286 The Winning of the West 



the terms the conquerors proposed. They agreed 

 to give up all the white prisoners and stolen horses 

 in their possession, and to surrender all claim to the 

 lands south of the Ohio, and they gave hostages as 

 an earnest of their good-faith. 46 But their chief 

 spokesman, Cornstalk, while obliged to assent to 

 these conditions, yet preserved through all the pro- 

 ceedings a bearing of proud defiance that showed 

 how little the fear of personal consequences in- 

 fluenced his own actions. At the talks he ad- 

 dressed the white leader with vehement denuncia- 

 tion and reproach, in a tone that seemed rather 

 that of a conqueror than one of the conquered. In- 

 deed, he himself was not conquered ; he felt that his 

 tribesmen were craven, but he knew that his own 

 soul feared nothing. The Virginians, who, like 

 their Indian antagonists, prized skill in oratory only 

 less than skill in warfare, were greatly impressed 

 by the chieftain's eloquence, by his command of 

 words, his clear, distinct voice, his peculiar em- 

 phasis, and hio singularly grand and majestic, and 

 yet graceful, bearing; they afterward said that his 

 oratory fully equaled that of Patrick Henry him- 

 self. 47 



Every prominent chief but one came to the coun- 

 cil. The exception was Logan, who remained apart 

 in the Mingo village, brooding over his wrongs and 

 the vengeance he had taken. His fellows, when 



46 "Am. Archives," IV. St. Glair's letter, Dec. 4, 1774- 

 Also Jefferson MSS. Dep. of Wm. Robinson, etc. 



47 See De Haas, 162. 



