[FN-1] Oswegatchie, Oswego, Niagara, Detroit and Mackinaw--withheld from the United States, as heretofore stated in tho text.
[FN-2] This allusion refers to the memorable insurrection of Captain Shays, in Massachusetts.
"Remember me in the most friendly manner to Mrs. Brant, all your family, and to all my brothers in your settlement, and tell them to be patient, and that they will find that all that has been promised them, coming within my knowledge, will be per-formed. I hope to see you in the course of the summer; in the mean time, I remain with truth,
"Dear Sir, Your friend and Humble servant, John Johnson." [FN]
[FN] Copied from the original, among the Brant papers.
The object of this communication will be seen at a glance. It is unfortunate, that the letter of Thayendanegea, giving the private history of the great Amphictyonic council of the Indians, has not been discovered. Still, enough can be learned from the scattered correspondence that remains, to show that Great Britain was by no means an indifferent observer of the storm gathering in the north-west. It is also evident that the officers of the crown in Canada were rejoicing in the insurrection of Captain Shays in Massachusetts; which, though at one moment of threatening importance, had been crushed but a few days before the Baronet's letter was written, of which result he had not then been apprised. That insurrection was a consequence, in the main, of the weakness of the government of the confederacy. Fortunately, however, instead of working farther detriment to the republic, its influence was not inconsiderable in binding the states more firmly together, by means of the Constitution, which arose from the ruins of the old Articles of Confederation in the course of the same year. There is another feature in the letter of Sir John deserving to be noted. It discloses the fact, that already, even so early as the year 1787, had the British authorities imbibed the absurd notion that the people of New England, who had been first in raising the standard of revolt, wearied with their freedom, were seeking a dismemberment of the Union, that they might throw themselves back into the arms of their former sovereign. Nor was this idea eradicated until after the failure of a miserable intrigue, under the Canadian administration of Sir James H. Craig, with a worthless fellow named John Henry, in 1810.