80 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [1625-1750. 



native population shrank back from before the Eng- 

 lish, as from before an advancing pestilence ; while, 

 on the other hand, in the very heart of Canada, 

 Indian communities sprang up, cherished by the 

 government, and favored by the easy-tempered 

 people. At Lorette, at Caughnawaga, at St. Fran- 

 cis, and elsewhere within the province, large bands 

 were gathered together, consisting in part of fugi- 

 tives from the borders of the hated English, and 

 aiding in time of war to swell the forces of the 

 French in repeated forays against the settlements 

 of New York and New England. 



There was one of the English provinces marked 

 out from among the rest by the peculiar character 

 of its founders, and by the course of conduct 

 which was there pursued towards the Indian tribes. 

 William Penn, his mind warmed with a broad 

 philanthropy, and enlightened by liberal views of 

 human government and human rights, planted on 

 the banks of the Delaw^are the colony which, vivi- 

 fied by the principles it embodied, grew into the 

 great commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Penn's 

 treatment of the Indians was equally prudent and 

 humane, and its results were of high advantage 

 to the colony ; but these results have been exag- 

 gerated, and the treatment which produced them 

 made the theme of inordinate praise. It required 

 no great benevolence to urge the Quakers to deal 

 kindly with their savage neighbors. They were 

 bound in common sense to propitiate them ; since, 

 by incurring their resentment, they would involve 

 themselves in the dilemma of submitting their necks 



