The spring of 1815, was ushered in with the welcome and consoling news of peace, to the poor Indians; an accommodation having taken place between the United States and Great Britain in the preceding winter. Not only could the Seneca nation participate in the blessings of peace, by having their prospects to pursue their agricultural labours again brightened, but many of the surrounding tribes, who had been more extensively engaged in the late contest, could now lay down the hatchet, which had often been stained with the blood of their enemies.
But although peace had now taken place, and hostilities ceased between the contending parties, it was doubtful whether the Seneca nation would be conciliated, and immediately restored to that mutual friendship, which previous to the war had subsisted between them and their confederate tribes in Canada, who had, under the banner of Great Britain, taken up arms against the United States. It was, therefore, believed expedient by the committee at this critical juncture to send them a suitable address on the occasion, from which the following is extracted.
“Brothers, since it has pleased the Great Spirit to restore to our country the blessing of peace, we have felt our minds concerned to address you, in order to encourage you to pursue the path we have long been pointing out to you; and likewise to call your attention to the great advantages resulting from living in peace with all men.
“Brothers, we are sensible that there are two spirits at work in the minds of men. The one produces in us a disposition of love and good will towards all men, and is a comforter for all good actions. The other excites evil thoughts and desires, and influences to bad actions, such as lying, swearing, drunkenness, pride, envy, hatred, gaming, and many other evils, which, if given way to, often create war between nations. So we believe it is in our power to resist the evil spirit, and conquer all the evil propensities of our nature, by obeying the Good Spirit, and by daily watching, and prayer to him. If we so conduct, he will deliver us from evil.
“Brothers, our fathers, and we their children, who profess the same principles by which they were guided, have always believed that wars and fightings are displeasing to the Great Spirit, who is all love, and who made of one blood all nations of men, that they should live in peace and love with each other. For this cause, he hath placed his law in our hearts, and in the hearts of all men, teaching, not only to love one another, but also to forgive injuries, and even to love and do good to our enemies.
“Brothers, where people live in this disposition, and trust in the Great Spirit for protection, it has a powerful effect in producing the same disposition in the minds of those who wish to do them an injury; and instead of hatred, it will produce in their minds love and good will. For you must be sensible, brothers, that when a man is angry with another, and uses many threatening expressions, if the other returns mild answers, and endeavours to pacify him by acts of kindness and good will, it is more likely to restore the angry man to a sober and right state of mind, than if he were to quarrel and fight with him—and this would be overcoming evil with good, which is always pleasing to the Great Spirit.
“Brothers, we are sensible that the late war must have brought you into great difficulty and distress—and we are thankful for the return of peace. We hope the Great Spirit will preserve you from again feeling the miseries of war. We also wish you to be reanimated, to pursue your farming, and the improvement of your land, under the instruction of our friends who reside among you, as this is the only sure method we can recommend to you to obtain a comfortable living for yourselves and families; and the most likely means, as you are industrious and become sensible of the value of your property, of securing you in the permanent possession of your land.
“Brothers, our desires continue as strong at the present day, as ever they were, to promote your happiness in this life, and in that which is to come. But this happy state we know can only be attained, by having our minds drawn to the Great Spirit, by imploring his protection, and by beseeching him that he would preserve us in love towards all mankind. If we are sincere in our desires for his assistance, and attentive to the voice of his spirit in our hearts, we shall have reason to hope for his blessing upon our labours, which is our desire for ourselves, for our Indian brethren, and for all men.”
The Indians were also strongly reminded in this address, of the dangerous tendency of introducing strong liquor again into their villages, as the late war had exposed them to the use of it more than they had been for many years previous—and if they now become so unwise as to fall again in love with it, it would prove their ruin.
This communication had a stimulating effect upon the Indians at both the settlements. Those of Alleghany sent a written address to the committee, signed by six of their chiefs, in which they expressed in a high degree, their sense of gratitude for the continued care of the society of Friends over them, and the great advantages they had received from their instruction. They also renewed their request that they might be furnished with a schoolmaster, as but little attention had been given to their improvement in school learning for some time past, owing to the general disinclination of the Indians to have their children thus instructed.