27 



of the best British heroes to his projects on the coast of France, 

 to gratify his vanity all was glorious ! 



" My dear John, take heart, and don't he carried away with 

 reports. Revive thy drooping spirits, and look forward and 

 hope for the hest." . . . 



" Glorious Pitt so presides in my dear John's mind he is in- 

 vincible to complaints, except on the sorry peace that hath 

 given so great an empire to Britain !" . . . 



" I have a great respect for Pitt, and he has his merits ; but 

 every thing he did was not glorious, though my friend John 

 thinks so." 



But their most remarkable difference of views perhaps one 

 frequently, fully, and we may say ably discussed between them, 

 was as to our treatment of the Indians. Bartram seems to have 

 felt that their extermination was inevitable upon the approach 

 of civilized man ; as much so as that of the beast of the forest, 

 and the most venomous reptiles ; that they were irreclaimable ; 

 incapable of civilization; that all Christian efforts were lost 

 upon them ; while Collinson uniformly, earnestly, and perse- 

 veringly inculcated opposite views. 



All will be interested to see a portion of this correspondence 

 respecting the natives. It will be found curious, interesting, 

 and instructive. 



JOHN BARTRAM TO PETER COLLINSON. 



"February 21, 1756. 



DEAR PETER We are now in a grievous distressed condi- 

 tion ; the barbarous, inhuman, ungrateful natives weekly murder- 

 ing our back inhabitants ; and those few Indians that profess 

 some friendship to us, are watching for an opportunity to ruin 

 us. And we that are near the city are under apprehensions 

 too from the neutral French,*~which are sent among us full of 

 resentment and revenge, although they yet appear tolerably 

 civil when we feed them with the best we can afford. They are 

 very fond of their brethren, the Irish and Dutch Romans, 

 which are very numerous amongst us, many of which openly 

 declare their wishes that the French and Indians would destroy 

 us all ; and others of them privately rejoice at our calamities. 

 deplorable condition ! that we suspect our friend of treachery 



