92 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [1734-1774. 



honors, and his reluctance to become the agent of 

 a murderous Indian warfare against his country- 

 men and friends. His final resolution was never 

 taken. In the summer of 1774, he was attacked 

 with a sudden illness, and died within a few hours, 

 in the sixtieth year of his age, hurried to his 

 grave by mental distress, or, as many believed, by 

 the act of his own hand. 



Nature had well fitted him for the position in 

 which his propitious stars had cast his lot. His 

 person was tall, erect, and strong; his features 

 grave and manly. His direct and upright dealings, 

 his courage, eloquence, and address, were sure pass- 

 ports to favor in Indian eyes. He had a singular 

 facility of adaptation. In the camp, or at the 

 council-board, in spite of his defective education, 

 he bore himself as became his station ; but at 

 home he was seen drinking flip and smoking to- 

 bacco with the Dutch boors, his neighbors, and 

 talking of improvements or the price of beaver- 

 skins ; while in the Indian villages he would feast 

 on dog's flesh, dance with the warriors, and har- 

 angue his attentive auditors with all the dignity of 

 an Iroquois sachem. His temper was genial ; he 

 encouraged rustic sports, and was respected and 

 beloved alike by whites and Indians. 



His good qualities, however, were alloyed with 

 serious defects. His mind was as coarse as it was 

 vigorous ; he was vain of his rank and influence, 

 and being quite free from any scruple of delicacy, 

 he lost no opportunity of proclaiming them. His 

 nature was eager and ambitious ; and in pushing 



