d
all his prisoners beyond his control; and he now found himself reduced
to the necessity of suing for favors to those whom it had so lately been
his policy to oblige.

Several of the chiefs had proposed deep and treacherous schemes to
surprise the Delawares and, by gaining possession of their camp, to
recover their prisoners by the same blow; for all agreed that their
honor, their interests, and the peace and happiness of their dead
countrymen, imperiously required them speedily to immolate some victims
to their revenge. But plans so dangerous to attempt, and of such
doubtful issue, Magua found little difficulty in defeating. He exposed
their risk and fallacy with his usual skill; and it was only after he
had removed every impediment, in the shape of opposing advice, that he
ventured to propose his own projects.

He commenced by flattering the self-love of his auditors; a
never-failing method of commanding attention. When he had enumerated the
many different occasions on which the Hurons had exhibited their courage
and prowess, in the punishment of insults, he digressed in a high
encomium on the virtue of wisdom. He painted the quality as forming the
great point of difference between the beaver and other brutes; between
the brutes and men; and, finally, between the Hurons, in particular,
and the rest of the human race. After he had sufficiently extolled the
property of discretion, he undertook to exhibit in what manner its use
was applicable to the present situation of their tribe. On the one hand,
he said, was their great pale father, the governor of the Canadas, who
had looked upon his children with a hard eye since their tomahawks had
been so red; on the other, a people as numerous as themselves, who spoke
a different language, possessed different interests, and loved them not,
and who would be glad of any pretense to bring them in disgrace with the
great white chief. Then he spoke of their necessities; of the gifts they
had a right to expect for their past services; of their distance from
their proper hunting-grounds and native villages; and of the necessity
of consulting prudence more, and inclination less, in so critical
circumstances. When he perceived that, while the old men applauded his
moderation, many of the fiercest and most distinguished of the warriors
listened to these politic plans with lowering looks, he cunningly led
them back to the subject which they most loved. He spoke openly of the
fruits of t