280 RUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [1765. 



fortable captivity until the rifles were restored. 

 From this time forward, ruptures were repeatedly 

 occurring between the troops and the frontiersmen ; 

 and the Pennsylvania border retained its turbulent 

 character until the outbreak of the Revolutionary 

 War.^ 



1 The account of the seizure of the Indian goods is derived chiefly 

 from the narrative of the ringleader, Smith, published in Drake's Trafje- 

 dies of the Wilderness, and elsewhere. The correspondence of Gage and 

 Johnson is filled with allusions to this aflfliir, and the suhseqnent proceed- 

 ings of the freebooters. Gage spares no invectives against what he calls 

 the licentious conduct of the frontier people. In the narrative is inserted 

 a ballad, or lyrical effusion, written by some partisan of the frontier fac- 

 tion, and evidently regarded by Smith as a signal triumph of the poetic 

 art. He is careful to inform the reader that the author received his 

 education in the great city of Dublin. The following melodious stanzas 

 embody the chief action of the piece : — 



"Astonished at the wild design, 

 Frontier inhabitants combin'd 



With brave souls to stop their career; 

 Although some men apostatized, 

 Who first the grand attempt adNas'd, 

 The bold frontiers they bravely stood, 

 To act for their king and their countr^^'s good, 



In joint league, and strangers to fear. 



" On March the fifth, in sixty-five, 

 The Indian presents did arrive, 



In long pomp and cavalcade, 

 Near Sidelong Hill, where in disguise 

 Some patriots did their train surprise. 

 And quick as lightning tumbled their loads, 

 And kindled them bonlires in the woods. 

 And mostly biirjit their whole brigade." 



The following is an extract from Johnson's letter to the Board of 

 Trade, dated July 10, 1765 : — 



"I have great cause to think that Mr. Croghan will succeed in his 

 enterprise, unless circumvented by the artifices of the French, or through 

 the late licentious conduct of our own people. Although His Excellency 

 General Gage has written to the Ministry on that subject, yet I think I 

 should not be silent thereupon, as it may be productive of very serious 

 consequences. 



