Page:A Century of Dishonor.pdf/317

Rh they were very grave, and spoke, one after another, without any heat or jarring. Some of the most esteemed of their women speak in their councils.”

When asked why they suffered the women to speak, they replied that “some women were wiser than some men.” It was said that they had not for many years done anything without the advice of a certain aged and grave woman, who was always present at their councils. The interpreter said that she was an empress, and that they gave much heed to what she said. This wise queen of Conestoga looked with great favor on the Quakers, the interpreter said, because they “did not come to buy or sell, or get gain;” but came “in love and respect” to them, “and desired their well-doing, both here and hereafter.” Two nations at this time were represented in this Conestoga band—the Senecas and the Shawanese.

The next year the governor himself, anxious to preserve their inalienable good-will, and to prevent their being seduced by emissaries from the French, went himself to visit them. On this occasion one of the chiefs made a speech, still preserved in the old records, which contains this passage: “Father, we love quiet; we suffer the mouse to play; when the woods are rustled by the wind, we fear not; when the leaves are disturbed in ambush, we are uneasy; when a cloud obscures your brilliant sun, our eyes feel dim; but when the rays appear, they give great heat to the body and joy to the heart. Treachery darkens the chain of friendship; but truth makes it brighter than ever. This is the peace we desire.”

A few years later a Swedish missionary visited them, and preached them a sermon on original sin and the necessity of a mediator. When he had finished, an Indian chief rose and replied to him; both discourses being given through an interpreter. The Swede is said to have been so impressed with the Indian’s reasoning that, after returning to Sweden, he wrote out his own sermon and the Indian's reply in the best Latin at his