did, was an aggravation of his offence, inasmuch as it added insolence to infamy.

My scrupulous regard to the privileges of flags, and a desire to avoid every thing that partiality itself might affect to consider as a violation of them, induced me to send orders for the release of the trumpeter, before the receipt of your letter; the improper and peremptory terms of which, had it not been too late, would have strongly operated to produce a less compromising conduct.

I intended, at the same time, to assure you, and I wish it to be remembered, that my indulgence, in this instance, is not to be drawn into precedent; and that, should any deserters from the American army hereafter have the daring folly to approach our lines, in a similar manner, they will fall victims to their rashness and presumption.

1778.

EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS.

Were an opinion once to be established, (and the enemy and their emissaries know very well how to inculcate it, if they are furnished with a plausible pretext,) that we designedly avoided an exchange, it would be a cause of dissatisfaction and disgust, to the country and to the army, of resentment and desperation to our officers and soldiers.

To say nothing of the importance of not hazarding our national character but upon the most solid

grounds, especially in our embryo state, from the influence it may have on our affairs abroad, it may not be a little dangerous to beget in the minds of our countrymen a suspicion, that we do not pay the strictest observance to the maxims of honor and good faith.

1778.

Imputations of this nature would have a tendency to unnerve our operations, by diminishing that respect and confidence, which are essential to be placed in those who are at the head of affairs, either in the civil or military line. This, added to the prospect of hopeless captivity, would be a great discouragement to the service. The ill consequences of both would be immense, by increasing the causes of discontent in the army, which are already too numerous, and many of which are, in a great measure, unavoidable; by fortifying that unwillingness, which already appears too great, toward entering into the service, and of course impeding the progress both of drafting and recruiting; by dejecting the courage of the soldiery, from an apprehension of the horrors of captivity; and finally, by reducing those, whose lot it is to drink the bitter cup, to a despair, which can only find relief, by renouncing their attachment, and engaging with their captors.

The effects have already been experienced in part, from the obstacles that have lain in the way of exchanges. But if these obstacles were once to seem the result of system, they would become tenfold.

Nothing has operated more disagreeably upon the minds of the militia, than the fear of captivity, on the footing on which it has hitherto stood. What would be their reasonings, if it should be thought to stand upon a worse?

EXCHANGE OF OFFICERS.

I am convinced, that more mischief has been done by the British officers who have been prisoners, than by any other set of people. During their captivity, they have made connections in the country, they have confirmed the disaffected, converted many ignorant people, and frightened the lukewarm and timid, by their stories of the power of Britain.

I hope a general exchange is not far off, by which means we shall get rid of all that sort of people; and I am convinced, that we had better, in future, send all officers in upon parole, than keep them among us.

1778.

3. THE INDIANS.

Few men exhibit greater diversity, or, if we may so express it, greater antithesis of character, than the native warrior of North America. In war, he is daring, boastful, cunning, ruthless, self-denying, and self-devoted; in peace, just, generous, hospitable, revengeful, superstitious, modest, and commonly chaste.

J. FENIMORE Cooper.

If they had the vices of savage life, they had the virtues also. They were true to their country, their friends, and their homes. If they forgave not injury, neither did they forget kindness. Chief Justice JOSEPH STORY.

Washington's policy in regard to the Indians was always pacific and humane. He considered them as children, who should be treated with tenderness and forbearance. He aimed to conciliate them by good usage, to obtain their lands by fair purchase and punctual payments, to make treaties with them on terms of equity and reciprocal advantage, and strictly to redeem every pledge. JARED SPARKS.

THEIR CLAIM TO JUSTICE AND HUMANITY.

While the measures of government ought to be calculated to protect its citizens from all injury and violence, a due regard should be extended to those Indian tribes, whose happiness, in the course of events, so materially depends on the national justice and humanity of the United States.

1789.

JUSTICE PLEDGED TO THEM.

The basis of our proceedings with the Indian Nations has been, and shall be, JUSTICE, during the

period in which I have any thing to do with the ad ministration of this government.

1790.

AMICABLE INTERCOURSE WITH THEM.

It is sincerely to be desired, that all need of coer cion in future may cease, and that an intimate intercourse may succeed, calculated to advance the happiness of the Indians, and to attach them firmly to the United States.

It seems necessary, that they should experience the benefits of an impartial dispensation of justice; that the mode of alienating their lands, the main source of discontent and war, should be so defined and regulated, as to obviate impositions, and, as far as may be practicable, controversy concerning the reality and extent of the alienations which are made; that commerce with them should be promoted, under regulations tending to secure an equitable deportment towards them, and that such rational experiments should be made, for imparting to them the blessings of civilization, as may, from time to time, suit their condition; that the Executive of the United States should be enabled to employ the means to which the Indians have long been accustomed, for uniting their immediate interests with the preservation of peace; and that efficacious provision should be made, for inflicting adequate penalties upon all those who, by violating