people upon the most valuable timber on our reservations. This has been a subject of complaint with us for many years; but now, and particularly at this season of the year, it has become an alarming evil, and calls for the immediate interposition of the governor in our behalf. Our next subject of complaint is, the frequent thefts of our horses and cattle by the white people, and their habit of taking and using them when ever they please and without our leave. These are evils which seem to increase upon us with the increase of our white neighbors, and they call loudly for redress. Another evil arising from the pressure of the whites upon us, and our unavoidable communication with them, is the frequency with which our chiefs, and warriors, and Indians, are thrown into jail, and that, too, for the most trifling cause. This is very galling to our feelings, and ought not to be permitted to the extent to which, to gratify their bad passions, our white neighbors now carry this practice. In our hunting and fishing, too, we are

greatly interrupted by the whites. Our venison is stolen from the trees where we have hung it to be reclaimed after the chase. Our hunting camps have been fired into, and we have been warned that we shall no longer be permitted to pursue the deer in those forests which were so lately all our own. The fish which, in the Buffalo and Tonnewanta creeks, used to supply us with food, are now, by the dams and other obstructions of the whites, prevented from multiply. ing, and we are almost entirely deprived of that accustomed sustenance. Our great father, the president, has recommended to our young men to be industrious, to plough, and to sow. This we have done, and we are thankful for the advice, and for the means he has afforded us of carrying it into effect. We are happier in consequence of it. But another thing recommended to us has created great confusion among us, and is making us a quarrelsome and divided people, and that is, the introduction of preachers into our nation. These black-coats contrive to get the consent of some of the Indians to preach among us, and wherever this is the case, confusion and disorder are sure to follow, and the encroachments of the whites upon our lands are the invariable consequences. The governor must not think hard of me for speaking thus of the preachers. I have observed their progress, and when I look back to see what has taken place of old, I perceive that whenever they came among the Indians they were the forerunners of their dispersion; that they always excited enmities and quarrels among them; that they introduced the white people on their lands, by whom they were robbed and plundered of their property; and that the Indians were sure to dwindle, and decrease, and be driven back, in proportion to the number of preachers that came among them. Each nation has its own customs and its own religion. The Indians have theirs, given to them by the Great Spirit, under which they were happy. It was not intended that they should embrace the religion of the whites, and be destroyed by the attempt to make them think differently on that subject from their fathers. It is true, these preachers have got the consent of some of the chiefs to stay and preach among us, but I and my friends know this to be wrong, and that they ought to be removed; besides, we have been threatened by Mr. Hyde, who came among us as a school-master and a teacher of our children, but has now become a black-coat, and refused to teach them any more, that unless we listen to his preaching and become Christians, we will be turned off our lands. We wish to know from the governor if this is to be so, and if he has no right to say so, we think he ought to be turned off our lands, and not allowed to plague us any more. We shall never be at peace while he is among us. Let them be removed, and we will be happy and contented among ourselves. We now cry to the governor for help, and hope that he will attend to our complaints, and speedily give us redress.

RED-JACKET."

"This letter was dictated by Red-Jacket, and interpreted by Henry