desire to reserve a passage, through the Connewaugo, and through the Chataughque Lake, and land for a path from that Lake to Lake Erie, take it where you like best. Our nation will rejoice to see it an open path for you and your children, while the land and water remain ; but let us pass along the same way, and continue to take the fish in these waters in common with you.

Father, -You say you will appoint an agent to take care of us. Let him come and take care of our trade : but we desire he may not have any thing to do with our lands; for the agents which have come among us, and pretended to take care of us, have always deceived us whenever we sold lands; bothwhen the king and when the separate states have bargained with us. They have by this means occasioned many wars, and we are unwilling to trust them again.

Father,—When we return home, we will call a great council, and consider well how land may be hereafter sold by our nation : and when we have agreed upon it, we will send you notice thereof; but we desire

you will not depend on your agent for information concerning land.

Father,---We will not hear lies concerning you ; and we desire that you will not hear lies concerning us; and then we shall certainly live in peace with you.

Father,—There are men who go from town to town, and beget children, and leave them to perish, or to grow up without instruction, unless better men take care of them. Our nation has long looked round for a father, but they found none that would own them for their children, until you now tell us that your courts are open to us, as to your own people. The joy we feel on this great news so mixes with the sorrows that are past, that we cannot express our gladness, nor conceal the remembrance of our afffiction: we will speak of it another time.

Father, We are ashamed that we have listened to L's lies, or been influenced with threats of war from P, and would hide that whole transaction from the world, and from ourselves, by quietly receiving from what he promised to give us for the lands they cheated us of. But as Pwill not pay us even according to that fraudulent bargain, we must lay the whole proceedings before your courts.

When the evidence which we can produce is heard, we think it will appear that the whole bargain was founded in lies, which he placed one upon another ; that the goods which he charged to us as part payment, were plundered from us; and that if P-was not directly concerned in the theft, he knew of it at the time, and concealed it from us ; and that the persons we confided in were bribed by him to deceive us in the bargain ; and if these facts appear, that your courts will not say that such bargains are just, but set the whole aside.

Father,—We expect that our evidence might be called for, as P- was here and knew what we had said concerning him; and as Ebenezer Allen knew something of the matter, we desired him to continue here. Nicholson, the interpreter, is very sick, and we desire that Allen may remain a few days longer, as he speaks our language.

Father,- The blood that was spilt near Pine Creek is covered, and we shall never look where it lies. We know Pennsylvania will satisfy us for that which we speak of to them, before we speak to you. The chain of friendship will now, we Irtope, be made strong, as you desire it to be. We will hold it fast, and our end of it shall never rust in our hands.

Father,—We told you what advice we gave to the people you are now at war with ; and we now tell you they have promised to come again next spring to our towns. We shall not wait for their coming, but set out very early in the season, and show them what you have done for us, which must convince

them that you will do for them every thing that they ought to ask. We think they will hear us, and follow our advice.

Father,--You gave us leave to speak our minds concerning tilling of the ground. We ask you to teach us to plough and grind corn, and supply us with broad-axes, saws, augers, and other tools, to assist us in building saw-mills, so that we may make our houses more comfortable and durable; that you will send smiths among us; and above all that you will teach our children to read and write, and our women to spin and weave. The manner of doing these things for us, we leave to you who understand them; but we assure you we will follow your advice as far as we are able.

The President of the United States, his second Reply

to the Speech of Corn Plant, Half Town, and Big Tree, Chiefs of the Seneca Nation of Indians.

Brothers, I have maturely considered your second written speech. You say your nation complain, that at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, you were compelled to give up too much of your lands; that you confess your nation is bound by what was then done, and acknowledging the power of the United States; that you have now appealed to ourselves against that treaty, as made while we were angry against you ; and that the said treaty was therefore unreasonable and unjust. But while you complain of the treaty of Fort Stanwis, in 1784, you seem entirely to forget, that you yourselves, Corn Plant, Half Town, and Big Tree, with others of your nation, confirmed by the treaty at Fort Harmar upon the Muskingum, so late as the 9th of January, 1789, the boundaries marked at the treaty at Fort Stanwix, and that in

VoL, I.

consequence thereof, you then received goods to a considerable amount.

Although it is my sincere desire, in looking forward, to endeavour to promote your bappiness by all just and humane arrangements, yet I cannot disannul treaties formed by the United States before my administration ; especially as the boundaries mentioned therein have been twice confirmed by yourselves. The lines fixed at Fort Stanwix and Fort Harmar must therefore remain established. But Half Town and others, who reside upon the lands you desire may be relinquished, have not been disturbed in their possession ; and I should hope, while he and they continue to demean themselves peaceably, and to manifest their friendly dispositions to the people of the United States, that they will be suffered to remain where they are.

And the agent who will be appointed by the United States will be your friend and protector: he will not be suffered to defraud you or to assist in defrauding you of your lands, or of any other thing; and all his proceedings must be reported in writing, so as to be submitted to the President of the United States.

You mention your design of going to the Miami Indians, to endeavour to persuade them to peace. By this humane measure you will render those mistaken people a great service, and probably prevent their being swept from the face of the earth. The United States require only that those people should demean themselves peaceably; but they may be assured that the United States are able, and will most certainly punislı them severely for all their robberies and murders.

You may, when you return from this city to your own country, mention to your nation, my desire to promote their prosperity, by teaching them the use of domestic animals, and the manner that the white people plough and raise so much corn; and if, upon consideration, it would be agreeable to the nation at large to learn those valuable arts, I shall find some means of teaching them, at such places within their country as shall be agreed on.

I have nothing more to add, but to refer you to my former speech, and to repeat my wishes for the happiness of the Seneca Nation.

Given under my hand, and the seal of the

United States, at Philadelphia, this 19th day of January, 1791.

G. WASHINGTON. By the president,

THOMAS JEFFERSON. Enrolled in Commission Book, No. 1, page 259, &c., for the State of Pennsylvania.

MATTHEW IRVIN.

To the Great Counsellor of the Thirteen Fires. The

Speech of Corn Plant, Half Town, and Big Tree, Seneca Chiefs.

Father,—No Seneca ever goes from the fire of his friend until he has said to him, "I am going.” We therefore tell you that we are now setting out for our own country.

Father,--We thank you from our hearts that we now know that there is a country that we may call our own, and on which we may lie down in peace. We see that there will be peace between our children and your children, and our hearts are very glad. We will persuade the Wyandots, and other western nations to open their eyes, and look towards the bed which

you have made for us, and to ask of for themselves and their children that will not slide from under them. We thank you for your presents to us, and rely on your promise to instruct us in raising corn as the white people do.

The sooner you

do this the better for us; and we thank you for the care

you a bed