DUTCH AND ENGLISH ON THE HUDSON

neighbors within a circuit of twenty miles were
invited to assist in the rationing of this horde of
visitors. The landholders along the Mohawk might
well have been glad to share the burden of Sir Wil-
liam's tribal hospitality, since its purpose was as
much political as social and its results were of end-
less benefit to the entire colony.

At last the Indians had found a friend, a white
man who understood them and whom they could
understand. He was honest with them and there-
fore they trusted him. He was sympathetic and
therefore they were ready to discuss their troubles
freely with him. As an Indian of mixed blood
declared to the Governor at Albany in speaking
of Sir William: "His knowledge of our affairs, our
laws, and our language made us think he was not
like any other white but an Indian like ourselves.
Not only that; but in his house is an Indian woman,
and his little children are half-breed as I am."

The English therefore were peculiarly fortunate
in finding at the most critical stage of their
political dealings with the Indians a representative
endowed with the wisdom and insight of Sir Wil-
liam Johnson. Unlike the French, he did not
strive to force an alien form of worship upon this
primitive people. Unlike the Dutch, he insisted