'""^^'Z^^^^ 
 
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 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
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':m^¥m^ 
 
POEiHS 
 
 OF 
 
 PENACOOK 
 
 J 
 
 BY C. C. LORD 
 
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 .'S vv*v\ 
 
p<^- 
 
 
 ^i>i^\ RiauT 1892 
 BY C. e. LORD. 
 
THE SEER 
 
PRELUDE 
 
 r\ SWEET love, come ! The hour is dark 
 'J Above the path, 
 
 In frowning wrath, 
 The storm-clouds gather, drifting low ; 
 Thy promise is a tiny spark. 
 
 Thy full effulgence show. 
 
 O sweet love, come ! The time is long ; 
 
 While sorrow weeps. 
 
 The shadow creeps 
 Too slowly ; from enshrouded years, 
 The world^s eternity of wrong. 
 
 Sad thought infers with tears. 
 
 O sweet love, come ! The day is late ;• 
 
 Adown the sky 
 
 His footsteps try 
 The steep, his goal the gloomy west ; 
 Hope tires ; impatiently we wait 
 
 Thy endless morning blest. 
 
THE SEER. 
 
 jHERE is a river,^ and its current bears 
 The sparkling drops that, from the Crystal Hills,^ 
 Come trickling down in ceaseless, lustrous flow, 
 To blend in rills and brooks, that rippling glide 
 And babbling haste to seek the channel wide, 
 Where waters many mingle and with zeal, 
 And rush, and dash, and rout, compete for rest 
 And rapture in the boundless, shining sea. 
 Through ever fertile meads of living green. 
 This river winds, and oft on either hand 
 Some grander height, adorned with leafy pride. 
 Invites the eye that dwells on prospects fair ; 
 While in the bosom of the stream, that glows 
 With daylight's fervor, lie sweet gems of isles. 
 The jewel glints of nature's sunlit smile : 
 And broader, rarer, richer, thus the scene 
 Compels delight far to the ocean wave. 
 
 Upon the surface of this river bright. 
 
 One sweeps the oar, or, in its limpid depths. 
 
8 THE SEER, 
 
 Seeks zest luxurious in healthful meed, 
 
 Or wanders in the meadows, culling blooms, 
 
 Or on the farther heights o'erlooks the vale. 
 
 To praise its beauty and perchance to tell. 
 
 In numbers, wealth, and fame, the busy marts 
 
 That owe estate and station to the stream 
 
 That e'er submits to bonds of prosy pelf, 
 
 Serves labor's end, while tempting art's emprise 
 
 In gentler poesy of mystic vein ; 
 
 Or he, for memories of legends old. 
 
 In mind ignores all present toils and cares. 
 
 And, taking up the thread of dim events. 
 
 That far retreat within the shades of time. 
 
 He traces fain the course of stalwart deeds 
 
 And startling wonders, wrought in ancient days. 
 
 When the great life now surging was unborn. 
 
 Till, thought forgetting themes and things that are, 
 
 His fancy revels in old dreams that were. 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 §SKY, so beautiful and bright, 
 O tell us whence, below, above, 
 Came we within thy sphere of light — 
 So much to see, so much to love — 
 When morn the sunlit flood unbars, 
 When eve reveals the moon and stars ! 
 
THE SEER. 
 
 O sun, whose beams adorn the day 
 
 And guide creation^s feet aright ; 
 O moon and stars, whose love-lights play 
 
 To cheer the aspects of the night ; 
 What treasures of thy vision hold 
 The secret of the eons old ? 
 
 The accents of the morn are dumb, 
 
 The voices of the eve are still : 
 From man^s own lips the word shall come, 
 
 When wisdom all the world shall fill. 
 With soul and sense, effulgent, bright. 
 The morning and the evening light. 
 
 FT is a day when clouds obscure the sun 
 Of the dark world, and earth in somber weeds 
 Sits dumb in shade and fosters dim designs 
 Of dull futurity ; but when a ray 
 Breaks from the blazing dome, a narrow rift 
 In dismal vapors parting, hope revives 
 In earth's cold bosom, and a winsome smile 
 Lights all the face of nature, glad and gay, 
 For promise yet of sunshine full and free, 
 When wild and field together shall the prize 
 And blessing reap in leaf, and bud, and bloom. 
 The soul of man in shadows likewise droops 
 When daylight languishes, and love's bright orb, 
 
lO THE SEER, 
 
 Lord of the realms ascendant, veils his face 
 
 In the dank mists of sense, the wiles of time 
 
 Faith's prospects blinding, till the heart of doubt 
 
 And dread revives in sparkling, pure delight 
 
 For one blest ray that cheers the broad expanse 
 
 Of being, sentient of peace and pain. 
 
 When clouds roll off and sunshine beams afar : 
 
 And, as the wilderness and fruitful land, 
 
 In nature's scheme, express their kindred pride, 
 
 Both low and high, in life's diviner plan. 
 
 Partake of treasure and their sorrows hide. 
 
 Three hundred years and iifty,^ — let us count 
 
 In teeming fancy, for uncertain time 
 
 Far backward reaches to a home and scene 
 
 From which the thread inceptive of this tale. 
 
 So oddly told, takes up lithe fancy's course 
 
 To fact seen culminative. In the past — 
 
 So dim, so strange to life's conception late ! — 
 
 When erst the land, through which the river bright 
 
 Far seaward courses, was a waste and wild. 
 
 Where savage hordes usurped the vast domain. 
 
 In a rude shelter, on a lofty hill,* 
 
 That from the west o'erlooks the eastern vale. 
 
 Where winds the stream in motion tortuous. 
 
 There dwelt the chief who swayed the local clan 
 
 Of instincts rude, in majesty enshrined. 
 
THE SEER, II 
 
 Great Kunnewa,^ of Nipmuck ^ blood and fame, 
 
 Was lord of Penacook,"^ and in his house, 
 
 A wigwam wrought of wood, and bark, and skins,^ 
 
 Abode his faithful wife, true, royal squaw. 
 
 Whose feats domestic won the pride and praise 
 
 Of all her sisters dusky of the tribe. 
 
 She planted maize, and beans, and luscious gourds. 
 
 And trained their growth, and plucked the harvest rich 
 
 In bounty pleasant to life's crude emprise. 
 
 But far too small for expectation high 
 
 That now pervades the breast of tillage fair. 
 
 Yet while she toiled, this wife of Kunnewa, 
 
 Newissit^ named, there oft a silent shade 
 
 Crept o'er her face, and then betimes she spoke 
 
 Of deep concern for life's swift issues vast. 
 
 The while her thought seemed wider than the world : 
 
 And then she told how oft her spirit walked 
 
 And talked with Manit ^^ and his happy host. 
 
 And said, '^ O squaws of braves. Keep ear ! Keep eye ! J 
 
 The good Great Spirit haunts the thoughtless world — 
 
 Breathes in the corn, and in the blossom smiles. 
 
 When bean and gourd rejoice in pleasant light. 
 
 And, when the bee the sweet drop sips and sings, 
 
 The Spirit's voice exults in gladness free." 
 
 One morning Kunnewa, the sachem brave, 
 Arose to greet the early dawning day^ 
 
12 THE SEER. 
 
 And forth advance upon the missions bold 
 
 That e'er engrossed the fierce and ardent breast 
 
 Of savage men that stooped ne'er once to toil.^^ 
 
 With tomahawk in belt, his bow he grasped, 
 
 His well stocked quiver o'er his shoulder swung, 
 
 The nimble deer to capture, or the bear 
 
 Of slow yet direful pace to render doom. 
 
 Or e'en some foe incautious of his tribe 
 
 Compel to bite the dust, for Penacooks 
 
 Oft met sharp war in service of the wild. 
 
 As Kunnewa, the chief, thus purpose held 
 
 In preparation, from her couch of skins 
 
 Awoke Newissit, wife and thoughtful squaw. 
 
 To look upon her lord, in armor clad, 
 
 With features set, his skin in painted hues. 
 
 For terror swift and vengeance quick and sure. 
 
 The gentle squaw uplooked with startled gaze 
 
 And troubled vision, while with hastv words 
 
 She spoke her thought in soft but earnest plaint. 
 
 " You wake me with your moods," she said in pain, 
 
 "And fright my eyes and scare away my dream 
 
 Of things too pure and peaceful for the day 
 
 That dawns alone for ceaseless war and woe ! " 
 
 Then Kunnewa, the sachem, warrior great. 
 
 In wonder on his spouse his aspect turned 
 
 And said, " What mean ye by this doleful speech 
 
 To him who lives to lure and lash his foes, 
 
THE SEER. 13 
 
 Until, as dead leaves fly before the breeze, 
 
 They sink, and waste, and wander, vanquished, dumb ? '' 
 
 Then answered fair Newissit, *^As I lay 
 
 Asleep before you waked me by a sound, 
 
 I dreamed and saw the shining, distant east. 
 
 To which the wigwam opes, and, lo ! the sun 
 
 Arose in mighty strength, yet shed his light 
 
 Upon the world as beams a tender smile : 
 
 And, as I looked, behold ! a sachem bright 
 
 Came from the sun and stood before the door, 
 
 His face in sweetness clad, and all his form 
 
 Was rich in shapely mould and lustrous mien. 
 
 The feathers on his head were sunlit flames, 
 
 His mantle fell in folds of daylight sheen, 
 
 And, on his feet, the moccasins he wore 
 
 With dewdrops sparkled, nameless in their glow. 
 
 Thus, while I wondered, yet without a fear. 
 
 What mission strange this shining sachem bore, 
 
 He spoke, — ^ I am the Manit, and I come 
 
 To tell thee things that yet shall gladly be. 
 
 The time is ripe with trouble and with tears, 
 
 And angry death the harvest reaps in blood, 
 
 But these my people yet shall see a sign. 
 
 As the new moon breaks softly in the west. 
 
 To fill the night with all its gentle fire. 
 
 The new man comes to thoughtless passion sway 
 
 And tame the hearts that now in fierceness rage, 
 
14 THE SEER, 
 
 And one morn when the sun upon the sky 
 Seeks his far height above the lustrous world, 
 Thy soul shall bow, and forth shall come thy child, 
 Son of the sun, and he shall wisdom find 
 And truth impart, while, man of medicine, 
 His wondrous deeds shall fame his name afar. 
 His heart shall bear the treasure of the sun. 
 His thought shall know the riches of the moon. 
 And all the stars shall speak him face to face, 
 And while the wind shall blow, the waters run. 
 And leaf and blossom deck the landscape wide. 
 He shall have skill to teach and guide the tribe 
 That by his judgment, in rare aspects seen. 
 Shall many woes escape and gladness find — 
 In valor proud, so keen his sight shall be.' ^^ 
 As thus he spoke, I waked and lost my dream." 
 
 When Kunnewa, the lordly chief, this tale 
 Had listed fully, once expression strange 
 His face betokened, and a softer light 
 Beamed in his features. Briefly to the eye 
 Of his fond squaw, it seemed a gentler mien 
 And nobler joy, in kinder aims fulfilled, 
 Recast his being in diviner mould. 
 Disclosing godlike presence in the man. 
 Upon Newissit once he cast a glance 
 Beneficent ; then on his bow he looked 
 
THE SEER, IS 
 
 And touched his quiver with half-careless hand, 
 
 As if a sudden thought to lay it by 
 
 Had half possessed his soul ; and then the strength 
 
 Of savage ardor in his breast revived, 
 
 His aspect darkened, and his form grew fierce, 
 
 The while he made reply, — " The Manit lives. 
 
 The Sachem great, who all things makes and rules. 
 
 And sun, and moon, and stars his will obey. 
 
 And on the storm he rides, and in the light 
 
 Smiles on the world, and gives his children bread 
 
 Of the green fields and meat of forests dark 
 
 And of deep waters ; and, some day, at last. 
 
 As sunshine breaks for storms, his heart may turn 
 
 Our lives from war to peace, and in the earth 
 
 Lay low the tomahawk ^^ in endless rest : 
 
 But till he comes to stay the warlike arm 
 
 That draws the bow, and speeds the arrow sharp, 
 
 And swings the hatchet high, the foe to kill, 
 
 I, Kunnewa, the chief of Penacook, 
 
 Will know no rest while other tribes invade 
 
 My realm for spoil ; and all my trusty braves 
 
 I rally to the fight till death for aye." 
 
 Thus having said, he forth assumed his way, 
 
 His fate to bear and prowess swift attest. 
 
 Newissit, from that hour, a sacred pledge 
 And pleasure fostered in her deepest breast, 
 
1 6 THE SEER. 
 
 And pondered oft upon the Spirit's words ; 
 
 And, while she tended oft the rising corn, 
 
 Or cHmbing bean, or graceful, roving gourd. 
 
 Her rapt reflection strayed in pleasant light 
 
 Through fields of joyful hope and promise sweet : 
 
 And when, one morn, within her wigwam kind. 
 
 She saw the sunbeams break across the vale. 
 
 Where wound the river through the verdant meads, 
 
 To enter by her door and bless her face, 
 
 And heard the cheerful word, " It is a son," 
 
 Her soul, ecstatic, rose in virtue's pride 
 
 Till skies seemed near and earth sank far away. 
 
 The child grew strong, and as the patient years 
 
 Their seasons told, in favor thrived apace. 
 
 And oft some eye observant marked the grace 
 
 Of mien and mind that flourished in such might 
 
 In life so tender and in days so few. 
 
 In childish ranks he drew the mimic bow. 
 
 And joined the chase pretended, and his zeal 
 
 Oft won the prize of boyhood's valor feigned, 
 
 And, little chief, he bore the signal plume ^^ 
 
 In childlike majesty, nor once he deigned 
 
 To honor wound or seem of vain conceit 
 
 Of lofty privilege for other's pain, 
 
 And thus found praise of all, or young, or old : 
 
 Yet greater virtue claimed his service true. 
 
 Betimes, when comrades of his childhood strove 
 
THE SEER. 17 
 
 In tempting sports, he fled the mirthful van 
 
 And in seclusion sought some odd recourse 
 
 Of childlike fancy, nor his face was seen 
 
 Within the daily circle, till his mind, 
 
 In secret contemplation in the dell. 
 
 Or on the height, some deep conception gained 
 
 Of life and law to common natures vain ; 
 
 And e'er from such excursions of the soul 
 
 In silent realms he brought some hint, or art, 
 
 Of mind mysterious that probed all things 
 
 E'en to their depths, the while he spoke the word, 
 
 Or wrought the deed, whose province e'er escapes 
 
 All but the great magician, he whose grasp 
 
 Of thought and theme all subtle wisdom solves. 
 
 And he whose will all plastic nature makes 
 
 Subservient ; and thoughtful braves beheld 
 
 The growing boy and said with solemn mien, 
 
 " He makes his medicine,^^ and yet will be 
 
 A mighty chief of wonders seen and known." 
 
 Such things Newisset cherished, and her heart 
 
 Grew big with expectation, while she watched 
 
 Her darling boy in manly grace increased, 
 
 Each day her hope's fulfillment, as the lad 
 
 Leaned on her breast in filial love's return 
 
 For love maternal, till fruition rich 
 
 Once thrilled her soul and made existence blest 
 
 In bright reality. One autumn eve. 
 
1 8 THE SEER. 
 
 Within the wigwam's shelter, while she^sat, 
 To look beyond the door and see the vale, 
 Resplendent in the moonlight soft and full. 
 She felt a hand upon her shoulder laid 
 And gladdened, for her son, the well-beloved. 
 Close to her side, withdrawn from outward scenes, 
 Approached her tenderly and touched her form 
 In potent phase of blessing ; and, her heart 
 In pride exultant, of light thought, she said, 
 '' Whence come ye ? " Then he said, with strange con- 
 cern 
 And odd emprise of fervor, '^ From the play 
 Wherein I saw a vision, great and true. 
 Although no other lad in sport was keen 
 To see the wonder, and I come to tell 
 Your ear and loose my troubled heart in bonds 
 Of startled care and fear unfelt before.'' 
 Then she responded, " Tell me all, my child ! 
 The Spirit, the Great Manit, walks the world, 
 And oft his presence prompts the restless eye 
 To see his face and form, or mark the signs 
 By which he turns the thought to purer themes 
 And deeper knowledge. Let your heart be calm ! " 
 Then he, with ardor, though in quiet, broke 
 His burdened mind and thus his vision told : 
 " But just a space ago, when, with the boys, 
 I played the deer and wolf ^^ upon the green, 
 
THE SEER. . 19 
 
 The moon, big with the harvest, up the east 
 
 Came shining, as you now in full behold 
 
 It only smaller, and we stopped in play 
 
 To look upon its face, so wide and round. 
 
 And then I saw the wonder. From the moon. 
 
 Came forth great, dark canoes, as on the sea, 
 
 With wings of white, and touched the solid land. 
 
 And from them poured armed hosts of paleface braves. 
 
 And some on horses, and great guns they drew 
 
 That seemed to flash and thunder like the cloud 
 
 That bursts upon the sky when the sharp heat 
 
 Has scorched the earth and made the light leaves droop 
 
 Upon the thrifty tree : and, as I looked, 
 
 A paleface powwow, ^"^ in a blanket long 
 
 And dark, his bare head white with flowing locks. 
 
 And stepping on before the hasting braves, 
 
 He high within his hand upheld a form 
 
 Like wide, white leaves together held in bond. 
 
 And cried, * Peace ! Peace !' in speech that made me glad 
 
 And then the stars that first began to peep 
 
 Seemed nodding to his word, as if he spoke 
 
 Great wisdom. Just then once my lifted hand 
 
 I pointed to the moon and with loud voice 
 
 Cried out, ^ See ! See ! The great canoes ! The braves ! 
 
 The paleface powwow ! ' Then the laughing boys. 
 
 With mocking tongues, made merry ; and I looked 
 
 Once more, and all the vision strange had fled." 
 2 
 
20 THE SEER. 
 
 The mother's heart, when thronged with mystic hopes, 
 
 Exults with thrilling rapture when the pledge 
 
 Of golden promise in her offspring sweet 
 
 Thrives to perfection by the gift of grace 
 
 She holds beneficent, supreme, divine. 
 
 Newissit listened to the spectral tale 
 
 Of her fond son and felt the magic glow 
 
 That warms affection into flaming bliss 
 
 For treasure rarer found than earth can show 
 
 When unillumined by great Heaven's sun. 
 
 Serene and holy ; and her comfort vast 
 
 She spoke unto her child and gave him rest 
 
 Of restless yearning for the cause that probed 
 
 His being and composure roused to pain : 
 
 And when soft, soothing sleep its curtain drew, 
 
 Two souls sailed sweetly on the sighless sea. 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 Y soul was rapt just now ; the passing hour 
 Held one blest moment ; in a field of light 
 I stood ; at once I saw a smiling bower. 
 
 With lustrous bloom, that perfume breathed, bedight. 
 
 Close by, within a graceful, spreading tree, 
 A trill of bird notes warbled ; life was gay ; 
 
 A squirrel leaped and chirped in playful glee ; 
 A sprightly bee tuned for the gladsome day, 
 
THE SEER. 21 
 
 The soft air, floating 'neath the crystal sky, 
 
 Lisped gentle melody in leaf and bough ; 
 A rippling, sparkling brook sang lullaby 
 
 To care, and said, " Heart, heart, be happy now ! " 
 
 Such transport, brief and blissful ! Thrilled, intense, 
 Yet more serene, I deemed earth's sorrows dead ; 
 
 Then, as a flame dissolves, the evidence 
 
 Of sweet enchantment shimmered and had fled. 
 
 What was it? Only just a waking dream 
 
 That decked the world with blessing, full and free ; 
 
 In subtle mood, reflection cast a gleam 
 
 On one who thinks of, loves, and Jives for me. 
 
 (HE circuit of the sun, in potent light 
 And thrilling fervor, oft the world awakes 
 From wintry stupor and the earth inspires 
 With spring's lithe energy. The landscape thrives, 
 The buds expand, the leaves exult in green, 
 And blossoms revel in their nameless pride. 
 And all things triumph in the shining march 
 To rich maturity that crowns the scene. 
 Thus from the dark prenatal springs the man, 
 And, in the gifts and graces loaned of Life, 
 Creative, boundless, endless, takes his way 
 To manhood's goal with joy, and glories there 
 In strength and grandeur, king and lord of all 
 
22 THE SEER. 
 
 That, 'neath the sunlit sky, exists and breathes. 
 
 The hero of this tale, with hasting time. 
 
 His hope accomplished, clad in signal guise 
 
 Of man preeminent, majestic, great. 
 
 The wisdom and the wonder of his tribe. 
 
 And, in succession of the changeless law, 
 
 A sachem stood, of royal rank renowned. 
 
 Great Kunnewa, his sire, as falls the oak 
 
 Before the tempest's blast, by death's fell hand. 
 
 Lay prostrate, while the wild, weird, wailing chant 
 
 Of faithful braves his spirit buoyed in peace 
 
 And wafted gently to the hunting grounds. 
 
 Where happy souls no longer grieve nor tire ; 
 
 And he, true son, who took the regal reign 
 
 By right inheritance, of custom bore 
 
 His choice cognomen, Passaconnaway^ 
 
 Child of the Bear,^^ and homage claimed and won. 
 
 There are of men who bear compounded worth 
 In matchless measure. He whose fame we keep. 
 Chief Passaconnaway, of talents wide. 
 In fruitful range of useful aims and ends, 
 In one quick soul a thousand virtues held. 
 And puissant made all, and blessed his kind. 
 Nor, in evolving thought, may justice waive 
 His praise domestic. Longing, luring love. 
 Through presents rich and honors bending low. 
 
THE SEER, 23 
 
 Had won Sumana,^^ rarest bride and leal, 
 
 And to his wigwam brought, and, ripe reward 
 
 Of chaste devotion, sons and daughters, found, 
 
 Sweet offspring, brave and fair, a father's joy 
 
 And mother's swift delight, rare, rich, and pure. 
 
 Of noble children, Nanamocomuck 
 
 Became the chief Wachusett, and the mild. 
 
 Wise Wonalancet, in full time's decree, 
 
 His sire succeeded, chief of Penacooks, 
 
 And brave Unanunquosit, and the lithe, 
 
 True Nonatomecut, unsullied fame 
 
 Kept constant, while a daughter, choice and fair. 
 
 Wife of brave Nobhow in the course of days. 
 
 And bright Wanuchus, she who Saugus loved. 
 
 To stir romance that yet thrives in the song 
 
 Of the sweet minstrel,^^ proved the worth and praise 
 
 Of their great line ancestral. Lord of realms 
 
 That stretched far by the river, of this tale 
 
 The theme inceptive, swift,^^ bright Merrimack, 
 
 The sachem Passaconnaway his seat 
 
 Of royal pride at Namoskeag^^ held fast. 
 
 Though oft his zeal of change, in fair emprise 
 
 Of pleasure and of patience, fain induced 
 
 Transition comforting. The sachem proud, 
 
 In choice diversified — as ever turns 
 
 The soul of weighty cares to scenes that soothe 
 
 By variation all the thought o'erworn — 
 
24 THE SEER. 
 
 For kind and calm composure of the mind, 
 
 Loosed free of bonds that chafe and vex the man 
 
 Of deep concern for self and subjects true — 
 
 Himself in honor conscious of his trust 
 
 And strict account to law, unswerving, just, 
 
 And endless fondly turned and dwelt apart — 
 
 On the fair isle^^ that, northward, in the stream, 
 
 Encircled by the water, smiles in light. 
 
 Gem of the Merrimack ; or yet he took 
 
 His pleasant journey southward on the wave. 
 
 Through smiling meadows — cheering thoughts' emprise 
 
 Of dark anxiety — till where an isle 
 
 Decks the fair river's bosom, ere the stream, 
 
 Souhegan called, pours out its flood of toil 
 
 And to the Merrimack its task resigns 
 
 In the great world hydraulic,^^ there to pause 
 
 In grateful pastime. Nor was he, the chief. 
 
 The mighty sachem, found of idle zest 
 
 The careless victim, for he wisely sought 
 
 The refuge of the isles in spring's bright hours, 
 
 To mark the hopeful seed that, dropped to earth, 
 
 The promise bore of harvest ripe and rich, 
 
 And, through the simple service of the. soil, 
 
 Suppress the strain that strove with inward stress. 
 
 Behold the man, the chief, the sachem wise 
 To rule his realm with right and reap reward 
 
THE SEER. 25 
 
 Of honest homage from his subject tribe, 
 
 Yet found of adoration, strange but strong, 
 
 For the great marvel of his land and line ; 
 
 For he, brave Passaconnaway, had proved 
 
 In meed the promise of the Manit, made 
 
 To rapt Newissit in the dream of morn. 
 
 And, like the Man of twofold nature, viewed 
 
 The scenes of time with hints ideal, weird, 
 
 That craved exemption of the bonds of sense. 
 
 In exaltation of the life that tries 
 
 Sublimest heights and shames the world unborn 
 
 To rich realities that crown the zeal 
 
 Of the quick spirit. In a savage mien. 
 
 Chief Passaconnaway, in cruder phase. 
 
 The soul made manifest, and knowledge gained. 
 
 And prescience took, of grander force and fact 
 
 That far escape the common conscience, set 
 
 Too much on earth and earthly aims and ends.^^ 
 
 In ways domestic e'er he sought the price 
 
 Of simple virtue, and in regal paths 
 
 The prize of duty plain allured his eye ; 
 
 And, man of medicine, in measure rare. 
 
 He touched all hearts and proved his mission deep 
 
 In depths mysterious to thoughtless minds 
 
 That foster sense and seeming, barren, blind. 
 
 The rude, wild tribe, that judgment lacked, in vain 
 
 Tried explanation of its sachem's gift 
 
26 THE SEER. 
 
 And grace of manhood in transcendent might, 
 
 And gave its thoughts to fancy till it dreamed 
 
 How he could water burn, the rocks command 
 
 To change their stations, and the trees entice 
 
 To merry dances, and the live, green leaf 
 
 Evolve from ashes of the dry leaf burned, 
 
 And make the dead snake's skin writhe yet again, 
 
 In life resuscitate, and cold ice show 
 
 Upon the surface of the full bowl, hot 
 
 With summer's fervor in its liquid depths : 
 
 And wilder still swift frenzy raged in flight. 
 
 A famed tradition bore the strange report 
 
 That once upon the green and happy shore 
 
 Of the great lake, the Spirit's joyful smile,^^ 
 
 That rare New Hampshire's scenes adorns with pride, 
 
 A contest proved great Passaconnaway 
 
 Of skill to dare and doom to death with speed 
 
 A rival chief, with mystic art endowed, 
 
 A challenge tested. Sitting face to face 
 
 Upon the ground, each man his wisdom tried 
 
 In emulation ; and the greater chief. 
 
 Impatient of the trial, all his might 
 
 Of medicine assumed, and to his foe. 
 
 Of equal skill first found, cried loudly, ^ Die ! " 
 
 Then he, the vanquished, sighed, and swayed, and fell. 
 
 His spirit parting from the prostrate clay 
 
 And floating, homeless, on the mindless wind. 
 
THE SEER. 27 
 
 Rude, VN^ild imagination of the tribe, 
 Of savage thought and instinct, clad the chief 
 In robes of lurid light that magic weaves 
 For mindless mortals ; but the man within. 
 To virtue moulded, and to wisdom moved, 
 And unto strength exerted, proved the aims 
 That soar above delusion, rash and vain. 
 And to life's clearer vision, peering high 
 Above the clouds of sense, reveal the worth. 
 Serene and bright, sublime and well refined, — 
 The majesty of selfhood, godlike, great. 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 Ji HEED not beauty of the face, 
 ? With all the complements of grace, 
 That admiration win apace, 
 
 Yet thou art very fair, my love ; 
 To all sweet excellence implies 
 In mould and mien, I close mine eyes ; 
 My hope on other pride relies 
 
 That dwells within thy form, my love. 
 
 Bright wealth of thought, transcending sense 
 With truth's sublimer evidence. 
 Charms not to lure me in suspense. 
 Though thou art very wise, my love ; 
 
28 THE SEER, 
 
 Than lustrous gems of wisdom^s skill, 
 That nobler adoration fill, 
 I prize a richer treasure still 
 
 That gleams within thy mind, my love. 
 
 For worth that sacred aims reveal, 
 The heart that craves a purer zeal 
 Affects me not with swift appeal. 
 
 Yet thou art very good, my love ; 
 Beyond the purpose of thy days, 
 That guides thy feet in holy ways. 
 Devotion truer still I praise 
 
 That flames within thy soul, my love. 
 
 By fate entranced, I am as he 
 Who thee beholds and yet to see 
 A rarer self evolve in thee, 
 
 Though fair, and wise, and good, my love ; 
 Like a rapt vision of the night, 
 A transport strange refines my sight, — 
 Thou art transfigured in the light 
 
 That shows thee all divine, my love. 
 
 |HERE is an instinct true in riper souls 
 That far o'erleaps the narrow bounds of self 
 And widely roams in realms of use, and takes 
 Of each concern of men an ample meed, 
 And, in the frame composite of a whole, 
 
THE SEER. 29 
 
 Mad chaos tames and order renders mild, 
 Beneficent, and true, and heals the world. 
 In civil sway, this spring of nobler law, 
 In cognizance of broader ends and weal, 
 Enlists, inlocks, and binds the aims diverse 
 Of social energy, and man to man 
 Makes leal and gentle, hopeful, helpful, kind. 
 Till each, upholding each, makes stable all. 
 The sachem wise, great Passaconnaway, 
 Of Penacook the royal head and pride. 
 In phase eccentric, in the savage realms. 
 Law's higher rule attested, till he made 
 War peace, loss gain, and weakness strength, 
 And saved the heritage of name and fame 
 Of Penacooks held choice, their ancient line 
 Esteeming, while their prospects rich and rare. 
 In schemes participant of others' zest 
 And worth, involved an intermingled pride 
 And faith of tribe to tribe with pledges fast. 
 
 Chief Passaconnaway, his royal mind 
 Big with the legends of the warlike days 
 Known to his fathers — and in childhood's ear 
 Rehearsed, the swift alternate zest and pain. 
 For vanquished foe or victor friend, the face 
 In flush and paleness showing — wisely bent 
 On firm security of future years, 
 
30 THE SEER. 
 
 Seen glad and boonful with prophetic eye, 
 
 His brother sachems sought with potent zeal 
 
 And speech persuasive, and he broke his thought : 
 
 *' Ye know, my brothers, how in other days, 
 
 My fathers met the foe, the Tarrantine,*^"^ 
 
 Child of the east, with false and cruel breast. 
 
 Or yet the Mohog,^^ from the sunset land. 
 
 So fierce and bold, with heart to strike with dread, 
 
 And bore his anger, while their souls were tried 
 
 To stay his march and save the darling lives 
 
 Of wives so dear and tender children sweet. 
 
 Ye know one year the Mohog came with strength 
 
 And pressed our people till, upon the height,^^ 
 
 That from the east o'erlooks the Merrimack, 
 
 The happy stream through smiling meads that winds, 
 
 We built a mighty fort, of fallen trees. 
 
 And in it put our wives and children safe, 
 
 With fruitful bounties of the earth at hand. 
 
 And kept our lives and watched the haughty foe. 
 
 His fortress strong upon the farther side 
 
 Of the bright river.^^ Ye have heard us tell 
 
 How one sad day, the Mohog, shrewd and bold. 
 
 With heart deceitful, sent a daring brave 
 
 Across the stream to north, to wander down 
 
 E'en to our fort and, by his loneness, seem 
 
 Our easy captive ; but, with thoughtless zeal 
 
 As we him sought for prize, he wildly fled 
 
THE SEER. 31 
 
 And into ambush deadly led us on ; 
 
 And though with valor we the battle held, 
 
 And to the Mohog gave great bloody woe, 
 
 So that e'er since the vexer is no more, 
 
 Yet we in weakness drooped till all our pride, 
 
 As a lone tree before the tempest bows 
 
 And trembles for its fate, in sore fear shakes 
 
 Lest some misfortune blast it. Hear ye now ! 
 
 What tribe holds safety sure, when, long and lone. 
 
 It bears a hostile purpose ? Let us join 
 
 Our willing hands, and with our hands our hearts. 
 
 Our aims unite, our ends compound in one. 
 
 And shame our foes ! The thrifty, clustered wood. 
 
 Upon the hilltop bleak, the storm withstands. 
 
 And many tribes as one receive the shock 
 
 That, harmless unto all, one lone destroys. 
 
 Join ye with me ! The future holds our peace 
 
 In present prospect. In my heart I feel 
 
 A happy promise, and I see the years 
 
 Break from the sun in fertile, fruitful days. 
 
 While the moon smiles upon the silent world 
 
 In safety sleeping, and the watchful stars 
 
 Blink blissfully and bless the balmy scene. 
 
 Stay not ! I bear upon my pleading tongue 
 
 The message of the Manit, for he breathes 
 
 His word upon the air that in my ear 
 
 Breaks softly, and his faithful promise smiles 
 
32 THE SEER, 
 
 In the green fields, with waving bloom, and glows 
 In the rich autumn, when the corn is ripe, 
 And the glad squaws the harvest reap with songs, 
 And the broad land no solace seeks for tears." 
 
 The music of his speech the tribes allured. 
 
 And Passaconnaway, the sachem true. 
 
 Had fruitage of his labors, and they said 
 
 Who listened to his pleading, full of zeal, — 
 
 " He has good tongue and speaks the honest word,- 
 
 And let us join our hands and be his friends. 
 
 And keep our lives, and give our wives great peace 
 
 And children safety." Then the pledges fast 
 
 They gave with ardor till of tribes of braves 
 
 Wise Penacook,^^ and shrewd Pentucket,^^ quick 
 
 To see the object prudent, Swamscot,^^ clear 
 
 In judgment, Newichwannock,^^ swift to grasp 
 
 The thought far reaching — each with each in all — 
 
 Made law confederate, and still the clans 
 
 Their cause made common, and, for surer ends 
 
 Of loyalty and grandeur, him made head — 
 
 The chief of chiefs — who wrought the mighty change, 
 
 To be Bashaba, prince, supreme, renowned,^^ 
 
 While all the land rejoiced, with hush of war. 
 
 And smiling bounties of the fertile fields. 
 
 And thriving products of the woods and streams, 
 
 Till earth seemed proud and life the bliss of dreams. 
 
THE SEER. 33 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 NON and ever comes a happy spell 
 That halts the dead march of the mournful years, 
 When sprightly joys time's solemn steps compel, 
 And smiles assume the place usurped by tears. 
 
 Then budding youth exults in boundless pride. 
 With garlands decked, and in the sunlight plays. 
 
 And sere and russet age makes haste to hide 
 Its weeds, to hail and keep the day of days. 
 
 Pale desolation walks with rueful mien 
 
 The earth, while grief demands men's homage meet, 
 Till oft love's angel from the glad unseen 
 
 Stops thwart the way with mission firm as sweet. 
 
 iHERE is an hour that oft the lives of men 
 Crow^ns with blest honor, though the shining prize 
 Of earth's swiit emulation in the strife 
 Of souls ambitious, fails to v^oo and v^in 
 The hearts expectant ; and betimes the zeal 
 That once burns fiercely for time's treasure fair 
 In sudden aspect turns and flames for worth 
 That lures, and lasts, and lives for aye and aye, 
 Forgetting e'er the promise held in trust 
 But of the glozing world : and happy he 
 
34 THE SEER. 
 
 Who, born for wider aims and broader ends, 
 
 In gifts surpassing minds of simpler mould, 
 
 Turns from the less award and lends his gaze 
 
 Straight to the greater, and with ardent zest 
 
 Divines the prospect rich and presses on 
 
 To ripe fulfillment in the nobler sphere 
 
 Of endless virtue. Passaconnaway, 
 
 The grand Bashaba, chieftain, skillful, keen 
 
 In thought percipient, of mystic hints 
 
 Of soul pervading substance, and of sight 
 
 That peeped beyond the veil of time's dark bound, 
 
 In mien majestic, such as savage life, 
 
 In simple form and phase, on man bestovv^s. 
 
 Earth's pride resigned and pleasure sought and found 
 
 In deeds of virtue rare, and friend and foe. 
 
 Moved by his goodness ripe and wisdom swift. 
 
 Thrilled, awed, astonished, for such prescience was 
 
 Within his ken as ever fosters fame. 
 
 Time lives, and lasts, and ever proves the ends 
 That oft the feet of men to paths unsought 
 Divert, direct, compel, till wondrous change 
 Dawns on the prospects of this life intense 
 And fraught with issues mighty in their scope 
 And empire : and betimes a gifted soul 
 A glimpse anticipant of coming days 
 In clearness sees, as ever oft the sun 
 
THE SEER. 35 
 
 Foretells his march triumphant up the east 
 
 By golden luster of the rising morn, 
 
 Or ever yet the mild, complacent moon 
 
 Sends forth her heralds in pellucid rays 
 
 Of silver light, to break the faithful word 
 
 That proves her advent on the evening fair. 
 
 The time drew nigh when civil law should sway 
 
 The land where savage rule in part but held 
 
 Earth's destiny, evolving unto wish. 
 
 And wealth, and worth transcending ever far 
 
 The instinct barbarous, till he who fain 
 
 Brooks all its onset strives but to be crushed 
 
 Beneath its wheel, resistless, tireless, swift. 
 
 Wise Passaconnaway, the sachem true 
 
 And great Bashaba, in the social east. 
 
 Saw the strong twilight of the civil sun. 
 
 Lord of ascending day, and, for pale doubt. 
 
 His soul assumed bright truth and humbly bowed, 
 
 And homage rendered unto fruitful fact 
 
 And deed submissive, pattern of his tribes. ^^ 
 
 At length, on mission to the distant sea. 
 
 Where great Piscataqua its flood combines 
 
 And mixes e'er with ocean, ^"^ once he grasped-— 
 
 Chief Passaconnaway — the potent hand 
 
 Of civil order, and its face, and form. 
 
 And mien in contemplation held and viewed 
 
 With wonder vast and deep, consuming awe, 
 
36 THE SEER. 
 
 And in prompt resolution shaped his will 
 
 And purpose, just, discreet, exact, and kind.^^ 
 
 Then, to his tribes returning, in the stress 
 
 Of thought considerate and ardor full. 
 
 He spoke the words that from his burning zeal 
 
 Broke forth like flashes of a signal fire 
 
 In far extended warning. " Hear, my braves ! " 
 
 He made his strong appeal. "The tempest swift 
 
 Of the Great Spirit sweeps the feeble earth 
 
 And proves all things resistless. In its might, 
 
 The Manit's torrent from the mountain breaks. 
 
 And naught withstands it. Mighty chiefs, and braves 
 
 Of valor high, nor strength nor work obtains 
 
 When the Almighty Sachem forth extends 
 
 His hand unto his purpose. Be ye ware ! 
 
 The paleface comes, the tempest of the time 
 
 And torrent of the season, e'er to bear 
 
 On and still on the will, the wish, and wrath 
 
 Of the Great Spirit, if a hand but dare 
 
 Rise to resist, in ruth and rancor rude 
 
 Of rash revenge. Then let the tomahawk 
 
 Lie useless, buried in the fertile ground, 
 
 The while we smoke the cheerful pipe of peace ^^ 
 
 Beneath the lisping trees, where soft winds blow ; 
 
 i\nd let him have our hearts — the Chief that rules 
 
 Our fates and days — and in his happy smile. 
 
 That lights his face to see our homage sure. 
 
 4 
 
THE SEER. 37 
 
 Repose and save the life that e'er we waste 
 
 Who strive to stay the future. In such zeal 
 
 Of noble efforts, we may find the way 
 
 And learn the wisdom that safe counsel take 
 
 Of the hereafter till, our fears allayed. 
 
 Our faith confirmed, our courage fortified, 
 
 We may abide, and thrive, and care resign ! " 
 
 Then while he spoke, the great Bashaba, he 
 
 Of soul sincere as e'en of thoughtful mind. 
 
 His word made faithful in the action prompt 
 
 That doubt dispelled and proved the deed sublime. 
 
 To prudent acts and counsels wise disposed. 
 
 In judgment keen of aim and end discreet. 
 
 In justice sound, he held for friend and foe 
 
 The equal measure of the sure reward 
 
 And certain penalty in practice true. 
 
 And law made eminent in right and rule. 
 
 One day, as ever nearer drew and thrived 
 
 The mission of the paleface, skilled and strong, 
 
 A stranger of the east with wares and words 
 
 That ever tempt the eye and charm the ear. 
 
 Within the savage circle all his wealth 
 
 And art displayed and craved attention kind 
 
 And patronage replete with pleasant gain : 
 
 And when a redman, doubtful, hasty, rash. 
 
 The proffer fair despised and, in his zest 
 
 Impassioned, with his weapon sharp and swift, 
 
38 THE SEER. 
 
 The life made forfeit of the mercer mild, 
 The dire, disastrous deed his own made pledge 
 Of pain and peril. Passaconnaway 
 The culprit seized and of his victim's law 
 His fate made consequent, and to the hand 
 Of English justice stern the wretch consigned.'*^ 
 
 There is a sentiment in human souls 
 
 That e'er regards the worth that springs from zeal 
 
 That halts not at the door of fate that craves 
 
 Devotion's sacrifice of self in sooth 
 
 And sincere service of the cause it claims 
 
 In high supremacy of lofty praise. 
 
 The man impetuous who clamors oft 
 
 For some preeminence in scheme or skill. 
 
 That bears some promise to a wishful world, 
 
 And in his soul grieves not, nor bleeds within 
 
 His deepest heart, for woe that works its wealth 
 
 Of wisdom weighty in the conscience true, 
 
 Has no impartment of life's treasures rare, 
 
 Rich, and redundant in unending gain. 
 
 The great Bashaba, Passaconnaway, 
 
 In purpose just and strict example true. 
 
 His faith made fact in humble zeal that bore 
 
 Its fruit of patience in the face of pain, 
 
 That with its dart his bosom probed with smart, 
 
 His shrouded soul in sorrow. Thus was he 
 
THE SEER, 39 
 
 A guide revealed in grandeur, chief sublime. 
 
 In the rude days, when simple savage clans 
 
 And civil circles crude, on shores involved 
 
 In claims disputed and in war's alarms, 
 
 Wild apprehension oft left rest unfound 
 
 Of swift suspicion, thoughtless, senseless, wrong : 
 
 And once wise Passaconnaway, the man 
 
 Of just discernment and of purpose kind. 
 
 When misconception sped to reckless deeds. 
 
 Was victim sought of English bold emprise 
 
 And rash revenge. With arms and mission stern. 
 
 Of paleface warriors, forty, each with lust 
 
 Of causeless blame and booty, came with speed. 
 
 To straight fulfill the legal, high behest, 
 
 And Passaconnaway, imagined foe. 
 
 Seize and make captive in degrading bonds. 
 
 For English safety : but, in sequence strange, 
 
 A mighty storm and dark Bashaba gave. 
 
 Within his distant wigwam, sure escape 
 
 From molestation ; yet his woe was deep. 
 
 The paleface mission, warlike, rash, and rude. 
 
 And mindless of presumption, finding not 
 
 The chief of chiefs, with speed surprised and bound 
 
 His own true son, brave Wonalancet, trained 
 
 To ends discreet and aims of kind intent 
 
 By his wise father, and with him indeed 
 
 Was bound his gentle squaw, of guileless heart, 
 
40 THE SEER, 
 
 And with them both the child of tender years, 
 
 A hopeful son and fair, who knew no harm 
 
 That bore a purpose baneful unto aught 
 
 Of human mould ; and, clad in dismal plight, 
 
 Such captives hastened to uncertain doom. 
 
 Then Passaconnaway, the injured sire 
 
 Of a loved household, he who sought but good 
 
 For those who gave him pain and tried his soul, 
 
 Though master of a host of vengeful braves. 
 
 In prudence bore resentment. Mindful e'er 
 
 Of gross injustice, he the nobler code 
 
 Of right attested. Royal chief of tribes. 
 
 He straight his charge preferred, and justice urged. 
 
 And reparation claimed, until his words. 
 
 In perseverance strong, had shown his cause 
 
 Triumphant ; and his own he took again 
 
 To his full heart, and blessed, with pride and tears.*^ 
 
 The world of purpose strict and action prompt 
 
 Evinces e'er the force concentric, swift 
 
 To prove the worth that dwells within a soul 
 
 Whose will, and thought, and energy combine 
 
 In phase and fact in separate, the man 
 
 In singleness intrenched in virtue strong, 
 
 And sure, and sapient of ends complete 
 
 And competent in wisdom's sphere and range. 
 
 Great Passaconnaway, the chief of chiefs, 
 
THE SEER. 41 
 
 In contemplation of the measures vast, 
 
 Urged by the Spirit of the boundless world, 
 
 Within his scheme to hold the paleface prince 
 
 And promise of the days yet kept in store 
 
 For his rude, simple children of the wild, 
 
 The prospect owned, and to his hope gave pledge 
 
 Of his whole being ; and, with honest heart. 
 
 And humble mind, and words of import wise. 
 
 Low at the feet of English prestige proud. 
 
 He cast the burden of his keen concern 
 
 And thus made suppliance with earnest mien : 
 
 " I come. Chief Winthrop, from the savage wild. 
 
 Where the wolf howls, the eagle screams, and earth 
 
 In fear and startled air e'er yield the voice 
 
 Of fierce destruction wasting. . In my tribes. 
 
 That thrill with madness, of resentment bred 
 
 In their fierce haunts, the flame exulting burns 
 
 Of the destroyer. I have seen how he. 
 
 The wise Great Spirit of the world so wide. 
 
 To you gives knowledge and the skill that proves 
 
 Of life the greater safety, though ye raise 
 
 The hand that strikes the harder, when ye turn 
 
 Your face upon your foes and battle make 
 
 So ripe with death and deep with flowing blood. 
 
 I come, O paleface chief, as one who looks 
 
 Across the boundless sea, when for the sun 
 
 Of happy morn he waits, the light to shine 
 
42 
 
 42 . THE SEER, 
 
 On his dark path and show the homeward way 
 To rest and comfort of his soul that tires. 
 Take me and mine, and in your purpose vast 
 Let us have part, that we may life preserve 
 And plenty find, the while we learn and prove 
 That all our good is yours, as rivers run 
 Together till their waters poured in one 
 Rush with resistless speed to find the sea, 
 And in the deep, wide ocean live for aye. 
 I speak to you and all my sons through me 
 Speak as I do : then give us all your heart ! " *'^ 
 
 In mission wise, sincere, and firm emprise, 
 The great Bashaba of his zeal found grace. 
 Reward, and peace, and in his sovran state. 
 Of English law the subject, lived and thrived. 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 f HIS is my offering ; my breast, 
 Its zeal surcharged, invoked some art, 
 Blithe offspring of a transport blest, 
 
 But thou hast touched and tried my heart. 
 
 With ceaseless throbbing of the brain, 
 Its thought too vast, of mission kind, 
 
 My instincts craved a glad refrain, 
 
 But thou hast probed and plagued my mind, 
 
THE SEER. 43 
 
 Sweet presence troubling ! This my lay, 
 
 Its theme so swift yet half unsung, 
 A voice besought of accents gay. 
 
 But thou hast foiled and filched my tongue. 
 
 Thus shall my rapture droop and faint, 
 
 Its glow all pale, for grief has stole 
 My joy, and loss will weave its plaint 
 
 Till thou hast loved and loosed my soul. 
 
 |HE thought of prudent man embraces skill 
 Of aim and action in the sphere of life 
 That mundane v^elfare fosters, and it guides 
 The footsteps of lithe progress to the goal 
 Of expectation fair in triumph just 
 And joyful, till the land in measure rich 
 Finds safety, v^ealth, and honor : yet there spring 
 From depths of yearning in the human breast 
 The needs, the wants, the crying wishes swift. 
 That plead — for exigencies timeless, vast 
 In soulful scope — the boundless worth and work 
 That soothes deep sorrow's heart and, faithful, proves 
 The wisdom of this transient, glozing world 
 But foolishness — so poor, so weak, so vain ! 
 Anon and e'er some man of mighty strength 
 In earth's oft counsels of the hour and end, 
 Auspicious or portentous, zest and zeal, 
 
44 THE SEER. 
 
 In contemplation of some aspect grave 
 
 Of dread futurity, in feeblest state 
 
 Lays down. The chief, great Passaconnaway, 
 
 Of instincts common unto flesh and blood, 
 
 But human in the function of a man. 
 
 This truth found evident and lent his soul 
 
 To search for wisdom of the world unwon. 
 
 One day, this wise Bashaba, subject true 
 
 Of English royalty in safer rule. 
 
 Met a great wonder. To his ear had come 
 
 The oft repeated fame of him who bore 
 
 The message of a Monarch, greater still 
 
 Than earth's chief potentate, while on his lips 
 
 Dwelt fate unchangeable, for he was son 
 
 And servant of his Lord and Master, high 
 
 In majesty resistless, endless, fierce : 
 
 And Passaconnaway the import held 
 
 In consternation, lest, a powwow, rare 
 
 And ruthless, vengeance taking sure and swift 
 
 Of mighty medicine on rival foes 
 
 Presumptuous, drew near to strike with doom 
 
 And death despairing, and seclusion sought 
 
 And trembled, yet his better, unseen lot 
 
 Awaited. In time's full and fair decree. 
 
 On mission at Pentucket, face to face, 
 
 He gazed upon the emissary strange 
 
 Of a still stranger Chief— and looked in vain 
 
THE SEER. 45 
 
 To see his weapons sharp, and felt no mist 
 Of dullness o'er his startled senses steal, 
 And, for expected darkling wrath, his face 
 Beheld benign, while, through its tender smiles. 
 Broke words of gentleness, assuring, sweet. 
 For speech anticipated harsh with scorn. 
 And grasped his hand, unmoved in action dire 
 To aught directed — and his spirit thrilled. 
 Astonished that such worth in high emprise . 
 Should mien so lowly bear and life so meek.**^ 
 
 Suns rose and fell, moons waxed amain and waned, 
 
 A year fulfilled its course and told complete 
 
 Its tale of varied seasons and the change 
 
 That ever life holds subject, and the mind 
 
 Of Passaconnaway, of musing thought 
 
 In deeper contemplation, dwelt within 
 
 On hasting days and time's approaching goal 
 
 Of swift transition to the unseen realm 
 
 Of the hereafter, till he inly craved 
 
 Some full assurance of some entrance fair 
 
 Within some sphere of spirit, soul and sense 
 
 In strict integrity, when present scenes 
 
 Had vanished, and the past had laid in store 
 
 All their fond excellence and treasure dear. 
 
 Shorn of their future prospects e'er and aye : 
 
 And thinking thus his soul found cheerful light 
 
46 THE SEER. 
 
 And pleasant comfort. While again he sought 
 
 Some end of regal service to his tribes, 
 
 He southward journeyed, and the stranger rare — 
 
 The paleface powwow high, and yet so low 
 
 In his demeanor — once again his soul 
 
 Accosted, and his hand put forth in peace 
 
 And pledge of friendship, and an ear besought 
 
 For speech of consolation for time's woes. 
 
 And life's dull doubts, and fears that ever haunt 
 
 Reflection mindless of eternal hopes 
 
 And endless joys that of God's goodness take 
 
 Their sure fruition ; and Bashaba, chief 
 
 Of mighty savage sway, and skilled in lore 
 
 Of wisdom barbarous, sat lowly down. 
 
 And with his chosen braves of counsel true. 
 
 In silence listened, and the powwow pale. 
 
 The pious Eliot, apostle sent 
 
 Of Lord Messiah, thus his message gave : 
 
 ^^ Dear brothers of the wild, I here uphold 
 The Word Omnipotent. He whom I serve — 
 The Lord from Everlasting — bids me speak 
 Your peace and profit, for, the time at hand 
 Of his approaching kingdom, ye have need 
 Of his blest comfort of the life that is. 
 And that which is to come, when death shall close 
 Your present pilgrimage on time's bleak shores. 
 
THE SEER. 47 
 
 Within my hand behold the pledge he gives — 
 
 The Lord Almighty — of his holy will 
 
 And wish complacent to his children dear, 
 
 Of whom are we, created by his hand. 
 
 And, by his bounty of the land and sea. 
 
 Preserved from day to day and fitly framed 
 
 For his true service. Let me read, I pray. 
 
 From this — the Holy Book, his own true word — 
 
 That ye may know his counsel. Thus he says : 
 
 From the bright rising of the eastern sun 
 
 Until its going down to western dark, 
 
 My name shall mighty be among the tribes— 
 
 The scattered Indians, and in each place 
 
 Shall honored be with prayer full oft and pure ; 
 
 For great my name shall be, saith he, the Lord 
 
 Of hosts, among the Indians, ^'^ To you 
 
 Comes such announcement. May ye rightly mark 
 
 Its potent meaning ! As the sun that burns 
 
 In the blue sky with sweeping luster lights 
 
 Earth's farthest bound, the truth of God, my Chief, 
 
 Shall fill the world till each dear child he owns 
 
 Shall know his right to rule and of his grace 
 
 Have sweet cognition. Of his promise vast. 
 
 Are ye partakers. Keep your hearts in faith 
 
 And holy pleasure ! Yet be doubly ware 
 
 How ye esteem his favor ! He, the Lord, 
 
 Seeks no vain homage of the world in pride, 
 
48 THE SEER. 
 
 But, in soft penitence for evil done, 
 
 And in the service of good deeds to come, 
 
 He will have sacrifice of self and sin 
 
 To win his face and prove his love benign. 
 
 So take ye heed, my brothers, how ye bear 
 
 His Name in honor, for it is a Name 
 
 Not given to our flesh, but, treasure deep. 
 
 Cast in our spirits, and which no one knows 
 
 Save he who, it receiving, glows within 
 
 With righteous fervor of the law fulfilled 
 
 In his own nature, as for aye one feels 
 
 His own heart beat and thus the fact divines 
 
 Of his own being. This, God's holy Name, 
 
 Once stablished in our souls, each heart remoulds 
 
 And forms the likeness of his own till love. 
 
 Warm and divine, replaces earth's cold hate, 
 
 And, by the inward working of his will 
 
 In man thus vivified, renews, exalts, 
 
 And perfects all the being for the day 
 
 Of our redemption, when, from sin escaped, 
 
 And in the full exemption of the life 
 
 Immortal, holy, happy, we shall stand 
 
 Unblemished in God's sight, the image each 
 
 Of his bright Son triumphant, of his right 
 
 And worth eternal richly to partake 
 
 In glory everlasting. Wherefore, I, 
 
 His servant undeserving, ye beseech 
 
THE SEER. 49 
 
 To hearken well and heed the message sure, 
 
 And, putting off the filthy robes of guilt. 
 
 Put on the robe of righteousness unfeigned, 
 
 And, watchful unto faith, confess and pray 
 
 To him with zeal unceasing, that he may 
 
 On each bestow the Name above all names 
 
 Which he ordains to be, and to be held 
 
 In veneration, till each knee shall bow 
 
 And every tongue confess its fame supreme 
 
 From the far east e'en to the distant west 
 
 Of this the boundless world, while from below 
 
 Up to his throne exalted in the skies 
 
 The proclamation of its honor swells. 
 
 So may ye find escape in God's great day 
 
 Which, now appointed, shall in perfect light 
 
 Reveal the secret heart and purpose deep 
 
 Of each before him summoned, and when he 
 
 Shall judge his children by the standard true 
 
 Of him who, Man and God, presents the type 
 
 Of our salvation ; and the hapless soul 
 
 That thrives not with the Name above all names 
 
 Shall desolation find and dark despair. 
 
 Cut off among its people, — from which end 
 
 May God preserve ye ! Hear ye, and heed how ! '' 
 
 Thus spoke the paleface powwow, while his voice 
 Rose high in exhortation, and his words 
 
50 THE SEER. 
 
 In supplication strongV for the quick sign 
 
 Of their complacency of heart and mind 
 
 Who listened ; and chief Passaconnaway 
 
 And his wild braves, with solemn faces, heard 
 
 The great monition, silent, thoughtful, stern. 
 
 Then he, Bashaba wise, his soul awaked 
 
 To contemplation of life's nobler theme, 
 
 In honest speech responded : " All your words, 
 
 O powwow of the Chief that rules the world. 
 
 Come to my ear with good, and yet a new 
 
 And strange thought in them to my soul reveals 
 
 A wondrous meaning. From the early morn 
 
 Of these, my days, when childhood roamed and 
 
 played, 
 Till now when I behold my noonday sun 
 Glide to the west, I e'er have known and served 
 The wise Great Spirit of my ancient sires, 
 And of his word, well spoken to my mind. 
 Have much direction found to soothe and cheer 
 The prospect of life's journey. Yet withal 
 Have I much care felt oft, and in my soul 
 Seemed looking out as to some region vast, 
 And far away across some ocean wide. 
 Where rests the spirit of the brave that tires 
 Of ceaseless tossing on life's restless waves 
 Within its slight canoe, that floats and still 
 E'er threatens soon to sink in blackness deep 
 
THE SEER. 51 
 
 And hopeless, — though I never yet to pray 
 
 Have once found purpose. But your words so strange, 
 
 That crave the heart made new by worth within. 
 
 To work alone the peace that lives and lasts 
 
 In presence of the Manit, who will judge 
 
 All work at last, move me indeed to pray 
 
 And seek his favor : and my sons shall hear 
 
 My thought and of its sure intent receive 
 
 My counsel to observe and well pursue 
 
 The prompt example. So may we indeed 
 
 Have wisdom unto good for aye and aye ! 
 
 Great friend, receive my promise and be sure 
 
 Of my true tongue, and be you swift to come 
 
 And dwell among us, so our lives may learn 
 
 Of your direction in the path of right ; 
 
 And that, within our midst, you oft may pray 
 
 To the Great Spirit that no direful woes 
 
 Such as you speak for those who heed not him 
 
 Who gives the Name above all other names 
 
 Shall come upon us. Speaking, I have done." 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 fHE thought flies east, the thought flies west, 
 The land is broad where treasures be, 
 But the heart still longs for a portion blest 
 Over the silent sea. 
 4 
 
52 THE SEER, 
 
 A song breathes high, a song breathes low, 
 
 Sweet music charms with varied key. 
 But the ear still lists where the zephyrs blow 
 Over the silent sea. 
 
 The light gleams bright, the light gleams soft, 
 
 Rich, blended hues adorn the lea. 
 But the eye still peers for a luster oft 
 Over the silent sea. 
 
 The time gives work, the time gives rest. 
 
 Diversion just tempts care to flee. 
 But the soul still dreams of a boon expressed 
 Over the silent sea. 
 
 O life doth wound ! O life doth heal ! 
 Conserving law binds you and me, 
 But a love still yearns, as its fancies steal 
 Over the silent sea. 
 
 |HE bright sun lights the passive world in pride, 
 But sinks and seeks the west to darkness own ; 
 The lustrous moon illumes the sphere of night 
 To drop and disappear, its lamp burned low ; 
 The greater stars and lesser, one by one, 
 The shaded dome embellish with their glints 
 Of cheerful radiance, and then they glide 
 E'en to their setting, and their feebler beams 
 
THE SEER, 53 
 
 No more bear witness of the deathless day, 
 
 In the far spaces of the boundless world, 
 
 Beyond the circuit of the earth's proud eye 
 
 And yet so impotent. Time in its flight 
 
 Impetuous all brightness turns to dark 
 
 In the dull vision of the world's crude thought, 
 
 And sun, and moon, and stars, in the dim sight 
 
 Of man's discernment in the pale of sense. 
 
 Decline, and grope, and in the deep submerge 
 
 Of doom and death, and nature's dark despair. 
 
 Yet he who, gifted with a nobler heart 
 
 And truer evidence of worth within, 
 
 P'oresees the low horizon of his west. 
 
 As down his sunset slope he swiftly glides. 
 
 Courts his composure, and his wasting hours 
 
 Still yields to service of kin, kith, and kind, 
 
 The while anticipant of the last step 
 
 That enters the abyss, his purpose grand. 
 
 Thus Passaconnaway, the sachem high. 
 
 Beheld the sun of his exalted day 
 
 In haste declining to the western eve, 
 
 To set forever to the world that waits 
 
 But on appearance and illusion, vain, 
 
 Yet e'er potential, in time's stubborn thought, 
 
 To foster doubt, and dread, and dismal doom. 
 
 Yet he, the wise Bashaba, with his face 
 
 Turned to the night's dim curtain, soon to drop 
 
54 THE SEER. 
 
 Across his life's late pathway, in full calm 
 
 And confidence of soul, his purpose gave 
 
 Still to his people and their profit vast. 
 
 In fair example in the end that proves 
 
 Man's true advantage in the sphere of time. 
 
 The pledge and promise sure to high and low, 
 
 He spurned rude, wild concerns, and in his thought 
 
 Ignored all aims that on aspiring worth 
 
 Impose but sorrow and relentless woe. 
 
 One day, one solemn day, of counsel wise, 
 
 Of wishes eminent for lasting good 
 
 And happiness, prolonged in time's awards 
 
 For his own people, Passaconnaway, 
 
 The chief of chiefs, and mighty in emprise 
 
 Of hopeful virtue to his tribes that leaned 
 
 Upon his wisdom, in convention large, 
 
 At oft Pentucket, met his chiefs and braves. 
 
 And opened all his heart in words that thrilled 
 
 Deep in their bosoms ; for he spoke as one 
 
 Who last monition of earth's folly takes 
 
 And, to the ears that list again no more 
 
 His faithful word, transfers in tones of awe 
 
 His warning. " Brothers, chiefs, and braves," he said, 
 
 " In silence hear my speech, for I am old. 
 
 And, like the sapless tree that casts its leaves, 
 
 And in the autumn blast sways to its fall, 
 
THE SEER, 55 
 
 I totter to the end that lays me low 
 
 On earth's cold bosom. Ere the winds pass by 
 
 And leave me lifeless on the damp, chill ground, 
 
 I leave you this, my counsel. Ye have known 
 
 How, ere the paleface came to spy the land, 
 
 We held him foe and strove in vain to find 
 
 The means of his prevention ; and, your chief 
 
 And greater sachem, man of medicine. 
 
 More famed than any other in the tribes 
 
 That roam this region, I against him wrought 
 
 My swift enchantments unto fruitless ends 
 
 And wasted strength : ^^ and now he thrives to fill 
 
 The world where once he strayed a lonely child 
 
 And feeble stranger. Yet, for judgment lacked 
 
 In our first thought, we now have wisdom lent 
 
 For right direction in the path that leads 
 
 Where dwells our safety. Mark the words I speak ! 
 
 Bashaba, I have light than of the sun. 
 
 And of the moon, and of the silent stars, 
 
 More eminent. Within my spirit dwells 
 
 The wisdom of the Manit, and he bids 
 
 Me chide your folly that would oft inspire 
 
 The deeds of dire destruction that return 
 
 To blast the hearts that hasten to the heat 
 
 Of rude, rash rage that seeks with zest to spoil 
 
 The plan of the Great Spirit, who with might 
 
 Resistless e'er fulfills his wish and work 
 
56 THE SEER. 
 
 Through all the tumults of his children, fierce 
 
 In their mad fury. In the paleface tribe, 
 
 The Sachem of the world has shown us worth 
 
 That claims our profit ; for the day has dawned 
 
 That seeks our greater comfort of the wealth 
 
 That, like sweet water from the mountain side, 
 
 From nobler life and action springs to cheer 
 
 The spirit thirsting for some purer zeal 
 
 And truer purpose. By this truth ye oft 
 
 Have my example tested. Ye have seen 
 
 My purpose in the law that turns our feet 
 
 From savage paths and leads us to the place 
 
 Of fairer pleasure ; and ye know that erst 
 
 I of the wise, good powwow sought a heart 
 
 To come among us and his counsel give. 
 
 To save our lives and peace until the day 
 
 When the Great Spirit of the world at last 
 
 Shall of each thought take notice, and no brave 
 
 Shall e'er be able from his eye to hide 
 
 In the thick darkness. Now, my chiefs and braves, 
 
 My brothers all, in my last counsel, hear 
 
 The message of the Manit. Strive ye not 
 
 Against the English. From the sunrise land. 
 
 Across the wide, deep water, come the braves 
 
 With hearts of stone, and faces red with wrath. 
 
 And weapons swift for blood, to crush the land 
 
 That tempts the Manit's anger, when he lends 
 
THE SEER, 57 
 
 His fury to displeasure. See the storm 
 
 That from the sunset sky breaks from the heat, 
 
 With mighty wind, and thunder long and loud. 
 
 And lightning swift and sharp, and dashes down 
 
 The tall trees of the wood, and all the field 
 
 Lays waste with wild confusion of the strength 
 
 Of stern destruction ! So will ye your peace 
 
 And pride find desolate who seek to stay 
 
 The arm of the Great Spirit. I have done. 
 
 My sun goes down. My brightness seeks the shade. 
 
 The deep, dark west drowns all the daylight dim." 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 N silent night, a slumber, deep, 
 
 Lethean, chains the world ; on high 
 The wakeful stars dumb vigils keep ; 
 Earth's breast is faint to breathe a sigh. 
 
 In sovran night, stern darkness bears 
 
 The scepter ; then, with trembling flame, 
 
 Each watchfire burns ; time's aspect wears 
 A veil of awe, subdued and tame. 
 
 In solemn night, beneath the dome. 
 For dread concern, we fall and pray, — 
 
 *' Sweet love-lights, guide our spirits home, 
 Through crystal depths, to reahns of day!" 
 
58 THE SEER. 
 
 iHE great Bashaba, man of many days,^^ 
 Of chiefs the pride and glory of his braves, 
 In quiet sought the solace of his age, 
 And, in the comfort of the forest, field. 
 And flowing fountain of the endless hills. 
 Life's sunset watched till all the placid west 
 Beamed with bright beauty in the mellow scene 
 Of night approaching in the twilight fair ; 
 Yet, of conception just of useful ends 
 In time established, he example still 
 Of fair advantage furnished to his brave 
 Of prestige emulous. For civil rights. 
 In bounds determined by the law that makes 
 All social good established, firm and just, 
 He made petition, being subject true 
 And loyal of the state that English rule 
 Made possible, for peace and plenty framed. 
 Then the glad paleface chief, in zeal discreet. 
 In presence of such judgment, free, and fraught 
 With deep consideration, purpose rare, 
 And prospect great, of welfare to the tribes 
 Auspicious, lent his royal hand and seal 
 To the right project, and Bashaba gave. 
 Within the fertile vale of Merrimack, 
 Of land a spacious tract — to east and west 
 Three miles, and three to north and south — the stream 
 The whole dividing, half on either side. 
 
THE SEER. 59 
 
 While, in the bosom of the river bright, 
 
 Lay two green islands, jewels rich and rare."*"^ 
 
 Here Passaconnaway, once savage chief, 
 
 But now a civil sachem, found his rest 
 
 And ransom permanent, his manhood crowned. 
 
 Within his wigwam rude, but still of home, 
 
 In civil order fixed and aspect kind, 
 
 The just expression, oft his tribal kin 
 
 He gave swift welcome, and his wisdom made 
 
 The profit of his sons, and sons of sons,^^ 
 
 And of his braves, that oft an insight craved 
 
 Of the great future, unto prudent ends 
 
 And faithful aims devoted ; and betimes. 
 
 When some deep fervor of his spirit rose 
 
 To heights above earth's privilege but found 
 
 Of subjects mortal, he monition urged 
 
 And counsel gave of hints, and hopes, and helps 
 
 That trend on things immortal, while his thought 
 
 E'er fostered some great faith of instinct true 
 
 And comprehension vast of life, and love, 
 
 And lore unsearchable to sense that gropes 
 
 But in the shadow of earth's fancy vain 
 
 And time's forlorn despair, — though all his mind 
 
 Was shrouded in the gloom that nature sheds 
 
 In the crude soul barbaric. Then the last. 
 
 Soft, smiling rays of sunset lingered low 
 
 In the dim, far horizon, and he lay 
 
6o THE SEER 
 
 Upon his couch of furs, and in his thought 
 
 Still dwelt on worth that, wrought within. 
 
 E'er lives, and thrives, and triumphs in the face 
 
 Of death and dissolution ; while with zeal, 
 
 Serene but firm, on lips that feebly broke 
 
 The accents of his being, straight he bore 
 
 The test of his exemption from time's care 
 
 And terror's dark delusion. As he sank 
 
 Fast to the curtained dark of twilight's close. 
 
 Once o'er his features wan a strange concern 
 
 Crept like a passing shade. In whispered tones, 
 
 But earnest accents, great Bashaba said, 
 
 " What means this tumult ? " Then attendants kind 
 
 With haste replied, "A man of medicine 
 
 Would ease your heart." "^^ Then he, Bashaba wise, 
 
 From soulful depths responded, " Of his skill 
 
 I need no comfort, since the Name I own 
 
 Which is all medicine." A thoughtful brave 
 
 Then explanation asked, and of the Name 
 
 Mysterious craved knowledge ; for he would 
 
 Die grandly when the nightly shadows fell 
 
 Across the pathway of earth's daytime late. 
 
 Then Passaconnaway, the sachem true. 
 
 Breathed his last message to the world that wore 
 
 The woe of his departure. " In his breast 
 
 Who hears the Manit's voice," he softly said, 
 
 "And heeds his counsel. Wisdom works to mould 
 
THE SEER, 6 1 
 
 His being unto newness in the form 
 
 Of the Great Spirit's Son, a Chief in life, 
 
 And Sachem strong in death, and, like the sun. 
 
 His own bright splendor, for his name is Light, 
 
 And Light he is, and in his Light he lives 
 
 To know no darkness. In this Light I walk 
 
 Straight to the shadow which no shadow is 
 
 Before the dawning in the endless day. 
 
 Farewell ! I go ! The morn is in the east ! 
 
 The stars go out ! The moon fades in the west ! 
 
 The mighty Sun commands the boundless sky ! " 
 
 POSTLUDE. 
 
 1^ RIGHT Messenger of holy love, 
 1^ Whose thought surveys this earthly scene, 
 In mercy stooping like a dove 
 
 Through paths of atmosphere serene, 
 Our wisdom in obscure lines 
 
 Perceives thy sacred, vast designs. 
 
 This world is but a tiny space. 
 
 Of avenues and measures less 
 Than thy least gift requires to trace 
 
 Its fullest art to lure and bless ; 
 The bounties of thy free discharge 
 
 Demand God's whole creation large. 
 
62 THE SEER, 
 
 We catch but glimpses of thy smile 
 And whispers of thy cheerful voice 
 
 Who yet shall own thy face, the while 
 We mingle in thy counsels choice, 
 
 Fruition crowning hope, as we 
 
 Shall gain thy ampler courts and thee. 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
PRELU DE 
 
 I^HE heart doth yearn for purer zeal intense, 
 ' But when devotion swift doth often pour 
 Earth's fullest cup, it weeps for love's expense 
 That is no more. 
 
 The fruitful mind doth delve for treasure rich. 
 Yet longs for riches, for the world's emprise 
 Yields not the gem of gems, truth's jewel which 
 Still deeper lies. 
 
 In present fields, life's patient hands the wheat 
 
 Of harvest reap, but when the constant sun 
 Sinks to the west, their rest is incomplete. 
 Their work undone. 
 
 So hope doth dream, and ever dreaming gains 
 Its fondest pledge, that he who zest instills 
 In the quick soul, where larger room obtains, 
 Its ends fulfills. 
 
THE LAST POWWOW, 
 
 iHE thoughtful mind that dwells on problems deep, 
 And scans life's broad arena, where the hopes. 
 The cares, the struggles, of men's hearts, involved 
 In virtue's mazes or the chains of vice. 
 Of strange causation contemplation oft 
 Indulges; and, though scenes of lustrous pride 
 Of nature's beauty tempt reflection light, 
 The law's great theme of destiny profound 
 Still oft compels the soul to aspects grave. 
 And stirs impressions mighty in the man 
 Who ponders on the aims that peace impart 
 And safety promise in the sphere of time. 
 
 Across the fertile vale of Merrimack, 
 
 Where nestles by the stream the city fair. 
 
 New Hampshire's regal seat,^ one looks and sees. 
 
 With freshness, verdure, and with bloom bedight. 
 
 The invitation lavish unto dreams. 
 
 Illusive, sweet ; but then, perchance, he turns. 
 
 In fancy's wandering through varied fields. 
 
 And touches on the border-land of hints 
 
 5 
 
68 THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 That into distance stray, to grasp the wish 
 And worth that, in the restless, throbbing breasts 
 Of ancient sachems ^ of the valley rich. 
 Forecast in smiles or frowns eventful fate : 
 And thus his muse grows solemn till he dwells 
 Alone on hopes that were, and yet were not, 
 In Wisdom's stern decree, time's test to try. 
 
 It may have been, one day, one distant day, 
 
 That old Pehaungun in his wigwam sat, 
 
 Last of the Penacooks,^ and, in sad thought, 
 
 Beheld the shining river and its vale 
 
 Of smiling beauty ; and, in musing long 
 
 On strength and pride departed of the tribe — 
 
 His sires and brothers — that the land once claimed 
 
 In prestige undisputed, with his face 
 
 All dark with doubt and heaviness of heart. 
 
 He haply craved within his heaving breast 
 
 Some meed of cause in explanation found 
 
 Of such despair and devastation wrought 
 
 Upon his people, peerless, proud, but pressed 
 
 To painful proneness of their prestige prompt. 
 
 Their star just setting in the silver sheen 
 
 Of the dim twilight. Here we skill invoke 
 
 To tell a tale — as if Pehaungun lent 
 
 An eager ear — and reason ripe disclose 
 
 And profit pledge to him who hears and heeds. 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 69 
 
 W> 
 
 Interlude. 
 |HE rose, unfolding in a smile, 
 
 When day has just begun, 
 Yet grieves, her brightness less the while 
 Than luster in the sun ; 
 
 And when a lark, full glad to greet 
 The morning, springs on high. 
 
 He saddens that his flight, so fleet, 
 Is still below the sky ; 
 
 And I, in joy each early day, 
 
 Muse with afliatus strong, 
 Yet mourn that skill cannot portray 
 
 My love, the queen of song. 
 
 iHE dim, old days of ancient life and lore, 
 Within the valley ever bright and fair, 
 Evolve, in contemplation of the soul. 
 The story of great fame and v^ondrous pride 
 In puissance of honor. Ere the march 
 Of civil progress, by the English wrought. 
 Usurped the wide domain of waste and wild 
 In high New Hampshire, here indeed was known 
 Such wisdom in command of men and moods 
 As ever admiration stirs in those 
 Who mark great triumphs and approval give 
 
70 THE LAST POWWOW, 
 
 To thoughtful excellence in rightful rule. 
 The sachem wise, chief Passaconnaway,^ 
 Of Penacooks the potentate supreme 
 By law's inheritance, had roused the tribe 
 To valor high and prestige far renowned. 
 Of instincts prescient, of aims and ends 
 Constructive in the sphere of royal sway. 
 Of lofty motive urged, and grander scheme 
 Made manifest, this savage sachem, rude, 
 But still magnificent in noble mind. 
 And mien, and purpose, many tribes had led 
 To wise confederation, and they held 
 Their rights and wishes common, save that he, 
 Bashaba^ named, great Passaconnaway, 
 Child of the Bear,^ was sovran lord of all, 
 While Penacook was found, the pristine tribe. 
 Of honor first, in name and fame elate. 
 
 Thus ruled Bashaba, mighty prince and head 
 Of tribes that told not less than four times four 
 In thriving numbers, daring chiefs and braves. 
 Each sannup with his squaw and children oft, 
 A savage multitude that raged and roamed 
 Far by the ocean strand and inland surged,"^ 
 A host then countless,^ — and its strength was firm. 
 Nor was such aspect prosperous the prize 
 Alone of prowess in the field of war 
 
THE LAST POWWOW, 7 1 
 
 And fearless conquest ; for, Bashaba, wise 
 
 In ripe discernment of time's issues vast, 
 
 Had counseled prudence in the sphere of thought 
 
 And act administrative, peace esteemed 
 
 And safety pleaded, with life's worth that trends 
 
 On things supernal held in choice emprise 
 
 Of potent strict assertion. He had said, — 
 
 ^' Be wise before the Manit, he who lives. 
 
 Chief of our lives and days, and in the hearts 
 
 Of his true braves works wisdom unto wish 
 
 And worth beneficent ; and he in me, 
 
 His spirit prompting mine, has made me clear 
 
 To see your hope triumphant, or your fear 
 
 In doom destructive, as you list my word 
 
 Or close your ear and hold my counsel naught."^ 
 
 Time's scenes have oft transition, and our days 
 Oft wend to change that e'er of heart and mind 
 Takes wiser counsel, and who haply lays 
 His grasp on larger knowledge, for his guide 
 Upon the path progressive, gains the prize 
 Of noble emulation, and his soul 
 Confirms in hope and prospect in the van 
 Of life that prospers unto virtue's goal. 
 The savage realm by Passaconnaway 
 Held subject, in the sway of rarer zeal 
 And richer zest of honor, in full test 
 
72 THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 Had privilege of profit, when the sun 
 
 Of civil splendor in the social east 
 
 Rose on its night, to light its gloom afar, 
 
 And wake response in actions of the day, 
 
 Born of the scheme redemptive of the souls 
 
 That plodded but in ways of darkness wild. 
 
 The English came, with art and science, bent 
 
 On greater demonstration of the worth 
 
 In social life potential, and — to crown 
 
 The weal in time's ends possible — the faith 
 
 And pledge of life eternal, in the sphere 
 
 Of righteous merit, manifest to souls 
 
 That longed for peace perpetual, when thought 
 
 Revolved the world's vain promise. In the van 
 
 Of the crude prospects of the savage mind, 
 
 Such advent grew portentous in the dread 
 
 Of sudden devastation in the ways 
 
 And walks accustomed ; and, with swift emprise. 
 
 Great fear all hearts assailed, and savage braves. 
 
 To nameless prowess trained, in trembling mien 
 
 The future held in contemplation grave. 
 
 In such presentment of the time that tried 
 
 The soul barbaric, Passaconnaway, 
 
 Bashaba, chief of chiefs, and mighty man 
 
 In counsel sage, but greater still in gifts 
 
 That ends foresee beyond the shady bounds 
 
 Of time and sense, but feeble in the sphere 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 73 
 
 Of truth's discernment, in his spirit rose 
 
 Above the mists of doubt and, with the eye 
 
 Of judgment prescient of grander aims 
 
 Within the Manit's purpose, gave his heart 
 
 To the great prospect, and his subjects urged 
 
 To thoughts and acts prudential in the sphere 
 
 Of wisdom provident of sense and soul. 
 
 In faithful zeal, within the concourse great 
 
 Of chiefs and braves, he made his urgent plea, 
 
 And bore his attestation straight and strong. 
 
 And said, " My chiefs and brothers, braves and friends, 
 
 Give ear and hear my speech, for I am he 
 
 Whose spirit talks with Manit, and I know 
 
 The thing to come and see the prospect far 
 
 Of your true safety. In the English cause 
 
 Lies your hereafter. With the paleface strive 
 
 No more in future. In his will, and work. 
 
 And worship shall the redskin tribes obtain 
 
 Their promise certain. Lo ! The Manit rides 
 
 Upon the wind that fells the stoutest tree, 
 
 And on the wave that sweeps the ocean shore 
 
 And leaves naught that resists it. In the law 
 
 And service of the time that daw^ns anew, 
 
 Like sunshine in the east, let us behold 
 
 Our patient peace and plenty till we come. 
 
 Well and with joy, where rests the soul of care 
 
 In life's true wigwam. With this counsel firm, 
 
^74 THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 Take my example. From the wild I turn 
 To seek the fruit that from the fertile field 
 I pluck with pleasure in the plan that proves 
 The worth of wisdom. Thus shall all my days 
 See sunshine soft and sweet, till in the west 
 The daylight dies in darkness deep of death, 
 Yet cast in calm, a sighless summer eve." ^ 
 Thus great Bashaba spoke, and kept his word, 
 And to the civil law of English mode, 
 Adherence gave, and on his own estate. 
 By line and scroll determined, kept his peace 
 And nourished profit, till life's end the type 
 Of manhood mild and meek, of virtue vast. 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 ®THOU, of royal gifts, to me 
 Earth's tokens, time's endowments choice, 
 I gladden for thy grace, by thee 
 In beauty's^excellence rejoice. 
 Yet once I tune a cheerful lay 
 For that which will not pass away. 
 
 How subtly the presentment came, 
 When first we met, as I beheld, 
 
 With longing gaze, thy tender flame 
 Of rising beams, that doubt dispelled, 
 
 As hope descried each trembling ray 
 
 And prayed it might not pass away. 
 
THE LAST TOWWOW. 75 
 
 Now is my spirit still ; I reap 
 
 The harvest of the boundless charms 
 That deck thy maidenhood, but keep 
 
 My soul intent on thine, which arms 
 My steadfast heart, that dreams for aye 
 Love lasts and cannot pass away. 
 
 ETIMES a noble soul, in virtue's path, 
 The standard of the truth in high emprise 
 Holds up before the world, and, full of zeal 
 For profit excellent and prospect wise. 
 In thought impulsive, deems the triumph swift 
 Of priceless rectitude, at once, at hand. 
 And feasts his soul observant on the wealth 
 Expectant in the promise of his dream. 
 Cast in the realm ideal. This, a world. 
 Of instinct sensuous, of passion wild, 
 Of vain reflection selfish — in the moods 
 Of mindless method in the sphere of dread 
 Of true or false designs on pleasure dear 
 Or privilege exemptive — slowly grasps 
 The fact conservative of right and rule 
 In Wisdom's work prudential. He who looks 
 Beyond the present to the future day. 
 Of ripe fruition of some grander scheme 
 Of judgment popular, has sorest need 
 Of patience puissant, endurant, long, 
 
76 THE LAST POWWOW, 
 
 In his heart's travail for the worth he waits. 
 
 Great Passaconnaway, the sachem rare, 
 
 This theme attested in his own true soul 
 
 And mind, anticipant of nobler aims 
 
 And ends more eminent, within the bound 
 
 Of the great circle social. His was hope 
 
 That slight reward found certain, and his sun 
 
 Went down the west, to shed its last, pale beams 
 
 Upon a world still wasting wealth of will 
 
 In wildest worthlessness. A purpose vile, 
 
 In social friend or foe, in savage clan 
 
 Or civil conclave, oft, in strife for gain 
 
 And haste unhallowed, passion fierce enraged 
 
 And fell destruction prompted ; and as e'er 
 
 In contests dire of simple forces weak 
 
 With energies compounded, staunch, and strong. 
 
 The ranks of redmen shrank before the rush 
 
 And rant of palefaced anger, skilled to bear 
 
 The ardor more disastrous. Thus was fate 
 
 Made unpropitious to the tribe that bore 
 
 The name of Penacook, choice treasure found 
 
 Of zeal in the Bashaba : yet the mind 
 
 And instinct barbarous, in rash design 
 
 For privilege delusive, set the snare 
 
 Of liberty's own doom, and life's despair. 
 
 And death's grim exultation in the face 
 
 Of virtue horrified, the fiend of vice 
 
THE LAST POWWOW, 77 
 
 Exalted without mercy. From the east, 
 
 By civil transportation, came a foe. 
 
 Dread occuwee,-^^ the liquid hot that burned 
 
 The soul's own wigwam, while death's demons danced 
 
 Within the lurid light, and howled in glee 
 
 Of frantic furor, till damnation's glare 
 
 And dizzy whirling drew all subjects in 
 
 And down to one deep vortex, hopeless, huge. 
 
 Such things Bashaba saw and inly grieved. 
 
 The cause and course that consummation seek 
 
 On the sad road to ruin fail not oft 
 
 Of counsel provident of worth exposed 
 
 And weal endangered. In the highway rash 
 
 Oft stands a monitor, of aspect firm. 
 
 And word emphatic, but with zest that bears 
 
 The burden of the bane that follows fast 
 
 Upon the track of each whom folly leads 
 
 To the sure goal destructive. Thus a chief, 
 
 Tahanto,^^ wise and prudent, while the blood 
 
 Of tribal royalty within his veins 
 
 Coursed freely, strove in vain with zeal to stay 
 
 The march infernal, moved by occuwee. 
 
 And cried, " Pour out ! Pour out ! The ground may 
 
 take 
 The drink that makes us devils, all as one 
 Bent on bad deeds of doom to friend or foe ! " ^^ 
 
78 THE LAST FOWWOW. 
 
 Nor did example swift in projects wise, 
 
 Borne by the chief of chiefs, full oft to praise 
 
 Inviting choice expression, lack its meed 
 
 Of faithful emulation, when the tide 
 
 Of dark events surged downward. There was one, 
 
 A chief indeed, brave Wonalancet, son 
 
 Of Passaconnaway, an offspring true 
 
 Of the great, good Bashaba, and he gave 
 
 His heart to wisdom and his soul to peace, 
 
 And sure salvation of his people sought. 
 
 Himself in regal power. Once he heard 
 
 The great apostle to the redmen sent — 
 
 The pious Eliot — and felt the flow 
 
 Of ferventness divine within his breast 
 
 Move, melt, and mould his spirit in the form 
 
 Of the Almighty Son, w^ho lives, and loves, 
 
 And in the end makes happy all the man, 
 
 In gentle mien recast, and yet of skill 
 
 To prosper unto virtue more and more 
 
 In the true life eternal.^^ Then great war, 
 
 With furor fierce for blood, and dark with death. 
 
 The whole land menaced, while full oft its strokes 
 
 Laid low the innocent, or near, or far, 
 
 The thrifty home made desolate, the tribes, 
 
 Urged by great Philip, seeking endless woe 
 
 In full destruction for the paleface bands 
 
 Wherever clustered : ^* and the son and chief. 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 79 
 
 True Wonalancet, freed from vengeance quick, 
 
 And prescient of prudence, like his sire. 
 
 His warriors swift withdrew from tempting haunts. 
 
 And, in recesses deeper of the wild. 
 
 Where mountains reared their heads in silent thought. 
 
 And babbling streams in peaceful accents talked. 
 
 And lisping leaves in tones of pity sighed. 
 
 He watched the w^ar-clouds distant, ere the storm 
 
 Broke clear, and sunshine cast its cheerful rays 
 
 Far on the landscape of a thankful world. 
 
 From the dark tempest rescued. Then he came 
 
 Forth from the wilderness, in mercy's strength 
 
 To render deeds of gladness to the heart 
 
 That hung on horror's fate, while yet the land 
 
 Beheld some burden of the strife that e'er 
 
 PYom time to time clashed foes and victims found, 
 
 Or civil, or barbaric. ^^ English law 
 
 Held sway at fair Cocheco.^^ Thither went 
 
 Wise Wonalancet and submission made 
 
 To civil order, and to judgment, wrought 
 
 Of wider prescience of use and weal. 
 
 Looked for redemption of his time and tribe. 
 
 His purpose true his act gave sure attest. 
 
 And when, with rash conceit of vengeance vain, 
 
 A band of thoughtless braves a mother kind 
 
 And five fair children — widow clad in weeds 
 
 And offspring piteous — of English blood. 
 
8o THE LAST POWWOW, 
 
 Held in fierce bondage and to death consigned, 
 
 The angry flames to feed on guileless flesh 
 
 Already burning, Wonalancet came 
 
 With glad salvation, and their safety made 
 
 Both sure and sudden, and to civil heart 
 
 And savage sense made worth and wisdom clear.^"^ 
 
 Yet madness ruled the tribe, and hopes and aims 
 
 Redemptive in the few had weak emprise. 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 E leave thee with the silent past, 
 Responsive to no present call ; 
 Thy rarest pleasures could not last, 
 Thy gifts are shrouded with a pall : 
 O sere old days, 
 O sad old days. 
 Thy spring became untimely fall ! 
 
 Within thy trusted hands were laid 
 
 The pledges of our cares discreet ; 
 The sacred debt ye never paid. 
 
 Thine was a staff, nor sure, nor feat : 
 O weak old days, 
 O wan old days. 
 Thy chaff disclosed no promised wheat ! 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 8 1 
 
 Proud hopes, resplendent as elate, 
 
 Were of thy sweet assurance born ; 
 Ye read no true decrees of fate 
 
 And broke our tender hearts forlorn : 
 O dull old days, 
 O dead old days, 
 Thine is the night that knows no morn ! 
 
 JHE world is witness oft of sudden change 
 In things administrative, as when one 
 To some one other yields the regal palm 
 And scepter, and preeminence resigns, 
 In sequence unavoidable in life 
 And lot uncertain. In the march of time. 
 The royal tribe of Penacook oft found 
 A sachem subsequent to sachem proud. 
 And saw in sway transition — hapless when 
 The worse for better rule, in days that merged 
 On degradation, sped still faster on 
 The fell events that crown a dark despair 
 Of ends and aims of aspiration high. 
 Wise Wonalancet in his turn gave o'er 
 The chieftain's precedence,^^ and fortune ill 
 Bore witness of disaster in the moods 
 Of him succeeding. Kancamaugus, vain 
 In base ambition, on delusion bent 
 In vile conspiracy, the tribe drew on 
 
82 THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 In the wild path of folly till its course 
 
 Far to the dismal west of deadly doom 
 
 In woe proceeded.-^^ In Cocheco town, 
 
 In false security, the aged chief 
 
 Of English arms, gray Waldron, in his hold 
 
 Of fancied strength, resided, and reposed. 
 
 And justice executed, yet withal 
 
 He bore the mien complacent when a brave 
 
 Or squaw sought shelter of his kindly roof 
 
 Within his fortress, of the day or night 
 
 A wearied guest with welcome unto rest 
 
 And rich refreshment to the savage soul. 
 
 To civil comforts stranger. Thus was he. 
 
 The English chief, to apprehension blind. 
 
 When earth's last woe beset him, snared, betrayed.-^ 
 
 A summer eve grew dim, and two mild squaws 
 
 Besought his shelter, and he gave them cheer 
 
 And favor generous ; and as the hour 
 
 Sped to the night full dark, the guests, in thought 
 
 Of their great host's conception of his peace 
 
 And safe precaution, spoke and lightly said, — 
 
 " What if the Indians, the braves estranged,^^ 
 
 Should come to-night ? " Then he, with zeal intense 
 
 And flushing cheek, declared, — "A hundred men 
 
 As brave as breathe the air would hear my word, 
 
 And spring with vengeance on the reckless foe, 
 
 And smite him without mercy, till he fell 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 83 
 
 In the deep, bloody pit his madness made 
 
 For his own danger deadly ! '' ^^ Then the night 
 
 Its darkest curtain drew, and all was still. 
 
 Yet so with dire foreboding. In the dark. 
 
 The faithless squaws, in league with braves alert 
 
 For sharp revenge for wrongs, or true, or false,'^^ 
 
 Arose and stealthily the door unbarred 
 
 And gave the foe admission. Old and gray. 
 
 The English chieftain, roused from sleep profound. 
 
 Of swift defence took counsel, and his sword 
 
 He wielded in defiance till he drove 
 
 The wild assailants close upon the door 
 
 Of their departure from the fortress strong ; 
 
 He then recoiling for an arm more sure 
 
 In death's quick dealing, forth upon him sprung 
 
 The savage victors, who their angry taunt — 
 
 " Who now shall judge the Indians ? " ^* — enforced 
 
 With fierce resentment till his streaming blood 
 
 Paid forfeit of their fury. Rudely bound 
 
 And helpless in his chair, the hoary chief 
 
 The cruel fiends upon a table placed 
 
 In mocking state, and, passing one by one, 
 
 Each brave his knife drew twice across his flesh 
 
 And said, " Thus my accounts I now cross out ! " 
 
 Till, with infernal mutilation scarred, 
 
 The paleface warrior, bleeding, drooped, and died, 
 
 His spirit fleeing from the clay inthralled 
 
84 THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 In dreadful, dumb despair. With rage beset 
 
 On fell destruction far, the restless braves 
 
 Their bloody vengeance plied till all the town, 
 
 In horror of distress, its witness bore 
 
 To the great tragedy, as matrons, maids. 
 
 And men of sterner mould, with children clad 
 
 In mourning mien too somber for their age, 
 
 Wept for their losses, and their hearts consigned 
 
 To grief too deep for words, and in the walks 
 
 Of sorrow bowed in heaviness, their tears 
 
 In silence coursing down their pallid cheeks.^^ 
 
 Such madness, conversant of rash designs 
 
 In wildest execution, on the tribe 
 
 That in its purpose mingled cast a gloom 
 
 Rebuking and suspicious, and its ranks. 
 
 Once full and fair, in doubt, and dread, and doom. 
 
 Fast shrank away, to far dispersion urged 
 
 Among the savage circles of the north,^^ 
 
 The fame of Penacook, once bright, now merged 
 
 In creeping shades oblivious of night. 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 §THE morn is fair in the sunlight's glare I 
 Swift pleasures glide as the swallows fly, 
 And a heart says once, through a face most rare, 
 Good-day and then good-bye. 
 
THE LAST POWWOW, 85 
 
 O the day is bright in the noontide's height ! 
 
 Sweet blossoms smile though the breezes sigh, 
 And a heart is sad, in the sparkling light 
 Good-day, for dull good-bye. 
 
 O the daylight glows at the evening's close ! 
 
 Rich hues exult if the leaves but die. 
 And a heart is glad for the end that knows 
 Good-day but not good-bye. 
 
 iHE aspects of our moral life are cast 
 In moods reciprocative, though its strength 
 May lapse to weakness. On the shores of time, 
 The ocean waves break high and then return, 
 To break again, with ardor, though the tide 
 Still ebbs with force far to the deep abyss 
 Of the dark waters. Though the name, and fame, 
 And puissance of Penacook swept fast 
 To the dim distance of the thoughts of men 
 In themes historic skillful, yet was worth 
 Not in one surge of fortune's ebbing tide 
 Engulfed, to sight extinguished. In the days 
 That saw the slow decline, full oft some zeal 
 Of nobler instinct in the redman's soul 
 This truth attested. White men ^"^ once — a scout — ■ 
 On future weal intent, the land to spy. 
 Came to the township new, which English law 
 
86 THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 Had fixed at Penacook ^^ for settlers true, 
 
 To civil ends devoted, and they craved 
 
 A sojourn for the winter in the place 
 
 Where yet should be plantations, full of life, 
 
 And thrift, and fair prosperity, the arts 
 
 Of peace triumphant in the patient toil 
 
 Of manhood virtuous, and wise, and kind. 
 
 The strangers lingered, but when wintry storms 
 
 And tempests unpropitious had their hearts 
 
 Discomfited with want and sadness wan. 
 
 They drooped in peril of their case forlorn. 
 
 Death on them staring. Then the redmen — few 
 
 And scattered fragments of the once great tribe 
 
 Of royal Penacooks — their spirits moved 
 
 To pity for sad lack, the white men gave 
 
 A portion of their plenty and made glad 
 
 The soul of sore privation. Thus a touch 
 
 Of friendship, that the whole world's kinship proves^ 
 
 In degradation deep expressed the good 
 
 That lives when fate with face averted frowns. 
 
 True virtue wins approval, though its spark 
 Burns feebly in the soul, when conscience, weakj 
 In limping aspect falters, and the man 
 Upon life's highway gropes in moral moods 
 That e'er forebode the consummation dark 
 Of bright worth's obscuration, In the day 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 87 
 
 Of civil culture, dawning on the wild 
 
 Of ancient Penacook, there flamed the zeal — 
 
 In faithful ardor of the heart, enshrined 
 
 In holy impulse, of ambition sped 
 
 By purpose consecrated, and to acts 
 
 Of humbleness devoted unto peace 
 
 That the world's pleasure passes — patiently 
 
 To win the soul barbaric, and the faint, 
 
 Slight worth invite to wisdom. In the band 
 
 Of English settlers came the priest of God — 
 
 The pious Walker ^^ — and his love benign 
 
 Warmed to the Indian whose heart might burn 
 
 With love's returning fire of Goodness caught 
 
 And grace renewed in never ending glow. 
 
 The holy man the pious thought instilled, 
 
 And roused intention godly, and the mind 
 
 To wisdom's uses pointed, while his faith 
 
 He fain attested by his works sincere, 
 
 To admonition equal ; and he gave 
 
 Oft pledges of his word, and to the tribe. 
 
 In strength declining, showed fraternal mood 
 
 And kindly mien, and to his hearth bespoke 
 
 The social welcome, while his presence oft 
 
 The wigwam cheered with sweet and sacred light 
 
 That beamed like soft effulgence of the rays 
 
 That break from Heaven's sun on summits high 
 
 Of God's eternal mountains, when the clouds, 
 
88 THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 With slight disparting, let the brightness through. 
 
 Yet condescension more his purpose proved 
 
 Of confidential fervor, as his son, 
 
 A stripling young and tender,^^ oft he lent 
 
 To light the redman's camp with luster choice 
 
 Of innocence and joy, to be in pride 
 
 Of childish fancy decked with feathers rare, 
 
 And thus returned, a paleface sachem, small 
 
 But filled with gladness of the spirit cast 
 
 In childhood rapt, great glory's guise assumed. 
 
 A soul may stem though it may never stay 
 
 The tide that surges to the sure extreme 
 
 Of life's wild waves reactive. Though the priest. 
 
 In pious prudence, unto virtue urged 
 
 The Penacooks, declining in their might 
 
 And manhood, still the tide that, swelling, bore 
 
 Upon its height no destiny sublime 
 
 Within the grasp of mortals, swept its prey 
 
 On to extinction in the goal of time, 
 
 To leave no trail, or trace, or track behind. 
 
 The redman's pride departed till the chief. 
 
 Ignoble sachem, for base occuwee, 
 
 The bad fire-water, e'en his rights conveyed 
 
 To the shrewd paleface, who his gain invoked 
 
 In his weak rival's passion. Thus the grace 
 
 Of sachems proud, from great Bashaba wise 
 
THE LAST POWWOW, 89 
 
 To Wattanummon^^ foolish, waned and fled 
 
 In fateful degradation. Sad truth tells 
 
 The doleful tale. One shining, summer day. 
 
 Stout Ebenezer Eastman,^^ with his scythe, 
 
 Would fain a meadow^^ mow ; and when his skill 
 
 The thrifty verdure laid in swiftness low. 
 
 The chief depraved came forth, and swung his arms, 
 
 And cried, " My grass ! My grass ! No cut ! No cut ! " 
 
 But when calm Eastman poured in keen design 
 
 And gave the sachem drink to soothe his blame, 
 
 The chief's resentment softened with the flow 
 
 Of light, good nature, in his spirit stirred 
 
 By occuwee, till once again he spoke 
 
 With voice emphatic, spreading forth his hands. 
 
 And said, ^'Your grass! Your grass! You cut! You 
 
 cut !" 
 Thus Eastman purchased freely, day by day. 
 The field's wild bounty and his wealth increased. 
 
 Yet honor saw a deeper shade of gloom. 
 The instinct virtuous, that each to each 
 Makes pure and peaceful in the sacred walks 
 Of love domestic, falters not, nor fails. 
 In the true soul of man. The subtle snare. 
 The unseen blow, the theft of treasure choice 
 Of the fond heart's devotion, spring not forth 
 Save from the spirit craven in the zeal 
 
pO THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 Of passion devilish of reason damned. 
 
 Not oft indeed in savage life has lust 
 
 Such vile fruition. Yet what mind forecasts 
 
 What depth depraved some sinking soul may find, 
 
 The social frame corrupted ? Let this tale 
 
 In brief rehearse the story. In a day, 
 
 A luckless shadow gloomed across the path 
 
 Of a crude sachem^* of the hapless tribe 
 
 Whose sorrovv^s prompt recital. To his home. 
 
 In a fell hour unguarded, came the foe — 
 
 A brave degraded — and his squaw induced 
 
 To faithless flight unholy. Up the stream — 
 
 The pleasant Merrimack — the culprits took 
 
 Their stealthy way till, on a verdant isle,^^ 
 
 They sought the shelter of the sinful night. 
 
 Awaiting morn's still farther transit, found 
 
 Of daring fault upon the friendly way 
 
 Of the deep wild to north. The sachem wronged. 
 
 Yet vengeful, swiftly up the stream pursued 
 
 The guilty pair, and near their foul retreat 
 
 Their soon emergence watched ; and when they took 
 
 Again their swift canoe, full well to speed 
 
 Their flight still onward, then his gun's good aim 
 
 Their double death decided. In the waves. 
 
 Their breathless forms sank deep till vision lost 
 
 Each dank, doomed trace sepulchral, till one day. 
 
 Lodged halfway home, in ghastly plight and pale, 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 9I 
 
 Upon the verdant bank the dead squaw lay, 
 Where designation still narration oft 
 Revives in fame unhallowed, shameful, sad.^^ 
 
 Interlude. . 
 
 jIHERE is a morn more east than east: 
 ® The thrill of bright, pure love that springs 
 Out of the dawn of gladsome things, 
 So like a bird on buoyant wings, 
 Floats on the morn more east than east. 
 
 There is a glow more south than south : 
 The ardor of the thankful heart 
 That bears in virtue's sphere its jDart, 
 Evolved like bloom in lustrous art. 
 
 Flames from the glow more south than south, 
 
 There is a chill more north than north : 
 The dismal shiver in the blast 
 Of conscience o'er a barren past. 
 As shrinks the startled fawn, aghast, 
 
 Is of the chill more north than north. 
 
 There is a night more west than west : 
 The flight that grovels in the dark 
 Of life bereft of honor's spark. 
 The foe's despair, unsheltered, stark. 
 
 Gropes to the night more west than west. 
 
92 THE LAST POWWOW, 
 
 |HE sad narration falters to its close, 
 And little lore now lingers to express 
 The low descending climax of the tale 
 That ends in wretchedness of will and work 
 In the lost tribe degraded. Yet as turns 
 The story to the verge and solemn bound 
 Of its relation dolorous, what change, 
 In sudden mood, affects and blanches pale 
 The face of brave Pehaungun, listing long 
 The slow recital ? Old,^"^ and weak, and wan, 
 He bears the burden of the woes that fill 
 His tribe's regretful history, and feels 
 The feeble props of life declining yield 
 Beneath their load too weighty. In the pain. 
 That wounds his heart, and in his shrouded mind 
 Throbs unto misery intense and deep. 
 His spirit seeks transition, and its flight 
 To the unseen hereafter claims at length 
 In silent resignation, doleful, dumb. 
 His eyelids droop, his breath fails, short and faint. 
 His form sways helplessly, and at the last 
 The earth's cold bosom takes his prostrate length, 
 In aspect lifeless. ^^ To his wigwam come 
 The scattered remnants of his clan, to raise 
 The dismal wail, and rites sepulchral give 
 Their dead companion, brother, friend, and brave. 
 Of their own blood partaker, Of a tree — 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 93 
 
 The forest pine full large — a section long 
 Becomes a rude, rough coffin, to the core 
 By fire persistent hollowed — or the space 
 The blunt, stone chisel renders free to hold 
 The soulless form within — while, for a lid, 
 The bark proves full enclosure. Then a grave. 
 Deep in the ground by excavation made. 
 Receives the tribute of death's dismal doom. 
 The savage sannups, mindless of the scenes 
 That calm solemnity of nobler souls 
 Claim ever in the sphere of virtue tried 
 By fate resistless, lend their hearts profane 
 To madness weird and wild, and to the sky 
 Send up loud cries infernal, as they tramp 
 The damp earth down upon the dead man's breast, 
 And shout aloud, " He no get out ! " till oft 
 ''- He no get out ! " the welkin far resounds. 
 Nor does distraction base in deathstruck minds 
 Cease its wild tumult when, by earth enclosed. 
 The helpless form assumes its endless rest 
 In the dread pit eternal. Still they keep 
 Their fierce carousal, and when day to night 
 Turns black, with shadows, all the darkness deep 
 Strange horror haunts with hellish howling, heard 
 In the far distance, till strong occuwee 
 The reckless riot turns to deathlike sleep 
 Upon the senseless ground ; and all are still 
 Till outraged nature wakes in shame full sore. 
 
94 THE LAST POWWOW, 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 WITHIN my quiet chamber, where 
 Composure kind enchantment brings, 
 For restless grief, I oft repair 
 And listen to a hope that sings. 
 
 There life's pulsation softly beats, 
 As subject to a strict command, 
 
 And calmly thought in guise entreats 
 A message from a far-off land. 
 
 Then, while the zephyr lightly plays 
 To voices of the distant years, 
 
 A promise hymns of coming days 
 
 And melts my passive soul that hears. 
 
 Swift moments flee ; I rise and go. 
 With pearly drops my eyelids hung. 
 
 Nor cause divine ; I only know 
 
 My heart is full ; sweet hope has sung. 
 
 JHOUGH old and sad Pehaungun lists no more 
 The rueful tale of prestige lost and gone, 
 In fancy's light conceit, the thought of time, 
 In witness of the dim events of eld. 
 When Penacooks, in degradation low, 
 Held scarce a foothold of their ancient realm. 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 95 
 
 Turns to the fitful, fateful, closing scene 
 Of the stern tragedy this volume bears 
 To future kind remembrance of the years. 
 In the vast scheme composite of the world, 
 And earthly incidents in time involved, 
 Some co-relation e'er all facts attest, 
 Appendent to, dependent on, and bound 
 By law each to each other. In the course 
 Of life that far ascends in social ways, 
 Or equally descends in paths convened 
 Of things associated, good with good. 
 Or ill with ill, is manifested e'er 
 In each department common. Thus to live. 
 Or die, together, all our gifts, and moods. 
 And customs hold involved the end 
 That each proves worthy, or unworthy shows 
 Each in itself and fragment of a whole 
 Corrupted. This, the truth emphatic, bore 
 Its own swift witness in the waning day 
 Of shining honor in the tribe that knew 
 The great name Penacook in cherished pride.- 
 In such reflections cast, narration bears 
 In these fast closing lines, description true 
 Of The Last Powwow, when the remnants few 
 Of the proud tribe — whose fame in ancient lore- 
 Still fills the land where Penacooks of eld 
 Pound vast prosperity, but still to pine 
 
g6 THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 In poverty disastrous — met once more 
 
 For aye in mad convention on the soil 
 
 Their great forefathers trod and made the scene 
 
 Of wisdom's oft safe counsels. In the days, 
 
 Far distant, when the savage braves upheld 
 
 In honor lofty sages — powwows,^^ deep 
 
 In knowledge weighty, and of insight keen 
 
 In things mysterious to common ken, 
 
 And wise to caution or encourage zest 
 
 Of deeds impetuous — time's courses ran 
 
 To prospects profitable in the sphere 
 
 Of life's sublimer action. Then, for aims 
 
 And uses excellent, when braves convened 
 
 In moods deliberative, there were found. 
 
 In faultless eminence, the powwows, good 
 
 And grave, to challenge fate, and give the charge 
 
 To prudent ends directing : and when zeal, 
 
 In themes exalted, raised their spirits high 
 
 In noble ecstacy — till conscience grasped 
 
 The truth far reaching, and, in flaming speech 
 
 Of eloquence unfeigned, the gifted tongue 
 
 Proved all its potency to stem or stay 
 
 The flood of hasty passion — to impart 
 
 Their fervor to their fellows, then the name, 
 
 In swift transfusion with the spirit fired. 
 
 From few transferred to many, in the bond 
 
 Of fellowship united, thrilled within 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. 97 
 
 The whole assembly, which in fact became 
 
 And appellation powwow. Thus the man 
 
 Gives to the mass his title, e'en as Christ, 
 
 The name preeminent, in spirit lives 
 
 Within all saintly Christians. Yet will f ate '^ 
 
 Its strange transitions urge lull ott in names. 
 
 Nor less full oft in meanings. In the depth 
 
 Of degradation in its foul foray 
 
 Upon the plain of passion, soon the tribe 
 
 Of Penacook the import sunk in shame 
 
 Of powwow, word exalted — name, and act 
 
 In full supremacy of noble zeal 
 
 In minds concerted unto ends discreet ; 
 
 And, counsel turned carousal, then the zest 
 
 And ardor of the spirit, in the glow 
 
 Of rapt sincerity, no longer roused 
 
 Slow manhood virtuous, but, in its stead, 
 
 Fierce furor flamed with blasting breath that burned 
 
 To the soul's core and scorched with anguish keen 
 
 The helpless heart, by occuwee enchained. 
 
 The sun of day was hasting to the eve 
 When fifty braves in name, but yet in state 
 Impuissant of will that courage takes 
 In peril of vain passion, concourse held 
 Upon the banks of Horseshoe,^^ there to lend 
 Their souls and bodies to the revels foul 
 
98 THE LAST POWWOW, 
 
 Of a great powwow — frenzy hot and fierce 
 
 By fateful occuwee, the water charged 
 
 With baneful fire of force infernal fed. 
 
 With arms and much array of warlike guise, 
 
 The riot huge foreseen, with speed they made 
 
 Demonic preparation, save that then 
 
 An instinct still potential of the man. 
 
 Debased and yet susceptible of good. 
 
 Stirred in their savage bosoms. To the east, 
 
 A few steps distant, stood the peaceful home 
 
 Of wise and pious Walker, he whose heart 
 
 Had oft to souls barbaric yearned with love. 
 
 Expressed in actions kindly. All alone. 
 
 His fond wife bore the terror of the deeds 
 
 Prospective held by savages in vogue 
 
 In the long night of horror. Thoughtful once. 
 
 The reckless redskins, counsel taking, said, 
 
 "The good man's squaw will break her heart with 
 
 fear 
 When the loud powwow fills her ear, and she 
 Shall think upon great danger. Let us go 
 Straight to her wigwam strong, and all our bows. 
 And arrows, knives, and guns, give to her hand 
 In wise, safe keeping, till the powwow cease. 
 That she may find her peace and rest till morn : 
 And when again the good man to his home 
 Comes smiling in good heart, he then will know 
 
THE LAST POWWOW, 99 
 
 The redman loves his friend and will not hurt 
 Or make afraid his squaw for wish his own." 
 Thus to the house the thankful braves, in care, 
 Of sacred friendship's peril, in the dread 
 Of fiendish acts uncertain, went, their arms 
 To the glad matron passing, for her cheer 
 Of the brief, wild hereafter, in the rouse 
 Of the impending furor, when their brains. 
 With occuwee inflamed, hot madness ruled. 
 Then to the Horseshoe's bank returning, there 
 They loosed their zeal tempestive in the flow 
 Of the bad water, save that one, for cause 
 Protective, kept the skillful watch and ward 
 Of soberness demanded in the maze 
 Of mind intoxicated, ruthless, rash. 
 The shrouded eve beheld the revel dark, 
 The midnight black observed the horrid din, 
 The rising morn o'erlooked confusion dumb, 
 And when the day had stupor waked to sense, 
 In partial measure potent, to their feet 
 The fevered braves arose, and, all their arms 
 In shamefaced mood assuming, turned their gaze 
 Upon the wilderness with footsteps slow. 
 The great. Last Powwow*^ ended, for no more 
 The Penacooks, within the fertile vale 
 Of Merrimack, mad concourse craved. 
 
 7 
 
lOO THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 Interlude. 
 
 fHE soul, to speak one sacred word, 
 More true, pure, blest than all yet heard, 
 Would leap and carol like a bird. 
 
 Hard fate prevents that accent sweet. 
 
 By some relation incomplete 
 
 Of tongue, or ear, or both to meet. 
 
 O life is wedded to a sigh ! 
 
 The gift divine our lips doth fly 
 
 Till time removes, when we shall die. 
 
 (HE sun revolved to light the patient years ; 
 The placid moon, each nightly sequence just, 
 In motion annual, its mission proved 
 In soft effulgence ; and the twinkling stars 
 Serenely from the dome peeped forth and kept 
 Their dimly faithful watch, when sun and moon 
 Their faces veiled in shadows, as swift time 
 Perennial its work alternate held 
 In strict and true progression. Yet no more 
 The once famed Penacooks in solemn mood. 
 Or mien hilarious, convention found 
 Within their ancient haunts, to counsel good, 
 And rouse the spirit earnest for great deeds 
 Of duty demonstrated, or to stir 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. lOI 
 
 The passion purposeless to potent heat 
 
 That wrought but doom delusive, worthless, wild. 
 
 The scattered remnants of the royal clan — 
 
 Once far predominant — their pathways took 
 
 To wide dispersion in the wasting ranks 
 
 Of tribes fraternal in the blood that ran 
 
 In streams congenital from nameless eld. 
 
 Then prestige faded dim, and weakly low 
 
 Strength waned, and ardor lost its flame 
 
 And blazed no more for lofty, proud emprise 
 
 Of right and rule contested — fitful zest 
 
 Of profit personal, in stealthy deeds 
 
 Of cruel desolation, in the sphere 
 
 Of service slavish, substituting zeal 
 
 In nobler homage of the tribal state, 
 
 Or cause confederated, tribe with tribe. 
 
 Perchance anon for pelf some dusky scout. 
 
 Forth from the nightly dark or forest shade. 
 
 An English home assaulted, and weak age 
 
 And helpless infancy in death's despair 
 
 Laid low and bloody, while the youth and maid, 
 
 The man and matron, in a woeful train. 
 
 Were hastened to the north, the price to pay 
 
 Of zest penurious, when friends, in grief 
 
 And dread concern, their loved and lost should gain 
 
 By ransom purchased, while the savage fiends 
 
 The part but servile played, and to the French, 
 
I02 THE LAS 7^ POWWOW. 
 
 At war with Englishmen, their lust allied. ^^ 
 
 But pangs of internecine war no more 
 
 The heart domestic rends with bloodstained woe 
 
 In fair New Hampshire. Time was, long ago, 
 
 When Englishmen and French their arms resigned 
 
 And gave to peace their pleasure. Kindly aims 
 
 And ends industrious the landscape bless 
 
 With scenes of present bounty ; home, and mart. 
 
 And mill, in oft relief of fertile green 
 
 Far stretching, prove the worth exalted found 
 
 In arts diversified within the vale 
 
 Of Merrimack, the river by this theme 
 
 And tale conspicuous. A countless throng 
 
 Of souls their stations happy find within 
 
 The peaceful valley. — Where indeed are they — 
 
 The Indians — the Penacooks once proud — 
 
 Who filled this realm of plenty ? From the vast, 
 
 On restless, subtle waves the question breathes 
 
 To test the heart's compassion. As the air 
 
 Plays softly in the ear, the lisping leaves 
 
 Take up its accents, and the forest sighs 
 
 Its sweet, sad requiem, and as the breeze 
 
 Floats gently down the slopes and stirs the dells, 
 
 The swaying ferns and grasses sob and make 
 
 Responsive lamentation. Then still thought, ■ 
 
 In tender mood, regretful, hopeful, strong, 
 
 The question bears up to the Endless World. 
 
THE LAST POWWOW. IO3 
 
 POSTLUDE. 
 
 |F aught I have left unsung, 
 t I will give it to the earth ; 
 For the bee knows 
 Where the bloom grows, 
 And honeyed drops have birth : 
 Love's feet have strayed afar, 
 Perchance where roses are ; 
 The land's delight 
 May render bright 
 My notes from sorrow wrung. 
 
 If aught I have left unsung, 
 I will give it to the air ; 
 
 For the bird flies. 
 
 When the leaf dies. 
 On balmy breezes fair ; 
 Sweet love hath flown away, 
 Perhaps when zephyrs play — 
 
 Kind winds that make 
 
 Tones glad that break 
 So sadly on the tongue. 
 
 If aught I have left unsung, 
 I will give it to the sky ; 
 For the stars peep. 
 While the shades creep 
 But cannot reach so high : 
 Love haply finds a rest 
 In starry mansions blest. 
 While the great dome 
 My song takes home. 
 Where joys from woes have sprung. 
 
NOTES. 
 
NOTES TO THE SEER. 
 
 1. Page 7. The Merrimack River, which rises in New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 2. Page 7. The name Crystal Hills was given by early 
 explorers of New Hampshire to the White Mountains. 
 
 3. Page 10. This imaginary time recedes from the year 
 1892. 
 
 4. Page 10. A spot is conceived on a highland within 
 the limits of the present city of Concord. 
 
 5 . Page 1 1 . This name is assumed for reasons that 
 appear later. See note 18. 
 
 6. Page II. The native Indians of New Hampshire were 
 of the Algonquin race and of the Nipmuck family. 
 
 7. Page II. The term Penacook, the "Crooked Place," 
 refers to the tortuous course of the river Merrimack within 
 the limits of the city of Concord. It appears that the Indi- 
 ans of New Hampshire frequently adopted tribal names from 
 the localities where they resided. 
 
 8. Page II. It is doubtful if the eastern Indians of the 
 present territory of the United States ever employed the 
 
I08 NOTES, 
 
 skins of animals in the construction of their wigwams, 
 though there is historic evidence that the western Indians did 
 so. The word noted is used by poetic license. 
 
 9. Page II. An assumed name. 
 
 10. Page II. The Manit, or Manitou, was the supreme 
 deity of the American Indians. 
 
 11. Page 12. The Indian sannups, or males of the tribe, 
 only occasionally condescended to labor, work being the spe- 
 cial function of the squaws. 
 
 12. Page 14. The term 77iedicine^ as used among the 
 Indians, seems to imply the existence of an occult gift in the 
 man who subjectively adopts it. In astrology, also, people 
 who are born under the special influence of the ascending sun 
 are said to be proud. Some mystics have also asserted that 
 persons who are born under a peculiar aspect of the sun are 
 gifted with a second sight. 
 
 13. Page 15. Among the Indians, the rite of burying the 
 tomahawk symbolized the prevalence of peace. 
 
 14. Page 16. According to an imperfect tradition, feathers 
 were worn only by chiefs or their sons. 
 
 15. Page 17. The Indian idea of making medicine seems 
 to imply something akin to conjuration, while it may mean 
 something like deep introspection, which often absorbs the 
 whole consciousness. 
 
 16. Page 18. Deer and wolf was an athletic game played 
 by Indian children. 
 
NOTES, 109 
 
 17. Page 19. The Indian word powwow is equivalent to 
 priest or conjurer. 
 
 18. Page 22. The name Passaconnaway, from papoeis, a 
 child, and kunnewa, a bear, seems by right of analogy to 
 demand the penultimate consonant we give it. The interpre- 
 tation ''Child of the Bear" suggests the assumed name of 
 Kunnewa, ascribed to Passaconnaway's father. 
 
 19. Page 23. An assumed name. 
 
 20. Page 23. See Whittier's poem, "The Bridal of Pen- 
 a;cook," for an account of " Weetamoo," or Wanuchus, who 
 married " Winnipurkit," chief of the tribe of Saugus. 
 
 21. Page 23. The Indian name Merrimack is said to 
 mean " Swift- Water-Place." 
 
 22. Page 23. Namaoskeag, now Amoskeag, was the tra- 
 ditional chief residence of Passaconnaway. See Potter's 
 History of Manchester, N. H., p. 56. There are traditions 
 that indicate that Passaconnaway may have had several tem- 
 porary residences. 
 
 23. Page 24. This island is Sewall's, about three miles 
 above the city proper of Concord. 
 
 24. Page 24. The location of the island is about a mile 
 north of the mouth of the Souhegan. 
 
 25. Page 25. A thoughtful contemplation of Passaconna- 
 way seems to suggest the idea that he was much more than a 
 mere magician. A savage of extraordinary natural talents, 
 and of keen practical intelligence, there are apparent indica- 
 
no NOTES. 
 
 tions that he excelled in that nobility of soul that seems at 
 times to surmount the mere world of sense and for the time 
 being dwell in the loftier realms of soulful realization. 
 
 26. Page 26. A fanciful meaning ascribed to the name 
 Winnipesaiikee is " The Smile of the Great Spirit.'" 
 
 27. Page 30. The Tarrantine tribe of Indians, foes of the 
 Penacooks, lived east of the Penobscot River in Maine. 
 
 28. Page 30. The Mohog, or Mohawk, tribe of Indians, 
 perennial enemies of the Penacooks, lived in the valley of 
 the Mohawk River in New York. 
 
 29. Page 30. The early eminence called Sugar Ball, on 
 the east side of the Merrimack River, and opposite the north 
 end of the Main Street of the city of Concord. 
 
 30. Page 30. The spot is called Fort Eddy at the present 
 time. 
 
 31. Page 32. See note 7. 
 
 32. Page 32. Pentucket, the same as Pawtucket, was in 
 the vicinity of Lowell, Mass. 
 
 33. Page 32. Swampscot was in the vicinity of Exeter, 
 N. H. 
 
 34. Page 32. Newichwannock, sometimes Newichewan- 
 nock, was in the vicinity of Berwick Falls, Maine. 
 
 35. Page 32. The term Bashaba is said to be equivalent 
 to Emperor. The tribes under Bashaba are affirmed to be as 
 many as sixteen, representing a domain extending from 
 Maine to Massachusetts. However, by referring to note 7, 
 
NOTES. Ill 
 
 the reader is reminded that a local name of a tribe does not 
 always appear to imjDly a strictly natural classification of 
 subordinate divisions of the Indian race. 
 
 36. Page 35. It is but natural to suppose that, before civ- 
 ilization occupied the soil of New Hampshire, and in conse- 
 quence of civilized settlements elsewhere, Passaconnaway 
 was duly informed of the incipient progress of a new order of 
 things in America, which history asserts he at first feared. 
 
 2)^ . Page 35. Reference is here made to the somewhat 
 rare geographical fact that, between the Great Bay and the 
 Atlantic Ocean, the Piscataqua River both flows and reflows 
 to and from the sea, according to the alternate motion of the 
 tides. 
 
 38. Page 36. History asserts that Passaconnaway was 
 possibly first known to the English through Christopher 
 Leavitt, who met the great chief at Piscataqua, when on 
 a mission from Massachusetts, the year being 1623. 
 
 39. Page '^6. Among the Indians, the rite of smoking the 
 pipe together was emblematic of peace. 
 
 40. Page 38. The English trader thus slain, and whose 
 murderer was delivered to civil authority by Passaconnaway, 
 bore the name of Jenkins. The rendition was in 1632. 
 
 41. Page 40. The unfortunate and unjust treatment of 
 Passaconnaway and his son and son's family here described 
 occurred in 1642, result of a hasty act of the governor of 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 42. Page 42. In 1644, Governor Winthrop, of Massachu- 
 setts, made the following assertion : " Passaconnaway and his 
 
112 NOTES. 
 
 son desire to come under this government. He and one of 
 his sons subscribe the articles ; and he undertook for the 
 others." Winthrop further recorded, — " Passaconnaway, the 
 Merrimack sachem, came in and submitted to our govern- 
 ment." See Bouton^s History of Concord, N. H., p. 23. 
 
 43. Page 45. The annotated passage refers to the Rev. 
 John EUot, apostle to the Indians, of whom tradition says 
 Passaconnaway entertained fear. 
 
 44. Page 47. Eliot on this occasion preached from the 
 text found in Malachi I: 11, and tradition says he substi- 
 tuted " Gentiles " and " incense "by " Indians" and " pray- 
 er." The year was 1648. 
 
 45. Page 55. Tradition makes Passaconnaway, in this 
 address, delivered in 1660, admit that he had vainly 
 employed his magical arts against the English. 
 
 46. Page 58. It is not certainly known at what time Pas- 
 saconnaway died, or at what age. He appears to have been 
 living in 1663, and it is supposed that he died at the great 
 age of about 120 years. 
 
 47. Page 59. This tract of land, including the two islands, 
 is now embraced in the territory of Merrimack and Litch- 
 field, New Hampshire towns. The islands are called Reed's. 
 
 48. Page 59. History attests the fact that the sons and 
 successors of Passaconnaway measurably at least emulated 
 his character. 
 
 49. Page 60. The medicine man, or conjuror, exercised 
 his art to free others from the influence of evil spirits, doing 
 so with noisy demonstrations. 
 
NOTES TO THE LAST POWWOW. 
 
 1. Page 67. A spot within the hmits of the city of Con- 
 cord, N. H., in the valley of the Merrimack River, was the 
 scene that prompted the theme of this narrative. 
 
 2. Page 68. A sachem, in the ordinary tribal relations of 
 the Indians, appears to have been a chief of the first rank. 
 
 3. Page 68. Pehaungun is said to have been the last 
 native Indian who died within the limits of Concord, where 
 once roamed the Penacook tribe. Pehaungun^s wigwam is 
 said to have been on the present farm of Andrew Fammxi, 
 of East Concord. 
 
 4. Page 70. Passaconnaway was the first chief of Pena- 
 cooks known to the white settlers of New Hampshire. 
 
 5. Page 70. See note 35 of The Seer. 
 
 6. Page 70. See note 18 of The Seer for the derivation 
 of the name Passaconnaway. 
 
 7. Page 70. See note 6 of The Seer. 
 
 8. Page 71. The executive skill, prudent counsel, and 
 religious character of Passaconnaway are amply attested in 
 history. 
 
114 NOTES. 
 
 9. Page 74. Passaconnaway claimed that his spirit was 
 in conscious communication with the Manit, or Manatou. 
 See Note 10 of The Seer. 
 
 10. Page 'J'] . The Indian term occuwee was a name for 
 spirituous Hquor, or "fire-water." 
 
 11. Page ^^ . Tahanto is called a sagamore, a term which, 
 strictly speaking, appears to have belonged to a chief of a 
 rank lower than a sachem, though the terms are frequently 
 interchanged by early historians. See note 2. 
 
 12. Page JJ . On the 27th of October, 1668, Tahanto is 
 said to have met a party of Englishmen who had come to 
 Penacook (now Concord), and he advised them if they had 
 any liquor to pour it out, as it would make the Indians " all 
 one divill." 
 
 13. Page yS. Wonalancet emulated the virtues of his 
 father with apparent strictness. He is said to have been 
 converted by Eliot in 1674. 
 
 14. Page 78. Philip's Indian war broke out in 1675. ^^ 
 the intelligent reader knows, the white settlers of New Eng- 
 land were not only thrown into great consternation, but 
 many suffered in their lives or property, in consequence 
 of it. 
 
 15. Page 79. Wonalancet retired into the wilderness as 
 far as the head-waters of the Connecticut River. He was 
 absent from civilized haunts a year. Returning, though sub- 
 jected to suspicion and injury, he proved himself a sincere 
 friend to the white man's cause. 
 
NOTES. 115 
 
 16. Page 79. Cocheco is now the city of Dover, N. H. 
 
 17. Page 80. In 1676, Wonalancet, having submitted to 
 English authority at Cocheco, saved the Widow Kimball and 
 her five children, as the text asserts. The Kimball family 
 was of Bradford, Mass. 
 
 18. Page 81. It is not certainly known how Wonalancet 
 closed his earthly career. He appears to have joined the St. 
 Francis tribe of Indians upon the border of Canada, and it 
 is supposed he died among them. 
 
 19. Page 82. Kancamaugus was an able man, who 
 attained some English education, being competent to write a 
 passable letter, subscribing himself "John Hogkins," his 
 colloquially assumed name. However, history asserts his 
 unreliable character, and he is said to have been concerned 
 in the Indian massacre at Cocheco, June 27, 1689. 
 
 20. Page 82. Major Waldron, commander of the English 
 military station at Cocheco, previously to the massacre which 
 cost him his life, had been warned of imminent danger from 
 an Indian foray, but he disregarded the apprehension. 
 
 21. Page 82. At the time implied, there were wandering 
 in New Hampshire a representation of Indians who had been 
 engaged in Philip's war. These were considered somewhat 
 as outlaws and were called " strange Indians.'' 
 
 22. Page 83. Major Waldron's assurance on this occasion 
 was purely presumptive, as the sequel shows. 
 
 23. Page 83. Historic opinion has been divided in regard 
 to the true judicial attitude in which Major Waldron stood to 
 
Il6 NOTES. 
 
 the Indians. That he was an object of their vengeance is 
 sure : that he deserved their revenge is not so certain. A 
 number of Indians had been inveigled into captivity in con- 
 sequence of their participation in Philip's war, and Waldron's 
 fate sealed the natural resentment of the savages ; but it is 
 still claimed that the English act of betrayal was discounte- 
 nanced by Waldron. 
 
 24. Page 83. History says the Indians rushed into Major 
 Waldron's presence shouting, *'Who shall judge Indians 
 now?'' 
 
 25. Page 84. It is said that not less than twenty- three 
 persons were killed at this massacre. 
 
 26. Page 84. It appears that after the massacre at Cocheco 
 a considerable number of the Penacook Indians repaired to 
 the St. Francis tribe. 
 
 27. Page 85. Among these prospective settlers were Henry 
 Rolfe and Richard Urann. 
 
 28. Page 86. See note 12 in reference to Penacook as the 
 ancient name of Concord. See also note 7 of The Seer. 
 
 29. Page 87. The Rev. Timothy Walker was the first 
 minister of Concord, ordained and installed in 1730. His 
 permanent home, made a garrison in 1729, is now the re- 
 modeled residence of the Hon. Joseph B. Walker, at the 
 north end of Main Street. 
 
 30. Page 88. This son was afterwards Hon. Timothy 
 Walker. 
 
 31. Page 89. Wattanummon lived in the vicinity of East 
 
NOTES, ■ 117 
 
 Concord. The stream by which Horseshoe Pond is drained 
 into the Merrimack is called Wattanummon's Brook to this 
 day. Wattanummon's wigwam stood near the south end of 
 the railroad bridge across this brook. 
 
 32. Page 89. Ebenezer Eastman settled at Penacook as 
 early as 1727, and built a block house on present land of 
 John Frye, just south of the freight depot at East Concord. 
 Eastman is said to have been the first settler in Penacook. 
 
 '>^2>' Page 89. The spot is now called Wattanummon's 
 Field, being west of the Merrimack River and containing about 
 100 acres, owned by Hon. J. B. Walker, Hon. J. H. Pear- 
 son, and Charles Farnum. 
 
 34. Page 90. This chief was named Peorawarrah, and he 
 is said to have lived below Penacook on the Merrimack River. 
 
 35. Page 90. This was SewalPs Island. See note 23 of 
 The Seer. 
 
 36. Page 91. The place where the body lodged is called 
 Squaw Lot to this day. About eighty rods up the river from 
 the bridge on the East Concord road is the spot where the 
 body lodged, on land owned by Col. J. E. Pecker, the river 
 having changed its course and left the spot inland. 
 
 2^"] . Page 92. Pehaungun is supposed to have lived to the 
 age of over 100 years. 
 
 38. Page 92. Pehaungun died about the year 1732. 
 
 39. Page 96. See note 17 of The Seer for the definition 
 of the Indian term powwow, which had both a personal and 
 a collective application. 
 
Il8 NOTES, 
 
 40. Page 97. The spot was probably not far from the site 
 of the present capacious ice-house, where was once an eleva- 
 tion called Pond Hill, cut down when the Concord & Clare- 
 mont Railroad traversed the spot. 
 
 41. Page 99. The time of the Last Powwow is not very 
 definitely ascertained. It occurred between the years 173O' 
 and 1744. 
 
 42. Page 102. In 1744, the War of the Austrian Succession 
 broke out, involving the martial contention of the English 
 and French, both in Europe and America. The outbreak 
 of this war inaugurated a state of conflict between the Eng- 
 lish and French that lasted, with slight interruption, about 
 twenty years. During this time, the English settlers of New 
 England were in much peril of the incursions of Indians, 
 who, from the borders of Canada, and in the interest of the 
 French, swept southerly to prey upon the English, especially 
 seeking captives to be held for pecuniary ransoms. Since a 
 considerable portion of the Penacook tribe was dispersed 
 among the St. Francis Indians, special enemies of the Eng- 
 lish, it is assumed that native Penacooks may have been 
 engaged in some of the Indian forays from which the Eng- 
 lish settlers suffered during the time described. 
 
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