"You cannot take lands without war and conquest," were
the words of a young chief with a nose like a hawk's
beak, and an eye like the eagle's, to Lord Selkirk. "You
did not fight us; therefore you did not conquer us. How
comes it then that you have our lands?"

"Are you the owners of this territory?" calmly enquired
the nobleman.

"We are; no one else is the owner."

"But I shall shew you that from two standpoints, first
from my own, and afterwards from yours, it belongs not
to you. Firstly, it belongs to our common Sovereign, the
King of England. You belong to him; so likewise do the
buffalo that graze upon the plains, and the fishes that
swim in the rivers. Therefore our great and good Sovereign
sayeth unto me, his devoted subject, 'Go you forth into
my territories in the North of America, and select there
a colony whereon to plant any of my faithful children
who choose to go thither.' I have done so. Then, since
you hold possession of these plains only by the bounty
and sufferance of our good father the King, how can you
object to your white brethren coming when they were
permitted so to do?"

Ugh; that was only the oily-tongued talk of the pale-faces.
While seeming to speak fair, and smooth, and wise, their
tongues were as crooked as the horn of the mountain-goat.
Yet no chief could answer the Earl's contention, and they
looked from one to another with some traces of confusion
and defeat upon their faces.

"But," continued Lord Selkirk, in the same grave and firm
voice, "from your own standpoint you are not the proprietors
of this territory. The Saulteux, with whom you wage your
constant wars, have been upon these plains as long as
you. In times of peace you have intermarried with them,
and I now find in your wigwams many a squaw obtained from
among the villages of your rivals."

Ugh! They could not deny this. It was evident from their
silence and the abject way in which they glanced from
one to another that the case had gone against them.

"But there is no reason for your jealousy or your
hostility," Lord Selkirk continued; "our people come
among you, not as conquerors, but as brothers. They shall
not molest you but quietly till the fields and raise
their crops. Instead of showing unfriendliness, I think
you should take them by the hand and welcome them as
brothers." These words at last prevailed, and the Crees
put by their war paint, and came among the whites and
offered them fish and buffalo s