"I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient, Humble servant, H. Knox.
"Colonel Joseph Brant, One of the Chiefs of the Mohawk Nation."
Neither the preceding letter, nor that in reply to which it was written, has been preserved in the archives of the American Department of War. The signature of "The Five Nations," however, stood at the head of the list, and from the rank and superior intelligence of Thayendanegea, there can be little doubt that the address to the Government of the United States was dictated, if not written, by him. That it was in entire accordance with his views, appears most fully by the following letter from Sir John Johnson. This letter is worthy of preservation, as affording the first authentic evidence of the equivocal attitude Great Britain was assuming in regard to the Indian relations of the United States.
"Sir John Johnson to Captain Brant.
"Quebec, March 22d, 1787.
"Dear Sir,
"I have received your letter of the 14th of February. I am happy to find things turned out as you wished at your several meetings in the Indian country near Detroit, and I hope it may have the effect you wish in preventing the Americans from incroaching on your lands. Your conduct, I hope, for your own sake, will always be such as to justify the good opinion that has been entertained of you by your friends the English, and such as will merit the continuance of their friendship. I hope in all your decisions you will conduct yourselves with prudence and moderation, having always an eye to the friendship that has so long subsisted between you and the King's subjects, upon whom alone you can and ought to depend. You have no reason to fear any breach of promise on the part of the King. Is he not every year giving fresh proofs of his friendship? What greater could you expect than is now about to be performed, by giving an ample compensation for your losses, which is yet withheld from us, his subjects? Do not suffer bad men or evil advisers to lead you astray; every thing that is reasonable and consistent with the friendship that ought to be preserved between us, will be done for you all. Do not suffer an idea to hold a place in your mind, that it will be for your interests to sit still and see the Americans attempt the posts. [FN-1] It is for your sakes chiefly, if not entirely, that we hold them. If you become indifferent about them, they may perhaps be given up; what security would you then have? You would be left at the mercy of a people whose blood calls aloud for revenge; whereas, by supporting them, you encourage us to hold them, and encourage the new settlements, already considerable, and every day increasing by numbers coming in, who find they can't live in the States. Many thousands are preparing to come in. This increase of his Majesty's subjects will serve as a protection for you, should the subjects of the States, by endeavoring to make farther encroachments on you, disturb your quiet. At present I think there is little to apprehend from any but the Southern States; those to the eastward are already opposed to each other in arms, [FN-2] and have shed blood, and the disorder seems to be spreading throughout. Men of character are coming in here to see if no assistance will be given them; and the people of New England, who were the most violent at the commencement of the war, are now the most desirous of returning under the British government, should Great Britain incline to receive them, which many think they would not."
[FN-1] Oswegatchie, Oswego, Niagara, Detroit and Mackinaw—withheld from the United States, as heretofore stated in tho text.
[FN-2] This allusion refers to the memorable insurrection of Captain Shays, in Massachusetts.