POPULATION OF THE COLONIES.

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friendly to the English, but the sworn enemies of the French since their arrival in the north, the position at Oswego had thereby been maintained; and the limits of the French prescribed in that region. And possibly on that account alone, may the upper region of the Ohio have been delayed in its occupancy by the French.

But now, since the French had already established themselves on the upper end of Lake Erie, and even along the Wabash,-to which we neglected to refer heretofore the sources of the Ohio might almost be considered within the limits of their jurisdiction. And as nothing had been done at the treaty of Aix-la-chapelle, to weaken their claims, but on the other hand, a determination manifested to maintain their rights, at the cost of another breach of peace, the spirit now evinced was not to be mistaken. Nor did the disparity of their strength compared with that of the English, intimidate them. In 1750 the white population of the British colonies was estimated at one million, while that of the French was reckoned at only fifty-two thousand -apportioning forty-five thousand to Canada, and seven thousand to Louisiana. Nevertheless it was supposed by the French, that advantages were possessed by them, which would enable them to cope with their adversaries.

"The whole power of France, in America, was united under one governor, who could give it such direction as his judgment should dictate. The genius of the people and the government was military, and the inhabitants could readily be called into the field, when their services should be required. Great reliance, too, was placed on the Indians. These savages, with the exception of the Five Nations, were generally attached to the French, they were well trained in war, and the importance of their aid had already been experienced.

"The British Colonies, on the other hand, were divided into distinct governments, unaccustomed, except those of New England, to act in concert; were jealous of the powers of the Crown; and were spread over a large extent of territory, the soil of which, in all the middle colonies, was cultivated by men whose peace of late years had seldom been disturbed, and who were consequently, almost entirely unused to arms."*

*Marshall.

SPY SENT OUT INTO OHIO.

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CHAPTER IV.

French army destined for the Ohio-Alarm in the English colonies— Send a spy into Ohio-Three letters brought by traders from the Ohio -French forces in the Ohio-A leaden plate stolen from the French by the Indians and brought to Fort George-Six Nations call upon the English for aid to expel the French-Ohio Land Company-Gist sent to explore the Ohio-Hostilities in the Ohio region--Twightees-Indian council at Carlisle.

In the summer of 1749, intelligence reached the province of Pennsylvania, that an army of about one thousand French were in readiness to leave Canada, on some expedition; and that it was whispered their destination was the Ohio, to exclude the English from settling in the country, and drive their traders without the territory, as well as chastise such Indian tribes as gave encouragement to their coming among them. Startled with these rumors, the Assembly immediately, by advice of the governor, passed a resolution to send a suitable person over the mountains to watch their movements. Accordingly, a Mr. George Croghan was appointed to the expedition, and instructed to proceed without delay to the Ohio, and on his arrival there, to send trusty persons, traders or Indians, up the Allegheny and across the country to Erie, "to discover whether any French were in those parts, and if any, in what numbers, and what appearance they made;" that appropriate measures might be taken to thwart them in their designs.

Croghan, some time after reaching Logstown, an Indian village on the Ohio, about twenty miles below the mouth of the Monongahela river, wrote that he had learned from the Indians there, that they had seen Jean

Cœur, a French officer, one hundred and fifty miles up the river, at a place where he intended to erect a fort. It is probable that this was at the mouth of French Creek, then called Le Bœuf river, where, as is known, was afterwards built a fort.

The next accounts we have, are the reception by the Governor of Pennsylvania, of "three several letters of an extraordinary nature, in French, signed "Celeron,” delivered to him by traders who came from the Ohio; and who informed him, at the same time, that this "Captain Celeron was a French officer, and had the command of three hundred French and some Indians, sent from Canada during the summer to Ohio and the Wabash, to reprove the Indians for their friendship to the English, and for suffering the English to trade with them."

The letters being alike, the Governor sent one to the proprietaries in London, another to the Governor of New York, that the same might be laid before the ministry. As a perusal of the letter may be interesting to some, we insert a

TRANSLATION.

"From our camp on the Beautiful River (Ohio), at an ancient village of the Chouanons, 6th August, 1749.

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Sir,-Having been sent with a detachment into these quarters by M- the Marquis de la Gallissiniere, commandant-general of New France, to reconcile among themselves certain savage nations, who are ever at variance, on account of the war just terminated, I have been much surprised to find some traders of your government, in a country to which England never had any pretensions. It even appears that the same opinion is entertained in New England, since in many of the villages, which I have passed through, the English, who were trading there, have mostly taken flight.

"Those I have first fallen in with, and by whom I wrote to you, were treated with all the mildness possible, although I would have been justified in treating them as interlopers, and men without design, their enterprise being contrary to the preliminaries of peace signed five months ago.

LETTER OF CELERON.

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I hope, sir, you will carefully prohibit, for the future, this trade, which is contrary to treaties; and give notice to your traders, that they will expose themselves to great risks, in returning to these countries; and they must impute only to themselves the misfortunes they may meet with. I know that our commandant-general would be very sorry to have recourse to violence, but he has orders not to permit foreign traders in his government. I have the honor to be, with great respect,

Where the "ancient village of the Chouanons" may have been we are uninformed. No mention is made of it elsewhere, that has come under our observation. Whatsoever may have been the proper claims of the two nations to the country in dispute, this letter but confirms the impression all must have, who will carefully and impartially examine the subject of their dispute. As far as prior discovery gave right to the country, it must be granted the claims of the French were undeniable; however ingenious and notoriously falsified may have been the statements of the English, to deprive them of this ground to rest their claims upon, as also of historians of our own country of a later day.* The French, if they did not fortify their claims on purchases from the Indians, like the English, it still must be admitted, as it even was by many of the English at the time, that their rights were pre-eminent, from the fact they were the first discoverers, and in them, at least, reposed the power to negotiate first with the natives for their lands.

Upon the whole, the letter of Celeron evinces the same determined spirit to resist all encroachments of their adversaries, of whatsoever character, doubtless foreseeing it would be the only method to insure themselves an indisputable possession of the country. The

* Pitkins.