much pleasure in returning Mr. Roszel's compliment.' If the return of that compliment is to rest on this ground, we fear the prospect of reimbursement is rather distant. It is hardly to be expected that any admirer of the History and Mystery' will ever produce a Life of Bishop Asbury calculated to be acceptable to any who believe him to have been, (we will not say a Christian, a Christian minister, or a Christian bishop, but,) even an honest Jew, or Turk, or Heathen. Nor is it probable, we should apprehend, that those who have given their countenance to the infamy attempted to be fastened on that late venerable and devoted man, will ever take sufficient interest in his biography to authorize the expectation of an hundred dollars profit' from its publication.

Dr. Jennings states that Mr. Roszel presented him with the sum of two hundred dollars. We had supposed that Dr. Jennings was aware that this was not any personal compliment' of Mr. Roszel's, but was paid to him by order of the committee which had engaged his services. It appears, too, from the proceedings above recited, that the sum actually paid was $225; (not $200, as Dr. Jennings states;) and that the sum which the committee authorized Mr. Roszel and Mr. Reed to borrow, in the name of the Conference, and to pay to Dr. Jennings, was $250. How it happened that the amount actually borrowed and paid was only $225, we are not informed. The difference between Dr. Jennings's statement of the amount paid, and the fact in the case, we should not have thought worth mentioning, did we not perceive that this is not a mere isolated error, but that Dr. Jennings's account of the whole' matter indicates a pretty prevailing disposition as well to minify the helps afforded him, and the doings of the committees, as to magnify what has the opposite bearing. The amount of letters brought from England, and placed in his hands, about which we happen to know something, will serve as a further illustration of this remark.

We regret the manner in which Dr. Jennings has thought proper, both very unnecessarily and very unjustifiably, as we conceive, to introduce the name of Mr. Mark Moore' into this business. Mr. Moore is dead. What dealings may have existed between him and Dr. Jennings, or on what ground the latter may have paid, or loaned, or given him $100, we know not. If Dr. Jennings, however, will show that it was paid by the order, or at the request, of the Baltimore Annual Conference, or of any other of our Annual Conferences, we undertake to pledge ourselves that it shall be refunded. On any other ground, we are persuaded that Dr. Jennings cannot seriously believe that either his obligations or his gratuities to Mr. Moore, can, with any credit to himself, be played off in this way, either against the Baltimore Conference, or its committee.

The true amount of materials' with which Dr. Jennings was furnished, to assist him in preparing a Life of Bishop Asbury, we do not precisely know. But, if other documents placed in his hands

exceeded the amount as stated by him, in the proportion of the 'five or six letters brought by Mr. Emory from England,' the difference must be pretty considerable. We have those letters still. They are now lying before us, in the same envelop in which they were returned by Dr. Jennings. The exact number of them is twenty-five; of which twenty were written by Mr. Asbury himself two by Mr. Whatcoat, afterward Bishop; and three by other persons. All of them have direct reference to Mr. Asbury, and, taken together, their dates being from the year 1766 downward, they are, in our judgment, highly interesting and valuable, especially in regard to his early history, and to his personal experience, and views, and feelings. Those of them which were written by Mr. Asbury him-. self, were addressed chiefly to his parents, and particularly to his mother, into whose sympathetic and faithful bosom he poured the very thoughts and workings of his heart. Of these letters, no one of which we believe has ever been published, we purpose, Providence permitting, to avail ourselves of some future occasion to give a further account.

THE WYANDOTS, AND THEIR LATE CHIEF

BETWEEN-THE-LOGS.

IN the number for September 1827, of our late monthly Magazine, is contained a "MEMOIR OF BETWEEN-THE-LOGS," late an Indian chief of the Wyandot tribe, a convert to Christianity, and a licensed preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The following further account of him, previously to his conversion to Christianity, and of the tribe in which he held so distinguished a rank, is compiled from the North American Review, for April 1827. The article was furnished by a writer who states that he wrote what he knew.

Charlevoix long since described the Wyandots as 'the nation of all Canada, the most remarkable for its defects and virtues.' When Jacques Cartier ascended the St. Lawrence, he found them established near Hochelega, now Montreal; and when Champlain entered the same river, their war with the Iroquois had already commenced, and that enterprising officer accompanied one of their parties in a hostile expedition against their enemies. The events of that war were most disastrous, and they were driven from their country to the northern shore of Lake Huron. But distance afforded no security, and the Iroquois pursued them with relentless fury. Famine, disease, and war made frightful havoc among them, and the accounts of their sufferings, given by the old missionaries, who witnessed and shared them, almost task the belief of the reader. They were literally hunted from their resting place, and the feeble remnant of this once powerful and haughty tribe owed their pre

servation to the protection of the Sioux, in whose country, west of Lake Superior, they found safety and tranquillity. In a few years, however, the power of the Iroquois was crippled by their wars with the French, and the Wyandots descended Lake Superior, and occupied the land about old Michilimackinac. When the French fort at Detroit was first established in 1701, this tribe was invited to settle in its vicinity, and their services were important in resisting the hostile operations, which the Foxes long conducted against the infant colony. Their final migration was to the plains of Sandusky, and here they resided, when the ill-fated expedition of Crawford was consummated by his horrible sacrifice at the stake.

This tribe is at the head of the great Indian family. How this preeminence was acquired, there is none now to tell. They were the guardians of the great council fire, and they alone had the privilege of sending their messengers, with the well known credentials, wampum and tobacco, to summon the other tribes to meet their uncle, the Wyandot, when any important subject required general deliberation. In the calamities, occasioned by the victorious career of the Iroquois, the site of this fire had been often changed, but always with the prescribed ceremonial, and with proper notice to all, who had a right to convene around it. In 1812, the fire was at Brownstown, at the mouth of the Detroit river; but it was extinguished in blood. And the whole institution has now disappeared, and will soon be remembered only in the traditionary stories, which it is the province of age to repeat, and of youth to learn.

The Wyandots are divided into seven bands or tribes. There are three Turtle tribes; namely, the Little Turtle, the Water Turtle, and the Large Land Turtle tribes; the Porcupine tribe, the Deer tribe, the Bear tribe, and the Snake tribe. Their offices are in form elective, but in reality hereditary, and the succession is through the female line. A chief is succeeded by his sister's son, or by the nearest male relative in that descent. There was formerly a great chief, called Sarstaritzee, and by the English the Half King. But the office, not being suitable to the declining fortunes of the Wyandots, has been abolished. A peace chief is at the head of each tribe, and the chief of the Porcupine tribe is now the acknowledged head of the nation. The seven chiefs are called the counsellors, and they constitute the actual government of the Wyandots.

In 1812, Tarhé or the Crane, an aged and venerable man, was the principal chief of the Porcupine tribe of the Wyandot nation. He lived at Upper Sandusky, about one hundred miles from the mouth of the Detroit river, and there he was surrounded by his counsellors, and by almost all his people. A small party, amounting to about sixty persons, including men, women, and children, lived upon the River Aux Canards near Malden, in Canada, and another party of about two hundred and fifty persons, lived on the American shore of the Detroit river, nearly opposite the British

post at its mouth. Such was the distribution of the Wyandot nation at the delaration of war in 1812.

When the Crane became satisfied that a war between the United States and Great Britain was inevitable, he directed the proper measures to be taken for convening a general council at Brownstown; and alarmed at the situation of his own people, he attended in person with his confidential counsellor Between-the-logs, and with the principal Shawnese chief, Black-hoof. At this council the Wyandots were asked by the Potawatomies, Chippewas, and Ottawas, whether they intended to take hold of the British hatchet, which was offered to them. Walk-in-the-water, who was at the head of the Wyandots on the American side of the river Detroit, and was the chief speaker of the nation, answered; 'No, we will not take up the hatchet against our father the Long-knife. [The Americans.] Our two fathers are about to fight, but we red men have no concern in their quarrel, and it is best for us to sit still, and remain neutral.' This advice was generally approved; but the result of the council having been communicated to the British authorities, immediate measures were taken to counteract a decision so adverse to their hopes. A council was convened at Malden, which was attended by the chiefs of the various tribes in the vicinity. Elliott, the Indian agent, and the British commanding officer, were present. The former demanded of the Wyandots, whether they had advised the other tribes to remain neutral. To this, Walk-in-the-water answered; We have, and we believe it is best for us, and for our brethren. We have no wish to be involved in a war with our father, the Long-knife, for we know by experience that we have nothing to gain by it, and we beg our father, the British, not to force us to We remember, in the former war between our fathers, the British and the Long-knife, we were both defeated, and we the red men lost our country; and you, our father, the British, made peace with the Long-knife without our knowledge, and you gave our country to him. You still said to us, my children, you must fight for your country, for the Long-knife will take it from you. We did as you advised us, and we were defeated with the loss of our best chiefs and warriors, and of our land. And we still remember your conduct toward us when we were defeated at the foot of the rapids of the Miami. We sought safety for our wounded in your fort. But what was your conduct? You closed your gates against us, and we had to retreat the best way we could. And then we made peace with the Americans, and have enjoyed peace with them ever since. And now you wish us, your red children, again to take up the hatchet against our father, the Long-knife. We say again, we do not wish to have any thing to do with the war. Fight your own battles, but let us, your red children, enjoy peace.'

war.

Elliott here interrupted the speaker, and said; That is American talk, and I shall hear no more of it. If you do not stop, I will direct my soldiers to take you and the chiefs, and keep you prison

ers, and will consider you as our enemies.' Walk-in-the-water then took his seat, to consult the other chiefs; and Round-head, who had openly espoused the British interest, and who was the chief of the small party of Wyandots living in Canada, immediately rose, and said, 'Father, listen to your children. You say, that the talk just delivered by my friend Walk-in-the-water, is American talk, and that you cannot hear any more of it; and if persisted in, you will take the chiefs prisoners, and treat them as enemies. Now hear me. I am a chief, and am acknowledged to be such. I speak the sentiments of the chiefs of the tribes, assembled round your council fire. I now come forward, and take hold of your war hatchet, and will assist you to fight against the Americans! He was followed by Tecumthé and the Prophet, and by two Wyandot chiefs, Worrow and Split-log, the former residing in Canada, and the latter in the United States. Walk-in-the-water, and his associates, still declined the invitation. Elliott then arose and said, 'My children, I am now well pleased at what you have done; that you have accepted the hatchet of your British father, and are willing to assist him in fighting against the Americans. As for these men, my friend Walk-in-the-water, and the others, I shall bring them and their people to this side of the river, where I can have them under my own eye, for they are in my way at Brownstown.'

Walk-in-the-water made no reply, but left the council house, and recrossed the river, to communicate the result to the Crane. Apprehensive for his personal safety, the old chief and his attendants instantly left Brownstown, and returned to their people at Upper Sandusky. A detachment of the British troops, under the command of Captain Muir, with a party of the militia under Captain Caldwell, amounting to about three hundred men, accompanied by Round-head and Tecumthé, with two hundred Indians, crossed the river the same night. They surrounded, and took prisoners, the Brownstown Wyandots, and compelled them to embark in their boats. They were then carried to Malden. A few days before this occurrence, this party had sent a deputation to the American general at Detroit, at the head of which was Walk-in-the-water, representing their exposed condition, and requesting that a block house might be erected at Brownstown for their defence. Why this obviously useful measure was not adopted, we cannot tell. The proposition evinces the earnest desire of the party to be protected in their neutrality.

About a year after this, the Crane proposed to General Harrison, who was then encamped with his army at Seneca, that a formal embassy should be sent by the Wyandots, to their brethren in the British camp, and to all the Indians, who adhered to the British cause, advising them to consult their true interest, and retire to their own country. The proposition was approved by General Harrison, and the Crane was requested to take such measures, as appeared most proper to give it effect.

VOL II.-January 1831.

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