[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPROTATOR.1
Sturge (Spectator, May 8th) naturally refers to the Pennsylvanian tradition, but this requires some modification, not as to the actual length of the peace, but as to the causes of it. A. recent writer on the subject, who is, however, a great admirer of Penn, says :— " Groat credit is due to the Quakers of Pennsylvania for their methods of dealing with the Indian. Their way was tho right way, and their success is one of the bright features of American history. Nevertheless it seems to me quite clear that in the long peace enjoyed by Pennsylvania the controlling factor was not Quaker justice so much as Indian polities."—(John Fiske, "The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America.") The whole passage is too long for insertion, but the gist of the argument is that the Treaty was made with a broken tribe, remnants of the Delawares, the vassals of the terrible Five Nations, that Pennsylvania was within the "sphere of influence" of the Five Nations, and that these fierce tribes, being entirely friendly to the English, no other red mon would have dared to meddle with the new settlement under penalty of the wrath of these warriors. "Practically," he concludes, "Penn's colony occupied an exceptionally safe position until its westward growth brought it within reach of the Algonquin tribes on the Ohio."—I am, Sir, &c.,
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