Editorialana. 221
manding why Rogers and his men had come
thither without his per-
mission and what was their errand. Up to
this time, the shrewd and
ambitious chieftain had been the firm
ally of the French, but when Rogers
informed him that Canada had been
surrendered to the English and that
he was on his way to take possession of
Detroit; the calumet was smoked
and harmony seemed established."
Then follow the details of the Pontiac
conspiracy. Pontiac, the great Ottawa
Chief, may be regarded as an Ohio
Indian. It is claimed with good
authority, and so far as we can learn
without contradiction, that he was born
at the mouth of the Ottawa river,
now Auglaize, where it empties into the
Maumee, the present site of
Defiance. Thus Ohio history begins. Mr.
Avery's Fourth Volume, like all the
others, is profusely illustrated with
portraits of the personages of whom it
treats, with diagrams of the geography
of the respective events, and fac-
similes of the historic documents
pertaining thereto. No work to our
knowledge has been so lavishly adorned
with valuable and illuminating
illustrations. Many of them in colors
are works of art. We continue
to commend this work to the readers of
American history.
DIARY
OF MANASSEH CUTLER.
In a recent publication, William E.
Curtis, the distinguished
journalist and author, gives excerpts
from the journal and letters
of Manasseh Cutler. Much of his article
deserves a place in the pages
of the Quarterly. Mr. Curtis
says:
Charles Gates Dawes of Chicago has the
diary of his ancestor,
Manasseh Cutler, the founder of Ohio,
the real author of the Ordinance
of '87, a member of Congress for many
years from Massachusetts,
clergyman, merchant, teacher, scientist,
surveyor, explorer and pa-
triot-one of the ablest and most
versatile characters in American
history.
In his journal and his letters to his
family and friends at home
Mr. Cutler wrote many interesting
accounts of his experiences in
Washington, as a member of Congress during
the administration of
Thomas Jefferson. On January 1, 1802, he
tells of the ceremonies at
the White House:
"Although the President has no
levees, a number of federalists
agreed to go from the Capitol in coaches
to the President's house and
wait upon him with the compliments of
the season. We were received
with politeness, entertained with cake
and wine. The mammoth cheese
having been presented this morning, the
President invited us to go,
as he expressed it to the mammoth room
to see the mammoth cheese.
There we viewed this monument of human
weakness and folly as long
as we pleased and then returned."