218 THE GRAVE OF THE INDIAN KING. 



branches spread far abroad, so tbat it sball be seen a great way off; 

 and we shall shelter ourselves under it, and live at peace without 

 molestation. The fire of love burns at this place as well as at Onon- 

 daga; and this house of peace must be kept clean. Let the coven- 

 ant-chain be kept bright like silver, and held fast on all sides ; let not 

 one pull his arm from it. " Alas ! noble, generous chief! how fleet- 

 ing were thy glowing visions ! and thy brightest anticipations of peace 

 with the white man, how soon were they overcast ! How soon, in the 

 bitterness of grief and disappointment, wast thou compelled to ex- 

 claim " Our arms are stiff and tired of holding fast the chain, whilst 

 others sit still and smoke at their ease. The fat is melted from our 

 flesh, and fallen on our neighbours, who grow plump while we be- 

 come lean. They flourish, while we decay. " Even the race of the 

 tribe which numbered the illustrious Sadekanaghtie, Tachanoontu, 

 Decanesora, and Garangula, whose simple and unstudied eloquence, 

 clothed in the rich and beautiful imagery furnished from this store- 

 house of Nature, shone more brightly than the blaze of their council- 

 fires, has been swept from the face of the earth ; and a few struggling 

 remnants of the other tribes, who formed this celebrated confederacy, 

 are all now left of the once mighty and terrible ONGUFHONWE*. 

 But, in our desire to bestow a passing tribute of honourable and well 

 deserved praise upon an illustrious race, whose merits have never 

 been properly appreciated, whose noble qualities have not been well 

 understood, and whose proud character all history has united to 

 calumniate, we may have digressed too far, and will now return to 

 our subject **The grave of the Indian King." 



The frequent hostilities in which the Five Nations were involved 

 with the Canadian French and Indians, in consequence of their alli- 

 ance with the English, have already been mentioned. And cruel 

 were the conflicts and retaliatory massacres on both sides, as might 

 be instanced in the battle between the Five Nations and the Hurons, 

 near Quebec, the destruction of Scenectady, and the slaugher at Mon- 

 treal. Too often, moreover, were they encouraged and pushed into 

 hostilities by the English, and in time of need, left without adequate 

 succour or supplies. In the year 1690, Count Frontenac, one of 

 the most efficient and politic, as well, perhaps, as the most cruel of 

 the French governors in Canada, attempted to detach the Five Nations 

 from the friendship of the English colony, and to negociate a sepa- 

 rate peace. W ith this view, through the agency of the Jesuits, the 



* Signifying "Men surpaseine; all other?;" a name which the Five Natione 

 conferred upon themselves. 



