The Indian Wars, 1784-1787 211 



and foolishness of the Westerners who denounced 

 him. They refused to give up the Mississippi ; and 

 yet they also refused to support the party to which 

 Jay belonged, and therefore refused to establish a 

 government strong enough to obtain their rights 

 by open force. 



But Jay erred when he added, as he did, that 

 there was no middle course possible; that we must 

 either treat or make war. It was undoubtedly to 

 our discredit, and to our temporary harm, that we 

 refused to follow either course; it showed the ex 

 istence of very undesirable national qualities, for it 

 showed that we were loud in claiming rights which 

 we lacked the resolution and foresight to enforce. 

 Nevertheless, as these undesirable qualities existed, 

 it was the part of a wise statesman to recognize 

 their existence and do the best he could in spite of 

 them. The best course to follow under such cir 

 cumstances was to do nothing until the national 

 fibre hardened, and this was the course which Wash 

 ington advocated. 



In this summer of 1787 there rose to public promi 

 nence in the Western country a man whose influence 

 upon it was destined to be malign in intention rather 

 than in actual fact. James Wilkinson, by birth a 

 Marylander, came to Kentucky in 1784. He had 

 done his duty respectably as a soldier in the Revolu 

 tionary War, for he possessed sufficient courage 

 and capacity to render average service in subordi 

 nate positions, though at a later date he showed 

 abject inefficiency as commander of an army. He 



