122 The Winning of the West 



Brother, you asked who were the true owners of the 

 land now ceded to the United States. In answer I 

 tell you, if any nations should call themselves the 

 owners of it they would be guilty of falsehood ; our 

 claim to it is equal; our Elder Brother has con- 

 quered it." 56 



Wayne had brought peace by the sword. It was 

 the first time the border had been quiet for over a 

 generation ; and for fifteen years the quiet lasted un- 

 broken. The credit belongs to Wayne and his 

 army, and to the Government which stood behind 

 both. Because it thus finally stood behind them we 

 can forgive its manifold shortcomings and vacilla- 

 tions, its futile efforts to beg a peace, and its re- 

 luctance to go to war. We can forgive all this; 

 but we should not forget it. Americans need to 

 keep in mind the fact that as a nation they have 

 erred far more often in not being willing enough 

 to fight than in being too willing. Once roused, they 

 have always been dangerous and hard-fighting foes ; 

 but they have been over-difficult to rouse. Their 

 educated classes, in particular, need to be perpetual- 

 ly reminded that, though it is an evil thing to brave 

 a conflict needlessly, or to bully and bluster, it is 

 an even worse thing to flinch from a fight for which 

 there is legitimate provocation, or to live in supine, 

 slothful, unprepared ease, helpless to avenge an in- 

 jury. 



The conduct of the Americans in the years which 

 closed with Wayne's treaty did not shine very 



56 American State Papers, IV, 562-583. 



