Forest Glen; or, The Mohawk's FriendshipKellogg, Elijah
General
Forest Glen; or, The Mohawk's Friendship
Kellogg, Elijah
Frontier and pioneer life -- Juvenile fiction; Quakers -- Juvenile fiction
Ephraim replied that the governor of Pennsylvania, through Sir William
Johnson, governor of New York, who had great influence with the Six
Nations, had endeavored to prevail upon them to command the Delawares
to stop their inroads, and to make peace with the English; and for that
purpose had sent a delegation to them, among whom were several Quakers
of his acquaintance.
He then went on to say that the friendship between the Indians and the
Quakers had not been interrupted in the least by the war, with which
(as the Indians well knew) they had no concern except to endeavor to
prevent it.
After visiting the Six Nations, those Quakers, knowing the deep
impression made upon the minds of the Delawares by the attack of
Armstrong and the capture of Kittanning, resolved to visit the Delaware
king Teedyuscung; and thus learned of the capture of Honeywood, and
where he was, and that the Delawares were determined to burn him, and
would take no ransom, for he was one of the Wolf Run settlers, who were
the worst enemies they had.
"I then," said Ephraim, "resolved with the help of God to rescue thee,
seeing it was my duty, and not forgetful of thy great kindness to me
when I was thy neighbor at the Run."
"You took a most singular way: if you had sent word to the Run, the
people there would have rescued me by force of arms."
"They might, and they might not: they would have killed many Indians
in doing it, of which thou knowest we do not approve. I took the way
of peace and righteousness, and thou seest it has succeeded. I know
the Indians loved my people, and the memory of William Penn, though
he has been so long in his grave. Friend Honeywood, 'love is stronger
than death: many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown
it.' Thou knowest we believe there is an inward light in every person
born into the world; and there is in these poor savages (who are now
torturing their prisoners, and would have tortured thee), but it has
been obscured by ages of ignorance and superstition: yet they would
take the food from their mouths to put into mine, or any true follower
of William Penn.
"Thou knowest how long a journey thy mother and myself have come to
find thee; and nearly every day we met larger or smaller bands of
Delawares, Shawanees, Monseys, and Wyandottes in their war-paint, going
after the scalps of white men, to kill the mother and the babe on her
bosom; but they called me brother, offered me food, directed me in the
best paths, and to places where I could find grass and water; and often
went many miles out of their way to do this."
Honeywood made no reply. He could not accept the Quaker doctrine
of non-resistance, though in other respects sympathizing with and
entertaining the greatest affection and respect for them and their
principles. While the light of the torture-fires could be discerned in
the distance, and the Indian yells faintly heard, they knelt in prayer,
and then retired to rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account