A great deal of oratory was expended on the making of these treaties. Penn wrote of one of them, "When the purchase was agreed, great promises passed between us, of kindness and good neighbourhood, and that the Indians and English must live in love as long as the sun gave light: which done, another made a speech to the Indians, in the name of all the Sachamakan, or kings, first to tell them what was done; next, to charge and command them to love the Christians, and particularly live in peace with me and the people under my government; that many governors had been in the river, but that no governor had come himself to live and stay here before; and having now such an one that had treated them well, they should never do him or his any wrong. At every sentence of which they shouted, and said, Amen, in their way." Usually in making these treaties a belt of wampum was given to an Indian with an injunction to remember a certain clause of the agreement, so that when the Indians wished to refresh their minds in regard to any of the treaties, they would gather together, and as each displayed his belt of wampum he would recite the agreement that the white men had made when they gave the belt to the native. [Illustration: PENN'S WAMPUM BELT.] In general, William Penn's treaties simply promised that the Indians should be fairly treated, and that they should have redress from the colony's government in case any settler cheated them. Similar treaties had been made between the settlers and the natives for years in that neighborhood and in other parts of North America. The only thing that made Penn's treaties really remarkable was that the Quaker proprietor actually kept his promises. The Indians came to regard this as remarkable, after they had dealt with other white men, and spread the word that Penn, or Onas, as the Iroquois called him, or Mignon, as the Delawares called him, was really a man of his word. In time this unusual reputation of William Penn spread across the sea to England and to France. In both countries the reputation for dealing honestly with the Indians caused great surprise, mixed, fortunately, with great admiration for the white governor. Voltaire, the famous French writer, said of Penn's agreement, "This was the only treaty between these people and the Christians that was not ratified by an oath and that was never broken." CHAPTER IX WHAT PENN FOUND IN AMERICA During his stay in Pennsylvania William Penn wrote often to his family and friends in England. These letters give us a vivid picture of the new world of America, for they were written by a very keen observer and an unusually well-educated man. They show us the virgin country from which were to grow the homes of a new nation.