ignorance only it could have been-was not his fault but misfortune, and we should not, therefore, too hastily impeach his fidelity and patriotism. Washington avers that he was "willfully or ignorantly deceived" by Van Braam's interpretation of the French word assassinat, which he rendered loss or death, but which was afterwards found to mean, when literally translated, the assassination of Jumonville; and adds, "the interpreter was a Dutchman, little acquainted with the English tongue, therefore might not advert to the tone and meaning of the word in English." Thus Washington himself seems to have put a charitable construction upon Van Braam's conduct. Major Adam Stephen, who was next in rank to Washington at the affair of the Great Meadows, in his letter of August 11th, 1754, which appeared in the gazettes of the day, and the substance of which is quoted in the 2d vol. of Spark's Washington, on page 460, says: "When Mr. Van Braam returned with the French proposals, we were obliged to take the sense of them by the word of mouth: It rained so heavy that he could not give us a written translation of them; we could scarcely keep the candle lighted to read them by; they were written in a bad hand, on wet and blotted paper, so that no person could read them but Van Braam, who had heard them from the mouth of the French officer. Every officer, then present, is willing to declare that there was no such word as assassination mentioned; the terms expressed were, the death of Jumonville." So, then, Van Braam read the articles, doubtless, as he "had heard them from the mouth of the French officer;" and this, unquestionably, is the true version of the affair.

Gov. Dinwiddie's account of this transaction to Lord Albemarle, written shortly after its occurrence, when suspicions of Van Braam's treachery were rife in the land,* charges him also with desertion-" they say he has joined the French." But Dinwiddie's "they say " authority, is not sustained by subsequent facts. The two noble letters of Stobo, written from Fort Duquesne July 28th and 29th, nearly four weeks after the capitulation, contain internal evidence of Van Braam's faithfulness to his country. To repeat the expressive quotations, once already introduced, from these letters: "Consider the good of the expedition without the least regard to us:" "Let the good of the expedition be considered preferable to our safety." Stobo in using the words "us" and "our safety," clearly includes his fellow hostage with himself; and, in Stobo's estimation, the "safety" of both might be endangered, if Virginia should but do her duty and strike a bold and decisive blow, yet his patriotic and emphatic advice was to strike.

Corroborative of the prevalent feeling at that period, is the statement of Mr. Sparks, that the month following the capitulation, when the Virginia Assembly passed a vote of thanks to Col. Washington and his officers "for their bravery and gallant defence of their country," Van Braam was excepted, as being charged with having acted a treacherous part in his interpretation of the articles.

This, too, must have been the counsel of Van Braam, for the plurals “our” and "us," convey a very strong probability that Van Braam was privy to their contents, if, indeed, he did not aid in their dictation. Had he evinced the least signs of treachery, or received any suspicious favors or indulgen ces from the French, the scrutinizing eye of Stobo would have instantly detected, and his pen as quickly exposed them. In those letters Stobo does not breathe a hint even of any such suspicion; but, on the contrary, the inference is clear and unequivocal, that his fellow prisoner as well as himself, was willing, nay, solicitous, to run the risk of suffering martyrdom itself, rather than Fort Duquesne should not be re-possessed, and its braggart occupants driven from the land.

Both Burk and Sparks tell us that Van Braam as well as Stobo was sent to Quebec, and still a prisoner; and there, according to the former historian, broke from his prison, but after becoming weak from hunger and fatigue, was compelled, rather than perish, to surrender himself once more to the tender mercies of his enemies. Those who profit by treason are apt to reward the traitor; we have no such evidence in this case; no hint, no surmise even, that poor Van Braam was a whit better treated than Stobo. He was finally sent to England, which never would have been done had he "joined the French;" and, to cap the climax, he makes application from England, in 1771, through the medium of Washington himself,* for the entry of his portion of military lands, to which, for these very services, he was entitled-and the claim is acknowledged and the lands readily granted, and not a whisper from Washington but that they were richly deserved. Was ever before a traitor and deserter so leniently, so generously treated by those whom he had betrayed and deserted?

Poor Van Braam! My heart bleeds for the black ingratitude with which his services and memory have been treated by his country. With his gallant companion, he voluntarily surrendered himself a hostage for his country, into the hands of semi-barbarians, in the wilderness—a service which less patriotic and less resolute spirits than Van Braam and Stobo would have found it difficult to assume; and, after years of various vicissitudes and most trying sufferings, he at length is restored to his friends and his country. Many who shrank from this dangerous and thankless service, returned home and were rewarded! And yet, despite all this, Van Braam is set down as a traitor to his country and a deserter to her most inveterate enemies! Impossible! May future historians have the generousity to do justice alike to the honored names of STOBO and VAN BRAAM; and may our future poets vie with each other in perpetuating in undying numbers their patriotic devotion, their sufferings and their praise!

Excuse, I pray you, Mr. Editor, this lengthy communication; I had no

* Spark's Washington, vol. 2d, page 365.

idea when I commenced, of spinning it out so long. Please Providence, I shall visit Richmond ere long to make some historical examinations among the archives of Virginia, and should I fortunately light upon any new facts bearing upon the interesting topics here discussed, you may hear from me again. Yours, most sincerely,

BALTIMORE, July 27, 1846.

LYMAN C. DRAPER.

POSTSCRIPT.

N. B. CRAIG :-Dear Sir: Since sending you the article on Stobo and Van Braam, I have found in the Maryland Gazette of the 20th November, 1760, some additional notice of the latter. It seems he was imprisoned in Montreal, and released when that city finally surrendered to the British, Sept. 8th, 1760, and repaired soon after to Virginia.

"Williamsburg, Nov. 7.-This week arrived in town Capt. Van Braam, of the old Virginia regiment, being released from a confinement of six years in Canada, by the reduction of that country. He left Montreal on the 29th of September, at which time all our troops were gone into winter quarters. During part of the time he was confined in jail, he was allowed a pound of bread and a pound of horse flesh per day; but such was the quality of his provisions, that for four months he lived on bread and water only."

So, even Van Braam was not sent to England by the French. He was a prisoner more than a year longer than Stobo, and altogether suffered a "confinement of six years," subsisting, a part of the time, on bread and horse flesh, and "for four months on bread and water only." Pitied be the man who, in all this, can discover aught that savors of the renegade or the traitor. Few men, it seems to me, have, in any age or nation, evinced more real love of country than Jacob Van Braam. It is a burning shame that services and sufferings like his should have been so long and so ungratefully stigmatized and misrepresented.

Since coming to town this morning, I find your kind favor of the 31st, and heartily thank you for it. As to your inquiry as to whether the words were "half faced camps," I answer yes, and add that I used them as I have heard them used by the old cotemporaries of Boone, Clarke and Kenton, and think the expression is well understood in Kentucky, Tennessee, &c. But I am not at all particular about them, you can substitute any other words you please. What I understand by the term is several camps facing each other in two rows, each made of four upright posts, inserted in the earth, or saplings if convenient, with poles across at top to support bark or some thing else to cover it. This was a very common mode of a hastily formed camp for temporary occupation. They were of course much inferior in comfort, safety, and in all other respects to the log cabin.

Amid my labors and researches, which are many, I shall try occasionally to furnish you with something of local bearing upon the upper valley of the Ohio for the Olden Time. Truly your friend, LYMAN C. DRAPER.

AUGUST 4, 1816.

The editor of the Olden Time prefers giving the expression used by Mr. Draper with his explanation, which will make it intelligible to the veriest cockney..

When Capt. Stobo wrote his letter urging an attack on Fort Duquesne, and saying: "For my part, I would die a thousand deaths, to have the pleasure of possessing this fort one day," he could not have had the most remote anticipation that the place would be re-captured by a countryman of his own (Gen. Forbes), and that he himself should witness the taking of Quebec and the conquest of all Canada.

Did he survive until the American Revolution separated Fort Duquesne and all the country around from Great Britian? or was his brave and loyal heart then as cold and passionless as the cold and insensible earth?

We confess that the interesting account which our friend Draper has furnished, has sharpened our appetite for more, and further information, not only about Stobo, but about La Force and even Van Braam, whom we believe, to have been a faithful soldier, but not possessed of that Spartan, self sacrificing spirit so manifest in his fellow hostage.

BOUQUET'S BATTLE GROUND.

We have just received the. "Greensburgh Intelligencer" containing an account of the proceedings of a preliminary meeting held at Bushy Run to make arrangements for a military encampment there, on the 9th, 10th and 11th of September, in commemoration of battles fought there in August, 1763, with a request that we would insert the proceedings in the Olden Time. The number for this month is made up, so that we can comply with the request only so far as is contained in this note.

Vol. I.

THE OLDEN TIME.

SEPTEMBER, 1846.

No. 9.

AMERICAN INDIANS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

An account of the various Indian tribes who formerly occupied, or roved over the vast region between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, and the Gulf of Mexico and the frozen regions of the north, comes not within the precise original design of this publication; but the subject is one of deep interest to every intelligent American, and the lucid and beautiful account of them in Bancroft's admirable history of the United States having been lately re-called to our recollection, we have concluded to insert a portion of it in the Olden Time. We know that many intelligent persons have very confused notions about the divisions and the sub-divisions of the various families of Indians, some even placing the Shawanése among the Six Nations. This is not at all strange, since no very clear or condensed classification of the various families and subdivisions has been thrown into general circulation. In our own reading upon the subject we have found no article which will at all compare with that of Mr. Bancroft's in either beauty of style or distinctness of arrangement, and we feel great confidence that no portion of the Olden Time will give greater satisfaction to a greater number of our readers, than this account of the aborigines.

We cannot let the opportunity pass without expressing our sincere regret that the man who wrote the three volumes of the history of the United States, should be induced to quit a profession in which he is qualified to shine almost without a rival, to accept of an office, the duties of which require but a very small portion of the intellect possessed by Mr. Bancroft. His history will be read and admired ages after the fact of his being a cabinet officer is forgotten, and it will long be regretted, should his official duties interfere with the completion of his historical work.

VOL. I-25