, the Great Spirit gave it to our forefathers;
and they handed it down, to be our inheritance as long as the old
hills tell of their green graves. In its streams have we fished, in
its woods have we hunted, in its sunny places have we built our
wigwams, and in its dark and secret places have we fought and scalped
and burnt our sworn enemies, without let or hinderance, time out of
mind. Now, if the English claim all on this side of the Ohio, and the
French claim all on this side of the Big Lakes, then what they claim
is one and the same country,--the country whereon we dwell. Surely our
white brothers must be dreaming. It is our hearts' desire, that our
brothers, the English, keep on their side of the Ohio, and till the
ground, and grow rich in corn; also that our brothers, the French,
keep on their side of the lakes, and hunt in the woods, and grow rich
in skins and furs. But you must both quit pressing upon us, lest our
ribs be squeezed in and our breath be squeezed out, and we cease to
have a place among men. We hold you both at arm's-length; and whoever
pays good heed to the words we have spoken, by him will we stand, and
with him make common cause against the other."

But to these just complaints of the poor Indian the French and English
gave no more heed than if they who uttered them were so many
whip-poor-wills crying in the woods. So they fell to wrangling in a
more unreasonable manner than ever. Finally, to mend the matter (that
is to say, make things worse), the French, coming up the Mississippi
from the South, and down from the Great Lakes of the North, began
erecting a chain of forts upon the disputed territory, to overawe the
inhabitants thereof, and force the English to keep within the
Alleghanies and the Atlantic. As a matter of course, the English
regarded this as an insult to their dignity, and resolved to chastise
the French for their impudence. And this it was that brought about
that long and bloody struggle, the Old French War.

Thus, my dear children, do great and wise nations, professing to
follow the humane teachings of the man-loving, God-fearing Jesus,
often show no more truth and justice and honesty in their dealings
with one another than if they were as ignorant of the Ten Commandments
as the most benighted heathens, to whom even the name of Moses was
never spoken. Yet, from your looks, I see that you are wondering
within yourselves what all this rigmarole about England, France, the
Six Natio