Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1851-07-09
PENIS Conference and Treaty with
the Indians.
FROM DIXON's LIFE OF PENN.


-
This conference has become one of thu
most striking scenes Of history. Artist
have painted,poets have sung, philosopher:
have applauded it; but it is nevertheless!
clear, that in words and colors it has beer
equally and generally misrepresented, be.
cause painters, poets, historians have cho-
sen to draw on their imaginations for the
features of scene, every marking line Of
which they might have recovered from au-
thentic sources. The great outlines of
nature are easily obtained There the
dense masses Of cedar, pine, and chesnut,
stretching far away in the interior of the
land; here the noble river rolling its Wa
ters down to the Atlantic ocean; along its
surface rose the purple smoke of the set
tiers homestead; on the opposite shore
lay the fertile and settled country of East
New Jersey.
Here stood the gigantic elm which was
to become immortal from that day forward
-andkthere lay the verdant council room
formed by nature on the surface of the soil.
In the centre stood William Penn, in cos
tune undistinguished from the surround
ing groupe, save by the silken sash. His
costume was simple, but not pedantic or
ungainly. An outer coat, reaching to the
knees, and covered with buttons vest
Of other materials, but equally ample +;
trousers extremely full, slashed at the
sides, and tied with strings or ribbons a
profusion of shirt sleeve and ruffles, with
a hat of the cavalier shape (wanting only
the feather from beneath the brim of
which escaped the curls of new peruke-
were its chief and not ungraceful ingredi-
ents. At his right hand was Col. Mark
ham, who had met the Isdians in council
more than once on that identical spct, and
was regarded by them as firm and faith
full friend on his left Pearson, the intrepid
companion of his voyage and near his
person, but little backward, band of
his most attached adherents.
When the Indians approached in their
old forest costume, their bright feathers
sparkling in the sun, and their bodies
painted in the most gorgeous manner, the
governor received them with the easy dig
nifty accustomed to mix with European
courts. AS soon as the reception was
over, the sachems retired to a short dis
tance, and after brief consultation among
themselves, Taminent, the chief sachem or
king, a man whose virtues are still remem-
bered by the sons of the forest, advanced
again few PAGES, and put upon his own
head a chaplet, into which was twisted
small horn. This chaplet was his symbol
of power; and in the costume of the Lenni
Lenape, whenever the chief placed it upon
his brow, the spot became at once sacred,
and the person of every one present in
violable.
The venerable Indian king then seated
himself on the ground, with the older
sachems on his right and left, the middle
aged warriors ranged themselves in the
form of crescent or half moon, round them;
and the younger men formed a third and
semi-circle. All being seated in this pic
turesque and striking order, the old mon
arch announced to the governor that the
natives were prepared to hear and consider
his words. Penn then rose to address them,
his countenance bearing with all the pride
Of manhood. He was at this time thirty
eight years old light and graceful in
form "the handsomest, best-looking,
most lively gentleman" she had ever
seen, wrote lady who was an eyewitness
Of the ceremony. He addressed them in
their own language; the topics were few
and simple and the beauty of his ideas
would compensate with such an audience
Tor the minor errors of diction.
The Great Spirit, he said, who ruled in
he heaven to which good men go after
Heath; who made them and him cut