[FN] Doddridge.
Meantime General Lewis, having buried his dead, and made the necessary dispositions for an advance into the heart of the Indian country, moved forward in pursuit of the enemy—resolved upon his extermination. He was soon afterward met by a counter-order from Lord Dunmore, which he disregarded; and it was not until the Governor visited Lewis in his own camp, that a reluctant obedience was exacted. Meantime the negotiation proceeded, but under circumstances of distrust on the part of the Virginians, who were careful to admit only a small number of the Indians into their encampment at any one time. The chief speaker on the part of the Indians was Cornstock, who did not fail to charge the whites with being the sole cause of the war—enumerating the provocations which the Indians had received, and dwelling with peculiar force upon the murders committed in the family of Logan. [FN] This lofty chief himself refused to appear at the council. He was in favour of peace, but his proud spirit scorned to ask for it; and he remained in his cabin, brooding in melancholy silence over his own wrongs.
[FN] Cornstock was a truly great man. Col. Wilson, who was present at the interview between the Chief and Lord Dunmore, thus speaks of the chieftain's bearing on the occasion: "When he arose, he was in no wise confused or daunted, but spoke in a distinct and audible voice, without stammering or repetition, and with peculiar emphasis. His looks, while addressing Dunmore, were truly grand and majestic, yet graceful and attractive. I have heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee; but never have I heard one whose powers of delivery surpassed those of Cornstock."
Of so much importance was his name considered by Lord Dunmore however, that a special messenger was despatched to ascertain whether he would accede to the articles of peace. This messenger was Colonel John Gibson, an officer in Dunmore's army, and afterward a man of some distinction. The "Mingo Chief" did not dissent from the terms, but gave not his sanction without an eloquent rehearsal of his grievances—relating, in full, the circumstances of the butchery of his own entire family, to avenge which atrocities he had taken up the hatchet. His conference with Gibson took place in a solitary wood, and at its close, he charged him with the celebrated speech to Lord Dunmore, which has become familiar wherever the English language is spoken:—
"I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed, as they passed, and said, 'Logan is the friend of the white men.' I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last Spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace; but do not harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."
This speech has ever been regarded as one of the most eloquent passages in the English language. Mr. Jefferson remarked of it—"I may challenge the whole orations of Demosthenes, and of Cicero, and of any more eminent orator, if Europe has furnished more eminent, to produce a single passage superior to it;" and an American statesman and scholar,[FN-1] scarcely less illustrious than the author of this noble eulogium, has subscribed to that opinion.[FN-2]
[FN-1] De Witt Clinton.