1781] DAVID ZEISsberger, thE MORAVIAN.

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butchering a number of Conestoga Indians who had taken refuge in a jail, marched toward Philadelphia, threatening to exterminate the refugees there; but they were finally induced to desist from their murderous intent.

Several months later (1764), when the excitement had subsided, these Indians were taken to the upper Susquehanna region, beyond the Wyoming valley, where they built the village of Friedenshütten, or "Tents of Peace." This place was as neatly laid out as any New England hamlet, being entirely surrounded by a post-and-rail fence, every house having its garden and orchard, and everything kept scrupulously clean. In summer, it was the custom for a party of women frequently to pass through the several streets and alleys, sweeping them with brooms and removing the rubbish.

In 1768 and 1770, Zeisberger established stations among the Monseys, on the Alleghany and Beaver rivers. A little later, these and the converts from the Susquehanna, were concentrated in several settlements in the valley of the Tuscarawas, in eastern Ohio, and for ten years the Moravian missions flourished greatly, being frequented by hundreds of natives, some even from the far west. But in 1781, near the close of the American revolution, a body of hostile Delawares, under Captain Pipe, a chief, and of Wyandottes under their "Halfking," at British instigation broke up the peaceful settlements, and carried the Indians off to Sandusky, and their teachers to the British head-quarters at Detroit.

But a far worse catastrophe befel this people the next year, when a party of them came back to the Tuscarawas valley to harvest the corn which had been left standing in the fields. Their return happened at the time of the murder of a settler and all his family by a band of hostile Indians. The event caused such an excited and unreasoning feeling to prevail among the frontiersmen, that a company was speedily organized to proceed to the Tuscarawas valley, and to punish the

Moravian Indians as spies and abettors of the murder. The commander of the expedition was named David Williamson. Dissembling their real purpose, they greeted the Indians in a friendly manner, and informed them that they had come to carry them to a place of safety, where they would be well taken care of; that the whites would also take charge of their guns, for safe-keeping; and that it would be best to burn down the houses to prevent their harboring any warriors.

The Indians, to the number of ninety, being now at the mercy of the Americans, they were readily made prisoners, and a council was held to decide upon their fate. It was promptly determined that they should all be put to death; though some further debate ensued as to whether it would be preferable to set fire to the two large houses in which the captives were kept, and burn them alive, or whether to tomahawk and scalp them, so that the militia might carry back with them some trophies of the campaign. The latter plan had the preference. The Christians being informed of their doom, began to sing, and to pray, and to comfort one another. Thus the night went by, and when the morning broke the militia selected two buildings which they called "slaughterhouses," in which they carried out their awful purpose: the men and boys were butchered in one-the women and babes in the other. There were in all 29 men, 27 women and 34 children, who thus perished at the MASSACRE OF GNADENHÜTTEN, the "Tents of Grace!" Which were Christ's soldiers? which were the conquerors? and with whom was the glory?

Although greatly cast down by the news of the massacre, Zeisberger did not relax his endeavors to civilize and make Christians of the Indians, being mostly engaged in the neighborhood of Sandusky and Detroit, and in Canada at a flourishing station which was named Fairfield. After the lapse of sixteen years, some of the converts, led by Zeisberger, returned

1757] CANADA CONQUERED FROM THE FRENCH.

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to the Tuscarawas. For a while the new settlement prospered. A memorial was presented to the Ohio legislature, asking for the passage of a bill prohibiting any spirituous liquors to be offered for sale or barter in any town of the Indians; but in consequence of the influx of settlers upon the reservation the prohibitory law could not be enforced. Not only passing traders, but the near neighbors, tempted the Indians in every possible way, waylaying them in the forest while hunting or engaged in other pursuits, and, having supplied them with liquor, lured them into bargains very much to their disadvantage. Zeisberger died in 1808, having been sixty years a faithful laborer among the Indians. The Tuscarawas valley was soon forsaken by the red men, who retired first to Canada, and eventually to the Moravian mission-station in Kansas.

CANADA COnquered from the FRENCH.

We must now turn back to the events which immediately succeeded the successes of Montcalm in 1756 and 1757, when the French power prevailed throughout all the territory of the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi and their tributary streams. Three principal routes, along which were fortified posts, connected the St. Lawrence with the Mississippi. The nearest to the English frontier was that via Erie, Fort Du Quesne and the Ohio; the second, by way of the Maumee and the Wabash; the third, by the route of the Illinois. If the reader will examine his map, he will observe that the intercommunication by water was very nearly continuous in all.

In truth the French claimed, and appeared to control, twenty times as much of the American continent as did the English, who were now confined to the peninsula of Nova Scotia and a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast from the Penobscot to the St. Mary's of Florida, averaging about 200

miles in width. But the French domain was very sparsely occupied, and when, after the victory on Lake George, the Canadian soldiers went back to their homes, there was but a slight harvest gathered, and a general famine threatened. Beef and bread and similar necessaries of life, were so scarce that great numbers of horses were distributed for food. Artisans and laborers became too weak to follow their daily occupations. S.X On the other hand, there had been a change in the English ministry, by which William Pitt (afterward Lord Chatham) a man very popular with the Americans, had been placed at the head of the administration. 30,000 regular troops were sent across to America. The same number of militia having been raised in the colonies, three expeditions were planned for the year 1758, to wit, against Louisburg, Fort Du Quesne and Ticonderoga, respectively. General ABERCROMBIE was appointed commander-in-chief, to succeed the Earl of Loudoun.

Abercrombie himself led the attack on Ticonderoga, a strong fortress situated south of Crown Point, on the long river-like prolongation of Lake Champlain, whence a short diverging channel connects its waters with those of Lake George. But Montcalm, who commanded the garrison, repulsed the English, inflicting upon them a heavy loss. A detachment of Abercrombie's defeated army, under Colonel Bradstreet, then proceeded against Fort Frontenac (now Kingston), at the eastern outlet of Lake Ontario,-the post at which the voyager La Salle was stationed prior to his eventful expedition of discovery to the Mississippi. Although well supplied with cannon and mortars, it surrendered the second day to the army of Bradstreet.

The expedition against Louisburg was led by Generals Amherst and Wolfe, assisted by the fleet of Admiral Boscawen. The investing force greatly exceeded that of the garrison, the latter, with the mariners, numbering less than 6000 men.

1759] CANADA Conquered from the freNCH. 287 FROM

After a siege of several weeks the fortress capitulated, and, as a consequence, both the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward's became British possessions; while Louisburg, being no longer of value to its captors, was deserted and fell into decay, Halifax becoming the naval station.

The third main expedition, that directed against Fort Du Quesne, was placed under the command of General Forbes, who was assisted by Colonels Armstrong and Washington. The army proceeded slowly, harassed by parties of French and Indians, and opening a wide road as it advanced, -the same which is now the line of the Chambersburg and Pittsburg turnpike. Upon arriving at the Ohio, they found that the French, without awaiting a siege, had deserted the fort and set it on fire. In honor of the English minister the place was then called Fort Pitt or PITTSBURG. Stimulated by these successes, and the promise of the English government to reimburse them for their expenses, the colonies were ready the following year to undertake the conquest of Canada, agreeably to the programme of Pitt.

Early in the spring of 1759, a powerful fleet, conveying an army which had been placed under the command of the young General Wolfe, sailed from England for the St. Lawrence, and at the same time General AMHERST (Abercrombie's successor) advanced, with a co-operating force, along Lake Champlain. The French garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown Point thereupon withdrew from those posts, and went to the relief of Montreal and Quebec. The latter city, which is divided into an upper and lower town, was very strongly fortified with munitions of defence, and had also a garrison of about 10,000 men; but the English army having succeeded in scaling the cliffs at night, and in reaching the plains or "Heights of Abraham," in the rear of the city, it soon fell into their hands. The struggle was a sanguinary one, and Wolfe and Montcalm both fell, mortally wounded. In the following winter, the