of their own people who were retreating before the onward march of civilization in the Minisink country of the Delaware. Among these accessions to their community were many from the vicinity of Friedenshal, Bethlehem, Guadenthal, Nazareth, Nain, and Gnaddenhutten,* the Moravian settlements in the region of the junction, or Forks, of the Delaware and Lehigh. Some of them were converts to the Moravian church; and a constant intercourse was thereafter maintained by way of what is to this day known as the "Indian Walk" across the mountains, between the Indians living at and in the vicinity of Gnaddenhutten, and those of Wyoming. As the storm of war with the French drew near, the Indians in their interest began to hover upon the borders of the white settlements, and particularly upon those of the Delaware tribes, which yet adhered to the interests of the English. The Delaware chief at Wyoming was Tadame, of whom, at this day, but little is known. He was however treacherously murdered by some of the hostile Indians from the northwest; whereupon a general council of the Delawares was convened, and Teedyuscung, of whom mention has already been made, was chosen chief sachem, and duly proclaimed as such. He was residing at Gnaddenhutten at the time of his advancement, but immediately removed to Wyoming, which then became the principal seat

"Huts of Mercy," a settlement founded by the Moravians chiefly for the accommodation and protection of those Indians who embraced their faith.

of the Delawares. Not long afterward a small fort upon the Lehigh, in the neighbourhood of Gnaddenhutten, was surprised by a party of Indians, and white men disguised as such, its little garrison massacred, the town of Gnaddenhutten sacked and burnt, many of its inhabitants, chiefly Christian Indians, being slain. Numbers of them perished in the flames, while the survivors escaped and joined their brethren at Wyoming.*

It was not long after the actual commencement of hostilities between the English colonists. and the French troops, and their Indian allies upon the banks of the Ohio, before Shamokin was attacked by the Indians, and the white settlement destroyed. Fourteen whites were killed, several made prisoners, and the houses and farms plundered. The Delawares now began to waver under the smarting of ancient grievances, and the artful appliances and appeals of the French; and with the fall of General Braddock and the destruction of his army, they revolted in a body, and went over to the common enemy. They were immediately induced to change their relations, by the strong assurances of the French that

*Chapman. It was at about this period of time, according to the same author, that the Nanticokes, never particularly friendly to the English, removed from Wyoming farther up the river to a place called Chemunk [Chemung ?] After this removal, hearing that the graves of their fathers, on the eastern shore of Maryland, were about being invaded by the plough-shares of the pale-faces, they sent a deputation back to their native land, who disinterred the remains of their dead, and conveyed them to their new place of residence, where they were again buried with all the rites and ceremonies of savage sepulture. This is a beautiful instance of filial piety, deserving of remembrance.

the war was in fact undertaken in their behalf, for the purpose of driving away the English, and restoring the red man once more to the full and entire possession of the country of which he had been robbed.*

A sanguinary war, upon the borders both of Pennsylvania and Virginia, immediately followed the secession of the Delawares, and if they were "women," in the popular Indian acceptation, before, they wielded no feminine arms in the new attitude they had so suddenly assumed. Their blows fell thick and fast; their hatchets were red; and their devastations of the frontier settlements were frequent and cruel. The storm was as fearful as it was unexpected to the Pennsylvanians; for however much familiarized Virginia and most of the other colonies had become to savage warfare, Pennsylvania, until now, had been comparatively and happily exempt. For more than seventy years a strict amity had existed between the early English settlers and their successors in Pennsylvania and New-Jersey,† and the breaking forth of the war created the greater consternation on that account.

It appears that the Quakers, a people, by the way, who have at all times manifested a deep solicitude for the welfare of the Indians, and whose benevolent principles and gentle manners have,

* Chapman. See, also, an interesting journal of Christian Frederick Post, while on a pacific mission to the Delawares and Shawanese, which has been preserved in the appendix to Proud.

† Proud.

in all critical emergencies, more than any thing else won the red man's confidence, had previously discovered some uneasiness among the Indians, connected with certain land questions, in respect of which they were not quite clear that injustice had not been done their red brethren of the forest. While, therefore, the government was making such preparations as it could for the common defence, great and persevering efforts were made, under the urgent advisement of the Quakers, to win back the friendship of the Delawares, as also that of the Shawanese. It was the opinion of these good people, as has already been intimated, that in their revolt the Delawares had been moved by wrongs, either real or fancied, — and if the latter, not the less wrongs to their clouded apprehensions,—in regard to some of their lands. A pacific mission to the Delawares and Shawanese was therefore recommended and strongly urged by them, and the project was acceded to by Governor Morris; but he refused to set the mission on foot until after he had issued a formal declaration of war. * Difficulties meantime increased, and the ravages of the frontiers were continued, until the war-path flowed with blood.— The influence of Sir William Johnson and of the Six Nations, with the Delawares, was invoked by the Pennsylvanians, and several of the Chiefs of

* Memorial of the Quakers to Governor Denny, who had succeeded Mr. Morris in the government of the Proprietaries in 1756. See Proud, vol. ii. Appendix.

the confederacy, with Colonel Claus, and Andrew Montour, Sir William's Secretary and Interpreter, visited Philadelphia upon that business. The parent government likewise urged the representatives of the Proprietaries to renew their Indian negotiations, and if possible arrive at a better understanding with them, by defining explicitly the lands that had been actually purchased.†

These pacific dispositions were so far attended with success that two Indian councils were held at Easton, in the Summer and Autumn of 1756. The first, however, was so small that it broke up without proceeding to business. The second, which was holden in November, was more successful, although it appears to have been confined to the Delawares of the Susquehannathose of that nation who had previously emigrated to the Ohio, and the Shawanese, not being represented. The council was conducted by Governor Denny on the part of the colony, and by Teedyuscung on behalf of the Indians; and he appears to have managed his cause with the energy of a man, and the ability of a statesman. If his people had cowered like cravens before the rebukes of the Six Nations, in the council of 1742, their demeanor was far otherwise on this occasion. Having, by joining the Shawanese and

† Chapman.

* Memorial of the Quakers, already cited. At this council, Teedyuscung insisted upon having a secretary of his own selection appointed, to take down the proceedings in behalf of the Indians. The demand was considered extraordinary, and was opposed by Governor Denny. The Delaware chief, however, persisted in his demand, and it was