of the testy Hotspur on his cousin Bolingbroke.* Nevertheless the Delaware has ever since been entrusted with the charge of the belt of peace, and chain of friendship, altho' it is said the Iroquois has not inviolably regarded the treaty. Such is the statement given by the Delawares themselves, of a transaction, which, while it rendered them powerless towards the Iroquois, yielded to them the full possession and enjoyment of their rights and usages as respected other nations. The earliest accounts of the Delawares of New Jersey, are givén by William Penn, and by Gabriel Thomas,† by whom they are represented as of fine personal appearance and of an erect and lofty mien, -these remarks applied to the Delawares proper. The Minsi tribe extended as far on the west banks of the Hudson, as Tappan, and from these two have sprung other tribes, with assumed names, all acknowledging the Delawares as their pro avi, or grandfathers, thus we find these petty bands that separated either from interest, necessity, or caprice, derived their names from the rivers or districts where they settled such as the Hackensack, Pashawack, the Raritan, and the Neversink, these subdivisions became more frequent after the early settlement of our State by the English, and Dutch, and Swedes, and the introduction of what may lamentably be called the evils, or vices of civilization, their consequent feuds and distractions causing them to seek new homes and new dependencies, and reduced them to the humble and ignominious state, which became unjustly their rebuke among those who were their "spoilers and destroyers." In the year 1781,§ there were still some very aged Indians living on the banks of the Muskingum, who were present when the first houses were built in the village of Philadelphia, they related that the whites treated them with kindness, so that they appeared but as one nation, but when the Europeans began to settle along the navigable rivers, and extended their agriculture and commerce over a great part of the country, the deer retired into the woodland, and the Indians followed them, and their retreat appears to have been within the State of New Jersey,-about Trenton, New Brunswick, and Amboy on the Raritan. There were some peculiarities of the Jersey Indians mentioned by Campanius, a Swede, who describes the women as rather handsome, with round faces, fine busts, and strait bodies, modest and retiring, and suffering their hair to grow to its full length, and generally to hang * 1st. Part Henry IV. Act 1. Scene 3. + Hist. Pennsylvania. ↑ Passaic. § Heskell 124. loosely down their backs, the men only leaving enough to serve as a handle to their scalping enemies. Another historian tells us of the custom among the men, of plucking the hair from their chins, holding a beard to be a great deformity,* that the custom of tatooing was unknown to the Delawares, tho' they stained their faces, arms and bodies with various colors, denoting the different passions.—In fine their habits were of that simple kind, as are uniformly those of men in a barbarous state, and dependent on primitive implements of Agriculture, and the chase, for their subsistence and clothing.† So Their general character is thus forcibly described, "bravery, generosity, firmness, and an indomitable love for liberty were virtues which the tribes on the Delaware shared with their whole race, but in shrewdness, integrity, depth of love, and susceptibility to the finer feelings of human nature, they were far superior to their brethren "‡ proud indeed was the Delaware of his liberty, that altho' a chief was empowered and obliged to keep good order in his tribe, and to decide all quarrels and disputes, yet he dared not venture to command, compel, or punish any one, as in that case he would have been immediately forsaken by the whole tribe.-It might be said of them, as Justin did of the Scythians: "Justitia gentis, Ingeniis, non legibus." "Justice is practiced among them rather from a natural principle, than in obedience to Laws." This character is confirmed by the account given of them by Hudson on his arrival at York Island, in marked contrast to those on the eastern shore of the Hudson River. With respect to their government, if any semblance to modern establishments could be recognized, it has been made by some authors of a republican character, and in some respects not dissimilar to that of the Iroquois, from whom it may have been borrowed, and consists with the account given by Penn, that their government in its lower grades was of the Patriarchal character, the nation being divided into tribes, and each tribe into families, and each village sending their deputies to a general council.§ The domestic economy being subject to the Pat * A barbarous custom which stands rebuked by the classical taste of our modern Savans. + Much of an interesting nature in these particulars may be obtained from the reminiscences of Gloucester, by Isaac Mickle Esq., where in a single chapter the sources of his information have been studiously noted, and constitutes a valuable record of the customs of our Jersey aborigines. Mickle's Rem. of Glo. Co. M. S. S. Phil. Lib. riarch. The Sachem exercised a still higher, and more extensive jurisdiction, embracing their families collectively in the settlement of their difficuities, leading forth their armies to battle, and directing the business of their councils, the office being hereditary, and succeeding by the maternal line, according to the Salic Law.* The Religion of the Delawares had not much of what may be considered a Polemic character, it consisted in a belief of the existence of a supreme being, but there was in it not a little of Manicheism, propitiating a good, (by their sacrifices,) and deprecating an evil spirit, which they imagined to exist only for harm in this world,--their heaven consisting of an embodiment of all those choicest pleasures in this world which the good were to enjoy, and the bad would only be permitted to look upon at a distance.† "Simple nature to his hope had given "Behind the cloud-topt hill, a humbler heaven, "To be content's his natural desire, "He asks no angel's wing, no seraph's fire, "But thinks admitted to yon equal sky, "His faithful dog shall bear him company." Their sacrifices by fire as before mentioned, being made upon 12 stones were accompanied with saltatory ceremonies, songs, and shoutings, reminding us of many in use among the Jews. As to their susceptibility of religious impressions, whatever may have been said of the imperfect services of the English, Moravian and German Missionaries in these early days, and at the middle of the nineteenth century, among the Delawares, there have been many instances of marked and devoted piety, but we are induced to make just allowance for early and native prejudice, and above all the withering example of so called christian men, which became a criterion for the Indian's conduct. Alas! while he was taught the divine precepts of temperance, sobriety, justice and mercy, he was ever beholding and sensibly enduring the effects of vices opposed to these as stumbling blocks to his faith, and our ancient statute books for the year 1675 for more than a century contain evidence of this lamentable fact, in the various provisions against the sale of liquors, deceits in trading, and for the humane treatment of the natives. * Companius p. 133. + Schoolcraft, p. 103. Popes Ess. on Crit. The self-denying Brainerd who labored in this State in 1756, has left his testimony of their capacity for moral instruction, and he had to regret that his labors proved more ünsuccessful from the continued opposition and libertinism of his own countrymen, than from any resistance or insensibility on the part of the Indians.* More than half a century before his ministrations, the old Sachem Okanikon had distinguished himself at Burlington for his kindness to the English, and his philanthropic endeavours to stop, in that early day, the vices of his nation both by religious precept and examplef; and in later days, a more remarkable man of New Jersey, in the person of "White Eyes" the first Indian captain in the Regular service of the United States, who dared not only himself to be a devoted christian, but the consistent friend of the missionary, openly and at all times advocating the cause among his brethren, and departing a bright example of the religion he professed. Their language was highly calculated for the finest efforts of elocucution, being, according to the description of it we have from various sources, bold and lofty, yet comprehensive and euphonious, and if we may credit the ear and taste of William Penn, "no tongue spoken in Europe could surpass it in melody, grandeur of accent, and emphasis.§ Such was the government, character, religion, and manners of the Delawares of New Jersey, in 1613, shortly after the Dutch first occupied that part of our state upon which is built Jersey city, and in 1617 when they built their cottages in the vicinage of the Esopus Indians at Bergen; it was not until 1629 that any considerable purchases of soil were made. In that year the Great West India Company formed in Holland, with a view to colonize this country, granted certain charters for large tracts of land, and as it is said, with extensive seignorial rights. One of three ships sent over here for this purpose arrived in Memoir of Brainerd, by Edwards, p. 361. † His parting words to his tribe contain much of christian precept, suffering no doubt in their true sense by the translation into our language, "Now having delivered my heart into your bosom, I also deliver my bosom to keep my heart in; be sure and always walk in a good path and if any Indian should speak evil of Indian or Christian, do not join in it, but look at the sun from the rising of it to the setting of it--but join with the good only when speeches are made, be silent, and let all speak before you, and take good notice what each man speaks, and when you have heard all, join to that which is good, be plain and fair with both Indians and Christians. -Smath's Hist. of New Jersey, p. 149. ↑ Wilson's Am. Hist. p. 29. Lettter Wm. Penns 1683. Delaware Bay, and there purchased for three individual directors, from the Indians, a tract, sixteen miles square, on the peninsula of Cape May, and a large plat in the neighbourhood of Hoboken, including Powles Hook. These appear to have been the first purchases of the Indians, although some settlements had been made a few years previous, and Fort Nassau built upon what is now called Timber Creek in Gloucester County.* The Minnisotti settlements above the Blue Mountains, extending forty miles on both sides of the river, were made about that period by a company of miners from New Holland. The success of the Dutch excited the Swedes in 1638 to form similar associations, and in that year a ship and transport arrived in the Delaware River, and in 1640 purchased all the lands from Cape May to what is now called Racoon Creek, with a design of expelling by the aid of the Dutch, the English who had made settlements there; during this time the New Jersey Indians, with those of Long Island, began to show symptoms of hostility to the Dutch, who had taken great advantage of their ig norance and confidence, and exercised unreasonable severity over them; Kieft the Governor of Manhattan in 1638 made himself distin guished for cruelty to the Indians, who exasperated by such oppressive conduct, provoked by dishonest tradings, and maddened by rum, attacked the settlements on Staten Island. An expedition was immediately raised against the New Jersey Indians, (Staten Island being then considered a part of our State) which was however partially terminated by the mediation of the Iroquois, and no doubt afforded the opportunity which in 1657 was embraced by the Dutch of purchasing the whole of that Island, at the very moderate consideration of 10 shirts, 30 pair stockings, 10 guns, 30 lbs of powder, 12 coats, 30 kettles, 50 hatchets, 25 hoes, and 400 fathoms of wampum. We are thus particular in order to shew a cause among others of a similar kind, of that hostility which quite a century afterwards was manifested against the whites. It is unnecessary and foreign to our purpose to follow up the controversies between the Dutch and Swedes with the English, respecting territorial right and the overthrow of the Dutch dominion and title by the English, under their right of prior discovery.† The establishment of the right of Berkeley and Carteret in New Jersey, by grant from the Duke of York produced a new state of affairs and other difficulties as to Indian Titles. Letter Wm. Penn, 1683. + See the Great Bill in Chancery for a complete history of the difference between the Dutch and English, and the establishment of the right of the English Upon the Duke of York granting the two Jersey's to Lords Berkely and Carteret, |